Sweet little domestic life

Christmas of the Cowl

2012-01-03T19:49:00.004-05:00

In my mind, 2012 will go down as the Christmas of the cowl. I love cowls because they are warm in just the right spot and can be worn in multiple ways depending on your mood and the weather. Of the cowls I made this season, the Burberry Inspired Cowl from the Garter Girl was by far my favorite. Chunky yarn, large needles and huge cables make this project fly; I used two skeins of Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky (if I haven't mentioned it in the past, this is one of my favorite yarns to work with) and finished the project in under two days.

Annual New Year Post

2012-01-01T11:06:00.002-05:00

Well it's the start of a new year which means it is time for me to set the New Year's resolutions that I might or might not keep. Either way, I think it is good to stay with tradition and at least set some goals so I don't wander through 2012 completely aimless.

Let's start with last year's resolutions...

1. Organize a free public showing of Handmade Nation followed by a panel discussion.
OMG, I actually did this. Not sure how effective it was in encouraging creativity in Lexington, but it did help keep me on track for the early part of the year.
2. Organize mend.- Quarterly events focused on fixing things that are broken instead of throwing them out.
I had one mend event with a very slight showing, got frustrated and that was the end of that.
3. Volunteer more (also more cross promotion of local organizations.)
I volunteered about 85 hours this year which might be my worst year ever in terms of time spent helping others. I did a little cross promotion with the shop and events, but for the most part this goal got lost in the shuffle.
4. Obligatory goals- read 50 books, see 50 bands, watch 50 of the 1001 movies
Yikes, I totally missed the mark on this one. I saw over 100 bands this year, but only read about 30 books and while I didn't keep track of the movies I watched this year, I am willing to bet I didn't see more than 10 of the 1001. I did join a book group which was a 2010 goal so strap that on and average everything out.
5. Do one thing every day to make my world a better place.
What kind of abstract bullshit is this? I don't have any idea if I met the mark on this sucker. I had a great year so I will just assume I did this.
6. Let people know when they do something I find wonderful and/or inspiring.
I totally did this. At the beginning of the year my compliments were often returned with a questioning doubt and by the end of the year people seemed more accepting of my feedback which makes me feel like I succeeded in this goal.

Now for 2012
1. Obligatory goals- read 50 books, see 50 bands, watch 50 of the 1001 movies
2. Start blogging again, if only once a week.
3. Do a 365, well 366, photo project working on style and digital manipulation.
4. Set up a series of specialty fiber classes and workshops as part of the shop move this summer.
5. Learn to wheelthrowing (for Christmas and my birthday I asked for gift certificates to Kentucky Mudworks and I am planning to take their awesome beginning class starting in February.)

Sunflower

2011-07-13T12:20:00.004-04:00

A few months ago I pulled out several of my toy cameras and started shooting film again. Unfortunately, this came with the realization that film processing ain't what it used to be. Getting my film processed the way I want, when I want is a thing of the past, now my non-traditional processing requires mailing my film to a far away lab and hoping for the best. At first I was frustrated by this, but over the course of the last few weeks I have been experimenting with different methods of shooting and transferring images. While I still like to keep the digital side to a minimum, I am using more and more digital transfer and acquisition methods. Whike I am waiting for my film to be processed and scanned, here is a digital image taken with a frankenstein version of my camera.

Morning Sunflower- Nikon dslr with a holga lens and a blue soft surround filter.

Day 29: Journal

2011-06-29T09:35:00.005-04:00

June is almost done and with July fast approaching, I decided now is a good time to set a new month long goal. I have been reading a lot about modern information overload (which of course only adds to my personal overload) and have decided that for the month of July I am going on a media diet. Basically I want to cut out all of the unnecessary time I spend staring at screens so the plan is to spend none of my non-work time on a computer and even though I need to use the computer for work, I am only allowing myself 15 minutes of facebook per day and 15 minutes of personal email.

Instead of wasting my free time online, I plan to fill it with reading (only fiction), exploring, talking with friends, and creative activities. I also want to keep a journal of my month so for today's creative act I gutted an old book and added blank pages to make a new journal. The tag pictured is one of several I found in my dad's shop when searching for the right sized drill bit. I am pretty sure it's one of those tags you punch through an animals ear, but since there is no chance of that happening I grabbed one to make into a bookmark.

Next week I am on stay-cation and one of the first tasks I have planned for my time off is to build and paint an Adirondack chair so I can sit outside, not on the grass, and enjoy my morning coffee. This used to be my morning ritual and it was a lovely way to start the day so I am bringing it back.

Day 28: Salt Scrub

2011-06-28T22:10:00.000-04:00

For the last several years mosquitoes have avoided me, but my body chemistry must have changed because this year I seem to be a mosquito buffet. To remedy this I decided to make a salt scrub that would double as a repellent for those little creatures who feel the need to bite me. This simple scrub is 3 parts sea salt, 1 part oil, and a bit of lemon eucalyptus and citronella essential oils. It doesn't smell great, but it smells way better than chemical bug spray and it will do the job.

Day 27: Extinct Mediums

2011-06-27T16:50:00.000-04:00

Another day where I follow the theme, the last time in this challenge. This yarn is a combination of reclaimed scraps and a tape of the Dalai Lama speaking on the four noble truths that I liberated from southern thrift store hell. Despite tape being on a spool, it is remarkably difficult to get out of the cassette in a smooth motion, the entire spinning session was a war with the tape. On the plus side, the yarn is pretty soft and very workable which is something I wasn't expecting.

Day 26: Unicorns

2011-06-26T12:35:00.000-04:00

Today's theme is unicorns so I decided to spin a yarn inspired by unicorns. I started with domestic kid mohair top, some handdyed firestar, silver angelina, and some various pink and purple dyed fibers. I sent everything through my drumcarder twice to get the mohair cloud effect and then I spun it around a commercial lace core (handdyed by me.) This was one of the most difficult yarns I have ever spun- I had books, videos, and diagrams to help but ultimately ended up figuring it out through trial and error. I have been spinning a lot this summer (at least 2 hours of every shop shift since May) and I am really seeing an improvement in my technique. I can't wait to see what I am producing toward the end of the summer.

Day 25: Hypotrochoids

2011-06-25T18:44:00.003-04:00

On my way to work this morning I stopped at a yard sale where I picked up a hypotrochoid kit for $1. I then proceeded to spend several hours drawing and distributing hypotrochoids on little pieces of scrap paper. This is a quick shot of my lunchtime doodles.

Day 24: Plaid yarn

2011-06-24T18:10:00.000-04:00

I haven't been following the theme calendar for the 30 day challenge, but on Thursday I noticed that the theme of the day was plaid. I had been thinking about trying a fabric yarn during this challenge and this was the perfect opportunity. I headed out to the thrift store and found a long plaid skirt for $3. Unfortunately when I got back home I was distracted by the wire and ended up making more wire yarn instead. Today the skirt was taunting me so I cut it into strips, tied the strips together, and spun up a skein of plaid yarn. I am not in love with the idea of fabric yarn, but it was fun to try out.

Day 23: Wire Yarn Take 2

2011-06-23T14:42:00.000-04:00

My second attempt at wire yarn, this time using a 24g wire.

Day 22: Wire yarn

2011-06-22T13:34:00.001-04:00

A small puff of Monday's batt spun around a 28g brass wire core. I love this so much that I am making a second skein today with thicker wire and scraps of another batt. I think this will likely become a wire bowl.

Day 21: Even more corespinning

2011-06-21T13:31:00.000-04:00

I had a big fluffy batt so naturally I wanted to make it into yarn. I know you are probably tired of reading about my corespinning adventures, but as a lover of crazy fiber batts, corespinning is often the best way to show off the blends.

Day 20: Batty

2011-06-20T11:46:00.000-04:00

Today I took some of the fibers that I hand dyed and blended them on my drum carder to create beautiful batts for spinning. This batt is a full 6oz and contains absolutely no sparkle (a first for me.)

Day 18- More Corespinning

2011-06-18T16:43:00.002-04:00

Spun from an art batt that I bought from last years fiber fest, this is a superbulky, thick and thin pile of fluff. I think this winter it will become a hat.

Day 17: Boozy Baking

2011-06-17T12:35:00.001-04:00

My first attempt at cake pops- chocolate and Maker's Mark.

Day 16: Stabby

2011-06-16T23:10:00.000-04:00

Today I made dryer balls using this very simple tutorial. I had some plastic dryer balls that disappeared a few years ago so instead of replacing them with more petroleum-based products I decided to use the natural materials I had on hand to make new ones. I just bought a retractable clothesline for my backyard which means I will be line drying for the summer so I won't try these out until the cooler months, but six balls in the dryer are supposed to cut 30% off drying time and eliminate static.

Day 15: Glue

2011-06-15T23:56:00.000-04:00

For my creative act today, I glued stuff to other stuff. I am in the process of cleaning and organizing my studio and yesterday I put all of my random buttons in a jar so that they don't take up as much space and a few minutes later I stumbled upon a giant bag of ring blanks. I pulled out my favorite adhesive and within minutes I had sticky fingers and a small selection of cute little rings.

Since I had the adhesive out I also pulled out the pack of Little Red Riding Hood pinback buttons that I bought last weekend at Wholly Craft and attached strong ceramic magnets to the backs so that I can enjoy them everyday.

Day 14: Corespinning

2011-06-14T14:19:00.005-04:00

At last year's Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Fest I bought a braid of beautiful combed top from River's Edge Fiber Arts. The braid has been in my stash for the last year, taunting me, so today seemed a good time to do something with it. The top is 70%BFL, 30%Seacell and 4oz. Usually I buy a minimum of 8oz, but upon looking at the braid and the price tag I think the price might have restricted me to just one. After looking at the braid and trying to decide what it should be, I decided I wanted it to be a light and fluffy corespun art yarn.

The core is that same rug yarn from the vine project. I ran it through the wheel to incorporate a strong Z twist (so that my final yarn is nice and balanced.) Then I controlled it with my left hand as I wrapped the top fiber around. Sound easy? Well, not quite. The top was slightly felted from the dying process which led to constant drafting struggles (remember my left hand was controlling the core so my drafting movements were limited.) After a lot of swearing and several breaks, I came up with a system that worked. Despite the struggles, I achieved exactly the the yarn I envisioned.

Day 13: Crochet

2011-06-13T21:48:00.000-04:00

For the past few years I have been in the process of phasing out several of my personal care products in favor of things that are more environmentally-friendly and local. One of the more difficult changes for me is eliminating the products that are diluted with water in favor of denser, drier products. I did the no poo thing for awhile with baking soda and it was okay, but I really craved the lather of a shampoo and I missed the lovely way my hair smells after a wash. I decided that a natural shampoo bar would be a good compromise since it still uses less packaging and has less water than traditional shampoos. Switching to a shampoo bar has been an off-and-on two year trial, apparently my hair is really picky about what I use to clean it. Recently I stumbled upon a winner, but it is not cheap stuff so I decided to make a little soap saver to keep it in. This is just a simple crocheted pouch with a drawstring that I made with some leftover Euroflax. The purpose of the pouch is to get more suds out of a single bar and to help it dry faster which will make it last longer.

Day 12: More knit grafiti

2011-06-12T11:20:00.000-04:00

My friend Mindy is working on a yarn bombing project for the parking pole outside of a downtown bar so I knit up a 12" section to contribute to the project. Not sure when the finished piece will go up, but I will post a picture.

Day 11: Installation

2011-06-11T10:55:00.001-04:00

Before leaving for Columbus this morning, I met with a few members of the Tree Sweater Gang to install the vine on the Main/Limestone corner of the CentrePointe block. This is an action I have been planning since they first surrounded the block in horse fencing. We did the installation at 7am so that it would be up for all of the downtown farmers' market traffic. The final vine was over 100 feet with about 50 flowers that were held to the vine with coilless safety pins so they could be "picked" by passers by and worn as broaches. The installation went smoothly despite the unexpected amount of traffic downtown and the threat of rain. Hopefully the farmers' market shoppers enjoyed the little Saturday surprise.

Day 10- Assmembly

2011-06-10T21:48:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is International Yarn Bombing Day so to celebrate I decided to create an interactive installation that will be placed downtown in the morning. As usual, I took on way more than I can handle, but luckily members of the local knit graffiti group, the Tree Sweater Gang, volunteered to help me out by making the flowers. Since I only allowed myself a week to work on the project it is about a fifth of the size I had planned, about 100ft instead of 500ft, but I think it will still give the same visual effect and it will take less time to install (which is a huge plus considering where I plan to install it.) Here's a peek at the project as it comes together. I am still not putting all of the details out until it's up because I don't want to spoil the surprise.

On a side note, I will be out of town all weekend so I will post days 11 & 12 on Monday. I actually have no plans for what I am going to create during those days which will be filled by looking at others creations at the TNNA summer show so I guess it will be a surprise for both of us.

Day 9- Face Cleanser

2011-06-09T14:45:00.003-04:00

For the past few weeks I have been experimenting with oil ratios to use with the oil cleansing method. After several trials, I have put together an oil blend that works well with my skin and today I finally mixed up and bottled the blend. I really like the oil cleansing method because it is all natural and the application is a complete joy, a great end to a busy day. You can read more about the oil cleansing method here.

Day 8- more leaves and vines

2011-06-08T22:00:00.001-04:00

This mess is part of a larger project to be revealed soon. So far I have about 50 feet of i-cord and 20 leaves. I will need a lot more before Friday so back to work.

Day 7- Digital Manipulation

2011-06-07T23:05:00.003-04:00

A 10-hour workday preceded by 3 hours of sleep left me too tired and grumpy to do much creating so I used a bit of my time today to work on my Photoshop skills, mainly creating and using actions. I have a little experience using actions for things like layouts and mass editing, but not with creating effects which is what I worked on today. I worked with several images, but I love the way these chickens came out. The goal was to get a Lomo effect and I think it's a good start. I tried creating "light leaks" around the edges, but they felt too forced so I removed them.

Day 6- Jamaican Sorrel

2011-06-06T11:20:00.003-04:00

This is a co-creation, but I am posting it anyway since this drink is overflowing with fabulous. Yesterday when I was making the lavender lemonade, I posted a picture on my facebook page stating that I used too much hibiscus in my lemonade which led to a a discussion of what to do with dried hibiscus. My friend Jess told me about this Jamaican drink made with hibiscus, ginger and rum and we decided to whip up a batch late last night (continuing to early this morning which is why I will count this as day 6.) This drink is best served cold on a summer night in the company of friends.

Jamaican Sorrel

1/2 cup dried hibiscus
2.5" fresh grated ginger
1 cup sugar
lime juice
dark Jamaican rum
water, both solid and liquid

Put the hibiscus and ginger in a small saucepan with 4.5 cups of boiling water over top, add sugar, cover and let steep for 20-30 minutes. Strain with a fine mesh strainer into a large pitcher. Add lots of ice and refrigerate.

