d-made

2011-09-23T15:57:00.001-07:00

So obviously I don't post here anymore... I tend to be found on Facebook and I just keep posting my photos on Flickr without context. That's life with a kid! Priorities...

2010-10-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Hanna is ONE YEAR OLD!!
See how she's changed...

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2010-09-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hanna is 11 months now, here is what we got from this past month in photos.

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blonde doll

2010-09-09T20:33:00.001-07:00

blonde doll
Originally uploaded by cameras4toys.

This pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls, a put together PDF pattern. It is written supurbly. I love this doll and am looking forward to making 2 more. This was supposed to be a combined effort between my mom and I, she has cut and sewns some body pieces for the next two dolls. I'm not sure how long Hanna will have to wait to get to play with them, may a few more years. I just don't want the hair ripped out.

2010-08-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

I finished my birthday crowns. The one with the "1" on it is for Hanna and the other two are for my friend. I've also give one other away to another friend and he's already worn it on his 1st birthday. I used the pattern from the book "The Creative Family."

2010-08-27T16:47:00.001-07:00

CIMG1542
Originally uploaded by cameras4toys.

Knitting on the train in Sweden with napping babe.

2010-08-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

We're back from our trip to Sweden. This was a beautiful sandy beach on the island of Oland. We'll be back there someday to build sandcastles. Someday!

2010-08-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hanna is 10 months now, here is what we got from this past month in photos.

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2010-07-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hanna is 9 months now, here is what we got from this past month in photos.

Created with flickr sljavascript:void(0)ideshow.

2010-06-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

I am so going to make these chocolate bowls for our Midsommer party this weekend!

2010-06-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hanna is 8 months now, here is what we got from this past month in photos.

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2010-06-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hmm - the bird feeder is coming to life. I think we have picky birds.

2010-05-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

I think it's offically today - Hanna is crawling!

2010-05-17T12:13:00.001-07:00

May sailing
Originally uploaded by cameras4toys.

We took Hanna out for her 3rd time sailing on Saturday. Every time is different for sure!

2010-05-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hanna is 7 months now, here is what we got from this past month in photos.

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2010-04-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hanna is 6 months now, here are the best shots of the month.

Created with flickr slideshow.

2010-03-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hanna is 5-months old today!

Here are the photos from her 4th month of life.

Created with flickr slideshow.

2010-03-05T21:31:00.000-08:00

Baby Merry-Jane by Bekah Knits

Clara by Karin Vestergaard Mathiesen

I finished a pair of cute shoe socks and a dress for Hanna. Hmmm... what next? I'm browsing my Ravelry queue to pick something.

Hanna got her first cold this week. She was mildly miserable, but it was cute when she tried to give a good mood. She'd been eating more often at night. I can't wait to get back to one night feeding rather than 3. ugh...

2010-02-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

Hanna is 4-months old today!

Here are the photos from her 4th month of life.

Created with flickr slideshow.

2010-01-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today Hanna and I are making bread rolls with pumpkin, pumpkin bread, and sweet potato soup. Notice an ornage theme? She is making sure I follow the recipes from her observation post. This works great for her being awake, but not in the mood to be left under the toy gym, or in the swing.

This weekend I started getting her to nap in the swing. I am trying to respond lightning quick to her sleepy, time for nap signs. Like when she rubs her eyes. It's been less common that she takes a nap w/o fussing quite a bit first. It's been a while since we've been on a stroller ride too. Its been raining so much! I see the sun out there now, so maybe the next nap is via stroller. I need stuff from the store anyway for the soup. I love that we live in a walkable distance to a great indoor shopping area.

2010-01-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

Hanna is 3-months today! And.. it's really getting easier. She's slept for long stretches at night 7-11 hours and so my quality of life is vastly improved with the removal of sleep deprivation.

I've also become a coffee drinker. Well, a picky one. I love a big almond mocha latte. We use a FrancisFrancis! espresso maker with pods from Starbucks.

