Blogmas: Finished Knitting Mitten Ornament, Knitting Updates, & Reading On

Hello Friends,

I hope that you are doing well. I have been working on finishing up with my Office Administration courses. They are all done next week which is hard to believe and I have started the job search process and will be looking for a new job in the new year. I have also been busy finishing up knitting my mitten ornament to decorate the Christmas tree. I used the pattern called Mitten Ornament by Red Heart on Ravelry.  I have been working on finishing up that second stocking as well. Today I enjoyed a nice cup of hot chocolate while I was knitting and writing my blog post.

Finished mitten ornament and stocking in progress

Love this mug I got around Christmas last year 

Mitten ornaments on the tree

Obsessed with the cinnamon buns I got from IKEA, there aren't many left!

 I have not knitted much on the Wool and the Gang Farrah top because it is hard to tell from the photo but I think I messed up the tension halfway through because there is a space at the back so I will be frogging about half of this. I need to figure out the technique of how to put a needle through just to before the mistake happened so I don't have a lot of work to do finding all of the stitches again.

Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean top front piece progress

 I did not really post a progress post on the vegan challenge, so I will just update quickly in this post. I did the Challenge 22+ last month for 22 days and it went well. The final day though, I did cheat and had cheese. I enjoyed the challenge because it showed me how many options there are other than animal products to eat and that I don't have to order food with cheese all over it all the time and make some small changes. At this time however, I do not think I will be going vegan anytime soon. I love the whole vegan community and what they are working towards but it is hard giving up so many things that I love. I am still currently vegetarian and am happy with this for now.

I started reading My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella again because I got the loan back on Overdrive, I have been reading it so much lately. I am on page 488 of 728 on Overdrive now. It is at a very interesting part in the book right now and I want to read on to find out what happens. This is the best kind of reading in my opinion, when you wonder what will happen next and it interests you. I always think back to the level of obsession when I was reading the Twilight book one Christmas. I remember that Christmas when I could not put the book down it was too good. I would love to be so into a book to that level again. I am also still reading Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed and it is also a page turner. I am looking forward to reading both of these books this month. It seems that books always come in two's for me lately, but it is because I lose my loans, then get them back again when I am already reading a new book then it is hard to juggle both. I am determined to finish My Not So Perfect Life this time before I lose it again. At this rate it is very possible. I am currently at 7/25 books from my goodreads goal now. My newer goal is to try to get to 10 books read this year. This may be possible if I finish some of my outstanding books.

I found this Santa hat in my Christmas things today and had to take a selfie with it! Ho Ho Ho!

I have joined A Blissful Lemon again with another link up. This one is called Blogmas: Naughty or Nice 2017. I am excited to do a link up again. In November I did the NaBloPoMo challenge where I wrote a post everyday. This one does not require us to post everyday but when we have time and it has to be Christmas related. I love this because around this time of the year all I want to talk about is Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I have started decorating and will be posting an entry this week about decorating the apartment for Christmas. I am getting a Christmas tree this Saturday! Can't wait to decorate it and share photos with you soon.

Photo source

Joining along with Frontier Dreams for Crafting On, and AsKatKnits for Unwraveled Wednesday.

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Have a great day!

Pros and Cons of Joining Online Challenges

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. This month is a busy month and not so much because I have a lot of plans, but because I have set two challenges for myself to accomplish in the month of November. They are both new challenges to me and test me in different ways.

Spray painted inspiration at Brick Works in Toronto

The National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) challenge to post a new blog entry everyday in November has been fun but also has been challenging at times to think of content. I am thinking more outside the box and about posts that I have not written and are not always knitting related.
The second challenge I joined this month is the vegan Challenge 22+  which challenges me to eat a purely vegan diet for 22 days. I think they made it 22 days so it is a length of time people can commit to.
Both of these challenges have similarities: they are around a month long, they are all or nothing challenges, if you mess up a day then you feel like you failed the challenge, and there is a community developed out of both of these challenges and people encourage one another. The community aspect is important because if I have moments of feeling like eating cheese, and I think...about all the people in the challenge... and my mentor who hopes we succeed. If I want to skip a post during NaBloPoMo, I think I will let myself down and maybe even the community of bloggers who do post everyday and maybe read my posts. These things keep me on track and most challenges are created to better our lives and then have added bonuses of meeting amazing people doing the same challenge, feeling proud of accomplishing the challenge, and seeing how far you can do and seeing improvement in the long run.


