Stuffed Peppers


Okay, people. I did it: I took many pictures today. Approximately 30 (well, 28 to be precise) of them are blog-worthy. That's a lot of pictures, so I'm going to be creating several posts. Probably all this evening. I know that this is fairly lame of me... after all, it would be much better if I chose to spread them out, say, over a week, but let's face it. I have not been the most reliable lately when it comes to blogging. Showering regularly, yes. Blogging regularly, no.

Anyway, I have once again cooked a great meal from the cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Moskowitz. This time, it was black bean, mushroom and quinoa-stuffed peppers, only I didn't have quinoa, so I used short grain brown rice. I put salsa over the top, and it was quite delicious!

Straight out of the oven:


Ready to eat - check out that close-up steam action!

Okay, people, that's it for this post. Oops except.... today was supposed to rain all day... but they got it all wrong! It was delightfully warm and sunny for most of the day, except for about 1 1/2 hours in the mid/late afternoon. I even wore flip flops outside... I tried to walk fast so no one got a good look at my snaggly 'winterfeet'. It's disastrous down there.

State of the Union Address

2008 has found this blog significantly more neglected than it had been in 2007. The biggest reason for this is not that there is nothing going on... rather, I have been avoiding taking/ uploading photos. I mean, what's a blog post without a picture? Just a buncha words. And who wants that!

Anyway. On to the updates.

Work: Busy. Full of kids who can't seem to get the hang of the whole 'school' thing, despite 5-8 years of practice. Much teenage angst. And about 45 more work days until summer vacation. All is right with the world.

Home: I have managed to keep my place fairly clean (for me) since the 'giant cleanup of 2008'. I figure there only need be 30 minutes of tidying for a casual guest, perhaps 1-2 hours if it's someone more important.

Environmental New Year's Resolution: This one is going pretty well! I continue to work on reducing paper and plastic waste. I can't remember the last time I used a paper napkin at home. Sometimes, I really get the urge to use a disposable Kleenex rather than my handkerchief, but progress has still been made. Also, our building (and several nearby) is looking into hiring a company to provide recycling bins in addition to garbage dumpsters for us. This will be great! This is a resolution I am actually sticking to.

Emergency Wallet Lockdown/ Extreme Budgeting: Okay, it's not super extreme; I still have cable TV and even bought a snazzy new pair of sneakers, but let me tell you, my credit card bills are looking VERY different from what they used to! I wouldn't be surprised if I'm charging less than 10-20% than I used to monthly. Let's not bandy about actual numbers... but suffice it to say, I'm very pleased with how this is going. Barring exorbitant unexpected life expenses, I'm optimistic that I will be able to follow through with "Operation Debt Demolition". This consists of drastically reducing my total debt in the next 5 years by carefully considering every dollar I spend, basically.

Anti Consumer Brainwashing: I am doing a good job of brainwashing myself to reject the typical American consumerist mindset. Baby steps, but still... I have the urge to spend much less frequently than I used to, and am assuming this will only get easier over time.

Knitting: Yeah, I've been knitting a bunch. However, I don't always enjoy photographing my knitting, because I don't have a nice, bright spot to take the pictures, so it always requires a lot of camera setting manipulation and color correction afterwards. Someday, I will not overlook an alleyway. I might even have a small yard. Sure, this might not happen until I'm in my 50's, but a girl can dream, can't she?

It's going to rain all weekend, so I'm not overly optimistic about being able to get good pics at the many items I've made lately. However, I'll give it my best shot.

I realize that this list is not overly personal. No mention of any fun stuff. There has been fun stuff along the way, but I've really been in an 'all business mode' for some time now. I'm kickin' ass and takin' names... let's just hope your name isn't on the list!

Muir is Blocking!


After a false start and ripping out a few repeats, I narrowed up this shawl a bit, and knit quite a lot for 2 weeks. I pressed on this evening and managed to finish the knitting AND block it. I am now very sleepy and want to go to sleep.

Quicky recap:

Muir by Rosemary Hill on Knitty.com
on Addi Lace size 4's
with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geishain the Backstabber colorway
Finished size: about 2 feet by 7 feet

This pattern was fun to knit, once I got into the groove. I messed up several times during the first few rows, but quickly got more comfortable with the pattern. There are cute little picots around the entire edge, and I really like the open, yet sorta sturdy look of the lace. There were no confusing parts, or errors in the pattern - knitty.com delivers where many NON-FREE patterns do not.

I'm not sure what's next on my knitting plate. I'm toying with the idea of making a pair of fingerless mitts... although I cannot fathom a scenario where I'd want a warmer hand but not warmer fingers, I have read many threads about this on Ravelry. Fingerless mitt knitters report that you won't understand until you try them, so... I might as well! I don't quite know whether the mitts are on the top of the list at the moment... I found a mug cozy pattern that looks pretty cute, too, and this pattern would most certainly work with any number of leftover yarns that I have in my stash.

Stay tuned to find out what the next project will be, and to see pictures of the shawl once it's all dry!

Stir Crazy, Anti Consumerist

I had been doing fine, just fine with the wintry weather all winter. People would complain about the cold and the snow, and I just wouldn't feel the same abject misery as they were obviously experiencing... until three days ago. Suddenly this past Monday, which was pretty chilly with quite a wind chill factor, I had had ENOUGH. I'm sickofit! Stir crazy! Ready to run out of the house screaming and shouting jibber jabber! To make things worse, I have checked the 10 day forecast every day this week, hoping for a warmish day in the future.... NOTHING. The high temp for the next 10 days hasn't gotten over about 48 F. I'm ready, people! I want to go outside in a light sweater with no hat on! Really badly! Whine whine whine!

