Felting secrets and snow pictures

Hello there. I have been in a felting groove.

I have a secret to tell you about felting. Maybe you already know? Did you know that when you felt your hand knits, you lose more in length than you do width? A general rule is that you lose 30% in length and 10% in width.

One trick to find out exact percentage:

Knit a 5"L x 5"W swatch (Knit loose). Run through the washing machine (fast speed for lots of agitation). Measure again. Most likely, your felted swatch will now be (or be close to) 3.5"L x 4.5W. Try it sometime. Knowing this, you can design without fear of too much shrinkage!

So, Patons wool was on sale and I started knitting and knitting and then testing gauge and felting, and all that jazz, and what I came up with.....felt phone cozies.



I put those ones (and more) in my little shop. Next up: felt nook/kindle cozies and felt purses. I told you; felting groove.

Good thing. Because we just had a snow storm. Brace yourself for some chill inducing photos:


A covered pine tree.


Charlie hurrying back inside.


Bare trees in the backyard.


Snow clinging to the side of the deck rails.


Ice making its home.


Brrr.


A lonesome, heavy sunflower.


Icicle branch.


Dogs looking at me like I am crazy.

*******************************************

I am still reading Cutting for Stone and will be for some time. The words/message/story is quite profound. Every night, I find a new quote to live by.

"...own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't...Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny."
Cutting for Stone

Have a good day!
XXOO, Gilda

date night and coconut ice cream instructions

This weekend, we were supposed to go to our monthly dinner club. The theme was THAI. I love Thai, yes I do. So, I was sad when circumstances had forced us to reschedule (host's kiddies were sick :(). I'd already made my COCONUT ICE CREAM and SWEET STICKY RICE. We already had a babysitter (my brother took the kids for the entire night - woooot!!!). So, we went on a date instead.
First, we saw Wanderlust.

Yes, it is a RAD movie. I happened to have loved it. It was a little vulgar, a lot funny, and not sappy (okay, a little sappy). At the beginning of the movie, I totally wanted to live in a commune. But by the end of the movie, I was happy right where I was. I'd watch that movie again & again.
After the movie, we went to Sopranos, a new Italian restaurant. We had steamed mussels as an appetizer. I had the wood fire pizza for my main course, and my hot husband had the Ahi tuna on risotto. He had a scotch and I had TWO mojitos. When we got home, we watched Rum Diaries, which I thought was boooooooring. Even though Johnny Depp is my boyfriend.

Anyway, that coconut ice cream did not go to waste. And since I took photos through my process of making the amazzzzing coconut ice cream, I thought I'd share. Maybe you can make some coconut icecream, too? (BONUS! You do not need an ice cream maker.)

What you'll need. (not pictured: 4 eggs and 1 cup of sugar)


I didn't have a double boiler, so I used two pots. The pot underneath has boiling water. In the pot on top are the eggs mixed with 1 cup of sugar. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes. (Make sure boiling water is rolling, but not overflowing)


As sugar/egg mixture is cooling down, pour 1 pint of heavy whipping cream into a bowl. (At this point, you can use a mixer, if you prefer.)


Stir frantically!!! The quicker, the thicker.


When the heavy cream is more like a whipped cream, add in 1 can of coconut milk and 1/4 c of flaked coconut. Add in the cooled egg mixture, too, as well as 1tsp of vanilla. Stir everything together, and then pour into a glass container.


Freeze overnight.


Eat it.


And be happy.


Source: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaidesserts/r/coconuticecream.htm

Two RAD clutches WINNERS!!!

Guess what! We have two winners.

I had my son pick the first one:
(Do not mind his weird faces. He hates his picture taken, what's a photo taking mama to do???)



And the winner is #7:

AnonymousFeb 15, 2012 07:08 AM
Totally my style. LOVE! -Laura E =)

I had my daughter pick the next winner:



And the winner is #14:

ennadoolfFeb 17, 2012 05:46 PM
♥ love your shop! My fave is your mary jane slippers - I've never knit any but have crocheted some and I love the colours you used!! beautiful!

CONGRATULATIONS


(seriously kid, can't you just smile normal???)

I'll be emailing winners to get addresses to send my awesome clutches. I hope you love em!!!

xxoo,
Gilda

Weekend fun

This weekend, my nephew came over.
He is almost exactly three months younger than my son. They're best friends.

I'm worried about when these two become teenagers. Surely, they will cause tons of trouble. Right now, they bond over having younger sisters. Oh how they despise younger sisters!

Speaking of sisters, doesn't little sister remind you of a little actress in ET? (with her 70s style coat and pigtails.)

