Red Heart Soft yarn Android Hat

I saw this pattern a while back and recently a friend asked me to make this for him. So off I went to the store to buy the yarn. It is Red Heart Soft. And this time I think Red Heart got it right. This yarn is soft. Not the softest ever, but much nicer than their Super Saver yarn.

It is a very easy yarn to work with.

The pattern can be found at http://knitprocro.com/android-hat/#.TnLPyC_kQmh.facebook

by BAGLEYBIKER.

It is a very fast hat to crochet and sew together.

Here it is before the arms get sewed on.

Since I started this one I have gotten a request for another. 

It's a fun project and I recommend it to anyone looking for a neat present to give an android enthusiast this winter.

The pattern was easy to understand and it is a great beginner project.

One thing that would top this off is a matching neck cowl!

Thanks to BagleyBiker and thank you for stopping by

Dee Dee

Make a Fishing Can

Being fairly poor and having four little children to raise, my parents did not have it within their budget to buy us all fishing poles, reels, tackle and bait, even though it would put food on the table.

My mother had learned many frugal things from my grandparents and one of those was how to make a fishing can.

She used smaller coffee cans to fit our little hands better, but I am using the larger #10 size cans as I have a surplus of those,

 and where she used an old wooden broom stick for the handle I am using a wooden rod from a closet.

You could even use a small branch for the handle.

When using a regular can opener, the point where the lid last separates usually leaves a sharp burr.

On a hard surface, like concrete, hammer that burr down.

If it still feels sharp use a metal file.

Then take a nail and make a hole near the edge. Pound this over a piece of scrap wood.

This also makes a sharp edge that will need to be pounded and filed.

There it is.

Measure the inside of the can and mark the wooden rod just less than the can so that it can be cut and nailed inside the can like this...

Now all that is left is to tie your fishing line through the hole on the edge and wrap the line around the can. Put your hook or lure on it and you are set to go fishing, that is after you get some bait. Worms, grubs and crickets are great for catching pan fish.

To cast out, hold the line close to the bait or float, toss out underhand and point the bottom of the can in the direction the bait is going, this makes some of the line around the can unravel. To reel in just wrap it around the can.

I keep the plastic lid for the can so that when I am traveling to my fishing location I can put the hook inside the can and span the lid on so the line doesn't unravel.

We caught many pan fish with these. They are good for dock, boat or river fishing where you don't need to cast far to catch fish. I have even brought in a decent sized Northern Pike with this. The fight can be tricky at times as a big fish can snap your line if there is too much tension.

Another plus to the fishing can is that you can transport it very easy by car or have a smaller one for your back pack. You can keep some of your gear inside it as well or small containers of worms or crickets for bait.

I have seen people use pop or beer cans to fish but they don't have a handle or the other advantages of  this fishing can.

Where I live children under 16 don't need a fishing license so this is a great way to get them outside and they are so happy when they catch fish!

Remember to teach them to keep only what you will eat, to respect other people fishing near by and never leave garbage in or around your fishing spot. Leave it cleaner than how you found it. That can help hide a good fishing spot as well.  If it doesn't look like anyone has been there some people think there may be a reason no one fishes there.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful.

If you do, please share it.

Thank you for stopping by.

Dee Dee

Cucumber Sandwiches and Croutons

When I was a teen and had been living in the cities for a few years I took a trip with my mother to visit my Grandparents. After a 9 hour car ride we arrived tired and hungry.

My Grandmother lived through the Great Depression and learned to use and reuse everything so that nothing went to waste. It turned her into a packrat, but that is another story.

When we got to their home my Grandmother graciously asked if I would like a tomato sandwich. "A tomato sandwhich?" I thought. "Really? What about some bacon and lettuce to go with that?"

I politely declined. Inside I don't think I was so polite.

I had grown up somewhat poor compared to others but nothing compared to those of the depression era, and that is something that I realize now as something that could seriously affect my children more than me if another collapse happens.

