Here we are

To stay.

Welcome to my five hundredth blog post!

Wow! 500 blog posts, who knew I was that verbose? My mom knew when I was about thirteen and would spend hours on the phone with my best friend who lived down the street, but anyway. I've blabbed about my life, my career, my husband, my dogs, and my projects. And what better way to enter the next era of my blog than announcing the most insane thing I've ever agreed to our next huge project.

The ROOF!

And all I have to say about it is h.o.l.y. s.h.i.t THE ROOF.

I'm all for do it yourself projects. I've built a deck, made a garden bed, painted, sanded, installed, ripped out, spackled everything under the sun and I watch DIY Network all the time but really? A roof? By ourselves? We decided to go with a metal roof, tan steel. It should keep our house much cooler which will be a huge benefit since we don't have air conditioning, and it should look pretty cool too. But, um, a roof? Stay tuned to the Heather Ink network for all the upcoming insanity success! YIKES! YAY!

May my limbs live to see the next 500 posts.

Free Knitting Pattern: Quirky Quick Knit Scarf

Hello there, adorable scarf. I love you. This is the newest yarn into NobleKnits and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a skein. Knit Collage is straight up awesome. The yarn is designed by Amy Small, and she mixes Australian wool, South African mohair, and adorable embellishments from Hong Kong into one fun skein. I knit up this quick scarf as soon as the yarn fell off the boat!

Quirky Quick Knit Scarf

Finished size: 4" x 33"
Yarn: Knit Collage, colorway purple haze, 1 skein
Needles: US 19
Gauge: BIG

Pattern:
Cast on 7 sts. Knit every row. Bind off.

Weave in all yarn ends and enjoy. I think the gold tinsel is my favorite part. I can't wait to wear this little gem!

DIY: Sassy & Simple Knitting Needle and Crochet Hook Cases

Are you knitting needles shoved in baskets in your closet? Are your crochet hooks hiding at the bottom of tote bags? Then follow this tutorial on how to make a set of these Coordinating Needle Cases. They're fast, easy and can be made from scraps of fabric. Give them as a gift with a pair of needles tucked inside or keep them all for yourself.

Supplies
1/2 yard of cotton fabric in solid color (A)
1/2 yard of cotton fabric in coordinating print (B)
1.5 yards 1" velvet ribbon
1 spool thread
Scissors
Tape measure
Sewing gauge ruler
Pins
Needle
Iron and ironing board

You can choose to work on the cases individually or in tandem. Be sure all fabric is washed and ironed before you begin.

1. Cut - From Fabric A, cut two 16.5 x 15.75 inch pieces for exterior of knitting needle case and one 11 x 5.25 inch piece for crochet hook pocket. From Fabric B, cut one 16.5 x 9.25 inch piece for knitting needle pocket and two 11 x 9.5 inch pieces for exterior of crochet hook case. Cut ribbon into two 18" pieces for knitting needle case and two 9" pieces for crochet hook case.

2. Make Pockets - Fold and pin 1/2 along one long edge of pocket pieces. Iron flat.

Match the cut edges of the pocket to the matching edges of one of the exterior pieces with right sides facing you. Mark for pockets, with stitch gauge measure and pin 1.5" from left raw edge. For next pocket and following two pockets measure and pin 1" to the right from previous pin. Continue measuring and pinning increasing the measurement by 1/2" for larger pockets. If you have mostly small needles then make mostly 1" pockets, for a collection of larger needles create 1.5 to 2" pockets. Stitch at each pin from folded pocket edge to raw edge back-stitching at each end.

4. Attach ribbon - Match ribbon edge to right edge of exterior piece with top edge of ribbon. The top edge of the ribbon can be visually centered on the needle case. Pin with wrong side showing. Pin the second piece of ribbon, right side showing, with bottom edge 1/8" from the top edge of the first piece of ribbon. Stitch 1/4" seam back-stitching at both ends.

5. Sew case together - Pin exterior pieces with right sides together making sure not to catch ribbon in pins or stitching. Stitch 1/2" seam around perimeter leaving a 2" opening on left side being sure to pivot at corners and back-stitching at each end.

6. Turn, sew and iron - Trim corners. Turn work right side out. Stitch opening closed by hand with needle and thread. Press seams and edges flat.

7. Fill and enjoy!

Raised Vegetable Garden, Part 3

Raised Vegetable Garden, Part 3
Getting soil and plant crops
See Part 1 here.
See Part 2 here.

Now comes the fun part, playing with dirt and planting seeds! We used a mix of garden soil, compost, peat moss and manure. The entire bed took about 36 cubic feet of this mix. We broke it down like this, 12 cf of garden soil, 12 cf of compost, 9 cf peat moss and 3 cf of manure. We layered about a third the different ingredients in the bed at a time and mixed them together with a garden fork. Once that was done I couldn't wait to get planting.

We bought some small plants that were already started. Things like tomatoes, bell peppers and broccoli. The rest of the crop we started from seed. Our final planting consisted of eggplants, scallions, spinach, hot peppers, three varieties of tomatoes, green bell peppers and four heads of broccoli. I can't wait to see the crops start sprouting and flowering!

A scrumptious new knitting project

After a long and crazy week I couldn't have been more excited to get home and knit. My Friday nights just aren't what they used to be, but there is nothing I'd rather be doing more than knitting.