Tonight I head off to DFW Fiber Fest to hear Franklin Habit speak and take a class from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!

Next week’s post will be full of stash enhancements and new tips from the experts, but this is a robust week as well. I finished a shawl and started another pair of socks. We tested out one of last week’s freezer meals. I swatched for a sweater- this is the #yearofthegarment after all. Enjoy!

Finished Objects

I’ve finally finished my 2017 advent knitting- the Sugarplum Shawl by Rachel Roden. It was not my favorite knit… although I did enjoy working on it while avoiding my Christmas gift knitting. I think it was the border that tripped me up. No matter how many repeats of that border I did, I could not get it memorized.

Now it is done. There’s someone on my 2018 Christmas list that will really love the colors in this shawl. So one more gift knit can be crossed off the list!

WIP’s- Focus Projects

I’m in love with my April Socks. I’ll make at least two pairs of these shorties- one for myself and one as a Christmas gift. There’s a good chance that I’ll still have enough of the main color {Lolodidit’s Every Day Socks in the Honeydukes colorway) to make one more pair of Jelly Rolls. I’ve got to finish up all the yarn since it’s my April #slaythestash2018 declaration.

I’ve only changed the heel so far. The pattern calls for a super cute two-color slip-stitch heel flap. I did the first two rows and thought, “nah!” So I subbed in my go-to “Fish Lips Kiss Heel” instead.

Something New

I got a new Sucre Sucre Miniatures progress keeper in the mail this week- Harry Potter’s birthday cake from the first book and movie. Poor Hagrid just can’t spell a thing can he?

One of my favorite new-to-me techniques is for swatching in the round. I used to knit all my stockinette stitch gauge swatches flat. This doesn’t give you an accurate measurement for a sweater that will then be knit in the round. But, like heck I was going to double the size of my swatch to knit it as a tube.

I think I owe it to the Grocery Girls for introducing me to this technique. Instead of casting on twice as many stitches to swatch in the round, just cast on your normal amount {for me, between 20-30} onto circular needles and SLIDE your stitches back to the right side after every knit row. You just carry your yarn loosely across the back! And when it’s time to block it you soak it and snip the threads you carried so your swatch can lay flat. Brilliant!

Here’s a quick video from Webs on this technique.

What God’s Teaching Me

I continued my daily devotional on margin this week. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was Day 6’s video sermon on scheduling margin- times of rest and time for God. Schedule? Well, “schedule” is my middle name!

I’m in a period of my life where my time is still my time. We don’t have any kids, I have a job where work is finished at work, and I have fewer weeknight commitments since we’ve moved away from the city. So why do I feel busier than ever? I think my problem is over-scheduling the “stuff” to do on my list and leaving no space for the valuable things in my daily life. I feel quite accomplished when it comes to meeting knitting, cleaning, and health goals… but what about spending quality moments with my husband or time spent in God’s word?

I know there is already margin in my day for the things I want to do. Every morning I get to work just a little bit early so I can eat my breakfast, knit, and watch Instagram stories or knitting podcasts. Why not exchange this time for my daily devotional? This wasn’t a hard switch for me this week as I already had that time blocked out. Now my 15 minutes each morning is spent framing my day for God. This is a habit I want to continue.

I thought I was doing a good job scheduling times of rest… really I was just making rigid goals for my day that allowed no wiggle room for new fun plans or to stop in the middle of a chore/row and talk with my husband. See, I am good at scheduling rest for myself, but with no consideration for how my husband seeks rest. My idea of rest is an evening at home with no responsibilities except to knit and watch Netflix. But Kent is filled up by spending time out of the house with friends doing something. We have a conflict of rest.

Hmm… how to combat this tendency? I think for me that this is a mental space issue not a physical time problem. How do I literally learn to “let it go” and be flexible with my times of rest?

These next couple of weeks I’ve just decided to start saying “yes” to things that build up my relationship and “let it go” to {some} things that are self-serving. When Kent asked to go rent a movie from the video store and wanted me to ride in the car too INSTEAD OF STAYING HOME TO COMPLETE CHORES??! Okay, yes! This builds my relationship. When he wanted my attention for a few minutes even thought I just settled down with my brand new sweater cast-on… yes, I can make time to find rest in my relationship.

