Shirley's Salad

My computer isn't working

2011-12-28T17:30:00.000+02:00

My computer isn't working so I don't know when I'll be able to blog.

Instead of Gingerbread Cookies

2011-12-22T20:16:00.001+02:00

I think every year since my son was old enough to help we've made gingerbread cookies and some kind of gingerbread house. As we still have some of last year's dough still in the freezer I suggested that we try something else, unless he wanted the cookies. I had seen a Gingerbread Scone recipe and told him about it and we decided to have them instead. I only used 1½ tsp of ginger (but might try the whole amount next time), left out the fruit, used regular brown sugar and left off the glaze. We had them for breakfast and they were quite good.

Do you make gingerbread cookies?

Giveaway Winner

2011-12-17T20:17:00.000+02:00

The random number generator picked number 11 who is Gill. Her comment was "My best tip would be to read the instructions thoroughly before you start!!" Great tip. It's too easy to assume that you know what you are suppose to do. Especially when ~~I'm~~ knitting or crocheting.

Congratulations Gill!

Small Simple Project Bag Giveaway (Now Closed)

2011-12-11T20:22:00.019+02:00

Thanks for entering! The giveaway is now closed and the winner is Gill!

I keep meaning to make something for the Giveaway Day at Sew, Mama Sew! but never remember. There are always so many great giveaways that I recommend going over to check out the different categories. I still have one of these small project bags leftover so I thought I could offer this. It isn't lined but the edges are French seamed. It's about 25.5 cm wide and 35 cm from the top of the handle to the bottom.

I'm Canadian but I live in Finland. Over the years I've tried many crafts but now I usually just knit. I have a short monthly craft video podcast called Shirley's Salad Podcast.

What's the best (unusual) craft tip you'd like to share?

My giveaway is open to everyone but if there's no way to contact you then I won't be entering you into the giveaway! So please be sure to have your info somewhere if it isn't on your blog. Comments need to be on this post and should close on December 16, 2011 at 5 p.m. PST but I won't be awake then so I'll draw the winner randomly when I next get to the computer.

Season's Baking

2011-12-11T19:22:00.003+02:00

When I asked my son what baking he'd like this year, he only mentioned two things. These Red Cherry Cookies and fruit cake. I've been making these cookies ever since 2005 and the only change I've made was to double the recipe. I bake them up and store them in the freezer.

I started using this fruitcake recipe in 2001. It's my own recipe and I've made a few changes over the years. I'd like to try something new, but knowing that we both like this recipe it's hard to risk a new one.

Do you make or eat fruitcake?

Friday's Foto From Finland #21

2011-12-09T01:33:00.003+02:00

What's that white stuff?

Bit of Baking

2011-12-07T19:23:00.004+02:00

I need to bring something with me tomorrow so I made a half batch of the Low-fat Low-cholesterol Oatmeal Drop Cookies. I used a whole egg for ½ of the recipe, ½ brown sugar and ½ white and left out the raisins as I hadn't written them down on the recipe. I wanted to make something with oil so that anyone with dairy/soy/nut problems could eat them.

I need room to freeze some Christmas cookies that I'm hoping to make this weekend. I had to go through the freezer to see what I could get rid of. I came across a few containers of rhubarb so I thought I'd make a rhubarb crisp. When I last made an apple crisp I upped the amount of oatmeal and liked it. So I used the same recipe. I can taste the rhubarb but it seems to have disappeared into the oatmeal!

Seeing that I was going to have the oven on I thought that I'd try to make some focaccia. I used half of the Blitz Bread: No-Fuss Focaccia recipe without the spices or powdered cheese (never even heard of powdered cheese before!). Unfortunately as soon as I took the towel off and saw that it hadn't risen I realized that I hadn't added any yeast! The oven was all ready ready so I just brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled on some salt, forgetting the rosemary that I had wanted. It turned out as one might expect. But it's not so bad that it isn't being eaten anyway.

Friday's Foto From Finland #20

2011-11-04T11:03:00.001+02:00

Fall reality. Overcast and though this tree still has it's leaves, most trees don't. The grass is still quite green in places so it's not all dull.

Friday's Foto From Finland #19

2011-10-14T22:10:00.000+03:00

The new and the old.

Podcasting

2011-10-05T18:09:00.002+03:00

I didn't write that I've moved my podcasts over to their own site though I've left the podcasts up to that point on this blog too. I'll post the newest podcast date on the side bar.

Friday's Foto From Finland #18

2011-09-30T18:02:00.002+03:00

What's fall without maple leaves changing colour?

Friday's Foto From Finland #17

2011-09-23T22:46:00.001+03:00

It seems to rain every day now.

Friday's Foto From Finland #16

2011-09-02T10:16:00.001+03:00

I seldom see sunflowers in Finland.

Podcast Episode 6: Started a Shawl

2011-08-30T22:51:00.002+03:00

Please click here if the video doesn't show up.

Show Notes

KNITTING:

Rough Sea Shawl by Preita Salyer.
New stitch to me in this shawl: (K2togP1) = my interpretation is K2tog, leave these two stitches on the left needle. Bring the yarn from the back to the front between the two needles. Purl the 2 stitches tog and remove them from the left needle.

FINISHED:

Cable and Lace Baby Blanket by Stephanie Ament

DONE BY THIS PODCAST:

Granny Square

BY NEXT PODCAST:

Repair mitt.

REVIEW:

Punokset puikoille by Johanna Koski and Kristel Nyberg.

(Library Book. All opinions in the review are those of the blog author's.)

SOMETHING ABOUT FINLAND:

value added tax

Friday's Foto From Finland # 15

2011-08-12T18:58:00.000+03:00

They flowered well but where are the radishes?

Podcast Episode 5: Blanket is Finished (Sort Of)

2011-07-26T23:56:00.000+03:00

Please click here if the video doesn't show up.

Show Notes

KNITTING:

Cable and Lace Baby Blanket by Stephanie Ament (free pattern from Ravelry).
Vortex Shawl by Kristina McCurley (free pattern from Ravelry)

FINISHED:

Secret Knitting: Bread Basket Liner using the Arrowhead Pattern at the Will Work For Yarn blog in Novita's 100% cotton Tennessee yarn.
tea cozy: my own pattern from unknown stash yarn

BY NEXT PODCAST:

granny square

REVIEW:

Virkattua by Katriina Leppänen and (photography by) Antti Huittinen

(Library Book. All opinions in the review are those of the blog author's.)

SOMETHING ABOUT FINLAND:

Moomins by Tove Jansson

Wedding Gifts

2011-07-23T20:40:00.000+03:00

My sister is getting married at the end of August. Unfortunately I can't attend and so I had to make the gifts I wanted to make and get them sent off. I knit this bread basket liner from 100% cotton. I was thinking of using linen and I found a linen/cotton blend but it could only be washed in 40 °C and the cotton in 60 °C. So I chose the cotton.

It's 192 rows long (including the cast on and bind off) and I knit a different wish into each row. The first being "May your bread always rise." and the last "May you cherish your new titles, husband and wife." Most of them I had to find from the internet as I couldn't come up with enough!

The second gift I made were two picnic placemats. They like to drive around and I thought that if they had to sit in the car to eat then they could use these on their laps. I had planned to either use the same pattern in different colours or different patterns in the same colours but I couldn't find any. Well I did find gingham styles but I thought I'd spend too much time on keeping the lines straight and with my horrible machine I didn't even want to think about it!

The napkin is folded and a third of it is inserted into the pocket. Then the cutlery is added.
The rest of the napkin is folded over the cutlery and slipped into the pocket.

After rolling the placemat up it is tied closed. If I went on picnics I'd make some for myself.

Friday's Foto From Finland #14

2011-07-22T12:06:00.000+03:00

Sunsets can be so wonderful.

Friday's Foto From Finland #13

2011-07-15T18:54:00.001+03:00

23.21 pm. I don't know why I like to look at the moon!

Strawberries!

2011-07-13T19:32:00.004+03:00

I don't know why I used an exclamation point in the title as I'm not that fond of strawberries. But my son likes them ... so I bought a 5 kilo box. I rinsed them and while I was hulling them I divided them into different piles: large and medium large (for my son in case he comes to visit soon before I have to decide what to do with them), not very soft medium and small to freeze as is, soft for jam and what was left I chopped up to freeze (only one small container) and then those that were too soft I tested them to see if I needed to throw them away but I didn't find any. I was surprised how few had to be thrown away (because of weird things on them).

