crafts and yogurt

progress on the wastebasket: very good. this is a promising project. dh Mr. TellBlast gave approval to its looks this morning.

progress on current prayer shawl: poor. I've knitted only once or twice this week.

progress on G's jean quilt: still at a standstill. My wonderful partner brought her walking foot over. The quilt is too thick to fit. The crazy quilt came together so easily with the batting and backing with the same foot. Denim is too thick. I'll probably sew little spots like a button, or duvet instead. I'll make decisions about how to place them. And I had such a cool quilting pattern in my mind.

yogurt: it's great. I am crazy serious about my love for crockpot yogurt. My third batch is just as thick as the second, but I let it sit for 3, not 5, hours. I am wondering if the culture being in (unflavored whole milk yogurt) vs. (vanilla 2% milk yogurt) makes the difference. Everything else I use is exactly the same -- Heartland whole milk in the glass bottle, crockpot, and the culture (yogurt).

Vanilla Yogurt Recipe

1/2 c. crockpot yogurt
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. white sugar

I hesitate to use vanilla because of the thickness issue. (Same with honey. And we're on our last jar, which I blame on A's grandpa.) For yogurt with fruit, we frequently go without vanilla extract. It enhances the flavor, but is difficult for my 8 yo (actually all of us) to measure in that amount. We usually just drop the fruit in a cup, cover it with a little sugar to make it weep a bit, then spoon a bunch of yogurt over the top. Mmmm.

Wastebasket

Before I got my supplies ready for a scrapbooking crop tonight, I thought I'd get a project started -- a wastebasket. As I searched for a new wastebasket to go in our bedroom, I remembered some things for inspiration (besides the idea of not spending any money).

First, a very large basket at the State Fair, made entirely of newspaper. I've never seen another one. Uber-leet. (That's "very elite," or "extremely cool," in pre-teen gamer talk.)

Second, a book that I'd gotten years ago, after my pine needle basket phase and before my ultra-short telephone wire basket phase. Mr. TellBlast had found a fantastic price and it has been a good reference book. I have read it intensely at times. It gives details on a few weaving and finishing techniques. Our willow baskets were inspired by this book.

Third, this basket (the tag read, "Floppy Storage") at a store. It's made of wide felt strips and trimmed out with small buttons. Definitely not the right shape or size for what I want -- it looks a lot like a paper grocery sack. Not that I've haven't used a paper grocery sack as a wastebasket in the past, but I'm hoping for something different. And sturdier.


Fourth, these nested bowls. I saw a blog about crafted pencil cans, little boxes, change/key tray, etc. that someone made out of magazine pages. I tried and tried and tried, but I cannot do this satisfactorily. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. I'm unable to find the original blog, but you can go here to see the same thing. Check out the price that I found.

So we'll see how my wastebasket progresses. I am also working on a magazine rack for myself -- progress is much slower since there is no deadline like Christmas looming big over my head. It's taken three months and is one third cut out. My business partner loves it. I think she wants to join in the holiday smelting (our word for crafting. Do a search for "Victoria Jackson/Paul Simon SNL Christmas skit" and ypu'll understand.).

Sweetener Giveaway

Maybe you read Diana's recent dmJuice bit this week. Go sign up for her giveaway. I find it pretty exciting since I'm constantly trying to increase my food consciousness. She also contributes to the Simply Food blog. You can see it in the list of blogs in my sidebar.

This and That

Kitchen crafting today. Yummmmm. Five Minute a Day Bread as Sticky Pecan Rolls. I first heard a friend talk about this recipe in 2008. I wish I hadn't waited so long to make these! They are wonderful. The basic boule recipe is just revolutionary for me -- it's consistently good and relatively time efficient. I used hickories instead of pecans since that is what I had on hand. You might remember that our family did a lot of hunting for hickories last October. It's been quite handy to have a hickory stash in the freezer. I love free and yummy.

The other thing I wanted to talk about is -- snakes. How did I ever pass a Fourth of July with my kids and never buy them a pack of snakes to burn? I spoke to dh Mr. TellBlast and N of GAIN about finding only sparklers and confetti poppers at the store, no snakes or morning glories. My youngest asked what snakes were! None of my kids knew what they were. So I found a pack of 36 snakes. The boys went crazy with them after dinner. I managed to save 12 snakes for the girls this weekend ("A" of GAIN is on mission this week). Only boys would plan a "hydra formation" and other craziness. They purposely used the cinder block by the rain barrels for their snakes. It was dry, and close to water should anything go amiss. They were planning! I think boys are underestimated sometimes. Or, if you watched "Bedtime Stories," you might say "underdemiciated." They did a great job cleaning their mess, too. Now, for the dangerous part of this post. You can make your own snakes at home! Look at this.

Prayer Shawl and a Chair

The prayer shawl. Remnants of Lion Brand Homespun here, in three colorways -- Colonial (blue), a small stripe of Antique (red), and mainly Sierra (tan with earth tones). Knitting keeps me busy while sitting on the couch with Mr. GAIN during TV time. Without knitting, I'd be in another room, which bothers me. I'd like to spend my time with my spouse. I love spending time with him, that's why we married.

Since our new recycling bin came to our garage, we've been pressed for space. We moved an old rocking chair out to the garage just before the recycling bin came. This chair has been in Matt's family since he was young. He's repaired it a couple times. In order to dispose of it, we decided to have the boys tear it down for the garbage bin. Fun day for them.

Sticks and yogurt

On the sticks: a prayer shawl! I'm using my remnants. I feel awful not using the donated yarn from parishioners. I'll get a picture up and list colorways once the shawl is long enough to photograph nicely.

Yogurt: I accidentally forgot about my crockpot full of milk last Wed. Instead of resting for 3 hours, it rested for 5 hours. An impromptu visit to Living History Farms made me forget. Fear of wrecked yogurt fell upon me during the five minute ride home. I proceeded with the recipe as if I hadn't left the milk sitting longer than instructed. The result? Thicker yogurt! Making a note to use the longer time.

For those of you who aren't ready to make your own yogurt, you may want to head over to fellow Iowa home school mom Darcy's blog. She's giving away Stoneyfield Farms Yo Baby yogurt, along with other Stoneyfield Farms stuff (bib, bowl, etc.) The contest ends on Sunday, July 5th at 11:59pm CST.

qotd

from the sunday funnnies on june 14, 2009. Pickles.

Women speak of the present because they've learned in past experience not to trust men to get things done in the future.