Busy Busy

We have been so busy the past few weeks with getting the house set up. It is almost all done and I can't wait. It is going to be so nice once everything calms down.
 I am going to start doing destash projects. I have so much yarn its insane. My goal is to cut my stash down to one bin by spring. I have 3 big bins full right now, so I really have my work cut out for me.
 I did one destash project so far. I made an entrelac scarf.

This was my first entrelac project. I really liked it. It was fairly easy to make. I am not fussy about these colours together, but I wanted to use up some leftovers that I had all made of the same fibers. It is super warm and wide. I think I would prefer a scarf that isn't quite as wide, but over all I am pretty happy with it and it is definitely helping keep me warm.

House Progress

My daughter's room is almost done. We are putting in new flooring and I have to do one more coat of paint, then I can start getting it set up. Yay!!

On the right of her closet is enough room to put her bed against the wall and I want to put some curtains on the sides of her bed. I am thinking pink. A very girly room.

We might do some stencils on her walls too, maybe butterflies.

I have to finish taking the strip of border off the closet and I think I am just doing a coat of white on the door. Break up the purple a little bit.

My dog came for a visit while I was working.

Knittin' Mittens

I have been spending some time knitting mittens.

What I love about knitting mittens is that it is a small project that you can take anywhere with you and it is quick to finish. The mittens pictured above are worked flat in one piece and sewn together at the sides. I like this method because I find it easier to use the straight needles rather than double-pointed needles. What I don't like about them is that I had to sew them and make a seam. I love the cable pattern on them, but I think next time, if I make them again, I will make them on dpns and work in the round and eliminate the seam.

Now I am working on just a basic knitted mitten. I am using Bernat Softee Chunky and using the Bernat family mittens pattern. I made a mistake in them, I put eight stitches on the holder for the thumb and I was supposed to put ten on it, so the count for the hand part of the mitten should have only had 2 extra stitches, somehow I ended up with 4 extra stitches. For the hand I just arranged the stitches a little differently than they said to in the pattern and did an extra row of decreasing, rather than undoing all the work that I had done. 

For the thumb they said to pick up 2 stitches and I was already 2 stitches short, so I needed 12 stitches on my needle for the thumb. Instead of picking up 2 stitches I picked up 4 to get the right stitch count. 

For the next mitten I am going to make it the same way, put 8 on the holder for the thumb and pick up 4 stitches when I knit the thumb in. I don't know about the extra 4 stitches I had in the hand. Maybe I can figure out where I went wrong when I make the next one.

Mmm Pumpkin Latte

One of my favorite drinks for the fall is a pumpkin latte, the other is chai tea. 

Normally when you make a latte you have to use espresso, I don't have an espresso machine, so I just make strong coffee. It works just as well, I think so anyway. 

Brew your espresso,  or strong coffee.

In a saucepan over medium heat mix 

1 cup milk

3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tbsp pumpkin puree

1 tbsp sugar, or to taste

Whisk until hot, but not boiling.

Pour an ounce of espresso into cup and fill with milk mixture.

Pumpkin Cookies

I love fall. It is my favorite season. I love the colours that the leaves turn, I love the cool air, I love Halloween, but I think most of all I love that it is pumpkin season.

Every year I get a few pumpkins and roast them, make my own pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies. pumpkin lattes and toasted pumpkin seeds. I make sure that by the time pumpkin season is over my family is good and sick of pumpkin.

I made pumpkin cookies. I love them. They are a cakey cookie and super yummy.

2 cups shortening 

2 cups white sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

2 eggs 

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour

6 tbsp butter

8 tbsp milk

2 cups icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup packed brown sugar

 Cream together first 3 ingredients. Add eggs, mix well. Sift together baking soda, cinnamon, salt and flour. Add into pumpkin mixture, mix well. 

 Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.

Cook butter, milk and brown sugar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Let cool. Add icing sugar and vanilla. Spread icing over warm cookies. Makes about 5 dozen.

Summer

So I don't think I have posted almost since the start of summer. I spent most of my summer gardening and reading. I read quite a bit this summer and I joined a book club.
 I read the Fifty Shades of Grey series. I was very skeptical of those books. I really didn't like Christian at first, but he kind of grows on you. I wasn't sure about Ana either, but I guess the series grew on me a bit.

 


 I also read The Art of Racing in the Rain.

 I loved that all of the book was from the dog's perspective. I thought he did talk too much for a dog, but I did enjoy this book. There were lots of references to car racing and I don't follow racing at all, but the way he wrote it you didn't have to follow racing to understand what he was saying. It was a sad story, but it was also happy. I loved how positive the dog was no matter how bad things got.