2010-01-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Here are hanna's 3-month photos

Created with flickr slideshow.

2009-12-24T19:26:00.001-08:00

2009-12-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

I managed to get time to put up my new artifical tree and decorate it in the time Hanna napped yesterday. I got a wreath for the wall so there is a little fir tree smell too.

Today I am trying to finish up a mass production of pumpkin pies, I made enough filling for 4 pies, but some pie pans are smaller, so I might get 6 pies. I'll freeze them and then will have them for when I need to bring a dessert to a party. This week I also made a double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and froze it in rolls to slice into cookies.

Jesper is out walking Hanna in the stroller now so I can have some time to be on my own. I am so thankful that he is in tune to me needing that and I don't have to bug him to take Hanna for a while. He just loves being with her so it's no burden for him. Not falling into the stereotype dude role, that's my man!

2009-12-04T13:54:00.001-08:00

Knitting has been light, but I am working on a lace dress for Hanna, it won't fit for a year at least, so no rush.

I haven't had time to update the blog, but am trying to keep up with my photo gallery of Hanna on Flickr. Here are month two photos.

Created with flickr slideshow.

2009-10-26T20:26:00.001-07:00

Hanna wearing some knitwear made by mama.

2009-10-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hanna was born!

2009-10-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Our baby is quite content in her holding pattern. She's been lodged head down for a long time, months? So why not longer? It's so comfy in there and it's getting cold outside. What's the rush? Well, the Dr says if she doesn't show herself sooner, I'll be induced 6AM Saturday. It's great to have a target date now. I'm off work now, starting my maternity leave. It's doesn't feel like it for some reason though, probably because I just napped most of today and had thought I'd work today. But last night I had 5 hours of false labor pain which deprived me of sleep, as was also the case Friday.

Other news, we have a chicken that is being pecked at and is loosing valuable feathers for the winter. Not sure what to do, maybe Jesper will seperate them tomorrow. Otherwise, someone will be having chicken for dinner.

Tonight we made homemade pizza for dinner and I am making Glögg right now in preparation for the cold evenings ahead. The recipe is with the knitted wine bottle cover pattern I made last year if you are interested. I think tomorrow I'll make granola.

2009-10-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

Finished knitting projects...
Aviatrix bonnet

Ruffled skirt soaker

and a pumpkin hat

2009-10-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

So now I'm 2cm dialated, the baby is moving normal and everything else in there is good to go. I don't FEEL like I'm about to go into labor. So we're going with that. I'm not due until Saturday anyway. My Dr. got our hopes up last week that I'd be early.

We have the Pack 'N Play bassinet set up in the bedroom. It's shoved into the closet with the bassinet side sticking out. We've got all the gear ready to wrap, vibrate and sooth. We're hoping she's an easy baby, but we're ready to put the "5 S's" into action!

2009-10-05T17:07:00.001-07:00

Ya - I'm still pregnant... I have a Dr. appointment in the morning and will see how far I have progressed. Good thing it didn't happen today, Jesper took my Vespa to work. I think I am actually walking better today than I did mid-last week. Maybe my ligaments are finishing up that stretching.

2009-10-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today I visited my high school friend Jandellyn at Salmon Days. She gifted me one of the favorite items her and her husband creates and sells. It's a flower pot hanger and I love it! She has an Etsy store online for their metal garden art.

2009-09-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

These turtle pincushions are so cute from Heather Baily. I ordered the Edna kit.

Only 0-4 weeks left of this pregnancy gig left for me. I'm moving slow like a turtle now and trying to stay off my swollen feet. My tummy has definitely dropped. It's not too bad, but I am looking forward to the change! If feels like every day is the same lately. At least tomorrow's Friday!

Saturday night we're going out to a nice dinner downtown Seattle and the Lewis Black comedy show, that should be fun!

2009-09-10T20:01:00.002-07:00

The nursery is complete! Boy it sure is small with all the furniture in it! It will be a good reminder that we don't need a lot of huge plastic toys, that's for sure.

