I thought I’d share with you all my current WIPs (works in progress). Some of these are long term, some are instant gratification, some are work related and some are just silly.

I took my photos this morning before the sun was fully risen in our bedroom so they are a little dark but that’s ok right?! ;)

I’ll start with my most recent sewing:

Amanda from Westwood Acres very sweetly sent me some Briar Rose scraps! I knew instantly that I wanted to make the same pouch that Amy did. I made it my goal to use JUST scraps and NOT cut them. Oh and improv piece it. Those are all things I’m quite terrible at but I wanted to branch out. I’m not sure I *love* it but that’s ok! Unfortunately my sewing machine started to act funny during the quilting (ok-let’s be honest, it’s been cranky all winter). I did all the normal things: clean, oil, replace needles/bobbins/etc. Still no luck. By the time I attached the piping the machine wasn’t holding it’s tension at all anymore SO! To the dealer I will go and get a tune-up. And I think the timing is slightly off. No sewing for a little while!

Two weeks ago I got it into my head that I *needed* a new Halloween quilt. I decided to make a new Donut Quilt from my stash. I have the blocks partly done. It’ll be a fast finish once I get my machine fixed. I haven’t decided on a border fabric yet though. All I know is, that donut quilt gets SO much love around here, it’s the perfect size for me to drag everywhere. I think this might be the first time I’ve ever made a pattern twice?!

Oh these blocks! They kill me! (in a very good way of course!) They are from the Forest QAL and quite possibly my favorite things ever. However, I need at least a full day of complete quiet for each block. Not because they are hard, they are really straight forward but because I am *really* slow at paper piecing and these blocks have a ton of pieces in them. I have the feather and the woodpecker done, I’m using just scraps which is fun. It’s a little tricky to pick fabrics for them though. This is definitely my long term project- it’s special and I’m not into rushing it. I’d love to finish it by July and enter it into the fair but that’s probably wishful thinking. Also: They are crunchy & wrinkled looking because…I haven’t removed the paper yet! LOL! ;)

I’ve needed to apply the binding to this quilt since March. Eep! Lindsay did an amazing quilting job on it! But literally that’s the only corner bound. It doesn’t stop me from using it all the time though.

It’s not all sewing though…I cast on for a new pair of socks this week! I happily knit outside in Chico yesterday while Ashleigh worked on our shop! It got a facelift! And we re-released Fruit of the Month Club! Somehow in my excitement to be hanging out, I started doing the size large chart on my size medium sock! Doh! But I tried them on and somehow the pattern is still pretty centered. Maybe my feet are strange shaped? IDK! But I’m going to keep going. They also got the nickname “Cinnamon Toast Crunch Socks” from Chop?!

Speaking of work! Here is my Woodland Sampler! Even though we’ve had the full chart done & tested last year, I cross stitch along with everyone. It’s just more fun that way. Plus I can share sneak peeks leading up to the first of each month!

That’s everything! All my current WIPs! How about you? What are you working on?

Last week I found myself with a spare half hour while waiting for a file to download.

I did what any normal girl does…search for sock knitting blogs! ;) No but seriously, I don’t have a lot of spare internet time and I was curious if there are a lot of sock blogs out there!

A google search for “sock knitting blog” turned up My Sister’s Knitter which I happily spent my half hour reading more like 2 hours of reading but I don’t want to be a creepy girl. The prettiest photos and yarns! And then she mentions Must Stash Podcast  and bam! I was hooked!

I spent each morning watching an episode and knitting while having breakfast. I love it, it’s the cutest little pod cast, the girls are super sweet and…ok…this might be weird but I totally found myself cheering them on! Steph was making a sweater for her husband and I loved watching it grow each week, when it was done I was like YEAH GO STEPH. I know, that’s sort of strange.

