Near and Far: a vegetarian cookbook by Heidi Swanson

It's been a while but I'm jumping back in and adding book reviews to the format of the blog. I do a lot of reading and I enjoy reading the reviews of others and of course your mileage may vary but If I help you find something new, good deal. If you have something you think I should see let me know too!

So back to the review and thanks for sticking around during my wandering..

Amazon

Near and Far; Recipes inspired by home and travel was more than an interesting cookbook, it was a feast for the eyes also.

It starts off with recipes from home, most of the ingredients can be found in your local farmers market or even in your own garden, and the second half are recipes from her travels.  Some ingredients I had on hand others not so much. But it was nice to experiment with new flavors. We are always on the lookout for new ideas with vegetarian options. I would recommend this to others who are looking to branch out their cooking styles without leaving home. 

The pickled greens were the item we tried first and it was it a hit. I'll be diving back in for more great ideas now that the holidays are on the horizon.

The author's photography make this book pretty enough to earn a spot on your coffee table as well as in the kitchen!


I received a free copy for an honest review but you can find your copy over at amazon and it's even on kindle, too. 

Granny Square Day 2017

It's finally here and I'm already behind on my day thanks to all of the time I've spent on Instagram this morning checking out the different varieties of Granny Squares.

A big thanks goes out to @suregal27 on instagram for hosting this awesome event.

I thought I would share my contributions here too. There's plenty of time to get on board and become part of the virtual granny square blanket!

Be sure to use the tags #grannysquareday2017 and #grannysquare, then sit back and be wowed by all of the great granny ideas out there!

Happy Granny Square Day Ya'll !

Year of Projects Year 7 Week 7

There hasn't been a noticeable amount of crochet doing the last two weeks thanks to the change in weather around here. It had been horribly hot but we had a very nice break with some cooler weather. So we've taken advantage of that by playing catch up with yard work. The yard looks better but it hasn't done much for my yardage count!

I did start the Nya Mosaic blanket but a lot of it was done in the car on the interstate and I'm not as happy with the colors as I thought I would be. I'm fairly sure a bit of it will be frogged, since it is a bit more Fall themed that I had originally thought. I was about to start the pattern process but I decided to step back and decide on colors before I went much farther.

I feel like it's an over ripe banana..lol I'm planning on adding blue and other colors but I think it's time to start over..

When I did have a  bit of time to crochet I was working on an order than came in but that need a quick turn around time. The one on the left is the work in progress, only a border left to go and it will be on it's way to Canada. It's so fun to think how far this blanket will have traveled before it's gifted!
The one on the right is in my Etsy shop and was the right pattern but the wrong colors. I'm enjoying the pattern and how different the same stitched look with just a couple of different colors. That's why I'll never get tired of crochet, there is always something new to make!

I have one more small project that is on a deadline, a granny square for #grannysquareday2017. 

Wanna get on board? Post a granny square on instagram on August 15th and use the hash tags #grannysquareday2017 and #grannysquare. @Suregal27  is heading up the challenge and we're hoping to blanket instagram with tons of squares. A virtual blanket will be created from the squares submitted and all you have to do is take a full screen shot of a granny square and post to your account, how easy is that! 

As for my Cold Sheep here's this two weeks update:

Prior count: 1506 yards

Yardage in: 170 yards ( I was short one yard for the baby blanket order)

Yardage out: 885 yards

Accumulated Total: 2221 yards not too bad..

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to hop over to Ravelry and check out all of the great blogs in A year of Projects and join the yarny adventure!

Year of Projects Week 4

This week I had two finishes and two starts..

The first was a couple of sets of baby sandals that had been ordered, they have been sent and received. They'll be presents in a baby shower this coming week. Always nice to have repeat customers!

The second was a ripple blanket that started off as a lunch time project and it moved along quite quickly. So quickly that it soon became a bit big to stuff into my bag for travel.

It doesn't look like much a a ripple here but the are slight waves. Once I decided on the pattern and repeats it ended up being kid size, not baby, which is what I had in mind originally, but I'm happy with the results. I wanted a simple border so it wouldn't distract from the pattern and I ended up doing a single row around and then a crab stitch, also know as a crab stitch in the light denim blue, which is also the ending colors. I think the result was better than I had expected. I need to get some pictures taken and it will be available soon in my Etsy Shop.

My first start was not a crochet project but a sewing project. I have a couple of sewing machines but I haven't sewn in forever. I haven't got any sewing done this week but I did get the pieces cut out  and ready for some stitching. 

