2.75 Miles

Happy Wednesday everyone! I trust your day is going well and the weather is not nearly as sporadic as it has been here.  Monday we got about 4" of snow overnight and during rush hour traffic.  Then, on Tuesday, it was up to 50° and tomorrow we are supposed to see freezing temperatures.  

Or as I like to say, mother nature is going through menopause and is experiencing some major hot flashes.  Either way, the weather is really messing with my joints and my head.  I definitely need some consistency.

Monday, Janna and I headed out to the YMCA to do our exercise one of Tina's Best Body Boot Camp.  It was much more difficult this time because we decided we were going to up our weights from 8 lbs to 10 lbs. It is amazing to see how big of a difference 2 lbs can make when doing certain exercises.  

For our half marathon training, we had 2.75 miles on the books and I have to be honest and say it was difficult for me, but I did finish.

I managed to get through the first mile at 6.0 mph but after that, it went downhill.  I have talked before about having shin splints and how unbelievably painful they can be and it looks like they are starting to come back.  Which, in most cases, means I just need a new pair of shoes.  BUT, we were just at the running store a few weeks back and they told me I should be able to get another few months (or 150 miles) out of the shoes.  I think this weekend I will have to make it a point to go back to the store and talk to them about maybe getting new shoes.

I wanted to give everyone an update about Frye and the eye situation.  Last week we had to take him in for a mini procedure to get some blisters removed from his eyes *sad face*.  I am happy to report that his eyes look good and he is feistier than ever.  He even managed to chew a rather  large hole in one of the boxes in our room.  Oh well, I am just glad he is feeling better.

Question of the Day:

What do you do for shin splints?

Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan

I've really been on a crock pot cooking kick lately and spent quite a bit of time online looking for yummy crock pot recipes I should try and stumbled upon this one.  Chicken Parmesan is a favorite in our household so you can imagine my relief when I saw that I could just throw it all into the crock pot and it would be ready when I got home.  

What You Need:

• 2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 t Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/4 t kosher salt
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 beaten egg
• sliced mozzarella cheese
• favorite jarred marinara sauce

What To Do:

• Spread the oil on the bottom of the crock pot
• In a separate bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese and the bread crumbs
• In a different bowl, whip the egg with a fork
• Dip the chicken into the whipped egg, then dip it in the breadcrumb mix, making sure to cover the entire chicken breast
• Place the breaded chicken breasts in the crock pot
• Cover each breast with 2-3 slices of cheese.  If you do not have slices, shredded mozzarella cheese will do the trick
• Pour the entire jar of marinara sauce on top of the chicken breasts
• Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4
• Once the chicken is ready, serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy!

This recipe, while delicious was not my favorite.  I found that if cooked too long, the sauce had an overall burned taste which made the chicken less enjoyable to eat.  If I had to choose between this or the Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan, I would choose the Healthy Baked Chicken Parmesan, but that does not mean I will not be making it again because it is simple and tasty.

Original Recipe found: Here

Valentine's Day Felt Wreath Tutorial

Happy Sunday Everyone! I trust your weekend has been as fun as ours has been! 

I told you in yesterday's post that I had started working on a Valentine's Day Wreath and today I managed to finish it! This is the tutorial, I hope you like it! 

What You Need:

• 3/4 yard crafting felt in Red (I used 72" wide)
• Heart shaped foam wreath 
• Box of dressmaker pins
• Scissors

How to Make the Wreath:

• Make your template for the 3" circles (I used cardboard, you can see it in the picture above)
• Cut several 3" circles out of the felt.  I did not keep count
• Fold the circle in half, then in half again

• Once you have folded the circle in 1/4, take a pin and stick it through the point of the fold

• Begin pinning the circles around the wreath and covering the wreath until you believe the wreath looks full enough
• Once you think it looks full enough, put a ribbon on the back for hanging purposes and you are done

Hang and Enjoy!

Friday/Saturday Fun Times

Last night a few of my girlfriends came over to hang out and do some Valentine's Day crafts.  I am working on a wreath for Valentine's Day that is turning out SUPER cute! So when I get done with it, I will make sure to share the tutorial with all of you.

After doing crafts, we watched Pitch Perfect since a few people had not seen the movie before.  It is still one of my favorites and always gets me to have a good laugh.

Holy Cow am I sore today! Janna and I went to the gym this morning to do some Zumba and do our Tina's Best Body Boot Camp Workout and all I have to say is OUCH! But it is a good ouch! The goal of this workout was to do 100 reps of each exercise that Tina gave us and by the time I completed the last set, I was thoroughly exhausted and feeling the burn.