But then I realized I love when I scroll through someones instagram and see the beginning, the middle and the end of the project. I want to hug that person. I think right now there is so much technology surrounding us with very little time to create something with our own two hands so each finished good should totally be celebrated. It also made me more excited to share WIPs, for some reason I always think I bore everyone with…”welp this is my 9 millionth in progress photo”. But now I don’t really care. Hahaha. I think once a week I’m going to check in and share some WIPs.

So! Hey! I finished a pair of socks! Yeah! I put all the details on ravelry, I’m the worst ravelry user ever. I started using it in 2007 but I really only started using it FOR REAL this past year. I actually have projects and part of my yarn stash on there now. Gold star!

Next socks!

I was thinking about knitting a color affection, then I saw Andi’s post about Cameo and I decided I want to knit that with my skein of Weenie! I did a little stash searching and found a skein of Plucky Hayride so I’m going to use those two together for a Halloween shawl. Soooo that meant my skein of Biker Chick was free to become socks! I think I want to make Harvest Dew because they are so pretty! The only thing is…it’s charted for cuff down! I emailed this gal to ask if I had her notes correct, she knit her pair toe up and they are BEAUTIFUL. 

Ok! That’s it! Tons of Pumpkin work to do. <3

Soooo I’m pretty sure this is the most silly video ever but I really wanted to share with you a few of my sock knitting needles and my thoughts on them!

Here are some links to things I mention in the video:

• Karbonz Needles!
• Dreamz Needles!
• Addi Turbo Lace!
• Addi Sock Rockets!
• Kollage Squares!
• Signature Needle Arts!
• Ramona’s Sock Sack Sewing Pattern!

I hope this helps and answers some questions :):)

I’ve been thinking a lot about personal style lately.

Chop & I have a huge goal to be homeowners next year and we started a pinterest board of things that we both like. It’s been a lot of conversations such as:

“Can I put neon pom pom garland on your bear head?’

“Will you help me glue my mini figs onto magnets?”

“Wanna wrap some yarn around these antlers and spray paint them gold so we can put them on a coffee table we don’t own yet?”

“I saw this on pinterest- let’s build it” “Of course I know that aged wood that big is expensive”

“Our front door should be mustard colored!!!!”

“We need stars on our bedroom ceiling. No, not the glow in the dark sticker kind.”

“Let’s get a small marlin and hang it in the bathroom!”

“Basil Grimm Jennings is the best cat name ever right!? Can we afford adopt a grumpy little fatty within the first year? Wait…you want a dog? And ducks? Are we starting a farm?”

“I’m going to want to hang my pots & pans from the ceiling. Can you buy me a drill as a housewarming gift? Oh…I guess I’ll need a stud finder then. BUT I ALREADY MARRIED YOUUUU so clearly….!!!”

How do you blend your love of ridiculously cute and your husbands love of hunting? With patience of course. And good sense of humor. And trying to figure out what your TRUE style is. Like the stuff you actually LOVE LOVE. Not like, only kinda sorta like on Tuesdays but LOVELOVE.

My TRUE style is a whole lot of:

• kawaii
• cat tshirts
• leggings
• pink fabric (but I won’t ever wear pink. unless it’s blush.)
• halloween! gimme the orange, the black and a million apple cider candles. and candy.
• fruity scented body wash in the summer only
• glitter EVERYWHERE.
• cozy

Sooooo these are things I love…WHY DO I HAVE THINGS THAT ARE THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE IN MY LIFE?! For example, I only wear gray tshirts and cat tshirts…why does my wardrobe consist of a million dresses? Dumb! I purged my closet and donated a ton. Then I started thinking about:

CRAFT STYLE!

Do you have one? You know you do! I know you do. When I look at instagram or pinterest, I can immediately pick out the majority of my friends without looking because their style is SO THEM.

Here’s my craft style:

• I DON’T KNOW!

No. But seriously. I like to knit socks and make little patchwork. I’ve been sorting through fabric and yarn and I realized my taste is alllll over the place!