Okay, I'm done with that for the time being. Next, I will talk about the second half of my post title: I am working on shedding the habit of being sucked into the consumerist lifestyle. Over the past few years, my finances have been decent, but far from stellar. For New Year's, I resolved to buy / use fewer throwaway household items, and have been doing well with that... but what about other types of waste, like wasting money? About a month ago, I started REALLY looking at where all my money is going. And while it is true that I don't have a TON of flexible/ disposable income, I am just wasting a HUGE percentage of it on stuff I just don't need! I go through phases where I feel like I NEED certain things in my life: my shoe wardrobe is lacking; I obviously NEED several new pairs. I ought to have a bunch of nice makeup; I NEED to buy a whole bunch. So on and so forth. Short of a few items, my jewelry business probably has enough supplies to tide me over for years!

Sooooo, I have committed to changing my spending habits and to really think about each nonessential purchase. Mortgage, electricity, insurance... these are all essential. Clothes, toiletries, perfumes, shoes, snacks, dinners out, nonessential.

Let me tell you, changing my spending habits has been REALLY HARD. Spending a little money on 'a little something' was such a habit, and was a form of entertainment; something to DO; a way to treat myself. Now, I am not doing that, not even a cuppa coffee in the morning. I brought tea from home every day this week. A couple of weeks ago, I was sort of running around in a little circle in my apartment, saying, "I just want to BUY SOMETHING!" It was torture!

As time is going by, it's getting a teensy bit easier. I am getting out of the habit of using money as a little means of entertainment, and am just not thinking as much about spending money and getting little things here and there. I will be interested to see how the mindset continues to change over time, and if NOT spending money will be more of a habit. The thought, "do I really NEED that?" pops into my head pretty often now; I'm wondering whether, over time, I will stop even thinking about buying something. Time will tell.

Wish me luck... and not too many large, unexpected expenses!

Makin' Stuff

I made some stuff today. First, I made scones, from my current fave cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance. They are all tasty and stuff. Hooray!



Then, I made this hat:



Project Details:
Pattern: The Amanda Hat by Gina House
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Collection Highland Wool in colors 211 and 2117.
Needles: 6 circs and dpns
Notes: I had to cast on more stitches because I used thinner yarn than the Malabrigo it called for. I liked this pattern: It looks to me like a very similar stitch pattern to the "My So Called Scarf" pattern. The one thing I would like to change about this pattern if I ever do it again is that there is an extra stitch running up the back of the hat - I suspect it's because otherwise, you'd have to shuffle the stitch marker at the beginning of the round... but I can handle that, sure!

Also, I did indeed cast right back on for the Muir Shawl. I worked on it a little today, but was suddenly struck by the mood for a super quick one day project. I'll be back on shawl duty in no time, I'm sure.

I went for a nice, long walk today - I like the weather we had - overcast, cool, crisp. Cold enough that you can see your breath, but not so cold that it's uncomfortable to be outside. That way, when you're walking fast, you're warm but not hot, and it feels refreshing. I took a new route for my walk, through neighborhoods I usually don't go through. At one point, some guy leaned out of his car window and screamed something at me that ended in 'bitch'. I smiled and waved, but I'm not sure if he saw me. I laughed out loud - did he think I was someone else? Did he think he'd hurt my feelings? Did he and his friends laugh afterwards, snickering at me for whatever reason? I don't know, but I was really pleased to notice that I thought the whole thing was funny, rather than feeling hurt or angry.

Anywayyy.... I have posted several posts in a row over the past few days. I seem to fly in and out of blog mood... so it goes.

Oh, Dear.

So, I have been knitting my Muir scarf/ stole for 5 days now, and have completed about 13,500 stitches. I have been watching it grow to about a foot long... and perhaps 2 feet wide. Unblocked. I did some math by weighing the yarn that is left on the ball and determined that... I am working on a short, wide stole. I stared at it for a while, pulled at it this way and that, trying to convince myself that once I'm finished knitting, it will most certainly block out to the size and shape I really want it to be. Finally, I accepted the truth: If I knit to the end, I am going to be the very, very sorry owner of a too short, too wide (yet very pretty) scarf that I will never use.

Rats.

I am taking a deep breath now, and trying to decide what to do. Well, I should clarify: the first step is going to be ripping out all of the work. I am trying to decide what to do AFTER that. In order for this project to turn out the way I want it to, I will need to eliminate one of the pattern repeats, so that I will end up with a slimmer, longer scarf, rather than a short, wide one. So, after I rip out hours and hours of work, will I cast back on for this project right away, OR, feeling discouraged, will I pick up a completely different project and wait for inspiration to strike to re-start the Muir?

I'm not sure yet. I think I'll go RRRRRIP out this project and figure it out after that. Bummer.

Finally, an update!

For certain, I have been neglecting my blog recently. Many apologies. To make up for it, I will share personal anecdotes of my life, as well as photos of a completed knitting project AND a newly begun knitting project.

Anecdotes: Okay, I lied. There is nothing interesting to report other than I have been waiting patiently for warm, springlike weather. I do believe it is time that I am rewarded for my patience. If spring is not forthcoming, I will also accept cash as a consolation prize.

Finished project: I have finished my Central Park Hoodie! The yarn was nice and teddy bear like, the pattern was straightforward once I tracked down reports of errata, I didn't run out of yarn, and the sweater fits and looks pretty good. All in all, a most excellent project. Here are two pictures - my head is cropped out because I am having a 'bad face day'. It would NOT cooperate by looking non-grotesque today. Go figure. Also, I am sincerely hoping that my tripod was a bit crooked, because otherwise, I REALLY ought to go see someone about my seriously bad posture!



Project Notes:
Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky.
Yarn: Classic Elite Skye Tweed in Color # 1243, 14 balls. This yarn is discontinued, but I live near the Classic Elite headquarters and they had some left.
Needles: Denise interchangeables, size 5 & 7
Hook: Crochet hook, um, perhaps a 5mm? Something like that.
Size: 40
Notes: There are errata out there. Look them up, live by them. Otherwise, you will become annoyed. All in all, I would recommend this project. The cables kept it interesting, but it was not complicated. I would also say that it fits nicely, and the pattern gets bonus points for adding plus sizes.


