The Quilt

Apparantly, people prefer reading blogs with lots of pictures. Not being a shutterbug, I rarely have a camera and I'm convinced that the more pictures I take, the less fun I have.

But on occasion I must please my audience:

Behold my quilt squares. This brings me to six total.

The above is the worst. I hate hand sewing.

This one is okay (it's my second quilt ever, give me a break). Somehow, my final product made it a little under the 5" square size I need it to be. I'll deal with this later.

It's too bad my fabrics don't contrast much here, because this one turned out rather nice.

Hmmm...Boring, but finished.

Somehow my circle became squarish.

I try to do three a week to catch up with my group (who does two a week). But, as you will see by my next post, I have taken a break to do a much needed project.

163 to go!

Too Darn Hot

DH: "Let's get out and go for a hike"
Me: clinging to the A/C vent and eating ice cubes "It's 98 degrees outside"

Then I get the blank look that lets me know I don't belong in Colorado. The one that says "Um yeah, it's Summer. So do you want to go hiking or not?"

Um, not, unless you want to stuff my melting body into clothing, watch the sweat drip off me and then listen while I get nauseated.

I liked it better when I could say "It's hot" and everyone in a 60 mile radius would say "I know! We hang out at the grocery store because they have A/C." or "My neighbor just got an air conditioning unit, let's go take some lemonade over there." or "Let's turn on the sprinklers for the kids and eat a million popsicles while we sit with our feet in the kiddie pool and whine about cooking in this heat."

Or my favorite: "Let's day trip to the ocean"

You can't do that in Colorado.

Wisdom Woes

I finally had my last two wisdom teeth pulled. I have needed them pulled for years but avoid dentists like the plague. I finally cowboy-uped and got it done.

And I do not like percacet. I took a pill yesterday and got so loopy I taught my son how to dial 911 and asked my husband to call me every hour or so. I felt nauseated, faint and dizzy.

But there was no pain.

I decided it wasn't worth the side effects. Only Ibuprofin for me thanks. It's 24 hours later and I still feel icky.

Baby Jane Quilt

I have sewn five squares for my quilt. My camera cannot take good pictures, but I will do my best.

Just thought I might update.

Going Through My Head

Fictional conversation I may have with my mom:

"What's wrong with this sugar?"
"Nothing"
"Why is it a funny color?"
"It's organic."
**Nose wrinkle**

Yarn Shop Update

I was spending the day with my mom and we decided to drop by one of her LYSes.

After reading my last post I'm sure you will not be shocked by why I was annoyed.

We parked and walked toward the door. Mom said she thought they might be making sno cones. When we got closer we realized they were dyeing yarns. The instructor told us it was a class and we could watch but it might be better for the child if we stayed away. I understand but come on. They were on the sidewalk in front of the store. Where else should we walk, the parking lot?

When we entered the shop I barely had a chance to adjust my eyes when my child was swooped upon and led to the "children's area." Again, you know how I feel about this. This time I was treated like I had brought in an unpleasant bug and it had to be squashed immediately (attn LYS, they are not Moths, they are children). Fine, but was it neccessary to stare at him in horror when he ran through the shop looking for me because he had to go potty? Would you rather he piddle in the "Children's Area?" He stayed with me for the rest of the time. I wasn't really looking for anything (after my score the day before--another post) but I found a pattern I liked and purchased it. Only to learn that they frown upon credit cards for purchases of less than $10.00. Bite me. I frown upon carrying cash in my too-frequently-misplaced wallet...

...And being treated like "A Breeder."

Times Change

When I was a new knitter (age 7), and once my mom accepted this fact, I was taught a very important lesson--knit with the best materials you can afford. Yarn is expensive but you get what you pay for. That was long ago and generally this still holds true.

So step forward 15 years to when I started living on my own completely. I had a job that paid me no money and I scrimped for months so I could enter the yarn shop about 200 feet from my home. I finally had saved $150.00 for this indulgence. I didn't think I would need all of it, but I wanted to be prepared.

Imagine how I felt when I walked into the shop, was greeted by the employee (for her benefit we wil assume she wasn't the owner), given a once over, and ignored. I asked if she had Vogue Knitting--she haphazardly gestured toward a wall. I leafed through the current issue and found a sweater I liked and asked her if she had that yarn or something comparable. She glanced at me and sniffed a little. At this point I was annoyed, but the clicher was when I started poking around at yarn. I picked up a ball to check its fiber content and put it down when I saw that it wasn't 100% wool. She said--assuming I had seen the price tag-- "the craft store has cheaper yarn." I was mad but I still wanted a project. I ended up buying a couple small cones of a rayon ribbon to make a purse. I was prepared to spend over $100, and I spent $15. To this day I wish I had said something ala Pretty Woman.

I get better treatment now. I worried it was because I was looking old, but I'll assume it's because knitting is more mainstream these days. But I have noticed two trends that yarn stores are missing:

• Children are learning to knit
• Parents spend money on their kids

It seems a logical conclusion--sell to kids. And yet somehow they just miss it:

• Kids (and mothers of kids) rarely feel welcomed in stores
• There are few quality products (books, patterns, yarns, needles) that are age appropriate
• Products that are marketed to kids are cheap quality and do little to encourage creativity

Between the ages of 3 and 18, kids go through many stages. Rainbow acrylic yarn and plastic needles don't cut it. Don't be afraid to challenge kids--my first knitting swatch was intarsia because I didn't know it was hard.

My 5yo can knit. He has the attention span of granola, but he knows how the yarn works. He has claimed my Bamboo size 12's and has his favorite rainbow acrylic yarn (you win some you lose some). He made a blanket for a stuffed animal and is convinced he can make himself an alligator scarf. I dare a yarn store owner to show him the "toy basket" so mommy can shop. Who do you think I'm shopping for?

The best formula for a new child knitter:

• needles they choose themselves (or make!)--my son shopped from my needle vase
• Whatever yarn they want (alas the craft store may be the smarter place for this)
• Your time to teach them.

And whatever you do, don't tell them they can't do something. Everything is easy if you make the steps small enough.

Favorite Things Friday: Kids Books for Grown-ups

I love reading. I was the nerdy kid in gradeschool who actually read the whole book in the first week rather than just the assigned chapters. I read quickly too. I love kiddie lit because there really isn't a whole lot of deep thought required, they read quickly and there are usually sequals.

Many people knit while reading, but I find I read so quickly that I can only knit a few stitches before I need to turn the page. There is just too much hand movement going back and forth and it bugs me.


So I don't give myself much reading time. Because of this, I hate wasting that time reading books that I end up not liking. I'd rather read a beloved story 50 times than start a new book and get frustrated halfway through. And yes, I'll even skip to the end to find out if it's worth reading the rest of the book. So judge me.


My favorite children's rereads:

• Harry Potter (Duh)
• A Little Princess
• Anne of Green Gables
• Chronicals of Narnia (read all of them)
• Holes

Um...Another Hobby?

I want to make a quilt. Not just any quilt. This one.

And here is my first block:

Not bad for a beginner, huh? Don't mind the out of focus. It's just my camera.

The Wool Market

I wanted to love the Wool Market. I liked the wool market, I really did.

But I don't feel the need to go back next year.

Maybe I'm maturing. Last year I would have left with bags of yarn and maybe some roving and possibly a fleece. This year: Two skeins of yarn.

The majority of the market is devoted to animals. They were fun to look at. And I learned that goat kids yell and scream just like people kids, Paco-Vicunas will set you back $50,000, and I am still allergic to bunnies (but not thier fiber!). But I wasn't in the market for livestock.

I want yarn. There was some there. It's mostly local-ish independant vendors and they have beautiful things, but just not my style.

I've heard lace is the new socks; There was only one vendor who sold legit lace yarn in washed-out pastel colors. My goal was to find lace yarn in deep jewel tones. I bought two skeins of white. They're gorgeous, but I don't have my peacock yarn yet (and if you think I'm going to learn to dye yarn on cashmere/silk or angora/silk...). Either these vendors aren't quite in tune with the market, or they don't care.

There was a lot of bulky weight yarn and so much novelty yarn. And it's my impression that the knitters who learned to knit five years ago (you know, when the real rush started) now want smooth, fine yarns that will showcase their skills and create the garments that the unfortunately stereotyped grandmothers never did.

Growing/Hunger Pains

My mom and I went out for lunch this weekend after spending a morning petting bunnies and paco-vicuna (more on that later). We decided to eat at a little cafe in downtown Estes Park. I wasn't all that hungry and kmew going into it that all I really wanted was a small salad and a large water.

