Mittens for Amelia!

I finished a pair of mittens for Amelia yesterday!  I know it's still summer, but I wanted to start now because with my track record for knitting lately - I didn't know if I'd finish them before snow set it!  It only took me about a month though I'm happy to say.

Even though it took me a month, I think I only got to knit on them about 4 days total. Life with a toddler isn't very knit friendly so they mostly sat and waited for me to have an evening off!



Stats:

Pattern: Mittens for a 1 year old by by Kerry Higgins Wendt
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
Needles: Size 5
Mods: I didn't use smaller needles for the cuff and knit the whole thing on 5s.  I made the cuff a bit longer too and they came out to be about 3 inches total.

I was a bit worried about them fitting over her hands because the cuff came out a bit tight.  If I make them again - I think I'll add a few more stitches.  But overall - I'm pleased with how they turned out!

I think Amelia likes them too:

Bird is the word!

I've been getting the painting bug lately.  I used to paint all the time, but then other crafty hobbies took its place over the years.  I am glad that painting made it's way back in!

Here are some birds I painted the other day:



 I just had to do an Amelia bird - it had been mingling around in my head for a while asking to come out.



This bluebird is also a favorite:



I can't wait to get these cut, framed and hung up!

Cooking Filipino Lumpias

We had a traditional Filipino dinner tonight of Lumpias.





My husband's mom is from the Philippines and the last time we visited her I watched her making them and vowed that I would make them for Amelia when she was old enough to try them. Her recipe was not really based on measuring anything (as most authentic recipes seem to be!) but I at least got the ingredients right even if I guessed on the amounts!

 Ingredients (approximate amounts - I did not measure):

• About10 fingerling potatoes 
• 1 pound ground veal, pork and beef mixture 
• 1/2 cup minced onion 
• 1/2 minced carrots 
• salt and pepper to taste 
• 1 package lumpia or egg roll wrappers (I used a package of 60 won ton wrappers)
• vegetable oil for frying
• 1 egg
• rice wine vinegar

Prep: I used my Cuisinart Mini prep to chop up the carrots and onions and potatoes.  If you don't have a food processor - use a grater.  I added the ground meat, salt and pepper and then used my hands to mix it.


 

Separate the wrappers and add a small scoop of the meat mixture inside each one:



Use about a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and the egg whites from one egg to make the "glue" that holds your wrappers together.  Use your finger (or a pastry brush) to dab on the vinegar and egg white mix on one edge of the wrapper and roll it up like a burrito.




After making your lumpias, you are ready for frying.  Use about a cup of vegetable oil and heat it up to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).  Use a candy thermometer to make sure your oil is the right temperature.



In small batches - carefully drop the lumpias into the heated oil and cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels. 



* One thing my mother in law always does is freeze some of them uncooked for later - because this makes a LOT!  So I made about half and put the rest in a Tupperware container for later.  Then you can have a few whenever the mood strikes you!

After frying up your lumpias - pick your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy!  We used Sweet and sour sauce and a sweet chili sauce:





In case you were wondering - Amelia loved them!



Especially the sweet and sour sauce!

A year already!?

My little girl is one! I can't believe a whole year has gone by already. It's been a year filled with fantastic firsts, sweet snuggles, amazing new friends and new adventures. I can't wait to see what the next year brings! Here's a look at my girl over the year.

Williamsburg

I spent a wonderful week in Williamsburg with my parents and Amelia last week. The weather was gorgeous and the flowers were blooming - what more could you ask for? I will leave you to enjoy the gorgeous pictures:

Sheep and Wool festival

Last weekend was the annual Sheep and Wool festival at the Howard County fairgrounds in MD. It was also the first time Amelia got to go (on the outside of me at least!) We had our annual tail gate again this year and it was just Coleen and us but we still had a fun time eating bagels and drinking coffee outside the festival. Amelia was sporting her hand knit sweater by her awesome Auntie Sarah! Believe it or not I didn't buy a single thing! I mostly enjoyed seeing friends and looking at the cute sheep. Amelia loved the sheep and had fun sitting on Daddy's shoulders. I haven't knit a stitch in a while so I was hoping to be inspired by something at the festival - alas there was no inspiration but it did get me thinking about knitting again. I will hopefully pick something up again soon!

