New Projects

I haven't blogged much this year, as I guess I've been busy with the baby and didn't feel I had much to talk about, besides the daily troubles and joys of new motherhood which has been done a million times by a million people. What I forgot though is that I mostly do this for ME. Not for an audience, not because people might want to make my cookies or knit my patterns or see my spinning. So now I'm trying to look back over the last year, one of  the most amazing and wonderful years of my life, and I have so few journal entries to help me remember! I usually manage to update Facebook a few times a week at least, so I'm going to try and do that here. Write something every day, even if it's only the blandest of Mommy-woes, at least I'll have a record to help jog my memory in a year or two years time when I look back.

We're planning a trip for this weekend and J gave me my Mother's Day present early! I picked it out, so it wasn't a surprise anyway, but it's gorgeous and I love it! I don't have a pic of me in it yet, but here's from the website: It's an Ellevill Zara wrap in Fresh, size 6.

Always playing catch-up

I think I need more schedules and time management in my life. I feel like I get so much more done when I am super busy with all kinds of deadlines and commitments! I used to be so productive and involved and creative in college, when I had no time for anything, and now I'm lucky if I make it to the gym and do the dishes a few times a week. OK, so I can blame it on the baby, but really she's not that much of a time suck compared to other babies, I just get sucked into the internet or a tv show and then I'm comfy and don't feel like putting away laundry or updating the blog. This shouldn't be work; and it's not, really, but it still takes time and effort.

Anyway, Fridays are going to be "Update the Blog" day! Mondays will be "Put away laundry" day but we'll see how that goes; I think the former will be easier to stick to!

In September we had our first Family Vacation. We drove from here in Wiesbaden down to Zurich and then through Italy to the French Riviera the next day. While long, the drive was beautiful (especially Switzerland and the French/Italian coast!) and the baby was very well behaved.

Baby Pic-Spam!

This is the dress I knit for her to come home from the hospital in, but even though I knit it smaller than the smallest size it was still quite wide! It fits her now around the chest, but it's a bit too short for my long Banana Baby!

August in Kaiserslautern! Part Two

My SIL is "deployed" here for 6 months, and we got to hang out with her and go to the Gartenschau, a huge garden/park with playgrounds, a skate park, huge slides, and DINOSAURS! It also has an upper area with kitchen gardens, a chapel made of vines, and a little restaurant with a great view. It was a gorgeous day and we got a great workout!

August in Kaiserslautern! Part One

Joe was gone for all of August, so I went and stayed with some friends an hour away in Kaiserslautern for the month. It was great! So much more fun than staying home alone with the baby! I hate cooking for just myself as well, so I loved having people to cook for, and didn't lose a single pound more of baby-weight :P

Back to Blogging!

Mirabelle plums covering the footbridge


I've naturally been a bit distracted lately...I started this post in July, and here it is September and I'm finishing it.

I realized I didn't even post a picture of the finished Tamarix Quilt I made! (Ravelry link) It took forever and was really boring, but I love the result. It's a little big to use right now, but when we get back to the US and the baby has her own room it will be nice.

Welcome Amelia!

Here she is! Amelia Rose, born May 26th at 9:18am. 7 lbs 4oz, about 21 inches long.




After a lovely day of walking in the fields, doing yoga, and cooking dinner with friends, my water broke at 3am, 3 days past my due date. Amelia was born 6 hours later!
We went to the hospital at 4:30, and I was only 1cm dilated. By 8:30 I was ready to push! Hard and fast, no drugs, no interventions, no complications, no tearing! I gave birth kneeling on my yoga mat. Hubs and the midwife were awesome!
She got 10/10 on her Apgar test, and we spent the next 48 hours getting to know each other and learning to breastfeed in the hospital. German Healthcare FTW!

Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake

So, a while ago I found this recipe online for a Lemon-Blueberry Loaf cake, wrote it down, and have never again been able to find the same one online but it is a FABULOUS recipe! I've made it 4 times for small events and I never have leftovers!

Almost Time!

Blogging has obviously not been a priority this year.


The baby could arrive any day now! Official estimated due date is May 23rd, and first babies are often late, so we'll see. I'm not in much of a rush, as I have actually been sleeping better lately, but I'm still anxious to meet her, and to get my body back!

Baby Stuff

Blogging has not been my strong suit lately! Looks like I have not made a post in over a month. Sorry!

