It's been a bad morning...

But it didn't start out that way. I woke up early, and well rested. Ate breakfast, took a landscape design test, played with the dog, made a dent in the mess on my desk, put together my next downstream SP package, re-sized and uploaded a bunch of pictures (for a post to come sometime soon about this weekend). I was being productive.
Then I got in my car. And took nearly 5 minutes to turn out onto the main road to work. And got stuck behind someone going 25 in a 35 with no passing zone. And almost got hit by speeding cars on 3 our of the 4 crosswalks I take during my 4 block walk to work, even though I HAD THE RIGHT OF WAY. And learned that I have to teach 5 little girls how to knit because the normal teacher is terribly sick. And I'm hungry. And I'm cramping. And I just want to go back to bed and start this day over. I don't like teaching kids classes of more than 2 or 3. It's exhausting and overwhelming. They are fun and sweet - most of the time - but it wears me out. And I'll be teaching back to back and kind of overlapping classes tomorrow. I can't wait for this week to be over. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Must go work now. Wish me luck...

I got new Shooooooes!

Aren't they pretty? I used some of my birthday money to get these for myself. And they just got here yesterday. I love them, so far. I wore them all evening yesterday (except for playing with the dog) and I put them on first thing this morning. They are the Pirouette 2 by Earth Shoes. They have this fancy insole that shapes itself to your foot to provide maximum support. They are just yummy. I got them from Planet Shoes, who had fantastic service and free shipping! Yippee! They will be great for showing off knit socks this fall. For now, they are great without socks.

August 7, 2007 Project list!

1. Oasis Tank - based off of the Ballet Tank from MagKnits, Done! Blocking tonight, pictures later this week.
2. Mountain Colors Socks - no new progress to report
3. Tofutsies Socks - #2 ready to turn heel.
4. MountainColors Jacket - No new progress.
5. Coachella: Done! Blocking tonight, pictures later this week.

6. My So Called Scarf: Nearly one skein in. So almost half done. Such a fun project!

So what is that? Only 3 or 4 real projects on the needles plus one or two examples for work? That's nothing! Apparently I need to get started on Christmas knitting. Boo.

(See that space up there between 5 and 6? Yeah... Blogger and I are having issues. Pretend it's not there.)

What I did on my summer vacation...

It obviously wasn't much knitting! This is "My So Called Scarf" done in Manos Del Uruguay, color #109 I believe. The tags are around here somewhere but I can't find them at the moment. I bought the yarn in a fantastic little shop called Nestuca Bay Yarns. I had shopped there when it was Dharma Yarns, but they never had a very good selection. But the new owner has really upgraded the selection. There's so much more than previously. And I had my first run-in with Manos. I stood in front of the display in utter bliss. It took me nearly 20 minutes to pick a color - there was just too too much to choose from. I also picked up a little something for my downline SP9 while there!

After the yarn store, I met up with my aunt and cousin at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I hadn't been in at least a year and it had been much longer for them. We had so much fun! It's always been one of my favorite aquariums. I also picked up a few things for my pal here. There are lots of pictures of OCA on my flickr page (Click the scarf picture to go there). I also got to meet a fellow knittyhead while down south. I took a brief detour down to her sweet shop (SR Fudge & Stuff) and picked up some AMAZING brownies. They were so very good.

We celebrated my birthday at least 3 times, with two different cakes. I got sunburned. The beach was hot and muggy on Saturday, which was so strange. It was always so cold when I lived there! We drove back, stopping at Woodland Woolworks - where I spent all together too much money (fiber pictures will be up later this week). We also stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way back.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. Coming back to reality has really sucked. It's the first time that I've ever wished that I could stay longer. Normally I'm drained and sick of the coast by the second day, but this trip went so very well that I wanted to stay longer.

But it had to come to an end, so I'm back here in the desert wondering when we'll be able to move. We looked at an area to move to on our way back up here. This next year may be really interesting... We keep saying we're going to move, but it might actually happen this time. I don't think I can spend another summer here. It's too bloody hot.

