2009.11.23

Okay, before I forget, here’s the quickie project I buzzed through last week:

Totally cute, right?  It used about half of a 220-yard skein of sock yarn.   Couldn’t be happier with these.  I might make myself a pair before the year is out.

I’m halfway through the second repeat of the shawl.  Which is most impressive when you consider that I had to rip the whole thing out on Friday and start over. Sigh.  I was halfway through the first repeat, when I was two stitches short on a row.  I tinked back and did it again, and again, two stitches short.  I figured it could happen to anybody, so I added two.  And then on the next row, I was over two stitches.  Sigh.  At that point I couldn’t clearly see where I had gone wrong, and it was just easier to start over.  Thankfully, it has gone much more smoothly since then, and there’s a outside chance that I will have the whole thing finished before the long weekend ends.

The pattern calls for four repeats and then two series of different edgings.  I figure I’ll weigh the yarn after the fourth repeat, and if I feel confident with the amount that’s left, I might add another repeat before I start the edging.   We’ll see how that works out.

Oh, and here are my new glasses:

They came with clip-on sunglasses, too.

On the home front, it’s been cleaning, cleaning, and straightening up pretty much nonstop the past couple of days.  I’ve got one more room to tackle before I start on the bathroom…and since the bathroom is Larry’s department under normal circumstances, I might just leave him to it.  So I’m feeling pretty happy with the way things are progressing so far.

Of course, I haven’t done a lick of cooking prep for Thursday, so there’s plenty of time for things to go pear-shaped.

I may not blog again this week, so again – happy Thanksgiving!

2009.11.20

Today’s my last day at work until the 30th, and I’m surprisingly fairly calm.  Apparently it pays to have a plan and a list…who knew?

I picked up my new glasses this morning (photos over the weekend), so I was a bit late getting into the office.  Yet I was in a good enough place that CC and I took a jaunt over to the mall, where I put most of my birthday gift cards to good use.

Then back to work, where I diligently kicked arse and took names.  I am down to literally one thing that someone will have to deal with next week – that’s a record.

The weekend and the first half of next week will be spent in a cooking and cleaning frenzy.  And then after Thursday I’ll be doing as little as possible.  Got to balance these things out, you know?

Okay, here’s this year’s Thanksgiving menu.

Appetizers:

• Trail Mix
• Spicy roasted chickpeas
• Cheese and crackers
• Stuffed Mushrooms

Dinner:

• Vegetable-Leek Soup
• Cider-Glazed Turkey
• Curry-Roasted Butternut Squash
• Cornbread Stuffing
• Roasted Green Beans
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes

For dessert we’re having the usual pies, ordered in advance from my nephew’s school’s annual fundraiser.  And ice cream.

We’re simplifying, people.  Gone are the curried pumpkin soup and the brined turkey of years past.

Gave up on the pumpkin soup because people only ever ate a teensy bit of it, leaving me with days and days of leftovers.  And it’s a one-trick pony – after about the 3rd day you can’t stand the sight of it.   I think the vegetable leek soup will be better – it’s certainly simpler.

As for the turkey, we’re going to dispense with the brining in the interests of time.  This way we don’t have to get up at midnight to turn the bird over in the bucket.  Interestingly, this new recipe and the brined recipe are nearly identical when it comes to sticking things inside the cavity for roasting.   I’m hoping that the flavors will translate over.  And if it’s truly horrible this year, then it’s back to the brine we go.

I will try to blog here and there next week, but if not – have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

2009.11.19

After basking in the glory of my latest finished object for, oh, a half-hour or so, I started another quick project.

That was on Sunday.  I finished it on Tuesday, but I’m waiting til the weekend to take the pictures, to take them in natural daylight.

And then I started another project on Tuesday.  This one’s for myself, and this one also promises to be a quick one.

