Sorry about these weird, broken image links. I went back to marking the majority of my Flickr photos “Friends & Family” and a few extras slipped by, but I know I corrected my head shot and the pumpkin washcloth photo. So annoying! And if you’re seeing those photos now, just ignore this post. Sometimes Flickr is more trouble than it’s worth. Seriously debating whether or not I want to bother renewing my Pro account in a few months.
Month: September 2007
Pumpkin Washcloth
I knitted this up for a swap pal. Hopefully I’ll be mailing out her package next week! The pattern is from Knitwits Heaven. The pattern actually calls for a seed stitch border, but I took the easy (lazy) way out and just did a knit border. I like it just as well, though! I have to say, though, it doesn’t feel very fall-ish today. It’s hot, humid, and honestly kind of gross outside. I hope it cools down soon. I thought summer was over!
Such a mess
We really need to do some cleaning up in the basement. I’ve been opening boxes as the prospect of selling our house gets grimmer and grimmer, so there are opened boxes half-full of kitchen stuff. Then there is my scrapbook table that is a disaster because I needed my stamps for something the other day (see — I didn’t get rid of everything!) and the stamps and ink pads are all spread out. And then there is the desk. It has our ancient computer that really we should just get rid of, the wireless router and cable modem, plus stacks of papers… ugh, I can’t stand it. And yet, every time I made an attempt to clean it up, I get about halfway through before I’m interrupted. Then I have to go do something else and by the next time I can clean, it’s back to square one. Sigh… Sometimes I feel like the battle against clutter is a losing one.
Fall Into Reading
I used to be a voracious reader. I could go through a book a week, easily. In college, I read books for pleasure on top of all my required reading (which was plentiful, trust me). But then I got pregnant. Actually, after Jake was born I still kept up with reading pretty well. I wasn’t reading at the pace I used to, but I still got through a few books within a year’s time. But after Noah was born? Forget it. I don’t think I completed a single book last year and I’m not faring any better this year. So I’m going to participate in the Fall Into Reading challenge. Just because I haven’t been reading, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been quietly amassing books. I have a huge pile and I need to start working my way through it.
So with that in mind, I hope to read the following book by December 21st:
Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford – Must. Finish. This!
<em>Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen – I’m about 30 pages in. Another in the “finish” category.
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot’s Guide to the Land of Knitting by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee – Gifted by my SP10 pal. I’d hoped to read it while on vacation in June. Haven’t opened it yet.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami – Highly reccomended by one of my customers. This is exactly the kind of book I need to read to get my brain working again.
So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer’s Life by Jacob Slichter – I’ve had this forever and I’m so mad at myself for letting it just sit there.
I need to spend less time reading stuff online and get my nose back between the pages of some books. Let’s hope I can do this!
Little things
It’s the little things that can just suddenly change your mood, you know? I was having kind of a rough morning getting’s Jake’s butt in gear for school. He woke up later than usual, so he had less time to play before the whole ritual of breakfast – getting dressing – brushing teeth and hair – etc. While the boys were eating I went upstairs to put my rings on and as I was getting them out of my jewelry box I looked at my wedding ring and peeked at the inside. Drew and I had a special secret code word engraved inside our wedding bands, and sometimes I forget about it. But when I remember to look it always makes me happy 🙂 If you’re married, did you have anything engraved on your wedding bands?
Slacker Swapper
I have been horrible about keeping up with the Questions of the Week for the Fall Into Autumn Discloth Swap, so I am going to take the opportunity to play catch-up!
1) Now that in some geographic locations the weather is starting to turn cooler, do you change the type of yarn(s) you knit/crochet with? If so, what do you now knit/crochet with instead and why? If not, why do you not switch and what do you knit/crochet with?
I enjoy knitting with wool much more in the cooler weather, also anything fuzzy and nubby. I tend to knit more dishcloths in the summer because the cotton is just cooler, I guess. I have a lot of projects queued up: winter woolies, a couple baby sweaters, possibly a baby blanket… I’m just not as inspired to work on those kinds of projects in the waremer weather.
2) When you knit or crochet dishclothes, washclothes or face clothes, what do you use? What size needle or hook? Wood? what type? Metal? Plastic? A specific Brand? Why do you love that needle or hook so much? Is there one you are dying to try? Is there a particular yarn you love and use all the time for clothes? What is so special about it?
Ususually I use aluminum needles — no particular brand, I just like how the cotton slides. Currently I’m knitting one on bamboo and there is a big difference. I’m not knitting anywhere near as fast as I should be! I would like to try the Addis Turbo needles, but I think that since most of the time I prefer my Denise needles, I’m not sure I’d like the slipperiness fo the Addis. No yarn preference for clothes, really. I do prefer wool/wool blends for most handknits unless they are for babies or small children, though. In that case I try to find nice acrylics (yes there are a few!)
3) Autumn has now officially begun here in the States!! What is your favorite thing about Autumn/Fall? Why? Lots of things: the cooler weather and the opportunity to wear my favorite sweaters, my birthday (I don’t care how old I am – I still like to enjoy my birthday!), Halloween (so much fun, I love it!), leaf piles, apple picking, Thanksgiving dinner… It’s all good! The only thing I don’t like about autumn is that it means winter is on the way.
Inked
So I am still wavering back and forth on the whole tatoo idea. I really do want one, but I keep wondering if I’ll be so happy about it when I’m like 80 years old. Undecided still. At any rate, I did come across a site called Bullseyetattos.com that has a lot of really great tattoo designs. Whether you’re looking for Star Tattoos , swallow tattoos (still topping my lists), or pretty much anything else, you will find a design there. You can just buy the image, download it, print it out, and take it to your favorite tattoo artist and get inked. Check it out!
Good Eats
Last night we grilled filet mignon and holy cow were they delicious! I topped them with blue cheese butter and it just added that extra “something.” Basically, you just mix some crumbled blue cheese and sliced scallions into about two tablespoons of butter. Combine it really well and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so. After you’ve grilled your steak, slather the butter on top and cover with foil while the meat rests. So yummy! I served it with blanched asparagus. We also tried out the 2004 Jekel Cabernet Sauvignon. I liked it, but there wasn’t a lot of fruit to it. Mainly earth and wood, but I enjoyed it. Not a “wow” wine by any means, though.
Otherwise, our weekend was OK. Busy, as usual. I’m very excited to recieve my new yarn from Miss Hawklet. I’m going to use it to knit up some winter woolies to go with my new coat. I received it on Friday and love it! I almost can’t wait for the cold weather now 🙂
Fall Into Reading
I really need to start reading more. I continue to buy books, but by the time I can sit down and start reading, I’m just too tired. But I do spend a lot of time in the car and was thinking that maybe I should start listening to audio books. Booksonboard.com has a great selection of Downloadable Audio Books from both major publishing houses and small publishers. There are no annual fees or minimum purchases. Might be a cool service to check out.
Whole Bean Chocolate
The other day I was at Big Lots (of all places) and saw this candy bar at the check-out. It is Hershey’s Whole Bean Chocolate and is made with 40% less sugar than “the leading milk chocolate.” They count the entire bar as a serving, and it’s 180 calories. Half of the bar is plenty to crush that chocolate fix, though. The taste is really good. It is not as sweet as a regular Hershey’s bar, but it has more sweetness to it than dark chocolate. It has kind of a weird aftertaste to it, though. That’s the only bad thing. But apparently it has more flavanol antioxidants than some other dark chocolate bars. Interesting!