I finished a pair of socks! (Rav page)


Pattern: Bellatrix(Ravelry)
Yarn: STR Lightweight in Carbon
Needles: 2.0mm nickel KP dpns
Mods: I don't think I followed the heel instruction, and I don't think I did the same number of pattern repeats as the pattern.

Started some new ones.

These are RPMs in Lotus Yarns exclusive Punk Rock Sock Club edition colorway Loose Nuts.

And now a great dessert recipe for those days you don't want to turn on the oven or give yourself food poisoning.

Unbakeable Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c unsalted butter
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar

1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda (this does affect the taste and I prefer having it in though they won' be baked)
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tbl milk ( I am not sure I just splashed some in there until it was about a normal consistency for cookie dough at this point)
2 1/4 c flour (I like half whole wheat and half white flour)
1/4 c ground flax (optional, but I like the flavor and it's healthy!)

Cream the butter and sugars together by hand or in a mixer then add the salt, baking soda, vanilla and milk and mix well. Add the flour and combine fully.

Now for the add ins: I used Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips which I was surprised to find at our local Cubs. Use whatever you want!

Form into a log, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze it for about and hour. Slice and enjoy!

The temperature in the lab is back to its usual 23C. Still cooler than I would prefer, but I can't complain.

I have a pair of finished socks!



Pattern: Pomatomus
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Gothic Rose
Needles: KP 2.75mm
Mods: None, though one is a bit longer in the cuff than the other. Not sure what's going on there, but I don't care.

Love the yarn and the pattern. They fit me well, so I am not sure where my earlier doubts came from.

I think I left my cell phone charger in MN. I may have to buy a cheap one to get me through the next two weeks.

I just took the ecological footprint quiz on this site and am quite dismayed with myself. I like to think I have a low ecological footprint, but I don't. I thought I was even below average, but I am not. It's hard to figure out what else I can do. It's frustrating and eye opening, but also very discouraging. A lot of things I can't change, such as where the electricity that gets pumped into my apartment comes from and what appliances are in my apartment.

On to less depressing topics, I finished my super secret socks, though I still can't share them with you. I know you are all waiting anxiously for the reveal. Right? Since I finished a pair, I decided to start a new pair, which only makes sense. Actually working on another project would make more sense, but I will ignore logic in this case since I have wanted to make this pair for ages. Bellatrix (Ravelry)is a pattern designed by a lovely woman who recently passed away. She designed a bunch of free patterns, but due to copyright issues when her site was taken down, they haven't been available for several months. Her husband as generously taken the time to upload them all to Ravelry so we can once again use them.

Here's a picture of the ball of yarn I am using since the pictures I have taken of the start of this sock aren't interesting in the least.


The yarn in Yarn Pirate in Kalamata from the Booty Club and has short repeats of chocolate brown, a dark purple, light brown and a my favorite shade of green. I think it will be perfect for this pattern. By the way, after the first repeat, I was totally hooked. Hopefully Ornette won't get too lonely.

Attack of the Giant Chocolate with Vanilla Frosting Cupcakes!!!!


Made using this pan and this recipe cut in half. I can only eat half of one of these at a time.

I don't understand people's obsession with big vehicles. Most parking lots are now dominated with SUVs. Especially with gas prices going up and global warming taking center stage in the news, I don't see how people can even think about driving around in their large cars. I do understand that large families and some jobs require a truck with a large engine or van, but for the most part they are unnecessary. It looks like more people are starting to think the same way I do.

I love my little car. It gets 30-40 miles per gallon depending on the type of driving we do. I can squeeze into parking spaces surrounded by large trucks and SUVs, though finding it later is a bit tough. Granted Josh and I are a bit cramped when we drive, but not uncomfortably so. It's also a manual, which I adore unless I am in stop-and-go traffic, then my adoration wanes a bit. I hope my car lasts me for a few more years until they can make more hybrids with the same gas mileage as my car.

ETA: Since Amanda mentioned it in the coments :P, Josh does have a small truck. We drive it about 2 or 3 times a month to run errands, take our recyclables to the recycling place or if we are going to two different places. It is usually filled, at least partially, with E85, and it is rather small and gets better gas mileage than most SUVs. As far a trucks go, it's relatively harmless. I think my taking of public transportation and Josh using my car or the motorcycle when it's nice make up for the convenience of having a truck to haul our recycling and large things that don't fit in my small car.

Ok, moving on...

Ornette progress!


Shiny and tiny new iPod, though the screen is bigger.


