5 minutes to dash out the door delicious dinner

I realized very, very shortly before I had to leave for a meeting this morning that I was going to be gone all day and I didn't want to have to leave the park early just to cook dinner. This is when the slow cooker is supposed to shine, right? Excpet that it was very, very shortly as in ten minutes or less.

At least the roast was defrosted, but I had neither the onion soup mix or the can of cream of mushroom soup that my successful roast recipe called for. It basically came down to deciding I would just order pizza or forge out on my own. Here's what I came up with:

1 roast labeled "for slow cooking" (or other cut of meat)

2 cups of beef broth (made from beef bouillion cube)

1 teaspoon oregno

1 teaspoon thyme (I used a few sprigs of fresh 'cause that's all I had)

2 bay leaves (go figure - I've got bay leaves, but no Thyme?)

3 tablespoons worcester sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar (apple cider vinegar would likely work just as well or red wine)

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 onion cut into pieces

a bunch of carrots (I used baby carrots, but chopped grown up carrots would work)

4 potatoes (add a couple more if you have them)

Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours (probably would be okay to do high for 4 hours)

I used the extra sauce to make a gravy thickened with cornstarch. It was fine but I don't recommend it. I think next time I'll try flour and butter to thicken.

I don't like beef generally - but I loved this meal! I even liked the carrots and I really, really don't like cooked carrots. More importantly - both the 4 and 7 year old liked it. The 4yo even asked for more, which is (you'll have to trust me on this) amazing.

Here are a few pics of the Ulmus being blocked. (not the day I'd pledged to do it, but shortly after that) Much to my surprise, it grew as much as

I'd hoped - happy dance. It's even cold enough that I really need it. Now I just have to figure out how to wear it! Pics of it in action are coming.

FO

Months ago, I launched into the Ulmus with vain hopes of having it done early in the summer to use as a light wrap. It certainly would have gotten plenty of use. But it just took a whole lot longer than I anticipated. In the time it's taken me to finish the one, others have made two or three. I can only dream of being that speedy.

But done it is - except for blocking, which I pledge to do tomorrow. I hope blocking will make it bigger since even though I did the big size, it seems a tad tiny. I love this pattern. It's challenging enough to be interesting without being overwhelming. The only hard part, as with all shawls of this style, is that you are constantly adding stitches so the rows get longer and longer. It goes really fast at first and then slows to a crawl.

The yarns are hand dyed bought in CT. Because the turquoise has some purple and the purple has some turquoise, they sort of blended together rather than having distinctive stripes. It creates sort of an impressionistic painting feel that I really like. I think I'd like the end stripe to be a little narrower but with 300 and some stitches on the needles, I didn't mind enough to redo it.

Now, it's time to start knitting for Christmas if I'm going to, I suppose!

Sometimes I get bored

I have a confession: Sometimes, I get bored at the playground. There's only so much swinging I can take. I don't mind a trip or two down the slide, but sooner or later the little ones are off playing a no-adults allowed game and I'm left twiddling my thumbs. So, that's why I brought the camera. It was great until they got tired of me following them around.

slow cook recipe worth trying

Finally, I found a slow cooker recipe that doesn't require a lot of pre cooking! It truly is one of those just throw it in the pot sorts. It calls for peanut butter and in my book anything that calls for peanut butter is probably good.
http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenrecipe1/r/cppeanutchicken.htm
I didn't have salsa on hand so I subbed a can of tomato sauce, tomatos and onion. I also added extra peanut butter because I really like peanut butter.

I thought this was a great recipe and DH liked it too. I think dd 15 would have liked it but she isn't home for dinner. DDs 4 and 7 were not at all keen on it and chose to eat celery and peanut butter as a main course instead. DS who has been coming home super hungry from football wouldn't even try it. I'm trying not to take that personally.

Fall in New England

School has started and the trees are starting to think about putting their annual show, which means it is time for apples - lots and lots of apples.

As we forked over the bucks for an empty bag into which we put said apples, I had visions of Tom Sawyer and the white washing of the fence. "We're buying memories," says DH. They certainly are tasty memories, at least.

Don't tell that turkey that Thanksgiving is coming!

quick escapes

I'm slammed on deadline for my grown up work this week which has meant very little time for crafting and lots of stress. My relief in times like this is to take peeks at what everyone else is doing and to live vicariously through them.

