Four years

It's been four years today since I quit smoking. I don't have a lot to say-it's still not gone from my character but it continues to get easier. I will say that it's been a good decision overall and one I will never regret.

My crafting mojo is stuck right now. I've made several false starts over the weekend on various projects and none have taken off properly. There's a pair of boot socks showing promise. We shall see.

My co-worker's baby needs a new sweater, as all babies do, and since Cosy was kind enough to come up with such a clever pattern as the baby eggplant, the least I could do was to knit it.

This was also part of my 365 photos, but not this shot.



The weather has sucked big time the past week. Days when it has not snowed have been few and they've been bitterly cold, like yesterday and today. As pretty as it is, I've very much had enough of winter.



Saturday night was dinner with Mensans. We met at the Green Forest restaurant, just down the road from home. Meat on skewers, in large quantities, a fabulous salad/seafood bar, and dessert.



The pineapple sorbet tasted like I was sitting on the beach in Hawaii, eating a pineapple with my bare hands while the juice ran down my chin and all over my shirt. It was incredible. Worth every penny. Green Forest is a good once-a-year restaurant. Ok, maybe twice a year. Any more than that is too much. But I recommend it highly.

This is the end result of the scarf I was working on last week.


It came out disappointingly short. I still like it, but I would like it more were it much longer and squishier.

This week's 365 project photos.



"Corgiluv"



"Inside/Out"



"Alien landscape. Rescue needed."



"Baby Eggplants need warmth too"



"Icicles on every damn thing"

and



"The view from the dentist's chair". Literally. I took this after my teeth cleaning today. It's a little more scenic in the summer, but there's a lot of birds and basically nice to see instead of four sterile walls. Each chair has a bay window like that.

There will be a recipe forthcoming for potato-bacon soup. I made some on Friday when I was home for a snow day. (the snow day turned out to be a good call. I would not have fared well out in the elements that day.) It was awesome, and I want to make it again. Our neighbor across the vacant lot, Rob, came over and cleaned out our driveway on Saturday with his mower/plow dealie, so we sent the half of the soup that I'd put aside home with him in thanks for his work. Poor Bob has been like whatshisface pushing that boulder up the hill. Sisyphus? Is that the dude? The snow has not given him a break and I'm really not up to shoveling. I went outside to take some pictures while it was coming down on Friday, and ended up falling. I was ok (still sore) but it was pretty scary to realize I was down in the snow and unsure about getting up again. Needless to say it all worked out and I am not much worse for wear. Nor is my camera, which landed in a snowbank.

Until next time.

In with the new

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted here. My apologies-it's been a bit of a hectic month what with the holidays and so on.

Today is a dual birthday-Bob and my mother both. So this will not be a long entry, as I am busy cooking a lovely dinner and trying to get the house organized enough to have my mom over for dinner. I also made a cake, and can prove it.



I put some sprinkles on top, too.

All the crazy holiday crafting got done in plenty of time, and was all well-received. I put puffy paint on the bottoms of the slippers to make them non-skid, and that was fun as well. I did different patterns and even some words, but did not take photos. The hats all fit, at least as far as I can tell, and overall it seemed folks were pleased with their gifts.

Bob loved his present.


That's the Beatles boxed set, all digitally remastered. It sounds wonderful. His reaction was priceless-he just kept saying "holy crap!" My mom was laughing. It was fun. She liked her GPS unit, and the kids got money and stuffed animals and books and were happy with them too.




Anna was only in for the weekend. Hated to see her go so soon but she'll be back.

The weather has been crap around here.

Pretty, but crap. I hate snow more than ever and I am terrified of falling. But this too shall pass.

I got some awesome gifts. My mom got me a sewing machine and carrying case for it. My daughter got me a stick blender and a cookbook (Julia Child!) along with some original art that she made for me and a CD and knitting book I wanted. And Bob got me two cookbooks, one of which was the same one Lena got me so we returned it and got a food processor instead, which arrived today.

I'm excited about all the cooking related gifts because I have felt for a while now that although I'm a good cook with good fundamentals, I am ready to bring it up a level and the gifts I got will help me do that. The techniques I've read in the Julia Child book have started making a difference already! I feel like I can become the cook I always wanted to be now. It's kind of exciting.

In knitting, I've been knitting. I've also spun some yarn-I got fiber at Handmade Arcade when I went there shopping and one bit of it was calling out to me. Just some handdyed farm wool.



And as soon as I finished spinning it, it demanded to be knit, so I'm making myself Stephanie Pearl McPhee's One Row Scarf. So far, so good.