Fill an old fashioned glass with ice, pour 2-3oz. of rum over the ice and fill the rest of the way with the tea. Add a squeeze of lime juice and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Day 5- Lavender Lemonade

2011-06-05T15:38:00.005-04:00

I promised that all of my creative activities wouldn't be fiber related and here is the first non-fiber entry. About a month ago a friend invited me to join a local book group. This is something I've wanted to do for quite awhile, but I haven't been able to find one that fits and I am way too lazy to start my own. Anyway, the next book they were reading was The Hunger Games, which I completely devoured last fall (as well as the two sequels) so I was totally in. The meeting was today, picnic-style in a local park so I had to bring something and since no one was down for a beverage I decided to bring lavender lemonade.

I haven't always been a fan of lavender lemonade, in fact the first time Sarah made it for me I didn't like it at all, but after a few more interactions with this lovely substance I grew to love it. There are a million recipes for it online, but basically you just need to find the ratio of lavender to lemon that works for you. Here is my recipe which utilizes dried hibiscus to give it a little (or in today's case, a lot) extra color, a trick I learned from my former sister-in-law who truly understood the fabulousness of pink lemonade. Without the hibiscus, the flavor will be the same and the color will be a really pale pink. Either way this is the perfect beverage for a lazy summer day.

Pink Lavender Lemonade

1/4 cup dried organic lavender
1/4 teaspoon dried hibiscus
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 cup sugar
water, both solid and liquid

Put the lavender and hibiscus in a small bowl, pour 3 cups of boiling water over top, cover and let steep for 15-20 minutes. Strain with a fine mesh strainer to remove all of the lavender flower and hibiscus leaves.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with 3/4 cup water and heat to create a simple syrup.

Fill a 2 quart pitcher with ice. Add the lemon juice, simple syrup, and lavender tea and fill the rest of the way with water. Refrigerate and serve with a lemon slice.

Day 4- Leaves

2011-06-04T14:58:00.002-04:00

I can already tell that the blogging is going to be the most difficult part of this challenge for me, but thanks to the magic of the interwebs I can post date this entry and pretend that I put it up yesterday, don't even need a TARDIS. Anyway, as part of the top secret project for Saturday I need leaves, lots and lots of leaves. Leaves are pretty easy to design with simple shaping and I already had the leaf pattern I created for my Immaculate Heart of Mary design, but I didn't really like the way it transferred to large leaves. Instead I created a new leaf that is simple enough to work on anywhere and won't curl like stockinette leaves. I also like that it is easily identifiable, even out of context. This pattern can be used with any size needle and yarn, but I used a light worsted on US6 needles for mine.

Basic Leaf

CO 3sts
Row 1: knit
Row 2(and all even rows): knit
Row 3: k1, m1, k1, m1, k1
Row 5: k2, m1, k1, m1, k2
Row 7: k3, m1, k1, m1, k3
Row 9: k4, m1, k1, m1, k4
Row 11: knit
Row 13: k3, k2tog, k1, ssk, k3
Row 15: knit
Row 17: k2, k2tog, k1, ssk, k2
Row 19: knit
Row 21: k1, k2tog, k1, ssk, k1
Row 23: knit
Row 25: k2tog, k1, ssk
Row 27: knit
Row 30: sl1, k2tog, psso and pull yarn through.

For those who don't want to deal with a pattern you simply start with 3 stitches, make a set of mirrored increases every other row until you have 11 stitches. Then you will make mirrored decreases every fourth row until you are back down to 3 stitches.

Day 3- Dyeing

2011-06-03T20:58:00.003-04:00

Today's project is not very exciting. About a year ago I was given a very large amount of rough yarn that I have been trying to work through. Really this yarn is best suited for rug type projects, but I don't knit rugs so I have been trying to incorporate it into other non-wearable projects.

Here's the yarn, sorry about the picture quality, this shade of green is one of the colors that digital cameras have trouble with so just imagine a mix of bright spring greens with small sections of cooler greens.

For this yarn, I decided to try out my organic-certified dyes and since they dyes were a little more eco-friendly than what I normally use, I also decided to use rain barrel water for the rinse and the dyebath. This is my first summer with rain barrels and I am slightly obsessed with finding as many ways to use the water as possible and since this yarn is to be used for an outdoor project I wasn't too worried about the possibility of a little debris in the dyebath. If I wanted to be really green I would have constructed a solar oven to set the dye instead of using my stove, but I am not quite there, yet. All-in-all everything worked out, but I did end up dyeing the yarn twice because the green dye came out way too blue for my taste. Usually I mix my own colors, but since the dye samples I had came with secondary colors I went ahead and used their green and ended up overdyeing with a yellow to give me more of the color I wanted. I don't want to base my review of these dyes on my experience with the green so I will do some mixing and experimenting with the primary colors and post a review at a later date.

Oh and if you are wondering about the project this yarn is destined for, you will just have to wait until next week when the secret is revealed, hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Day 2- My Left Lung

2011-06-02T15:42:00.003-04:00

I am working on a series of embroidered anatomical drawings on felt. This is actually the second one I have completed, but due to my lack of measuring the heart did not fit the frame and must be redone. The lungs are not anatomically correct (notice the lack of a bronchial tubes,) but they will loosely mirror each other and sit on the wall as a triangular triptych with the new heart- all in gold leaf frames.

30 Days of Creativity

2011-06-01T17:04:00.001-04:00

It's been awhile since I've blogged, quick blurbs on facebook are so easy that the blogging has taken a back seat. Today is the first day of the 30 Days of Creativity challenge which seemed like the perfect opportunity to pick back up on the blogging. I plan to do 30 blog entries to accompany the 30 creative activities, some will be detailed, some might just be a picture and a caption. We'll see how it goes. Most of my projects for the challenge will be fiber based because that is what I do, but I have plans for a couple non-fiber projects. For the first few days of the challenge, I will be finishing up a few larger outstanding projects so that I can clear the queue before taking on new stuff.

First up is the yarn spun from local fiber. I actually started spinning this last week as part of my summer spinning challenge, but today I did the plying, reskeining and set the twist so it counts.

In the end I came out with two skeins totaling 8.3oz, 456yds.

2011 New Year post

2011-01-04T10:46:00.004-05:00

Even though I am not so much a blogger anymore, I still want to do my annual New Year post. First, I will start with last year's goals...

For 2010, I don't really have resolutions, just a list of things that I would like to do so here goes.
Start accordion lessons. I had one accordion lesson and kept up with the practice for about 6 weeks. Now I just look at the thing thinking about how I really need to start practicing again.
Take the LSAT. I don't want to be a lawyer. I think the appeal of a research-heavy discipline blinded me to the fact that Robyn as a lawyer would be a bad, bad thing.
Get my etsy shop up and running again. Well it's up, but not really running- there's only one item listed. It's just so easy to put my stuff in my physical shop, etsy seems like such a pain. Maybe I can get this together in the next month or so.
Completely revamp all of ReBelle's digital communications Yes, I did this. In 2010 we introduced our new newsletter with pictures and hyperlinks and everything. I also reworked how we do our class calendars which has been very well received.
Remodel the backroom of the shop and put additional shelving in the front. Yes!! Best part- Sarah and I did this all on our own.
Join a book group (I am thinking the monthly NPR group @LPL) I read the first two books for the NPR book group, but missed the actual group meetings because of schedule conflicts. After that I just gave up.
Take a vacation, preferably two weeks in the Pacific Northwest focusing on hanging out with friends in Portland, visiting Crater Lake, and camping in the redwoods. Vacation fail this year. 2010 was a really weird year in regards to scheduling and the shop so I didn't get a proper vacation. This year we will close the shop for a week in the summer.
Take a short NYC/DC trip. Nope.
Continue playing in the MMMB. I stayed in the band through the summer and now I perform with them off and on. I really loved MMMB and it provided a form of therapy when I really needed it, but now the practices don't fit into my schedule and I have other projects that I am putting my energy into. I guess the great thing about the band is that it is always there when I feel the want or need to bang on something for awhile. I will remain an active supporter and an occasional tambourinist (or cameraman or killer shark) whenever I can.
Build two pieces of mid century-inspired furniture of my own design. I didn't build any furniture, but I do have several sketches of what I want to build done.
Format and publish existing patterns on Ravelry. Nope.
Write 5 new patterns for publication. I think I wrote four patterns in 2010 so we'll call this a success.
Start shooting again I go back and forth with this one. I have been shooting more than in years past, but still not as much as I'd like.

This is the problem with setting so many goals in the middle of a major life transition, so many things change. While I didn't achieve many of these things, I don't consider this year a failure at all. 2010 was a great year for me, I laughed, I danced, and I lived more than I have in a long, long time. I saw over 100 live bands, made some truly amazing friends and learned a lot about who I am and what I want. Maybe I won't be going back to school, but I have refound my love for the business built from a silly dream. I am really happy with where I have fallen and for the first time in quite awhile I feel like I have direction and motivation for following a path I never considered a real possibility before. I think 2011 will serve as a continuation of this journey and who knows, maybe next year I will look at this post and have an entirely different outlook. That's okay, life is change and I am ready for it.

Time for my 2011 goals...
1. Organize a free public showing of Handmade Nation followed by a panel discussion.
2. Organize mend.- Quarterly events focused on fixing things that are broken instead of throwing them out.
3. Volunteer more (also more cross promotion of local organizations.)
4. Obligatory goals- read 50 books, see 50 bands, watch 50 of the 1001 movies
5. Do one thing every day to make my world a better place.
6. Let people know when they do something I find wonderful and/or inspiring.

Rambles and Brambles

2010-10-19T13:55:00.004-04:00

It's now officially hat season which means I start my annual hat knit-a-thon. Basically the way this works is every time there is a break in my knitting or a yarn catches my eye, I knit a hat. I have three hat boxes filled to the brim with knitted hats (and several others just stashed here and there.) The last time I took an official count was in college, at that point I had around 60 hats. I have since purged several of those hats, but they have been replaced several times over so I think it is best if I avoid any kind of formal count since I am not ready to part with any at this moment.

A couple of weeks ago we received our first fall shipment of Malabrigo which included their new Rios yarn. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, Rios is a 4-ply superwash worsted-weight yarn that is, get this, softer than their original worsted. The colors are exactly what you would expect from Malabrigo, but since the yarn base is superwash, the colors are richer and more saturated than their other yarns. In one word, this yarn is AMAZING!! Around the time of the Malabrigo shipment, the new knitty was released and naturally the Brambles beret caught my eye. Originally, I had planned on knitting Brambles out of a single-ply, I love the way cables pop in a single, but somehow I got the idea of knitting it in Rios in my head and I couldn't get it out. All of the colors we ordered were in my personal color palette so instead of antagonizing over picking the right color I went with the color we had most of- Sunset.

The pattern itself was very well written and the progression was logical (obviously written by a math person) and for the first time in quite a while I didn't feel the need to make any changes to the original. I loved this pattern and will likely knit another one in a different size later in the season.

Coquille

2010-09-24T11:46:00.002-04:00

I love knitting shawls, but they are a garment that I rarely wear. On the other hand, I hate knitting scarves, but wear them all through the winter and the fall. The shawlette is the perfect compromise- knit like a shawl and worn like a scarf. That added to my sudden weakness for ruffles drew me to Coquille from Knitty. I knit it with 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden sock (another weakness) on US2.5 and Us9 needles. The pattern is super simple, but the short rows can get a little annoying, I taught myself to knit backwards so that I could avoid constantly turning the piece.

Falling into Fall

2010-09-16T11:49:00.004-04:00

I think that it's about time to try this blogging thing again. Fall is here (well, sort of) and I am full of project ideas for the season so this will be a great way to keep motivated. First up is a pattern that I have been talking about using for over four years, Norah Gaughan's knitted panniers. Originally my plan was to frog an old sweater and use that yarn, but the sweater's construction prevented that from being a possibility. Then, I went back and forth about what yarn I wanted to use for the project, Lopi is out because I find it too rough to knit, and I need something that isn't going to be prohibitively expensive. Today I added two bags of Cascade Eco+ in color number 4010 to a shop order specifically for this project. Cast on in t-minus seven days.

My Forecastle Overview

2010-07-12T10:44:00.005-04:00

This weekend, the March Madness Marching Band performed at the Forecastle Festival in Louisville. Forecastle isn't typically the kind of festival I would attend (not enough bands I like to justify the high price tag,) but since it was free for performers I decided to return from my summer hiatus to play the festival. We did five performances throughout the weekend each one taking a 2-3 hour block of time for costuming, organizing, and performing so I missed several chunks of the weekend and a few of the bands I wanted to see. Regardless, it was a great weekend and I did get to see some really great performers. Also, I got to stay at 21C which is the coolest hotel I will probably ever stay in.

Friday-
Due to the consumption of too much alcohol and too little food, my recollection of Friday is a little fuzzy. I am pretty sure we went to see Manchester Orchestra, but since I can't remember the show I will critique the one thing I do remember- Rain Organics Vodka. I bought a bottle of Rain Lavendar Lemonade vodka for the weekend (plain would have been more practical, but the idea of lavendar was very enticing in the summer heat.) For those of you who don't know, Rain is made in Frankfort at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. It is organic and distilled seven times so it is pure and very smooth. The lavender vodka was great by itself, but even better when mixed with Sprite- the perfect summer drink.

Saturday-
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals- I tried to like them, but the lead singer has that slightly raspy folk singer voice that always turns me away from bands.

Mucca Pazza- So fun, but definitely a band you want to see live. Kinda puts our little marching band to shame, in a good way.

Cake- Wanna feel old? Go see Cake.

Devo- Exceeded expectations. I imagined that Devo had amazing shows in the 80's, but I didn't expect too much from this reunion tour. Well, the show was incredible, everything I would have hoped a Devo show to be.

Cloud Cult- The problem with music festivals is the band overlaps. We missed the beginning of Cloud Cult because of Devo and while I don't regret staying for all of Devo, I do wish that we got to see all of Cloud Cult. They were amazing, even with the microphone problems. (on a side note: they are providing the soundtrack for this blog entry.)

Smashing Pumpkins- Billy Corgan is a douche. I made it through one song and about a minute of stage banter before I had to leave due to a feeling of complete disgust. Die Smashing Pumpkins, die!!! Supposedly it was between Smashing Pumpkins and Pavement and the Forecastle organizers went with the Smashing Pumpkins, total fail.

Sunday-
Dar Williams- I have seen Dar live about a million times and she has yet to disappoint. Plus, every time I see her live I come away with a new favorite Dar song (this time it was The Ocean.) This show she managed to play all of my favorites (partially due to the fact that she takes requests and I was in the front yelling my playlist) and pulled Sara Watkins (of Nickle Creek) on stage for a couple of songs including Iowa, my all-time favorite Dar song. I was in a very happy place for this show.

