finished first scarf

finally finished it on saturday. not exactly 100% happy with it but what do i expect from my first scarf. i didn’t particularly liked the yarn i used either. but i’m just glad to be finished with it.

friday links for 1/28/11

after nearly a month of being so overwhelmed by work, even backed up on going through my links, i’m finally back with friday links discovered in my rss feed from 1/21/11 through the morning of 1/28/11. enjoy.

• make your own rooster sauce!!!
• cute warm cape for the toddler
• silk color block pillows 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• cute owl stuffie
• because everyone needs a daytime nap: sleep mask
• lazy weekend sweater to knit
• mexican spiced hot cocoa
• knitted hat pattern
• the very hungry caterpillar that actually does turn to a butterfly
• out of the box organization 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• too cute: hip hop blanket
• make your own grocery tote
• icy mobiles
• cute clothing for the wee-ones: ruffle dress & t-shirt turned into ruffle dress & cute onesie & sweet little black dress
• a menu board for the kitchen
• felt owl measuring tape
• receipt/coupon organizer
• felt penguin plushie
• fabric key chain
• embroidery cuckoo clock
• photography tips for crafters
• a bunnyclava!!!
• suggestions for organizing your pantry
• spruce up your computer desktop
• homemade granola
• not that i wear make, but for those who do, make your own eye make-up remover
• bucket liner out of old pants

finally my first sewing machine

except i don’t have my hands on it yet. my mom got one for me, she has it but with the weather crazy as it is it may be a while before i get my hands on it. i’m so excited: i’m mentally going dizzy thinking of all i can make. i love skirts. i love bags. but i’m hoping to make things i need right now.

so this will be a test of patience: how long will it take before i go crazy?

kitschy kerchief

well, the photo isn’t that great. sorry about that.

this is one of the two things i’m trying to finish knitting. it’s called the kitschy kerchief and taken from the stitch ‘n’ bitch book. it is the third project in the book, and meant to learn increases. and boy do you learn increases.  increase, then knit to the penultimate stitch, then increase; second row all knitting. rinse, wash, repeat.  i take a cycle or two at a time right now in the hopes of finishing it in the near future.

updates

so i’ve been unsuccessful in keeping up; with my knitting, meal planning, the friday links, blogging in general.  i went from being pretty sick (head cold, but a pretty strong one because i couldn’t breath through my nose for a while) to being extremely busy at work. this past weekend i finally had my first 2-day weekend since….sometime last month? yes, a very long time.

but that has finally past and i am trying to play catch up.

each day i plan to:

• knit at least one swatch of color on my first scarf (it is at 39 inches right now).
• knit at least four rows of my kitschy kerchief
• sketch out at least a page of the scrapbook of my overseas trip for my parents

sometime by the end of the month:

• set up a meal plan for february
• finish the scrapbook
• finish the two knitting projects

we’ll see if i can keep up with this schedule.

i came across this nifty online to-do list that also comes with an iphone app. go check it out; it’s free.

back to first project

long time no work on. the first project, a scarf. i’m trying to force myself to finish the started projects before starting on new ones. it’s at 31 inches long, so about half way done.

meal planning

in an attempt to control what i eat and what to buy at the store while at the same time trying to learn a valuable life skill, i am trying meal planning. again. i tried it before, last year, but with disastrous results. we could never keep on schedule, on a certain day we wanted something else that wasn’t planned, or was simply too tired or lazy to make anything. so this year i’m trying it again, doing it for the month, and i’m going to be strict about it. i started on it this morning, did this week so far, but will need to get input from dh before continuing on (if he wants to cook anything himself for example). i’m also planning out lunch & breakfast for me.

so for this week:

monday: shrimp tacos

tuesday-thursday: slow-cooker spiced leg of lamb w/potatoes & carrots

friday: veggie burger

saturday: salmon for dh; chicken for me.

does anyone have advice on how to meal plan? would love to try what works & what doesn’t.