My mother was convinced I was going to starve to death:

They have veggie burgers, they have a veggie wrap--you could ask for no cheese. They have the California sandwich--you could ask for no bacon. There's pasta primavera, and alfredo.

Mom, I'm fine. I'm not going to starve. I'm not going to suffer from poor nutrition. I still love you even if tofu freaks you out. I'm just. not. hungry.

Favorite Things Friday: Vegan Recipes

I'm focusing on finding vegan recipes (though technically I'm a mere ovo-lacto vegetarian) because they are more interesting. I don't need a cookbook telling me how to eat meatless anything. It's the cheese and egg subs I'll need to make the full conversion.

Sin Dawgs: There's an excellent video on the site, print the recipe first. My husband loves these and has requested them repeatedly. Also a hit in my knitting group.
Vegan Babybacks: Surprisingly good. I suspect after a year of no meat I will think they are exactly like meat.
Vegan Bacon: When you add this to whole wheat bread, lettuce, tomatoes and avacados, it works. DH says it's better than some of the real bacon he's had.
Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Mousse Frosting: I bought this book because, really, who can resist a cupcake? Even my FIL liked it. Though he was mad when he found out it was tofu.

I'll post more as I find them. I ran into a "cheese" sauce I want to try.

Peacocks, Revisited

I got my pattern for my Peacock Shawl. Now I have a mission for Estes Park Wool Market.

Who wants to sell me the perfect yarn? Laceweight, a perfect bluey-green, maybe some sheen, maybe some gradiations. I'm a clean slate.

Eating Meat Makes You Deaf

I was talking to my mom yesterday on the phone while making my lunch.

Me: I'm making Herb Encrusted Tofu with mushrooms in a creamy marsala sauce. I'll put it over some polenta.

Mom: *pause* What's Urban Crusted Tofu?

Somehow, I know that if I had said "Herb Encrusted Chicken" she would have heard me. But, alas, "tofu" was in the sentence and the point was lost.

Lunch was wonderful however.

Wiiiiiiii

We are celebrating Mother's and Father's day this weekend due to circumstances beyond my control. I will be totally happy exploring this venue with free reign of the credit card (I have been yarn-dieting four months for this). This is mother's day to me.

So my DH felt bad about not doing anything on the real Mother's Day and got us a hotel in Estes Park. I can spend Saturday in my Nirvana. He can spend Sunday in his. Sounds like a great deal all around.

Then I found out my husband has been sniffing around an import store looking for bento boxes so I had to break the news. "Honey, I already got some, they're coming from Japan."

"How could you do this before Mother's Day? What am I supposed to get you now?"

"Um, a day surrounded by yarn with a credit card in my hands? I got you a Wii."

Silence. Pure, golden, silence.

Let the knitting god(desses) reign.

Has Anyone Seen My Hamper?

Ah layers. Layers are great. It is the only way to dress in Colorado. They can be stylish (though I myself have never mastered this). They can be warm, cool, somewhere in between. They can dress up or dress down. But they have one ultimate advantage for the other people who live in my house: They create laundry.

And really, why else do I keep hanging around?

Exhibit A:

I realize the picture doesn't look like much, but that folks is my husband's laundry from Saturday/Sunday. The pile is about 2 feet tall.

First we went to the Drive-In. It was nightime and potentially chilly. I packed a jacket and a blanket. DH wore seven layers. I counted. Seven

We signed up for a shift in the Relay for Life. Our shift started at 10:00 PM and as we were leaving it started to rain. Normally this is no big deal as we have spent a quarter of our lives in Seattle. I packed a sweatshirt (for the chill) and put on my good raincoat. DH found every non-cotton shirt he owns (six--I counted) and put them on. Was he warm yes. Was I...yes.

But this way he can indulge my obsession with laundry. I mean, I insist on doing it everyday so I must love it right?

Lets not discuss the growing pile of towels that have amassed from the two weeks of swimming lessons we are doing. Or the stomach flu my 2yo had (he's fine now, thanks for asking).

I can't knit, I must. do. laundry.

Peacock

I have a thing for peacocks. It's not an obsession and I think I am merely a degree or two above the average person who thinks they're pretty.

But I was reading the Yarn Harlot's website and stumbled on this: A peacock shawl

Oh I have delusions aspirations with this. I want beads. Must have beads. A beautiful solid yarn in a blue with lovely sparkly beads.

Obsessed am I.

Pleased to Report

I switched to vegetarianism a little over a month ago. It was my Earthday decision this year (I always make a commitment on Earthday). The choice was environmentally motivated. I hid my scale in a closet so as not to cloud my judgment and to focus on my intentions.

And after a month I took out my scale out of curiosity.

I've lost six pounds. Not a lot, but it's in the right direction. I put the scale back in the closet. I'm happier with it there.

He Gave Me Permission

I revealed my enexplicable passion for bento to my DH. I even showed him some websites. His comment:

"Maybe we can try some bento picnics this Summer."

I didn't tell him the boxes are 3-6 weeks away. Baby steps you know. I wouldn't want him to know I'm completely over the edge. Though I think he suspects.

I did promise myself that I would not accessorize my bento until...well look at that; I didn't give myself a deadline...until Summer then. No accessorizing until Summer.

Solstice Summer, or School Summer, or Weather Summer? If we're going to have picnics we'll need the accessories sooner than later. See ya. I'm going shopping. Again.

Favorite Things Friday: Cooking Websites

When my smallish stash of cookbooks fails me, I turn to the internet:

www.epicurious.com Recipes that have been published by various cooking mags.
www.allrecipes.com A database of recipes from anyone. Read comments first because they can have more info than the recipes do.
www.everydaydish.tv This one is a new one I found since I became vegetarian. They have recipes with videos and the recipes are great. I've made a handful of them already.

Dear Colorado

Dear Colorado,

I'm Sorry. It has been cold, wet, tumultuous, and gray (though the Seattle part of me is okay with this). Please accept my apology. You see, I put my winter clothes away. I know, it's my fault and I take full responsibility. I thought I would be safe to wait until June.

To make it up to you, I'll put the Summer clothes away on Labor Day and ensure another three months of heat and sun.

Yours Truly,

Mountain Mama

It Had to Happen Sooner or Later

I don't like milk anymore.

I've heard so many stories of people who become vegitarian/vegan and start to dislike certain foods they used to love.

Yesterday I schlepped all over the city to run some errands for my husband. When I finally got to him (to deliver casual attire for a conference) he presented me with a mocha. It was really very sweet of him. I took one sip and asked if it was soy--the taste was off.

"No, just a nonfat mocha"

Hmm. Maybe because it was from a hotel which "Proudly Brews Astrodollars" as opposed to the "Astrodollars" shop.

But this morning our power was out and I schlepped the kids to the "Astrodollars" and ordered a simple latte. The taste was off. And when I got back to our power-restored home I drank some of our milk (after a sniff test). The taste was off.

I don't like milk anymore.

From Bento to Bags

I am quickly losing my ability to be rational.

I found my perfect bento.

It's a charming blue and has a dragonfly motif. In a house of boys I felt the dragonfly would be considered manlier than fat bunnies or flowers. Although the darling bunnies were tempting. And the flowers.

I then found that this bento has a whole darned series: Three different sizes, special bands, chopsticks, drawstring bags, cutlery and something called a Furoshiki.

I ordered the whole kit. Then I looked up Furoshiki. And I ended up on a site where my pretty bento (arriving in 3-6 weeks) is an accessory.

It seems a Furoshiki is a piece of fabric in which you wrap your bento (or books, watermelon, wine) with a couple clever little folds and knots. The origami artist in me... Ah you didn't know I was one of those did you? Or perhaps you forgot--I was in a job interview and they asked me to fold something. I made a darling little frog (with a high difficulty level). I'm sure that's why I got the job. But I digress...The origami artist in me is enchanted with Furoshiki.

Luckily, along with the one included with my order, I also have a stash of fabric. I could make these. And be the envy of...

...well, no one actually.

Catch Me Now I'm Falling

I stumbled on this website and have become head over heels infatuated with bento boxes. They so charming. They're so portable. They're making me live the delusion of making charming little lunches for my family everyday. Forget the fact that my husband will insist he needs for than 2 cups of food. Forget the fact that neither kid will be having lunch at school next year. Forget the fact that I can barely get lunch on the table at lunchtime.

And then there are accessories. Little tiny bottles for sauce. Little tiny chopsticks. Little tiny dividers in various patterns.

I'm swooning.

My best friend is in pain.

I am 1100 miles away.

I want to go to her and give her a big hug and listen to her and cry with her.

And I am 1100 miles away.

Why Can't I Drop This Weight?

My kiddos were watching Toy Story last night. There's a THX clip before the movie that involves a robot playing with one of those cow toys that you turn upside down and it make a mooing noise.

