Sooooo....

February flew by way too fast. I can't believe I didn't post ONE blog post this past month. And to think I limited myself to that just to make it easier! Bad, bad girl! I deserve spankins!!! Well, maybe I wouldn't go that far, but still...yowza. Okay, now that I'm done berating myself, I can safely say that as far as knitting goes, I've kept up with my goal. Last month I finished knitting a pair http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifof socks - a pair of socks that I'd originally wanted to have done for Halloween 2011...but yeah, that flew right out the window when I moved. Pictures will, of course, be forthcoming! Proof is required! I also cast on for my very first sweater (no we're not counting the Talia of Doom. Not in a million years would I choose to remember that horror). So far, I really enjoy the look of it, love the color and even love knitting it! I think I might have to re-learn a bit of crochet though because I simply have to make these for myself and possibly for my swap partner in the Starbucks and Yarn swap I joined. I just think they're soo cute. Plus, I'm noticing that there are a LOT of pretty patterns out there for crochet, so while I'm sure knitting is always going to be my first love, I'm thinking of making crochet my dirty mistress. ;)


As far as life in the new apartment goes, it's great. The building is quiet, there's no pesky landlord bothering you on the phone, and there's the convenience of laundry facilities right outside my door. I do have a rather sensitive fire alarm though which can be a bit of a bother whenever I want to give a steak a nice sear, or fry ANYTHING on the stove top. but hey, it's better than having NO fire alarm which was what we had in the house we rented. Yes, it's back in New Bedford, but the section of New Bedford is peaceful, quiet and really close to Dartmouth so it's not too terribly bad. The apartment is bigger than the house we lived in too, and yet it's easier to keep clean - figure that one out. Plus it has a dishwasher so yay! No morhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife dishes by hand unless I want to!!!!!

Aaaaanyway, we'll move back to knitting so I can post pics of my FO and my WIP and then I think I'm going to go back to actually knitting on said WIP!

FO

[photo pending as I can't seem to locate my camera battery charger and the darned thing really needs it so I can take said photo!]



Pattern Name: Little Pumpkins [rav link]
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Foliage Colorway
Yardage: About half the skein or maybe a little more. :D
Needles: Sizes US 1 (2.25) and US 2 (2.75)
Notes: The yarn is soft, squishy and blocks well. Yes, I said blocks. I've decided that blocked socks both fit better and look better so this is what I need to do with ALL socks from now on. :D Thank goodness for sock-blockers though I think I need to invest in slightly larger ones for DW's feet. :D I enjoyed knitting these socks too, the pattern was enough to keep me occupied without needing so much focus that I couldn't knit them and watch TV at the same time. Just make sure you read her notes on the ravelry pattern page, because without them the cable row could easily be confusing as it was for me. :D


WIP



Pattern Name: Montview Cardigan [rav link]
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Rainier Heather
Yardage: 8 skeins = 1760 yards
Needles US 9(5.5)
Notes: So far, I'm loving this pattern, the right side contains almost all the the purls so they're broken up by the cables and the WS is almost entirely knit...so it goes faster! :D Though, I must confess, as someone who knits a LOT of socks and lace , the needles are almost clumsy in my hands and the yarn feels soooo thick!

As far as cooking goes, I really have no new recipes to share, but I can say I've borrowed my MIL's dehydrator and am about to try my hand at making some beef jerky. I have steak strips marinating right now and if it works out as well as I think it will, I may post the recipe here. I've also been dehydrating a lot of lemon slices, and blood orange slices for tea. I drizzle honey on them first and then pop them in and let them dry up. For some reason, the dehydrated fruit imparts a delicate flavor rather than an overpowering flavor while brewing with the tea and you can really really taste that honey. :D

Anyway, since I sort of missed the deadline for the last post, I'm going to have to make up for it with another one later on in the month....so expect to hear from me again soon! :D <3 G'night!

A New Year to Live By

As we all welcome in the year 2012 - I'm going to do the expected thing and blog about my New Year resolutions! Predictable in my old age? Yes! Thinking that I'm actually "old" - NEVER!

Resolutions!

1. Blog More - I'm not gonna promise to blog once a week, but I think working on an update once a month is more than doable. Hell I'll even put it in my planner! I just need to hop back on this thing!

2. Knit More - Once again, I'm not gonna promise that this year will be filled with projects, but I'd like it to have at least 12. :D I think one project a month is a good start to get my knitty groove back. ;)

3. Get my dang Thyroid regulated - I confess...this should be an easy one as I'm going to the Endocrynologist in February. Hopefully this means they'll finally treat the problem rather than going round the giddy goat with it. :D


I'm stopping at three folks...three measely resolutions. Makes a good start to the New Year I think, and makes me feel that I can live by them. :D How about you out there? Did you go all out there and name fifty million resolutions? Or did you just pick a few things that you think you can stick to? I want to know! :D

We have KNITS folks! REAL LIVE KNITS!!!!

Yes, I actually have tangible proof that I have, indeed, been knitting. Well tangible proof for two of my projects...the other two have decided not to grace my camera with their presence (one because it's simply not recognizable enough for you guys to know what it is yet and the other because it is a SUPER SECRET TEST KNIT and I'm sorry, but I simply can not reveal her to you yet).

The first project is an actual, for real, FO. It's...a scarf. Or a boa. Or a scoa...or a barf (Barf? What was I thinking?)Erm...either way, it's pretty, it's ruffly and scrunchy and feels relatively soft against the skin though, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure I'll end up keeping it as I'm pretty sure I wouldn't know what to wear it with.



Pattern Name: Ruffly(Okay so I made that up)
Yarn: Knitting Fever's Flounce
Colorway: Not named, just Purple, Burgundy and Brown
Needles: Size US11

Over all, I'd say this was a fun, easy knit, once you get over the fiddly way this yarn (mesh?) is knit. Honestly it probably would have only taken me a few hours to work my way through this if I hadn't been so destracted by other shinies in my knitting bag!

This next project is a WIP - but one that is actually actively in progress. :D



Pattern Name: Little pumpkins socks by Sabine Ruppert
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal
Colorway: Foliage
Needles: Size US1 for the cuff Size US2 for the rest.

I really, really like this pattern. It is easy to memorize, but entertaining enough to keep you from being bored. Not to mention that this pattern screams at you to use orange yarn, and well, in my book, anything that wants to be orange is okay in my book!I'm actually almost done with the leg, because well, I like my socks a little shorter so I'm only doing three repeats of the chart in the leg rather than the four the pattern recommends. Also, if you are knitting this pattern for the first time, please do yourself a favor and read the notes on the pattern page in ravelry as she gives you the CORRECT way to do the cable row on the chart. If you don't, you will be looking at the chart in utter confusion, wondering how to get those two stitches back that you somehow lost on one side (don't ask me how I know this...just trust in me. Yessss...trust. in. me.Good pretties. *pet pet*)

So now that I've given you a mini yarn peep show, it's time to give you all a small recipe. Sadly, there is no food pron available for this, as all that I've made has been canned and gifted way before I even thought of picking up my camera. I know. I deserve spankings. But I also deserve warm bread...smothered in apple butter. Actually I happen to have some yummy, still warm from the oven sweet potato honey rolls that were most likely meant for this condiment and this condiment alone....huh. Food for thought. Anyway!

As requested by a few of my plurkies....(cue drum roll please)

APPLE BUTTER (Ta-da)
as found on myrecipes.com

You need:
10 medium apples that have been peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves,
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
A sprinkling of allspice to taste (I probably used about...can ya guess? 1/4 tsp!)


