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i made it myself: summer of socks 08

This week has been so busy. I actually had something else to post today for “I Made it Myself,” but I don’t have time to blog about it. In fact, I can’t believe I’m blogging at all. I got up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday so I could do morning pages and post my socks before we leave for Kearney. Who am I? Here are the socks:

socks

And here are the stats:

yarn: cherry tree hill sock it to me cabin fever
needles: size 2.75 mm
pattern: slip rib pattern from stitch dictionary

I am totally in love with these. I’ll blog more about them later.

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easy kids shorts pattern

UPDATE: Thanks to the Craft Magazine blog for their link to my pattern!

I’ll say right up front, this isn’t an original idea. There are lots of tutorials on the web on how to make kids pants, like here and here. There’s also a cool how-to in The Creative Family.

I also need to note that my daughter really doesn’t need any more pants. She has plenty, and it’s too hot to wear them now anyway. So, I did the next best thing. I made her shorts! (Shhh… she has plenty of shorts, too. I just really wanted to sew these and was looking for an excuse!)

easy kid shorts

They turned out nice. The t-shirt fabric is from one of my old Gap shirts that has a little stretch to it. I didn’t make them too snug, and hopefully they’ll last through the rest of the season.

easy toddler shorts

I used a pair of her shorts as my pattern and traced them onto paper first. The template fits on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, so I figured why not share it with the blog world? You can download it here.

Drop me a line and let me know if you make a pair. I’d love to see a photo if you do! Also, this is my first attempt at writing a sewing pattern. Please let me know if something isn’t clear!

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bruschetta tomato basil topping

I’ve been making bruschetta out of my old bread. When it gets too dry, I toast slices until they are crispy and spoon on some tomato and basil topping. Instead of rubbing garlic and oil on the bread, I added them to the topping.

bruschetta

Bruschetta Tomato Basil Topping

2 tomatoes, deseeded
12 (or more) fresh basil leaves
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t kosher salt
1 T olive oil

Whiz everything together in a food processor. Spoon onto bruschetta. Enjoy!

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socks, socks, socks!

Some of you may have heard me rambling on about Summer of Socks as I knit on tiny needles around and around in circles. While I was working on my parents’ afghan the past year (and a half!) I had been collecting a little bit of a sock yarn stash. (Well, if you call a rubbermaid tote filled with yarn a little bit. Hey, it’s a medium sized tote, not a big one!) Anyway, I decided that after knitting such a large project, I was only going to knit small things for awhile.

Then I heard about Summer of Socks 2008 and joined immediately. It’s basically a bunch of contests all summer long and the more socks you knit, the more chances you have to win. Look at all of the socks knitters have finished and it’s only the end of week two! I think the winner of the most socks last year knit something like 42 pairs. Pairs! My goal is just one sock a week. So far, I’m on track. Here’s my first pair:

socks

For those who are interested, here are the specs:

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM
Needles: size 3 mm
Pattern: plain toe up stockinette socks with Wendy Johnson cast on, Cat Bordhi master toe up heel flap and Elizabeth Zimmermann sewn bind off

I also decided to sponsor a prize for one of the raffles. I’ve been working on some different sock basket prototypes and I think I’ve finally got a pattern I really like. Most sock knitting totes are designed for knitting on the go, but I wanted something that would look cute around the house. I do most of my knitting at the kitchen table and wanted a little basket to show off my socks-in-progress. Here is the tote I am donating as a prize:

Just before I started SOS08, I finished up a pair of socks that I had on the needles since last October. They don’t count toward the contest, but they turned out really cool! I love the zig zags.

jaywalkers

For those who are interested, here are the specs:

Yarn: Cascade Sassy Stripes
Needles: size 2
Pattern: toe up Jaywalkers with Wendy Johnson cast on, Cat Bordhi master toe up heel flap and Elizabeth Zimmermann sewn bind off

Phew! Now I think I need a proper pair of sock blockers so I can take prettier pictures of my socks. I found an online tutorial (not big on the coat hanger idea) so maybe before the next pair is finished!

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free fabric!

UPDATE: I’m crossing out items as they are taken.

I’m giving away some fabric to either FreeCycle or the People’s City Mission and thought I’d check with my crafty blog readers to see if they wanted any of it. Most of it is from a garage sale. The guy was a fashion student at UNL. He said it is all “designer” fabric, but I have no idea what that means. There are no labels. I don’t know what the content of the fibers are, either. I’m guessing most are synthetic unless I’ve noted otherwise. But, hey, it’s free! All I ask is that if you are not local, you pay for shipping and handling. First come, first served. I’m also posting this on twitter. Click the images for larger sizes.

