Five days of no-work makes me lazy! I wish I could stay at home and spend my days cooking, baking, knitting, and playing video games all the time!

Thanksgiving was nice. I didn't enjoy driving through the snow on Wednesday night, but the picturesque snow that fell most of Thursday was kinda fun. The big fluffy snowflakes drifting lazily to the ground were very holiday-ish. All but one of my extended family members made it. He's currently in Africa, so I suppose I can forgive him. All the food turned out well, and I didn't overeat!!! That's an accomplishment. I made the flourless chocolate cake for my uncle's b-day celebration and everyone loved it, which made me happy.

We put our Christmas tree up last night. That was of course after re-arranging the kitchen and playing Zelda for most of the day. I also started a Zeebee and Wicked just needs another 2" or so on the bottom edge and the sleeves, which are going to be 3/4 length. It will definitely be ready for Wicked.

filed under miscellaneous

I think my hand is going to fall off. Yesterday Josh helped me track down all the bugs and some heart pieces in Zelda. Well, all but two. I spent most of the afternoon playing Zelda and my left forearm is still tired and sore. I can't even knit! I am pathetic. At least I got through half the foot portion of the second Stripey sock while watching the latest UFC Saturday night. I didn't do anything else notable yesterday either because I didn't leave the apartment.

Saturday was slightly more productive. I got the oil changed in my car and bought a cake carrier. I also ordered some the Harmony needles set. I really prefer the Knit Picks, metal and wood, over my Denise needles and I realized that I needed the bigger needles, though I don't like chunky knits. Big needles make Christmas gifts go much faster.

We also bought a laptop from the Dell Outlet. We got a great deal on a nice computer. I can't wait until it arrives. My computer is so slow anymore. You don't get to customize it, but there are lots of good options if you need a cheap, but still good machine.

I had steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast this morning. They take a little longer than rolled oats of my fave multi-grain cereal, but it was a nice change. I need to get some more cranberries or other dried fruit to toss in there. I have a 1qt saucepan which is perfect for my morning oats!

I am so excited for Turkey Day!!! I am looking forward to all the cooking I get to do on Wednesday.

This game is addictive, but it helps others when you do well.

I must be smart! At least my education did something for me.

So angry!!! Everytime I get an email from my dad I get angry. It doesn't help that I came home angry so started talking to Josh and by the time we looked at the clock again it was almost 6:15 and too late to get ready and drive across town to Tae Kwon Do.

For the AB fan in us all

Alton Brown merchandise

Finally some knitting pictures

My newest WIPs are in preparation for winter. I need to finish up some gifts and get started on two others, but I am feeling selfish about my knitting right now. So the first one is Foliage. I don't have a circular in the correct length to do it on one set of needles so I am using two. Actually I do have the correct length, just not in my possession at the moment. Using two helps me keep my place, but I had to steal a set from Wicked, so no knitting on it right now. I think I am finally back on track with the leaf pattern. There were a few issues initially, but it's going better now. The yarn is the last skein of the purple heather Cascade 220 I bought for my first pair of Fetching and also used in the latest pair. I had to dip into the second skein for the second pair.

See that bag in the corner? It's from Piddleloop on Etsy. I love knitting pirates! I hear there is going to be another one in fabric that is my favorite colors. I may need it. I always need more project bags! Right? Especially when they are made by such cool people. They put a bunch of fun extras in there the package too.

My more recently started WIP is a scarf. The pattern is My So-Called Scarf. I am using Malabrigo as the pattern calls for. Gorgeous yarn. It is so soft and the colors are beautiful. The colors are a little darker in real life. I think this pic is a little more accurate on the colors. I am using needles a size smaller than the pattern calls for, but the width of my scarf is about the same as others knit with the larger needle. I must be knitting looser due to the bamboo needles.

I tried baking that cake again last night, and while it isn't as odd tasting as the first try, this one doesn't even taste like chocolate. It is really bland. I don't trust all the rave reviews about it anymore. Time for a new cake!

Update: I bought the bag! I was honestly wishing I had one more large one yesterday because I had to take one project out so I could put in another one. I guess I could just finish stuff, but what's the fun in that!

I spent my weekend taking care of frog embryos, screwing up my knitting projects and playing Zelda. I think I may have messed up a chocolate cake too (may have only added half the amt of sugar!). At least the chicken pot pie turned out well. I can't forget the huge amount of laundry we did either. It included all the bedding and pillows! And three baskets of laundry, or was it four? Either way, it was a lot! I still didn't get to make pumpkin butter.

I finished the crown section of Foliage, but I keep messing up on the body of the hat. I am not sure how it is happening. I tinked back to the end of the crown and am starting over for maybe the 4th time. So much for my plan to have it done by today. The Malabrigo arrived on Saturday so I stared my scarf last night and screwed up almost immediately. I gave up and went back to playing Zelda. I didn't even attempt to start the second sock or work on Wicked. My Ravelry shirt also arrived! I was worried it would be too small, but I think it will fit. It may just be one of those shirts I wear under a zippy hoodie.

Speaking of Ravelry, I was lucky and am getting a chance to test the Ravelry progress bars. now I just have to figure out how to integrate them into my blog's code. my first try was unsuccessful, but I may try again today when I get tired of making my presentation on in situ hybridization.

