Hipstamatic Hawaii

I am in Hawaii visiting my Aunt and Uncle. Here are some fun photos I took with my iPhone using the Hipstamatic App.











You can see more of my these photos in my hipstamatic flickr set.
Aloha!

Here is my stitchalong progress as of Friday afternoon:

It looks totally different from the original pattern, but should look nice in the tiny hoop I bought for it. I have decided to change the stem to purple (the grey and cream floss mix isn't working for me) and have filled in the flower with more 'petals'. That is all I have for now, I will be sharing the finished piece with you next Tuesday.

It doesn't look like a turban.

Last week I started another knitting project and as promised I am sharing my progress.

So far I am through with the short rows and nearly done with the decreases in the first half of this turban. There are just a few more sets of decrease rows then I will have 106 rows of straight moss stitch before I bind off and make the second half. I haven't stitched at all since Sunday so I better get to work if I want to finish this any time soon.

The yarn is really pretty and I think the moss stitch makes it look even nicer. Recently I started thinking that the rainbow colors may look a bit silly on a hat, but then I realized it is sort of a silly hat already and the colors make it more fun!

Valentines Leftovers

As a treat for my Valentines I made Red Velvet Pancake Mix.

Since red velvet is all the craze and the pancakes I shared with you a few posts ago are absolutely delicious I used my skillz* and turned the recipe into a dry mix and packaged them in cute mason jars.

I stamped mixing instructions on round labels that fit in the lid and wrapped the mason jars with lovely ribbon. The pancake mix tastes pretty great too. I did go a little overboard with the red 40 at first (a little goes a long long way), but diluted it by adding double of everything else. It is still very red though.

*For those of you who are not familiar with my skillz, I am a Food Scientist who works in Research & Development for a food manufacturing facility that specializes in custom dry blending. You probably didn't know this job existed. Don't worry, neither did I until about ten years ago.

Some Aren't Growing

I planted seeds for my garden!

The Belize Pink Heart Tomatoes are growing but the bell peppers I planted aren't. Not even one seed sprouted. I am very disappointed in these Livingston Seed Co. Bell Pepper Color Mix Seeds I picked up from the store. It has been well past the 6-10 day germination time it should take them. I will give these seeds another try next week before I give up on them completely and contact their customer service department, I am still hoping they will pop up soon.

There is still plenty of time to start them before the suggested 4-6 weeks before last frost so I really shouldn't worry. I just like my plants to be big and hardy before they head outside and there is no reason these seeds shouldn't have sprouted.

Stitchalong

Feeling Stitchy is hosting a stitchalong for the month of February! Everyone uses the same vintage pattern and has the rest of the month to finish. So far only a few projects have been shared; here are two that I really enjoy:

by jenaissance2010

by annalea hart

All of the stitchalong projects are posted in the Embroidery Flickr Pool and tagged FebStitchalong.

I think I will join in the fun and make a mini version of the pattern. In other crafting news: Sunday I started knitting that turban from the vintage pattern I shared with you sometime ago. I will share photos of my progress soon. All of a sudden I am feeling a little overwhelmed by my 'I need to finish these soon' projects. The seersucker fabric is still untouched (I almost made a shirt this weekend, but minds were changed) and now I have my knitting that looks like it will take forever and this embroidery project that I haven't even started. It looks like I will be busy!


Update: I closed comments because I was getting way too much spam!

Hearts

Valentine's Day is coming up so I am sharing some cutesy heart shaped things you can make for someone you love or yourself.

1. Heart Shaped Pom Poms Tutorial from Zakka Life
2. Heart Shaped Hand Warmer Tutorial from Lo Pez Dispenser
3. Knit Winged Heart Tattoo by Reckless Glue. Pattern from Anny Purls
4. Red Velvet Pancake Recipe from Baking Bites

I made the pancakes last Valentines. They are delicious, I highly recommend them.

Coconut Bread Pudding

I made coconut bread pudding and took it into work yesterday.

Yum.

Here is a sort of recipe:
1 loaf of bread cut into chunks (mine was homemade white bread that was a total flop and tastes much better now that is combined with this sweet stuff)
3 tablespoons melted butter
3/4 cups brown sugar
9 eggs
1 12oz can evaporated milk and 12oz of water (I ran out of milk. You could use a combination of milk/water/cream/something else that totals 3 cups)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
sliced almonds (not really sure how much I threw in there, 1/2 cup or so)
coconut chips (again, not really sure how much I threw in there - probably close to a cup)

Toss the bread, almonds, and coconut together and put into a rectangular pan (this about overflowed my square pan). In a bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour liquid mixture over bread mixture and let set for a half hour or longer (depending on how dry your bread is). Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until done.

Happy eats.