Mix the sugar, spices, honey, and cider in the bottom of your crockpot until combined, throw in apples and toss to coat, cover and then put on low and just LEAVE it for about, oh, let's say 10 hours (or until your apples are very, very tender). Once the apples are nice and tender, get your good old fashioned potato masher out and give the apples a few good smashes. Trust me, this helps. Oh, and leave the crockpot on low, you want to keep the apple mixture nice and HOT while you're doing all this. Next, grab a large, fine mesh sieve and ladle apple mixture into it (over a bowl outside of the crockpot, silly) and start squishing it through all those little holes with a rubber spatula. You'll have pulp left over, but not much, just discard it all before you put more apples into the sieve and give the outside a good scrape down into the bowl of the good stuff. :D Continue in this fashion until all the apples and liquid have been pushed through. Then pour it back into your crockpot and turn that baby up to High (yes, we get to live a little!). Leave it uncovered, and let it bubble away, because we want all that "water" to evaporate so the butter can thicken. It needs to do this for at least an hour and a half. Butter is done, when it will either a) stay mounded in a spoon for a full minute, or when butter is drizzled in a line across the surface and keeps it's shape for a full minute before dissolving back in with the rest. The texture of this butter is relatively thin, even after all the evaporating, but it's okay. Leave it that way. Do not add pectin...do NOT be tempted by it. It will make your apple butter resemble something like apple cheese...or that oh so delicious (but THICK) cranberry sauce that's jelled and in a can and that you SLICE before serving.

Next up, you can spoon that hot butter in a bowl and chill in the fridge for up to a week, or you can actually gosh darn it all and can that stuff. This size batch will make a little over two pints, or 4 half pints. If you don't know how to can, it's really easy. Just buy your ball jars and lids, and wash 'em with good hot soapy water. Give 'em a good rinse. Then pop those jars in a big old pot of boiling water and let them boil for 15 minutes. Pop the lids into a separate pan of boiling water and let them boil for the same amount of time. Keep in the hot water so they stay heated when you use them. Pour piping hot butter into jars (I just ladelled it into a measuring cup and did it that way but you're supposed to use a canning funnel), then put on lids and tighten rings around them. Put them back into that big ole pot of boiling water to let 'em seal up and keep 'em boiling for ten minutes. Then take 'em out and you should be good to go. You'll know the jars are sealed when you hear a faint "boing". Now the butter should pretty much keep indefinitely canned in this way...buuut, it most likely won't last that long in your household so I doubt you'll have to worry about it. :D

Anyhow folks, I hope you enjoy, and happy crafting!

A perfect Fall!

So far, this fall is shaping up to be everything I want it to be. DW and I went apple picking (got fully 30 lbs of apples plus a half peck of peaches), have gone for multiple walks in the cool autumn mornings, and have celebrated my beloved DW's 30th birthday in a simple, quite manner. Next up, Halloween...and after a couple more trips to Wal*Mart, I think we'll be just about ready.

In other news, I have most certainly taken up the needles again - and thanks to Mz. Olivia I've found a splendid group of ladies to knit with at the local public library as well. These women could easily be good, and bad, for my knitting habits. I have a feeling that they'll be excellent at inspiring me to knit more...and even more excellent at enabling me to buy more yarn. Especially with all the talk of a certain LYS going around while I was working on the Giant Socks of Doom. :D Still, I haven't bought yarn in over two years sooo...I think it's about time I joined the world of the shopping.

Other than that, life's good, and there's not terribly much to report so I thought I'd finish this up with a recipe for a delicious (and EASY) fall dessert that seems to be pretty popular among my plurkies! So for everyone's enjoyment I give you: Spiced Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake


Spiced Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake



For the caramel apple "topping":

4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg

Place the above ingredients in a saucepan and allow to come to a boil while stirring to keep it from burning. Continue boiling for approximately 30 seconds and then pour the caramel into the bottom of a greased and floured cake pan - spread evenly.

Next, peel, core and thinly slice three small baking apples (I used Cortlands, but you can also use Macoun or Macintosh, I wouldn't use Granny Smiths as they may be too tart for this and too firm). Sprinkle sliced apples over caramel.

For the cake

1 box spice cake mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin (unspiced)
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice

Mix all the cake ingredients together in a bowl until thoroughly moistened. Batter will be quite thick. Some lumps may remain and that's okay, just as long as they're not too large. :D Spread batter over your apples as evenly as possible without disturbing the apples too much and place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. :D I also did a thorough touch test, to make sure the cake itself wasn't jiggly inside - because nothing is grosser than cutting into a cake only to find mushy batter instead of fluffy goodness. :D It's a good thing I did too as I had to return it to the oven to bake a bit further cuz part of it was quite jiggly due to semi-uneven spreading.

Allow cake to cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes, and then loosen cake from pan by sliding a butter knife along the outer edge. Tip over onto a plate and don't forget to scrape any yummy caramel apple goodness that might have been stuck to the pan back onto the top of the cake! :D Serve with freshly whipped cream (spiced with a hint of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and sugar) and maybe a little caramel sauce for drizzling. :D

Oh ehm Gee...

So it appears as if I've died or fallen off the planet. The fact is, I took a break from knitting for a while - and took a break from cooking or baking as well (at least in ways that made me want to take pictures of it :P ), but well, it's autumn and for some reason that brings me back to life, so hopefully that also means that there'll be more bloggy goodness for all. :D In the meantime, watch this!

A belated welcome to the new year....

Okay folks, I'm not going to lie to you. So far, 2011 kinda sucks. Dealing with car issues and money issues, warring with my propane company - well, let's face it! That's a whole lotta stress to deal with in just a few short weeks. Still, it's only stress right? And it's pretty much over, so what am I still bitching about? The fact is, after 2010 (which was an AMAZING year by the way), 2011 seems like kind of a let down. Then again, that seems to be par for the course. EVERY YEAR I have an obscenely crappy first couple of months - only to have the rest of the year go off without a hitch. Well, I'm crossing my fingers and toes that this tradition still stands because I really loved having such a kick ass (most of the) year - last year.

Things I accomplished in 2010:

1. Got a job - not a wow, amazing job with amazing pay and amazing benefits kind of job, but still one that I enjoy (and that's really all that matters) and brings in more than a piddling 80 dollars per week of pay!

2. Conquered lace - I knit my first REAL lace shawl last year - and not only that but I knit it with beads. The Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark. Thanks to this shawl, I'm no longer suffering from fear of intricate lace knitting and am even now working on my second lace shawl (after this shawl was finished I fell into kind of a sock knitting rut where I went on a bender and knit sock after sock after sock- seriously, I don't know what happened!)

3. I conquered (with great success mind you) the thing that I formerly referred to as Baguettes of Extreme Hatred. That's right, I successfully baked beautiful, delicious, crunchy on the outside soft on the inside French Baguettes.

See? Visual proof! Not the prettiest of breads, but they were outstandingly tasty! And not burnt at ALL! WOOOOT!


Now, I'm sure I accomplished a few more things than just three - but I felt these were three personal mile stones worthy of note. :D

Things I plan on accomplishing in 2011:

1. Hop back on the blog bandwagon and try very hard to blog more consistently - at least twice per month. I know I failed at this last year, and honestly I have no excuse except that Plurk and Ravelry seem to have kind of killed the purpose behind this blog. Well, no more. While I will still be sharing on both those sites, I will also be sharing here, in hopes of attracting the readership that I once had. :D I may even be holding contests and giveaways - provided I can think of adequate excuses to host such things. :D

2. Become a more versatile knitter - I plan on experimenting with colorwork (which I've already started as you will see following this little blurb), magic loop, two circs, toe-up socks - new techniques that I previously shied away from. I've been at this for a while now and I think it's time I upped the ante!

See the pretty plaid pattern? I know it's not intricate colorwork- but it IS colorwork and the hat itself came out amazingly gorgeous. My brother LOVED it - and is apparently anxiously awaiting a matching pair of mitts - which I apparently need to design.Once I can catch my elusive lil' bro and the hat in action I'll snap a pic and post it here so you can see the finished project.

3. Have a baby of my own to spoil with hand knits - that's right. Me and DW have thought about it and we're planning to hopefully be pregnant by September (this way I can avoid being pregnant during hot summer months :D). Naturally we have to do things via a cryobank so if anyone knows of any good information out there about this sort of stuff I'd be grateful if you could point me in that direction.