I am pretty sure they too would choose to starve for awhile.

Years later I saw a TV show where someone was serving cucumber sandwiches and I instantly thought about my Grandma. There had to be some reason these sandwiches would attract the attention of TV writers. Then a few years later I was visiting my husband's Aunt and she was about to have a party for her garden club.

She was at a loss as to what food to make.

There she was in the kitchen with a pile of cucumbers straight from her garden on the kitchen counter and a few loaves of bread in her freezer, and it hit me.

I told her that I would make cucumber sandwiches. It was a risky move.

She was excited at the idea, though it was something that she had never had.

The only problem was that she didn't have any salad dressing. Not even ranch.

However she had made some coleslaw dressing and had some extra in the fridge so I decided to try that.

Now I wish I had her recipe for that because it was amazing!

The sandwiches were a big hit!

So here I am to bring back the cucumber sandwiches and make some croutons for salad later.

Pretty simple stuff here!

Cut off the crust of the bread and dice for croutons.

Peel and slice the cucumbers.

Put coleslaw dressing on the bread and place the cucumbers.

Slice in quarters. They are best as little sandwiches!

Take your cubed bread crust and add a pad of butter. Use the heel of the loaf while you are at it for more croutons. I know many people discard this but they really shouldn't!

Mix the butter and bread crumbs and sprinkle lightly with a season salt of your choosing. Or get creative and use a cheese powder or tomato powder with a little basil.

Place in the oven and set for 300 degrees F. Once the oven reaches 300, turn the oven off and leave the door shut for at least one hour. Then try a crouton. If it is crunchy all the way through it is ready. They should not be as hard as store bought croutons, but they should not be soft inside.

Let cool completely. I am not sure on the storage of these yet since we used them up on salad before dinner. I know that if you put them in anything too soon they will get soggy and with butter on them they should go in the fridge or freezer.

After you try this you may never buy croutons again. 

If you leave the seasonings off you can have your own bread crumbs for stuffing or crab cakes.

These are comfort foods and for good reason. When you are so very hungry any food will comfort that pain. Grandma knew this and her children lived it. A tomato sandwich, or fried gizzards, or cucumber sandwiches can bring you back to a time when things were hard and you were grateful that your tummy no longer hurt. 

I hope you found this to be helpful.

Please share with others if you did!

Thank you for stopping by.

Dee Dee

Universal Yarn - Classic Worsted Tapestry Yarn Review.

I bought this yarn from a specialty yarn store in Minnesota, called "all about YARN" for $8 per skein. 

It is 75% Acrylic and 25% Wool and it is made in Turkey.

It is machine washable and dryable.

The neat thing about this yarn is that when you make socks or mittens, it makes a pattern like some of the socks made in Nordic lands.

I had hoped that since I bought two skeins that both socks would have been more of a match with the  patterns but that was not the case. Another disappointment was finding the yarn was broken in one skein and had a sloppy knot in the second one.

On the positive side, this yarn was incredibly easy to work with and very fun to watch the pattern as it developed in my work. It really made the knitting seem to go faster. I would recommend this yarn especially for beginners. It is easy to unravel or back up stitches as well as to pick up dropped stitches or correct mistakes. This would be a perfect yarn for practicing those skills.

For long socks, these are pretty cute! I made them for my youngest daughter who said while modeling them here, "Hurry up! These are hot!" It was warm here last night, I am just hoping they are nice and toasty cozy in the winter time for her.

Thank you for stopping by.

Dee Dee

The Camera went to Summer Camp

For the next 2 weeks I will be without a camera to post pictures to my blog. It makes it hard for me to want to post this way. I just love to give visuals.

So here are some verbal previews of what is to come.

Knitting Socks Using Math

I will be figuring out the math for making socks so that anyone can make their own patterns with any size yarn and needles with the most basic math skills and I will try to make it as easy to understand as I can. I guess I don't need a camera for this.