2009-09-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

We sailed to Eagle Harbor Saturday evening, probably our last trip pre-baby. We skipped the rain and had some great sailing. In the morning, we took a taxi to the Bloedel Reserve and walked around in the pouring rain and then sun.
It was so great to have a 3-day weekend!

2009-09-09T22:59:00.000-07:00

This Heirloom lace baby sweater, called Lucille, is wonderful. I love the yarn I used, Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere. I think I have enough yarn for the bonnet but am not going to invest the time in it. Maybe I'll do some other hat to match later with the yarn. Hats maybe doable after I give birth, but I think sweater knitting is going to fall off the list for sure.

2009-09-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, we still are getting eggs and it's so easy. I'm surprised more people don't have chickens. I think people just don't realize how easy it is. Easier than having a fish tank, a vegetable garden or a cat.

2009-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

I finished this adorable baby sweater! I got the pattern, Little Mabel, at Churchmouse Yarn & Tea.

2009-08-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

This baby Stella Pixie Hat took less yarn than I expected, it uses sock yarn and went pretty fast. We'll see how it look on my baby someday!

2009-08-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

I've been avoiding buying the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid since eating lots of half & half is not a good idea. Now that's I've found a recipe for chocolate gelato, which is only requiring regular milk, I'm so tempted to get some started at home. Whenever my friend Michelle says, what can I bring you back from Italy, I always sigh and say chocolate gelato, so that's not really possible... stay tuned in case I get this going!
My favorite combo is a scoop of chocolate & a scoop of pistachio.

2009-08-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

This Tomten pattern was OK to knit up (aka Yuletide Gnomes), but for those who aren't a fan of finishing, it's hard to complete. I am pretty close, but need to track down some red yarn for the hat. He'll be cute in time for the holidays I think though.

2009-08-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

I took 3 friends sailing last weekend on an all-girls overnighter. We sailed to Eagle Harbor. It was great! We got a spot a the public dock and went into town and visited Churchmouse Yarns. I got a Sublime knitting book that has three patterns I would like to knit. Now I need to see if I can find yarn in my stash that will work, it's not looking so promising so far. I don't have a lot of DK weight.

I've also knit up a quicky pair of infant mittens and a hat that match.

2009-08-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I completely tackled the nursery and it's all ready for decorating. All painted and everything. I just need the crib assembled and some shelving. The room is very blue and white, so some pink is going to need to come in as decor as well. I'll wait to put up wall art until last.

Our cat, Stella is just driving us insane. She uses her cat box 30% of the time, 50% uses the paper we put on the tile outside the box and 20% on the tile. Luckily the bathroom tile is glazed and super easy to wipe clean, but GROSS!!! AND, it's completely contained to that room. I've bought a new cat box and litter and will see if this gets her back in there. I think at this point she's got a BAD habit that came from not feeling very well as some points. This wasn't a problem until we started letting her use the backyard after we moved into the house. She's just not a smart cat, but that makes her pretty cute too. We're concerned how this is going to work out once our baby is mobile.

2009-08-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

I made up these infant mittens super quick thanks to Janell's donation of some extra yarn and spare needles. They are so cute! (Like everything for babies)
I might just make another pair if I get a chance to.

Jesper left this morning for Sweden so I'm on my own to do what I please. Today I knit a lot and watched a lot of HGTV! Ah - the life... it's still too hot to get to my crown molding project. I think tomorrow morning will be my only chance for it to be cool enough and my energy will be best in the morning. I also am getting my relocated craft room more organized and it's really a great space, even roomier than my old space, the new baby room.

2009-07-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe the heat! I was going to finish up caulking and painting the crown molding in the baby room this week, but that's just not going to happen. Maybe on Sunday morning, when it's cooler. Luckily, sleeping in our basement provides enough relief to sleep. We don't need a fan or A/C. I'm having a hard time complaining at all about this heat, like a lot of people are since we had such a long cold winter and I really dreamed for days like this. Riding my Vespa to work in 35F was really not all that fun.