4. Lose about 15 lbs (I'd like to lose more - but the 15 lbs is a good, pressureless goal and I need to not feel pressure. Pressure = failure for me. ). :D


These are not actual resolutions, as I think that resolutions (since I've failed them so often in the past) seem to fall pretty much useless to me. So instead, I'm considering this more of a To Do list. That way it seems more like these are things that MUST GET DONE as opposed to things that Could Possibly Be Done. :D

To kick 2011 off, I cast on for some intricate - previously feared lace. Yes, I did knit lace in 2010 and successfully too, but as opposed to the 6 different charts this shawl utilizes, the Swallowtail only utilized two. So, this should help me branch out into more complicated lace. :D

The Echo Flower Shawl - in it's first stages. That's the set up chart and the first of 13 (maybe more depending on how it looks after 13 - I don't want to end up with yet another neckerchief sized shawlette) repeats of the Flower chart. :D So far, so good. And no, I will NOT be using beads in lieu of knitting the nupps. I don't care how torturous it is to purl those little buggers, I WILL do it. 9 stitch nupps will be my servants by the time I'm done with them. And that's a fact!

I've also semi-designed a pattern for a pair of men's socks for DW's captain's very large man feet. He's a size 11, and while that might not seem huge to most of you, I'm used to knitting for my tiny size 6 feet, DW's normal size 8 1/2 feet and my mum and aunt's equally tiny size 7 feet. Knitting for size 11's - well it's intimidating. Especially since every single pattern designed specifically for a big guy's clown feet seems to be like two miles long, involves calf shaping, and just generally seems to be too much work for something I wanted to be TV knitting. So, I used this pattern as kind of a guide to do some guess work and with the help of some of my very awesome Plurk friends used guage *gasp* to do the rest. I've been knitting so many socks lately that I pretty much know the basic anatomy of a sock and well, the rest was just kinda eyeballing it.



That's the first of the Giant Socks of Doom, and well, I don't think it came out all that shabby. I only hope it fits. I mean, we all remember what happened that last time I bothered with a guage swatch, right? (Shall I remind you of the Great Talia Desaster of '08 ? ) But really that's all I've done knit-wise for 2011. I do plan on relearning crochet though. There are way too many adorable amigurumi dolls and such wanting to decorate my bookshelves. Seriously. Way too many to even name. I mean, oh my gosh, look at the cuteness!

Cooking wise, I haven't done much either. Well, nothing out of the ordinary until my dinner last night. It was just steak and the most amazing side dish ever! It was so light, but so filling. It was just perfect. And yes, I WILL be sharing that recipe with you all, here and now. :D So without further adieu, I give you:
Whipped Cauliflower!

I've roasted it with great results, steamed it with just a little bit of butter, had it pickled, eaten it blanched and dunked in the most delicious of creamy sour cream based dips, but this was the first time that me and whipped cauliflower have met with success.

My obsession with figuring out this recipe started a few years ago when it first graced my palate via a local restaurant that I can't even remember the name of. But oh this cauliflower was perfect. It was creamy! It was delicately nutty in flavor, with just the perfect hint of garlic and still had those pleasing little lumps of tastiness that I've come to love in home made mashed potatoes. My first attempts only yielded a watery, chunky, oily puree of grey disgust with little to no flavor and I gave up. But suddenly,yesterday, I was struck with total inspiration and realized that while my basics were indeed all there, I had forgotten one important thing. A thickening agent - which I discovered in corn starch blended with a bit of heated milk.

All right all right, I'll get to the recipe as I'm sure you're all slavering to get at it. Let me just tell you that I was not always a cauliflower lover, and it wasn't until I tried this dish that I became a true cauliflower devotee. I'm hoping this will convert you all to this new epicurean religion as well, or at least have you wanting to lick the bowl of your food processor afterwards as I nearly did. :D

Whipped Cauliflower


What You Need:

A small head of fresh cauliflower
3-5 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp to 1 1/2 tsp corn starch
3 small shallots
olive oil
1/4 cup of freshly shredded parmesan
1/2 cup of fat free sour cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter - do not substitute for margarine. It WILL turn oily and icky.
salt and pepper to taste
* A steamer basket *

Step 1: Trim the cauliflower into florets and peal the garlic cloves. Insert steamer basket into large pot (or smallest pot that you can fit it into and still have it completely open) that has about 2 cups of water poured into the bottom of it. Put the cauliflower florets and garlic cloves into the steamer basket, turn your burner onto medium-high heat and cover the pot and let steam until the cauliflower and garlic is tender (by tender I mean you can insert the tines of a blunt fork - such as a plastic one - into the toughest part of the floret with ease. You want it softer than you would if you were just steaming it to eat it with butter or cheese, but you don't want it to fall to mush either.). About 15 minutes seemed to do the trick for me once the water got boiling.

Step 2: Peel and trim the shallots, cutting them in half and give them a toss in a little bit of olive oil and then sort of pan roast them until they show signs of softening and a bit of translucency. Set aside.

Step 3: Remove cauliflower and garlic from your steamer basket and put in the bowl of your food processor. Add the shallots and put the lid on the bowl and pulse a few times to get an even, almost granular consistency. The cauliflower will not totally puree, but that's all right. It will. :D

Step 4: Heat the milk up in the microwave for about a minute, and dissolve the cornstarch in the heated milk. While continuing to pulse the cauliflower mix, slowly add the milk/starch mixture. Stop pulsing and just allow the food processor to run (if you have multiple speeds, use medium speed). It will turn thick and somewhat pasty. Add in the butter, sour cream, parmesan and salt and pepper, blend until it holds a reasonably even and smooth consistency. It should look something like this:


Step 5: Serve hot with a small pat of butter (or at this point margarine) on top, some freshly snipped chives or parsley, or even with additional sour cream and cheese as you would loaded mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Also in case you're curious, the steak that accompanied this side was a London broil cut that I trimmed all tough connective tissue from, rubbed with a mixture of dry mustard, smoked paprika, garlic and onion powders and sea salt after it came to room temperature, then rubbed with softened butter on both sides and put into a pre-heated skillet for a nice sear. Mine was about 1 " thick so I did it about 3 minutes on each side and then just let it sit in the skillet for a few minutes to cook to medium rare. I basically adapted this recipe to suit my needs and it came out fantastic! I will probably never cook steak a different way again. Yes the butter was kinda fattening, but unfortunately butter seems to be the only adequate browning agent for meat without having to use tons of it (I used about 1 tbsp for each side of the steak). And then for serving I did as advised in the recipe and sliced it on the diagonal going across the grain of the meat.

*By steamer basket I do not mean that little insert thing that sometimes comes with your pan sets. I mean something like this. I find it provides a faster, more even steam than those little inserts. And microwave steaming, well, it really just turns the veggies to rubber right? I bought mine at Wal Mart for like five dollars, but I'm sure if you want to you can spend more money for a fancier one that does the same thing. Just goes to show you that sometimes the more money you spend (i spent like twenty dollars on that little insert thingie) does not always equal better. :D *

Adventures in Handspinning and KAL news...

So this week, I really haven't been doing too much knitting. Actually I don't think I've picked up the needles since I've picked up the spindle (don't worry, that'll change soon - I have some things I need to finish up already and I'll have to do it over the weekend to make way for other things). And let me tell you, I really think I'm getting the hang of this.

I'm sure you recall the blue BFL I had on my spindle at the last posting, right? All slubby and thick and thin? Well...here's a picture of the finished yarn.

That's actually just one mini-hank of three that I managed to spin out of 4 oz of fiber - got a whopping (note the sarcasm here folks) 64ish yards of pretty much what you see in the above photo. Thick, thin, slubby - my splicing of new pre-drafted strips of fiber onto the spun yarn horrible. Still, I was damn proud of it and still am. It might not be knittable but it sure is purty to look at. And since I was having such fun, I decided to pull out that oh so fruity smelling merino/tencel fiber and see if I could spin that up! And here's what I got!