I have found a site that is worth sharing because it's like a gateway to what everyone else is doing. It is Whip Up - a collection of other crafters tutorials, book reviews and the like. Seeing what everyone else has done makes me want to spend my days doing nothing but sewing and knitting and creating gorgeous things. (I'm even thinking about making a quilt - although I suspect it's more about wanting to have a quilt than wanting to put together a kazillion little squares no matter how beaufitul the fabric.)

Beware before you go to the site - it's easy to get lost wandering from one link to the next.

Now, I MUST get back to work so that I can get enough done so I can get back to doing some actual knitting instead of just dreaming about it.

Crock of Success

My children were beginning to doubt me. DH was getting ready for a big old "I told you so." But urged on by supportive friends and family, I persevered on the crock pot front, and by golly, we finally have a hit!

A BIG one. As in everyone loves this dish. As in the teenager said it's "the bomb" which is about the highest complement she has available to her at this point in life.

(Never mind that roast beef costs about four times what we normally spend on meat for dinner and that we ate nearly the whole thing so I can't really justify it saying we'll get two meals out of it.)

It's the beef roast slow cooker dinner from the Food Nanny book. I'm not sure what's more amazing - that the small kids liked it or that I did since I'm not generally a non-hamburger beef eater.

I consider this a double score because I bought it as a used book last summer while on vacation. And although I've enjoyed reading it, I had yet to actually make a recipe from it.

Not that I haven't wanted to. There many that sound absolutely delicious. I just hadn't made the leap from reading them to putting them into practice.

The book breaks thing down into themed nights, which seems like a fun way to organize dinner.

Aside from the recipes, it's a fun book to peruse. There are lots of tidbits on the background of the recipes as well as fun conversation starters.

rain dance

I did something I thought I'd never do this morning: I ran a 5K race in the rain. Pouring rain. Buckets of heavy rain. I wasn't the only one, but there weren't a lot of us.

Here's the thing - I thought it would be awful. I thought I would hate it. I thought I'd run my worse time ever. So why did I do it? Well, when I woke up and heard the rain, I thought to myself that it was pretty comfortable where I was and that no one would hold it against me if I didn't get up. The whole day I could say, well I was going to run a race, but the rain...

Or, I could drag myself out of bed and have a much better story to tell.

The race was in Revere, along the beach that was notably empty on this particular day. It was beautiful in a stormy, full of character sort of way.

Registration was thankfully inside. We were greeted by amazingly cheerful volunteers who were wonderfully inviting even though they faced standing outside in the rain for the next hour or so. The runners were equally cheerful despite thoughts of having to run through a shower.

We were soaked from just walking across the street from the registration room to the shelter in front of the start line. While we stood there watching it rain like someone was pouring water out of a bucket, it actually started raining harder. Then came the thunder.
I admit that I almost hoped lightening would follow and they'd call of the race. But alas, no.

We lined up, the horn blew, and we were off to the race. And you know what? It wasn't that bad.

My jacket did get soaked through and clung to me like saran wrap, but the temperature was about perfect for running. It turns out that once you're completely soaked, it's not so bad. It's the getting soaked that isn't so much fun. On the way out, we ran into the wind and the pelting rain. That meant, however, that on the way back, the wind was with us helping to make up for lost time.

I expected to run slower than my usual slow pace, but as I neared the finish line, I heard DH yell to me that I could do it in under 35 minutes. In the distance, I saw 34 on the timing board. It seemed too far away to make it, but I kicked it up anyway and crossed the line at 34:53. My best time ever, rain or not.

Crock pot Days 3 and 4

Determined to figure out how to crock pot, I perserved with an Autumn Harvest recipe. The originator made it sound oh so delicious - just add a little of whatever is around, some apples, some cinnamon and voila. The only change I made was to start with uncooked rice, figuring that it would be an unrecognizable mush if I didn't.

It ended up to be the consistency of oatmeal and with the apples and cinnamon, that's what it tasted like too, except with sausage. People ate it, but that might have said more about their state of hunger than the quality of the dish. There is still quite a lot left.

Day 4 is Pizza - from a pizzeria.

This weekend I may actually buy a pot roast. Believe it or not, I have never done that before. I'm not even sure what to look for. Mom says it's labled "Pot Roast." Yeah for moms. Too bad she can't come and cook it for me too. :0

Crock Pot Day 2

I am bound and determined to make the most out of this crock pot thingy. I don't want it to end up at the Salvation Army with the bread maker or the food dehydrater as DH has predicted.

He's been laughing at me because he says I've been doing more cooking to cook it in it than I would otherwise!