After working out for 3.5 hours at the gym today, I showered and headed out to the mall with my mom to do some shopping.  I did not have anything in mind that I was specifically looking for, but I ended up scoring two dresses, two tops and two belts for $8.00 at Charming Charlie (I had a gift card).  I am rather excited about the outfits because I have not been shopping for new clothes in quite some time.  

The top two are the dresses with the belts and the bottom two are the shirts I bought.  What do you think?

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite clothing store to buy clothes?

North American International Auto Show

Who loves cars? This girl! Thursday night Justin, his dad and myself headed out to the North American International Auto Show for an evening checking out some pretty awesome cars.   

Thursday morning, however, was not quite as enjoyable as Thursday night.  Wednesday evening when Justin and I arrived home, we discovered that Frye's right eye had a major reaction and was swollen shut.  This is not the first time that his eyes have had issues, but the way his eye swelled got me rather concerned.  Luckily, the wonderful vet was able to get us in first thing the next morning.

Dr. Cunningham took a quick look at Frye's eye and discovered that he had developed blisters as a result of an old infection.  Apparently, like humans, kittens have a low immune system when they are little and cannot always fight off infection.  So when we took Frye in the last few times and we were giving him eye drops, the medicine was fixing the symptoms, but not the infection.  The solution? To scrape the blisters off his eyes.  :(

I felt absolutely terrible having to do this to him, but we knew that in the long run it would be better for him.  I am glad to report that he is doing much better and is back to his normal, curious self.  The best part? He is super cuddly.  I love having a kitten purring in my face.  

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite thing about your pet?

Santa Fe Crockpot Chicken

Hey All! This week has been ABSOLUTELY busy, but good.  

Tuesday night we had my cousin and her husband over for dinner and we had Santa Fe Crock Pot Chicken and it was delicious and super easy to make!

What You Need:

• 24 oz (1.5 lbs) chicken breasts
• 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes 
• 15 oz can black beans
• 8 oz frozen corn
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

How to Make this Recipe:

• Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt in crock pot.  Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper and place on top of mixture.
•  Cook on low for 10 hours or for 6 hours on high.  30 minutes before serving, take chicken out of crock pot and shred.  Return to chicken to crock pot and stir in.  
• Serve with rice or on wheat tortilla and enjoy!

I was nervous to about the spiciness, so I removed the cayenne pepper and fresh cilantro (but included them in the recipe in case you like spice).  This recipe turned out excellent and it is packed with protein! I cannot wait to make this recipe again and try mixing other items into it!

Original Recipe Found Here

Date Night with Justin

Good morning everyone! Is it cold where you are? Because it is freezing here! It has slowly been getting colder and colder over the last few weeks which is shocking to the body since a few weeks ago it was 60° out.

It looks like it will warm up a bit throughout the rest of the week, but today is killer.  It is cold enough out that majority of schools were closed today.  Lucky kids!

Yesterday Justin and I decided it was time to go out on a much needed date night.  We've been trying for a few weeks now to get one together and yesterday was the perfect opportunity to go out.  

We decided that Olive Garden would be the restaurant of choice since we both love their soup and breadsticks so much.  I decided to try a new meal for dinner and it turned out to be pretty delicious! After dinner we shared a very delicious chocolate cake.

I had a picture of Justin, but for some reason the camera decided that he needed to be blurry.  Always disappointing since he doesn't let me take pictures all that often.

After dinner we headed to the movies to see The Hobbit.

To be honest, I was not looking forward to seeing this movie, but I am SO very glad I did.  If you have not seen it yet, I would recommend taking the time.  I laughed, I cried and I was always on the edge of my seat.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite date night idea?

Weekend Recap

Happy MLK Day Everyone! I found this picture and it seemed to fit perfectly what I felt this day represents.  

This past weekend was busy but good.  Friday night Janna and I headed to the gym to make up the workout I missed on Wednesday night.  Janna and I decided to take Saturday as a rest day since she had worked out every single day for the last two weeks.  It was great to sleep in and get some extra cuddle time with Justin.

Saturday evening Justin and I went to Applebees with his parents then had them over to watch Looper. 

Like Inception, this movie really makes you think.  If you have not already seen this movie, I would recommend it.

Sunday started out with another make up workout.  Because of my leg injury, I was unable to do Tuesday's run and needed to make up 2.00 from Tuesday and needed to do the 2.25 miles from Saturdays.  We ended up doing only 2.25 miles because of time constraints, so last week I missed my 2.00 mile run from Tuesday.

