On BUNS and NEEDLES

Spun Crazy

2011-04-20T02:07:00.000-07:00

It's summer. Yes, I know big chunks of North America are still getting snow, but when it gets in the 80's here, I just grump and call it summer and hope for autumn. So, it's summer and as fun as knitting is, it's just a little bit hard to be enthusiastic about knitted items when you're sweating into your yarn. Or your needles are flying out of sweaty hands at inopportune moments and you're afraid to knit in public anymore. Whatever the cause, summer makes me a bit antsy and I want to try something new.

Enter the innocuous little piece of raw wood called a spindle. And a small pile of the most yummy colored fleece.. it's called Waterfall and it looks just like the water of my favorite little river. The byline says it "spins like a dream", too, but that must apply to other people because I get a bloody mess when I try to spin it.

I'm reasonably intelligent. I've taught myself to do a lot of stuff out of books or by Youtube videos. So why can't I get the hang of this? I thought I'd give it a go while the laundry was drying at the laundromat. See how clever a person I am? Except that I ended the experiment after 30 minutes of getting the "yarn" twisted in my hair, spun into my clothing, stuck on my earring, you name it. I was a disaster and I looked it too, with bits of wool everywhere. It was like I'd become Dorothy and the twister had made a stopover at a sheep sheering. Humiliating.

I haven't gotten the nerve up yet to drag myself, my spindle, and the vomit that should be spun yarn to a local shop that specializes in spinning stuff. Maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Maybe there's a class. Or maybe I can pay someone to get me going in the right direction.

And maybe I can just bury the stuff in a drawer for a few years first.

Toe Redux

2011-03-06T21:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get so caught up in finishing a project that I forget it's going to have a long life ahead of itself when it leaves my needles. In other words, someone's gonna wear this thing and it's not going to be me!

Tonight, my Uncle tried on the finished sock--as compared to the not quite yet but almost, I promise before you drive back to Canada it will be done, sock (just to be clear). The sock fit. Breathe a big sigh of relief and pat myself on the--whoops, not yet. The toe, he said, is too pointy. Too pointy? Too pointy! Oh rats.

So tonight it's rip, rip, rip out 6 rows. Lose the marker that says where the beginning of my round is. Panic. Count and figure and cross my fingers and hope I got it about right, cause that's where it is now, folks. And try a different toe that, in pictures at least, looks a lot rounder. Less pointy. When that is done, I will be ripping out my beautiful Kitchener--is that even possible--from the sock that I thought I'd never have to touch again, and re-knitting that toe, too.

Geesh. Who knew people got picky about articles of clothing?

And did I mention what he calls the socks? The Inferno socks (yes, with jokes about Dante and erudite mutterings in Italian, just to show he's smart and a PhD, and because he's weird that way). Which goes to show that men do not understand color, much less the complex alchemy of hand painted sock yarn. Do I point out the lovely, chromatically complex shadings of wine, grape leaf green, and russet? Nope. The PhD calls it red and makes allusions to Dante, so I hold my tongue.

At least he likes them. And because he likes them, every person in southern Ontario will have seen them in a month or so. It's fame, of a sort. Maybe now I'll be The Sock Niece as well as The Scarf Niece. Ah, titles. Queen Mum, eat your heart out.

Dyeing Mawata

2011-02-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ah, cat barf that smells good enough to eat! That's exactly what this stuff looks like, if cats contemplated revenge like old Sicilian mobsters soaking up the sun and reminiscing about better days. I can see them, with their battered bowls of inky vino, yowling in descant amusement as they trade stories of the bloodiest kills. Where do old Toms go to retire these days? They forgot their... whatever this is.

The colors are amazing! Maybe they'll fade and lighten as they dry, but right now they are everything I was hoping for (and couldn't quite bear to count on). Especially the red. I mixed 2 strawberry packets with a black cherry, added just enough water to make a paste and wow, what came out scared me. It was a vibrant deep red, like arterial spray. Can I say that? Sounds a bit like dyeing for CSI types, right? But I love dark dark red. Like my favorite nail polish that looks a bit weird on a non-goth nerd like me.

The rough-handed, beware. It IS silk and it snags like a (insert gangsta term here). Right now the surface looks like a mass of cobwebs. I was less gentle with this than I should have been. So if a bunch of spiders (and I have colonies at my house, I can tell you) take this as a sign, they will all get drunk and have a Kool Aid death party. Poor Shelob* doesn't know what she's been missing. Though I suspect she will be the one laughing her many eyestalks off as I try to tame these gadzillion filaments into some semblance of order. And knit with them.

Lessons learned:
     --you can get some amazingly jewel rich colors with Kool Aid. It's all about concentrating the dye
     --and the day long soak in water and vinegar before adding the colors didn't hurt either
     --I can't wait to do this again! With something less cobwebby perhaps

Feverishly Knitting

2011-02-23T01:24:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, feverishly would have been the literal truth. But my fever broke Sunday and so did the last bit of yarn at the end of my grafted heel. Hooray! One sock down, one more to go. Can I finish it in a mere 10 days? Ugh. I don't relish it but I have to.

For some reason, socks have always been tough going for me. Ok, maybe the reasons for that aren't completely unknown. I'm what some folks call a combination knitter, which to most mortals mean I knit funny. My stitches are twisted. Which isn't so bad on normal flat knitting--all the stitches are so precise and pretty looking--but on knitting in the round, egad, even if I use wool, I lose at least half of my stretchiness because without a purl round, the stitches don't get un-twisted. But regular knitting.. how do you people do it?! It hurts my hands, turns them to pretzel dough trying to do it the "normal" way. Depending on the project, this can be compensated for, but in socks, when stretchy is so very important.. let's just say planning ahead doesn't seem to make much help, either.

Anyhow, I now have a single, very twisted up sock (one could almost same painfully contorted!) waiting to be blocked into normal foot shape. Right now, it looks like a sock only an Escher lover would take to heart. Yes, it's that bad. I can't even take a picture of it. You, dear reader, would ask if I accidentally made a moebius sock. That's how bad it is! Wait til it's blocked, I promise.

Someday, I am going to have to figure out this twisty problem and learn how to make socks right. I have a New Yorker brother who would probably love to have nice warm socks of his own right now. I made him a lovely warm pair. But there's not enough give in them so I don't think even a circus contortionist could get them on and that, my dears, is *after* blocking.

On the positive side, my dear Uncle (the recipient of the current pair) has very narrow feet and I made sure to knit extra loose, so I have high hopes this time around. He liked the scarf I knit him so much, he's been showing it off to every person he meets. I expect the next time I visit his small, rural town in Ontario, everyone will know me as The Scarf Niece. This rather amuses me. So much so that I want to start on a vest next, so The Scarf will have company. Eventually, I might get up to an entire outfit of hand knitted clothing! I just can't wait to see how he's going to show off the socks. I can see him now, finding a way to fit it taking off his shoes in his next sermon, lol.

Red Greene used to say, if the ladies don't find you handsome, they can at least find you handy. Not sure how that transposes to fit my situation--if the lads don't find you drop dead gorgeous, at least you can chase the bad ones off with pointy sticks? Ah well. It's sad we no longer live in an age where handicrafts such as knitting mean respect anymore.

Lizard Ridge Knitting Tote

2011-02-12T23:58:00.000-08:00

My first pattern on Ravelry, I'm so excited. It's my ten year knitting anniversary this year, so it's about time. I've been a fan of the original Lizard Ridge pattern by Laura Aylor for a long time but I doubt I'll ever be able to afford all the yarn involved. This was my practical compromise, an homage to the original. And I have to say, being a girl *and* a knitter, can I ever have too many knitting totes? Never! That would be like trying to limit my WIPs! Oh wait.. that might have been on my list of this year's new year's resolutions...

Lizard Ridge Knitting Tote

Love Laura Aylor’s famous afghan? Don’t have the patience or the funds to make one of your own? Get your Lizard Ridge fix here and create a practical work of art at the same time. Suitable for toting around anything, this bag is designed to show off your knitting, so why not use it to carry your latest WIP? Just be prepared for the admirers this tote is sure to attract.

SIZE:

12” wide x 10” high, 5” depth of side

17” top to bottom with handles

MATERIALS:

[MC] 2 skeins Knit One Crochet Too Paintbox in colorway #05 Blue Spruce

[CC] 1 skein Knit One Crochet Too Paintbox in colorway #20 Alpine Meadow

(100% wool; 100yds/92m per 50g)

[CC2] 1 skein Patons Kroy Socks FX in colorway #1003 Clover Colors

(75% wool, 25% nylon; 166yds/152m per 50g/1.75 ounces)

4.00mm (US 6) knitting needles

2.75mm (US C) crochet hook

1 pair purse handles, backless D shape, bamboo

¾ yard 54” wide denim, 12oz weight, for lining

Tapestry needle

GAUGE:

18sts/28 rows = 4” in stockinette stitch

Gauge approximate; steam block to desired dimensions

DIRECTIONS:

** Make sure you read through the original Lizard Ridge pattern instructions before beginning; pay particular attention to the wrap and turn directions and using both ends of the yarn skein when directed to “switch yarn”. **

Back Panel:

Using CC, CO 57 sts.

Following Lizard Ridge, version 1, instructions:

*Work Rows 1-6 of Short Row Pattern. Switch yarns.

Work Rows 7-12 of Short Row Pattern. Switch yarns. *

Repeat from * to * 3 times more. Switch yarns at end of last repeat.

Work Rows 1-6 of Short Row Pattern once more. Do not switch yarn at end of last row. Knit 1 row and bind off on the Purl side.

Front Panel: (includes tote bottom flap)

Using MC, CO 57 sts.

Following Lizard Ridge, version 1, instructions:

*Work Rows 1-6 of Short Row Pattern. Switch yarns.

Work Rows 7-12 of Short Row Pattern. Switch yarns. *

Repeat from * to * 5 times more. Switch yarns at end of last repeat.

Work Rows 1-6 of Short Row Pattern once more. Do not switch yarn at end of last row. Knit 1 row and bind off on the Purl side.

Side Panels: (make 2: use MC for one, CC for the other)

CO 29 sts.

Following Lizard Ridge, version 1, instructions:

*Work Rows 1-6 of Short Row Pattern. Switch yarns.

Work Rows 7-12 of Short Row Pattern. Switch yarns. *

Repeat from * to * 3 times more. Switch yarns at end of last repeat.

Work Rows 1-6 of Short Row Pattern once more. Do not switch yarn at end of last row. Knit 1 row and bind off on the Purl side.

Weave in all yarn ends.

ASSEMBLY:

Steam block all panels to finished dimensions. Yarn may felt a little during this process: that’s ok. I steam ironed my pieces into shape without any ill effects.

With right sides together, attach side panels to front panels using your preferred method of construction (I pinned my pieces, then crocheted a seam through both layers). Then attach back panel to front and sides. Paintbox yarn is fairly flimsy strength wise, so you may want to use your CC2 yarn for seaming.

Edging:

Turn purse right side out. With right side facing you, use Sl St to attach

CC2 all around the top edge.

Round 1: work single crochet around top edge, sl st in 1^st sc to join end of round

Round 2: *skip 2 sc, 6 dc in next sc, skip 2 sc, sc in next sc*, repeat from * to * til end. Sl st in sl st at beginning of row. Break yarn, draw thru last sts, pull tight.

Handles:

Using CC2, CO 12sts (or amount required to cover the circumference of your handles). Work in stockinette until your rectangle is long enough to cover the full length of your handles. BO.

Wrap rectangle around circumference of your handles and use CC2 to whipstitch closed (will be invisible).

Optional: add crochet trim at bottom to cover handle hardware using edging pattern as guide.

FINISHING:

Measure, cut, and sew lining to match purse dimensions, plus ½ “ to ¾ “ overlap seam allowance at top edge. With wrong sides together, drop lining inside purse, making sure to line up seams. Pin lining to inside of bag at top edge of knitted panel (below crocheted trim), tucking seam allowance in as you go.

--Hint: I used a rolled up phone directory to add weight inside; it helped the bottom of my lining to line up correctly with the bottom of my purse and made pining the top edge in a straight line a lot easier.

Cut denim tabs to match handle hardware dimensions. Measure carefully (!) Pin between purse and lining. Hand sew tabs and top edge of lining to purse.

PDF pattern direct link

Lacey Disaster

2010-05-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Oh the colors! Oh the price! Can you believe I found this stuff at Big Lots for $1 a skein? And fingering weight, no less. Seemed like the perfect poor-woman-who's-dying-to-knit-lace miracle. Ok, it was acrylic poly blend, but I've killed acrylic before and it's turned out fabulously soft and drapey. So I bought five skeins and started knitting lace immediately. But a niggling little voice in my head just kept getting louder until, after a single repeat of the 16 row pattern, I snipped a sample from another skein and knitted up a tiny 1.5" x 2.5" swatch. Better be safe than sorry, right?

I eagerly killed it with a steam iron. Looked at it, frowned, and killed it again. And again. And, finally, did a thorough masochistic, complete and utterly vicious, I-will-melt-you-if-I-have-to, you stubborn piece of textile you, kind of job. In vain. The polyester content (not detailed by the yarn band) defeated me and the swatch remained stubbornly.. scratchy. Acrylic-y. Not nice. Disastrous. Wail!!!

So, with more than a few tears (it's so much more beautiful and exquisitely colored than this photo), I consigned the lot to Ebay. It sold in a few hours. But I am once again yarnless.

