Quote

Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong. --Lao-Tzu

Also joining in with this one! :)

Welcome one and all!



p.s. I totally messed up when I was adding my link to this Friday follow- Sorry! But at least you made it right? ;)

Joining in the fun again. :)

One skein.

This is what I ended up with after winding this yarn into a ball(s). Don't you hate it when the skein is all messed up? I do. Besides the three balls you see, there is also a knot in the middle of the medium sized one and three other major blemishes in the big one. I'm going to attempt making a baby blanket with the largest one... we'll see how it turns out.

In other news, I was able to get a hat and mittens set finished yesterday. Good thing too, I need the whole set (blanket included) done by tomorrow night! I'll be giving them to my sister-in-law at her baby shower on Saturday.

Here's Emerson modeling a sneak peek of the mittens and hat set:

Can you tell I really like this green yarn? I think it works well for a boy OR a girl, depending on the colors you pair it with.

I'll share the blanket as soon as I'm done. It's gonna be the yellowy cream above and the charcol gray contrast color in the mittens and hat set.

p.s. Do you like the ear flaps? I do. Super easy to add to the origional hat pattern. I'll share later. :)

I do, I do, like green poop and ham?

Ok, no ham really, but, as a crafter/reader/blogger do you ever feel guilty for not crafting/reading/blogging? I do. 'Cause I have all these plans and then life happens and I end up not being able to devote the time that I want to to my craft. Poor Eme has had an upset tummy for a little over three weeks now and because of that wants to be held a lot. And bounced a lot. And NOT sleep a lot (at least during the day.)

Last Friday I was VERY flustered by the time my husband got home. Like, flustered to the point of tears flustered. I had all these things that I had planned to do and had gotten NONE of them done. Plus, after two and a half weeks of going milk free and CHOCOLATE free M's poop (yes, I'm gonna talk about his poop- if you're not a mom, sorry; if you are a mom, I know you totally get it) was still green. The only other thing I could think of that I had had everyday was wheat. I went from flustered to depressed VERY quickly. Wheat is in EVERYTHING. And, I was freaking out. No bread. No cookies. No marinades. No SOUP!! (Those that know me, know I heart soup. ) Or at least thickened soups... So I can still have pho. I can't even have soy sauce!

So, I have been wheat AND dairy free since last Saturday night. Guess what?! His poop was yellow again all day yesterday!! Maybe I was getting some milk in there for the first almost three weeks? Or maybe he's allergic to both? I guess we'll see as time goes on and as the doc figures it out. Oh. We went to the doctor's yesterday- I hadn't mentioned that.

Hopefully, he'll be right as rain soon and I can get the things that I want and need to be getting done. (Like the baby shower present for my sister-in-law.) Until then, I've realized that it is more important to tend to him and not be upset if I can't do all that I want to. He's only gonna be a baby once and I need to enjoy it. (And I am!!! Oh so much!) Green poop and all. :)

Lookit my lovelies

Aren't they pretty? I'm going to attempt a quilt for my little bud. Wish me luck...

This is a fun idea.

It's Follow me Friday over at Trendy Treehouse. I've found a few cute blogs to follow too! I heart finding new blogs to stalk. :) Check it out:

(*Blush*) I was featured!

Helena over at Life in the Pitts liked my Sweet Newborn Hat and Mittens Set and included them in this post! How awesome is that?! I'm pretty excited at the moment! And yes, I realize that I have ended every sentence with an apostrophe, but gimme a break people, I've never been featured before! It's an exciting moment in life for me! Ok. Now the apostrophes are getting out of hand. I'll stop. Anyhow. Go check her out. She has a fun "life" blog. "Life" meaning that she not only blogs about crafts or recipes or any one thing, she shares some awesome commentary on her Life (in the Pitts(burg)). Thanks for making my day Helena! :)

I'm Linkin' Up Again.

Also, I'm working on an awesome nursing dress. I'll share when I'm done. It just might become my first tutorial! We'll see how it turns out.

I'm linkin' up!

On a mission.

Eme LOVES to be swaddled. Loves. It. However, he is also a wiggler and therefore, eventually wiggles out of his swaddle. And then smacks himself in the face. Which inevitably wakes him up. ('Cause who wouldn't wake up after being hit in the face?) So, I'm on a mission to make a better swaddler. I'll share when I'm done. Loves!