Still thick and thin, not really all that slubby, but my splicing still leaves a lot to desire. And yes, this time I managed to skein all my little mini hanks together to make one very short but very fat skein of heavy fingering to almost bulky thick and thin - this time managing 116 yards! I know, still not really knittable (though I might see if I can manage a Calorimetry out of it) but once again, very pretty to look at. :D And I was still having such fun!

So much fun that I decided to get ambitious. I had this 8 oz hunk of super soft,shimmering 50/50 combo of merino/tussah silk that I had purchased from The Sheep Shed's fiber festival booth at Rhinebeck of 'o7 hanging around in a plastic tote. Every now and then I'd take it out to sniff it, pet it, and rub my face against it, but whenever I got the urge to try and spin it, I'd hide it away quickly for fear that I'd try and fail.

You see, I knew when I bought that fiber that I wanted it to be a lovely delicate lace-weight (single ply would more than fit the bill), and well, I kept doubting my ability to be able to spin a yarn that fine. Well, after I finished with that fruity merino/tencel I pulled out that fiber and separated it into two strips - then I took one of those strips and split it into fourths, and then eighths, and then rolled those little eighths up into balls and went to work on drafting out those eighths into nice, thin strips workable for spinning up a nice shimmery lace weight. And well, I hate to sound cliche' but Eureka, I think I get it!



Ta-DA! Oh I know it's not perfectly even - still a bit on the thick and thinnish side (though not even close to the degree it was before...it just goes from a lace weight to a slightly heavier lace weight) and I'm down to the last three eighths of that first 4 oz strip of fiber and I already have 143 yards spun up! If I keep spinning at this rate, then I think that I'll have surpassed my goal and possibly have spun up enough for the Calais Shawl - nevermind my original goal of 198 yds of heaven!

Speaking of the Calais Shawl(Rav Link) - apparently it's a FAIL in the KAL department for the official True Blood Group on Ravelry, BUT I still want to knit it, and a couple of my friends do as well. I'll be starting a group for the Calais Shawl KAL over on Ravelry and while we'll officially cast on on June 13th at 9 p.m. I'm thinking that it'll be more of an on-going thing, that way whoever wants to hop on in whenever they want to, they can. :D And like I said, if you're participating in the 10 shawls in 2010 KAL, this shawl kal does double duty. ;)

Now the only problem is, I only know of two people besides me that want to join in, sooo...if you're interested in participating in the KAL just shoot me a private message over on ravelry (I'm girlmeetsneedle there too) and once I get three people interested then I'll set up a group! Also keep in mind that while this will be primarily a KAL group - there will be other fun groupy type activities in the future! Like swaps, and possibly a contest or two! :D

Anyway, it's 3 am and I'm going to actually go knit a little bit instead of spinning up any more fiber and then maybe head off to bed. Don't forget to pm me on Ravelry if you'd like to participate in the KAL and wait!

One more thing. While I was digging through my stash of fiber, I found this.

This, is an Ann Grout support spindle - turnip based. Pretty, isn't it?

Sweet how it rests in that little bowl right? Well, you'll notice that there's a tiny bit of blue fiber attatched to the spool of the spindle - but let me hasten to assure you that only a very small amount of fiber was ever spun using that thing. It is not for me, which is why it remained hidden for so long. However, I found a group on Ravelry and put it up for trade. I got quite a bit more interest than I thought I would, but I made speedy arrangements to make the trade with a very kind lady named Stacey (the oh so talented creator of Spindipity yarns and fibers) - for a 4 oz braid of her very aptly named "Pansy" colored SW merino. So recently, that support spindle has become this.

Don't the colors just make you happy in your soul? As soon as I got it, I sniffed it (smells vaguely of lavender and soap with the deep down earthy smell of sheep...mmmm) and petted it, and hugged it. And I squeed for about fifteen minutes. ANd then I squeed even more about the little post card she sent with a little code to use to get 15% off my next order from her (and oh there shall be plenty). Yes, I tucked the pretty away before I abandoned spinning up my lace weight to get that all drafted. And yes, I'm hoping I can hold off on spinning it for a while because I'd kind of like to savor all that happiness. :D She thanked me for the trade, but really I'm feeling like I'm getting the better part of this bargain here. Totally.

Now...I'm going to bed for realz. Night folks!

In other news...

I'm blaming this on a certain someone who shall remain nameless (however...I'm sure you know who YOU are as I type this - evil foul temptress of spindling), but well, I did a crazy thing. I decided to take some of that fiber that I bought years and years and years ago at the only MDS&W I ever had the good fortune of attending (a super soft, scrummy braid of BFL) and actually attempt to spin it.

Well...it's not pretty. In fact, it barely looks like yarn - and actually, now that I think about it, I'm not entirely certain I'm even remotely doing this properly. But here it is. My first, yarnish type thingie...



Ta-Da!!!! Erm...I know. Hardly impressive right? First off, allow me to critique myself here, but this "yarn" is incredibly thick and thin. Oh yeah. Goes from a thickness that vaguely resembles sewing thread to an outright bulky. There are slubs, despite the fact I did pause (spindle clamped between my knees) and attempt to draft out the super thick parts of already pre-drafted wool. Actually, there are lots of slubs...and I'm not sure the twist will even stay really, but it kinda, sorta, almost does look like yarn, right? RIGHT?! Just agree with me and humor me people. :D Oh well, at least the colors are pretty and if I've wrecked this beautiful BFL roving beyond all reason, at least it was already pretty well wrecked from my prior attempt at spindling it a couple of years ago...so it's okay if I wreck it even further. To think I'd daydreamed myself into believing that I could get a lovely, even fingering weight single my first try...talk about ambitious.

On the home front, DW is doing well. Recently she partook in the physical aspect of testing for SRT (Sheriff's Response Team), and managed to pass it on her first try - much to her apparent astonishment (not so much mine - I knew she could do it), and is just waiting for an interview before she finds out whether or not she actually made it onto the team. DW is acting uncertain about her place in it - but she's not fooling me. I'm pretty sure she's a shoe-in.

I have a few more FO pictures to show you, too as I kind of held some back from my last post so...without any further ado, here they are!



Pattern: Baby Rollin' Beret by Woolly Wormhead
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Madrid Multi in colorway #2011
Amount Used: About three quarters of a skein.

This pattern was a very fast and very pleasant knit, and I think it could make just about any baby's head look adorable. A big bonus for me was that it took on a very Strawberry Shortcake kind of feel when it was done, because if you're as old as I am you actually remember when Strawberry Shortcake wore a beret-hat instead of the floppy brimmed monstrosity she wears now. I'm not entirely sure what Ms. (or Mr.) Wormhead meant by a "dinky knot"...but the little knot on top really is a cute addition. I think the knotted top is actually what drew it to my attention! :D



Pattern: Striped Baby Halter Top by Shelly Hattan
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Madrid Multi and Solid in colorways #2011 and #2003 respectively
Amounts: About 3/4 of the skein of solid, and about 1/2 of the skein of multi

This halter is easily the cutest little baby item I've knit. I don't know why, but I love it and I really think that it complements the little beret above. However, I suspect this project has cured me of my love of ruffles for a while. No need to be knitting and binding off that many stitches any time soon. However, the cuteness of the beret and the sweetness of this little top/sundress left me kind of at a loss for what kind of little shoes to make. I had intended on knitting yet another pair of Mary Jane Booties But for some reason (though I knit this with the same needles I knit the last pair in) when the first bootie was finished it was fully twice the size of the first pair I'd made! Sooo...that was a no go. I did however, finally manage to find a nice, simple pair of little footies that did just nicely.