Oh, the sad state of a woman who can't bear acrylic or poly, who's allergic to wool (mohair, angora, etc), and can't have alpaca next to my skin for too long. Do you know how hard it is to find hand painted fingering weight cotton (or silk or exotic plant fibers or tencel or rayon) that's affordable? It's not that I'm not happy to shell out for the beautiful stuff, I just don't have the shells to shell. It sucks, but food's kind of necessary.

And did I mention that lace knitting always looks wretched, the way I knit (twisted and twisted--some call it Eastern, I think)? All the stitches are too holey. I guess I'm a control freak knitter who craves the nice and tight perfect stitches. It's gonna be tough to stick to this lace thing, but I am determined to have a proper, ultra fem piece of frippery. I may only be able to wear it in front of the tele, engrossed in a BBC costume drama or another Austin remake, but hey, that's enough for me.

Lacey Desire

2010-05-16T02:25:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it's been an entire year. You'd think I haven't been knitting at all! Well, you'd be wrong. Just gotten lazy. And, after a somewhat disastrous attempt at my first adult bit of clothing (an insanely difficult ladder shoulder cardigan), I got understandably shy about knitting. Failing miserably at your best friend's Christmas present will do that to you. And I still have to make it up to her. That attempt will be the subject of the next blog post, now that I've finally settled on a pattern.

But... on to my summer flailing abouts. Being in a severe money crunch means having to use up my stash yarn. Which became my stash yarn because I didn't like it, couldn't find anything to do with it, and various other reasons. Harumph. But better than no knitting at all. So, while two cowls languish on the needles (one that I love and ran out of yarn and can't afford to buy more right now; and one that just leaves me kinda unimpressed with), I needed inspiration.

I want to knit lace so very badly! Specifically, I want to knit the picture you see above. But lacking funds, and since non-allergic yarn is excessively more expensive than wool... I took out the one prize from my stash, the one rare gem that I've been hoarding, and coincidentally (yeah, right) the most expensive yarn I've ever bought! Araucania Pomaire--two skeins of hand dyed pima cotton happiness. Making a scarf by adapting this lace pattern. It won't block like proper lace, so it won't be obvious, but the muted sage, moss, and almost blue douglas fir green dapples nicely with the yarn overs and reminds me of an ideal forest canopy. So yeah, it's a scarf and they are so darn tedious, but.. until some lace yarn falls into my lap, it's a good substitute.

The Avoidance List

2009-08-19T02:39:00.000-07:00

Long promised, much delayed, at last THE LIST is here in all its.. frightening glory. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present: The Avoidance List (all 3 pages of it).

Read Gaile's letter
Clean up my laundry at Dad's
Clean off the desk in the laundry room
Finish fridge (Dad's)
Order the necessary parts for the mini's and the video's
Get John's Mom her Mini
Liquidate the iPod supplies
Return Roaman's and LB clothes in blue bin
Sweep and vac Dad's
Clean & put together my Vac & give it a home
Remove, clean, store the carrier from truck
Finish homing the last bits of the trip luggage and jotsam
$255 to office
Mail pileup
Comcast
Check Wachovia balance/status
Read and delete John's Dep paper
Catch up on email
Clear out the flotsam from truck bed and wash it
Deal with the motorcycle
Start breaking down/going through barn crap
Shuku and Kerma to SCHS
Star pen and LB
Ivan pen and LB
Clean cat stuff kitchen and porch
Wash floor, sink, counters of kitchen
Fix blind problem in kitchen
Dishwasher
Clear out kitchen cupboards, drawers, undersink
List The Bodice on Ebay
List the Chemise on Ebay
Sign up for seller status on Etsy
Take pics and put jewelry up on Etsy
Clean my porch desk
Clean up, prune back, and edge front yard
Deal with front yard gravel
Clean back deck area
Get fireplace fixed
Deal with the monster sofa (clean or toss)
Clean living room
Make Star a porch run area
Make Ivan a living room/kitchen/hall run area
Groom cats and bunnies--the furminator!
Star claws
Find claw clipper
Ivan meds
Apologize to Dad (and mean it)
Clean the bathroom and shower
Restock bathroom cupboards with clean towels
Clean fridge
Cook in kitchen
Recommit to lapsed eating plan
Move all cooking supplies into newly cleaned kitchen
Sell the harp?
Uncle and Mom's ashes
Sort and reduce porch boxes
Clean and organize hall closet
Clean bedroom
The bed
Reoccupy bedroom
Work on the novel, *any* of the novels, & stop mucking about--organize! Plan! Sticktoit!
Check out sub reqs and get it done
Second job (if sub doesn't pan)
Knoxville ticket
Dentist appt
Find WellB hoard and put in purse
Apologize to P (grovel re air matt)
Send P furminator $
Date. No screaming or panicing allowed.
Exercise
Pool mask and snorkel decision/action
Find home for yoga mat
Pillow for Danielle's mom
Uncle John's sweater
Patricia's capelet, mittens, lace shawl
Fix Danielle's cardigan, neaten, and send
Plan for fixing porch and house constr issues: baseboards, ceiling fixtures, light covers
Clean up my porch
Mailbox to office
Pt Comp biz?
Dad iPod or sell?
Church min 1x wk
Vitamin pack and take them
Pam haircut
Thank you card to D and fam and parents
Card to Jasper
Prep for Dad visit (stuff out, laundry)
Sheets, 'cases, towels washed

I can at least report the clearing of 7 items so far, but it's such a looong, impossible list with some really huge tasks.

Knitting update: I hate.. dislike.. just not that enthused over the orange and red arm warmers. Motivation to keep working and not rip them out and toss the yarn on my stash pile is.. overwhelming. Not sure what's worse, the construction mistakes or the color. Should be finishing the second of the merino pair so I can *sell* it on Etsy. No motivation there, either. I keep looking at the hand painted yarn and think longingly of my own clapotis. I passed up some lovely (and cheap!) silk rayon blend on Ebay that would have been enough and was gorgeous because I've been burned on Ebay yarn before and I can't afford it anymore...

What I really want to do is some hand painting of my own yarn. Still have a ginormous ball of that crochet cotton that is, technically, fingering weight, and is just gathering dust. Procion MX dyes are inexpensive. BUT, the last thing I need is *another* craft project right now, especially with The Parent & Spouse Unit's Sept visit looming--more humiliation for me, oh boy!

Read an editorial in Interweave knits about knitting being, for a large chunk of knitters, more about the processing of emotion (while knitting) than the end product of sock or sweater or whatever. Will need to think on this more and try applying it and see how it works (or doesn't).

Not feeling very chatty. Ciao.

Yarn Vacation

2009-08-12T21:56:00.001-07:00

I'm just back from Ann Arbor and a hasty tour of some tasty Metro Detroit yarn stores, with a modest bag of purchases to gloat over. It may be a lean bag, but then, these are lean days and I will take to gloating when I can, thank you very much.

Currently on the needles are a set of armwarmers. The yarn is a 50/50 blend of cotton and viscose, soft, nicely sheeny, and best of all, an insanely cheap clearance purchase. Yay! The needles are...um, a US 2, I think, which is why the knitting is going slowly. I decided to do some random striping blocks of orange and winter red since my intended plan didn't work out--I should have written down the lovely stitch pattern I lusted after in the store instead of blithely assuming I could find it when I got home. Dumb me. To be fair, I did find something approximating the slip stitch pattern I remembered, but not only was it a pain in the rumpus to translate into the round, I wasn't as excited about the result as I was in the yarn shop. Ah well. I will persevere because I am totally enamored of the armwarmers I knit early in the summer, out of Koigu Painter's Palette. Made of a very soft merino, I love to wear them for all of 60 seconds before the itching drives me nuts and makes me peel them off. I hate being allergic to wool! Even though I searched high and low for an affordable variegated yarn (no wool, no acrylic, no alpaca, no cashmere--no options), I settled for what I've got and will resolve to love them to pieces as soon as they're finished.

Waiting in the wings are a pair of skeins of Lenpur, by Rowan, a linen/rayon blend, DK weight, that is a dusky blue with hints of purple. I'm planning a second pair of armwarmers for me, highlighted with a silver of the cotton/viscose clearance yarn mentioned above.

Two skeins of flecked yarn (one lime green, one natural) in a sport weight are waiting to be turned into dish towels. Regular rectangular towels, not the ones with little tubes that fold over and button closed, that just scream "old lady" to me. Yuck. Not my thing. Nope, regular dish towels. Saw a sample in the yarn store and fell in love with the idea. Besides, anything that motivates my butt to clean and pamper my kitchen is worth it. But that's another story...

I also bought a basic pattern for a capelet, because my friend Patricia requested one for Christmas. Haven't decided on a yarn or color yet. But I did find the perfect yarn for a pair of mittens I've been wanting to make for her: Berroco's Blackstone Tweed in Plum Island.

My poor Uncle's sweater's supposed to be my next project, but I'm in a money pinch and can't afford the yarn yet. Sweater's eat up a lot of yarn. The pattern I was leaning toward is the Sampo Cardigan that zips up the front. I could certainly make that in a warm wool from Knit Picks, probably in an evergreen or a silver, since he lives in Canada and is NOT particularly smart about keeping himself warm during the winter.

Maybe a nice pair of wool hiking socks for my brother--upstate NY and only marginally smarter when it comes to warmth. Guys (roll of the eyes). Socks don't take up much yarn and I think I have several skeins of stash stuff I can use.

As for me, I have found two other yarns that would be perfect for a lace shawl or the much desired clapotis. But they are still out of the question, due to cost. Wail! One's a bamboo/silk blend in a pale, smokey violet hand paint. The other colorway is called Bluestone, from Alpaca With A Twist. Alpaca's not nearly as forbidden as the other fibers I'm allergic to...especially since a lace shawl won't be doing much contact with bare skin. I tell myself :) But really, I want the bamboo silk. If only I could be trusted with nice things... If only I could become the girly girl variant of my dreams...

Life is complicated. So is knitting.

Scramble For Garb

2009-06-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

A Ren Faire is all about living a fantasy. We dress in costumes and show far more cleavage than is tasteful in an effort to be a part of some collective wishful thinking. A create-your-own medieval Disney world full of other people with the same dream, grasping and groping for the things that, in the real world, have eluded us. Romance. Respect. Control. Power. Hedonism.

Who ever said we outgrow the need for make-believe? Or that our insecurities don't follow right along behind us, no matter what world we're currently adventuring in?

I get terribly worked up about these affairs. As if the dreams in my head have a reasonable chance of coming to life because I'm going to a Ren Faire. But a part of me can't quite let go of that secret hope. That maybe, if I can just get the right costume... well, you can guess where that thought leads, to a belief in the possibility of the suspension of the laws of the natural world--at least as far as pudginess and shyness are concerned. Forgive me while I heave a very large sigh, here.

I am Charlie Brown and the Ren Faire is Lucy with her football. Experience reminds me what's inevitable, but does that mean I can finally say no to the temptation of divine intervention? Charlie Brown couldn't and neither can I. Maybe this year...

Milestones and Flabby Abs

2009-04-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

It's been four months of South Beach and three months of stress (ie, fell off the diet bandwagon) but I am back to South Beach once again. Amazingly, I didn't lose any ground despite 3 whole months of losing my focus (yeah, isn't that a nicer way of saying I lost it and cheated?) My total weight lost so far is now 50 lbs. and I'm hovering around the 240 mark. Spring is definitely 'round the

corner and clothes are starting to become an issue AGAIN. For once, I am thankful for having a stupid lame job that I can get away with wearing the only two pair of pants (jeans) that fit--well, mostly fit. And I had to put four very sneaky little patches surreptitiously on the one. But I can't seem to find pants anywhere! The usual places have either dark winter stuff still or their spring stuff consists of either sweatpants or shorts or crops that come to mid shin on me--they're supposed to stop just below the knee on a regular person, I think. But, I digress. I still live in hope that the next month will bloom with khaki chinos under $25... somewhere that doesn't ascribe to the notion that bootcut or wide leg is flattering to everyone.

By biggest challenge right now, clothes aside, is this really annoying fat roll above my waistline. Very unflattering and pulling my pants up that high is just not comfy (and there's that little matter of gravity). So I'm trying a work out at home DVD called Hip Hop Abs.

I'm not a fan of hip hop--give me Fusion, House Trance, or World anything... but the DVD was free, it looks moderately interesting, and I can always have my own music playing once I get the moves down. Best of all, it shows you a crunch you can do at work, sitting on the couch, or driving your car. Got a little too excited about that, spent 3 minutes happily crunching, and then got so sick to my stomach, I couldn't eat dinner. Oy! My poor flabby abs are in a sad, sad way. But at least I know it works. I shall report back in a week to do another ab check and see if I've made a little progress.

Wish I had Disco Abs... Oh, my upper GI hurts even when I grin.

BACK TO KNITTING

2008-10-17T02:32:00.000-07:00

My diet has really taken over my life, so it's no surprise that it's hijacked my blog, too. I've decided to redirect the diet journal elsewhere and get back to what really matters here: knitting, of course. So, if you're interested in the food and the weight loss struggle, please click on the banner above to my newest blogging effort: surviving healthy (dot blogspot dot com). Otherwise, it's back to rabbits, fiber, needles, and patterns (oh my!)

Week Six Weigh-In Day

2008-10-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

After a hard week of no cheating and struggling to find food on vacation, then another week of reluctantly getting back into the cooking groove, I just wanted to pat myself on the back a little.

It was miserably hard to go on vacation and not indulge in all the ethnic food I wanted. Vacation, it seems, has always been about eating for me. I know it's going to take time for me to change my outlook that all pleasure (and love) in life comes from food. I've made strides, though I'm still looking at the now empty space that food used to fill and wondering what to stuff in there. Nothing presents itself as of yet. But I have faith--or is that hope?