Next up, a new project! I have had a skein of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Geisha in the Backstabber colorway in my stash for a while, and wasn't quite sure what I was going to knit with it. After I finished CPH, I decided to pull out this yarn and find a pattern to go with it. After searching high and low, I decided upon Muir from Knitty. I like the wide open lacework and the leaves that seem to be floating in the middle of the lacework.

Here is me touching the yarn - say it with me: "ooooohhhhhhhh"



When I went to go wind it, I was somewhat distraught because it initially looked like it would not all fit on the ball winder - it started hitting the metal guide arm, even!




When you start to knit up lace, it frequently looks bunchy and weird. This pattern has the added bonus of looking nipply!





And finally, a stretched out shot of the lace in progress:



I am a little nervous about the amount of yarn called for. The yarn calls for perhaps 20 yards more than I have. However, any given pattern tells you how many total yards were in the skeins they had to purchase in order to make the pattern, and does not tell you the actual yardage used. So, I am weighing the yarn as I go along, so that I will hopefully leave enough for the edging, which is knit after the body of the scarf/shawl is completed. I will naturally report back when it is complete, and perhaps even before that.

Cable PrOn

Here is a sexay closeup shot of my latest knitting project:


Mrrrowrrrr! Soffft! I'm getting pretty close to finally being finished with my Central Park Hoodie - I have the main body pieces soaked and blocking. This sweater is going to be teddy bear cuddly, and I am really hoping it looks as good as I think it is going to feel!

Silent Disco!

So, I have had the past week off from work, and have been VERY productive, getting a jump on spring cleaning (cleaning is not usually even an annual event in my home, but I felt inspired - I even cleaned behind/ under the stove, but more on that later). But I was reading someone else's blog, and she mentioned an event that was going to take place in Boston today, called a 'silent disco'. Basically, you download a specific MP3 onto your ipod, sync your watch to the 'official time', show up at the prearranged meetup spot (in front of Faneuil Hall), and press 'play' at a predetermined time (1:00 in this case). Then, you start following the instructions on the MP3.

First, we all went up to the statue and grabbed an index card from the people handing them out. Then, we danced around until we were told to all start jumping up and down. Then, we all squatted down and froze like the statue "The Thinker". There were many other fun instructions, and then near the end, there was a guy dressed as Moses, and we all (several hundred of us) formed a conga line behind him and conga-ed around Faneuil Hall. When the music stopped, we all casually stopped dancing and just walked away.

It was totally fun! I had convinced my buddy James to meet up with me, and he invited his friend, Andrew. Afterwards, we got some lunch, and then I did a bit of window shopping. It was all very excellent. I do believe I will watch the Banditos Misteriosos page to see what is going to be coming up next...

After the event, we got some lunch at Quincy Market. While we were eating, another much smaller group of people froze in place for several minutes... what are the odds? It was similar to this, that was sent to me from YouTube.

As for cleaning up under the stove, I decided if I was going to spend all that time cleaning my house, I might as well REALLY clean the house. When I moved the stove away from the wall, I was greeted by several pots and pans left by the last tenants, as well as several children's toys, cheerios, and peanut M&M's. None of those things were from me - if I was going to drop Cheerios or M&M's, they would have been dropped over by the sofa! My poor vacuum cleaner needs a little vacation, I think. And I squirted so much Simple Green that I was sneezing!

I've been a bad blogger lately. I hope you all can forgive me...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Although I don't have a Valentine, I made a valentine to share with all of you:


I hope you all have a nice day!

Knit Night

We had a new member at knit night tonight:



She did a pretty good job getting along with the knitters, but didn't get much knitting done. And she kept stealing Liz's sweet potato fries! The nerve...

More Tiny Sweaters!

After I posted the picture a few days ago of the short sleeve Blythe sweater that I made, several people contacted me saying how much they liked it! So, I am going to be starting to make sweaters to sell! I have whipped up a few more of the short sleeved ones, and will be starting up with long sleeved ones after I fill my first few orders. Here are a couple of shots of the short sleeved models:




Two of them are going to be winging their way to my first dolly sweater 'customer'. We're actually doing a swap, where I am going to be receiving some much coveted pom pom trim for my sewing escapades, and some little fabric scraps.

Now, off to knit! It's even more fun to knit these little sweaters because I'm using leftover sock yarn from projects of days gone by, and it makes me think of the other things that have been made from the very same yarn. Nice!

New Sweater!

No, Cece, I didn't finish the hoodie yet. ;-) A member on the Blythe forum (thisisblythe) mentioned that she had access to pom pom trim to make doll clothes with, and i have been totally unable to find any in the nearby stores. I suggested that if she wanted, we could do a swap, and she said she was interested in a short sleeve doll sweater.

After a few tries (too big, too lumpy, lame pattern, etc), I came up with a cute, one piece pattern that just slips right on. I'm thrilled!



I'm glad I had a reason to try this out. I will definitely make more short sleeved sweaters in the future!

Homemade Green Curry

Last night, I tried out another recipe from my new favorite cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Moskowitz. So no, I am not a vegan, but I am always looking for delicious recipes that feature vegetables... too often, a recipe with meat just doesn't have enough veggies in it!

This recipe took a bit longer than some of the other ones I've tried from the cookbook, because you make your own curry from scratch, rather than just opening up a can and spooning it out. I toasted cumin and coriander seeds, ground them with black peppercorns with my mortar and pestle, soaked 2 kinds of hot peppers in boiling water, press and fry the tofu, and so on. I altered the recipe a little bit because I have a great Cambodian grocery store nearby... well, actually, there are MANY Cambodian grocery stores nearby... and was able to get these veggies, all ready to eat:


I have no idea what many of them are, but the small green and white round things are a type of eggplant, as are the purple thingies. There are green beans, some sort of squash, and the rest... who knows? I DO know what the leaf below is.... delicious Thai basil:


Here's everything bubbling in the pot. The hot peppers were so spicy, my eyes were watering and I was coughing up a storm. I was VERY nervous that the whole thing would be too spicy to eat!