Sara Watkins- Sara Watkins has a beautiful voice and an amazing stage presence. She has a sweet bluegrass sound that really feels like home to me. Bonus- she pulled out a ukulele for a couple of songs. Oh how I love those girls with ukuleles!

Cirque Berzerk- Mostly acrobatics with a dark vaudeville twist- joyous, sad, and beautiful. I don't know how often these guys actually tour, but they have a regular show in LA so if you get the chance to see them, do it (this goes for all of you PETA people about to migrate out west.) They asked us to perform with them at two of their shows which was an amazing honor.

She & Him- I have mixed feelings about this band. I have both albums and I enjoy them (mostly as background music at the shop,) but honestly I couldn't imagine going out of my way to see them live. That being said, I was a little excited to see them in the Forecastle line-up and I did rush over from our performance with Cirque Berzerk to see the show. I think a lot of the hype about the band is due to Zooey's crossover and not because of the actual music. Their music can border on mediocre, but Zooey has an amazing voice and when she belted out the encore she really proved how much potential she has in the music industry. Hopefully their future albums can capture a bit of this power.

Spoon- By this point, the exhaustion of little sleep and five performances had really kicked in, but I still found the energy to dance to Spoon. I have never really considered myself a Spoon fan, I like their music, but don't listen to it with any regularity. I think that is about to change.

Flaming Lips- This was my first time to see the Flaming Lips in an outdoor venue and I have to say that while the show is definitely suited for a festival setting, the crowd was full of assholes who were there more for drinking and assholery than for the music which made the show slightly less enjoyable. I still had an amazing time and would do it again.

A MMMB video

2010-01-27T11:01:00.005-05:00

The always lovely Jennifer Miller just made this video about our little band.

New yarn

2010-01-22T11:20:00.004-05:00

Since it is Friday, let's make it a fiber Friday.

This is my latest yarn, corespun from a batt I made yesterday with a silver autowrap. The little rainbow nubbs are recycled sari fiber and though you can't see it in the picture, there is some handdyed firestar thrown in for extra sparkle.

Insubordiknit Nashville

2010-01-20T13:28:00.004-05:00

For my birthday this year I decided to go to the Nashville Insubordiknit spinning workshop. There was a closer workshop last fall, but due to shop scheduling problems, that one really wasn't a possibility for me, plus waiting for the Nashville workshop forced me to stop procrastinating about taking a trip down to visit Nieves.

I could go on and on about the workshop and everything we learned, but it is all on Jacey's site so you can just see it there. Jacey was an amazing teacher, informative and entertaining. I was definitely one of the more inexperienced spinners in the group and with the exception of a couple of techniques I had very few problems. My favorite thing that we learned over the weekend was corespinning. I LOVE CORESPINNING!!! I understood the concept of corespinning, it was just a technique that I never bothered to try. The yarns produced by spinning carded fiber around a core yarn are light and fluffy and the technique really shows off the contents of a batt (especially a sparkly batt.) Here are the pictures of my favorite yarns so far.

My first corespun yarn. Jacey gave us some brown carded fiber to learn on. I later went back and autowrapped the yarn with some metallic red embroidery thread (you had to expect me to put some sparkles in somewhere.)

Next is the supercoiled yarn. I spun the single before class with scrap Ashland Bay top that was in the back of the shop. This was a really fun technique, but very time intensive when you calculate the amount of yarn that you end up with (it took me two hours to spin 10 yards.)

Last is the corespun that I spun up last night. I made a super sparkly batt just to practice this technique on my Traveller and I was so happy with the resulting yarn that I carded up a duplicate batt to make another hank of it. Lovely sparklies make me happy!

It's that time again

2010-01-01T12:05:00.000-05:00

Time for some New Year's resolutions. I have big hopes for 2010, especially since 2009 was such a horrible year (actually, the last month or so was pretty good, but the rest was positively dreadful.) The only goals I set for 2009 were to knit 12 sweaters (I only knit 6) and to read 52 books (I read 68.) I didn't quite make it, but in my opinion I was close enough.

For 2010, I don't really have resolutions, just a list of things that I would like to do so here goes.

Start accordion lessons.
Take the LSAT.
Get my etsy shop up and running again.
Completely revamp all of ReBelle's digital communications
Remodel the backroom of the shop and put additional shelving in the front.
Join a book group (I am thinking the monthly NPR group @LPL)
Take a vacation, preferably two weeks in the Pacific Northwest focusing on hanging out with friends in Portland, visiting Crater Lake, and camping in the redwoods.
Take a short NYC/DC trip.
Continue playing in the MMMB.
Build two pieces of mid century-inspired furniture of my own design.
Format and publish existing patterns on Ravelry.
Write 5 new patterns for publication.
Start shooting again

I heart my drum carder

2009-12-10T13:04:00.001-05:00

About a year ago I bought a used drum carder. The lady who sold it to me had no idea the age, make or model, but said it worked great and it fit perfectly in my price range. As soon as it arrived, I blended all of the dyed roving I had on hand and then some. The carder was absolutely perfect, fast, easy, and best of all there were no blades for me to slice my fingers on (if you know me you understand why this is important.) Recently, a friend was doing a little research and discovered that my drum carder closely resembled a Duncan Carder. A few pictures and an email to Duncan and I now know that I have an older model Duncan carder. This doesn't really change my feelings toward my carder, but it is nice to know what it is so I can recommend it to others when they ask.

Now for a few pictures of my most recent batts...

Battered Barbie, 5.7oz

Sticky Rebellion, 4.25oz

Manic Monday, 5.5oz

I will have these batts and many more at the Bazaar Bizarre in Cleveland this weekend so if you are in the area you should stop by and say hi.

Wood

2009-11-10T07:25:00.000-05:00

I woke up yesterday and decided to devote my day to learning to turn wood. My dad offered to each me several years ago, but I just never got around to it. Mondays are my days off and since my dad was also free yesterday it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Before I started, I went to Woodcraft to look at different woods. I quickly decided to start on scraps in my dad's shop instead of spending money on a beautiful piece of wood that I might ruin. After looking around a bit, we found a piece of Mahogany that could be cut down and turned into a nostepinne. For those who don't know, a nostepinne is a tool that is used to wind yarn into a center-pull ball. I have always loved the simplicity of this tool, it requires no clamp or set-up and can pulled out of your knitting bag anywhere. Plus it makes balls that are far more aesthetically pleasing than the yarn cakes put out by a mechanical winder (thus making it the ideal choice for handspun or handdyed yarns.)

Here are my first attempts. The two outer nostepinnes are mahogany and the one in the center is oak. They are all finished with oil and wax which really enhances the wood. The one on the far right is my very first attempt. All of these (and probably a few more) will be available in the shop in the next few days.

What I learned so far...

Woodturning is very messy. In addition to safety glasses and a shop coat you should make sure the shop air filter is turned on before you start.
The tools will burn you. The tips of the tools heat up pretty fast when in use so it is best to keep your hand a few inches away from the tip or you will get burned.
Oak is evil. While I think oak is a beautiful wood and it smells amazing when it is turned, it requires really sharp tools to turn and sanding it down to a smooth surface is a huge pain. In the end, I had to use extra wax to get the oak nostepinne nice and smooth.
There are a lot of different tools to choose from. Every tool gives you a different kind of cut and keeping them straight is quite a task.
It is best to go into the project with a plan. After the first attempt, I drew out plans for what I wanted the nostepinnes to look like (i.e. where I wanted to do the shaping) and that made it way easier.
It is easier to finish the project on the lathe. My first nostepinne broke off the lathe and had to be finished by hand which takes about ten times as long as finishing it on the lathe, plus it is much harder to get a nice shine from the wax without the heat of the spinning friction.
Though louder and scarier, a lathe works like a spinning wheel. The turn of the lathe is controlled by the same drive band ratio system that a spinning wheel uses.
According to my dad, all wood is female. Throughout the lesson, my dad constantly referred to the wood in the feminine.
Wood working is a skill that is passed down from generation to generation in my family. My dad learned to turn wood from his dad and was pretty excited that I was taking an interest in it. He told me stories of working in his dad's shop and about how his dad would slap his head when he messed up. I was pretty relieved that my dad decided not to carry on that part of the tradition.

My new 40 before 40

2009-10-26T11:44:00.003-04:00

I have been thinking about my life goals lately now that my life is taking a very different path. A couple of years ago I made a 40 before 40 list that included my goals, both large and small, that I want to achieve before turning 40. I don't feel that the entire list represents my goals so I here is the amended list in no particular order including the things that I have achieved (the original list can be found in three parts here, here, and here.) Not a lot of change, but enough to justify republishing. Green entries are new, crossed out entries are things I have done, and red entries are the things that I am actively pursuing right now.

1. Pay off the shop loan
~~2. Work for myself~~
3. Finish school (I started working 2 classes shy of finishing my degree and I still haven't gotten around to finishing it off. Just because I won't use it doesn't mean I shouldn't get it.)
4. Buy a house
5. Take a proper Pacific Northwest vacation including Seattle, Portland, Crater Lake, and the redwoods
6. Go to Hawaii
7. Attend SXSW
8. ~~Get one of my patterns published in a knitting book~~
9. ~~Learn to spin on a wheel and create art yarns~~
10. Get a pattern published in Knitty and Interweave
11. Visit Vermont in the Fall
12. Visit 5 of the 10 states I have left to see (two of which are worked into this list)
13. Publish my Southern Vegan's Guide to Domesticity (even if just through a vanity press)
14. ~~Start and maintain a vermicompost pile~~
15. Get a book deal for a ReBelle knitting book
16. Design and plant a successful garden
17. ~~Learn to like brussel sprouts (they are so healthy, but I can't stand to eat them)~~
18. Become a master knitter
19. Learn to keep my house clean
20. Run a significant distance
21. Start a travel savings account and contribute $200/month
22. Learn about stocks, bonds, cds and other alternative savings plans
23. Set up a solid retirement plan above and beyond the 401K
24. ~~Learn to cook elaborate things that don't cost more than a dinner out (It seems like anytime I try to fix a really fancy meal at home I spend $40 on groceries just for the meal)~~
25. Start or join a dinner club
26. Learn to play Mahjong
27. ~~Learn poi spinning~~
~~28. Knit an afghan~~
~~29. Create a family tradition~~
30. Dance in Thriller
31. See the Death Race 2000 car
32. Bowl a turkey (3 strikes in a row)
33. Meet John Waters
34. Knit a wedding ring shawl (a 6ft lace shawl so fine it can be passed through a ring)
~~35. Knit a sweater that I designed~~
36. Learn to turn wood (I specifically want to make Nostepinnes)
37. Learn to make lampwork beads (if you offered to let me use your torch, please email me)
38. Watch 1000 movies (specifically these)
39. Reduce my coffee and takeout waste to zero
40. Take at least 4 Americana vacations (including Cave City)

Hoot Water Bottle Cozy

2009-10-18T09:00:00.001-04:00

I came up with this cozy idea a few weeks ago when the cold weather really started to set in. I love the idea of portable heat sources that use little energy and allow me to roam freely around my cold house (I generally keep the thermostat at 60 degrees all winter.) The owl cable came from an old Leisure Arts vest pattern I was given a few years ago. This cozy will dress up any standard 2 liter hot water bottle and it will keep it warmer longer.

Hoot Water Bottle Cozy

Gauge: 14 stitches/ 18 rows = 4" in Stockinette stitch with two strands held together

Finished Measurements: 7.5" wide x 14" tall (will fit a standard 2 liter hot water bottle)

Materials:
Needles: Set of US10.5 dpns or size needed to obtain gauge and crochet hook size J

Yarn: 1 ball Cascade Ecological Wool in color 8061 (project uses approximately 140g.) or two hanks of Blue Sky Organic cotton, about 2 yds of darker colored natural fiber yarn for the eyes.

Notions: tapestry needle for weaving in the ends and embroidering the eyes.

Pattern Notes:
Project is worked using 2 strands of yarn held together throughout.

Definitions:
c4f: Sl 2 sts to cable needle and hold in front, k2, k2 from cable needle.
c4b: Sl 2 sts to cable needle and hold in back, k2, k2 from cable needle.

Pattern:
Using the figure 8 cast-on method*, Co 52 stitches on two dpns (26 stitches on each needle).
Rnd 1: Knit first rnd onto two needles and redistribute onto 4 needles at end of rnd. Place marker to mark the beginning of the rnd.
Rnd 2-16: knit
Rnd 17-18: *p4, (k8, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 19: *p4, (c4b, c4f, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 20-26: *p4, (k8, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 27: *p4, (c4b, c4f, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 28: *p4, (k8, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 29-30: *p4, (k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 31-32: *p4, (k8, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 33: *p4, (c4b, c4f, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnd 34: *p4, (k8, p3) x2, rep from * to end
Rnds 35-45: knit

Decreases
Rnd 46: *k1, ssk, k21, k2tog, rep from * to end
Rnds 47 and all odd rnds through 55: knit
Rnd 48: *k1, ssk, k19, k2tog, rep from * to end
Rnd 50: *k1, ssk, k17, k2tog, rep from * to end
Rnd 52: *k1, ssk, k15, k2tog, rep from * to end
Rnd 54: *k1, ssk, k13, k2tog, rep from * to end

Neck
Rnd 56: *(k2tog) twice, yo, rep from * to end
Rnd 57-70: work in k1, p1 ribbing
Bind off loosely and weave in ends.

Tie
Using the crochet hook, create a 21" crochet chain and weave it through the eyelets at the base of the neck.

Eyes
With the darker yarn and the tapestry needle, embroider over the purl stitches that make up each owl's eyes using the satin stitch.

*While the figure 8 cast-on is ideal for this project, if you feel uncomfortable using it you can CO 52 stitches onto 4 dpns and join for knitting in the round. Then, at the end of your
project you can simply seam the bottom of your cozy.

To use- Slide water bottle into cozy, secure with tie, and fill with hot water.

Silly stuff

2009-10-14T12:20:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Zabet introduced me to FBN Plastics, makers of custom spinning wheel cup holders. Their etsy store contains cup holders made to fit several makes and models of spinning wheels with no drilling. Never again will you have to decide between your drink and your fiber.

Big News

2009-10-08T10:09:00.001-04:00

There are some big changes taking place in my life right now and instead of telling the tale over and over, I am posting it here for my friends and family to see. For those of you who just read my blog for crafty stuff, I will have a new free pattern up by Saturday so just come back in a few days.

Philip and I have decided to get a divorce. We have been struggling for the last two years to hold the marriage together which has caused more pain and suffering than either of us really deserved. This entry is just my thoughts and feelings on the events of the last few days.

