Hat with earflaps!

I used size 3 needles for the earflaps and size 5 needles for the hat

Earflaps:
CO 3 (leave a long tail)
Row 1: knit
Row 2: k1, inc in 2nd st, k1
Row 3: knit
Row 4: inc in first st, k2, ins in last st
Row 5,6,7: knit
Row 8: inc 1 in first st, knit until last st, inc 1 in last st
Row 9: knit
Repeat until you have 20 sts on needles
Leave a long tail
*Repeat for the second Earflap

On Size 5 needles CO 18 sts, knit on one of the earflaps, CO another 18 sts, and knit second earflap onto needles.
Now you should have the base of you hat.  I didn't do anything fancy...so knit until the hat is about 4in
You will now start to decrease for the top of the hat.
1st decrease row: Knit 5, k2tog (repeat until end of row)
2nd: Knit
3rd: knit 5, k2tog (repeat until end of row)
4th: Knit
5th: Knit 3, k2tog(repeat until end of row)
6th: Knit
7th: knit 3, k2tog(repeat until end of row)
8th: knit
9th: kni 2, k2tog(repeat until end of row
Repeat 8 and 9 until you have 6 remaining sts
Cut a long tail, and sew through remaining sts, sew up the side seam.

I then added two more strands of yarn to the bottom of the earflaps and braided them together, so if need be I could tie the hat on his head!

Baby Mittens

This is a pattern for some Knit Baby Mittens, I had a really hard time finding a pattern that I could do for a 10 month old and was just knit on two needeles. I'm not too fond of knitting on double pointed needles or in the round for such small projects.  I prefer to just knit them straight and then sew up the seams.

You will need yarn (I used Homespun in brown), Size 3 and Size 5 Needles, 2 stitch holders, and 2 stitch markers, and a sewing needle for yarn.  This is a fairly easy pattern as you just repeat it for the other hand!

Base:

Co 18

Row 1 K2, P2, repeat

Row 2 P2, K2, repeat

Rows 3-9 repeat row 1 and 2 (this will make the cuff of the mitten)
Row 10 (Change to size 5 needles) inc in 1st st, knit until last st, in 1 in last st

Row 11 purl

Row 12-13 repeat row 10 and 11

Row 14 K10, place st marker on needle, inc 1 in nxt 2 st place st marker on needle K10

Row15 purl (when you get to st marker transfer to other needle)

Row 16 K10, transfer st marker, inc 1 in nxt st, K2, inc in nxt st, transfer st marker, K10

Row 17 purl 

Row 18 K10, move slip onto st holder, remove st marker, K6(this will be your thumb), remove st marker, slide remaining st onto different st holder

Thumb

K Rows 1-4

Row 5 K2 tog until end

cut yarn weave threw remaining st (leave a long tail so you can sew up the side seam)

Hand:

Join yarn in Knit off of 2nd st holder(in the picture this would be the white one), slide st from 1st st marker onto 2nd needle, K to join together on same needle

Row 2 purl

Row 3 K

Row 4-5 repeat row 2 and 3

Row 6 purl

Row 7 K2 tog until end

Row 8 purl

Row 9 K2 tog K1 K2 tog

cut yarn weave threw last remaning st sew up remaing seams

My little man really likes these and they help keep his hands warm in the awful Kansas wind.  I will be posting a matching hat here soon!

Sweet Potatoes

I usually make about 2 sweet potatoes at a time although you can do as many as you would like.  Sweet Potatoes are really easy to make and thank goodness because my little man absolutely loves them.  You can also use yams if you can't find any sweet potatoes as they are interchangeable.

Set the oven to 350.  Wash the potatoes, and poke some holes in them so they can steam.  Then you are going to place them in the oven.  I would put a cookie sheet or something below them as some of the sugary goodness does seep out and you don't want to have to clean the whole oven out after cooking these. They will need to cook anywhere from 1-3 hrs depending on how many are in the oven and how big they are.  I find with 2 it usually takes about 1.5hrs.

When they are done baking you simply slide them out of the skins and put them in the blender.(They will be hot so if you need to let them cook for a bit please do as we don't want any burnt fingers.)  Now they are smooth but my blender has a hard time mashing them together and I found that it takes about 12oz of water in order for my blender to work.  But even with this much water they still turn out quite thick. Then spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. Once they are frozen move to freezer bags and label.


The other way that you can make them is you can peel them, and then cook them in the microwave until soft.  Or you can microwave them with the skins on.  It is really up to you how you want to cook them.  I just prefer the oven, because I throw those in there first and then I work on all the other baby food while they are cooking.