Ready to eat, served over short grained brown rice:


The flavor was very nice, and it was worth the extra work. It was NOT too spicy to eat, fortunately, and there are plenty of leftovers for a few lunches this week.

I highly recommend this cookbook. I have made several recipes so far, and they have all been delicious. Although some of htem are more labor intensive than others, but some of them are pretty quick. One of the slightly more labor intensive recipes was for seitan, which is a wheat gluten based meat substitute. I used it in an Ethiopian dish, which was also tasty!

*insert interesting post title here*

Note: no hyperlinks today. Sowwy.... too lazy!

Well, I jumped a little hurdle today in my quest to be more environmentally friendly – When I went to go buy a coffee today, I remembered to bring my travel mug. I never really see anyone doing this, so I asked the owner what the policy was about using travel mugs. “It’s a dollar”, she said. Now, ladies and gentlemen, when was the last time you paid a mere dollar for a coffee? This is wonderful! I’m saving money AND reducing the amount of stuff I throw out! Stupendous!

In knitting news, the Widdershins Noro socks I was working on are being put in the corner for misbehavior. I generously knit the foot to 7 inches before working the heel, and the heel was supposed to eat up another 3 inches… but…. It did not. And since the following statements are true: 1. my feet are not going to shrink 2. I have already frogged this yarn 3 times and can’t quite bear to rip back again quite yet…. These are going to be put on a time out for the moment.

Instead, I have cast on for the Central Park Hoodie, which everyone in the entire world is either currently knitting or is about to cast on (or has already finished, I suppose). Cece and I decided to do this sweater together. Those knitters on Ravelry who have already knit this pattern has beautiful results to share, and I’m looking forward to see how mine turns out! I bought a discontinued Classic Elite yarn at their factory store, called “Skye Tweed” in a sort of teddy bear brown tweed color. They had EXACTLY the number of balls left in the color that I wanted to use, which was rather convenient, don’t you think? Anyway, as of the first day of knitting this sweater, I am 1 14^th finished, as I got to the end of the first ball of yarn.

Last night, I went to meet up with some other Lowell knitters, whom I met up with through Ravelry. We have met several times on Thursday nights at a local bar, to drink beer, eat chili, knit and chat. It’s been an enjoyable way to pass an evening, and it’s always fun to see what other people are working on. I wore my “Tweedy Aran Cardigan” by Norah Gaughan to the event, as I like to take the opportunity to ‘show off’ my knitting to people who would actually appreciate what I’ve made. The funny part about this is that when I got home, there was an email waiting for me from my mother, asking me to look up that VERY SAME PATTERN on Ravelry to see what people were saying about it! What are the odds? Because it is from the Winter 01/02 issue of Interweave Knits, only 17 people on Ravelry have documented knitting this sweater, but everyone’s looked very nice, so I gave my mom the thumbs up and urged her to join Ravelry, if only to surf for patterns.

We have a 3 day weekend coming up. I have lofty plans to do a bit of housework, perhaps a smidge of sewing, some knitting, and on Sunday, I’m meeting up with a couple of friends for lunch, which ought to be fun. Other than that, I will remain horizontal to keep nursing the ol’ tailybone. It is getting better bit by bit, but it is taking its sweet time in doing so!

Environmentally Friendly?

So, lately I have been thinking more about what I can do to conserve resources and be more ‘friendly’ to the environment. I already drive a fuel efficient car that is about the size of a toaster, my commute is very short, and I live in a small home that does not use up a lot of electricity or gas. However, there are a few things that I do every day that are NOT environmentally friendly: a few times a week, I go to the coffee shop and get my coffee in a throwaway mug. (the other days, I bring my own in a travel mug) I use paper napkins and paper towels. I use Ziploc bags to carry my sandwich and pretzels for lunch. I use Kleenexes very liberally.

I already have been pretty reliable about remembering to bring reusable shopping bags with me to the grocery store and to the mall and such… and these bags are easier to carry, too! I even reuse produce bags if they haven’t had a cucumber go mushy in them…

But can I do more? After reading a thread in the Etsy forums about what people do to reduce their plastic use, I was inspired… and the answer was an emphatic YES, I CAN do more, with only a little extra thought, and almost no extra effort. I can certainly continue to remember to bring my reusable shopping bags with me – I packed them in my purse today so I can go grocery shopping after work, as a matter of fact. What else?

1. Use cloth napkins – I went out and bought some this week. They are laundered and ready to use.
2. Talk to my local coffee shop about using my travel mug rather than using a new disposable cup on the occasion that I do go in and buy coffee. I can do this – the owner is VERY nice.
3. Pack sandwiches and pretzels in Tupperware rather than plastic bags. No problemo, I have plenty of Tupperware.
4. Wash out Ziploc bags and reuse them – they are definitely sturdy enough to withstand this treatment. I have washed one batch of Ziplocs already; I didn’t enjoy it. However, it might be worth it!
5. Consider using handkerchiefs rather than Kleenexes, at least around the house. People in public might not want to look at my grody snotrag, but I don’t care in the privacy of my own home.
6. Look into buying/ making reusable produce bags. They sell cotton/ linen blend ones online for a ridiculously high price, but I could easily sew some up for a few bucks in a matter of minutes. They certainly don’t need to be works of art!
7. Recycle paper. There is NO RECYCLING for downtown residents where I live. However, it would NOT be that difficult for me to carry a bag of paper to work with me every week or so to recycle it here at work.
8. Look into where I can recycle plastic and metal. If there is a reasonably convenient place I could swing by every couple of weeks to bring my plastic and metal containers, I could certainly do that!
9. Reduce paper towel use. I have a TON of rags and old t-shirts lying around. How hard would it be to wipe up messes with rags or an old sponge, instead of using a paper towel? Not hard at all. I guess the trick would be… do I throw the dirty ones in with my regular laundry (ew), do a full load with rags, handkerchiefs and whatnot… wasting extra water and money…. Do I wash them by hand? Dunno. I need to think more about that one.
10. Reduce waste in other ways. For instance, I have had the same vinyl shower liner for the entire 3 ½ years I’ve lived in my apartment. I have washed it once before, and it was getting all moldy and gross again. I pondered throwing it away, but instead, took FIVE WHOLE MINUTES out of my life and put it in a ‘bath’ of water and a little bleach. I swished it around, let it sit for a bit, scrubbed the stubborn spots (there weren’t many), rinsed, and boom. In WAY less time than it would have taken to drive to a store and get a new one, the shower liner looks much better. Perhaps it doesn’t look quite as sparkly as brand new, but it is certainly perfectly fine!

