A Giftee of Socks

I haven't been posting lately as I've been terribly busy finishing up school with the kiddoes and deep cleaning, painting and spiffing up the house. I really want to get most of the inside stuff done before gardening weather is here. And you know how home improvement stuff goes; once you paint one room, the next room/hall looks iffy and you just keep going. That's how it's been at my house for the past week or so, and I'm not done yet. I'll get some pics up soon.
I just celebrated my birthday on the 15th. Gary and I went out to dinner on my son, Kyle, and it was really good! I love Italian food and he got me a gift certificate to an Italian restuarant. We both really enjoyed that. I got some other nice gifts and cards, too, but thought I'd share the cute socks that Kaleigh knit up for me. After all the work I've done today, I thought I could put up my feet for just a few minutes and admire my new socks at the same time!

Fresh Eggs

I hope you all enjoyed a blessed Easter. Our weekend was filled with all kinds of busyness. Lots of cooking, church, and family; but all good! Not the right time to tear off wall-paper and paint, but more on that later in the week.
Anyway, my husband is in the middle of building a new chicken coop. This old, shabby one was quickly built and was supposed to be replaced quickly. Instead, it's held up for several years. Time for the ladies to get a new home... but they'll need to just a few more weeks. Their "rent" isn't quite ready, yet. Kaleigh is here, collecting some goodies for us...

This is what she came in with.

And here are a few that the little kiddoes dyed for Easter. Any way we cook them, they're good. The yolks from fresh, home-grown eggs are almost orange and the taste is fresh and wonderful!

Hot Cross Buns

Blessed Triduum to you and yours!
Hot Cross Buns was on my To-Do List today. I wanted to make sure they were all set to go tomorrow morning for breakfast. They're fresh out of the oven... and of course, I had to try one. They are G-O-O-D! I will heat them up in the morning and me and the fam will enjoy them with a cup of tea. The recipe comes from the Urban Homemaker. Once I learn how to highlight to a web-site things will be much more efficient. I've gotta learn how to do that.

Spiffing Up a Bookcase and Shelves Plus A Giveaway!

My press board bookcase was not only overloaded it was also ugly. I decided to give it a good cleaning out and paint job. I put many of the books that were in there in the book room downstairs and reload it with just the things I really use. I also decided to designate a few shelves to my works-in-progress. I (meaning I directed my hubby) to sand everything first. He then put on some stuff (can't remember what it was, I'll have to ask if anyone's interested... leave me a comment)so that the paint would adhere to it. Then I (yes, I) painted the whole bookcase a pretty yellow. I brightened up that corner of the room and I'm quite happy with the end result.

I also decided to paint some white shelves that were sitting around in the garage. I painted them the same yellow and put a few baskets of sewing items in them. It sure cleaned up my sewing table drawers and now I can actually see what I have. I still have to get baskets for the top shelf and am also thinking of replacing the plastic baskets with wicker ones. I'll keep my eyes open at tag sales and flea markets for some cute storage containers.
And now some info on a GIVEAWAY! One of my daily blog roll friends is having a give-away to celebrate her 100th blog post. Quilting Memories is a delightful place to visit and is just a mouse click away. Visit Cheryl over there and take your chance at winning a gorgeous pin-cushion that she just hand-made and a book to go with it. Even if you don't win you'll have a nice visit! Hit my side-bar to get you there!

French Knot Tutorial

Making a french knot seems to be a little confusing, but really, it's a very easy stitch once you know how to make one. I wish you could sit right here next to me, in my very cool penguin PJ's, but since you can't, I'll try my best with the help of my second rate camera, to show you how to make one, step by step. So here we go:

Thread your needle with two stands of embroidery floss and knot the end. You can use a waste knot instead, but I usually don't.

Oh, and I don't use a hoop when I embroider. I like to hold the material in my hands. So our first step is to hold the material taut. Don't be afraid to grab and crinkle it... we can always iron it later...

Next, pull the thread up through your material from the back side (with your right hand), holding your material with your (left) hand very taut.

Now, hold the thread with your (left) thumb and pointer finger, very tightly.

Now, place the needle side-ways, UNDER your thread, all the while, holding the thread taut.

Wrap your thread twice (or however many times you need to) around your needle, all the while, holding everything tightly.

Now poke your needle down into your material very close to where you came up, all the while still holding the thread and material tightly. As you pull the thread down from the underside (with your right hand), with your (left hand), guide your floss and hold floss tightly to make a nice, neat knot.

Ta-daaa... you're done. Now try again. You probably didn't get it the first time through, but if you keep trying a few times, I think you'll get it.

Making Bread and Spring Top Week!

I did a bit of sewing today. I'm going to join Rae from the Made by Rae blog. Beginning April 27-May 1 you can participate in making yourself tops... from one to five. I'm going to see what I can do, as I have patterns and material waiting to be made into spring/summer tops that I bought last year. I'm up for the challenge as I'd like to use up what I've bought and make myself some cute tops. Hit my side bar to go directly to her blog.

I also made some delicious bread. I got the recipe from www.grannymiller.blogspot.com. It's a wonderful recipe and I can make six loaves of bread without one of those expensive heavy-duty mixers. I just use a hand-held mixer. Look on Granny's blog and hit her Bread post, scroll down to the comments and see where she answered my question about the mixer. She saved me $400.00 because I almost bought one, but had a real hard time parting with that kind of money! Check out her blog, but do so when you have a lot of time. Her blog is wonderful!

Knitted Friendship Scarf

I have four friends that I'm on a Yahoo group with. One of the ladies organized our little group as we were all friends with her. She asked each of us if we wanted to belong to her little knitting group and swap projects. Without all knowing one another,we all blindly agreed. It has turned out to be a wonderful decision for all of us. We've found friendship, prayer, support and of course, great knitting buddies. We decided to knit a round-robin scarf. This one is mine... I started it with a garter border and six stitch border on either side. I then knit 16" or so of a pattern stitch. I then mailed it to the next person and she knitted whatever pattern stitch she wanted for 16" or so, then passed it on to the next person, and the next. While my scarf was being passed across the country, I was getting in their scarf and knitting on it. What fun! As we knitted on each others scarves, we prayed for that person's intentions. When I wrap the scarf around my neck, I feel like I have a hug from each of my knitting buddies.

Each is an example of a different stitch...

Some are reversible...

Some are not...

It really didn't matter what we knit, as long as it was pretty!

I have no idea what our next project will be, but I know whatever it is, I'll cherish it as it will be passed through my very good friends' hands.