In which we shop at Etsy...

One of the projects on my needles at the moment is a reknit of my Diamondback Shrug for Knit Picks. I'm this close to finishing the new sample, knit up in their City Tweed (which, by the way, is amazingly squooshy, especially in garter stitch). As I've been knitting along, I've been considering how I want to style the photo shoot. . .I know there will be some big, chunky jewelry involved, so naturally, I turned to Etsy.

While I was looking, I found these:

way cute, right? click the photo to view the listing!

While I've decided to style the Diamondback with my own jewelry from 579, I couldn't pass these up. At $8.75, they are such a steal! The shop has plenty of other cute things, too, prettily photographed and very reasonably priced.

I got so excited about my new owl earrings, I was inspired to create a whole owl treasury! Did you know there are about a million awesome owl-y things on Etsy? Of course you did. . .and here are just a few of my favorites:

                      

gahhhh! so many owls! i want them all! click the photo to view my treasury

Between Etsy treasuries and Polyvore, I could waste ginormous amounts of time. Perhaps I should have been a graphic designer - I love playing with photos!

If you stop by the treasury, do leave a comment, won't you? :)

Rag Quilting for Project Linus

Three snuggly quilts await new homes

Many moons ago, I undertook a rather large charity project, and since I began that project, I have made over 200 rag quilts. I chose to make rag quilts for my project because rag quilting is, quite simply, the easiest and silliest blanket-making method that I've ever seen, resulting in the most delightfully snuggly blankets imaginable. If you can cut on a straight line and sew on a straight line, you can make a rag quilt! It really is that simple. If you want to learn more about it, Wendy Bernard has written an excellent tutorial which you may download for free right here. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes, the charity project. Well, we finished that project, we actually did! Almost 250 quilts in less than a year by no more than three sewers. . .I'm still quite proud of that, let me tell you! But I was saying, after we were finished with that particular project, I had a few quilt squares left over. About 15 blankets' worth, in fact. Those squares, they sat and they sat and they sat and they sat. For about three years, they sat. I even had to move those big trash bags full of quilt squares from Florida to Kansas, and still they sat. I'd promised myself that I'd finish them up and donate them to some kind of charity, but see, after that Big Project, I thought if I never saw another Quilt Square, it would be too soon. Fast-forward to April, this year. One of my LYSs here in Kansas City hosts charity drives throughout the year, and they announced that the second-quarter charity would be benefitting Project Linus. If you've never heard of Project Linus, you should definitely give that link a visit, because they are a most worthy charity organization which has brought comfort and warmth to almost 3 and a half million children through the gifting of handmade blankets. If that doesn't just blow your mind, well. So you know what I did? I hauled those big bags of quilt squares out of the basement, dusted them off, opened them up and got to quilting! I've already donated 10 so far, and I have only 3 left to finish up before this Sunday's deadline.

I'm curious: How are you using your talents, whatever they may be, to benefit those less fortunate than yourself? I'm not talking about just giving money to charities, here - I'm talking about getting down in the trenches and really doing something. Do you volunteer at a soup kitchen? Knit caps for preemie babies? Crochet prayer shawls for the sick? Perhaps you volunteer your time regularly at an organization like The Ronald McDonald House or Heart Gallery of America (which, by the way, is awesome and I just heard about the other day). Share with me! How are you changing the world? :)

No-Bake Blackberry Nectarine Cheesecake

Last night, we had guests for dinner and board games. Nothing too fancy, you know, just throw a couple of frozen pizzas in the oven (actually, we had these guys' frozen pizza, so as it turns out it was kind of fancy). The day before, I was texting the guests about dessert options, and given the choice between blackberry cobbler, cheesecake, or cookies, the answer was "Yes". Well! I got to thinking, and I started thinking that blackberry cheesecake sounded rather good, and to put it on a cookie crust sounded even better. So I mishmashed a few things together, and here's what I wound up with:

 Using nectarines instead of peaches prevents oxygen discoloration

I promised my Twitter followers a recipe, so here it is:

Crust

15 Pecan Sandies cookies, crushed to oblivion

2 Tbsp butter, room temperature

1/2 cup pecan pieces

Combine the crushed cookies and butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Sprinkle pecans across the bottom, patting them into the crust a bit so they stick. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool completely before adding filling.

Filling

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp lemon juice + enough nectarine juice to make 1/4 cup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 pint frozen blackberries, chopped into pieces

Note about the nectarine juice: Peel a ripe nectarine, then just sort of squish it to death with your fingers - you'll get lots of juice and a bit of pulpy stuff, too. The puply stuff is okay, because it'll all get blended in when you mix up the filling. :)

To make the filling, just dump all of that stuff except the blackberries into one large bowl. Mix it with an electric mixer on high until alllllllll the lumpy-bumpies are gone, or at least 5 minutes. Gently fold in the blackberries. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust, and top with a sliced nectarine and a couple of whole blackberries. This cheesecake needs to be refrigerated at least 6 hours before serving, but it's best to make it the afternoon before and let it refrigerate overnight so it can really set up.

Enjoy!

New pattern: Cuboid

A while back (really, it's been a few months now), I worked up this little felted box bag for The Unique Sheep:

Cuboid

You can read all about it by clicking the link above, but basically it's a little felted box bag which uses only 340 yards of worsted weight yarn. I made it for The Ram Club Series 4, which is a series of accessories for men. My kits just shipped out this month, and so far have had a great response! This is a super quick knit that gets transformed in the finishing work. Knit flat in one piece, fabric lining gets fused to the inside of the bag for sturdiness (there is no "stuffing" in the bag in these photos), then a zipper is inserted and the whole thing gets folded up origami style and seamed together with a sewing machine. No sewing machine? No worries - you can just as easily sew it up with yarn and tapestry needle.

I love the detail at the corners!

This pattern will be available for individual purchase from me in October. Don't want to wait so long for the next one? Consider signing up my next club with The Unique Sheep, the 7 Wonders Club. This club features one kit for each of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World, and I was lucky enough to get the Great Pyramid at Giza! Yessssssssssssssssssss! Anyone who knows me knows I am fascinated with the pyramids and all things Egypt, so this was a real pleasure for me to get to do! The item I designed for that club is one of my favorite things I've ever made, so do go check it out won't you? :)

Style Your Knits: Bijou

Casual Bijou by TheSexyKnitter

Today I took a much needed break from designing to create this set on Polyvore. The set styles Marnie MacLean's gorgeous Bijou (available from Twist Collective) for a more casual, daytime look. This sweater strikes me as a more dressy item, with its delicate stitch patterning and dainty finishing details, and from what I've seen is usually styled that way. Well, doesn't that just present a challenge! I've pulled out what my brother refers to as "mad layering skills" to put together a sweet little outfit that is young, edgy and comfy! I could see myself hanging out at the coffee shop in this, window shopping some fabulous boutiques, or even going on a date with the Dr.! Movies, anyone?

If you're not familiar with how to use Polyvore, Marnie has put together a great tutorial for it over on the Twist Collective blog. Why not get addicted today?