Rebecca Danger

This Week I Am Loving........

.....baby food jars.

As an avid crafter my little heart goes pitter-patter at the sight of these things. Though it took a couple months The Kid is now a baby-food eating champ. Well, as long as that baby food is fruit. And, as long as it is store bought baby food. Apparently someone does not particularly care for Mama's home cooking already.

We now have a plethora of baby food jars, which have set my creative juices flowing. All I want to do is grab them and go organize all the bits and bobs I own with them. I don't really have any un-organized bits and bobs, or even that many bits and bobs, but that's not the point. The point is that I now can organize them with these teeny tiny jars. Then I start on the slippery slope in my mind: Bobby pins! I can put bobby pins in them! And hair ties! And hair clips! And I can use them to hold up my eyeliner and mascara! And buttons! And, and, and.....and it is all downhill from there. (I made sure to add in that excessive amount of explanation points there so that you can get a clear picture of how freaking excited I get over these things)

But wait! They're not just for storing things, I can make crafts with them, too! My mind is just a-flutter with the possibilities. 

Seems ridiculous, I know, to be this in love with baby food jars. But I am. And I am not apologizing for it.

Know any baby food jar crafts? Point me in their direction, please!

Me And This Project Are Breaking Up

You ever get that way about a project? And it isn't even the project. Or the yarn. The pattern and yarn I am working with right now are both awesome. But, for whatever reason I am not enjoying knitting this project. I am just over the whole thing.

I think part is probably because I never wear leg warmers but I decided to start these because somehow I thought if I had amazing leg warmers I couldn't help but wear them. Now I am questioning that decision.

Who knows. I hope I finish them quick though or I might just have to start on a different project. There are like a dozen other projects calling my name, but they are being drowned out by my sense of finishing one thing before starting on something else. 

That's How I Like My Veggies: Delivered

I saw a mousepad on the internet while Christmas shopping this last year that said "I Want It All And I Want It Delivered." I can't seem to find it now, but I almost ordered it for myself because it could easily be my mantra.

So when we met the local Dandelion organic delivery at a craft fair at Christmas, I decided it was time to sign up. Now we get a whole bin of awesome organic fruit and veg on our doorstop every two weeks (though we could do more). Awesome. Now I just need to get the grocery store to deliver as well. Although I must admit I take care of most of our non-perishable grocery items on Amazon. Yes I do.

You know the only thing better than getting vegetables delivered? Figuring out a recipe to use up a good chunk of those veggies! I spied this the other day:

Source: bettycrocker.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

 

Looks perfect for tonight's dinner! So potatoes and celery from my bin will go in, and I am going to add carrots and chard from my bin as well. We're doing turkey bacon instead of real bacon and we'll be good to go. Yum! And you know what is better than yum? Figuring out things to do with my veggies. It gives me such a feeling of contentment, you know like when you get to the end of a complicated lace row in your knitting and all your stitches come out right? That feeling is what keeps me knitting. Maybe if I get it with my delivered veggies I will cook more. Maybe.

Knitting Pattern Terms

So all that productiveness yesterday? I just had to rip back a third of my project since I had screwed something up. Awesome. Since when has tuesday decided to turn on me?

I have been finishing up a new pattern (which will be out very soon, I promise!) and in the process decided to start doing something different. I have decided to post all of the terms I use in my patterns here on the blog so that if you don't understand something, I can be a little more descriptive, add links in and whatnot, and save a little space in my patterns as well. 

I will keep a link at the top of the FAQ page here on the blog and on the FAQ page on my website as well, so it is easy to access. I think I caught everything, but let me know if there is something I need to add.

Terms Used in Danger Crafts Self-Published Patterns:

Beg: Beginning

BO: Bind Off    

CO: Cast On 

CC: Contrast color

DPN: Double Pointed Needle

I-cord:  Using 2 dpn's, knit the sts on the needle in the round without slipping them off. Video here, CO as many sts as called for in the pattern.

Join: Begin to work in the round

K2tog: Knit 2 stitches as one.

K: Knit

KFB: Knit in the front and the back of one stitch (increase)

MC: Main color

P: Purl

PM: Place marker

PU: Pick up and knit.

R1, etc: Round or row number

Sl or Sl1: Slip one stitch purlwise, move without knitting the stitch (with yarn in back on Knit side)

SSK: Slip the next two stitches. Insert left needle into the front loops of the slipped stitches and knit them together, through the back loops.

St st: Stockinette Stitch: when knitting back and forth on the needle (not in the round), knit one row, purl one row. Also known as "Stocking Stitch." To Achieve the same fabric in the round, you will knit every round.

St(s): Stitch(es)

Three Needle BO: Video here.

() or []: Work whatever is in the brackets as many times as stated after the brackets. At the end of a line of instructions the number in the brackets will let you know how many stitches should be left at the end of that round/row.

