tkpk at night

excessive gravity

i tried to lose three things today:

1. these mittens, one of my favourite handknit pair. yes!  both of them!

2.one of the new earrings rW gave me for christmas...  the same earring lept out of my ear the day he gave it to me!

3. five dollars.  cash is squirrelly.

still knitting

lest this become a place about everything that takes time away from my former savior hobby...

i am still knitting.  i still start projects when i don't need to (sweater at right made of wool and stainless steel) and i can't resist a good new knitting book for the holidays.

i have knit less since i took the full time teaching job about 7 months ago.  i miss the knitting, but i am also not as stressed out about time and money so the activity is less necessary to keep me from being a basket-case.

knitters joke, but it is true!  it is cheaper than therapy.

easter is late this year

April 24th.
yep, that is the day these eggs are supposed to be consumed.  that is 15 weeks from now.  I will have completed an entire quarter teaching (which does not even start until next Monday, mind you), gone on break, and come back to a new quarter before this candy is meant to be eaten.

and yet they are in my local CVS right this second having an identity crisis.

what you can't see in this picture is that I am standing in front of a rack of valentine's day candy and behind the shelf of eggs and peeps there is a display of christmas stuff CVS is still trying to clearance out.

people long to be young.  not me.  if i were a kid today i would be baffled.

nom nom nom

I don't do specific New year's resolutions.  I just try to decide what I want to do more of, less of, and something new I may want to try and leave it at that.  Less disappointment that way if I don't manage.

I love to cook, and I decided it is time to expand my repertoire so I can really put processed foods in their place--off my plate.  In that spirit, I tried three new recipies today.

Pictured we have, six-seed soda bread, which is my first soda bread.  (I started baking breads in the fall.)

I also made smashed peas with ricotta, which is much better than it sounds and not very smashed at all.  Also, I picked up some French lentils at the co-op and made a delicious peasant dish, basic french lentils.  They are accurately named becaus the preparation is basic, but they taste very very good!

first knit

twins = knitting x 2

DC was supposed to have all of this snow on the 26th of December that never came.  All i got to show for it was some extra time in Ohio and these little hats.

(Only complaining a little, really.)

It appears to be the fate of the wee hats to live a fly-by-the-seat life.  I snapped this picture on a metro bicycle rack before shoving them into n envelope bound for Cleveland.

Best thing I saw today that I could not get a picture of?

An ad posted offering "Guitar Hero Lessons".  Slips were missing from the phone number tear sheet.

zombie flamingo sighting

my neighborhood is awesome

I took a walk up to town in our spring-like weather conditions today and came across these fellows.  I wish I had been the clever soul who thought this up.

new year's nap

What else should one do January 1st?

ooh, ooh, meeee!!!

i recently got dental insurance.

i was reading over the coverage plan and it struck me that dental insurance is cheap, and for the most part it works really well compared to its big sister health insurance.

all preventative care is covered 100%. it is once you start needing stuff fixed that they drop it to 80% and when you start really screwing up* that they only cover 50%.

this whole "pay for preventative care" angle makes a lot more sense to me than the "pay per service" or the "take this prescription and go away, that will be $50 please" models for health "care".

just saying.

*"screwing up" is a relative term. i speak from the experience of having teeth replaced after an accident.

happy birthday, rW.

rW and I went to the Hirshorn for his birthday yesterday.

I took this picture of us in the Sculpture Garden. This sculpture has two way mirror glass doors that open and you can go inside. At least we think you are allowed to go in--otherwise why would it have a door and not be locked?

The day rounded out with stops at a record shop, vintage clothing boutique, a snack at Teaism, and dinner seated at the bar of our favourite local hole-in-the-wall.

There were also presents and a brownie with a candle in it at the bar. =)

low key yet very fun.

i've been working on laLAaalaaa all the live long day...

look! I finally finished the February Lady sweater. (February 17 2009-December 22 2009, with many breaks!)

i can't keep a consistent update schedule.

my life seems to have changed a lot since i started a blog. I have always been busy, but the sort of busy I am now just doesn't mesh well with writing about it. the major reason for this, of course, is my change in job.

i rarely design costumes at this point--partially the economy and partially burn out--and i have been teaching more and more. I started with 2 classes. this quarter i teach 3, and next quarter i will teach 4. really, i just don't feel right talking about my teaching job in a public forum. i love teaching my subjects, and most of the time my students are pretty great. i don't need to talk about the exceptions to that rule!

i don't know if this means i will close down shop or not.