Yummy Dinner :D

No pictures, but just had to share. While we were on the coast, we didn't get a chance to have any chowder. Steven doesn't like clams and the like, so he hasn't even tried clam chowder (in spite of growing up just minutes from Mo's!) and I always, always get sand in my mouth when eating clam chowder, so we both avoided it this trip. But watching my family eat it and listening to them talk about eating it made me crave a really good seafood chowder, sand free! I don't normally cook any meat at all in our house, not even seafood. But I do occasionally make an exception for really good fish. We recently, within the last year, got a wonderful fishmonger in town, one who flies in fish from all over and it's all super fresh. Today he had some wild Coho Salmon, never frozen. It looked perfect. So I just had to indulge my craving for a wonderful seafood chowder. Here's what I came up with!

Salmon Chowder

Ingredients:

• 1 lb, give or take, of very fresh fish, we used Coho Salmon, cubed
  
• 3-4 Large potatoes, cubed
• 2 Medium Carrots, diced
  
• 1 Large sweet onion, diced
  
• 2-3 Stalks Celery, diced
• 1 box (32 oz) stock, I used chicken
• 1 Pint Half & Half, Whipping Cream, or whole milk
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 1/4 tsp Dill (add more if you like dill, I don't really)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or smoked paprika, depending on your heat preference
  
• 1 tsp Seasoned Salt
• 1 Can Creamed Corn (use fresh, frozen or canned corn if you don't want it as sweet)

Directions:

1. After dicing all the ingredients, saute the onions in butter or olive oil until translucent. Add the vegetables, spices, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are soft. Remove the bay leaves at this point.
   
2. If you like really thick chowder, lightly puree the soup at this point with a hand blender. Leave some chunks, just break up the potatoes enough to thicken the soup.
3. Keep the chowder at a simmer and add the fish. Simmer until the fish flakes easily.
4. Add the dairy and the corn. Simmer until heated through.
5. Serve with warm, crusty bread or in a bread bowl.
   

I'm still alive...

I had a grand trip. Back to reality now. Vacation photos up on Flickr. I'll make a real update as soon as I get some fiber pictures. Did a lot of yarn shopping. Spent way too much money. Had a blast. Best trip to the coast that we've had.

Recipes!

All righty. I promised you recipes, but I don't have any pictures. So you'll just have to trust me when I say that these look as pretty as they sound.

Raspberry Tea Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups AP Flour
• 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
  
• 2 Cups Sugar (I do half/half white & brown)
• 2 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs or 1 cup egg substitute
• 2 cups Milk (I use vanilla soy or rice)
• 1/4 Cup Canola Oil
• 1/4 Cup Applesauce (or all applesauce, no oil)
• 3 pints Raspberries or 2 cups frozen raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a bunt pan or 2 loaf pans
2. Sift together all dry ingredients, making sure they are well mixed, into a large mixing bowl.
3. In separate bowl mix eggs, milk, oil, and applesauce.
   
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until it's mixed. Quickly fold in raspberries, being careful not to destroy the berries as you mix them in.
5. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until set in center.
6. Cool in pan

Blueberry Lemon Tea Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups AP Flour
• 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar (I do half and half white & brown)
• 1 1/2 Tbs Baking Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 2 Eggs or 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 2 Cups Milk (I use vanilla rice or soy)
• 1/4 Cup Canola Oil
• 1/4 Cup Applesauce
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 2 - 3 pints Blueberries, or 2 cups frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a bunt pan or 2 loaf pans
2. Sift together all dry ingredients, making sure they are well mixed, into a large mixing bowl.
3. In separate bowl mix eggs, milk, oil, and applesauce.
   
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until it's mixed. Quickly fold in blueberries, being careful not to destroy the berries as you mix them in.
5. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until set in center.
6. Cool in pan

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Sugar (I do half white & half brown)
• 3 Eggs or 3/4 cup egg substitute
• 3 Cups AP Flour
• 3 Cups grated zucchini
• 1/4 Cup oil
• 3/4 Cup Applesauce
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tbs Cinnamon
  
• 1 Tbs Vanilla
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and oil 2 loaf pans
2. In large bowl, mix all ingredients until well blended. I start by adding in all the wet ingredients, then sifting in the dry. I find it comes together better if they dry are sifted before mixing.
   
3. Pour into prepared pans and bake 60 minutes, or until set in the middle.
4. Cool 10 minutes in pan, remove from pan, finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Note: Since these recipes are so low fat, they will mold more quickly than a normal quick bread. Once they cool, I divide them into individual servings and then freeze them. The zucchini bread is fantastic defrosted in the toaster. The tea breads will defrost in just an hour or so on the counter.

Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups Vanilla or Chocolate Soy milk
  
• 1/3 Cup Cornstarch
• 1/3 - 1/2 Cup Sugar of your choice, powdered works really well but white or brown will work as well. Adjust this based on how sweet you like your pudding and how sweet your milk is.
• 1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder (omit if using chocolate soy milk)
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• Pinch of Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 Cup chopped, good quality, chocolate (I use dark, but semi-sweet is good as well)

Directions:

1. In medium saucepan over medium to low heat, whisk together first 4 ingredients. Continue whisking until mixture thickens, about 5 - 10 minutes.
2. Once mixture is as thick as you'd like (it will thicken slightly once cooled), remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Transfer to serving containers and refrigerate until cool.
   

The weekend's almost over... Booooo!

I'm sad the weekend's almost over! We've actually had a really great weekend, and this is a short week since we head down to the coast Friday morning, but I still don't want to go back to work this week. Our weather has finally gotten more mild and so it's much harder to be trapped inside for the duration of the work day. Since I go into work later, I can still do things in the morning, but it would be more fun if I didn't have to work.

So, our weekend! We went out to Bennington Lake yesterday. Lillie chased frogs and we walked along the ridge path. We met a unicycle rider with 6 little tiny dogs, none on leashes! It was a really nice trip and the lake is so pretty this time of year. It's also really nice in the winter, it completely freezes over and becomes much less populated.


I also did a lot of spinning. My SP fiber is already all gone. It was a blast to spin. It's about 48 yards and slightly thick-thin, worsted to bulky. Also pictured, baby alpaca handspun. Dk-Worsted, not too thick thin, but it does have a few thicker spots. Fiber was dyed by me.



See more weekend pictures on my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8977774@N04/

I've also been working in the garden a lot this weekend. So I'll probably have garden pictures for you tomorrow. Later this evening, quick bread recipes!

It's here, It's here!

Yippee! We have - a really cute kittie card, a few batts of fiber from Loop on etsy, hand made mits, and the Vogue Stitchionary3. The fiber is so so pretty. I love the colors! And spinning from batts is great. They look like a fantastic combo of fibers! I found my last empty bobbin and will start in on this tonight. The mits fit perfectly! How'd you know I had miniature hands? Normal gloves never fit me! I love the Vogue book! They are such fun stitchionaries.

So thank you thank you thank you! I love it all!

Updated Project list!

1. Oasis Tank - based off of the Ballet Tank from MagKnits, Will be finished by Saturday
2. Mountain Colors Socks - no new progress to report
3. Tofutsies Socks - no new progress, but will be taking them to work to get #2 started.
4. Mountain Colors Jacket - Ugh. Just Ugh. Must make an effort to find the pattern with all my notes on it.
5. Cotton Fleece Baby Sweater - Done! See previous post
   
6. Cotton Fleece Sweater for DH - Frogged :-( I now have an updated gauge for it though. I need to get all of DH's measurements again to make it work this time.
   
7. Furry Black Steering Wheel Cover - Frogged!
8. MS3 - No new progress, so it is being put in a safe place, with pattern notes, beads, etc. I will come back to this sometime in the future when my lace block is over. I have too many shawls for gifts that must be done before I can focus on this.
   

So by this weekend, I will have 2 projects finished, 2 frogged, and one abandoned for the foreseeable future. Which will leave me with 3 on the needles, one to be re-worked and Coachella to cast on for. Can you tell I'm excited about this project? It's just so sexy and sleek looking. And it looks fast. I need a fast project!

Baby Sweater FO!

It's finished! This is the EZ Baby sweater from the newest Vogue Knitting. It's kind of a confusing pattern, but I just did what looked right at the points where I had no idea what she wanted me to do, and I'd say it turned out pretty well. It's done in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (Yum. One of my favorite summer yarns) on size US 7 needles. It took about 2 weeks but then I put off finishing the edging, so that ended up putting me into week 3. I just found out that one of my friends is having a baby so once she finds out boy or girl, I'll be fancy-ing this up, adding gender appropriate buttons, finishing the edging on the sleeves, and doing some embroidery if it's a girl. Very cute, easy, quick knit. Using the correct gauge yarn and not doing i-cord trim, you could easily get through this in a week. Just a quick crocheted edge would work nicely in place of the i-cord. I didn't like how un-finished the garter stitch edges looked, so I feel that it needs some kind of edging.