Yesterday's recipe was fiesta chicken , which received mixed reviews. DD 7 loved it. DD 4 hated it. DH thought the chicken was dry. I thought it was tasty. It might have been even better if I'd had the can of Mexican style tomatos the recipe called for instead of the plain ones, but oh well.

In reviewing recipes, I think I'm going to do a whole new grocery shop. It seems we don't naturally have on hand the ingredients necessary.

Thank you to all who've sent suggestions - I will happily be making good use of them

crock pots

After much hemming and hawing and researching, I finally bought a Crock Pot. I feel like I have reached some new level of adulthood.

The reason I have held off so long is that I don't like beef stew and my image of a crock pot is that it's best use if for beef stew. But, I've been hearing about how wonderful they are for busy families and I was intrigued by the idea of dinner cooking while I'm out running around getting all the children where they need to be.

And so now we have a crock pot.

My first recipe didn't go so well. I thought I'd impress my family with breakfast the day after I bought our new toy. Let's just say there's a reason why they say to add the cheese 15 minutes before you want to eat. And they're right when they say it should be at least half full. We awoke to a wonderful smell but the finished product didn't live up to the aroma. It was a hardened burnt unappetizing mess. We ended up eating cereal since I'd used up all the eggs.

I'm a litle dismayed to realize that food must be cooked before it can be crock potted! Is it really then a time saving device? It could still be valuable just from the stand point of moving the bulk of the cooking from just when we want to eat to earlier in the day when we have more time. Not sure, however, if it will be worth it.

Now I need recipes. Lke I said, I don't really like beef stew.

more math

I finished a bunch more diamonds yesterday and then looked at the directions again. I did them right (whew) but only now noticed the "make bigger diamonds by casting on 38 stitches..." Doh. I forgot to add in weaving all the ends! I could have cut that in half (or at least a third) by making bigger diamonds. Oh well, I'm way too far in to it to change course now. I have finished all the yarn from one ball...

Maybe Christmas is too much to ask. Her birthday is in June...

I finally saw Slumdog Millionaire because DH saw it and insisted that I would like it. It was great. If you've been waivering - go see it.

Math uggh

One of the dangers of taking children to a yarn shop is that you will be so distracted you will end up buying more (or less) than you wanted. The other danger is that they will fill up a basket with yarns tha they can't bear to leave behind. That is how we ended up with a small bundle of pink and purple cotton yarns chosen by my dd, 4. The ensuing dilemma, of course, was what to do with them. She requested a scarf, but a scarf in cotton won't be warm enough to withstand our New England winters. A purse? She lost the last one. Finally, I decided to break my no-blanket rule and make her a blanket. Stripes? Squares? Log Cabin? I thought about them all before settling on small diamonds. I'd seen the pattern in my pattern-a-day calendar from two years ago and came across it again during a web search.

Now for the math. Every diamond is about 5 inches across and 5 inches tall. I'm figuring a good size would be 50 inches by 60 inches or ten diamonds by 12 diamonds. That means 120 diamonds. Each diamond takes about 30 minutes. So that means 60 hours of knitting? Really? Huh. Weeks? Months? Years? What if I can get the knitting down to 20 minutes per diamond? I never was that good with story problems!

This addition/multiplication/division doesn't account for all the mis-knits - the diamonds that aren't on gauge. All the yarns have roughly the same stitch per inch count on the label, but they're very different in real life.

I'm not good at math, but I'm great with deadlines. Right now, there's no deadline so no incentive to finish. I'm thinking maybe this should be a Christmas present.

The other issue is that the three skeins she picked out already won't be enough for this project. I figure that, however, is a good thing because now we'll have something to look for when I take her to the yarn shop.

And if we're going to finish this in time for Christmas, we better get shopping! (And I better get knitting!)

On a separate note, my friend Danielle over at knitting niche has some yarn in need of a project. She's looking for suggestions and running a contest.

School Days and making the grade

With school starting up again, I can' t help but think about whether I'm making the grade as a parent.

I made sure she was reading all summer long, but we didn't keep a proper writing log. Also, she didn't read off the "suggested" list since what she chose was more difficult than what was recommended. C+? B-?

I set aside her name tag that her teacher asked her to wear on the first day, but we forgot to put it on her! I found the paperwork I was supposed to fill out and filled it out, but then couldn't find it when it was time to go to school. I think that's pretty much an F on both of those assignments. However, I did send her with a backpack of all supplies but the notebook. I even had the box of tissues to share with the class. Also, I think I get bonus points for sending her in with a bird's nest. And, we sent the teacher a post card from our Wisconsin vacation. On top of that, her hair was brushed, her lunch was packed (including 50 cents for milk) and she has new tennis shoes. I think that should be enough for at least a B overall, right? I also rememembered the camera and we were on time - that should be worth some extra credit too. B+? A-?

