It’s been a while.
February 7, 2009 at 7:22 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentBut I’m back to blogging, although I have a completely new home. I know, I know, another move, but this time I think it’s permanent. I’m really happy with the new blog and hope you’ll come see me.
Election Day
November 4, 2008 at 10:46 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentIt’s hard to believe Election Day is finally here. It’s been exciting watching the projections trickle in but still way too soon to call. However, this time tomorrow we’ll have a new president.
In honor of today’s events I thought I would compile a list of Election inspired links. You can start at Oh Fransson where you have a few more hours to enter to win a super cute mini-quilt.
If you like paper crafts and are disappointed in tonight’s winner, head on over to Fold Us Candidate where you can download and fold your own.
If Obama is your man, how about knitting your very own Obama sweater?
If you’re a history lovin’ baker, here’s a link for you about the history and recipe for the Election Cake.
Thanks to Lion Brand, there are McCain and Obama fingerpuppets to knit.
In a few short hours we’ll have our winner.
Let the gift making commence
November 2, 2008 at 7:10 pm | Posted in holidays | Leave a commentSomewhere back in the beginning of the year I made a list of all of the gifts I wanted to knit for Christmas this year. Here we are, November 2nd, and I have exactly none completed. (actually none started either) As a matter of fact..to add insult to injury..I started a new WIP this week, a February Lady Sweater, and it’s for myself! Today I’ve gone back over the list, made a few revisions, and have a plan of attack. Although, the list now includes a little knitting, sewing, and baking.
If you are at all interested in sewing and crafting Christmas gifts, please let me direct you to Sew, Mama, Sew. They have just started their annual series of posts called “Handmade for the Holidays”, which includes daily tutorials and gift ideas. I’m super excited about the camera cozy tutorial that was posted today.
All of this talk about the holidays has me really pumped up about Christmas. It’s my most favorite holiday of the year because over the last many years my family has developed some really fun traditions. They begin just after Thanksgiving and start with the annual craziness of black friday shopping. That same weekend my cousin and I will be making our annual Christmas cookies. Last year we made something like 30 dozen cookies to give away to coworkers and family, and I expect this year to be no different. I just can’t believe how fast this year has gone by and that the holidays are just around the corner. I’m even hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year and I can’t wait!
NoBloPoMo begins
November 1, 2008 at 11:41 pm | Posted in Baking | Leave a commentIt’s officially the first day of November and here I am, sneaking my first post in just under the wire. Since I’m a bit unprepared and don’t even have a picture to post, I decided I would instead share a recipe.
I’ve been trying really hard to cook and bake much more healthy meals for Chris and I. With that in mind, my sweet husband found this recipe and made these low fat, really tasty muffins for me for a surprise awhile back. They are moist and not too sweet (just the way I like them) and are always a hit at work. They are also what I plan to be eating for breakfast this week. Incidently, they happen to be only 2 points on Weight Watchers.
Low Fat Carrot Cake Muffins
1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 tablespoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Ground ginger
1 Egg
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil
1/4 cup Raisins
1/4 cup Chopped walnuts
1/2 cup Lowfat milk
1 Can crushed pineapple — (8 oz)
1 1/2 cups Grated carrots
1/4 cup brown sugar
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to blend. Spoon into sprayed muffin tins or paper muffin cups. Bake at 350 F for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins
Credit for the recipe goes here: Recipezaar
A Challenge
October 28, 2008 at 10:20 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentI was doing my daily round of blog reading when I came across a link for NoBloPoMo. The next thing I knew, I had signed up with the idea that I will be posting on my blog every day for the entire month of November. I think I’m up for the challenge. If anyone else is interested, there’s a few more days to join in!
Vacation Blues
October 20, 2008 at 8:52 pm | Posted in knitting, Uncategorized, vacation | 1 CommentToday I have a serious case of the vacation blues because it’s the last day of it. For the last week Chris and I have been vacationing in Washington State while visiting with his family and having a wonderful time. Sadly, tomorrow it ends and I have to go back to the stress of work. But, I’m not going to think of that now…on to happy things..and vacation pictures!
First though, I have some real live knitting content to share with you! While we were in Tacoma I made another trip to the lovely little yarn shop, Lamb’s Ear ,and while I didn’t get a lot, I did find a few bargains.