Pattern: Organic Cotton Knit Booties by Bernat Design Studio
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Madrid Multi #2011
Amounts: Two walnut sized balls of leftovers from previous projects. :D

Aren't these just so sweet and cute in their simplicity. I think after all the ruffles and decreases and increases and picking up stitches I just wanted something kind of plain...something that would keep baby's foot warm without taking away from the ornateness of the little halter. I think they fit the bill, and on top of that were an incredibly fast knit - one that I can easily repeat over and over again (which is good as I plan on knitting a rainbow of them for my own hypothetical future child - hypothetical mind you because we have yet to find a suitable clinic with a suitable donor as of yet).

All the pink stuff above is intended as a belated baby shower gift to a friend of mine, along with two sweet little crocheted sets that my best friend's mother in law made out of the goodness of her heart for little Aurora Jane. Now if only we can agree on a time and day to meet so I can give them to her...well, we'll be in like flynn!

The last thing is the first part of a gift that DW requested that I knit last minute for her friend at work who is also having a baby (well, now we know exactly how most people entertain themselves during winter, right - dangit, where's that evil grin plurky face when I need it the most!)- this one a boy.



Pattern: Caterpillar by Kimberly Chapman
Yarn: TLC Cotton Plus - not sure who makes it - blueish green color and white.
Amounts: Uhm...scraps really. I used the rest of the skein of blueish green for a hat and booties (which I'll be showing in a later post due to the fact that the current pictures I have of them both really really suck)

This was an easy, fun toy to knit, though I wish that a) I'd had brighter, more crayola inspired colors to work with (next time - oh yes, there will be others to follow!) and b) I'd had noise making implements like bells, rattly things or squeaky things to put in the different sections. It would have made it way more of an interesting toy for a baby - but even though this toy will most likely be relegated to a shelf somewhere, it'll at least be one of the cutest toys on that shelf. Even if the antennae didn't quite do what I wanted them to do and flopped over...and my sewing of the legs kind of stinks, and my embroidery is awful! :D

I have a couple of other things on (and off) the needles, but once again, later posts. I can't just give you all my goodies right away. It's just not lady-like. Besides, I have a mouth full of BFL and my eyes are closing as I'm typing. It's looking like it's just about time for me to hit the hay for a bit of a kip. DW will likely be forced into OT tomorrow, or take, so after my kip, I'll spend my morning baking whoopie pies as kind of a last hurrah, if you will. A so-long to those cold wintery nights. And a delicious one at that! :D

KAL and other things...

So, at random on plurk, my friend KnitChick and I were chattering away about True Blood Season 3 - and needless to say we're both super psyched and pretty much impatiently waiting for it to just start already! And of course, being as we're both obsessive knitters, the topic gradually turned to just that - and then moved on (quite rationally I'd say) to the idea of having a Knit-a-long (KAL) for Season 3.

Okay, so I know that this idea is not a new one, and that people have been having KAL's forever, and that there's been one for each season of the show (which I hadn't had the fortune to jump in on), but I can't seem to locate one for this season so we thought we'd try and get the ball rolling.

The tough part was finding an appropriate pattern (as the other appropriate patterns for such a tv show had already been used in previous KAL's - or were *gasp* Twilight related), so I plugged the word "vampire" into the little pattern search bar on Ravelry and went rifling through - and managed to discover this little gem : Calais Shawl . It's beautiful, the lace pattern isn't overwhelmingly complicated and looks to be repetitive and thus easily memorized - and it looks great in red, black or just about any color you'd want to knit it in! And after a few moments of discussion with Miss Chickie, we decided that it was just perfect for what we were looking for (plus as an added bonus, it ties into the 10 shawls in 2010 KAL that we're participating in as well).

So here's the info for the KAL

WHAT: Calais Shawl by Judy Marples
WHEN:Sunday JUNE 13th (edited thanks to a kindly reader) :)
CAST ON: 9 pm SHARP
CAST OFF: 10 pm SHARP on the day of the Season's last episode (or at least, that's our goal :) )

And believe me when I say that we'd really, really love to get as many people in on this as possible, so feel free to join in. And yes, we want to see pics of your FO!

Speaking further of knitting, I've been knitting up a storm lately! So much so that I actually need to take a break tonight so I can let my forearms rest. I don't know why, but they're killing me today! But...I do have plenty of FO pics to show for the aches and pains!



First up, we finally have here a complete, FO picture of the Bubbles Wrap I mentioned eons ago. The yarn again, is Acero by Brooks Farm yarns , and let me tell you it is some of the prettiest yarn I've worked with. Slips right through your fingers and is a dream to knit with. The model would be the woman that I actually wound up gifting it to - my Aunt Sharon - and let me just tell you she loves it. She wears it with everything and says that it even looks good with everything. It even looks nice with that bright, floral dress she's wearing! I'm just glad it went to someone who will actually get use out of it. Although, I fear I've turned her into a handknits addict. She's already looking through the magazines I have at patterns and plotting out when to take me yarn shopping her next hand knit piece. And my mom's super jealous because I've never knit her a stole like that (because I thought she wouldn't wear it)...so now I absolutely have to knit her a sweater. Hehehe. Soon I'll have projects coming out of my ears.



Up next is my Citron. I know this is meant to be a winter type shawlette, but around here, it still gets cooler at night occasionally so I thought it'd be nice to wear out in the evening - and the color is bright enough that it'll still be noticed. This I knit up in Mmmmmalabrigo lace. It was my first time ever working with this yarn, but I have to admit that I now see what all the hullaballoo is about. This is hands down the softest, skwooshiest, prettiest lace yarn I've had the pleasure of petting,and it almost seemed like a waste to remove it from it's oh so squeezable skein to wind it into a ball. The color I chose, was Tiger Lily. I'm a pink person by nature - and as such I tend to gravitate towards just that pink. Sooo...with this I took myself out of my color comfort zone and I have to say that I really, really love the result. I think I'll have to do this sorta thing more often!





The above is some baby stuff I knit up for my cousin's baby shower. They were a last minute, quickie gift, but still came out beautiful. I used yarn from my stash for this - as I was able to locate about 9 skeins of Madrid (6 of the multi and 3 solid pale pink). The hat, sweater and booties took me a combined four days to knit, and let me just say that they were a HUGE success. The patterns (in no particular order) are: Mary Jane Booties by Lucie Sinkler, Ruffled Baby Hat by MaryAnn Hwee, and Confection Baby Shrug by Tonya Wagner. I matched them with this cute little ruffled denim dress bought at Wal Mart and the result was adorable. I knit a blanket buddy for her too, but I can't seem to locate the pictures!

Now on the ruffled hat - I know my "flower" doesn't even look remotely like the ones in the pattern - and that's because I can't crochet for crap. So, if you like it, all I did was knit about 3 1/2" of a 3 stitch I-cord and then sewed it into a spiral and then proceeded to sew some beads into the center for sparkle. My cousin loved the result. So easy and yet so little work. <3

I have a few more FO's to post pictures of, but I think those will have to wait for another post as I'm kind of drifting off to sleep here...and I still need to get my butt in gear to do some cooking for tomorrow's family BBQ. But I absolutely have to leave you with this:



DW! Freshly showered, scrubbed, smelling oh so nummy and looking oh so sexilicious! Is it any wonder I love this woman? She's HAWT!

Food, sticks and string...how can you go wrong?

First off, I have something to say and I'm going to say it. Some people, are inherently morons. There. I've gone ahead and done it. I'm not naming names or anything, but really now. Some things are just a matter of common sense and if you have none, then basically, yeah, you're screwed.

So, for those of you not "in the know", I now hold down a part time job at a bakery. Now, I don't actually do any of the baking as we have big, strong men in the kitchen to handle all that heavy lifting (and I mean heavy - you should see the size of these bowls the guys whip up various batters and frostings in, I'm talking HUGE!). My job is to stand out front at the counter, smile prettily and ask if the customers would like that in a box or a bag. That's right. I'm a pastry peddler. And generally, I like it. It's exceptionally fun because I can call my MIL down at the main bakery when she's working and harass her whenever I feel like it because, hey, she's the cake decorator!

