Orange is the color of my soul

Here is the finished bzzz as promised. I still haven't added the bees and I am not sure if that is going to happen since I really like the hat the way it is. I did absolutley nothing new tonight so other than this picture I have nothing new to report. Tomorrow is the Norfolk SnB and I hope to spend my time reworking the 40's flower hat I made a few weeks ago.

The bzzz hat is complete!!!

I finished the bzzz hat tonight and I am really happy with the way it turned out. I will have to post pictures tomorrow since my camera battery is dead so stay tuned.

My version:
Yarn: Lion Brand Micro Spun in Mango (1 skein) on size 5 needles
Cast on: 115 sitches
Added 1 row to each set of purls (should have left the row count the same and added 1 repeat)
Made 11 decreases in each set instead of the 10 that the pattern called for

Result: The hat was a little larger than I wanted due to the extra rows, but it is still very wearable. If I do make this hat again I will add an extra repeat to compensate for the smaller needles and yarn.

On another note, this method for joining yarn was posted to the Virginia Beach SnB list and I thought that I would share. Unfortunately, it doesn't work well with loose, stringy yarns such as the micro spun that I used on the buzz hat, but it seems great for everything else.

The red woolen mitten

I went to see Jean-Pierre Jeunet's new film last night (finally, it only took 3 months to get here!) and I think Punchy Jarbo described the experience best in his blog so I will spare you the details. I love Jeunet, but I really hope that he doesn't start catering his work toward the American public just because Amelie did well here. The thing I find most appealing about his work is the way he can take on such dark topics (war, kidnapping, cannibalism) and add an element of whimsy and I worry that if he gets too much support from American production companies his films will lose this.

Another Uneventful Day

I am really starting to feel like my job is getting in the way of my knitting adventures. It seems like I am so tired when I get home that I don’t accomplish as much as I want. I think that I just need to take a few days off, it just seems like its never the right time for vaction. I made a little more progress on the bzzz hat today, but nothing spectacular. I’ve been listening to books on tape (technically, books on ipod) while I’m knitting which I prefer over watching TV. I discovered the Audible Web site a few weeks ago and they gave me 2 free books just for joining. I picked Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom Robbins and the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd which is the perfect companion to the bzzz hat. I don’t know yet if I am going to keep the service, but so far I really like “reading” and knitting at the same time.

Yummy truffles

I didn't really have enough time after work to really accomplish anything beyond about an inch of the bzzz hat. Since I really want to have something worthwhile in every entry I would like to offer up this truffle recipe compliments of my friend Chelsea. Enjoy!

Tasty Truffles

Ingredients:

8 ounces Tofutti cream cheese
2 cups vegan chocolate chips (semisweet, bittersweet, whatever you like)
2 cups powered vegan sugar
optional stuff - more chocolate chips or almond bark to coat, chopped nuts, coconut, cocoa, flavored liqueur, etc.

Directions:
1. Blend vegan cream cheese and powered sugar in a food processor, slowly adding the sugar to the cream cheese.
2. Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or microwave.
3. Add the melted chips to the cream cheese mixture. Blend until it's all mixed in.
4. At this point add a tablespoon or more of flavored liqueur (hazelnut is nice) to remaining mixture if desired and blend a little bit longer.
5. Put the mixture in the refrigerator for about an hour.
6. Roll the mixture with your hands into little balls.
7. Roll the balls in the chopped nuts, coconut, cocoa, etc, get imaginative!
8. Refrigerate until you feel like eating them...mmmm
9. You can also melt some more chocolate chips or almond bark and dip the truffles in that and refrigerate, then they have a hard "coat" over them.

A little progress

So I've made a little progress on the Bzzz hat; 3 inches down, 8 to go. The orange that I am using is a little brighter than the one in the book, but it isn't quite as bright as it appears in the picture. All in all I'm really happy about the way it is working out. I changed the reverse stockinette row count from 4 to 5 to help account for the smaller gauge yarn and needles. I might still have to add an extra repeat in the pattern, but I don't know yet.

My excursion to Virginia Beach

Tonight I attended the Virginia Beach SnB at Borders on Laskin Rd. It was their one year anniversary so we all knitted blanket squares for Warm Up America. I really like the girls in the Virginia Beach group, they all seem super-friendly and they are really into knitting which is a nice change. After I finished my square I worked on the Bzzz! hat from SnB Nation. I am using Lion Brand Micro Spun in mango, which I absolutely love, but it is a lighter weight yarn than the pattern calls for so I am using smaller needles and I increased the number of stitches accordingly. When the hat is finished I plan to wear it everywhere.

How I changed the Bzzz! pattern
Original Gauge: 4" =20 stitches
My Guage: 4"= 23 stitches
Original Cast On: 100 stitches
My Cast On: 115 stitches (if it begins with a ribbing you might need to add 1-2 stitches)

The great vegan flan

My friend James decided that for his birthday he wanted a flan instead of the traditional cake. I tend to get very excited at the opportunity to veganize anything so I took the challenge and after a few tries I came up with this super cheap, super simple flan recipe.

What you need:
1/2 cup sugar
1 box Goya flan mix (found by the pudding mixes)
2 cups soymilk
1/2 tsp. Agar (I get this from an Asian grocer, but most health food stores carry it)

Prepare the Goya flan as directed on the box replacing the milk with soymilk. When your mixture comes to a boil mix in the agar and remove from heat. Pour into molds and refrigerate for 2 hours. Invert the flan onto a plate and serve.

I also came across some tofu/coconut milk versions in my search, but nothing came out as nice as the Goya mix.

In the begining

Okay, this is post number 1!!! I still need to do a little more set-up on this site and figure out how I am going to do the photo and audio hosting, but I think that it is more important to get things up and running. My vision is to make this blog a journal of my creative endeavors, but it will also include personal events and commentary. Check back, it can only get better.