2014 Goals

I know it may seem a little late to be posting goals for the new year, but these have been swirling in my head since the end of January and I think they are finally ready to be listed and documented.  Not to mention by publishing them I can hold myself accountable and keep myself on track for the year.

  1. Finally get my Tax/ Incorporation in order.  Aka, am I a sole proprietor or LLC?  I meet with my uncle who does taxes for a living to figure this out next week.  :)
  2. Commit to at least one show/fair/market per month.  Obviously I missed the first three months this year but so far I'm on track to start in April with the Merchant's Landing Show April 12 & 13.
  3. Post to this blog once a week.  If more is happening that's worth posting about, I'll be sure to post it as well, though it may be less wordy.  Who is ok with just a picture post once in a while?
  4. Get my wares into a physical brick & mortar store.  More to come on this once things are settled.  I'm currently talking with two different shops and it just makes me super excited for new possibilities!
I've also started reading this great book that has some nice exercises (I'm not usually a fan of "exercises" in a book) that really spoke to me after I met my goal of doing 1-3 physical shows in 2013.  I felt so empowered and excited I couldn't wait to make more goals for this year & feel an even bigger empowerment at the end of this year.  Thus my mind has really started opening to the possibilities because of this book & it has really inspired some energy in me for this year's success.


So far my favorite passage is on goals & goal setting (thus inspiring this organized post instead of just a note to self on a scrap piece of paper):

Goals are really amazing things.  They give you focus and set your course.  [...]  Goals support Intentions.  By actively working on these goals, the end result will be accomplished.  You can use your intentions to make sure you keep your business on track. [...]  Your goals should be your friends; they should excite you, and you should look forward to working toward them.  Goals are not chores.
Exercise: Make a list of all the goals you've had since you decided to be a creative business owner.  Now circle all the goals that you've already accomplished.
Quote from Jolie Guillebeau: "Take small steps consistently.  Do something every single day to make a little progress toward your goal." 
Grow Your Handmade Business - Kari Chapin

Anyone read anything inspiring lately?

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E is for Elephant

Every third Saturday of the month is our monthly Sit n' Stitch at Michael's and my fellow crochet instructor brought an adorable elephant pattern that she has been using and made a copy for me!

Our workspace at the Sit n' Knit.  Can you see our elephant heads?

Elephants have unofficially become the "animal" of the nursery (I think) after the baby shower had so many elephants on the gift bags, cards, and little linens - too cute!  So when I saw she was making a stuffed elephant, I just had to try my hand at one for our nursery.  And to my utmost surprise (because I normally loath crocheting little pieces to be sewn together) it whipped up quickly & sewed up quickly - just 5 or 6 hours!  And as an added bonus I was able to use up hole-y socks to stuff it :)


Didn't he turn out just adorable?? :)

Tools I Use for Blogging

I got the idea for this post last week while I was reorganizing & posting across different platforms.  These types of posts are always my favorite on other blogs so I thought I would share what I have found works for me.  Please feel free to add anything I've missed in the comments.  :)

Dropbox

My primary photos are taken with my smartphone, like most people these days.  But instead of plugging my phone into my laptop every time I want to add a photo to my post, I select and upload photos to Dropbox via the app on my phone and then open the folder on my computer.  Voilà!  My photos are on my computer waiting for me to edit & post.  (I used to use Bluetooth when I was at my computer and had my phone next to me, but it has since stopped communicating for some reason.)  An added bonus is I can upload photos to dropbox wherever I am so the photos are waiting for me when I get home to start blogging.

PhotoGrid

I use Preview to edit my pictures on my computer; it's simple and easy to do (control+command+c to open the editor menu).  If I'm on my phone & need to post right away, I use PhotoEditor to correct any color balance issues.  I also love PhotoGrid to make quick and easy collages of photos.


Canva

Canva is my new favorite way to go from image to GRAPHIC.  Even though there are paid add-ons, you can get quite a nice graphic with all the free images available.  My favorite process is to start with my uploaded image(s) + add text (lots of fonts to choose from + you can plug in your RGB colors) + then polish it off with a ribbon or other little graphic to make my font pop.  I've also played with transparency to soften the image colors which allows the text to stand out better.

IFTTT

I don't always have the time (or remember all the platforms) to post a link of my newest blog post or recent etsy listing to facebook/ twitter so I use IFTTT with specific "recipes" that do it for me.  For the nitty gritty, I definitely love the automation.  Just remember "If This Then That" when creating your own recipes or you can use recipes that are already available and tweak them to work for you!