I usually only use 1 kilo for jam. This time I wanted to use up the jam sugar I had so I didn't have enough. The recipe calls for 2 parts strawberries to 1 part jam sugar and some water. I don't add water as there is always enough liquid. I had 2.8 parts strawberries to 1 part sugar. Looked good and seemed to be jelling. I can't be bothered to do the work for jarring them so I just freeze the jam. It's really easy and if you haven't tried making strawberry jam before I recommend trying a batch or two.

Friday's Foto From Finland #12

2011-07-08T12:49:00.000+03:00

I know it's blurry but it was 23.07 pm and I had to zoom. Later another one joined this one but I didn't think I could get a picture.

Friday's Foto From Finland #11

2011-07-01T19:35:00.003+03:00

Summer Art. Artist unknown because tag was missing.

Podcast Episode Four: Double Kalevala

2011-06-22T21:49:00.012+03:00

Please click here if the video doesn't show up.

Show Notes

KNITTING:

Cable and Lace Baby Blanket by Stephanie Ament (free pattern from Ravelry). Still working on this.
Vortex Shawl by Kristina McCurley (free pattern from Ravelry)
Secret Knitting.
Freya Shawl by Renate Haeckler. Haven't decided if I'll frog it.

FINISHED:

The Ardelle hat by Ellen Bartz.
Toe-up Socks (my pattern).

BY NEXT PODCAST:

tea cozy

REVIEW:

Kalevalaneuleet by Marja Ulvo and Elise Rajamäki

(Library Book. All opinions in the review are those of the blog author's.)

SOMETHING ABOUT FINLAND:

Kalevala Jewelry. My earrings are the Viipuri Pretzel Earrings in silver.

MENTIONED:

Kalevala, Finland's national epic, can be read online in English for free at Gutenberg.org.

Friday's Foto From Finland #10

2011-06-10T21:12:00.000+03:00

With everything being green it just looks like any other place.

SMS Giveaway Win!

2011-05-31T19:42:00.005+03:00

Sew Mama Sew blog has a Giveaway Day twice a year. There are hundreds of bloggers who host giveaways on their blogs and are listed on the Sew Mama Sew blog. I was lucky enough to win one of the giveaways this time. This great tote came in the mail today from Crafty Tokyo Mama. All the way from Japan. Of all countries! My son is taking beginner's Japanese courses this summer at university. I thought it was such a coincidence. Isn't the fabric awesome? Inside there's an elastic loop to hang things from. Janine also has an Etsy store called Crafty Tokyo Mama.

ETA: Oops! Crafty Tokyo Mama mentioned in her comment to this post that the loop is actually for wrapping around the bag after you've folded it up when it's not in use. Also when using a bag as a gift bag she has wrapped the loop around the bottom of the handles so you can't see what's in the bag. Great idea!

Socks Done at Last!

2011-05-30T19:25:00.003+03:00

I finally finished my first toe-up socks. I started the first one last year, took bits from different socks and didn't take very good notes so it was a bit difficult to come up with an exact pair. But I doubt anyone will be looking at my feet. I used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off but I still don't find it very stretchy. Anyone have any tips?

Podcast Episode Three: Knitting Problems

2011-05-22T01:08:00.003+03:00

Please click here if the video doesn't show up.

Show Notes (I changed the name of the episode.)

KNITTING:

Cable and Lace Baby Blanket by Stephanie Ament (Ravelry link). Still working on this.
Toe-up Socks (my pattern). On the second sock.
Freya Shawl by Renate Haeckler. Hand-dyed yarn from Grannyg.

FINISHED

Bunny Nugget by Rebecca Danger

BY NEXT PODCAST:

Finish the Ardelle hat by Ellen Bartz.

STASH DASH

The Knit Girllls' 5K Stash Dash is from May 27 to August 15, 2011.

CHARITY STORE FIND:

lots of yarn

SEWING

finished a project bag

REVIEW:

Hetaleita poropeukaloille edited by Ulla Huhtala and Reija Nieminen.

(Library Book. All opinions in the review are those of the blog author's.)

SOMETHING ABOUT FINLAND:

High School Graduation Cap
Graduation day this year is June 4, 2011.

Friday's Foto From Finland #9

2011-05-20T23:15:00.001+03:00

I know dandilions are weeds but they are so colourful against the green grass.

Chunky Black Bean and Tomato Dip

2011-05-12T17:43:00.000+03:00

Carla at The Year of the Vegan has starting testing for a new book. Today I made the Chunky Black Bean and Tomato Dip (though I used it as a spread). I almost never put fresh tomatoes in anything else but salads. So having them in this dip was an enjoyable change. The texture was good and I think I might try this in a wrap.

I tried our local stores but couldn't find any hot sauce any and it was needed for the recipe. So I looked up some recipes and made a 1/4 tsp version of my own. Some finely chopped chili from the freezer, a dash of salt and sugar and then some vinegar and water. I didn't notice it in the dip but I've never tried it so I don't know what it adds to the recipe. But maybe I'll put more chili next time.

Flowered Drawstring Project Bag

2011-04-29T19:50:00.007+03:00

I was Raked some material on Ravelry because I wanted to make myself a few project bags. This is the first one. The material is quite sturdy and it is for me, so I didn't bother to line it.

The selvedges were quite wide so I used them for the drawstring channel because they would match the cream colour from the material.

I sewed the top edge from the wrong side and then folded under the other raw edge and topstitched it. Error Error. Fortunately I took a break at this point and when I came back I realized that I couldn't sew the channels to the edge because they would then be closed off once I did the side seams.

So I took them both off and redid them further from the edge, zigzaging and folding the ends under.

I wanted French seams so I sewed the side seams with wrong sides together.

Then I turned the bag wrong side out and sewed the side seams again.

I wanted a bit of a flat bottom so I marked and sewed a triangle at the corners. Once that was done I folded down the top edge twice and sewed around it. All that was left to do was pull the cord through the channel.

Friday's Foto From Finland #8

2011-04-22T21:42:00.000+03:00

The snow's gone but it's going to rain!

A Bit Early

2011-04-21T20:51:00.003+03:00

My son usually makes the mead for May 1st but he won't be here then and you need to start about a week ahead, so I've made it this year. Only 2 litres so we can have some this weekend while he is here. Hopefully it will taste ok. I forgot that last year some of the bottles didn't fizz at all. Probably because I've been using the same bottles for years and the metal screw-on caps have loosened. If anyone would like the recipe just ask!

Zentangle Inchie #9

2011-04-18T10:52:00.000+03:00

Podcast Episode Two: Twig Sunday

2011-04-17T00:59:00.010+03:00

Please click here if the video doesn't show up.

Show Notes

KNITTING:

Cable and Lace Baby Blanket by Stephanie Ament (Ravelry link). Still working on this.
Toe-up Socks (my pattern). On the second sock.
Freya Shawl by Renate Haeckler (new stitch to me: S2K1PSSO) Hand-dyed yarn from Grannyg. Grannyg has a podcast that is now on hiatus because she has recently started an online magazine called Entangled.
Owl Cable Owl by Alicia Weisberg-Roberts (Ravelry link)

The Toy Society

BY NEXT PODCAST:
Decide on what crown I want and finish the Ardelle hat by Ellen Bartz.

REVIEW: Myssystä sukkiin edited by Päivi Syrjänen

(Library Book. All opinions in the review are those of the blog author's.)

SOMETHING ABOUT FINLAND: "Twig Sunday"

This is the rhyme that the witches say. There are different versions but this is the only one that I have heard.

Virvon varvon, (I don't think this means anything, but signals the witch is waving his/her wand.)
tuoreeks, (fresh), terveeks, (health)
tulevaks vuueks, (for the forthcoming year)
vitsa sulle, (twig for you)
palkka mulle! (reward for me!)

Vegan Bake Sale Cookbook

2011-04-15T23:30:00.000+03:00

Look what came in the mail last week! Along with others who tested the recipes for this book I received a complementary copy from Carla of her Vegan Bake Sale Cookbook. It was definately strange seeing the recipes in bookform rather than on the blog! Not only were there a lot of recipes but tips on holding a bake sale, explanations on ingredients and using substitutions but plenty more useful information. I'd recommend that you get a hold of a copy and see what you think yourself!

Friday's Foto From Finland #7

2011-04-08T21:48:00.001+03:00

Sunshine. Melting ice and snow.
(Just going on to the pond path.)

Zentangle Inchie #8

2011-04-04T00:08:00.000+03:00

Happy Birthday to My Dear Son!

2011-04-01T23:54:00.000+03:00

It was the first time I used this recipe for The Perfect Present Buttermilk Chocolate Cake Recipe that my sister recommended. It was really good.

