Did you miss me?

Well, for most of 2011 I had no internet connection...then, for the last part...well, I had slipper orders coming out of my ears! :)

Now I get to be a mommy. And a blogger...a little bit. Here are some of the crafts we've been doing around here:

Around Thanksgiving, we went on a little leaf treasure hunt...I cut out a construction paper body and the kids did the rest...they're turkeys!

Thanks to a Martha Stewart craft idea, I bought some jewelry wire, and cut a good length of it, bent the end, and the kids LOVED threading them with buttons! I didn't embellish any more than this, but a little bow would be cute too.

We went on a pine cone hunt a few days before Christmas and found a few pretty ones that we made even prettier with some glue and glitter. I used the jewelry wire again and just wrapped the heck out of the center of the cone to attach it. Then formed a loop and hung them on the tree.

Hubby and I (okay mostly I) did some holiday baking to help bring on the happy merry jingle bell feelings!

I got my secret santa gift from my treasury team mate. She made me some bookmarks with my new shop name banner. :)

And, I am wearing one of my first knit hats I made! I am hoping to have a nice supply of them in my shop when it opens up! Yippeee. 

Thanks for peeking over here at the toddlerwhisperer!

Beer Can Chicken (have you tried it?)

This post is dedicated to Mr Toddlerwhisperer...who really is our Grill King. :)

To start, he uses his well-loved, well-used charcoal grill. He uses hard wood lump coal...which makes a huge difference in taste. Notice, all the coal is piled on just one side of the grill? That's important.

Next comes the part every man loves...the lighting of the coal. Lighter fluid required. Notice how the flames on the left look like a cat trying to make it's deathly escape...Grill Master likes that part too. Now we wait. Wait until those flames burn every bit of lighter fluid off the grill...and the coals begin to glow white hot.

While we wait, we prepare our birds. 

Preparation is actually quite simple. You need a small beer can...like the 12 oz variety...we found Buds in this form, and this time we are using a local brewer's beer.  Salt, pepper garlic and oregano..

dressed

perched

telling ghost stories by the fire...actually, this part is important. you set the chickens on the side of the grill with no coal...you are indirectly cooking them. Cover, and leave alone for 1 1/2-2 hours.

This is the end result. Delish, perfectly roasted, juicy, falling off the bone chicken. Your life will never be the same. I promise!!

Did I tell you I learned to knit?

My mom was patient with me the week after Christmas and taught me how to purl (because I roughly knew how to knit) and taught me an easy way to cast on, and viola!! I can knit!! I haven't yet attempted anything with yarn overs or increases yet...but here is my show and tell!

My very first swatch.

my first scarf

my neckwarmer/cowl...when you are a crocheter cables intimidate, but knitting them is EASY!

a skinny scarf

hearts square

an owl square...it's a little sloppy but it was fun.

Gosh it feels good to learn something new!! Have you learned something new too? Do you want to? What is it?

I Am From

A friend of mine, over at http://50stickyfingers.blogspot.com/ posted this a few days ago. I have been neglecting leaving comments or even posting blogs, so, to try to get back into it, I am going to play along.
And you can too. I will post the link to the template after my poem.


I am from a hot pink bicycle with a cooshy pillowy seat, from Barbie Dolls and Lincoln Logs.
I am from the brown stucco home, warm, inviting, woodburning fireplace.
I am from the beautiful green grape vines lining the entry, the succulent cactus, growing in the planter my momma painted.


I am from touring the neighborhoods and looking at lights on Christmas Eve, and coming home to hear my father read the Christmas story from the Bible, and praying one for each other, from Grandmas and Grandpas and PawPaws and Grannies and Mamaws and Papaws.


I am from the "Be a person of your word"  and "Judge not".
From "Stay where I can see you"  and "Eat your vegetables".


I am from knowing about Jesus to knowing Him. Real tests to prove He knows my need.
I'm from the sultry southwest with roots in the deep south and in Europe, from hamburgers to nachos, fried chicken to lasagna.
From the being attacked by a giant black dog at a family reunion when I was two,  the sneaking rides to school with my cousin when i was supposed to be on the bus, and the little girl who sang at the Rescue mission with my dad.


I am from shelves of albums, dusty old trunks and treasured pieces of jewelry hidden in drawers. Memories, mementos and photos of old.  So grateful for their safe keeping, tying us all together, this family of mine.










Now here is the link to the template. You should go and write one too! (And let me know if you do!)
http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm

Smalls Scarves For Tots

Hello!! I have another pattern for you. Uber super duper easy, again, the way I like them. My two toddlers asked me for scarves the other day, so I did. I made them and they love them...and so do I.

NEW Printer Friendly Version (CLICK HERE)
You need a super bulky.  I chose Lionbrand Hometown http://www.lionbrand.com/yarns/hometownUSA.html which I picked up at the Evil Empire I mean..Walmart.
You will also need a P crochet hook. My daughter is two and my son is four. Hers is shorter(I want to say like 3 ft), and there were leftovers, so I made hers with fringe. My son is 4 and tall, so I made his longer(Like 4 ft).