After the gym, Justin and I headed out to Holly for his cousin's son's first birthday party.  I love going to first birthday parties because of how cute the kids are when they smash their cakes.

He was even sweet enough to share his cake with his momma and grandma.

After the birthday party, I headed to Justin's Aunt Margy's house to spend an afternoon crafting with his mom and Aunt.  It was nice to just spend time with those wonderful ladies and work on some of my knitting projects.  

Question of the Day:

What is your ideal Sunday?

NAIAS

Hello Everyone! It's the day before the last day of the work week.  I'm excited.

This week has been a strange one for me.  With the injury to my calf, I have not been following my normal routine with going to work, eating dinner, then going to the gym.  On Tuesday evening, I did head to the gym for Tina's Best Body Boot Camp with Janna, but when I went to do my two mile run, I had to stop.  I knew that running was not an option for me on Tuesday because of the pain, but when I realized that even walking the two miles was not going to happen, I was rather disappointed.  At least I worked out! 

Yesterday started out a bit better than expected and I was able to really walk with only mild discomfort.  Plus, the sunrise was absolutely breathtaking.  It really caught my eye as I was waiting for the People Moved to arrive.

One of the biggest events that happens in Detroit every year is the North America International Auto Show (

NAIAS) and this year I get to go! One of the blessings of working where I do, I can get tickets to the show at a discounted price.

We went last year with Danielle and Stephen.  It is so fun to see all of the different cars they have and see the concept cars they offer.  I love seeing all of the different designs and getting to see the ins and outs of all of the cars.  We haven't decided what day we are going yet, but I know for sure we get to go with Justin's dad.  I'm hoping we go one day after work because otherwise it will get too busy and it is difficult to really enjoy the cars.

Tonight Danielle is coming over for dinner and then we are going to head to Zumba afterward.  I love going to Zumba with my friends.  It is always so much more enjoyable.  Plus, I have a short run that I need to get in.  Hopefully I will be able to do it all without too much discomfort!

Question of the Day:

What are your favorite events that happen in your town? 

Lighter. Quicker. Stronger.

Happy Tuesday Everyone! I trust your day is going well? Good!

Today started out super cold! It was 17° when I left for work this morning with highs of 30°.  Seems a bit cold does it not? I think it would be more enjoyable for me if I knew there was going to be snow.  We had 60° weather over the weekend that melted all of our snow away.  Bummer.

Last week when there was a lull in my workday, I decided to find and write out a few exercise oriented mantras for myself and stick them in places around my desk.  This one seems to have resounded the greatest with me and so I made a sticky note and took a picture.  I think it turned out pretty awesome and it's a firm reminder that the harder you work, the easier things get.  What do you think?

So I mentioned in my last post that I had a leg injury that was really getting to me.  It seems today that I should be better by tomorrow, but yesterday was rough.  I was feeling really defeated because I could hardly walk, I was exhausted and my head went to the most terrible place.  Luckily, when I got up this morning, it felt much better and I am planning on going to do a workout tonight.  Obviously I will not be doing the full workout, but I will be able to do other parts of the workout.

I am excited because I am thinking about selling Stella & Dot jewelry on top of my full-time job.  I went to their introductory meeting last night to get some more information about selling the jewelry and it seems like it could be a great opportunity for me to make some extra money on the side.

Plus, the jewelry is so cute and is something I would wear on a daily basis! They just released their new Spring/Summer and I am excited to get my hands on a few of their new pieces.  I will make sure to share more with you all if I decide to sell the jewelry!

Questions of the Day:

If you could sell any product would it be?

How do you deal with injuries?

A Bit Nervous

This is a post that I started yesterday but never finished...Sorry that this is to text heavy.

Good Morning All, I trust your Monday is going well.  Today's post is going to be a bit of an emotional one as I am starting to address finding my birth parents again.  That, and I hurt my leg and walking around is proving to be rather difficult for me right now.  But more on that later.

I mentioned back in November that I was going to put the search to find my birth parents on hold because of the Holidays and not wanting to put that type of pressure on myself or them.  Well the Holidays have come and gone and it seems that I keep finding myself procrastinating on contacting them.

I have to be honest a say that I am scared.  I am scared to meet them. I am scared they won't want to meet me. I am scared that I have siblings. I am scared that cancer will run in my family.  I am just plain old scared. It seems like finding your birth parents and meeting them would be something of great excitement, but there are so many more emotions that go into them than you would ever guess.