The end result: I lost a few pounds on vacation and have since lost more (hooray!) so I'm still in the game. Week six begins with a good weigh-in of two pounds lost last week--right on target.

Thanks to fellow foodie and blogger Kalyn (long may she post) I have a handful of new recipes to tackle this week. The theme is turning out to be turkey and soup, a fitting duo to celebrate fall. Now that I'm back in the mountains, the weather's a lot colder and everywhere it's raining leaves. I look forward to the fruits of our local harvest: pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini. Maybe an apple or two. And wild rice, though I had to order that on the Internet, lol.

I made some egg muffins last night--a SB staple everyone seems to have their own version of. I used diced turkey pepperoni, spinach, mushrooms, green onions, and some low fat cheese in mine, and egg whites instead of whole egg because I had one of those pourable quarts in the fridge. They turned out really well, despite my ailing oven's variable temperature zones. Though I will have to go out and get silicone cups from now on. I sprayed the paper liners dutifully, but they're almost impossible to seperate from the egg muffins without losing a third of the product.

Tonight, it's going to be turkey, mushroom, and wild rice soup. I can't wait! I might even tackle the spicy sweet potato fries I've been dying to try. Yum.

Week Two Coming To A Close

2008-09-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much about the diet this week because I was getting pretty discouraged and found cooking every single meal was driving me nuts. I ended up sleeping more than necessary and often failed to eat that 3rd meal.

I also tried to go out to restaurants to relieve my frustration. I hit Outback twice, a Japanese place once, and a local steak place. With Outback especially, it felt like I was eating two meals at once. Some of you may be horrified that I had a 12oz steak and loved it (grin) but at least the 2nd time I managed to save back a portion of it for my next meal. Outback works great and is easily SB friendly. The Japanese place...suffice to say I won't be going back there anytime soon. I'm not sure if there was a language issue (the waiter's English sounded just fine) or if they just didn't care, but only one of my requests was followed through on. Happily, I did get double vegetables instead of the fried rice but they'd been cooked in oil and a soy sauce that I hoped didn't have sugar in it. The grilled shrimp looked pretty clean of sauces and oils, but tasted fishy and I had a hard time forcing myself to eat it. Normally I love shrimp. It was a big let down. Worse, I didn't even make it halfway home before my stomach started seizing up. So the shrimp was bad in more than taste. That was the final insult to the $23 hit my wallet took on that meal.

Thus, my monthly food budget has taken a severe nose dive. I have a package of lean turkey burgers that taste like cardboard to survive on til I leave for vacation. I have a few more odds and ends, meat-wise, in the freezer that I can scrounge, but I'm going to have to be miraculously creative with that turkey.

I had a recipe for Balsamic Chicken that I wanted to try today. What could it hurt to sub in the turkey burgers instead of the chicken? It wasn't so bad. Much better than plain. But my favorite of the day is the veggie stir fry. I used a steam in the bag frozen pouch of broccoli and cauliflower. While it was cooking in the microwave, I cut up some onion and several slices of 98% fat free bologne. I pan fried the onion and bologne in sesame oil, then added the cooked broccoli and cauliflower. A tiny bit of kosher salt and a good grinding of fresh black pepper and the mix was smelling really good. I added some cheese when I plated it, because the turkey burgers looked so depressing. It was great. In fact, I'm going back to finish off the veggie fry's remains as an early snack.

As for my goals for the week: failure, failure, failure. Though maybe I should qualify that, as my liquid intake has definitely increased and is just about what I'm supposed to be drinking. I drank too much Diet Coke this week, though, an average of two or three cans a day. This is bad because Nutrasweet gives me massive headaches and the sparkling water I drink already has a small amount of acesulfame potassium in it.

I got back into cooking a bit already today. I also went out and got some meal replacement shakes to help with the meal missing problem. I wasn't looking forward to trying them as they have hardly any fat and no sugar, also very low artificial sweetner. I was expecting total grossness, with that chalky or sandy texture, when I had my first one last night. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. No chalk, so sand. It was very much like chocolate milk and the taste wasn't off too badly. Not something I'm going to enjoy drinking, but in emergencies, it'll work. One shake ends up being about a regular mug full of liquid and I can chug it pretty quick. I have to remind myself that I hated the V-8 juice when I first started drinking that and now I kinda like it. I just wish the stuff was cheaper. Though at $5 a four pack, it's still cheaper than the almost $7 low carb Slim Fast alternative. The other option, which comes in vanilla and strawberry too, is the Atkins version. It's the same price, but has a bit more sugar and 4g more fat.

I'm probably going to keep myself on Phase One an extra week, til I leave for Florida. It's going to be a challenge, eating right while away from home (and away from my own kitchen) but I'm going to plan ahead, bring SB friendly food with me--including those meal replacement shakes. I figure that if I always have a zip lock baggie of nuts or turkey pepperoni with me, it'll be enough to get me past whatever difficulty I encounter.

And I will have difficulties. Dad has cheerfully informed me of the Einstein's Bagels and Smoothie King just down the street. Two of my biggest temptations ever. I can handle the bagel thing, but Smoothie King is going to be hard to avoid, especially since it's so hot in Florida. But I'll have a little support, with Dad being there. And I resolve not to go anywhere without a big bottle of sparkling water in the car (or the purse). I'm hoping that I'll be having too much fun to get into much trouble. That, and the outdoor activities should push up my pride for being healthy.

I'll be back again at the start of Week Three and we'll see if I've lost any more weight this week. Have a great weekend, all.

Dani's Shawl

2008-09-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a scratchy shawl made of acrylic yarn. The color was right, the stitches were perfect, but the overall impression was of an attic afghan made of cheap yarn. But wait, with a wave of my magic wand, the ugly duckling shawl becomes...

A Beautiful Swan. Can you believe this is the same shawl? Drapey, soft, and light, the lace pattern comes through with distinction.

Before you start googling for fabric magic wands, let me let you in on a secret callled killing. If you apply a lot of heat and hot steam to acrylic, the extruded yarn loses its crimp, gets softer, and becomes oh so drapey.

I made this for my dear friend Danielle who is having her second child any day now. She's been feeling less than lovely in the last stages of her pregnancy and I wanted to remind her how beautiful she is. I picked this color because it reminds me of a favorite shirt she had when we first met, 20 years ago. This almost periwinkle blue was one of her favorite colors back then.

May this shawl surround her with comfort and love, because she's the sister of my heart and I love her dearly.

Week One Comes To A Close

2008-09-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

Today marks the end of week one and I'm glad to say I'm halfway there! One more week of phase one to go.

I ended up only eating the one big meal yesterday. I was feeling nauseated at work last night and a little dizzy. Everytime I put a piece of food in my mouth I felt worse, so I just didn't eat anything and instead just drank my sparkling water. So when I got up today, I was starving. I'd have been in trouble except I had something already made. I turned off my crock pot and dished out a big bowl of chili.

I should say that I've always been very proud of my chili recipe and think it's far better than anything in a restaurant. Being in phase one, however, meant my usual chili wasn't going to work. I've always eaten chili over rice with lots of sour cream and cheese. I thought giving up all that was going to make eating chili an unhappy experience. But I was wrong.

I've always been a big fan of Wendy's chili. For fast food, it's a pretty good, reliable staple that's reasonably healthy. I've been eating it for decades. But recently, Wendy's has changed the recipe and the new stuff isn't as good. So went another good thing, I thought. But then I found a recipe online that claimed to be the original Wendy's recipe. It was also phase one friendly, so I tried it. And boy am I glad I have a crock pot full of the stuff. I can't wait for dinner, to have another bowl. I don't miss the sour cream or the rice though I did put a little bit of reduced fat cheese on top. It does have the same taste as Wendy's, but it's a bit chunkier and definitely better. I'll never go back to my old chili recipe, that's for sure.

Better Than Wendy's Chili (South Beach Phase 1)

2 lbs 93% lean ground beef
25 oz can tomato sauce (NOT spagetti sauce)
15 oz can red chili beans
15 oz can kidney beans (undrained)
two 15 oz cans of pinto beans (undrained)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced thinly
two large, fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons kosher or coarse salt
2 cups chicken broth (I like Rachel Ray's in the carton)
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

Brown the beef on the stovetop in a non-stick pan so you don't need any additional oil. When done, do not drain the liquid off, just dump the whole thing into the crockpot. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well so that spices are evenly distributed. Set temperature to low and cook 3 hours.

**This makes a mildy spiced savory chili. If you like yours really spicy, add chopped serrano or habanero chilis and use hot chili powder.**

I have to say this recipe is really indicative of why I don't feel like I'm on a diet, even though I'm on the most restrictive phase of South Beach. My co-workers are always peeking in to see what I've brought to eat every night and they, too, can't believe I'm on a diet. So much of what I read made me think phase one was going to be a scary thing, but it hasn't. The worst of it was switching over from going out to eat all the time to cooking at home instead (and that was the scary part for me). With a little bit of work ahead of time--mostly searching for recipes online--I don't feel deprived or restricted. Maybe even a little bit pampered, since most of these recipes are special dishes, things I wouldn't cook on a regular basis, much less a different one every night.

The thing that kept me sane the most this week: not eating breakfast foods at breakfast. Alot of people complain that the variety at breakfast time in phase one is almost non-existant. Eggs, eggs, and more eggs. I was dreading this because, as much as I love eggs, three days in a row would put me off eggs for quite a while. So I treat breakfast as just another lunch or dinner and that works great for me.

My other big concern was my schedule. I rarely eat a regular 3 meals a day and I certainly don't eat at the time most people do, since I work from 11pm to 7am. So keeping up with a breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and dessert schedule looked impossible. So I didn't. As long as I eat the amount of food I'm supposed to on a daily basis, I let myself be the judge of when I need to eat instead of putting food in my mouth at alarmed intervals. It works and I am definitely losing weight.

My goals for the coming week:

making sure I drink at least 64 oz of water a day (I met that goal only twice this week)
taking a good multi-vitamin supplement every day (skipped that this week)
adding 45 minutes of aerobic exercise, 3 days a week (due to my extreme lack of fitness, this will be lap swimming in the local pool)

Week One, Day Five

2008-09-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning dragging like a snail and did the one thing you aren't supposed to do: weigh yourself. I steeled myself for being the same weight or even a few pounds heavier (just in case) but got a big surprise. I was ten pounds lighter! I can't tell you how great that makes me feel.

Most people who do the South Beach Diet don't see results that quick or that dramatic. That's because they only need to lose 30 pounds. For those of us enormously overweight, we lose a lot more in the beginning. I experienced the same thing on Atkins, ten years ago. It's like a consolation prize since we have so much farther to go than you light weights (smile).

I had a bit of a bad day yesterday, eating only a meal and a snack before going off for what I thought was a nap which turned into sleeping til the next day. So today's start was a little rocky. Oddly enough, I was really not hungry when I woke and the idea of cooking was just revolting. I ended up puttering around the house and getting some chores done (including chopping up some veggies and putting them in the crock pot to cook while I was gone). I finally left the house at 1:30, off to the grocery store to grab a few items, and decided I deserved a treat. I'd reward myself with steak.

I was a little nervous, not knowing exactly where I'd have the best luck with my dietary restrictions (my small town is pretty limited in restaurants) but settled on Ruby Tuesday. They're usually really expensive, but it turned out to be a good choice. The waitress was really great and understanding, making sure my side of broccoli, for example, wasn't cooked with any butter, that no added oils were used with the steak, etc. She even came out and handed me a photocopy of their "healthy choices" menu with all the nutritional info about each of the featured dishes. Very sweet.

For my salad, I had peas, edame (green soybeans), a little parmesan, and a generous sprinkling of ham over my romaine lettuce, topping it all off with a little balsamic vinagrette. My entree was top round steak with a side of broccoli and mashed cauliflower (a little overwhelmingly garlicky). I happily sucked down 3 Diet Cokes (probably too much) and for dessert, I had a stick of sugarless gum. It was a lot of food but I was really, really hungry by that point. And being waited on, not having to eat my own cooking, was such a wonderful luxury. It was worth the $22.

In a blissful mood after my meal, I went to Walmart and was informed by a helpful stranger about the sudden run on gas that's going on, apparently, in this area. Sure enough, there were huge lines for each pump, stretching out 7 and 8 cars long. And the price had jumped from yesterday's $3.51 to a whopping $3.95. It reminded me of the 70's, when I was a kid, and gas rationing was in effect. Not a good sight. I got in line and by the time I got to the pump, the station was totally out of midgrade and premium. This is Walmart, mind, not a tiny station. It was scary. So I filled my tank with regular, got my groceries, and headed home. I saw four other stations on my way with signs that they were completely out of gas. They were all over $4 a gallon, too. People are crazy. Although, it's gas companies that will use any excuse to cause a sudden price inflation, the crooks!

Still, ten pounds down for the week, more food cooking as we speak (chili) and plenty of stuff in the fridge to make a work dinner a quick and easy assembly. It's raining again (we can certainly use it) and Dad's bunny Ivan is demanding attention (or else: destruction). A great day to all my fellow dieters: you can do it!

Japanese Cucumber Salad (South Beach Phase 1)

2008-09-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Traditionally, this is made with just cucumbers, but I love to add fresh tomatoes and green onion as well. It seems to make the dish that much tastier.

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small cucumbers, peeled and sliced
2 roma or plum tomatos, diced
2 green onions, sliced fine
1 tsp (3 single serve packets) Splenda
2 teaspoons sesame oil (do not substitute another oil)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar (not the seasoned kind)

Combine cucumbers, green onions, and tomatoes in a bowl. In a coffee mug or small glass, mix the Splenda, sesame oil, and rice vinegar together very well. Pour over salad. You can eat right away, but flavor intensifies the longer it sits (for some of us, that's a good thing). Serve cold. Keeps several days to a week in the fridge.