I want to discuss some pros and cons of taking on challenges so we can discuss this in depth and acknowledge that they are not always easy.

Pros:

Challenges keep us working towards our goals: I like joining these challenges because it keeps me focused on meeting goals and thinking about what I want to accomplish. It also helps me hold myself accountable. If we make a goal and join online and also let people know on a blog or on the group page of a challenge that we are committed to making it happen, then we can hold ourselves more accountable and so can others.

Photo source

Community: having a community to turn to who are working on the same challenge as you is very powerful. It also gives us positive emotions and feelings towards the challenge because it builds such a community and you can meet new people and chat with like-minded people. Having support from people who also are participating in the same challenge as you offers a lot of support and more so sometimes than we receive from our loved ones if they do not understand our journey the same way.

Photo source

Creativity: This one definitely relates more to the blog challenge I am doing and need to write a blog post every day for 30 days. It forces me to be more creative in thinking of blog post ideas and thinking outside of the box in order to come up with so much blog post content. Other challenges cause you to have to be creative as well, come up with more recipes ideas and be creative to develop the new meal plan, coming up with a new exercise routine, or if you are creating art, to create new pieces each day.

Cons:

Challenges can add pressure: They hold you accountable to produce a result daily or weekly and sometimes we feel like we do not have anything to give. This can cause us some stress if we feel like we cannot produce the result or make time to do it and can make us feel like we are failing.

Want to give up: sometimes we might have thoughts about giving up on a challenge if it is too rigid. I had a thought last Saturday about not posting on my blog because it got busy but glad I did anyways. Also the vegan challenge can feel rigid at times and I notice I have cravings for cheese more than anything, but I can reward myself at the end with some pizza.

Photo source

Life gets busy: sometimes these challenges take extra time out of our already busy days. Planning posts, planning meals, or whatever challenge you have set requires more time and effort. This can be a big problem if you have responsibilities and cannot make extra time for your goals during the evenings or in the morning.

I think that even after reviewing the pros and cons of doing challenges, the pros still outweigh the cons for me and I still prefer to do them. They give me a feeling of accomplishment when I finish them and knowing I will feel accomplished helps me to persevere. I also love working towards a goal that I can accomplish in 22-30 days and feel proud of what I have done.

What challenges have you done in the past? Did you like the outcome and was it worth the effort? Let me know in the comments below! If you would like to find a fun new challenge to join visit Pinterest here to see all the things you can challenge yourself to doing this Winter.

Thank you for visiting my blog and if you would like to follow my blog to keep updated on when I post, please follow me through Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can subscribe by email at the top right of my blog. Tomorrow I will be sharing some of my current knitting projects and what I am reading!

Have a great day!

First Day of My 22-Day Vegan Challenge and Knitting Progress

Hello Friends,

I hope you're doing well. Last night we had the first snowfall of the season in Toronto and it is very cold today. There isn't much snow on the ground, just a sprinkle of it. I hope this winter weather holds off just a bit longer because I don't feel ready for the cold and snow yet.

Today is day 1 of the 22 day vegan challenge I am doing called Challenge 22+. I decided to do the challenge because I am vegetarian now and eating mostly vegan but wanted to challenge myself to not having dairy, eggs, and honey at all for 22 days. I am not sure at this point if I could go vegan permanently just because so many products have milk ingredients and eggs. If you would like to join the challenge, you still can, they have different groups for the challenge starting at different times on Facebook. They match you up with a mentor who you can ask questions and they offer support. My mentor is so friendly, helpful, and supportive and I feel like it will be a great experience.

Day 1: What I Ate:
Today I ate oatmeal (Robin Hood Quick Oats) with one banana cut up and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I also had some coffee and poured in some almond milk. I like to use the Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk in my smoothies and coffee to add extra flavoring. For lunch I had an Amy's brand bean and rice burrito. Not all of the burritos are vegan but there are two types that I get all the time which are: bean and the one I had today, bean and rice. I got a veggie burger at South St. burger for dinner on a lettuce wrap with some fries. Later I had a couple spoons of So Delicious dairy-free frozen dessert in the chocolate flavor.

