Delays, delays

I've still been taking pictures every day, but have been having trouble uploading pictures as I was trying to catch up these past two days. Hopefully it'll all be resolved by tonight. If you've been keeping up with my photo project, sit tight!

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Day 17 - Leftovers

We live on the sunnier side of the street, which means our snow always disappears first. I was so happy to see these remnants still hanging around this afternoon.

Day 16 - Mason

When I got into work this morning, the roads were clear and there was not a drop of precipitation. 90 minutes later, this is what campus looked like. I have no windows in my office, so imagine my surprise when I walked out and past this window on the way to the bathroom.

Day 15 - Boxed

Only one or two more things to go with Christmas shopping. Thank you interwebs.

Day 14 - Countdown

Sorry again for the late updates--between visiting old friends 'til the wee hours of the night to just being plain ol' tired, I haven't been to my computer in the evenings these past few days. That said, this photo is from my office desk perspective--my calendar countdown (with a cheery bouquet of crocheted flowers) to winter break at work and a few days off to relax.

Day 13 - First Snow!

Is it cheating if your sweet husband leaves some pictures on your camera because he knows you love your sleep so much you'll miss this first light dusting of snow? Courtesy of J.

Day 12 - Pho

Another cell phone photo: Pho from a great place in the Eden shopping center, in celebration of not having a migraine and almost finishing our holiday shopping.

Day 11 - Migraine

Sorry this is so late--I had a migraine this day and spend most of it in bed. The only photo I managed to snap was this one, on my cell, from my bedridden perspective: my conure Bartok attacking a piece of bread with jam on it. The darkness, blurriness, and overall disorganization of this shot encapsulates how my head felt pretty well.

Day 10 - Red and Green

You know you're excited about Christmas when you start gathering everything you own into groups of red and green.

Day 9 - Sorry, Santa

Sorry Santa, but this one's mine.

Day 8 - Wreath

We're a little behind in decorations, so our wreath just went up last night. This weekend: tree!

Day 7 - Inhale, exhale

 

The air's been extra dray these past few days, and I keep forgetting to take my nighttime dose of my asthma/lung maintenance medicine. Definitely feeling the effects of my stupidity tonight, but at least I have the blanket my mom crocheted for me last Christmas to keep me cozy.

Day 6 - Little Things

While searching for something to photograph today, I ran into (as I often do) this little gift from my oldest nephew. He gave it to me sometime last winter, and it always makes me smile to see it. Note the penguins on the pencil--this kid has me down pat.

Day 5 - My DC

I love DC most in the winter. It's stunning in the spring and summer, sakura wrapping around the Tidal Basin, and festivals giving the city a bubbling exuberance. Fall is a beauty to behold as well, but wintertime just always felt right.

Because I can't just leave well enough alone, here are a few token federal buildings for your viewing pleasure:

The Capitol

Supreme Court at sunset

Library of Congress, Jefferson Building--a shout out to my librarian friends!

Day 4 - March of the Penguins

Penguins are my favorite animal. Period. I've loved them all my life, before they were cool. My sister thinks I have a thing for Arctic animals; maybe she's right. Either way, I look forward to pulling out my cute and many times tacky collection of penguin socks when winter rolls around--gotta keep those feet cozy and stylish!

Day 3 - I'll be home for Christmas

J has always been really close to his maternal grandmother. Everyone thinks their grandmother is a special lady, but J's grandma really was. Shortly after we began dating, I met this wonderful woman who would eventually become as much as a grandmother to me as any of my blood-related grandparents. This past April, we lost this amazing lady to cancer. As the weather grew more crisp this fall, and as the smell of chimney smoke wafted through the air, we worried about what this Christmas would be like without Grandma D here with us.

