DrPurl

A bit of this and that..

I really, really, really, DO finish projects once I start them even if you do not see photos of it. Just to prove it to you, here is my collection of completed project photos.

Bathroom (Ok, needs the doors finished but not my project, right?) Painted


Ikea Shower Curtain



I finally learned how to do cables on a trip to NC for work & made some dishcloths.





Dishcloths are my mojo of knitting & when in a slump, I find an easy dishcloth pattern to validate my skills! Here is the Mason Dixon Dishcloth



A Scarf for a Christmas Gift, I just need to attach the beads.



I would love to write more but Nip/Tuck starts soon and I need my Dr. Troy fix, it has been way to long!

Martha Stewart I am not... But I tried!

Ok. What do you do with 40lbs of apples?

I have two things I do when I get stressed or upset. I either clean or bake. Not that I am great at either, but this time I decided to go the baking route with 40lbs of apples which Mr. P and I picked up at the local orchard. They were getting kicked around the kitchen by "Not Me," so I knew I had to use them soon. Cleaning would have been a waste of my time with the 7 kids around ( 8 when "Not Me" comes for a visit), so I set my goal on some apple pies, homemade crust, and maybe some applesauce.

I found an awesome crust recipe (I would share but I think this one I am going to keep to myself for awhile). It made the best, most flakiest crust that I have ever had. I really amazed myself on how great it was. Even Mr. P said it was the best he's ever had. I got Giggles & Klutz on the apple peeling craze with me. Klutz is recovering from a broken arm (a foot, too... hence Klutz), so this was just another great cheap therapy session for her. I would say those two 9 year old girls peeled at least 70% of my apples, and took a lot of pride in making sure there was as little skin & core as possible.

We did manage to make three huge batches of applesauce and canned 24 jars of it. A very loooonnnnggggg time ago, I got it through my head that I was going to learn how to can. (I watched my mom do it for years every summer, couldn't be that hard right?) I bought so many jars at garage sales, and only attempted to do it once. It didn't turn out very well, and I have not tried in almost 5 years, during which time the jars just seemed to multiply like rabbits. I am quite attached to my jars, and very rarely gave one up for ANY REASON. Now that I have them back in my possession, I just had to give it another try.

With some encouragement and tons of knowledge by a friend at work, I was on a mission. I did it! The best home-made applesauce EVER. The kids were amazed that they didn't have to go into the fridge, and that they were going to sit on a shelf in the basement. I even had Mr. P amazed at my Martha Stewart-like ability in kitchen.

Since things were going so well, and the walls were already sweating (and all of us too), I was going to finally dye that 1lb of Alpaca that I got on my 33rd birthday (Yes, over a year ago). Well, lets just say that didn't go so well. I just made a HUGE tangled ball. I am not sure how I am ever going to dye this yarn, or even be able to use it. I guess after another few years, I might figure it out.

The Best Way to Spend a Friday Night!

The girls have been asking me to teach them how to knit, re-learn to knit, and help with a project for a long time. I thought since I have enough yarn (NOTE: It is not STRING!!) and needles why not make it a night of it. The Boy had a friend spend the night and didn't want our attention at all. Why would he? They wanted to do "boy" stuff which did not include us girls.

Lesson #1 - It is yarn, not STRING!

Here is Tink with her yarn, she couldn't grasp the 2 needles so I taught her how to finger crochet.

Here is her progress.


Giggles re-learning and already has visions of making a scarf.


Monkey getting a quick refresher course and learning how to purl. I was so proud that she remembered how to cast on!


Klutz learning how to knit now that she is finally out of a cast and I figured it was great therapy for her hands to gain some strength back.


Two wanted to make a hat and I was teaching her how to knit in the round and use my "good" needles. Gotta love those addi's!

Ok, off to clean up the kitchen! I will post what we did with 40 lbs of apples, soon!

I am Dating a Stripper!!

Well, not that kind of stripper! You see, it all comes down to a simple shower curtain. (Just follow along. We will get to the stripper portion soon) We bought a new shower curtain from IKEA months ago. It was our (my) whole inspiration for the bathroom. If you were to come over and get a tour of our house, I would show you the shower curtain first so I could share my vision with you! Months have gone by, and I was starting to wonder if that shower curtain was going to be like that great outfit you bought on sale for when you lost 10 more pounds. Everyone knows that never works out! Mr. P and I finally gave up, and put up the shower curtain without re-doing the bathroom. Then in less than a week of looking at it, we were off to get paint.

This bathroom is just UGLY! And the ugly yellow is not only in bathroom, but we have the great pleasure of experiencing this pukey color in the kitchen and hallway. If you could just picture in your head for a moment, the color of your first morning pee mixed with bananas. That is the only way to describe the color!

A true test of a relationship is how well you work together to complete a project. I figured since the bathroom is small, it is a great first project to start with. We had the debate on whether we should sand the doors down and paint them, or strip & stain them. I decided it would be best to strip them and stain them. When I insisted that is what we (he) should do, I really thought I was going to do it. Nope! Mr. P on his day off stripped ALL day on those doors and he isn’t even close to being done. The bad thing is, we are on a deadline. In only 3 days we have all 7 kids back for a week. Keep in mind this is the only bathroom in the house. Those doors need to be back on by then, or there will be total anarchy in the house for the next week. Just like everything Mr. P does, those doors have to be perfect! I guess I know what we are doing for the next few days.

I hope this warning will save just one person. Never start a project when you are sick! My sinus infection turned into walking pneumonia, and painting should be the last thing you do. I am a messy painter, and Mr. P has made it very clear he is picky when it comes to edges. Knowing this, I was going to try to be the neatest painter ever! In my head I could picture myself doing all the right things. I just didn’t think it would involve coughing, Kleenex, and snot dripping into the paint. I never knew that when you sneezed into the paint tray it would create splatter against the wall! Believe me, it does!!!!! Now, if the splatter look was what we wanted, I would be all set! I spent more time cleaning up my splatter than I did painting the ceiling. Tomorrow I am going to start the trim. I think I should go pick up a mask for myself.
Max wanted to help me paint!

Question of the Week.. Dishcloth Exchange #3

How about you? Are there any recipes you especially enjoy having in the Fall? Any foods that are seasonal that you especially enjoy?

I love anything with apples!!! Pumpkin Pie! Of course roasted pumpkin seeds!!!
YUMMMMMMMMMYYYYY!!

Ok, Here is proof that you can knit and ride on the back, HA HA HA!