Friday's Foto From Finland #6

2011-03-25T22:24:00.001+02:00

So we got more snow. A few times. But the newest looks so neat in drifts.

OWOH Win

2011-03-24T23:20:00.002+02:00

I entered a lot of giveaways during the One World One Heart event. I was really fortunate to win this fabulous necklace from Olwyn at die, adjust or migrate. She has one of the best blog names I've seen. I can wear the necklace with a ribbon so that all four strands are hanging down like in the picture or lift one of the strands around my neck and have the rest down. I'm really looking forward to wearing this great piece of artwork.

Zentangle Inchie #7

2011-03-22T17:46:00.001+02:00

Podcast Episode One: About Me

2011-03-20T20:23:00.023+02:00

Please click here if the video doesn't show up.

Sorry if it is quiet! Hopefully you can turn your volume up.

Show Notes

KNITTING:

Cable and Lace Baby Blanket by Stephanie Ament (Ravelry link). I added garter stitch borders and I'm using larger needles and making it bigger than a baby blanket.

Toe-up Socks (no pattern) with Koigu yarn that I won from Katie from the Electric Sheep podcast.

SEWING: Envelope Cushion Cover

(Correction: I meant that I measured a quarter of the length on each side of the middle of the cushion cover.)

REVIEW: Puikoissa by Anu Harkki

(Library Book. All opinions in the review are those of the blog author's.)

SOMETHING ABOUT FINLAND: Name Days

Friday's Foto From Finland #5

2011-03-18T10:48:00.001+02:00

Hopefully it won't be long before these are in use all over the place!

Zentangle Inchie #6

2011-03-14T20:10:00.003+02:00

It wasn't until I was taking a picture that I realized that the left and top sides had white areas!

Friday's Foto From Finland #4

2011-03-11T18:19:00.004+02:00

Ski trail melting. Overcast. Snowing again. Spring?

Happy 100th International Women's Day!

2011-03-08T20:27:00.002+02:00

Zentangle Inchie #5

2011-03-07T19:01:00.002+02:00

Struggled to come up with something. Not as exciting anymore!

Shirt Sleeve and Side Seams

2011-03-06T20:37:00.007+02:00

My son was home for the weekend so he was able to try on the muslin. There's lots that needs to be changed. Mostly on the back though and I'll have to think about how to do it.

I should have finished my notes as I was doing the sections because I'm not sure if I remember everything now. Mike Maldonado has a video tutural for one way of doing flat-felled seams. Instead of putting the raw edges together, sewing the seam allowance, triming one side and then folding the wider edge over and under the trimmed one before edge stitching, he shows a quicker method. He starts by leaving a gap between the edges. Then sews the seam allowance and doesn't have to trim back one of the edges because it is already shorter than the other side. The back of my muslin is much wider than the front. As I wanted to try method I used the back for the wider side and with right sides together made the difference between them 6mm.

I wanted the seam to be facing the same way on both sides. So for one sleeve I had to start from the hem and sew to the cuff.

And for the other the cuff to the hem. I was sure that this seam was going to be difficult but once I had the shirt postioned correctly the sewing was no problem.

Friday's Foto From Finland #3

2011-03-05T22:36:00.000+02:00

This reminded me of cotton.

Zentangle Inchie #4

2011-02-28T21:50:00.002+02:00

Shakey hand!

Friday's Foto From Finland #2

2011-02-25T22:23:00.003+02:00

I know it's blurry but I just liked it. In the slightly falling snow the modern lights side by side the old fashioned broom, signifying winter.

Nuts

2011-02-23T22:29:00.004+02:00

I like eating nuts. Sometimes when I can't be bothered to make something proper to eat, I'll use nuts as my protein, eating them straight from the bag. I haven't been recipe testing for a while because I'm usually just cooking for myself and can't be bothered. Carla had a Salty Smoeky Roasted Nuts Recipe this month that I thought that I would try because I like smoked nuts. She also put the recipe on her blog. Don't forget to check on them so that they don't burn!

Zentangle Inchie #3

2011-02-21T18:59:00.002+02:00

I had planned to make the middle figure much narrower but my pen just went its own way!

Shirt Pocket

2011-02-18T22:17:00.012+02:00

The pattern I'm using is from 1982 and the pocket they use is 14 X 16.5cm. It looked huge in the magazine picture. I found a smaller pocket from another pattern and used that.

I started by cutting out a cardboard piece the size of the pocket without the seam allowances as Peter suggests in his blog. I placed the cardboard template on the wrong side of the fabric and ironed the seam allowances over the edges of it. WARNING: be careful what kind of cardboard you use! I used a frozen pizza box and it stuck a bit to the fabric as I was pulling it off. Fortunately none of the writing came off but from now on I'll use something else.

I added the 2cm that was called for the upper edge but then realized that it would be too small if I wanted to fold it over twice. So my first hem was as small as I dared. I made the pocket a bit shorter so I could have a bit bigger hem for the top edge. With wrong sides together I stitched the top edge to the side seam. Then I turned it right side out and top stitched so the flap inside wouldn't flap around.

I liked the shape of this pocket. It was easy to fold around the cardboard template and easy to sew with straight edges and no curves. I'm not sure if it is in the right postition but once my son tries the shirt on he can decide himself where he wants it. And if he wants a pocket on the other side too and the shape of the pocket.

Friday's Foto From Finland #1

2011-02-18T12:50:00.001+02:00

There's a sign that says to watch out for falling snow. It's the icicles I'm concerned about.

Attaching the Sleeves

2011-02-16T00:25:00.004+02:00

I decided to attach the sleeves to the body by the method Peter shows at Male Pattern Boldness. With the sleeve face up, iron a hem. My seam allowance is 1.5cm so I folded it 6mm. With right sides facing together pin the fold to the raw edge of the armhole. Check that the placket will be at the back of the shirt. My pattern didn't have any notches to match so I just folded the sleeve in half to find the middle and kind of just pinned it around. Starting from the middle I sewed out to the the end of the armhole with a 9mm seam and then did the same with the other half.

Open the folded edge and refold it over the raw edges.

Pin the edge down. (Yes I know I use a lot of pins but with bad eyesight and winter sunlight I'd rather do as little unpicking as possible.)

On the wrong side topstitch close to the loose edge. I sewed from one end to the other. When I come to a thicker part I use this handy bump helper first before the bump and then after it.

First sleeve done.

Zentangle Inchie # 2

2011-02-14T14:46:00.001+02:00

I don't know if I should call these inchie zentangles or zentangle inchies! I guess I should get a thinner pen nib as I can't draw too much in the small space with the ones I have. I was hoping I could use up my son's old felt pens.

Continuous Sleeve Placket

2011-02-13T22:46:00.006+02:00

The pattern I'm using has a continuous sleeve placket. It is a rectangular piece of material that is twice the length of the vent. Unfortunately the pattern gave the length for the shorter sleeve and I didn't think to check and so I had to cut out new ones. To start with, draw the cutting line on the sleeve. Then about 6mm from the bottom edge of that line reinforce the vent slash by sewing with a shorter stitch length up to the point of the slash line. Turn the material around and sew down to the edge again. Cut up to the point along the slash line without cutting through the sewing line.

Iron the placket in half lengthwise. Open it and fold one edge close to the middle and iron this fold.
Unfold the placket, spread open the sleeve vent and pin the uncreased right side to the right side of the sleeve. The middle point of the sleeve edge needs to be about 8-9mm away from the edge of the placket. (I have a piece of black thread along the edge of sleeve to show that the edges don't meet.) Sew the seam allowance distance from the edge of the placket piece. Once you get to the middle it will be tricky because there is too much material to lay flat. I tried googling how to avoid this but wasn't able to find any answer. So I just did the best I could.

Iron the seam allowance towards the placket piece. Pull the placket piece around to the wrong side of the sleeve and turn the prefolded edge under and pin down. Top stitch, being careful to hide the other seam. With right sides together, fold the placket in half and sew a short diagonal seam at the top.

Not too difficult and turned out ok for the muslin. I might try different plackets to see if I like something else better.

I used the spell check and it high-lighted almost everything! I'll try again tomorrow.

Yoking Around

2011-02-11T18:04:00.009+02:00

I finally gave up fiddling with the shirt pattern because other people in MPB Men's Shirt Sew-Along over on Peter's blog have already got their muslin finished. So I pinned some of the pattern pieces to an old sheet I bought from a charity store to use as a muslin. I've only cut out the two yoke pieces, the two front pieces and the back. I'll do the rest later. I might not even do the collar until my son has a chance to try the muslin on so I can see if the neck opening is the right size and at the correct height.