Grandma D was a lover of all things plant, her favorites being bonsais and orchids. When went to Louisiana for  her funeral, all of those close to her selected a few of her precious plants to care for. We flew back solo, and J's parents brought back four healthy bonsais and two orchids for us via a rough two-day truck ride. The orchids were limp and wrinkled when they arrived, losing their beautiful flowers (among the last orchids Grandma D set her eyes on before falling into her eternal sleep) and we steeled ourselves for the worst. I enlisted the help of my mother, our resident "plant lady", who reluctantly performed triage on the dying plants. You see, while my mother has always kept orchids, none of them had bloomed in the last couple of years--she was doubtful she could do anything.

At the beginning of November, we noticed stems coming up from one of the plants. On Thanksgiving, one of the flowerbuds grew big and heavy, ready to bloom at any moment. Finally, on the first of December, the bud opened. Today, another flower bloomed. As you can see, there will be many more to come, just in time for Christmas.

Those who know me best know that I am not the most spiritual and am at best skeptical about the afterlife. I don't hope for or look for miracles. But this--this brings me some peace and comfort to know that in some way, Grandma D will be with us again this year for Christmas.

Day 2 - Schooooooool's out for the summer (winter)!

Turned in my last project this morning, and I am free as a bird--until mid-January, that is. Now to sit back and enjoy some Thursday night television.

Day 1 - First Real Chill

It's been getting colder, steadily, but today was our first real chill. We woke up this morning to a driving, soak-to-the-bone rain, and it kept getting colder and winder as the day went on. My cozy wool coat has officially come out of retirement for this year, and accompanying it is my newest favorite accessory--a thick plaid scarf with pleats instead of fringe.

Hello, hello, hello again!

Summer flew right on by, and so did most of fall! I've been swamped with my coursework and work-work but still knitting. Just haven't had time to put my thoughts down into a blog yet.

My wonderful friend Jackie of Jackie Ranson Photography (check out her work! I'm not just plugging her because she's my friend, but she really is super talented) is doing a 25 Days of Christmas photo challenge on her blog, and I thought I should jump on the bandwagon. I've been thinking about participating in something like that for a couple years now, and thought it would be a great opportunity to get back into blogging after my hiatus. 

I'm still finishing up a project for class, so my first picture will be up later today (or maybe tomorrow--I hope you don't mind me cheating just this once--I promise it'll be taken tonight though), but I won't leave you without new photos of a project I finished a couple months ago, Circe' Belle's Sixteen Cable Hat, as modeled by my very  lovely sister. If said lovely sister looks weirdly drunkenly red, it's my fault--I went a little red-happy when using my photo editor for the first time, unaware that I could isolate areas of the photo to enhance instead of doing a blanket type thing.

Hat was knit up in Cascade Pure Alpaca, and the red in real live is really as luscious as I've enhanced it to look in this photo. The yarn was soft and I'll definitely be using it again in future projects.

Summer flies right on by...

You ever have one of those days when you're feeling a little under the weather and just want to be left around to do work at your desk, but everyone needs you to do something for them? Today seemed like one of those days for everyone. I seriously considered plopping down a giant bag of chocolate on the main table in our office and sending a departmental message to let everyone know they could have a go at it if need be.

Anyhoo...

I'm settled back at home with a hot bowl of soup, excited that I finally got my act together and have some photos of a recently completed project to share. Hooray!

I've been working on a pair of socks, and decided to take a break and knit something big. Something big, but something at still reflected summer in its own way. Quite randomly, I ran across Summerflies by Donna Griffin. Though I had been looking for a new project, this quite possibly was the closest to an impulse knit as you could get. I couldn't get to my needles quickly enough, and almost instantly knew what I wanted to use from my stash. I'm so glad I had everything on hand, because it really was a fantastically fun knit!

As you can see, the shawl is constructed with differing sections (see the little butterfly eyelets in the 2nd and 4th sections? Squee!) and finished off with a lovely ruffle and picot bind off. Each section provided new interest, so it never got boring.

Close up of the picot bind off.