Apples-Pears

I am putting these two together because they are done the exact same way! 

First you are going to peel the fruit be it the apple or the pear.  Then I usually slice them both with an apple slicer since it will take the core out.  Then I cut it into small pieces, so that it cooks faster, I can be a bit impatient.  Take a pan and your veggie steamer and fill the bottom of the pan with enough water to just touch the bottom of the veggie steamer. Place the fruit in the steamer, cover will a lid.  Cook until soft.  Just make sure that the water in the bottom of your pan doesn't run out or it will burn since they are both very sweet fruits.  When they are done cooking pour into your blender, mix with some of the water from the bottom of the pan about 4oz or so.  Blend! 

 Then you just pour it into the ice cube trays and freeze.  When they are set about 4hrs, then move them to a freezer bag and label. And you have some nice homemade fruit!

 This is what it should look like when done, exactly like applesauce.

Note: I prefer to use Gala apples since they are sweet but not too sweet and Bartlet pears, but you can use whatever kind you like.  The more water you add the runnier it will be, so the younger the baby the more water you should add, but they are both soft fruits and should blend pretty easy without too much water.

Bananas

Bananas are probably one of the easiest baby foods to make.  You simply take off the peel, I then put it in the blender because I normally make a lot at a time. Add a bit of water, so that it mixes better.  Then once it is all blended I pour it into my ice cube trays.  Once they are formed, which usually takes about 4 hours, then I take them out of the ice cube trays and put them in a freezer bag with the name and the date on it.

*One bunch of bananas these days make about 2 ice cube trays worth.  Now in the beginning they made more because I added more water so that it was easier for him, but now he can eat thicker consistencies just fine.

Drain Declogger

OK so I have spent a ton of money trying to get my shower drain to stay clear and drain properly.  I have tried everything from the most expensive to the least and non of them seemed to work longer than 2 days.  I would even plunge after I had rinsed everything hoping that might help it longer, but it was all a waste of time and money.  I also was not allowed to use them myself because I was/am pregnant so I had to wait until my wonderful husband got home so he could do it which seemed really unfair.

Once again homemade comes to the rescue!  Pour 1 cup baking soda down the drain, follow with 2 cups of vinegar.  Some where that I read said it works better if you heat the vinegar slightly.  I did just for kicks and giggles.  It gets all foamy and cool when you poor it on the baking soda.  Then you wait at least an hour and follow with about a gallon of warm-hot water.

                                                                                   

Let me tell you what, I did this a month ago and my shower still has yet to back up or for a puddle to form in the tub while showering.  Amazing and super cheap, and I can do it myself because there are no harsh chemicals in it.  Couldn't ask for anything better!

Kitchen Redo-Part 2

So I have stained all the bottom drawers and put the new hardware on.  Here is what it looks like now! (I still have to do all the cabinet doors)

I repainted the back wall in this picture light grey and then the overhang, is now a silver/grey color slightly darker than the wall.  The rest of the walls are going to be white, but there is some more mudding that needs to be done on them before I can prime and paint those.  I just was anxious to see what the walls would start to look like so I painted the walls that I could!  I am really liking how everything s coming together.  I can't wait to get the flooring down. 

It will probably be awhile before we can put the new trim in, as we will probably put in a new back door at the same time, since it is in really rough shape.  But I am ok with the trim being off as long as it needs to be as long as I can still have a functioning kitchen. And last time I checked the trim does not affect how a kitchen is used, so we should be fine!!

I still have the cabinets in the back of the kitchen to do, so they match the front but I am not in as much of a hurry to get those done, since you can't see them right when you walk in. We shall see what I can get done this coming week and weekend.  Maybe I can get the walls finished and painted and those cabinet doors done finally.

Homemade Baby Food

Baby food is so easy to make and is way cheaper than buying it in jars or pouches....so why wouldn' I make it!  When I added up the cost of it it comes out to be about 4-7cents an ice cube.  When you are just starting a baby out they only eat about 1 ice cube at a time, so this turns out to be really economical figuring a can of baby food is at the least 48 cents a jar. I will post all my stand bys that I use such as the basic foods that babies eat.  Just remember to only introduce one new food every 3 days, this will help you to detect if your baby has any allergies.  So come on and join me in the fun and in the savings.

PS.  All you need is some ice cube trays, a blender, some freezer bags(a sharpie to mark them with), and then the food-Pretty simple huh??

                                          This is Eli enjoying his Avocados for the first time!