World's Worst Blogger

Greetings from the worst blogger in the world! I have lots and lots of things to show and share on this blog. I definitely did not mean to disappear into the abyss like that.

here are some of the things I've done over the past few months:

fluffy snickerdoodles done the right way

 A feast, everything from scratch. Oven fried chicken, biscuits, white gravy and mashed potatoes (and green beans)

 Banana bread

 Beach days with the boy

A pink velvet cupcake from Teacake Bakeshop for my birthday

 Handmade aprons, one for me, one for my husband

 pretty springtime tree

cleaning up my yarn bin

I've been having fun playing with Instagram on my phone and been busy crafting. Can't wait to share them with you!

Baking

I made snickerdoodles last night! I got the recipe from http://www.howsweeteats.com/. I love love love her blog. She's hilarious, her recipes are delicious and her pictures are gorgeous.

I intended to post pictures of those gorgeous cookies piled high on a plate. But there are only two left. Oops!

They are perfect. So cakey and chewy at the same time. I will make these again soon. Probably this weekend.

Yum! ....and now there's only one left.

Decisions

Life is full of hard decisions.

Like, to I cook dinner or just eat the brownies I made last night?

Do I paint my nails tonight or work on my knitting? Can't do both. Yarn and wet nails do not mix.

Do I blog or play Bejewled Blitz on my phone?

I think we all know the answer to that last one. Even though I haven't been blogging, I've been hard at work on my blanket project I gave you a sneak peak of last time.  It's definitely re-energized me. You can usually tell how into a knitting project I am by the state of my nails. The more chipped and awful looking they are, the harder I'm working on my project. Right now they are so chipped I should just put them out of their misery and remove the polish. But we all know how good I am at being proactive.

Anyway, the blanket is coming along quite beautifully.

See? That's the second column!! I love the colors and can't wait until the husband and I are snuggled up under it with the baby (who is almost 10! I can't bear it).

You can see the relative size, and how nicely it goes with our duvet

Speaking of decisions, I originally was going to knit each square individually and then sew them all together, but I decided that would be too much work. So now I'm tearing out the squares as I go and knitting them all together. It's tough to tear out all my work, but as they say "If you aren't ready to rip it out, you aren't ready to knit"

 I'm in love and I can't wait until it's done!

Project ADD, Emergency room visits, and teaching

Whew! What a crazy week I've had.  Due to ongoing back issues, I ended up in the emergency room on Wednesday.

While I'm recovering, I'm getting back to work on a project I've been working on for quite a while, my pretty patchwork blanket! I've revamped it and I'm liking the look of it a lot better. Here is a very skilled drawing of the pattern:

I'm excited to get this underway. It will look lovely on our bed. It's just the jazzing up our bedroom needs. I still have about three other projects in the works, but my attention span is short.


I'm also going to be teaching a beginner's knitting class! I'm really excited about that. I sat down and wrote out my little lesson plan today.  I'm nervous, but I'm sure it will go just fine. Since I can't work right now, this is a perfect gig that won't be too hard on my back.

Inspiration Vs. Determination

 Instead of doing something productive

I wanted to take a moment to talk about inspiration.  I'm not just talking the inspiration to create, but also the determination in takes to sit down and complete a project.  I'm the first to admit that I LOVE starting a project. But finishing? Not so much.

It helps when I have a deadline, Christmas for example. I decide what projects I'm going to do, I buy yarn, and I get started. But sometimes, I just don't feel like doing it. Even if I've just been watching Netflix all day.  I know I should get some knitting in, or at the very least something creative.  I'll even pull out my knitting and put it next to me, only to ignore it for the rest of the night.

Do you guys struggle with this? How do you find the inspiration/determination to get through it and get back to work?

Little hearts

Hello, my name is Casey and I'm a procrastinator. I'm supposed to be working on finishing my grandma's Christmas gift, (a cowl based on this pattern from the PurlBee) but instead I am addicted to crocheting little hearts.

They are so cute and easy to make. The perfect little project to work on while watching Arrested Development on Netflix.

The pattern can be found here. I am an absolute newbie to crochet, but the video breaks it down and teaches you all the stitches for this project. Perfect for Valentine's Day decor, gifts, or embellishments.

Next time, I'll *fingers crossed* be able to show you the finished cowl and a few more Valentine's related crafts.

So wow! That was a long break, oops!

I have lots of things to share that have been going on over the past months, including how to's on the crafts that I did for my wedding!

I managed to hand make most of my Christmas presents this year, but I'll admit that time did get away from me and I wasn't able to finish everything I set out to.  To be honest, I'm still working on my husband and grandma's gifts, oops again!

I made the cowl my sister is wearing (far right) the gray yarn has sequins in it. I used a pattern from the Purl Bee: Striped cotton cowl but much shorter and a bit wider.

I learned how to crochet so I could whip up a hat for my step-dad. He wore it all Christmas day.

Anyway, I have lots more to share here over the next few weeks!