Hamburgers from scratch
July 13, 2009 at 6:32 pm | In baking, crochet, family, food, knitting | Leave a CommentThe Bug and I helped Uncle G make hamburgers from scratch (grind meat, bake buns, make ketchup, relish, and mustard) as inspired by an article in Gourmet magazine. They were very good, especially those that were more coursely ground.
I’ve also made a few dishcloths…
This last one didn’t handle the ‘up-sizing’ as well as the other blocks.
I’ve also made progress on the lace scarf (a la Meghan-Jasmin’s Lace Throwdown)…no pix just yet.
The blackberries are going full-ahead, so we also made blackberry crisp using this recipe from Alton Brown. I made a double batch in a 9×13 pan and just used all the ‘crumble’ part. We used gingersnaps for the cookies. It was yummy!
Catching up
February 18, 2009 at 9:16 pm | In Baby, crochet, knitting | Leave a CommentI’ve been finishing up lots of things this past week.
The Lady Gray Scarf from the Luxury One skein wonders book
Yarn: ecolana from AslanTrends
Color: natural gray
Hook: G
Mods: did 10 repeats of the square because there wasn’t enough to do 11 repeats, crocheted the squares together using the chain stitch areas of the last rows of each square
Comments: nice yarn to work with, but a bit scratchy on my neck – nice and easy pattern
More fetching …
Yarn: Classic alpaca
color: black
Needles: US6
Mods: none this time, pattern is perfect as is…
Blue Beret (One day beret from Between the Loops)
Yarn: malabrigo
Color: agua
Mods: did a lot more stockinette and reduced 1+ more inches at ribbing and went down 2 US needle sizes for ribbing
Comments: wonderful yarn and easy pattern
Right now, I’m still working on the poinelle socks, MIL clogs. I’m also going to start a market bag in some yarn I won in a contest.
Other than that, we are still chugging along – waiting to hear about the next round of budget cuts. Bug is getting bigger by the minute… and loves to dress up.
Onward…
May 18, 2008 at 9:23 pm | In Baby, crochet, gardening, knitting, work | Leave a CommentWe’ve been very busy this week – 5 “weeks” of a course jammed into 5 days of class. A whirlwind to say the least, but we’re surviving. I remind myself each year that I taught this course one time while 9 months pregnant with a sprained ankle (I can do ANYTHING!). Bug was born the day of the final exam for this course nearly 3 years ago now… I can’t believe it. Time has certainly flown…
Someone recently asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She said cheesecake – we have made several of these in the last few months for other people. She likes to hold the eggs and eat some of the chocolate chips.
In the last few days she has added that she wants presents – I asked her ‘what’ presents. Her answer: blue presents. 
We’ve made some progress on all fronts – the garden is enjoying the rain, but aches for some seasonably warmer weather than we’ve been having. I’ve made progress on three projects: the stained glass crochet scarf
and the corn socks for DH
but messed up the lattice scarf and had to rip back past the “progress” I had made.
I like Lixie’s slogan for these days… Keep calm and carry on…
Moving along
April 14, 2008 at 8:39 pm | In Baby, baking, crochet, knitting | Leave a CommentWe’ve been doing more outside stuff since it is daylight longer here and relatively warmer.
I’ve been working on the corn socks for DH (Maizy) and the crochet scarf (simple double crochet, but with laceweight Alpaca/silk Simmer from Knitpicks) and baking things.
Baking is very soothing for me and I manage fairly well with finding things Bug can do in the process – helping measure things and add things from packages. Tonight we made oatmeal-chocolate chip-pecan cookies. I was trying to make a “cowboy” cookie like Kirchoff’s Bakery in Paducah. I started with an oatmeal cookie recipe (quaker oat box), but I think I need to start with a chocolate chip cookie recipe to get the correct texture. They are good regardless, though.
April showers
April 3, 2008 at 8:47 pm | In Baby, crochet, knitting, work | Leave a CommentIt has been raining here on and off for about a week. The ground is saturated and everything is beginning to green up. Only the little oak in the back yard still clings to its brown leaves. It is always the last to come around to budding. I saw some dogwoods blooming this morning on the way in to work. I’ve been working on a crochet scarf out out knitpicks laceweight and DH’s corn socks. Both projects are going well – I’m still not yet ready to begin anything complex. Work is taking too much mental and physical energy for anything complex. I’ll take pictures of the progress soon… Bug is well and talking up a storm these days. I can’t believe she will be 3 years old in less than two months.
What a day!
March 21, 2008 at 9:58 pm | In Baby, baking, crochet, knitting | Leave a CommentLots of “springy things” going on here. We made a lovely cake (Angel Lush) last night.
Bug hunted for Easter eggs at school.
We went to the park and then took a short “walk in the woods”.
She is such like my mother – shoeless whenever possible…
And here is my one-row scarf (an entire skein of Malabrigo, color amoroso on size US 8).
I’ve been trying some experimenting with crocheting laceweight (Shimmer from Knitpicks in Stained glass), but nothing seems to look right. I bought it thinking it would be good for a lace scarf, but I’m afraid the colors will obscure the lace pattern. I checked on ravelry and most people do Clapotis with it – I don’t really like the stringy look of the series of dropped stitch threads on that pattern. I did find a couple of possibilities , that is, they are more simple stitches that will allow the yarn to stand out: One person did a montego bay scarf (not nearly so stringy dropped stitches) and one did a knotted scarf.
And I finished grading tests – Wahoo!
