Working in Slo-Mo

Today was horrible for me! I was in so much pain from the surgery, it made me rethink my memories from the last surgery. I also ended up taking pain pills, and crocheting a lot slower than I had the previous day. I was able to complete yarn flowers from LionBrand's Amazing "Glacier Bay."

These should make a nice addition to the selection of flowers that I will have for the craft show.

The Bandage is on the Other Knee

I had quite a busy day today. First off, bright and early, I had surgery on my other knee for a torn meniscus.

I might have mentioned in mid-August that I messed up my "good" knee while at band practice. Well, I was able to get in for surgery today, and it seemed to go just fine. I spent the remainder of the day crocheting more flowers from LionBrand's Amazing.

Violets

Mauna Loa

I love the Mauna Loa flowers more than I initially thought I would. That little pop of bright color every once in a while is so eye-catching! Other that that, Mom and Dad are here to help out during my convalescence, and I look forward to spending quality time with them.

Crocheted Flowers - Wildflowers

I had hoped to crochet some flowers for the craft show in November, and I experimented with some of Red Heart's Team Spirit yarn, but wasn't happy with the results. Oh, the actual crocheting went fine, but the yarn didn't change colors as fast as I had hoped, so I decided to pick up some yarn that was on sale at Wal-Mart, LionBrand's Amazing. I finished the skein of "Wildflowers" today.

I love the way that the colors change and the overall feel of the yarn. I intend to make pins, barrettes and hair pins with these flowers.

The Lady of the Rings

I'm getting really good at these rings!

I was able to make 16 rings today! I'm really happy with them. Did I mention that I sold one of the previous rings the other night? I brought the rings I had to date in to Tidewater to show Nicole, and Julia decided that she just *had* to have one. I hope that they're just as popular at the craft show!

Ravens Love

Look at what I got at band tonight, a gift from the Ravens!

Apparently, it's a pretty close replica of the Ravens Super Bowl Champion ring, just in pin format. This is the kind of thing that makes band worth it - just kidding, I love band. I also learned tonight from Jeff (the guy I carpool with to band) that our last pin had an actual diamond in it. One of the other trumpet players had his pin looked at in the past, and learned that interesting factoid. Now I wonder about the stones in this pin...

Cinnamon French Toast Bake

We held Josh's baby shower today. You might recall that I made a baby blanket for him, but for the brunch, I made Cinnamon French Toast Bake.

Cinnamon French Toast Bake

Ingredients
French Toast Bake

• 1/4 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, melted
• 2 cans (12.4 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
• 6 LAND O LAKES® Eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup Fisher® Chef's Naturals® Chopped Pecans
• 1 cup maple syrup

Garnish

• Icing from cinnamon rolls
• Powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup, if desired

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Pour melted butter into ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Separate both cans of dough into 16 rolls; set icing aside. Cut each roll into 8 pieces; place pieces over butter in dish.
2. In medium bowl, beat eggs. Beat in cream, cinnamon and vanilla until well blended; gently pour over roll pieces. Sprinkle with pecans; drizzle with 1 cup syrup.
3. Bake 20 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove covers from icing; microwave on Medium (50%) 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle.
4. Drizzle icing over top; sprinkle with powdered sugar. If desired, spoon syrup from dish over individual servings. Serve with the additional 1/2 cup maple syrup.

I thought it turned out great! I was worried that it would be too sweet, so I chose not to use the powdered sugar or extra topping of syrup, and it was excellent just like that.

More Rings

I had a little time before work today, so I thought I'd made some more vintage earring rings.

I think I'm getting better at removing the earring backings, so that I can glue on the ring blanks. The hard part is deciding which earring to make into rings, and which to possibly save to make bracelets. I have a bunch that would go well together as bracelets, but am short an earring or two to fill out the bracelet blanks. I'll think on it some more and decide on something soon.