Blogger

I have been blogging since the days of LiveJournal & Xanga and I have to say Blogger has been an easy interface to learn and work within.  The Draft feature, filtering out all posts that have been published, is a tool I use many times a day.  When I get ideas, I start drafting a post and save it to come back to when I have time to finish it and/or have a photo to top it off with.  I also love that I can customize my blog as I please, dabbling in HTML in order to tweak its appearance just so.

WordPress.com

I publish these same posts on Wordpress to help reach a larger audience, using an IFTTT recipe.  I believe I heard it called "Cross platform publishing" by another blogger.  Though Wordpress is definitely a nice site, the free customization can be very limited.

Pinterest

I use Pinterest not only to brainstorm ideas for my personal life, but also for referencing when blogging about a new project or product.  I keep a separate board specifically for past work I have created for sale and link to it often as a sampling of what I can do for potential customers.


Facebook

Facebook is a great resource for interacting with customers & supporters.  I like to use it as a landing page for anything related to Knittedhome (blog posts, Etsy listings, upcoming art shows, announcements, new class offerings, & sharing fun finds along the way).  I also like to direct my customers to my facebook page to post a photo of themselves wearing my product with their thoughts.  It is such a wonderful thing to hear feedback!  I am always learning new things from my customers.



MailChimp

I have tried to use MailChimp for newsletters but have yet to get a good grip on it.  In March I finally took the plunge + sent my first newsletter to my six subscribers.  Since creating a sign up link in my side bar I have already received new subscribers + plan to send out a weekly newsletter with my blog posts of the week via the RSS template.  Eventually I'd like to create unique content for email subscribers only so if this is something you're interested in you can sign up for my blog's newsletter here.
How do you use this app?

I'd love to hear what everyone else uses to keep their blog(s) running smoothly.

 Referral + Affiliate links help me bring you valuable content without ads.  I recommend products + services that I use myself or that come highly recommended by peers.  
Any sponsorships that you see in my sidebar are handpicked by me because I believe in their products + services and think they could benefit you.

Stuffed Peppers & Venison Chili

I swear this isn't a food blog, but apparently I've been doing a lot of cooking & baking lately and they are all new recipes that I just have to share!  Plus I figured most of you might be interested to try some of these recipes as I always love reading yours.

Last week I made, for the second time, stuffed peppers from a pin (my first time actually using Pinterest to cook!  I have more recipes pinned here).  Both Dan & I LOVED how the stuffing turned out so well, that we made it again, even though we didn't have bell peppers to stuff, haha.  It makes a great tortilla chip dip as well as a topping over rice!  Plus the ground turkey helps get my protein numbers up and keep my carbs down.  And you can throw in whatever veggies you have on hand, which makes this a great recipe for cleaning out the fridge! ;-)


Pepper Stuffing
1 lb. ground turkey, browned
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15oz) beans, drained & rinsed (I used Great Northern Beans)
1/2 bag frozen corn (you could probably throw the whole bag in, I was saving half for the chili, below)
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (I sliced the other half for eating with hummus)
1/4 c diced onion

I didn't measure out my seasonings, just started sprinkling them on.  Here is what I used:
chili powder
cumin
Mrs. Dash's Chipotle seasoning
salt & pepper to taste

1. If you are planning to cook rice, start it first.  1 cup rice to 2 cups water.
2. Brown the turkey in a large skillet.  Drain and return to low heat.  Stir in tomatoes, beans, corn, bell pepper, & onion.  Add seasonings.  Allow to simmer until onions become translucent and everything is heated through.

Serve over or mixed with rice, top with Mexican cheese, and scoop with tortilla chips.  Or maybe make a plate of tortilla chips on the bottom and spoon the stuffing on top, then sprinkle with cheese and microwave for 30-60 seconds to melt the cheese.  Yummy goodness!

This makes quite a few servings so we normally divy it up into small glass-lock containers to be used for packed lunches (rice & cheese are warmed up & added at serving time).


My other new recipe is Venison Chili which we made in the Crock pot.  I apologize I didn't get any pictures of this one.  My husband gobbled it up within 2 days!