It is crochet related,being that it should end up as a project bag, and I can't wait to start using it. I have to move a couple of things around so I can move my machine back into the craftroom and find an orange zipper, then I'll be wrapping this project up.

I had a couple of free minutes so I checked out the top 20 Patterns on Ravelry the other day and saw this, the Nya Mosaic Blanket.  No crazy stitches to make this awesome blanket so I jumped right on board and bought the pattern. I've picked a few colors and added a few repeats to make it just a bit bigger, I hope to have a bit of the pattern done to show next week.

Credit Tatsiana Kupryianchyk

I decided on a jeweled theme, I'm using shades of blue, teal, rust, mustard and a pale yellow. As it progresses it could totally change, But I had all of those available in my stash and I'm seriously trying to make some reductions to it.

We did add another Chicken to our flock this week. If only all our chickens were this well behaved and this productive we'd all be happy!

This is the normal state of affairs around here, refusing to go up at night and giving me the stinkeye when I suggest they would be happier in the coop after dark!

So on to my starting count for cold sheep 2017-2008. Since this is my first entry for the year I'm including  yarn for a few projects that have recently been completed, following entries will be just for the week. 

Yarn in - Zero in for the last couple of months so far so good.

Yarn out - 1506 yards 

If you'd like to join us in the Year of Projects head over to Ravelry and check it out!

It's been a baby project week

Having just finished up or almost finished a couple of projects, I need something new to work on for a bit, Not that I don't have a few works in progress awaiting my attention, but it was time for something small and easy.
 So I started a diamond baby blanket in a soft lilac that I found in my stash, that checked off two boxes, simple and stash busting. Got about 8 rows in and then a got a couple of orders back to back.

One of course needs to be done in a week, and the other has a couple of weeks till it needs to be ready to deliver.

Thankfully the emergency is for baby sandals, I had done a pair a couple of years ago for the new aunt as a shower gift and she was in need of another pair for another new baby in the same family.
Those are fairly fun so I thought I would do a few more since the season is right for sandals and add them to a local store and some for my Etsy shop.

I still had the skein from before where I did the soles but she needed a different color for the tops. So drove into the stash and came up with a couple of colors, I love this coral and I think it's the one we're going with, but the purple and mint are great too. But more of the mint in just a bit. So I'm on to find the perfect itty bitty button for these now..

The second order is for a first baby, and they wanted something a bit frilly. We decided on the Fluffy Meringue blanket, in mint. It took a a bit to get it started but it's  moving along well.

All in all the week started out slow but quickly picked up speed. The cold sheep is going well nothing coming in and I'll have a bit going out soon. Not sure about any totals right now but I'm hoping to have a very positive decline in the stash by year end.  I need to make room for my wheel and sewing machine and fabric and other items, with Crafts, it's never ending. I was under the misconception that if I had a craft room it be organized and inspiring, and it has come a long way but it's not quite there yet..

If you also have an overflowing craftroom and queue and you're looking for some inspiration come check out the Year of Project group on Ravelry!

Year of Projects -Week 1 2017-2018

I admit I've fallen down a bit on the posting and on the creating but I've been trying to get back on the ball and finish up a few of those things that have been patiently waiting for me to pick them back up and finish them. As I look back I can't believe that it's been  almost 10 months since my last post. I feel like I have to get back on track since the year is already starting over again.

It was a  short busy summer and a horribly cold winter and I think it sapped my will to do anything but the heat has brought me out of my shell and I have a few finishes to start my year off with.

This is my first one that was hanging around since last May, I connected the squares and started the granny rounds and ran out of yarn and it took me about 6 months to pick it up again, then it was deciding on the small squares.

and it took me about 6 months to pick it up again, then it was deciding on the small squares. 

Once that was done it worked out quickly and will be going up for sale on my Etsy site Farm2ewe soon. All of the loose ends about drove me crazy! A bit of blocking a a camel stitch border did wonders for this blanket.

This was a variation of a dish cloth design from Drops. 

Beyond thrilled to see this monster finished!

And a Cross Stitch Finish for my Craft Room,

I need to get busy and update my Project list and start keeping myself on the cold sheep track, check back in the next few weeks for new projects, an updated craft room and reuse/recycle and vintage ideas.

If your looking for inspiration, great ideas and new bloggers, make sure you join us in a Year of Projects on Ravelry.