Crossing More Off...

More projects to cross off the list. I love progress.

knits: earflap hat, irish hiking scarf

crafts: pretty fabric push pins, a lunch sack with a freezer paper image

practical: spice rack, utensil holders, shelving

sweets: vegan blackberry-smoosh cupc akes (invented recipe) revised to mupcakes!

chickens: door on the coop

The Irish Hiking Scarf was finished last week or so. The recipient promises I can take a photo of her sometime soon to post.

Pretty fabric push pins were featured in a post a bit ago too. I love making them so much. I made a ton more tonight to shi p off to a few more friends. Feel free to make requests people, give me reasons to craft while listening to Savage Love and This American Life.

We decided not to go with the sp ice rack and just put them on the shelf. But for the record, I did build one. A not so functional one, but still. I'm crossing it off .

The utensil holders are the latest bit of excitement at the Homestead. Do you know the best part of living in a house that will soon be demolished? You can kind of get a little wild with a hammer. Our forks, spoons, and knives are very happy.

(again, sorry for the lighting. i seem to only think to take photos at night. as if there is much natural light in the kitchen anyways.)

That leaves just the ear-flap hat (postponed til Continental picks up) and the lunch sack (probably needing a sewing machine). Seems like now I'm going to have to turn my productivity to winterizing the house. Also known as the uphill-battle-we-will-never-win.

Adding to the Repetoire.

So. I'm trying to teach myself continental knitting. I guess I'm feeling a little self-conscious of my funky left-handed English style practice. Plus, continental is way super faster. I'm getting a bit frustrated with the tension in my left hand though. Its so not tension-y enough. Ugh. I'm not wanting to start any new projects until I get it figured out... torture.

Push-Pins / Finished Scarf

I finally finished my Irish Hiking Scarf. Yay. It took forever but was really fun to knit. I think it turned out quite nicely too. I made a tiny mistake and finished on the 8th row instead of the 7th, plus it flares a bit. But, that's the beauty of handmade! I'm wrapping it up in a day or two for a lovely gift to a lovely friend.

And. I'm super excited about the new push-pins I made. I followed the super easy instructions from How About Orange. I boxed some up to send to friends with office jobs. The rest are in place on my cork board. I want to order more supplies tonight. Addicting!

(photo quality is not so great, sorry. blur and bad lighting.)

More. I have to put up this delightful photo I took today on my walk to the co-op.

Autumn.

"Autumn's coming in through the walls..." - Casey Dienel

This is actually happening in my little house of no insulation. This place is frigid, and it's only October.

Proof of Progress

Progress and revisions have been made on the big list of projects.

knits: earflap hat, irish hiking scarf in progress

crafts: pretty fabric push pins, a lunch sack with a freezer paper image

practical: spice rack, utensil holders, shelving

sweets: vegan blackberry-smoosh cupcakes (invented recipe) revised to mupcakes!

chickens: door on the coop

The Irish Hiking Scarf is coming along nicely. Which is good, seeing as it's a gift! I'm about a third of the way done and totally in love with cables. I just need a few hours to get serious about it again. The last time I knit on it I fell asleep. Good grief.

I did a quick fix to take care of the shelving. It's not all that pretty. No photo.

The vegan-blackberry-smoosh cupcakes were procrastinated too long. No more blackberries. However, mupcakes! were born (see previous post) so I feel like that's a pretty good trade off.

The door on the chicken coop I can take absolutely no credit for. It was all Galen and his assistant Molly. I got a few looks telling people we were "rennovating our chicken coop" ... but really, it looks about a million times better. Much easier to get in and out. And no raccoon attacks. Not bad for a $2.50 door.

Plus, the chickies look so happy and cute in there (for chickens).

And lastly, I was wrapping up this gift for a friend today, and I just thought it looked pretty. Like, so pretty she wouldn't mind the banality of the gift inside. But really, what do you get the girl who jets to a new city each day? It's not like she wants to carry a toolbox or a tea kettle with her wherever she goes!

Mupcakes!

Introducing mupcakes! Muffin-cupcakes. Yesterday I felt the need to set off the smoke alarm so I started to cook and bake simultaneously. The baking resulted in blueberry/cranberry muffins topped with a vanilla glaze. A definite mupcake.

Components of a mupcake: a hearty muffin base (which one assumes is good for him or her) with a sweet delicate topping more aligned with a cupcake. In perfect synergy, we have: the mupcake.

Mupcakes pictured pre-vanilla glaze phase.

Overwhelming Myself. (but the good kind)

Yay, today was my last day at job #3. Already I'm finding ways to fill my new found spare time.

Projects:

knits: earflap hat, irish hiking scarf
crafts: pretty fabric push pins, a lunch sack with a freezer paper image
practical: spice rack, utensil holders, shelving
sweets: vegan blackberry-smoosh cupcakes (invented recipe)
chickens: door on the coop

And tomorrow is a dinner party with a few friends. Now I can breathe, although it's the hyperventilating I-want-to-do-everything-at-once kind of breathing.