Spring

     Because we are home schooled, we didn't do our spring break til this week. So, we went to a place near us called Old Town Spring. It is (I think) two streets with refurbished houses made into stores. 

 
     There was a toy store that my brothers liked, and later they bought something. It had puppets and toys and toys and toys. It was pretty cool.

     There were quite a few vintage stores that looked pretty cool. Boutiques were one of the dominate stores. I went in a couple but didn't really care for too many of them. There was an awesome candy store that we looked at and bought some candy. Sadly, I did not take any pictures of that store.

a really cool vintage bike that I had to take a picture of.

     My favorite store we went too was a few blocks away from Old Town Spring. It was a yarn store called Twisted Yarns. It was absolutely overwhelming. I just wanted to buy everything. My mom and I ended up buying each a ball of yarn to make something with.

This is just the sock yarn shelf. There was a LOT more.

Because of the way the yarn was twisted, we had to use a contraption to make it into a ball called a swift. It was pretty cool. I really want one, and yes, you can get one for your house.

     It was a tiring day, but it was really fun. Thankfully it is not far away so we can go again sometime.

Yarn Along

     I am still reading On the Banks of Plum Creek. Which, for me, is horrible. Usually I read really fast. I mean REALLY fast. Well, I guess I am going to have to start reading as soon as I am done with this post. 
     I am still knitting the socks, but I am taking a break since I have to crochet some little animals for a friend's shop. It's cool having a "job".         
     You probably can't tell but the animal in the picture is a dog. The black spot on it is a nose. 

TOTEally Awesome

     At the moment, I am still learning how to sew. My mom knows some sewing, not enough to teach me though. To help me and her out with sewing, she bought a book for both of us to learn from. It is called Stitch By Stitch and is written by Deborah Moebes. She also has a website that you should check out called Whipstitch.

 

     On my first post I said I made a placemat. Well, since I am going through this book, I have finished my latest project... A TOTE BAG! Excuse my screaming. The awesome part is that it's reversible! It took me a whole weekend to finish, but I did it.

Here is the inside.

I love sewing!! Seriously, you have to try it. I know sewing is not for everybody, but don't say that until you try it. As soon as I finish my next project I will post about it.

Meatloaf

Meatloaf, it's so old fashioned and comforting. It's sounds like it would be something a housewife would make. It also sounds like something that June Cleaver would take out of the oven (for some of you younger ones that don't know who that is, I am not going to sit down and explain) that and a good pot roast with potatoes and carrots.
     Today we are not going to talk about pot roast. We are going to talk about meat loaf. I have "invented" my own meatloaf recipe. Basically, what I did was take my mom's and my mamaw's recipe and put what I wanted in it. Your probably thinking "What! A fifteen year old girl making up her own recipe!!!" to me, meatloaf is foolproof.
     Let's get started.

     First, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Then, cut up 1/4 of an onion, 1/4 of a bell pepper, and one clove of garlic. I sautéed them in a little bit of olive oil. They don't need to get brown. About five minutes is probably good enough.

     Once the vegetables were done, I added them to about 1 & 1/2 lbs. of ground beef. I just stirred it up with a fork, but you can use your hands if you prefer to get your hands dirty.

     After that was all mixed up, I went ahead and added 1 egg, 1 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 T worcestershire, and salt and pepper. I just sprinkled in the salt and pepper.

   Put it in a pie pan and stick it in the oven for one hour. When it's got about ten minutes left mix 1/2 cup ketchup with 1 T of brown sugar; pour it on top of the meatloaf. That should be enough but if you think you need more, then make more. Simple as that. 
     Note: I usually don't measure a lot of the ingredients, so if you feel like your meatloaf needs anything, add it.
     Serve it with any side dishes you like and you are done!

Meatloaf  
Serves 8

1 & 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/4 of an onion
1/4 of a bell pepper
1 clove of garlic
1 egg
1 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 T worcestershire 
dash of salt
pinch of pepper

Topping  
1/2 cup ketchup
1 T brown sugar
You can always make more topping if you feel like your meatloaf needs it.

