Finally

I have wanted to try out this pattern for years and have never gotten around to it until now. Part of the problem is that I was never sure what size of bulb to buy because the pattern calls for a 2 5/8 inch bulb, but none of them are labeled at the store. So I started the pattern and then figured I would just "try it on" at the store to find the right bulb. I finally ended up at Michael's and found some bulbs that had measurements on them and to my surprise my attempt at this pattern was way to big for a 2 5/8 inch bulb. I guess I should have checked my gauge! This was my first attempt at crocheting with such a fine thread and small hook and my work was just to loose, but luckily I did find some bigger bulbs that my pattern fit on.

I was hoping for a nice colored bulb, but these clear glass ones were all I could find in the right size. I added the bow to give the ornament a little color. My goal now is to make a few more and hopefully I can get my crocheting tight enough to put the pattern on the correct size bulb, but all in all I was pretty happy with how the final product came out.

This one is going to one of the mom's in my Richmond Mommies group. We are having a mom's night out and an ornament exchange. I hope the new owner loves this ornament as much as I do.

W.I.P. Diya's Blanket

Actually it is Diya's Blanket 2.0. The first attempt was so full of mistakes that I pulled it all out and started a new pattern. This ones is much easier and is turning out beautifully!! I love the color and I can't wait to finish it.

I was working on it the other night while watching the Virginia Gubernatorial debate and some how I managed to miss some stitches somewhere and I had to pull out a whole row. I was so mad because I messed up my blanket due to the fact that I was paying more attention to the two idiots on the TV and not to my knitting. The worst part is after an hour of watching the debate all I know about the candidates is that they both have a plan for everything. No specifics were given, just that they have a plan. Well DUHHH, I figured that. Anyways...while undoing my knitting I managed to do something weird to a few of the stitches and I had no idea how to fix it. Luckily I have a friend whose mom is a knitter so I went over to her house and she showed me how to fix it. Yeah!! So now I am back on track and making progress on Diya's blanket.

Dress Up

Jai's parents were here and Jai's mom dressed me up in her Sari.

Fun to dress up in but not practical for the SAHM!!

A Little Knitting

I have finally been motivated to start Diya's blanket!! I was so motivated that I broke my rule of knitting in complete silence and now I have a mistake that I don't know how to fix!! (That's what I get for getting overly confident in my knitting skills.) There were to many distractions and somehow I miscounted something and when I went to fix it I managed to add an extra stitch. All I need to do is undo a few stitches and then I could fix the problem, but that is the only problem with knitting for me: when I make a mistake I get stuck!! I decided to put it down for now and once the house is quiet tonight I might try to fix it. Wish me luck.

Local Tidbits

I have to admit that so far this season I have not cooked a single local meal, but there has been a little bit of local eating going on at the Oberoi house.

One of our local restaurants, The Capital Ale House offers a daily local meal so whenever we eat there I usually order it.

Some friends of ours went and picked peaches and brought me back a dozen. I have been enjoying fresh peaches on my cereal every morning and on ice cream at night!!!

Earlier this summer we all went to the Chesterfield Berry farm and picked our own strawberries! Not only did they taste good, but it was a really fun way to spend time together as a family.

Our neighbor has brought over two grocery bags full of veggies from his garden. So far I have made fresh salsa, had cherry tomatoes on my salads, and big red slices of tomato on my tuna fish sandwiches. Yummy. I have tons of banana peppers and I found a recipe for banana peppers stuffed with chorizo so that is on the menu for next week. We also have eggplants waiting to be made into eggplant Parmesan and bell peppers ready to be stuffed. Hopefully I have the energy next week to cook all these meals.

That has been part of my problem this summer, a total lack of energy and motivation. I have had all these good intentions of going to the farmer's market, but I keep forgetting to go. Being pregnant and chasing after a toddler has kept me pretty busy. I wanted to grow a garden of my own this year, but I was too busy growing a new little person instead!!

I have noticed that the grocery stores are catching onto the local eating phenomenon. Ukrops, a locally owned grocery store, has tons of local produce and their commercials even show the farms and farmers who grew it. Wal-Mart has even started to carry a few local options.

Back In Business!!!

Last year a large portion of my local food for the food challenge came from a little vegetable stand just down the street and it was so convenient, but unfortunately he sold his lot and an American Family Fitness is going in. Since it is so conveniently close I am hoping to join once it opens, so I guess it is not a total bust, but I was so sad to see my veggie man go!!!

BUT...

Guess what I saw today as I drove by. HE'S BACK!!!!!!!! He is in a lot next door to his old one and I was so excited the I was Yoo Hooing in the car as we drove by. I can't believe it. I am so excited!!! Now I have my source of yummy local fruits and veggies for the go local challenge.

So far I have not done any local cooking because being 7 months pregnant has left me tired and lazy. I have just not been motivated to drive all the way down to the farmer's market on Saturday morning, but now that I can just drive a few miles I plan on getting involved. I am so happy because I was feeling really left out of all the fun!! Stay tuned for some local Virginia cooking!!!!!

Just In Time

Here is the finished baby blanket for my friend Holly. She is scheduled to have the baby on the 8th of June and tonight we are all going out to dinner to celebrate this new little baby. Luckily I finally got motivated and finished the blanket for her.

