Crochet Rolled Edging on Attic 24 Coast Blanket!

Hello.  I can't believe how the holidays are here again.  Time goes by so so fast.  Lots has happened since I posted the pumpkin roll recipe from last week.  We were all sitting down to a wonderful Thanksgiving feast at my daughter and son-in-law's home when all of a sudden my husband passed out.  Long story short, the first responders arrived followed by the ambulance and the sheriff department!  He spent Thanksgiving night in the hospital under observance although thankfully all his tests came back fine.  He had what is called a vasovagal episode.  It was so scary to see.  We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday and had a wonderful time.  Thank goodness my husband is doing great.

So, here is my completed Coast Ripple Blanket from Attic24.  It was such a delight to make!

I ordered the yarn kit from Wool Warehouse and received it around September 1st.  I can't believe I've been working on this for 3 fun filled months!

I followed the pattern from Attic24 and the color sequence.  But I decided to add my "rolled edging" as I do not like to weave in all those loose yarn ends!

Here's a close up of the rolled edging....

And here's another view.  Basically I did Row One of single crochet all around the blanket.  Then I started Row Two of single crochet, making 3 single crochets in each corner.  Row Three was a repeat of row two.  Row four was single crochet around but do a decrease in each corner by crocheting three together.  Row five was a repeat of row four.  If you have enough yarn left over, you can do Row six, single crochet in each stitch (no decrease, no increase).

Tie the yarn ends together and make sure they are secure.  Clip yarn ends to a length of about 1 1/2".  Turn edging over and with a yarn needle and yarn, stitch edging in place.  When you come to the edge with all the yarn ends, place yarn ends in channel of rolled edging as you are stitching each stitch.  

If my instruction are not clear, you can find an earlier post here with photos and instructions of the rolled edging.

NOTE

**I ordered one extra skein of yarn to do the rolled edging**

Here is the new home for my coast blanket.  It's on my Ikea couch in the family room.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that Lilly my cat doesn't mess it up!

I was a bit hesitant about the colors at first since there's lots of blue.  But I think it compliments my room since my walls are gold with green curtains and the blue highlights the blue water from the pool outside......

I'm going to be lost without working on the blanket.  It was such a fun project to do.  I've pulled out some yarn I bought in Turkey and I'm starting another blanket.....wish me well.

Until next time, have a great week and I'd love to hear from you and know what you've been working on.

Holiday wishes from,

Pat

 &
Lilly, too!

How to Make an Elf on the Shelf or Scandinavian Nisseman

The holidays are fast approaching and there's still plenty of time to create something fun!  Here's a repost that I originally posted August of last year.  But, it's very Scandinavian and it's very Christmasy.  So, if you haven't seen it before, here's the instructions for making a Scandinavian Nisseman (or Elf on the Shelf!).

 

Here is what you will need to make one nisseman:

2 pieces of red felt (12" x 10")

1 small piece of blue felt (12" in length)

1 small piece of ivory felt

small amount of ivory or pale yellow yarn

small amount of ribbon

small amount of brown, white and red embroidery thread

small amount of quilt batting

red sewing thread and needle

The first thing you will need to do is to get the pattern.  Please right click on these two images and "save image as" to your computer.  Then you can go back and print the image from where you saved it on your computer. 

Take the pattern and cut out 1 back, 1 front and 1 hat using the red felt.  Cut 1 face using the ivory felt.  Also cut 1 back out of the quilt batting.  I only used half of the thickness of the batting and cut it a little smaller than the body since you don't want the edges of the batting to showing in the seams.

Draw the face pattern on the piece or ivory felt and embroidery the face.  Here's a close up of the face:

After you have embroidered the face, you will need to assemble the Nisseman to sew the seams together.  Place the back piece on a flat surface, place quilt batting on top, place front on top of batting, place face on front of batting, tucking the neck of the face under the front piece, and lastly, place hat on batting and over the forehead of the face.  Pin pieces together.

At this point you can base the pieces together if it's easier for you.  Otherwise, if the pins don't bother you, then you are ready to stitch the Nisseman together using a needle with red sewing thread.

Here's a closeup of how the pieces are placed together prior to sewing the seams.  As you can see, the bottom of the face piece is tucked under the front neck edge.

 

Here's another picture showing the different layers of the felt, batting, and face.  Stitch around the outside of the piece using the red thread.