Another sewing day with a friend brings a new pal for Amelia. We sewed these cute owls:

We didn't really have a pattern and just kind of made it up as we went along. My friend had a new sewing machine with an embroidery function - so we got to play with adding a letter to our owls: I'm definitely having a bit of sewing machine envy there! The bright colors make me happy and I'm so glad Amelia seems to like it too!

Baby dresses!

I am forever seeing so many cute baby dresses to sew on sites like Pinterest. I decided I better take the plunge and try sewing a baby dress for my own little girl.

My first try was the easy Pillowcase Dress from Prudent Baby.



It was really was as easy as they said and I think it came out great! I will definitely making more of these. I added a contrasting binding instead of ric rac to the Freshcuts fabric I used and I love how it sets off the flower print.

My next attempt the Infant Peasant Dress from Sew Much Ado.




Amelia is wearing a 6-9 month size and the pattern was for a 0-3 month size - so I attempted to also make the pattern larger to fit her. I managed to succeed in making it larger but I will definitely make it a bit longer next time. It's more like a shirt than a dress - but still cute!



This was much harder than the pillowcase dress for this novice dressmaker. I definitely see a serger in my future one of these days if I continue to sew clothes! Having to run a zig zag seam over all the edges definitely got old :) I also had to install elastic and ric rac for the first time. Definitely a learning experience and I will try again now that I know where I went wrong. I only had to rip out the sleeves three times :)

Amelia seems to like it thought - which makes it all worth it!

Tag Blanket Tutorial

I don't about your baby - but my baby loves tags. The best part of all of her toys right now is the tag! She likes to pull on them, suck on them and just generally keep them close at hand.

One of her other favorite things to play with is an empty wipes bag. She loves the crinkly sound it makes and it keeps her busy and entertained while I'm trying to change her diaper.


So with this in mind - I decided to create a blanket that had all of her favorite things!

A tag blanket with a crinkly inside!



It was fairly easy after all the pinning! Here is what I did:

Tag Blanket Tutorial:

Supplies:

- Fat quarters of 2 different fabrics
- Decorations (Ribbons, tags, fabric, hair ties etc.)
- Notions: Pins, Sewing thread
- One empty bag of wipes


1. Cut out your fabrics to your desired size. Mine were about 14 inches square.



2. Grab your empty wipes container,



and remove the plastic bits and open it up



3. Grab your ribbons stash... you can also use fabric, hair ties or anything at all that may be fun to chew for your baby.



4. Cut your ribbon to the desired size, and start pinning them to the right side of one of your fabrics. Make sure the ribbon loops are laying toward the inside with the ends on the end of your fabric.



5. Put your second fabric on top of your ribbons right side down, and add the wipes package on top of that. So - the layers of your "sandwich" will be: fabric one, right side up with ribbons pinned on, second fabric right side down, and finally the wipes package on top.



6. Bring everything to your sewing machine and sew around leaving a hole about 3 inches wide. Make sure to remove the pins as you go. To make neat corners, stop sewing at the corner and lift your pressure foot, turn your fabric 90 degrees and then replace your pressure foot and keep on sewing. BE SURE TO LEAVE A GAP SO YOU CAN TURN YOUR PIECE RIGHT SIDE OUT.

7. Trim your corners and any excess fabric and then turn your piece right side out through the hole you left in step 6.



8. Fold the raw edges to the inside and re-pin any ribbons that were in the hole you left.



9. Top stitch all the way around to close the hole and you're done!




Hopefully it will keep your baby happy and entertained.

Good luck!!