I tried this So Delicious dairy-free frozen dessert tonight and loved it! It tasted exactly like ice cream! I loved this chocolate flavor. I can really see myself switching to dairy-free frozen desserts now over ice cream too. I had my doubts before buying it that it would not taste as good as ice cream, but it exceeded my expectations.

My second stocking is coming along, I knitted some more stripes and should be done in time for decorating this week or next week! I am still working on untangling the alpaca yarn and hope to get started on those socks soon.

 I forgot to share with you guys that I received these cute needles and wool socks as a gift for my birthday. I love these socks, I will wear them yarn shopping with my sister tomorrow!

Thank you for visiting my blog, if you would like to keep updated on when I post blog entries, please follow my blog on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can subscribe by email in the top right corner of the blog.

Have a great day!

Vegan Challenge 22+ and Progress on Knitting the Stocking

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Last night was so cold, it was the first time I wore my winter jacket this season. I am glad I did, because as my boyfriend and I were walking I had to steal his mittens because my hands got really cold. I had a hat on which was good but my feet were cold in my sneakers. Winter is approaching which is exciting for a knitter, time to pull out the knitted hats, scarves, mittens, and sweaters etc. Last night, my boyfriend and I walked to a vegan restaurant called Fresh and I had a wrap with tempeh and tofu with kaleslaw, it is so yummy I am glad there are these options as a vegetarian it makes it more enjoyable and fun to try out new foods. I also tried the chocolate fudge cake for dessert that is vegan as well and it was so delicious.

I also wanted to mention that  I am starting the vegan Challenge 22, on November 10th, which is 22 days of eating vegan. This means no meat, dairy, egg, or honey for 22 days. I have been vegetarian since September 18th 2017(48 days!) and I have also been reducing my intake of dairy, eggs, and honey. I think I will be able to do this because it is always on my mind and I think it is so important to reduce the amount of animal products I eat for my health. I have been feeling great since going vegetarian/mostly vegan. I just watching Joey Carbstrong's video on YouTube today called "She Saw the Truth and Went Vegan on the Spot", and it really reminded me how important this cause is and to try the 22 day challenge he suggests in the video. Have any of you tried to go vegan for a challenge or are vegan now?

Challenge 22 photo (photo source) Click to go to the challenge!

I have been working on knitting the second stocking and I am finished knitting the cuff now. I started knitting the stripes of the stocking today. I am using the pattern Jumbo Christmas Stocking in a Jiffy- Striped by Jennifer Jackson from Ravelry. I was listening to Christmas music while knitting today and getting in the spirit. Christmas is only 50 days away now!

I am still reading the book Not Working by Lisa Owens and really loving it so far. I like the main character and I can relate to what she is going through in her life as I am also looking for a job soon.

Thank you for visiting my blog, if you would like to keep updated on when I post entries, please follow my blog on Bloglovin', Google Followers, and you can subscribe by email in the top right of the blog.

Have a great day!

Michael's Haul, Knitting Updates, and a Recipe to Share

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all doing well. I just got back from a lunch and then shopping trip to Michael's craft store. It is beautiful outside today I just want to stay outside but I have some things to do in the apartment today like blog and do some cleaning.
I went to Michael's craft store today and I was going for the purpose of buying another fitness insert for my Happy Planner. I did buy it, and another planner for recipes, and some Patons Astra yarn in the color of "hot lilac".  I am going to knit something special for Mother's day, but it is a surprise, so I won't be posting it for awhile. I am excited to use the recipe insert in my planner, I have been more interested in trying new recipes and cooking lately and thought it would be fun to try it out. I will share a page with you once I have filled one out!

Happy Planner's inserts recipe and fitness editions, and Patons Astro yarn 

I have finished knitting the first sock using Bernat Sox yarn, and I have started on the second andhave made some progress since Tuesday's post. I realized I knitted the front piece of the sweater wrong and had to frog quite a bit. I knitted too much before the neck shaping part by accident. I frogged the part I knitted too much of and will do the neck shaping right after the armhole shaping instead of knitting the pattern for 24 inches like the back piece. I read: "front: Work as for back until armhole shaping is finished, ending with a WS row" as do exactly as the armhole shaping says and it had said to "DEC 1 st each side every RS row 6 times. 49 (55, 61) sts remain. Continue working in pattern until piece measures 22 (23, 24) inches ending with a WS row." That's where I continued but that was only for the back piece so I ended up with another back piece. I had not compared the two piece at all and they are the exact same length now without the neckline. If you are interested in the sweater pattern, it is 3TimesChic on the Knitty.com website.  I have found the pattern to be easy to follow until this point, but I just need to read more carefully next time.

