Restraint

These pictures have been on my camera for weeks now, waiting for me to do something with them. 

I think window shopping is best done in antique stores. It's rare for me to find something that absolutely has to come home with me. And when I do find one of those things, it's usually either out of my budget or I don't have room for it in our house.

Can you guess what made my heart go pitty-pat in  this display? It's not the sewing machine. 

But there's no place for an old television in my life, even if it is that neat looking.

If I tried hard enough, I'm sure I could find a place for an adorable toy sewing machine. But only if it works. I don't think this one did.

I've got exactly the place for that cabinet...

And for this bedroom set...

The detail on that fireplace is absolutely amazing and, compared to the prices I saw at the dollhouse shop a couple of months back, these pieces were actually affordable. But part of me is more excited to try out some of those tutorials I keep pinning.

{Yarn Along} Look Behind You

I've taken a break from my fun new pair of socks to knit a cast  cover. And I'm only showing you the corner of the heel because this whole project is....um....filled with interesting design elements.  I can't find a pattern for what Hubby has in mind, so I'm making it up as I go along.

The book, Look Behind You by Sibel Hodge, is much more enjoyable than the knitting. Chloe Benson wakes to find herself locked in an underground chamber with no memory of how she got there. She breaks free and makes her way through the woods to the road where a driver sees her and calls for help. And that's when things start to get even more frightening. Instead of searching for her abductor, Chloe's husband and the authorities insist that the whole experience was a hallucination, that she's had another reaction to her medication.  I didn't absolutely love the ending, but it was a fun ride getting there. Chloe is a likable, resourceful heroine.

For more fun knitting projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis.

 

The publisher provided me with a review copy.

Melted Ice Cream Bread

When I first saw something on a homemaking blog about melted ice cream bread, I was confused. Why on God's green earth would you spend money on perfectly good ice cream if your only intention was to melt it to make weird bread? Aren't there enough wonderful quick bread recipes out there?

Then my boys were watching the show None of the Above, where the host sets up an experiment and you're supposed to choose the result from a list of possibilities. Then they explain the science behind what happened. My boys have watched so many episodes of Mythbusters that they can usually guess the answer, but I'm the only one who knew what would happen if you mixed flour and melted ice cream and put it in the microwave.

It works the way it does because ice cream contains everything that's in bread except for the flour. At least that's how my nine-year-old explained it to me. So we headed for the grocery store to buy the cheapest brand of ice cream I could find and some self rising flour, then checked the Internet for recipes.

We wound up using 3 cups of melted strawberry ice cream and 1 1/2 cups of flour and baking it at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. The instructions I was following said 30 minutes, but I left it in until a sharp knife came out clean. Ice cream bread should follow the same rules as banana bread, right?

It worked. Sort of. I really wouldn't recommend it as more than a fun science project for the kids because it didn't taste all that good and there are so many really good quick bread recipes out there to try. According to the articles I read online, you should use the best quality ice cream that you can find, with the fewest artificial ingredients. I think I'll just bake my next loaf of quick bread from scratch!

I'm linking up to Mom's Library, WFMW,

Stash Report & Surgery Update

Honestly, I'm at a loss for words right now. My posts for the past few days (and a few that are for next week and beyond) were written in advance, before I knew what was in store for us...now that Hubby's surgery is over and we're back home and I'm still reeling a bit at the thought of what's still ahead. Thanks to everyone who said prayers for our little family.

Weekly Stash Report 

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 2 1/2 yards
Added this Week: 10 1/2 yards
Added Year to Date: 40 1/2 yards
Net Added for 2013: 38  yards

Yarn Used this Week: 400 yards
Yarn Used year to Date: 525 yards
Yarn Added this Week: 300 yards
Yarn Added Year to Date: 1500 yards
Net Added for 2013: 975 yards

That fabric I was going to pick up once it was on sale? It's for Labyrinth Walk, a quilt which I think my boys will really like. And if they don't like it, I think it's pretty neat myself. I also picked up a skein of yarn that  I didn't realize I was going to need for that project I bought yarn for last week. Here's hoping for a peaceful recovery and some time to work on quilting and knitting!

I'm linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.