Thursday I start weekly prenatal yoga classes. It will bee good to stretch out since I just haven't been doing that on my own. Moving about the house doing chores and walking out around downtown Bellevue has been my exercise over the past months. Otherwise, I am feeling really good!

2009-07-27T08:29:00.001-07:00

One year ago today!

2009-07-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

I got all the logs entered into our sailing blog on Sunday morning since I woke up way too early, 4:30AM.

2009-07-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my baby's heirloom sweater and it's going great, I love the feel of the yarn. And the pattern is good for picking up a bit every day.

We got the crown moulding I bought two and a half years ago up in the baby's room monday. I am excited to finished that up to get the room in order soon.

Last night I found a Paul Frank diaper bag at Ross and even though it's pink, the Julius monkey is so fun, Jesper said he'd carry it around anyway. Jesper would prefer the one with "Skully" on it. He's even put Skully decal on his vacuum, but of course, I got it at Ross and I'm not going to pay $80 at Nordstrom.

I bought a Miracle Blanket for swaddling from someone on craigslist and am going to try to make more from the original. I've been told this one is the only one that the baby will stay in as it gets stronger.

2009-07-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

I think I haven't been posting as much because I hang out on Facebook more these days, AND I need to get my knitted items photographed.

Anyway, we were on vacation last week sailing in the San Juan Islands... photos here on Flickr. I'm happy to have come back with a tanned face and hands. This summer has just been so beautiful. This weekend I should be posting our sailing logbook on our Impulsive blog.

For my next knitting project, I am going to make Lucille, an heirloom sweater. I ordered Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere in pewter and it's going to be gorgeous. I also picked up yarn in an eggplant color to make this cute cabled cardigan.

2009-06-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

We finished the clay wall and fireplace re-installation. Before it was painted cinder blocks, now it has natural American Clay applied on it. The fireplace had a gold trim, which Jesper spray painted matte black. The electric source to the fireplace now goes through the wall to the power instead of on the outside on the floor. Project complete!

2009-06-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

I finally have gotten some more photos together of what I've made. While on vacation, I worked on some baby socks. Actually three of the pairs pictures I've had for a few years stashed away. I have one more single done and need to make the second one as soon as I can find the other skein of yarn.

I also knit up this cute little dress in a weekend, it was surprisingly fast! It's Topaz, from knitty.com. I used Manos yarn. I have plenty of green left, so back in the stash it goes.
All these projects are stash busting, no new yarn purchases necessary!

I've been feeling quite good for my pregnancy, but in the last 2 weeks, I'm really obviously showing a pregnant belly. Luckily, many of my old clothes fit still and so I am not feeling low on wardrobe yet.

I'm enjoying riding my Vespa to work so much more now that the weather is great. I really toughed it out all winter in the cold weather and now it's a treat. Less gear to pile on too, so it's quicker to get going. I'll probably ride through the end of July, and yes! I'm being careful!

I'm looking forward to our sailing vacation to the San Juan Islands in early July, it's fun to plan the meals and the route plan. Hopefully it will be sunny too.

Jesper has been full-on building a greenhouse atop our garden. It's looking good and sturdy and might just be all done by the weekend. We'll see how it goes as far as increasing plant happiness. Our water bill will go up, but I think it takes quite a lot of water to really affect that. We're going to establish a strawberry patch.

2009-06-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

Love this creative advertising!

2009-05-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

We had our ultrasound today and the bun in the oven is a GIRL! The Chinese calendar was wrong, it predicted a boy.

It's still sinking in that we know, now we can get more serious about names, though we have a few ideas. We'll save the name reveal until October.