Maybe parenting should just be a pass/fail?

I worry about how the impression I give as a parent will affect how the teacher views my kid. Will she think my dd is a dope because I'm not completely organized? Will the birds nest make up for the lack of a name tag? Does the fact that we didn't do the optional summer reading give the impression that she won't be a hard-driving motivated student?

Do I worry about all of this too much? Probably. It's just that I only get one shot at it and I want to be perfect for her or at least really, really good. She's a great kid and she deserves that much.

An impressive site to visit

If you want to be totally blown away by what can be done with knitting, check out this:

http://mygreenweddingdress.blogspot.com/. A bride is knitting an incredible lace train for the wedding dress she designed. I've been enjoying watching her progress since seeing her mentioned on the Mason Dixon site. When I think a project is too huge, I think about what she's doing. I was a crazy bride - I made my own dress and all the bouquets - but never in a million years would I have taken on this project. (Maybe that's not true - I didn't know how to knit back then).

Water fun

A little bit of coolness for your hot day.

This is what summer should be about! (I say as I dash off to a meeting - inside)

May your days be filled with lots of summer

A walk in the woods

Leave it to my Springer to find the only water around - never mind that there was just enough to make a mud pool - he was just thrilled to be "swimming." Can you believe I had to let that into my car? I thought seriously about tying him to the roof, but DH nixed that idea.

I will say this - at least a dirty dog is a happy dog!

Sew it's done

One day several months ago, I mentioned to my good blogging friend Bonnie how much I loved the skirt she made. She kindly offered me her extra fabric.

Apparently, I've been watching a few too many Project Runways. Who needs a pattern? I had a vision - a side slit skirt with buttons to hold it together. I've sewn enough to know the basic principles, but there was still the little matter of figuring out what pieces at what sizes. The mock up came out great. So the skirt should have been a pice of cake, right? Well, not so much. It didn't help that I stopped in the middle for a few weeks and forgot what I meant to do with all the pieces.

I discovered that I have achieved a new found patience from knitting. I was okay with undoing things to fix them - mostly because it's so much faster to redo them than in knitting!

Mostly I'm glad I finished before the end of summer!

Run baby Run

No knitting last night - just a lot of running.

DH and I completed a 5k in Marblehead.

It's the race that almost wasn't. The new clerk at the Burger King didn't know she was supposed to get the small coffe I ordered (for DH) and so we were delayed 5, 10 minutes. Which shouldn't have mattered, but we hit traffic (mad traffic, according to DD15). We arrived in Marblehead at 6:18 for a race that started at 6:25. We had to park a 10 minute walk away. Being as capable as anyone of the math, it was clear that we would have to run to the startline! Uphill.

DH ran ahead to get us registered. I realized I had to go to the bathroom - as in I am not going to be able to start let alone finish the race. I was relieved (get it) to see a line of port-o-potties. I formally apologize to all of those in the very long line that I did not see as I dashed into one of said port o-potties when someone popped out. (These were the runners getting ready for the 10K, which started after the 5K).

We heard the gun go off just as a kind woman was instructing us on how to use the new fangled electronic tracking system that attaches to your shoe. We dashed off crossing the start line well past all the other runners.

Thankfully, there were a lot of walkers so I didn't end up at the end of the race for the entire time. I managed to even catch a few (slow) runners.

About half way through, I was ready to join the walkers, but I managed to talk myself into continuing. If I can finish the Secrets of the Stole, I told myself, certainly I can finish this race!

I wasn't even demoralized when the 10K runners came rushing past me at about mile 2, bless their speedy hearts.

In the end, I would call it a success. Of course, my only goal this time was to actually finish the race. Maybe next year I'll try to finish in the top two-thirds!

Yet another obscure knitting reference

I was taking a short knitting break amid a busy Sunday afternoon and catching the tail end of The Wedding Singer (Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore). In nearly the last scene, Sandler is telling the passengers in first class how he is heading to Las Vegas to stop the girl he loves from marrying a jerk. I looked up from my knitting to see one of the passengers knitting!

I think the funny thing is that I've seen that movie probably a dozen times and never caught that detail!

It's a cute movie if you need a quick 80s fix.