Philip has been having an affair off and on during this time with a co-worker named Charley and he fell head-over-heels in love with her. I have known about the affair from the beginning and I tried to leave, but Philip kept pulling me back insisting that we could make our marriage work. I love Philip, he is my best friend and I would do anything in the world for him, but the fact is, I haven't been in love with Philip for quite some time. I stayed in the relationship because I couldn't bare to see him hurt and I couldn't bare the thought of losing his family who have been a big part of my life for the last 13 years, but that ended up hurting both of us (and her) more than we ever could have imagined.

On Monday morning I finally decided that I couldn't take any more of this pain and I asked Philip to leave (this is actually a pretty funny story, but I am not sure Philip wants me to share it.) Later that evening, he came back to the apartment and we started to fall into the angry fighting cycle again and somewhere in the middle of the crying and yelling there was a moment of clarity. Suddenly, we realized that we need each other's friendship and we started working out a plan to dissolve the marriage and keep the friendship. From that moment on, everything was easier.

Philip had originally planned to continue paying for the bills and the rent so that I could stay at the apartment until the lease is up while he moved into Charley's tiny place. I refused this offer because I don't like the idea of being that dependent, plus that would cause a lot of financial stress on the two of them which is something that they really don't need when they are just starting out. I convinced him that it would be best for all parties involve if I moved out and they move into our apartment. He finally agreed to call her and talk to her about the idea and within minutes I was on the phone telling her how great our neighborhood is and inviting her over to see the place. The night was a surreal cyclone of events. Philip and I went to pick up Charley so that she could see the apartment and decide if it was a feasable plan. On the drive over I told Philip that I really wanted to stay friends, but if seeing them together was too hard, I might have to stay back for while. We picked her up and drove back to the apartment and I showed her around. While the situation was a little weird, it felt natural and seeing Philip happy again gave me hope that I could be happy again. I didn't feel anger or jealousy or any of those other feelings that I was supposed to feel, only love- my heart was completely swollen with love for the two of them.

The most difficult part of all of this has been telling the family. Telling my family was scary, but at least I knew that they would be there for me through all of this, the idea of loosing the love and support of Philip's parents absolutely tore me up inside. For half of my life they have embraced me as one of their own and I love them like I love my parents. Last night Philip and I went over to his parents' house to break the news. It was horrible and wonderful. Everyone was in tears, but in the end Sally said that I will always be a part of their family which meant so much to me. After it was over I felt like a giant weight had been lifted. I dropped Philip off at Charley's and ended up hanging out with the two of them for a little while. On my drive home I felt the happiest I have felt in months and I know that this is the best decision for all parties involved.

I have a freedom now that I haven't felt since Philip and I lived apart. At the beginning of all of this Philip and I went into couples councelling and I made a lot of changes to my lifestyle that were supposed to make our marriage better. I gave up a lot of the things that make me who I am. I lost my independence and gave up a lot of my social activities. I started to feel really tied down to a situation that wasn't making me happy and I couldn't seem to get out.

I know that the circumstances of the situation are not ideal, but none of that can be changed now. Philip knows that the way he handled this situation is wrong and he is very ashamed. I have always said that you can't help who you fall in love with or when it happens and I still believe that. Charley is a better match for Philip than I ever was and he is lucky to have found her and very lucky that she stuck with him through all of this mess. I have forgiven Philip and plan to keep him in my life as my best friend and though you might be angry with him for the lies and deciet, don't be angry at him for finding love.

Finally, please don't feel sorry for me or pity me. I am making some big changes and the future is scary, but it's also exciting. I need your love and support and I need you to know that this is the best thing that could have happened to me. I am so tired of hearing "oh no" and "I am so sorry," I would much rather hear "good for you" and "congratulations."

The Hemlock Flower Tam

2009-09-27T12:51:00.003-04:00

Ever since I knit my first Hemlock Ring afghan, I have wanted to turn the center flower into the top of a tam. Last week I was at an unexpected stopping point in my current project so I used that as an opportunity to make the Hemlock tam.

Yarn: 2 balls Dale of Norway Falk (sport weight)
Needles: US4 dpns, 16" US4 circulars or whatever size gets gauge
Gauge: 23 st/30 rows = 4" in Stockinette stitch
Finished measurements- 10.5" diameter, will fit a 21-24" head.

Pattern:
The center flower is from the Hemlock Ring pattern which can be found here. You will work the pattern through round 43 and then switch to the directions below.

Knit plain for 2.5"
Decrease Rnd: *k1, k2tog, rep from * until 1 stitch remaining, k1
Knit plain for 7 rnds.
Bind-off rnd: To set up the bind-off, knit 1 stitch. *slide stitch from right needle to left needle, k2tog, rep from * to end of rnd. Cut yarn and weave in ends.

To block- Soak in hot water for 30 minutes, remove as much water from the knitted hat as possible (either by squeezing in a towel or in your washer's spin cycle for 30 seconds,) and for hat around a large dinner plate or a cut cardboard circle with a 10.5" diameter.

Three-in-one

2009-09-23T11:04:00.004-04:00

Here is my neck warmer hat from the new Interweave Knitted Gifts. The yarn is a handyed/ handspun worsted by SpinneMann that I bought over two years ago at the Naked Sheep in Portland, Oregon. I love this yarn so finding the perfect project for it was a must. The pattern was written to be knitted with a dk weight yarn on US7 needles so I adjusted it to match my gauge of 4st/in on US8 needles by only casting on 96 stitches. I love this hat because it can be worn three ways- as an open hair sack, as a neck warmer, and as a hat so it should match just about any mood.

I'm with the band

2009-09-08T17:40:00.006-04:00

Life is finally back to normal after a week of complete chaos. First, the doggie stuff. Astrid pulled something in her back early last week and could barely walk. Long story short, it was something in her back and after a few days of rest and muscle relaxers she is back to her old self. The vet also did some movement and response tests with her which showed some neurological problems (for those of you who know Astrid, this is the reason she walks sideways and randomly falls down sometimes.) She is not in pain and doesn't seem bothered by it so we are just going to keep her comfortable and happy for the rest of her days.

Now for the band stuff. For those of you who don't know, after almost a year of procrastination, I finally joined the March Madness Marching Band, an all volunteer marching band sponsored by Local First Lexington. I started going to practices a few weeks ago and on Saturday we marched in the Roots and Heritage parade, kicked off the Bike Prom and then marched through the JustFundKY event at the Horse Park. It was a long day, but the most fun I've had in quite awhile. Originally, I planned on being a dancer since I don't play a portable instrument, but I brought my tambourine to practice along with my hula hoops and quickly decided I wanted to be on the band side of things. I bought an atomic orange tambourine and a used band uniform to modify and now I am a full on member of the band. Yesterday I went thrift store shopping for some new band gear and I found two formal dresses that I took home and immediately ripped apart to create two skirts that will go with the fabulous band jacket I found. Our next performance is a week from Friday at Douglas Park so I will wait until then to reveal my new costume.

Just another hat

2009-09-06T09:22:00.003-04:00

After about eight months, I finally finished the hat for my friend James. This is one of those projects that kept finding its way back into the UFO basket for me to pick up again several months later. The pattern is based on the Half Pipe Hat from Son of Stitch n' Bitch, but with a few modifications to make it more flattering. First, the hat was originally made with two strands of worsted weight yarn held together to create a chunky yarn. A quick search on Ravelry made it obvious to me that the chunky yarn was way to thick for a double brim. Since I already decided to use Hemp for Knitting's Hempwol, a light worsted, for the project I decided to do a quick gauge swatch and rewrite the pattern at a finer gauge. I cast on 108 stitches on US5 needles and then followed the pattern for the lengths of ribbing and stockinette stitch. Then, when I came to the decreases I made another change to better suit the hat style and gauge. To replicate factory-made versions that are sewn at the top I decided to do four sets of double decreases (I used sl1, k2tog, psso) every other round around the top perimeter of the hat. After 11 decrease rounds, when 20 stitches remained, I grafted the remaining stitches. The final change I made was on the brim itself. I felt the original version was too big so I created a smaller version with a greater arc to better fit an adult head. All-in-all I am happy with the hat and can't wait to mail it off.

Froggie

2009-08-26T14:18:00.001-04:00

I knitted this Froggie towel from Noni as a sample for the shop. The pattern came to us hot off the presses so I have the privilege of being one of the first to knit it. The towel is knit from Peaches and Cream cotton so not only is it incredibly affordable, but it will hold up to many bath times. It is a fairly easy knit and great for the beginner who likes to do a lot of garter stitch (seriously, this thing is almost nothing but garter stitch so if you hate garter stitch, move on.) It is going to hang out in the shop until all of the kits are gone and then this cute little guy is going to live with a friend who's son will be just the right size for the small towel.

In other news, for the last several months I have been trying to buy the out-of-print Dale of Norway booklet that contains the Lappland sweater pattern with no success. I found the pattern on Ravelry last Spring when I was looking for a Christmas sweater for my dad. If you know my dad, you know that this sweater screams his name and once I saw it, there could be no substitute. Finally, I contacted the company and they agreed to send me a photocopy of the out-of-print pattern as long as I bought Dale yarn to knit it. Yesterday I placed the order for 40 balls of their Falk yarn to knit the sweater and hopefully the yarn and the pattern should arrive sometime late next week.

Quick project pic

2009-08-16T10:58:00.001-04:00

Here is the Porom that I knitted for a hat swap on Ravelry. I plan on knitting another one of these for myself at a later date.

Shawls

2009-08-13T09:54:00.001-04:00

Sarah went on vacation last week so I was at the shop non-stop. I decided to try to block the two shawls I finished months ago in the back room during shop hours. I wasn't sure if this would work since I am used to blocking at home with a proper wash basin and using the spin cycle of my washing machine to remove the water. At the shop, we don't have running water, but we have access to water from the restaurant

First up is the Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall 2006 issue of Interweave Knits (now available as a free download.) If you have never attempted lace before, this would be an excellent place to start, the pattern is easy to read and quick to memorize. I knitted mine out of some seacell sock base that I dyed especially for this shawl. I used 396 yards of the yarn which made more of a shawlette sized shawl.

My second shawl is the Fountain Pen Shawl from the Spring 2009 issue of Interweave Knits. Originally, I knit this to give as a gift, but I really like the size and the weight of the shawl so I might be keeping it for myself. Again this is a handdyed yarn, actually I dyed two colorways for the Swallowtail because I couldn't decide what I wanted for that one. This was a fingering weight superwash base yarn that we sell at the shop and in the end, I much preferred this yarn and shawl to the yarn I used for the Swallowtail and I plan on dyeing more in the future.

That is all for now, but hopefully I will have a few more projects to share later in the week.

Casting Day

2009-07-23T11:18:00.007-04:00

Sarah and I have been talking about making casts of our bodies for displaying shop samples since the shop opened. The general idea is that instead of just making tiny samples to fit the anorexic shop models we have, we could also make some samples in our size to show the fits on different body types. With the help of the fabulous Raellyn, on Tuesday we finally started the casting process. We decided to use water activated packing tape because of its sturdiness and its quick drying ability. (For those locals wanting to replicate our experiment, you can get this tape at Kennedy Book Store in the art part) I took a couple of quick shots of us in the casts so you can get an idea of what we did.

The casts are dry now so all that's left is for us to cover the arm and neck holes and fill the casts with insulation foam. When they are nice and solid we plan to papier-mâché them and add a pretty pink glaze. I'll post more pics when that part is done.

In knitting news, I just finished a February Baby Sweater for a shop sample. This is an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern from the Knitter's Almanac and in typical EZ fashion was very simple construction. The sweater is meant to be done on two needles with a seam up both sleeves, but like many I decided to forgo the seaming and just picked up stitches and did the sleeves in the round after I completed the body of the sweater. I used less than 65g or 240yds of dk weight yarn so this makes a very inexpensive and elegant baby gift.

A little magic in my neighborhood

2009-07-18T09:10:00.002-04:00

This is really weird, but kinda cool. About two weeks ago I was getting Astrid ready for her morning walk and when I went into the kitchen to grab an old grocery bag to use as a poop bag, there weren't any. I scoured the house and finally found a baggie in the studio that I used, but since we were at least 5 days from a grocery trip, I knew that I was going to have to find some bags for the rest of the week. Anyway, Astrid and I proceeded on our walk and on out way home there was a little roll of poop bags laying on the sidewalk. I just figured it was the universe trying to help me out. Then again this morning as I was getting ready for my day I noticed that I was down to my last dollar so I would need to make a trip to an ATM to get bus fare for the rest of the week. Then on the way back from my walk with Astrid, in the exact place I found the poop bags, was a $5 bill.

Ribz

2009-06-30T11:49:00.007-04:00

This weekend was pretty low-key. Friday night we just sat out on the porch drinking wine and enjoying the beautiful weather with a few friends. Saturday our neighbors had a yard sale where I scored a kitchen scale and a griddle, two things that I really wanted. I put the griddle to use immediately by whipping up a batch of barbequed seitan ribz from the Fat Free Vegan blog. You might remember we made these last summer on the grill, but we had a little trouble with the high heat of the grill and the ribz sticking. We cooked the second batch on the stovetop and those came out perfectly carmelized and there was no sticking, but they didn't have the nice grill marks that make them feel like ribs. Saturday, we made our first batch of ribz on the griddle and they were nothing short of awesome (so great we made batch #2 on Sunday.) We also threw some leftover corn on the grill, made a side of bbq mashed potatoes and served it all with two large glasses of iced tea. How's that for the perfect summer meal?

In craftier news, Philip and I did a collaborate embroidery project as a birthday gift. He did the illustration and I embroidered it on the lower right corner of an American Apparel t-shirt. We were really happy with the final result and I learned a lot about using transfer paper on knitted fabric (always transfer from a thin paper stock and always put something hard under the top layer of fabric.) Anyway, here is how the final version came out.

A Sewing Sunday

2009-06-23T10:32:00.004-04:00

Since Sarah's class schedule is a bit hectic this month, I have been working extra hours during the week and she has been taking every Sunday. Philip was working this Sunday so I was left to my own devices. I pulled out the sewing machine, for the first time since we moved last summer, on Friday to help Philip with a creature-making project. After we finished the sewing for his project, I left the machine out so on Sunday it was sitting there, calling to me. I decided to turn the curtains Ed gave Sarah and I last summer into the skirt that they were destined to be.

I went with a basic a-line skirt with a flat front and a bit of elastic in the back to avoid the need of a zipper. I like a-lines because they are super simple (no pattern and little planning needed) and they look good on almost every body type. I am really happy with the way it came out and after looking through my fabric stash, there might be a few more recycled skirts in my immediate future. Sorry about the wrinkles, I have been sitting all morning and I couldn't wait for them to fall out to take the picture.

And the winner is...

