Hide And Seek

I started to knit something earlier but I got about a third of the way into it and was distracted by something shiny...or cashmere. Now, I'm almost done with a different project and thought that rather than weave in ends and finish edges, I'd let it gather some dust and pick up the aforementioned project.

Actually, if you were to warp that above paragraph (more) and add iterations which resulted in about 25 unfinished projects, you would have a fairly accurate description of my life.

Anyway, I needed to find the pattern. Close your eyes, count to 20, and then we'll seek.

This is the shelf where my magazines should live:



Filed loosely by year.

This shelf is an acceptable alternative for those times when I don't have time to file:



These obviously fell during a recent earthquake:



Didn't you hear about that? I'm pretty sure my house is directly on a fault line.

It would explain this:



Oh, those shelves used to be neat and tidy.

Well, the pattern doesn't seem to be living in My Sewing Room. Maybe it's in this bookshelf:



That crocheted monstrocity is a scrap blanket I'm making for whichever kid I like better on the day I finish it. For now, the cat sleeps on it.

Still no pattern. Maybe the shelves behind the couch:



Nope. Maybe in my makeshift end table, on the couch, or under my pretty chair:



Still don't see it. Where could it be?

In my knitting bag?



That's not it. How 'bout my other knitting bag?



No, not there.

Wait a minute...



What's that?



Ah ha! I found you!

Now...

...What did I do with the yarn?

The First (and second) Harvest

This year's hot thing is garlic scapes, which I will try to grow next spring, maybe this fall.

Microgreens were the hot thing last year. I feel the need to tell you this, otherwise the following pictures are a bit underwhelming.

My first handpicked greens:



I once dined at a circus dinner theatre that served several courses in between acrobatic acts. The salad course was described as a mache salad served with a fillet of salmon. What I got looked a lot like the above picture, if everyone else at my table had put their servings on my plate.

Two leaves of mache and a sliver of salmon the size of a postage stamp does not a salad make.

The next day produced a slightly more substantial snack;



Fresh greens, with blueberries and shaved Parmesan. It was only two bites, but it was divine.

One thing I love about salads from my garden: I don't need dressing.

What I Made:

I'm still trekking on this one, but it's almost finished. I had to find different blue yarn and reknit all the blue bits.



I only need to knit the small blue piece that goes on the right armscythe (polite term for armpit) and then a band of blue around the bottom.

Then I will probably stare at it for a few weeks in the hopes that the ends will weave themselves in and the thing will block itself.

Depp-ity Do

I've noticed something about my little Vicious.



He could be the love child of Johnny Depp's hair.

Hold on while I create that fantasy...

...Okay. I'm back.

What?

What I Made:

This purse:



I made it last fall. It's survived rather well, but recently someone (I won't name names but his hair is looking Fleet Streetish) stepped on one of the shell rings and now I'm holding the straps together with a binder clip--all sorts of classy I'm sure.

I'm trying to brainstorm a way to fix it. The best I can come up with is break all the rings and use some of the leather cord to tie all the straps.

I'll stick with the binder clip for now.

Daring Cooks Challenge-Potstickers

This month's Daring Cook's challenge was Potstickers. We are hosted by Jen from Use Real Butter.

I'll freely admit right now I very much riffed. In fact I hardly used a recipe at all. I think potstickers (and fried rice) are freely used in China as ways to get rid of leftovers. It all comes back to the housewives.

For my Dough:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup bread dough (for the extra gluten)
pinch salt
3/4-1 cup boiling water.

For my Filling:

A wedge of cabbage
A couple handfuls of spinach, wilted
Half a brick of tofu
Green onions
Garlic
Sesame oil
soy sauce
salt, pepper
A pinch of cornstarch to bind it up a bit.

You can go to Jen's post to learn the techniques needed.

Here are my fat chubbies, frying away. I added my water after this and covered the pan to steam 'em up.



Meanwhile I made dipping sauce.



Equal amounts soy sauce and rice vinegar. Some chili sauce (or chili oil) to taste.

Don't buy premade sauce. There is no point.

And Voila!



Why are they funny looking? I don't have a round cutter (does this shock you as much as it does me?) so I used a flower-shaped cutter.

They still taste good.

WorldWide Knit In Public Day

What I Made:

This little amulet bag was created circa 1992. It's traingular in shape and about three inches tall. The entire pattern was free-form.



When I was in high school, I was a bead artist. I was even commissioned a couple times to make some pieces. But I stopped. There was a loss of free time that comes with being an adult, but more than that, people seemed so shocked by my creativity that I felt uncomfortable expressing it. And I had enough issues in high school thank you very much.