Another beach knit

After finishing my niece's hat, I had left overs of a scrumptious cotton yarn, momentum and motivation. A woman who was renting the cottage across the street from us was expecting her first baby in August and she was a knitter. I figured a knitter could appreciate being given a baby hat by someone who was practically a stranger since we had just met that week. By this time it was just two days before she was leaving. Being a journalist, I thrive on deadlines!

This is my go-to baby hat for girls based on a hat someone knit for me when I had my first baby. Basically, you cast on twice as many stitches as you need for the hat, knit one round and then knit two together all the way around. I add a row of eyelets about a half an inch from the bottom for a ribbon or cord. I usually crochet a cord rather than make an eye cord. It's thinner and much, much faster.

For this hat, I started in white, moved to the verigated and then switched back to the white at the very top.

I finished it in one day only by walking and knitting it the whole time. This, not surprisingly, opened me up to much ridicule from my family, but that's okay - it keeps them busy.

I'm adding a few pics just to show that the sun really does exist! We made this lovely lady for the sand castle "contest" - our team name was "Mer Fun" (get it?...more fun...okay, it's corny, we had just 30 seconds to come up with it!)

The little one is running to "win" a Water Olympics race. She doesn't quite understand the concept that everyone wins. The prize is always the same for everyone - two pieces of candy from a bucket.

There was some rain, but both of the big storms were followed by incredible full rainbows. It seems someone already found the pot of gold!

Vacation (not) Knitting

I always have such high hopes to get so much knitting done on vacation but then I find I'm so busy it doesn't happen. Two weeks and just a few rows to show for it.

Except for this hat. It was cold and my little niece's hat was too big. So auntie had to run right out and buy some yarn to fix the problem. It fit exactly when I was done with it, which means she's probably already out grown it! Still, it was fun to make. I improvised on the brim - I cast on 140 stitches and then decreased 7 stitches every row until I had 70 stitches for the hat. The brim is verigated and the hat part is white. I think it's sort of cute - sort of starfishy on the brim. I'm planning to keep my eyes open for other options. I'm absolutely sure the baby is cute. She's actually not as chubby as she looks in this pic.

As much as anything, it was fun to impress my friends and relatives with how quickly it came together. At the beginning of the day, I had a ball of string. At the end of the day, I had a hat. This, of course, gave them plenty of fodder for teasing me. I even got a request for a parka! It was actually cold enough one night to wear one on the beach. Fortunately, we had very little rain at least.

We have a winner

I'm totally lame since I posted a contest and then didn't post a follow up - until now. We were getting ready for vacation but in the midst, we did pick a winner. I was planning on posting these great pics of picking the winner, but didn't.

Still the winner is:



Congratulations Lisa L.!

I have your prize with me and will send from Connecticut.

I will also post pics soon of the baby hat I am working on while on vacation. It wasn't on my to do list, but her sun hat was too big. What else can a knitter do but knit a new one?

Hope everyone is having a great and sunny summer.
.

Butterflies and Birthdays

I'm not quite sure how it happened since it's all a blur but two days ago I had a three year old and now I have a four year old! This required not just one, but two cakes. The tier of cupcakes (designed by ds in the red tshirt) was for the party with her friends (finger foods - no forks required).

What's fun is how excited she is about everything - she asked for a big pillow, a new comforter, sheets and an armoir for her Build-a-Bear. Hmmm, does she have a future as a decorator?

Prior to the celebrations, I got to use my blocking wires again for Knitty's Flit and Float. I love this pattern - it's much fun and so pretty (except that it rolls into the middle). I think if I did it again, I would make it twice as wide. It would be a gorgeous stole. The design is butterflies - perfect for Spring.

Teenagers and Loud music

You are lucky that this site doesn't come with volume. The teenagers are out of school and they're home. That means loud, obnoxious music! I sound like my parents! Aarrgghh! It's not just the music, it's the singing that goes with the music. Still, better to have them here than hanging around somewhere else getting in trouble, right?

Quick, does anyone have a pattern for knitted ear plugs?

Join me in the Happy Dance

(Make sure to check out the contest in the post below if you haven't already!)

I have finally arrived at the end of a long, long, long journey that proves if you keep moving you will get there eventually even if there are several setbacks along the way. I think I spent as much time unknitting this as I did knitting it!

I started it well over a year ago. It was a Secret of the Stole - clues and rows revealed weekly. Somehow, I fell behind - way behind. When everyone else was wrapping themselves up in their lacy beauty to go off to New Year's Eve parties, I was still struggling along - knitting and then unknitting trying to follow the complicated pattern.

