Just as I was about to write–no, film a tutorial of how to block your lovely knotted work, I plugged in my iron and found nothing. Nothing. That’s right. My iron is broken. No one knows how. Seems to be a mystery, but I guess that’s not important because the fact still remains that we need a new iron. Any suggestions? I need some serious steaming power on it.

Borage Pattern from Lion Brand

It was a pun.  Get it?  I know.. cheesy, but I told you early on our adventure together.  I like puns.  Moving on… I like these dainty flowers from Lion Brand.  They’re really simple and could make a really cool project.  Oh, you’re waiting for me to provide something to do with them?  Just a second, I’m still thinking.  I will post when I think of something!  Pinky swear.

Batwing Hoodie in Grey by tldgrainwear

Everyone knows that.  In fact, it’s the reason we’re in a drought now.  (For those of you who are not from Los Angeles–or are, and didn’t know we’re in a drought… we are low on water and yes, there are such things as “water police” to monitor our use of H₂O)  BUT, if there were ever a day where it rained for a record breaking more than 3x a year, I would definitely buy this jacket.  Actually, I would buy this jacket, even if that day never came.  First, I need it to rain some money…  It’s a reasonable price, I just don’t have the dough.

I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve blogged.  But don’t think that I’ve taken a break from pursuing my dream of becoming the next Martha.  I just haven’t had time to write about it yet.  :)  I have been crocheting myself a blanket (you can see the first about it here) but my granny squares have been coming out so wavy, I was starting to wonder if they were really going to reach 12″x12″.  So, I decided to try blocking them.

From what I’ve read, the majority say you’re supposed to block your work when you’re completely done with your project.  But, since this was really worrying me, I decided to block each of the 3 pieces I already finished just to make sure they were measuring right.

Now get ready for some pictures that will make you question if this is the work of Merlin.  Don’t worry folks, this isn’t magic…

Before Blocking (Ok, so this square wasn’t completely finished yet, but you get the idea)

After Blocking

I read SO many articles about how blocking could not be done to acrylic yarn (of course this was after I already bought a small mountain of acrylic yarn) but there were a few pioneers out there that said it could be done.  I will be posting a full tutorial on this when I get another moment to breathe.  As for now, I’m late to work.  See you soon!

Yay!  About 2 weeks into this blog and we have our first bit of recognition.  (At least what I know of.  Maybe I should google myself.)  The awesome, awesome blog, One Pretty Thing has featured my pattern of our favorite cat–Ramses.  And the coolest part–maybe tied with the fact that we’ve been featured–is that my very good friend, Amy from Mod Podge Rocks, project got featured as well!  Well, she wrote the project for a blog swap she did with Somewhat Simple.  Phew!  That was a lot of links for one post!

Thanks again One Pretty Thing!  And make sure to check out the other links.  But make sure you have time because you can get lost in all the great projects and posts in these blogs.  I ♥ crafting.

I have a terrible confession to make.  I learned to crochet over 3 years ago, crocheted non-stop for about 1 1/2 years and then stopped.  Just stopped.  Up until yesterday, I had balls of yarn, crochet hooks, and old knotted samples just waiting for me in a bag.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to even do a double crochet–let alone a pattern.

About a week or two ago, I was online looking for inspiration (that week I was going through a bedroom revamping phase) and I came across this awesome blanket.  But, being the organized person I am…I forgot to label what store it came from.  Sorry!  But it’s bugging me too!  I’m determined to find out where it’s from–it’s just going to take a while.  I’m not sure why I never really thought about it before but a blanket with giant granny squares just seems so fresh and updated.

Original Blanket of which I can’t remember its origins…

So, that’s what I’m doing.  For this project, I’m using Vanna’s Choice yarn from Lion Brand, and for the colors, it’s a very similar color scheme as the original.  In Vanna White’s words, I’m using Terra Cotta, Wild Berry, Pea Green, and Beige.  I’m considering a gray or taupe colored yarn for the border of the whole blanket, but we’ll see how I’m feeling at that point.

