Family dairy

I'm recycling this post for Talk About Tuesday because today is yogurt day and I didn't want to take all new pictures. Read more about why we use raw dairy.

Lately, I've been experimenting with making some of our family's dairy products from raw milk; it's fresh from pasture-fed cows (although this time of year they're eating hay) that have not been given hormones or antibiotics.

Behold, the butter:


Yogurt is very easy to make, if you follow the directions (ahem). I borrowed my aunt's yogurt maker and used a sweet culture from our local health foods store, but you can just use a couple tbsp of plain yogurt for culturing. Basically, you heat the milk to 110 (or 180 if using pasteurized, then let cool to 116) and add in the culture. Afterwards you put it in your yogurt maker or a covered container and keep it around 95-100 degrees for 8-12 hours. Stick it in the fridge as soon as it has set; let cool. Add fruit or a little sweetener if it's too tart for your liking, and enjoy.

Baby Bliss

I darkened the door of a yarn shop this weekend and this lovely yarn was a steal. I just had to take the opportunity to begin stocking up on baby sweaters. Having 50 cousins pretty much assures me of an unending supply of babies for whom I can knit lovely things like this -

The pattern can be found in The Baby Knits Book by Debbi Bliss.
Wouldn't a star embroidered on the front be the perfect finishing touch?

To see what others are TATing about, visit Lara at the Lazy Organizer - she just made the cutest hat for her daughter, you must go see it and tell her how adorable it is!

Despite his shaky start - we may be going home...

....four days earlier than expected. Which is awesome! I know we'll both be happier sleeping in our own beds.

The picture below shows you what dopamine does to veins (it really is as hard -between the two black lines- as one of my knitting needles. It's what they gave him when his blood pressure dropped in ICU. I refer to it as an unfortunate, necessary evil.

And, speaking of knitting needles, here's what I've been working on....

new socks for Ty. It's the same brand of yarn I used for these.
To see what others are TATing about, visit Lara at the Lazy Organizer.

Jammie Pants with Ruffles

Edited to add directions for Cocoa's pajama pants method (at the bottom)

I've decided that this is the year of the pants. I have thought that little girl bloomers with ruffles were darling for the longest time. Last week I bought a pattern to sew these red bloomers - except I forgot that my kiddos tend to have short legs and longer torsos, so these ended up being full length pants with ruffles.

After reading Cocoa's post on a having a Homemade Christmas, I wrote and asked her about her favorite pattern for making pajama pants. She let me in on a great method for making some without a pattern. Here's my attempt, I think they turned out great. I just added the ruffle at the bottom, because I couldn't help myself.

I guess I will have to exercise some restraint when I make some for the boys.

The best thing about these pants is that they fit her perfectly - 10 times better than the bloomers made with a pattern.

To see what others are TATing about, visit Lara at The Lazy Organizer
Directions for Pajama Pants Cocoa's Way:
Just use a pair of each child's pants to cut out the patterns for each of their PJ's. It's a lot simpler that way.

Just fold the pants in half (back to back) and cut around it with about an inch extra on the sides and bottom and about 2 inches on the top (for the elastic). That becomes the front pieces.
Then fold the pants front to front, cut around it the same way and create the back pieces. Here's the order to sew the pants:
1. Sew inseams (fronts to backs)
2. Sew the crotch seam next, matching the backs together and the fronts together.
3. Then do the weird little flip so that you sew the side seams together (fronts to backs).
4. Next I do elastic casing - fold top edge 1/4 of an inch then fold again 1 inch down. Sew leaving an opening for the elastic.
5. Hem the bottom of the legs last. (I changed this and sewed the ruffle on before sewing the side seams in step #3).

For the ruffle, I just cut a strip 2 inches wide by about 1 1/2 times the width of the legs, folded it in half, pressed it, sewed a basting stitch along the top, gathered it to fit the pant leg, pinned it, and sewed it on. I ironed the ruffle seam and then topstitched just above it on the right side).

I also topstitched along the top of the waistband and zig-zagged the edges of all the seams. Another big thanks to Cocoa for all her help on this project! If I can sew this - you can too!

If your name is Kelley and you're my sister - No Fair Peeking!!!

Update: The quilt is done (except for binding)! I dropped it of at Wendy's yesterday around 4 and she brought it back to me this morning at 8. Wow! I think she must have a magic wand somewhere and bippity-boppity-booed it done. And it looks amazing! If any of you need some quilting done, I'm happy to put you in touch.

Remember this quilt block?

