Best Day EVAR!

Okay, the day started like this.

Get kids out the door down the stairs into the car.  Go back up the stairs, forgot the work badge.  Go back down the stairs and take the kids to school.  Drop kids off at school and go to gas station.  Fill car up and have back to the pump.  Realize that the automatic shutoff isn’t working when I hear splashing behind me.  Shut off and take nozzle out quickly.  Go to work, I think I smell gas, I think I smell like gas.  I go home and change, back up the stairs.  Put clothing in the laundry, start the machine.  Leave for work again, get into car and realize that the badge is still upstairs.   Again.  Go back up the stairs and back down, and finally got to work.

The plus is, I didn’t get any phone calls from the school and I found…

A cherimoya.  At my Safeway.  They don’t have tahini, but they had some cherimoyas.

I was going to take a picture, but this was the best I did today, since I was so excited the second I got it out of the bag I cut it open.  My cherimoya didn’t look like this.  How can you tell when they’re ripe?  Anyone familiar with these fruit?  I don’t know why they fascinate me so, but they do.

Deep Breath…

I have a lot to do.  At work.  At home.  It just never seems to let up.

I thought I’d take a stab at a cooking post.  I call it…

Chicken Stew For Busy Moms Like Me.

I found these noodles a few weeks ago at Sam’s Club.  They inspired me.  Mostly because made some chicken soup for a friend awhile back and I used some egg noodles.  His batch of my soup was fine, my batch was not so fine.  I don’t know what I did to it, but it was awful.  I had to pitch it.  I thought it was the noodles.  (It may have been something else because the frozen bit I left with my friend, he said was fine.)

I don’t work off of recipes. I should. I don’t. Here’s my Busy Mom Like Me easy steps.

Boil water.

Add noodles. Cook until done. Drain.

It took me a long time to get this shot. Trying to hold one hand with noodles and not steam my hand or the camera.  You can tell by the lack of Photoshop and overexposure of the prior shot (and well this one too), but look!  They’re falling!

Take one frozen chicken breast and cube. Yup, straight out of the freezer. Next time I’ll try planning better. Like I said. Busy. o.O I do what I can.

Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to a pot. Heat to medium and add chicken and brown. When it’s browned, not necessarily done, add some water or a can of low sodium chicken broth (I learned my lesson with the risotto). Perhaps a cup? Simmer.

While that is simmering, take any vegetable you have on hand.

Chop. Add to the pot. Add any frozen vegetables you have that you want in this concoction. Simmer. Add spices that taste good. (Salt, pepper, parsley, bay leaf).

Then take about a 1/4 of a cup of water, add some flour and mix. Add to the simmering pot.

Sort of proud of that picture. As you can see, some broccoli and mushrooms made it into this pot too.

Serve.

The point was not to make soup and to see what the noodles were like in a dish.  (Oh look, a carrot too.)  It wasn’t bad, could have used a little more salt.  I think I’ll take it for lunch tomorrow.

Now if only I could get the kids to eat this too.

Residual Effects

As I was cleaning today and looking over some blogs, it occurred to me.

Can one ever have too much stash?  ^.^

On a more serious note (which actually relates to the links above) when does Mr. Right turn into Mr. <insert whatever name here>?  So cleaning led to being thankful that I don’t have a partner that has something to say about my spending or my stockpiles of stuff, which led me to remember when I did.

I know now, he was never the right guy.  I knew that 48 hours out of the gate (after the flirting and the actual dating started), yet I still pursued.  When is it bad?  When is behavior not ok?  How can you tell the difference?  After all it was never “I fell down the stairs” it was more like “Did that just happen?”  I don’t think I’ll ever recover from it, but it’s hard to see the façade that is put on for the audience, like it never happened.  It’s hard to trust.  ”Well, he just called me stupid, did he really mean it?”

Why not leave?  It was hard to really accept that 1) he wasn’t going to change, 2) the lifestyle that I had tried to achieve, 3) starting over is scary.  There isn’t a day I’m not thankful we aren’t a we anymore.  The hard part is accepting that perhaps the mildly gory detail really did happen, it wasn’t good, and even though it wasn’t ER trips bad, it was bad.

I think abuse is accepted in our society because no one talks about it.

Not Much Goin’ On.

After all this time of having a blog, I still am no closer to answering the question; why do I have a blog.  I used to check 50-75 knitting blogs daily, just to see the pictures.  Now, it’s closer to maybe 20,and typically they don’t post every day.  I’ve started reading cooking and board game blogs.

For me I wish that there was more things I wanted to blog about.  Family, friends, work, life in general, but my experience thus far isn’t showing that those are topics to blog about on the internet.  So, I’m stuck.  Still.