I looked up measurements of throws and it seems they’re usually about 5′x6′ and the squares I’m making are about 1 square foot, so that means I’m going to need 30 of these.  THIRTY.  Well, I’ve got 2 down and 28 more to go.  I wonder when I’ll go crazy…

My squares so far.  Ooo ahhh.  These aren’t blocked yet–and now I’m going to pretend like I’ve blocked pieces before.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.

I love plushies.  They’re soft, cute, and they’re a fun and quick project!  I was like you about 4 months ago.  I loved them but it seemed impossible to find free patterns online of plushies that were simple to make.  Fortunately, I somehow woke up with the knowledge one day of how to make them and now I’m sharing the wealth!

Ramses is a new member of the Janie XY family.  Here’s his story:

Ramses was named after the great Pharaoh (um, his name was Ramses in case you were wondering).  Unfortunately, this cat doesn’t like all the attention or responsibilities that comes with being someone in the public eye.  He enjoys his privacy, likes to read under the dining table,  and in his own words, “excels at mediocrity”.  His parents don’t always approve of his behavior as they’re celebrities (you might have seen them before–they were extras in The Aristocats) but Ramses could care less.

Download the Pattern by clicking the link below:

Download Ramses the Cat Pattern

If you like Ramses, check out my shop!

Welcome to my new home.  Make yourself comfortable.  Forgive us for our appearance, we’re still moving some furniture around and finding new decor.  Oh and don’t forget to tell your friends about our new space!  :)

-Janie

We love fruits at our home.  So much that whenever we see a good deal, we stock up.  I mean, Y2K stocking up.  Raid the grocery store of all the prettiest apples, peach, pears, etc; go home and lock ourselves up with our groceries and wait for the end of the world to pass.  Well, the first half of that was true.  We still live our lives normally.  I promise.

The only thing is that we can only eat so many fruits a day, so we always get left with those apples that go soft and at that point, who wants to eat that?  Well, I couldn’t let it go to waste (and I’m not that fond of apple sauce) so I decided to bake up some apple streusel muffins.  One word:  YUMMY!  And the best part is that they’re super easy.  I would say they’re  fail proof, but I don’t want to get angry emails about how I mislead people into thinking they could let their 4 year old kid and their dog bake the muffins.  (Although, they probably could… just saying)

Apple Streusel Muffins

Time:  1 hour total

Difficulty:  Are you kidding me?

Servings:  Makes about 18 Small Muffins

Here’s what you need:

• 1 chopped apple
• 1 shredded apple
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

For Streusel Topping:

• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp butter

What you need to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Place baking cups into cupcake tray.
2. In a small bowl, combine apples and white sugar.
3. In a large bowl, combine all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Mix in the apples and sugar mixture and combine until the batter is thoroughly mixed.  (Be careful not too mix it too much, that creates bubbles in the batter.)
5. Scoop batter into the baking cups and it fill it 3/4 full.
6. To make streusel topping:  in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, all purpose flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Cut the butter into the mixture to create a course texture.
7. Sprinkle streusel topping onto the prepared batter in cups.
8. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer is inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.

Itty Bitty Pretty in Pink and Stripes, $2.35

You know when you find a nickel on the street and it somehow makes your day–even though you can’t really buy anything for a nickel anymore?  But just knowing that maybe this nickel will even out your coin collection to be worth $10, or knowing you’ve walked away with something you didn’t start your day with.

Itty Bitty Mini Owl Cards, $2.20

Well, that’s how I feel about thank you notes.  Usually, when I purchase  or trade something on Etsy, my favorite part is opening the package and finding a simple “thanks!” included with my awesome item.  It always reminds me that there’s a human on the other side of this–the human that made what I now own.  That’s why these mini thank you cards are the perfect fit to lift up anyone’s day.  Give them their “lucky penny”.

Snowy652’s selection of mini cards will give anyone in need of pint-size stationary exactly what they’re looking for.