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I don’t like being sick. I don’t know anyone who does, but this bug that I’ve got right now is really a nasty one! And sharing is caring, you know, so I gave it to my husband and he’s now down for the count, as well. Thankfully, the kids have been spared. So I’ve had plenty of time to lay around this past week and work on some projects while catching up on old TV shows. Right now, we’re watching The Shield, which we never watched when it aired, and it’s really good!
Months back, I made several Sunburst Granny Squares with no real intent for what I was going to do with them. This is one my very favorite motifs to make, they come together very quickly and I just love the look of the stitches.
I’ve been wanting to make a crocheted cushion for a while, so when I finally got around to buying a pillow form, I dug the squares out of the bottom of one my many bags of yarn and started hooking them together. I attached them with slip stitches through the outer loops. Lucy from Attic24 has a great tutorial on this here.
Since I didn’t make these squares with a cushion in mind, it turned out they were a bit too small for the 12×12 pillow form I wanted to use. So, after joining them together, I did a row of hdc all the way around which pretty much did the trick of making the front big enough. I added 3 extra hdc in each corner stitch to avoid buckling.
Then I crocheted the back of the cushion right onto the front, using Cherry Heart’s tutorial here. She has two tutorials on this, but it worked just fine for me using the first only.
Finally, I added some buttons to secure the back. Isn’t it cute?! I really love how it turned out! My sister-in-law is going to take it home but I have several more of these squares in the same colors, so I am going to make another to stay on my couch.
I am in love with this yarn that I am using for a ripple cowl. I bought it from the Mendocino Yarn Shop while on vacation a few weeks ago. It is sooooo soft! The yarn is Canopy Fingering by The Fibre Company. It’s a blend of baby alpaca, merino, and bamboo. I am using three colors: kaffir plum, rosehip, and blue crown.
This pattern is a Japanese chart that I saw on Pinterest months ago and have been admiring ever since. I use mostly worsted weight yarn, but I knew I wanted to use a light yarn for it and this was perfect. You can find the chart here. It’s all in Japanese, but is pretty straightforward as the chart is broken down into the first several rows. If enough people are interested, I wouldn’t mind writing up a post on how to follow this chart, so let me know if it’s difficult for you to decipher.
What little boy doesn’t love wearing a cape? I have one who just can’t have enough capes! When I found this adorable embroidery pattern by Love the Blue Bird, I asked C what he would like me to put it on and the answer was, of course, a cape. I had a few capes left over from his birthday party last year, so I put one in an embroidery hoop and got to work. I used to do a little cross stitch years and years ago, but I haven’t done any embroidery before. I think it turned out pretty well. C wants me to add an alien, an astronaut, and Jupiter! So, I have to look up some more patterns and add them to his space cape. His birthday party is this weekend and he says that he wants to wear this cape to the party.
If you want to see how to turn a pillowcase into a cape like this one, check out my post about C’s birthday party last year, here.
And finally, the hummus! This is one of our favorite snacks. I have tried many, many recipes for homemade hummus and have found what I think is the best recipe out there. It is Alton Brown’s recipe, called Hummus for Real. I’ve never made the slow cooker chick peas called for in the recipe, I just use a 16 oz can of chick peas (also called garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed. I buy the tahini from Sprouts, which is a farmer’s market style store. Places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s should carry it as well.
I think this is the best recipe out there and it is a great base for making flavored hummus. I’ve added in roasted red peppers and it’s killer. Also, you can grill some jalapenos or Anaheim chiles on charcoal grill and add them to the hummus.
I’m off to take some more cough medicine and hopefully ditch this awful bug! The doctor said I’ll probably cough like this for another week, though. I have a birthday party to get ready for, so I’ve got to fight through it!
Go………..create something beautiful today!
Heather