These are a couple of little hats that I have been working on. Of course I made girl hats and everyone I know is either having a boy or not finding out. I'm sure I will find someone who needs one of these hats! I have so many projects to do that I really need to get busy. I have to start my blanket for our baby, do TWO blankets for our neighbor and friend having twins, finish my gifts for my little game I am doing on the blog for Sara, Meg and Heather, and finish a wash cloth and shawl. I guess I better get busy!!!

Composting

I have wanted to start composting for awhile now, but hadn't ever gotten around to it, so I finally made a composting box and got a pile going. I found these easy to follow directions on the net. It was fun using the screwdriver to drill the wholes in the box. I'm sure my neighbors were cracking up to see me in the backyard going to town on the box with the power tools.

I had been saving scraps for awhile, but since I didn't have any dry material it turned into a big moldy and slimy mess so I threw away my first attempt and started again. I followed the directions and here is my lovely pile of compost. We didn't have any dry material so I picked up grass clippings from my neighbors yard. Once again I am sure that the neighbors must think I am crazy. I know that Jai does. When he first found my stash of scraps to throw in there he said, and I quote, "What the hell is this?" When I explained to him what it was he just rolled his eyes and called me a tree hugger. I took it as a compliment!!! We recycle everything, but I still wanted to find a way to reduce the amount of trash we were throwing away. Problem solved!

I will keep you posted on how my compost pile is doing because I know it is a real burning desire that you all have!!!

Progress

A friend of mine from work is having a baby this June and this pretty green blanket is for her new little one. She is tough enough not to find out the sex so I am making a neutral color that hopefully matches the bedding she has picked out. I really wanted to knit something for her, but since I don't have a ton of time I figured I better crochet since I am much faster at that.

I have made some progress on the shawl. It is slow going because it is just knitting row after row. I was hoping to have it finished for Easter since it is such a bright and springy color, but obviously that didn't happen!

Here are the wash clothes that I have knitted. I have realized that knitting isn't as hard as I thought it was. All the patterns explained how to make the stitches and if I'm not sure I just go to you tube and find a video to watch. I am excited to find a more challenging project. I think that I am going to knit a baby blanket for our new little girl on the way. Once I finish up some other projects I will be heading back to the store to pick out a pattern and some yarn.

My Gift To You

I had three takers on my gift giving game! I am excited to start making some fun stuff to send away to all of you. Don't worry Sara, just post whenever you get the chance.

A Gift For You

My friend Angie over at OUR CRAZY LIFE had this great post about creating. She is willing to make a gift just for me! The catch is that I have to re-post the gift giving game on my own blog and be willing to make something for the first five people who sign up. After thinking about it overnight (I had to make sure I could come up with something to make if anyone signed up) I decided to give it a try.

Here are the rules if you would like to join in on the fun.

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (hopefully before the new baby comes in August)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who sign up. I would also like a post made about the gift that I send you. Good luck and thanks for playing.

If At First You Don't Succeed

I have been really lazy in the yarn department so I decided I needed to get off the computer, put the books down and pick up some yarn and retry a knitting project I tried a few years ago. I have been a crocheter for a very long time and it is really relaxing and easy, but knitting is not as easy for me. I have to have total silence so that I can focus on nothing but knitting. I understand the basics, but my biggest problem is fixing mistakes! When I took knitting lessons our teacher didn't teach us all of the basics, she just had us pick a project and then she helped us with that project. I wanted to try felting and it was fun, but the problem was that anytime I made a mistake the teacher would tell me not to worry about it because I would never be able to see it after the bag was felted. Hence my inability to fix mistakes.

So here is the project I started a few years ago (I am wondering why on earth I ever wanted to make a shawl) and made a huge mistake and when I couldn't figure out how to fix it I got pissed and pulled the whole thing out. That is why I have this gigantic ball of pink yarn, which by the way cost a pretty penny. I have felt guilty for awhile that it was just sitting in the drawer so I thought I would try again. This time I was only a few rows in before I messed it up. I went to Ben Franklin and asked someone how to fix the problem. She showed me how to work backwards to get rid of the problem. Of course I didn't stay at the store and do it and when I got home and finished I had the yarn from the ball weaved in at both ends of the needle. Why does this happen? If any fellow knitters could enlighten me I would really appreciate it.

I was tired of the big pink ball so I decided to try practicing on with a nice easy wash cloth. Well things have been going great until today. Somehow I managed to get 2 extra loops of yarn (not really stitches) on the needle. I know that without seeing it is hard to tell, but what do I do when this happens? Well anyways, I decided to pull the work off of the needle, pull out a few rows and try again and to my delight it worked!!!!

Hopefully I will have more knitting updates soon. My mom's group is working on having a knitting night so hopefully I will find someone here in town that can help me out. I may also look into taking more lessons.

Woo-Hoo

Meg over at Knitting Knot had a really cute woo-hoo post so I thought I would share my own woo-hoo moment.

Today is Isha's birthday so I decided to make her a lady bug cake. This is my first attempt at doing anything other than spreading frosting on a cake. I will admit that it is probably not the best cake around, but the Domestic Goddess has that covered in a great post on her blog. (What would I do without all this good wisdom from my fellow bloggers?) Unfortunately our camera died yesterday and I am using the neighbors camera. So until she can download the pictures for me you will just have to take my word that it was a woo-hoo cute cake. As soon as I get the pictures I will post them here.