(pssst... look Tractor Sweater for Collin. christmas present--i can do intarsia! sorta.)

the blog isn't hurting anything sitting here, and maybe i will come back when i feel like writing more about my knitting. i have been doing more knitting than writing about it, but overall i am making less progress on projects (time!) i also have taken on a host of new or revived hobbies.

i am trying to maintain my sewing and increase my reading, cooking, documentary watching, and picture taking. i have also taken up crossword puzzles (because i am historically bad at them) and invested a new level of interest in fitness activities. you will notice many of my other activities involve being stationary. i do not want to be a round cat lady knitting on her couch when i am in my late thirties.

i don't know if i will try to garden in pots again this year. if i do i think it will only be tomato plants in some 5 gallon buckets. i need to keep it simple.

here is a project i can share! i made an online portfolio.

and if i am being a blog slacker, you can always look at my yarn antics on ravelry.

stranded colorwork oh, my!

a musical interlude

it's log, it's log!
it's big!
it's heavy!
it's wood!
it's log, it's log!
it's better than bad, it's GOOD!

Thank you Ren and Stimpy.

And thank you to my aunt who wrote to me on day and told be that on an official date she picked out, thus blog became a log.

What can i say? I have been busy.

There is work. There is holiday knitting (29 gifts done, 1 to go). There is charity crafting. (21 preemie hats--go me!) rW and I hosted his mother for Thanksgiving, and hat was also a lot of work.

Since I last wrote I have also designed two shows, visited Ohio, made applesauce and canned it, made tomato sauce and canned it (with the help of rW!), put up a Christmas tree, and blessedly reconnected with my friend penguingirl.

I also made this, which was a lot of fun-but-time-consuming work.

This is the best thing ever...

"oooohhhhh no! i have a pumpkin head! Dad, why are you laughing!?"

enough.

i have remained silent to almost everyone around me about the health care debate, but i have finally heard idiocy that trumps all other idiocy in my mind. this trumps "death panels" for me (in part because i put enough faith my my fellow Americans that they are smart enough to realize they are being lied to about "death panels") because of the blinders one must be wearing to make such an idiotic statement.

a heard on the radio a woman say she wanted congress to vote down the insurance reform provision that would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing condition. her argument (paraphrased)...

"this is like letting people go without car insurance and then be guaranteed coverage AFTER they have been in an accident."

no it isn't, you moron.
as much as i want no one to experience a health problem, i would find it amusing to see this person have to call on their current coverage for a serious illness and then switch jobs and try to switch insurance with that job. she would probably be denied new coverage (or only offered coverage with exorbitant premiums and/or deductibles) under the current system due to pre-existing condition.

my money is on this person quickly switching her tune if she were diagnosed with cancer or a chronic condition like MS and found herself unable to get new coverage in the event of job switch or being dropped by her current company. go talk to the woman who was dropped from her insurance the same week she was supposed to undergo a double mastectomy because she "failed to report" a pre-existing condition. what was that condition she failed to report? acne. she was being treated by a dermatologist for acne.

i can only assume that the naysayer has never been sick a day of her life and no one in her family or friend group has ever had cancer, arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or a chronic condition like MS. i wish i had this person's life. (i'm almost 30 years old and still have acne. i hope i don't get breast cancer!)

health insurance is not the same as car insurance. take off the blinders.


okay! done with the anger.
back to the regularly scheduled yarn.

favourite new thing

i have been striving to match my stash to hat patterns to start my new crop for winter 09-10.

here is the first newcomer of the season!

Green & Twisty
#04 Cabled Beret
designed by Debbie Bliss
published in Debbie Bliss Magazine #01

knit in approx. 3 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Angora (60% angora, 20% wool, 20% nylon color "lime") on size US 5 and US 7 needles.

started: 08.06.09
finished: 08.08.09

i bought this magazine for this pattern, and i bought this yarn to make this hat. that was last fall, and somehow it never exactly made it to the finish line last hat season. i corrected that after i cleaned and sorted my stash bins and realized my oversight!

this may be the perfect finished hat. it combines most of my favorite things... green, cables, bunny fiber, and a beret shape. if it smelled like coffee and made me look thinner, i would never take it off.