2009-05-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to Hoover Dam, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon North Rim, Coral Sand Dunes & Las Vegas strip in 4 days. We got a convertible Ford Mustang upgrade. It was a lot of miles (almost 700), so many, we weren't able to fit in Bryce Canyon. My favorite part was Zion, the land features are amazing and the colors are so vibrant. Jesper loved the immensity of the Grand Canyon. We stayed at the lodge in a little duplex cabin at the Grand Canyon, it was fun to sit out on the lodge balcony and see the stars. The temperatures were very warm. 80-100F on the trip. The heat was so dry, I hardly sweat. A nice change from any other heat with some humidity in it. To see more photos, I put them up on Flickr.

2009-05-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I worked up a pair of baby socks and now I am addicted to knitting baby socks. I am going to knit a bunch more over the weekend. Super quick little project.

If you know how to knit a toe-up sock. Here is the numbers for a baby sock.
Using sock yarn and size 1.5 or 2 US needles.

Cast on 18 sts with Provisional Cast-on.
Work toe with 6 short row wrapped sts on both sides.
Work 35 sts around with desired pattern. (st st on bottom, k2, p2 rib on top)
Work until you are 1" from desired heel.
Turn heel with short rows, 5 wrapped sts.
Continue working leg to desired height.

Easy to memorize once you've done it once.

2009-05-05T19:53:00.000-07:00

I had to start another project straight away and now I'm done again! What next... I think I am going to work on this Gnome I've been meaning to get to. I also have a stack of fabric waiting to be pressed and made into Hooter Hiders. And the fabric all cut to assemble some mei tai baby carriers for gifts and myself.

2009-05-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

I decided not to make a hat after I weighed how much yarn I had left from the wooly pants. Now I've used up all the yarn and have the next size bigger. These are Size M-L shorts.

2009-04-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

Today is my 5 year blog anniversary. Party on!

2009-04-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fools Day!

2009-04-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

Jesper made a double batch of homemade pasta noodles with the KitchenAid on Saturday. He used the recipe from the pasta maker attachment manual. This pasta is so delicious, all it needs on it is fresh grated parmesean cheese. It's also a great way to use up our urban fresh eggs.

2009-03-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

I finished up these cute little baby slippers. I used scraps from a Velux blanket for the soles. I think I know like SIX people pregnant this year, so they may end up as a gift.

I used the pattern from Stardust Shoes.

2009-03-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

I am done with the body of Jesper's sweater and now on sleeve one. I am adding a wave cable to the arm, I hope it looks OK, it's a bit different than the traditional cable twist.

2009-03-07T22:43:00.000-08:00

Today I made a headboard for our bedroom. Jesper picked out the fabric and surprised me with an enthusiasm for flowers. The colors match our bedroom decor really well though. It's nice to have a cushion to lean against, the texture on our wall is pretty pokey. Luckily, it looks like I won't need to add upholstery buttons to it, which was going to be a pain to make.

I used the instructions from Apartment Therapy by Charissa.

2009-02-22T21:57:00.001-08:00

blake island
Originally uploaded by cameras4toys.

We're back from sailing to Blake Island, it was very relaxing. We had a steady light wind that took us straight there by spinnaker. We walked the island and heard bald eagles. Back at Shilshole Marina, we saw a bald eagle eating a fish.

We ran out of propane this morning for cooking, so we boiled eggs on the BBQ instead.

I finished the back of Jesper's sweater I am knitting, it was nice to hit a milestone.

Tonight we made fresh spaghetti pasta for dinner, it went really well and I'm glad Jesper pushed to make a double batch. I set some noodles aside for lasagna. It's all drying on the back of the dining chairs now. We'll need some drying rack system if we do this more. Chairs work pretty well for now it seems.

2009-02-17T22:07:00.001-08:00

Not a lot going on here, I am still knitting on my two projects I showed before. I just have the hood left on the baby sweater. I ran out of green, so the stripes are varied, but still look good.
I am making some more progress on long stalled house projects. I got some tiles cut, we varnished some chairs tonight and were ready to do some Beadex. It's also been a while since we went sailing and we're going to head out this weekend. Hopefully no rain.
Last weekend we checked out the South Bellevue Community Center and were very impressed. We used their indoor climbing wall and had a good time and passed the belay test. It's a cheaper option for beginning rock climbing compared to the other places around.
I am really looking forward to warmer temperatures coming! It will make my commute so much better. Last night my Vespa lost it's omph on the way home. Today it's getting fixed. It's looking to be a dirty carborator problem at this point.