Part of the problem was tha I kept getting side tracked by other, simpler projects that I could actually get done in days or weeks, not months or years.

I kept at it, however, sometimes knitting just two rows at a time (one complicated, one straight purl) I thought for sure I'd have it for last New Year's Eve - but no.

I learned so much from this project - like how to read a chart, how to read my knittng and how to correct knitting several rows back. Now I'm going to have to learn how to close up a hole - the one I made months ago during one of those frogging sessions! I found it when I was blocking - actually when I was taking pictures to post. The best I can figure is that it was a failed k2tog or ssk. I think fixing it will involve some sort of duplicating stitch. Well, at least it should be done by this coming New Year's Eve!

It's blocking on a set of my children's foam blocks. How convenient that they just recently dragged them up from the basement to play with!

A riddle and a contest

I have a riddle for all you clever, creative folks (put your funny on):

How many seam rippers/needle guages/row counters does one crafter have to buy before actually having one when needed!?


On June 24th (my birthday) I will randomly pick the name of someone who answers the question. The prize - your choice of a seam ripper, needle guage or row counter (plus a few surprises on the side)

This is my very first contest so please send your friends over so I won't feel like the school yard geek who no one will play with!

what I would have bought

A few posts back, I mentioned a site called futureme.org where you can send an email to yourself to be delivered in the future. I lamented that you can't send one to your past self like this - buy three skeins of the Cascade 200 in green and a few in pink and blue while it's on sale. No, I had no way of knowing then that I might discover a pattern for what is quite possibly the cutest crocodile ever on the Twist Collective!

Perhaps I could send an email to future me - if you find Cascade 220 on sale - remember the crocodile pattern.

Never buy store made pasta salad again

I had obligated myself to bringing pasta salad to the aforementined birthday party. DH kindly said I should give myself a break and just buy it. The selection at the deli counter, however, was so, well, icky is the only word to describe it. One was too globby, one looked just paltry and another was dried out. There wasn't one I wanted to eat let alone serve anyone else! I was stuck in the store with no recipe just hours before the party so I decided to wing it. What should cooking be if not an adventure? I love what I came up with so much that I want to share it. It's more of a formula than a recipe. It should be easy enough for anyone to remember. It's flexible enough that forgetting an ingredient or two won't matter.

Basically it's this: salad dressing, pasta and some veggies. Make it fancier with mozerella cheese, shrimp or cooked chicken.

The one MUST is pasta! I used corkscrew pasta, although I think any of a number of others would be fine.

Next a couple of bottles of really good salad dressing - I used an Italian Vinegrette, Ceaser and Ranch. At home, I combined them in a bowl - I started out with 1/4 cup each and added a little more of my favorite (the Ranch) until it tasted right. I also added 2 tablespoons of mayonaise, which mellowed the flavor quite a bit. I might have added more, but I ran out.

I found that I about a cup of sauce per pound of pasta. You could use more or less depending on how saucy you like it.

Then I added:
Cherry tomatoes cut in half
Cucumbers sliced small
One can of chopped black olives

Toss the sauce and the veggies with the pasta and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.

Optional ingredients:

Mozzeralla cheese (cubed would be best but shredded works)
Red onion
broccolli
Peas
shrimp or cooked chicken

A Shout Out to AAA

I just have to say how glad I am that AAA is in service. I was deep into Boston at a baby's birthday party when I realized that my keys weren't in my purse. I remember locking the car but I couldn't remember checking for the keys like I always do. I dumped out the purse (what a mess! Not a good time to discover how badly it needs to be cleaned out!) I searched the kitchen where I'd been unloading things. With that sinking feeling, I went to the car and looked through the windows. On the third seat of our giant van (there are five rows of seats!) were the keys.

We have just one car and DH was several bus transfers and two train stops away from me on a Sunday when all the services are slow.

I was just about to launch into a full blown panic when I remembered that I didn't have to. It's almost like having a Fairy God Mother in your wallet - call them and all will be well. It was a long wait but just as the sun was going down and the cold was settling in, the white knight came riding up on his giant tow truck. We all agreed that we have never been so happy to get into the van!

The only downside to all of this is that the knitting was locked in the van with the keys!

Recycle This

Just as I am learning to let go of things and purge the clutter, the 7yo dd is learning to save the earth through recycling. I see garbage and she sees building blocks.