First sock done and second in progress!

Had to frog some of the sweater, but will start the neckline now!

Yarn I bought today at Michael's for a secret Mother's day gift!

I made cauliflower pizza last week for dinner on Thursday night. I had wanted to try making this for some time. I am on a diet, or nutrition plan, which calls for no grain at dinner. This is the Cityline Weight Loss Challenge if anyone is interested in participating. The official challenge actually ends next Wednesday on Cityline when the "Winners" or four people selected to go in the challenge reveal themselves and discuss their results. I will be continuing along with many others as I have not reached my goal weight yet, but I am on my way. I am so excited to see how they all look and I am hoping that I am down even more by then. So far I have lost 11 pounds since starting and 11 inches (from chest, waist, and hips, combined). So anyways, this program has a no grain at dinner rule so I follow it most nights and I cheat maybe a couple times each week because it is hard to have no grains if out for dinner or visiting people. I tried this cauliflower pizza and it was delicious! I made one for my boyfriend and one for myself but we both agreed that one would work for both of us with a side salad next time because it was more filling than we thought it would be. That works for me because it takes quite awhile to make two crusts and put in the oven to cook the crust then again after toppings are put on top. I followed a recipe I found on YouTube by Chef Buck . It is called "the best cauliflower pizza crust recipe that won't fall apart" and it did not fall apart! He says that the Parmesan cheese you add to the crust keeps it together than any other cheese he's tried. I bought fresh Parmesan and used the whole thing, so there is a lot of cheese required just a warning.

The crust when I pulled it out of the oven after cooking for 40 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit 

The pizza once I put the toppings on and cooked for 10 minutes in the oven - Yummy!

Cauliflower Pizza (from Chef Buck on YouTube)

Ingredients:
2 cups of grated cauliflower
1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese 
1 egg beaten
Parchment paper to line your baking sheet
Pizza toppings (pizza sauce, vegetables, pepperoni etc)

How to Cook the A Cauliflower Crust Pizza Recipe:

1. Grate fresh cauliflower florets into small piece
2. Heat the grated cauliflower in a skillet--don't add oil or water--use medium heat, not too hot. Stir until the cauliflower has dried out somewhat, it won't dry completely, but the dryer the better. Heat at least 10 minutes, just enough to evaporate the moisture, not enough to color or cook down.
3. Remove skillet from burner and set aside to allow cauliflower to slightly cool.
4. In a bowl, beat 1 egg.
5. Add grated Parmesan cheese to the egg. You can substitute, asiago or romano cheeses, just be sure you use a hard cheese for best results.
6. Add the cauliflower to the bowl and mix well with the egg and cheese and form into a ball.
7. Spread parchment paper onto a baking sheet. It is important to use parchment paper, otherwise your crust may tear when you try to pick it up (and also be sure not to mix up parchment paper with wax paper!)
8. Place the balled cauliflower and cheese onto the parchment paper and spread out into a pizza shape about ¼ inch thick. The crust will be about 10" across. Do not make the edges of the crust too thin; keep the size of the crust uniform for even cooking. The cauliflower will darken quite rapidly around the edges if too thin.
9. Place crust into an oven preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cook approx. 15-20 minutes until the crust has colored and firmed up.
10. Remove cauliflower pizza crust from the oven and top with your favorite pizza sauce. Use a marinara sauce, pesto, white sauce, or whatever. Top with your favorite pizza toppings.
11. Return pizza to the oven and continue to cook at 400 F for about 10 minutes until the toppings are done, watch the edges of the cauliflower crust; the edges will darken too much if overcooked.
12. Remove the pizza from the oven and set on a cooling rack if you want to, but not needed. I did not do this step and my crust was a bit soggy underneath, but not too bad. 

Enjoy!

A cauliflower pizza crust will not rise since there is no yeast involved, and since the crust is entirely cauliflower, cheese, and egg, it will not achieve the same crispness as a thin dough pizza. But the pizza will stay together just fine, and will taste very much like a pizza. 

The video Chef Buck made is very helpful to watch beforehand and it really helped me to know I was doing the right thing because this was all new to me having never made pizza before!

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Have a great day!