Found it on Pinterest!

I love the internet! Here's some fun stuff from Pinterest I have found and tried.
Did you know you can use a stand mixer to shred chicken? Sure, you could use the two fork method, and I have and I don't like to. This way? After the chicken is cooked I can drop it in the mixing bowl, walk away and voila! Shredded chicken. Totally worth washing the extra dish!

Source: simplyhealthyfam.blogspot.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

From the same source that offered the shredded chicken tip, SimplyHealthyFamily had a quick and easy BBQ sauce recipe. I will make this again!

Source: simplyhealthyfam.blogspot.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

I made these oatmeal "cupcakes" yesterday - they are neither cupcakes, nor muffins. The result is more like baked oatmeal in a round shape I suppose, to me they tasted healthy but could have used some more sugar or something. I tend to always follow a recipe when I cook (not my taste buds unless it is something I have made a zillion times). My husband tried them this morning but could only eat one and I think I will be eating the rest myself, so as not to waste them. Meh. I think this is the first pinned recipe that has let me down! Oh well.

Source: greenlitebites.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

I was inspired by seeing outfits on pinterest to seek out a pair of everyday stud earrings. I found these on etsy and liked that they sort of matched a yarn ball style necklace I received for Christmas. I couldn't stop thinking about this, so I ordered them, and I am very pleased! Earrings are from VDazzled Jewelry.

Source: etsy.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Happy Pinning!

Baby Rock'n'Rollneck Sweater

A full-sized (baby) garment at last! There has never been a shortage of hats or cowls or other small things around this blog, so it feels quite good to post this one. I have had the Baby Rock'n'Rollneck sweater on my mind since last year when I saw PeacefulKnitter's version, WifeMomKnitter's version, and of course, ColourKnits version!

I have had the red Rowan Calmer in my stash for a long time. I claimed the brown in a Ravelry swap and figured they would work together. I love this yarn (but heard it has been discontinued!). I've been calling this the "Brick Rolled" sweater - in reference to the color and the "RickRoll" internet meme (specifically the Muppets version). Anyway.

My gauge was off, so I did a bit of math, thank you Ann Budd & her "Favorite Formula"! I knit the 18 month size to end up with a 6-9month size sweater. I am quite pleased that it is spot on!

Yarn Along - Jan 25

From small things,

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us!

The key things I have to show for the week are progress on the monster (he's got eyes!), and Nate's Baby Rock'n'Roll Neck sweater is just about done. I have ends to weave in and I have an idea in my head that I want this sweater to have a robot on it, down at the bottom stripes. Maybe felted? Maybe crocheted? I'm not sure, so I might wait on it for now. It deserves a post of its own and will have one in the next few days.

I picked up The Knitter's Life List from the library today. It is interesting to thumb through and would make a great book for a new knitter I think, but at this stage in my knitting game, it is not one I want permanently on my bookshelves. I also have been reading The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of The Little House on the Prairie. I really enjoyed the first 20% of this book. It was funny, light-hearted, made me giggle as I recognized myself in the writing about the fondness for the "Little House" series. The little nuggets of information about what was probably real or probably fiction has been really interesting as well. Then the book takes a turn to making the comparison of "Girlhood / being a girl is just like being out on the wild prairie and the days of the pioneers". Ummm. Ok. I am not so thrilled on that part, and to me most of it seems like a stretch, but whatever. Then there was a section about the legal "stuff" of the day involving settlers and the Native American Lands. It just feels like this is filler and I do suppose there is a place for it. But eh. It is a light read and I'll be done with it soon. Good thing, as it is a library loan to my kindle so I only have it for a short time. I am very pleased that I finally figured out how to borrow the library books on my kindle, but there was a bit of drama and confusion there that was totally unnecessary.

Yarn Along - Jan 18

From small things
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

I feel like I have made good progress on the knitting front this week. Nate's Brick-rolled sweater has one sleeve done, I've got the knitting done on a test knit (that would be the red thing on the left), and the Monster-to-be is working up nicely. Working on the monster has gotten me to use my circular knitting needles again - specifically Magic Loop. Interestingly, the test knit was knit back and forth as if the circular knitting needles were straight needles and the sleeve was knit on double pointed needles. A variety of techniques, a variety of projects, and I continue to work on more and line up the queue! I am halfway through "MockingJay" and on the whole am very impressed with the series. My husband has started reading "Hunger Games" and is enjoying them as well.