This tweedy Plymouth Lambs Wool was 50% off! I bought the last 4 balls in this blue-grey color at about $3.50 a piece! The yarn is pretty soft and I’m imagining these balls becoming a pair of Dashing mitts for my sister-in-law.
I also picked up 2 skeins of Berroco Comfort that I’m working into a Clapotis scarf. I really like this yarn because it’s super soft, and weighty enough to be a little drapey, which I like in a scarf. Interestingly. I’m not usually one to pick blues and greys but it was rainy off and on during our visit so it seems maybe my mood was reflective of the weather. I have to add here, it feels so good to be back at knitting. It’s just that time of year when it’s a warm and comforting thing to be doing.
Anyway, still speaking of knitting…I learn so much from all of the knitting blogs I read whether it’s different techniques, patterns, or even in finding inspiration. While in Washington, Chris, my sister-in-law and I did a little hiking up at Mt. Rainier. The leaves are just beginning to change colors and that day the sky alternated from grey to bright blue depending on where you looked. I was reminded of one of my most favorite knitting blogs, Getting Stitched On the Farm. Kristen Nicholas often posts about colors you find in nature and how you can get inspiration for knitting by them, so I’m posting a few pictures here that will serve as color inspiration for me.
I love the yellows, oranges and red of fall.
I think part of what made me so awestruck with these vibrant colors is that we don’t really get much of a color change in the leaves in Florida. Everything goes from green to darker green to brownish green in the winter.
How about those blues?
And even some pink! But this picture was taken at the Port Defiance Zoo on Friday.
Ok, now for some plain old gratuitous vacation shots.
The mist you see there is actually in front of a big glacier.
The three of us, Cathy, Chris and me.
And lastly, I’ll leave you with this picture of Mt. Ranier taken from the plane as we flew home Sunday morning just before sunrise.
Oh, one more thing! I came across these awesome Mittens today at Knitlob’s Lair that were a must have for me. I love them and will be making them soon!
New Digs
October 7, 2008 at 9:39 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 CommentsWelcome to the new home of “Ingrid Knits”…only as you can see, this home has a new name. I decided that if I was going to change up the format a bit, then the blog deserved a new address and a new name too. I toyed around with a few other blog sites but in the end decided to stick with WordPress. I’ve been pretty happy here and aside from a few mildly annoying glitches, I like the setup. Most importantly, I already know how to use it. It was a cinch to transfer over the old files so here we are. I hope you’ll update your feeds and/or bookmark the site and come back again soon.
The last few weeks have been flying by, but I did get to squeeze in a few fun activities. Two weekends ago I went to Jacksonville’s Quiltfest for the first time and was absolutely A-mazed at the quilts on display. This being my first quilt show, it never occured to me that I’d want to take pictures, and boy am I regretting not taking my camera. I did take a few grainy shots for future quilt inspiration but nothing I can retrieve from my phone for the blog. I loved seeing the winners of all of the different categories and it really was just like going to an art gallery. I’ve been tinkering around with different books from the library on quilting but nothing has really struck my fancy as the quintessential beginner’s book on quilting. Please, if anyone has some suggestions send them my way. While I was at the show I did treat myself a bit and picked up a set of fat quarters.
I’m not exactly sure what pattern these will become, but most likely I’ll try another patchwork quilt. I’m still very unsure about how to choose a pattern and how to best utilize the type of fabrics I’m choosing. I think I’ll try to stick with something super easy that will mostly help to improve my sewing and measuring accuracy.
The same weekend I went to the quilt show, Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe on her website for Challah bread. I can’t recall ever having eaten Challah bread and it looked so delicious. So that night I got bitten by the baking bug and was up until 2am making this from scratch!
It was SO yummy…and this is what it looked like after french toast the next morning…
It really does make the best french toast!
I’ll have some actual real live knitting content in the next post. Christmas is coming, the weather is finally cooling down, time for some knitting needle action.
Change is good thing!
September 21, 2008 at 11:53 am | Posted in Quilting | 1 CommentSo, the last time I wrote (which I realize was awhile ago) I mentioned that would be trying my hand at making a baby quilt. Well, I’m happy to say I have actually completed one, though not for a girl as originally intended. The quilt for my friend Johanna’s baby is about halfway completed. My sister Anna came over one evening and saw what I was working on, and asked me to make one for her friend’s shower as well. So, that weekend we went fabric shopping and the whole quilt was finished in about a week and a half.