Cajun Turky Roll-ups (South Beach Phase 1)

2008-09-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

One of my new favorites, this is fast and savory. Eat it cold or grill it in a pan for more flavor, either way it's a dish all phases of the South Beach Diet can enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds Sara Lee Cajun Turkey (from the deli), sliced thin
16oz low fat Ricotta cheese
1 handful of Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 wedges Laughing Cow Lite Cheese, Garlic and Herb flavor
2 teaspoons (or to taste) chili powder
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh minced basil

Drain the Ricotta, if necessary, to get rid of excess liquid. Add in everything but the turkey and mix well. Refridgerate minimum of 2 hours to combine flavors (or, if you're hungry and impatient, skip this step).

Lay out a slice of turkey. Thinly spread a layer of the ricotta mix on top. Roll up. Set aside. Repeat until you run out of turkey or ricotta. Eat cold or, optionally, secure roll up with toothpick, add a little oil to a pan, and fry the turkey rolls just until they are hot or the filling starts to ooze out.

Cooking for one? Cut the lunch meat down to a 1/4 pound and freeze the rest of the ricotta mix. It's a great staple to have on hand. It's also great for parties.

Week One, Day Four

2008-09-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to get seriously sick of deviled eggs. They're just so easy to make! After a long morning, I have another tray of them in the fridge. Of course, a few of them made their way into my tummy, because cooking is hard work. I also have the ricotta herb stuffing ready for my tiny little cherry tomatoes. My ground beef for "just like Wendy's" chili is defrosted, ready to brown. I've already used up half of my small cold cut ration for breakfast. And I am nowhere near preparations for the other foods I've got to cook today.

(Big Yawn) It's always a bad idea to work all night and then think you can stay up and cook the whole day away. There's nothing good on tv during the daytime, for one. I've already learned the hard way that I can either listen to an audio book on my iPod or I can chop veggies. For some reason, I can't concentrate on both at the same time. Happily, few veggies were damaged by my gushing finger--no, just joking. Me and my fingers are fine. But I'm craving some kind of distraction. Um.. kind of like sleep. I'm also out of room in the fridge.

But I digress. It should be disturbing how much like a diet this whole process ISN'T. Which must mean that I've always been somewhat helpless about feeding myself consistently, without the help of a menu and a kitchen staff. Still, I think I'm coping ok.

Take last night for example. I overslept. In a big way. I woke up, got myself un-disoriented, looked at the clock and realized with total panic that I only had an hour and a half to feed myself, make dinner for work, provision the rabbits, and take a shower. How was this possible? I had luck on my side. I'd put some thin cut steaks in the fridge that morning to thaw and I also found the leftover veggie salad from the day before. My Dad has one of those tiny little George Foreman grills that everyone demeans (until it actually comes in handy) which heats up in 30 seconds. In literally 5 minutes, I had two steaks on my plate. All I did was take the jarred minced garlic (talk about staples) out of the fridge and spread it with a little cracked pepper, a dash of kosher salt, on the mostly defrosted meat. Because the grill cooks both sides at once, I didn't even have to turn it. From ziplock to table. And it was pretty good. I put a tablespoon of blue cheese dressing on my cukes and tomatoes and pulled a sparkling flavored water (no cals) from the cooler. By the time Law and Order was just starting up it's 9pm rerun, I was about done with dinner.

While showering, I ran over possible options to make for work dinner. They weren't good. Oh, I had raw materials aplenty, but nothing that could be assembled fast. Then, inspiration hit. South Beach makes frozen dinners that, if rather tasteless, are still Phase 1 acceptable. And there was a grocery store on the way to work. Saved! I got Caprese Chicken, which is chicken tenders covered with some sort of tomato-like sauce and a small bit of micro fat cheese with a side of broccoli. The store also had deviled eggs in the deli section, an unexpected bonus. Technically, I shouldn't have gotten those (not the right type of mayo and sure to have a small bit of sugar in it) but desperation does not lend itself to nitpickyness. I also had two cups of sugar free jello (black cherry flavor--pretty good) for dessert. More no cal flavored water--the remains of what was left from dinner and only a few sips of a new bottle (did very poorly at water drinking yesterday) finished off that meal. I did get that feeling of wanting something more around 4am. Thankfully I remembered, dug for, and found a jar of South Beach Planter's Diet Nut mix which did the trick.

Today, I have a lot more cooking to do so I have ready made and waiting choices for the next three days. On the agenda: chili, cauliflower soup, strawberry chiffon (a dessert), stuffed cherry tomatos, and stuffed mushrooms. I also made another batch of what's turning out to be my favorite thing on the diet so far: Japanese Cucumber Salad. Sadly, I ate half of it, along with my cold cut roll-ups, for breakfast. I just can't keep the stuff in the fridge.

Another two days successfully negotiated.

It's suddenly thundering outside and threatening an afternoon shower. A good excuse to nap. I'll post my two favorite recipes before I head off. But before I go, a bit of hope. I read online that after 2 weeks of phase 1, a person can definitely see a difference in their face and torso. Maybe not a dramatic difference, but definite, I-am-not-imagining-this difference. It's part of what keeps me going!

Snorkeling Reward

2008-09-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

In two weeks, this is going to be me!!

Ever since the family trip was canceled (due to Dad's sudden romance and now impending marriage), I knew I had about 7 days of vacation time that was expiring the first week in October. Use it or lose it was the only choice. Happily, my soon-to-be-mom lives in Florida and has generously offered the use of her guest room. So in two weeks, I'm off to Florida.

Two or three of those days are going to be spent in the Keys, learning to snorkel. I'm so excited, it's hard to sit still. I haven't been to the beach since college--yikes, that's something like 20 years ago. I'll probably come back looking like a boiled lobster because even with sunscreen, I burn (part of the trade off of being a third shift vampire, rarely seeing the sun. Or so I'm told.) I'd like to see if I can do a little scuba diving, too, if the cost isn't too severe.

I'll be driving down Alligator Alley and spending a few hours in Everglades National Park before stopping in Key Largo. Then it's on to John Pennecamp's world famous natural reef and wildlife sanctuary. I'm just hoping the weather cooperates and a hurricane doesn't ruin my plans. I might even be able to stop and see St. Augustine on the way home. But I might skip that in favor of a visit to the Dolphin Research Center instead.

Talk about a great finale to the end of Phase One..

Week One, Day Two

2008-09-10T00:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a rocky beginning so far. Not so much adhering to the diet's restrictions but the work and the cost required to change gears and commit to eating this way. I have friends who will snicker at this point (you uber homemakers know who you are) because if there's one thing that's always been true about my life it is this: I can handle almost anything outside the home but housework and domestic goddess stuff is mostly beyond my capabilities. At least, it is from a June Cleaver standpoint.

Like many ADD'ers, it takes me twice the time and triple the effort to do the same thing the average person does without thinking. Like grocery shopping or preparing a meal. Oh, I can cook and I do that very well, but making one dish is different than orchestrating a meal. I remember all the times, growing up, when Mom and I used to eat our meals in stages, according to whatever came off the stove first. If the potatoes were done, we ate that. When the roast came out of the oven, we ate that. And so with the green beans and the salad that usually came last because Mom forgot about it sitting in the fridge until she started to put the leftovers away. I thought that kind of thing was wildly exotic and wonderful. Not so anymore. It really is a complex dance of organization, making the meat, the veggies, the salad and the starch all come out together (and still hot). I just find it mind boggling and exhausting.

To prepare for my first week, I wrote out a meal planner to cover all the breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks and desserts for 6 days. Once I had that, I made a list to put on the fridge detailing the options I could choose to make, each day. Then I cleaned out the fridge and the freezer, even the cupboards, of non-productive and temptation food. I checked my staples and made a list of grocery items I needed. That took 2 days. Then I went grocery shopping and got most of the items on my list. Three hours later, and $142 lighter, I dragged myself home in a state of sticker shock. I don't ever think I've spent that much on groceries at any one time. It was nerve wracking. What have I done? I can't afford this diet!

So today I settled into the notion that I have to take the time to prepare everything I want to eat. No short cuts. No restaurants or fast food drive thrus. Somehow, I have to live without Taco Bell. And it's not that I mind the cooking and prepping. It's just that it takes sooo looong. Make something, wash the dishes, make something else, more dishes. When do I actually get to eat?

And then there's the question of schedule. I'm a third shifter. I go to work at 10pm and get off at 7am. I don't eat breakfast when I come home, I stagger to bed and collapse. My schedule isn't exactly normal, so I have to restructure my eating times to include 3 meals, 2 snacks, and one dessert. Sigh. That usually means eating breakfast at dinner time and squeezing in a snack while trying to cook the two meals, snack, and dessert I'm supposed to eat during work.

I ended up making a good amount of the dishes for a main meal and eating on that same thing all day. Today's was Indonesian Beef Patties with peanut butter on top, Japanese cucumber salad (really yummy!), and deviled eggs. The meat wasn't spiced strongly enough for me to taste it and so I found the patties quite bland and unappetizing. But the other two items are tasty and, in the case of the cucumbers, are all gone. Still have several deviled eggs left to carry into tomorrow (yeah!). I had my cup of
V-8 and some nuts as my first snack and some cheese and a sugar free jello as the later snack. I'll have my cup of milk when I get home in the morning. As for my water intake, I only hit 45oz instead of 64. Hope to improve on that tomorrow.

So far, no cheating whatsoever. My only problem is an aweful Nutrasweet headache. I got it within 2 swallows of the sugar free Ocean Spray Cran-Grape drink. Ugh. And I even watered the stuff down quite a bit. Have to declare that stuff off limits and stick to plain water. Used Splenda twice today and had no problems, though, so at least there is some recourse. Hopefully phase one will go quickly and I can be onto phase two with a lot more choices and flexability. I'll keep everyone posted.

Turning 40

2008-09-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

It's still half a year away, the big 4-0, but I know I have to do something special, something memorable. How about losing 140 pounds and going to Hawaii? Yeah, 140 pounds. It's hard to believe I am that much overweight, but I am. It's taken 2 decades to get here but the day has come and I can't let more time go by without changing this.. permanently. So, if I want that dream vacation, if I want to learn to snorkel and kite board and surf (and I do!), then South Beach is gonna have to be my method for getting there.

Temporarily, at least, this blog is going to detour a bit and chronicle my journey.

This week: cleaning out the fridge, freezer, and cupboards of not SBD friendly food. Come Monday: I start Phase 1. Stay tuned for all the (scary) details.

The Wonderful World of Bento

2008-08-19T14:46:00.001-07:00

Oyaki, omabushi, and furokike, oh my! I'm in love with Bento!

If you haven't tried it, let me give you a quick run-through of what to expect. Traditionally, these are lunchbox type meals eaten at room temperature. They are very tightly packed in tiered containers with a wide variety of tidbits which usually follow a 3:2:1 ratio of rice, veggies, and meat.

Since bento traces its origins back to Edo-era Japan, the contents are usually Japanese. But why stick to tradition? Bento boxes can be packed with any type of food. And you don't have to stick to the 3:2:1 ratio, either. The only hard and fast rule with bento is the packing. Every tiny bit of space is used, so that food does not shift around. And there are all sorts of tools and tricks for keeping food separate, so you don't have to worry that your jello is going to mix with your potato salad (ick!).

For many mothers (not just Japanese ones) bento is more than just a way to ensure children eat healthy meals. It's a way to get kids excited about healthy options by making food look appealing and fun. Hey, if the big corporations do it for junk food, we oughta be able to turn the tables using their own tactics, right? Let me give you some examples:

I like the salad monster, but I think the hotdog fish are my favorite. The 'net is full of examples that are far more elaborate than this, but you get the idea. Not just for kids, adults can also harbor a secret desire to have fun and play with their food. Bento gives you so many options to be creative and encourages you to eat healthy portions too.

And speaking of creative, many of you know that I'm sensitive to carbs (though I love 'em!). Bento--no surprise considering its origin-- is very rice-centric, which can cause difficulties for the carb conscious. One solution is to turn the 3:2:1 ratio on its head, putting meat first. Another solution is to get replace white rice with brown rice. But it's important to pick the RIGHT brown rice, a variety that's tasty and has all the properties of traditional sticky rice. I use Lundberg short grain brown rice and, if I cook it right (use a 1:3 rice to water mix and steam for at least 45 min), there's no trade-offs.

Enter my new favorite snack: brown rice onigiri. Cook some brown rice using the method I just mentioned. While it's cooking, take 2 slices of bologne (I use the light variety) and a handful of green onion tops. Slice both of them into very small pieces and toss in a pan over medium heat. What you're doing is drying out the onion and browning the bologne, which leeches out the fat and enhances the flavor. After 6-7 minutes of stirring, take it off the heat and wait for your rice to finish. Fluff the rice and add the bologne and green onion. Mix.

To shape this mixed onigiri, put a square of plastic wrap in a small bowl. Spoon half a fist of the rice mixture into the plastic wrap, gather the corners, twist tightly so that all the air is out, and push the rice into a triangular shape. Or, since you've already done the unthinkable (the bologne) forget about shaping. Odd roundish lumps eat just as good as pretty perfect triangles. So, whether you've shaped or not, stick the plastic wrapped onigiri in a ziplock and put it in the fridge. If yours lasts more than 3 days, freeze the leftovers. Mine rarely makes it past the next day's lunch. It's nutty, it's salty, it's oniony. Dip in soy sauce or teriyaki or even chili sauce if you're so inclined. And don't be afraid to add different and crazy ingredients. Being crazy is part of being gaijin!