I started by pinning (the green pin) and then basting the pleats on the back piece. Then I put the back piece between the two (wrong sides out) yoke pieces and sewed through the three layers. I read somewhere that you should press all of your seams on both sides before moving on to the next step, so that is what I'm going to do.

Next was ironing to turn the seam allowance towards the yoke. I turned the whole thing over and ironed the other side the same way. After that I put both yoke pieces wrong sides together and ironed them from the outside. I decided to do the top-stitching on the yoke now because there wasn't as much material to move around. As this is the muslin I did the row of top-stitching and didn't bother to look where it should be. I just went and checked four of my son's store-bought shirts and the top-stitching on them is right at the edge and I did it 7 mm away! Oh well.

There is a way of finishing the shirt yoke called the burrito. I tried to look at it from people's blogs because I wasn't getting it. The pattern I'm using doesn't have a separate piece for the button 'placket' (is it then a placket?) so I didn't have to worry about that. The way I did it was to have the wrong sides of the front and back pieces facing and pin them together. Opening up the two yoke pieces I laid the wrong sides of the yokes down on the table.

Then I took the back piece and rolled it up and laid it on the yoke piece that was already pinned. I did the same to the front piece so that the pins were laying on the table.

I brought the unpinned yoke edge up and over the rolled pieces to meet with the pinned edges and pinned it to them. I sewed the seam, ironed it and repeated the steps with the other front piece.

Everything was turned right side out, ironed and I'll top-stitched close to the edge when there's daylight again!

Oops. I just read on Peter's blog that you should start by stay-stitching the neckline. I've done it now.

Inchies and Zentangles

2011-02-07T20:12:00.005+02:00

I recently heard of inches and zentangles. Inchies are small pieces of art. As their name indicates they are only an inch by an inch. Zentangles are drawings with repetitive patterns but I thought that they were suppose to repeat the way I had done above. I liked the idea of both inchies and zentangles and thought I'd try combining them. As I'm not creative, the smaller the piece of drawing I have to do, the better!

Done and Over With

2011-02-06T22:07:00.003+02:00

The sleeves turned out well even though they were 1 cm longer than we thought would be necessary. It was nice seeing long enough sleeves on my son! I made a mistake with narrowing the sides and didn't narrow them enough. Fortunately! I thought that the shirt was too tight in one place and I don't know if he would have been able to wear it if I had narrowed it as much as planned.

Now that the shirt sleeves were long enough my son noticed that the suit jacket sleeves could be longer. But that will keep until he needs the suit again. Hopefully that won't be for years. And the shoulders are too wide, and the ....

Suit Shirt

2011-01-31T19:07:00.008+02:00

My son is tall and has long arms so most shirt sleeves are too short for him. He's attending a funeral next weekend and when he was home last weekend he tried on the only plain white shirt he has. The sleeves were quite short and he would have liked them showing out of the suit sleeve. So I suggested that I just add some material on to each sleeve. He wouldn't be taking his suit jacket off and no one would know.

I remembered that I had cut a sleeve off of another white shirt to make it into a short-sleeved shirt. I never finished it but I thought that I could use the sleeve material for the extension piece. Unfortunately the sleeves are different widths so I had to cut the suit shirt just above the sleeve placket to get the same width. Then came the problem of how to attach the lower edge to the new piece because they were different widths too. I decided to try the upper edge first to see if it worked before figuring out the lower one. I put the cuff piece inside the sleeve so I could sew the wrong sides together as I wanted to make a flat-felled seam. Then I pulled the cuff piece out so I could iron the new seam to have it easier to trim one of the edges before turning the other one over it.

I was trimming away when it hit me. Duh! Why not just use the the other cuff piece as the cuff piece for the suit shirt and I wouldn't have to fuss with getting the lower edges to match. I'll have to wait to see what my son says but other than switching the buttons if he wants, I don't see that it will matter. (Ok the shirt is flat-felled seamed and the cuff piece serged but who's going to peek in his jacket sleeve?) The sleeve is now 9 cm longer.

Next is trying to narrow the shirt. Sigh.

Shirtmaking

2011-01-22T19:07:00.006+02:00

For a few years I've been saying to my son that I should make him a shirt as his arms are too long for store-bought ones and he's so thin. I tend to put off sewing because of my machine, but I need to get started. I've wanted my own pattern, so I'd have the directions and photo too and I finally found one in a Suuri Käsityö Kerho magazine from the recycling center. It's from 1982 though, so I hope it will do.

I started by finding the pieces on the pattern page and writing the numbers on the edge so that they would be easier to find again. I've traced all of the pieces out. I couldn't remember what langansuunta was in English so I just put a T (for thread) everywhere it was written and waited until I had the computer on to look what it was. Grainline of course! Tomorrow's task is to take my son's measurements and compare them to the pattern pieces to see what needs to be changed. I don't know if I'll be able to change them very well but I hope so.

I just sent off my request to Peter at Male Pattern Boldness for an invite to the MPB Men's Shirt Sew-Along. So hopefully seeing all of the other shirts will inspire me.

Today's Question: Do you have any shirt making tips?

Eatting Carrots

2011-01-16T20:37:00.005+02:00

I've been eating too much wheat products lately and I was craving something fresh. Not interested in a salad I thought I'd try making a dip out of my veggies. I took a fat carrot and sliced it thinly on the diagonal for my "chips". I wasn't sure how I wanted the dip spiced so I decided to make it first, see how it tasted and then add spices. I liked it so much how it was that I didn't add anything else.

Fresh Dip

2 dl unsalted mixed nuts (I used raw)
½ red pepper, cut in chunks
1 avocado, cut in chunks
1 large mushroom, cut in chunks
1 tomato, cut in chunks
1 tsp lemon juice, or to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Process nuts in a food processor until small bits. Add rest of ingredients and process until the consistency is to your liking. Serve with carrot chips.

I've been tempted to make carrot squares for a while now as I haven't made them in many years. I seldom frost things unless it is a birthday cake. I thought I'd make the cream cheese frosting to go with it as I've never made it. I licked the beater and didn't like it at all. But I frosted the carrot squares with it and hoped for the best. I was really surprised that once the frosting was on the squares it didn't taste cheesy at all.

Cheese and Crackers

2011-01-07T23:37:00.009+02:00

I would like to find a versatile nut cheese recipe. Though this Simple Almond Cheese tasted good and was otherwise easy to make, it wasn't worth the hour it took to peel 2½ dl of soaked almonds. The recipe says to pop off the peels but only about 5 of mine slipped off. The rest I had to scratch off. Good thing for podcasts! I used dried dill instead of garlic. I think I'll try them again but either use unpeeled almonds or buy them peeled.

Spicy Sesame Crackers
2 dl flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ dl oat flour (I made it from rolled oats)
1/4 dl sesame seeds
1 ½ tsp pizza spice
black pepper, to taste
chili powder, to taste
dash salt
50 g margarine
3/4 dl milk

Preheat oven to 200C. Sift flour and baking powder together. Add oat flour, sesame seeds and spices. Cut in margarine until well mixed with dry ingredients. Add milk and stir to blend together. Flour board and roll out dough until thickness desired. (I try to roll it out as thin as possible, but that is just me.) Can use cookie cutter to cut shapes or just cut into squares or other shapes. Prick each cracker twice with fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or longer if thick, but check after 8 minutes to see how they are doing.

Starting Off the Year

2011-01-06T21:33:00.006+02:00

Last year my son's grandmother gave me 18 balls of some old goldy coloured wool she had and I've set a goal this of trying to knit two rows a day on this Cable and Lace Baby Blanket (Ravelry link) with it. I want to work on something else too but I haven't picked anything. Maybe some sewing? My son hasn't decided what symbols he wants on the extra cross stitch pieces. He feels that the love and happiness signs that came in the same magazine are too common.

My son and his girlfriend went back home today because he has an exam tomorrow. His girlfriend's mother decided to drive them back and so one of the grandmothers and I went along too. It's so quiet here knowing that he won't be coming in the door for a while. We went out for pizza before we left them and I was surprised that I was the only one who couldn't finish theirs. But it's waiting in the fridge for breakfast. Nothing like cold pizzeria pizza for breakfast and I haven't had some for years.

We were told that the water would be off on Tuesday, which meant that the radiators would be cold too. Fortunately for some reason we still got cold water but no heat. As it was around -14°C outside I was expecting the apartment to cool down fast but I was wrong and we didn't have to wear outdoor clothes inside! It was nice being able to wash our hands without fiddling with water containers. In the evening we let the air out of the radiator and got some heat.

Today's question: Do you keep a list of what projects you want to do?

