The good, the bad, and the beanie

My every other day posting has failed, but don't give up on me yet! I've been on a tech-breaking spree for the past few days. My iPad keypad and the Otterbox on my iPhone have both fallen victim, and the laptop mouse narrowly escaped being drowned in coffee. I do have news, good news at that! I have new soaps coming to the facebook page and Etsy store, and -at the request of my baby sister- will soon be adding solid lotions and deodorants to my inventory! I was also introduced to a packaging company out of Nashville that makes pretty things to sell my things in that are cheap enough for me not to have to raise my prices to use them. Huzzah for cheap, pretty packaging! :) I've also been considering doing baskets or something like it, for new moms, a little pampering kit with bath things and maybe a lotion or something. I was going to start piecing one together today, but I ran out of time before I finally found lavender oil.

Also, I've been playing quite a bit of WoW, so if you're Alliance on Dalaran, be my friend! I'm bringyouhell#1780 on battle.net And no, I don't play a human. I'm new to WoW, but I'm not at all new to gaming. Never play a human when you can avoid it, D&D taught me that. M told me to always be horde, always. The problem is, she never explained why, and I tried both, just to see if I could figure it out for myself. I couldn't, and I have more fun playing my Draenei than my Tauren. I still think it looks silly, DDO has WoW beat by miles with the graphics, but I refuse to play DDO or Neverwinter while they're on 4E rules because 4E is awful. Who ever heard of a barbarian that couldn't hit anything?? Not me, until I played 4E with my PNP group. 4E nerfed the barbarian so bad I couldn't hit the broad size of an ogre, or demonic crocodile, as the case may have been. 3.5 for life!

I don't play co-op games on Xbox Live much, but I do occasionally, and I always welcome a fellow adventurer. That gamertag is BringYouHell

As promised: The Grown Up Beanie

Mine was done with bulky weight yarn and a K (6.5mm) hook, as with the baby beanie, pattern may need to be adjusted based on your hook size and the weight of your yarn

Chain 4, slip stitch together

Row 1: Chain 3, counts as first stitch, ten double crochet in circle, slip stitch together

Row 2: Chain 3, two double crochet in each stitch around, slip stitch together

Row 3: Chain 3, two double crochet in each stitch around, slip stitch together.

Row 4: Chain 3, 2 double crochet in first stitch, 1 double crochet in next stitches, repeat all the way around, slip stitch together

Row 5: Chain 3, 2 double crochet in first stitch, 1 double crochet in next 4 stitches, repeat all the way around, slip stitch together

Rows 6-12: Chain 3, one double crochet in each stitch around, slip stitch together

Finish off, weave in ends.

Feel free to email me with any questions about the pattern, and be on the lookout for new Knots and Bubbles products as they'll debut here before Facebook or Etsy!

Soup and Nonsense

I fixed the previous post, the pattern is no longer lumped into all of the text!

I mentioned recipes in the last post, didn't I? So, I'm vegetarian, my husband is not, he's been a very good sport about trying just about any recipe I get it into my head to try. This means, we eat meatless the majority of the time. This recipe is one I found on All recipes, we loved it so much that we used the some of the leftover as sauce on our tortellini. Fair warning: this recipe makes a TON. (I seriously have at least half a gallon left.) Also, butternut squash are a beast to cut if you have cheap knives.

Butternut Squash-Sweet Potato Ginger Bisque

2lb Butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks 4 sweet potatoes 1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 (2 inch) piece of ginger 3 cloves garlic peeled and sliced 1 1/2 qts water or enough to cover

1 cup plain yogurt, or to taste salt and pepper to taste

Place the squash, sweet potatoes, onion, ginger, and garlic in a large pot. Pour in enough water to cover the vegetables. (I used two containers of vegetable stock plus two cups of water.) Bring to simmer over medium heat, and cook until vegetables are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork, 30 to 45 minutes.

Remove pot from heat. Place soup in batches into a blender or the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Return soup to pot, and whisk in yogurt. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If necessary, reheat soup over low heat, but do not allow to boil.

My blender isn't the best, but the soup still turned out fantastic.


I tried to link my Etsy store and the Knots and Bubbles facebook page in the last post, but the links disappeared. I'll keep working on that.

I may, at some point, continue where the other entry left off the story of what happened while I was away for three years. Just not today.

I do have more patterns coming! I was asked about a (grown up) beanie pattern, and I finished that this morning, so it'll probably be next entry.

Nothing terribly exciting going on around here. I was supposed to be starting back to school this month, but there was an issue with my FAFSA that I didn't get fixed in time, so I'll have to wait until next term. I actually found a school that offers a bachelors in Forensic Psychology! I'll still most likely need a Ph.D to get a job in the field, but at least I'm not stuck in strictly criminal justice courses until I get to that level.

Until next time. :)

A Different Direction

This is a blog I've had for a while, and I've decided to transform it into something better. If I have new readers, welcome! To anyone who read it from the start, welcome back! Anyway. There is so much more to the story in the previous post, gaining a step-daughter, going bugshit at my wedding reception, a new fitness plan, baking, and new crochet patterns, as well as Knots and Bubbles!
First off, I promised patterns for the NILMDTS project, so here is the first:

Baby Beanie
I'm using an H (5mm) hook, and Caron Simply Soft yarn, patterns will differ based on hook size and yarn weight.
Chain four, join with slip stitch to form ring

Row 1: Chain three, nine double crochet in ring join with slip stitch (10 double crochet)

Row 2: Chain three, two double crochet in each stitch around, join with slip stitch (20 double crochet)

Row 3: Chain three, double crochet in first stitch, two double crochet in second stitch, repeat all the way around, join with slip stitch (30 double crochet)

Row 4: Chain three, one double crochet in first two stitches, two double crochet in next stitch, repeat all the way around, join with slip stitch (40 double crochet)

Row 5: Chain three, one double crochet in first three stitches, two double crochet in next stitch, repeat all the way around, join with slip stitch (52 double crochet)

Rows 6-10: Chain three, one double crochet in each stitch around, join with slip stitch (52 double crochet)

Finish off and weave in ends.

If you would prefer to have the hat a bit longer, or have a bit of a 'band' on it 4-5 rows of single crochet (one single per stitch all the way around) is a good finishing touch. Any questions or issues with the pattern, feel free to comment or contact me and I'll help as much as I can.


In other news, I started my own home business! Knots and Bubbles makes soaps, body scrubs, and custom crochet items. I have an Etsy store now, and a Facebook page :)

Keep checking back for more patterns, progress on the NILMDTS project, and some recipes I have to share!