A Blanket

A giant hook and super bulky yarn make a blanket come together rather quickly.

It's a rather large granny square, with modified corners to give it a more substantial weight. Lion Brand Homepsun yarn is a bit finicky to work with, but makes beautiful cozy home items. This blanket will most likely become a Christmas gift, but I'm still debating about adding more yarn. It is finished for now, hence my sharing it. I love how cozy it is!

The granny square style is also perfect for little ones, because the holes give them something to grab. 

My photo doesn't do the colors justice. The darker color is a rich purple-blue, with flecks of teal, and the lighter color is white with blue, purple, and green alternating. 

Sitting gets Boring

Sunday Instagram:

Using the super bulky lion brand homespun thick n quick, I have progressed way further than this pic shows. Of course, it having been taken on Sunday has something to do with it. I also finished my book. My little pumpkin went through what felt like a growth spurt Sunday and Monday- he was nursing like crazy all day Monday- so I had plenty of book time. My crocheting progressed as well. I'm working a giant granny with modified corners as a way to work through some of my Homespun stash. The yarn was purchased on clearance for craft show purposes, but I'm at a point where I want it used up more than I want to make more craft show stuff. The FO will likely become a Christmas gift for one of the sets of parents. 

My shawl has made progress as well. I have about ten more rows before the border. 

Since finishing The Beekeeper's Apprentice on Monday, I have been reading bits of different things. Nothing's really sticking, but I'm hoping to find something else soon. 

I'm getting a bit of 'cabin fever', being inside with a baby all day. We've been running errands and taking walks to ward off feelings of depression. 

Stop by Ginny's for more Wednesday yarn goodness!

Adventures in Baking

My husband does not like even slightly brown bananas. So when I buy bananas and they go uneaten, oftentimes they end up in the freezer. (note: I don't dislike bananas, I just tend to forget that they are waiting to be eaten.) Our freezer has a habit of spitting things out at us when we are searching for something, and the bananas were a victim. The plastic container they were in got cracked, and I started the hunt for a banana recipe. I've made muffins and the like before, but this time I needed something quicker-- having a baby in the house means baking time gets reduced.

Luckily for me, the first recipe I had on my cooking pinterest board was a banana cookie recipe that boasted only three ingredients. I was incredulous, but given the ingredients- bananas, oatmeal, and chocolate chips- I didn't think it could go terribly wrong. As you can see above, I didn't make cookies. The "batter" was a bit disagreeable, so I just spread it out like a cookie bar. I also added more chips and cinnamon and vanilla, per the comments on the original recipe post. 

They turned out not quite what I expected, but I ate them in the span of a few short days. Several people commented on the texture, but I didn't have a problem with it. I would definitely consider making these again, especially since there is little you can do to make these "wrong".

Sitting Down

I've been spending lots of time sitting. Not complaining, especially when my view looks like this:

I'm working on a single crochet crescent shaped shawl. Using knitpicks stroll in firecracker heather and bare that I dyed pink. I plan to add a third color- berry sangria on yummy fingering from candy skein yarns. 

Near all of my typical sitting spots are books, though mostly I've been reading ebooks on my iPad. Monuments Men is my current ebook, with The Beekeeper's Apprentice on the side in paperback. There are a few other books as back up, but I haven't started any of those yet. I'm enjoying reading both books, and Monuments Men is a good refresher for me for WWII. I'll be teaching that era come November, so I felt it was good to be up on it. 

Check out Tami's and Ginny's for more mid week progress. 

A few Small Things

With this cutie pie ruling the roost, there has been very little crafting time for me. I've been trying to keep up with my lesson plans for the substitute teacher in my spare moments. However, we have engaged a photographer friend to do a newborn session, so I'm prepping for that. 

I was making great progress on this cocoon, until my husband pointed out that it was going to be too small. So half of it got frogged. I have to try it on the little guy before I make any further progress. Luckily, I have two more weeks before the photos. 

The hats are my other small project(s) in progress. My aunt has been generous enough to continue to allow me space at her craft show booths, and we had a two day show last weekend. With the new baby, i was only able to help for part of one day, so I don't know how well I did, personally, so I'm trying to make sure everything gets restocked. My owl and monster hats seemed like crowd pleasers while I was there, so more are in progress now. 

I'm not reading as much as I thought I would-- mainly ebooks that I can download on my ipad for nighttime feedings (someone blogged about that last week, and I was inspired. It makes feedings feel faster). Library ebook selections are not the most diverse, but something to read nonetheless. 

Be sure to check out Tami and Ginny's blogs today! 

Lighthouses

The peace in troubled seas. A light shining through the darkness. 

Only a few weeks ago (was it only a few weeks? it seems so far from here and now) the Summer Camp musician introduced us all to a new song. In reality, its not *new* new, but new to us. It struck a chord with me due to my attachment to lighthouses. When we came home from camp, I found that the original artist is this Irish Christian band, Rend Collective. Their music definitely fits into the stuff I like.  

In the times of murkiness I've had, this song has become encouragement. Another blessing from summer camp.

Also, the music video's kinda quirky, and I like it.

Quiet and Simple

Labor Day weekend and a little munchkin in the house definitely make me lose track of the days.

Most of my day looks like this. When I have gotten a moment or two of crafting, it looks more like this:

Simple and mostly intuitive infinity scarves (next to lesson planning books, lol) are the best projects right now. I have a few little baby hats in progress, but they're in the other room and my lap is occupied. :) 

Healthy baby, quick delivery, and my time

is less my own. But we are blessed, and I need to keep reminding myself of that. Quiet simple days are not a bad thing. Just something to adjust to.