Super Bulky Yarn (lionbrand hometown)
P crochet hook
tapestry needle for weaving in ends

terms (American)
ch- chain
hdc- half double crochet
BLO -back loop only

Directions for smaller (larger)

Chain 62 (82)
hdc in the 3rd ch from hook and continue with hdc across. 60 (80)

*CH 2 turn (does not count as hdc)
hdc in the BLO of the first stitch and in the BLO of each stitch across.

Repeat * 3 more times. fasten off and weave in ends.

for the fringe, I cut 16 strands about 10" each and fastened them onto the scarf, from the wrong side like this:

Copyright 2011 Jennifer Kaye

As with all my patterns, I don't care if you make stuff and sell it. Under no circumstances are you to sell this pattern. A link back would be appreciated.

Super Easy, Super Simple Griddle Stitch Dishcloth

NEW  Printer Friendly Version (CLICK HERE)
Hey Guys!

I've got a little something for you. I'm sure I'm not the inventor of this cloth, but I've got my little recipe for you.

G hook

Worsted cotton (I use my favorite, Peaches & Creme)

sc = single crochet

dc = double crochet

ch = chain

Ch 25

SC in Ch next to hook, dc in next, *(sc in next, dc in next) Repeat * to end of row.  You should end on a dc.

ch 1 turn

Rows 2-24* (or until square)    *(sc in next, dc in next) repeat * across. ch 1 turn

* MORE LIKE 16 or 17 rows made the square for me. :)

sc border all around entire square, with 3 scs in each corner.

finish off, weave in ends!

As always, you may sell items made from my patterns, but you may not under any circumstances sell my patterns or take credit for them as your own.

Copyright Jennifer Kaye 2011

Christmas Craftiness

I seriously feel like I've been thrown into the deep end and am treading water through these last few weeks.  I barely have a moment here or there to get my head out of my crochet craziness to pop in here and say hello.

I am thankful that I've decided to close the shop for a little while on December 11. I've got my little man's birthday coming up, then Christmas and the New Year festivities. My husband would love to stretch his legs out on the couch instead of avoid all the crazy skeins of yarn and measuring tapes and slippers taking up one half of it!

Besides my crafting, I have been trying to take the time to be a momma and do fun stuff with the kidlets!  We've got our tree up.

And we've decorated trees with foam stickers from Michael's. (kept the tots occupied for at least an hour)

We've even done some Christmas cookies. (I haven't done my homemade recipe yet, these were a mix)

And Daddy even brought home a TJ's Gingerbread house last night to make with the babes.

So that's what we've been up to over here. Can't wait until I have some more time to share more with you. What are you up to these days?

Secret Santa Swap

I participated in one on Ravelry...My favorite group was hosting..(Peaches & Creme) Here's my loot!! I scored. My Santa was awesome because she even stalked my blog...and bought me the necklace from EverythingElaine on etsy that I wanted. :)

Totally brightened my day and made me smile! Love it!!

Friday Feature- Kenzie's Klippies

Hello world! I have a really fun Friday Feature today. Seriously, I think you will love looking through this post as much as I loved putting it together. Let's begin, shall we?

Today I am featuring Kenzie's Klippies a business run by such a talented momma I met through our birth board. She became inspired to craft by the birth of her daughter. Here are her words,


"I initially started making simple clips for [my daughter], but then started getting requests for certain things. It just took off from there. With so many people making clippies, I knew mine had to be different. I'm big on details :) So I suppose my mission is to provide customized, quality hair clips at a fair price. Some of my clips take literally hours to make. I want people to feel like their money was well spent :) And of course I want them to come back!"


Wanna look at some of them with me?

Her all new Christmas Collection:

And she doesn't just make them for the holidays, she creates marvelous creatures:

And sweet creations: 

Headbands and bows too:

Best of all, Kenzie's Klippies won't break the bank! They are all so nicely priced, and so well made! These would make wonderful stocking stuffers for any girl in your life...and if you ask her, she'd even make them into  pins for you to wear! :)

So check out her facebook page http://www.facebook.com/KenziesKlippies  where she is always adding something new and cute, or her website http://www.wix.com/kenziesklippies/kenzies-klippies-1 and let her know you saw this blog. If you do, you will receive a free simple klippie in your order! 

So go. Go now!! She has soooo many more items to look at than I could share!!!

What are you still doing here??

Have a great weekend everyone!

  

November

Is already halfway through!! Wow that was fast!

I will be posting a pattern for little mommy doll slipper pattern soon. My little lady has been begging me for something to cover her little baby's feet!

I just had an eye appointment today, got me some contacts again!! Yeee haw!

Been working on tons and tons of slippers, I feel like I am just treading water keeping things afloat over here...just barely. I am really looking forward to closing down the shop for some much needed time off for the holidays.

Christmas shopping is pretty much finished. Well, for the toddlers..not for Mr Toddlerwhisperer...he's a little more tricky! :)

How about you? Finished? Started?