Anyway, this past Sunday I get to work at 6:30 a.m - as usual - and start putting out trays of glossy, powdery, flaky pastries and the day starts per the norm. Nobody comes in until about 8:30 a.m (usually the woman who lives across the street asking for her large coffee hold the sugar please). This particular Sunday, there seemed to be a LOT of birthday parties. At least thirteen that I personally had knowledge of as my little store was in possession of the stars of those shows - the cakes. Now my mother in law, she does beautiful work. I've never had a customer complain about the cakes they receive. In fact, they all say "Wow, that came out so much better than I expected!" and generally,they leave with shiny happy faces which, in turn, makes me put my shiny happy face on. I love seeing the people walk away happy, you know? I mean, there's so much misery in the world already, so if a little thing like a doughnut dripping with glaze or a ten pound marble cake loaded with buttercream icing, stuffed with strawberries and topped with about ten million beautiful frosting roses makes people cheery then I'm all for it!

Sounds like a pretty decent day, right? It was, until the BIG IDIOT walks in. Now, he's a young guy - obviously out of his depth. I mean, you can tell when a customer's comfy with being in a place and he was so NOT comfy. He walked quickly up to the counter, eyes darting nervously (most likely this was a ploy to emphasize the fact that yes, he'd almost forgotten to stop by and thusly was in more of a hurry than he usually would be - sneaky devil) about the place until he finally arrived right in front of me.

ME: "Hi there! How can I help you?" ::smiling pleasantly::

BIG IDIOT: "Uh...I'm here to pick up a cake?" ::looking at me quizzically, as if unsure that this is in fact a place where you could find cakes::

ME: "Okay...what's the name?" ::still smiling::

BIG IDIOT: "Uhm...*Smith*?" ::looking more confused by the minute::

ME: "Oh sure thing! Let me just box it up for you!"

At this point, I head into the back to do just that. Meanwhile I can hear him reciting his errand list out loud...and I'm trying not to giggle. After all, laughing at the customers is rude right? At least, it is while they're in earshot of it.

ME: "Here it is Sir! Isn't it nice?" ::grinning, ignoring the fact that BIG IDIOT has registered that I heard his little littany and is now actually blushing and trying to avoid looking me in the eye::

BIG IDIOT: "Oh yeah, it's great!" ::takes a peek inside and nods as if he knows what the damned thing is supposed to look like::

Now please, take note. This cake wasn't your average marble birthday cake. It was stuffed to the gills with our home made chocolate custard with loads of our real whipped cream piled and whorled on top of it. Not to mention the inch-thick colorful balloons on either side of this thing. Needless to say, I could not close the top of the box all the way for fear of smooshing my MIL's lovely work. So I closed it as much as I could and taped the sides down. Now...since we've already established this man's idiocy, I'm sure you can only guess what this guy did next.

BIG IDIOT: "Uh...why's it open?" ::untapes the sides and puts the box top completely down and then starts PUSHING the top down on top of the cake::

ME: "What are you DOING?!" ::no longer smiling, but rather looking on in horrified fascination...and yes, my voice did raise into a bit of an incredulous shriek on that last word::

BIG IDIOT: "Uhm...trying to close the box." ::this said slightly condescendingly, even as he pushes the box top down a bit further:: "But it ain't closing all the way..."

ME: "Well no kidding!" ::grabbing the cake from him and lifting the top, showing the now totally smooshed top of the cake. The balloons? Totally flat and smooshed into the cream and smeared all over the place. The pretty whorly trim? Pretty no more. It was a mush pile!:: "See why I didn't close it all the way? You probably would have been fine if you'd just left it closed but look! You squished it!" ::looking at him like he's the biggest moron on the planet::

BIG IDIOT: "Oh shit..." ::eyes bugging out of his head, disbelieving:: "Can you fix it?!?!" ::panic is definitely setting in. Oh yeah, he's gonna get a HUGE earful when he gets home with that mangled marble cake::

ME: "Uhm, no, I can't. I'm not a decorator. And we don't have one in the store right now. You're going to have to take it as is. Sorry." ::not smiling, shoving the cake receipt in his face:: "But I want you to sign this so we know that you did see it in EXCELLENT condition. Please."

Of course, he signed it and took the cake as it was. So what's the moral of the story here? Never let a man pick up a cake that you took the time to painstakingly choose colors, filling, and flavor for or you'll essentially end up with trifle. And...as you can well guess, names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Speaking of pastries and doughnuts and things, I have been working in my own kitchen (as usual) - whipping up what I hoped would be a rather tasty concoction on my stove top only to find them to slightly fail at the finish line.

The culprit: Zeppole by Giada de Laurentiis


There mine are, frying up in their two inches of oil. I didn't use olive oil, like the recipe suggested, but rather canola. I did cut the recipe in half as it was just me that would be eating them (DW having been forced to work over time that morning, but well, they look the way they're supposed once they hit the hot oil. They puff up, and appear to promise a light, airy confection that will be crisp outside and soft and puffy in the middle and when sweetened with some vanilla sugar and cinnamon? They promise to be heaven, right? Well, while the dough did exactly what it was supposed to, I found they lacked any bit of true flavor (except for the eggs...I could definitely taste egginess in them and maybe that's why I found them to be a bit blech). Also they were far too dense. More like a deep fried pancake (despite them puffing up in the oil) in texture than a doughnut of any kind. The cinnamon sugar was a nice touch...but I think they're just not for me. Needless to say, next time I get the urge for piping hot, home made doughnuts, I think I'll go for the apple cider variety - rolled hot out of the oil in cinnamon sugar and then served with a cream cheese glaze for dipping. Yeah, now that's the stuff. Anyhow, here's the finished, yet disappointing, zeppole.

Notice the amount of sugar that I applied to make them palatable...

Aaaanywho, moving on to the world of knitting. I've finished my Swallowtail , and can safely say that I am absolutely addicted to lace. It took me a bit to feel "brave" enough to attempt it, but when I successfully completed my Ishbel, I realized it was time to step the lace up a notch and I really feel I did.



There she is boys and girls, and I have to say I'm pretty darn pleased with myself. Granted, I didn't bother with the nupps (being as no matter how loose I worked them they still seemed to need enough force to push the needle through all five stitches to cause pain in my shoulder after four or five of them), and opted to use beads instead. My only regret is that the beads were size 8 mm instead of 6...I think the larger size would have shown up better...but still, for a shawlette of this delicacy I still think it came out beautifully. I don't really understand how people who knit this pattern wound up with full sized shawls (maybe they used much bigger needles than I did?), but I'm happy with the size anyway as I prefer scarf-like shawlettes to big wraps anyway! :D



There's a closer view of the beads. Hopefully you can see them. It was tough trying to figure out what color beads to use, but I think I chose well.

Conveniently, the day I finished this shawl, the needles I'd ordered from Knit Picks came in, which allowed me to cast on the socks I promised I'd knit for my Aunt Sharon. She was so delighted by the wrap I gave her for Christmas, that when I mentioned I really liked to knit socks she promptly bought me enough skeins of Happy Feet to knit herself and my mother each a pair of socks. They're thrilled. Now I ordered two sets of needles from KP. Both size 2, each a set of 5 DPN's. One is nickel plated and the other is a true blue indulgence - Knit Picks' Harmony Wood. I haven't used them yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I've heard lots of good things about the Harmony Wood and I thought I'd give 'em a test. The nickel plated are mostly for practicality as one of my dogs has a fondness for stealing my wooden DPN's out of my knitting bag and chewing them up until they're nothing but splinters - thus the reason for my having to order new DPN's in the first place!