I wish I could write more but there are a million things to do before my mom gets here and if I get started, I won't be able to stop. I do need to blog more often-perhaps I can accomplish that in the new year.

One thing I will be doing is a Photo 365 project with a group from Ravelry-the idea is to take one photo (at least) a day for 365 days, so here are mine, so far. I have a set on flickr with them as well. I started on the first of the year.

Project 365 Photos this week-


"Self-Portrait with Bird and Bad Judgment"


"Assorted Craft"


"Still Life with Ginger and Brioschi"


"Late Morning Light"

Here comes the sun king

Well, in a couple of weeks, anyway.

Just a drive-by post. A couple of pictures. May post later in the week, but I had a bit of a busy day today.

First up, Laburnum Creamsicles.



I'm actually almost done with these-I've turned the second heel and am working my way up the leg. I was hoping they'd be done in time to wear tomorrow but unless I forego a lot of sleep tonight, that's not going to happen. The yarn is handspun, fiber I got from the Waynesburg sheep and wool festival back in the spring. I love it-it's so smooshy and soft. The pattern is Laburnum from Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks, and I did them toe-up with the magic cast-on and the fake flap-and-gusset heel, which I have figured out but-good and need to write up better instructions on. I never seem to get around to correcting my old patterns, though. It's a problem.

Anyway.

I finished all the slippers today. All the buttons sewn on, all blocked, all washed and drying and almost ready for their puffy paint on the soles.



That's a hell of a lot of slippers.


I think these are my favorite. At least, they're my favorite buttons.

This weekend is Handmade Arcade. I look forward to it, I love going there and taking photos and seeing all the people. I got an early entry pass this year for the first time so I won't have to deal with so many crowds to shop. yay!

Work tomorrow. Work sucks. I don't want to think about it.

The days will start getting longer soon. Yule is only about two weeks away now.

I do pretty well 'til after sundown

Damn seasons anyway. I think I need to move somewhere equatorial to avoid turning into a fire-eyed demon during the early winter.

Thanksgiving was nice, I didn't really take any pictures. I took some with my cell phone, but even though I brought the good camera, I never took it out of my purse. It seemed pointless, because every Thanksgiving brings similar photos, similar poses.

One thing that was different was this.



I brought two vegetable dishes. One was ordinary broccoli/cauliflower with garlic butter. This was a savory butternut squash bread pudding, recipe here. It was epic, and delicious. Also, the butternut squash was a revelation-delicious and sweet without the icky fibrousness of pumpkin.

Ok, this photo was also a little different.


But overall...

The weekend also went by way too fast and I had all this grand ambition for things to accomplish and I accomplished not much at all. Not even extra sleep.

I did take some photos of accumulated giftmas presents.

A chair full of slippers. They need buttons, blocking, and ends woven in.


Hathenge one



And two. Some of them need the odd end woven in but for the most part, they're done.

I had to take a break from knitting last week and do some spinning. I spun the wonderful BFL fiber that I got in a Ravelry swap from Lisa.




It hasn't been bathed yet, but it's about 700 yards of sportweight.

I also finished one sock, of the ones that started off being entrelac and a gift, and ended up stockinette and for me.


They did not look right as entrelac. Ugh.

Other than that, there's not been much. The weather has been unseasonably good, as evidenced by the chair-o-wet-socks this weekend.






And the neighborhood doves congregated to drive the cats mad. Figment and Biddy, in a rare moment of fellowship, sat in the back window together, making cute kitty noises at the birds. I didn't get a picture, as the moment didn't last long enough.

I'm craving citrus like crazy. It must be the time of year. There was about a month's worth of sinus woe for me but it seems to have passed, at least for now.

Reading is going well. I read Andrea Dworkin's "Right Wing Women" which was very interesting. Also read the Stephen King short stories, "Just After Sunset" which were mostly very good. The last one, though. Yuck. Not enjoyable at all. Offal, one might even say. HAR HAR HAR. Also reading "Triste Tropiques" by Claude Levi-Strauss, about his work in Brazil and the Amazon. Best written anthropology ever.


This may be the best thing ever.



And finally, if you're a relative or friend looking for ideas for gifts, I have a link to my amazon wish list over on the sidebar. Don't feel compelled, but there it is.

Until next time!

Scrappy Mitts with Flounce

Scrappy Mitts with Flounce
by Jamie Longstreth Fritz

This easy pattern happened because I wanted something for me made out of this special handspun yarn. I had used most of the skein making two pair of slippers, and there was just enough left (50G) for a pair of fingerless mitts.