One thing I haven’t figured out: what the heck am I supposed to use as garbage bags? Plastic does not decompose in giant landfills; pretty much nothing does, because the piles are so huge that air cannot get to the center of the pile to help things rot. Paper? Cloth? (probably not) Do I use a box and dump my garbage right into the dumpster? This might not be TOO bad, because I compost and my garbage is mostly dry. Hmm. Let me know if you have any ideas on that one.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Most of the ideas will take pretty much no effort on my part whatsoever, other than learning a new habit, such as the ones that involve remembering reusable bags and using cloth/ reusable items instead of throwaway items. Some of them will take some effort, like finding a good place to recycle plastic and metal, and taking the time to wash Ziploc bags. But we’ll see what happens.

I’m curious: What do YOU do in your life to be more environmentally conscientious? Or, is it something you haven’t really thought about? That’s fine, too… I obviously hadn’t thought a whole lot about it until recently, obviously. There are so many more levels past what I am thinking about… trying to buy locally, trying not to buy things that have to be shipped from far away (and thus wasting fuel)… dunno if I’m able to go that far yet…

Yarn Source Find!

Okay, so I really didn't JUST find this online store, but have actually REdiscovered Carodan Farm recently, when I went online to find a good price on the new Noro Kureyon sock yarn. Carodan Farm had the best price I could find: $16.25. They are now sending me their newsletters, and they're having a five day sale just prior to doing their annual inventory... over 40 yarns are on sale, and you can also get 10% off all non-sale yarns by entering the code: JAN2008 when checking out. They have a ton of sock yarns. Loads of sock yarns. Some of which are tempting me with their socky sockiness.

I am particularly enthralled by the Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, which has bamboo, cotton, and stretchy nylon in it. The stretchiness might make it superior to the bamboo yarn I have tried in the past, which was saggy. soft, pretty, but saggy. No one likes a saggy sock! In the 80's, we liked SLOUCHY socks, but even then, saggy was a no-go.

Ooh, Noro Transitions is also on a very good sale there... $15 instead of the usual $25 per skein! What a deal! It's still a bit out of my price range for anything other than a hat, but still... it's lovely!

Hmm, they also have the Kaffe Fassett sock yarn... I love some of the colorways... and ... MMMMMM... Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn... sigh... so delicious!

And to further tantalize, they ship for free for orders over $75.

Now, wasn't that fun? We just went window shopping together!

New Knitting - Widdershins



After trying several different patterns with this new Noro Kureyon sock yarn, I finally settled on Widdershins from Knitty.

Lately, I have been 'mixing it up' when it comes to knitting socks. I started knitting socks on two circular needles instead of using double points, and for this project, I decided to knit two socks at a time. This way, I would know well ahead of time how long I could make the socks, rather than being conservative when making one sock at a time, leaving too much for the second sock.

Point of information: this sock pattern is quite narrow. They fit my extra narrow feet like a snugly glove, so if you have regular or wide feet, you're going to have to fiddle with the pattern (or use thicker yarn) in order to make these socks fit.

Another point of information: if you are interested in getting some of the Noro yarn, you should visit Carodan Farm's website. They have the lowest price I have found on the web - an introductory price of $16.25, rather than $18.95, which is the regular price I've seen elsewhere. Plus, there's free shipping for orders over $75, if you are so inclined to spend that much.

The yarn feels not quite as rough as the regular Kureyon, but like regular Kureyon, I have heard that it 'blooms' nicely after washing. We'll see what happens. I just love Kureyon so much, I almost don't care if they're too itchy for me to wear! It's so pretty and Noro-y!

It's official.....


..... I broke my butt.

I dragged my ass (pun intended) to the doctor today, if only to document my injury and to figure out the healing timeline. I got some x-rays, and indeed, I broke my tailybone. Not a fracture, not just a terrible bruise, but an official bone break. Dang.

As others have told me, the doctor said I can expect to be uncomfortable for about six months. Oh, great.

I am just glad something even worse did not happen! No skin barrier was breached, my overall spine was not damaged... and it was only my hiney, not my brain or something...

Now, I have official bragging rights. People, I broke my BUTT! You fell or stubbed your toe? So what... I BROKE MY BUTT! You have to use crutches? So what... I CAN'T SIT DOWN!

I can get many sympathy points if I play my cards right...

And as a matter of fact, it helped me to score a free martini tonight from a neighbor. We saw each other while I was walking back from the parking garage after my doctor's appointment, and I told him of my woes, and he bought me a drink.

This broken butt thing just might be the answer to all of my problems... I wonder what else it might get me!

Huzzah for broken buttttts!

Stuff I've Made Lately

Okay, I decided that the last post was so boring, that I needed to make up for it by posting about some things I've made lately. As usual, I have some socks to show off. Both patterns are the most recent shipments from the Rockin' Sock Club.