Oh and the last bit of news, I've officially changed my name to Diana Lind. No more Safeway checkers are going to have to ask me if I'm related to Bill Gates!

2009-01-30T20:04:00.000-08:00

My mom sent me this recipe and I decided to make it tonight. This soup was really delicious, just like she said.

Here it is with my alterations:

Hearty Cabbage Tomato Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 (16 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes WITH green chilies (mexican spices)
1 (16 oz.) canned beef broth
1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans--don’t drain
1/2 head cabbage, cut into bite-size pieces
(No salt is added as all canned items have salt in them)

Brown beef, celery and onion in a skillet.
While browning, in large stock-pot, add remaining ingredients. Add in beef & veggies when cooked through. Simmer for one hour or more.

Serve with toasted bread with cheddar cheese.

Yieds: 6 servings.

2009-01-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

I made myself a lightbox for photos - I'm liking it a lot! Now I need to make more small things, becasue a whole sweater won't fit in for a photo.

I've started a childs sweater design. I am not sure what size it is, so I'll take it to Old Navy when I am done to get the sizing nailed down. I picked the yarn from my stash. I think I am not going to have enough green for the hood, but that should be OK. I really do enjoy writing up patterns - so this one should be next, unless the sweater turns out badly.

I wanted to lay off the knitting to rest my arm, but I am addicted, so it's not so easy.

I did manage to paint some interior trim in the house last night that I caulked with a friend on Sunday. Seems like I am more inspired to get at these house projects in the Jan-Feb time frame. It's too cold to garden and it's getting on my nerves, not being finished for two years.

2009-01-27T19:13:00.000-08:00

Jesper's sweater is moving along, perfect for bus and TV knitting.

2009-01-23T23:31:00.000-08:00

I think I've been knitting so much my elbow is slightly achy, so I'll try to lay off for the next week. I started a sweater for Jesper. Then I got a bit bored with the repetitive st st that I used my knitting software to make a child sweater from some of my spare Knit Picks yarn, it's so fun to be able to knit whatever whenever with the huge stash I have. It feels good to use it up too.

The chickens are giving us more eggs, 3 this morning and 1 when I got home from work. The eggs are stacking up—we need to start eating them faster! I let them in the yard today before it got dark, then when it was dark, they put themselves to bed. They are so instinctive, it's crazy. They are pretty social, so we can pet them easily and they'll follow us around a bit.

Tonight I made tiramisu, and used some fresh eggs, I love the recipe I have, but I need to use a smaller dish next time, the layout wasn't quite right. It's definitely a dessert that can be ugly, but taste just as good.

2009-01-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I had the day to myself and had fun knitting up a new pattern! It's a glögg wine bottle cover. I have added my Swedish Glogg recipe to the pattern as well. Here it is!

Knitted wine bottle cover with Glögg recipe

I find this wine bottle cover is handy becasue when I made the glögg ahead of time, I put it back in the wine bottle I started with and I want to be able to see the bottle and know that it's Glogg not, left-over red wine.

2009-01-09T22:30:00.001-08:00

Our chickens layed two eggs! We don't know exactly what day this week, since we haven't gone out to check on them in a few days. They are pretty small, but we're looking forward to trying them at breakfast. It's going to be strange eating them though.

2009-01-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

We've gotten really good at making homemade thin pizza with our pizza stone. Here is our recipe. The dough comes out amazing and wonderfully smooth.

Pizza

By Weight:
500gr flour
325gr water (65% hydration)
10gr salt
3gr active dry yeast

mix yeast in warm water.
put flour in a stand mixer, Kitchenaid with dough hook, and pour in liquid while running.
Add salt.