Last Day of the Year

2010-12-31T22:10:00.009+02:00

I have a few blogs. I started them, wrote in them for a while and then abandoned them. I've always planned to bring them all together into one blog but I haven't got around to it. I don't know why I have a blog and seldom write in it. I have thought of just deleting it but somehow I don't want to! Though I don't comment often or for many I never do, I read a lot of blogs. And I want one of my own.

So a new goal for next year is to do my best to write here once a week. I also need to go through this blog and add the tags I often forget to write at the end of posts. Let's see how I do.

I only made a few Christmas presents. I forgot to take a picture of the cookies and crackers I gave as a present.

This Fancy Crocheted Cross Bookmark was for my sister.

My son's partner likes turquoise, so when I noticed that this turquoise was no longer in the new colour palatte, I bought a ball so I'd have it if she wanted anything knitted or crocheted from me. When I asked what she'd like for Christmas, she suggested handwarmers and she found the Emerald Green Handwarmer pattern, so I made them. I liked how they turned out. I made a few changes. One being to knit them in the round. It's so much easier than having to fuss with a seam.

I was at a flea market and came across a few CrossStitcher magazines. Issue 190/September 2007 had this free kit with it and I thought that my son might like it. Though the pattern said that it would take 12 hours, it took forever! I didn't even get it done in time for Christmas. I showed him the suggestions in the magazine of how to frame it. One of them was to cross stitch two smaller pieces with Chinese characters on them to place on each side of this piece. That's the one he chose so I'll have to find some matching aida cloth and get them done too.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Babysat Again

2010-12-05T20:14:00.003+02:00

I had another fun time with my friend's grandson. We made pizza again though this time we had tinned mushrooms instead of fresh and I think he would have eaten them all straight from the tin if I had let him.

This time we also made cupcakes because he wanted to make something else too. I used this Easy Mix Cocoa Cupcakes recipe because it had oil it and I thought it would be easier for him to handle. I had almost all of the ingredients in their own containers so he could mix them together himself. He also wanted to try everything. I warned him that cocoa powder doesn't taste good but he was willing to try it. He didn't like the oil and buttermilk mix either. He wondered at having to sift the ingredients together (recipes here don't usually call for it.) As I was using a sieve I only sifted them once. When it was time to add the boiling water it was my turn to do the stirring. They turned out well and we enjoyed them.

Babysitting a Six Year Old

2010-11-25T22:00:00.006+02:00

A friend of mine had a meeting to go to with her partner. She asked if I could get her grandson from pre-school and take care of him for a few hours until they could come to get him. I've taken care of him before but not for quite a while and I tried to come up with things for us to do.

As he would be with me over dinner time I thought we could make our own pizzas. I measured out the ingredients ahead of time (and forgot to take a picture before he emptied his containers) and had everything ready before he came.

He made his own dough and rolled it out. Then he cut up the turkey slices, red pepper and fresh mushrooms (that he was trying for the first time!). We used ketchup because that is what they used at home. Then a bit of pizza spice. And after he put on his toppings he sprinkled on some cheese. It turned out quite well and he ate almost the whole thing. I'm taking care of him next week too. I wonder if he'll want to do it again. Does anyone have any suggestions for something else we can cook if he doesn't want pizza next time?

Single Serving Pizza Dough
1 dl flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/4 dl milk (or more if needed)
1 tbsp oil

Pre-heat oven to 200°C. Mix dry together. Mix in wet. Stir with fork until well combined. Use hands to form a ball. Roll out on floured board. Pile on toppings. Bake until cheese has melted but dough hasn't turned too brown (according to my guest).

Candy Roll

2010-11-09T20:45:00.006+02:00

When my son was younger I would get him a chocolate advent calendar but as he grew the amount of chocolate for each day seemed so small. So I crocheted a candy holder and put a candy or chocolate in each pocket. Then he grew older still and for a few years I bought enough licorice and small chocolate bars to hang on a bulletin board. The first year I wrapped them in newspaper photos that I had saved up but then we decided that it wasn't necessary to wrap them so I just thumb-tacked them onto the board.

He has moved out but I still asked him this year if he wanted me to put something together for him and he did. I had to get it ready in time for him to take it back with him last weekend because we don't know if he'll be home again before December. I thought of a crayon roll and decided to only make 20 pockets so that wider things could fit in if he wants to use it for something else too. Some of the pockets have more than one treat in them. It isn't too easy anymore finding 25 different small things. I wonder if he will save them until December!

I'm linking this to

Green Beans and Ham

2010-10-24T20:01:00.004+03:00

I spoke on the phone the other day with my three year old nephew. We've only talked a few times and we've never met so it isn't always easy to think of things to say. I asked him if he liked to read and he said that he did so I asked him if he knew the story Green Eggs and Ham and I said off by heart 'I am Sam. I am Sam. Sam I am.' He said that he knew it and at the end of the story he (referring to the character) realizes that after trying them he likes green eggs after all. I thought that it was funny that he was able to jump to the end of the story without the book being there. I wonder how often he has heard it.

I haven't been cooking much. Now that I'm on my own it is easier just to have a sandwich (or popcorn). I've enjoyed testing recipes and need to do more. This Thai Inspired Green Quinoa is another of Carla's recipes. Green beans are one of my favourite vegetables but I seldom eat them. It was nice to find a recipe that was easy to make and includes chickpeas too.

Tinned soups aren't very common here. There are dry soups but they always seem to taste so artificial. So I haven't had any cream of something soups since I've lived here. For some reason I started to think would cream of mushroom soup be hard to make from scratch. One of the first recipes that I came across didn't have many ingredients so I decided to try it. It was a Fresh Cream of Mushroom Soup. Simple to make and tasted good the next day. I did use less broth like many of the reviewers suggested. I only made half of the recipe because I had bought the mushrooms before I thought of the soup. I liked it so much that I went back the next day to get more mushrooms but they were all out. Next time I'll be sure to make the whole recipe!

It Snowed!

2010-10-14T18:11:00.004+03:00

It was my son's girlfriend birthday recently and because I don't know her that well it was difficult to come up with a gift. After looking around for a pattern for something, I found these Handy Spider Webs on Ravelry and crocheted them.

I haven't made anything for my mother and I asked one of my sisters if she could think of anything my mother might need. She suggested hand warmers because last winter Mom's hands were sometimes cold when she was at home. We agreed on a simple pattern we saw on Ravelry called fingerless mitts and I used some Regia Silk that I received in a giveaway. I'm so used to having people try on the things as I'm knitting so it is the right size that I found it a bit stressful working on the hand warmers and only having measurements to go by. Well if worse comes to worse they can send them back as they fit me!

I was given some 'winter' apples and I made some applesauce with most of them. I was looking for a snack and decided on some cottage cheese. I saw the applesauce cooling and added a dollop to the cottage cheese and it was quite good. Never had it before.

Ginger Snaps

2010-10-12T21:20:00.007+03:00

I can't remember did we eat ginger snaps when I was growing up or did I find them after I moved out on my own. Every few years they pop in my mind (as do Fig Newtons, Cheez Whiz, etc.) and I miss them. I came across a Ginger Snap recipe from a Canadian blog and thought that I would try them. They were really good but not like the ones I used to eat. Next time I will try adding more ginger and less sugar and see how that turns out.

After I finished making the project bags I was left with the corners that I had cut out. I've been wanting a few mug coasters and I thought that I would try to use the scraps to make them.

First I cut off the rounded edges and sewed four of the squares together.

I wanted some padding but not so much that the mugs might tip over. I had no use for the rounded bits so I used them by placing them away from the seams as not to add more bulk.

Then I sewed two of the pieces together and turned them right side out and sewed in a spiral to keep the padding in place. They are just for me so I wasn't too careful how straight the edges or lines were. All that was left from the original piece of material were small scraps and I didn't feel bad bad throwing them away.

Slow Work

2010-09-24T18:42:00.005+03:00

I don't know any bloggers. Well I did know one, but she doesn't blog anymore. So I've never asked anyone how they check on the blogs that they read. I've been using Bloglines but it is shutting down next month. I had to find a new place to put all of the blogs I want to keep up on. At the moment I'm using Google Reader because I haven't looked into any others yet. It's possible to move them all at once but with over 330 blogs on Bloglines (and over 9000 unread posts) I want to go through them all. I think it would be better to only move the ones that I'm sure that include my interests at the moment. OK, and a lot of other ones too!

I had been thinking of going through them for awhile (after I noticed that there were over 9000 unread posts) and now I have to do it. It was interesting to find that some of the blogs no longer existed even though I could read the posts that Bloglines hadn't marked as read. Some had changed their site address and I didn't know. I still have 88 blogs to look through. I was hoping to cut the total down to 100 blogs but I've already moved 140!