It’s the Prairie Rose shawl, by Evelyn Clark, and published in “The Knitter’s Book of Wool”, which is my new favorite book.  That Clara Parkes, she’s a smart one.  Brainylady made hers over the course of a weekend, so I’m thinking I should be able to knock this thing out before my company party on the 6th.

I’m making mine with the Grandma’s Blessing I bought at Rhinebeck.  It’s sportweight so my version should come out a bit bigger than the pattern strictly calls for.  The original was made with fingering weight, but I’ve got 200+ yards more than they used, so I don’t expect to have a problem.

I’ll be on vacation next week, preparing my house and myself for Thanksgiving.  I’ll post the menu tomorrow; there are a few changes from last year.

2009.11.17

So, it’s been a solid week since we’ve seen any sign of rodent residency.

I’m not naive, I doubt they’ve packed up and left.  But at a minimum, they’ve become more cautious and conservative, which is all I can really hope for.

Evie’s doing the trick.

Things had gone so well that by last weekend Larry and I were talking about getting a cat of our own.  While we were still debating, my sister-in-law offered to let us keep Evie.

We thought about it a bit, but it wasn’t a difficult decision to make.  There are 4 kids in that house, so my sister-in-law has one less thing to contend with.  And they have 2 dogs already, so the kids aren’t really being deprived of a pet.  Plus they’re just around the corner, so they can visit her frequently.  On our part, it saves us the gamble of getting a cat from a shelter or whatever.  And for Evie’s part, she’s the only pet here, so she’s got the life of Riley.  It’s really a win-win-win.

So now, out of the blue, my life has taken a turn I had never considered:

I am a cat owner.

And I kind of like it.

2009.11.16

Supper Club was a wonderful affair – good conversations, food that was meltingly delicious, and the wine that flowed like, well, wine.

Do I have photos?  Negative.  But I do have the menu (to the best of my memory, anyway) of the grilled cheese megathon.  Behold!

 

- Muenster and tomato on Italian white

- American and bacon on wheat

- Blue cheese, pear and honey on Tuscan white

- Mascarpone and dulce du leche on apple-cinnamon

This last one was dessert.  Swoon!

The Peep had the last vestiges of the dessert sandwich for breakfast, and was delighted.

As I recovered on Saturday, I finished my winter hat.  It still needs blocking, but when the rain stopped on Sunday we went outside for a few pictures.

I love love LOVE this pattern.  The yarn is a bit stiff, though; it needs a warm bath to loosen up a bit.  At the same time, I’m worried that a soak will make the bottom edge stretch out…I need to think carefully before I block this one.

(Stats:  Pattern “Devra 2″ by Jennifer Tallapaneni, Yarn “Yarn Over” by Green Mountain Spinnery)

While we were outside the boy decided to play a little Luke Skywalker (we’re over Mario now, and onto Star Wars).

May the Force be with you.

2009.11.12

I finished the crown of the hat last night, but it was too dark to take photos.  I hope to get the brim taken care of tonight, so perhaps there will be a finished object to show you soon.

It seems that I might be able to squeak the brim out of the remainder from the first skein of the yarn, which means I’ll have a full second skein to play with.  I was initially thinking mittens, but the yarn is pretty scratchy stuff, I think it would rip my hands to shreds.

I was on Ravelry looking for inspiration on something I could make with it that wouldn’t touch my skin.   Maybe a bag, maybe a couple of those felted bowls, something like that.

But then I found a few two-colored mitten patterns, which is genius:  You get the warmth of the wooly yarn, and you carry the contrast yarn along inside, and it peeks through periodically.  This essentially makes a whole inner layer with the contrast yarn, and as long as I pick something soft, it should be easy on my hands.  I haven’t poked into the stash to see what I have that will suit, but I feel inspired.  I’ve just about got my heart set on this pattern here.

The fact that I haven’t really ever knit with two colors (except for about two inches worth on my Tomato sweater) is completely beside the point.

My guild meeting is tonight, but I’m not going.  I’m too dang tired, my house is too dang messy, and I’m just not in the dang mood.  So there.