Star Visits Aunty P

2008-07-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last week Star travelled all the way to Michigan to visit her favorite aunty. Mommy and Gpa rented a shiny, new, red Chevy HHR and made the trip all in one (long) day. Being a (very) unusual rabbit, Star enjoyed the drive. She traveled in pampered luxury, as usual. The carry-cabin was lined with two virgin towels, just waiting to be deconstructed by eager bunny teeth. A large pile of pre-trip h'ordeurves from the garden filled the empty spot in Star's tummy. That and the irresistable combination of cold a/c and human conversation lulled her into sleeping most of the journey. When she was awake, the lure of towel deconstruction and occasional tidbits of papaya ensured a pleasant demeanor on arrival.

Aunty generously gave up her guest bathroom for Star's use and, though mommy invaded to use the toilet and shower occasionally, it wasn't long before Star relaxed into her new home away from home. Aunty's adoring compliments and ear-nose-cheek pets certainly helped, too.

The day of departure came way too soon! Star sadly waved goodbye to the endless banquet of dandelion greens, curly endive, and mint bouquets which seem only to be found in Michigan :( Gpa was happy to be getting home and mommy was teary but everything went smoothly and by the time she got back to her own house, Star was bleary-eyed and yawning.

"There is nothing like one's own hay" Star said to her mommy as she dived into a large pile of it before falling asleep with a big mouthful, half chewed.

We miss you already, Aunty!

Star Discovers Cocktails

2008-06-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Star would argue with me about this, but cocktails are not bunny appropriate. Even ones with mango in them. So what is a loving bunny mom to do when her precious is biting her ankles, trying to get her paws on the lovely fruity smelling concoction in mommy's hands? One option would be to shriek and run, of course. But no. Martha's Law is: always be prepared with an over the top solution. So here's mine: Star's Guide to Partying Under the Stars (umbrella optional, but tasty).

Day One: Cocktails at Seven

Hoomans are not the only party species. We rabbits can show dem a thing or two bout fun! But makes sure to hab your hooman help you with dese ingredients, so de hooman does not feel left out.

Assemble de following:

ice coob trays
quality baby food, fruit flavor of your choice (I find MANGO to be indespensble)
bottled spring water, the fancier da better

First, put the baby food in a glass or bowl. Add spring water so the baby food is well diluted but still colorful. Mix very well and pour into de ice coob trays. Fweeze.

Tip: if you hab a weally indulgent mommy like I do, she will layer different flavors in the same tray. She does dis by filling the coobs only a third full, fweezing them, adding another layer, fweezing that, and adding a final layer and fweezing that. But I do not expect your hoomans to be as firmly under your paws as my mommy is, so do not expect this.

Some bunnies are not sofishticated enuf to be trusted with a cocktail glass. If you are one of those bunnies, ask your hooman for a cocktail bowl instead, of cut glass or fine crystal. Put a couple of coobes in your bowl and do not forget to garnish your cocktail appropwiately. Cilantro is nice. So are baby carrots and baby bok choy. Umbrellas are colorful and have a nice crunch but make sure your hooman spears something tasty with them.

Stay tuned, fellow housebuns, for more partying tips from moi, Star! Right now, I have a mango cocktail requiring my utmost attenshion.

Culinary Mania

2008-06-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

I blame this guy. Shark's head, she-crab, squeegle (hold the spines) man-about-world going all the places I can't go. I won't mention the food. It's far more fun to watch him eat it. Or drink it. But it's all his fault that Dad has been eating like a king this week while my house lies in messy piles of undone lassitude.

I'm not really complaining. I hate housework. Cooking is far more fun. And it's a great way to lose weight. I expend all my creative culinary mania in the kitchen and by the time dinner is actually ready, I'm tired and nibbly instead of ravenous. Genius!

So far this week Dad and John-at-work have dined on:

Biltmore Pasta Salad
Rotini with Pink Pesto and Meatballs
Pork Sung Sesame Pockets with Asian Noodle Bowl
Fried Green Tomatoes with Sausage Gravy
Shrimp and Cheese Grits, Louisiana Style
Ambrosia Salad

Not to mention the bread machine efforts. My first loaf turned out perfect because Danielle convinced me to use a mix. I doctored it, of course, adding a pile of herbs that looked suspiciously like lawn clippings but the bread turned out very yummy and intensely fragrant.

An amazing thing happened when I took the first loaf out of the machine. A short but demanding line of people turned up wanting me to make loaves for them. Huh. Make dough and they will come? Which is why my entire day off suddenly turned into baking day. I'm gonna have to start charging people. Just taking out the Dill Bread now (no mix this time, hooray!) and starting the Pumpkin Bread in a few minutes.

This weekend, I have a green tomatilla chili I want to try. I wonder if I could scoop out a couple of local tomatoes, stuff the chili inside, sprinkle a bit of cheese and cornmeal on top and bake them?

2008-06-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

Ah, summer. I distinctly remember wishing for your arrival with great desperation, when bitter white stuff covered the ground and the sky was always stormy grey. What was I thinking?!

I hate summer. Well, maybe hate is too strong a word (nope). After all, the average American equates a lot of positive images with the season, such as parties, vacation, swimming, more parties, working on a tan, being out of school, enjoying the great outdoors. And these are great things to be sure, but they always seem to fall far short of my expectations. And then there's the weather. Yes, warmth is nice. Warmth as in 70 degrees. But summer isn't warm, it's hot. Scorchingly hot and depressingly bright. Where does all that stupid sunshine come from and how come it has to hurt so much?
It's too hot to do anything without air conditioning. And the longer this summer thing goes on, the more I want to find a cool dark cave, crawl in, and never come out.

In the meantime, I have started watching Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel. No Reservations has become my new favorite show, almost an obssession really. After all, what's not to die for? Exotic food, exotic locales, and a level of grumpy cynicism that feels as comfortable as your favorite chair. I like this guy and I'd have a ball following him around. He's like a cuter, hip-er, nicer version of my stupid brother. I wonder if I can get the two to switch places...

I have to admit, it's hard to decide which of Bourdain's subjects is more stimulating: the food or the travel. The landscape of my own freezer is just so barren in comparison. Figuring out what to do for lunch after watching Tony eat his way through Rajasthan can be a nightmare of frustration and thwarted desire. Now that I'm obviously doomed to culinary oblivion for the forseeable future, my foray into a possible pasta salad for dinner just doesn't hold the appeal it once did.

I suppose it could be worse. I just couldn't handle a similar show with a textile arts theme. Traveling to exotic locales, eating exotic food, and discovering native exotic fibers (and the crafts that go with them)... well, that would be something too intense for me to handle. Though if ol' Tony needs a sidekick, my bags are already packed.

Wrapped In Snow

2008-02-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

Fiona Apple is sashaying her smoky way from my speakers while outside the world is full of snow, snow, snow! It's a wonderful time for sleeping and I am sending longing glances toward the bedroom door. Anticipation of a toasty, snuggly day. Poor cats are clumped around the radiator in the porch, keeping company with a sleepy Star who is making barely audible whuffly sounds as she dreams. No doubt she is hunting giant carrots among the stars. Ever wonder what our bunnies dream of?

The right front of Danielle's baby's Kimono Sweater is starting to take shape on my needles. It's required quite some mathematical calculations already but seems to be working out to the pattern's dimensions. I'm going to have to reknit the left front as the width is wrong, but so it goes. It's looking stunning in the variegated blues and teals of K1C2's Wick yarn. It was snaggy at first but once knitted, the soy fiber is smooth and soft under my fingers. If I have enough yarn left over, I hope to make a matching beanie.

Not sure what the rest of the day will bring, as it keeps snowing. We never see snow this far south and with at least 6 inches so far, our little microcosm has come to a standstill.

I was at it early this morning, sweeping Dad's walk with an old sponge mop in lieu of a snowshovel. The two of us went out for a late breakfast of omelets and bisquits and gravy at the local gas station. The grill girls at DJs have husbands with snowplows so they made it into work when nearly everyone else from here to town are still stuck in their beds. Exhibiting unusual foresight, Dad picked up a can of sauerkraut and a package of hot dogs to fortify him in case we get snowed in. I got orange juice because, after all, going hungry is preferable to dying of thirst. And I have plenty of microwave popcorn in either case.

I didn't think we'd be able to get back home, or down our hill, but we did. Dropped Dad off (with his sauerkraut) and slogged to my front door. I came into the porch like an overburdened snow monster, scattering weirded out cats in all directions. And where did I head first? My computer. My lifeline. I sat down for an episode of Enterprise before bed and fumbled around for my knitting, but alas, I left the knitting in the car (drat). So here I am, blogging, instead.

I did buy another fountain pen. If it's only $10, does it count as a sin? Let's just keep this between ourselves. I need to confine myself to only buying ink from now on. Promise.

Time for me to give into the promise of that heating blanket on my bed and what dreams may come. Giant carrots perhaps. Among the stars.

Congratulations, Danielle

2008-02-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

Yeah! A new Fennell is on the way! And I've been amusing myself with hunting for baby knits to make in preparation for the big day. I found a beautiful baby kimono top that I will be starting tonight. Not knowing whether it's going to be a boy or girl... at least this style works equally well for both sexes. I picked a medium blue color that, if it's a girl, I can add some embroidered flowers to later. The yarn is a mix of Pima cotton and Modal, making it soft and easy to care for. It can be worn alone as a top or layered over a onesie as a sweater. I saw a finished example and couldn't resist. Check out the pattern link to your left, under the In Progress column, for a pic.

Old Obsessions

2008-02-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

Twenty years ago, I used my first fountain pen. It was as if I'd discovered the wheel. Being 18, with all the gawky naivete of the newly liberated collegiate, I thought I had become the ultimate worldly wise connoiseur. No kiddie Bics or clicky geek pencils for me, oh no. I was a real writer with a professional writing tool that made even frantic note-taking pleasurable. I used ink. From a bottle (really, from a little plastic cylinder, but let's not ruin the image here). I had found mystique.

What I eventually found was fountain pens leak. And when they do, mystique quickly vanishes in a haze of stained clothes and fingers. Yuck. Humiliating. After buying and tossing too many short lived Parker Vectors, I felt like I'd found the love of my life and been dumped by him, repeatedly. Weekly, even. And how much "starting over" can one girl do before her heart becomes irrevocably damaged?

With great reluctance, I buried my broken heart in felt tips and rollerballs and eventually forgot that the world had been different for one glorious season.

My pen fetish has never left me and, though my preferred tool these days is the old geeky clicker (.5 lead only, non of that fat .7 stuff thank-you-very-much), history has the tendency to repeat itself. Yes, the wheel and I discovered each other again and renewed our love affair. Time apart (not to mention the advent of the Internet) has greatly improved my chances that this time, finally, the fountain pen is here to stay.

My natural obsessive tendencies have been going into overtime, however, and for the last two weeks I have been dreaming--yes, dreaming--of fountain pens every time I close my eyes. Maybe it's being older, maybe it's being single, or maybe it's just a natural consequence of me being me (insufferable yet delightfully unique and often bored). Personally, I blame the Internet and all the crackpots with bizarre interests who find each other and create mailing lists to draw in other crackpots, so we can perpetuate our crackpottyness. Just a thought.

I now own an unassuming black and silver fountain pen of Chinese-German parentage that sits in my pen cup eagerly awaiting the bottle of ink that will bring it to life. The ink in question is no ordinary ink, of course (where would the fun be if I started this off with ordinary?). No, the ink has to be archival quality, mechanically lubricating, waterproof, fadeproof, and otherwise so amazing it's called "bulletproof". Bright green, because I feel guilty and plebian for wanting miracle ink to be boring black.

While waiting for the miracle ink, I have sudden doubts. What if I want to use this pen at work? What if I run out of ink? I can't pack an inkwell next to my laptop--that's just asking for the gods of Murphy to smite me... and my precious laptop. Oh no, how could I possible buy into a miraculous pen that I can only use at home?

(Wait for it now. Wait. Wait. Ah, yes, here it comes--)

I have to get another pen! One that uses cartridges that are portable. Well done self, yes, brilliant solution! So I buy another pen. And, while sitting back happily, a niggling thought suddenly burrows into my brain--um, I don't have any cartridges. Crap. So, I gotta buy cartridges. Ok, I can do that, but only after another 3 days agonizing over color choices (it just doesn't seem right to get black, though I'd like black, but after using the miracle green ink, I'd hate to be stuck with black...) And, well, if I'm already paying for shipping and handling and, well, to make a long story short (hah!), I now have:

1 pen of Chinese-German parentage
1 cartridge using German Pelikan pen
1 bottle of miracle ink (Noodler's Eel in Cactus Gruene)
1 crept in to my shopping cart when I wasn't looking pen (Hero 110)
1 bottle of Private Reserve Chocolat ink
12 cartridges of PR Burgundy Mist

and

a burning desire to aquire two other to-die-for inks: one mercurichrome colored Dragon's Napalm, the other Dumas' Tulip Noire.

It all just goes to prove the old adage that old obsessions never truly fade away and are just as likely to come round again for another bite in the derriere of "older and wiser". So be it. Anything that helps me write and finish that book of mine... but more about that on my other blog.

