Quick Winter Headband

It was a rather cold autumn night in Albuquerque when I decided to make this headband. Took a while to find my crochet hooks. The knit bug had bit me about a year ago. Funny how hobbies are sometimes. When I found my hooks I was saddened when I realized I no longer had my beloved German hook. I gave it to my sister months ago. She’s the crochet expert. And I knew she deserved it more than I did. So I reached into my handy dandy crochet master set and began this project. And I sure am glad I came across it. Thank you, Cynthia Miller. A truly beautiful and swift pattern. I used the headband today, completely forgetting how nippy and unwelcome the chilling air was. I was too busy enjoying the November sun with my ears wrapped nice and warm.

Spring Beret Part One

Most people look forward to finishing a project. I, on the other hand, love starting one. I’m not sure if it’s the cutely packaged yarn or the prospect of learning something new, but I love this stage the most!

Sincerely,
Minnie

Crochet Petit Four #2

My son was born in the UK, so whenever I see petit fours, I automatically think of TEA TIME!  This was supposed to be green and white, but I accidentally started on the white and decided to use pink for the bottom.  It matches my tea set perfectly…

Click here if you’d like to give it a go.  It’s written in Dutch but if you scroll down, there’s a link to an English version.

-Minnie

Cabled Wristlets

This project was so easy!  And I’m very satisfied with the results.  I do not own cable needles, but I used this YouTube video to make my cables.  If you go to the Lion Brand pattern page someone left a comment on how to make these so that you could add thumb holes.  I hope you’ll give this pattern a try.  I completed it in 2 days because I could see results after finishing row 6.  Happy knitting!

-Minnie

Knit Cabled Wristlets by Lion Brand

5 mm straight knitting needles & worsted weight yarn

STITCH EXPLANATION:3/3 LC (3 over 3 left cross) Slip 3 sts to cable needle and hold in front, k3, then k3 from cable needle.

WRISTLET (make 2)
Cast on 38 sts.
Rows 1, 3 and 5 (Wrong Side): (K1, p1) 7 times, k2, p6, k2, (p1, k1) 7 times.
Row 2 (Right Side): (P1, k1) 7 times, p2, k6, p2, (k1, p1) 7 times.
Row 4: (P1, k1) 7 times, p2, 3/3 LC, p2, (k1, p1) 7 times.
Row 6: (P1, k1) 7 times, p2, k6, p2, (k1, p1) 7 times.
Repeat Rows 1-6 until piece measures 7 in. [17.75 cm] or desired length. Bind off in pattern.

FINISHING
Sew seam. Lay one Wristlet flat with cable centered on back. Tack top edge together at point just left of cable to make thumb opening for right Wristlet. Lay other Wristlet flat and tack top edge together at point just right of cable to make thumb opening for left Wristlet. Weave in ends.

Crochet Petit Four #1

Pattern by Grietjekarwietje

After having some success (of which I’ll soon post) with knitting, I decided not to jinx my lucky streak and opted for another crocheted project.

I’ve had a Ravelry account for about three years now, but I never really used it.  In fact, I think I logged on twice and then forgot my password and my email account has since closed.  After opening another account, something strange happened.  Instead of searching the patterns like I usually do, I threw caution to the wind and clicked on the GROUPS tag.

What is a Ravelry group, you might ask?  Now, that my friends is a needle artist’s dream.  It is a bunch of like-minded crochet and knitting (among other crafts) enthusiasts converging in one online spot.  Some are experts.  Some are beginners.  Some are….drum roll please…pattern designers!  Some groups meet up in person, and maybe one day when I gather up the courage I will jump into a local group.  But for now, I shall enjoy the convenience of sitting in the comfort of my home and pajamas, and keep it to a cyber relationship.