2009-06-16T11:22:00.002-04:00

I had a total of 14 people commenting on my blog and Facebook entry so I put the names in a hat (okay it was actually just an empty coffee mug) and the winner is Zannah. This was so much fun I think I might do another giveaway this week. Stay tuned.

A rant

2009-06-11T15:30:00.005-04:00

Sorry about the lack of updates, things have been a little crazy in my world. Last week we found out the the city is planing to close down the street that my shop lives on for a year starting next month for major renovations. We've know about the renovations since last fall, but had no idea that they meant such a long and complete street closure. For those of you who don't know, ReBelle is located downtown across from UK's north campus and like most downtown businesses, we rely on the street parking to accommodate our customers. We are fortunate in that we have a small lot in the back of the building that fits 10-12 cars (depending on people's ability to park,) but we share the lot with 3 other businesses so without the street parking our customers are going to have more issues during peak times. Additionally, the traffic congestion on the surrounding streets caused by rerouting 30,000-50,000 cars per day is going to detour people from the area all together which for some businesses in the area is even scarier than the parking situation.

There are over 30 businesses on the blocks that will be shut down and the feelings of business owners seem to range from complete acceptance of the project to outrage almost to the point of insanity. Sarah and I are somewhere in the middle. We know that we are going to lose business during this time and that is something we are prepared to deal with, but we don't want to lose so much business that we have to shut our doors forever. That is the tricky part, especially in this economic climate. I have spent a good portion of my last week writing letters, working on additional marketing plans, promotions for the shop, new classes, and ideas for merchandise that will make our shop worth the traffic. One good thing is that we already have a base of amazing customers who have promised to support us through all of the crazy construction. I am hopeful that the city will work with us on this and provide the additional parking we need during this time, but if not I want to be as ready to handle the loss of business as possible. I love this shop and Sarah and I have poured our hearts and souls into making it happen so it is worth the hard work to keep it going.

Now that I have taken up your time with my business drama I am prepared to reward you. If you leave a comment between now and Saturday you will be entered in a drawing for a copy of Switch Craft: Battery-Powered Crafts to Make and Sew which I reviewed here. Good luck!!

Feeling a little crabby

2009-05-30T08:54:00.004-04:00

Before I went vegan, or even vegetarian, I was a huge fan of crab cakes. I ate them every chance I got (which in Kentucky really isn't often.) I remember the pain of encountering my first crab cake after going vegetarian and realizing that I would never have one of those tasty little cakes again. Since then I have learned more about crabs and the idea of eating one (or any bottom dwelling sea animal) completely disgusts me, especially after living on the Chesapeake Bay and experiencing the pollution first-hand. Of course, that doesn't stop my search for the perfect vegan alternative. For the last few years I have been using a crab cake recipe created by a former co-worker's wife, but the recipe required Worthington scallops and a deep fryer which made it a little inconvenient. Last night I decided to try a version that is pan-fried and uses a more common ingredient list.

This recipe is the Chesapeake Tempeh Cakes from the PPK blog. It is a preview for Isa's new Vegan Brunch book and I decided to try it out tonight with the Citrusy Roasted Asparagus that Jae posted at Domestic Affair today. Both dishes came out amazing, well above par, and paired with iced tea made a perfect meal for a cool summer night.

How about a salad?

2009-05-29T15:33:00.006-04:00

Salads are one of my favorite things about the summertime so the other day when we got a big bag of locally grown, organic salad greens I knew it was time to start the summer salad experiments (technically, this is local salad number two of the summer, but I forgot to document the first one which was a tofu-bacon Caesar so I will attempt it again later in the summer.)

This salad starts with a mesclun mix (ours included arugula, frisée, beet greens and a few other things I couldn't identify) and then I added tomatoes, radishes, green onions, baked tofu, sliced almonds, croutons, sumac, and what was left of the Caesar salad dressing from last week. Yummy!!

Blood Money

2009-05-12T09:38:00.000-04:00

How about a little spinning? On Saturday I decided to spin up the Saint & Sinners blood money batt I bought at Wholly Craft last summer. I have to admit that spinning those pieces of paper into the yarn was such a pain that I only spun them into one of the plies. I also decided to felt the yarn a bit when setting it to assure that those little strips don't come flying out of the yarn.

Name: Blood Money
Weight: 1.6oz
Yardage: 70yds, 2-ply
Fiber Content: Colonial and handdyed humane wool from a shelter, shredded US currency, and a bit of sparkle (unlabeled but probably Angelina)

Code Pink cozy and the bike forum

2009-05-06T10:21:00.007-04:00

Last week I finished and mailed 13 squares for the White House fence cozy that Code Pink will be using in their mothers' day vigil for peace. I was really hoping that this could be more of a community project with the local knitters, but unfortunately I only know about four locals who ended up participating. In fairness, this was due to lack of organization and follow through on my part.

Yesterday was the mayor's bike task force public forum at the central library. For those of you who don't know, Lexington received a bronze rating from the League of American Bicyclists and is aiming for the platinum rating (of course we need to get the silver and gold first.) A lot has to happen to raise our community to the level of Portland, Boulder, and Davis, California, but if we keep the momentum from the last five years we can definitely do it. Below I pulled out what I thought were the good and bad points from the meeting yesterday. I should preface this by saying that I am a commuter and not a recreational cyclist so these are the goods and bads from my point of view. If you would like to form your own opinions you can listen to the entire forum on WRFL from 4-6pm today.

The Good

Liberty Rd & Maxwell St will get bike lanes this summer
City's complete street policy will take bike lanes into account during any street revamp
More share the road signs to be added to our city streets
More community bike programs and hopefully the availability of safety courses (I noticed three commuter courses during the month of May)
Bike trail from downtown to the horse park has been funded and will be completed by the WEG in 2010
On a state level, they are working to have highway shoulders swept more often which means few flat tires from debris and more share the road signs
There are some really passionate people working to make all of this happen

The Bad

City police are not stopping bicyclists who violate traffic laws (i.e. riding the wrong way in a bike lane, no lights at night) which makes the roads more dangerous for other cyclists, cars and pedestrians.
South Broadway is still not a high priority on the bike lane list which means I will be walking or taking the bus to downtown for quite awhile (there are a couple other arteries into downtown that are also not bike-friendly, but with the narrow lanes and careless traffic I think S. Broadway is one of the worst.)

Resources
Bike Lexington 2009- There are lots of bike-related activities this month
LexRides- Underground bike events, includes the bike polo schedule
Bluegrass Cycling Club- Group rides, education, advocacy
Lexington Yellow Bikes Program- a $10 registration fee will give you a lifetime of free bike check outs.
Wildcat Wheels- UK students, faculty, and staff can check out bikes for free. They also provide a bike shop to help you learn to make repairs to your own bike (while the bike shop is technically for University staff and students, they won't turn people away who want to learn to do repairs.)

Weekend wrap-up

2009-05-05T10:38:00.003-04:00

Busy busy weekend. Friday we went to a birthday dinner at Bella Notte and then had Rock Band at our place, Saturday was a birthday cookout, and Sunday was season 1 of Spaced then dinner and games with the in-laws. We drank way too much, slept way too little and had a blast.

Yesterday was supposed to be my relaxing day off, but it started with me discovering the electric company triple debited our bill again and an email from the landlord saying he hasn't recieved our rent check in the mail yet. Luckily, Philip came home in the middle of my freak out and he encouraged me to salvage my day by spending my afternoon thrift store shopping. After dropping off a second rent check I headed to Meadowthorpe where I hit Feather Your Nest, Goodwill and Pop's Resale. I didn't end up buying anything at the first few places, but it was nice to look around. I spent about an hour and a half at Pop's going through records before I finally decided on two Petula Clark albums and a Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood 45. After that I picked Philip up from work and I was in a way better mood. We decided to spend the afternoon watching the rest of Spaced and during that time the landlord called to tell me that he found my first rent check under a pile of mail which put me in a great mood.

Two new hats for Spring

2009-04-30T17:13:00.002-04:00

Here are the two hats I worked on during our time in Oregon.

The first is Strudel from Woolly Wormhead's Going Straight. You might remember me starting this hat several months ago for a knit-along and then losing the project in our move last summer. Well, I found it and decided it was time to finish it up. I rewrote the pattern a bit to better fit my head by removing one of the cable repeats and also shortening the open eyelet section. I realized on the last repeat that I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish the project so I also removed two of the short rows in the last section in order to have enough yarn to complete the cable repeat (otherwise the cables wouldn't line up when grafted.) I finished with just a tiny bit to spare so I was really happy.

Hat number two is the Spring Beret by Natalie Larson. A customer was knitting this hat before I left for Oregon and since it was a free Ravelry download I printed a copy out to take on vacation with the hopes of finding the perfect hand painted cotton to make it. I found some Kraemer Tatamy Tweed worsted in the perfect colorway at Soft Horizons Fiber in Eugene. I was a little apprehensive about using a cotton acrylic blend, but the sales lady assured me that it has a very nice hand. She was right, the yarn was perfect for the hat and wonderful to knit with. I bought two skiens just in case so I have an extra skein that I might make a matching pair of lacey armwarmers out of in the future. I originally made the slouchier version of the tam, but ended up ripping back and removing a pattern repeat to make it a better fit for my head. Even with the ripping back, the pattern is a fast and easy knit.

Worms!!!

2009-04-29T16:25:00.002-04:00

After years of talking about it, I finally set up a vermicompost bin in my house. I love worms and the idea of living with a few thousand of them in my basement makes me so giddy I can hardly stand it. Anyway, here are the pics of my wormy adventures today. Thanks to Raellyn for sharing her worms with me and helping me set up my bin.

Here is a closeup of my worms. They need some time to settle into their bedding so right now they are all huddled together in the middle of the bin under the paper. Having this many worms in one place totally freaked Philip out, it was kinda funny.

This is what the bin looks like in its finished state. I made the bedding out of shredded phone book pages, rings from toilet paper tubes, and some soil.

Tomorrow I get to start adding my food scraps to the pile which will really get things going. I am keeping the bin in the basement since it stays cool and dark year-round.

Something a little green

2009-04-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

After a week with Robert and Bambu and their amazing garden, Philip and I decided we wanted to grow more plants. Nothing to crazy, just enough greenery to lighten things up.

To keep things simple, I started with herbs for the kitchen. We have several seeds for herbs in the freezer so I went ahead and germinated the cilantro and basil (the herbs we use the most) and potted them on the kitchen window sill in the flower pots I painted last summer. I already have little sprouts peeking up out of the dirt and they have been getting bigger as the day goes on. Friday, I scored four more terracotta pots at the thrift store and I painted them red yesterday and filled with them with dirt and seeds (too impatient to germinate before planing this time) for chives and rosemary.

This weekend we are working with our neighbors to till up the front flower bed, two side beds, and the raised bed in the back. The plan is to fill the front bed with easy-care perennials, plant sunflowers and possibly some swiss chard and Brussels sprouts in the raised bed and whatever we want in each of our side beds. I already transplanted some mint from my dad's house in front of our porch which will be really nice for summer cooking and iced tea. Our neighbors also have an unused trellis that they said we can use. We really liked the clematis that covered Robert and Bambu's house so if we can find some we are going to place the trellis on the side of the porch and let the clematis vines crawl up it. While it probably won't provide us with much privacy in the first year, it should be big enough next summer to make a nice little wall, plus it will make the porch smell amazing.

The tricky part to this gardening adventure is that I want to do it on a budget of $25 (most of which will go toward the plants for the front bed that we are sharing with our neighbors.) So far we have spent about $6 on seeds and used pots. If we stay on budget and actually manage to make things grow we are going to add a garden gnome.

Oregon, a post about food and beer

2009-04-20T12:35:00.000-04:00

Philip and I are back from our trip to the Pacific Northwest. We had a great time in Oregon and I have been using the better half of this week to recover from all of the amazing food we ate. Here is a breif synopsis of the trip.

We left early for the airport on Tuesday so that we could stop by Ramsi's in Louisville for lunch with my dad. Philip and I split the vegan seitan parmesan panini and my dad and I shared a side of plantains and as usual the food was amazing (which was fortunate since the airport pickings were slim.) We flew into Portland and met up with our friend Amanda and her girlfriend Lisa around 10pm. They took us to the White Eagle Saloon (a McMenamins pub) for drinks and the best tater tots we've ever had. After that we were pretty much spent (plus it was after 3am our time) so we went to bed.

The next morning we stopped for coffee and caught the Amtrak to Eugene. Robert, Philip's brother, met us at the station and took us to the Morning Glory for a vegan brunch. I had the biscuits and gravy (actually they were out of biscuits and substituted dill rolls which really complimented the oniony gravy) and Philip ordered the taco salad.

The next few days were a blur, but they included eating giant pizzas at the Pizza Research Institute, micro brewed beer and root beer at the Steel Head Brewery, record and yarn shopping, lots and lots of walking, a great nacho adventure, and we saw wildlife including a bunch of snails, a nutria, and a deer (which is about as much nature as Philip and I can stand.)

Every morning, Philip and I would sneak out while Robert and Bambu were still sleeping and we would walk up the street for coffee and sometimes breakfast at the diner that was about six blocks from their house. We did this for a couple of reasons, first, Robert and Bambu only had a French press for coffee which didn't make anywhere near enough for Philip. Secondly, no matter how hard we tried we never really got used to the time difference so we were always up way earlier than our hosts and we didn't want to make too much noise. At the diner we could sit and talk and make plans for the day, plus it was really nice going for a walk in the mornings, it kinda reminded me of our trips to Fair Grounds on the weekends in Norfolk.

All of the places we visited in Eugene and Portland were fabulous except for one place, the Eugene City Brewery. We hit the Eugene City Brewery because they are the Rogue location in Eugene and we had some time to kill before the happy hour at another place. The brewery has over 35 beers on tap, yet they have no beer list. There is a small list of the featured beers, but other than that you are supposed to just tell the waitress the kind of beers you like and she will pick one or a selection out for you. Well, our waitresses choices were horrible and Philip felt too guilty to tell her so she kept bringing him things he didn't like.

After our week in Eugene we returned to Portland for a night of karaoke at the Alibi, a tiki bar we discovered on our last trip. We drank fruffy drinks with lots of fruit and umbrellas and Philip and Amanda sang a fabulous duet.

Back from Oregon

2009-04-17T19:18:00.002-04:00

We're back from Oregon. We had an amazing time, but I probably won't have time to write a good entry about the trip until Sunday or Monday. Instead I will leave you with the picture of the snoring guy on the Amtrak ride from Eugene to Portland. Enjoy, we did!!

Merkins and other triangular things

2009-04-04T08:47:00.015-04:00

The new issue of the Anticraft went up today and the theme is merkins! I have two merkin designs in this issue- Miss Mary Merkin and Be Prepared as well as two reviews and you can probably tell that Philip did the cover art for the issue.

