Friday, September 5, 2014

Back to School...

It's that time of year again.  All across the country, children are going back to school and beginning another year of education.  I'll admit it.  I was always one of those kids who was excited about starting school.  I love learning new things, always have and hopefully always will.

So since learning about Craftsy and taking my first class, Improve Your Knitting with Patty Lyons, I've become something of a junkie.  From that class, I've been trying to learn both Continental (picking) and Western (throwing) knitting.  It's also led me to take other classes and try cables, lace, knitting in the round, learn blocking, short rows and I'm currently trying to make my first pair of socks.  Boy are double pointed needles fiddly!  In the last several months I've made a few prayer shawls and a couple of scarves.  I just finished this cable one the other night, but haven't had a chance to block it yet.


But Craftsy has more than just knitting classes, they also have quilting classes.  They have had a free Block of the Month 'class' available for the last several years.  I've now decided to make the Craftsy Block of the Month 2012 quilt.  Not only because I like the design, but also because Leah Day offers a class showing you how you can free motion quilt it.  I may not quilt mine exactly like she did, but the class offered a lot of great tips and designs.  I was vaguely familiar with Leah Day from the Free Motion Quilting Project that she started several years ago.  She's actually a very good teacher and I ended up taking a couple of her other Free Motion Quilting classes.

Fabrics for the Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month
Ok, so it looks like I've been spending a lot of time with my knitting and free motion quilting, but actually I've been spending most of my time cooking.  My husband and I are committed to eating well.  We eat lots of seafood and vegetables and I try hard to keep processed foods out of our diet.  (Having said that, I'll admit my husband is addicted to Golden Oreos.)  I'm a pretty good cook, but an awful baker.  So when I saw a class on Artisan Bread Making I jumped right on it.  Is there anything better than fresh baked bread?  Not only does it taste amazing, but it makes the whole house smell wonderful.  To give you an idea of how much bread I've made, it's been one month since I started the course and I've already used 25 lbs of bread flour.  I've tried white, wheat, focaccia and ciabatta bread.  There are a couple more I'd still like to try though.

Wheat Boule fresh out of the oven
There's also a free class on how to make the Perfect Pizza at Home.  The class covers making the pizza dough, sauce and an amazing herb oil.  We've had the Sicilian style pizza several times in the last few weeks and my husband loves it.  We've been trying so much new food lately that I've been having him rate them all on a scale of 1 to 5 to see if they're worth making again and the pizza is the only one that's received a 5-star rating so far (excluding the bread).

Sicilian Style Deep Dish Pizza
I'm taking several other cooking/baking classes including the perfect pie crust, cooking vegetables and
making Thai food.  To be honest, I hadn't eaten much Thai food before this, but since my husband loves it I was willing to give it a try.  For the most part I'm finding it delicious.  Although I'm still baffled about how something like fish sauce that smells so revolting and is found in almost every dish can make them taste so good.  Go figure!

I realize this entire post must sound like an advertisement for Craftsy, but honestly they have no idea who I am.  I'm just enjoying the classes and a platform where I can continue to learn new things.  And since I can watch them over and over again, I'm able to pick up and practice things I might otherwise miss in a sit down class.  Since I was absent from the blog for a good bit of the summer, this is also just a recap of what's been going on with me.

I'll leave you with this picture of David.  He wouldn't get off of some fabric I was cutting so I tied this extra piece around his neck thinking it would annoy him enough that he would leave.  I was wrong.  He loved it.  He wore it for hours until I saw him dragging it into the litter box and took it off him.  Silly cat!



"Pray for those who insult you." 
Luke 6:28 (GWT)


3 comments:

  1. I love your knitting! You've inspired me to sign up for a Craftsy knitting class. I know how to knit, but just basics. I signed up for the My First Socks class. I made a pair of socks a couple years ago and really enjoyed the process, but I didn't really know what I was doing, so some instruction will be useful, I think! If that goes well, I might advance to cables - I've never done that. The bread looks wonderful, too. I was already signed up for the pizza class, but I need to go there and actually watch it. I love the Craftsy classes and have taken a few of the quilting ones. It's a great idea to be able to watch them at home or wherever and whenever, a little at a time.

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  2. Thanks again Dee for the inspiration. The Bargello quilt has come back from the long arm quilter and is ready for the binding to be tacked down just in time for this year's Fair! I will be busy over the next couple of weeks and then it is picture time :0)

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  3. As a mother, I would like my son to be prepared at all times, even if he always tend to say this "Mom, I can do it." Make sure you teach them the basics, and they were better off in the long run. Check this essay writing guide to your child preparation in college and learn more about the dilemma that she/he might be able to encounter on his/her first day at school.

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