how awesome is this?

last weekend, when i was visiting friends, i of course took my iPad (i'm addicted to my tap zoo). and of course, i left my screen cleaning cloth behind, nicely hidden in the covers i was sleeping in. whoops!


so, leanne popped it into an envelope and sent it back to me ... and she folded it into this absolutely fabulous card!

it's so funny and twisted !!!

weekend visit

i went to visit friends this weekend, so i have food pictures to share ....

will made an awesome pizza! he made a rich sauce with garlic and other (mystery to me) ingredients. on top, it had chicken, mushrooms, and peppers. it was so yummy for dinner that we had round 2 the next day for breakfast!

and this is one of the perks to having free range chickens ... EGGS !!!

AAAARGH !!!

even sock monsters love $3 pint night, and "talk like a pirate" day!

9/11

this is what a 10 year old car magnet looks like

irene

the center of Irene was 133 miles due east of Raleigh at 2 p.m.

hmmm ... think i'll change the background/theme of this blog to match the weather!

monster madness

i'm pretty sure anyone who regularly reads my blog knows i'm a member of ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous (or SKA for short). and, more recently, i joined the Danger Crafts group.

what i like about the danger crafts group is we do swaps! (they do kal's too)
i have never joined a sock club, or any kind of swap, before this group.

i really like this group. we knit MONSTERS. and i LOVE me some monsters! ... whether knitted, crocheted, or sewn. teddy bears? ... not for me.

my latest swap partner and i were paired up, and we both love the color green (it's a color-themed monster swap). i'm very pleased to report i got her package in today's mail, and i'm hoping it gets there before the end of the coming week.

mr. postman said, "should get there by thursday". oh, mr. postman, please don't jinx me!

but, i'm gonna fully confess what's in the package. perhaps i'm naive to think she wouldn't come and check out my blog?

here's all the stuff i'm sending her! (ps. i have a VERY hard time keeping secrets)




here's a shot of everything that went into the fabulous green bubble mailer. ps. i found the bubble mailer at office depot. they had red, green, and blue mailers.

monster on the left is sammie the sock monster, and monster on the right is max the sewn monster. i made a max for my last partner, and he's just cute! the sewing pattern comes in 3 sizes. the first time (for first swap) i sewed the size small. this time, i went for medium.




i also knitted a couple of dish cloths. i first ran across this pattern in the 1st mason-dixon knitting book. but, the pattern is from Elmore-Pisgah yarns, and they call it the ballband dish cloth (click link and scroll down just a bit). i like mine a little smaller than theirs, so i only cast on 33 stitches.



i also got her a couple of fat quarters ... they were on sale at the joann's fabric store for $1 each. i used the 3rd one to make the sewn MAX monster up above.
(i actually had a hard time deciding which fabric to use for the monster! maybe next time, my next swap partner will get nothing but sewn monsters?)




THIS THRILLS ME THE MOST!
so, the same day i went and got my ice cream maker, i ran over to the nearby barnes & noble bookstore. i was looking at the page magnets, and found MONSTER MAGNETS! ... a little $ (well, for a swap, that was 1/2 my budget), but how could i not?! i got a set for myself as well =)

if you've never used page magnets, they are awesome. i use them to mark the page of my knitting pattern from whichever book i'm knitting from, or as a general bookmark. and, the backside, it says, i ♥ monsters !

candy is usually welcomed, and it was a challenge finding green candy. but, again, i got lucky ... and there is a candy shop in my city (candy shop, not a chocolate shop). they had these bulk bins, to purchase candy by the pound. i was able to go through and pick up a variety of candies in green only. the little green tin came from the fabric store as well ... i found it in the $1 bin just before checking out.

it's always great to get things, but giving is so much fun too !!!

ice cream!

last weekend, i bought an ice cream maker (and i don't really have much of a sweet tooth!). but, there are recipes that are not your standard variety, and some are quite savory or spicy.




though once the mix goes into the maker, it only takes about 20 minutes to create a soft serve ice cream. BUT, the bowl it mixes in has to pre-freeze for up to 24 hrs. thus, there was no ice cream on the 4th!

yesterday, a friend came by to visit for a few hours, and before he left, we made some crystalized ginger ice cream. i'll post more on that later .....

some more beach pictures

it's a holiday, i SHOULD be at the beach. instead, i'll just pretend ...

beach vacation

quiet sunday

... and getting things done.

i've cut my fabric for some pillowcases. i have picked these "beach" themed fabrics for this year's beach trip. last year, i sewed a batch of shark pillowcases.

and this time, was able to shop for my fabrics at mary jo's in gastonia, nc. mary jo's is the BEST fabric store ever!


though, i probably should be sewing today, i just don't feel like it. i already spent a considerable amount of time in the kitchen cooking for the week, and now feel like knitting.


that is a TON of casserole, in a 9 x 13 dish. the base of it is essentially polenta. it's not a 'first day' meal. it will be better as leftovers. which is good, as there's a ton, and i don't plan on cooking again this week.


it's a ww recipe, and promises to be quite filling!