But now I’m trying to figure out what I actually like making and what I actually just like looking at. Do you do that? Have things you like to look at but when you think about actually creating them you kind of gag a little bit because the process is so uninspiring to you?

I want my crafting time to be super joyful and I want my future home to be filled with creations that are totally rad and us. For example: this week I cut out a Halloween Donut Quilt. That’s both fun & glorious because it’s Halloween AND donuts.

So yarn photos…I decided I obviously NEED a giant color affection shawl. I’ve given away almost all the shawls I knit last year and I want something halloween-y autumn-y squishy! But I can’t decide on my third color. Last year my big birthday long term project was a pair of mittens that I only wear when I need to find something at the bottom of the freezer. SO! This year it has to be something I’ll actually use a ton. Oh AND my next pair of socks will be these pirate ones. Because I’ve had the pattern for a while and I found a good gray for them in my stash. And because they look tricky awesome!

How’s this for the most random blog post ever! What is your style? Does it transfer to your crafting? What color should I use to go with the orange and the gray?

ps: the winner of the embroidery book is Denica! Shoot me an email so I can forward your info to Lark Books! :):)

]]> http://msmcporkchopquilts.com/?feed=rss2&p=2353 16 http://msmcporkchopquilts.com/?p=2343 http://msmcporkchopquilts.com/?p=2343#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 15:04:36 +0000 amanda http://msmcporkchopquilts.com/?p=2343

(bottom photo from Beth Sweet)

I can’t believe it’s already May! When did that happen? I feel like this year is FLYING by!

Lately I’ve been doing a bunch of cross stitching. Like, more than normal. I think right now I’m averaging 5-8 hrs per day because we have a ton of new patterns coming out (don’t forget that I co-own a cross stitch pattern company with my bff!). And then I sneak in a few hours of embroidery on the weekends.

I have this dream that when we buy a house next fall (yes! next fall is our goal! o m g!) my kitchen is going to be filled with hand embroidered linens. I want a ton of feed sack towels and then a bunch of indie silk screened ones too. It’s kind of become an obsession. I feel like I’m squirreling away all these handmade treasures for the future in little boxes.

A few months ago Beth from Lark contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in a copy of Aimee Ray’s new book, Doodle Stitching- Embroidery & Beyond. I said YES! Full disclosure: normally I don’t say yes because I’m not really the advertising sort but I said yes because I really enjoyed Aimee’s first book- Doodle Stitching! 

This book takes off where that one stops- it shows you different sorts of stitches from cross stitch to crewel, sashiko & cut work. It’s pretty neat! My favorite project in the book is called Canvas Cuckoo Clock- it’s literally a clock that you embroider! It’s super cute, I already traced the design onto a tea towel.

I think it’s a pretty cute book, I don’t really love the look of cut work & stump work but she presents them in an easy to understand and fun way! This book is definitely geared towards someone who wants to broaden their handwork repertoire and I like that! But there are also clear and concise directions with illustrations on how to do basic stitches as well.

If you’d like to win a copy of the book and embroidery floss, just leave me a comment! This is the last giveaway for a while, I have some books I read in March/April, plus a quilt to share with you! I’ll pick a winner on Sunday!!!

PS: The winner of the sock sack pattern is EMMA L! Emma, can you email me so I can forward your info along to Ramona?! thank you! I loved reading all your comments- I added so much stuff to my ravelry favorites which is great because I had to frog a pair of Hermoine socks…noooo! :( :)

It’s Monday! It’s the last week of my & Ashleigh’s small business finance class-our brains are exploding from ratios, quickbooks and cost analysis. It’s already over 90 degrees here-omg. I have a million hours of work to do this week (I’m looking at you mailchimp!) and it’s a little overwhelming so let’s do something fun k?

How about a pattern giveaway?