The completed shawl is light, but does keep bare shoulders warm in these last few summer nights. Alternatively, it's also long enough to be used as a scarf. I didn't photograph it that way because I kind of stink at styling things that way.

Update

It’s been a long few weeks, but I’m still kicking, folks!

First, can you believe it’s almost the end of August? My parents are celebrating their 40^th anniversary today and the weather couldn’t be better for the occasion.  They’ve taught me that not everything will be smooth sailing, but love, patience, and understanding can help you get through anything. Thanks, mom and dad!

It seems like not much and everything has been happening in the three weeks since I last wrote.  I had a birthday at the beginning of the month(happy birthday to me!), and as always seems to happen with birthdays, we celebrated it over a week. A few days after my birthday, my mom went under the knife for total knee replacement surgery. The family’s been chipping in to help her out. Two weeks later, she is recovering nicely and her spirits are good, but it’s difficult to watch someone so strong and vibrant slowed down. We have to think on the bright side: once her knee heals, we won’t even be able to keep up with her!

In knitting news, I’m finishing up some projects, making some mitts for a bride, and planning out holiday projects. I also ordered a beginner’s spinning kit and am a little scared but mostly excited.  I’ll let you know how that goes…

I haven’t posted any photos for a while, but I’m working on it. Hopefully I’ll have something in the next few days.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

More on Striping

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but it's been hot here. Hot! Work's been keeping me busy, and that along with the incessant heat have made it so that all I want to do is eat, knit, and sleep when I get home. Here's to hoping that things cool down soon, weather-wise and work-wise.

This past weekend did grant us somewhat of a reprieve: mid-80s weather and low humidity allowed J and I to spend a day with some friends walking about the city on Saturday. We had some incredible frozen yogurt at TangySweet during one of our rest stops, and I am certainly looking for another opportunity to visit again!

The blanket has been put on hold; I've decided to wait and see if my friend has a boy or a girl before continuing. Truth be told, I have horribly dry hands and using the yarn I was using turned into a complete snag-o-rama so I think I'm going to end up making a hat, baby mitts, and baby leg warmers (striped of course) for a series of smaller projects my poor construction worker feeling hands might be able to take more. The green-blue-teal color scheme doesn't quite work so well for baby girl clothing though, hence the wait. In any case, my nephews may be getting some embarassingly matched hats and mittens for Christmas this year. ;)

I've got a lot of projects to keep me occupied in the meantime. I need to finish up my pair of socks as well as the scarf I mentioned earlier, plus a wrap for a future wedding. Then comes all the holiday gift knitting, which I am really looking forward to!

One last little tidbit--I found another neat tool for striping while perusing some message boards. Check out the Random Stripe Generator for your next "freeform" striped project. I've had so much fun making different color combinations and seeing what the computer spits out.

Striping

My dear college piano buddy R and her husband D are expecting their second child this September and we are just ecstatic. They are wonderful parents and any child in their family is a lucky child indeed.

R is an avid crocheter who lovingly stitches together baby blankets for moms-to-be in her home and church communities, so I of course wanted to knit something for her new bundle of joy. As with the last pregnancy, R and D are waiting until the baby arrives before they find out the gender, which means my blanket color choices are quite limited. Unless, of course, I wait until the baby comes to make the blanket, but what fun is that?

Since they were inundated by yellow items for their first son, I wanted to do something a little different. Stripes are usually pretty unisex depending on how they are done, so I bought a few skeins of Red HeartEco-Ways in Peacock (3518), Aquarium (3520), and Lichen (1615—I don’t think this color looks like lichen, and further, I don’t know why companies keep thinking that names like “lichen” sound appealing). The colors are boyish but are colors adult women like to wear. But looking back, I kind of wish I had added Misty Violet (3533) to the mix as it’s turning out to be a little more rough and tumble looking than I had intended. Oh well. I am el stinko with color coordination, so it is a miracle I was able to get this far to begin with.