I finally assembled the whole quilt top and sent it off to be quilted just this afternoon. The colors in the quilt are most like this small picture to the right (as opposed to the picture at the bottom) - very Shabby Chic.

There's no way I would have ever finished this quilt without the excellent help, suggestions, and very important piece of blue fabric from my friend Chris. Many thanks Chris!

I wish she kept a blog so I could give you a link - because all her quilts are amazing! The next best thing: a link to a fun blog she told me about - Little Cotton Rabbits

I hope to get this bound in time for Christmas.
To see what others are TATing about see Lara at the Lazy Organizer. Oh, and if you haven't yet, check out Trash Ties- the coolest hair accessory around.

Baking Splendor

Oh! and while I'm thinking about it, see this post for a fun, edible Thanksgiving centerpiece tradition.

Before you don your aprons this Thanksgiving weekend and prepare to put even June Cleaver to shame, you might want to take just a few minutes and assemble a baking bin.

I got the idea from "Confessions of an Organized Homemaker". I keep this bin in a cabinet right under the spot on the kitchen counter where I use the stand mixer.

It has all the odds and ends in it (except for cookie cutters - they have their own bin) that I use for baking and mixing. It doesn't always look this tidy, because my toddler likes to 'bake' too. The bin is a dishpan that cost $1.50 at Wal-meh - there are some great things about that place, if you can overlook all the 'Made in China' tags.

In my pantry, I also have a baking shelf.

It is stocked with flour, sugars, oats, vanilla, baking soda, and just above it are the chocolate chips. Are you wondering why I keep those just out of reach of the littles?

This is a WFMW post, visit Rocks in my Dryer to see what works for others.
This post did double duty as a GeMoOrgNo Post and a Talk About Tuesday post. Here are some other OrgNo people:
Lazy Organizer
Multi-Tasking Mommy
My Pursuit of Happiness
With an Angel on my Shoulder
Just About Perfect

Goin Nuke-u-ler (as G Bush would say)

I'm talkin' about getting my RAI (radioactive iodine) scan dose today. This afternoon to be precise. My TSH is 30, so I will head down to the lab and swallow me a mini dose of the radioactive stuff, then wait 3 days and get my actual scan on late Friday afternoon.

I will know the results on Monday. That is also the day I get my final labs back to know if there are still cancer cells swimming around in my neck. Wish me some luck and say some extra prayers, because I really don't want to take the big nuke dose and be away from my family for a week or so.

I'm feeling pretty optimistic because I'm not experiencing any difficulty swallowing like I did last year. In fact, I couldn't turn my head to look over my right shoulder and still be able to speak. This year, I'm glad to say I can still referee the kids sitting in the back seat of the van. (if only my arms were a little longer).

I'm all set to party next Monday, (or possibly Tuesday) after I get the good news and can get off this low-iodine diet. Anyone want to join me in eating a celebratory Shrimp Salad from Bajio's?

To see what others are Talkin about this Tuesday check out the Lazy Organizer and did you know she is organizing something everyday and snapping a photo of it? Very inspirational. I even organized my yogurt to support her.

Argyle is not just an 80s phenomenon...

It looks great on babies, too! I just finished knitting a baby sweater vest from the Dale of Norway book 162

Here's a close-up of the argyle. This is knit on size 1 needles (very tiny). It was a fun pattern to knit up. I am definitely making some of the darling girl patterns in that book - hopefully before my youngest grows up.



Here is a view of the inside of the sweater. I haven't finished knitting the facings (I'm not exactly sure how to do those yet) that will cover those lovely maroon stitching lines. This sweater is knit in the round on circular needles with steeks. When you're done, you sew zig-zag lines down either side of the steek and then - gasp! - you cut down the middle. I had a few problems with that on my first vest (the blue one) and have had to mend some loose ends.


This was also my first attempt at knitting a fair isle sweater. I just hope they fit the babies they're intended for.
To see what other people are talking about, head over to The Lazy Organizer's place and check it out.

Because who doesn't love Show & Tell?

I was hoping to post a picture of a newly completed project, but it will have to wait until next Tuesday. In the meantime, I thought I'd post about our Family Quilt.

Each block in the quilt has meaning for our family, and there are character traits that we value quilted into some of the sashing strips (ie. under the heart block, it says 'benevolent').

It was a fun project to work on, and it now hangs in our dining room. Here is a larger view:

The block on the left is a Tree of Life block; it serves to remind us of our belief that families can be together forever, and that we must strive together in our pursuit of Christ - He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

Lara at the Lazy Organizer is hosting a regular feature each week called Talk About Tuesday. Pop on over and see what others are talking about or share your own.