My 2yo saw this toy and said "Look W---, ice cream!

Where would he get this idea? How did he make the correlation between cow splotches and ice cream? My guess is with number 10.

And for your very own mooing pleasure: A cut-out cow.

Eventually my diet will be dairy free, and I confess I will miss the ice cream.

He's Just So Sweet Right Now--What's Wrong?

My little 2yo is sick. He has slept on the living room couch all day and only surfaced to vomit or drink home made pedialyte.

He's such a sweet, snuggly, small-fry right now. Except for the three extra loads of laundry, two extra showers, five dirty diapers and his absolute misery, I could keep him like this forever.

McVindication

My 5yo's last day of (overpriced) preschool was yesterday. There is very little (enthusiasm) pomp and circumstance at this (overpriced) facility so I took it upon myself to let him forget his lunchbox and surprise him with a happy meal.

All was going well. My 2yo got a happy meal too and was happy as a clam sitting with the big kids and eating their processed, genetically modifed, greasebomb food. I was doing what I usually do--standing there waiting for the kids to finish their lunch while I chat with the teachers when I glanced at my 2yo.

The child had barfed spectacularly. For a kid who ate ten cheerios and a bite of a peach for breakfast there was a phenominal amount of vomit. How can a kid make quarts of puke while eating nothing? Miraculous. Seriously, physicists everywhere should test their matter/mass/energy theories on young children. Don't tell me that in order to create mass you need astronomical amounts of energy. . . oh wait, young children have astronomical amounts of energy.

So now the table, chair, floor and child are covered. Child is screaming. Pregnant teacher is gagging and other teacher is trying to control the class. We all struggle to assist terrified 2yo and manage to get him, the chair, the floor, the table somewhat clean.

And it's time for us to go. I would have liked a better send-off for my 5yo, but it was not to be.

And we are going the whole Summer without Happy meals.

Favorite Thing Friday-Recent Movies

My favorite movies over the past year:

The Red Violin
Keeping Mum-This is what happens when Fargo goes to Britian.
The Illusionist-Great date movie
A Very Long Engagement

Of course, I will always fall head over heels for a good Corset Drama.

The House Fights Back

I felt so virtuous a month ago. I got not one but two gigantic containers of laundry detergent. I got two because they were on sale. It's a brand normaly out of my price range but it was on sale and I bought two. This equates to about six months of laundry. For six months I don't have to worry about if we have enough detergent, if it's the right kind (HE), or if it's on sale.

This is the kind of thing that makes a Stay at Home Mom on a budget happy; deleriously happy. 192 loads of laundry happy.

So I opened the first container. It's one of those spigot things and I don't have a shelf in my laundry room (stacking my machines forced me to remove it), so I put it on top of the dryer, which is on top of the washing machine.

All the domestic goddesses out there know exactly where I'm going with this.

During the spin cycle I heard a crash, but thought it was the possessed box of pasta falling off the pantry shelf (again). An hour later, my 5yo informs me that there is "Poison" on the bathroom floor. I run in to see what he is talking about and there it is:

95 loads of laundry detergent in a huge puddle on my laundry floor. Huge puddle. 95 loads.

The quote of the day goes to my DH:

"I just want to wipe down the walls in case it stains."

God help housewives everywhere if laundry detergent stains.

Zzzzz

I am tired. I fall into bed and fall asleep almost immediately. I fall asleep if I sit on the couch during naptime. I become a walking zombie after 8:00 pm.

I think it's because of calorie reduction. Watching my family consume over 2000 calories in breakfast sausage while I ate a scrambled egg burrito with sauted mushrooms, spinach and zucchini and my mom's canned salsa made me realize this. I'm eating as much quantitywise as before, but caloriewise, it's less.

So I will need to eat more. More beans, more nuts, more grains.

Or my body can start harvesting that nice energy reserve on my butt.

Happy Birthday Dear Yummy Bear!

My 4yo becomes a 5yo today.

I love you Yummy-Bear!

Favorite Things Friday-Cookbooks

My Favorite Cookbooks:

• The Joy of Cooking-Duh. Or as my mother calls it "The Rombauer"



• Rosie's Bakery Chocolate-Packed Jam-Filled Butter-Rich No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book- The quatities are realistic, every recipe works, makes my mouth water



• The Hay Day Country Market Cookbook-Read this in January and you will be inspired to buy everything at the farmer's market in Summer.

I also have all my handwritten recipes in a three ring binder. I have lots of cookbooks, but more often than not, something doesn't inspire. I end up checking books out at the library so I can try before I buy. Haven't bought in a long time though.

A few of My Favorite Things

I love podcasts. I listen during naptime and while working out. I subscribe to about 30 but there are a handful I really look forward to getting:

Agatha Christie Radio Mysteries-The original episodes from oldtime radio
Cast-On-My favorite knitting podcast. Her show is like reading a knitting magazine.
Librivox-Free audiobooks in the public domain read by volunteers.
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me: NPR's News Quiz, the only news I get during the week
Wormwood: A cross between Twin Peaks, X-Files and every other twisted story you love but are afraid to admit.
Yogadownload.com-free 20 minute yoga classes. Pictures provided.

Like I said, I listen to many, but these are the one's that I reserve for special moments.

And I'm thinking about blogging a "Favorite Thing Friday." Time will tell.

Woe to the Housekeeping Homemaker

I have a friend visiting me and the housecleaning is on the front burner--I figure she might not want to sleep on the crumbs in the fold-out. The other day I was talking to a lady who said she hired a housecleaner once a week for two hours "just to have the whole house clean for a day."

Yes that is a lovely dream. A typical day in my house:

Prepare breakfast, do a load of laundry, pick up living room, clean kitchen,

Children invade living room--toys everywhere.

Clean dining room, now dirty dishes are in kitchen, clean kitchen again. Put away clean laundry, pick up in bedroom and bathroom.

Children invade, clothes and toys everywhere. Two boys in bathroom (use your imagination).

Pick up living room, sit down a second.

Realize it's lunch time. Start whole process over.

An entirely clean house? This indeed is a wonderful dream. But why hire a housekeeper if I'm home all day?

Soul Searching

For the past month I have been making some changes in my lifestyle and diet:

• I have been baking ALL my own bread. Including tortillas (though when I break this, it will be with tortillas).
• I have switched to making my own natural cleaners that are more environmentally friendly.
• I have made an effort to cut back on red meat. This proved easy as I rarely eat red meat, so I have decided to remove meat from my diet.
• I will make an effort to avoid eggs, fish and dairy, but I will not beat myself up about those if I slip. Eventually they will be gone too.

I have been soul searching this month and my reasons for the above are, in order:

• Environmental concerns
• Personal health concerns
• Animal Ethics concerns

And to quote Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from http://www.compassionatecooks.com/:

Don't do nothing because you can't do everything. Do something, anything.

I had a pleasant (crappy) surprise the other day.

I started knitting a summer tank from Vogue knitting. I loved the lace hem and the braided straps but I added some waist shaping. I pulled out some paper and wrote up a lovely little schematic with my measurements and determined how much to decrease, then increase, and how fast to do it.

I cruised along merrily for four days. I took it to my SnB and made it to the straps. The next morning I tried it on to determine how long to make the straps.

The thing was huge. It looked like a shapeless bag. Hugging no curves. Looking not cute in the least.

What happened? Is my guage off? I had swatched (I always do...now...but that's another story) so I checked the guage and it was darn near perfect (the entire bust was 1/4 inch more than I was aiming for, but that's pretty near perfect. Were my decreases wrong? Nope, everthing went as planned.

What then? I measured myself.

I have misplaced two inches of my bust. I don't know where they went. They're simply MIA.

Now, it's great that I'm shrinking. Quite frankly, I could stand to lose about 10 more inches. However...

If I had to chose one measurement to decrease by two inches I would have nominated my waist, or butt, or thighs. Not my rack. And alas that is the only shrinkage that has occured.

So I frogged the whole thing and for somereason I'm knitting much slower now. Weird.

Other Projects

Although I am in love with Ravelry I recently completed a project which I am very proud of, but I cannot post in ravelry as it's not knitting.

It all started on a trip to the thrift store yesterday. Behold the chair:

Ugly huh?

But wait there's more: It's child-sized and it reclines!

(Yes those are hand knit socks)

Ugly as it is, for $12.99 I can't pass this up! Next door the the thrift store is a craft store where I found clearance upholstry fabric for $2.00/yd. Two bucks! And it coordinates with my home!

Some grunt work, a million staples out, a million in, new foam and batting:

And Voila! A new chair!

And the mini-man doing what men do best.