A New Pop Can Solar Heating Idea

If you have not heard of Pop Can Solar Heaters I urge you to look at this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cm-cbOWvSs

I am currently working on an idea from this to test a different style to see what is more efficient. His may end up better, but if we don't try to reach farther we will never know.

Refinishing that old Park Bench

I picked up an old park bench cheap at a garage sale and it was in need of some TLC. I will have to wait until the camera comes home from camp to show you how this ends up.

Re-upholstery Baby Steps

I have some kitchen chairs I got free that almost match my kitchen table. They are cherry stained and the table is closer to oak. The seats on the chairs are horribly stained and some of the wood needs to be touched up. I will be prepping everything so that when the camera comes home from summer camp I can give you photo details on how it gets done.

Oh, and that camera. It is with my precious one. Well, one of my precious ones. I have 3 that I adore, all for different reasons because they are all special in their own ways. I truly hope that you have someone in your life that you hold precious as I do, with all of your heart. That is what makes us the most cozy.

The next couple of weeks will be slower for me. If you are enjoying my work please share with others.

Your comments are always welcome.

Thank you for stopping by.

Dee Dee

Plastic Bags to Beach Bag

This is a project in progress.

I need more grocery bags to finish this.

I used 2 plastic grocery bags of the same color for th bottom chain of the bag, you can use more for a wider bag. For the next row I used a single crochet stitch and put 2 extra stitches at each end for form an oval. Slip stitch to join and then worked in straight rounds of single crochet stitches as I went around.

I really don't know what I will do with this bag when I am done since I really never go to a beach. Maybe I will give it to someone that really likes it.

One plastic grocery bag make 4 loops to crochet with. Please refer to my past post of Getting Loopy for Recycling to see more details. If you have questions let me know and I will gladly help you.

I am also working on a camping/beach mat. I will let you know how that goes.

Take care and be cozy (I am really starting to dislike the word cozy right now).

Thanks for stopping by.

Dee Dee

Pizza Crust

This has been updated on 6/3/2011.

This recipe has gone through many sources and changes over the last 17 years. I have a versions of this from 1994 and the recipe here is one that came off a website and now I can not find which one it was, however the recipe is so close to the original one that I had that I can not give anyone credit for it and I don't take credit for it myself. However, it is a really good pizza dough!

Makes 2 crusts.

Put one package (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast in 1/4 Cup warm water with 1 teaspoon honey and let rise.

Sift 2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour into mixing bowl and mix in 1 teaspoon of salt.

Mix in yeast mixture, 3/4 cup warm water, 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and mix together well. Add more flour if dough is too sticky. Remember, some stickiness is okay. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 to 15 minutes. During this time think about all the difficulties and crabby people that you have had to deal with.

In a lightly greased bowl place the ball of dough and cover with a clean cloth. Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes.

Turn dough out on your kneading board again and divide in half. Reform each part into 2 new balls (during this time think about all the wonderful things in your life) and cover and let rise for 15 to 20 more minutes..

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Spread dough on lightly greased baking sheets and put on the toppings.

Pepperoni pizzas cooks faster because the oil in the meat gets hot faster and speeds the cooking. Leaner meats will take longer to cook.

Set your timer for 10 minutes and check the bottom edges. You can slide the pizza off the baking sheet to crisp up the crust a little more for 1 to 2 minutes before you take it out of the oven.

Thank you for stopping by.

Curl up with a slice of pizza and enjoy the evening and the compliments!

Dee Dee

Sculpey Clay

I did a post on this which was lost during the blogger outage so I am re-posting what I can remember of it

I sculpted this using Sculpey Clay. It is a clay that you can harden in your oven.
I used mostly my hands to form it and some parts I used tooth picks and nail manicure sticks.
When it was finished I used a white acrylic paint to protect it.

