I finished Jesper's sweater a week and a half ago. He's wearing it most days lately.

I finished knitting the WonderPants by Wooly Wonder, my local knitter friend Pam. I loved the yarn, Malabrigo, and have enough left for a hat. I just need to add the waist tie.

I'm almost done with my wool baby pants, they are going to be so cute and I LOVE this yarn. I want to make another pair in a larger size. I've had this yarn stashed for a year or two with something baby in mind.

I finished this baby vest. It's called Pebble and I used Noro Silk Garden. The pattern can be found here on Ravelry.

One of the best parts of being pregnant is eating more guilt-free. I made one of my favorite sinful drinks, Thai Iced tea today. Normally, it's from a restaurant, but being able to make it at home is great since we know how to cook Thai food now. Since making it at home, I used 2% milk and now it's not so sinful. It's just very sweet and very caffeinated.

Now that I've made this a few times, I've found that this is my ideal morning beverage since I am not a coffee drinker. It really gave a kick of caffeine, like a Red Bull. So it's not advised before bedtime, as much as it tastes like dessert.

Recipe: Thai iced Tea

Ingredients:
2/3 cup Thai Tea Leaves (aka Thai Seasoning Mix)
1 3/4 cup Filtered Water
1/3 cup Raw Sugar
Milk (From 2% to canned evaporated) Do not use condensed milk.
Ice

Bring your water to a boil in a sauce pan. When the water begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat, and then add the loose tea leaves to the pot, stirring to moisten them. Don't boil the tea! It will be bitter.

Set your timer for 4 minutes, and wait. While you wait, add sugar to heat resistant pitcher. When tea is steeped, strain the tea, pouring slowly, into your pitcher through a sieve or tea sock.

To serve, fill a tall glass with ice, and pour the tea over the ice, leaving about 1/2-1/4 of the glass empty at the top. Top the glass off with milk. Pour slowly, so that the layers stay distinct. Serve with a straw or long spoon for mixing!


Serves 2.
Make at about 2 hours ahead so it's cool when you serve. Keep up to 1 week in refrigerator.

(adapted from Instructables)

Thai tea leaves can be found here locally at Uwajimaya. I got the Madam PUM brand of "Thai Seasoning Mix", it was $1.79 for 16 oz.

Lot's of stuff made this weekend. Friday night I made the Buttercup purse, which is adorable! Saturday, we rode 20 miles on Mt. bikes, so no energy for crafting, but then today, I made Oh, Kimono from Baby Booties book.

My mom let me borrow her serger and it looks more professional inside. I lined it with some white flannel.

I also finshed Jesper's sweater. It's ready for him to model.

Now, I wonder how I have all this energy being pregnant, but I am taking advantage of it!

I found another project I just have to make! This Buttercup bag pattern is too cute! It only takes a fat quarter of fabric for the outer. There are some really nice heavier weight fabrics out there to choose from too. I think I'll be definitely sewing something this weekend.

I found a cute pattern for a baby kimono in a book called Sweet Booties!
I've ordered it from the library and have the Heather Ross fabric picked out. I happened to find this free online baby kimono pattern so I can get started on it at my leisure. This is a great use of any 1/2 yard pieces you have. I thought about lining it with terry towel to make it like a bathrobe.

That book also has a cute fabric ring stacker, but is pretty girly and everyone I know is having boys this year.

Exciting news to share... I'm pregnant! Due 10/10/09.

I've felt quite well the entire time. I also have a lot of friends due around the same time. Just 6 more months until life changes entirely!

I just have a few key project for the house to finish up and then will be ready to go.

Friday night I was able to duplicate one of our favorite Thai dishes, Red Curry with Chicken. This recipe is right on with the local restaurant flavors.

Thai Red Curry with Chicken (2-star spicy)

1 lb boneless chicken breast
3 tbsp red curry paste
1 1/2 cans coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1 can bamboo shoots, sliced
1/2 cup Thai sweet basil leaves (bai horapah), torn
1-2 teas fish sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp palm sugar
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 small Japanese eggplant, sliced 1/4" rounds
2 kaffir lime leaves leaves, torn, stem removed

Thai sweet basil leaves for garnish

Preparation:

Wash the chicken, slice diagonally into bite sized pieces. Slice the bamboo shoots into slivers.

Pour 1/2 can of coconut milk into a wok. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Add the red curry paste, stir until red oil comes to the surface. Add the chicken and cook until it turns white and is cooked through.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring back to a boil. Cook until veggies are cooked to your taste. Turn off the heat.

Arrange on a serving dish and garnish with sweet basil leaves before serving.

Serve with Thai jasmine rice.

Serves 6.

I happened to have matching buttons and now I have a finished baby sweater! This will be going into my baby gift stash. I know quite a few people having boys this year, still there could be girls for the unknowns that could get lucky!

The pattern was the February baby sweater from the Knitter's Almanac.

Today is my 5 year blog anniversary. Party on!

The weather is fabulous!!! Working in the yard is so much more enjoyable. We got a lot more finish work done on the sauna over the weekend.

Knitting progress:
Nearly done with the Elizabeth Zimmerman February baby sweater from Knitter's almanac. Thanks for the inspiration Susan! I'll add it to my baby gift stash.

Still on the final sleeve for Jesper's sweater.

I started a square washcloth, but positioned the flower in the middle, not in the middle, so... may be ripping back. Maybe I'll do a repeating pattern rather than a tulip. It was supposed to be mindless.

Chickens:
The chicken eggs are bigger than before. We aren't letting them in the yard anymore as we are trying to grow some new grass from seeds. I'm making more of an effort to toss in some weeds and green scraps to them for their enjoyment.

Happy April Fools Day!

Whew! I haven't posted in a while. I've been pretty busy at work. I don't usually share stuff about work, but here is the site I just built. Can you believe it? Expedia is now selling flights to mars!