So, I tried to carry the yarn up the side to avoid weaving but it wasn’t working out very well for my tastes. I didn’t like how the sides were not flexible, so I went searching for other options. Maybe I’m just slow in the game here, but I was overjoyed to find THIS beautifully photographed tutorial on how to weave in ends while knitting. Those as in the dark as I have been, enjoy!

Ack!

Well, I've gone and disappeared again. I've been down with a freak summer cold and bronchitis all week. Luckily, I saw the doctor early enough that I didn't get to that horrible stage of bronchitis where I practically turn grey, but I've still been on another planet with all the cold meds and cough suppressants. As Sheri at The Loopy Ewe put it, I really have been Too Stupid to Knit!

Thankfully, I haven't been Too Stupid to Wind Balls of Yarn though, as I finally got a swift and ball winder this week. Knowing I'd do more damage than good to any of my projects but needing a fiber fix anyway, I spent most of this week winding everything in in my path. If I had any foresight, I'd have taken pictures of the yarn ball pyramid I've been building this week, but alas--I'm also Too Stupid to Plan at the moment, apparently.

I haven't forgotten Manly Friday though!

Mowhawk Hat by domiKNITrix.

Let your punk flag fly!

 Star Wars Golf Club Covers by Katie LeComte

I think I know about twenty guys off the top of my head who would totally geek out over these.

Cargo by Brynne Sutton

Ok, so not a technical man, but a baby one. I thought these were too cute to pass up though. :)

Have a great weekend everyone, and keep your fingers crossed for me and hope I stop drowning in my own phlegm over here. Gross.

Knits for Men

I just noticed that I'm up to my 30th post--wow!

Anyway, I've been thinking about men lately. Knits for men, that is. On my bus ride to the metro one day, I ran into a fellow knitting library friend, S. She casually mentioned that she had been working on a sweater for her boyfriend for, oh, 8 months now. I was surprised--S is a young, hip knitter who has been turning project after project for over half her life. When I asked why she kept getting sidetracked, she responded, "It's so boring!"

So, I thought I'd start a new feature here: Manly Fridays! Every Friday, I'll hunt out and highlight some  fun patterns for men.

Men's Mod Sock. Photo by Jenna H.

Interesting pattern that deviates from the normal rib, but is simple enough not to be too flamboyant. Unless you knit it in neon yellow. Pattern available in toe-up and cuff-down versions.

Bias-Knit Tie. Photo copyright Interweave Knits.

The ultimate man-accessory: the tie. J has been interested in knitted ties for a while, because of their interesting texture and one-of-a-kind-ness. I guess I should probably get on that, huh?

Goomba Hat. Photo by FadeCrazy.

Throwback to Super Mario Brothers! Heck, I think I might make this one for myself.

What are your favorite manly knits?

Quick Alpaca Knit

The week I put my last stitch into Stella, I wanted a fast project since Stella had taken me so long to complete. I decided to make an alpaca scarf for J since it was a worsted one-skein project--and since I've been neglecting making anything for him for a while. The yarn and pattern comes from a local spinner and alpaca owner, and is so squishy and soft that J should hide his new scarf before I decide to steal it for myself! Check her out: Ewesful Fiber Arts.

Summer tomatoes

Summer always flies by so quickly with short trips and visiting family. J and I are traveling to visit some family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this holiday weekend. Not sure how the internet situation is, so for now, I bid you adieu for another few days. Coming with me is the Haruha Scarf, which I am knitting up in a fabulous fiery red-orange that Madelinetosh calls Tomato. How appropriate for the summer!

Have a safe and happy 4th, everyone!

Stella, completed

I tried to do one of those fancy "scarf on a tree branch" photos everyone seems fond of, but was not successful.

More detail:

Guess who's on the blocking mat!

...Stella! I FINALLY finished this long-lasting project--that'll teach me to have a separate "waiting room/waiting in general" project again and make me just sit down and do it.