When my son visited last time I was able to make GrannyG's Caramel Slice with the condensed milk that GrannyG sent me. It was a real treat. I still have another tin, so I have to decide whether or not to make these again or try something different.

I haven't been making many of Carla's test recipes lately. During the summer it was too hot and now, living on my own, I'm too lazy. I did make her Savory Sunflower Brittle recently because it sounded so unusual and I plan to make it again soon.

I've done a bit of sewing. Some people on Ravelry have asked for project bags though they probably would want something more modern. I had this piece of material that I was pretty sure I'd never use. It wasn't a big piece and the squares were too large for any quilting I might want to do. I've sent three off and still should get the last one sent.

First Attempt

2010-09-03T18:39:00.004+03:00

Can you guess what I'm going to make?

Does this help?

No? Well what about this?

I made sponge toffee for the first time! I used a Hokey Pokey recipe because I forgot what we called it when I was growing up (sponge toffee). I'm going to try others because I think that there was too much baking soda (it tastes so salty) as most of the recipes I looked at after making this have about 1 tbsp of baking soda per cup or more of sugar and I only used 1/4 cup of sugar. She said not to stir it but all of the other recipes I've seen, say to stir. I didn't have any golden syrup so I used a mixture of dark syrup and honey. Why did I use honey! I even hate the smell of it! Oh well, I might eat it anyway.

Thoughtfulness

2010-08-29T20:57:00.005+03:00

I was lucky enough to win GrannyG's competition! Some podcasts ago GrannyG was talking about the Caramel Slice she was making. It included condensed milk which I haven't seen here. I asked her if she thought that I could substitute cream for it. I haven't gotten around to trying but now I don't have to. Not only did she send goodies from the media kit that she had received, my first hand-dyed yarn that she had dyed herself but she surprised me by sending two tins of condensed milk! Now I can try the slices with the correct ingredients. Yum. It was such a nice thing to do.

I finished my son's hat in time before he moved. It was the first time I had knit a top-down hat and I found the increases fiddly. I much prefer to decrease! I wanted to do a top-down hat so I could get the length right without having to do the crown over and over every time I'd have to undo it to fix the length. If I need to do more hats like this, I think I'll do them top-down as it is easier to get the length right the first time.

I needed a new bind-off too. So after trying a few, I decided on Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off, though mine wasn't as stretchy as in the picture. I kept checking back at the pictures after every stitch until I realized that if I put the yarn where it should be for the stitch (in back for knit, in front for purl) and then just put the yarn over the needle from there and then back under the needle to where it should be, I could do it on my own.

Summer Heat is Here

2010-07-12T15:40:00.009+03:00

I wasn't sure if we'd get a proper summer but it's 29 ºC in this room!

I went to the recycling center last week and found this cute mug. I definitely don't need more mugs but it was so cute I couldn't resist (and it was only 0.20 €). I tried out a No Pudge Brownie Clone recipe, using soy vanilla yogurt instead of fat-free yogurt and half white and half brown sugar and less than called for. Not bad for what they were and quite simple.

Last year I bought these pants from the charity store for my son. I knew that they were too short but I thought that he might like capris (are they called that for men too?) but he didn't. I was going to get rid of them and asked him again to make sure if he wanted me to shorten them for him. He suggested that I make them into shorts. So I did. He hasn't tried them on yet so I hope they are a good length.

Podcasts

2010-06-27T17:31:00.009+03:00

I don't have a tv and don't listen to the radio as I don't like the Finnish radio style. Or at least I didn't when I used to listen to it. I'm really glad I found podcasts. I don't remember how though, or what the first one was that I listened to. I still look for new ones and now I'm trying out a few quilting podcasts but so far they aren't ones that I'll keep listening to.

Most of ones that I download are about knitting but I would like to find more sewing ones. The only professional one I listen to is Car Talk. I don't have a car or a driver's license, and at my age, I doubt that I'll every want to get one, but I find the program relaxing.

I usually prefer podcasts that don't just talk about their main topic but include the podcaster's life too. I would like to find more non-American podcasts but I must admit that I haven't looked too hard!

One podcast that I enjoy from New Zealand is Crafternoon Tea with Granny G. Until recently her podcast was one of the longest on my list. She has now divided each episode into two sections and airs them at different times. One part is an interview and she has had quite a variety of interesting people on her list.

The other part is a combination of what crafts (knitting, sewing, etc.) she has been working on and usually what she has been baking. I always feel lazy when I listen to her talking about what is in her tin that week as I don't bake that often. Now and again Granny G has a guest to talk about what's in the tins. It's interesting to hear what are New Zealand baking traditions and what baked goods have been imported. In a recent podcast she talked about making bagels. I'm tempted to try making them again as she made them sound easy to make. If you enjoy crafty podcasts, I recommend giving her a listen.

Where's the Sun/Summer?

2010-06-19T18:05:00.009+03:00

It's the middle of June already and it still doesn't feel like summer. Of course we're not wearing our winter clothes but it isn't all that warm.

Carla has sent her cookbook Quick and Easy Vegan Bake Sale (Amazon link to pre-order) off to the publisher and that's the end of the testing for that book. The last recipe I tested was this Spicy Corn Biscotti which was really good. Despite having to have the time to bake biscotti twice and have it cool in between, I like that it can be munched on whenever.

Carla has started coming up with recipes for a new cook book. I've only made one recipe so far. This Lentil "Spag Bol" Sauce was really good. I'm trying to use things up from the freezer to make room for strawberries when they come. I'd also like to make up a batch of this sauce and freeze it in individual portions now that I'm an empty-nester and find making food just for myself a bit of a nuisance!

I started the second ball of wool for my Vortex shawl. Not wanting to bother with putting the live stitches on a piece of string, I just measured half of it. It's now about 48 cm across. I don't have this size circular needles (and I don't know if they sell them long enough) so I'm going to try to use dpns. At the moment I'm using 7 needles. Hopefully I can find 1-3 more around the apartment. I don't know if they were 4 or 5 needle packs or if I've picked up some somewhere. I'm at 336 stitches.

Only working on one project was getting a bit boring so I restarted a wool hat for my son. I wanted to do a top-down hat so I wouldn't have to keep undoing it like the last one when it would be too long, too short, too long again! The first one I tried seemed to leave gaps between the stitches and that wouldn't be warm enough here. So I'm trying a different pattern. It looks good but making increases every row is taking forever. It would be so much faster to do decreases! II need to take my glasses off to do such close work with this colour. Good thing I like listening to podcasts because I wouldn't be able to watch anything without my glasses.

I just went to look for the name of the pattern and I can't find the pattern! and I didn't bookmark it in anyway! or write down the name of the pattern! or write down the pattern past row 9, where I am up to! Guess what I'm going to be doing now. Hope I've just missed it (twice) and it hasn't been taken down. Sigh.

Winnings

2010-06-01T22:28:00.005+03:00

I've won two prizes recently. One was this lavender filled matryoshka sachet from Amy over at Chick Chick Sewing during the May 17, 2010 Giveaway Day.

The other prize was this book. What fun. I have to take the train to get to the library and so winning a book is great. Jan from Prytz Family often has book giveaways so it's worth visiting her blog if you like to read.

I'm really thankful that people are willing to send to Finland.

I Can't Blame My Machine For Everything This Time

2010-05-22T02:28:00.003+03:00

We bought my son a white shirt from the charity store. It's a size small and a bit tight around the bottom and it gaped open. I told him that I could add a buttonhole and after figuring out where the best place would be, I got the machine ready. It's been a while since I made a buttonhole so I got out my instruction book, put the buttonhole foot on and started sewing. But all it did was go back and forth so I was making a lump of thread! It turned out that the instructions were for 2 different models and I had looked at the wrong one and had the dial set at the wrong letter.

Ripped that bit and tried again. Had another mess. Realized that it was stitch width and not length that was suppose to be at number 4. Rip. But I dropped the seam ripper and reaching down to pick it up from the sofa, I stabbed myself with it. Blood! Couldn't continue on a white shirt with my finger bleeding, so I had to wait for that to stop.

Sewed the first long side and then a short side and when I started on the second long side the zigzag wasn't close together like it was on the first side. I didn't know what to do, so I turned the material around and sewed it backwards with the first setting. I got it done finally and the button sewn on.

Next I'll tackle the sleeves. He wants them short.