How could I squash such creativity? She has taken what I would have put into a landfill and turned it into a stuffed animal's delight. The first is a car wash for the animals. They go in "dirty" and come out "clean," she explained. The second is a hutch for a rabbit - the real rabbit she hopes I will buy her this summer! (Not sure where she got that idea - I have no plans for a live bunny)

So what if there are little pieces of cardboard all over the living room. So what if she unpacked a full recycling bin and scattered the contents from one end of the house to another. She is trying in her own little way to save the planet. Messes can be cleaned up but Earth can't be undestroyed, right?


I have to give props to DH! The man who has a to-do list longer than I am tall actually spent an hour - a full hour - untangling a snarled up pile of fingering weight yarn that had reached an epic state of tangliness. It was at least a quarter of the skein and much needed for my Flit and Float. At the end he handed me a tiny ball (it was fingering weight) and said simply, "Please don't do that again." I knew there was a reason I married him other than his good looks, charm and great sense of humor!


In the interest of not testing his love - is there a way of not doing this again? The yarn was wound with a regular ball winder and swift combo. I'm wondering if since I was pulling from the middle the yarn fell into the void and twisted around itself. I haven't had this happen before, but was it a fluke or does this sometimes happen? Should I put something in the middle to hold it open. If I do that, can I still use it as a center pull ball?

tempting friends

The transition from freezing cold weather to just plain chilly but with the promise of warm weather soon sparked a bit of knitting limbo for me. Not quite a knitting slump, but in that direction. For months I'd been driven by a strong desire to knit warm things - hats, scarves, mittens and more scarves. Then suddenly it was gone. I still have two beautiful halfs of a scarf that need to be kitchnered! I've been keeping busy with the Flit and Float, but I had no vision beyond that. Nothing to drive me toward the next project. Until now.

My dear friend Allison, who gets me into all sorts of knitterly trouble has done it again. "We HAVE to knit this..." was the subject of the email with a link to a shawl called Ulmus. That's just what I needed - a good challenge. Step one was to find the right yarn. Perhaps for some this is the easiest part of the project. For me, it is potentially the most difficult. I know that I am going to have to live with this yarn for a very long time. I have a hard time letting go of things, even things I end up not liking all that much. If I get sick of the yarn midway through the project, it will sit unfinished in my drawer for years making me feel guilty every time I see it. Then there is the need to commit to a color. Sometimes, I can't find one I love and then other times I love so many I can't pick!

This time was different. I had just ten minutes to spend in the yarn shop since the rest of the family was waiting in the car after a long drive on our way to a party. It took me less than eight.

I saw the light blue and lavendar and fell in love with the combination. Individually, the yarns are gorgeous. Together, they are spectacular. The hand painted yarn is called Smooshy from dreamincoloryarn.com. It happens to be a superwash, although I didn't pay attention to that until after the purchase.

I can hardly wait to get started! In fact I can't believe I'm spending time posting this instead of casting on. But first, I am going to finish the flit and float. It's a fun pattern and I don't want it to turn into a UFO. Besides, this is probably my second favorite part of the project - that wonderful sense of anticipation when you have the yarn and the pattern but haven't hit the frustration of failing to read it properly. (My favorite part, of course, is when it's successfully done, being worn and winning compliments.)

When I was buying the yarn, I just thought I'd stumbled on a wonderful new combinaiton of colors. When I got, home, I discovered I'd encountered this combination before. It perfectly matches the material for my daughter's dinosaur dress. The too-cute, finally-finished one that she inexplicably won't wear! I added real button holes as she requested and trimmed it with satin, as she requested. It's a lovely addition to her closet, but you will note that this robs my of my favorite part of the project! (I'm not bitter! Much.)

sew frugal? Not sew much

There was a time when I sewed to save money. I was just out of college and had more time than I could even imagine now on my hands and very little scratch. I took my pennies and bought a cheap sewing machine. Then I haunted the fabric sales and put together a stunning wardrobe (at least that's how I remember it).

It seems since then however, the world has gone all topsy turvy and now the price of the fabric alone is higher than the price of a finished garment! Never mind the thread, buttons, ribbons and rick rack to make it extra special.

I suppose it's still cheaper than buying something from a high end designer, but it's way more than the sale rack at Marshalls.

And still, I forge ahead because sewing is no longer just about saving money, I suppose. It's the satisfaction of taking a flat piece of cloth and turning it into a (hopefully) flattering skirt, shirt or dress. It's also about being able to make what I want the way I want, although I'm still working on that aspect of it.

This post is sparked, not surprisingly, by a trip to the fabric store. I'll admit that I'm not a math whiz, and that is part of my problem, but the bill was 30 percent more than I expected!