I also finished the Flower Basket Shawl that I started over a year ago. It's not that this was a difficult pattern, I just had needle issues that really slowed me down. Actually, I recommend this pattern for any first time lace knitters; the directions were clear and easy to follow and the shawl can be made with any weight of yarn you choose. My version is the shawlette made with 1 skein of Malabrigo lace. I actually strayed from the pattern a bit by knitting it on a smaller gauge with more repeats. I was three yards short of finishing, but luckily I own a yarn shop and so I stole three yards from a skein (in a slightly different color) to finish the shawl (for those interested, the skein in question is marked down on the clearance shelf.) This is probably going to be my last project on lace weight yarn. I love the way the shawl looks, but it is way to light and dainty for my tastes. From now on, all lace shawls will be fingering or higher.

Now for my needle issues. I started the shawl on a pair of Addi Turbos, but they really weren't sharp enough to work the lace pattern with a lace weight yarn (had I used fingering weight this wouldn't have been an issue.) This was around the time when the Addi Lace needles came out so I decided to get a set of them in the size I needed. The Addi Lace offered the points I needed, but they came with a whole new set of problems. First, the Addi Lace are slower than the turbos. This is supposed to be a selling point since they offer more control over your stitches. Unfortunately, I didn't want or need that kind of control so the drag was an annoyance for me. The second problem I had with the lace needles (which has since been fixed by the company) is that I was one of the people who's hands had a chemical reaction with the brass needles causing the coating to wear off and the needles to start corroding and smelling really bad.

The weird smell was the breaking point for me so I switched needles again, this time to the Knit Picks Options which were supposedly what I needed, fast pointy needles. My needles took over 2 months to get to me due to USPS issues. When they finally arrived I put them together and transfered my stitches to the new needles and continued the shawl. Maybe because I had heard such good things and maybe because I had built them up so much, but I was really disappointed with the Options needles. I liked the speed and the sharp tips, but they came with a whole new set of issues. First, they felt cheap. It might be because I am so used to knitting with Addis, but I could really feel the difference in the quality. Second, the holes used for tightening the cords slightly snagged on the lace weight yarn which slowed down my knitting a bit (and one of the cords has a hole that was slightly off center which made it snag even more leaving that cord completely unusable.)

I am sending the Addi's back to Skacel for another pair (hurray lifetime warranty!!) and I am giving the Options needles to a friend who likes them. In the meantime I will just stick to knitting lace with fingering and higher yarns so that I can use my beloved Turbos. I think that I am still going to search for the perfect lace needles. I have my eye on a few other brands that I would like to try and if anyone has suggestions, I am totally open to trying them out.

Knitter's Survey

2009-03-26T16:47:00.005-04:00

Allison posted this on Facebook, but since I haven't blogged in a bit and my blog is connected to my Facebook I am just going to post it here.

How long have you been knitting? Technically since 1998, but I didn't start doing it hardcore until around 2003.

How did you learn to knit? Who taught you? I taught myself from a horrible booklet that contained lots of bad 80's sweaters.

Have you ever taught someone else to knit? I used to keep a tally of how many people I have taught to knit, but I got lazy in the early hundreds. If I had to guess I would say that I have taught about 200 people to knit.

What is your favorite project to knit? Hats. I love to knit them and I love to wear them.

What is your favorite fiber (cotton, wool, etc)? I have always been pretty partial to cottons, especially Blue Sky organic and Manos del Uruguay cotton stria.

What is your favorite yarn company? This is a tough one since I have several favorites depending on my mood and the season. Right now I am really into Noro sock yarns, but not for socks.

What colors do you like to work with? I tend to gravitate toward reds and oranges, but I am trying to move into a blue and green zone.

What needle size do you use most? US5 is my favorite size for most things.

Circulars or DPNs? DPNs for small circumferences and circulars for everything else.

Wood, bamboo, metal or plastic? Wood or Addi turbos. I love my turbos!!!

What tools are in your project bag? Stitch markers, scissors, measuring tape, point protectors, crochet hooks, safety pins, darning needles, a needle reference, corks from wine bottles, and a Virgin Mary pin.

What's on the needles right now? A pair of vintage socks, a lace shawl, and a cabled sideways hat (though it is MIA)

Do you knit mostly for yourself or others? About 50-50.

What's your favorite knitting book (pattern or otherwise)? I love Going Straight by Woolly Wormhead.

What is the weirdest thing you have ever knitted? I guess the Immaculate Heart of Mary or the tampons I knitted and crocheted for the tampon tree that never happened.

What is your dream project? I am not sure, but it is a sculptural project that is bigger than me. I'll let you know when I know.

What's your favorite finished object? My Abalone hat, I wear it all of the time. I also really like my chevron scarf made from two colorways of Mountain Colors' Bearfoot.

Do you listen to or read anything while knitting? I don't like to read while knitting because I have to stop to turn the pages, but I usually listen to music, NPR, or watch TV while knitting.

Have you ever sold something you knitted? I have done several commissioned jobs and I've sold a few non-commissioned items.

Have you done any of the following - spinning, dyeing, needle felting, hot water felting? All of the above. I love dyeing and spinning in the summertime when I am not in the mood to knit.

What is the maximum number of colors you have used in one project? I have no clue, but at least seven.

What other crafts are you into? I also like to crochet, sew, restore vintage furniture, and blend batts for spinning.

What have you learned from your knitting? I have learned not to get frustrated when I have to rip a project back and I've also learned to trust my measurements.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2009-03-17T12:20:00.007-04:00

So in honor of St. Patrick's Day I bring you last night's dinner, green chili. Okay, I know green chili isn't Irish, but neither am I and it seems a little weird to celebrate a country to which I have no connection.Anyway, the recipe came from Rhymes with Vegan, episode 3. For those of you who haven't yet seen this great online cooking show, I highly recommend it. You should also check out Meagan's blog which features 1-2 of her new recipes a week.

I also made three more tams (actually I made a fourth, but I haven't photographed it.) I am on a bit of a tam streak right now because they sell well, use up yarn that I need to get rid of, and are a project that I can work on anywhere. Since the shop has been low on tams for a few months, now seemed like a good time to replenish the supply. All of these and a few others are available at ReBelle.

Just in time for the warm weather

2009-03-15T12:17:00.003-04:00

The weather is supposed to start warming up tomorrow so naturally I decided to finish up my chunky cable mittens yesterday.

The pattern is the Bella's Mittens from the Subliminal Rabbit blog. I was really happy with this pattern, it was well written and easy to follow. I had to go down two needle sizes to get gauge (actually I should have gone down just one size, but my US7 dpns are bamboo and I hate bamboo knitting needles so I opted for my US6 birch needles instead.) I also added an extra cable repeat to the hand to make room for my ridiculously long fingers; I have to add an extra inch to any mitten patten I try. I am not a Twilight fan (I didn't really like the books and I didn't see the movie,) but I love these mittens. They are made so that they go up your arm almost to your elbows which makes them the perfect companion to my bell-sleeved coat.

Today must be a rainbow day

2009-03-12T12:25:00.007-04:00

I still haven't blocked my sweater, but I did finish a couple of other things so I will show those off. First, I made a dreadie sack to sell at the shop. The yarn is a hand dye that I created for another project and then changed my mind. I am trying really hard not to stash yarns so I decided to crochet the skein into a dreadie sack (I wanted something that could use the entire skein so I wasn't stck with a bunch of leftover.) If you have know me for any length of time you have probably seem me turn out hundreds of tams and dreadie sacks so this one isn't a lot different except that it has nice hand dyed color changes.

The next project is a headscarf that uses leftover sock yarn. I always end up with 25-40grams of sock yarn leftovers so I like to find ways to use them up. This headscarf uses about 30grams of sock yarn to make a 48" scarf and about 40grams to make the 60" version that I made and the great thing about the pattern is that you can just go until you run out of yarn. As long as you have at least 25grams to start with the scarf will be long enough to wrap your head and tie.

Sock Wave Head Scarf

Materials:
25-50grams sock yarn
US4 knitting needles
Tapestry needle

Gauge:
25st and 36 rows= 4"

Pattern:
CO 22st
Rows 1-4: Knit
Row 5: k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2
Row 6: k2, (k2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times, k2
Row 7: k2, purl to last 2 sts, k2
Row 8: knit

Repeat rows 5-8 until you reach the desired length or you only have 3 yards of yarn remaining.
Knit 3 rows.
Bind off.

Block scarf and weave in ends.

Sometimes it's great to be a Southerner

2009-03-03T13:28:00.004-05:00

I have been working a lot lately so I haven't had much blogging time (much less cooking and knitting time.) I finished up a few top secret projects this weekend that I will be allowed to write about in a few weeks and I finished the knitting on my February sweater (but it still needs to be blocked.) Since I don't have anything shiny and new to show off I will make this a cooking post about our yummy dinner last night.

I love tempeh and even though the tempeh monster often attacks new packages of tempeh before I can cook with them I still buy it with the hope that maybe I can prepare it before he attacks. I bought two packages on the last grocery trip and hid one in the depths of the fridge and miraculously it survived the attack. Last night I was in the mood for some Southern comfort food so I made the hot sauce glazed tempeh from Veganomicon and served it with mashed potatoes and mixed greens (collard, mustard and turnip greens.) The potatoes were made with a bit of Bryanna's homemade chicken-style broth powder to give them a little more flavor. I made a double batch of the broth powder around Thanksgiving as an alternative to the expensive faux chicken broth we were buying at the co-op and since then we have been throwing it in all kinds of stuff. As a general rule I like to keep things simple when it comes to greens so they were simply steamed and served with a bit of red wine vinegar, tamari, and nutritional yeast. The entire meal took about 25 minutes to prepare (not counting the marinating time) so it was a quick and easy meal, perfect for a busy evening.

WIP Wednesday Thursday

2009-02-19T13:13:00.003-05:00

Well, here's one of the two sweaters I promised you. This is my February sweater project that I am doing as part of a knitalong. The pattern is the top down wrap cardi from Knitting Pure and Simple with a few minor changes. The body and trim of the sweater is complete so all that is left are the sleeves and blocking it. The sweater knit up incredably fact considering that there are two front panels. The entire thing is scheduled to be complete by the end of next week, just in time for me to start my March sweater. My hope is to have both sweaters completed by the begining of April so I can wear them during our trip to Oregon.

My January sweater which was Jared Flood's Smokin' sweater has been unavailable for photographing due to regular wear by it's new owner. Hopefully I will be able to snap a few shots of it tonight so I can post it here and on my Ravelry project page.

In other knitting news I started working on my Malabrigo lace shawl again which is a sample for the shop. I started it sometime last Spring and became frustrated with the needles (Addi Lace, but that is a story for another time.) I put the project down after the Malabrigo mill fire since we sold out of the lace yarn and wouldn't be able to get more for at least 6 months. Long story short, we have had the lace yarn back in stock for a couple of months now so I decided it was time to finish the sample. I switched to a new set of needles and made it through one pattern repeat yesterday while watching Top Chef. I am now on the last pattern repeat so if I can stand to do one row a night it should be done early next month. That is all for now, I might have more updates tomorrow.

Nothing to see here

2009-02-17T10:24:00.004-05:00

Sorry about the lack of updates, the past week has been a little crazy. Philip and I both got the flu early last week, me a little worse than him, so I spent most of last week in bed. Then, we both got better for the weekend so we figured everything was good and we made plans for yesterday which was our first non-sick day off. Long story short, Philip acquired some kind of evil stomach virus yesterday and so he is home sick again while I am trying to take care of him without contracting his disease. Anyway, tomorrow I will post pictures of the finished Smokin' sweater and my progress on my wrap cardi and early next week I will have a new recipe to post.

Slaw

2009-02-03T11:51:00.000-05:00

I bought a Napa cabbage to make the shumai and I only needed 1.5 cups for the filling. For those of you who don't know, a Napa cabbage is about twice the size of a normal head of cabbage so I ended up with quite a bit of leftover cabbage. I have been trying really hard not to throw out so much food, especially produce, so I made it a mission to find a use for this cabbage. I am not much of a cabbage person, even with a mild cabbage like the Napa. After looking through tons of recipes that didn't appeal to me I decided to use it for the easiest thing I know, coleslaw. I love homemade coleslaw on sandwiches, veggie dogs, and even by itself. This slaw can be put together in about 10 minutes and it is perfect on some crusty bread with some baked tofu.

Napa Slaw

8-10 cups Napa cabbage, coarsely shredded
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1 cup Veganaise
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. oil oil
1 tsp. celery seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of black pepper

In a small bowl, mix the Veganaise, vinegar, sugar, celery seeds, salt, and black pepper. This will be your slaw dressing.

In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage and the shredded carrots. Slowly add in the slaw dressing until the cabbage is thinly coated but not two wet. The salt will bring out some of the water in the cabbage leaving you with a nice moist salad. Let the salad sit covered in the refrigerator at least an hour. Serve on a sandwich or by itself with a little fres ground pepper on top.

Ice, ice and more ice

2009-01-28T12:50:00.003-05:00

Today is a snowday (well, ice day) in the bluegrass. The ice started yesterday with freezing rains that just kept coming. By this morning, all the bushes and trees were so weighed down with the ice that limbs were snapping off left and right. I took Astrid out for a walk around 8am and a giant limb fell 3ft behind us and several others fell up the street within the short time we were outside. After that I decided that Astrid will have to just use the side yard today where there aren't any trees to attack us.

Since the University is closed today I decided we should also close the shop. This is the first time that we have closed a full day due to weather, but my guess is that the building is almost inaccessible due to the ice.

Above are the trees in front of our house. The branches and limbs are slowly bending downward toward the earth. Unfortunately, if we get too much more snow, many of these are going to snap under the weight.

This is a close up of the bush in front of our porch. I understand that ice is extremely destructive, but I can't help loving the way it forms around tiny twigs and blades of grass. It kinda stops time or at least slows it down.

The plus side to the bad weather is that it makes me stir crazy which makes me super productive around the house. This morning I finished two writing projects, dissected and snaked our bathroom drain which has been slow for several weeks, cleaned the kitchen, read a bit, and cooked up some vegan shumai for lunch.

The shumai is a recipe that I found on the Everyday Dish site and I was meaning to make it for Chinese New Year. I had all of the ingredients ready to go on Monday, but that was the day that Your Vegan Mom published the recipe for vegan macaroni and cheese bites which Philip and I just had to have that night so we nixed the Chinese New Year plans. I didn't take a picture, but the mac n' cheese bites looked just like the ones on her site so you can go there and check them out. Now back to the shumai. They were really easy to prepare, but very time consuming. One recipe probably makes around 80 shumai, but I just bought one thing of dumpling wrappers so 50 is what we got. I only cooked up the ones we could eat and I froze the rest of them (dumplings don't do well in the refrigerator) for use at a later date. Since I didn't photograph them last night I decided to cook up some of the frozen ones for lunch today. I was a little worried about how they would do after being frozen, but they were actually easier to cook in the frozen state and tasted as good as they did last night. My favorite thing about the recipe was the bulger wheat and the great flavor and texture it brings to the filling. I have never cooked bulger before and I never realized how versitile it is. I will definitely be stocking up on my next trip to the co-op.