As I was icing my hand last night from staple gunning like a sniper, I don't forsee too many reupholstering projects. But it's nice to have options.

Hiatus

So it's been awhile. It's the usual excuses: busy, Christmas, busy, sick, busy and all of the sudden ooops, it's been almost two months.

But the biggest excuse:

http://www.ravelry.com

This is the only place you need to go if you are a knitter on the net. It will link you anywhere else. Just the most amazing website. It's still in beta and they're constantly adding new features.

The Poisonscarf Bible

This post is for theadnostic.

Your scarf will tend to curl lengthwise and you will need to know how to "block" it. It's easy but I want to give you thorough instructions

You can wet the thing and gently squeeze out the excess water. Lay the scarf out on a clean, carpeted floor (or on a clean sheet on the floor), coax it into shape and let dry completely.

Or, you can use the steam from your iron. Lay the scarf on the floor or ironing board and steam the snot out of it (DO NOT PRESS--Hold the iron about an inch above it). The wool is very subservient when steamed and will obey you (which will appeal to you I'm sure). Let cool/dry completely.

I recommend hand washing. If you're daring, use the gentle wash cycle and dry as above. It's Superwash wool so it should be able to handle a washing machine.

Enjoy!

Sow's Ears and Silk Purses

For years I have heard of people who poke through garage sales and thrift stores and find these wonderful treasures. I go through them, and I feel like I'm looking at junk. There are no finds, no steals, just a lot of dirty laundry and broken junk.

So a new Goodwill opened in town and we popped in just to look around. I finally found a gem!

I found a pair of children's Gortex Elefanten boots for $3.99! I had never heard of Elefanten, but I know Gortex and the treads had no wear. I could tell I had a boot that would survive two children and I knew I needed to get my 4yo a new set of boots anyway, so I got them.

I knew they were European and I asked a friend from my SnB if she was familiar with them and this was how I learned I had a treasure.

Who knew?

Face Book

Recently, I have been receiving a lot of mumblings from Facebook. A freind invited me, then another friend sent some request, then a few other people came out of the woodwork.

I have to say, I am confused by facebook. What is it exactly? The pages I visit seem to be disorganized blogs and/or photo galleries. There are various comments from other people and overall, it just doesn't seem organized.

I don't get it. It confuses me. So if you do happen to tag or poke me or whatever, don't be offended if I don't get back to you right away. The closest the cyberworld will get to being inside my life is right here.

Camera Status

The camera is fixed. And it was still under warranty.

I should explain why breakage of said camera was so annoying. Let's start with a list of things that have broken since May:

Digital Camera 1
8 month old washing machine-out of service for two months!
Laptop computer (okay, I dropped it)
Waffle iron
Crock pot
Toaster oven
Digital Camera 2
Light fixture
Car headlights
Garlic press
Comcast Modem

Just when I think I can take a little bit from the budget to make headway with a home project, I'm stuck replacing or fixing something. It does not seem to end. Granted, some items are small, but we didn't realize how much we liked our garlic press until it broke.

And, I can say that Comcast and BestBuy are on my happy customer service list. Sears Customer Service is so high on my poop list that I still won't go in their store and DH and I will never consider them for any future appliances.

At the rate we're going, this could be sooner than later.

Tiramisu

Before we married, my DH and I started the tradition of making eachother's Birthday cakes. I usually spend a month thinking about what I might want and reading cookbooks and finding a tricky recipe--half the fun is watching him bumble around the kitchen. My husband buys a box of cakemix and a tub of icing and begs me to make it with oil (instead of the applesauce I usually use) because that's what the box says. I did trick him one year because the box actually had the applesauce as an alternative recipe.

This year I chose tiramisu for my cake. In general, I'm not a huge cake fan. I like gingerbread but that was a disaster the year DH made it and I had to make a second one for myself. I usually choose cheesecake, or ice cream cake or some such concoction and this year I want tiramisu.

Bday is tomorrow so DH said he'll make it today. I laughed because liquor stores aren't open on Sunday. so I had to settle for Rum we had on hand and grocery store marsala.

With the heavy cream and marscapone I'm sure I'll have no problem, regardless of the substitutions.

Pirates of the CarriPoison

An old college roommate of mine found a scarf pattern on the Internet and asked if I would knit it for her. I sent her the link to Knit Picks and we're off.

The scarf is an illusion skull and crossbones design. From straight on it looks like a badly garter stitched scarf, but seen from certain angles, a blood red skull and crossbones jumps out.

My 4yo calls it the pirate scarf. The mom in me thinks of it as the poison scarf.

Anyway, I have a project with a deadline (albiet a loose one). Someone wants a scarf and it simply wouldn't do to get it in the heat of Summer.

Technology and other Scary Monsters

Last May we realized that our camera was dead. It was almost four years old and it wasn't entirely shocking that it was kaput. So we bought a new one. My husband spent more time researching cameras than he did when he made the decision to quit his job and move his family across the country (oops, did some bitterness slip in?) and decided on an Olympus. Whatever. we are not shutterbuggy people and the point was simply to have a camera on hand if our kids ever manage to be cute.

The stupid thing is broken. I think it happened when my 4yo dropped it about 2 feet. I didn't think a drop that small would affect it, but it is broken. The screen is black unless I give it a good shake and the pictures are blurry.

And this just makes me mad.

The Golden Fleece

I was at my alma mater's Homecoming game last week and was eyeing the mascot grazing on the field. It dawned on me that the mascot is a ram and that sheep produce fleece every year.

So the thought popped into my head--"What happens to that fleece?"

Wouldn't it be fun to take a fleece and work at it until it was a completed garment. Talk about unique.

So I have done some hunting online and have sent out some emails to see if there is anyway to get my hands on a fleece.

Just when I decided to give up spinning.

Vogue Knitting Holiday 2007

I was at my SnB last night and came home to a sort of clean house and both kiddos in bed. I sat with my DH and chatted about our days then got ready to jog on the treadmill.

DH: Oh, I thought you'd want to take a bath.
Me: *sigh* I'm about to work out, I'll take a shower later.
DH: I thought you'd want to lock yourself in the bathroom with your Vogue Knitting and some chocolate.
Me: Don't even joke about that! It's too early for the next one...I think.
DH: Oh. Well then I guess I'll eat the chocolate and take the bath. The knitting isn't my thing.

Neither are baths if we're tallying.

So I compromised. A true and legit compromise. I only ran two miles of my three mile workout. I read the mag afterword.

I'm a trifle disappointed. There is only one pattern that catches my eye and I don't know if it's because I want it or because I want to knit it. Knitters will understand. It's an Alice Starmore Fair Isle. I can KnitPick it for less than $50. It looks like the challange it is. But will I wear it?

Anyway, the other patterns are uninspiring to me. There's lots of intarsia, which I neither like the style nor the knitting. There's a whole section honoring a model and dressing her in plain looking patterns. The cover pattern is one of these.

I hope the Spring edition is better.

Lace Shawl I

This one started out as some yarn I got from my LYS. They hand-dye a 50/50 silk/merino and have several gorgeous colorways, but dye lots are hugely different. I got the yarn as a gift from a gift certificate a year ago and have been playing with it but nothing transpired until I started this pattern. Unfortunately, I knew about 3/4 of the way in I wold not have enough yarn. A friend was knitting a sweater with the same yarn, from the same dye lot and I traded her the left overs for my roving and started the border. When you start the border on a shawl like this you think "whew! almost there" and then you realized you have to knit about 40 stitches just to bind off one. I had about 600 stitches on the needles to bind off. The border took as long as the shawl.

Anyway, it ended up being a little less than five feet across, with extensive stretching and blocking. I would have liked it to be larger but there is no way I'm undoing my work. Other than that the shawl is perfect--it's pretty, it's soft and drapey, and has just enough weight to feel substantial.

I have another shawl on the needles. It is in a very fine, threadlike yarn and is on sixe 0 needles. I've one almost 100 rows and the thing would block to about the size of a handkerchief. And every row gets longer. It will be a three year project.

They're Small and Fast

I discovered I had a large quantity of worsted wool scraps and decided I could knit a couple small sweaters for my boys. They may even be done before the first snow! The brown one is completly original. I used the EZ percentage system and made the hybrid. The green sweater is inspired by a jacket from Dale of Norway. This one was EZ's raglan and then I steeked the front.

I love steeks. It is terrifying to cut your knitting. Yes you take scissors and slice right down into your work. But it makes the knitting so much faster knowing you don't have to purl stranded knitting.

I still need to weave in ends (really?) and block them both. I also think I will knit hems for the sleeves of the green one and I need to add a zipper but I think they're so cute! And I used up lots of my scraps. I did however order too many extra balls of brown and green.

