Hot Water Bottle Cozy

Just when you thought we sisters had given up crafting, the need for some extra comfort has saved our dwindling creativity.

Autumn is approaching, and along with it comes much colder camping.  My sweetie swears that a hot water bottle in my sleeping bag will keep me toasty (I hope he's right).  Snuggling up to a hot hunk of rubber wasn't too enticing, so I went through my remnants, pulled out a pair of US 15s, and got to work.  

I made this by trial and error, so there's not much of a pattern to post.  I believe I did k, p2, k2, p2, cable 6, p2, k2, p2, k1 on each side, and continued until it was long enough.  Cute, huh?  And so snuggly.

The Hat Machine is at it Again

Did I mention I've been a hat machine lately?  This one (sorry for the poor photography) was originally intended for my nephew.  But before I had even woven in the ends, someone (whom I cherish absolutely) eyed it with desire and I just couldn't say no.  Isn't that the ultimate compliment, when the product of your labor and creativity is desired?

It turned out nice and rustic-looking, and if you look closely, you can see a sprinkling of wood shavings that attest to its usefulness already.  Apparently it was just the thing for a woodworker.
And don't worry, my nephew did end up getting a hat.

Remnants = Stripes!

A simple, stripey hat for my little brother using wool remnants left over from my Christmas projects.  Casted on 75 sts on my US8 AddiTurbos and went at it.  K3 P2 ribbing for the brim, and then on to easy straight stitching.  To decrease the crown I K2tog 5 times per round, alternating with straight-st every other round.  And there you have it.  I've been a bit of a hat machine lately. 

Homemade Organic Instant Pancake Mix

My sweetie and I love pancakes, and I have to admit, I make a really
great batch of pancakes. It takes a lot of work though, between all the
ingredients and melting the butter, blah blah blah. Well, actually,
it's not THAT much work. But I recently had access to some instant
pancake mix and I "Just Added Water!" How simple is that?! I made the
mistake of looking at the ingredients, though, and was disappointed. I
knew there had to be a way to make a simple organic pancake mix (and
leave out all that sugar!).

I did some searching online and found this recipe. I tested it a few
times and made some modifications--most significant of which is to
decrease the portion of wheat flour--I found they were just too dense as
it was written. I also added powdered eggs--my goal is to make these as
simple as possible! Finally, I significantly decreased the sugar. All of my ingredients are certified organic--we're so lucky to have all this healthy stuff, in bulk, downtown at the local Food Co-Op. 

After some more testing, I was happy with the mixture, and made a huge
batch, scooping it into quart sized canning jars for my sibs for
Christmas. Cut up some squares of cloth (an old curtain from Goodwill)
with my pinking shears, and whipped up a little label in MS Word with
some fancy clipart. Voila! A pretty cute, healthy, and very cheap
Christmas gift.