Materials needed:
50G interesting yarn in a DK weight. The more colorful the better. You can also use scraps of handspun in similar weights.
US size 6 needles (Long circular for magic loop, DPNs, or two circs) or size needed to get gauge.
Size F crochet hook
Yarn needle to sew in ends

Gauge-2 inches = 11 stitches in stockinette stitch. Row gauge is less important as you will decide when they're long enough for you.

First, the Flounce.
Cast on 40 stitches and divide to work in the round. I used a long tail cast-on, if you don't want the join to show, you might want to use a provisional cast-on.
1-4 Work 4 rows in 3x2 rib. (K3, P2)
5. K2, YO, K1, YO, K2, repeat to end of round.
Rows 6, 8 10 Knit around
7. K2, YO, K3, YO, K2, repeat to end
9. K2, YO, K5, YO, K2, repeat to end.
10. Knit around
Bind off loosely.

Body of Mitts
Pick up and knit 40 stitches along cast-on edge of flounce, dividing to knit in round. If you used a provisional cast-on, pick up the 40 stitches and undo the provisional stitches.

Work in stockinette stitch (knit every row) until length desired to reach thumb. As pictured, 3 1/2 inches were worked between the flounce and the thumb hole.

K2, BO 5, knit to end. When you reach the bound off stitches, cast on (using thumb cast-on) 5 stitches and continue until mitt is as long as you want it. As shown, 2 1/2 inches were knit between the thumb and the bound off edge.

Bind off loosely.

Thumb
Pick up and knit 14 stitches in the thumbhole. Work in stockinette stitch in the round until of sufficient length for your thumb. Bind off loosely. (Very loosely!)

Finishing
Single crochet one row around top of mitts and bottom of flounce. Sew in ends, block, and wear!



I have large hands, so if you need to make these smaller, use a smaller needle size, or just cast on less stitches. Really, it doesn't get much easier than this.

My mind, it does not belong to me

My Grandmother, Frances Fusco Sneed, in her WAC uniform. Veteran's Day is always a day I remember her.


I'm going to try for a regular update thing. We've had a busy few weeks plus I've been sick, and am sick again, so cover your nose and mouth while reading this blog entry just in case I have swine flu. I wouldn't want to be an agent of the porkocalypse.

A couple of weeks ago, for Halloween, we went to visit friends in central PA and indulge in some visiting and foods and some year-end ritual and some hot tubbing, which by the way, was miraculous for my leg. I made good stuff to take up and share and took photos.



Homemade pepperoni bread. It amazed me that every recipe I found for pepperoni bread said "take frozen bread dough and ..." Why? Bread dough is so easy. I made my own Italian bread dough and rolled pepperoni and provolone into it and it was awesome.



I also made gingersnap cake starting from a mix and added cranberries and crumbled triple gingersnaps to the top.



Both were delicious. I wish I had time to bake more, as I really enjoy it.

We went to the park the next day with the dogs, and I took lots of photos. It was a glorious late-fall day and it resulted in a photo set, here in convenient slideshow format for your indulgence or not.



Still knitting, still making the same things. Also making a pair of mitts for me out of leftover yarn from the slippers I've been making.





I imagine I'll write up a pattern for the mitts. They're easy enough, but I haven't done a pattern in a while so I'll post this one. Once I'm finished.

Biscuit is weird. Still.


And Bob still knows it.


Deer in our yard, one morning. Cell phone picture so not great.


And the building caddy-corner from my office, first thing in the morning when it's dark out.


One of the Steelers lives there, and it's also where the Social Security office is.

It's kind of fun to let photos pile up on my cell phone, because sometimes I forget what all is there and when I go to unload them, I get some surprises.

This is the bridge between our two buildings at work. I call this Meatfunk Alley, because the exhaust fan from a Gyro place blows into it and it stinks. I haven't had a gyro since I've been working there.



This was our food, the night we went to Braddock's restaurant, the night we went to the Opera.




And this was in the window of Prantl's Bakery downtown, just before Halloween.


Poor Lily had to have 12 teeth taken out. She has had dental problems all along-probably a combination of bad genetics and poor nutrition as a puppy and while she was being bred. The first night home from the vet and we put a blanket in her corner for her to lay on. Dylan had to share the blanket, but the picture looks like he's laying there to keep an eye on her.


I think that's about it. I've got a lot of serious posts bumping around in my brain, but I can't seem to find the time to write them out. This is becoming a problem.