I've mellowed since then. I still struggle with the attention I receive when I've made something truly outstanding, but I'm more willing to be proud of my work.

Which is why I have mixed feelings about WWKIPD (see post title). I always knit in public. I'm not sure I like the idea of creating a day around it. It makes knitting seem like something we should do in the privacy of our homes.

I knit. I knit in public. I've received second glances. I've started conversations. I've made friends.

By all means, if you feel the need to celebrate today, do so. For me it's just another Saturday.

I will probably KIP today. I usually do.

Cheaper Than Camp

The Businessman is home! He is home and today is my official Starbucks day and the world is right.

My kids are discovering all sorts of wildlife in our yard.



What's that? Where? Oh. Hello Gorgeous!



After finding this beauty, the Businessman took my kiddos down to the pond and collected some tadpoles. I haven't taken the kids there because I wanted the Businessman to have this moment there are snakes there. The boys brought home a several tadpoles, and even more salamander larvae. So, we're observing some critters for a bit and then we'll let them go back in their pond, where nature is far better suited for their care than I am. Though they are cute, though not so photogenic.

In researching to discover what kind of critters they caught. I learned there is only one species of salamander in Colorado (the tiger salamander), and two pages of snake species not including the venomous ones.

You can imagine my joy.

What I Made:

At the dollar store I bought a package of brightly colored paperclips. They kept Vicious occupied for 45 minutes.



We made special necklaces for daddy, who proudly wore them all evening.

T-Shirt Necklace

Today begins the countdown. I have no idea when the Businessman will be home, but I know it will be today.

Almost makes me want to pack the kids up and go away on a daytrip so we're not here when he finally gets back. I'm sure he misses his children (as much as I miss my waistline).

I'm in better spirits today, thanks in large part to Ben and Jerry, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and the knowledge that I consumed less than half of one, and all of the other in one night.

What I Made:

The T-shirt necklace is all over the internets these days. I first found it here. It's ridiculously easy to make one yourself, especially when you see the pricetags some of these are fetching.



This one started as a cheap green T-shirt I got at the craft store when I got the rest of the tie-dye supplies. I tie-dyed the shirt and then cut the strips per the tutorial. The kids loved stretching the loops to make them curl and hide all their raw edges.


I like the way the colors sort of mottled once all the slicing and curling was done.

I Wish I Could Go On A Business Trip

The Businessman is halfway through his five day business trip. I miss my freedom my knitting night having someone else handle the weird night noises him.

The other night I woke to the pleasant noises of my cat tormenting a mouse. He played, and played, and played and I finally dozed off. (the Businessman takes care of these things). I woke to the charming sound of his crunching said mouse. Now, 90% of the time, my cat does not eat the heads of his prey (I have never owned a cat that didn't leave something behind). I have looked everywhere and I cannot find any evidence of these shenanigans.

Did he eat it? Did he not? Proving either outcome is a bit more than I can handle right now.

In other news, the bird nest under my deck is on it's second round of hatchlings. I do not envy that mama. Even when her mate is still within a one block radius of the nest and not out of town, living with maid service, free meals, and "working hard" whatever that means.

Ugh, I need caffeine. I hope my Starbucks got their espresso machine fixed. It was broken and I almost cried.

What I Made:

This was a top I knit last summer.



Here is a detail of the bodice.



And the hem.



Leaf tank by Fiona Ellis, Vogue Knitting SP/SU 2008
Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece "Nymph"

Meme Awards And Yankee Doodle Socks

I think it's safe to say I have made a blog-friend.

It started as a comment here, and then I made a comment there, then she posted about this yarn and totally twisted my arms behind my back, around my hip and under my knee until I could grasp my hands around my credit card and buy some for myself.

Wait, I'm mixing up Sweet Mama Jones with my yoga instructor. But a true girlfriend enables impulse shopping jags, right?

Anyway, I'm certain we could randomly meet in a coffee shop somewhere and have a caffiene induced henfest discussing our similarities and differences for hours. Then we would take a look at our charming albeit boy focused families and realize we were both in dire need of a chic flick.

Except she probably lives about 60 of my yarn stashes away from me. The internet, it's a blessing, and a curse.

She honored me with an award recently:



The rules of receiving said award indicate I must give a shout-out to seven of my favorite blogs. How can I narrow it down to seven?

