Baby Wrap

Surprise!!! Believe it or not, I still exist. Though I've taken a brief hiatus from all things crafty, I think I'm back. I have little time, but LOTS of ideas. I also have a sewing machine again, and Joannes and Hobby Lobby are right on the way home from work.

Most of my projects are probably going to change into baby projects seeing as how I've only got 4 months left to finish everything for our sweet girl.

I decided to step back into the world of sewing with an easy project. This is a baby wrap (otherwise known as the $40 Moby wrap), except I made it for about $3.50 since I bought the jersey knit as a remnant.


It's easy as pie to make. I think it took longer to figure out how to put on Jonathan than it actually took me to make it. I'm sure an actually baby will make it even more difficult, but it's worth it! And by the way, Jonathan was so excited about it, he grabbed it and put it on himself before I could even try it out!

Christmas in Turkey

Since Christmas isn't a Turkish holiday, I'm on my own to fill our apartment with holiday cheer.

There are tons of crafts online to make, but most of them require something that I don't have (like a craft store, a sewing machine, Christmas lights, etc.).

So, using scissors and note cards that I'm pretty sure I've lugged all over the world, I made our own Christmas tree. It looks slightly like a preschool project and absolutely nothing like my inspiration, but it's sufficient for us.



Jonathan and I aren't really gift people and, come to think of it, have never really given each other wrapped presents. But, I told him this year that we each had to get a gift and wrap it so we could put it under the tree.

More knitting projects are coming after Christmas (so the people who are receiving the gifts get to see them first).

Morning Granola

Breakfast always has bittersweet connotations for me. I love the idea of breakfast, but am not really a fan of breakfast food. I think a lot of it stems from the 2 years I cooked breakfast almost every weekend for one hundred people at a retreat center. Since then, eggs, pancakes, biscuits, you-name-it have never really appealed to me.

Jonathan is a big cereal fan, but since yummy cereal is hard to come by in Istanbul, homemade granola has become a staple in our house.

Prep time is quick, but make sure you have a couple of hours to bake and stir the granola.

Here's my usual recipe, inspired from my favorite cookbook, More with Less:

Mix in large bowl:
6 C. plain oatmeal
2 C. whole wheat flour
1. C. coconut flakes
2 C. nuts (try any combination. I prefer walnuts because they taste great after being baked.)
1/2 C. wheat germ (to be healthy!)
1/2 C. flax seed (also healthy!)
1 T. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Heat in Saucepan:
1/2 C. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 C. water
1 C. honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar
1 T. vanilla

3 C. dried fruit (dates, raisins, mangos, apricots, apples, whatever! I usually use 2 or 3 different fruits)

When slightly warmed, mix the wet ingredients in well with the dry ingredients. If you need to, add a bit more water to make sure the dry ingredients are completely coated.

Put half of the mix on a greased cookie sheet and cook at 300 degrees for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so. I wait until it's fairly golden brown before I take it out of the oven. Jonathan likes his granola extra crunchy and I've found it's crunchiest when I let it cool on the cookie sheet.

When cooled, add the fruit and store in an airtight container.

Like I Don't Already Have Enough To Do

A few years ago, I made a list of things I want to do in life. Since then, I've done a few of them, forgotten quite a few, and still have some on the list.

One of the things on my list was to take a picture a day for a year. After running across a couple other blogs that were devoted to this, my motivation was renewed. But, with a little modification.

A dear friend of mine and I have decided to share the blog and each post a picture every day. Joy lives in Colorado and has an incredible eye for art and photography. I live in Istanbul, and though I'm not a natural, I still think it would be a lot of fun to try out.

So, check it out if you want to see a bit more of Colorado, Turkey, or anywhere in between.

www.resplendentawakening.blogspot.com

We couldn't come up with a title, so Joy thought of an adjective, I thought of a noun, and we put them together!

Hand Warmers

I found this easy pattern on Ravelry. As with almost all of my projects, I took it apart once and started over. All in all, it came together quite well and only took a couple of hours per warmer.The cuff covering my fingers can also be folded back so I can do things when them on.

Matching Hats

Jonathan's request for a hat as well as a long plane flight turned into this. I got the pattern from my favorite knitting website, The Purl Bee.

My hat fit perfectly, but I had to adjust Jonathan's a bit. I folded the bottom section in half and sewed it there so it would be shorter.

Slippers (that look like a strawberry)

My goal was to start and finish this project on the flight from Atlanta to Istanbul which didn't quite happen. I'm not exactly sure what I did wrong (twice), but I had to take my first two tries apart. Finally, I adjusted the needle size for parts of the final product and it turned out fine. Though, I don't have as much love for them as I originally hoped because of all the time devoted to making a simple slipper.