Ahh I’ve had “design a knit octopus” on my to do list forever and I’m so glad to see that Whit’s Knits  on The Purl Bee has created a free octopus pattern!

Who would you knit a stuffed octopus for?  I am thinking about making it for a friend’s birthday. Would you listen to Octopus’ s Garden while you made it?

images via the purl bee & boy girl party

It is Friday! I am taking a tip from a good friend of mine and treating myself to a large coffee and doughnut to help me finish out this week. I would have shared a picture of the doughnut but lets be real here, I ate it in the car on the 3 minute drive home. Do you have any Friday treats, like pizza or bacon & eggs?

I finally put my yoga teaching schedule online.

A few really tasting looking veggie dishes.

Just downloaded this BabyCakes app. I haven’t used it but I think it will help me with making more gluten free and vegan baked goods.

With Summer just around the corner I am casting on this tote bag pattern.

Mother’s Day is coming up. Have you thought of baking mom a little something?

You know I love a good bundt cake recipe, but would you make an olive oil bundt cake?

I’ve got this buttermilk cake recipe in the oven right now and I can’t stop listening to Icona Pop’s I Love It.

image via Gemma Correll

I have quite a bit going on this weekend. I’m headed over to Blooma to learn more about Baby and Mama yoga classes. I made blueberry muffins to share with the class. Hopefully my classmates enjoy baked goods! What are your weekend plans?

This clip of Diane Keaton on the Ellen show, makes me want to grow-up to be her.

The YogoMat a city guy or gals dream yoga mat.

Pick your city and bike safely.

A knitter’s “Spring cleaning” inspirational blog post.

I keep listening to this cover of Toxic.

A healthy carrot cake cupcake recipe.

Everyone I know or know through blogs have been suggesting this book. Have you read it?

Audrey & Gregory image via Vanity Fair

It is April 19th and it is snowing. I know this isn’t big news and I do live in the Midwest, so I’m not complaining but above is a picture of my backyard and I’m pretty sure even the snow is geting sick of itself. So here are are few things that are keeping me going during what are hopefully these last days of Winter.

A few weeks ago I made these Coconut Morning Glory Muffins for my 5:30 am yoga class and they were easy to make, super healthy and brought lots of cheer to a chilly morning.

I’ve been doing this No-Crunch Core workout video to remind myself that I’ll be wearing a swimsuit sometime soon.

I’ve been watching this Lost Love video about once a day since it was posted. Something about it makes me so happy and optimistic about love stories that end gracefully instead of all over facebook.

I can’t wait to knit this love braid cardigan to wear over summer dresses.

I love the idea of curling up under one of these beautiful blankets under the stars by the campfire or on the pontoon watching fireworks.

Well that is what keeps me chugging along till we hit the mid 60′s. What keeps you going?
image/print available to purchase via the wheat field

If you don’t already know I am a yoga instructor, a knitwear designer and baker. I am so lucky because I not only have three passions in life and I get pursue them all. However, when you let people know you give knitting lessons or to check out your blog for a recipe, they tend to want a business card. So I finally got 200 business cards made from Moo and  can’t wait to hand them out to everyone I meet!  Now, that isn’t the biggest thing I need to share with you, I’m just super excited about getting business cards.

I want to share the treat I made in less than 10 minutes or the time between checking my email and heading off to my kid’s yoga lesson. They are No-Bake Energy Bites and I found the recipe last week on Pintrest. I figured that since I would be bopping around town all week I should make something to help keep me going besides chomping down on almonds and dried cranberries.

1 cup (dry) oatmeal

1/2 cup chocolate chips, I used dark chocolate

1/2 cup peanut butter, I used natural peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together, roll in to balls and lay on wax paper.  Wait for the bites to set or glue together before putting them in a container or sandwich bag.

Also, I know I haven’t posted on using my Ultimate Sweater Machine lately because I had a bit of a fight with it the other day. Meaning I was an expert at using the machine right away and had to take a step back. Yesterday, I worked for 4 hours on the machine and I’m happy to say we are friends again and by the end of next week I should be able to make more than just a square.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent my weekend bumming around Chicago visiting with friends, eating tasty food and drinking fancy coffee. It was great to see friends, especially those I haven’t seen since I moved away! I love these types of visits because always it reminds me that I am so lucky to have so many amazing friends and will  taste test all so many baked goods.  I made Buttered Popcorn Chocolate Chip Cookies, Kitchen Sink Bars (yes, I renamed them), Lemon Blueberry Bread and Cole’s Brownies.

I’ll share the recipes for the bread and brownies later this week because I want to make another announcement. The I heart knitting tote bag is now for sale in my Etsy store! I have been using my tote over the last few weeks and can’t imagine life without it.  Alright, that is a bit dramatic but I do love this bag. It is the perfect size for throwing a couple of snacks inside, a knitting project, book and water bottle. To celebrate the new tote, if the homemade goodness’ facebook page gets up to 100 likes by Friday at 10 pm, I’ll give one tote bag away! You’ll be entered to win, if you share thg facebook page or if you are a new like.  Best of luck everyone!

Since I’ve mentioned Spud before I won’t go into much detail but I thought I would show you all how Spud grew into the cute lamb he is today.

He started out small but he increased row by row, similar to a top down hat or sock.

The twisted loop stitch was more time consuming than I thought it would be and I would probably try to avoid doing it in the future.

Filling stuffed animals with the fiber fill is so much fun because you finally get to see what the little guy is really going to look like.

I waited to assemble him until all his parts were completed.

Sans bow tie.

Spud is a pattern from Susan B. Anderson’s book Spud & Chole at the Farm.

Loving chevron patterns? Then check out this free Chevron Baby Blanket pattern from Espace Tricot? Just think of the color combinations you could come up with!

Or my Mabel Cowl pattern. Adding a new cowl to your Winter wardrobe may help add a bit of cheer to this snowy month!

I was aimlessly pushing my cart through Target this weekend trying to trigger my brain into remembering the one thing I came there for, when I spotted Birthday Cake Oreos and without thinking placed them in my cart.  When I got home they sat on the counter for 30 minutes before I crushed them up and made them into Oreo truffles.

Since this was a test run and wasn’t concerned with how they looked, I used the red colored candy melts I had in the cupboard.  And even though they don’t look that great they do taste amazing but I don’t think I’ll be making them again because they tasted very similar to regular cake pops.  However, I would like to try to make the truffles with Birthday Cake Oreo-chocolate wafers instead of graham cracker wafers.

Also, I finally finished one of my wedding blankets this weekend but I haven’t had a chance to send it to the lovely couple, so here is a sneak peak of the color combinations.

I mentioned before that I purchased a knitting machine and have very grand plans forwhat I’m going to do with it, but first I needed to assemble it and watch an instructional video.

I am very happy to say that I have now accomplished both! I practice knit a few small things and I’m pretty sure by the end of next week I’ll be casting-on my first “real” project.

I’ve also been knitting a few things for my niece’s first birthday later this month and even thought I started making this sheep a few days before Christmas, I will be sewing it all together sometime today.

What are you up to this weekend? Thinking about baking, then check out these 10 Favorite Peanut Butter Recipes post from Add a Pinch.