Memorial Day Fun

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Ali

Paul and I went on a hike on Memorial Day, because it was surprisingly nice out! (It was supposed to be yucky out, so that was a pleasant surprise!)

We went to the old University of Idaho Arboretum, which was in FULL bloom!

I was a bit unprepared for how hard hiking is when you’re in your last trimester, though.

So we spent a lot of time resting on logs and taking a breather.

We did get plenty of bug bites during the walk though… I always forget about the bugs…

But even with the bugs, it was still really pretty. I definitely recommend that all you Moscowvites should go check out the old UI Arboretum. If I could hike it while big and pregnant, (and in flipflops, nonetheless) well then you can do it to.

But we had a great time. And then we went out for my belated Birthday lunch, since we were out of town for my actual birthday.

The waitress brought out this ginormous piece of cake as a surprise. Seriously, between Paul and I we only ate about 1/3 of it. It was a very, very large cake.

And then we took a little walk through the Lawson Gardens in Pullman and there were so many tulips in bloom!

Are you tired of looking at flower pictures yet? Well, too bad, I’ve got a few more.

Ok, we’re almost done.

Ok, nearly done.

Alright, I’m done with the flowers. For now.

Did you do anything exciting for Memorial Day?

Baby Owen’s Hoodie

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Ali

Remember that hoodie I made for Baby Owen? Well, his momma put up a picture of him wearing his little hoodie! Wanna see how cute he is?

I am totally geeking out about how cute he is!

I’ll also try to post tomorrow about all of our Memorial Day adventures, we did all kinds of fun stuff around Moscow and Pullman!

26 Weeks!

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Ali

Today was really nice out, and after a quick morning at the Farmers Market (Got some delicious asparagus and some rhubarb) we decided to take a trip down to Kendrick, which is a small town about 30 minutes outside of Moscow. We stopped at an old graveyard on our way back and took some pictures.

I feel like my belly has really expanded a lot in the last two weeks.

Feeling pretty good, other than the regular pregnancy things, heartburn, backaches, still throwing up a lot, but I guess that just can’t be helped, it is what it is, and I’m 2/3 the way through it, so I’m counting that as a blessing!

We had a lot of fun today driving around the country. The Palouse is such a scenic place to live, and while there may not be tons to do in Moscow, the scenery makes up for it. Especially on nice days like today!

Homemade Mac n Cheese

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Ali

I have had some strong cravings for cheesy pasta lately, so we decided to make mac ‘n cheese the other night, and it turned out SO good.

Seriously, seriously good. Here is the recipe: (I found it on allrecipes.com)

8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 cups milk
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 pinch paprika

Directions

Cook macaroni according to the package directions. Drain.
In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux. Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick. Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.
Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Serve.

I substituted elbow macaroni noodles for shells, which is what we had on hand. I also added two handfuls of chopped ham to it, since we were just doing that as our main dish without any side-dishes. I also shredded provolone cheese on the top instead of using the Parmesan. Seriously, so good! Give it a try, you will not regret it.

Pebble Vest

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Ali

I finished up the Pebble Vest for my baby boy. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I do still need to find some buttons for it. That’s always the hardest part for me to find, for some reason I am really picky about buttons.

It’s got buttonholes going down one side and on one strap, so I don’t have to pull anything over his head. I am thinking maybe wooden buttons to go on it? I think it’d be hard to match any of the blues/greens that are going on in this vest. What do you think?

Butternut Squash Aidez

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Ali

Ok, can I show you guys something? Remember a few days ago where I was showing you all of the different projects that I had going, and that I was saying how I shouldn’t start anymore, at least not until I get some other things finished? Well… I just got so excited about the Aidez sweater that I had to get started on it. I DID however, finish the vest and the Purple Lemon Curd hat, so I felt a bit more justified in casting on.

So… are you ready? I’m really excited about this.(I just cast this on on Saturday afternoon and I’ve already got over 1/2 of the back done.)

Ok, just so you know, the lighting in my kitchen is all wonky right now and the color is not nearly that orange. Seriously, that looks like a pumpkin and it’s definitely not that color. It’s much softer. It really is a pretty color, I swear.

I just wanted to show you guys my progress. I pretty much spent the majority of yesterday knitting this. It was a pretty decent weekend, to tell you the truth. And I had my first honest-to-goodness pregnancy craving yesterday. I needed Jo-Jo’s in a bad way. I don’t know if everyone calls them Jo-Jo’s or if that’s just a Gronewold thing, but either way they’re just seasoned potato wedges and when dipped in ranch dressing are really, really yummy. But back to knitting…

So, we’ll see if I keep on being obsessed with knitting this, if so it should be finished by sometime next week. (Juuuust kidding) My goal is just to have it done by the time the baby is born, and that gives me a bit more than 3 months to finish it. It’s going to be my ‘lounging around the house’ sweater. And it doesn’t even need to fit perfectly because there are no buttons, snaps or closures in the front, it’s just nice and loose, so I won’t be freaking out that it won’t fit immediately after giving birth.

So, um… ta-da? What do you think?

Happy Birthday Yarn.