I took some pictures after I blocked last night, but they didn't turn out very well, so you'll just have to wait until I get more pictures after Stella dries. Hooray!

I'm back!

So, I really meant to update a few days ago, when we got back from Pittsburgh. Really. But then I got sick, and then I had to do the whole ALA (American Library Association) conference deal, and now here I am, finally taking a breath!

I'm finally getting the photos from our trip organized and ready to share, and am planning to spread it out over a couple entries. Boy did we have a good time!

Before we left, I finished my Vienna Shrug. I can't believe how soft the yarn is, and how incredible the color looks in the sun. Here's a look-see:

And before I go, here's a peek at our trip:

"Hello!"

Quick Update

I haven't written in a bit, but for good reason--J and I are on vacation in Pittsburgh for a few days, seeing the sights, eating good things, lazing about, and petting  penguin. We've been trying to get ahead with home things and work things, so there hasn't been much time for the internet, but I'll be back soon with a couple entries recapping our visit. Have a great weekend!

Giveaway on Wendy Knits!

Wendy D.  Johnson of Wendy Knits is having an awesome giveaway on her blog. She's offering a copy of her Gothic Spires store/scarf pattern, and two skeins of Zen Garden Serenity 20 yarn. Go check it out!

Also, today is National Strawberry Shortcake Day. In honor of that, here is a recipe Serious Eats put out in honor of the occassion.

Photo from Serious Eats

Red Velvet Cocoa Strawberry Shortcake (Recipe from Serious Eats, found here)

Red Velvet Cocoa Strawberry Shortcake

- makes 8 shortcakes -

Adapted from The Taste of Home Cookbook

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/3 cup cold butter
red food coloring (optional)
1 cup milk (or split between 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup buttermilk)
2 pints strawberries, sliced
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 cups freshly whipped cream

Procedure

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually stir in the milk until a soft dough forms. Add food coloring and mix until incorporated.

2. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons into eight mounds on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 425°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, gently toss the strawberries, orange juice and remaining sugar. Split each cooled biscuit into two horizontal layers. Top the bottom layers with whipped cream and strawberries; place the biscuit halves on top. Serve immediately.

I'm a winner!

A few weeks back, one of my favorite yarn people, Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co., had a contest and drawing for her new colorways. I didn't win the naming contest, BUT...I won a skein of studio sock in the newly named Victorian Village!

My yarn came in the mail earlier last week, and the color is stunning. It's a deeper fuschia than what the photo shows. If you remember, I used Neighborhood Fiber Co.'s Studio Sock in Georgetown for my Citron Shawl and was quite pleased with how everything turned out.

So, any ideas on what I should make next (besides socks)? I've got 435 yards at my disposal. Hmm....

Thank you, Karida!!

Vienna Shrug

The Vienna Shrug has been blocked and is now ready for its ribbed trim. At the moment, it may be put to the side in favor of charity projects, but I'm really chomping at the bit to finish it soon!

Craft Hope

I recently came across a wonderful website that connects crafters with important causes that need their help.

Their current project is set to help clean off wildlife in the Gulf. Needed are people who sew, knit, or crochet, to make small hand towels. They don't need to be fancy because they will likely be thrown away after three or four uses, and can just be a piece of terrycloth with serged edges. Read more about it HERE! The project is due July 3rd, so get those needles busy!

And sorry for the lack of posting lately--I'm still tired from being under the weather this weekend, and haven't been working on as much as I had hoped. The Vienna Shrug body is ready to be blocked tonight though, and hopefully I'll have the sleeve cuffs and collar finished or close to finished by the end of the weekend. Can't wait to see the final product!

Wildlife in the Gulf

The now famous pictures by AP photographer Charlie Reidel are sure to pull at the heartstrings. We all keep asking ourselves, what can I do? If you have a few extra dollars, or some extra time, please take a moment to donate to or volunteer with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research HERE. BP is helping with the funding of these projects, but Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research could always use more resources.