Too bad the cat doesn't look good in brown.

Cursed Yarn

Most knitters have heard of it. Knit long enough and you will become intimate with it.

Cursed yarn.

I was reminded of cursed yarn recently at my SnB. A fairly new knitter had finished her project and had brought in a couple new skeins of yarn. She said her friend had discovered her new hobby and had given her this yarn so she could knit a scarf. These skeins had been purchased "a while ago."

That should have been our first clue.

One was a pom pom yarn. The strand was fine with a large slub every inch. The second yarn was a fat, tweedy bloucle. The intention being to knit both together. It looked promising.

Our knitter, as I said, is relatively new to the hobby. Novelty yarn is not the way for her to go yet. But we assured her we could get her into this. We gave her lots of advice and helped her as best we could. The store wound the two skeins into one chubby ball and the cast-on started. After fighting for five minutes to cast-on 10 stitches we pulled her needles and cast on for her. Then she was having problems pulling the slubby yarn through her needles. Another lady took the needles and tried to help by showing some tricks. After doing about four rows she handed the needles back.

This was when someone stood up and accidently tripped over the trailing yarn and pulled the thing completely off the needles. There was no realistic way to pick up these stitches (the yarn was just that weird) and the only option to start over.

Our new knitter put the yarn back in her bag and decided to go shopping instead. Smart. I'm guessing this yarn misbehaved for the original owner too. It just refuses to be anything and at least it was discovered now.

It was a turquoise color, should you happen to be at a thrift store or a garage sale. You have been warned.

Tension Issues

I have discovered a tension issue with my knitting and I can't figure it out.

The deal is: When I switch from knitting to purling, there is an excess amount of yarn used in the process. It is most noticable in k2p2 ribbing when all the leftmost stiches in each knit column are larger than the others. I'm finding it also shows up in my cables.

I hold my yarn in my right hand and I suspect this has something to do with my trouble.

For now, I am wrapping that first purl stitch tightly in the wrong direction and this helps, but it's annoying.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Aran Swatches

While in the middle of all my other projects--some with minor timelines--I have been swatching for DH's Aran sweater. I got a ball of KnitPicks Cotton/merino blend and it doesn't seem right. It creates a very thick and heavy fabric and the cotton simply doesn't have the "give" that I really want if I'm going to be knitting this.

The problem is the DH preferred the feel of the cotton to pure wool. I may consider and alpaca wool blend for the softness but I am concerned how warm alpaca can be. DH definately won't wear a sweater that will overheat him.

What to do, what to do?

Going to Run Some Arans

I have been thinking sometime about a sweater for my husband. I've been taking note of his wardrobe and shoving all manner of patterns under his nose. Of course it's quite infuriating to be told the reason he doen't like that pattern is because the model looks "embarrassed." But I don't want to spend time on a sweater and have him hate it.

Now, for some reason, he is quite proud of his irish heritage. He has a whole 16th of it in him (The 100% German rolls her eyes). Anyway, I stumbled on a website that knits clan arans and his family name happens to be on the list:

I could do this. He would never wear a 100% wool sweater but he would wear a wool cotton blend. I showed him this picture and he liked it. The only thing I'm concerned about is that he liked it because it looks like it "has muscles."

Yes honey, you too will have muscles just by wearing this. Just don't forget to workout with me.

Rumplestilskin Need Not Apply

I have made a decision.

I will no longer call myself a spinner. I made a five month go at it. I was preetty good too. I was spinning thread so fine I needed to four ply it to get worsted weight.

And I just don't enjoy it.

So rather than forcing myself to keep at it, I will use my spindle as decor, stash my fiber and move on with my knitting.

Finissimo!

This is what happens when you spend five years knitting a masterpeice:

The cat decides it's worthy of his attention.



This purse is a pattern from knitpicks using their bulky Wool of the Andes. It uses the pooling of the variegation to create the swirls of color.

This is a purse from Vogue knitting. It's felted with two plys of knitpicks Worsted Wool of the Andes (at 2 bucks a skein you can't go wrong). I'm lining it with some leftover fabric I have--A bright metallic red with gold embroidered roses and I love it. It's more a peice of art than a purse.

On the Needles-August 2007

The gray lace shawl
An adorable rose basket purse (pictures soon!)
A felted gray purse
The Summer game day sweater
The rowan cardigan
a randon stole in some yarn I got at LYS sale.
A cape from VK Fall 2007

Foodie notes from the South

I'm back from my trip to South Carolina and Georgia. We visited family and friends and had a great time.

Alas, our budget is tight and we only ate out a few times but let me share my two great discoveries:

Kudzu Bakery's Key Lime Pie-It's not gelatinous. It has a great chocolate and perhaps nut crust. It had little shavings of lime peel. It was heaven. It didn't have whipped cream or merangue and it didn't need them. I heard their peach pie is also wonderful.

The River Room's Shrimp and Grits-South Carolina on a plate. Yummy grits (how much cream and butter need to be added to grits to make them yummy?), yummy sausage and shrimp mixture smothering the grits. So many miles to jog to work this off! But worth every step.

Crab Status

I cleaned my son's hermit crab tank today. I kept waiting for all six crabs to come out of their hidey holes but it never happened. I felt the need to do a status check anyway to make sure they were still alive.

All six are alive and well. All have new pointy toenails which indicates they have all molted successfully. And all now live in a newly cleaned tank.

Lace knitting

In my opinion, and I know several people would agree, the ultimate test of your knitting skills is the wedding ring shawl. An ethereal knitted concoction made of the finest yarn and the smallest needles that can pass through a wedding ring when completed. The are examples of such work that use over 22 Miles of yarn.

To me, this is a dare. Do I have the skill to produce such a product? Yes. Do I have the attention span? Provided I find the right pattern, maybe. Do I have the ability to complete this endeavor? That is the dare. I lack stick-to-it-iveness.

But I have found a couple patterns that appeal (Meg Swanson's A Gathering of Lace). They are not true Unst lace but one has the fine gossamer quality I want, while the other has the pattern changes I need to keep me interested. I already have plenty of laceweight yarn. I have many, many small needles.

My LYS is having a big sale today and I expect I will own a book or two after my visit.

But in order for it to be a true challenge, I need a goal. Let's say by the end of 2007 I will have one lace shawl to call my own.

Vogue Knitting Fall 2007

I got my VK. I got it a week ago but I am still in leaf through mode.

Sixty patterns. Gorgeous yarns, Decadent garments...sigh...

I love my VK.

The Dale of Norway Cardigan

I started this sweater five years ago. It's a Vogue Knitting pattern and Dale of Norway Heilo. It's not finished yet, but it's so close. if I had started it this year, it would have been done now. I have learned so much in the last five years.

This thing was knit as six different pieces that had to be sewn together. Yes those are raglan sleeves. Yes that is stranded knitting. Why didn't the directions have me knit in the round, add the sleeves, add the hood and steek the whole thing? That would have saved me the hundreds of little ends that I have been weaving in the past few weeks. I still have to finish the front edges, attach a zipper, block it, and do some embroidery. But it's so close.

And yes, when it's done I will wear it.

What I'm Knitting-July

A Lace Experiment
A Sock in BearFoot yarn
A sock in Trekking bamboo yarn
A sock in Top of the Lamb
The Denim cardigan
A lacy stole for someone who demands a little black in everything
The Summer gameday shell in Cotton Fleece

And my Dale of Norway Cardigan is in the finishing process. I would have done this thing differently were I to knit it now. But that is a whole 'nother blog.

A Really Great Day

Today, my Dad, my kids and I went up to the airshow in Cheyenne. My dad was USAF and currently has a pilot's license and airshows are definately his thing. He could sit for hours watching aircraft and has no idea how to interact with kids.

My children are four and 21 months, they have the attention span of granola and one is super clingy and the other would rather be anywhere than your arms or lap.

Recipe for chaos? Probably.

It was a great day! We watched the airshow and then schlepped to another parking area to wait for a shuttle and take us to the plane show. So many opportunites for breakdowns and tantrums.

They were angels. No really, I couldn't believe it. 4yo was excited and chatting away and 1yo was amazed by the huge planes and wanted to sit in all of them.

Opa bought us all ice cream at Little America (which has jumped up to the exhorbitant cost of $0.50!) and we came home and put the kids to bed where they are currently taking a blissful nap.

And the best part of all? My Vogue Knitting was in the mailbox.

Hey...Priorities.

The 'Burbs and the Bees

Two weeks ago, my 4yo informed me that there was a bee nest in the back yard. He proudly pulled me out to the back gate and showed me his discovery. Sure enough, there was indeed a wasp's nest in our fence, right by the gate. DH was out of town and I told 4yo that daddy would spray it when he came home.