Fear
Excitement
Dread
Love
Joy
Hate
Peace
Rest
Calm

I think, honestly, if I had to define the thing that scares me the most is how my life will change.  I am afraid of what will happen when I meet them, how I will change, how they will change, how my relationship with my mom will change and how my relationship with my husband will change.

Being adopted has always been a part of my life, but I have never felt that it defined who I was.  I look like my adoptive parents, I look like my mom's whole family and every.single.person in my family has accepted me as one of their own.  So for me to say that being adopted has defined me, it would be a lie.  It is a part of who I am, just like I have brown hair and hazel eyes.  It is part of the construction but is not who I am.  But pursuing this has taken something that was just part of me and has made it the biggest part of me.  And that scares me.

While searching for a picture of something that could potential depict what adoption feels or looks like, I came across this picture:

It just reminded me that above and beyond all of the things I am afraid of, my birth parents put me first.  They made the decision to give me what they felt would be the best opportunity even though it was probably a very difficult decision.  This reminded me that no matter how scary things are, they loved me enough to give me another life.

I guess we shall see what happens, huh?

Homemade Funfetti Cake - First Try

Hey All, so I wanted to share this recipe I tried with you all because it seemed to be a big hit in our household.

What You Need:

For the Cake:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 T Baking Powder

1/2 t Salt

1 1/4 Cups Buttermilk

4 Egg Whites

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

1 Stuck Unsalted Butter - Room Temp

1/2 t Vanilla

Sprinkles

For the Frosting:

3 Sticks Unsalted Butter - Room Temp

4 Cups Powdered Sugar

1/2 t Vanilla

How to Make the Cake:

Preheat your oven to 350°

Line your cake pans with parchment paper and spray around the edges to prevent the cake from sticking

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.

In a separate, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a different bowl, mix together the buttermilk and egg whites.
Begin adding the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the mixing bowl, alternating each.  For example, add 1/3 flour mix, then 1/2 buttermilk mix, repeating until there is none left.

Turn off the mixture and gently add the sprinkles.  It is important you do not mix them with the mixer because the sprinkles will dye the cake a funny color if you mix them in with the mixer.  Trust me, I made that mistake.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown, springy to the touch and tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool on cooling racks until almost cool before removing from the pan.

How to Make the Frosting:
In a larger mixer bowl, cream the butter until fluffy.  Slowly beat in the powdered sugar.  Once all the sugar has been added, add the vanilla and mix at medium speed for another minute.

Once the cake is completely cool, frost your cake, cover with sprinkles and enjoy!

Original Recipe found here: Sweet Tarte

Happy Birthday Justin

Happy Birthday to my husband and my best friend, Justin.  

It is so hard to believe that all those years ago, you caught my eye and we became inseparable. 

Yesterday for Justin's birthday, we spent the day hanging out and relaxing (per his choice) before we had dinner plans with a few friends.  Have you ever watched Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives? If so, then you might have heard of the restaurant we went to for dinner.  We went to the Union Woodshop, in Clarkston, MI and boy was the food delicious.  

I had the pulled pork with cheesy mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and it was to die for.

They had some of the most delicious BBQ sauces that I have ever tasted and I am not a huge fan of BBQ.  I think my two favorites were the Tennessee and the New York flavors.  The NY flavor had more of an Asian Cuisine taste, while the Tennessee was more of your classic BBQ sauce.  But both were to die for.

Danielle opted for the Garlic Pizza and that looked pretty good as well.  I did not end up having a taste because there was just too much food to try.

 I think my favorite part of the restaurant was the more classic feel to it.  I mean they even went so far as to serve their drinks in Mason Jars.  I loved it!

And the be all to end all? Justin's free dessert from the restaurant: a deep fried twinkie! 

I got some pretty strange looks from the group when I got so excited about the twinkie, but they went out of business and I have not seen one since they did.  We all shared a little bite of each of the meals and desserts which made for such a delicious and exciting meal.  What a great way to celebrate a wonderful man's birthday.

Happy Birthday Justin! I love you

Friday Kicked My Booty

Good Morning Everyone! I trust your week has been great and you've gotten plenty of rest this weekend.  

Thursday evening I had a 1.5 mile run on the books and had planned on doing it after my hair appointment at 6:00, but by the time the appointment was finished at 9:00, I was done for the day and just wanted to go to sleep.  So I made plans to go with Janna on Friday evening to make up my run and do another round of Tina's Best Body Boot Camp.