 I am currently reading Lenobia's Vow. I haven't read enough of the book to have an opinion on it yet.



 I have read all of the House of Night books so far. This is the first novella that I have read. What I like about it is that I don't have to try to remember the rest of the series to understand what is happening in this book, it is a separate story with one of the characters in  the House of Night series.
  I loved the House of Night series so far, but what I don't like about it is that I read the book as soon as it comes out, then I have to wait months or even a year for the next book to come out. By that time I have forgotten a good chunk of what has happened in the other books and it takes me a while to get back into the series. Well, that being said I still would recommend those books to a friend.

 I will be doing a crafting post in the next day or so, and hopefully, even with everything that is going on right now, I will be able to get a bunch more crafting done.

Building a House

 My husband and I are talking about building a house. He has all these crazy ideas for the way he wants it to look. I am very traditional in how I would like our house to look.
 He is talking about wanting a round house. This is what I think of when he talks about it. I don't think I could live in something like that.

 He also talks about dome houses and I think of this

The are pretty much the same, I don't like them. Another one that he mentions is called a quonset house. I have never heard of it until a week ago.

He wants to take the barn that we have and turn it into this. I am all for recycling, but I don't know. This might be too much for me.
 When I think of buying or building a home for my family I think of something a bit more like this

Am I just a little behind on the times?

The Help

I watched The Help the other night. I read the book a few months ago and really wanted to see the movie. I loved it. I cried a few times in both the movie and the book.

I really love this dress that Emma Stone is wearing. I couldn't find a good picture of it with the coat off, but it is so pretty. 

 I really liked this outfit too, but I don't think I could see myself wearing it.

Wonky Pound Sign

I finished my wonk pound sign block. I like it, but I like the more scrappy looking blocks better. I am absolutely loving the quilting course. It is done so well. I get my June block instructions in a couple days. I am ridiculously excited about seeing what it is going to look like, lol.
 I hope everyone is getting some of the beautiful weather that we have had the past week. We started our vegetable garden this week, and I got quite the sun burn.

Porcupine in the tree in the front yard.

 My dog went running after something the other day. He was just freaking out. He chased a porcupine up a tree.  I am so glad he didn't get quilled ( I don't think that's a word, what would you call that though?) He is so lucky. The porcupine is still living in our yard, though so it could be a matter of time. Isn't it the cutest thing though?
 So I joined pinterest. I am trying to figure it out. When I pin something is that because I really like it, or because I am making it, have seen it or whatever? I really don't get it right now. I hope I can figure it out.

Almost Done!!

I haven't been able to post anything for a little while. Everyone has been sick with a cold.
 We had a beautiful weekend and I was able to get some gardening done. I am using one of the upside down tomato planters this year, but I am using it for zucchini. Hopefully it will work well.
 I finished my bodice. I had to adjust it a bit. I made a size smaller than the pattern called for according to my hip measurement, which happened to be the size it called for according to my bust measurement. Needless to say the top was way too big and next time I am going to make a size smaller than I did with this dress.

I finished the skirt. I really love the pockets in it. I was really unsure of having it with pockets, but I think they will be a good feature. 

I am hoping to have it finished tonight. I can't wait to get this finished and post some more pics. 

Quilting

Got all the pieces for the dress cut out and I will start the sewing tomorrow. I worked on my quilt on the weekend instead of the dress. I am a little bit behind on the class because of a 2 month trip to BC, and then a big move as soon as I got back. I finished 2 squares over the weekend, yay!

I am absolutely in love with that square. I would love to make a quilt using just that square. I also did this square:

I don't think I like the chevron square as much, but I think it will look really nice when it's done and all together. I finished this square a few months ago:

I have a a few more to do before I catch up, but I am loving quilting, so they shouldn't take too long.
All of the square patterns that I used came from the Craftsy Block of the Month course.
http://www.craftsy.com/class/The-Craftsy-Block-of-the-Month/50 it is a free course and it is done really well. I am very impressed with it, especially for an online class.

Simplicity 1803

My first blog. Yay!! Welcome to Knits Sew Fab with Alicia.
The First project that I will be making is a dress, with a fitted top, full skirt and a zipper. The pattern is Simplicity 1803.

I will be sewing view B. I just love it. It is a bit retro and flirty.

I am using a blue polka dot cotton fabric. With the cotton it should be casual enough for everyday wear. 

I can't wait to get started.