String Theory

homemade vanilla- first use!

i may or may not have blogged about this recipe before.  my apologies if it's a repeat.  what i really want to write about is the fact that this is the first time using my homemade vanilla!  i started it way back in august (see yo ho ho and a bottle of rum) has been ready for a while now.  i have four little bottles in my cupboard.  it's not quite as dark as store-bought imitation vanilla, smells much better than store-bought though.    i baked a "fruit swirl coffe cake" today and used my DIY vanilla in it.  it's bad for you, has lots of sugar, crisco and white flour, but i grew up eating it and it makes me happy.  when eating a piece this afternoon i tried to search out the vanilla with my taste buds and compare it to previous coffee cakes made with imitation.  maybe it's all in my mind, but i have to say this coffee cake is one of the tastiest i remember making.  i credit the DIY vanilla.

Fruit Swirl Coffee Cake

• 1 1/2 c sugar (i cut it back to 1c)
• 1/2 c softened butter
• 1/2 c shortening
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3c all purpose flour
• 1 can fruit pie filling

Glaze: beat 1c powdered sugar and 1-2 tsp milk until smooth

Grease jelly roll pan, heat oven to 350.  Cream sugar, butter, shortening, extracts and eggs.  Stir in flour.  Spread 2/3 of batter in pan.  Spread pie filling over batter.  Drop spoonfuls of remaining batter on top of filling.  Bake 35-45 minutes.  Drizzle cake with glaze while still warm.

 

Under The Sea Embroidery

I discovered Sublime Stitching a couple of years ago and bought a bunch of their embroidery patterns.  They have so many kitschy/retro designs! Like many of my crafty endeavors, my embroidery phase glowed brightly, fizzled and then went out like a 4th of July sparkler.  A few months ago I picked it back up again and finished this cute little mermaid sitting amongst the seashells. (Sorry, I haven't laundered or pressed it yet so you can still see some of the iron-on ink.) I enjoy embroidery, I wouldn't say that I'm very good at it, but I enjoy it all the same.  It's relaxing, you can have a conversation and stitch at the same time and it's good for car rides if you don't feel like reading.  Plus you can never have too many hand towels. 

"Shoe and Tell"- Tammy's POV

heather and i decided to tackle the same crafty project-to sew Sewing With Me's "Olivia" pattern- in january and then post our results.  miracle of miracles, i've actually succeeded in reaching the deadline a bit early!  i'm going to use the www.sewing.patterreview.com format for pattern reviewing.

Pattern Description: The Olivia Women's Shoes are women's room shoes of a rather elegant and pretty design. These room shoes are best made with brighter or lighter colored fabrics, as the pleated design will not show as well on darker fabrics. In combination with the curved sole in its design, the pleats in these shoes give the shoes an overall feminine feel, great for pairing with a light summer dress indoors.

Pattern Sizing: ladies US 5-11 (I cut the 7.5)

Did it look like the designer's picture when you were done with it?:  Yup.

Were the instructions easy to follow?: For the most part, yes.  I feel like the fabric cutting instructions could have been a bit more clear- numbering the pattern pieces would have been helpful.  The pattern also called for interfacing and unless I missed it, I never saw instructions as to when to add it.  This wasn't a problem for me since I've been sewing for a while, but it might have confused a beginner.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?: The band across the top of the slipper gives a bit of a cinched appearance and makes the toe box look "flippery"- as in penguin feet.  I feel like she should have called for a heavier interfacing for the heel strap- the back is kind of floppy. I also had quite a bit of fabric left over- the pattern should have called for less.

Fabric Used: Woven Kermit print cotton for the outside and cotton Kermit flannel for the inside and toe band.  (I saw the flannel first at the store and knew I had to buy it when I saw the matching woven.) Black cotton canvas for the sole for durability's sake.

Pattern alterations/design changes made: None.

Would you sew it again/recommend it to others?: I would suggest it for a slipper pattern, but certainly not for actual shoes.  Probably won't sew it again.  Not that I worry too much about how slippers make me feet look, but I have narrow feet and as stated above these make my feet look like flippers.

Conclusion: These will make fine lounging slippers for warmer days.  They're very lightweight, but even with the flannel lining I don't have high hopes of them keeping my feet warm on cold winter nights. They're billed as "shoes", but I can't imagine wearing these outside of the house.   


   

 

 

Winter Sweater For The Tiny Guy

Usually if a knitting project gets set aside for a few months, it ends up being unravelled and the yarn used for something else. I started making this little cardigan just after finding out that this little boy was, in fact, a boy. At some point the project was set aside, and when I found it again,  I realized it was mostly finished. I was tempted to unravel it since all inspiration for finishing it was gone, but that would have been a huge waste. 

So I very slowly plowed my way through the rest of the knitting, and of course I'm glad I did. It fits him well right now, and should last for the rest of the winter.

The tough guy model pose. It's all about the eyes.

Ravelry notes are here.

A Fine Yarn Along

Now that we're in the midst of the-house-is-chilly-every-day part of winter, I've been thinking I could use a new cozy cardigan. It's been a long, long time since I've knit a sweater for myself, but I feel ready to at least tackle a larger knitting project. We'll see how long it takes to complete!

When it's finished it will be the Paulie cardigan, only orange with brown stripes, since that's what I had in my stash. The orange is Vermont Organic Fiber Company's O-Wool 2-ply, a yarn that has very sadly been discontinued. I'm tempted to scour the internet buying all the O-Wool I can find since it's such beautiful stuff. But I won't. Must.maintain.self.control.

The book is How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm, by Mei-Ling Hopgood. I don't know where I heard of this one, but something caused me to request it from the library system, and I'm so glad I did. It's a fun book about child-rearing customs in different parts of the world. Things like how in other cultures it's okay to keep your kids out past 7pm, or that in some places children are trained to actually eat food like green beans or Brie. It's a gently thought-provoking, but not guilt-inducing book. 

I'm joining Ginny for the yarn-along today.

This Moment- Sleepy

Joining SouleMama today.

Yarn Along and Shoe And Tell Update

 This week I'm working on a hooded baby cardigan for a friend. It's a cute pattern, but definitely takes more than one skein of yarn to complete. I'm making a few other changes to the hood and the length of the body, and I'll try to write down some notes about it when I put the project on Ravelry.

I've been reading Leadership Education: The Phases Of Learning by Oliver and Rachel DeMille, and though we'll never follow just one method of education around here, this book is giving me all kinds of good ideas. The book is about practical ways to implement a mentoring-based education in your home, while the DeMille's first book- A Thomas Jefferson Education, is more of an introduction to the philosophy. Despite the trendy and heady-sounding titles, the methods are all about supporting a child's natural flow of learning as she grows.

A small amout of progress has happened on the Shoe and Tell project. They're starting to look like shlippers!

I'm joining the yarn along with Ginny today.

Sardines

I found this scene before going to bed last night. Apparently we can fit many more kids than we realized into this teeny tiny house of ours.

Chilly Outdoor Fun

I've been tossing the kids outside to play as much as possible this winter. It hasn't been hard, considering the unusually mild weather. This is from one of the freaky warm days when I didn't even require them to wear hats or mittens. The kids managed to find some bits of unmelted ice, and the game of the day was smashing.

What's fun about taking photos of them outside right now is the pretty evening lighting that happens in mid-afternoon. So at least there is something to motivate me to get outside with them, instead of hiding inside and cowering from the cold as I would like to do.

Yea, winter probably isn't as bad as I usually make it out to be.

I'll keep telling myself that.

Caught In The Act

I was about to ask her to help me clean up the house, but after seeing this, how could I interrupt?