Yarn Along

                       
        I am participating in a weekly link up where we write about what we read and knit or crochet.    
     A few weeks ago I decided to be adventurous and knit a pair of socks which is pretty hard compared to what I have knitted in the past. The last thing I was knitting was a scarf. Yea.
     I am pretty far, and I can't wait to see the finished product.
     I am reading one of my favorite series that I have not yet finished. The book I have is the first five books. Though you can probably see that in the picture. The one I am reading is On the Banks of Plum Creek. It's really good! I just love the pioneer times. Any book (well almost any) book I read that is in that time period I will read. It's got to be good though.
     

                                      

Tea Anyone?

Alright, another post!
     Okay, there was one thing I forgot to mention about me in the last post...and that would be my love of TEA!!!! For the past eight months or so I have learned, and am still learning, how to make the perfect pot (or cup depending how many people want tea) of tea. I really don't know why I like it. Maybe it's because I love to watch British movies. I don't know.

Now I am not an expert, but I can definitely give you a couple of tips on where you can get good tea, how to drink it, and how to start, if of course you're  interested. 
     Now first of all you are going to need a tea kettle. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's a pot that you heat water with. When you fill it with water you boil the water, and when it whistles it is done. Then you pour the boiled water in the pot with the tea. Okay, some of you might have known that step but some people might not.  

                                            This is a tea kettle not a tea pot.

     
      Now you cannot start drinking (or making for that matter) tea without a proper tea set. You can, however, make it with a plain tea kettle and coffee mug, but umm how boring is that! But don't push it. You can totally start out with what you have and then buy a tea set.  As you can see here, the tea set does not have to match.

                             This tea set includes tea cup, tea pot, sugar bowl, and a creamer


     Last, but certainly not least, you're gonna need tea. You can buy tea almost anywhere. I have bought it at our grocery store and it tasted fine. That is probably where you want to start. The best tea, I find, for beginners is white tea. It is a very mild and soft tea that tastes pretty good. If you like tea then you can go on to different types and brands to see what you like best. My favorite tea so far was one that I bought at Barnes & Noble. They have lots of good quality tea for a pretty good price. You can also reuse tea bags and loose tea, so don't waste any of it. I have never seen loose tea anywhere except tea stores but look around. You might find something you like somewhere you least expect it.

                          These are both green teas and they are both good. The loose tea I got at 
                                        Teavana which is a specialty tea store. Specialty tea stores can get expensive 
                                                so make sure you like tea before you invest in expensive tea.

   
I hope you found this post helpful and that you will come to enjoy tea like I do!



                                         Thank you for reading!



                                            

Pins and needles

Ok, so, this is my very first post! On this blog. I actually had one quite a few years ago when I was, like, eight or nine. It did not work out to well because I didn't know how to type. But now that I am older I can really keep this up.
     So now I am going to go on with the post. 

     I LOVE to sew, crochet, knit, cross stitch, cook, and bake(I guess that would classify as cooking but it makes it seem like I know more stuff).








 Hence the name Pins & Needles, Pots & Pans. I love saying that. Yes I came up with the name myself, no help was needed. So anyways, I can do all those things and I love doing them. I also love(yes there is more) singing, learning guitar, I also like violin but I don't know anyone who plays it, reading, and writing. 

     So yea I am a busy person. Well I have to pass the time since I finish school around noon. In your face kids that go to school!! Hehehehe. Just kidding(not really). 
     I have always home schooled, except one year I went to an international school. And that was only a hundred students or so. So it had more of a private school feel. But I never will go back. Home schooling from now on, till I graduate.





     Ok so now that you know a little about me I will get on to what I have been doing lately. 
     I am still learning how to sew, and a couple of days ago I finished my very first big project.
     It is a place mat. Open it has pockets that you can put stuff in and bring it with you. Once it was all finished I felt a sort of accomplishment that felt good. It was unlike something you feel after completing a level in a video game. And I can use the place mat in life, where after I am done with a video game I am like "what do I do now?"

Well I hope you liked my first post, and that you did not find it boring. I hope to post once or twice a week, so you will be hearing from me again soon. 



               




                                          Thank you for reading!