I also have a Big Box of Scraps. Felt, cotton, polyester, denim, silk, lace. Some big, some itty-bitty. (Good for appliqués?) It’s heavy. I could stuff it all in a flat rate box if you are interested.

fabric 1

watermelon perla: 180″ x 52″ – good for curtains or chair covers
black: 56″ x 76 ” – nice drape
black: 120″ x 80″ – nice drape, lighter weight than the above fabric
navy: 44″ x 54″ – satin-like shine on one side, dull on the other side
black: 44″ x 18″ plus a little extra – satin-like shine on one side, matte on the other
black: 45″ x 96″ – satin-like shine on one side, matte on the other

fabric 2

tan: 50″ x 18″ plus a little extra – light weight
brown, green and red: 22″ x 13″ plus a little extra – appears to be cotton
black: two 52″ x 6″ pieces and one 19″ x 12″ piece – appears to be cotton
brown: 56″ x 8″ – this is really soft and would make a nice scarf
gray: 58″ x 13″ – this is really soft and would make a nice scarf
black and white: 58″ x 48″ – taffeta like, shiny on one side

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can you spare a square?

Our knitting guild is making squares and putting them together as a blanket for folks at the People City Mission. Our first blanket it being crocheted together by the very generous Jennifer. We hope to have enough squares by the end of the year to make a second blanket. My personal goal is one square a month. I made that goal and have six squares in this blanket. I’m going to work hard to do the same for the second one.

I know there are tons of knitting for charity sites around, but if you can spare a square (or a few), our guild would love to have them! All they need to be is 8 x 8 inches square and knit out of washable and dryable yarn (i.e., acrylic). Leave a comment if you are interested in helping out!

squares

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father’s day gift #2

When I was in college, I had an oversized barn jacket that I just loved. When T and I moved in together, he decided that he loved it, too. When the weather turned cold, I’d reach into the closet for my jacket only to find T was already wearing it. I figured the only way to get my jacket back was to get him one of his own. It worked. I gave it to him for his birthday and he started wearing it immediately. I got my jacket back!

One day, we noticed a hole in his pocket. It was pretty big and right in the middle. He couldn’t remember snagging it on anything. A few days later he had another hole. It was bizarre. He backtracked through his day, remembering when he was wearing it and what he was doing. Nothing special had happened all the way up to when he came home and put it on the back of the dining room chair. We went over and took a look at it. I examined the pocket, found a roll of mints inside and figured it out!

chloe

Chloe LOVES mint. She will do anything for it. Catnip pretty much does nothing for her, but mint? It makes her go crazy. Crazy enough to chew a hole through a brand new barn jacket pocket to get her fix.

T continued to wear the jacket, but the hole started to fray. Once it started looking ragged, he saved the jacket for weekends and outside chores. He was back to wearing my barn jacket the rest of the time. That was before we were even married. A lot of time has passed and he still only wears his jacket for things like shoveling snow, cutting down Christmas trees, etc. I decided to fix it for Father’s Day.

jacket

It wasn’t too hard, but it was time consuming. I had to rip all the double stitched pockets carefully, cut them up, rearrange to hide the holes, and then restitch them together. Then I had to do the same thing to the other side so it didn’t look weird. I tried to find complimentary or contrasting fabric, but had no luck. I am kind of bummed that the underneath fabric was so much darker. The jacket has seen a lot of sun and is really faded. Overall, though, I like the end result. He did, too, by the way. And he plans to keep it in the closet from now on.

jacket

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mmm… homemade salsa

salsa

Tonight we stayed in and grilled up some salmon for dinner, along with some steamed asparagus and baked potatoes. Our menu seemed a little dull, so I decided to jazz it up a bit with some salsa for the salmon. I imagine this would also taste great on grilled chicken.

Tomato, Basil and Mandarin Orange Salsa
Adjust amounts to taste. I didn’t measure when I made this, so these are approximations.

1 large tomato
1 mandarin orange
10 chopped basil leaves
1 T finely diced onion
1 T white wine vinegar
1/2 t kosher salt

Cut and de-seed the tomato, then dice. Peel the orange. Using a serrated knife, thinly slice off the pith (the white, thread-like stuff attached to the inside of the peel). Then dice, cutting between the sections. Combine the tomato and orange with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes. You can whiz it in a food processor a bit if you don’t want it so chunky. Serve on grilled salmon or chicken. This would also taste good on bruschetta!

salsa