An update, plus some fabric porn!

I've been neglecting this blog of mine.  A lot of things have been happening to me that it kind of got put on the back-burner.

I've been doing a lot of knitting.  I've been knitting up trigger mitts like crazy!  I don't have any pics at the moment but I'm waiting on payment for a pair, and I'll post pics of them once they've arrived at their destination.  I also made a pair for my mom, but of course like the awesome person I am, I forgot to take a picture of them to show you all.  Now, I need to finish up Ivan's cardigan, and Kris' toque, and start the set for my niece (who, luckily enough, has a birthday not long after xmas so if I don't finish in time, it'll be her 1st birthday gift!)

I haven't worked on Ivan's quilt, but that'll come soon.  He doesn't care when he gets it but I'd like for it to be a xmas gift.  I also still have a charm pack waiting to be table-toppified.  So much to do and so little time!

Anywho, here's that fabric porn I was talking about:

I love me some new releases!

Crustless, paleo, ramekin pumpkin pies!

Beautiful colour!  Fresh from the oven!

So, I'm sure you all want the recipe!  Well, I'll provide one, but it's not a perfect recipe.  Basically what I did was I took bits and pieces from several recipes (both traditional and paleo), since I could only make enough filling for 600ml (200ml each ramekin) I had to fudge the math a bit (which I'm bad at), and created these mini pies.  They turned out delicious!!

I'll put my original amounts and notes in parentheses.  I had a tad left over but it wasn't much, not enough to do anything with, but these adjusted measurements should yield exactly 600ml of filling.

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree  (I used more like 1 3/4 cup but also less maple syrup, see below)
2 eggs (I think mine were extra large, they're free-range and unmarked)
1/2 cup heavy cream or coconut cream (only had roughly 3/4 cups in table cream, but if I were to re-do, I definitely would use HEAVY cream, or at least unsweetened evaporated milk...  I had to use what I had on hand though.  Plus I used less maple syrup, see next...)
1/2 cup maple syrup (I only used 1/4 cup originally since maple syrup ain't cheap, but this was not sweet enough for me!)
Spice to taste, about 2 tsp worth of pumpkin pie spice or your preferred ratio of nutmeg/ginger/cinnamon/cloves.
optional, 1/2 tsp vanilla (I used a full tsp..  It was too much!)

Blend up, fill your three ramekins, and bake at 350 for about an hour, or until the middles aren't jiggly.  Enjoy!

Flickr Roundup: Cross-stitch

If you've played Portal 2, you'll get this.  This is so awesome, I have no words.  I wish I made this.

Pacman in such a fancy frame?  I love it!

I love samplers, and I love matryoshkas!  So cute!

 And finally...

Beautiful scene.  I love the Poe moon!  Actually, I love everything about this.  Plus, I've been toying with an idea for an embroidery project inspired by poetry, this is motivation to get designing!!

Just a selection from the Cross Stitch Crazy pool!  I'm so addicted to browsing Flickr, it's seriously my best inspiration second to browsing supplies.  Take a look, and inspire yourself!

Crewel sampler anyone?

I just found this pattern and I had to share it.  It's such a cute sampler that would look so nice in a little girl's room.  I might just have to get it, I have a couple little girl relatives...  Ooh!  One day they'll be old enough to make their own samplers, too!  Oh man, if I ever have a daughter I'm going to get her hooked young.  Not to say I wouldn't teach my son if he were interested.

Here's the link:  Daisy Chain ABC Sampler

There's also a stitchalong on flickr, just too adorable.

I really don't need another project, but I love the look of crewelwork.  It lends itself really well to folk art designs, and I love the "rugged" look crewel wool lends to a piece.  It hasn't been incredibly popular since the 70s, I totally think it should come back.  It's such a cool facet of embroidery to me.  A google search shows vintage and contemporary pieces, to get the gist of what I mean.

It's worth it to persevere!

The other night I hauled out my sewing machine to start quilting the "wee woodland" quilt for DS, meaning it's the first time I've ever done free-motion stitching on this machine (a Pfaff Select 4.0, I can't go on enough about how awesome this machine is when it functions properly).  So I take some scrap batting and fabric and read the manual, put on the walking foot, lower the feed dogs, thread the machine, take a deep breath, and start quilting the scrap piece.  Tension was off.  Fix the tension.  Try again.  Tension is still of.  Adjust adjust.  I finally get it perfect, but I decide to test a little more before plunging into quilting his actual quilt.  Good thing I did, because it started birdnesting.  BAD.  I spent the rest of the night, and half a fucking spool of thread trying to fix the issue.  I was ready to give up and fling my machine out the window.  Finally I just decide to put it all away and go to bed, and phone the sewing machine repair place in the morning.  He didn't really help (if you're in my town, you already know who I'm talking about, and you probably know he's a jerk.)  So, I just decide to rethread, slowly, carefully, making sure the thread passes through the tension ring properly, change the needle, and...  voila!  SO HAPPY!