Frog Prince!

FO: small snail

Pattern: Snails and Slugs
Yarn: Scraps of Fearless Fibers
Needles: I think 2.5mm dpns, but it may have been 2.25mm
Mods: No eyes as of yet, but I should probably add some

Here are some pics for scale:

First with my favorite lip balm.

He's so tiny! Either that or my lip balm is huge.




Ok, so it was the lip balm. Here it is with a normal sized tube of Dr. Pepper LipSmacker.


Still pretty tiny, though.

Happy May Day! Is anyone else in denial that it is already May?

We had some gorgeous weather yesterday. It was close to 70 and sunny. Josh and I took a walk across the river in an area I have always meant to explore. There is a dog park, but I could never figure out how people got to the dog park. Now I do and I also learned of a new housing development I didn't know existed. it's actually a bit creepy and seems almost like it should be in a movie. I think that's partly due to it's newness and lack of people at this time. It is eerily quiet and empty.

We watched the latest UFC on Saturday night. It was a great event with several good fights including the main event. We got some Pokey Stix, which I haven't had since I was a student. I think I am going to snack on some before I go teach at the GymNest tonight.

In other news, my sister and her boyfriend are now engaged. I of course knew before she did, which makes me inordinately happy. Congrats!

Let's see, I finished my Jaywalkers (Ravelry).
Yarn: Zitron Trekking colorway #155
Needles: 2.75mm Knit Picks dpns
Started: July 2007
Finished: April 18, 2008
Mods: Unintentional ones only. I did the toe on the second one differently because I decided I didn't need to read the directions. Barely noticeable, so not getting fixed.

I started two more small projects this weekend, well yesterday. Both are more for Josh than me. I started Sausage Dogs and Trogdor (more info on Trogdor). More toys, I know. I can't stop myself. I also made flat chocolate chip cookies because I decided to follow the recipe instead of what I thought and caramel chex mix.

I also got some new shoes! They were $10 and my size and have owls on them.

elephants, owlet, frog, airplane and another bird

I was busy this weekend. I had little energy to spare due to whatever virus has attacked me now, so I crocheted.


Pocket Elephant


Mini Stuffed Airplane


Owlet


Mr. Froggy

I made another bird as well, but it was dark by the time I finished so no pic. I have an army of 11 now and two more colors of yarn to go before I have gone through the colors of my stash. More pics can be seen here. The elephants have tails!

Seriously, the sitting and crocheting was about all I could handle. I had no energy and even laughing would make me cough. I am still coughing and am really sick of it. It's rather hard to get a workout in!

Baby Snow Dragon

Pattern: Baby Snow Dragon
Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style in Vanilla
Hook: F 3.75mm
Mods: I made the eyelids a bit smaller.

I wish I wasn't giving her away. Josh thought it looked like a massacre had occurred on our coffee table this weekend due to the amount of bird and dragon parts covering it. It looks better now. You can see the new recruits tomorrow when they get their beaks.

Round 1 done! Did I make it?

Zombies are done as of about 3 minutes ago!

ETA: I did make it! Yay me.

Snow Monkey Socks

I took a quick picture this morning after kitchenering the toe.

Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Wool Sock Yarn in Sloth
Needles: 2.5mm Knit Picks Harmony dpns
Mods: eye of partridge heel, 7 repeats for the leg instead of 6 because the skein of yarn is huge!


ETA:

I bought a new coat! I have wanted this coat in Spice Brown all winter. I like to use public transportation as much as possible, but standing in the cold waiting for the bus is not fun. I wanted something a little longer, and currently all of my long coats are dressy and not particularly warm.

I am not even going to mention that it's Valentine's Day...wait, does that count as mentioning? (ETA: At 1:45pm today it was pointed at to me that I am wearing an appropriately red shirt. My first thought was "Crap, I didn't mean to be festive!")


Anyway, my Monkeys are almost done and my boss approves of them. She said they were the coolest socks ever, or something to that effect. I will hopefully finish them today. Speaking of Cookie A patterns, she mentioned on her blog the need for test knitters, so I of course offered my knitting services. She wanted to see pictures of our knitted objects to help her decide who her test knitters would be. Well, she picked me to be part of her test knitting group, and I am rather excited. I do get a bit of compensation in the form of yarn and a copy of the book when it is published. I am not sure what the policy will be for posting pictures of the test knits. I plan to CO Thelonius or Poms when the Monkeys are done to get some more practice in.