And I forgot.

When DH got home three days later, he was immediately informed by 4yo about the bee nest.

And we forgot.

Last weekend we were in Home Depot and happened to be in the grill aisle, which also happens to be the bug spary aisle. "Daddy! Are you going to get spray to kill the bees?" Of course we are.

And we forgot to use it.

This morning, 4yo found the bug spray and informed me he was going to spray the bees. I told him Daddy would do it, but he could watch.

After lunch, he got stung.

I can't even say this was a well intentioned mistake. Our 4yo did everything he could to get us moving and he got stung. I'm thankful he's not allergic.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out at midnight July 21st. I had the book read by noon.

I discovered Harry Potter in the Houston airport five years ago, on my way to Cancun. The Sourcerer's Stone was the best part of that trip.

I have read all seven books, repeatedly, and I have disected nearly every line and phrase. On the rare occasion that I met someone as obsessed as I (Carrie) we would debate Potter predictions for hours.

And now it's over.

Thank you, Ms Rowling, for writing such a wonderful series. When my boys are old enough, I hope to rediscover the magic with them.

Ho hum

My washing machine has been broken for over a month.

My husband is away on a business trip.

My achiles tendons are acting up and it hurts to walk.

I lost my credit card yesterday.





Life is just peachy.

Brown Sheep

I can't beleive I forgot to blog my fieldtrip!

My DH took last Thursday off to be with the boys while my mom and I and several other ladies from my LYS drove to Nebraska and toured the Brown Sheep Wool Mill. It was so much fun.

We got to see yarn made from roving to spinning to plying to dying. Fascinating in itself but the second to last stop was the pile of roving seconds (spinners know what I'm talking about) at $5.00/lb and then the store, which sells all it's seconds by the pound. We're talking three sweaters and two pairs of socks worth of yarn and a pound and a half of roving for less than $60.00.

Who knew you could find heaven in Nebraska? Only a 2.5 hour drive away.

The Spark

So my energy is up, my weight is down a little, my waistline is down 2 inches.

SparkPeople seems to be working.

Again, if you're looking to do an online program I highly recommed you try this one. It's free--which was the most important criteria for me--and I'm still enjoying it.

What I like most is the gradualness of it. Phase one was simply logging what you eat and logging exercise. You are given guidelines but it's more just an introduction to the site. I'm in phase 2 and each week I'm given a specific goal to work on: last week was portion sizes, this week is focusing on getting enough complex carbs. Next week is exercise.

My motivation is the points. I don't win anything, I just like them.

Softball

I was never an athlete in high school. I loved the coordination stuff-cheerleading, dance, colorguard, etc. But I am not an athletic sort of girl.

Until my husband (fiance at the time) needed someone to catch his practice pitches. I was being the dutiful gopher when I spyed a bat. Jokingly I picked it up and jokingly he pitched--being fully aware of my non-athletic ability.

*Crack*

Another pitch

*Crack*

Hmmm. Coed teams seem to always be short women, but they have far too many men. A man who brings a spare woman will likely get more play time.

And a softball player was born.

Anyway, we played a game tonight and the next team up was short a woman, so I volunteered and got a double workout.

*Crack*

It feels good to be needed.

And the needles

I've started some socks.
I've been weaving in a million little ends from my Dale of Norway sweater I started five years ago.
I finished the first sleeve of my denim cardigan.
I've spun a bunch of fiber.

That about sums up June.

Socks

I made a decision to enhance my sock skills.

Whenever I tour a new Yarn Store, I buy a ball of sock yarn.

It's perfect. The project is small. There is only one ball to buy. And it's a great souvinier.

I'm already working on a pair that I got in Estes Park a couple weekends ago and I have another ball waiting for me that I got in Denver.

Now I need to start wearing socks.

Maybe I'll just develop a socks as art theme in some desolate part of my house.

SparkPeople

Have you heard of Sparkpeople?

It is very similar to other online diet tools I know of, but it is free.

Seems this guy made a mint selling his business to ebay and decided he wanted to help people lose weight as a service.

It seems to be a great site.

Anyway, I joined obviously, and part of the membership includes a blog, which I simply use to refer people to here.

So welcome all you SparkPeople.

Ugh...a weather rant

I don't know if I'm homesick for Washington, or if I'm just a pessimist, but I have come to a conclusion that worries me.

I do not like Colorado's climate.

Washington is rainy 8-9 months of the year. The rain is more like a heavy mist and has this amazing ability to suck all color, or at least the memory thereof, out of everything (which I'm sure is why Starbucks was started in Seattle). The standard Winter low is 40 degrees and any Summer temp over 80 is newsworthy. It is surprisingly not a humid climate, though it certainly isn't the dessert clime of the Southwest.

I loved it. I am not a sun-worshiper. I don't enjoy being hot. I wear sunscreen religiously. I hate sweating without physical exertion. I feel like I'm melting when the temp is over 79.

I know I am in the minority. I know the vast majority of Americans would think "you think 80 is hot!!!"

Yes I do.

The Anticipation

My new computer comes today.

Yea!

The printer arrived about a week ago. It's this tiny little thing. I wanted a laserjet because I don't print very often and in this climate the inkjet cartidges dry out too quickly. At first I was thrilled to have my new printer until I realized I needed to have a CDRom drive to install it. The printing will have to wait for tonight, after I spend the usual hour-plus setting up and registering all the other new computer stuff.

Oooh. I can't wait!

June is Busting Out All Over!

I cannot believe it's already June. Yikes.

It's Saturday morning and I've snuck away from breakast with the kids and cartoons. I'm hoping to find a larger chunk of time this weekend because:

I finally got a camera! Which means I need to upload some photos of my projects.

Also on the new list: I have a new computer on the way. I broke down and started assembling a beefy little monster notebook from Dell. Then realized I could get even beefier and about $500.00 cheaper if I went back to a desktop. So, my stellar little desktop is arriving sometime next week. With the strongest processor I could get and a better hardrive and extra memory. And it's all mine! I'll be able to upload CD's and Software, watch YouTube, order iTunes, burn things. And it still has XP.

Sigh, I am very excited.

The Party

I'm planning a birthday party.

My ThYO will soon be my FYO and we will be having a party.

There is a rule of thumb-Only invite as many kids as there are years. In our case four. I love this rule. It keeps the party simple and easy.

However, each child has two parents (with the exception of the twins) and there are siblings. And now we live close to family.

Don't get me wrong, there are huge benefits living close to family, like thay can be here for occasions like this.

But my guest list has 24 people on it, including ourselves.

What have I gotten myself into?

Proof of my Existence

When I was in highschool, I had a friend who refused to be in pictures. When asked she would say, jokingly, "I don't want proof of my existence." Though I also hate having my picture taken, it's for different reasons.

First, I hate posed pictures. Look, here's the two of us staring at a camera in front of Disneyland. And here's the two of us standing on a trail. Oh and here's the two of us standing at the beach, you're on the left side there.

Ugh!

I am all for candids. And shots where no one is looking at the camera. They appeal to me.

And alas, my camera has been broken for a few months. Not a big deal, we are not picture taking people, but it hit me today that we have no proof of our baby's last three months. That's a sixth of his life!

So the shopping for a camera has begun. I would go into a store, tell the clerk what I want, listen to the sales pitch, filter through the commission-raising lingo and buy. DH has clipped all the camera ads from the paper, looked online at side by side comparisons, and researched all possible features. He will do the research and buy a camera that fits our every need.

And in two years the complaints will start: It's too slow, it's an old person's camera (???), it won't keep a charge (okay, he was right about that), blah, blah, blah.

And it will start over. I know it's smart to research, but I really don't feel his research will save money and it certainly won't save time.

But it's his time. And maybe soon I will post some pictures of my recent projects.

Costuming

I would love to get into some aspect of costuming. Not likely to happen in Fort Collins, but the dream is pleasant.

I mentioned before that I watch many movies simply for the costumes. Here is a list of ones I particularly enjoy.

• The Count of Monte Cristo--His burgendy robe when he comes out of the hot air balloon especially
• The Mask of Zorro-Just about every dress she wears, and the clothes he doesn't.
• Dangerous Beauty-!!!
• Dangerous Liasons-Swoon
• Valmont-Same story as above, slightly different costume interpretation
• Narnia-That gorgeous dress of chain mail.
• Pirates of the Carribean- No, women in England don't breathe. I would consider giving up oxygen to spend the day in that dress and her wedding dress in II.

There are more, but these are the ones I admit to renting repeatedly. My husband knows that these movies are the way to really turn on the romance.

