Archive for the ‘Crafts’ Category
July 18th, 2010
Summerbreak means mornings at the local park 
Right, as you can see the everyday posting fell to the wayside a bit. Summerbreak and being a stay-at-home working mom has taken it’s tole this year. So, far it has been one of those summer’s where the temperature spikes and the days fly by so fast you’re left wondering where the day went.
On the homemade crafty side of things, I did manage to play around with some sorbet recipes. The first two batches that I made were awesome and sweet. The second batch was sweet but froze like a brick in a bowl.
I went online in search of some kind of sorbet recipe that could be used without the aid of an ice cream maker. There were a slew of links that I got all excited about until the end where they put the mix in an ice cream maker.
Not to be to fully discouraged, I retyped my search into Google as “make sorbet with NO ICE CREAM MAKER” and much to my happiness that search worked. I came across a fantastic little foodie blog called Not Without Salt by Ashley E. Rodriguez.
Strawberry Sorbet
Ashley’s blog had answered my desperate search to provide my family with some homemade sorbet goodness without using an ice cream maker. Her recipes are easy, tasty and more importantly they work. The only exception was when I used whole milk as a replacement for the heavy cream…it turned out like a brick that I ended up breaking apart to use for smoothies but that was my fault. 
So, if you are looking for a good homemade sorbet recipe visit Ashley’s blog and try out the various cream and non-cream syrups here: Ice Cream Sorbet Without a Machine
June 11th, 2010
Every Friday, here at SA I’m going to list my favorites of the week by other crafters.
- Free Scrapbook Quotes – by Heidi Payne on her blog My Crop Room
- Plantable Greeting Cards – DIY project at Instructables
- Make a Fixed Roman Window Shade – by Centsational Girl Kate
- Valerie over at the Frugal Family Fun Blog has some good ideas for crafty Father’s Day gifts that the kids can make!
June 10th, 2010
A few months ago, I started going to a knitting group with my soon to be mother-in-law that was held at the local library. I’m new to knitting and am at the point where I still find crochet much easier to do. I like the challenge though and enjoy learning how to do new things.
What I wanted to make was a blanket but decided starting with a scarf would be more my speed. I went about making the scarf using number 7 needles and recycled yarn.
I didn’t like the scarf at all. Enjoyed knitting but wanted to make something more useful since it’s summer and my family has no use for scarves right now. So, I flipped the scarf and knitted along the side of it trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I ended up making a bag.
This bag has been super useful and surprisingly has held the weight of 12 library books, various grocery items and even three full two liter bottles without ripping. That’s not something that any crochet bags I’ve ever made have been able to pull off. This bag stretches to accommodate the weight but doesn’t rip. I even stuck the 12 library books in it and hung it from a door handle for three days waiting to see if it would break and it didn’t.
Now, it’s not a shoulder bag. You stick your hand through the bag strap on the side and then wrap your hand down, which oddly enough doesn’t hurt the wrist at all in the way a plastic grocery bag would when carrying heavy items.
All in all, I love this bag. It’s pretty, useful and saves my wrists when carrying heavy items. When I take it out people have asked if I made it and am always proud to say that I have.
I’ve had some requests to make the bag for others who have seen it in action. Haven’t gotten around to making another one yet but do have two started using size 6 circular needles and size 1 straight needles. Only problem is that I just make it up as I go using the knit stitch with some purling for part of the bag handle. There is no pattern. I don’t even know what the stitch number is for casting on. When I figure it out and finish the other two, I’ll let you know how they went.
~Laura~
Posted in Crafts, Knitting | 
Tags: handmade bag, knitted bag, knitting craft, learning to knit, no pattern knit bag, recycled yarn | 
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