I am pretty excited to show you this picture:

I saw it the other day when I was browsing some stretches for running.  It seemed like the perfect picture to post on my personal Facebook page as a reminder to myself and to everyone else, that I WILL be doing a half marathon this year! 

Friday's workout started with my 1.5 mile run.  I have to say I am rather proud of this time because in previous runs, I have taken much longer than this to run 1.5 miles.  It is so rewarding to really start seeing a difference between now and this time last year.  

After the run, Janna and I worked on our boot camp scheduled for that day.  This one really focused on the arms and I was really struggling with some of the workouts.  I somehow hurt my shoulder and lifting any weight above and beyond my body weight was just too plain difficult, so I had to dumb it down a bit, but we still completed the workout.  

On top of all of the training we do, Janna works out with a trainer a few days a week.  Friday night happened to be one of her training days, and he was kind enough to invite me to workout with them.  It was difficult, but I am super glad I did it.

One of the exercises he had us to was a leg press.  During the exercise, I asked him how much weight we were pressing and he said that he wouldn't tell me because it would psych me out.  He was right.  If I had known that I was pressing 285 lbs, I would have freaked out and probably stopped.  Friday was just filled with exciting accomplishments.

Question of the Day:

What is one accomplishment you were proud of this past week?

How did it make you feel?

Word of the Year

So you're at the gym, working your booty off, when all of a sudden it hits you.  You're thinking, "Oh no! Not now! Why is this happening to me?" You do everything you can to avoid it, and try pretending like it is not there, but inevitably, it will happen.  You will do that last crunch or one last squat and there will be nothing you can do because...

You have gas.

I do not know about you, but I have often found myself dreading the inevitable at the gym and last night was just one of those nights.  Luckily, my workout buddy, Janna, got a pretty good laugh out of it and it made our workout just a tiny bit more "enjoyable".  

Last night's boot camp was dedicated almost completely to core work and I am feeling it today.  I have to say, however, that I have already seen the benefit of boot camp.  While I am very sore, I have also been sleeping really well and making it through the entire night.  Oftentimes I find myself waking up a few times and that did not happen last night.

Yesterday while catching up on the blogs I typically read I came across this:

Susannah Conway

It seemed like a pretty neat idea to do and honestly, it really has help me focus on the coming year.  What I really liked is the fact that she has you focus on all of the things that happened in the past year and helps you be prepared for the next one by reminding you of the good and the bad in the past.  

I think my favorite part of this exercise is picking your word for the year.  This is a word that you live your entire year by and you use this word to help guide you as you go through your daily life.  I picked the word:

Thank you Tina!

This word has struck a cord with me because I often find myself dwelling on the negative things when I should be focusing on the happy and positive.  I need to find joy in the small things and I will learn to appreciate everything.

So what will your word be? 

I've seen all kinds of different choices and will be interested in seeing what everyone comes up with.

P.S. I'm baking a cake tomorrow so I should have a new recipe up and running this weekend!

It's Wednesday

It's Wednesday everyone! Welcome to hump day! I started to make a post for yesterday but never was able to finish it.  Bummer.

The last few days have been crazy busy and I'm a bit tired as a result.  Monday, Janna and I did our first round of Boot Camp and it was awesome.  I was excited to get started and I felt like the workout was difficult, but not so difficult I could not finish.  I can tell you, though, that today  my arms are really feeling all of the work we did.

Yesterday, Justin was able to work from home (lucky) while I went into the office.  I have to say that while I love driving into work with him every day, I enjoyed the time to just think.  It gave me some time to clear my brain and make my, what feels super long, list of things that I needed to do.  The commute home gave a beautiful sunset for me to enjoy. 

Tuesday's workout consisted of a two mile run as part of our training for the 5k in February.  I have to say that I am rather proud of how far I've come.  In Spring of 2012, I was running two miles in about 24 minutes.  When I ran yesterday, I did it in 21.  Which isn't a huge difference, but it's much better than last year!

I have to be honest though, that I was getting frustrated while I was running.  I seriously felt like I could not breathe in through my right lung and it frustrated me because I know I could go further.  I was not fatigued and my legs felt great; I just could not get what felt to be enough air in.  I think it is time I talk to the doctor about the possibility of me having asthma.  I hope this is not the case, but you never know.

I also signed up for Daily Mile.  It's a fun website you can use to keep track of all of your exercises during the week and can share with Facebook and Twitter.  If you're looking for a place to keep excellent track of your training, this seems like a pretty awesome option!