 

Starting the Week Out Right

I am up, have finished a bunch of picture taking for my next (next) pattern, sat in front of my happy light for 30 minutes (thank you Pacific Northwest for your lovely winter weather messing with my sleep and mood), eaten breakfast, gotten knitting in, and am blogging all before 9am and before The Kid gets up.

I am now hoping this super productive morning will be the theme of the week. Although, I probably just jinxed it by saying that.

Rebecca 1. Monday 1,210, 342. Take that Monday!

Inspired Knits

This yarn came today:

Image from SweetGeorgiaYarns.com

To make this:

Source: knitpicks.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

 

 

And go with these:

Image from Amazon.com

To make an outfit inspired by this:

Source: simplysoles.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

 

Got it? Now I just have to find a new pair of jeans since mine have all gotten to big....

This Week I Am Loving........

Ah! This came today and it is totally my favorite thing of the week:

Image from Zedszombieranch.etsy.com

Ha! Here it is on my house:

Best no solicting sign ever.

Knitty, knit, knit, knit, knit

I get the Yo Gabba Gabba song "Snacky, snack, snack, snack, snack" stuck in my head but with "Knit" instead a lot. Today is one of those times. I tried to find a youtube video of it, but apparently you are just going to need to be in the know and have watched Yo Gabba Gabba to know what I am talking about. If you don't know, consider me saving you from it: the only songs I ever get stuck in my head anymore are Yo Gabba Gabba songs.

So I am very excited because I ordered a new skirt last week and it got here yesterday. Very speedy like since it was coming from the UK! Got 15% off for signing up for their mailing list, too!

Source: us.dorothyperkins.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

 

I am in love! I decided yesterday it is the only thing I want to wear from now on. Since I have decided this, I immediately got looking on the internets for some good sweaters to knit to go with it. At least if I am going to wear the same skirt every day I can have a whole pile of different tops to go with it, right? I had pinned this a while back, so I started looking for some sweaters with a similar feel.

Source: simplyme091909.blogspot.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

 

I got these boots as a Christmas gift, so I am set on boots.

Source: dmusastore.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

 

I thought this free sweater pattern from Berroco had the right vibe going on.

 1. Image from Berroco.com   2. Image from Berroco.com, Weekend Color #5965   3. Image from Berroco.com, Weekend Color #5964

Since I like the texture of the cotton yarn in the outfit picture I thought Weekend would be a good choice for it. I've used it for several things and like it a lot: it is cottony without all the nightmares and unfun knitting of a cotton. Know what I mean? I also thought any of these on my to-knit list would look great with it:

1. Image from Knittingdaily.com   2. Image from Knitpicks.com   3. Image from Ravelry.com

Man, digging through my favs on Rav and all my pins on my To-Knit pinboard made me realize how many projects I want to make. Now the trick is getting off the computer and getting knitting or my sweater-making-productivity is going to stay at a virtual stand still!

Mmm, mmm, mmm

It is so snowy and freezy cold here today! I don't think it has made it out of the teens all day, which we just don't get around here. The ice and snow put me in the mood for some warm, yummy comfort food, so I decided to make some homemade mac and cheese. Thanks to Pinterest I thought this looked good so I gave it a try. Yum.

We didn't have any macaroni (we rarely eat pasta) and there was no way I was going to the grocery store. The street in front of my house is a large sheet of ice so I am staying indoors until this storm clears up. Although I am starting to get a little cabin fever I must admit. We had some spinach pasta, I don't know what type, it is like shorty, wavy fettucine, so that's what I used. All I can say is yum. Mr Danger agrees too. We sprinkled on a little of that pre-cooked, pre-crumbled bacon next to the baco's in the store, and that made it even better. Although, bacon seems to make everything better. Says the person who was vegetarian up until 2 years ago.

If you are looking for an excellent mac and cheese recipe, this is in the running for my favorite ever. And if you want it gluten free, it would be easy enough to sub in quinoa pasta or something like that.

And, as an added bonus, the camera was in the kitchen and Mr Danger managed to snap one of my favorite pictures of The Kid ever while I was cooking.

So, despite cabin fever, it was a great day. Which is good since I have been cranky for a good week or so now!

 

Crock Pot Yarn Tutorial

I LOVE my crock pot. To me there is nothing better than throwing a bunch of things in first thing in the morning and having yummy dinner in the evening. Plus you get good smells all day. My crock pot makes me feel like I actually know how to cook. I think half my food pins on pinterest are crock pot recipes. Sometimes, actually most of the time, I wish I could cook everything in there. I am considering freezing a bunch of crock pot recipes like this, and I like to hit up this website for ideas as well.

So, I feel like jumping up and doing a jig since I just found this tutorial on how to dye yarn in your crock pot. Gah! How flipping exciting is that? It looks as easy as cooking in the crockpot, too! I am going to have to try my hand at this for sure! Hmm, my knit girls did what I am calling a "Crafternoon" this weekend, maybe I will have to see if they want to get together and dye some yarn together in the crock pot! Whataya think, girls?

Dontcha just love this idea?! I hope I will see some crock pot monsters on Ravelry!