I feel confident I’m not the only one who struggles to find rest. Whether it’s demands on your time or just differences in how you rest with your spouse, God tells us that it’s important to schedule rest in our lives. Without margin, we will have no space to appreciate the beautiful people and circumstances God gives us. I don’t want to be so busy that I neglect what is truly valuable. Thank you, Lord, for being the best example of margin.

What We’re Cooking

Mmmm! I made a family recipe of chocolate pies to celebrate my husband’s birthday. This is not a measured and true recipe- therefore I was so happy when they turned out perfect! I’ve had so many failed attempts at these. You know, trying to get them to taste just like your mother-in-law’s, it hardly ever happens.

We had our first of the big freezer prep from last Sunday- Mushroom and Spinach Crockpot Stroganoff from New Leaf Wellness It was delicious and so easy! I defrosted it in hot water for about 45 minutes {because I forgot to place it in the fridge the night before} and then let it cook for about 7 hours. We had some steamable veggies and frozen meatballs on the side.

It did look a little gritty, but it didn’t taste gritty at all. Kent loved it too! This recipe was easy from freezer prep all the way to cooking it in the crockpot, so we will definitely enjoy it again. We cooked a 16 oz bag of egg noodles so we were able to eat it for two nights!

My lunches this week were on the hearty/healthful side- meet the Green Goddess Glow Bowl from The Glowing Fridge. I’m not so sure how I feel about Tahini… but now I have a whole lot of it to use up! You might see more recipes with Tahini in the future.

Now how about something tried, true, and comforting- Broccoli, Rice, and Chicken Casserole. I just love casseroles because you can clean up your kitchen while they cook AND they typically feed us for 3 nights. Something I really liked about this recipe was using raw chicken- this saves me a whole 35-ish minutes to cook and chop chicken before the casserole-making even begins! I would suggest adding some salt and pepper to the mix. Other than that, it was tasty!

What I’m Reading

Can I say that I’m sort of ready to be finished with “A Wrinkle in Time”? I just need to put in one good afternoon of reading and knock it out. Perhaps paired with some knitting and Plum Deluxe tea?

My reading time is currently the five minutes between crawling in bed and falling asleep with the light on. This is not conducive to much reading. I used to read so much more when I walked on the treadmill several times a week. Now I walk outside so that my dog can get some exercise too, so I can’t prop up a Kindle anymore. It might be time to make use of my local library’s audio-loan function. {Just placed a hold on “A Wrinkle in Time”/ #520 on 36 audio copies / *sigh*)

Next up for me, a re-read of the Harry Potter series. I’ve been saying that I’ll do this every summer for the past five years, so it’s time! I already have the audiobooks downloaded on Audible and my husband and I together have many physical copies. This way I can read the physical copy at night and continue with the audio copy on a walk or while I’m knitting. I can’t wait to reread my favorite books. Maybe I’ll knit another pair of Harry Potter socks while I’m at it!

Check back next week for more going-ons in the Knitty Natty home!

Love in stitches,

Knitty Natty

Happy Good Friday! Hopefully you have the day off as well!

This week I spent most of Sunday in the kitchen prepping freezer meals. I’ve been busting it trying to complete my 2017 WIP’s before the end of the month. My sister came to visit and even came along for knit night {she crochets}! I might swatch for a sweater this weekend 🙂

Finished Objects

At the beginning of March I declared four WIP’s {works in progress} that I’d started in 2017 to become FO’s {finished objects} by the end of the month. I finished one last week and two more this week. I still have one more day of the month though!

I finally finished my Clark Socks that I started back in October of 2017. These will hibernate in my Box of Socks until Christmas-time. I think my mom will love them!

I also completed Gina’s Brioche Hat and Cowl {just the cowl though} that I started way back in January of 2017. Feels so good to get this off the needles!

My final FO is a cute bag that will be my after-school crochet club’s April project. I just made one adjustment for the pattern to be more beginner friendly- instead of holding the yarn double we will use a chunky weight yarn. It will be a challenge for these fourth and fifth graders, but I think they will love it!

WIP’s- Focus Projects

My final WIP-it-or-rip-it declaration for March is the “Sugarplum Shawl” by Rachel Roden. This pattern came as part of Jimmy Bean’s Craftvent calendar {which I highly recommend for 2018}, but is now available on Ravelry as a single pattern. The kit included 24 days worth of notions and yarn- all needed to complete the pattern.