I wouldn’t really call the pattern my own, because I know millions of people have made this same quilt. But I will say I did the whole thing completely off the cuff. I chose this configuration because I’ve only had my sewing machine for a very short time, and this was about as easy as I could imagine making a quilt without any instructions. I figured out how to make the mitered corners on the binding by watching a few YouTube videos, though I couldn’t quite figure out exactly how to sew the ends of the binding together properly. I’ll work on that more with the next quilt.
The backing was a super soft flannel that will be warm when our cooler months finally get here…whenever they get here….
Mistakes..they are aplenty, but overall I think it came out pretty good, and very obviously handmade. The best thing about this project is that I learned SO much from just this one quilt; from how important proper cutting and measuring is, how the iron really is your friend, to how tricky it is to “stitch in the ditch”.
My sister presented the quilt at her friend’s baby shower this past Thursday and apparantly it was a hit. I’ve even had a request to make another quilt for one of Anna’s co-workers that will be given as a Christmas present. I’m really enjoying my exploration into sewing but just like knitting, being new to a hobby can be overwhelming. There are so many things to learn!
I’ve been thinking a lot about the blog lately and have come to the conclusion that some change is needed. I still love knitting, though it has been scarce lately, but I also love so many other things that I thought maybe I would expand the premise a bit. I feel like knitting has led me into other endeavors, such as sewing, that I’m really interesting in learning more and blogging about. Many of you also might not know that I really love to cook, and I’d also like to share a little more about my adventures in cooking. Along the way, I’m really hoping to improve upon my photography skills, which are currently not that great at all. So, with all of that being said, I hope you will still come by and visit. I have so many ideas for future posts that I’ll have much more to say in the warmer months when knitting might not be on the forefront of my mind.
A few more things I wanted to mention…please stop in and say hi to my friend over at Daily Stitches blog. Reading her blog was one of the things that inspired me to try my hand at quilting.
Again, I am forever inspired by the people who encompass the “blogging community” and nothing could drive this point home more than with what has been happening in regard to the young mom to four children who writes the blog Nie Nie Dialogues. Stephanie and her husband were in a plane crash recently and they are now both recovering. She still remains in critical condition but her blog and story are lovingly updated by her sister at C Jane Enjoy It. What has been so inspiring is how the blog community has jumped in to help with the recovery and have hosted auctions all over the internet that have so far raised well over $100,000. Please check out the links above if you’re interested in reading more about the couple or you want to donate to the recovery fund.
Lastly, I decided that if I’m going to be changing the blog, I should change the name as well. It’s true, this Ingrid does knit, but she does many other things as well and I’m drawing a complete blank for a new name. If anyone has any suggestions, please send then my way. If I decide to use your suggestion, I’ll give credit where it’s due and send something special to you as well.
Lost my mojo
August 17, 2008 at 10:54 am | Posted in knitting | Leave a commentI feel as though I’ve been floundering in the land of lost knitting mojo this summer, but I think I’m finally getting it back! I’ve been thinking a lot about knitting, and thinking a lot about what I would like to knit. I’ve made regular pilgimages to Ravely and I’ve been looking wistfully at my WIP pile and glancing at the christmas knitting list, but I just could not seem to get up the motivation to pick up my knitting needles. Well thank goodness, we have another pregnant co-worker to give me the kick in the pants I needed.
The mom to be is having a girl, which is exactly what I was hoping for because I’ve been itching to start the Helena sweater from Knitty.
I’ve also been tinkering with my new sewing machine and so far have made a cover for the machine as well as a very scary looking sock monkey. I’d really like to try my hand at making a cute baby quilt so Johanna may have hit the jackpot by being pregnant just as I’m finishing my summer classes, trying to get my knitting mojo back, and learning to sew.
Call me Elinor
August 1, 2008 at 6:17 pm | Posted in knitting | Leave a commentLoving Jane Austen’s novels as much as I do, I couldn’t resist this little quiz I came across while reading Purls Just Wanna Have Fun
Take the Quiz here!
Which Jane Austen heroine are you?
Blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
Scratchmade 