Year-end reflection begins
December 29, 2007 at 9:13 pm | In crochet, knitting | Leave a CommentI like the idea of looking back on the past year (like Knit Lit and One Hot Stove), but I’m going to put my own spin on things. I knit and do crafty things because I enjoy learning and creating, so here is my knitting reflection.
Knitting Things I’ve Learned How to Do this Year
1. knit socks (Crazy Heels and Toes)
2. read a lace chart (class at my LYS)
3. use a circular needle, including magic loop (Crazy Heels and Toes)
4. do shadow knitting (Rosalind)
5. do a simple cable (Fetching)
6. dye yarn with kool-aid (class at my LYS)
7. make a skein and use a swift (ladies at the LYS)
8. felt in the washer (Fiber-trend clogs)
9. add beads into knitting (Odessa)
10. make a blog (initiated by listening to Lixie Knits It)
Knitting/Fiber Things I’d Like to Try Next Year
1. Weaving on a hand loom (if my Weavette loom ever gets here)
2. Knit or crochet a garment (sweater, maybe?)
3. Finish one of my lace projects
I think I’ll write about my cooking things learned tomorrow….
My great-grandmother’s legacy
October 26, 2007 at 9:37 pm | In SP11, crochet, family | 1 CommentAnother SP11 contest brings this topic up.
What was the first thing I knit (or crocheted)? My mom taught me how to do chains when I was small, but I really learned to crochet from my great-grandmother (Elizabeth) just after I learned to drive. My sister and I had a standing appointment on Thursdays to go visit and learn. She started us on a lace edging.
We learned how to read the crocheted item itself to replicate the item. Later on I learned how to read patterns, and just now am learning how to read diagrams. Anyway, she died only about 10 years ago. My family has always been close (literally and emotionally) and long-lived. I miss my great-grandparents still. They were spunky!
My sister and I are the only ones who crochet in this whole extended family, so naturally we got her projects and her hooks, needles, and shuttles. In looking for my first project, I re-found this… her unfinished project.
It was to be a very large bedspread – currently measuring about 10 feet across and 4 1/2 feet wide. She had 3 blocks finished but not added and two more nearly done. There is also a bag of crochet cotton. I feel both blessed and sad to have it. I’m glad to come from such handy and talented folks, but I am sad that my daughter will not be as close to her grandparents because we live so far away.
Finish-itis?
September 2, 2007 at 8:37 am | In Baby, crochet, knitting | 1 CommentI’ve heard lots of people mention that they occasionally have start-itis. Me, I have the opposite, finish-itis. I need to get something, anything finished! Just something to check off the list when I feel like I’ve got too many things in process. It also crops up when I’ve been doing things that don’t really have a “product” that I can see or touch.
I have finally finished the Tunisian and shells wristlet from the Hooked Bags book. I REALLY dreaded putting in the zipper. But the summer purse cal-kal was ending, so I had to just “do it” so that I could include it.
Here are the particulars:
Crochet hook: G
Pattern: Tunisian and shell pattern from Hooked Bags
Yarn: shiny, coral-like yarn color choice (color 3475 of Cotton Classic), most of 2 skeins (26g left)
Modifications: Minor, 1)increased number of rows for wrist band and crocheted it on , 2) crocheted all sides together instead of sewing them, and 3) constructed lining and zipper completely before sewing it into the bag (as in split yarn’s tutorial on wristlets).
The malagaiter progress is going well. I’m on repeat 5 of 6! YAY!
I’ve gotten past to toe increases for the first of my socks (toe up).
I just discovered wimples and smokerings (lacy hat/scarf). They look really useful. The dual purpose idea is the reason I like the malagaiter (hat/scarf/ear cover). I need to get some more things done, though, before I can start one.
Check out Bug’s new hair-do. She actually let me put 2 pigtails in her hair this morning (with the help of the distracting TV!)
Happy Labor Day!
Family travels
August 3, 2007 at 9:22 pm | In Baby, crochet, family, knitting | 4 CommentsWe had a good time in Ohio seeing the family. We tried several new recipes. Some keepers, like the apple and pear salsa, but not others, like the pineapple slaw. I’ll share the salsa recipe later. We mostly just visited, but had a bonfire with s’mores one evening (even though it was >90F)! The s’mores were excellent as Z (Sister’s youngest) can attest.
While on a “Bug rest stop” in Bowling Green, KY, we went into a local yarn shop called Crafty Hands. It was a very nice shop and I bought some Malabrigo yarn for a special gift for DH in a beautiful (yet secret) color! I’ve been looking for this for quite a while and thought I would have to go into Nashville to get it.
We made it back home with only one small crying fit when Bug was tired. She was in an excellent mood this morning, even though she did not want to give me back my pop can.
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I finished the ipod case (knitted with an “eyelet diamond” design from the stitchionary and a picot crochet border). It is in my koolaid-dyed yarn and knit on size 3 US needles.
I’ve nearly made it to the end of the Tunisian and shells wristlet for the purse cal-kal, but still need to sew in the zippered lining! It is lined with fleece for structure and then also has a silky and shiny “real” lining. Man, that thing is tedious.
The lace scarf was ripped out and started yet again! But the kool-aid scarf is progressing well. It is 5 rows of moss stitch and 5 rows of stockinette – alternating.
We’re going to be traveling this coming week. Bug will be at the Grandparents T. and we are traveling to San Francisco for 4 days. I know that it is good for us to be away from her for a little while and have “couple-time,” but I feel sad when I think about leaving her.
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