Go to Melanie's blog and try to win some of gorgeous yarn she dyes!

ETA: I got the Ravelry progress bars working. I will play with them some more so they don't take up so much room. Maybe no pics.

Ugh! It's almost 6:00pm, and I am still at work. I Hope I can catch the 6:15 bus outta here. We ended up doing an unplanned experiment, so I have some embryos to take care of this weekend. Pizza and beer for dinner is what I need. I have sent Josh to acquire them for us.

The FO:

Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers #7811 purple jewel heather
Needles: 4.0mm Brittany DPNs
Mods: added two rows of ribbing after the thumb and two rows after the final cable; bound off tightly in knit. I moved the thumb on the right hand mitt to mirror the placement of the thumb on the left mitt.


The WIP:

Pattern: my basic toe-up sock w/short-row heel using YO short-rows
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Aurora
Needles: Knit Picks 2.5mm 16" circs
Mods: Ummm...since I am not following a pattern I doubt there are any.

In other news, my flu shot made me a little queasy last night. I was not the only one. The PI for our lab also received his shot yesterday and also felt queasy. I was not sure if it was due to giving blood, the flu shot or both. At least I felt well enough to go to the gym this morning, though I was lacking energy and the last few minutes were not fun. It's a good thing I had a magazine to distract me.

Three Pokes,...

a drawstring bag, two toothbrushes, an apple, long sleeve shirt, a mint,mp3 player/sunglasses/cell phone case, ear plugs, fruit smoothie, a bottle of water, a package of cookies, two pens, a ruler, a small notepad and Baked Cheetos. That is the list of the things I received at the employee health fair today. One of the pokes was a flu shot. One was a poke to the finger to measure my hematocrit and the last poke was to donate blood. I have a good collection of shirts from DeGowin Blood Center for donating blood. The water and cookies were also given to me then. The nurse wrapped my venipuncture with a purple wrap with smiley faces. I must have looked bad because they kept asking me if I was ok. It felt like they asked me more than the previous times I donated.

The last time I remember donating blood we went to The Vine for a late dinner after teaching Tae Kwon Do. I of course ordered a stein which was probably a bad idea. The fluids you lose from donating blood should not be replaced with a beer.

I finally finished Fetching today while sitting for the requisite 10 minutes after donating. I really thought I would finish them on Sunday, the day I started them. hope I brought my darning needle so I can weave in ends while doing washes on the embryos I am working with this afternoon. I made some modifications and I like how they fit a lot better than my first pair. I may slightly felt my first pair to see if I can get a better fit. They are loose and the picot BO curls like crazy.

I caved in and ordered the Malabrigo for the My So Called Scarf. I got the Autumn forest colorway which probably won't go with any of my winter coats, but I don't think I care. Maybe that means I need a new winter coat. I also went ahead and got yarn for making Thermal. I wentwith the Pumpkin colorway.

Now anyone can knit!

Update:

The Malabrigo yarn has shipped alread! My already neglected Christmas knitting and sweater are going to be even more neglected. So are my second Sockapalooza pal's socks. I better finish the first one tonight!

None of the baking I planned on doing happened. No bread, no scones, and no biscuits. No pumpkin butter either. I did make a flourless chocolate cake Saturday. It was supposed to be my mom's birthday cake, but our plan to meet at my sister's dorm on Sunday didn't work out because my mom had to work. I had to increase everything because my pan is significantly larger than what the recipes calls for. I intended to leave some of the cake with my mom and sis so now I have a lot of cake. It's really good though! I had a sliver last night and I sneezed about 10 times while eating it. Josh and I each intend to take some in to work so we don't have to eat it all by ourselves. It's essentially chocolate, butter and eggs, so the cake is really rich.

It looks like I will be making the cake for my uncle's 50th birthday celebration. We are doing a family party at Thanksgiving, so I get to make a cake along with the stuffing and green bean casserole I am providing. It looks like I will have to take a whole day off work to cook!

I was in the mood for some Thanksgiving-style food yesterday but Josh wanted meatloaf. I have only had meatloaf one other time and I had never made it. We made a turkey (turkey is Thanksgiving-style) based meatloaf along with mashed potatoes and some previously frozen corn. I thought it turned out pretty well, and Josh said it tasted like meatloaf. It was a light recipe so it wasn't a saucy as I would have liked, but it also wasn't greasy like the last meatloaf I had. I appreciated that.

I needed a break from my current knitting projects so I started a pair of Fetching. They are from the same ball of yarn as my first pair. I think I may make this hat with of the rest of the yarn. I purchsed two skeins initially in case I screwed things up royally. I did go to Crazy Girl to look at yarn for a My So-Called Scarf, but they didn't have any yarn that seemed quite right. There was some nice hand-painted and also some Noro that would work, but I would need almost $30 of yarn for either of them and my goal is to keep it around $20. I may end up going with the yarn the pattern was originally written for.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am sure you are already bored with my ramblings.

Josh may not want anything to do with pumpkin

but I do! I must make some pumpkin butter this weekend! And biscuits or scones to slather it on. Maybe I will have to try my hand at No-Knead bread again. Since our apartment won't get below 75F for some reason (my guess is the downstairs neighbors installed a sauna or live in a mini tropical rain forest), I don't think the bread will have a problem rising.