For my muse I used my youngest daughter. I am probably the reason why she can't sleep when people are staring at her and to make matters worse, I used to set all of her stuffed animals up so that their eyes were made to look straight at her. This helped me to get her up in the mornings for school. I would say, "All of your animals are looking at you waiting for you to get up."
It really got to her. Now instead of sleeping with 40 of them that end up staring at her there is only one.

Under baking, Sculpey clay will not harden and over baking it will make it discolor and turn brittle, maybe even cracking it, so pay attention to the thickness and time when baking.
I plan on mounting this on wood and making it a wall hanging. It isn't very practical, but these little things can help make a house a home when love is added into the mix.

Be cozy my friends!
Create that cozy!

Thank you for stopping by!
Dee Dee

Alfredo Pizza Recipe from Home Storage.

If you are looking for another recipe for getting your pantry rotated or for what other things you can add to it for variety, here is one for you.
You can also use fresh ingredients as well.

I make my own pizza crust from scratch which results in a fabulous restaurant quality pizza.
I rehydrate the freeze-dried ingredients while the dough is rising.

After the dough is rolled out I pour the Alfredo sauce on the dough as I would regular sauce.

MAKE SURE YOUR REHYDRATED INGREDIENTS ARE DRAINED AND DRY.
This is very important if you don't like mushy pizza.
I then put the shrimp on, the spinach, the mozzarella cheese and then the mushrooms in that order.
This is pretty easy to make and as far as how much of each you use, as a rule of thumb I use equal portions, like one cup of each. It depends on how big your pizza is. You can omit the mushrooms, add onions in a smaller portion (like a 1/4 Cup), and you can also use chicken in place of the shrimp.

The canned Alfredo is convenient to store and has a shelf life 2 years out.
The Dehydrated Mushrooms are really awesome, to add most flavor to them, saute them in butter until slightly brown. This will also help to pull some of the excess water out.
If you like a stronger garlic flavor a little bit of minced garlic will go a long way.
The Dehydrated Cheese really does melt as it is cooked.
Bake as instructed by the dough recipe. Mine was 450 degrees F for 10 to 16 minutes.

If the power is out you can bake on the grill using a few bricks on the grate, put your pizza on that and cover the grill, or you can use one of these Camp Ovens like I have.
There are other ways to bake outdoors as well so research for your area, but NEVER use wet rocks or bricks. They can explode. Baking on a wood fire adds a flavor like you wouldn't believe to breads!

I wish I could show you a picture of the pizza but there was nothing left by the time I got to it.

I know that this strays a bit from yarn but that is bound to happen with me. I would like to thank Emergency Essentials and Provident Pantry for their Freeze-Dried foods!

Thank you for stopping by. Any questions or comments are welcome!

A New Find, Old Sewing Machine.

I love getting free things and this was one of them.
A New Home electric sewing machine! Model NHR.

I got it through the free group online. It came with a button hole attachment, a bunch of bobbins, a box of rotary attachments and the original instruction book.
The Lady I got it from was just so sweet. Thank you again Doris!

This machine is made out of metal and looks like it is good quality. But best of all, it works. I do have other machines, one which I use as a computer desk (shame on me) which I will have to get replace parts for and a new power cord for, and then 2 newer ones. One of the new ones needs to be repaired and the other is confusing with all the new technology. It may take me awhile to figure it out.
I wanted a machine that I could use sooner without having to take a class for it, and one that could deal with heavy fabric like denim and light leather. I hope this fits the bill.

I have sewing projects piled high and I can't wait to get started. Having more than one machine means that I can adjust them differently for using a variety of fabrics without having to change out needles and adjust tensions. Plus if there was a long term power outage I could easily rig the 2 older ones into treds (pedal powered)
I am looking forward to getting the next generation going on making their own clothing as well.

The Little Yarn To Work With

I found cute patterns for making little snowflakes. I know that I am not being very "seasonal" here as the snow has finally just melted for me.