Asparagus

2010-05-14T18:02:00.005+03:00

Today I tried asparagus for the first time. I keep seeing recipes for it and so I thought it was about time to buy some. I wanted a simple recipe so that we could basically just taste the asparagus itself. So I melted a bit of butter in some olive oil in a frying pan and added the asparagus. I turned it a few times as it started getting brown. Of course I forgot to add the salt as it was cooking as I tend not to salt things but we added it before eating. I don't think that I'll be one of those people who look forward to asparagus season but if I notice that it is on sale, I might try to cook it some other way. Like in a soup or on a pizza or grilled. I was curious to see if it could be eaten raw and after googling it, it seems like it can.

Summer seemed to arrive overnight. A few days ago I was still wearing a light scarf around my neck and my gloves and today it was too hot to wear anything more than a t-shirt. I hope it lasts for awhile.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T01:55:00.003+03:00

21 Mother's Days ago I got my first Mother's Day gift. It was a food processor and it is still working! Some of the parts are broken but I've learned to live without them. Today my son made griddle scones for breakfast. It's so nice when I don't have to cook. My son made this card and got me this box of chocolates that I was going to buy myself. Didn't he make a great card?

We prefer our cakes cold and 'aged' so we made this Zebra Cake that I tested for Carla's cookbook yesterday. It's fun making Zebra Cakes and I recommend trying it. It was a good choice for my Mother's Day Cake. Well chocolate anything is good for my Mother's Day!

Gardening

2010-05-08T21:41:00.005+03:00

Last summer I had a few things growing on our balcony. They didn't grow very well and so we didn't get very much produce! I did find out though that we don't like ruccola and I should try to find someone to give the seeds to before they are too old to use anymore.

In this container I've got basil on the left and kale on the right. I keep reading about kale and seeing recipes for it but I've never seen it in the store. I shouldn't say never because I only bothered to find out what it is in Finnish over the winter, so maybe they just sell it in the summer. I found seeds though, so I decided to try and grow some. I read somewhere that a grape container is a good greenhouse for seeds so I tried it. The stickers on the top were difficult to get off but I thought that they blocked too much of the little sunshine that there is.

Here there should be dill on the left and basil on the right. I was surprised that the dill hadn't sprouted yet. It's such a fine plant that I would have thought that it would sprout quickly. I guess the seeds could be dead. I'll have to wait a few days and see what happens. I have no idea when I should try to put them outside!

This and That

2010-04-18T23:25:00.008+03:00

Last month I finally finished the Aspen wrap (Ravelry link) that I started in January of 2008. Between the time I started it and marked it as finished on Ravelry the name changed! After not working on it for about a year I wrote out each of the 16 rows of the pattern repeat on separate cards and used a carabiner (why can I never remember what these are called) to hold them together. It was easy to flip each card when I finished the row and I didn't loose my place.

Last year I bought some baby wool and after looking at a lot of patterns, I've decided to knit a Vortex Shawl (Ravelry link). After the first 13 rows there is only a 2 row repeat so I hope I'll have no trouble remembering it!

It was my son's birthday at the beginning of the month and this is the card I made for him. I saw it somewhere and made my own. We are hoping to invite his grandparents for a birthday meal next week. So I've been trying to tidy the living room and do some of my decluttering goal at the same time. I'm aiming for 7 items from around our home a week.

I'm still doing test baking for Carla's cookbook. This Clafouti Tart is the latest. I used black currants instead of the raspberries because I didn't have any and I'm trying to use up the food from my freezer. I'm thinking of making it again when my son's grandparents come because my son and I both really liked it and also I think that the grandparents will be interested in tasting tofu and a vegan dessert. Though I'm tempted to let them eat it first before telling them what is in it.

What I've Been Up To

2010-03-28T19:47:00.005+03:00

I'm disappointed with myself again! It's been so long since I've posted.

My son's in the military hospital with a bad flu and probably bronchitis, so when we decided to go to visit him yesterday I made some biscotti because it would keep well without being refrigerated. I won the book My Sweet Vegan cookbook some time ago and I wanted to try something from it as I've been doing the Carla's cookbook testing for a while now. I made the Orange Hazelnut Biscotti. I substituted almonds for the hazelnuts and left off the melted chocolate. I don't use Amazon but where else do people link to?

I'm taking bridge lessons. I'd be failing if there were tests. Yesterday it took me an hour to translate 2 pages! I wanted to make notes for myself and I thought that I should use English terms in case I want to look things up on the Internet. I'm such a slow translator. I either use English or Finnish and seldom need to translate. I seem to be missing the bridge between two languages. It's probably why French was so difficult for me at school. I wish I had realized it back then.

Last time I was at the charity store I had a great find. They have several boxes that have free items in them and I found 6 English books. Then in the back where they have the books they are selling I picked up 2 more at 0.50 € each. Not bad!

Don't Laugh!

2010-02-10T20:39:00.013+02:00

I finally made it. I visited over 1000 blogs to see what they were like. And of course to see what they were giving away for One World One Heart (OWOH) event. Some I've marked to go back to, but with 270 blogs on my bloglines list, I didn't want to add too many more! I hadn't heard of this event before this year and I was glad to find out about it just before it started and not soon after it ended.

I really found the mixed media pieces interesting. I need to start looking for tutorials as I'm not creative. I'm good at following directions but not with coming up with my own.

My friend is turning 50 next week so I thought I'd make her a card. On my OWOH tour I came across a style called zettiology. I don't have many paints or supplies that I could use, so I just used what we have. I went around looking at people's art and took what I thought I could manage on the card. I started putting them on the paint program and came up with this. Now if you continue on reading I don't want to hear any laughing!

This is what I came up with from going around looking at people's artwork. The first version also had the words 'tick tock' and a larger clock but I thought that she might not find that as funny as me!

I had trouble finding pictures and colours in magazines that I wanted to use, so I just took what I found. All of our felt markers are old so I didn't think that they would last to do the black around the edges, so I used crayon. It isn't as dark as I liked but better than nothing. I painted the background with coffee and sprinkled some instant coffee granules on it. If I'd had more experience I would have realized that I should have planned where to put the granules first!

This is what I wrote inside.

I baked some cookies for the recipe testing.

A Little Bit More Sewing

2010-02-06T14:33:00.012+02:00

I finally got the tote done that I won from Green Bag Lady. The prize was a finished tote and pieces to make a tote to give away. I wanted to give the second tote to my son to add to his university chest (ha ha, like a hope chest) but I decided to take the striped handles off of mine to put on his and put the pink ones on mine. I French seamed the seams and I think it turned out well.

I bought a bundle of material from a charity store and I want to start making a (lap) quilt. I don't have enough material to make anything yet but it's a start. The bright material at the bottom of the pile won't be part of the quilt but it was included in the pile. I decided to look through my quilting magazines (which are from 1985 to 1989) and all of the patterns I've cut out, photocopied or drawn out but I didn't find anything that I felt was what I wanted. I haven't looked at the magazines in years but it was funny how familiar the pictures all looked. I guess I've looked at them too often.

I found a fabric giveaway at Kvnita Quilts. The colours are really pretty! She will draw a winner on Feb. 15, 2010.

I did a bit of recipe testing again. This time it was flavoured scones. Both my son's and my reactions were 'yum'. I look forward to Mondays when Carla posts new recipes for us to try.

My friend's 50th birthday is coming up and I'd like to make her a card. I'm hoping that my son will be willing to make her a pair of earrings. (And that he'll help me make the card too.) She doesn't want to celebrate but I'd like to give her a little something. I need to get started so I can have them done before I see her next week.

A Bit of Sewing

2010-01-31T17:53:00.006+02:00

My son and I are trying to sort through our things. We were emptying out a linen shelf so that he could store some dishes he got as a gift and I came across some material that his grandmother had given me years ago to make tea towels out of. Are they tea towels if they are only used for putting over your baking? Anyway I thought it was time to sew them and so I did. I sewed around all 4 sides of the different sized pieces.

I did a bit more baking for Carla's cookbook testing. We'd finished the crackers so I wanted to make more, which was a mistake because I rolled them thinner and I could have eaten them all!

As I'm trying to use items up from the freezer I thought I'd make Carla's banana loaf too. I didn't have the berries called for but substitutions were allowed, so I used some black currants. I wasn't sure if they would make the loaf too tart, so I just used the minimum amount in the recipe. I still have some frozen bananas and black currants and because we liked this, I'll probably make this again.