So here's my commercial:

one yard purple tinker bell fabric: $9 (at 25 percent off)
thread: $2.50
one spool of Bright green ribbon: $3.99
Happy child in swirly new dress: priceless

Too much floating not enough flitting?

The Flit and Float in the latest issue of Knitty grabbed my attention. (So did Shipwreck, but I know better than to go there!) The Flit and Float: So pretty, so light and airy, so intriguing. So complicated. So many charts and new techniques. But with warmer weather coming, I've lost my desire to knit in heavy wool, so this seemed like a good mid-season alternative.

I managed the Open Cast On with remarkable ease on the first try. The ruffles were simple, yet delightful. The picot bind off was a treat. Next came the bottom of the lace pattern, which also proved to be quite simple and very enjoyable. It uses double yarn overs. On the wrong side, you knit into the front of the first one and into the back of the second one. I was 18 rows into before I noticed that something didn't seem quite right. I looked closely to discover that the right side of the lace was the wrong side of the ruffles. I checked my directions - I clearly had started on the right side. I reviewed the charts. I'd followed that correctly as well. I thought perhaps I'd created a short row some where and frogged back to the beginning. I started off again and realized two rows into it as it was turning out what I had done wrong. The pattern says to add a stitch and follow the first row of chart A. It does not say to add a stitch and knit across the first row and then start pattern A!

Take two: I reknit the 18 rows and prepared to start back at the start of the pattern to repeat the chart 6 times, as the pattern says. Except, that's not what the pattern says. After two, three starts and puzzling about why it felt wrong, I read it again. It's possible that the words were changed after I read it the first time. But when I looked this time, it said to repeat rows 1 through 8 six times and then rows 9 through 18 once. Huh. Maybe that's why there is a big black line after row 8? (Duh).

Despite all the false starts and lack of discernable progress, I don't mind too much because the pattern is so gosh darned fun to knit!

The best part is that this pattern is the perfect showcase for some wonderful yarn my friend Holly Jo sent from Alaska. It's sock weight, but it begged to be made into a lace something or other.

Sew long

I've gotten better in recent years about letting go of material that I don't think I'll ever use and yet there are still piles of it. Some of it is material I bought for a particular project that never happened. The rest is left overs - some large pieces some just bits and pieces. "You never know..." I think and leave it in the closet.

Maybe it's an unreasonable fear of not having something I'll need. Maybe I feel richer in being surrounded by stuff. Maybe it's a weak hope that having stuff will spark creativity. I think, however, it's doing just the opposite. I think I'm so bound by what I have that I'm not open to what I could have. If I haven't made the skirt in five (six?) years am I really ever going to? And isn't it out of style now already? I have two of those. Then there's the dress and top in a gorgeous burgundy - again, 5, 6 years? Maybe. But the small fleece squares I cut up for a quilt? In looking at them today I realized I'm still uninspired by them. Even worse, I feel slightly inadequate because I can't visualize turning them into an awe inspiring creation! Maybe it's time to let go.

Still it's hard, these things, these potential crafts are like my security blanket. I feel comforted thinking I can just reach into my closet and get what I need. But really, they aren't what I need and haven't been for awhile.

This tug-of-war that goes on over stuff is interesting to me. I know in my head that I can be happier with less. I've successfully decluttered before. There have been a few things I wish I'd kept, but I can't think of one right now, so how important could it have been?

On a side note - this may look like a picture of nothing special - but it is really a picture of hours and hours of puzzling and trying and retrying to thread the !@#$%^&*()__*&^^%$ serger! DH bought it for me 5 years ago after years of my lusting for one. Then 2 years ago, the now 3 yo mucked up the threads. What does it say about my life that it took me this long to getting around to fixing it! It's sort of done. At least I've got it to wrap threads around the edge of a cloth. Something's not quite right since it's not a smooth, even stitch. Maybe you can see in the middle of the picture. Regardless, I'm overjoyed to be this far along.

How many readers

Does anyone know how to track readership in Blogger? I'm not totatlly technically inept, but I just can't figure this one out!

Sharing the love

You see these happy faces? They are filled with the joy of being a freshly minted sewer! Being surrounded by children so often, I realized I had a choice - neglect them and pursue my craft or drag them into it. Actually, there wasn't much dragging to be done - they came happily, hopping, skipping and swirling the sewing chair the whole way. We started with a very simple project - a drawstring purse made from a pattern created by folding a plain sheet of paper in half. All straight lines. We all had fun, but I've discovered that I do not want to be a home ec teacher! I just don't have the patience.