like most Debbie Bliss hats, this one is written to be knitted on two straight needles. i dropped 2 stitches from the cast on and knit it in the round because i am lazy and i admire Elizabeth Zimmerman. i also decided to knit the ribbing in 1x1 rather than 2x2 because berets in a 2x2 rib always seem to stretch out too much for my taste. finally, i knit one or two fewer rows of ribbing to ensure that i not run out of yarn.

i had plenty of yarn, and i realize now that there was no need to work fewer rows because when i dropped the 2 extra "sewing-up" stitches, i worked 124 fewer stitches in the body of my hat than the original. it seems silly, but when i thought about that, it sort of blew me away. working the hat in the round saved me having to sew the seam and saved me knitting 124 more stitches. when i see that in writing, it looks like a lot.

now i need to take more pictures of my newest finished projects!

i have readers?

hi. i know you are still out there. well, at least i do now!

yesterday i saw 3 of my favourite knitters when i dropped into the shop to buy some wool wash. i got the mini-catch-up and they sent me home with wool wash that somehow one of them bought me (i am still trying to determine to which friend i owe a coffee!).

in honor of knitters and knitting friends, this post is all recently completed work. i was on a roll of creating things that have to live in a vacuum until they go to their new owners. after a bit of that, i turned selfish and began to make a few things for me.

first, some crochet!

Autumn Triangle
aka "Floaty Fall Scarf"
designed by Susan Jeffers
published in Crochet Today! Sept/Oct 2009

crocheted in 2 skeins of Koigu PPPM (100% merino wool, color P337) bought at K+S=B, with a size F hook.

started: 08.08.09
finished: 08.10.09

i never buy this magazine. never. i always hate the projects, or i like... one. maybe. this month i bought it for four projects. wow. go Crochet Today! i barely changed the pattern either! i just worked 15 fewer rows to make a smaller scarf with the quantity of yarn i had on hand.

i am on a stash yarn project kick, and i have enough stashed sock yarn to make about 12 pairs of socks. i am not as prolific when it comes to sock knitting as i am when it comes to sock yarn loving. now i am on a mission to find projects in fingering weight yarn to use my sock stash.

this is trickier than it sounds because i like hand painted sock yarns, but i am typically opposed to variegated garments and accessories. this scarf really fit the bill for something that looked good in a variegated yarn, used fingering weight, and is wearable.

i have already worn it! AC in meetings is brutal to me, so this is the perfect. can't wait until fall when i can wear it with my vintage brooch collection.

Licorice Allsorts Cowl
aka "Dragonfly Fire Cowl"
designed by Mia Valcarcel
published at her blog

knit in 2 skeins of Claudia Handpaints Fingering (100% merino wool, color: John B.) on size US 7 needles.

started: 08.11.09
finished: 08.12.09

i have been told that this does not look like red licorice allsorts, and in the picture i would tend to agree. in person that is what the colors remind me of. maybe i am just hungry!

this is incredibly fun. the Claudia's is bouncy and sproingy and doubled up and knit on a larger needle, the yarn is even more yummy. and soft! and it is a cowl! what more can one desire in life?

this was another project for stashed sock yarn. i like the doubling of this yarn because it blends the colors more than the yarn worked single. big bonus in my non-variegated book.

Eyelet Spiral Socks
aka Anastasia Socks
designed by MintyFresh
published at pepperknit.com

knit in 2 skeins of ShibuiKnits Sock (100% merino, color "Orchid")purchased at K+S=B, on size US 0 (zero) addi tubro circular needles.

started: Christmas 2007
finished 08.18.09

this is officially my longest running WIP. i have completed 98 other projects since i started this pair of socks. among those other projects are another pair of socks, two pairs of slippers, and two pairs of bootees. obviously it was not that i opposed knitting for feet. these just got off track.

i put them down (1st sock done, 2nd sock being imagined) when my cousin announced her pregnancy. i then knit a lot of her little boy, christmas gifts, blah blah blah. it gets harder to pick up a 2nd sock when you have had too many reasons to knit gifts instead.

last quarter i knit a different pair of socks on the train to the school. i decided this quarter i had to knit the 2nd of this pair, and my work commute is perfect. because the Red Line has had so many issues and delays, the 2nd sock was my saving grace. it proved a fine companion when i was in a day-long professional development session last week.

now the question becomes, more commuter socks? i am considering these.

coming soon: more sedately colored projects.