Last week I cast on for a new pair of socks (I went with a toe up version of these) and posted a little photo on instagram. Libby saw it and commented that I needed a sock sack. My first response was HEH? WHAT? But then I learned it’s a pretty dang cute sewing pattern by Ramona, I bought it off Craftsy and a half hour later I had a new little bag. No joke. 30 minutes. Instant gratification which is totally right up my alley lately!

I’ve already made three (one was mailed as a secret present for a friend this morning) and I’ve cut out a Halloween and a Christmas one. Yeah. I *love* project bags. I have easily a dozen box bags, several drawstring bags, etc but this is just for two at a time sock knitting which is my favorite way to knit socks. It has little snaps so you can move your yarn and a neat little divider that helps give the bag structure.

These little bags are sort of like candy, once you make one suddenly you want a dozen. I already made one for a friend but I think I’m going to make a bunch for Christmas gifts and include a skein of yarn for my knitting friends. So act surprised if you get one in the mail from me k?! ;)

Leave me a comment telling me about either your very favorite skein of yarn or pair of socks by Wednesday and I’ll randomly pick a person to win a copy of Ramona’s pattern! On Thursday I’ll announce the winner & post an embroidery book review! (but I pinkie promise that I won’t do a million giveaways-that’s not my style.)(pss: this quilt I’m taking photos on? Still not bound! I get an F ;))

A little knitting has been happening lately! Woo hoo! Clearly…pink love is continuing!

I knit my first dish cloth! That’s sort of exciting I think?! I used Cascade Pima cotton in a pretty hot pink, the pattern used to be available on Ravelry & I’d downloaded it ages ago but the designer took it down. It was a fast and fun knit! Tardis = LOVE!

This is the first pair of socks I’ve finished since my Pheasants! Sock knitting hasn’t agreed with me lately which is a bummer because I made a grand goal of knitting 12 pairs of socks this year, I think it’ll be more like…6 pairs. And that’s fine! Even just ONE pair of hand knit socks is special and an accomplishment! There is no greater pleasure than a pair of cute socks!

Details:

• My favorite sock pattern- Wendy J’s Gusset Sock
• New heel! Fleegle! Super fast, easy and I love the lack of holes! High 5!
• New needles! Karbonz which I ADORED! I used a size 1 with a 32 inch cord from Jimmy Beans Wool. They just worked great for me, incredibly light, pointy, smooth join and not hard on my hands!
• Yarn! Colinette Jitterbug in Paintbox, also from JBW! I call these socks my Lady Rainicorn Socks because they look like her! Mathmatical!

I cast on yesterday for some new socks. These are called…nothing yet! Haha! I can’t decide on a pattern! I LOVE these ribbed ones, I haven’t knit a pair of plain ribbed socks yet and they just look so squishy and soft!

• Yarn- Becoming Art Agave Fingering in Hummingbird…it reminds me of zombies & halloween! IDK why!
• Needles- Quite possibly my new favorites! The *new* Kollage Squares! They are pointy…like SHARP. And I looooove them. I’m using a size 1 with a 40 inch cord…two at a time. Dreamy!

Have you made a pair of ribbed socks? Which pattern did you use? I’m working with 64 stitches! :):)

I’ve been hesitant to share this with you, dear readers, because the first photo I took of it on instagram three people kindly reminded me that technically I didn’t finish the quilt because it’s not *all* the blocks. Then someone sweetly informed me that it could have been balanced better. Oi. Everyone is a quilt critic! But guess what? It’s done &….

I love this dang quilt. It’s so special. I loved working on it with Angela and getting to know her. I love that literally every.single.one of my quilting friends shared fabric with me so I have little pieces of all of them in it. I placed the blocks around themes; when I made them, friends who gave me scraps, certain memories. There is a little cluster from my Toronto friends, a little Sewing Summit cluster, a whole block just made from Heather Ross Country Mouse/City Mouse, which is so appropriate for my life. The blocks aren’t perfect, they are chaotic, silly, fussy cut, wonky and unique.