The Oasis Ballet Cami will probably be finished today or tomorrow. I have a few more rows on the back straps, then just need to shape the front, seam the shoulders, crochet the edging, and block. Yippee! Which will give me 2 FO's off my list and I can start Coachella!

I've been told that I have a SP9 package on the way, I'm expecting it today or tomorrow, and I'm so excited! I love seeing all the creative ideas people come up with to put these packages together. I have so much fun shopping for my down line, but sometimes I run out of cute ideas to make it more than just a box of yarn or fiber, so I love seeing what others come up with.

As far as baking and food goes, I promise I'll be doing recipes soon. I have three different quick breads to share with you, I just haven't taken photos. So I think I'll be typing up the recipes without photos and sharing photos the next time I make them up.

I woke up an extra hour early today and am trying to avoid cleaning the kitchen with my spare time, can you tell?

Some progress...

I finished all the edging and the last sleeve on the baby sweater! So that is officially off the needles. I will add the final bits and pieces once I figure out who it's going to. It needs buttons and just a bit of trim on the sleeves.

MS3 has been put away for the time being. It is in a little zip lock baggie with all it's necessary bits and parts. I have made no progress on it in 2 whole weeks and after finishing the shawl, I just can't do lace right now. I'm going to keep downloading the clues and saving them, but I'll probably not pick it up again until this winter, sometime after Christmas. I have a worsted weight shawl I'm planning for a gift, and I think that's going to fill my lace urge for the next several months. It will be started once the weather cools down and the summer stuff is off my needles. I'll probably buy the yarn for it during our anniversary sale at work, or maybe get brave enough to spin it. I'm making a stop at Woodland Woolworks during our vacation this month, so I'll be on the lookout for fiber that might be appropriate for the new shawl.

I need to finish frogging Steven's sweater. It's sitting on my couch partially frogged because I need to double check my gauge before re-vamping the sweater.

And that means I will be casting on for Coachella next week. I'm going to power on with the oasis tank this week and hopefully get most of the way through that. My tofutsies socks will become a pair during vacation, or at least the second will get some progress. The Bearfoot socks are going to have to wait, that pattern takes too much concentration for hot weather knitting.

So the goals for finishing by mid august:

• Coachella
• Oasis Tank
• Tofuties Socks

Not too bad of a list. I also need to organize the stash and see what in there I can use for Christmas Gifts. Once that short list is done, most of my knitting will revolve around planning for Christmas and re-working Steven's sweater. I will also need to figure out where I am in the Drops pattern so that I can get that off the needles.

Picture Dump!

It's been a hot, busy weekend, but I have lots of pictures for you!

This is the same view from the garden I've had before, at least I think it's the same angle. I can't believe how much this is growing up!

Squash!!

We have, acorn, crookneck, and zucchini, with a single little cucumber plant.

Peppers!!

Tomatoes!

Lots of tomatoes!

And, lastly, Corn!

So, as you can see, this is keeping us busy. I made 2 loaves of zucchini bread, one batch of muffins, and a big pan of brownies this weekend. I have a batch of blueberry bread and a batch of raspberry bread to go. I may just freeze the berries instead, and wait on the baking until it cools down some.

Even though it's been freakishly hot, we went out to South Fork Park yesterday and hiked a few miles with the dog.

It's so pretty out there, even though it was near 100.

Lillie discovered her love of water and spent much time chasing waves. She didn't get in and swim, but she waded well up to her tummy and seemed to love it. Probably why she had so much more energy than Steven and I, she got to cool down in the water!


Lastly, I'll leave you with some cute pictures of my favorite beings!

No knitting news. I swatched for a new project, Coachella from the lates Knitty. I picked a pretty rayon ribbon that I believe has been discontinued by Skacel. It's called Hillary and it's a deep burgandy color. Haven't measured gauge yet, but hoping it will work. Won't be starting it though, until the baby sweater is done. So, later this week or early next week probably.
Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!

I discovered something today...

I have a problem. It's called caston-itis. Or better known as start-itis. I love, love, love the thrill of starting a new project. I love doing the math and figuring out how to modify the gauge to fit my yarn. I love fondling the yarn and searching for the perfect project. I love finding the perfect project then searching for the perfect yarn. I love the little tricks and tips to make the project my own. I almost never follow a pattern word for word, I always tweak something. I think the PNW shawl below is the closest I've ever come to following a pattern word for word, and even then I played with yarn and gauge to get a tighter, smaller shawl and didn't do the attached i-cord edging along the top edge.

