Resolutions

Yes, it is that time again... Resolutions for the new year. Did you make any for 2009? Do you plan to make any for 2010?

I went back and looked at my New Year's Eve entry from 2008. Funny, I don't remember making a resolution about exercise. However, I did conquer knitting lace with my Northern Lights Shawl:


I started an adult-size sweater for me, a February Lady, but it was slow going... I'm almost done with the yoke.

In 2010 I plan to learn to spin yarn on a wheel, relax a bit with my son's schooling, use my camera more, and finish that February Lady.

My biggest resolution for 2010 is to be more conscious of the ingredients in the products we buy. I plan to stop buying anything that contains high fructose corn syrup, MSG or MSG components, or anything I cannot pronounce. We've been slowly working our way up to this throughout the year, but I still find myself grabbing something like hamburger buns because I'm too lazy to make them, only to find their full of modified something-or-other, or have HFCS. For us, this doesn't apply to just food, but any consumable product like shampoo, soap, or cleaning supplies (harder to know because they don't list ingredients). I get a great deal of satisfaction in making things myself, and I feel better about knowing what is going into or being applied to be bodies of my loved ones. I'm sure I'll be sharing some of the recipes or tricks I discover along the way.

Thank you for visiting my blog over the past year. If you enjoyed a particular entry, please share it with a like-minded friend. I hope you all had a wonderful 2009 and wish you all the best in 2010. See you next year!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and are looking forward to 2010.

I've been pretty quiet this holiday season. I didn't get a chance to share any of my holiday baking experiences, mostly because I did all of my holiday baking on Christmas Eve. I was so focused on my holiday knitting/sewing/crocheting that I couldn't even think about baking until I was finished. But I did finish! My final project was a crocheted afghan for Emma and I finished it at about 5:00 pm on December 23.


I knit a scarf, of my own design, for Ethan. It was made from yarn he picked out when we visited Diva Yarns in Port Townsend in August.


I made 2 pair of felted slippers, one for Cliff and one for my step-dad. They each
already had a pair, but Cliff completely wore his out.


I sewed 3 aprons... one for each of my nieces and one for Ethan. I found some great "Cars" fabric a couple months ago, and he'd been asking for a new apron just for the kitchen. Here is my oldest niece holding up her apron:


I also made 8 sets of potholders to give to other family members. I gave most of them away and forgot to take photos first, but here are two sets that I have left:


I also made 3 more ornaments for the kids, a piece of ribbon candy, a pair of mini mittens, and a Christmas light bulb. Cliff kept talking about coal in stockings so, this year he got some! Meet Grumpy the lump of coal:


And with that, I managed to complete 55 items for the 52 craft challenge! However, my New Year's Resolution for 2009 was to knit an adult-sized sweater, for me. I did start the sweater, and had hoped to have it done by Christmas, but had some issues with it. It is still a work in progress... I haven't abandoned it and hopefully I'll have it finished before the weather turns warm.

One of the gifts I received from my mom was 2 ounces of Merino Top from Nestucca Bay Yarns in a beautiful colorway called Riverstone. Its SOOO pretty, I almost don't want to try spinning it. My Christmas present to myself is a SPINNING WHEEL!!!!! My wonderful friend Deb has decided she prefers spinning on drop spindles to a wheel and has offered to sell me her wheel for a wonderful price, I just couldn't pass it up! I don't have it yet, but it is an Ashford Traveller and I can't wait to get it in my hot little hands and teach myself to spin on a wheel.

That pretty much wraps up the fiber-related holiday goodness around here. I found some amazing new recipes for holiday baking and I'll update you on the happenings in my kitchen in another post.

Homeschool Resources

I've decided to occasionally share some of my favorite homeschool resources with you. Over the last year I have sifted through tons of books, websites, and blogs and now I'm going to share my favorites with you. I first thought it could be a weekly scheduled post or something like that, but I just don't have the discipline to post with that kind of regularity. So, it'll be a sporadic thing when I think of something good to share.

My first resource to share is a website, Homeschool Freebie of the Day. Each day a new freebie is posted for download. The freebies include
e-books, audio books, dramatic radio shows, lesson plans, unit studies, and audio seminars for parents. I have downloaded books on drawing, bees, history, craft ideas... tons of different stuff!

Right now many of their resources are holiday related, stories about the first Thanksgiving or the life of the Pilgrims. Each resource is only available for a day, so the hardest part is remembering to check in daily! If you become a subscriber to their weekly "heads up" email, you receive a bonus download each week. The resources are also great for parents who want to supplement their child's public/private school education, or encourage a child's (or your own!) interest in a subject.

I hope you enjoy this resource as much as we have!

Holiday projects

Holiday knitting/sewing/crocheting is in full swing. I put everything on a list in order of priority so if there is not enough time, I don't have to panic. The list includes another apron for Ethan, an afghan for Emma and her new bed, knit/crocheted ornaments for all the kids, sewn potholders to go in gift baskets of home-canned goodies, a pair of felted clogs, a pair of socks, and a sweater for me!

I've started on the afghan, slippers, and sweater. I had other deadline knitting to contend with, so got a later start than I would've liked. One of the items I crocheted was this little guy:

He is a gift for Emma's birthday coming up. He is also #33 in the 52 craft challenge.

#34 is this little reindeer I was experimenting with as one of the ornaments to give away.


I also did a bit of work on Halloween costumes this year. Ethan decided to be a blue Lego. This was so easy, but fun to make and only cost me a can of spray paint. (#35) Basically it is a cardboard box with head and arm holes cut in it with cottage cheese containers glued on the front. There was one more cottage cheese container with elastic for him to wear as a hat. He LOVED it!


We went to a Halloween party this year and it finally pushed me to finish a costume that has been probably more than 5 years in the making. I had planned to make something for Cliff too, but ran out of time. Maybe next year.


The bodice was made a few years ago and the skirt was finished about this time last year. This year I finally finished the under dress (#36). Our friend and party hostess, Shaunna took the photo of us. Thanks Shaunna!


What are your holiday project plans? Have you already started?

Finished projects

I've managed to complete a couple more projects this week.

#31 is "Boo" a crocheted ghost by LionBrand.


#32 is my Spring Forward socks. I've been working on these for over a year now. I'm SO glad their done.

Harvest

I've been busy freezing, canning, and otherwise preserving the bounty of our garden. I've frozen blueberries, raspberries, corn, grated zucchini, and the baked goods that resulted of grated zucchini such as chocolate zucchini muffins and zucchini bread. I've pickled jalapenos and green beans. Now, its tomato time! I started with raw-pack tomatoes because there isn't a recipe involved and I could work with the small quantities as they were ripening. Since then, I have also made a batch of salsa. This is what I brought home today:



I plan to make tomato sauce out of these this weekend. I actually had to go buy a case of new canning jars because I ran out. Normally I stock up at the thrift stores when it isn't canning time, because i get them for about 10 cents each. It has been years since I had to buy new jars.

There are still a LOT of tomatoes on the vine, so I need to decide what to make with them next.

A tomato

I pulled this tomato out of my garden today...
I can't stop giggling every time I see it. Am I really that immature?