Sugar Free Mint Iced Coffee

This is a really refreshing beverage. I recently started Weight Watchers (still have a little baby weight to loose!), and I'm on the green program. This delicious drink is only 1 SmartPoint!

Ingredients for 1 glass:

• 6 oz boldly brewed coffee (you can do this by doubling the amount of coffee grounds you would normally use, or select the bold option for the brew type - if your coffee maker has one).
• 5 fresh mint leaves
• 2 Truvia packets
• 2 Tbsp Coffeemate Sugar Free Italian Cream
• Ice

Directions:

Fill a 12 oz glass with ice. Slice the mint leaves. Add them to freshly brewed coffee. Let the mint steep for 4 minutes. Add Truvia packets so that the granules dissolve, stir. Strain out the mint leaves. Pour coffee over ice. Add Coffeemate Sugar Free Italian Cream, and garnish with mint leaves. Enjoy!

© Kaylan Dykema. All rights reserved.

Best Friends Bookmarks

By: Kaylan Dykema

Support me by buying a pdf download of this pattern

Finished Measurements

7 inches, or desired length.

Yarn

Serenity (50% Superwash Merino Wool/25% Rayon made from bamboo/25% Nylon; 230 yards/50 g) Red, 1 ball. Red Heart heart & sole (73% Wool/27% Nylon; 187 yards/50 g) Ivory, 1 ball.

Needles

US 1 (2.25 mm) DPNs, or size to obtain gauge. 

Notions

Yarn Needle
Crochet hook

Gauge

9 sts and 13 rows = 1” in St st.

Notes

The bookmarks are worked from the bottom up. The heart is added with duplicate stitch, and the fringe is added with a crochet hook. 

CO: cast on

Garter st: knit right side and wrong side

SSK: slip 2 stitches knit-wise, then knit slipped stitches together

K2tog: knit 2 stitches together

RS: right side

Pattern instructions

Using one of the yarns, CO 13 sts.

Row 1: Knit                                                                                                                                                            

Rows 2-4: Continue to knit each row for Garter stitch

Row 5: Knit

Row 6: Knit 2 sts, purl to last 2 sts, knit 2 

Repeat rows 5 and 6 until the piece measures 4 inches from CO 

Decrease row: knit 2, ssk, knit to last 4 sts, k2tog, knit 2

Next row: Knit 2, purl to last 2 sts, knit 2 

Repeat last two rows 2 more times 

Next row: Knit 1, ssk, knit to last 3 its, k2tog, knit 1 

Bind off row: bind off first two sts knit-wise, bind off next st purl-wise, bind off last 2 sts as knit-wise. Leave a 3 inch tail. Weave it in through the back through a few stitches until you find a nice place you want to begin the fringe and pull it through to the RS. With contrasting color, add a heart using duplicate stitch. Cut 2, 4-inch strands of yarn from each ball of yarn. Fold the yarn in half. Using a crochet hook, pull the loop through the bookmark near the yarn you already pulled through so that it is sticking out on the right side. Tuck the tail ends of the yarn through the loop and pull through to desired tightness. Trim the fringe. Block, and enjoy!

Heart chart:

		/	/		/	/
		/	/	/	/	/
		/	/	/	/	/
			/	/	/
				/

Key:

Leave knit stitch unworked
Duplicate stitch	/

Limonada

I have visited several places in Mexico, and whenever I order a lemonade, they bring me a refreshing, fizzy drink they call "limonada." For years I have tried to reproduce this delicious beverage, and I have finally figured it out! I hope you will enjoy it.

Ingredients:

• Fresh limes
• Simple syrup (heat equal parts of water and sugar in a pot over medium until sugar dissolves)
• Club soda

Directions for a 12 oz glass:

Add the juice of one lime to a glass. Add 3 1/2 Tbsp of simple syrup. Top off with club soda.

Directions for an 8 oz glass:

Add the juice of 1/2 a lime. Add 2 1/2 Tbsp of simple syrup. Top off with club soda. 

© Kaylan Dykema. All rights reserved.

My Latest Splurge

I recently ordered some new goodies from my favorite online knitting store, KnitPicks.com. While browsing their website, I found a rose gold DPN case, a knitters journal, a book of knitting patterns (100 Knits: Interweave's Ultimate Pattern Collection), and some yarn for a future project. 

I am so excited about the knitting journal - I stumbled across it by accident. I have been thinking it would be fun to keep track of all of my knitting projects in a journal type thing, but I didn't realize it already existed! There is space to document the specifics of the knitting pattern, who the project was knitted for, and sketch the completed item - or glue in a picture 😉, etc. 

I'm also excited about the yarn! It was a bit of an indulgence. 😁 The yarn is Andean Treasure, 100% baby alpaca yarn, and it is wonderfully soft. I'm planning to use it to knit the Dahlia Cardigan by Heather Zoppetti. It's a really interesting pattern. The front has a nice drape to it, and the back has a beautiful lace flower. My mother-in-law made it for herself, and it is truly lovely. I'm looking forward to getting started on it myself.

The rose gold DPN case is going to be such a lifesaver. I'm still working on figuring out how to store all of my knitting tools in an orderly way, and this is going to help. I have a bag with lots of pockets that I'm using right now, and all of my DPNs are in their original packaging and shoved into a pocket. It is not easy to find things quickly. Once I put my DPNs in this new case, I will be able to open it up like a book and look at all of the different sized needles I have. Yay! 

I have only leafed through the book of knitting patterns, and I'm hoping to give it a more thorough look soon. It looks like it's going to provide me with many years of inspiration for future knitting projects. 😂

Happy knitting!

Comment Settings Updated

I have received some feedback from readers that they are not able to leave comments on my posts. I have updated the settings for comments, so anyone should be able to leave a comment now. I will be reviewing all comments first before they appear on my blog.

Thank you, and happy reading! :-)

Quick Knits for Holiday Gifting

This year I decided to make some knit gifts for friends and family that were a little different from the usual pair of mittens, hat, or cowl that are commonly thought of. Below are some of the unique gifts I made this year. I found these patterns for free at Knitpicks.com.

A Very Danger Christmas Collection by Rebecca Danger

Penguin Ornament by Emily Kintigh

Daisy Lace Dishcloth by Jenny Williams

Spaghetti with Fresh Herbs

This year I planted my first herb garden. It has been wonderful to just walk outside and grab whatever herbs I'd like to use in the dish I'm preparing. In the past, I have tried to purchase fresh herbs from the grocery store (when I have planned meals far enough in advance to do this), but it's not the same as using fresh herbs from your own garden.

Recently I made a batch of spaghetti sauce. I used all of the Italian herbs I'm growing - parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil, and oregano. It was the best spaghetti sauce I have ever made!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 1 lb of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 - 28 oz cans of Hunts Pasta Sauce: Traditional
• Fresh parsley, chopped
• Fresh rosemary, chopped
• Fresh thyme, chopped
• Fresh basil, chopped
• Fresh oregano, chopped
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parmesan cheese
• 1 lb of spaghetti, cooked al dente

Directions:

Brown the ground beef in a dutch oven over medium. Add chopped onion, and cook until translucent. Add sliced mushrooms, pasta sauce, herbs, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, prepare the spaghetti noodles according to the directions on the box. Drain the noodles and plate them. Spoon spaghetti sauce over the noodles. Garnish with more parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

© Kaylan Dykema. All rights reserved.