Question of the Day:

How do you track your training?

What is your favorite exercise?

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

Happy Monday Everyone! I trust you had a wonderful weekend and do not have a case of the Monday's like I do.  

This morning started out pretty interesting.  Over the last week my alarm clock has been slowly dying and when I was going through one of the many unpacked boxes in our guest bedroom yesterday I found an old iPod alarm clock and promptly set it up.  Apparently when I set the alarm last night, I set it to use my music as an alarm instead of the traditional beeping.  The song my phone chose made me laugh every.single.time my alarm went off.  

Have you heard of Cage the Elephant? If so, then you have probably guessed what song I am talking about.   If you have not, I attached a link to the music video of the song for your enjoyment.

an you see the irony in the song choice? My alarm was singing to me, "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" every time it went off this morning.  Sometimes you just have to laugh at the ironic things in your life.

Yesterday was a rather busy day filled with time with friends and organizing.  I started the day going to meet Janna at the gym to do our fitness test for Tina's Best Body Boot Camp because it starts today! We also made a plan for the week to balance both Boot Camp and training for the 5k next month!

Our training for the 5k technically started the week of Christmas, but I've been a bit slow moving and finally started running last Thursday.  After looking at several different options for training, we decided that Hal Higdon's method would be the best for the 5k, 10k and 1/2 marathon training.

 My first run was supposed to be 1.5 miles, but I accidentally read it as 1.75 and did that instead.  Saturday's was our long run and was actually 1.75 miles, so I ended up doing both at 1.75.

This is a picture of the first run, the second one did not turn out as I'd liked, but it took me about 45 seconds longer.  Boo.  Hopefully tomorrow's run will be a bit prettier.

Question of the Day:

What training program have you used to train for any races?

Did you do weight training on top of the running?

Sunday Afternoon Circle Scarf

Hello Everyone! I trust your weekend went well and you were able to rest.  I was going through my crafting supplies and realized that I have a ton of leftover yarn from projects that I had finished.  So I grabbed a few skeins of leftover purple from a blanket I made for my mom and found a pattern based on the yarn size and knitting needles I had available and this is what I came up with!

What You Need:

• 2 skeins Super Bulky yarn.  I used Hometown USA in the Portland Wine
• Size 13 circular needles, 24" +

What to Do:

Cast on 60 stitches, join in the round, and place marker

Round 1 & 2: Knit

Round 3 & 4: *K1, P1* repeat until end of round

Round 5 & 6: Knit

Round 7 & 8: *P1, K1* repeat until end of round

Work until scarf measures 17" or desired length.  I knitted until I ran out of yarn.

Cast off, weave in ends and enjoy!

Up close of the pattern.

Original Concept can be found here: TenTenKnits

Eyelet Knitted Infinity Scarf

When I saw this pattern on Pinterest, I knew I had to make it for my friend, Danielle, for Christmas. I am pretty excited about it because I have never knitted something so intricate in my life and I was able to do so without too much difficulty.  

Sorry for the bad picture, I was was up late working on this project!

What You Need:

• Size 10 (6mm) circular needle.  I used 36" and it seemed to work
• 650 yards DK (3) yarn.  I used Vanna's Choice Sequins in Sterling
• Needle to weave in ends
• Marker if you decide to knit full pattern at once

What to Do:

Cast on 128 stitches (256 if you are knitting in the round).

Begin Stitch Pattern:

Row 1: *k1, p1, k3, p2* repeat until only 2 stitches remain, k1, p1

Row 2: *k1,p1,k1, yo, k1, sl1, p2, psso the p2* until only 2 stitches remain, k1, p1

Row 3: *k1,p1, k2, p3* repeat until only 2 stitches remain, k1, p1

Row 4: *k1,p1, sl1, k2, psso the k2, p1, yo, p1* repeat until only 2 stitches remain, k1, p1

Repeat rows until the scarf is 14 inches long or desired width.  Cast off stitches and weave any loose ends into the scarf.  And you're done!

Knitting Information:

• yo = yarn over
• sl1 = slip 1
• psso = pass slipped stitch over

My Notes: 

• I did the 2 pieces and bound them together.  I honestly think it would be better to do all 256 stitches and continue in the round
• It's a time consuming project, but you will be glad you made it (for yourself or someone else)
• Make sure to track what row you're on! It's easy to forget if you're on 1 or 3!

If you would like to see the original pattern, you may find it: here