Mix the dough slowly for two minutes, faster for 5 minutes, and slow again for 2 minutes.

Remove and place in bowl. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until doubled in a warm place or proofing oven.

Punch it down and push out the air bubbles. Form the dough into a large ball, then cut it into 4-5 equal pieces.

To make your pizza balls, shape each piece of dough into a ball. Gently roll your dough into a ball, then stretch the top of the ball down and around the rest of the ball, until the outer layer wraps around the other side. Pinch the two ends together to make a smooth ball with a tight outer "skin." Set your ball seam-side down where it can rest.

-------At this point - we usually put the dough in plastic wrap and let sit in the refrigerator until the next day or two.--------

Dust your pizza balls with flour, and store them under a damp towel, in a proofing tray, or under plastic wrap. This will prevent the outside of the ball from drying out and creating a crust, and becoming difficult to work with. The top of the pizza ball should be soft and silky.

Your pizza balls will need to rest for about an hour to become soft and elastic, so that they can be easily stretched into a thin crust pizza.

If you won't need your dough for more than an hour, refrigerate it until you are ready to start.

----- If taking out of rerigerator, remove 1 hour prior to baking to bring dough to room temperature-----------

Cooking:
Heat oven with pizza stone to 550F. Prepare dough circle on floured surface then transfer to a parchment paper covered pizza pan or wooden pizza peel. Arrange dough as you want. Top with sauce and toppings. Make sure pizza slides on the parchement paper by shakeing the pie to loosen any grip it has made.
When loose and moveable, open oven and slide quickly onto baking stone. Bake for about 5-8 minutes.

Good Toppings:
basil, mozzerella cheese, Prego sauce, ham, artichoke hearts, pepperoni, pineapple, mushrooms

2008-12-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

We're enjoying the day off and we had fun taking a photo with our chickens. Today we'll be making a turkey and sitting by the fire.

2008-12-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

Oy, it keeps snowing!

I've rebuilt my website d-made.com and found a new host. All this after I reformatted my PC harddrive since there was no getting the virus off. Now I just need to relink all my knitting patterns on ravelry.com and tell Google that I'm not a dangerous site anymore.

2008-12-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

I just found out that my online knitting pattern website is hosting a virus! Please don't try to go to my free patterns page until I get this figured out. First step is to get the virus of my PC, which I just now got since I went to the page myself. Booo!!

2008-12-16T19:08:00.001-08:00

Sorry no posts lately! I've had a cold since the day after we got home and our cat is not using her cat box, but peeing on the bathroom floor everyday instead.

For now, here are our photos from Thailand and a cute elephant video.

2008-12-04T08:23:00.001-08:00

I'm back from Thailand!

And yes, we did get stuck at the airport, luckily we only had to extend our vacation by 4 days.

2008-11-20T20:12:00.000-08:00

Were here in Chiang Mai again ready to fly south to the beach, Krabi tonight. Then we'll be in Railay then Ko Phi Phi, then Phuket, then Bangkok, then home.

While in Chiang Mai we did some adventurous activities. We rented a Honda Shadow motorcycle and too a long day roadtrip to the highest peak in Thailand. The traffic here looks crazy, but everyone is very defensive and reactive, so it seems to work. They say Americans have freedom, but the driving here seems as free as you can get.

The next day we took a rock climbing trip and had a great time doing that. It was realxing day and our first time rock climbing outdoors.

Now we've made it back from our Mountain bike trip. It was a amazing trip, both amazingly hard and beatiful. I've never cycled so far, for so many days, day 1 was 35km, day 2 was 95km, day 3 was 80km and day 4 was 45km. We were lucky to be cycling during the time of rice harvesting here and so have seen the process as we've passed the fields. The workers are very friendly and let us stop and see what they are doing. In the hills, everything is still manually done, the hardest was the beating of the bundles to release the rice husks. Everywhere we go we see families of chickens with chicks running around the roads and dogs, both which end up as family food.