First up is Lenore, which is made with Blue Moon Fiber Arts new Raven Clan yarn... all of the Raven yarns use black as the background, so they are moody and mysterious. ooohhhhhh......







Project Details:
Pattern: Lenore by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: STR Raven Clan in Lenore, lightweight
Needles: Size 0 circulars
Notes: I liked the pattern. There were several sizes to choose from, which is always nice. The socks are knit top down, with an interesting detail at the top of the leg. After that, you could pretty much go on autopilot for the rest of the sock, which was nice. They fit well, and I like them.

WARNING; My fingers were totally turning red while knitting these socks. I would strongly warn against tossing these babies into the wash before color setting them in some vinegar/ salt water and then hand washing a few times. No need to turn your wardrobe pink!


The next socks were the final project of the year from the Rockin' Sock Club. They were the Salish Sea Socks by Cat Bordhi. These socks were absolutely fascinating to knit! Here are some pics to start off:




Project Details:

Pattern: Salish Sea Socks by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: STR mediumweight in Bella Coola/ Nuxalk
Needles: Size 0 US circulars
Notes: These socks were fascinating to knit! Cat Bordhi has written a new book that describes a number of new architectures for 'building' socks, and this pattern is a loose cousin to one of those architectures. Basically, she figured out that the arch increases can really happen anywhere around the circumference of that section of the sock, so you can add the increases as part of a pattern, which happens in this sock pattern.
The pattern is toe up, with a round toe. There is a cool pattern along the instep, and another nice pattern around the leg. At the top of the leg was another fun pattern- I was interested and intrigued the whole time!

These two patterns were very different and were enjoyable for different reasons... the first one was a good 'cruise along' sock, where you didn't have to look at the pattern most of the time. The second one required more frequent visits to the pattern page. I liked both of them, and I'm sure I'll wear both a lot!

Now, last but not least, I have a sewing project that I made for my latest customized dolly. I used the 'granny dress' pattern by oriettacat, but added a collar and cuffs, as well as a petticoat underneath. I was going for a 'Wednesday Addams' goth look and I think it turned out fairly well! Unfortunately, I had to take the pic at night and you can't see the waist detail that well. Use your imagination and squint... that might help...


Anyway, that's some of the stuff I've been working on lately.

Belated Update

So, I have been pretty spotty on the blogging lately. This particular post might be a bit rambling, but perhaps I will get to shorter, more picture-heavy posts soon.

I am back at work after a very lovely 11 day break. I spent much of that time up at my parents’ house in NH, which was very relaxing and enjoyable. My sister had flown in from London, and my brother and his wife had flown in from Oregon. So, the family was all together, and the time passed quite pleasantly. We sat around and talked, joked, played cards, ate DELICIOUS meals, opened gifts, went snowshoeing, sledding, and so on.

Regarding the sledding: that did not end so well. My brother, always the enterpriser, cleared a path in the woods that led down to the pond, so that we could fly down the hill and across the ice. In theory, this was a great plan, and several good runs were enjoyed before… one of the best and worst runs of the day. Yeah, it was me. I was on a small luge-type sled, and was doing a pretty good job of steering and not running into things (we were in the woods and the ground was very uneven, causing difficulty in steering). I got to the bottom of the hilly part near the pond, when suddenly, I found myself off the front of the sled. My trip was stopped short when a small, viny stump made very abrupt contact with my tailbone and my general posterior region.

The pain was really quite something. At first, I couldn’t even scream or anything. It hurt too much to even roll off of the stump. Of course, everyone ran down the hill to see what had happened, and my brother said, “well, I can’t see what you hit. It must have been the sled.” Not so, my friend. When I finally stopped feeling like I was going to vomit and faint, I had two people help me up… which was when everyone could see the stump that I had been somewhat impaled on. (No, nothing…. Um…. Tore. There. I said it.)

Sitting is now an uncomfortable enterprise. Standing and lying down are both just fine. However, I’m back at work now, which is not so great… lots of sitting at work. Yes, I got one of those special cushions with the tailbone area cut out, but the general sitting position is not a great one for me right now! Surprisingly, sneezing hurts a lot… who knew you used muscles in that area when you sneezed? Certainly I did not!

I have nothing much more to report on the subject. My butt hurts. Loads. From what people tell me, it is going to hurt for a long time.

So, there you have it. I will try to veer future posts toward more cheerful topics.

Self Portrait Thursday

I haven't done one of these for a while for a couple of reasons: I had been in a funk for a while, and then the funk was prolonged by the severe lack of sunlight I have been able to experience. Who wants to see a picture of me in the dark every Thursday? I propose that the answer would be no one!
Anyway, we have a snow day from school today, which does not bode well for my sister, who is flying into Boston today (at least theoretically). However, it bodes well for those who wish to try and catch snowflakes on their tongues! I did manage to get a few, too! Sorry about the up-the-nose shot, but try and focus on the more whimsical aspects of the shot:



Happy snow, everyone!

Meet.... ummm... what's her name!

Well, I have NOT purchased a new doll, but I DID take one of my dollies and give her a pretty serious makeover! I didn't really take any 'before' pictures, so the only before pic is the one I have below. She's the light brown haired girl third from the left:



I bought her at a low price for the express purpose of cracking her open and giving her a massive makeover. Therefore, she was never named. And, I still don't have a name for her! She used to be a "Primadolly Ashlette" for people who know what that means. She was pretty tough to open up, and I ended up having to saw her head right on open. Yikes! I am a beginner Blythe surgeon, but it went okay. I'll outline the specs of the customization below, so if you don't care to read it, feel free not to!

