Are you guys as excited about Fall as I am!? I know, technically it's still August but i'm over that. I'm ready for spiced cider and pretty leaves and flannel everything! 

In the spirit of September and all things orange and festive, I've been making cute, little Pumpkins! And you can too! 

These guys are a quick way to make your home festive without spending a ton of money. I was able to whip these Punkin's up in the time it took me to watch Batman and Robin. 

This knitted Pumpkin pattern is by Katrina McNerney and is a super quick knit. It's knitted in the round with DPNs, then gathered on the top and bottom and has a simple i-chord stem. Mine turned out about 5" wide by 3" tall and I used Lily Sugar N'Cream yarn and size 7 (4.5mm) needles. 

This little crocheted Punkin' pattern is by June Gilbank and is just freaking adorable. This one measures about 4"x2". I used Lily Sugar N'Cream and a size E US (3.5mm) hook. 

All you need to make these is yarn, stuffing, a seaming needle and the crochet/knitting needles of your choice.

I love simple, festive projects. And no worries about your Pumpkins getting old and gross on you, these guys will last you through many a Holiday celebration. Halloween? Covered. Thanksgiving? Under control. 

Give these little guys a try! I think I might whip some more up in white or light green before the Season is over. 


Thanks for stopping by!


-Ashley 

Fall is on it's way! At least it is in my head. Outside it's still in the mid 80's temperature wise, and not weather for busting out my casserole dish and making comfort food. In the meantime I'll have to keep making cold Summer food. Speaking of, this recipe is one of my favorites, I tried a bunch of Potato Salad recipes this Summer and combined my favorite aspects of each into this magical creation. 

Fair warning, I like a lotta stuff in my 'tato salad. A LOT. Veggies for DAYS! 

I like to make a big batch of Potato Salad at the beginning of the week and then Alex and I can enjoy it all week long with lunches and as a snack. Mmmm, it's magical stuff. 

Here's the printable recipe!

I like to garnish this guy with fresh chives from my herb garden and a sprinkle of paprika!

Give it a try, let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading! 

-Ashley

Today I wanted to share with you this adorable tweed cardigan that I knitted for my amazing boyfriend Alex. He picked out everything; the pattern, yarn and buttons. There's always a better chance of sweater approval if the recipient is on the design committee.  

The pattern I used is Slade, by Michelle Wang. It is a well written and easy to follow pattern. The most difficult part for me was the Tubular Cast on. I'd never done anything like it before but with a little trial and error it ended up looking lovely and is a technique I'm glad to have in my arsenal now. It makes the edges of the sweater look smooth, rounded and very professional! 

I did make some alterations to the original pattern, I moved the buttons and button holes to the edges of the collar placket instead of centering them. I knitted the collar with the button and button holes in the center of the placket at first but the fabric kept rolling over the top of the buttons in an awkward way so I frogged it and placed them at the edge of the sweater opening. I also made the button holes vertical instead of horizontal. I found the instructions for the horizontal buttonholes confusing, especially since I added an extra button hole and it made all the math wonky. 

I made the mistake of using a Tubular Bind Off on the collar and it, of course, was not stretchy enough and had to be redone after blocking. I ended up using this Elastic Edge Bind Off instead and it worked wonders. 

One of my only complaints about this pattern is the collar. Due to the horizontal ribbing, it will always lay shorter than the front panels of the sweater. I blocked it like crazy but the front portion is always gonna be a little shorter than the back. :(


The yarn I used for this project is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed in Reindeer Heather. It's 80% Peruvian Highland Wool and 20% Donegal Tweed. It's just wonderful. (Also, it's super affordable.) It's soft and knits up quick and has great stitch definition. It also has a super nice shine to it for a Tweed blend. It is a little high maintenance since it's Hand Wash only but it's worth it for the quality of the finished project. I will definitely be using it again. 

If you'd like to try this pattern for yourself you can find it here, and if you'd like to try out this magical yarn you can find that here. 
 

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Ashley

Today I want to share with you guys a simple, wonderful rug pattern. I created this pattern by adapting Leigh Radfords "Bath Mat" from her book Oneskein. I wanted the same plushy texture but I needed it much bigger!  

