shoes, etc. - camper clogs

Came across these clogs from the shoe store Camper, which have a great norwegian pattern on them. So cute for winter!

anna crochets - thank you!

I was so surprised and honored to have my crochet rose post mentioned on the blog Love of Knitting's "What We've Been Reading" list, as well as a top story on the e-newspaper Crochet Patterns Today. Thank you both!

If you haven't already, you should definitely visit these sites. I have found cute patterns on both.

For example, check out this adorable hat - suitable for both humans and pugs - which I first saw on Crochet Patterns Today. The pattern, with illustrated directions, is available on the blog A Beautiful Mess.

anna crochets - pink rose

I have not crocheted in a very long time, but after seeing this post for a crochet tea cosy with rose adornments on the blog Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me?, I decided to give it a try. I started with a rose, and it was actually much easier than I was expecting. I finished the project all in one sitting, even with reteaching myself how to crochet.

I got the pattern from the blog The Dark Knit via Pom Pom Emporium, which has some great illustrated instructions. I don't think I will attach this rose to the yellow + pink tea cosy I just finished, but I'm sure I will make a tea cosy in the future that it can adorn. Or perhaps a headband?

anna knits - yellow + pink tea cosy

I finished a medium sized yellow + pink tea cosy today. It is a variation on the spiral top tea cosy pattern I posted for free here.

Here is me finishing up the top with four double pointed needles:

And here is the finished product:

Now I want to make a flower to adorn the top of the tea cosy. I like the looks of these crochet roses from blog Pom Pom Emporium.

There are great illustrated instructions here.

halloween, etc. - kitty costume

I saw this crochet halloween costume - "in bread" kitty - on Etsy and had to share:

It is from the store Yummy Pancake. So cute! Do you have any ideas for halloween costumes?

anna cooks - clams al forno w pasta

I went to Block Island this weekend with some friends. The weather was beautiful, and it was even warm enough to go swimming in the ocean.

On Saturday night, we made Clams Al Forno with pasta. The recipe comes from the restaurant Al Forno in Providence, RI. They serve it as an appetizer, but we decided to make it into an entree by pairing the clams with spaghetti - a twist on Spaghetti alle Vongole dish.

All we did was clean 35 littlenecks (this is enough for 4 ppl), place them in a baking dish with cut up onion, jalapeno peper (seeded), cut up tomatoes in puree, minced garlic, white wine, water, and a stick of butter, and bake for 20 minutes at 500F. Meanwhile we made a lb of spaghetti.

Garnish with thinly sliced scallions and lemon wedges.

Photo credit: Susan M.

We put some marinara sauce on our pasta along with the clams, but the butter/wine/tomato/lemon sauce from the clams would have been tasty alone on the spaghetti. 

For an end-of-summer dinner, seafood dinner, this was very simple and very delicious!

stationary, etc. - olivebox

A few weeks ago I wrote about the company Birchbox, which sends subscribers sample sizes of new beauty items each month. I love getting my Birchbox in the mail, and so I was very excited to see that a new company, OliveBox, is following a similar business model, but with paper products. (I heard about OliveBox from the fabulous blog Paper Crave.)

As a member, OliveBox will send you a package of paper and lifestyle products each month curated by members of their team. It could be items such as cards, DIY sets, or artwork. You can buy a 1, 3, 6, or 12 month subscription. It is a neat way to discover new stationary and paper products.

I love paper products, and I hope to have more time with my letterpress machine as the temperatures get cooler and I spend more time indoors.