It’s intended to be knit over the 24 days before Christmas… but I was bogged down by Christmas gift knitting and never finished it. I’ve got one more day of the month to meet my goal! This shawl will also be a Christmas present for 2018. Perhaps then I will have the time to knit 2018’s Craftvent calendar during Advent.

Something New

I approached a new obstacle this week: weaving in the ends of two-color brioche.

I looked at several videos and tutorials. All of them had you weave your end under the knit columns, like this. I just wasn’t satisfied with that approach. So I decided to try my own way! I will try to record a video soon.

What God’s Teaching Me

This week God is whispering in my ear to breathe and to be flexible. To say “YES” more often than I say “NO”. We’ve had a busy week with Young Life, Stars games, and my sister in town visiting. Where I usually have two week nights to go to the gym and then relax at home after… I got zero this week. That is super hard for a regimented girl like me.

I tried typing these key words “breathe” and “flexible” into my Bible App’s plan search engine. I found a 15-day plan titled “Margin”. Hmm… maybe I need to create margin in my life instead of scheduling every minute with a specific goal.

“… most of us are living at an unsustainable and unbiblical pace. The key is creating margin.” – Margin, created by Craig Groeschel and Life.Church

Is it “unbiblical” for me to book my day up with chores, cooking, and knitting goals so that when my husband asks if we can go see a last-minute movie, I panic? Perhaps. I can confidently say that I’m addicted to schedules. I live for the thrill of crossing all the items off my to-do list. I thrive on making goals for myself and meeting them. {Many people close to me would agree.} This can be a good thing, but am I missing some of the opportunities God’s giving me?

I’m not quite sure how to slow down, but I’m going to try to reap as much as possible from this Bible reading plan over the next two weeks. My sister is visiting us for the next few days, so this will be a good time to put the practice of “margin” in place- then we can enjoy the time together fully.

What We’re Cooking

Beef Empanadas

The Pillsbury beef empanadas from last week were such a quick weekend night meal. And, come on, anything wrapped in a pie crust is going to be delicious! I will change two things the next time we enjoy this recipe- 1) MORE CHEESE! I will layer the cheese within the empanada and put quadruple the cheese. 2) MORE SPICE! Perhaps I expected these to taste like tacos, so I was a little disappointed with the flavor. Next time I’ll try some taco seasoning {we like Ortega} to spice things up. Overall, we were very pleased with the empanadas. My husband devoured his, which made my heart very happy!

New Leaf Freezer Meals

After making some freezer-to-crockpot meals with some success, I decided to do some meal prep on a larger scale. I ordered my Ziploc bag stands from Amazon {sanity-savers!}, picked four recipes, made my list, and went off to the grocery store on Friday night. I walked out about an hour later with under $100 worth of groceries to make eight meals– oh yeah!

I got my recipes and grocery lists straight from New Leaf Wellness. They had a FREE downloadable in January for a year’s worth of crockpot meals! I picked four recipes from April’s menu to double- Shredded Chicken Quesadillas, Chinese Pepper Steak, Chicken Teriyaki, and Mushroom Spinach Stroganoff. I had most of the spices and sauces in my pantry/fridge. I had to purchase the produce, meat, and dairy items. Like I said, under $100 for eight meals… that’s less than $15 a meal. Half of the whole budget was beef top sirloin, so I know I can do it for even less with different recipes.

LESSON LEARNED: Next time I meal prep, it will most definitely be a Saturday morning/early afternoon. Although the time per meal is only about 15 minutes, I don’t want to spend hours of my #scrappysunday trapped in the kitchen! These freezer meals will give me the time in the future for my beloved Granny Stripe Blanket and Cozy Memories Blanket.

My process was as follows:

1. Label all bags with meal name and today’s date.
2. Chop all vegetables for all recipes (so meat can stay in fridge). I did all the bell peppers first (40 minutes) and divided them into respective bags. Then all the onions (30 minutes). Then all the garlic (20 minutes).
3. Get some wine… you deserve it.
4. Then, two bags at a time I completed each recipe by pulling out all the remaining ingredients, and dumping them into the bags.
5. Put away ingredients from previous recipe and repeat step three for the next recipe- repeat for all recipes- this was the quickest moving part (1 hour)!
6. Flatten and zip bags, place on cookie sheet {to freeze them in the flat shape I wanted}, stack in freezer. I’ll take them off the cookie sheets once they are thoroughly frozen.