This beauty measures approximately 45"x33" and is a super quick and easy crochet. I use mine as an outdoor rug but it could just as easily be used indoors. 

I recommend using a bulky weight acrylic or cotton for this project so you can toss it in the wash whenever you need to. 

This guy is crocheted with two strands held together so it's ridiculously squishy and soft. I'd call this a beginner to intermediate project. There's no shaping and you only need to know basic stitches; chain, single crochet, double crochet. 

Here's the PDF pattern if you want to make your own soft, squishy crocheted rug! 

PS. I'd use a non-slip mat or some strips of sticky tape if you plan to use this rug on a hard surface, it's safer that way! 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Ashley

This little guy is so cute! And totally necessary. 

Seriously, your mug is going to be so cozy! 

I'm not sure where the inspiration behind this particular craft came from. I think it was created out of a frantic, last minute need to get Christmas gifts done last year. Nevertheless they are one of my favorite dude gifts and they're pretty darn easy to make! 

Let's learn! 

First, print your pattern! 

Next, you'll need:
Sharp Scissors
Felt
Mug (about 10" in diameter)
Velcro (use non sticky!)
Needle and Thread
Optional-Sewing Machine


I might have forgotten to put a few of these items in my "supplies" picture...

Next you'll want to cut out your pattern and pin it to your felt. Layer your fabric; you'll be cutting out two main body rectangles, one of each color and two smaller tab rectangles, one of each color. You only need one 'stache though, I make mine in the darker lining color. 

Then pin your pieces to your mug to make sure that they're the right size! 

Perfect!

Now, you'll want to sew your Velcro onto your little tab. Layer your two tab pieces of fabric on top of each other and place the Velcro on the Wrong Side of the fabric, the "lining" if you will. I like to use an X shape and then a little box around it. Then run a stitch all the way around the outside edge of the tab using a 1/4" seam allowance. Use your sharp scissors to trim off the excess fabric. 

I know, it's kind of a mess. But you get the idea. 

Next you'll want to grab the body piece of your pattern; the large rectangles, and layer them on top of each other, Right Side facing up. Place your 'stache on top and stitch through all layers. You could always go ahead and add a layer of interfacing here if you want to make your cozy a little more indestructible, but it's not really necessary. (PS I often do this part by hand because I think it looks extra cute with little hand stitches!)

When your mustache is appropriately situated, it's time to stitch around the outer edge of the main body pieces, just like you did with the tab portion. Sew 1/4" from the edge and trim it up afterwards!

We're almost done! 

Now! Try your cozy on your mug and pin it! This way you'll know where to affix the other piece of Velcro for the perfect fit!

Sew your other piece of Velcro to the edge of the mug cozy using the same X in a box technique (very technical) as before. Then attach the other end of your tab to the opposite edge of the body portion. 

Then trim up your edges and any stray threads and you're done! 

I'm ready for Fall! Bring on the Spiced Cider and Pumpkins and Pot Pies and cozy Flannel! I know! It's the beginning of August! I'm not gonna let that get me down. 

In preparation for the coziest Season of all, I decided Alex (my wonderful bf) could use a pair of Tweed Socks to go with the magical Tweed Sweater I knitted him in March.

I think they turned out just adorable. 

Really, there's no greater joy than making your boyfriend model Wool Socks outside on a 90 degree day. Hehehe...

The pattern I used was The Jogless Hiking Sock by Millard Fontenot. I did alter the pattern to my liking quite a bit. the original pattern calls for lots of striping and an Intarsia color block on the top of the ankle. I just wanted a plain, DK weight sock but couldn't find any in a manly size, except for this pair! My alterations included moving the rib section to an inch after the heel shaping and not including any stripe work. (Except for the little grey cuff.)

I did get to learn a couple fun techniques in this pattern. JBMCO; Judy Becker's Magic Cast on, which was a little tricky but once you get it down it's very pretty and truly kind of magical. When I've made socks in the past (which, honestly, I don't do that often) I've used a Gusset Heel so the W&T's (Wrap and Turn/Twist's) Heel kinda threw me for a loop. But once you figure it out it's not too much of a challenge and it does look very clean. This video helped me figure out what I was doing. I KNOW I've done this technique before, but somewhere along the way I totally forgot about it. Thank goodness for YouTube. 

