Beautiful Yarn and Temperature Scarf Progress

Well, I'm just about caught up with everyone else's blog posts that I've missed... 'almost' being a relative term. There's one other Temperature Scarf that I've seen, or at least the mention of a plan to make one.

I'm ridiculously excited and positively giddy that my colors are now decided, and the yarn has been purchased.

How pretty is this?

...and I haven't even started yet!

There's a scarf (gift) sitting in my 'Crocheting Corner' and another small project that I've assigned due dates. Once those are completed, 2013 Scarf, here I come!

My assigned colors, in case anyone is interested:
100*+: Simply Soft, Autumn Red
90*-99*: Red Heart Soft, Really Red
80*-89*: Simply Soft, Persimmon
70*-79*: Simply Soft, Sunshine
58-69*: Simply Soft, Soft Green
46*-57*: Simply Soft, Sage
33*-45*: Simply Soft, Lt. Country Blue
21*-32*: Simply Soft, Blue Mint
10*-20*: Simply Soft, Pagoda
0*-9*: Simply Soft, Blackberry
Below 0*: Yarn Bee...uhh, dark purple with a silver strand running through it.

These temperature chunk cut-offs are pretty arbitrary, so small adjustments may be needed as the year progresses.

I'm still thinking that I will add some 'extreme weather' conditions to some days, i.e. white curly yarn with sparkle for blizzard/snow, gray for extremely high winds, and maybe even a black for severe thunderstorms (I'm hoping I won't need to add any brown for a tornado...). At this point, I can't decide if it will detract from the color gradient I've already created. Any thoughts?

Post-sledding Fun

Here's a quick picture from some sledding fun this weekend.

mmmmm...what's better than a thermos full of cocoa waiting for you in the car to warm you up a bit? Remember playing outside so long that your cheeks were this rosy and cold? Ah, the sheer joy of childhood fun!

Temperature Scarf

It's taking a bit of time to get caught up with blogs again, so maybe I'm a little slow in catching on to some popular projects. But once the idea of this one entered my mind, I can't stop thinking about it!

Source

It's a scarf that has one row (or more) every day according to the weather. You choose your location (where you live or a place you wish you lived or a city you'd love to visit) and keep track of the average temperature of each day. Then you choose your colors according to those temperatures. The 'or more' of each day's row comes in if there are notable weather conditions (like a blizzard, high winds, thunderstorms, tornado, etc.).

Basically, you will end up with a scarf that is over 365 rows and a beautiful transition of warm and cool colors!

Initially, I thought that this project should wait a little while since I've recently started my third Ugly Blanket (a newly created pattern, too!). But since the idea just keeps brewing in my head, I've decided on this: I will keep track of our weather (going back to January 1) and start a list in a notebook. I will gather scraps of yarn that I need for the various temperatures and pick up a skein here and there of colors I don't yet have. That way, I'm not going to end up buying a whole ton of yarn all at once, but I'll still have all that I'll need to make this project.

Now I just need to decide what kind of yarn I'll use. Red Heart or I Love This Yarn are good choices because of the variety of colors, but Caron Simply Soft would be nice and light-weight for something that could potentially end up with a lot of length and weight. Obviously, Bernat suggests their own brand, Bernat Satin; however, I don't have any of that on hand.

I'm really excited about this being a project that won't be too warm to work on in the summer, too! Is anyone else making this project this year? Or have you done it in the past?

A picture

A friend just sent this to me. It's a pretty good depiction of my life!

Perhaps if this was accepted for my driver's license picture, it would be more recognizable as being me. Seriously, I've had to 'reintroduce' myself over email to people as 'the crocheter' so they know who I am when they don't remember my name.

I love everything about this.

Now where can I buy those socks?

Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cheesecake

Last week, ricotta cheese was on sale with extra money off for gas. It was a pretty good deal, so hubby picked some up. We also had a couple boxes of lasagna noodles in the cabinet, so it was good timing to make a lasagna. However, the ricotta was a larger container than what I needed to make the lasagna, and I wanted to make sure that the extra wouldn't go to waste. So I suggested that hubby look up a recipe for cheesecake or something so we could use it up before it went bad.

He found nothing. Not to be deterred, ingenuous man that he is, he created a masterpiece recipe.

Doesn't it just look delicious?

So here's your recipe:

Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cheesecake

Ingredients:
16 oz. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup plain yogurt (vanilla would work, too)
4 eggs
2/3 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 prepared chocolate pie crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat ricotta, yogurt, eggs, and sugar. Add vanilla. You can mix in chocolate chips now or save to sprinkle on top.
Pour mixture into the prepared shell. Do not overfill the shell -- it rises slightly when baking.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Let pie cool, then refrigerate to set; the pie will become creamy and dense. Serve cold.

Enjoy!

Yogurt

This, my friends, is my first batch of homemade yogurt!

A Beautiful Model

This is, by far, the best way to display a headband!

I love it when people send me pictures. =)