I don’t cuddle or sleep with this quilt, which is strange for me because I *use* my quilts to death. But this one is different. It’s sort of emotional. So it’s hiding in my hope chest with plenty of memories keeping it company.

<3<3<3

Hey!

TGIF! TGIF! TGIF!!!!

I’m looking forward to this weekend. I don’t have anything giant planned but there is something about a Friday that makes me super excited. My only plan so far is to visit Kittle’s & look at shot guns. I heard a rumor of an early birthday gift. Not something that I normally do on a weekends but it’ll be fun. My dream right now is to own this. ;)

I got something fun in the mail, new sock yarn and new knitting needles. I saw this review of carbon needles, I wanted to give them a try in the future. I ordered the needles and the yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool on Wednesday with my JBWBucks and I was super excited that they came this morning. That’s speedy! The yarn is called Colinette Jitterbug in Paintbox, doesn’t it remind you of one of those sprinkle birthday cakes with all the bits of colored sugar inside? I sort of want to make one now! (ps: this cookbook has my favorite sprinkle cake recipe: Milk)

Isn’t that donkey knitting bag incredible? I received the most amazing pink themed package from the sweetest blog reader (Beth) who sent me things so perfect that I almost died. It was like she was in my brain. I only got a cell phone photo of the treats but I think I need to do a blog post of all the presents I’ve received lately because I have incredibly kind and generous friends. I need to figure out some things I can sew as thank you gifts. Any ideas?!

I’ve been cross stitching non stop but I’m still not any neater or faster, haha! I’ve been listening to The Discovery of Witches for the zillionth time and working on Woodland Sampler! That’s a pretty big sneak peek for April. I’ve also been working on Springtime Sampler for a few hours each morning. I’m thankful for the library’s selection of audiobooks for sure!

Actually, has anyone read Iced? I’ve recently been re-reading the Faefever series from start to finish and I’d purchased Iced when it first came out but I forgot how annoying I found Dani and only got a chapter in. Now I’m not sure if I should give it a second chance?! What did you think of it?

I found a new little storage bin at Target for my cross stitch supplies. Every Wednesday Ashleigh & I take a small business class, then afterwards sit at a local coffee shop & cross stitch. I’d been using a little gingerbread man tin I got from JoAnns but it kept exploding open in my bag. This plastic one has a lid that clamps in place. Not too shabby for $2.99! I right now carry floss for Springtime Sampler and Woodland Sampler, plus needles, scissors, highlighter tape, yada yada yada. It’s thinner than my gingerbread man tin too! If you cross stitch or craft on the go, check out Target for these. They came in gray, aqua and green. But they aren’t on Target.com :( I’d love to finish stitching week 2 of Springtime Sampler this weekend and April’s Woodland sampler this weekend!

I sadly lost my Smashbook this fall. I have no idea where it went. In February I got a new one, I went with hot pink this time. I’m hoping to add some things I’ve been collecting to it soon. Agnes sent me some Studio Calico wood veneer stars that are quite possibly the cutest things ever. Also: I love glue.

Do you notice anything pretty in these photos? A new quilt! Now I have my finished Farmer’s Wife, a scrap quilt (who’s name I can’t decide. Shoofly? Churn Dash? IDK) and now this quilt to show you! It’s not bound yet and I probably won’t bind it for a little bit, I managed to make the fun of binding a scrap quilt last over a week so I’m hoping to do the same with this one. Lindsay quilted for it and omggg. I took it out of the box and seriously almost died. I posted a photo on instagram but it doesn’t do her quilting job justice. She basically took a boring quilt and made it SING. It has this shiny pink thread that I can’t stop looking at. The wool batting is making it look extra sweet. I know, I know, all my quilts are starting to look the same. Lots of pink and neutrals. I don’t even care. As soon as I pulled it out of the box my second thought was…I WANT ANOTHER PINK QUILT FOR HER TO QUILT FOR ME. It’s an obsession.