Crackers and Cheese

2010-01-27T15:54:00.007+02:00

I've been wanting to try this Cashew Chive Cheese Spread for a while now. I thought that since I had made the crackers for Carla's at The Year of the Vegan cookbook testing, it would be a good time to make the cheese too. The crackers turned out well and I don't think that they needed the agave that they called for that I left out because I didn't have any. Oh course I don't know what they would taste like with it though! I don't use chives so I tried dill. I don't mind putting dill where ever I can. I need to use a thicker yoghurt if I make the cheese again. It was more of a dip. Might try it without the nutritional yeast too as my son doesn't really like it. Tasted good on the crackers which was most important.

ETA: The cheese firmed up in the fridge but it was still quite soft.

Here I go!

2010-01-26T21:52:00.003+02:00

So it didn't take me long to stop blogging again. I found a blogging giveaway event called One World One Heart and started to go to different blogs to see what they were like and what they were giving away. So nice. They seem to put so much work into their crafts and their blogs which really makes me envious! But I need to accept what kind of blogger/blog writer I am and just do my blog my way.

I've been doing some testing for Carla at The Year of the Vegan for a cookbook she is doing. For breakfast I made her scones. I actually followed the directions and rolled them out to about 2½ cm instead flatter, so they rose quite nicely We enjoyed them with marmalade.

Menu for Week 44

2009-11-02T10:57:00.000+02:00

Breakfasts:
M: oatmeal porridge
T: cereal
W: flavoured oatmeal porridge (homemade pumpkin spice and brown sugar)
T: 4 grain porridge
F: cereal
S: Overnight Granola

½ dl brown sugar
½ dl honey
½ dl oil
½ tsp cinnamon
8 dl oats

½ dl raisins
½ dl coconut
1/4 dl sunflowers seeds
(½ dl chopped nuts)
(whatever you like in your granola)

Bring brown sugar, honey and oil to a simmer and remove immediately from heat. Stir in cinnamon and then oats. Mix until oats are well covered with honey mixture. Pour into a lined baking dish.

Put in a 175° celcius oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Put back in oven, turn heat off and leave in oven overnight. Before serving, mix in raisins, coconut, sunflowers seeds and any nuts, etc. you would like.
S: cereal

Lunches:
M: leftover mashed potatoes and salmon
T - F: leftovers from the night before
S: Chickpea Noodle Soup

S: leftovers

Dinners:
M: My son made Broccoli Carrot Stir-Fry that we had with nuts and rice

T: Red Lentil Sweet Potato Soup

2 tbsp oil
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
1-2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 ml garlic powder
½ tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1 L water
1 vegetable broth cube
1½ c red lentils, rinsed well
(salt)

Heat oil and saute celery. Add vegetables and stir for a bit. Add water, broth cube and spices. Bring to a boil and add red lentils. Reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes or until vegetables are done. Purée until smooth.

W: Pan Fried Potatoes (without onions or spices), fish sticks, lettuce and spinach salad with buttermilk dressing

T: shrimp and pollack sauce with macaroni, lettuce and carrot
F: french fries and frankfurters, fresh spinach and red bell pepper, homemade Sweet Salad Dressing for the first time (1 tbsp sugar, dash salt, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tbsp oil - tried olive oil but not to our taste, mix well together)
S: macaroni, frankfurters, red pepper
S: leftovers

Evening Snacks:
M: bread, cheese spread and honey melon
T: apples
W: bacon and toast, kiwi
T: popcorn, apple
F: bread and cheese, honey crunch apples
S: -
S: grapes

Thanksgiving Week

2009-10-19T11:12:00.000+03:00

I find it hard to follow any menu I make because life happens. Last week, for example, my bike kept getting a flat tire and instead of going to the store by bike I decided to go home and fix it, so we ate what I could find from the cupboard. And then one day my son went to eat at his grandparent's. By posting about last week's menu I can also add pictures!

Breakfasts:
M: oatmeal porridge
T: Cereal
W: 4 grain porridge
T: Raisin and brown sugar oatmeal porridge
F: muesli
S: whipped chocolate semolina porridge

S: Eggless "Buttermilk" Pancakes (I didn't bother to use any egg replacer because there were both baking soda and powder in the recipe) and homemade strawberry jam from the freezer

Lunches:
M: boxed macaroni
T: leftover chili
W: peanut butter and banana sandwiches
T: grilled cheese sandwiches
F: ate out
S: tomato tuna sauce and broken spaghetti
One can of tuna in tomato sauce, few cubes of frozen spinach, frozen peas, milk, oregano, curry and chili powder. Heat until spinach has defrosted and everything has heated through.
Take spaghetti and break into small pieces. Cook as package directs.

Serve.
S: cheese sandwiches with homemade flat bread

Dinners:
M: homemade chili

T: Thanksgiving meal: homemade Tofu turkey stuffed with stuffing, homemade "cranberry" sauce (really made with red whortleberries), ovenbaked sweet potato cubes (just a bit of butter on top), twice baked potato casserole, mushy peas

W: leftovers from Thanksgiving meal
T: whole wheat fusilli and tomato sauce
F: how can I not remember?
S: my son made homemade pizza (we're looking for new dough recipes if you have any)
S: my son went to his grandparent's, so I just snacked

Evening Snacks:
M: date squares

T: carrot "pumpkin" pie with vanilla ice cream (I seldom see pumpkins sold here, so I make the pie from carrots)

W: last of date squares
T: "pumpkin" pie
F: apples
S: "pumpkin" pie
S: "pumpkin" pie and vanilla ice cream

See more menus for this week at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Pink Project Bag, Part 2

2009-10-17T23:40:00.001+03:00

I realized after I had cut out the material that I might have difficulty sewing the pieces of my bag together because the seams would be down the middle and there weren't side seams.

But that figured itself out when I started pinning the pieces together and one went inside the other!

I think both of them turned out fine and I should make some more some day. My sister's bag is on the left and mine is on the right. As you can see my handle is narrower and that is because of the seam down the middle.

What I've Tossed this week.

2009-10-15T16:15:00.002+03:00

Last week's task was to empty one binder and it wasn't as hard as I thought. I kept 32 pages but tossed ?? (haven't counted them yet!).

Well, haven't knit much

2009-10-14T17:58:00.002+03:00

I didn't know what size needles I used for the last pair of gloves I knit for my son, nor do I know what this yarn is, so I started with 3.5 mm needles but they were too big, so now I'm trying 3 mm.

Second Binder

2009-10-13T16:56:00.002+03:00

I managed to get rid of most of the papers from last week's binder. I've got about 10 more, so I'll try to do another this week. I need to put new material on some of my chairs. I've already borrowed the stapler twice to do them, but still haven't done them. I'm aiming to get at least one done this week.

Pink Project Bag, Part 1

2009-10-10T21:04:00.002+03:00

I thought that I would get the most out of the material for my bag and decided to cut the material differently than my sister's. I folded the material and pattern in half so that I could position the handle as far up as possible and get a bit longer bag. It meant that the seams would be down the middle, but that didn't bother me.

I put pins over the edge of the pattern piece so that I wouldn't forget and cut along it but left the material longer for this bag.

I didn't really think it through and once I had cut out the pieces I noticed that I would have to sew the handle edges in the round rather than flat like my sister's. Fortunately the openings were big enough that I could fit them over the arm.

Stitches Ripped

2009-10-07T22:42:00.003+03:00

When my son was much younger I knit him an almost complete balaclava but I never finished the face edging. I don't remember why, but probably he didn't want to wear them anymore. I need to knit him some gloves as it is difficult to find ones with long enough fingers and I remembered the balaclava. As you can see it no longer fits him! I've undone it all, washed it and it's drying now. Hopefully I can start them on the weekend. I don't know what wool it is so I don't know what size needles to use. Which is a pain because I'll have to keep asking him to try them on!

Tasks For The Week

2009-10-06T19:57:00.003+03:00

I've got 5 pairs of similar black or blue shorts that are my year round at home clothes. The back seam wears out and I just sew it again. It's been a really long time since I repaired them and they are loose enough that it isn't really noticeable. But it's time to do them. I've only got three to work on as I'm wearing a pair and a pair are in the laundry. So they will get done when they are washed, before next task day!

When you think that you can take shortcuts but really shouldn't bad things happen! I didn't bother to pin the extra material out of the way and ended up sewing it to the seam. Great I thought, I can use it on the blog post. Sew, sew. And I did it again on another one!

My son will probably be going off to university next year, so I'll have to move to a smaller place. We live in a big two bedroom apartment and I'll more than likely have to move to a small one bedroom, which means that I'll have to get rid of a lot of stuff. Knowing how well I like to procrastinate I should get started.

I finished my studies 11 years ago and still have a lot of my notes and stuff in one cupboard. I thought that I could start there and go through it. Maybe a binder a week until they are done? This week's has 7 sections so I'm aiming to look at one section a day.