Either way, I'm really liking this sock pattern so far, and I absolutely love this yarn. Yes, I know it's not Wollemeise, STR or any of the other "BIG NAMES" that I'm in sock yarn lust with, but this yarn is still awesome. It's soft, it's squishy and while the other yarns I suspect might be lust for me, this yarn seems to be true love. I chose a semi-solid...more like a dark grayish blackish blue with hints of a lighter color that add subtle highlights to my stitching. Sooo pretty. Here's what I have done so far:

Pattern: "Embossed Leaves" by Mona Schmidt as presented to me in "Favorite Socks"
Yarn: Plymouth Happy Feet - Color #18 - 2 skeins
Needles: Size 2 - 2.75 mm DPN's
Adjustments: Rather than knit the full 18 rounds or whatever she suggests for the cuff, I knit a mere 10 and with all the repeats of the chart for the leg I still got the 6 3'4" length that she suggests!

And do you see what I mean about prettiness? Check out that subtle glossy sheen! Those lovely little highlights from the lighter parts! I mean, you can't beat it for what it cost - a mere 5.99 per hank! And it's really, truly delightful as it runs through your fingers while you're working with it.

On the home front, DW's been sick lately, but I think she's starting to come around to being better. She's sitting on the couch right now, playing a hack 'n slash game and delicately sipping some coffee. She's also managed to find time to thumb through Favorite Socks and pick out a pair of socks that I absolutely "MUST" knit for her.Of course, I'm a little nervous about them because she's picked out a pair of socks that require colorwork (luckily only two colors I think but still)and I've never successfully knit with more than one color in the round before. Well, I guess there's a first time for everything, right? And of course, DW's still thrilled with her job. She's going out for SRT soon (the jail's version of SWAT) and is looking into taking the Hostage Negotiation class their offering, as well as the gun safety course so she can legally carry. DW with a gun - I almost shudder to think of it! Just kidding - I know she'll be very serious about safety with that thing, and even though I'm not sure how to feel about the Hostage Negotiation thing..I know she'll be great at it and will think before putting herself in any dangerous situations. I'm just a worry wart and I can't help it. :P I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I'm off to head back into the living room, knit a few more rows and listen to the rain drop all pitter-pattery on my roof! Keep knitting, baking, and reading! :D I love having readers...it makes it so worth it to me to keep this blog up, so thank you so much!

Where's Waldo?

Here I am! Well, okay so I'm not a tall, geeky looking male with glasses and a penchant for wearing candy cane print clothes...but here I am nonetheless. You may be wondering exactly why I've been gone so long...and well, frankly I have no excuse other than sheer laziness. So this post is gonna be a bit of a doozy - because there's a LOT to catch up on.

First off, let's go all the way back to Rhinebeck, 2009. Once again, I didn't make it. This year however, I have a very, very good excuse. The night before we were going to leave, I had a gallbladder attack that lead to a very stressful 8 days in the hospital and a gallbladder removal surgery. It was quite upsetting because I was completely prepared to go too! And, being the sweetheart that I am, I gave the people I was going with my share of the hotel room anyway because I didn't want to screw them. And what did they do? They repayed that kindness by being triply kind and using the money on yarn for me instead!!!!



There it is, three squishy, gorgeous, PINK skeins of Brooks Farms Solo Silk. The only yarn I was really interested in purchasing and they bought it for me. They even picked out the perfect color! Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with it! I've been told to "make it something good" because, well, they spent a looooong time picking out just the "right" color for me. Apparently, I'm hard to shop for when it comes to yarn because my taste in colors is considered unusual by them. While they for the most part blatantly favor earth tones or fire-y type colors, my taste tends to run all over the spectrum (but skipping a few shades in the color wheel just because they bore me). But I think that they did a superb job!

And, on top of all that, they got me this nifty little goodie bag from the Rav party and had people sign it for me and stuffed all kinds of fun little goodies in it!




I was, and still am, blown away by their thoughtfulness. It was something I wasn't remotely expecting, and it really made my hospital stay that much less stressful.The months after that stay - well that's another story. There was a bit of a leukemia scare due to high white blood cell counts, but after umpteen million viles of blood taken out of my poor, bruised arms, they were quite happy to tell me that I was cancer free...but still, it was a bit harrowing. Thankfully, things have settled down where my health has concerned.

On the knitting front...I've been doing quite a bit of it, and even managed to successfully complete my first actual lace stole - the previously mentioned Bubbles wrap! I, however, do not have a FO picture as of yet because it was gifted to my fantastic Auntie Sharon (who got all teary eyed when I gave it to her because it was the "best Christmas present" she'd ever received). However, I told her that I needed to nab her for a picture with the stole...and she has agreed! So one should be coming soon! In the meantime, here are some of the things I've cranked out!


Pattern: Baktus
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn - Happy Feet - Color #04 - 2 skeins
Needles: US size 6 / 4.0 mm
Difficulty: Easy - a mindless knit.
Alterations: Instead of leaving the ends plain, I added some fun tassles.
Made for: My Mom!


Pattern: Ishbel - the smaller version
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug - Color "Fire" - 1 skein
Needles: US 6 / 4.0mm
Difficulty: Intermediate.
Alterations: None
Made for: Myself!

This was my second "real" lace project and my first lace shawl. It was such a fun knit, that I really want to make another one, but this time I think I'll add some beads. I just need to find the right yarn. Might have to get some more Jitterbug because I really, really like the feel of it and it was awesome to work with. No splitting or anything! My only regret is that I didn't block the points out more aggressively. Maybe if I get unlazy, I'll re-block it and do so. We'll see.


Pattern: Brigid
Yarn: BMFA STR Mediumweight - Color "Alina" - like maybe 1/2 the skein if that?
Needles: US 4 / 3.5mm
Difficulty: I considered these easy. They took me like two days to knit!
Made for: My friend Lee-Ann!

These were a thank you gift for feeding DW while I was in the hospital and feeding us the day I got out of the hospital. My only problem with these, were the way the colors pooled...and also, belatedly, I discovered that I'm not actually fond of this colorway at all. Next time I make these I will do two things: Go down a needle size and knit them in a solid, semi-solid, or heathered yarn.



Pattern: Swallowtail Lace Shawl
Yarn: Handpaintedyarn.com Merino Lace - Color "Warm Spirit" - a little over half a skein
Difficulty: Intermediate for me...but so far so good!
Made for: Dunno yet, but it's the first of my 10 shawls for 2010!

I started this originally back in the beginning of January, but I dropped a stitch so far down while working the nuppps that I had to frog it...and while I was frogging it the yarn decided it was going to pull the entire shawl up into one, big unmanageable knot. So I had to scrap it and start again. Took me a bit to re-cast on...but I decided I'm not letting this beat me down!

Also, as you can see from the photo, I've been doing some baking! In that photo is a chocolate cupcake with toasted 7-minute frosting! I used this recipe for the cupcakes, and the following recipe for the frosting. I then put them in the oven to bake and at about 7 minutes till baking time was over I took them out and piped the frosting on then put them back in the oven for the frosting to toast up a bit.

7 Minute Frosting - courtesy of Foodnetwork.com

1 ½ c White Sugar
1/8 tsp Salt
1/3 c Water
¼ tsp Cream of Tartar or 1 tbsp. of White Corn Syrup
2 Egg Whites
1 ½ tsp Vanilla

Place sugar, cream of tartar (or syrup), salt, water and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a hand mixer for a total of 1 minute. Place pan over the boiling water (but make sure it doesn’t actually touch the water as this may cause crystallization of the sugar) and beat constantly on high for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and beat in vanilla.

Some things I would have done differently: First, I would have only filled the cupcake cups up halfway rather than 3/4 as my cupcakes kind of overflowed their little holders. I had to cut away some of the edge so they would be perfect icing size. Also, I would have cut back some of the milk in the recipe even more than I did. I cut it back from 1 cup to a little over 3/4 of a cup of milk...but still they almost disintegrate when I pull the paper off. So maybe next time I'll do a 1/2 cup plus a tablespoon or two. Secondly, I would have left them in the oven to toast some more to get more of that crisp, cooked sugar flavor! However, these are still yummy, and with only a scant 3 tbsp of butter in the cupcake, even someone on a diet can afford to splurge with these! Here's a closer picture of the cupcake (and yes there's a bite missing)!