Oh yeah, Knitting

My sticks have been moving. It's just been at the slow, languid pace that heat brings on. I miss Washington. If it hit 80 in Seattle, it was worth comment. Seattle was much more condusive to year 'round knitting.

So I'll list the projects I remember working on this month:

The mitered cardigan (Vogue Winter 2003 #21) in a Tiara Silk boucle that I got at my LYS Spring Sale.

A linen eylet tunic from the newest Vogue Knitting. I have had this linen yarn for years--since Minnesota--and this Summer I finally found not one, but two tops I can knit with it.

I haven't touched anything else. Heat is not condusive to knitting with wool.

I have been sewing. The Hancock Fabrics in my town is going out of business and the sales are great. I've made:

An oriental brocade peplum jacket
A simple Bias-cut sleeveless top
A peasant blouse with a gorgeous embroidered concoction
A blue and beige "June Cleaver meets Gap" dress that I may wear on Mother's day.
A Corset. !?! or two !?! Okay, it's not what it sounds like. The fact is, I love costumes. I watch many movies just for the dresses and historic is my favorite. I have always wanted to make a corset and when the fabric plus notions (14 yards of boning for $3.00!!) was less than ten bucks...

I have no camera. I'm sorry. I know it would be so much better to have pictures, but the camera is broken.

On Molting

Those of you familiar with Hermit Crabs will understand.

I just had my first molt.

It was Tom. He is now a pale, soft-shell version of his former self.
Granted, we aren't out of the fire yet, but he is still alive and eating his exoskeleton. As all good hermit crabs do.

I'm so proud.

Who were these crabs for again?

I Have Crabs

Hermit crabs. You know...pets.

And they are so cute!

I'd done my research when last I wrote. I had decided to set up a tank to make sure we could regulate the climate and when DH came home he said "what's the point of having an empty tank?"

So we got our friends: Tom, Jerry and Louis. They are all buried in their crabitat "destressing."

They could be there for a month.

Then I saw a petstore today and stopped in "just to look"...and came home with three more: Thomas, Pinchy and Vladimir.

But, unless I get a bigger tank, I am done now.

By the way, there are a couple great websites out there with tons of info on Hermit Crabs:
www.hermit-crabs.com This is where to go to learn great basics--better than the slip of paper the petstores give you.
www.hermitcrabassociation.com This is the forum where you can ask questions. I've had a ton and they have been great vats of knowledge. Check out the vivariums. These crabitats are amazing!

To Crab or Crab not

There is a four year old birthday coming to our house soon.

After some discussion, I thought it might be fun to get a small pet, something easy to care for, but not a fish or a rodent. Definately not a snake.

Enter the hermit crab. I took my son to two pet stores and we looked at the various displays. We got two books about hermit crabs and I have done lots of research online. It seems, there is more to hermit crab care than I thought, but it's pretty much making sure your set-up is adequate. After that it's seems easy.

The first hurdle: you should have more than one. Easily leapt. ThYO gets two and I get one (hey, come on, who is really going to provide care?)

Second hurdle: The stuff--10 gallon tank, humidity guage, temp guage, heating device, marine salt, substrate, lid, toys, food, etc. We can leap this too.

So right now, we have a "Crabitat" set up in ThYO's room. I found temp and humidity guages that are color coded so I can teach him how to tell if the climate is okay (needles should be pointing to yellow, not red or blue. We have gone through all our meals with quizzes about what crabs can eat (surpisingly a lot, they're scavengers). He has even named them (though the names change each day). He looks through his books and seems very excited. I even started a journal for him.

In about a month, there should be three new additions to our family.

Pasta, Pizza and Polenta

My foray to Italy has been quite fun. I'm getting better at making pasta. We are all enjoying polenta. And I have come across a recipe for manicotti that is sooo good!

I've made carbonara so well that it has been decided as a family to keep it on the permanent menu rotation (the same could not be said of my stuffed frittata). I'm not sure when the menu rotation will be back into our house. Farmers market season is coming and we might be traveling to South and Central America soon, sfter stopping in Greece of course.

One thing that surprises me is that I have been reading so many cookbooks these past weeks, yet none is so outstanding that I want to buy it. My favorite is Ciao Italia by Maryann Espozito (already owned).

The other weird thing is my husband (okay so maybe the fact that he is weird is actually normal). The standard at our house is that if dinner isn't at least prepped when he gets home, he can step in. Historically this is about once a week. What has shocked me is that those days he gets to choose the meal, he has been choosing...Pizza.

I have been making pizza--the dough from scratch. We've had margarita, pizza bianco, focaccia, and good ole pepperoni. The family has vetoed anchovies and I am the only one who will eat asparagus now (it made an awesome focaccia!). So it is very confusing why my husband wants pizza.

Come on honey! How about tacos, or stir-fry?

Ciao

We are living in Italy this month.

The inspiration:
Have you heard about the blogger that decided to make every recipe from Julia Child's French cookbook over the course of a year? This person now has a book deal (I'm not in the market for a book deal).
I was listening to my Splendid Table Podcast and a caller was talking about how he wanted to spend a year cooking one cuisine. He had several regions in a hat and he was preparing to pull a name and live with it for the next year.

What a fun idea!

So I told my husband we were going to Italy.

Why Italy? The kids like pasta. I already have most of the ingredients. I have Ciao Italia by Maryann Esposito. And above all, I would love to really eat my way through Italy.

So, I have reserved every Italian cookbook at my library, stocked up on various Italian ingredients and we are underway. Rissoto, pasta, polenta, fish, eggplant, zucchini, here we come.

Did you know that Italians eat biscotti for breakfast? Cookies...for breakfast.

I'm brilliant.

I Have Met My Match

I will admit that I have some natural artistic talent with knitting and most other fiber and fabric crafts. My mathematical mind is a surprising asset for most of these and I have always viewed my hands as my best feature.

Therefore, when I started spinning on my drop spindle, I was not completely surprised to find that it took me less a week (less than an hour?) to master it. My yarn is smooth and even. The twist is regular and there haven't been any breakage issues while knitting it.

Then I went to my Tuesday night SnB at the yarn shop. Being curious, I asked the owner to show me how to use a spinning wheel. She willingly obliged (how else would she make a sale?) and I had my first spinning wheel lesson.

I must admit, I knew I should have expected the resulting yarn that I produced: Thick as robe, fine as floss, slubby, fuzzy, extra twist here, no twist there. It was the saddest yarn I had ever seen. This was what my usually capable hands produced? Ugh!

There was this part of me that hoped, no, expected to have beautiful handspun coming from the spindle. Just call me Rapunzel. But no, it seems I am only an average spinner.

Not a prodegy, not even a savant. Only average.

I must find a way to change this.

In Vino Veritas

In case you haven't noticed, I've been waxing sentimental. It happens. I pop in to Classmates.com. I poke through the photo albums. I eat the last box of girl scout cookies.

I like Colorado, but I loved Seattle.

So I must write about one other thing I miss.

You could buy decent wine in the grocery store. Heck you could buy it in the 7-11.

I'm not saying there isn't access to wine here, you just have to go to a liquor store to get it. But, there is definitely a difference between buying your weekly staples: milk (skim and whole), eggs, bread, diapers, WINE and taking your kids into a dusty liquor store with the cigarettes prominently displayed and the signage telling you that you too could have a bikini clad model. It just feels shadier.

But go I must. Our supply of Washington wines is dwindling and Summer evenings are coming. If there is one asset our new house has (besides my closet), it is our deck. The perfect place to sit and watch the kids at the playground and sip a glass of wine.

Ode to Trader Joes

Oh, Trader Joes, how I miss you. Yes I have found a reasonable repacement, but I am still planning that road trip to Sante Fe just so I can walk your aisles again. What will I get? How have you changed since I left? I must get a case of the Three Buck Chuck everyone outside of Colorado is raving about (Two Buck Chuck in California). I hope you still have your chocolate clouds. My 3YO loves your clouds. I would indulge in your macadamia delices. Do you still have the ginger lemonade? How about those unsweetened banana chips? And your frozen entrees? Do you still have that fabulous Greek salad? Or the chocolate tea. I'm on my last box of tea and I'm afraid to open it.

Oh how I miss you. Please come to Colorado for a visit. You'll like it here. Maybe you can settle down and have a couple branches. I would willingly sacrifice my husband's hard earned cash if you would just do that for me.

The Twilight Years

My computer is sick. It is a fairly inexpensive laptop that I have had for almost three years. It has served me faithfully but I will need a new model sooner than later.

For one thing, I dropped it on our Pergo (I refuse to call it hardwood) and the CD Rom popped right out. This is the only disc drive which means I can't back-up, install new software, or import music.