As for the yarn, I used  Knit Picks City Tweed DK, this stuff is wonderful. It's 55% Merino Wool, 25% Superfine Alpaca and 20% Donegal Tweed. I am such a sucker for Alpaca, I'll pretty much try any yarn that has Alpaca in it. This pattern calls for a DK weight yarn (it actually calls for THIS yarn specifically, how convenient!) but it also calls for smaller needles (US 3, 3.25mm) than you would normally use with a DK so these turned out super dense and squishy. It has a great  weight and texture from the wool and tweed but a nice, soft sheen to it from the Alpaca. 

I actually did not intend to have any striping on this pattern. The only reason I did is because I did not order enough yarn for this pattern. For a size 10 pair of socks I ended up needing more than two balls of yarn and by the time I got around to ordering more (mere weeks later!) they were completely sold out of the Brocade! Not available until 10/30/15! What the what!? So then I thought I'd add a stripe of Obsidian to the top and the NEXT DAY when I went to order it; not available until 9/30/15!?

The moral of the story is; buy as much yarn as you need at the time you need it! These guys sell out QUICK! 


I hope you enjoyed the review! I'll be (hopefully) posting a fun, felt tutorial and pattern on here within the week so stock up on felt and get your sewing machine (or needle and thread) out of cobwebs and ready for action! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Ashley

Here it is! My first recipe post! I hope you're as pumped as I am. 

These are just magical.

Perfect to make on a Summer day when you just can't bare to turn your oven on. Give me my stove-top and a cast iron skillet and I can survive the Summer! 

These guys are super delicious, I make them with a fancy jalapeno sauce so they've got a bit of zip. I also throw in some pepper jack so they're even spicier! We like spicy in this household. 

I make these with Beyond Meat Vegan Chicken Strips. I'm sure you could sub in some real meat if that's what you're into. Just cook and shred it beforehand just like you would the veggie stuff. 


Spicy Chicken Quesadillas  
(Serves 2)

Sauce
¼ Cup Mayo
½ Fresh Jalapeno
1 tsp Lime Juice
½ tsp Sugar
½ tsp Paprika
½ tsp Cumin
⅛ tsp Cayenne
⅛ tsp Garlic Powder
pinch of Salt

Quesadillas
4 Tortillas
½ Cup Cheddar
½ Cup Pepper Jack
5 Strips Beyond Meat Grilled Vegan Chicken
2 Tbsp Butter

Optional
Salsa Verde
Sour Cream
Lime Wedges

In a food processor, combine all sauce ingredients. (Alternately, you can mince your jalapeno like crazy but I prefer the lazy method.) Pulse until combined.

For the quesadillas, grate up a half a cup of each type of cheese. You can choose any you like but Cheddar and Pepper Jack are my favorite pairing. Saute your Beyond Meat until browned, let cool and shred. Melt ½ Tbsp of butter into your pan on medium heat, I prefer a cast iron skillet for this so the tortillas get nice and browned. When your butter has melted, toss a tortilla in the pan. Using a spoon, spread a layer of spicy sauce on the tortilla. Sprinkle on a bit o’cheese, then some Veggie Chicken, then a little more cheese. Top with the other tortilla, press it down so the cheese has a chance to get all melty and fantastic then flip when your first tortilla is looking brown on the bottom, make sure to re-butter the skillet between flips! Make second quesadilla in the same fashion then top with a bunch of salsa, sour cream and lime juice! Yum!


Here's the printable version!

Make them! I promise you won't regret it! 

Thanks for reading!

-Ashley

This is definitely something that you need! 

Right?! I'm gonna teach you how to make one! I'm also gonna throw in some other toppings if these ones don't appeal to you. If this was my pizza it would probably be mostly artichoke hearts, I'm kind of obsessed. 

Ok! Let's learn! 