First, she's looking around feeling a little nervous about her new surroundings:





However, Quinn makes her feel more comfortable and they are quickly telling secrets and giggling:




And now, here is a full length shot:


And here, she's checkin' out a picture of me, my siblings, and my paternal grandfather:



Okay, now for the boring stuff for dolly geeks: I removed her scalp, sawed her head open, rerooted a coolcat scalp in a custom three color blend from dollyhair.com (raven black, phthalo blue, and midnight blue). That part took the longest time, of course. I also gave her four new sets of eyechips, slightly boggled her eyes, slightly corrected her gaze, gave her black eyeshadow (on eyelids and on face) new eyelashes, new blush, lip stickers, sand matted her face, gave her sleep eyes and new pull cords. Then, I put her back together and trimmed her hair.

Now, all that's left is to put charms on the end of her pull strings and to think of a name! I'm not sure what her name will be, although the somewhat obvious "Blueberry" comes to mind....

Another Round of Snow

A lot of it happened while we were sleeping last night, but I ventured out for a brief moment this morning to snap some pics. It was a gloomy day, but after having a nice, sunny day yesterday (okay, so it didn't get out of the teens... big deal!)

First up, we notice that the sidewalk has been grossly neglected. (Also, please note that I'm sorta wearing highwaters and that my boots are completely under the snow)


The plows were taking care of the streets and parking lots... thank you, Mr. Plow!


Middle St:


And again:




Important note: I actually brightened up these pictures a bit to make them a little more visible... it was a lot more gloomy out there than the pictures suggest. There was NO ONE out and about... it was quite frosty and snowy out there!

Later on in the day, we enjoyed some nice sleet, which ought to slick things up quite nicely. Again, I will be curious to see as to whether or not they'll delay or cancel school tomorrow. This is the third Sunday in a row we've gotten snow!

I had a pretty quiet day today. I got some chores done, some Christmas gifts prepared, and most of my Christmas cards have been written out and tucked into their envelopes, all ready to go.

Do you ever say something out loud at the same time as it is said on the tv? I just typed out "pretty quiet" at the same time as the newscaster said it on television. Weird. Cool, too!

I haven't mentioned knitting lately... that is because I don't currently have a project that is really catching my interest, believe it or not. Every once in a while, I take a little break from my intensive, obsessive knitting. I have, in fact, knit about 4 inches of the Socks that Rock Lenore pattern, and do like the pattern, but I've been more focused on the jewelry stuff lately. That's just how it seems to be going for me. Don't worry, I will ALWAYS return to knitting, and there will be projects and pictures to share... there had better be... I have about 30 projects in my Ravelry queue, and have plenty of yarn to work with!

One more week of school until... Christmas vacation! My sister Liz will be flying here in a few days, and we are already devising plans for all of that free time we'll have. Bowling was even mentioned... I'll try to remember my camera!

Christmas Cards

So, after I uploaded my photos onto Flickr today, I noticed that there was a new button above the pictures, suggesting that I "Edit Photos". Hmm, well, okay! I'll bite!

Turns out, it brings you to a page where you can do all sorts of things to your photos... crop, rotate, resize, adjust color, and also add various features... text, images, blur the edges, add a spotlight, so on and so forth. Now, I had been thinking to myself that it would be fun to make some Christmas cards with my Blythe pictures, and coincidence of coincidences, this new feature becomes noticed to me (no idea when it was actually added) on the first sunny day that I've been able to take decent pics in weeks!

So anyway, there were two finalists, shown here:





Even if making dolly Christmas cards isn't your thing, this is a fun tool to play around with.

Now, I'm all ready to fill out xmas cards tomorrow during the bad weather. Not everyone will be getting a dolly card, since there are many out there who are not big fans of dolls and have made their opinions very well known... but I know I'd be very happy to open up a cutie card like that!

In Heaven!

I am happy as a clam today. I had a really nice night last night (will describe later on in the post), then woke up early, did errands at 5 different stores, and was home by 10 AM. It is sunny (but coldddddd) out, and I got to go outside in the sun for the first time in WEEKS. I intend to repeat this act at least once or twice more today, because I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Because of the sun, I was able to get some pictures in my apartment of the dollies setting up the Christmas tree. First, Quinn sneaks into my pink and white tree and checks out a bird:


Next, the girls trim the tree. Well, some of them do... Toby lazes about while everyone else puts up the decorations:


Willow thinks about what to put up next:



Toby shows us a sparkly ball:



I think she is determined to stay under the tree until Santa arrives. I'm sure there are visions of sugarplums in that giant noggin of hers!


So, that was fun. I enjoyed taking silly pictures and putting up the trees. They're both small, but I have two of them. Fun!

Anyway, last night, I went to Newburyport to visit my friend Heather. Our friend Sue and Heather's coworker Pam also came along. We walked downtown, and did some holiday shopping. All of the downtown stores stayed open late and many were serving cookies, wine, hot cider and so on, to attract holiday shoppers... and every single store was jam packed! I found just what I was looking for, and we had a really nice time walking around and browsing.

We did have a little bit of a scary moment on our way there... We were walking along, when suddenly a car veered to the side of the road and honked loudly. He then screeched forward and slammed into the parked car in front of him, and then screeched backward and slammed into the car parked behind him. There were about 5 car lengths in between the two parked cars, so this was a fairly dramatic event! After he screeched forward the first time, I suggested rather forcefully that we run away and around the corner. We then called the police. After we called, the guy (who had gone into the house next to his car) came out and looked at us, and we got all freaked out and ran away. We have no idea what happened next, because personal safety felt like the most important choice at that moment.

It was really nice to have an evening out. It was very cold, but the wind was not blowing and I was warmly dressed. It will help to balance out tomorrow, which looks like it is going to be sleety and cold and gross all day long.