crack

updating. i can do it.
after my garden was attacked by deer, i have had little desire to write about it. i can't write bout most of my knitting because it is stealth, and rW has been busy with a show, so we have not gone out and taken pictures of our shenanigans.

but!
rW did take me to his show and rewarded my willingness to drive to Frederick with a gelati at Rita's, mexican food, and a trip to a yarn shop. we also hit an antique store that had some mid century and bought a magazine rack.

i think Mad Men is making affordable mid century hard to find. the rack was a sweet deal.

however!
we came home to leaking ceiling that just got worse and worse. this was supposed to be repaired while we were on vacation. clearly i am now irritated. i already hated our kitchen. this does nothing to help.

my pots and pans are all out of the cupboard. everything from the counter top is stacked on our dining table. i have piles of smelly damp towels everywhere, and these little insects have invaded us. boo!

failing to have created good news to report, i will share some older pictures. i finally sorted and uploaded the pictures we took on vacation and when we picked blackberries and peaches. rW has a radical hair change from one album to the next!

Vacation July 2009

blackberries and peaches 2009

stuff and how much it costs.

some things cost way too much for what they are. this is something rW and i talk about a lot, and i feel that a portion of the list must be brought to light.

all of this comes from my needing shampoo and conditioner and deciding to go to the co-op to buy it because 1. i can ride my bike there. and 2. at least if i am going to be riped off, it will be with a good quality product. so.....!

shampoo and conditioner.
total rip off, but they have those of us who choose to keep hair totally under the proverbial thumb for the sake of good hygine and social graces. (by the by, my co-op stuff was the cheapest there and it works better than a comparable price drugstore product thus far.)

dental floss.
again, something we are threatened if we don't use. AND to add insult to injury, the cost of the stuff keeps going up without any noticeable changes in the actual product. the quality and utility has remained flatline whilst the price goes up up up.

breakfast cereal.
what gets me about this is that it is a totally open secret that this is a huge rip off. what is cereal made out of? usually corn or wheat. these are two of the most subsidized crops in the USA. this means that companies making cereal are able to buy the raw ingredients at below the cost to grow them AND charge you near on $5 per box. jerks.

razors.
this one is the opposite of dental floss. razors suffer from too much technology. now unless you want 4 blades, you get a crappy razor. i am convinced that standard 2 blade razors are being made poorer in quality so we all have to upgrade to 3-4 to get the same quality a 2 blade had in say... 1996.


think i am bad? rW has a whole list of "things that should have improved by now".

madness

(this picture has nothing to do with the post. i just like it. bees are awesome little creatures, and rW caught this one hard at work the day we picked blackberries and peaches.)

i have a pot of vegetable stock cooking on my stove right now, and the aroma is driving me mad. i know it would make a poor soup to just eat the pile of scraps that are currently in the pot, but it smells that good.

sunday at the farmer's market my favourite organic grower had beautiful carrots. they were still wearing their tops. the carrots themselves were no bigger than a finger and a beautiful ruby red color... like beets. when you bit into one, they were an electric orange color. amazing.

notice the past tense. they didn't last. but! the tops are living on in a stock*.

how to veggie stock...

in a 6 quart pot, combine...

tops of roots like carrots or beets, trimmings from your week's veggies (carrot tips, squash ends, tomato tops, scallion or onion greens, etc), any veggies past their prime (i used two orange and yellow peppers and a yellow squash), a whole bulb of garlic, two bay leaves, and a healthy dose of peppercorns.

top with enough water to cover but not overflow when the water boils.

cover and bring to a boil. once boiling, reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 1 hour. salt if desired.

strain off vegetables and aromatics and allow to cool

freeze in manageable quantities.


*i, personally, would not add tops to a stock unless i knew where they came from. tops are where the pesticides are sprayed on root vegetables, and i would rather not deliberately cook pesticides into my stock . i know, i know... i can be such a hippie, but i hope to be an old hippie one day.

stupid stupid.

rW and i went blackberry picking on sunday. aside from blackberries, look what i brought home!

baaaaack!

rW and i came home on monday night, and i have been busy busy ever since. garden is still alive i knit in ohio. i made banana jam, and i have a new project....

an etsy shop!
i am selling vintage, antique, and handmade items. i don't have any up yet, but soon i will list some jams.



i wish i still had use of my desktop computer. it had photoshop and i could make myself a nice banner for my shop. boo.