More Small (or even Big) Kitchen Hints

In mid-May, I shared some small kitchen hints with you. Over the years, I've discovered two other things that make my life easier in the kitchen (no matter what size), especially when baking. 

1. Use a Parmesan cheese shaker for flour. 

I wish I could take credit for this one, but I can't. I read it somewhere a while back -- a magazine or other blog. Who knows, but I want to kiss the person who suggested it. It has revolutionized my baking. I'm the kind of person who bakes, puts the dough in the fridge to chill and then puts the flour away. Then of course I need more flour to roll the dough out. My flour is stored in a back cabinet and is not easy to just 'grab'.

But now, I can just grab the shaker. 

Bonus: instead of sticking my doughy hands in the flour, I can just shake, and wipe off the container later.

Shake, roll, bake. 

Speaking of rolling out dough...  

2. Keep a ruler in the drawer with your other utensils. 

I really am terrible at eyeballing measurements. The Sailor can take one look at something and tell you the dimensions pretty precisely. I'm relying on him to pack our moving truck. I still am befuddled as to how our stuff will fit into a smallish moving truck.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to go out and search for a ruler in my craft stuff because I want to be sure my pie dough isn't too thick, or the cookies are at least roughly the right size.

By keeping a ruler nearby, I no longer have to guess! Choose a plastic ruler for easy cleaning. 

What's your favorite kitchen hint?

Sheep Part II

I shared with you the fluffy cuddly sheep earlier this week, and now I'd like to introduce you to the flat flock. 

They started out cuddly -- as all balls of yarn generally do. 

Their body parts even became little pieces of artwork along the way. 

(I may have had a little too much fun posing the body parts.)

Then the parts finally became sheep -- flat sheep.

My friend saw this original sheep pattern on Etsy and also a few of the actual handmade sheep for sale in the same seller's shop. She wanted enough to hang from a mobile. Then she remembered that I crocheted, so she asked me to make them for her instead. 

My other friends chipped in for the supplies, and we gave the mommy-to-be a gift she's not likely to forget. 

The Sailor got in on the photo action and said the 'farmer' needed a motorcycle to corral the sheep.

So there you have it... the whole flock of sheep!

The Sheep

A few weeks back, I wrote a post on several yarn works in progress, where you may have seen a glimpse of the headless knit sheep. A few days ago, I mentioned gift-giving and I showed off a little handmade yarn card. Thankfully I didn't reveal the actual gift, because apparently the recipient actually does read this blog! 

Yesterday, my friend from school days had her first baby shower, and she got to keep this awesome sheep pillow. Now you get to finally see the sheep, in all of his glory.

After I finished my little (um let's say, BIG) sheep friend, I sat with him on the couch and wondered if I could actually give him away. Sheep are quite cuddly, especially when made with knit bobbles. 

I had never knit bobbles before, and even though I was tempted to try to convert the pattern into crocheted bobbles, I stuck with the knitted ones. I do think crocheted ones would have been faster and perhaps easier, but I'm glad I tried something new.

I modified the pattern slightly by totally over-stuffing this thing. I think it was meant to lay like a pillow, but I wanted my sheep to stand up on his own. I also crocheted four legs instead of knitting the two long ones. Having only two legs looked funny since he wouldn't be laying on his side. (Not that you can actually see his legs, since he's rather rotund.) 

My friend chose a sheep theme for her nursery, so of course the pillow fits perfectly. 

The sheep, getting a bath before getting stuffed.

I wanted to also give my friend something she could use right away, since apparently newborns don't really need giant over-stuffed sheep pillows for sleeping.

On the other hand, my mother has always told me that you can never have too many blankets for a newborn. At her suggestion, I picked out a grass green color for the blanket. The cream colored one on the right was a baby gift for another friend.

I managed to find a little sheep applique for the corner of the blanket.

There's even more sheep to show, but I'll post the rest of the flock later this week.

Cotton Apron

I am a complete slob in the kitchen. Having a small space doesn't help... more flour often ends up on me than in the bowl. I have always benefited from using an apron. I have a cute one that I sewed years ago that I practically live in, but recently I saw this Vickie Howell Apron Strings pattern in Interweave Crochet, and I knew I had to make it. 

Here's a sample of the fun stitches. This is whipping up pretty quickly, so I should have it done soon. Perfectly cool, cotton yarn for weekend crocheting. I'm not sure how much cooking I'll actually be doing in it, since temperatures are starting to sore again, but at least I'll look cute fanning myself in this apron. 

Giving a Handmade Gift

I know the pickings seem slim in the crafty department, but I can assure you the needles and hooks have been flying in between moving mayhem! I am surrounded by boxes and most of the craft supplies are already buried deep. Thankfully, I remembered to leave out the gift I'm giving a friend. (I really do promise to show you photos of the actual gift I'm about to give, but you'll have to wait until after the weekend...) 

My morning coffee, perched atop the stack of moving boxes.

Usually, with a hand knit or crocheted gift, I like to give the recipient a little leftover yarn, along with a laundry care instruction card. I like to think that my handiwork will last a long time, but the reality is, stuff rips. It's nice to have some yarn that matches in case the recipient needs to mend something. If the gift has buttons, I try to include one or two extras as well.

I often just tie the yarn right onto the card, or put it in a small plastic ziplock bag (like those small ones that hold extra buttons on new clothing). This time, my project used multiple colors, so rather than shoving them all into one little bag to get tangled, I decided to make a little yarn card holder. 

The only supplies needed are paper and a hole punch (I used a standard sized hole punch, but any size or even shape could work.)

First, I found some paper. (This alone was a miracle. I really have packed away most of the craft supplies. In the future, I would definitely use sturdier cardstock -- my paper was pretty flimsy, but it did the job in a pinch.) 

Finding the paper may well be the most difficult task in this project! Here's the rest:

Punch a half hole on each side -- two holes for each strand of yarn.

Wrap the yarn scraps around the indentations. You can either tie them at the back or just loosely fold them over each other. 

Fill up your yarn card. 

I slid the whole card into a narrow ziplock bag (I measured and cut the card smaller than the bag before I wrapped the yarn). 

Not all yarns are created equal and some require special care. I usually just glue the washing instructions from the yarn ball band onto a handmade luggage tag. I sometimes add info on there like whether or not I have pre-washed the item. Even if I don't have time to make a tag (or if I forget...), I'll usually remember to at least give the recipient the actual yarn ball band. 

I tied both the laundry tag and the yarn card together, and then promptly put it with the gift. Hopefully the gift doesn't fall apart, but in case it does, the recipient will be well-equipped to mend. At the very least, the extra yarn could be used for a scrapbooking or other crafty project. 

What extras would you like to receive from a homemade gift?