I figured it out! Here is the Newborn Hat and Mittens Pattern:

Newborn Hat
Yarn used: Homespun by Lion Brand
Size H hook

row 1: ch 4, join last ch to 1st.
row 2: ch 2, sc in ea st around,join with sl st (5)
row 3: ch 2, 2 sc in ea st around, join with sl st (11)
row 4: ch 2, sc in ea st around, join with sl st
row 5: ch 2, 2 sc in ea st around, join with sl st (22)
row 6: ch 2, sc in ea st around, join with sl st
row 7: ch 1, 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next, repeat around, join with sl st (35)
row 8: ch 1, dc 1, sc in next 4 st, repeat around, join with sl st (29)
row 9: ch 1, sc in 1st st, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (30)
row 10: ch 1, sc in ea st around, join with sl st
row 11: ch 1, sc in ea st around, join with sl st
row 12: ch 1, sc in 1st st, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (31)
row 13: ch 1, sc in 1st st, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (32)
row 14: ch 1, sc in 1st st, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (33)
row 15: ch 1, sc in 1st st, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (34)
row 16; ch 1, sc in 1st st, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (35)
Tie off, weave in ends.

Infant Mittens
Yarn used: Homespun by Lion Brand
Size H hook

row 1: Magic circle 5 sc
row 2: ch 1, 2 sc in each st around, join with sl st (10)
row 3: ch 1, 2 sc in ea st around, join with sl st (20)
row 4: ch 1, 2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 st, repeat around, join with sl st (25)
row 5: ch 1, dc 1, sc next 3 st, repeat around, join with sl st (20)
row 6: ch 1, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (20)
row 7: ch 1, dc 1, sc 2, repeat around, join with sl st (15)
row 8: ch 1, dc 1, sc 3, repeat around, join with sl st (12)
row 9: ch 1, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (12)
row 10: ch 2, dc in ea st around, join with sl st (12)
row 11: ch 1, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (12)
row 12: ch 1, sc in ea st around, join with sl st (12)
tie off, weave in ends

Tie

Ch 50, tie off, weave into double crochet.

I gave my baby a tattoo...

Ok, not really. I made him a Valentine's shirt. Of course I'm his Valentine.

Here's a close up of the "tattoo". Also, of all the pictures, it is the truest to the real life color.

The shirt is a nice, dark navy that in it's past life was a man's XL t-shirt. I recycled. I used this tutorial from Made. You could also make it with a onesie (get one at the dollar store!) or a purchased t-shirt. Then I cut out the heart (also from an old t-shirt) and just eyeballed the embroidery. I "heart" how it turned out!

Sweet Newborn Hat and Mittens

So, these are obviously NOT for Eme. 'Cause boys don't wear flowers! I made them a friend's new baby girl. I like how they turned out. I'd share the pattern (it's mine), but for some reason I can't copy and paste it from word. If'n I can figure it out, I'll share. But for now enjoy the picture. :)

My Newest Favorite Person

This is Emerson Graham:

Isn't he the sweetest?

I just ordered this picture BIG.

As in 16x20 big.


Can't wait to see it tomorrow.

I put it in B&W too.

Which do you like better?

He has my feet. :)







And. He's sleepin' on my chest right now.
I know you're jealous.

Possibly the BEST Icing EVER.

This is a recipe for Italian Buttercream. Got it from the "Baking at Home With the Culinary Institute of America" cookbook.

It. Is. Divine.

Really. The next time you make a cake you NEED to frost it with this icing. You can thank me later.

Ingredients:

1 recipe Italian Meringue (Recipe to follow.)
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter (Hey, I didn't say low fat, just worth it.) diced, at room temp.
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Just before you are ready to make the butter cream, prepare the Italian meringue. To do that you will need the recipe. Here it is:

Ingredients:

Cooking spray for greasing
3/4 cup sugar (divided use)
1/4 cup water
5 large egg whites

Grease a heat proof glass measuring cup. Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar with the water in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 230 degrees F. At that time, place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on medium speed until frothy. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat the meringue to medium peaks. When the sugar mixture reaches soft ball stage, 240 degrees F, pour it into the measuring cup, then into the meringue in a slow steady stream on low speed. Increase the speed to high and whip until the meringue cools to room temperature and has the desired peak.

Ok. Now on to the main event!

Once the meringue cools to room temperature and reaches stiff peaks, add the butter a few pieces at a time while continuing to whip on high speed. Once all the butter has been incorporated and the butter cream is thick and very smooth, blend int the vanilla extract. The butter cream is ready to use now, or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Let the buttercream soften at room temperature before beating it on low speed with the paddle attachment to make it warm and soft enough to spread. (IF you refrigerated it.)

Now. It is AWESOME as is, but if you care to increase it's awesomeness 10 fold, do this:
make it chocolate.

Melt 1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate, let it cool to room temperature, and add to the buttercream just after the vanilla extract has been added by stirring about 1 cup of the buttercream into the chocolate to lighten it, then adding the lightened chocolate to the remaining buttercream.

I am telling you. It. Is. The. Best. Icing. Ever.

Enjoy. :)