I don't have images, so I'll just describe what I'm doing.  Just up and down, wavy lines.  I tried a meandering stipple but I didn't like how it was turning out, I was making WAY too many mistakes doing so many curves, plus the fact I chose a chocolate brown thread, which on the back is very noticeable, meaning all my mistakes show loud and proud...  I ripped out the stipple but even the wavy lines have their little jumps and bits that don't look right.  I'm trying not to get bent out of shape about the imperfections, it's my first machine-quilted quilt, also, I'm sewing it all on the floor!  So I think my mistakes are forgivable.  Adds character, right?  Right.  And from far away (without my glasses on) it looks just fine.  I also bought fabric pens on clearance at Michael's so I can sign the quilt when it's done!

I already have plans for my next quilt(s).  Not only do I have two charm packs of Moda's Grand Finale (and plenty of backing left over from the current quilt that happens to match well) to make a throw/large baby blanket, and a charm pack of Countdown to Christmas that I plan on making into a table runner, but I'm also waiting for my order to come it at the local quilt shop; I ordered a jelly roll of Circa 1934  and I'm SUPER excited to have it in my hot little hands!  With that I'm following this tutorial, although it's too late to participate in the quilt-along, boo...  I always find these things after they're done with!!  It would be nice to have a local quilt-along, or stitch-along, or knit-along.  Actually, there are knit-alongs through Threads in Time once in a while but it's never timed right for me.  I never do swaps either, even though Craftster is full of them.  Maybe one day.

Just my luck...

So, I needed thread and safety pins and some other things from Fabricland.  We haul ourselves over there this morning and I get the stuff, everything is fine, baby is having a grand ol' time and all that.  Then we decide to go to Bulk Barn, right next door.  Fine.  I get some dark chocolate covered almonds, great.  However, I LEAVE MY FUCKING FABRICLAND BAG with all the stuff I need RIGHT NOW in the isle.  Top it off?  DH drove out to Kakabeka with DS so I could pin the quilt all together and start quilting it.  And I can't.  What a waste of my alone time.  Do I decide to do housework?  Fuck no.  I'm pissed.

So now that my rant is over, here's some eye candy:

 ...All laid out, ready to be safety pinned all together so I could get going with the quilting, but I have to fold it all up.  Argh.  Oh well, there's always after bedtime.

First post!

So this is my first post.  I suppose I should fill you in on things, like the purpose of this blog, etc etc.  Here goes!

I like to knit, spin, crochet, sew, quilt, embroider...  Pretty well anything with textiles.  I like creating warm, functional, and sometimes even pretty things.  However, considering I have to run after a one-year-old all day, I thought if I can't find time to do these things, I'll try writing about them!  I occasionally cook, too, and my husband and I are paleo and so I'll also be going on about that, too, I'm sure.  (Everyone likes talking about what they eat, what's up with that?)  My son is "helping" me type, so, this will be continued later.  By helping, of course, I mean smashing on the keys and grabbing at the mouse.  Sometimes he makes my computer do the strangest things just by mashing keys when I'm not around to stop him!!

(Now it's after he's gone to bed...  Woohoo!)

I've got a huge pile of WIPs on the go.  A pair of socks for my niece, with yarn set aside for a matching dress and hat; a jacket for my son, and I plan on making multiple socks for him (I got a ton of sock yarn on clearance!); an afghan for DS; wool from Creature Comforts and Katrina's Wool World waiting to be spun, and some wool that's spun and sitting on the bobbin that I need to deal with; and finally, my current active WIP, a quilt for DS made with a charm pack and yardage from Moda's Wee Wonderland line.

So why aren't I working on anything right now?  Well, I decided to paint my nails for the first time in YEARS.  Probably since 2008 at least.  I've never been good at doing my nails, and lets just say this lack of practice definitely shows.  Seriously I've seen better nails done by 5-year-olds playing with mommy's makeup.  I don't know why, I'm just particularly inept at doing my own nails.  Globby mess.  Oh well!  The texture gives visual interest DAMNIT!

So here are some fabrics  I'm coveting:
Larkspur in tea by Alexander Henry
Floral Silhouettes in Lush by Patricia Bravo
Fresh Cut Flowers in Paprika by Sandi Henderson
Big Owls in grey by Kokka
Matryoshka in peach by Kokka

I'm thinking of doing a quilt in Impressions by Ty Pennington (spice pallet) OR Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry (granite collection).  I've also been oogling Silent Cinema by Jenean Morrison but I don't know if I like how bold some of the prints are; same deal with Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry (I'd go for either the "pond" or "sunglow" pallet I think, maybe a mix.)

Not like I have any money!  Ha!  A girl can dream though, right?  Really, wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy ALL the fabric and ALL the wool?!  But really, where would I store it all?  My house has no closets!