The Mouthy Housewives-It's new-ish and there's some serious sass here. But if you have fallen in love with the characters on your kid's TV, there's still help!
Kerrie Robertson Illustration-How could I not divert my adoring fan base to my Personal Illustrator? I envy people who can draw.
Me Anders-My high-school BFF. Let's flood her with comments and shock the hell out of her, shall we?
Notes From the High Country-My friend who is doing an internship on Mount Rainier. Ask her a question about banana slugs, glacier milk or sourdough doughnuts. Demand she post answers--especially for that doughnut recipe.
The Pioneer Woman-She already has about 15,000 hits a day, but yee haw she's funny!
April Showers-Without her I wouldn't have a favicon, triple columns, or tabs across the top of my blog (I'm still working on the tabs).
SITS-The premise: They feature a blog every weekday and you learn the value of giving and receiving comments.

Those are my seven favorites tonight. Tomorrow it will change.

What I Made:

I finished the socks! Made from the very yarn that created a link between Mountain Mama and Sweet Mama Jones.



Can you believe how large my 6yo's feet are? I may have to stop making socks for him soon.



SMJ, when do boy's feet stop growing?

The Amazing Tightrope Walkers

Behind my house, there is a wetlands area. Before the wetlands, there is a big chunk of HOA property that has a playground (we affectionately call it the plague-ground because the prairie dogs were practically under it when we moved in), and a half-hearted attempt at a volleyball court.



Right now, the only purposes it serves are a vampire larvae mosquito nesting ground after a few days of rain, and a catch-all for every weed species you can imagine. Since the National Seed Lab is only six miles away, I feel having all this weed selection, a mere stone's throw from our lawn is redundant.

But two intrepid gentlemen have figured out how to get the most out of their HOA dues.

What They Made:

Behold: the tightrope walkers.





Isn't this the coolest thing you have ever seen? They're very nice guys and more often than not, they end up teaching a few tight rope lessons to the neighborhood kids.

I decided not to post their names because I fear the HOA would disapprove and I sort of like having the Greatest Show On Earth in my backyard.

Plus, it gives the vampire larvae mosquitoes variety.

Detail Orientated

I was going to write this post about my fax-impaired supervisor and how she used to tell me she was "Detail orientated." Then I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and researched the difference between oriented and orientated.

It seems they are interchangeable. Orientated is more common in Britain and oriented is more common in the States and technical writing.

It still made that small muscle behind my eyeball twitch in much the same way as when Vicious drags my silverware across the tiles in my patio furniture. Maybe it wasn't the use of the word orientated so much as the fact she was about as detail oriented as a college house painting business.

She also wrote could of, should of and would of in her emails. As in "I should of learned good grammar."*

What I Made:

My mom and I had a dollhouse when I was little. Not that I ever played with dolls. Alas, the house is gone, but my mom has kept several of the miniatures in a shadow box. I snapped some pics for the archives (you know, those days when life gets in the way of What I Made).



This is detail oriented:



I cross-stitched that when I was 10-ish. It's two inches square.

I wish my eyes were still that good.

*I should have learned better grammar.

How Does My Garden Grow?

This episode of What I Made has been brought to you by rain, dirt, and sun.

You have been warned.



Isn't it impressive? Are you completely underwhelmed? Don't worry, it gets better (though arguably not much).



Yummy's radishes. He's very excited.

The first time I had a garden, it was a community garden rental. They were notorious for having about 234 kazillion weeds per square foot of dirt. I had one patch of scruffy, weedy looking plants and decided nothing worthwhile could grow there so I hoed everything up...

...and discovered hundreds of the cutest miniature radishes. I quickly replanted them and prayed I hadn't killed them. I hadn't, but the critters boring holes through them rendered them inedible (to me).

Yummy's are safe from my hoe if not from as yet unknown critters.

Vish's peas:



I'm still reeling from that close-up. I wonder what else my camera is capable of?

My arugula. Mmmm. Tasty, peppery, arugula:



I snack on it like popcorn. Except I don't snack on popcorn. I snack on arugula.

Rainbow chard, a red one:



I should be harvesting any day now.

Cut And Assemble My Sanity

As a child I mostly played puzzles, books, and crafts. One of my favorites was Cut and Assemble books. You got a book, say the Neuschwanstein Castle, and inside were pages and pages of pieces you were to cut out. Glue was applied to the tabs and, with careful manipulation, you created your castle. Or Taj Mahal, or sailing ship, or working clock.

I loved those books. I remember feeling so empowered when my mom got me my first X-acto knife.

I was three.

Kidding! I was 29.

Hee!

What I Made:

All I can say is thank you Canon for having the coolest Cut and Assemble projects online. Free ones!




