It's starting to get a bit chilly now and then in my neck of the woods, so potato soup sounded like just the thing.  It's VERY simple to make, and the hubby keeps asking if there are still leftovers.



Country French Potato Leek Soup

5 medium russet potatoes, diced
6 cups milk (I used whole milk; you could sub in lighter milk or cream for part of it to make a healthier or richer soup)
3 leeks, sliced into 1/2 inch rings, and washed well
1 T. minced garlic
1 1/2 T. herbes de provence (If you're not a fan of lavender, look for French herbes de provence; typically lavender is only included in American made herbes de provence.)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 T. olive oil


In a medium to large sized stock pot (I use my 6 quart dutch oven), sweat the leeks over medium heat with the garlic and a little salt.  Once leeks look mostly translucent, add the potatoes and milk and slowly bring to a boil.  



Simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork.  Add the herbes de provence, the salt, and the pepper and leave over low heat for 5 minutes.  



Use an immersion blender to blend up the soup to whatever consistency you prefer.  I generally like to leave some potato and leek pieces whole, so I blend one side of the pot only. Makes 6 generous servings.

I recently got a Nook (the Barnes and Noble e-reader), and I thought, "Well, this definitely needs a cozy!"  I just kind of made the pattern up as I went, and I think it came out pretty well.  I don't own a Kindle, but based on the measurements I've found online, I think this cover would work just as well for a Kindle.  So, here are the pics:



Here's the pattern:
     Use whatever worsted weight yarn you like, and with a G hook, ch 33.
     Row 1: dc in 3rd st from hook, dc across
     *Row 2: dc (fpdc, dc) across, ending with a dc
     Row 3: dc (bpdc, dc) across, ending with a dc
     Rep from * until piece measures about 10 inches. Fasten off (or, if you're lazy like 
     me, just keep going with the slip stitches you're about to use to join the piece).
     Fold the piece in half with the wrong sides together (e.g. the ribs should be on the inside). You should
     have a shape by now that pretty closely matches your e-reader.
     Join the short edge along the top with a slip stitch, and repeat with the bottom edge.  If you want to 
     avoid fastening off and weaving in ends, you can just carry your yarn across the inside using a slip
     stitch until you reach the other side.
     Turn piece right side out.
     Finishing the opening:
     Row 1: sc around
     Row 2: sc around
     Fasten off, weave in ends.

Hope you like it!
   

Come on down to NY Bagel Co on Monday, March 22 at 4pm for some crafting.  Some people from a crafting meetup will be there, so bring your project and join us!
257 Lee Dr # E
Baton Rouge, LA 70808-4977
(225) 769-0224
nybagelcompany.com‎

I'm considering doing a mosaic on my kitchen counters (after I've done a couple of smaller pieces for practice of course!), but I was wondering if anyone else here has done it.  How much time did it take?  How does it stand up to normal kitchen use? 

Here he is, in all his stealthy glory.  I think he came out okay for my first try at making amigurumi.  I got the pattern from Creepy Cute Crochet, by Christen Haden, which has a ton of really great amigurumi patterns in it.  I personalized it a little by making the pie-wedge eye instead of just a plain black eye, and I gave him a katana, also made out of Sculpey III.  He has a couple of spots where the stuffing shows through (the white spots in the picture), which I think are the result of a couple of loose stitches here and there.  Although, if I had it to do over, I'd probably use a hook that was a size smaller than recommended.  Anyway, here he is:

Hi everyone,
So I made these two beaded bracelets a while ago, and am just now getting around to posting them.  The first one is made from silvery beads and a vintage pearly-white and silvertone button, and the second is just a simple reversible black metallic beaded bracelet.  What do you think?

I just finished the Berry Baby Hat from Crocheted Gifts, which came out very cute if I do say so myself.  I also made the booties to go with it, but I had to modify the pattern a bit.  I made one bootie according to the original pattern, but it was too long and looked like a clown shoe.   So, I modified it a bit, and I think it's much more appropriately sized now.  Hope you like! The pic with the hat and booties is a much truer representation of the color.

Hi everyone,
So I'm making the Berry Baby Hat and Booties from Crocheted Gifts by Interweave.  This is my first time working something in the round where I actually have to worry about gauge.  So, I'm a little confused by the directions.  For the gauge, it says: "18 sts and 22 rounds = 4" (10 cm) in sc."
So, does that mean I work in pattern (which is basically just single crochet in the round) and then measure the radius when I get to the 22nd round?  Or do I measure the diameter?  I hope it's radius, because otherwise, it's WAY too big. Also, what do the 18 sts have to do with it?  In a square gauge swatch, it makes sense to me because you're counting the stitches in a straight line, but how do you handle stitches that curve around?
Thanks in advance for the help!

Okay, so I have to create this trophy type thing for an event at my husband's job.  I found come kind of ceramic glazed trophy-looking pot at Michael's, and I bought some acrylic paint to paint on it, thinking I could sand it beforehand to make the paint stick, and then ModPodge over it.  However, as I discovered, glaze doesn't seem to sand very well.  I sanded like crazy, and it doesn't look like I even touched it.  If I just paint over the glaze with the acrylic paint and seal it with the mod podge, will the paint stick?  It's a trophy, so it's not like it will have daily use, but it will be handled occasionally, especially after this event.  Oh yeah, did I mention that the event is TOMORROW?

What is a zarf, you may ask?  Well, "zarf" is the word for the little thingy you put around a cup of coffee (or tea) to keep it from burning your hands, like the little cardboard ones they have at Starbucks.  I've been on an herbal tea drinking streak lately (and so has hubby), so I decided to make something to make our tea a little more fun. I bought green acrylic yarn, a pack of metallic buttons, two glass mugs, and a pack of "Sharpies" (actually, they're counterfeit Sharpies that my dollar store sells.  The ink is more see-through than a regular Sharpie).  I ended up decorating the outside of the mugs with a Sharpie, and then crocheting two zarfs to go around the outside to keep tea warm and protect our hands (My first ever finished crochet project and my first ever self-created pattern.  I just learned to crochet about 2 weeks ago).  The ribbed zarf and the striped mug are for the hubby, and the bobble stitch zarf and flowered mug are mine.  The grand total came to just over $5 after tax.  Hope you like them!  We're probably drinking green twig tea out of them right now!  By the way, these are much more of a sage green in person, not a bright green like they look on the computer.
Here's the final product:


The supplies:


The receipt:


Close up of the buttons.  I added buttons and loops so I could put them around mugs with handles.


The zarfs:


Close up of the drawing on one of the mugs:


Both mugs with white paper inside so you can see the designs:


Thanks for looking!