Learning New Things and Revisiting the Old Ones

Over the holidays, I learned a few new things.  I learned how to make butter from whipping cream and a Mason jar....really neat!  I also learned how to make bread.  This is something I always wanted to do, but never thought I had the time.  Well, now that my daughter has moved out on her own, I am finding I have "extra" time on my hands. J

I am not a fan of white bread, so I dug out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and found a honey wheat bread recipe.  And this is what happened:

Oh my goodness!  It was out of this world!!  So of course now my husband only wants the homemade stuff - what have I gotten myself into?!  Seriously though, it did turn out incredible (if I do say so myself)...I also made a batch of French bread which turned out well - but did not seem worth the effort...I guess because the loaves are so skinny.

I have also decided to get back into crafts.  It has been 10 years since I held a crochet hook or knitting needles in my hands.  So, I crocheted this scarf for my daughter:

This shows the color she chose - it was a variegated purple and deep blue color.  And here is the finished scarf:

The picture came out a little dark, but I was very pleased with my work.  It had been a LONG time!  And now that I have my confidence back, I am knitting another scarf that is worked in a berry stitch pattern.  I saw it on Mama Pea's blog and she kindly shared the pattern with me.  I forgot how much more time knitting takes than crocheting...I am hoping to have it finished by the time I start planting the garden!