Sloppy, Snowy Day

It started snowing here around noon today, and it was really coming down. Many towns in the greater Boston area planned ahead and called early releases prior to the kids even getting to school today, but not Lowell! Teachers with long commutes started getting nervous pretty soon after it started to snow, because it was falling so quickly! About an hour before dismissal, I found the principal and told her I'd be happy to cover classes for any teacher who needed to leave early because of a long commute... after all, my commute is about 2 miles... I didn't exactly need to rush to get home!
I watched the "Lifeskills" class for a little while, which was fun. It's a small class of students with developmental delays, and they were watching a movie. They all know me already, so it went smoothly. I go in there whenever I need a little boost - they're a sweet group of kids who always make me smile!
Then, I had to go into an eighth grade science class, which was somewhat less awesome. There was the boy who showed me his leg and asked if I thought it was sexy, the two girls who attacked a boy and tried to pierce his ear with a pen, (and then tell him that the dot they put on his left ear meant that he was gay) then there was the boy who asked thirty times if he could go and get a drink even though he had done absolutely no work all class... you get the idea. I took it all in stride, though, knowing that I didn't have to be there for very long, and didn't have to see them again tomorrow... not my class!
Anyway, there was a lot of snow removal that needed to be done prior to driving home, and my two mile commute took over 30 minutes. I fared a lot better than some people... I'm currently watching the 11:00 news, and there are literally still people stuck on the roads who left work at 5 or 6 this evening. People reported a 16 mile drive taking 5 hours. Horrible. Just horrible!
No idea whether I'll be going to work tomorrow... I have the feeling that we might be going... the snow is tapering off, and they may be able to clear the roads by morning. We'll see.

I could be a Vampire

Seriously... last weekend, it was sunny outside on Saturday but I was stuck inside all day. It was cloudy on Sunday. I am in a windowless office all week at work. Then, this weekend was a repeat... sunny on the day I'm stuck inside, cloudy all day today. When in the world will I ever get to go outside in the sun again? My next chance is six days away.

People, this is grody. I have pictures to take... doesn't the sun know that?!?!?

It's snowing again tonight, and I hear ice is expected to join it. I wonder if we'll get another snow day. If so, I hope it's actually snow and not wet sleet/ icy rain... cuz if it's just snow, i'll run outside and take the pictures out there! Why the heck not?

Yesterday was the last official jewelry selling event of the season. It was a busy week, and I sold a lot of jewelry! Huzzah!

You know it's hot in your office when...

You step outside after work into sub-freezing temperatures and remark to your coworker, "aaaah, it is SO NICE to finally be outside!"

It's bad enough I don't ever get to see daylight or sunshine in the winter time due to the lack of a window in my office (and the fact that I arrive at work as daylight breaks and leave as the sun is setting). But to add insult to injury, it is OVER EIGHTY DEGREES in my office, and has been all week. I am miserable. By the end of the day, I truly cannot think any more. I ask people stupid questions I should know the answer to. I go home EXHAUSTED. I have complained bitterly. I daydream about running into the office stating that I'm going home and they can call me when my working conditions are actually humane. I have complained to the people who potentially could do something about it, but they say nothing can be done for now. I have also contemplated dressing appropriately for the 'weather', but that would involve more shaving than I normally feel committed to at this time of year.

I'm sweaty. I'm drowsy. I'm sad.

Car update: it mainly just needed a new battery. I also had them check over a few other things to make sure I'd make it through the winter. I can't even believe how fast the car starts now... I guess the battery had been going downhill for a while now.

Sorry about the no pictures thing lately. However, I'm not home during daylight during the week, and the days I've been home over the weekend have been extra cloudy. No vitamin D for me, no pictures for you!

NooooOOOOOooooooo!

Well, actually, it's really not as bad as all that. Really. I went out to my car (fondly known as the Skittle due to its resemblance to a purple skittle) this morning, and was sorely disappointed at the lack of 'engine running results' I received when I turned the key. There were a few lethargic attempts at turning over, a few clicks, and then silence. Each subsequent attempt was met with an even less enthusiastic response.

Interestingly, I wasn't particularly stressed out about it. As I get older, things like this just don't worry me as much as they used to. Car problems happen, particularly to 9 year old cars that have lived outdoors all of their lives. AAA and my mechanic are called. Hours of work are missed. Car repair charges are added to credit car bills. Life goes on.

Now, my attitude may very well change if this car turns out to be surly for the last third of its life. I do indeed expect another good 5 years/ 60,000 miles from the Skittle... I have this grand plan of getting another car around when I turn 40, which is in exactly 5 years and 2 months, to the day. If the Skittle and I are destined to spend a lot more mornings like this, we are going to have to have couples counseling or something, because I don't intend to put up with such behavior!

Anyway, I'm back at home, waiting for the call from AAA... I'm no fool. You won't see me sitting in a parking garage waiting for them... I'll be on my sofa, writing this little anecdote on my blog, sipping coffee.

Someone Flipped the Switch to Winter!

Jeez! That was harsh! It is all coldycold around here suddenly! This past Saturday, the wind was quite fierce, blinding drivers with tornadoes of dead leaves. Sunday night, it snowed, and left us with... a snow day from work! Huzzah! Now, New Englanders are doing the 'duck walk' across lumpy, icy, snowy sidewalks and streets, foregoing standard fashion rules and bundling up like many-layered sausages, and scraping crusty snow off of their cars.

On mornings like today, when I forget my mittens, I drive to work one-handed, with the other hand under my leg to keep it warm, and switch hands as needed. My car turns over so slowly, I get scared it won't start... it's on mornings like this that I worry my car won't last as long as I'd like it to. C'mon car, you can do it!

When it gets REALLY cold, I will be walking outside and will suddenly realize I have been holding my breath because it's too cold to breathe. I don't like those days all that much, but I try to embrace somewhat colder days by making sure I'm appropriately sausaged into ludicrous amounts of hand knit items... can you ever be wearing too many hand knit, woolen items? Socks, sweater, scarf, mittens, hat... snuggly.

Now, there are only 17 more days until the days start getting longer again. Hurry uppppp!