My weapon for Hat Attack has been received by my target. It fits her well, so my second attempt must have been much closer to gauge. I think my knitting may have tightened up as I went. I knit it using the combined method which seemed most natural to me for carrying the yarn in my left hand and must have gotten better as I knitted. First project, other than color work, where I knit carrying the yarn in my left hand. It went rather well. The knitterly instrument of my demise will most likely arrive tomorrow or Friday depending on my assassin's chosen shipping method

This is to show you the actual size while I make a weird face. Sadly this was the best pic I could manage to take of myself.

A closeup to see the detail. (ETA: Ok, not sure why it isn't showing up, but if you are really curious, just click.)

I have joined the Daring Bakers. They are a group of food bloggers that are given a recipe, which must be followed exactly with few exceptions, which post on the same day about the month's challenge. I am not officially a member until I complete my first challenge. I will be purchasing some unglazed tiles to line the bottom of my oven and baking my bread this weekend. Wish me luck!

another edit:

When I have downtime at the lab I browse food and knitting blogs and save recipes and patterns to Google Docs so I can access them at home. Google dressed up for VD. It made me laugh.


...and weiner dogs!!!

My Happy Little Bird Army

Sorry, again, for the crappy picture. My camera is very picky about light and apparently a cloudy 8:00am is not what it likes. You may not be able to tell, but the Purplebird does not yet have it's wings or tail. I will remedy that tonight and probably start another one. I am creating an army after all.

I have changed my mind. I still want a new camera, but I also don't want to spend a ton of money. I have been thinking about how I want to use my camera. I essentially want to take pictures like I currently do, but I want them to be a better quality. I want to be able to take close-ups and have accurate representations of the colors. I want the details to shine. Most of my pictures are yarn related or food and my 4.0MP, 3+ year old camera isn't doing what I want anymore.

I think I will get the Canon PowerShot SX100 instead of the Canon S5. It's about $100 cheaper and should do what I want it to do. I played with it at Best Buy over the weekend and liked it.

Happy Little Bluebird

Pattern: Birds of Feather
Yarn: Cascade 200 Heathers, 9456 sapphire heather
Hook: F, 3.75mm
Time: about 2 hours, maybe a little more with the finishing work

I love my little bird! I had an intense desire to crochet something cute and small yesterday. I blame the several inches of snow (ETA: I just read it was 8 inches of snow)we got yesterday along with Josh's incessant grumbling at Paper Mario. I made another green one, which I finished this morning while listening to the thunder. I need some good light so I can take a picture of them together. I took this picture last night in my rather dark living room. I could easily see a little purple one joining them soon. Maybe teal...

I have finished my Inga Hat!
Pattern: Inga Hat
Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style Storm, Asparagus, and a little Vanilla; less than one ball of each
Needles: 3.25mm and 3.75mm for colorwork
Started: 1/18/2008
Finished: 1/26/2008




I am very happy with it. It fits me really well, but it is a little taller than I like. If I knit this again, which I may do, I would start a few rows into the colorwork. I carried the MC, Storm, in my right hand and the CC, Asparagus, in my left, and it worked beautifully for me. I may be switching from a thrower to a picker! The braid was neat if a little fiddly. I used this tutorial which is really good, but my yarns were so twisted by the end. I used magic loop for the colorwork, but I think a 16" needle and dpns would have worked a lot better for me. I am heading to the Knit Picks site after this to purchase some for my next hat.

I keep forgetting to take pics of Wicked so I finally did it today. Sorry for the lack of action shots, but I haven't showered since Friday after tae kwon do and I am still wearing my pj's.

Pattern: Wicked
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers 4009(?) 5 skeins
Needles: US7, 4.5mm and US6, 4.0mm



More pics of Flickr.

Josh is brewing today so I get lots of knitting time to myself! We did all the fun stuff yesterday, you know, grocery shopping, returning bottles and getting rid of recycling. We also went to HuHot for some yummy food. I may start a new project. I gave Norberta some eyes and now I want to define her mouth a little more, maybe with some teeth, and give her a nose. I should probably go to the gym too.

I forgot!

I can't believe I forgot to post about a couple of FOs. They are part of a very belated Christmas/birthday gift for some relatives of mine, that I hope to get to the post office today.

Pattern: Zeebee
Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool #8049
Needles: US7 4.5mm

These are for my cousin and uncle. I hope they fit! I had to guess on size and didn't have anyone with a similar sized head to try them on.