2 lb. ground venison, browned
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes
1 bag of frozen corn  (I ended up using 1 1/2 bags)
1 can (15 oz) of beans, drained & rinsed
1 glove of garlic, minced
1 can (6oz) of tomato paste + 24oz of water thoroughly mixed

*All seasonings are approximate as they were added at the beginning, sparingly, and more was added toward the end of cooking time by my hubby.  So I recommend using these amounts as jumping off points and just season to taste.*
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp red cayenne
2 tsp basil
salt & pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning

1. Brown venison.
2. Mix tomato paste & water in a separate pot.
3. In the crockpot combine all ingredients.  Add seasonings and stir everything together.
Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Serve with crackers.

Let me know how you like these recipes.  What variations did you make?  I'd love to hear about them!

First Homemade Granola

Loose granola has been on my DIY list ever since I discovered how much I like it with yogurt.  Especially greek yogurt.  Now, I can finally say I made some!


I used this recipe as a base for my jumping off point.

In a large bowl, I mixed together:
3c rolled oats (because I didn't have old fashion)
1/2c unsalted peanuts
1/2c unsalted almonds
2 Tbs flax seeds (mine are whole, but most recipes call for ground flax)


In a separate measuring cup, I used the microwave to assist melting together:
1/4c applesauce (mine is homemade, so I know it is only apples & a dash of water)
1/4c peanut butter

 Then stirred in:
1 1/2 Tbs honey
**I wanted to include 1-2 tsp vanilla extract but I forgot to add it.


I poured the melted mixture over the dry ingredients and mixed until fully coated.


Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  The thinner the better.  It will roast a little quicker, especially at the edges so be sure to "stir" or disturb it so as to work the edge pieces toward the middle and vice versa.


Bake at 300-350*F, setting the timer for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, give it a good stir and bake another 10 minutes.  My first batch was thicker so I baked it for 10+10+5 (25 minutes).  The second batch was much thinner, baking for 10+10 (20 minutes).

Allow to cool (I only had enough parchment for one baking sheet so I cooled the first batch in a glass bowl) and mix in:
1/2 - 3/4c dried cherries


After roasting and allowing the granola to cool, I can definitely tell it is missing some flavor.  I stirred in the dried cherries while it cooled which helped add a little zip to it, but I think 2 tsp or 1 Tbs vanilla extract would really help bring out some more flavor in this granola.

Now I'm off to try a cup of homemade yogurt with some of this new granola.  :)

A Few New Changes

A couple weekends ago, my wonderful husband organized 8 of our friends to come over and paint the second bedroom so we can start to convert it into a nursery.


(please excuse the mess; this was only a couple days after painting)

As a bonus (and because we were ready for a change in the living room), they also painted the living room a cheery yellow.  :)  I love how it looks when the sunlight pours in with its bluer light.  The table lamps are a little warmer in color so I've been on the look out for bluer LED bulbs to swap them out.

So far I have a handful of hand-knitted baby items made up (mittens, socks, hats, one blanket and one sweater) but I feel like a slacker that I don't have more sweaters and more longies made up.

A few of the smaller items I have collected for Baby.

These bibs + washcloths are from BeastiesBabies

Lots of knitted socks + mittens

I also keep thinking I need to make a few outfit pieces (sweater dresses/jumpers and sweater vests).

What item(s) would you most recommend I make a priority to knit before baby is here?  Is there something that you are so happy you made and use all the time or highly recommend now that you have a little wisdom under your belt?  Please let me know!  

Groundhog Weekend 2013

Groundhog Day is not usually a holiday I celebrate very much, but last year we had the opportunity to visit Punxsutawney, PA for their big holiday at the beginning of February.   A friend of ours is from Punxsutawney and invited us to join him and his wife for the road trip weekend.  So of course I had to keep busy during the drive...

I brought my remaining stash of thick, wool-ease yarn to see what I could come up with.  I even surprised myself how quickly they whipped up!

Even though I haven't posted many of these hats in the shop, they sell quite well at all the shows I've done.  I even had a custom order for a pure orange one at the 2013 Make It Indie fair.

What do you think of these thick, wooly unique beanies??  Do you love the one-of-a-kind look or do you prefer to design your hat yourself?

 
Annie sig_Contribute.jpg

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Today's Baked Goods: Banana Breads

Yay for another successful baking day!


Last week I whipped up 2 loaves of Pumpkin Bread and a batch of Vegan Banana Muffins for Daniel's co-workers.

Today I wasn't quite feeling the excitement to bake, but all those delicious goodies were already eaten up & I was craving another slice. (1 loaf for us, 1 loaf to our neighbor; muffins to work and the rest to my vegan sister while she was visiting from Chicago).

