News from the Nest, June 27
Good Morning!
I sure hope you had a great weekend. We have had a busy week of getting together with friends, family and neighbors and it has been delightful! Of course, we also had plenty of time to work in the yard; the weather has been gorgeous.
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We were able to gather with our Game Night Crew at our home on Friday night for dinner and games. Typically we play cards, but I introduced a new game that I thought would just be a warm up for cards. We enjoyed it so much that we dismissed the cards and played Ransom Notes all night. Without exaggeration, we were crying with laughter for most of the game.
As it is, it is definitely a game for mature audiences, but the card prompts could easily be edited for younger audiences. I’ll be taking it on our family vacation this weekend, I think my mom will enjoy it.
new on the blog
- I gathered some recipes from several of my favorite food bloggers that are easy, healthy and frugal! Check out these more than 20 Frugal Recipes if you are looking for ways to still eat well on a tight budget.
- Patio Tomatoes! I have several patio tomatoes on the deck along with the tomatoes growing my ‘yard’ garden. Sharing 10 tomato plants that do well in containers, as well as how to plant them and keep them healthy.
Table of Contents
summer travel
- As I previously mentioned we are heading to the mountains of North Carolina this weekend. My family (minus our son in California), my mom and my brother’s family will gather for week of fun and food. We are big podcast listeners when we travel. If you will be traveling any time soon, I recently updated my Favorite Podcasts List.
- Nab your travel checklist and tips for organized travel
- If you need to keep your hands busy while traveling:
- Seven free knit dishcloth patterns…perfect for travel.
- Basic embroidery skills are all you need to make this French Knot Monogram. Once you do one, you’ll be a pro.
- It is never too early to get a start on Christmas projects. Depending on how far you will be traveling, you could get all your Christmas stockings made.
use your garden bounty
- Mozzarella Tomato Bruschetta will help you use some of your tomato bounty.
- Jalapeño Cheese Spread, Pickled Jalapeños and Jalapeño Jelly will put a dent in your pepper proliferation.
- Put up jars of refrigerator pickles as you pick your cucumbers. This jar-by-jar dill pickle recipe comes very close to the crisp Clausen-style pickle.
cool treats for hot days and nights
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich Cookies
- Red White and Blue Ice Cream Popsicles
- Iced Mocha Latte Ice Cream Popsicles
- and for the grown-ups….My dad’s Famous Margaritas
learn to knit this summer
If you want to learn how to knit or are looking to brush up on your knitting skills and knowledge, pop over to the How to Knit page, which houses all of the posts that teach knitting skills. Or, you could go ahead and visit each one by clicking the links below.
All About Knitting
- All About Yarn, including different fibers and weights, how to read a yarn label, and a Yarn Weights Chart
- All About Knitting Needles, including material, sizes, styles, and a Needle Conversion Chart.
- How to Cast On Using the Long-Tail Method, including calculating how much yarn is needed to cast on and how to make a slip knot.
- How to Knit the Knit Stitch
- How to Knit the Purl Stitch
- How to Knit the Seed Stitch
- How to Bind Off, including how to weave in your loose ends.
- How to Read a Knit Pattern, including a Common Knitting Abbreviations Chart.
- This simple Garter Knit Dishcloth will let you put all your new skills to good use!
- How to Block Your Knitting.
- Common Knit Errors; How to Prevent or Diagnose and Fix Them
- Join yarn using the Russian Join
- How to seam pieces of knit fabric with the Mattress Stitch (for sweaters, tops, pillows, etc…)
- How to Knit in the Round with Circular Needles
- How to Knit in the Round with Double-Pointed Needles
- How to Knit in the Round using the Magic Loop Technique.
- Organize Your Knitting with these free printables.
- Check out our Gift Ideas for Knitters.
Well, my friends, I wish for you a week filled with laughter and sunshine 🌞 (with a few chocolate chip cookies thrown in for good measure!)
Hugs,
While it is very easy to find patterns for dishcloths, it’s almost impossible to find an easy pattern for potholders!!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for your comment! You’ve prompted me to put out some potholder patterns. I just did some research on the best yarns to use and will begin some patterns asap!
Hugs, Lynn