Holiday Blankets

It's that time of year again! No one's on a diet, and everyone is unusually cheery. Chanukah really is my favorite holiday - after Halloween, that is. Don't get me wrong, even though I don't celebrate Christmas, I do love this season. Down here in south Florida, there isn't a whole lot of holiday cheer, but maybe one year I'll make it to somewhere like New York so I can see the Christmas spirit in all of its glory!

Until then, I'm working on my -as always- mile long list of gifts I'd like to make for friends and family. And I'm trying to get through my Chanukah presents first, seeing as that holiday starts in about eight days, versus the 25 days until Christmas when I need to get presents to the rest of my friends.

This year I've taken on the daunting task of making four different blankets for my family members. It all started with some wonderfully soft yarn that found me in a Joann Fabrics store. I like to call it the Narnia yarn because it's fluffy and white, like how I picture snow, and you can only find it when you're not looking for it.

Of course, this was the first blanket I ever made, so I really had no idea how much yarn would go into it. I found the Sensations Rainbow Classic white yarn and knew I had to do something with it. Which brought me to Pinterest (it always comes back to Pinterest.) I had repinned this living room afghan pattern which just seemed like a perfect solution to my problem. So I went to the blog itself where I got started on this great piece. It's a surprise for my mommy -shhh! don't tell her! ;) This is as far as I got before I ran out of the miracle yarn which, when I went to look for it, seemed to have disappeared. Like I said, if you look for it, you won't find it! Heh.

Well I went online and was lucky enough to be able to track down the yarn...at Joann.com. So I ordered three more rolls, which just got here a few days ago.



In the mean time, I decided I would start making more of these bad boys. I stocked up on some of the plain Caron One Pound bundles. I got a nice light beige color for my sister, a dark blue for my uncle, and a light blue for my baby cousin. Today I actually finished my sister's blanket. (I guess I'll be introducing my family to this blog after the holiday so as not to ruin the surprise hehe.) I'm truly in love with it.

 

As for the actual process, I followed the directions in that blog I mentioned earlier up until the part where it says to hdc across the top and then scallop around the edges. Well, I tried the scallop, but I'm afraid there's no instruction on how to make it and I couldn't seem to create anything I liked. So I decided to continue the hdc edge all the way around and I really like how it came out. And as for the amount of yarn and hook size, which isn't mentioned in the blog either, it took two of the Caron One Pound rolls to make my sister's which came out to about 58" by 47". 58" is how long I chose to make it, versus the 47" side which is the one that you make with the 122 chain. I also used a K10.5/6.50mm hook which seems to be really good for the rainbow classic yarn but possibly a little small for the caron one pound, so feel free to play around and decide what suits you best!



Mmmm Food!

I know, this is a craft blog. So what am I doing posting food? This is certainly not instagram! (why does anyone use that?) Well I suppose this is really just my way of documenting everything I've repinned on Pinterest that I have actually taken the time to make and here is where it starts! And this is the "strawberry-brie crostini" that I managed to create myself:

 

 

Now, I'm certainly no chef but when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, my heart nearly stopped. In fact, the picture itself had me drooling. Of course, when I found it, I was still in my dorm room with no oven or toaster to be heard of. But now that I'm home, I decided I would give it a try and see what my family thinks of it. And I must say, it was really a home run here. Plus it was actually rather simple. All it took was a french baguette, brie, honey, strawberries, and basil.

 

This is the amazing pin in all of its glory. Although if you'd like to skip the proverbial middle man, you can jump straight to the blog that explains everything beautifully. Of course, mine look slightly different from those of Dara's. I believe I cut my baguette slices way too thick, and the only brie I had available to me at the grocery store were "brie bites" which came with five individually wrapped circles of cheese. They didn't melt very successfully but no one really seemed to mind. ;)

 

Well I didn't quite no what to expect when I made this. Like I said, I'm no chef by any stretch of the imagination. But these little crostinis basically disappeared at dinner. I was even asked to make a second batch! So after having made one dozen already, I learned that I needed to put more brie on thinner slices of bread. And despite how perfectly the basil went with the whole dish, my mom and I were the only fans. Which is why, on round two (as seen below) only about half have basil on top.

 



 Again, these really were wonderful and I fully intend to make them again in the near future. I hope everyone else can enjoy them too! :)

The Madness Begins!

Hey all! My name is Ronit. I've just recently started attending the Savannah College of Art and Design where I'm studying Fashion Design with a minor in Themed Entertainment. I also happened to have joined my school's drumline and was given the task of running its facebook page and blog. This sort of inspired me to dust off my own blog and put it back into action. (It's been dormant for a few years now).

So I've decided to equip this blog as a way to kind of keep track of anything crafty I do. A lot of the projects I undertake actually come from things I find on Pinterest. Eventually I'll be able to finish making all of the great things I repin, some of which are in-progress at the moment. And this is where all of my progress shall be documented!
< insert evil laugh here >