Please do not stitch across the neck area or across the bottom of the hat.  We need to attached the braids.  Take the yarn and make a 3 yarn braid.  Take the braid and place it across the top of the face.  Tuck a little bit of the braid on each side of the hat.  Here's a close up of what I mean:

With  your red thread,  start at the lower side of of the face and attach the back of the braid to the body.  Continue to stitch across the top of the hat, making sure you pick up a little bit of the braid in each stitch and finish attaching the braid on the other side of the face.  Lastly, stitch across the neck area.  You may have some red stitches showing on either side of the face on the back side - that's OK.  But, please do not have stitches showing through to the other side when you stitch across the top of the face and neck.

Here's another close up of the face and stitching:

You can tie some colored ribbon on each ends of the braid.  And tie the blue felt scarf around the neck.

And, you now have a lovely little Nisseman to decorate your holiday decor.  If you wish, you can tie a ribbon on top of his hat so that you can hang it from your tree.

I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial.  And, I hope you have enjoyed visiting Lilly My Cat.  If you like,  please sign up to receive future posts and visit again.

With my best wishes,

Pat :)

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Rolls

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS

I hope you have a wonderful holiday this Thanksgiving Day.  I discovered this great idea from Holly at Beyond Kimchee.  The recipe and directions for making these pumpkin rolls can be found here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pat

Johanne's Meringues (gluten free)

My daughter, Heidi, hosted a party this week and I made some goodies for the refreshments. I made green tea (matcha) cookies that required 3 egg yolks.  So, I had 3 egg whites left over and because I hate to throw anything away, I decided to make Johanne's meringues.

Johanne was my great aunt.  She immigrated from Denmark to America during around 1919.  She originally came to Ellensburg, Washington where her sister (my grandma) was living.  But since Ellensburg was a small farming community, Johanne wanted a big city.  So, she settled in Seattle.  She used to come and visit us for the Easter holidays and she was always so elegant in her style.  She was a private chef for the old establishment of Seattle.  This was way before the fad of being a chef.  She cooked for private parties where the dress code was the proper black and white.  She knew all the protocol of hosting a party.  When she passed away, I received her cookbooks which I treasure.  She shared her recipe for merginues with me years and years ago.  It's gluten free for those of you who would like to try it.

You will need:
3 egg whites (preferably room temperature)
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla (if you use white vanilla or vanilla powder it will keep the meringues white)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar

In small mixing bowl (with beater attachment), place egg whites and all ingredients EXCEPT sugar.  Beat at medium speed until frothy and medium soft peaks appear.  With mixer running, gradually add sugar a tablespoon at a time.  Continue to mix at high speed until very stiff peaks appear.  You need to be sure that the egg whites will stand up at this point on their own or else they will not bake properly.

Now for the fun part.  You will need a piping bag and a piping bag tip.  This is a reusable piping bag but you can buy disposable piping bags at your local craft store.

I used a closed star number 8 tip:

 (these tips are from my Aunt Johanne - can you imagine all the wonderful goodies they made all these years!) Place piping tip in piping bag and fill bag with meringue mixture. 

Take a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper.  Pipe meringues directly on the parchment paper and bake in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour.  You can taste test one of the merginues at this point. They should be dry and only a tiny bit soft in the center.  If you wish, you can turn off the oven and open the door and have them sit there a few minutes so that they will continue to dry out.

Let them cool completely before serving.  I sprinkled some fairy dust on half of them and some cocoa powder on the other half...

Here's what left from the party.....I store them in an airtight cookie tin......

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of baking history.  They are so easy to make and they look so pretty on a cookie try.

If you're new to reading this blogpost, I want to welcome you and say "hello".  I love making new friends via Lilly My Cat.

Until next time, have a wonderful day,
Pat

*Please remember to visit my friends over at Handmade Harbour.

Daughters of Norway Lefse Making

I had such a lovely day making lefse with my Daughters of Norway lodge friends.  Lefse is Norway's traditional flatbread.  It is made from potatoes and flour and the dough is baked on a grill.

This is the lefse mix we used.  There's two packets in this box; the first package is instant potatoes.  You take water and shortening and bring it to a boil, remove from heat and add the first package.  Mix well and let it cool overnight in the frig. Then add the second packet (flour).  Mix well and divide into golf ball size pieces.

Here's the necessary equipment for rolling the dough.  It's a cloth covered pastry board and cloth covered rolling pin.  Make sure both surfaces are well dusted with flour.

To insure smooth edges, take the ball of dough and knead in your hand for a few seconds.  Make a small disc shape and lay it on the floured board.

Roll out until thin and desired diameter.  Be sure to roll evenly across the dough so that you don't have thin edges.

More special equipment; a long wooden handled spatula and a very special soft brush made of goat's hair.

Slip the wooden spatula under the dough and place it on the hot lefse grill.  Use the goat hair brush to dust off the excess flour.