Will Work for Yarn

I have another knitting job to add to my resume - blocker. A fellow knitter put out a call looking for someone who loves blocking. She finished Rock Island and did not have the space to block it. I replied to her that I didn't mind it and I had received a set of blocking wires for Christmas that I was itching to try out. We worked out a deal and she sent along the shawl and payment. Here it is blocking with the wires:

I have to say that I don't think I really saved any time using the blocking wires as compared to using a bunch of pins but it did make getting a straight line at the top and down the center spine a lot easier! I do like how I could easily adjust the spacing to ensure each section was a uniform width.

What does one earn for blocking a shawl? I jumped when the offer was made - Wollmeise! A skein of 100% Superwash in 'Tambopata' - there's that teal-ish green again with black. And then I won another skein of Wollmeise on a Ravelry giveaway! Also 100% Superwash in 'Feldmauschen' that is sort of brownish-greyish-plum? Tricky to photograph, but oh so pretty.

My precious....

Found it on Pinterest!

I am a big fan of Pinterest and the feeling of 'pseudo-organization' it brings me. I have the usual boards on there and a few that I created. I have started a new board that I am calling "I Tried It!" where I can pin things that I have actually done having found them on pinterest. Several weeks back I found this pin sharing the brilliant idea from GoodenessGracious.com to use an apple slicer to chop up potatoes for french fries! I did it! It works! I did have to go back and cut a few wedges that were thicker than I liked, but look - photo proof!

And this recipe for the "Oven Baked Parmesan Seasoned Fries" are what I made. Yummy!


Today is such a blah day. The Lorax is just about over her cold, the baby is in the middle of it and I can feel it coming on. I am happy for the opportunity to knit with bright green yarn from Knit Picks; it will be in tomorrow's "Yarn Along" post. We woke up to a slushy inch or so of snow and to work out some of my daughter's energy, I did take her outside while the baby was napping.

Probably a bit overdressed for slush that was melting, but she was kept warm and dry, so my job was done. She's throwing a snowball at me in this photo.

Yarn Along - Jan 11

From small things:
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

I finished up book #2 of The Hunger Games, "Catching Fire", which I really enjoyed. Then I was stuck. I borrowed the book from amazon on my kindle (yay!), but their fine print only allows you to borrow one book each month (boo!). Jokingly I complained to my husband and on facebook. I suppose I could have gone to the library and actually gotten the book, but I was lazy. Lucky for me a friend on facebook had the book on her kindle and was able to loan book #3, "MockingJay", to me. As expected, even early on I am hooked and very curious to see how this series plays out.

I have been working on several items that at this point in time I can't share with you. That's one of the downsides of being a sample knitter or test knitter, the designs are under wraps for a while. The sweater I was working on for Lorna's Laces is finished, blocked and currently en route to Chicago. I believe it will be on display at TNNA. I also took on a quick little knit sweater for an upcoming book.

The yarn shown in the picture above is also for sample and test knitting. The red is for a hat and the bottom cake is for a pair of socks. Yay for knitting work, but I am certainly going to try and squeeze in some of my personal projects again so I have something to show on the blog. Otherwise, you'll just get baby / kid pictures. Like this one:

Oh My, Wollmeise!

Last week I participated in a fast action swap online. Person A put up something, Person B says "Mine" and then Person B puts up something new. I had fast fingers and claimed a skein of the ever elusive, Wollmeise! A whole skein! I have a few minis for the Beekeeper Quilt, and that's great and all, but this. This. Is. Yarn. (said in the voice of the Dad from "A Christmas Story" - This. Is. A. Lamp.)

This color is "Sabrina" - a green-ish teal that is a real bugger to photograph. It is actually pretty close in color to my phone case, which is the teal one. I have spent the last few moments wandering around the house, hoping the camera battery lasts to get an accurate picture.

That's kindof it.

Also kindof.
Anyway, it's lovely. I would love to start on it right away, but I've been hired to knit on other things right now.

New Year, New Foods

From small things
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

New Year, New Foods abound around here! We've been given the go ahead from the pediatrician to start giving the little nutmeg "solid" foods. With the Lorax we waited quite a long time, but this time around I think it is more that we are ready for it. And not, at the same time, if that makes any sense; already this wee one is not so wee anymore! I've been refreshing myself on Super Baby Food. For now we are working just with some cereal, though I am looking forward to making up my own baby food purees again.


I've finished with TipsyBaker's Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - I'm plotting to make my own vanilla extract and other things. I really enjoyed the book - it's got the right amount of snark and sass and I have totally thought several things she wrote in the book. I've added the second installment of "The Hunger Games", Catching Fire to my Kindle. I'm only a handful of pages in and already completely sucked in to the story.

You'll notice the books are on top of a knitted "thing". It is a sweater in progress, and is just about finished. It is a model knit for Lorna's Laces. It is for TNNA in a few weeks, so for now, it is under wraps.