This is my latest spinning project.  It’s the same 100% alpaca that made up this spinning project, but a different color.  I bought a diz about a month ago at Lambspun and I’m very pleased with the results.  On the left is the pre-diz roving, on the right is the after diz roving.  It’s easier to spin after drafting through the diz.

I finished a project for “the captain” and in plenty of time before the potential notababyshower.  I’ll blog about that later, after the shower.

If You Ever Wondered…

…this is what crazy looks like.

This is a picture of my un-plied, 2-ply yarn, that I had been working on in the month of December.  The more I plied the more I hated it.  I looked at my options:

1. Keep plying 2-ply until I filled a bobbin, then cut it off and start Navajo plying the rest.
2. Suck it up, I have more fiber to spin.
3. Un-ply.

I opted for #3.  I stuck a crochet hook through the bobbin (the one you can’t see) and attached it with a rubber band, and then let gravity do it’s magic.  Ah, the poster child for OCD and perfectionism, but I did finish it and I am now Navajo plying it.

The Things We Do

Okay, the first time I tried to post this didn’t work.

First things first, I am really tired.  I didn’t even realize that my title is just about the same as the previous post.  I am special.

Second, my first post was funny.  This one not so much.

Below is my attempt in unplying yarn I’ve spun.

Here would have been the long-winded explanation that I don’t want to type out again, mostly because I can’t remember it.  I know it was only 5 minutes ago.

The above picture is a fine example of perfectionism and OCD mixed together.

Ah, the things we do…

Today’s lesson of the day is about buying sheets.  (Yes, impulsively.)  So, I have a friend who has, what I consider, the best sheets ever.  Granted I haven’t asked them what kind of sheets they are, I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but I’m pretty sure they are these.  (I know I’m weird.)  Anyway, I went out to The Great Indoors (which is my new store I can no longer step foot in) and purchased a set I thought was going to fit on my bed.

I learned a few things:

1. Take measurements of the bed with you before you go.  Period.
2. Queen and full are not the same like I thought they were in my brain.
3. Extra deep means like to the floor, literally.  Plus a body, under the fitted sheet.  I don’t think that I’ve even seen a bed as big as this fitted sheet.
4. Merlot does not look good with my gray and black comforter like I thought it would (I bought gray, I know it doesn’t make any sense, I’m just making a list at this point)
5. The pillowcase set actually is a set as in 2 not just 1 (read the package stupid)..  Needless to say, I will be going back to the store tomorrow.
6. I should not go shopping.  Ever.

This of course raises the question, do I need sheets.  No.

Oh, but how I do want these 400 count sheets that make me want to sleep all day.

My friend also has a set of these towels that I have decided are wonderful and that I want to wear, but since that would be awkward I decided I should buy my own.  I bought 1 with hand towel in gray, thinking it will go well with my shower curtain.  We shall see.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t jack up the size on that one.  I’m just not sure if I should have gotten 2.  Still time to decide later.  The only thing I was sad about was the fact they don’t make them in bath sheet size.

This brings me to another question, or quandary really, I was married once and interesting.  (Actually, it was my own personal hell and I hated it, but didn’t accept the reality yet at the time.)  The thing I miss about marriage, is the planning for a style.  Now I’m just this weird mismatch of stuff that is from a style that was from a compilation that no longer exists with a person I no longer care at all for.  Like the eggplant plates, blue towels, and a deep fryer I never use.  I’m actually holding off on developing a style until I actually live in a place for more than 10 years.  Of course that goes out the window the second I think, “Ooo!  I need sheets!”  Then I desperately try to figure out what I have and how I can compose it into something that doesn’t look like a yard sale threw up in my bathroom.

Speaking of acquirements.

The best thing about friends are those who entertain your whims by taking you to yarn stores you don’t need to go to.  Starting from left to right, I went to Mew Mew’s, a very tiny shop in Lafayette.  Cozy, carries Malabrigo and has a store tabby, awesome.  So, there’s watermelon colored sock yarn (still not what I’m looking for to appease my watermelon phase, but it’s getting warmer), Malabrigo sock (awesome), and Malabrigo worsted (yummy).  I also went to Lambspun, which is large, full of knitters/spinners and left me completely overwhelmed.  I acquired a little bag of quiviet, a big thing of green, some sockish weight yarn and something with yak in it.

