Cooking...Potato Broccoli Cheddar Soup

With the everyday something soft for my son, I thought I would share another family favorite. It was found at allrecipes.com.  It is Potato Broccoli Cheddar Soup:

This is soup that I make when I have lots of little pieces of broccoli in the freezer.  I use the recipe as a starting point.  The changes that I make are not starting with boiling water, add an additional chicken bouillon cube, quantity of broccoli is different every time I make it, and quantity of cheddar varies.  The version I make isn't as chunky as the picture.  Even with those changes, it is a quick soup to make.  

Happy Cooking or Sewing!

Do You Have a Favorite Notion in Your Sewing Area?

I do. In fact, I have two favorites. Both of these items are used a lot when I sew.

First up is the Mini Dust-It:

This is such a wonderful item to have near your machine.  Cleans up all the dust in an instant.  Mine is not nearly as nice looking as the ones in the picture because they do need to be shampooed occasionally and mine is in need right now.

The second item is Double-Sided Adhesive Tape:

This wonderful little item helps hold things in place, you can sew through it without gumming up your needle, and it washes out.  What more could you ask for?  I use it for zippers a lot.  Think about your topstitching.  It the item is placed exactly where you want it with the tape your stitching will look great.  No more pins!

So, what is your favorite notion to sew with?

Happy Stitching!

The New Supplies has arrived

All the items I ordered last week have arrived.  Let's start with the yarn:

The picture doesn't do this yarn justice.  It is really a rose color and just perfect.  I also ordered two pair of circular needles.  I should have ordered the double-needles also but thought that I could get nice needles locally for less money.  I was wrong.  The pattern requires 6" needles in two sizes of the double points.  I found 7" needles.  What I don't know is if it matters that the DP needles are longer.  Any one know?

Next is the Curved Black & White Jersey with the white lining fabric:

I love this fabric and hope that I get the wrap dress made that this fabric was intended for.  I will be cutting the two fabrics out together and treating them as one.  The stretch will be based off of the white knit lining.

The final item is the Black/White Abstract double knit:

I do like this print but I'm disappointed at the weight.  The description called it medium weight but I wouldn't call it that.  I will still make a jacket from this fabric but it will definitely be a light weight jacket.  I do need to locate some trim.  If anyone know where I can get a black knit fold over trim, please let me know.  I suppose a fold over elastic would work, too.

In looking at my fabrics, I wish now that they were coordinating.  I guess that means I need to check the stash for a black fabric that is suitable for jacket, skirt, and/or pants.  I hope I find something there.

Happy Stitching!

Cooking.... Chicken Stew

My son finally got the remainder of his braces on yesterday.  That calls for lots of soft food for about a week.  One of our household favorites is a Chicken Stew recipe that I modified every so slightly to cook in the crockpot:

Here's the link to Giada's Chicken Stew recipe.  The changes that I made were to eliminate the oil, toss it all in the crock pot, and cook all day.  Sometimes, I will add extra carrots.  I also use 16 oz of tomatoes and broth.  Then, I come home in the evening, shred the chicken, and mix it back into the stew.  Don't forget to add a salad to get some extra veggies in.

This quick and easy recipe leaves lots of time for sewing, knitting, crocheting, crafting in general, or weather permitting, gardening.  Don't forget to use a crockpot cooking bag to save the clean up time.

Happy Cooking or Stitching!

Still knitting....

...I have always had a love for all things dealing with yarn - knitting or crocheting.  I found the Artemisia Sweater at Ravelry and fell in love.  My goal with knitting all the dish clothes was to get my stitching even.  I think I have done that.  What I really want is to have sweaters that fit.  So, I took the leap and purchased the class over at Craftsy.  I have watched part of it  even though I don't have my supplies.  I can watch it again when it it time to get started.  This has three things that I'm really interested in:  top down knitting, bust fitting, and waist fitting.  I have no doubt that I will be learning something in this class.  I'm just hoping that it result in a sweater that fits.

When at Craftsy, I found a freebie class that is a freebie class about wools called "Know Your Wool with Deborah Robson".  My first thought was isn't all wool the same?  Well, it turns that all wool is not the same.  You need to know what your project is going to be to know if the wool characteristics you have selected will work for that type of project.  Interesting, uh?  The other thing I found out is some types of wool felt better than others.  I will most likely watch this again some evening so I can understand a little more about the wools that I will most likely be interested in the most.

Next, I had to find the yarn to match my sweater.  First, I decided that I didn't want the Craftsy kit.  The color was beautiful but I wasn't sure that was the color I wanted.  So, I read through the information that others had posted about what type of yarn they had used on their sweaters.  I finally selected a Cascade 220 superwash in Dusty Rose from Alpaca Direct.  I also purchased two sets of circular needles.   I still need to purchase two sets of the double pointed needles for the project.

With any luck, I will have a finished project by fall to show you.

Happy Stitching!