Saddest Month Ever

2008-01-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

It's still hard, trying to get used to being a single bunny Mom. It's been almost three months since my darling boy Licorice passed on. Star bounced back pretty quickly from the loss, with the help of Nut Brown Hare (a stuffed bunny from Kohl's For Kids that's nearly the same size as she is) who sits by her cage to keep her company day in, day out. I still catch myself talking about "the buns" rather than just Star. I always knew Licorice was very precious but I'm still surprised how deep and sore a hole his passing has torn in my heart. I'm so lucky that Star is still here, healthy, happy (can we say even more spoiled than ever?!) and as energetic as always.

We all mourn in different ways, and my way of working through all the grief that still lingers is knitting a big stuffed bunny that (hopefully) will look like my boy. I've finished the head, body, and one arm. Two legs, another arm, and two big floppy ears are yet to go. And I ran out of yarn. I had double the stated amount and I've still run out. Life's just like that sometimes. Must've been the mistakes I made and the flailing around I did to correct them (no, not mistakes--pattern tweaking--yeah, that's it). So I had to do some scrambling. I originally couldn't find any yarn that I liked, so I took two different yarns and combined them into one twisting strand, then balled that. I remembered the base yarn was Caron's Bliss in black but the second yarn was a very soft eyelash yarn that I have no idea... just that I got them both at Joann's. Not having the money to spend on gas to get to my nearest Joann's (a 2 hour drive one way), I went to Hobby Lobby and got lucky with finding a single yarn that was almost the exact match of the two I combined together.

Must add that I have, for a long time now, become a yarn snob. It pains me to even walk into Joann or Hobby Lobby for knitting yarn. Why would anyone buy this commercial junk when they can get gorgeous high end stuff on line for the same price or near enough? Slap me for being elitist. Giggle. Actually, Joann's yarns are pretty cool and definitely have their uses. My real gripe is their lack of any decent knitting needles, since I loathe plastic or disco colored aluminum. They used to have a decent Joann brand of coated needle that was on par or better than my favorite Inox brand with a much lower price tag, but they have since disappeared. It also seems that my Joann thinks knitting involves only needles of 9 and higher because try to get anything under a size 8 and you won't find any. Any at all. If you like to knit socks, Joann has neither needles nor yarn for you, you bizarre knitting rebel you. But let me kick over that soapbox and get back to the topic at hand.

So, I am knitting on my black bunny periodically, usually when I am feeling mopiest. It's not a yarn that you can really see the stitches or hope to do much with unless you are really concentrating, so other projects are getting some more attention when I am in front of the tv (my fav way to knit). Will post pics soon.

I am not alone, I know. The bunny I am closest in the world to, next to my Star, is Patricia's Ivy, who has also just died. Equally suddenly and out of the blue, her heart just stopped. She was at the vets and all that could be done to resuscitate was done, to no avail. Pet deaths are hard enough when you know they are coming but when they just occur without warning...

To top things off, another of my dear friends is going through a rough separation and divorce. Seems everyone I love is miserable and depressed of late. Ever notice that January is like that? The worst month of the year. It makes being far away from my friends and unable to visit (that gas $$ thing again) even worse.

I need some yarn therapy!!

Off to go do some of that... got a bin of unfinished projects to go nosing through but I'll be back again in a few days with pictures.

Slowest Knitter in the World

2007-08-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

Being the slowest knitter on earth (yes, I know others are vying for this title, but you will just have to trust me on this), I am still plugging away, half-heartedly, on my knitting KAL project: pirate queen's booty bag. I have recently finished the base! (see what I mean? slow as molasses) As I am also vying for the title of shortest attention span knitter, it has gotten very hard to keep plugging away on this sloooow project. Which is also plugging up all the future projects still jumping around with enthusiasm in my brain. On the other hand, this is the first year I've been knitting year round successfully, so I gotta give myself some kudos...

Speaking of distractions, however, working on opening my own Etsy store called Wabbicats. All is ready, except for the stock, of course. Other life concerns are dragging me away from (hopefully) profitable beading. One of those being a new fascination with iPods and their innards. Recently bought and fixed a broken one, resold it for 100% markup on Ebay. Have 3 more broken ones on order and I hope to have as much luck with them as my first. Feels so good to be an Ebay seller!

Bunny news: happy bunnies! Ms. Brown Ears (Star) is pen bound and getting a bit down, but still flippy earred and boingy when Mom comes home and offers cuddles. Licorice is the happiest I have seen him in a long time. He dances, he hops back and forth over his cardboard tunnel, he nose bonks, snuffles, and nibbles at my ankles before darting away flicking his flirty ears. What a happy boy! Star's shed is finally slowing down, so she's not my little hedgehog anymore. She's very glad I've stopped calling her that, I can tell you. You'd never guess these two are 7 years old.

Harry Potter Contest

2007-07-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

My new favorite place to craft and hang out is the marvelous Instructables where you can learn anything from making a coffee table aquarium to picking locks to building a functioning grenade. Sounds scary, but I've seen the most amazing things there. I am so hooked.

I'm also going to enter their Harry Potter craft contest in the hopes of winning a t-shirt (with the robot logo) and a Hogwarts Plaque engraved with my name, close up detail below.

I'll post the project link before the deadline, July 25th. I'd sure appreciate your votes. Haven't decided between the HP themed shrinky dink earrings or the felted wand cozy, but am leaning toward the wand cozy. It just looks so gorgeous. I'll let you know.

In the meantime, I have the Harry Potter movie and the big bash Deathly Hallows Ball at Borders to go to. The night of the 20th is going to be very full evening for me and yes, of course, I'll be in costume. Let's hope the last book isn't really the end. I've already had to bid goodbye to Stargate SG-1 this year... It's not so bad if new things come to take old things' place but there seems to be a dearth of good stuff of late and I have to wait til 2008 before the next season of Torchwood starts up. As my friend Patricia would say, Waaaaahhhhh.

Buns & Projects Update

2007-07-14T13:58:00.001-07:00

I feel bad that I haven't shared bunny news in so long. Star is currently unhappy about being in her pen 24/7 but until we can ensure she doesn't have access to the cat food while on runtime, in her pen she will have to stay. Yup, Ms Bossy Doe has a thing for 82% meat kitty food that is SCARY if you ask me. It's like a cow munching on a chicken--so very wrong. I have tried various creative means to keep the two separate but she has found a way around every clever idea I've come up with. The easiest thing would be to put the kitty food on a higher level but the cats can't jump up anywhere anymore. At the moment, my frustrated Star is only getting short bouts of supervised run time while her ex and current nemesis Licorice enjoys almost complete free roam status. Lotta jealousy there, I can tell you. The only reason I can come up with for Star's continued evil genius pursuit of the cat food is that she's pretty convinced she's a cat. Poor girl has grown up with and been the dominant of 4 cats her whole life, so I guess I can't blame her. Licorice has no such delusions and probably doesn't care what he is, as long as he continues to be his Momma's cuddle lump.

In other news, I'm still plugging away unhappily on the Pirate Queen's Booty Bag for my friend Renee. It has no hope of being done in a week, for her birthday. If I hadn't had that month delay due to the yarn shipment being lost, I'd be done... ah well. I've got another idea to make up for the lack which she'll like equally as well.

My lovely shawl languishes, only a ball away from completetion, but I did make some lovely stitch markers to match the counting row bracelet (see pics in the 7/2/07 post). Currently, I realize I need another container to port around my knitting to and from work. The shawl is in a small bright orange bag I got at Phoenix Rising (Harry Potter Con in New Orleans) and the Booty Bag is in a large Yarn Tainers, but it's gotten to a size and length that the Yarn Tainers can't do an adequate job. Am I the only knitter in the world without a proper knitting tote? Probably. Looking to get one off of cafe press or Etsy, but I might make my own to match my knitting pirate shirt that says "yarn aquisitions specialist" under a Jolly Roger (with knitting needles instead of bones).

Meet Shaun the Sheep

2007-07-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who aren't lucky enough to live in the UK (or are avid torrent users like me) you probably won't have heard of Shaun the Sheep. From Nick Park (of Wallace and Grommit fame), Shaun is the newest project of the Aardman Group, stop motion animators extraordinare!

Shaun is a sheep unlike other sheep, who rarely follows the crowd, is smarter than he should be, and often drags his flock into fantastic adventures. Like ordering pizza or playing soccer or just fighting off the depredations of the farm's biggest stinkers: the trio of very naughty pigs. But don't take my word for how hysterical the series is. Watch a few clips.

Timmy is the baby of the flock and isn't always as sweet as he looks.

Sometimes adventure turns out to be part of daily life on the farm. Bath time isn't nearly as fun when the hot water's on the fritz.

And remember those pigs? They really are stinkers, especially when they conspire to keep the sheep away from the apple tree. Shaun is not going to take this laying down and Bugs Bunny type mischief occurs.

Watch a full length episode of Shaun on YouTube called "Off the Baa.." The sheep discover soccer and the pigs try to ruin their fun.

Knitting Tools and PMS

2007-07-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Some of us get cranky. Some get horrific cramps. A friend of mine does a fair imitation of a comatose bear trying to hibernate for the winter (you know who you are). And me--most times I am the picture of laid back and relaxed. Don't kill me because I have it easy, ladies. Do notice I said "most times". I get the occasional nasty acne flair up, bloating, and don't-touch-me irritability. And once in a truly great while, the dreaded lower back pain that is immune to every pain reliever and comfy chair in existence. But lately, I wonder if I've found a new symptom... knitting tool obsession.

Maybe it's PMS that's driving me, forcing me to shop on Etsy for hours on end when I should be sleeping. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Case in point: a new contraption they call a Counting Row Bracelet aka Abacus Bracelet. It's a way to keep track of what row or pattern repeat you're on without using one of those dopey click contraptions or relying on pen and paper. (Personally, I've always been a pen and paper, cross off or X thru those rows, kinda knitter. It's comforting. But hey, maybe I gotta get with the times, right?) Besides, what if you lose or leave the pen and paper at home?

How it works: the bracelet has two strands of 10 beads each. They're usually differentiated by size, though I've seen ones that do it by color, too. If the smaller set of beads represents 1 row (or repeat) for each bead, then the larger beads represent 10 rows/repeats per bead. When you finish off a unit, you slide a bead to one side. A circle of tiny beads called a stopper makes sure the bead you slid (and it's fellows) stays put and doesn't mix with the unused ones. You see why another name for it is the Abacus Bracelet, right? Same principle.

When I first saw one of these on Etsy and figured out how it worked, I wanted to know how it was constructed. Once I figured that out, I was hot to make one of my own. Happily, I also have a big tote of beads and supplies left over from my sporadic beading habit that I could pull out and pore over, so I didn't need to delay the project to get supplies. Using up my bead stash also made me feel very VIRTUOUS, even though I was supposed to be sleeping so I wouldn't fall asleep during work that night. Funny how a virtue always seems to be a vice when you look at it from all angles. Anywho, this is what I came up with--and I'm very proud of it:
Unfortunately, now that I've made it, I no longer want one of these things. I really love my pen and paper method. It's much more satisfying and tangible. A pity, since the bracelet is gorgeous. I've been fondling it lovingly for a couple of days now. I should have taken a pic of it being held up to the light. The way light hits it and goes through it--these pics hardly touch on its beauty. I should use the beads I have left over to make earrings, I think. So lovely. Check out these details:

And have I learned my obsession lesson, yet? About living with an idea before diving in and committing creation? Nope. Never. Not me. I feel another project itch coming on, even now.

Shawl Progress and Pattern

2007-06-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

As you can see, Waves on the Beach is coming along nicely. And, I found my card reader (hooray!), so I can show off my knitting again. This is the most yarn intensive project I've ever undertaken (6 balls) and I can't help but wonder, what am I going to do when I move on to sweaters? One step at a time, I guess, for this attention-span-challenged knitter. Here's another, closer, view of the shawl-in-progress, followed by the pattern (in case anyone's interested--it's pretty standard and easy to do):

Waves on the Beach

YARN : MicroSpun (Lion Brand Yarns) in Lilac 15 ozs; 1008 yds; 6 balls

NEEDLES : US 7 straight or circular (shown on Inox greys)

GAGE : 4" = 22 sts/24 rows

FINISHED SIZE : 24" x 60", unblocked

* like in scarves, gage isn't terribly critical, as long as you match your yarn with your needle to get the length and width you want *

PATTERN : multiple of 18 sts + 6

R 1 : Ktbl all

R 2 : Ktbl 3, P to last 3 sts, Ktbl 3

R 3 : Ktbl 3, *(K2togtbl) 3x's, (yo, Ktbl) 6x's, (K2togtbl) 3x's, repeat from * to last 3 sts, Ktbl 3

R 4 : Ktbl all

CO 132 sts. Work 84 pattern repeats or until shawl is desired length.

Ktbl -- Knit through the back loop to form a twisted knit stitch

K2togtbl -- Knit 2 stitches together through the back loop to form a twisted decrease stitch

This is an easy beginning lace version of Feather and Fan stitch even novice knitters can do. If you use acrylic yarn, blocking will not dramatically change the look of the shawl as it will if you use wool, cotton, silk, or alpaca yarn. I've noticed the MicroSpun develops a haze fairly quickly, so if you aren't allergic to wool, mohair, or alpaca like I am, I suggest substituting one of these natural fiber yarns instead. Since this was my first lace project (and one I might still give away), I found MicroSpun to be easiest on my pocketbook (at $2.49 a skein at my local JoAnns, it still beats even KnitPicks cheapest Merino DK weight)

Always Reliable

2007-06-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

I love KnitPicks. I'm always surprised when I meet people who haven't heard of them and I have a moment of indecision: do I share or not? Call me indoctrinated or overly cautious, but I tend to keep my secrets to myself. Because if large numbers suddenly went where I go for yarn, I would no longer be the one to find the bargains. Or worse. The place would change, catering to the vapid vagaries of the majority (who have more credit cards than I do). I hate competition. Too much work.

