Last day of 2011

I apologize for the lack of blogging in the last week. My internet was out. Horrible!

I wanted to make a post about all the awesome stuff I did in 2011! Most of the year wasn't exciting, and most of it was not craft related either, but bear with me.

January-February was pretty rough. My mom moved back to Florida. I stayed with Brittany for a while. That was fun, though:

March-May I started dating Ron and we went to our senior prom together, and graduated together:

June-August went on a few hiking trips, tried to go backpacking. Grandma broke her ankle one day into a four day hike.

Biggest hiking accomplishment? Climbing Mt Lassen.

And I knitted a belt! Still love it.

September- October, I discovered Pinterest and Ravelry, so there's that.

Got my first spinning wheel, and learned how to use it. (I love it)

I taught myself how to crochet.

November-December 

I made my first skein of yarn!!!

Completed my first embroidery project:

And Made my first contribution to Christmas dinner. :)

Christmas

We had a nice Christmas dinner at my uncle's house. Ron joined us as well..

I made my first pumpkin pies! They were exceptionally delicious. Generally speaking, pumpkin pie recipes are all the same. Pretty standard. There are exceptions, keep in mind. But this one is pretty good, anyway.

PUMPKIN PIE RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

• 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
• 15 ounces pumpkin (1 can)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 9 inch pie crust

1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
2. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean.

I also made made whipped cream to go with the pies. It is so easy! You need 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in a large bowl. Whip, whip whip until peaks are just about to form. Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 tsp of confectioner's sugar, beat until peaks form. DONE.

I took the rest of the whipping cream I had left over to make some whipped butter. To make butter, you just whip the cream beyond the whipped cream state, it starts to get a bit chunky, like butter. Add salt to taste. Here are pictures of the butter:

Chris, my step dad, got me a nice tea set for Christmas. We were thrifting a few weeks ago when I saw it. It was fairly cheap, and in his price range. I love it.

D.I.Y. Vanilla Extract

Found this on Pinterest via Simply Recipes

How to Make Vanilla Extra

Commercial vanilla extract usually has simple syrup (sugar water) added to the extract to give it a sweet aftertaste. You can do this if you want, but if you are using the vanilla for baking, there really is no need.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 vanilla beans
• 1 cup vodka
• glass jar with tight fitting lid

METHOD

1 Use kitchen scissors or a sharp paring knife to cut lengthwise down each vanilla bean, splitting them in half, leaving an inch at the end connected.

2 Put vanilla beans in a glass jar or bottle with a tight fitting lid (mason jars work well). Cover completely with the vodka.

3 Give the bottle a good shake every once in a while. Store in a dark, cool place for 2 months or longer.

Lasts for years. You can keep topping it off with vodka once in a while as you use it, just remember to give it a good shake.

You can also make vanilla sugar by putting a split vanilla bean into a jar of white, granulated sugar. Great way to infuse the sugar with vanilla flavor for baking.

APOD

December 15, 2011

Ten Row baby blanket

All Free Knitting

free 1840's nightcap pattern

All free Knitting

First embroidery Project

wow. I love it. Done in two days.

House plants

I transplanted my Aloe Vera into a larger pot, and separated the individual plants, so it will grow larger. I love it. It is healthy and looks beautiful.

And THIS is garlic. It was left in a bucket of dirt in my garage for two weeks without water or sunlight. I found it green and growing.

D.I.Y. earring holder

I've seen these all over the internet lately. I finally caved in. I love mine. So pretty.

Found this picture frame without any glass or backing, and thought it would b perfect. Spray painted it, picked out my fabric, and it's ready to go. Just staple the fabric to the back ~ so easy.

I won my first give away!!!

From Knitcircus

My prizes were....

1 skein of Merino wool in glazed carrot

2. A gift bag from Rocky Mountain Dyeworks containing 2 mini skeins

3. A gift bag from  Spud and Chloe with two On the Run patterns and a tape measure.

Thank you Knitcircus! I loved this give away and will find wonderful uses for my prizes!

A granny Square a day: 365

The 365 project of Dana Beach

Pretty Cowl

Pattern on tricksyknitter.com

Inspiration

These are all photos from A Beautiful Mess.

This blog is super inspirational, these are all pictures of things I plan to duplicate at some point.

They're mostly knit and crochet afghans.

This picture, I really want to make that diamond blanket at the very bottom of this pile. It's beautiful.

This is the daisy afghan I searched for a pattern for. The pattern is in another blog post of mine.

I LOVE IT. I already have yarn to make it :3

I've also picked out colors and things to crochet a zig zag afghan.