HATS HATS HATS HATS! And a Hair clip or 20!

I have been a hat making maniac the last few days... I took a look around the WWW, and didnt find ANYTHING I liked. So what's a girl to do?

MAKE HER OWN PATTERN!

This is what I came up with:

This is Tundra, crocheted with Lion Brand Tweed Stripes... a super soft, super warm 100% acrylic striped tweed... (go figure read the name) I bought it at Wal-mart for 3.95 a ball or so.

This is Caramel, same details as above, but in the Caramel colorway (discontinued)

This is Woodland, same details as above, slightly different pattern (not by much) and this yarn is also a discontinued colorway.

That's what I have for now, however, I will post the patterns over the next week or so.

I have another pattern all together on the hook now. Still need to try to knit this yarn, just to see how it looks that way.

Tomorrow, you'll see my hairclip madness. I have 4 shops in the local area who want to consign my hair clips, so I am crocheting them up like a crazy woman! I'll have a pattern for the clips, and a tut for the boards I have backed them with in just a day or two.

Food for thought: copyrights

Now... the question I am posing is this: if you are looking for a design, but don't find one, and end up using another persons work for inspiration does it count as copyright infringement? I have an uncanny ability to look at a project for a few min, decipher it, and then recreate something very similar without ever paying a penny for the original pattern. Since I am not using their pattern, is it copyright infringement if I sell the items I make from the inspiration of the item?

 

denim daze!

Ok, so I can't give you the tute yet, but it is on its way... has anyone else seen these quilts?

Well, I am making a tote bag from this concept... only I am drawing on the blocks with my own designs! Super excited to show everyone this rad idea! whoever thought of this was a genius!

 

A tribute to Harry Potter, and an era at an end (Spoiler Alert)

(Spoiler Alert)

Along my side bar, you will find a countdown.

This countdown is the end to an era, and an end to my favorite series, both in Novel and Movie format.  This countdown marks the release of the final movie in the Harry Potter series.

If you, like me, wish to honor and pay tribute to the franchise that brought reading back to an entire generation, that brought generations back together for mutual entertainment, and kept people guessing and creating, then keep reading.

If you are not a great fan of Harry Potter, then this is not the blog post for you.

 
When Dumbledore fell from that tower, and the crowd began to gather (movie) they used their lit wands and their tears to honor Dumbledore and clear the sky of the dark mark. What a way to honor the fallen.

 (SPOILER! SPOILER! Don't read ANY farther if you have not read ALL of Deathly Hallows)

In Deathly Hallows P1, Moody was murdered trying to safely escort Harry away from the Dursley's, Hedwig was killed trying to protect Harry from the Death Eaters (Movie) and is dropped from the side cart (Book), and in both cases, Dobby finds himself run through with Beletrix's blade while taking Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ollivander, Luna, and Griphook to safety from the Malfoy's Mansion just before Voldemort is summoned.

In Deathly Hallows P2, many more will die, or will be injured gravely.

How better to honor the fallen than to follow suit.

I post a challenge to the true fans, who will be going to the midnight premier of the final installment of this beloved series.

At the end of the movie, once credits have finished rolling, raise your wand (or wand hand) and whisper, or yell (comfort levels) "Mischief Managed" as tribute to the characters, and the story itself.

What do you think?


 

3 bean chili

For some reason, summer makes me crave 2 things.

Fruit and Spicy

I can't get fruit right now, so instead, I catered to my spicy craving.

Homemade, 3 bean chili

Recipe as follows:

Ingredients

1 1/3 C Pinto Beans

2/3 C Navy Beans

1 2/3 C Black Beans

2 Lbs of ground beef (you could use stew meat)

1 Can Swanson's Beef broth

1 Can whole yellow corn

1 package of McCormick chili seasoning

soak beans overnight.
place beans in crock pot on high with enough water to cover about an inch over the top of the beans.
pour in the can of beef broth and the can of corn and package of chili seasoning
let simmer for 5 hours, or until beans are soft.
brown the beef, and add it in (add the grease too, it helps flavor)
Simmer an additional 30 min, add cheese on top and any other things you like with chili.

Serve on it's own with some cheese and sourcream, or over hotdogs or fries.

Let me know if you try it..
 

A lot going on...

Consumer behavior: Boring

Core Fusion: Exhausting, but invigorating

A wedding:

A gas crisis: ran out of gas, and out of money to get gas, and needed to be in school, but couldn't afford to get there... a friend rescued us.. again. Thanks Amy.

A stress induced panic attack: See above

A painful chiropractic adjustment: Just as it sounds.

First hot temperatures in several months, and they are consistent.

Salsa, beans, and jam galore... Pictures on hubby's comp, will link when I get them from him.