I've had the typical travelers stomache issue, but now am taking the antibiotic I brought and I think I'll be back full swing for the beach very soon. I am so glad to have brought it with me!

2008-11-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

Lots of stuff to write about, but at the moment, we're in Chiang Mai. Tonight we took a 3 hour Thai cooking class, it was really nice.
Massages are also so cheap here, 1-2 hour massage for $6 US.

Last night we took a night train here from Ayanthaya, it wasn't as bad as we expected, since we didn't get a sleeper car. I think it's the only train we'll take on the trip. I booked the flights for getting south today.

When we were in Khao Yai National Park we were lucky enough to see a wild elephant in the day time, and came up close to it on our hike before we realized it was there, then we ran up to an observation tower and watched it safely. We also saw many Mackak monkeys on the roadside and in the night another elephant and a couple large porcupines. The highlight was going out to a valley at dusk where we watched millions of fruit bats depart from their cave for the night. The noises were amazing, and the waves action they made as a group streaming out across the sky was unforgettable.

Sunday we're taking a rock climbing course and Monday we go on our 4 day Mt. bike trip into the hills here. It's very lush, lots of palms and jungle plants, but surprisingly not humid. It hasn't rained since we arrived. I am really excited to get out of the city again, the tuk tuk drivers can really make you feel like a tourist- they just want your money and call at you for a ride all the time. Otherwise, it feels very save travelling here, most everyone is just going along like normal, as if we were in any other city.

2008-11-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Honeymoon time!!

2008-11-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to expand the meals I have great dinner recipes for and found a winner tonight! It's from the September 2008 Cooking Light. I look forward to the leftovers already and I just finished eating dinner! The flavor was perfect, tasting fresh and hearty at the same time.

Potato and Lamb Moussaka

2008-11-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

The chickens are 11 weeks old now. They are clucking more than peeping now. I raked up some fall leaves and put them on the floor of their coop. They liked them for flipping around in hopes to find some treats under them. They are also prettier than the dirt. We let a few out into the yard for a tiny looksie, but I didn't want to babysit them, so luckily I was able to herd them back in. They seem pretty happy and are staying warm without a heat lamp. they sleep in their doorway still.

2008-11-02T17:52:00.000-08:00

I finished this sweater over a year ago and never wore it or blocked it. The problem was that the buttons slipped right out of the holes and it puckered open and the neck felt too high. I was bummed becasue this sweater took a lot of work and the cable was quite difficult. After talking to a knitting friend, I realized sewing the button closed was the best option. Now it looks like a cardigan, but is a pullover. The neck is still to high, but if I keep my arms down, it's fine. It's a relief to finally call this a finished object. When I walked into the room today with it on, Jesper said, "An F.O.?!, Horray, it's beautiful!" Thanks lovey.

2008-11-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

I knit these socks for my friend Michelle's 30th Birthday. The yarn is Knit Picks Dye your own. I hope she likes them!

2008-10-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

Last night I made the Berry-Oatmeal bars from the newest Cooking Light magazine. I used Trader Joe's mixed berries instead of cherries and regualar oats instead of quick-oats. They were yummy and gone in 24 hours. I took them to work and they were enjoyed.

2008-10-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the wooly baby pants I knit. I've given them to my pregnant knitting friend Suzanne. I love how the color makes them seem old-fashioned. They are quite timeless and simple. I hope they fit and are enjoyed at some point. They were fun to make. It took a bit less than one skein of Cascade 220.

2008-10-27T23:10:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted about the chickens lately. This photo is a week old. The ladies are now smart enough to head up their ladder every night and sleep in their house. They seem to like to all pile up right in the doorway though, so we figure, if they really were cold, they'd get away from the door. They seem pretty happy, I gave them a bunch of carrot tops.
Speaking of carrots, I harvested some from the garden, they are till pretty stubby, they are a pain to wash up. I seem to like to grow things better than to take care to eat them. I grew a bunch of flat leaf parsley this summer with the intention of making chimichurri, but still haven't gotten around to it.