Here's a picture of one of the lefse grills...

Bake lefse on grill until the dough starts to bubble.  Then take the wooden spatula and turn over.  Be careful that your grill is not too hot as you don't want it to burn.

Take wooden spatula and remove lefse from grill and place on tea towels and cover with tea towel until lefse is cooled.

Here's a picture of my friend Geri who was  packaging the lefse after it's cooled.

And here's a photo of Astrid and Ardis after a fun day of lefse making. 

 Our group of 9 ladies today made over 200 lefse!  We had a fun filled day.

If you are interested in Daughters of Norway, click  here to see if there's a lodge near you.  We are a very old organization with our roots in America going back over 100 years.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into one of the rich customs of Norway.

Ha det bra (goodbye),
Pat 

Please stop by Handmade Harbour and meet some lovely crafters!

Home Decor Musings

Here I am back again for another week of posting.  I really enjoy my blog friends and I thank you for your visit and your comments.  Today, I'm not going to bore you with anymore watercolor pictures. I thought I would give you some insight into my decorating.....(my daughter would laugh at me as she thinks my decorating is nonexistent!)

Here's a picture of the new candelabras that I bought yesterday at Home Goods.  I had wanted something to go with my chandelier and yet have some height.  Home Goods had a new display of these candle holders and I snagged these two.  I think they look good?

 These are the bird of paradise curtains that I ordered from World Market.  They are upstairs in the TV room.  Behind them are four little square windows.  Since we now (I) watch TV up there, it helps keep the sun off the TV screen.  I love patterns - one of the reviews for these curtains was from a lady who had eclectic style....just like me!

I had this Asian inspired planter that I made into a table.  I bought a little lamp at my local store.  I think it adds a little bit of ambiance to the room....

As to the kitchen, my daughter brought me this fragrant sprag of rosemary.  I used it in a dish the other day.  I cut up parsnips and sweet potatoes and boiled them in a little water, fresh rosemary and a pinch of sugar.  I then drained them and mashed them adding a little butter and salt and pepper.  They were delicious.

And as to my outdoor decor, my gardenia plant has a ton of blossoms.  I hope that they don't drop off and that I can enjoy the fragrant flowers.

I'll leave you with a picture of my daughter, Heidi (on the right).  She was so excited today as she got to meet her favorite author, Sophie Kinsella at our local library.  She had so much fun.

Until next time, I wish you my best and please if you have time, drop by Handmade Harbour and see some great craft ideas!

until next time,
Pat

New Hobby - Watercolour Greeting Cards

I have missed writing this past week and I have missed hearing from everyone, too.  It's been a busy week here at Lilly My Cat.  My little grandson spent the better part of the week at our home and I've forgotten how much energy it takes to have a child!  I guess I'm getting old. Our day started at 6:30AM and this is how it went:

1.  Eat breakfast
2.  Get dressed for school
3.  Drive him to school (15 minute drive)
4.  Take him to the school inside and sign him in (back in my day, the child was left at the curb and walked in by himself)
5.  Drive home (15 minute drive)
6.  Pick him back up at school (go inside the school and sign him out - this part I totally agree with given today's problems)
7.  Come home and fix lunch
8.  Nap time?  I don't think so.....
9.  Have fun doing all the things that you can do at Grandma and Grandpa's
10.Eat dinner
11.Go to Sleep (storytime first)

I finally have gotten the routine after these four days.  I was the oldest person at the school drop off.  There were some young Moms with more than one child to look after!   I've come to the conclusion that when you are 60 years old, you run out of energy.  But, in all respect, it was so much fun to have my little grandson stay with us and he was so well behaved.  I look forward to many more visits with him at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I last wrote about my discovery of watercolor pencils.  I've had so much fun experimenting with them.  This past week my daughter gave me some beautiful card stock and little sticky corners so I could make some one of a kind cards with my watercolor pictures.  I will share with you some of them:

Can you see the little black corners?  Years ago this is what they used in photo albums.  Now they come like stickers and they are so easy to apply.

I think this little watercolor is my favorite....

I like the way the colors dried on the card on the left..

And the wintery snowdrop card.

 

My little grandson and I did a craft project coloring glass ornaments.  He gave them to his teachers at school.  I had fun painting little gift tags for the packages...

So, as you can see, I've had a busy but fun filled week.  My needle arts are not getting all the attention but I'm still working on my Coast Ripple Blanket.

I hope wherever you are that you are well and safe.  Please say "hello" in the comment section if you have time.  I'd love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Pat

P.S.  Oops, almost forgot, please visit my friends over at Handmade Harbour.