My favorite condiment is mustard. I just love it.

I like yellow mustard on hot dogs and hamburgers. Dijon tastes great on sandwiches or in sauces. Spicy mustard on soft and hard pretzels is divine.

When I saw this recipe for cheddar, beer and mustard bread, I knew I had to have it.

You had me at mustard, but add in the cheese, beer and bread? (I love beer bread!)

This isn’t the quickest or easiest bread to make, but it’s worth the effort.

The dough is easy to assemble. Once it rises, you roll it out and spread the dijon mustard mixture over it. Then you cut it up, sprinkle on the cheese mixture (which contains paprika, one of my favorite spices) and put the staked pieces in a bread pan.

I put the extra cheese and mustard mixture on the top of the bread.

This stuff is pure delicious. It’s best served warm, right out of the oven.

And if your friends are anything like mine, this bread will be gone in 10 minutes flat. (Yes, it is THAT good.)

I already have plans to make this again over the weekend.

Don’t delay…your life will be better once you have this bread in it

Find the amazing recipe over on Smitten Kitchen and tell me what your favorite condiment is in the comments!

Are you a Tabasco lover? Ketchup? Mayo? If you could only have one condiment for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

I haven’t cooked anything interested in a while, so I don’t have a new recipe to share (I’ll fix this soon! I plan to spend some time baking this weekend…) My recent obsession with watching Downton Abbey has given me plenty of time to make progress on my Afghan crochet blanket, but I haven’t taken any pictures of it yet to share here. (PS. Please watch Downton Abbey. I LOVE it.)

Instead of sharing my own projects with you this week, I’m going to showcase some awesome projects from other creative bloggers out there.

Make a Yarn Pot

 This project from A Creative Cookie will show you how to create a yarn pot with only yarn, elmer’s glue and a piece of cardboard.  I think this would be a great little project to use up scrap yarn. I could use a few of these to hold odds and ends on my desk and maybe in the bathroom, too.

Wouldn’t one of these look cute piled up with cotton balls? Or Q-tips? Or paper clips?

Puff Stitch Scarf

I rarely crochet items to wear, but really like this pattern for a crocheted scarf from All About Ami. The pattern is simple and easy for beginners and it only uses 3 skeins of yarn! This looks like a fun and quick project. And as I sit here typing this on a cold February afternoon, I think I would like to be wearing this scarf right now.

Bottles Covered in Yarn

Here’s another great scrap yarn project. Craft and Creativity shows us how to add color to old bottles with some yarn and modge podge / glue. I love the bright colors!

Camera Lens Cozy

Kitty from A Law Student’s Journey shows us how to create a camera lens cover without any knitting involved. This will take you 2 minutes with some leftover thrift store sweaters. Great idea for protecting those extra lenses.

What crafty creations are you working on? Want to have one featured here? Email me your blog link or photos!

When I’m working from home, I often lose track of time. When I look up I’m surprised to find myself sitting in the dark, squinting into the light of my computer screen. Thats how I feel about January. I lost track of time somewhere in between the frustrations, disappointments and busyness of the month. All of a sudden, I’m squinting at the calendar, not believing it’s already February.

I had high expectations for January. I was ready for a new year. And while I made progress on my goals and in my business, I can’t help but feel like January kicked my butt. Setting new disciplines and routines isn’t easy. Developing consistency (one of my key words for the year) is a painful process. I felt like I was “going through the motions” and wasn’t very inspired. But I’m developing new habits and hopefully preparing myself for the rest of the year.

January’s Progress

I posted my goals for the year. Here’s a quick recap.

Knitting / Crafting Goals

 I’m in the process of creating a new baby blanket with Afghan / Tunisian Crochet stitches. I hope to have it finished by the end of February.

Cake isn’t really my thing. I’ve always been more of a birthday pie or birthday cheesecake girl. Since don’t enjoy eating cake, I rarely bake cake or cupcakes. Every now and then I break my rule. This week was one of those weeks.

I had a big time chocolate craving and needed to make a cake for a friend’s birthday. Most people aren’t weird like me and actually like birthday cake. So I decided to make Smitten Kitchen’s Everyday Chocolate Cake.

This recipe is very easy to throw together. And it even turned out well for baking at altitude (cakes can be tricky where I live at 6,000 feet elevation). The only problem? I liked the batter more than the actual cake. But that’s my problem with all cakes. I always want it to be less dry inside, but maybe what I really crave is a brownie?

The cake lovers at my gathering of friends enjoyed it, though. There weren’t any leftovers! (Thankfully for me!)