After joining a few crochet-a-longs, including a Korean drama based group with over 200 members (who knew that many people watched You’re Beautiful with yarn and hook in hand?) I finally took a stab at posting some of my work.  This one comes from the Petit Four CAL (Crochet A Long) which I absolutely love.  The pattern designer is from the Netherlands I believe and she’s posting a free petit four crochet pattern every week.  Here is her blog.  Amazing!  If you’re thinking about joining Ravelry and need an excuse to, her group alone should be reason enough.  And if it’s not to your liking, I’m sure you’ll find something that’ll interest you…

-Minnie Adventures

Over the Rainbow

Ryker wanted cupcakes. He says he prefers vanilla over chocolate! What!?!? Crazy kid!
So, I made him a batch of mini rainbow cupcakes! He and Rich were so excited over cake, they just kept popping them in their mouths- without icing! Amazing!
I had been wanting to try the rainbow layered cake- so I snatched a bit of the cake batter. This is how it went down!

And…I ran out of icing! I’ll need to rummage through my teeny pantry to see if I have another tub. If I do, will post the finished look! Mwahaha!

Cookin It Up…Chrissy Style!

So, it was kinda cold earlier this week- just had to make chicken noodle soup! Of course, I didn’t measure anything- a dash of this and a sprinkle of that!
I bake more than I cook- trying to break out of that habit. Home-cooked meals just taste better! They’re safer for your family too!

By the way, my son loved this soup! Amazed me! He was disappointed when he found out we finished the last of it! Have to make him more this week! It’s gonna get cold again 😦

Banana-nana Bread!

Chrissy here- so I’ve been baking a lot since the beginning of October. Halloween is a fave of mine for sure!
I crocheted a handful of zombies/mummies. Then, I organized the activities, not only for Ryker’s class, but the other 5th grade class next door. Sad, but none of the parents were willing to help out in that room. So, Ryker’s room mom asked if I could do a game & craft for both classes.
Ok, so getting off the point! Hah! That is one of my specialties, huh Min?
Anyhow, I’ve been baking at least twice a week since the 1st week of October. Sorry, didn’t take a lot of pics. Min convinced me to start taking some! So, here are a couple. I kinda mixed two different banana bread recipes. One is from BH&G- and the other one is yeah- just another banana bread recipe 😛

Knitting…or Not

I often wonder whether I will ever become an avid knitter.  When I was in Germany, my friend Chelly introduced me to knitting.  Now, mind you, I’m from the tropics and things like wool and cashmere just don’t exist there.  But in Northern Europe, even my husband donned a merino sweater.  I mean, it’s just that cold!  And I couldn’t help but adore the fair aisle prints, the chunky scarves, and wooly wrist warmers.

We’ve since left Germany and come to settle in the high deserts of North America.  Now that the leaves are turning shades of mustard, pumpkin and deep burgundy, my mind has wandered to knitting and crocheting.  I’ve definitely mastered the art of crochet.  It’s not that difficult.  I don’t know every stitch in the book, but I know most of them enough to create wrist warmers, cowls, hats, amigurumi, socks, etc. free form.  It’s simple enough that if a pattern doesn’t fit your liking, you can modify it easily.  BUT knitting, on the other hand is completely foreign to me.  It’s as foreign to me as the Icelandic language–the more I try to understand it, the less I get it.

So here I am trying my hand at knitting once again.  It’s so frustrating!  I tried knitting a pair of wrist warmers for my son–which you think would be a piece of cake–but they came out different sizes.  I’m sure it’s my tension that’s throwing my gauge off, but here I am trying to knit myself a pair of arm warmers.  I’m sure it’ll come out asymmetric as well, but still I knit on, hoping that one day the pieces of the knitting puzzle will fall in place for me.

My second attempt at making knitted wrist warmers. If this pair turns out nice enough, I might have enough confidence to attempt my next pair on double pointed needles.

Crochet Along November Leaves

So I joined a crochet along in Ravelry and this was our November project–Fall Leaves.

It’s quick, easy and perfect for using up project remnants.

This project features the picot stitch which creates the neat little points of the leaf as shown.