Soooo what are you doing this weekend? Hanging out at home? Wearing leggings as pants? Eating candy? Cross stitching a new Ireland pattern? Drinking green beer? Reading a book? Gardening?!

Where do I begin today’s blog post?

 If it was legal to marry a pan..

Snacking is why I’m chubby..

I love Friday’s..

Ok let’s start here:

In August Le Creuset sent me some amazing pans to try and review. Crazy right? I’m not a food blogger at all, I’m just a girl who loves to cook. A lot. And I like inspiring other people to cook, via instagram and by teaching them in classes.

I’m going to have a full week of pan/cookware reviews coming up soon but I can’t stop obsessing over this pan so I’ll share a smidge about it today. And popcorn. And dill.

One of my hugest pet peeves is when a company gives a person an item to review and then 24 hours later, they give this gushing, glowing review. What the what?! How can you form an opinion that quick?! I certainly can’t. Which is why I rarely accept things from manufacturers and why my blog is ad free. But this pan? I’ve lived with it. I’ve dropped it. I’ve had cooking successes and failures in it. It’s been abused. And hands down, without a doubt, if you asked me what my very favorite pan is, I’d say this one. If I was stuck on an island with one pan, this would be my choice. It’s my soulmate in pan form!

It’s real name is Le Creuset’s 4 1/4 Qt Soup Pot. The color I have is called Ocean and it’s quite possibly the most beautiful color. A few years ago Chop surprised me with the tea kettle in the same color and it’s dreamy. A perfect slate gray. And it’s DURABLE. I’ve brought it too and from cooking classes, friends houses, camping, etc. I had a rather memorable occasion  (read that as, I was horrified!) when I was juggling things out of our car and dropped it onto the pavement. No dings. No scratches. Relief for sure!

Our electric stove is quite possibly one of the worst. It’s ancient (no really!) and it has two settings: barely on and flaming hot. This pan distributes heat wonderfully. I can simmer soups successfully, I can create amazing jams and it goes from stove top to oven perfectly- ala my favorite curry recipe. 

Ok, so later on I’ll tell you more about this pan because I’m totally in fan girl mode right now and I’m rambling and I REALLY want to share with you my obsession with popcorn! And dill!

When I was little my mom, who’s an amazing cook, would make things like chicken & dumplings and I’d throw a hissy fit because I hated the green floating things (dill). Thankfully I’ve grown out of my hatred of dill (like, 3 months ago).

So now I eat dill like, daily. On eggs, mixed in yogurt cheese, in soups, on baked yams. Basically, dill 24/7. And now..dill popcorn.

I saw on pinterest a link to Soule Mama’s blog post about popcorn. And I thought it would be fun to take some photos of my favorite popcorn and share them with you!

I make my popcorn on the stove top using Simply Recipe’s method, which is super easy and always works out perfectly. Even if you have a horrid stove. You just need a good pan. ;)

Here’s what I do differently:

A heaping tablespoon of coconut oil instead of another neutral oil. I found this out accidentally, I don’t keep many oils in the house except for olive oil, which you shouldn’t use because it’ll burn. I had a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil left in a jar and gave it a try…perfect!

I use 1/4 cup of dill, a hearty shake (or 5) of Bragg’s Sprinkle, a melted tablespoon of butter, some smoked Alder salt (it sounds weird but it’s heavenly), some garlic powder and a healthy grating of romano cheese. That’s it. And it’s perfect for Friday’s! You can eat it out of the pan if you are lazy like me or share with your family.

You know what else is perfect for Friday’s?! Springtime Sampler. YES. It’s ready for pre-sale today and it has a chart to get you started! And theworkroom has floss bundles and fabric!

That’s a lot of info for one blog post huh? I’ll be back on Monday with some Springtime Sampler sneak peeks.

Have a good weekend!

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