Is anyone else out there a cake hater like me? Do any of you cake lovers have a good recipe to bring me over to your side? Should I just throw a heaping scoop of ice cream over it and mix it together?

I didn’t alter the recipe at all so I’ll let you visit Smitten Kitchen to view it rather than retyping it here (yes, I’m feeling lazy today).

Somehow, I always think I need a new pair of fingerless gloves. I had some yarn that seemed perfect and I didn’t feel like creating my own pattern, so I found a nice pattern from knitty.com. I like the way they turned out, but for some reason I’m not sure I’ll actually use them. Maybe it’s because I’m using full blown gloves in the colder weather. These might be more useful when the weather warms up a little bit.

These gloves are a little unique from your typical pair of fingerless gloves. I had to pull out my first attempt because made the end ribbing and button hole facing the opposite direction. Thankfully, I only had to pull out about 20 rows of the ribbing and not the entire glove.

When you unbutton the top, you can unfold the top ribbing and cover more of the top of your fingers for extra warmth.

I used Mission Falls Superwash Merino Wool. The yarn is very soft and feels great on your skin.

You can find the project details on Ravelry or the free pattern on Knitty.

Many thanks to my sister-in-law who was my hand model for the picture. It’s really hard to take a picture of your own hands!!

I’m not much of a New Year’s Resolutions person. Instead of resolving to do better in the new year, I like to set more concrete goals for myself. I also have three words to describe my themes for the year in life and business. You can read more about my theme words (Create, Action, Consistency) here.

My full list of goals is in my private journal, but I think there’s something very helpful about announcing my blogging and business goals. Going public creates accountability and helps me stay committed to what I’m doing.

Knitting / Crafting Goals

2011 was an exciting year for knitting as I created my very first original knitting design. I enjoyed it so much that I created a few additional designs as well. Thanks to everyone who downloaded a pattern and for all of the compliments you gave me on my designs. I nervously released my first pattern, afraid that no one would like it and that no one would download it. Since releasing it in June, almost 1,000 people have downloaded it!

I will create at least 3-5 additional patterns in the coming year. Maybe more if I get into a knitting groove!

I also want to knit my first sweater. I’ve shied away from attempting to make clothing, but would like to give it a try.

Cooking

Many of my cooking supplies are still in boxes in the basement since I’ve moved around quite a bit lately. Without my supplies, I’ve been less excited about trying new recipes. But I want to cook and bake more this year and will try at least 3 new recipes each month. I’ll make sure to share all the good ones with you here or on the Facebook Fan Page (You’re not a fan? Like the page and join the discussion! We share cool links and tips with each other in a more interactive format on Facebook.)

Photography

I felt seriously uninspired in my photography last year. After completing a 365 project in 2010, I put my camera in a drawer and forgot to use it all year. Ok, not all year, but I didn’t actively look for opportunities to take photos. This year I’m challenging myself to the 365 project again to get back in the habit. Circle me on Goolge+ to follow along with my photography posts.

Reading

Some of you that have been reading for a while will remember that I read a lot of books. Last year I made it to 51, almost one per week. This year I intend to great at least 52. I’m reading Swamplandia! right now, which I highly recommend.

That’s it for me! My goals feel ambitious, but if I don’t feel a little uncomfortable with my goals it means I’m not challenging myself enough.

How about you? Any exciting goals you want to share for the new year?

I’m not…in fact, I’m headed out to buy a few last minute items today so I can watch football tomorrow (Go Broncos!)

If you still need some last minute gifts, here are a few ideas for the foodies and bloggers in your life.

Cookies

Instead of heading to the mall, why not stop by the grocery store and  make some holiday sweets for your friends and family.

Melt in the Mouth Cookies are a Christmas favorite in my family. The best part about these is that they’re so easy to make and you probably already have all the ingredients you need in your pantry.

Cranberry Lemon Scones would be the perfect treat with some coffee on Christmas morning. These scones have the perfect blend of tangy and sweet.

If you’re in the mood for something fancier and festive, make some Christmas Sugar Cookies

Blogging / Online Tools

Do you have someone in your life that loves to blog? Are they still using a wordpress.com or blogspot blog? Why not buy them their own personal URL and hosting so they can own their own space on the web?

Bluehost (affiliate link) makes hosting and domain purchasing easy. It’s especially easy for those of you who want to create WordPress websites. The installation couldn’t be easier. They also have amazing support and live chat for questions you have.

Once you buy them a domain name, they’ll need an easy WordPress theme to customize the look and feel of their blog. My favorite premium theme is Headway Themes (affiliate link). I have tried many premium themes and Headway surpasses them all. I use it on this site and a few others that I own.