Knitting isn't a competition. Stretching my measly dollars to stay in practice without going bankrupt, well, that's another story. But being the generally enlightened person that I am (who has a hard time keeping anything to myself, anyway) I share. KnitPicks is great.

Not just great. Superb. I will expain. I had a project. Well, hoping I still have a project for a friend who doesn't know the amazing thing she will be eventually getting as soon as my yarn arrives to start said project (now I'm starting to sound like the Jack Sparrow of knitting bloggers). I ordered this yarn at the end of May and I'm well aware that impatience is my middle name. Still, after almost 2 weeks, I called to check on my order status. Tracking number in hand--provided by a cheerful KnitPicks CSR--I found out my yarn had made it as far as Atlanta. But no farther. There it sat and numerous calls to the USPS (both local branch and national help line) could not explain why it was still sitting in Atlanta. The heat? Doing some sightseeing? Had a run in with an exuberent cat? What could my yarn be doing for 10 days in some USPS wharehouse? The people at USPS didn't know, didn't appreciate my possible explanations, and wouldn't go investigate or liberate my yarn, either. Poor, lonely, incarcerated package of possibility. Now it will just be gathering dust and obscurity.

Happily, the good folks at KnitPicks said "no problem, we'll just mail you a replacement". How awesome is that? They could have forced me to fight it out with the Atlanta USPS office or even shook their heads and called it an act of god. But no, they took care of me. And, indirectly, my friend who will eventually be getting the very awesome thing the yarn will be becoming (sorry, channeling Sparrow is addicting). And let's not forget the fate of my very first KAL experience, which hinges on getting that yarn!

Yay for KnitPicks! I was good, too. I didn't tell them in exact detail how excited I get when another of their catalogues comes in the mail, how dog eared, read, and re-read it gets, either. Some things are too embarrassing to share. Like yarn orgasms. But that's for another post.

It's No Secret

2007-06-14T22:25:00.001-07:00

My friends all know I watch a lot of movies. In fact, I can hear them giggling in the background even now because they think "alot" is a gross understatement. I am constantly in search of stuff to watch and if I had to rely only on the usual methods (ie movie theatres, cable, and Blockbuster) I'd be in serious trouble.

How do I have all this free time? It's not free time. Just a large amount of downtime at work, and a handy laptop.

I may also be the slowest knitter in the world, but at least I have worked out how to watch videos while knitting. Now, when I actually shell out the bucks for the occasional theatre experience, I feel my hands twitching, wondering why they aren't dully occupied with yarn (knitting in the dark remains unconquered territory, for now).

So, occasionally, tv and video stuff is going to come up on this blog. Sometimes rather obscure stuff, as I've recently started aquiring tv shows from Britain to watch (having gone through all the good stuff here). Case in point. If you've never come across Prime Suspect, with Helen Mirren, you have not lived a full life. The series has 7 parts, each comprised of a two hour story on 2 CD's. I'm still searching for PS-6 "The Last Witness" which I've only seen half of, dealing with the murder and "secret lives" of Bosnian refugees in London.

Helen Mirren plays DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Jane Tennyson, a late 40's career policewoman who is always being crushed between the brutality of her job and the burned out SOB coppers working for her (and against her) . But whatever praise I might give the series here, it will be too little. It's rare that I see stories of this caliber anywhere and Helen Mirren, well, this is why an actor of her caliber chose to do these on again, off again tv specials. I'm just finishing up #7, Jane's last case before retirement, and can't wait to get back to the screen to see what happens.

So, on that note, the shawl and I (up to Pattern Repeat 50 out of 84) are getting back to it. Do whatever you have to, to see Prime Suspect. It's worth it, if for nothing else than seeing a 40's-50's career woman who is not poshly dressed and coiffed to within an inch of her life, trying to retain what it means to be female after decades of bleakness, male shite, and various addictive, coping behaviors.

Totally coincidentally, Jane looks just like my Mom. They share a lot of the same expressions, presence, and grimness of gaze (no other way to describe that). This series was produced long after my mom died, but I think she would have been deeply connected and moved by Jane.

Project Hoarding

2007-06-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

My first shawl, Waves on the Beach, is past the half way point at last. Tonight, I'm on Pattern Repeat 45 (out of 84) and near the beginning of my 4th ball of yarn (2 more to go). I'd have pics to share, except that my dear father has lost my card reader and until I can replace it, I can't upload anything. Did I mention my camera cable is also MIA? Yes, the only thing I can reliably find on a regular basis is yarn. And let's not go into the list of seen once and not for a long time since knitting needles...

But if I can't share a photo, I can at least paint an image with words. 30" wide unblocked, it stretches from my neck down to and just past my wrist. Both short ends are scalloped, the long edges straight and bordered with 3 knit stitches. When finished, it will stretch the length of my outstretched arms, fingertips to fingertips. Maybe longer after it's blocked. The color is a pewter/periwinkle shade of blue, the same color as the smoke drifting down the moutainside at dusk, in ethereal waves. The lace pattern is basic, a twisted stitch version of feather and fan knit with sport weight, microfiber yarn on INOX #7's. It has a more substantial feel compared to the usual gossamer feel of lace but not so much that it would weigh a person down. It's also quite warm and since I work inside a freezer here (not literally, but most nights it feels like), the warmth is appreciated.

The only sticky bit is who gets it when I'm done. I have been waffling back and forth since I started the project. On one hand, I want to give it to my friend Danielle. I originally chose the color and yarn for her. But after so much work and time, I find that I've become loathe to part with it. In the same way that a dragon hoards its gold, I wrap it around me while I knit and every night, I see the thing as mine more and more. I swear I just started out with string and sticks and have no idea where this baby came from..

It's hard being a yarn dragon. But we are what we are.

And since I'm falling asleep over typing this, I'd better get back to work and hunt up some espresso.

My First Knit-A-Long

2007-05-30T04:29:00.001-07:00

Yaaarrrrrn Ahoy! I've started my very first KAL!

Join me in Crafster's Forum as we knit an item even the scaliest of scalawags can use: a bag for ya booty! Meet under the sign of the Pirate Queen's Booty Bag (and be quiet about it, now, you never know who might be listenin' in)

Why Knit?

2007-05-28T02:51:00.000-07:00

While perusing the knitting themed offerings at CafePress tonight, I got to thinking about the many reasons we knitters chose to take up (and still continue) the craft. Some of us do it for companionship, as part of a circle of other women joined by yarn, two sticks, and a lot of shared history. Purl Girls. Sisters of the Sticks.

A related phenomenon are the punk knitters, the wielders of girl power and crafty feminism, who dare to flaunt a traditional hobby and make it their own. These are the rocket chicks with green streaks in their hair, piercings, tattoos, and black shirts with pink skulls over crossed knitting needles. You go girls; I wish I had your courage.

Then there are the craftsters, who grew up making something, anything, every minute of the day. They keep the sheep and shear in season, grow the plants they crush for dye, card, comb, and spin the yarn and never step foot in Michaels or JoAnn's. What would be the point? They are the uberwomen. And they usually scare the rest of us who look on at what they do in awe.

I could go on about the types of knitters that I know or have met and meet every day and never touch all the subgroups, accidents, and mundane reasons for why we do what we do. But it's worth thinking on, sometimes.

I think I was born with the need to make things. If my mother hadn't spent so much of herself in battles with depression, I probably would be one of those shearer spinner types by now. It would have made her happy. But I inherited her depression and my Dad's ADHD, and I've had lots of battles of my own. I've never been able to avoid the need to make things and have tried most crafts known to man with varying levels of interest and success. But when I finally got to the point where I started working on and understanding my inheritance of mental illness, I picked knitting as something I wanted to learn and pursue.

I started knitting like some people start meditation, knowing it was hopeless but determined to try. Even though I often have the attention span of a squirrel and lack a certain dexterity that most folks are born with, I looked at pictures on the Internet and muddled my way through my first scarf. A Harry Potter scarf, if I remember right.

The idea behind this madness made sense to me at the time. Knitting, I thought, was repetetive and tedious, and projects took forever. I was quite sure I'd never last beyond the basic techniques. I could barely figure out how to cast on. And holy cow, how my hands would hurt, my wrists ache, and my fingers knot up if I knit for very long. But I kept at it because repetetive and tedious were things I despised and desperately needed. Knitting, I believed, could teach me patience and the ability to see the long term.

It's been five years and I'm thankful to be past the hated, endless scarf stage. I also told my therapist last week that knitting has saved my life. Whenever I get so upset I feel like I'm going to die or things look so bleak it's hard to grope for hope in a better future, I have my knitting to melt the tempest of thoughts from my head. Repetetive hands work soothing patterns and something slowly beautiful is born. I can look back and remember when all I could do was knit and purl and fumble through casting on. Now I can knit in the round and on dpn's, have learned several ways to cast on (and off), have made hats and mittens and stuffed toys, and am working on my first lace project.

Knitting teaches me what I yearned for most, and more. It shows me that change is not only possible for others, it's also possible for me. Joy, happiness, and peace is not just a future dream but a simple thing in easy reach. It doesn't require big, impossible gestures but tiny stitches that make ripples, spread in moments, and become potent daily doses of hope.

And hey, don't get me started on the positive benefits of yarn fondling. That's a post for another day.

Jack's Back!

2007-05-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

'Nuff said.

Mystery Project

2007-05-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try double knitting a reversible bag, with an intarsia insert, and then felt the whole thing. Yes, this is tatamount to knitting suicide. Why is it I always try to learn new techniques by jumping feet first over my head into an uber project of impossible difficulty? I can't help it. I see something, I want it, and if it's impossibly hard, then I want it even more.

I'm sure this says something psychologically bad about my personality or childhood. But a friend has promised to be truly impressed if I pull this off and, well, I'm owed. I've started her on some craft once too often and she's pulled off something I can't do weeks later. That just sucks. I hate being pushed off the top of the totem pole.

See? Something psychologically bad... Ah well.

I'll keep y'all updated with the progress of this impossible mystery project.

New Orleans and the French Quarter

2007-05-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Though not related to buns OR knitting, I just have to share some photos of my recent trip to New Orleans. I wasn't prepared for how lovely the French Quarter was, or just how yummy and addictive beignets could be. Cafe du Monde was one of the highlights of our trip. Special thanks to my fellow traveler and dear friend Patricia, the eye behind the camera and the composer of these lovely pics.

We took the Riverwalk Street Car along the Mississippi after stopping for our daily dose of beignets (fresh fried donuts with lots of powdered sugar) and frozen cafe late. The weather was spectacular, warm, clear, and spring like with fresh breezes off the water.

One of my favorite sights: Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. And see, I'm even wearing flipflops. A pity I couldn't sample all the flavors here, but I did bring back a souvenir mug.

Along Chartres street, several blocks from the hotel, we stopped for lunch at a little cafe. Patricia tried the Crab and Corn Bisque and pronounced it excellent. I was busy downing more iced coffee. New Orleanites love their coffee (and so do I!)

We stopped to browse through a labrynth of antiques and other strange things in this treasure shop at the end of Decatur, two blocks from Margaritaville. It was full of jumbled heaps of odds and ends, some priceless, some just odd. Lots of vintage clothing, costumes, and mardi gras mementos of times past. We ooo'ed and ahhh'ed over a set of pink depression glass cups, carved ivory ornaments, fantastical ironwork creatures, and jewelry we couldn't afford. Wish we'd had more time to explore the entire contents, but we starving and trying to find our restaurant. Turns out that Tipitinas is only a music revue these days and doesn't serve dinner.

Though we were never able to make time for a carriage tour of the French Quarter, we did linger in the cool shade of historic Jackson Square. Some of the oldest (and surely the most picturesque) buildings in the city line this square named after Andrew Jackson. While Patricia took lots of photos of the ironwork and lovely house facades, I marveled at the ancient trees that have survived all sorts of wars and hurricanes and city renovations. Shading a variety of lunch goers, itinierant street musicians, amateur artists, mimes, and flocks of tarot card readers, the trees cannot be overlooked or ignored, an integral part of the city's historic legacy.

Conference Wrap-up

2007-05-22T23:11:00.001-07:00

Back from the Big Easy, I already miss the whirlwind of parties, lectures, and late night craziness that was this year's Harry Potter Con: Phoenix Rising 2007. My fellow green lanyard wearing, rowdy bunch of outgoing ladies known as Zodico, came in third place in the House Cup competition. Rats! We'll get those Lumiens next year! But despite such a devastating loss, I had the best time! And did I mention I survived the Dueling? Even managed to get my target on the last day, quite by accident, with only a finger available to manage the right swish for the fenix spell. I'd make a very bad wizard, leaving my wand upstairs in my room all the time.

Patricia loved her felted wand cozy. It was shown off all weekend and got lots of admiration. Not bad for my first attempt at felting. It would have been a less than stellar attempt, I might add, if John hadn't made use of the industrial dryers at work. At 200-some degrees, that wool didn't have a choice about felting. Can't wait to get a picture of it from Patricia, so I can show it off to y'all.