I lived in Baton Rouge for two years, and my husband has close family who live in New Orleans. Brown pelicans and egrets became ordinary to the backdrop of our lives, and it is extremely jarring to see what these innocent creatures are struggling through now.

To see the photographs by Charlie Reidel, go to this article. The pictures are very sad and disturbing, so proceed at your own risk.

On the needles

The husband and I had intended to go to my town's annual festival this weekend, but I was feeling miserable and the weather was in the 90s with 5000% humidity. We decided to stay in, he working on his shoot-'em-up video game, me working on a new shrug. We went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last month, where I found a simple pattern for a nice summer shrug--the Vienna Shrug  by Hannah Six. I've been waiting to get going on this pattern for some time now, so though I wasn't feeling well, it was really great to finally sit down and spend some quality time with it.

I'm about three quarters of the way through with the body; after that I'll have ribbed trim to finish around the body and the sleeve cuffs. The pattern has been really easy to memorize, and hopefully it will be finished by the end of the week. I'm using Shepherd's Wool worsted in Lime Green on size 8 needles, and am really pleased with the stitch definition and fluffiness of the yarn. Hopefully, I'll have something more complete to show off soon!

DPNs

I love knitting on DPNs. For some reason, I feel like I'm doing something and getting stuff done; moreso than when I knit on circulars or straight needles.

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel the same?

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! And don't forget to take advantage of National Doughnut Day today!

Blackberry Peach Pie

Last night, I was faced with making a dessert for a party we're holding for our student workers. Because I don't know the words "give up and go buy a dessert and stop torturing your poor husband with baked goods he can't eat" or "it's 9:00 pm, do you really want to bake?", I decided I'd make a blackberry peach pie.

You see, I'm a freak of nature late night baker, so this shouldn't be surprising. But, pie crust and I have always had a strained relationship. It's one of those things where we've always agreed to disagree and leave it at that. Until....I browsed the Pioneer Woman's site a few days ago and found a reader recipe for a Perfect Pie Crust--the title says it's perfect! It has a ton of pretty pictures! And it's on the Pioneer Woman! What could go wrong?

Unsuspecting looking filling

I usually tear my crust to bits before I can get it into any sort of pan. This is a good sign!

Bottom crust and filling...the kitchen is starting to smell good

Let's all say one last prayer before it goes into the oven...

Aaannnd, done!

Thankfully, not much went wrong. My coworkers enjoyed the pie (or so they said), and the crust was delightfully flaky. Pre-baking, dough was a lot sloppier than what I am used to because of the extra liquid used (5 T water, 1 T vinegar, 1 egg). Freezing helped, and I had to make sure I picked up the crust completely off the counter frequently when rolling it (thank you Martha Stewart), so it wouldn't stick and become a sloppy mess. 

Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust (On The Pioneer Woman, submitted by Sylvia)

Ingredients
1-½ cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
3 cups All-purpose Flour
1 whole Egg
5 Tablespoons Cold Water
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
Preparation Instructions

In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

Separate the dough into thirds. Form 3 evenly sized balls of dough and place each dough into a large Ziploc bag. Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. (If you will be using it immediately it’s still a good idea to put in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes to chill.)

When you are ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way out. (Sprinkle some flour over top of the dough if it’s a bit too moist.) If the dough is sticking to the countertop use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it’s about ½ inch larger in diameter than your pie pan.

With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter into the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge.

 ***

Blackberry Peach Filling (From Bobby Flay on the Food Network website; I omitted the alcohol in this recipe because it was about 10 pm before I got around to mixing it up and I didn't feel like going to the store. C'est la vie.)

3 pounds mixed yellow and white peaches, peeled, pitted, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
1/3 to 1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground fresh nutmeg
2 tablespoons peach eau de vie
1/4 cup cornstarch or tapioca
1 cup fresh blackberries
2 tablespoons cassis
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 to 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar