I'm Blessed

I'm counting my blessings again today with Gretchen at He Sows and She Sews. I continue to count C and J as two of the biggest blessings in my life. They melt my heart with the sweet things they say and do (don't get me wrong though - there are many times when they act like typical two and four year olds). Tonight C told me that he will love his brother forever. I loved hearing that; some days the sibling rivalry between them is so intense I wonder if they even like each other, so it's wonderful to hear that they do!

They can also be very amusing. This is how I caught J at one point this evening:

He had plopped himself down in front of his bookshelf to "read"

And this is what C was up to:

He was taking his babies for a ride in the wagon. They are such fun little boys!

Change of Plans

I've been thinking about the baby blanket I'm knitting and I think I'm going to have to change things up a bit. I don't think it is going to match the decor my friend is going with. So instead I'm going to pull another almost finished blanket out of hibernation that will match the decor much better. Is that wrong? It seems like I should give the baby the blanket I've intended originally, yet on the other hand, the hibernating blanket may be the right one. Plus I can use the blue blanket for my sister's baby boy (I haven't even cast on the one I originally intended for him and he's due at the beginning of January.) Hmmmm what to do?

Project updates

I've made some noticeable progress on some of my projects. First up is the monster. The monster is nearly done now - I have knitted up all of the pieces except for the ears. I also did some seaming today to break things up a little.

I actually took this picture before I attached one arm (the other is still unattached).

Project number two is the baby blanket. I've done over 250 rows and now have about 20% to go. My friend had a girl so my plan is to thread some pink ribbon through the border and attach a few knitted flowers.

The last project is the one for me - my vanilla extract. I still need to wait until at least the end of the year to use it but it's getting a little darker. It's sort of an amber color. The process is very low maintenance; over the last week I've shaken it twice and that's it. Can't wait until it's ready!

Family Feast

Today C's preschool class had their family feast. They invite the families to come and enjoy chapel and then lunch. It was a lot of fun. They had a chalk artist who drew a beautiful picture while telling a story. We also sang songs led by an another class. Then we were able to grab some turkey dinner. It was so much fun to hang out with C!

9,450

9,450 - if my math is correct that's how many stitches are left in the baby blanket. It seems like a lot but it's only 25% of the total in the blanket. It's going much smoother now. Seems like whatever was causing me tension is going a little better. The yarn slides a bit easier over the needles now. I have until early January (I think) so I should make it in time - without flinging it across the room as I threatened previously...

Vanilla Extract

I made my vanilla extract today. The recipe is so simple - the only two ingredients are vanilla beans and vodka. (Any alcohol can be used but vodka has the cleanest flavor.) I had a hard time finding my beans so I ended up ordering some on Amazon.

I had five beans for a cup of vodka, which I think is a good amount based on what I've seen listed around the web. I split each bean in half lengthwise and scraped out the seeds.

Here's the all of the beans after they were split and scraped.

I cut the pods into pieces and placed the seeds and pods into the vodka and gave it a shake. It needs to be shaken once a week and should be ready in about 8 weeks, although it can take up to six months to really get the flavor of vanilla extract.

I also set aside one pod to add to a cup of sugar so I could have vanilla sugar as well. Can't wait to try that in my baking too!

(linked up with www.iheartnaptime.net)

Vanilla Beans

I'm so excited - I ordered some vanilla beans to make vanilla extract and they came today! Unfortunately I got home too late to do anything with them tonight but come this weekend I'll get my chance. It's supposed to be really simple. I need to add a few beans to a cup of vodka and let it sit; it needs to be shaken once a week. It's ready after 8 weeks or so. I'll post the results when I'm done!