At the end of January J and I were able to go back to Baltimore for a week, and my friend threw me a baby shower! It was totally an unexpected gesture, and I loved getting to spend some time with a large group of my friends all at once, and received lovely, thoughtful, presents! Here's a link to the whole Flickr set, and some highlights below:
The loot! I was blown away! A handmade quilt, hand-designed onesies, thoughtfully chosen clothes and books and toys; everything was perfect!

More Cookies, and a bump shot!

I shared these at my knitting group this week and they were a big hit! One woman said they were the best No-Bakes she'd ever had! Most recipes are pretty similar to mine, but the key is the cooking time, you really have to pay attention! These cookies are really more of a candy, as they have no flour. They are also gluten-free, but make sure your recipient can eat Oats.

Recap-ing the Holidays, mostly in pictures

November and December were very busy months! One of the special education aids at the middle school hurt his knee, so I took over for him for a few weeks. I don't often work every day, and it was a little stressful at first because being a full-time aid is hard work and the kids' schedules are confusing, but I got the schedule down just in time to give it back up to the real aid in December :P What was really great though was getting to spend lots of time with the other teachers. I really love the school community here! Two of the other special ed teachers are also pregnant and due in January and February, so I expect I will be subbing a fair amount in the coming weeks too.

Cookie Recipes too good not to share!

I thought I had blogged these recipes before, but can't seem to find an entry with them, nor can I find the one exact recipe online so I thought I'd write it up here!

Mint Chocolate Crackles
They melt in your mouth! You can also make these without the mint for a plain chocolate crackle cookie.


Ingredients:

2c flour
1c unsweetened cocoa powder
2c white sugar
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2c vegetable oil
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp peppermint extract
1/2c confectioners sugar for rolling cookies in

In a medium bowl, mix together the cocoa, sugar, and oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and mint. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir into the cocoa mixture in batches. Cover the dough and chill for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven for 350F degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls, then coat with confectioners sugar before placing on the prepared cookies sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes. Remove from the sheet immediately and cool on a wire rack (If they sit too long on the sheet they will spread).

Another favorite of mine that are good year-round are Earl Grey Tea Cookies! These little shortbread cookies have real tea leaves in them and have a very unique flavor. You could try a differently perfumed black tea such as peach or vanilla for a different effect. (Not my picture) Recipe from Real Simple Magazine, as I'm too lazy to re-type mine (it's the same).


Ingredients:
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
* 2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves, from approximately 6 tea bags
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 tablespoon orange zest (optional)
* 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces


1. Heat oven to 375°F. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized. Add the vanilla, 1 teaspoon water, and the butter. Pulse together until a dough is formed.

2. Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a 12-inch log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Slice each log into disks, 1/3 inch thick. Place on parchment- or foil-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart.

4. Bake until the edges are JUST brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

For a change, I'm going to try rolling the dough out in sheets before chilling and using my new teapot cookie cutter on them!

October, Munich and Hallstadt!

October was generally pretty awesome!


The first weekend in the month I took the train down to Munich to visit my old college roommate Meghan, and her boyfriend Stefan, and to attend the last weekend of Oktoberfest. We went to Oktoberfest last year and had a great time, but not being able to drink makes it not quite as enjoyable. I was looking forward to the food though, and hoped to go on a ride or two.

Lonely September, Lovely Food

I really can't complain too much about J's trips for work, considering he usually is only gone for 6 weeks at the max, and everyone else's husbands are deployed for a year at a time, but it still sucks. Especially when I know he could be in danger :( Such is Military Life.

Since it was the first few weeks of the pregnancy I slept A LOT. I pretty much slept, read, went to yoga, and hung out on the internet for September.

Luckily, my awesome upstairs neighbor is here to keep me company and we've both been eating better because of it. Cooking for yourself sucks, so if I'm cooking for both of us I'll make real food instead of subsisting on canned baked beans and cottage cheese.

Growing up my best friend was Ukrainian, and her mom made awesome Borscht. I'd been craving beets, which were oddly hard to find here, but I did get some at the farmer's market. I was trying to find one online that matched my memory, but there are as many kinds of borscht as there are kinds of chili, so I thought I'd just go straight to the source and I emailed her mom and got the recipe, which I will now share with you!

September, Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day Weekend we were supposed to go to Austria, but our cat got a bad bladder infection and we had to stay home :( So to make it feel more like a holiday weekend we made sure to get out of the house both Saturday and Sunday, especially since J was leaving for a month in Afghanistan a few days later.

Big News! Also the Germania Monument, August catch-up

Sorry I've been off the radar for so long! Sooo much has been going on, but I really have no excuse for not blogging.

The biggest big news is I'M PREGNANT! I found out in September, and am due in May! We're very excited :) My baby blanket yarn came in the other day and I started a Tamarix Quilt (ravelry link) I'm using KnitPicks Comfy Worsted in blues and purples. Purple is unisex, right? :P I was going to do neutrals but didn't like the neutral color selection for the yarn I wanted to use. I'm loving the Comfy, and I hear it wears really well.

So for updates I'm going to do a few posts so that the newest stuff will show up at the top.

My last post was at the end of August, and there was one mini-trip that I didn't post about that month.

We had not yet done the Germania monument in Rudesheim, which is a huge statue at the top of a hill overlooking the Rhine river, a castle, vineyards, and 3 lovely little towns. The monument is accessible by gondola or chairlift, and since it was such a lovely day we took the chairlift. Click here to see the whole set.











That's all for August, so I'm going to make a new post for September.

Finished Summit!

This was one of the quickest, most fun projects I've done in a while. Spun to finished it was less than two weeks!

The Summit pattern is a lot of fun. Like entrelac it involves knitting back and forth over small sections of the piece at a time, so you feel like you've accomplished something every step of the way. I loved watching the color progressions in the yarn!

Here's the Ravelry link, if you want to favorite it or something. RedThread's Handspun Summit

I changed the pattern to a larger gauge to accommodate both my thicker yarn and having not much of it. Not sure of the yardage, I was too excited to count, but it was about 100 grams, light worsted weight. I used size 7 (4.5 mm) needles, and did 6 vertical columns of the pattern.

Spinning and Summit

I finished spinning up that Romney lamb, and I looove how it came out! I split the roving lengthwise, spun both plies from the same end and plied together in the same order. The colors didn't completely line up, but enough to get lovely gradations of color. This fiber is interesting because it feels as soft as merino, but has the shine of Romney! I'll have to try to get my hands on some more lamb fiber! It also took the dye differently from anything I've worked with before. Just sucked the color right out of the solution without even giving it time to soak to the middle of the roving! So there was a good amount of white, but in spinning it just created more shades of color. It's hard to see the striping in a hank, so I wound it into a ball and cast on the beginnings of a Summit scarf.

This is such an interesting pattern! It's like entrelac-meets-clapotis-meets-swiss-cheese! I didn't see any handspun versions on Ravelry yet, so mine will be special :)



Going to the Wiesbaden Wine Festival today! Should be fun :)

On the Needles :

*First, sorry to anyone trying to access the Double Knitting or Entrelac tutorials! The pictures are temporarily down, as a very old web service I used to use was canceled and they were lost. I may have to re-take them if I can't find the original images, so it could be a little while.*

And on the wheel! Hand-dyed by me, Romney lamb


From this


New yarn! And magazine!


I have start-itis. It's rare for me, but it has persisted through the summer and I'm quite enjoying it, since I've managed to finish things too!
I just got the new Interweave Knits, and am in love with a few sweaters, but especially the Elementary Vest (rav link). I love nearly everything Melissa Wehrle designs! And I just so happened to have yarn for this, since I had planned on doing some kind of argyle vest with it, but didn't have the right pattern and was too lazy at the time to design my own.

The yarn is Catalina Baby Silk, a silk and Alpaca blend. Lovely stuff! I have some gray Ultra Alpaca for the third embroidered color as well. It will be my Ravenclaw Vest hehe


My big Malabrigo order from the Robin's Nest LYS "Malabrigo Madness" Sale came in! Got a fantastic deal on a whole bag of the Frost Gray worsted and a bag of the Tortuga lace weight. I plan on using the lace for a Geodesic Cardigan and the worsted for a stripey cardigan with the handspun falkland orangey blue stuff.


I also received this lovely cake of merino laceweight from my friend Andrea for my birthday. Not sure of the brand, but it feels like the Malabrigo. I think I'll make a Lacey Baktus out of that, although it looks pretty nice just sitting on my futon!