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Ali

So, for my birthday my momma took me to Yellow House Yarns (the cutest little yarn store I’ve EVER seen!) and told me to pick out something I liked. Talk about pressure. Strolling through an entire room filled floor to ceiling with delicious Cascade yarns, in every color of the rainbow. Not even kidding. It was overwhelming. Erika and I pawed around at the yarns deciding what to get and after much deliberation I still didn’t know what I wanted to get, so I just eventually grabbed some colors that looked good and decided that I’ll figure out what I want to make with them when I got home. So, without further ado, here is my loot!

Some Cascade 220 in Gray.

I am thinking that with this, I will make the Baby Sophisticate (Picture below, property of Ravelry.com). Maybe. Or maybe not. I can’t decide.

And next I got some Cascade 220 Sport in Pumpkin. Delicious, no? Just perfect for my fall baby, right?

At first I was thinking all kinds of fun thoughts of knitting my son a pumpkin outfit for Halloween, but the more I thought about it I decided that was probably a silly idea and I have no idea how to knit a pumpkin costume anyway. So I think I’ll make him the Simple Hooded Cardigan which I’ve made for a few other people and really loved. (Picture property of Lion Brand Yarn)

And last but not least I got some Cascade 220 Heathers, in this beautiful soft blue. I am thinking I’ll make something for myself out of this one.

Now, what to make, what to make… I’ve got some ideas floating around in my head. See, I COULD get some more of it and make that into my Aidez sweater.. that would be gorgeous, right? Or maybe I will make this Little Ruffle scarf. I think that the Heather yarn will make for a really pretty scarf.(Photo from Ravelry.com)

But you know, my mind changes all the time and I’ll probably end up making something completely different with all of them, who knows! If you have any great project ideas for me, I’d LOVE to hear them.

Also, thanks for all of the feedback on the last post. Many of you wondered what shade of mustard I would be working with to do the Aidez sweater, and it is actually called Butternut Squash, I believe. This is the color:

What do you think? Too bright of a color, or would it work ok for the Aidez sweater?

A Catch-Up Of Sorts.

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Ali

I am having a ‘blah’ sort of day… I think it’s that weird getting back into your regular schedule after coming off of a long vacation, you know? Also I’ve been having extremely weird and vivid dreams. Most of the time my dreams are kind of scary (I’m usually being chased by someone who wants to hurt me) and I think that they’re real the entire time that I am asleep and when I wake up I am all freaked out. But last nights dream was especially real and strange. I dreamed that my baby was born really premature and tiny, and I got a very clear picture of what I thought Togglebuttons is going to look like. (If you were wondering, in my imagination he looked a lot like Paul with curly brown hair and blue eyes) It was a very vivid dream that went on for what felt like hours. Anyway, I’ve just been trying to catch up on housework and things that haven’t gotten done since we were gone for a week and a half. I’ve already gotten the laundry done (AND folded, AND put away. A new record for me!) now just the kitchen and bathroom need to be scrubbed and that’s my goal for today.

As far as crafty stuff goes, I’ve got my needles and hooks in a lot of different projects right now… so many, in fact, that I am needing to put a few of the more non-urgent ones away so that I can make sure to get some of the other ones (orders and such) finished within a reasonable amount of time. For instance, I am making this vest for my baby boy, but it’s a 6-9 month size, so it’s pretty obvious that I don’t need to be working on this one urgently.

Also, I am working on this Granny Stripe Blanket, (also for Togglebuttons) and it’s just so fun to work on that I can’t put it down. I love doing Granny Squares, Granny Stripes, you name it, I love doing it. it’s so nice to not have to count ripples or stitches and just be able to mindlessly crochet while watching a movie or something. It’s not the greatest picture ever, but I’ll get a better one when I do the big reveal.

And a few more custom orders for Lemon Curd Hats, this time in dark purple and dark green. I do love making these hats, because I’ve made so many of them now I don’t need to look at my pattern or anything, and they’re on the smaller end (as opposed to a blanket or something) which makes them nice and portable!

And there’s several more that I won’t bother to take pictures of, like the quilt that is 1/3 done, or the mobile which is currently just a stack of yarn waiting to be made into something, and another baby hoodie which hasn’t gotten to a point worth taking a picture of yet.

Oh, and I can’t wait to show you all of my lovely birthday presents, too! (Most of it includes yarn! Woo!) and of course I’ll pop in tomorrow to do the weekly “You Knit What?!”, so stay tuned!

Gray Tides Slouchy Hat

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Ali

*Edit* Apparently this pattern isnt very well written and a lot of people are having issues with it. So I am taking it down until I have a chance to look it over and re-write it. I apologize for the inconvenience.

My Baby Brother Gets Married.

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Ali

This past weekend my baby brother got hitched! It was a beautiful ceremony.

Aaron and his new bride, Cynthia!

My brothers and my dad.

Aaron and Cynthia, just after getting married! Aren’t they adorable?

Erika and Ezra, right before the wedding.

Me, Paul and baby Toggle-buttons. (23 weeks and counting!)

Aaron and Cynthia’s first dance!

Youngest sister, Heidi, getting ready to send off the happy couple.

On their way to Santa Cruz!

Isn’t she the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?!

We’re so beyond happy for you, Aaron and Cynthia! Congratulations!

In other exciting news, my bestie Autumn had her baby on my BIRTHDAY! How exciting is that? The best birthday present ever! Welcome to the world, Ezra William!

Isn’t he just a perfect little bundle of cuteness? I got a chance to snuggle him and get my baby quota for the month.