As you can see, this is quite the process. The most time consuming part is chopping the vegetables. I’m not a quick chopper, but I wouldn’t say I’m slow either. It took me 40 minutes to chop six bell peppers, 30 minutes for six onions, 20 more minutes for twenty cloves of garlic {I love my x-large GarlicZoom}. Everything else was relatively quick. I got all the spices, sauces, and meats in the bag in an additional hour (I trimmed and sliced steak in this hour as well).

Feedback to come on these freezer meals! I plan to use them for our Sunday meals since I’m usually home on Sundays to check in on the meals and stir them occasionally. Sunday is also the day that I don’t want to be in the kitchen so I can spend quality time with my husband and my #scrappysunday projects.

Overnight Oats

A quick and filling breakfast this week. My overnight oats recipe is simple: 2 parts old-fashion oats to 1 part yogurt and 1 part milk. Then I add honey and brown sugar to taste. Lastly, I stir in frozen berries and nuts if I have some in the pantry. I like my overnight oats to be very thick with no liquid at all. You can adjust the amount of oatmeal to satisfy your tastes!

What I’m Reading

Last Friday night I finished reading Ready Player One. I’m psyched to see the movie! We purchased MoviePass last weekend before we saw “Black Panther” so now we can see all the movies we want. We’re planning to see RPO this Sunday- perfect theater knitting time to start my April socks.

One of our generous fifth grade teachers loaned me a paperback copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I started it on Saturday with a chilly toe dip into the pool {85 degrees outside and a frigid temp in the water}. I’m about 70 pages into this 232-page book. It’s… odd. Peculiar would be the best way to describe it. Having never read the book or heard anything about it before, I didn’t know what to expect. Is this really a children’s book? 

However, I think it’s really about to get good. I hope so! Even so, I would like to see the movie when it becomes available for renting. We’ve still got an old-fashion Blockbuster-like video store in our town and my husband loves any excuse to go there.

Check back next week for more going-ons in the Knitty Natty home!

Love in stitches,

Knitty Natty

It’s 77 degrees here in Texas today!

Naturally I’ve finished a hat and have another one on the go this week. Is it a good time to start a sweater? This week I talk about tricky {for me} crochet stitches and how one student inspired me to start reading my Bible again. I’ve been eating salads to detox from vacation and enjoying my back-at-home routine immensely!

Finished Objects

I just loved this hat pattern when I first saw it on Instagram! I’d just bought a skein of handspun yarn on my Thanksgiving trip to Oregon and I thought it would be perfect for this hat.

It took some trial and error to get it right. The original pattern calls for worsted weight doubled and the handspun was a heavy worsted on it’s own. I decided to add in a matching color of Kidsilk Haze {dreamy} and go down a few needle sizes. Then I adjusted the size by adding more stitches. All edits can be found on my Ravelry project page.

Fast forward quite a few months, and I’ve finally got it WIP’d before the end of the month. Just in time for our 80 degree weather!

WIP’s- Focus Projects

I started these socks all the way back in October 2017. The yarn was a seasonal Halloween colorway from Knit Style Yarns called “Monster Mash” and it came with a coordinating bag that I just had to have! {Sharon ships quickly and her yarn is beautiful!}

I’ve declared these socks a “WIP-it” for March, so I knit on them at many different restaurants and bars on my trip last week in Charleston.

Around the same time, the Grocery Girls Podcast talked about a new pattern called “Clark Socks” by Jaclyn Salem. Tracie started a pair, so I did too!

The pattern is really fun and clever. The diagonal purl stitches help you keep track of which cable row you are on- making it totally memorizable!

I’ve changed only one thing- the heel. I believe the pattern calls for a short row heel anyway, but I did the “Fish Lips Kiss Heel” as I have it memorized.

These are my March socks, so I hope to have them done by the end of the month. I’ve just got the feet left. Then they will go into my Box O’ Sox until Christmas time when they will be gifted.

Something New

There have been so many times in this hat pattern that I’ve reached a place where I’m completely lost. I know at that point that I need to set the hat down until tomorrow… or maybe a couple days. When I go back to the pattern the next time, it usually makes more sense! I don’t know what it is about giving my brain a chance to rest and process. This week I needed a little more help with the “Linked Double Crochet.”