So, with only 3 eggs left in the fridge, I decided Banana Bread & more Vegan Banana Muffins would stretch those eggs and use up what was left of the frozen bananas.  Plus who doesn't love having healthy snacks on hand?


Baibak Banana Bread
1/2 c butter (1 stick), softened
1/3 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c mashed banana
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2c milk

Cream butter and sugar together.  Mix in eggs & mashed banana.  In a separate bowl sift flour and add baking soda and salt.  Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternating with milk.  Pour into a greased (I like to use butter) loaf pan and bake at 350*F for 50-60 minutes.  Test with toothpick for doneness.  Turn out and cool on a cooling rack.  Wrap and store in foil.
Makes approximately 12 slices, about 170 calories each.


Vegan Banana Muffins
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c rolled or quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c sugar
3 large, very ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 c applesauce
1 Tbs flax seed + 3 Tbs water
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Fill lined or greased muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 375*F for 10-15 minutes.  Test with toothpick for doneness.
Makes 12 muffins.  Approx. 110 calories each.


Freezing Bananas - Purchase at rock-bottom price (i.e. reduced for quick sale because they are already ripe).  Peel, leaving banana whole, and drop into a gallon size, freezer-safe bag.  Label, and store in the freezer, ideally on its side until bananas are frozen.  As bananas go on sale, you can continually add to the contents.
When you are ready to use a banana for a recipe, simply take out the number needed and place into a mixing bowl to thaw, or you can warm them up in the microwave for 30 seconds on high.

Please let me know if you try a recipe & how you like it.  =)

Baby!

10 Weeks in Sept.

.... Yup! ... sorry for the long silence on this subject.  I was waiting until our 20-week ultrasound to have a good picture to share and then that came and went with the holidays.  :\

20 weeks in November

So we are 29 weeks as of last Friday and after the realization that, "oh my goodness, this baby is about to be here in 10 weeks or less!” set in, I’m really getting excited and slightly anxious to finally get to meet this little guy or gal!  We decided early on we wanted to be surprised with our first child.  But it does make it hard to bond with this little one because we keep calling it "it” and we can’t call it by a name since we don’t know if it’ll be Girl or Boy.  So there are some "downsides” to this, but I have heard from many, many moms that it is the best surprise of their lives and a moment you never forget.  So we are excited for the experience.

Hubby organized and painted the nursery with 8 of our friends as well as the living room (it needed a new, brighter color) and I am very proud to say they did an amazing job!  Now we can start to move in the few pieces of baby furniture we have and start getting it ready for baby’s arrival.  My mother-in-law as well as a couple of her church friends have very generously organized a shower for us at the beginning of February so it will be nice to have a nursery ready to receive those gifts.  I think from now on it is really going to start feeling "real” as we attend baby showers and birth classes next month.  I feel so full of anticipation and excitement!

As you have seen in previous posts, I have already gotten my hands wet with baby knitting and of course I have been saving a few pairs of mittens and socks for our own little one.  However, I need to kick it up a notch as I only have these pairs, one blanket, 1 or 2 hats, and 2 sweaters made so far.  Next on my list is some longies for next winter (and learn how to lanolize them for cloth diapering) as well as a couple more sweaters and either a few sweater dresses if it’s a girl or sweater vests if it’s a boy.  Oh, and I guess I could be making a few soft toys as well, lol.  It looks like it’s time to get out of my knitting comfort zone…


Do you have a favorite knitting or crochet pattern for baby that you would recommend?  I’d love to read all about them in the comments! 

Patterns for Christmas


I think this is the first year I’ve asked for knitting or crochet patterns for Christmas, but as I am still too cheap to purchase patterns (and running out of time to come up with ideas that weren’t giftcards), I thought this would be a great and different idea.  Plus, what a fun gift to give!  My aunt (we draw names and buy for one person each in our extended family) did a wonderful job putting together a gift around 3 knit and crochet patterns.  She printed each one off and picked out a couple skeins of yarn for the Crochet Slippers pattern as well as included the designated hook and a hand written note – which may have been my favorite part.  :)   I’m so excited to get started on these slippers, but then I can’t decide if I want to start the slippers first or the Rocky Mountain Coast cardigan.

Yup, I am on my way to being part of the Rocky Mountain Coast cardigan "club.”  It would appear to be a very popular pattern among my blog friends and after looking for other cardigans that would suite my design needs, I kept coming back to this one.  The wonderful comments from everyone else who has worked and completed it give me hope that I might finally complete a cardigan and love it, too.  It would be nice to scratch that off my bucket list.  ;)