New feather earrings:

Chicken and dumplings for the first time:

French Onion Soup, for the first time, ever, making or eating:

And much more...


See? A lot has been going on.




 

Pesto!

Here is my Pesto Recipe!

2 cups of chopped basil
1/2 cup of olive oil ( try to use extra virgin olive oil, but not needed)
1/3 cup pine nuts, walnuts, or peanuts (mine used peanuts, it's what I had)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan (see note below)

Most Pesto recipes use Parmesan or a similar cheese, I didn't have it on hand, and you don't want to add it if you plan on freezing the pesto. If you freeze this pesto, it works great to portion it into an ice-cube tray, then once they are all frozen, pop them out, and into a small tupper-ware container or plastic bag. Then when you want to use it, you can add Parmesan when you thaw them out, how do you do that without the mess? pop one of these cubes in a shot glass, and thaw in the fridge.

This makes 7 individual portions.

Here is mine:

The picture doesn't do it justice!

Here is my hubby's take on it:
"Extreamly flavorful, everything that bland is not."

4 star, 5 with Parmesan

Hope you like it!

MM mm Veggies!

Today was the first farmers market of the season!

And, I just got my last paycheck of the school year... a whole $99.00

So where did we go? what did we do?

We were responsible adults, and we paid bills, then we went hog-wild on the local Farmers Market!

 Basil, Parsley, and Oregano

 Cucumbers, red onions, green onions, sweet onions, broccoli.

Mt hood Strawberries, snap peas, and fresh garlic

Yep, be jealous!

Over the next few days, I'll show you what I make with all this goodness, and the recipes to make it!
 

whoa! get this SUNSHINE!

That's right, 2 straight days of sunshine!

Yesterday was my 2 year wedding anniversary! I shared it with my best friend! We are so unbelievable broke at the moment, that we had to borrow $20 from my mom so we could eat and have gas. But we made the best of it, we went hiking at Smith Rock State Park, a 3 mile muli-terrain hike in the mid 70*'s was nice.

But now I wanna go again!

See that lump of rock in the middle of that dip? looks like snoopy's shadow? no? thats just how far away it was. That is where we hiked to... called Asterisk Pass, also known as Asterisk ridge, Asterisk hill, Asterisk rock, and Snoopy rock. This trail ends about 300 feet before the actual ridge, but we went almost all the way, Adventure dog doesnt like heights.

 This is a picture from just below snoopy rock. looking back the way we had come! That gorgeous river, that is the Crooked River, feeds off of the Greater Deschutes River. Great fishing...

Look, it's adventure dog and Hubby!

 

Junuary has me thinking of the tropics

This is what I'm dreaming of:

This is what I have got:

Note, this is representation, not an actual photo from here. (Photo courtesy of Queen of Narnia)

What's this got to do with this blog, and my life? I am really really cold. Cold enough to start writing winter patterns, and even wearing a few.

So, here is the deal, Last June, I wrote up a pattern based VERY loosly on the Jayne Cobb hat from Serenity and Firefly. Known commonly as the 'cunning hat'

Here is the hat: scratch that, can't find the pic, I'll upload a new one later.

From the leftovers, and from the same idea, I made myself a matching "Ma Cobb Headband". 

Yeah, I don't have a pic of that either, but when I find it again I'll get a pic of it up.

Then, in November, I made a knit headband, blogged and pattern written up for the "Great Garter Head Hugger". 

I made notice that these were both dark in color, and not so springy... depressing. Picked up some yarn, didn't like it for the project I bought it for... can't remember what it is, but its a 2 strand bulky, looks handpainted (but it's not), acrylic, "baby" style. Nice stripe pattern.

Here is what I came up with, I rather like it!

You gotta ignore the crappy quality, it's a webcam photo, and its not so great...also, not wearing makeup, recently outta the shower, and slouched in a couch, not the greatest representation of myself.

Want the pattern?

How about a recipe...

use any hook and any yarn, make sure it's soft. 

you'll also need a tapestry needle and some buttons

crochet a chain of about 5-6 in, 

increase edge: 

row 1: 3 hdc in 2nd chain from hook, ch 1

Row 2: hdc in first hdc, 2 hdc in next hdc, hdc to end, chain 1

repeat row 2 until your headband is wide enough

Straight edge:

hdc in each hdc across, ch 1

repeat until it is about 4 in from the length you want

decrease edge:

hdc in first hdc, hdc2tog in next hdc, hdc in each across, ch 1

repeat until you get to last stitch

end tie:

chain until your chain matches the length of the first chain, this will be used to tie the headband to the right length.

bind off, embellish, and you are good to go!

Also, here is your ravlery link:

Junuary Headband