I printed this guy up and made him during a car trip into the mountains. I was able to do this without the instructions so I have to say these are very well designed though most of them are too complex for my brood. I would recommend printing in color if you can.

Someday I'll let the kids have all the fun.

Rainy Day Projects-Tie Dye

The Businessman loves costumes. He spends the entire year collecting costume parts, drooling over nasty, cheap wigs, wishing I spent more time sewing garments destined for his costume closet, and dreaming of the costume store he wants to open in his retirement.

I keep telling him this cannot coexist with our Mini-Golf Course in Kauai (my retirement dream is Hawaii--he just needs something to keep him busy) but he just won't listen.

Last night I got the announcement that today is Crazy Hat Day in VBS. It is reassuring to know we have an endless supply of "Crazy Hat Day" props.



What I Made:

Thanks to the fates who love to amuse themselves by watching my life, I had to break into the rainy-day cabinet this week, the first week of Summer vacation. I have seriously depleted my supplies, which makes the Wii seem more like an investment rather than a frivolous purchase.



Vicious won't wear his because he's afraid I might wash them. My green fingers have done nothing to convince him the dye doesn't wash out.

What She Made-Elizabeth Skinner

Her name was Elizabeth Skinner. She was one of my childhood inspirations. She taught me how to take a small idea and brainstorm it into something big--something that challenged all previous ideas. Something that could make the impossible possible.



She lost her battle with cancer when I was in junior high. I remember her struggle, but I don't remember her ever being weak. I remember her covered in paint, and helping us church kids with our crafts, and encouraging my creativity.



Shortly before her death, she found some old chairs, stripped them down and painted them with whimsical images that may have meant something profound to her. These chairs are a small memento of a truly, wonderfully, creative person. The sight of them brings back so many memories.



She donated them to a church auction. My mother won them. I don't know what the final bids were. It doesn't matter. They were worth every penny.



Thanks for inspiring me Elizabeth.



I hope they put you in charge of zebra stripes up there. And giraffe spots.

My Favorite Salad

I'm in a quandary. I started knitting a summer top, with the intention of wearing it on the 4th of July:



If you look carefully it's a white star. The rest of the bits were to be made with the four skeins of denim yarn I had leftover from making my denim cardigan.

The problem? I can't find my fourth skein. Ergo I can't finish the sweater. Ergo I will be naked that day.

It's really my only option.

That or drinking heavily, shrouding myself with the star and poking knitting needles into my eyes and out my ears (I call this self-voodoolation) to create lovely red stripes on the antique white I chose because it looked so good with this blue.

Two options. How to choose, how to choose...

What I Made:

This time of year I fall in love with my favorite salad.



A couple handfuls of spinach, a small handful of blueberries (any berry works), a sprinkle of candied nuts, some crumbled chevre...



...and a tasty raspberry vinaigrette. Brianna's Blush Wine vinaigrette is also wonderful, but Annie's was on sale.

I have tried unsuccessfully, to recreate this dressing. Does anyone have a good recipe for a sweet, raspberry vinaigrette?

Monter Truck Invites-How To

Okay, it seems I'm getting lots of traffic for these invitations I made. Here's a quick how-to. I made them several weeks ago so I only have a pic of the final product. Just refer to the photos.

You will need:

• Premade cards and envelopes. I found these kraft paper colored ones at Michaels. I liked the color. The color becomes your "sky."
• A couple sheets of scrap book paper. I used a bronzy-brown which I later found out revealed a black-brown color when ripped.
• A couple sheets of sandpaper OR a different shade of scrap book paper.
• Monster truck stickers (BMX bikes would be cute too!)

Cut the scrapbook paper into rectangles a bit larger than the width of the card (you can trim it later) and about 3-4 inches tall. Ask your kid to rip each rectangle in half down the middle. The rougher the tear the better.

Do the same with the sandpaper, but with slightly shorter rectangles.

Glue the scrapbook mountains to the card, then glue the sandpaper mountains on top. Stagger them a little. Trim the edges even with the card.

Add the truck sticker and you're done.

For the envelopes:

• paint
• toys with treaded wheels--I used Legos.

Pour a little paint onto a plate or something and roll the wheels through it. You'll want a scrap of paper handy to roll off the excess paint. Roll the wheels across the envelopes.

This part isn't in the pictures above:

My handwriting leaves something to be desired, so I printed all the pertinent info onto regular printer paper and tore around the edges. Then I glued that to the inside. I also printed each invitee's name and tore the edges of those and glued them to the front of the envelopes (This might not work if you had to mail them).

If this inspired you, I would love to see some pics! You can email me from my profile, or leave a link in the comments.