Pattern: Linen Stitch Scarflet
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza #6003
Needles: US7 4.5mm

This is for my other cousin to go with her hat and mittens. Again, I hope they fit!

Inga is going well. I had to frog the first third when i realized it was way too small because I forgot to switch to larger needles. Doh! At least I enjoy the pattern so reknitting isn't horrible at all.

For your viewing pleasure

FO: Stripey Socks
Pattern: My own, YO short-row heel, plain stockinette
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Aurora
Needles: Knit Picks 2.5mm circs

They will be sent to a Sockapalooza-4-er that did not receive socks from her pal. They took me entirely too long to knit so she is getting some extra goodies including a candle, soap, and couple hanks of sock yarn.

A very late Christmas present is this little scarflet. I am lacking buttons, but it is washed and blocking. It is part of a set that includes the red cabled hat and Peekaboo Mittens in the same yarn. I am so slow about getting Christmas gifts out this year. I think all my traveling threw off my schedule.


Yesterday I started a pair of Monkey socks. They kept me sane during a football game and little conversation.

I still can't get used to the idea that I have to work for a whole 5 days this week. I know some are now moving to longer work weeks, but after my last three partial weeks I don't know what to think! I also have to teach tkd tonight.

I didn't get a lot getting-rid-of-stuff done (one box to Goodwill), but we did reorganize the computer room and it's closet. The storage room off the kitchen also saw some changes for the better. I cleaned out our little pantry and put everything in it's place. The new magnetic knife bar from Ikea didn't get put up, but that's a quick and easy project that will hopefully be done this week. I feel much better. My closet will be tackled sometime. I already have a basket of clothes that I don't wear a lot, but I need to do a deep cleaning of the closet. The bookshelf is still a mess and I need another magazine thingy.

I did finish a few things from the knitting basket which makes me happy. Wicked and the Zeebee hats are done and drying on a towel in the living room. I just need to weave in the ends of the Stripey Socks and send them to their recipient along with some goodies. Pictures of all to come when the sun comes back. I think I have a good lead on some eyes for Norberta.

I started a little scarflet for to include in some belated Christmas gifts due to a possibly too small hat. Since I want to do some colorwork this year as part of the Fearless Knitting KAL I decided to teach my self to knit carrying the yarn in my left hand to I can have one color of yarn in each hand. so far it is going well except I tend to twist the stitches in a decidedly combined knitting way. Not bad, but could get confusing when I knit with yanr in both hands since I don't twist them when I knit with the yarn in the right hand.

Josh received another call from his sister yesterday while we were out shopping. He had left his phone at home charging so was not able to answer it. His sister left a message ending with a remark about how he probably didn't answer his phone because she called. That didn't make Josh happy and he almost decided to not visit her next weekend. I talked him into going, but he really doesn't want to. I don't either, but I really think we should. It will most definitely be awkward.

It's 50 degrees right now...in Iowa...in January. There may be thunderstorms.

Sorry, no ring

My camera is incapable of taking a picture of my ring. I think it's too shiny and small for it to focus on it. Someday I will have a nice camera; not my 4 year old cheap thing.

I will give you some other crappy pics though. I can't get any decent light due to the fog and clouds.

Pattern: Unoriginal Hat
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza #4544; held double
Needles: 6.5mm Knit Picks circs
Mods: Added a purl stitch to the end of each pattern repeat




Pattern: Peekaboo Mittens
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza #4554
Needles: 4.5mm Knit Picks dpns


I would say the pic of the hat has a more accurate depiction of the color, but neither are quite right. I am messing with the sleeves on Wicked so they will fit how I want. I want more fitted sleeves than the pattern calls for.

I made a batch of no-knead bread last night but followed Cook's Illustrated's instructions and added beer. It rose much better than my first attempt, but I think that has more to do with the yeast than the beer. I think Josh has requested some chicken and wild rice soup so the bread should go nicely with it. Tomorrow I am attempting cinnamon rolls so I can bring some home for Christmas to share with my mom and sis. Today I plan to make some savory shortbread cookies and something else. Something sweet. Probably molasses cookies for my sister and maybe the peanut butter filled chocolate ones again.

Our hallway smells weird again. Yesterday when I got home it smelled like moth balls and chili or something similar. Now it smells like dirty diapers. Lovely. I know the people downstairs have a baby or toddler, but I am not sure what they are doing with their diapers. I think they must leave them in the hall for awhile before taking them to the dumpster.