It's getting sluggish. In a drastic moment I went through the install/uninstall command to see if there was any software I didn't need anymore. This is when I doscovered that RealTek is not photoshop software like DH suggested, but all audio and video controls. There is no speaker or video functionality. No YouTube, no music, no iTunes preview before I buy, no free movie watching from netflix...

And I can't reinstall, because I have no CD Rom.

And it's soooo sluggish.

So should I break the budget and buy a new one before the final death throes so I can back-up all necessary info? Do I buy a cheap CD Rom for now, knowing I will still need a new computer sometime in the next year or so? Do I sit and do nothing?

What to do? What to do?

It's Raining It's Pouring

It's raining!

Most people would look at this day as a huge downer, but I love it!

Granted I spent six of my favorite years in Seattle, but I don't remember enjoying the rain. I know I didn't really mind it (until months eight and nine). But I am thouroughly enjoying this.

I am a natural homebody and I like the idea of being forced to stay in the house with my family. There are no obligations and we might even be able to get things done around the house.

Well, I do have one obligation. A friend of ours has published a magazine and I offered to help canvas a neighborhood, but this is Colorado and I fully expect to get a call to postpone. Coloradoans are not rain loving creatures and it really wouldn't make sense to drop off magazines on soggy doorsteps. Seattle, on the otherhand, cannot afford the luxery of cancelling due to rain. Were this the Pacific Northwest, the magazines would be printed and wrapped in plastic.

But I ramble. It's raining and we get to stay home and work on the honey-do list. And maybe go to Starbucks for old time's sake.

I had lunch with my mom this last weekend for her birthday and saw some people I knew in the restaurant. I don't know them well enough to go over and chat, so I didn't.

Me: I know those people
DH: You should say hi
Me: Nah
DH: Why?
Me: Because their son (who lived in Fort Collins) is cute and he helped me use his cuteness to get even with another guy I was dating in highschool and then I dated him while I was in college and he may still live in Fort Collins and I don't really want to accidently on purpose run into him.
DH: Um, we met the first week of college...

awkward pause

Yes, but by October I knew I wanted to date you exclusively? I love you.

This conversation actually only occured in my head. Of course I have told my husband about this guy, but like most men, he chooses to forget such things.

Because I Need Another Hobby

I knit. I sew. I can crochet. I'm crafty. I can do Origami. I read. I do just about all the needle arts. I walk and hike and rock climb. I cook.

However, until two weeks ago "I toil not, neither do I spin."

Well, now I spin.

It all started at my knitting group. Almost all of them spin, and my LYS specializes in spinning fibers. But I was able to convince myself that there was plenty of yarn out there and the last thing I needed was another hobby.

Until I watched the store owner spin some fiber. It was mostly pale blue, with some yellow and pink. As fiber, it looked a little bit like a tie-dyed sheep gone bad. As yarn, it was beautiful.

The yellow would spiral around the blue and hint at green, then it would change to a soft pink with a hint of lavender spiraling around it. Just gorgeous.

The next week I got a drop spindle (if you get a spindle, make it--it's easy and cheap) and I let my 3yo chose a color (Red merino with accents of yellow silk and orange camel).

And I was off. Once I managed to get a fairly even, slub-free yarn, I started to look for a pattern that could utilize my handspun. I found one in Vogue Knitting (really, do I look at any other knitting mags?)

I haven't figured out why, but I naturally spin a lace-sock weight yarn. When I try to make it thicker it get very slubby. I found out a week later that people can spend years trying to acheive an even laceweight yarn, which leads me to believe that were I to try a spinning wheel, I would have no problem achieving sport or worsted. I may have a spark of natural talent, but I don't think I could produce professional quality in a week on a drop spindle.

And no, I will not buy a spinning wheel. I have sources I can borrow from and if I were to buy one now, the only way to advance is to buy sheep. Which means I would need a llama to keep out coyotes, which means I might as well have alpaca, and an angora goat...

No no no, I do not need a spinning wheel.

The Elusive Cardigan

A few years ago I lived in Minnesota. Between the bitter winter and the brutal A/C in the Summer, I was always freezing at my desk at work.

My mom sent me a care package (it was my first place out of College). In it was a very pretty wool cardigan. It was a soft, pale green with white, blue, and brown fair isle motifs on the sleeves and around the hem. I loved that sweater even though it was--dare I say it--readywear. Mom found it on a clearance rack for less than $10.00. What a deal!

I kept it at work and wore it almost every day. The color coordinated with almost everything I owned and it fit just right.

I brought it home about every two weeks for a washing. Then, tragically, my newlywed husband decided to help out with the laundry. The honeymoon was over.

The fair isle bands shrunk so small I couldn't even get my hands in them. It had become a shapeless, horrifying thing.

I have spent the past seven years trying to find the cardigan that will replace it. I have a WIP that may suffice, but I'm not sure.

DH hasn't washed a sweater since then.

Spring is in the Air

It's now officially Spring--per the groundhog and the astronomers.

Typical of Colorado, the weather is very warm and sunny. People are digging their gardens, bare legs are everywhere, joggers and cyclers are finding their favorite trails.

It almost makes me want to put away all the Winter clothing.

Almost.

Colorado is very good at bringing a whopper of a storm this time of year. Four years ago, in mid-March, there was a glorious weekend of warm and sunny weather that was immediately followed by a snowstorm that shut down the state for a week. My parents had six feet of snow. What good are linen pants and cotton tank tops in six feet of snow?

So I am patiently waiting for the real Spring to arrive.

Confession

I feel the need to clarify something.

When I started this blog, I really thought the only people who would read it were friends from other states who might want a quick peek at what I was up to. I am now realizing that other people have been perusing. Of course this doesn't bother me--I wouldn't blog at all if it did--but I must admit one small transgression:

I reserve and have exerted my right to enhance the truth a little. The basic jist of my stories are there, but sometimes I enhance or omit things to emphasize the humor.

My husband was not a complete ass while I had the flu. He cooked and took care of the kids and made my week as easy as he could. He himself started a new job that week and we both agreed the need to prove himself superceded the desire to have him more involved on the home front that week. Even when he was sick he went to work because he had to.

If you know me and chance to meet my husband, he is not the scum of the earth. I am very happily married and very much in love with him.

Oh, and also, the Ciabatta from Whole Foods didn't really talk to me either.

My Closet

I have a thing about closets.

I think all standard closets are useless. What good is one pole for hanging and a small shelf that is usually to high to be servicable? I also feel that if the doors are always open, the walls should be painted (I get this from my mom who actually wallpapered my closet). My mission in every house I've moved into is to redo ALL the closets.

It's what I do.

This has been on hold, like so many other projects, because of funding. However, we paid the piper too much last year, and he sent us a nice little check to make up for it. So I splurged on the smallest room in the house that I spend less than 15 minutes a week in.

I went to Home Depot and checked out their laminate tiles and paint. When DH came home I showed him my swatches and told him my vision. He approved thinking this might be my five year plan. He came home the next day to the carpet ripped out to the subfloor and all the junk hardware removed. In for a penny in for a pound.

I trekked though the project. I painted and refloored and installed really pretty Closetmaid organizers. All that's left is the floor molding and a couple power saw strokes on some shelves. There were a couple snafus--HD no longer carried the closetry I have always used and one of my drawers doesn't quite slide in all the way--but it's done and it's gorgeous...

...and now the rest of the house looks a little ghetto. We must now fix up the rest of the house to match the beauty of my closet. At least I didn't redo the bathroom only to have the rest of the house aspire to be as nice as the toilet.

Oh and to give my DH his credit, he did help me. He cut the edge around the light fixture with paint so I wouldn't have to take it down. And he carried the boxes up the stairs.

Household Status

We are all healthy again. It took a full two weeks for the bug to complete it's tour through each of us but we are all feeling groovy. DH spent the second week mad at his body because a "cold" shouldn't last that long. I tried to explain that colds don't last that long. We had the flu and the sooner he admitted it, the sooner I could feel sorry for him.

Ah yes, we are back to normal. DH loves his new job. It's amazing to see the difference it makes. We still have the same income, even less because now the taxes are pulled before we get the check, but his happiness makes penny pinching easier. Now we just sit back and wait for time and talent to adjust things accordingly.

Spring has entered Colorado. I'm sure there are still a few Winter tricks left, but the residual snow is gone.

This means, I need to start Spring Cleaning.

What is it about this phenomenon? I look around my home and every speck of dirt and clutter (more of the latter than former) disgusts me. I would love to have the kiddo's sent to a relative for the day so I could do a good and thourough job of it. As it is, I must do my de-cluttering during naps. With this schedule, I won't be done until next Spring.