Update blah blah blah

2009-01-27T10:16:00.003-05:00

The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind, but things are finally slowing down again. Last Monday was my birthday so to celebrate we went to the karaoke bar with a few friends. It was fun, but very strange and a little creepy. I will say this, that bar certainly has some interesting regulars.

The next day Philip and I were both off work so that was the day we actually celebrated my birthday. We went out for coffee at Third Street where we got to see (well, mostly hear) Obama's inauguration address. I know all of the experts are saying that his speech wasn't memorable, but we both felt that it was incredibly inspirational. Our only hope was that people really hear his message about banding together and working hard to get though these rough times. I liked his example of workers taking pay cuts and fewer hours in order to assure that others won't have to be laid off. Philip's work place has implemented this practice which I found very impressive, unfortunately he says that many of his co-workers are complaining about not getting overtime anymore. It really makes me wonder if our society is capable of working together for a greater good that requires personal sacrifice.

Anyway, after coffee we headed out to do my birthday shopping. I decided to spend most of my birthday money and gift cards on stuff for the kitchen. I have been cooking more and more lately and there are a few items that I don't have that will make my life easier. When it comes to kitchen accessories, I am a bit of a minimalist. I don't like a lot of gadgets sitting around that I won't use. I made a list of what I wanted to get and I was successful in coming home with sweatshop-free versions of all but one item which I will just have to find at Goodwill instead. I also bought a few clothing items (as did Philip) and then we finished the day out at PF Changs which was pretty empty due to the snow. We tried to go see Quantum of Solice, but we missed the show and decided to go home instead of waiting around for the next showtime. We grabbed a couple of movies on the way home, the Happening and Eastern Promises. The Happening was okay, but I really liked Eastern Promises (even though I did a lot of yelling at the main character.) After the movies we watched as much of the inauguration balls as we could before we finally went to sleep.

I had lunch with my mom on Wednesday and then the rest of the week was a bit of a blur of work and classes. The shop has been fairly busy and Sarah and I are getting everything ready for our annual Superbowl sale this Saturday and Sunday. This year's sale will be the biggest one yet so we are really excited. I have also been spinning a bit at the shop. I got my Sit and Spin dvd in the mail right before my birthday and I have been practicing various techniques. I mastered the thick and thin, but I seem to be struggling with the coils. I have lots of practice fiber so I will just keep going until I get it.

99 things meme

2009-01-18T17:31:00.002-05:00

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child. Maybe
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. I don't really care about the falls, but the kitch would be fab
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted. by some lady in the mall, from a picture...
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood. Only once, my blood is no good.
65. Gone sky diving. Lately I have had the urge to jump out of a plane so maybe.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible. I was a religious studies major so I have read several religious texts start to finish.
86. Visited the White House. If protesting out front counts.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. :(
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee. My dad used to raise bees so I have been stung a lot.

New goals

2009-01-16T14:09:00.001-05:00

I want to knit 12 sweaters (one per month) and read 52 books in 2009. Can I do it? I guess we will see soon enough.

Smokin'

2009-01-08T17:18:00.004-05:00

I don't have a lot to share since I have been fairly lazy since the year turned. My house is a mess, laundry is dirty, no resolutions have been attempted, but I have been knitting on Philip's sweater. I am making him the Smokin' Jacket by Jared Flood from the Son of Stitch 'n Bitch
book. This sweater is an attempt to keep him from borrowing one of my sweaters when he goes outside to smoke.
As you can see, I have made quite a bit of progress for such a short time, but don't be deceived. I am knitting the sweater using two strands of worsted held together on size 10.5 needles so it's really hard not to make quick progress on this sweater. There is still quite a bit of knitting to be done including the saddle shoulders, the button bands and cowl neck, and the pockets. My goal is to finish by the end of January so I will be ready to start the wrap cardi KAL at the shop.

Happy New Years!!

2009-01-01T09:50:00.002-05:00

Well it's time again for the annual New Year's resolutions post. After looking at my resolutions from last year to see how I did I feel pretty motivated to do as well this year. I achieved all of my goals from last year (well, number 6 is a little sketchy, but I was definitely more social than the previous year so I am going to count it.)

1. Consume Less- I bet this one is a big surprise after looking at my 2006, 2007, and 2008 resolutions, but I think that this is an important one for me. This year I am going to focus on yarn and craft supplies. My biggest problem, like most crafters, is stashing materials for later. I pledge this year to only buy what I need when I need it and to actually get use out of it. I love the experience of buying yarn and I have no intention of giving that up. What I do intend to do is to only buy yarn when I am ready to start a project. I hate the idea that a beautiful yarn is oohed and aahhed over when it is being bought and taken home and then it goes to live in a closet or a storage bin until the purchaser is ready to either purge it or in a best case scenario, knit with it. Let's face it, knitting with stash yarn is nowhere near as fun as knitting with new yarn so here are a few ideas that I am going to implement to avoid the stash. First, I am only going to buy yarn when I am ready to use it. No more buying sweater quantities of yarn for sweaters that I might not make until the year 2015. Second, I am going to keep a list of top projects that use a variety of yarn weights in my wallet with the specifics on the gauge and yarn amounts so if I am visiting an LYS away from home and I find a yarn that I want to use for something I will have project ideas and details with me so that I am sure to get the right amount. Finally, I am going to look for ways to combine my stash yarns with new yarns in projects to make them new and exciting.

2. Keep up with cleaning and household chores- Moving into a smaller place has made it easier to keep the house fairly clean, but I would really like to continue and improve on this into the new year.

3. Keep up with my etsy store- I have a bunch of new stuff to put up on etsy, but I really need to rework my shop and take pictures of everything. That is my big goal for January. I really want to go to Yarn School again in the fall and I am planning on using my etsy money to go which means my shop needs to be up and running asap. My goal is to post 5-10 new items a week.

4. Mission kitchen organization- This is a two-part goal. The first part is organizing my spices which I started doing a few months ago. I am transferring all of my spices into uniform spice jars and creating custom labels for all of them. Since I only buy the jars 1-2 at a time it is probably going to take me all year to accomplish this. The second part of my kitchen goal is to create a recipe box to organize and hold all of my loose recipes. Right now I have a binder and it is a mess. I would prefer something smaller that can sit on the shelf over the stove and cards that can clip onto the cabinet over the kitchen counter.

5. Eat better- This is the resolution that Philip set for both of us for the new year. Over the past year we started eating certain foods that we really shouldn't have. Even worse, as my schedule got busier we started eating more and more fast foods. The problem with bad foods is that they creep in one by one until you notice that they have taken over your life. We are putting a stop to it and going completely cold turkey for the new year.

Good Riddance to 2008

2008-12-31T19:35:00.000-05:00

While a few great things came out of 2008, like a new apartment I love and the opportunity to quit my job, overall the year was pretty crappy for me. Philip called the year two-thousand and hate because that is what the universe seemed to do. There are only four and a half hours left of this horrible year and we are going to spend that time partying the year out with some close friends. Tomorrow is the start of 2009, the best year ever (or at least that is what our new calendar says and I am inclined to believe it.) Here's hoping that you and yours have a very happy new year!!

My new painting

2008-12-29T09:29:00.004-05:00

Here is the painting, well part of it, that my uncle gave me for Christmas. It was painted in Korea in 1960 from two photographs that he took with him. We still haven't decided where to hang it, but I am leaning toward the tiki room.

Christmas knitting and more

2008-12-26T11:49:00.007-05:00

Since all of my knitted gifts have gone to their recipients I can finally reveal what I made this season. All of the details and more pictures are on my ravelry project page so I will let the knitters go there and spare all of the non-knitters. These are in no particular order.

For my sister-in-law, Bambu, I made a modified version of the Swiss Cheese scarf. Doesn't it look lovely over my new sweater? I love the way this came out with the great Noro color changes.

For my father-in-law I remade the Coronet hat that I made him a few years ago. He lost the first hat and really wanted another one so I made it again, but this time with matching fingerless mitts.

For my sister I made some fuzzy slippers to keep her icy feet warm in the winter. I love my Fiber Trends clogs so I have made these as gifts for many family members.

For my mother-in-law I made legwarmers from Sarah's 20-20 legwarmer pattern. I like these so much I decided to make a matching calorimetry-style headband to go with them.

I was going to get my dad some fancy wood for Christmas, but he came into the shop last week and he was talking about the neckwarmer he bought last year and lost. He really wanted another one so I made him pick out the yarn he liked before he left and I made him a new one. My plan was to make him two, but since I didn't measure his neck I wasn't sure if the first one would fit the way he wanted. It did fit so I have started the second one using a sailor's rib which he will receive sometime next week.

I made some other non-knitted items, but since they haven't all been given away I will have to save them for another day.

We had a terrific Christmas. After the shop closed on Christmas eve, Philip and I headed over to my sister's house in Georgetown for my family's annual Christmas eve dinner and gift opening. This year my sister invited Philip's parents along so it was my dad, my sister, my sister's husband Greg, and Philip's parents. My sister put together stockings for everyone and we opened gifts. My dad got me the giant steamer that I wanted for making seitan and huge batches of tamales. He also made me a two-toned, hand-turned ornament that went on the tree as soon as I got home. My sister made me reusable heat packs that Philip and I put to use as soon as we got home that night and they were fantastic. When we got home Philip thought we should each open a present. I noticed that he peaked into one of his packages (he totally messed the tape up) so I let him open that one. He gave me one of my stocking stuffers which was Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano's Dream Hunters which I managed to read in two days and I loved it. Not only was it beautifully written, but the illustrations were amazing. It was based on a Japanese fable about a monk and a fox, but it also incorporates the Sandman character from the earlier series.

Christmas day Philip had to work so we had lunch together (by lunch together I mean Philip came home on his lunch break and wrapped presents in the dining room while I stayed in the living room and out of sight of the gifts and we talked back and forth.) After "lunch" my dad picked me up and we went to visit my Uncle Bud and Aunt Cathy with my sister and her husband. My Aunt Cathy really went all out for Christmas by making Philip and I an afghan, two kitchen towels, a set of coasters, and a bookmark. I was completely blown away by her love and gernerosity. Then, my uncle who is pretty much confined to the house at this point gave my sister and I each a painting he had done of my grandparents in Korea in 1960. I almost cried because I knew how much these paintings meant to him and to have him hand them over to us was such a touching gesture. The painting I chose is really cool and I will be posting it here in the next couple of days, as soon as Philip and I decide where to hang it.

After visiting my uncle my dad dropped me back at home. I had a few hours until Christmas with the Castlens so I decided to watch some Christmas movies and finish wrapping our presents. The Christmas movie idea went out the window when I discovered that Spike was having a Bondathon. I watched the end of From Russia with Love and the beginning of Goldfinger while wrapping the last few gifts. Then Philip came home and we did our little Christmas and opened our presents. I didn't make Philip anything this year, mainly because I am starting the sweater he requested in early January. He refused to make a wishlist so I was flying blind this season, luckily I found a few things he would really like and a few silly things to go in his stocking. He completely ignored my wishlist and ended up getting me some really fabulous stuff. I got a few books including the Found book which I have been eyeing for months and My Secret: A PostSecret Book. He also got me a new glass head, a keyboard stand, and a stocking full of Luna bars and Kinder Surprise eggs.

After present opening, we loaded up Astrid and headed over to Philip's parent's house to do our Christmas with them and his grandmother. Sally made a spread of finger foods to tie us over until dinner (which was good since we really didn't eat before that.) We opened our gifts which included a heated mattress pad and a share of the co-op. Philip also got several graphic novels that he was wanting and I got a knitting book, a set of large Denise tips, and a set of Raellyn's fabulous stitch markers with the ABC's for making Cat Bordhi's socks. After opening all of the gifts and spending some time enjoying our new stuff, we picked up my dad and went out to Christmas dinner at Asian Wind which is a tradition in Philip's family. After dinner, Philip and I headed home. We put the new heated mattress pad on the bed and warmed it up before snuggling into bed to read for awhile.

I got to sleep in until 9am this morning since Astrid spent the night with Bruce and Sally. It is always a little sad when she is gone in the morning, but it sure is nice to sleep in. I am writing this entry between customers at the shop since we are having some friends over tonight for a game night and there will be no time for blogging later. Tomorrow we do Christmas with my mom which is the last of the Christmas celebrations for this year. On Sunday, both Philip and I have the day off so we are planning to take a morning trip to the coffee shop and then we are going to the Morris Book Shop to spend our Christmas cash. Hopefully it will be a relaxing end to a busy busy season.

More snow

2008-12-16T10:23:00.004-05:00

This has been a crazy morning. I woke up to Philip's cold hands letting me know that was cold and snowy outside. I tried to warm him up a bit before he headed out to face the great wintry unknown. Then, I went back to sleep for about an hour until Astrid let me know that she was ready to go on her walk. I decided that the weather warranted my warm winter coat so I pulled it out from inside the bed and I put it on with all of my fabulously warm hand knitted accessories. On the way out of the house, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a $10 bill that I must have let in there last winter (probably from the sled day last Spring.) Ten dollars richer, Astrid and I proceeded on our walk. Astrid has mixed feelings about the snow, sometimes she does her business and heads back inside and other times she hops around and explores like a little child. Today was the latter so we ended up going on two walks so that she could get the maximum amount of snow fun in before I left her to her daily napping duties.

Kentuckians aren't equipped to deal with a lot of ice and snow so in general when there is a snowfall a lot of government and city services shut down or go on alternate plans. Lextran was one of those services. Evidently, if your bus stop doesn't have a snowflake the bus won't pick you up. There is no list that I could find of the stops with snowflakes so I just headed to my stop and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, my stop did not have a snowflake so I had to trek to the next stop. Luckily the bus was a little late so I made it there in plenty of time. I also discovered that the stop I get of at by the shop doesn't have a snowflake either, but the driver was super nice and let me off there anyway. Now I am at the shop, which is completely dead and I am playing contraband Christmas music while I work on Christmas presents.

If I ever find Jesus...

2008-12-14T15:51:00.003-05:00

Last night we were dogsitting at Philip's parent's house so instead of sitting around the house and watching TV all morning we decided to go to Third Street Cafe for some coffee while we worked on Christmas presents. While we were there this song came on the radio and I just thought I would share.

Some knitting content, finally

2008-12-12T11:58:00.003-05:00

Most of my knitting lately has been Christmas related so I haven't had anything to post, but with the shop's extended holiday hours I managed to get in a few non-holiday knitting projects.