If you want to design your own theme with minimal coding, this is the theme for you. It takes a little bit of time to become familiar with the interface, but once you do the possibilities for website design are endless.

Good luck to everyone as you finish up last minute details for the holidays! I’m off to tackle my to-do list!

Don’t worry, I’m not going to suggest that you start knitting a sweater for each of your family members. These ideas will be fast and easy…and they’ll get progressively easier as we get closer to the end of the month.

Today’s edition is for knitters. 

Gifts to Knit

Coffee Mug Cozies: These cozies are perfect for people who love to enjoy their warm beverages this winter. You can use your leftover scrap yarn to make them and they’re very simple and fast to make. Add a funky button and you have a great gift for the coffee lover in your life.  (Free pattern from Ravelry)

Simple Hats: Hat 1 (to the left) and hat 2 (right) will keep your friends and family warm this winter. These can be sized up or down. I’m terrible at measuring and knitting hats that actually fit my head so all the hats I knit for myself end up being gifts for my friends with babies and toddlers  (Free pattern for hat 1 and hat 2)

Cowls: My friends love these cowls. They take a little longer to knit than the hats and cozies, but you still have time! Cast on and get started. Find the pattern for the linear cowl here and the knobby cowl here.

Gifts for knitters

Do you have knitters in your life? Why not buy a gift certificate to Purl Soho or Knit Picks?

Want something more personal?

• A skein of handspun yarn in their favorite color
• Bamboo knitting needles (these are my favorite)
• Some unique knitting accessories

How about you?  Any suggestions for knitting related gifts? 

Leave a comment below and I’ll randomly select 5 people to receive a free knitting pattern from my store (your choice)!

Do you have all your presents wrapped and under the tree?

Or are you like me and haven’t even started shopping?

In the next few weeks of December, I’ll be posting about last minute gifts that you can make for your friends and family. Some will be craft related and others will involve food (I know it’s been a while since I had some recipes posted!)

Today’s last minute gift is a simple sewing project. Simple if you know how to sew…

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I’m a knitter and crocheter, but not a sewer. While visiting my Aunt in East Tennessee last month, I brought along some IKEA fabric and she taught me the basics of sewing.

We used some heavy upholstery fabric to make these bags from Purl Soho (free pattern). And because my Aunt is the sewing expert, she showed me how to alter the pattern to make grocery bags with bottoms and sides. Now I have quite a few stylish grocery bags and a few book bags for every day use.

These didn’t take me too long to make and I was just learning the basics of how to cut and sew. Purl Soho calls the the Twenty Minute Tote.

If you’re a sewer, you might want to make a few of these for the people on your list!  I use mine all the time. If you prefer knitting needles, make sure to check out my latest cowl patterns (here and here).

And in case you were wondering, I got all that cold and snowy weather that I wished for last week. We’ve had temperatures below 20 degrees for most of the last week in Denver with a good amount of snow.

I love knitting and wearing cowls this fall. Why?

1. Traditional scarves are annoying to loop and they never stay in place. Cowls are simple since they’re circular.
2. Cowls are easy and quick to make. Scarves always take much longer to knit than I think they will.
3. Cowls are versatile. They can be worn loosely on cool days or wrapped around for extra warmth when it’s cold.

I like this linear cowl even more than the knobby cowl because the pure merino wool is soft and warm. I also love the color. It looks similar to the yarn used in the Sand Cable Baby Blanket, but is a deeper royal blue.  The Malabrigo Merino Wool comes in some beautiful colors. I splurged on two skeins of it to make this cowl last time I shopped in my local knitting store. It’s so easy to work with and very soft to the touch–perfect to have close to your skin while wearing as a cowl.

I had a hard time figuring out what stitch pattern to use with this yarn. I tried cables, but thought the pattern looked too busy. I tried various types of lace patterns, but didn’t like them either. Finally, I settled on the simple texture and lines created with only knit and purl stitches. The pattern is simple and can be finished rather quickly. You might even have time to knit a few for Christmas gifts!

You can buy the pattern for $2.99 from Ravelry (you don’t need a Ravelry account to buy) by clicking on the button below. For more details, check out the Ravelry Pattern Page. And as a special bonus, if you buy the Linear Cowl pattern by December 4th, I will email you the Knobby Cowl Pattern for free! Then you can go cowl crazy like me!

We’ve had a pretty mild fall in Colorado. Most days have been too warm for cowls, but snow is in the forecast. I’m doing my snow dance since I’m a skier who wants better early season snow conditions. I’m also looking forward to cooler temperatures so I can start wearing all my warm knitted accessories!

What should I put on the needles next? Share what you’re working on this month in the comments. I need some inspiration for my next project!