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