The first is a Calorimetry for the shop. It is made out of d've Autunno which is a beautiful yarn that just doesn't seem to sell very well. Sarah and I have no notion to discontinue this yarn so I decided to knit up some samples so that people could see how truly great it really is.

The second and third projects are both Abalone hats made from Autunno. Philip's hat is a green and blue colorway and my hat was made using a two row stripe of the green and blue colorway and a two row stripe of the magenta and green colorway. This is Sarah's favorite technique to use with Noro yarns so I knew that it would look great with the Autunno. The best part about both of these hats is that the color changes line up perfectly at the grafting line so they look completely seemless.

Finally, I finished my hempwol sweater quite a while ago and never posted. It is a top down raglan of my own design. It took me a few tries to get the sleeves and the bottom to my liking, but now it is done and it fits like a glove. I wore it into the shop the other day and it kept me comfortably warm through the snow and the insane heat of our backroom. The yarn is Hemp for Knitting's hempwol and I have to say that it is the perfect weight and warmth for Kentucky. Plus, this sweater only took me 5 balls which is amazing since I am not a small girl. I am planning another raglan out of the same yarn, but since it is third in my sweater queue it will be a little while.

If you are interested in any of my finished Christmas knitting projects, they are now up on my Ravelry project page.

A Christmas meme

2008-12-09T17:54:00.005-05:00

I saw this meme on Jess's blog and I couldn't resist. I used to really hate Christmastime, but as I get older and more settled I love the season more and more. I am even starting to like the cold weather a little.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
The wrapping is the one thing I really don't like about the holiday season. I have a stash of wrapping paper that I have been using up slowly, but other than that I have been trying to find new and interesting ways to package gifts. This year Philip and I are collaborating on a special wrapping for our families. It is top secret so I will reveal after the holidays.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
We have a small fake tree which is perfect for us. My dad would always get live trees with their roots in tact and replant after the holidays, but I can't commit to something like that and the idea of throwing away a live tree after the holidays makes me a little sad.

3. Why are you willing to answer these questions?
It's more fun than doing laundry.

4. When do you take the tree down?
As early in January as possible.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I don't drink the real stuff, but I love Silknog. Unfortunately, our Krogers keeps selling out of it before we can get any. This has been a hot cider year.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
It was my first Barbie. I remember all of my friends had Barbies way before me and when there was finally one for me under the tree I was ecstatic.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
That would be my Grandpa.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Probably Philip, I usually have several ideas before the holidays roll around.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
~~No, we just started decorating last year and I think that it will be quite sometime before we are hardcore nativity people.~~ After decorating last night we discovered a Jesus, a Mary, a Joseph, and an angel made by my grandmother so I guess we technically have a nativity scene.

10. Do you send your card by mail or e-mail?
I don't do Christmas cards at all.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Last year I got some horribly stinky perfume that went straight to Goodwill. I always get duds from my extended family because they don't really know me. No worries, it's the thought that counts and I bet someone who went to that Goodwill really liked it.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I really like White Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I am not sure that I have a time when I start. I don't do a lot of holiday shopping so probably pretty late.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Lots of times. I figure regifting gets me out of shopping which is a gift in and of itself.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My dad makes potato candy every year and it always reminds me of childhood.

16. Lights on the tree?
Of course.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Here Comes Fatty Claus which Sarah won't let me play in the store

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Stay home!! Even when we lived in Virginia we wouldn't travel until after the holidays.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’s?
Yepper depper

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
We don't have an angel or a star, but I would prefer a star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Both. I come from a broken family so that combined with Philip's family means that we celebrate Christmas several times.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Definitely the traffic. I had to go to Hamburg today to pick up some organic tea towels and it was a nightmare. I generally avoid shopping centers and chain stores from Thanksgiving until MLK's birthday.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
White glittery things and snowflakes.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
We change it up every year.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
My list is here. I really don't want anything too terribly exciting, but there are some kitchen things that I need.

Christmas List

2008-11-29T20:28:00.003-05:00

Even though it is not even December yet there have been a lot of requests between mine and Philip's families for Christmas ideas. Here is what I came up with in addition to my Amazon wishlist and my wishlist at ReBelle. Additionally, everything on last years' list minus the handcards and the skein winder still apply. As usual, new or used is fine and I would prefer you buy me smaller gifts from local merchants than larger gifts from chain stores and online retailers.

Steamer- There is a two layered steaming pan by the checkout at Yu-yu Asian market that I have wanted for months. It is around $30 and looks like the one in this video (and can be seen in the background of the still shot.) Right now I use a steaming basket that is far too small for my needs.

~~Queen sized heated mattress pad- If you want to get something for Philip and I to share, this is the gift. We keep talking about it and it sounds like pure heaven.~~

Ride passes for LexTran- Not really fun, but since I ride the bus regularly this would be a super practical gift. A 20 ride card is $15 and it never expires.

~~Share of the Good Foods Co-op- All or part of a co-op share would be an awesome gift.~~

Gift card to Lasting Legacy- No I am not taking up the hobby that I find most vile, but I do want some stamps and that is the only locally-owned place I can think to get them. Gift cards ranging from $5-25 would be perfect.

Anything handmade- I love it when people make gifts for me so if you want to avoid the shopping madness you can always stay at home and make me something pretty.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T08:59:00.001-05:00

Since moving back to Lexington, Philip and I have made hosting a vegan Thanksgiving dinner an annual tradition. This year marks Thanksgiving number four and I must admit that they get a little easier every year. For dinner we decided to go traditional with a few non-traditional additions; it was an ultra carbohydrate fest. Sadly, I was to busy cooking and greeting everyone that I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. Hopefully someone will send me a few that I can add later.

Here's the menu...
Tofurkey with cranberry glaze (made by Philip's mom)
Green Been Casserole
Cornbread Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Mushroom Gravy
Best of Both Worlds Potatoes Anna
Garlicky Brussel Sprout Saute
Cranberry Sauce with Mandarin Oranges and Walnuts
Amazing Spiced Bread (made by Philip's aunt)
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Spiced Apple Cider

I didn't get too daring this year except for the brussel sprouts. For the past couple of years I have been trying to make friends with this vegetable that I have always hated. Honestly, I haven't been trying very hard, but when you can't stand the taste of something it is hard to make yourself buy it at the market. After shredding and sauteing the sprouts yesterday I ended up with a vegetable that I didn't absolutely hate (though I didn't love it either.) My next step will be the roasted brussel sprouts that people are always raving about.

The tofurkey was prepared by Philip's mom because I have Tofurkey issues. Philip loves the Tofurkey roast so my goal for the next year is to find a substitute for the Tofurkey that Philip will like as much or more. There are several recipes that I would like to try as well as a few commercial roasts such as the Garden Protein stuffed veggie turkey breasts. Over the course of the next year, the fourth Friday of each month will be the day when we try a new turkey substitute and the best one will be the one we serve at Thanksgiving, even if it is a Tofurkey. Game on!!

The contenders:
Bryanna's Seitan Turkey
Seitan Rolade with Braised Leeks from Vegan Menu
Seitan Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing from Vegan Yum Yum
Vegan Turkey Roast from Everyday Dish
The Great Glutan Turkey by Miyoko Nishimoto
Seitan Roast with Orange Cranberry Glaze from Your Vegan Mom

Gingery Butternut Soup

2008-11-18T08:22:00.007-05:00

The past few days have been dark, cold and wet. The newspaper calls this weather cranky, but I call it soup weather. These are the perfect days to curl up with a nice hot bowl of soup so after an afternoon of walking around in the bitter weather I decided to make a pot of soup. I had a butternut squash and my goal was to make the soup using only the ingredients that we had on hand since I didn't want to go out to the grocery store. This was my first time cooking butternut squash so I was really surprised at how well this came out. I will definitely be making this soup again.

Gingery Butternut Soup

1 medium butternut squash
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2-3/4" ginger root, grated*
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
salt and pepper to taste
oil for sauteing
1 Tbsp fresh chives (optional)
soy yogurt or vegan sour cream

Peel and cube the butternut squash. In a stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions in oil until they start to turn translucent. Add the squash, ginger, garlic, and cardamon to the pot and continue sauteing for 3-4 minutes. Add the vegetable broth and lower the heat to medium low. Let soup simmer for 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup to a nice smooth consistency and add the salt and pepper according to your taste. Serve with a dollop of soy yogurt or vegan sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh chives. Makes 6-8 servings.

*I made my soup very gingery, but I realize that it might be too much for some people so use less ginger if you aren't a huge fan.

Back to reality

2008-11-14T11:10:00.006-05:00

Today marks the official end of our vacation, Philip and I both returned to work today. It is a little sad since it also means that Robert and Bambu are heading back to Oregon this afternoon, but it is also a bit of a relief since we will finally get a chance to get some much needed rest. Yesterday was Philip's birthday which we started celebrating on Wednesday and ended when Philip started feeling ill yesterday afternoon. We ended up spending the rest of the evening watching movies with Robert, Bambu, and Shaun so it was really kinda fun. Tonight the big plan is to make a Greek feast and hang out at the house watching Friday the 13th movies. Philip wants to avoid people this weekend so we plan to stay in and enjoy each others company. The house is clean so nothing should distract us from relaxing.

My big plan for this weekend is to get some of the consignment I planned for the holidays finished so that I can focus my energies on my Christmas presents. Originally, I planned to have my etsy shop back up and running by this time, but it's not so I am just going to put a few things on etsy and everything else will go to ReBelle for the holidays. Last week I added some monster dpn holders to the shop and I have some cute rings made from vintage buttons that should be in the shop by early next week. I will post pictures of some of the stuff near the end of the weekend.

Nothing exciting, just an update

2008-11-09T07:11:00.003-05:00

The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind. First, Philip and I spent three days getting all of the stuff done around the house that we had been putting off since we moved in. We decided that November 4th, the day that his brother Robert and sister-in-law Bambu flew in, would be our goal date for getting all of this done and of course we waited until the last minute. Procrastination or not, the apartment looks really good now and we were done by the time they flew in on Tuesday. We hadn't seen Robert and Bambu since their wedding a year and a half ago so we have been looking forward to this visit for a couple of months now.

The past few days were filled will family activities, hanging out, playing Rock Band and lots of drinking which was really fun. Yesterday Robert and Bambu left to visit some friends in Ohio for a couple of days so last night was Philip and my's first night alone. We were planning to go to the Dressy Bessy show at Al's bar, but when I got home from work Philip was really wanting to stay in for the night. Since I was a little tired from work and all the socializing this week I eventually caved, but on the condition that we go out and get something for dinner so I didn't have to do the dishes. He agreed and we went to Ali Baba, the Mediterranean grocer on Southland Dr, and picked up a ton of premade food for dinner. We got hummus, a pound of olives, pita, dolmas, falafel, and a kinder surprise egg all for under $15. We also found several other items that we would like to try at a later date and we discovered that they sell vegan jello. When we got home we put everything in fancy dishes and created a beautiful spread to eat from. It was amazing and we have tons of leftovers to snack on this week. After dinner we curled up on the sofa and watched Friday the 13th, part 4 (we have a tradition of watching a series of horror movies every year around Halloween and this year's theme is Friday the 13th) while we picked out all of the inconsistencies in the series. After the movie we curled into bed with lots of blankets and fell asleep before 10:30pm, it was really a perfect night.

This coming week is going to be more craziness with a possible day trip to Louisville, two birthday celebrations, a game night with some friends, and more family time so I am really glad that we took last night off. Plus, Philip had to work today (the only day he couldn't get as vacation) so if we went to the show he would have been dead tired and probably hung over this morning. I am off to do some shop projects before I go in at noon. If anyone wants to come in and knit with me this afternoon I would love the company; yesterday was insanely busy so I expect today to be a little slow.

A rant

2008-11-06T10:36:00.004-05:00

First, I want to express how excited I am to finally have a president coming into the White House that the rest of the world can respect. In these turbulent times, we as Americans really need to work on our international perception and I think that Obama is the man who can make that happen. I also want to remind everyone that one man is not going to make all of our problems go away, we need to pull together as Americans and start working toward a brighter future. We can't sit on our asses and expect someone to do it for us. One of my favorite things about Obama is his emphasis on community service. Building strong communities will ultimately result in a stronger country. There is no reason that anyone in this country shouldn't be volunteering at least a little of their time working on community building activies whether they are organized or not. Take some time out and make the world a more beautiful place, a place where you want to live. Imagine what would happen if every American spent one hour a week volunteering in their communities, that would be over 15 billion hours spent making this country a better place.

In addition to community service, I really think that we as a people need to spend a little more time thinking about how and where we spend our money. Spending our money in local small businesses instead of national chains keeps more of our money in our communities, which helps to build stronger communities. One of my New Years Resolutions for the past few years is to buy more locally. Every year, a larger percentage of my purchases come from local retailers which means more of my money is staying in my community. Last Christmas Philip and I managed to buy 100% of our Chrismas gifts from local small businesses, a first for us. This summer 95% of our produce came from the farmers' market which was a substantial improvement on previous years.

Finally, buy American or sweatshop-free whenever possible. Buying American supports American communities and American jobs and buying sweatshop-free protects foreign workers from being exploited just so we can have cheap crap. In the current environment of big box retailers and everything $1 stores it can be a little harder to make responible decisions, both monetarily and in regards to availability, but there are options out there if you just look. This is definately the thing that I struggle with the most. In the last year most of my shoe and clothing purchases have been sweatshop-free, but I still have trouble finding things like jeans and bras that aren't from big box stores and aren't made in third world countries.

Sweet sammie goodness

2008-11-04T13:09:00.005-05:00

Last week I posted about making the chicken-style seitan cutlets and using them to make a batch of hot wings. We had seven large cutlets left after the hot wing experiment as well as a few hoogie buns from a meatball sub experiment so I decided to try a little pan frying. For this recipe I simply mixed a little flour, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and cajun seasoning in a bowl and coated two cutlets with the mixture. Then I pan fried them over medium heat for about five minutes, or until they were brown and a little crispy. I served them on hoagie buns with Veganaise, Roma tomatoes, and the fridge pickles that I made when it was cucumber season.

The verdict: Although the cutlets were a little big for the buns, the flavor and texture were amazing. Since this experiment we have almost used up all of the cutlets for sandwiches.

In election news, after talking to my dad on the phone this morning I am incredibly optimistic about this election. My dad rocks!!!

The polls are open

2008-11-04T06:33:00.000-05:00

Get off your ass and vote!!

Music to make you forget

2008-11-03T12:39:00.004-05:00

I am totally stealing this idea from my fried Colleen who is making a five song mix tape everyday. I won't be posting mixes anywhere near that often, but today seemed like a good day to post one since the impeding election has me terrified about the future of this country. This is a mix of upbeat 1960's French pop songs to make life seem simple and fun, at least for the 15 minutes you are listening. Enjoy.