When the written instructions still sound like a foreign language, I used this video from Moogly’s Tamara Kelly. It’s actually really easy! As soon as I saw her do one stitch, I went back to my written pattern. Suddenly I understood- the translating power of YouTube!

I’m so close to the end of this beautiful hat! It has been quite the challenge. Can’t wait to wear it in 10 months 😉

What God’s Teaching Me

This week, I was walking down the hallway of the public elementary school where I work, when I saw something that surprised me- a 5th grader reading the Bible.

He wasn’t using his phone or an illustrated children’s copy, this was a legit, hard-copy of the Bible.

I think I would be shocked to see anyone in public these days reading a physical copy of the Bible, really a physical copy of any book. {Aside, isn’t this another way that technology is stripping down our social connectivity? I used to see the cover of someone’s novel and have the desire to start a conversation with them. Now we have no way of knowing if someone is reading or browsing Twitter.}

When I saw this young kid reading his Bible in such an open, casual way, I felt a pang of guilt. When was the last time I cracked open my Bible? I think it’s been three weeks since I was last in town for a Sunday church service… but I probably just used the Bible app on my phone for that. I felt a God whisper, “Natalie, this boy is reading his Bible AT SCHOOL, because HE WANTS TO. You used to have that desire. I want to give that passion back to you, but you have to give me the time.”

Yes, Lord.

I know myself pretty well, and I’ll have to structure the time and space for reading the Bible. When I used to go to a weekly Bible study, I desired to read my Bible and complete the workbook each day. I enjoyed getting to discuss God’s Word with others. About eight months ago, we moved out of the city and to a new church that doesn’t run these studies. I’ve long since fell out of the habit.

I’m going to start small, by using the Bible app on my phone. I know it isn’t a physical Bible, but I will get there. Each morning while I’m getting ready for work, there is a period of time where I’m waking up and playing on my phone. Usually I’m on Instagram {shocking}, but now I’m going to be disciplined enough to open my Bible before I can get on any other media.

I use YouVersion, which is available for both Android and Apple. They have versions on versions of the Bible, but the best thing they have is reading plans. These plans include a devotional reading and related Bible verses. Some plans even have videos or audio to listen as the devotional. You can search for plans on any topic. I’m starting with a 7-day plan called “Never Say No: Raising Big Picture Kids.” Although I don’t have my own, I’m interacting with students every day; I want to love the like God loves me.

Even reading the super-short devotional in the morning has been a challenge for me. It doesn’t feel enjoyable; although it’s an interesting read, it feels more like a check mark on my morning to-do list. So, the most important step in learning to be like that boy, devouring his Bible at school, is inviting God in to change my heart into that of a student.

“Lord, feed me the desire to learn more about your Word. Give me a heart like your son, the little boy at my school who loves to read his Bible. Teach me how to study the Bible with a passionate heart. I love you, Father. Amen.”

What We’re Cooking

After a ful-filling (literally) vacation diet last week, I’ve been trying my best to detoxify. Salads are such an easy meal to put together. I make mine really simple by buying mostly pre-washed and cut ingredients- spinach, carrot chips, cherry tomatoes, and sliced mushrooms. I make them up two at a time and fold a paper towel in the one I’m going to have two days later- it absorbs the moisture from rinsing veggies! I can eat the same thing all week without getting bored, so veggies and fruit have filled my lunchbox.

Tonight I am trying out this Pillsbury recipe for beef empanadas. They look super simple. I think they will make an easy weekend dinner! I will share more next week.

What I’m Reading

I’m in the last chapters of “Ready Player One” and on the hunt for my next book.

I would love to read “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’engle, but as it’s going to be a movie, the wait lists at the library are a mile long. I’m #266 on 36 {digital} copies! Luckily our 5th graders read the book this year so I think I can manage to borrow a copy. I’ve never read this book before and I can’t wait to see what it’s all about!

Check back next week for more going-ons in the Knitty Natty home!

Love in stitches,

Knitty Natty

Welcome back!

This week has been full of spring break travel and sleeping in. Plus, I’ve got a good friend’s wedding on the horizon! Enjoy!

Finished Objects

I finished this set of dishcloths and potholders for my good friend Stephanie’s wedding present. I almost always knit the initial dishcloths, and I decided to include some other favorites as well.

Works in Progress

Something New

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What God’s Teaching Me

What We’re Cooking

What I’m Reading