It's got to be some law of the universe that, no matter what the circumstance, knitters will naturally gravitate to one another. Or, as Patricia pointed out, sit and knit and other knitters will start popping out of the woodwork. And so they did. I didn't get to schmooze with my fellow fiber lovers as much as I wanted, but I did manage to fit a visit to a local yarn shop in my plans. Patricia was amazed that I left the store without buying anything. Just goes to prove, I can practice restraint once in awhile. I just don't usually choose to

As soon as I get the rest of the pictures from the Masquerade Ball, I'll be posting a few here. Patricia went as a Cornish Pixie and I was a Woodland Fairy. That was the idea, anyway. Thanks to family bungling, I was wingless. Someone sent my (expensive) beautiful green moth wings back to the company I'd bought them from. After many tears, panic, and a few angry words, I made do without and the result was still fabulous. Maybe even more so. I twisted some silk ivy leaves and craft flowers into a hair wreath wound with pale green ribbon. The leftovers adorned the bodice of my forest green fairy dress. Thanks to a borrowed marker and an hour of artistry from Patricia, I had a swarm of ivy growing up my legs. Would have inked my arms as well, but we ran out of time. Still, it looked way cool. The both of us looked way cool. People were taking pictures of us the whole night and we got lots of complements. It was very morale boosting--can't wait to show the pictures we took, of us and all the amazing costumes surrounding us. It was three hours of dancing (yup, you heard it right, I was out there dancing) bolstered by only a single glass of rum and coke. Lots and lots of fun and totally worth all the anticipation.

Not everything was fun and games... ok, maybe it was. But I learned a lot more than I thought I would, from the excellent presentations and lectures from fans and academics. Some of the best (IMHO) included:

Harry on the Couch: A Psychologist’s Reading of Harry Potter (Erikson’s theory of psycho-social development, augmented by Freud's id, ego, and superego--as applied to most of the major heros and villains in Rowlings' series. Very illuminating)
The Hero’s Journey (I took notes til my hands hurt. Joseph Campbell and a list of other literary-mythic theorists. My writing will definitely benefit from this lecture!)
Of Horcruxes, Arithmancy, Etymology and Egyptology: A Literary Detective’s Guide to Patterns and Paradigms in Harry Potter (by far the most impressively researched and put together lecture. I was deeply impressed and that's hard to do. Wish I'd come up with half of what Hilary did.)
Midwifing the Muse (a panel on beta readers--attracting, keeping, and how to become one. There's now an official certification for betas, how bizarre is that? Fascinating discussion of authorship and when editing becomes collaboration)
Slash: What Is It and Why Do You Write It? (Patricia went to this and reported back. I could devote a whole page to discussing the bizarre contradictions of this incredibly popular genre, and this answered a lot of my questions and theories)
In Search of the Fanged Plot Bunny: Generating Ideas for Fan and Original Fiction (writers are all too familiar with plot bunnies. Jennifer Racek was nice enough to talk shop with me after and introduced me to her fav writing software.)
Rising Above Situational Ethics: Raising Phoenixes in a World of Crows (Piaget and Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Gina Burkart teaches Eng and Creative Writing at the U of Iowa where she's also a doctoral student. We exchanged emails and I look forward to reading her thesis-in-progress. We think alike--scary.)
Witch Weakly (roundtable discussion on feminism and the role of women in Rowlings' novels. Kinda scary to see how 3 different generations interpret the feminism movement both in the US and the UK.)
“Yes, but the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters.” (how bad are the bad guys, how good the good guys, and--continuing a discussion raised in Gina Burkart's lecture--where should the line be drawn in "the end justifies the means")

All good things come to an end, and now I'm back home, getting back to real life. And back to knitting again. Still working on my twisted stitch version of a wavy fan patterned shawl I'm thinking of calling Waves On A Beach. It's my first major project, that is, the first project to use a ton of yarn--6 balls. When finished, it will be just about as long as I am tall (60") and two feet wide. The yarn is a pettably soft Lavender Blue and I've gotten a lot of complements on the shawl so far, even though it's only a third completed. It's certainly a great, though unintended, conversation piece that attracts a lot of strangers--many of whom are knitters themselves. Pictures in the next day or so.

Crazy Ambitious

2007-04-09T03:25:00.000-07:00

I want this!

I especially want this in time for my trip to Phoenix Rising (Harry Potter conference in N'Orleans) but I know that's unrealistic in the extreme. Still, I finally found a pattern I want to make for myself. This is stunning and I'd like to add tiny silver bells at the bottom of each point on the hem--which I want to make longer. I don't have a trim enough tummy area to carry off a crop top. I like the dark brown but am thinking about this in a moss green instead. Oh, I will feel like a fairytale princess in this. I'm salivating already.

Ever Happen To You?

2007-04-09T02:38:00.000-07:00

Have real life responsibilities ever kept you from knitting as much as you wanted? Me too! Wish there was a product that could help? Me too! But there isn't. Sorry, you'll have to look elsewhere for your infomertial. This, my friends, is an upcoming whine and pity party. Prepare yourselves.

I have a lovely pair of summer socks on my needles (still undecided as to the lucky recipient), using a new groovy yarn called Wick, made from soy, in scumptious handpaint denim colors. AND I have a pair of older women staying at my hotel who are anxiously checking the progress of said socks every night. The pressure, the pressure!! And the bad news? I'm having a hard time holding my needles, much less getting stitches right. Why, you may ask? !@&*!% porch floor.

Like the unfortunate man in the picture, I have been spending my spare (ha ha) time and giving up well deserved sleep time working on my porch floor. Floor which is soon to be my Dad's floor, not mine, I might add. Floor that should have been done loooong ago. But no, the wonderful man who installed the carpet (yes my dears, that IS sarcasm you're sensing), that bleepity bleep handiman decided to glue the carpet to the subfloor. Not just around the edges like he was supposed to, but THE ENTIRE FLOOR. So I am suffering, me and my teeny tiny little pallette knife, to rip up 300 square feet of carpet. And then, even more blood sweat and tears, to scrape up every last bit of cream colored padding.

This was supposed to be finished yesterday. As usual, the magnitude of the job was underestimated by me. I know this is par for the course for me, being ADD as I am, but I swear I was thinking realistically this time. I swear! But two hours of work got me 1/3 of the carpet ripped up and a strip of scraped floor 1 foot by 5 foot. I had to quit after that because I could no longer hold my scraper. My poor fingers weren't gripping anything very well and both hands were shaking. Let's not go into the shape my knees were in, either. I quit for the day, completely depressed and overwhelmed, at least looking forward to 2 hours of nap before work. But my muscles continued to shake and shiver like I had the beginnings of the flu. I dozed a bit, but that's all.

And that brings me back to being at work, chatting with the sock knitting fascinated women, and trying to hide my poor uncoordinated hands. Sigh. Did I mention this is the 4th time around for these socks? I've tried 3 other patterns that didn't end up looking good, worked up too small, or too big, and had to be ripped out after 20 rounds. Poor yarn. I'm not all that excited with the present pattern, but I'll be darned if I'm going to rip out another pair. For better or for worse, these socks are going to be made!

But probably not in the next few days. The laminate floor installer comes tomorrow to look over the site. I am going straight from work to the porch and my scraper. I hope I don't kill myself or fall fast asleep in the middle of a pile of carpet pad scrapings (nasty stuff) face down on the half scraped floor. The job seems endless! Dad has promised to help but I don't how we are going to finish today. And that doesn't even leave room for the primer. Quite a few cat "accidents" have to be sealed into the subfloor using Zinnsser's Bin Primer and Sealer. I've been told the stuff stinks so bad you will pray for death. So the cats will have to be moved out of the house while we do this. Don't know how this will all be done by Wednesday, when my Uncle arrives and I have to move out of his place and back into my own until the first week in May. Nothing like unrealistic but set in stone deadlines to make a girl cry.

So that's why knitting news will be slim for a week or so. And that's my whine. I hope everyone pities me. I'll be the girl popping Advil and moaning about socks I could knitting. Oh Regia, oh Opal, wherefore art thou lovely Koigu? My heart yearns after thy colors as my soul jumbles knits and purls into patterns of loveliness and longing...

Hey, I saw you throw that tomato! I know where you live!

Long Overdue Pics

2007-03-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Margaux's Hat is finally ready to show off (though in real life, still have a few ends to weave in). La Petite Soeur means "the little sister" and will match her "big" sister Miri's shirt. Though it looks very orange in the picture, the hat is actually a pale coral pink. I'm currently finishing stuffing and putting together her little matching stuffed bunny. She will be one lucky, coordinated little angel.

Hyeran's Noro Silk Garden Beanie. Of course, now that spring has come, she'll probably have to wait til next fall/winter to use it. Sigh. Typical of me. Procastination, they middle name is... er, my middle name is... eegad, you know what I mean.

Licorice stuffed bunny is on hold on my 6 dpns while I frantically work to knit a pair of socks in 3 days, in time for Beth's birthday on Friday. And Dad is pestering me to "get going!" on my housework. Sigh. A knitter's time is never her own (thank heavens I can knit at work).

I Want That!

2007-03-22T03:41:00.000-07:00

Is this little guy not the cutest, ever? I have been busy shopping online, looking for yarn with which to "clone" my two buns with this pattern. I might even be persuaded to make one in grey for Patricia. Her Smokey is definitely a cuddle bun, but sometimes it's nice to have a "spare" to cuddle who won't get moody and run away (or demand a pile of raisins as a bribe!)

But first, little Margaux's baby pink bunny stuffie... Body is done, both arms are done, and one leg is only a few rows away. Must go buy stuffing for it today so I can start the head. I will post pics of it and her matching baby hat later today/tomorrow as soon as the camera batteries are charged up.

G'day!

My Mastercard Commercial

2007-03-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

Dinner with Dad--$30; Extra gas for taking his "shortcuts"--$10; looking pathetic and getting him to buy me 3 books of my choice--PRICELESS.

I try to refrain from teasing my dear friend Patricia who enjoys reading books about knitting more than she enjoys knitting. Me, I read only what I have to, so I can get to the actual knitting part. Call me excessively result driven, but I don't enjoy the mechanics of figuring out patterns. Probably because I'm not yet a true intermediate knitter, with enough knowledge under my belt to combat my fear of the "what the heck does that mean? Oh crap, I better pick something else to do."

So how do I explain buying a knitting book without any patterns?

Can I whine and say Patricia's been after me to read this forever?

Ok, ok, I've fallen under the Pearl-McPhee sway. She's funny, she's useful, and she reminds me that though I think I am the only knitter in a 200 mile radius--I'm not. Lots of people are yarn-a-holics. We just try to keep that fact hidden. And that's not so bad. Now if only the book will share some tips for foisting off more of my knitting on hapless friends (insert EVIL LAUGH here).

Now that I have had the book for all of 3 hours, I have already forced my poor co-worker--a guy, who does not knit or have any desire to learn to knit--to listen to me read far too many pages of this book aloud. He passed the polite laughing stage about 4 exerpts ago and I think, in the interest of my own continued health and employment, should put the book down now.

I will leave you with an exerpt (you think John should be the only one to suffer?):

"if you have to share space with a non-knitter, it's important to fully discover his or her hobbies. You're going to need ammunition when he or she finds out about the little accident you had when the yarn factory had a close-out sale." --- pg. 28

So true.

Queen Bee's (scary) New Antics

2007-03-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

My beloved Bossy Doe never seeks to amaze and, occasionally, frighten me. She and Peter, my Dad's little lop, have been carrying on a subtle war of intimidation for a week now, mostly through the closed sliding glass doors to the porch. Today, the doors were open but territorial division was safely maintained by a wire mesh grill. So the subtle war lost a lot of its subtlety.

I have been talking to each bun about their relationship, hoping to have some effect. I had just finished explaining to Pete that he didn't have to join the Queen Bee's harem, but he should at least show respect. She is, after all, capable of ripping his cute little ears off if he thumbs his nose at her once too often (theoretically anyway). Perhaps this show of solidarity with Star was a mistake. Right after I said this, I noticed a big spider crawling up the edge of the glass door, 2 feet from Star's nose. I didn't even have time to screech and jump back. Ms. Bossy Doe stretches her neck, lick lick lick, as dainty as you please, and Big Bad Spider goes down the hatch into the bunny tummy.

I was stunned. Pete was stunned. Pete immediately retreated to his nap spot. Star just looked at me as if to say, "Well then, point taken."

Gah! She's so cute and adorably cuddly and has me totally wrapped around her paw. Has she been watching too much Sopranos? Nope. This is who she is. She turns me into a puddle of lovey goo one moment then cold bloodedly murders innocent bugs the next. Just so we don't forget how far she will go to keep her position as Queen Bee.

Ah well. I hate spiders anyway.

Noro Fun (and sun!)

2007-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

After a brief seasonal show (snow and temps in the teens) we are back on track toward an early spring. Dad swears the crocuses are already up in places, can you believe it? And today we saw our first Robin, back from wintering in the far south and demanding to know why we have no seed in our feeders. I guess I'm still on Yankee time, though. Feels like I went straight from late November to mid-April and totally missed a real winter. If this continues, my knitting's going to slow down and grind to a halt in another month or so. Who can knit in spring and summer? Knitting is such a comfy, nesting, fall kind of habit for me. But this year, I'm gonna give it my all in trying to knit the whole year round.

Hoping this one skein beanie hat will be a quick project. So far, the world's slowest knitter (yes, that would be me) has done all this in merely a day's worth of knitting. In a week, if all goes well, it will be ready to ship off to my sister-in-law, Hyeran, in NYC. I hope she likes it. I've been dying to play a bit with Noro Silk Garden. All the color fabulousness of Noro but gentler than the Kureyon (a concern for me--allergic to wool--it even irritates my finger pads while knitting, making it hard to do for more than a few minutes at a time).

The only strange thing I have to report is several burs I had to pull out of the yarn, little sharp sticker like things. Evidence of wool not carefully carded, maybe. I found the first one by pricking my finger while purling a stitch--ow! Have pulled out about 7 of them now and about a third through the skein. Anyone else encounter this?