First off, you'll need some supplies, I would've taken a pic for you but, not gonna lie, my Sculpey is not exactly packaged and pretty. It's more like bags of multi-colored lumps. Anyway! You'll need various colors of bake-able Polymer clay such as Sculpey or Fimo. Grab yourself a crust color (I like to use a nude shade with a touch of yellow squished in) a red for the sauce, white for cheese and whatever colors you would like to use for your toppings. I'd suggest a dark brown and green, that way you can make snausage, shrooms, bacon, artichoke hearts and bell peppers. Oh! And some black if you want olives or yellow if you want pineapple! It's all up to you! 

You'll also want a screw hook eye, a rolling pin or jar to roll your clay out with, a needle for detail work and a cutting tool for shaping. (Make sure not to use kitchen utensils for this as Polymer clay is not food safe! Designate your clay tools and keep them away from food!)

Now, grab your pizza crust color and let's get started! 

Knead your pizza crust "dough" and then roll it into a ball. Then use a jar or roller to roll it out into a flat slab. 

Then use a knife to chop out a triangle shape. I give the top portion some squishes to flatten it out so I can roll the crust over. 

Then you'll wanna grab a little chunk of red/marinara and squish it into a rough triangle shape. You can always get creative and add your favorite sauce here, green for Pesto, white for Alfredo, whatever floats your boat!

I like to make sure my sauce isn't too even, it's more realistic that way. Now it's cheese time, I strongly recommend you take a moment for hand washing. That red Sculpey is lethal, it transfers onto everything! 

Roll out a thin rope of "cheese" and chop it into little pieces. Then pop them on your sauce in a slapdash fashion. 

Add even more cheese! Then it's time for toppings! 

Now, keep in mind these are my "interpretations" of toppings. You can make yours look like whatever you want! I'm not a clay pizza toppings expert. I started with pepperoni and snausage because they're the most generic and recognizable. For your pepperoni, just roll a reddish brown ball out and then give it a couple pricks with a needle. For the snausage, I made a dark brown smaller ball and put it on the pizza, then gave it a ton of needle jabs until it was the right texture. 

To form the mushroom you need to make a small ball of light brown, flatten it, then use a needle to push each side in towards the center while smooshing the top downwards. It's not an exact science. Essentially just make a cartoon T. 

The pineapple and olive are formed using roughly the same method; make ball, squish, poke hole in the middle. The red onion is simply made by placing balls of white and purple on top of each other in descending size. The teeny jalapeno is the same as the pepperoni, just teeny. The artichoke is complicated; make a tiny, green bullet, score a horizontal line indentation through the middle, scatter some needle pricks above the line and under the line use the edge of your needle to press in vertical indentations.  

I couldn't resist adding the jalapeno, it was too cute! 

Then screw in your hook and you're ready to bake! I baked my little dude at 250 Degrees for 25 minutes and that worked out fine. Mine is about 1.25" long, 1.25" wide and a little over .25" deep. You'll want to bake yours a bit longer if it's thicker than that. Refer to your clay packaging info if you're unsure. 

You can bake your pizza with the screw hook in BUT make sure to unscrew it after baking and coat the screw portion in a thin coat of super glue, then screw back in. It's safer that way. Then pop on a few coats of Sculpey gloss glaze sealant and you're good to go! 

If you're looking to put this little dude on a chain and need help with your clasp skillz I have a quick tute for how to turn a chain into a necklace here. 

Now! Get some clay and start making charms! I highly recommend having a group of friends over and making a BFF pizza where everybody goes home with their own special slice. That's how this pizza tutorial came to be in the first place!!!

Go forth and make pizza! 

Thanks for reading! 

-Ashley

This top took me over a year to finish! Not because it's super complicated, but because I got sidetracked by knitting a bunch of Christmas gifts. I started working on it last year as a quick Summer gift to myself and got around to finishing it this Summer. Just in time for this nasty heat wave!

The pattern is titled Lavina, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald. It is a beautiful, well written pattern and I would definitely recommend it. It is knitted in the round from the bottom up, then splits into two panels for the front and back with sleeve shaping on the sides.
 