Quiviet.  I don’t know if I’ll ever be brave enough to spin it.  It’s only 1/2 an ounce, I’m not even sure it will amount to much of anything.  I did have two friends touch it today, both non-knitters, both who said, “You paid how much for yak fur?” and who both said, “Wow…”

The Elder Gods, Keepin’ Me Busy

Sometime last Spring my friend Josh asked me if I could make him a cthulu. I of course gave him my typical answer of, some time before I die.  This past weekend when I saw him proved that he hadn’t forgotten the request.

Suddenly, I found myself inspired to get started. I think it turned out well. I am sad that I didn’t follow the links on the pattern’s site for the magic round or the invisible decreases. Very clever ideas. I used a size H hook instead of an F. I couldn’t figure out how to get the tiny hook to work correctly with the worsted weight yarn. Maybe I’ll try another one since I now know the magic of the magic round and invisible decreases.

The designer of this pattern mentions that the directions for the wings is somewhat confusing. However, the designer offers a visual representation of them, which helps a lot.  Over all, it was a super fun little crochet.  Also a super way to use up acrylic.

I also finished measuring and re-skeining the samples I spun up towards the end of last year. I heart my yard counter. Now if I could just figure out what to do with all the yarn in my growing stash.

I started plying my last spinning adventure. I enjoyed the Louet Northern Lights pencil roving immensely. It was super easy to spin, no predrafting at all. I’m plying it double ply from two bobbins. I do enjoy this method, although I am wondering if I should have used the Navajo ply in order to maintain the long color stripes in this roving.

I’ve decided I need to start a blanket soon, I think I have until April. I’d like to try the spiral looking drain blanket, but the first time I started it on the needle size suggested it felt extraordinarily stiff.

Those are the latest addition to my addiction family, Addi Clicks.  They are worth every penny.

Happy New Year

Exciting title I know.

I wish there was something interesting that has happened since the last time I posted.  I can’t say that much has happened.  The holidays occurred, the vacation at home occurred.  Friends, family, food…lots of food.  My lack of blogging has really been attributed to my lack of interest.  After all there is Ravelry, but not everyone has a Ravelry account.

The biggest thing I can announce is that despite my persistent procrastination I managed to finish up the Christmas presents for the kids.  I lucked out this year since I had until the 27th to get them completed.

This here is the first and last jellyfish I make out of dark-colored yarn.  Thing 1 adored it though and the alpaca is super soft and lovely to the touch.

This is the longneck, who’s long neck was not long enough, but is good enough.  I was in such a rush to get this guy done, I took him to a bar to finish him up while my friend and I watched an Arsenal game.  Of course in true fashion, I did not take a picture of him with the gloves on (which were well received).  (I remembered that today, doh!)  In days prior to the knitting in the bar, I spent much amusement with people who couldn’t figure out what I was knitting.

Now the sharptooth has a brother and see how they get along?

I finished the Calorimetry as well.  It still seems really really big to me.  (No, I didn’t do a swatch.  Yes, I know I should.)  I haven’t gotten a chance to give it to its recipient yet.

Other than that…

New Year’s Eve was lovely and I got to spend it downtown with friends.  I think the friend from out-of-town enjoyed the sights and the crazy.  I was sad I didn’t get to see oodles of people like in years past.

Happy New Year to all. ^.^

Brr…

It’s the time of year that reminds me of this time of year as a child.  We’ve had so many mild winters for so long now, this below freezing temperature is really starting to get to me.  When I was little I used to walk the mile from the bus stop home in these temperatures on occasion.  I am eagerly awaiting summer again.

I finally finished a scarf.  Nope.  Not Henry.  I used two skeins of Noro Silk Garden and I stretched the heck out of it after soaking it in cold water.  I hope it blocks okay this way.

Pattern: Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf by Karen Baumer
Yarn: 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden
Needles: US 8
Modifications: Just the suggested one at the end of the pattern to make the ending triangle look like a 90 degree triangle.

What did I learn?
1) I can knit in a week, but that does not include blocking in the true sense.
2) The multidiagonal scarf pattern can make a 4′ scarf from 2 skeins of Noro as long as it is 4″ wide.  Mine was not.
3) I like knitting the scarf, although the endless garter sometimes makes me want to cry.
4) I am basing a lot of faith on the fact that not all people like wearing 6′ scarves.  Right?
5) I’m hoping that Noro Silk Garden will block despite it’s high silk content.

I hope this is long enough. (edit:  It seemed to block out okay this way.)

I have 20 days to finish the kids projects.  I have the yarn, I have the patterns.  I’m still lacking the motivation because I’m still not sure where the bunny, dinosaur and sharptooth have run off to.  This is a silly reason not to get started, but it’s my excuse for the procrastination.

I finished my other sample spinning projects and now I just have to count the yardage and reskein them.  Perhaps a project for another day. ^.^