Here are some other things I've baked up in my kitchen on the pond...

Apple Pie!

Chewy,crispy, chocolate chip cookies (courtesy of SmittenKitchen.com)

Miniature Soft Pretzels (also courtesy of SmittenKitchen.com)

And the only pancakes I'm allowed to make ever...Aunt Edna Rae's Sour Cream pancakes (recipe found via SmittenKitchen.com)

As you guys can plainly see, GMN is back in business! Knitting and domesticity is ensuing! And yes, there will be more blogging in the future! I promise! But for now, it's back to knitting...and maybe consumption of another cupcake or two! ;) Be safe, happy and make sure if you're being bad that you're at least good at it! >:)~

Omigosh...I'm ALIVE

I can't help thinking that somehow, this was all a HUGE mistake. I fell away from my knitting groove, and instead found myself in this total knitting FUNK. Nothing I cast on was good enough, or pretty enough to keep me entertained long enough to actually want to continue knitting it. Not even a dishcloth was enough to get me started. So, obviously, for MONTHS, I haven't knit a thing. Not one single stitch. In fact, the idea to cast on never even entered my mind.

I guess in a way I needed the break. I had stuff to concentrate on that had nothing to do with knitting, and therefore I felt if I didn't think about it, then it wouldn't bother me. Well, it's September (almost October already) and my hands have started to itch. Literally, a tingling in my palms where I would be holding nice, smooth knitting needles while stitches dropped off the tips like magic. So I went a-searching and OH MY GOD, found a pattern that I really really HAD to knit. It's socks, of course. They seem to be my go-to project when I really need to get back into the groove of things. Once I get a few inches of a sock leg going, I'm unstoppable...and then I'll be a knitting fiend...and hopefully won't decide I need a crazy long break again.

I'll letcha know how it works out...maybe even before I head off to Rhinebeck (because I'm SO going this year!). ;)

Till then, keep knitting and cross your fingers that I finally manage to fall out of this knitting void I managed to climb into!

Frogging Friday - Talia

Started: July 2008
Frogged: January 15th, 2009
The Proof:

Okay, so here's the story with what has come to be known as the Great Talia Cock Up.

I wanted to knit this vest because it seemed like a fun and still easy enough first sweater-like-object kind of project. The yarn that I wanted to knit it in was a chunky, super soft yarn known as Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky. The sheen was what drew me, that and the skwooshiness of it. It told me that the vest would look stunning knit up in all it's fine, nommable glory, and I agreed. So, I did a swatch - and that's what I believe was my fatal mistake. I actually, for the first time ever, knit a swatch and fiddled around with it until I got the needle size that would bring me to guage - a feat which I achieved on the second knit of the swatch. So, armed with the knowledge of my perfect guage I set out to make this epically beautiful vest which wound up being epically HUGE.

As you can see from the picture at the top of the page, it is large enough for both me and my SIL to stick our heads through the armholes like they were windows. It is large enough for both me and my SIL to wrap it around us and wear it together, at the same time. In fact, it was so HUGE, really, that it was obvious that it would only do as a Siamese Twins Costume for Halloween. I was so disgusted that I stuffed it in a tote and hid that tote so that I couldn't look at it even if I wanted to!

Originally, I was going to see if maybe I could fix the straps - because that's where both myself and my SIL believed the error to be. Then I decided that I'd rather re-knit the Talia vest in the yarn and needle size that the pattern actually calls for and instead, recycle this yarn for something else. Thus, the frogging.

It took a lot of work - especially since I tried to frog it backwards at first, but eventually I wound up with quite a few balls of recyclable, knittable yarn. And thankfully, this yarn seems to have bounced back quite nicely...despite the fact that it has been knit up for quite a while!

I plan on using the yarn to make a pair of these, and a hat or scarf (depending on how much yarn is left over - I might even make both!), to go with them! Aren't they pretty?

So yeah, I haven't been doing all that much actual knitting...but at least I've been doing some preparation. That counts for something, right?

Also, in other news, I've recently hopped onto a new bandwagon. The Toy Society is just such a great idea to me! I mean, how often can we really say that we get to give happiness to a stranger? Not that often for me, really...but I'd like to start.



And once he's finished, that guy's going to be my first drop. Think he'll make somebody happy? I hope so!

If you want to get in on it, then drop the folks at the toy society an e-mail (the address is on the blog itself) and you'll find them to be exceptionally friendly and quite happy to have you play along!

So, knitting has been kind of a no-go for the last little while. I think maybe I got temporarily burnt out during the last minute December rush of Xmas knitting. Never fear though...because even as I speak I can feel the urge to knit itching away at my fingertips. I'll probably actually finish one of my UFO's!


So instead of FO pics and stuff, here's a recipe.


"Crab" Stuffed Portabella Mushroom Caps



You'll need:

5 large portabella mushroom caps
3/4 lb. of fake crab meat - hand shredded (I basically just smooshed it through my fingers)
1/2 of a large red onion - chopped
1 tbsp. of dried parsely
1/2 tbsp. of dried oregano
1/2 tbsp. of dried chives
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
4 slices fresh white bread (do not substitute)- torn into small pieces
1 red pepper - roasted*, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs (more or less as needed)
1/4 cup powdery parmesan cheese (the kind you can buy in the little plastic can to put on spaghetti)
6 tbsp. shredded parmesan cheese (such as Sargento's or whatever type you like. You can even buy a brick of parm and grate it yourself if you like)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Clean four of the caps off with a damp paper towel, trim off any excess stem and place flat side down on the sheet. (You want the part where the stem is facing upwards like a sort of cup.)
3. Take the fifth cap and chop it up finely and put in a large mixing bowl and combine well with the rest of your ingredients except for the shredded parm.
4. Heap the caps on the baking sheet with the stuffing mixture (I used an ice cream scoop and put roughly two and a half scoops on each cap), and use a rubber spatula to pat down slightly to flatten just a bit into a "cake".
5. Bake for 8 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle each each mushroom with 1 1/2 tbsp. of the grated parmesan cheese. Return to the oven and bake for an additional seven minutes - or until the cheese is melted and starts turning a light golden color.
6. Serve hot with garlic mashed red bliss potatoes and enjoy!

* When I use roasted red peppers in any dish, I usually make my own. And this is how I do it.

1. Trim off any excess stem from the top of the pepper.

2. Turn a front burner of your stove on medium-high and sit the pepper directly on the grate. Hold in place with long metal tongs, and keep there until the bottom is fully blackened.

3. Once the bottom is blackened, sit the pepper on it's side and let blacken as well, turning as you go so all sides are completely blackened - including the top. (If you have to, pick the pepper up and apply sections that aren't blackening properly directly to the flame in between the grate).

4. Once finished blackening the pepper, either put in a tightly fitting tupperware container and cover with the proper lid, or wrap in aluminum foil ( I prefer to do it this way) and let sit for at least an hour. This allows the steam coming from the roasted pepper to loosen the blackened skin and makes for easy peeling.

5. After at least an hour has past, remove from the foil and peel the blackened skin from the pepper. If a little of the blackened stuff remains (and you will still have flecks of it on the pepper no matter what you do), that's fine, but if it's too much for your liking, wipe additionally with a moist paper towel.

6.Cut just the green stem part of the pepper away from the flesh and discard, then split down the center and lay out as flat as possible. Strip the bitter white parts from the flesh and wipe any seeds away with a moist paper towel.

You can do this up to four days in advance, but I prefer to do it the day of whatever dish I'm preparing that requires it. If you're going to do it early, just store in the refrigerator in a small, airtight container drizzled with a little olive oil. Blot the oil away from the pepper prior to using. Also, it will only keep for four to five days in the fridge.

Now, this method only works if you have a gas stove. If you have an electric one, you can roast your pepper in the oven but it takes a lot longer. In that case, I'd just buy a small jar, and use up the entire jar for this stuffed mushroom recipe.


Also, just thought I'd end this post off with some puppy cuteness!