This weekend was all about chillin with the homies. My nephew was over, but also the neighbors came over, too. Here they are playing basketball in the driveway:

At one point, we had 9 kids roaming the house. And it was a mess at the end of the day! How does one have the neighborhood peeps over AND keep the house clean?
My new rule was going to be 'play outside only,' but there is a snow front coming in. And my husband said, "what if it is 20 below?" I mean, this is Minnesota after all.

Oh, look at Jake. Silly dog put on one of my knitted hats!


Off to do more knitting... I am working on lots of goods for a Spring Boutique (a portion of my profit goes to these charities: www.freedom.firm.in and www.hopeschool.org) and the HandmadeMN show in the Spring. I'll be giving you sneak peeks in the following weeks ;)

AND!!!don't forget to leave a comment on my giveaway post to enter to win one of my very first clutches I patterned. To make it easy, here's the link:
http://gildaknits.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-rad-clutches-up-for-grabs.html
I'll announce the winner this Wed, the 22nd.

peace xxoo,
Gilda

puppy fever and more clutches

It's that time of year again; puppy fever!

Isn't my friend, Laura, so sweet to invite me to the Humane Society to get my fix?

A few years ago, I had to bring my cat there. I always thought I'd never be the type of person to bring pets back, but as it turned out, my son is deathly allergic to cats. And so I had no choice. I hope my kitty found a good home. It was comforting to learn today that they do not put animals down at the Humane Society.

I used to be a cat person, but I can't be, so pups will do. And I have two. But it's always fun to meet other pups, too.

These were my favorites from today:

An American Bulldog, just like my Jake! (except this is a girl)


And this little guy was taken from a pet hoarder. He had special needs. And I loved him. I think I might go back for him. But I better not. I don't want to be a pet hoarder either!


And here's my sweet friend, petting the sister of the American Bulldog.


She is going to kill me for posting a pic of her, but isn't it a sweet one? I tried to get her to model my new clutches that I'll be putting in the shop, but she wouldn't. I might just have to put the self timer on and I always feel so ... awkward.

These are so cute, I can't wait to get them in the shop! They are hand knit, then felted, lined, and have one of a kind buttons. Here a little bitty pic:


In the comments of my last post, someone asked for tips on sewing on knitting. I have no tips. I wing it. But I do everything by hand. So, it's a lot of work. But it's totally fun and awesome, so you should try it.

And speaking of my last post, don't forget to leave a comment on that post to enter to win one of my very first clutches I patterned. To make it easy, here's the link:
http://gildaknits.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-rad-clutches-up-for-grabs.html I'll announce the winner next Wed, the 22nd.

Peace out, yo.
xxoo, Gilda

Two RAD clutches up for grabs

Hello there bloggies.
I've been patterning a new clutch design.
Would you like to win one of my very first clutches?





Y'all deserve a lil somn' somn' for being so RAD.
And not just one person will win, but two.
Because I have TWO pretty [awesome] clutches.





So...all you have to do is
**leave a comment telling me what your favorite thing is in my shop. This is my shop page: www.ahandmadeprincess.etsy.com
**For an additional entry, like my facebook page and leave another comment here telling me you did so.
This is my facebook page: www.facebook.com/AHandmadePrincess

I'll randomly choose TWO winners and post it next Wednesday, February 22, 2012. So make sure to come back then.

This is my very first give away, so make it a real good one and I'll do 'em more.

In the meantime, I'll be posting more about what I'm knitting (and designing) and random life stuff. Like, for yarn along (a weekly link up to show what you are knitting/reading), I'm knitting more clutches (see above) and I'm STILL reading Cutting for Stone. (I think I'll be reading this one for a loooonnng time!)

gnomes and pretzel buttons

I have a fondness for Gnomes. Anything gnomes. If I could, I'd fill my yard to the rims with garden gnomes. The reason I can't is because, well, my collection has gotten that big yet and, also, I have two dogs that would knock em over. But I have an appreciation for a garden gnome garden. I really, really do. When Gnomeo and Juliet came out in theaters, uh yes, I was sooo there. And when I saw this really cute gnomey fabric with a gnome garden scape, I HAD to get it. And what did I do with it? I made a skirt for my daughter.

Cute, right?
And then I made her a cute gnomey hat with a bow. (to match this coat I just bought her.) (Girls size, clearance for 14.99!!!!!)

Oh yes, I've been doing lots this past week. I also have some goodies that will soon be going in the store:

And, look, we made valentine buttons! (found on pinterest)
Here's a quick recap:

What you need:
square pretzels
hershey hugs
m&ms (I used raspberry. I didn't even know such things existed, but they are soooo yummy!!)
optional: wax paper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 200
Unwrap hugs, place on to pretzel
Line up on (wax paper) cookie sheet
Bake for approximately 4 minutes, or until hugs are soft (but not melted!)
Press m&m into each hug
Cool in fridge (do not take off cookie sheet until cooled. Chocolate can be messy!)
Enjoy!