I just love starting projects. Once I'm a week or two into them, I fade. It's no longer new, exciting, challenging. Now it's just knitting, following my notes or the basic guidelines of the pattern.

Don't get me wrong, I love knitting. I love how it relaxes me and how I can just let my mind drift and work through other issues. But the thrill of the new just isn't there anymore once I'm a week or so into the pattern.

So I cast on for something new. I plan and do the math and make the notes and the changes and tweak and perfect and I work on that for a few weeks. Up until the previous project calls to me or something else throws itself into my path.

And this, my friends, is why I have so many projects going and why I can NOT cast on for another until some are finished.
I have:

1. Oasis Tank - based off of the Ballet Tank from MagKnits, 6+ inches done. I'm halfway through the waist shaping and interest is fading quickly
2. Mountain Colors Socks - My own pattern. Toe up, with staggered cables. Pretty yarn, Fun pattern. Halfway through the foot of the first sock, need to figure out which heel to do and pick this one up again. Should be good to go once I figure out the heel. Then I have to remember what I've done thus far to make a #2.
3. Tofutsies Socks - Own pattern, Toe up. One down, one to go. This I'll cast on for and make it my project for the Oregon Trip.
4. Mountain Colors Jacket - Based on a Drops Design pattern. I have one front and most of the back done. My gauge is different, and if I remember right, I'm in between two sizes and making adjustments on the fly. This one got put away months ago, so I hope my notes are good enough to get me going when I pick it back up. Problem here - Most confusing pattern ever written. Having to translate it into proper knitting directions as I go as well as gauge and size changes. Oh yes, and not sure I have enough yarn. Gorgeous sweater. Must finish. Too hot to work with double stranded yarn!
5. Cotton Fleece Baby Sweater - Almost done. EZ pattern from Summer Vogue Knitting. Just finishing the i-cord trim. Boring, boring, boring. Quick knit, but the trim made me put it down. And doing the trim hurts my hands because of the angle I must hold the needles to make it work. And I don't know who it's for yet. The pattern was just so cute that I had to make it.
6. Cotton Fleece Sweater for DH - Ugh. In the process of frogging. Despite gauge being spot on and multiple measurements and recalculations, This just is too big. It looked ridiculous when he tried it on. So I will be reworking the pattern, again. And measuring, again. But it's a whole lot of black stockinette and I'm sick of it. It's also going to wait for cooler weather, I think.
7. Furry Black Steering Wheel Cover - Yarn is a pain to knit with. Bored. Dislike novelties. Will probably be frogged and the yarn put to better uses.
8. MS3 - I'm almost through the 1st clue. Great so far. I just don't have much time to work on it because it's my at home project. Also, I can only do 4 rows or so before the tiny yarn starts to drive me crazy.

So I guess I'm just at 8. I had been at 10. But I finished the PNW shawl, and I finished a small something for my down line SP9. Oh, I do have baby socks going for a display at work, but those will be done in a day or two.

And all I can think is about the red Cascade 220 in my stash and how fantastic it will be for a snuggly fall sweater. So I look at pattern, plan, swatch, and tell myself that it won't be cast on until something is done. I will finish the baby sweater first. And I need to finish the tank before it cools off. I have a few months before that happens, But I'd like to wear it some!

So, If you see me reaching for a fresh pair of needles and yarn, please, stop me. Wave my list at me and say "See, you promised the whole knitting community that you wouldn't cast on. What do you think you're doing?!?"

Doesn't help that I have two yarn shop stops planned into our trip to the coast, and I'm contemplating a third. Bad, Bad me.

But it feels so good to start something fresh...

Pacific Northwest Shawl!

It's complete! I'm so happy & excited!
Specs:
Pattern: Pacific Northwest Shawl, distributed by Fiber Trends
Yarn: Drops Alpaca, fingering weight, color #6834, 4-ish skeins
Needles: US 4 Addi Turbo circulars for the body, Lantern Moon blonde wood DPN's for the edging
Size: 63 or so inches across the top and about 33 inches deep, much smaller than the original, which is what I was going for. I'm way too small of a person to have a 7 foot wide shawl that's close to 5 feet deep! I'm only 5 ft 1 in tall!

More photos up on my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8977774@N04/sets/72157600765022833/