I picked up some Bedspread Weight Cotton Thread (size 10)
and a Steel crochet hook No. 8 (1.25 mm)

The patterns were fairly simple to follow and some were very fast to make. I discovered that my eyes are getting old and I need my reading glasses to work with such a small hook and thin thread. It was however another one of those projects that I would only do for my own home decorating or to give to family or friends as this is no get rich quick thing. The snowflakes are a good practice for beginners using this thread. Once you get used to working with it you can incorporate this work into other pieces like shirt lacing.

After I crocheted them, I put plastic wrap on a piece of cardboard. I mixed water and white glue (50-50) and poured into a zip top baggy. Then I put the flakes in the glue baggy and let them get soaked. I took the wet flakes out and secured them to the cardboard with pins in the shape I wanted. Then I sprinkled some clear glitter on top and lightly tapped it in. When they were dry I unpinned them. You can hang these with an 8 pound fishing line. It's one way to reuse your fishing line when you have to re-line your reel. Last year I caught a five pound bass! Monster of a fish for me since I was only fishing for perch! Okay, that got to be a bit off topic.

Coming soon, Working with Knots.

Thank you for stopping by!
Dee Dee

Jiffy Lace Scarf.

This was a new project for me so I used the same yarn as the socks, "natura Advantage".
I have never done "Jiffy Lace" work before so I wanted to do a practice piece.
The pattern came from an old booklet I got from a thrift store. It looks to be from the early 1970s. It takes a 35 knitting needle and a US K hook. It really should not be named "Jiffy" since it really takes some time to learn how to get this going and it needs more attention than other projects as I can almost knit and crochet blindfolded. This is not a pattern for sitting down and working on while watching the telly.

The Yarn.
Not very soft but easy to work with.
The Pattern.
Easy to learn, not very addictive, a little tedious, surprisingly nice to look at and probably not a functional piece as it most likely won't be very warm.

For this you crochet in sets of 5. Then pick up the stitches onto the large knitting needle like you would a gusset. Then work with the crochet hook, 5 loops off the needle and 5 single crochet stitches inside of the five loops, then move to the next 5 loops and repeat. Then repeat with picking up stitches on the knitting needle.
Once you understand it, it is easy but it needs attention.
The yarn again does not make a soft piece and most likely won't be a mid winter item, but is very lovely and fashionable for fall and spring weather. Truly not your typical store bought scarf.

If you would like more help with this pattern please leave a comment and I will try to help you.
Thank you for stopping by.
Dee Dee

What if The World Comes to a Halt?

There are a few things that could bring the way we live to a halt and flip our lives upside down for a while. Most people don't want to think about the possibility of that happening and I really feel that is a mistake. For those who are religious, you may argue the point that God takes care of the birds and so on, but then didn't He have Joseph advise the Pharaoh to store enough food for 7 years?
For the more science minded people, think about it on a more basic level of how much you use and what you have.
The main things to consider in an emergency situation is 1. shelter 2. water and 3. food. In that order. Part of sheltering is what you are wearing. Animal hair like wool may be the best thing you can wear. Cotton will kill you. It does not keep you warm if you get wet. If you look at knitting and crocheting as a hobby maybe you should look at it again. You should re-evaluate it's value. Your clothing can mean the difference between life and death when you are subjected to the elements. Frostbite or hypothermia could leave you either needing an amputation or severely incapacitated and unable to perform basic everyday tasks necessary to survive. Tell me when you are stranded in your car in a snow storm how much you value that $2,ooo stereo in you car over a warm wool pair of socks that you wouldn't even pay $40 for.
When there is no machine to make your socks, sweaters, hats or scarves how much will it be worth to you to have someone close to you that knows how to make them? Is your day's wage worth more than theirs when your life could be what is at stake? Will you keep buying cheap stuff that can kill you because want to save a dollar? Why not save yourself instead?
Thank you for reading my post.
Dee Dee