I am heading home on Christmas Eve and then to Chicago on the 27th. Apparenlty I may have to sing a duet with my sister at our Christmas Eve service. I don't even know the song yet! Anyway, you may not hear much from me during that time because I am not sure if I will have access to a computer. I want to have Wicked done so I can wear it to Wicked so I better get to work.

When I left Iowa it was snowing, barely, but snow nonetheless. When I arrived in Virginia it was 50 degrees and sunny, before the sun set. It was a two day drive but Josh did most of it because I was tired and kept getting headaches. I believe that is partly due to the fact that I am near-sighted and according to my appointment on Wednesday, I am finally at the point where I need glasses for more than just lectures in large lecture halls.

Josh and I are in Yorktown, VA visiting a friend and his family. Josh wanted to go to a couple breweries while we were here, but that hasn't happened. They have all been playing video games and I have been sitting here messing with the computer and knitting mittens. Maybe we will do something tomorrow. They are taking us out for dinner at a fondue place which should be fun. The bed we are sleeping in is not doing my neck any good and neither are the hotel beds, so I will be visiting the chiro and picking out glasses before I leave for Christmas. Today has been all about the wireless guitar we gave the kids for Guitar Hero. They haven't fought over it yet, just the songs they were trying to play.

I have got a lot of knitting done. I also finished the book that was stressing me out. Great book, I just got a little too involved. That always happens to me. Anyway, I am almost done with the Peekaboo Mittens. I need to add the sleeves to Wicked. I also finished another Calorimetry, which I just gave to the recipient. I forgot to get a pic before gifting it though.

I have also been playing with puppies. Our friends dogs had 3 puppies a few weeks ago. They are so tiny, and they aren't able to walk yet. They are really good at scooting backwards. I think they plan on selling the puppies and having their dogs breed again later and try to sell those puppies as well. they aren't a breed of dog I would enjoy having myself, but the puppies are adorable.

This will be a long post

Yesterday was very interesting, to say the least. Not only did we spend almost 9 hours driving through a snow and ice storm, but I competed in a cooking competition at Le Courdon Bleu Culinary School in the Twin Cities. I am not sure why I didn't mention it before. I found out I was a finalist two weeks ago today, which was right before the Thanksgiving craziness and I guess it kinda slipped my mind as blog material.

Anyway, 10 people were picked based on a 250 word essay. I, along with 9 others, was picked to participate in the Panier de Marche Scholarship Competition. We had an hour and a half to cook a meal consisting of a protein, a starch and a vegetable. We were limited to a list of ingredients they provided. I made lemon and herb cous cous, salmon with a lemon butter sauce, and green beans with roasted onions. Just for participating we received an apron, hat, embroidered chef's jacket, really nice chef's knife and $125 towards culinary books. The prizes were $1,500, $1,000, and $500 scholarships for the top three.

I placed third and received the $500 scholarship. I really didn't think I was going to win anything. I was just happy to get a new chef's knife! The guy that won looked about 14 years old and the 2nd place winner is a sous chef somewhere, I think. I am still surprised I won anything because everyone's dishes looked really good. We were judged on taste, presentation, and sanitation. I really wish I could have seen the scorecards. I washed my hands a lot to kill time because my meal was really simple and quick to make. I could probably finish it in about 45 minutes, but since I had 90 minutes to kill, I tried to waste my time in a constructive way.

The drive home was almost as interesting as the competition. The snow started during the competition. By the time we left it looked like there was almost 5" of snow on the ground. We decided to stop at a coffee shop so we could check the road conditions on our new laptop, which luckily arrived Thursday. We decided to head home after grabbing a celebratory lunch at Red Robin.

The roads weren't great, and we saw a bunch of cars and trucks in the ditch. It made me very thankful my tires are relatively new. It took us around 9 hours to get back to Coralville, but I think we made the right decision because the Twin Cities weather wasn't supposed to be any better today, so we may have gotten stuck for another day if we had stayed.

I finished a Zeebee. While it is too small for the intended recipient, it fits me nicely. I am working on another one, that will hopefully be a better fit. My gauge swatch wasn't terribly helpful, so I am guessing as I go. I may need more yarn for the second one! Well, technically the third, since I intend to make two for Christmas gifts. The first one doesn't count because it's for me. I am really enjoying the garter stitch on Zeebee so I am not complaining.

I have finally gotten a decent picture of Foliage. Not an action shot, but better than nothing.

Pattern: Foliage
Yarn: Cascade 220 #7811
Needles: 4.5mm