For the life of me I could not memorize the lace repeat so I had to refer to the pattern constantly. I also ended up making it a size too large which is unfortunate but entirely my fault. I did have a little trouble with the sleeve shaping and had to take them out and re-do them a couple times but I think they turned out pretty solid. 

A lot of the reviews for the pattern suggest sizing down due to the drape of the lace, or even knitting the entire back panel in stockinette. I think I might try both of those suggestions if I end up using this pattern again. 

The yarn I used was Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, which is a recycled cotton acrylic (50% cotton and recycled fibers, 50% acrylic.) I ordered it online and for some reason thought it was going to be much softer than it turned out to be. This yarn feels more like a cotton/linen than a cotton/acrylic. It has a great drape to it, but it has a sort of ultra-absorbent dish towel feel to it. If that makes any sense.

It also has a lot of breaks in the yarn (knots) which I didn't enjoy and had to re-tie properly so I could weave them in later. Another downside is the skeins are not center pull balls, they turn into big 'ol knots if you try to work with them that way. You have to wind them into balls if you don't want a mess on your hands. 

It isn't all bad! I would definitely use this yarn again if I was making a set of dish towels. I probably wouldn't use it again on a garment though. 

Overall, I do regret my yarn choice and I also regret making it so giant! But! the pattern is lovely and I think I will be using it again but making some minor adjustments. 

If you'd like to try it out yourself, you can find it here. 

Thanks for reading! 

-Ashley

Today I'm going to teach you how to make a cute, little clay Dino monster. These little dudes are always a popular on my Etsy and they're easy as pie to make! You can pop them on keychains and necklaces or leave them hardware free and put them in your terrarium. 









Let's get started! 
First you'll need to round up your supplies;
Screw hook eyes
Clay tools (optional, but I like to use a small plastic knife)
Sculpey or Fimo
I like to use 5 colors, body, spots and spikes, little pink tongue and just a teeny bit of black and white for the eyes.

First, you'll want to lob off a chunk of your main body color, then knead it a bit until soft and roll it into a ball. 

Secondly, you'll start shaping your Dino body. I shape it into a little tadpole first, and then give him some feet. Basic clay Dino evolution! 

At this point I like to screw in my hook, that way when you're placing the horns on top you don't end up with a horn blocking where your hardware should be. I don't leave the hook in though, it's tough to maneuver around a hunk of metal. 

At this point you'll be switching colors, you might want to wash your hands before switching because clay colors can transfer easily. Now, you'll want to create some horns. Roll up some small balls of your coordinating color, I like to do about 5 or 6 depending on how big my Dino is. Then press them firmly into the top of the Dino so there's no chance of them falling off! 

Now, roll out a bunch of tiny balls to act as your Dino spots. I like to do about 6, three on each side. 

Now he needs some eyes, roll out two small balls of white clay and two smaller balls of black clay. Make sure they're even, then squish your white portion on the Dino, followed by the black. 

You're nearly done! Now he needs a mouth. Create a little impression where your Dino tongue will be placed. Then grab a small, oval piece of pink and place on the mouth. I use the blunt end of my knife to push the tongue portion back into his little mouth then create an impression down the center. 

Then, just for aesthetics, I like to take a needle and give my Dino some nostrils. I also like to separate his little tootsies so he has four, sometime's I even take the time to give him tiny toenails.  

Screw your hook back in and he's ready to bake! Make sure to follow your clay packaging instructions for bake time! It's usually around 275 degrees for 20 minutes per 1/4" of clay, essentially the thicker your Dino is, the longer he'll need to bake. 

You'll want to remove the screw hook after baking and then screw it in coated with a thin layer of super glue. After baking you might also want to coat your Dino in varnish. I suggest Sculpey brand gloss glaze, it's super shiny and won't peel off (like ModPodge) or yellow with age (like spray sealant.) 

Here he is all baked up and sealed! He's just so cute! 

If you're interested in learning how to put together a necklace chain for your charm, I have a tutorial for that here. Also, if you're wanting a cute Dino charm but don't wanna make one yourself I have a few here, here and here!  

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, I love making clay stuff so you'll see more cute little creatures on here from time to time.

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you have any questions!

-Ashley