Saturday, May 26, 2007


Last night, we had dinner with my cousin, Jay, and his wife Leslie at Room 39, where Tate works. Leslie and I were in the same new-hire training class in 1995, and we became fast friends. Leslie, my husband, and I all took a trip to New Orleans so I could introduce her to Jay. It was a magical trip because they have been married now for over 10 years. Put that on the list of Good Things I Have Done.


The dinner was fabulous. Every single thing we orderd was fantastic. I had the soft-shell crabs. We all shared a bunch of amazing appetizers. Jay and I slip a bottle of wine while Sam and Leslie had scotch on the rocks. Next was after dinner drinks and desert. In additon to the food being outstanding, the company was even better. I was happy to find out that they will be living part-time in Kansas City. I'm looking forward to spending time with Leslie when she comes back. I remember I sat on the edge of my bed and cried the day she moved to New Orleans.


Today, I worked on the Noro Silk Garden scarf while cleaning the house and doing laundry. I'm going to give it to Dustin for his 26th birthday, which is June 2nd. Dustin has been hinting that I haven't given him a hand-made gift in over five years. However, Dustin has a tendency to lose things, and it breaks my heart when he looses the things I have made him. It was an overcast day here. Rain showers would come and go.


I made tuna salad for our lunch today. Tonight, we are having Quick-Braised Spicy Caramel Pork. Courtesy of Barbara Fisher at Tigers & Strawberries. I am a total fan of hers.

Friday, May 25, 2007

UFOs

One of the reasons I started this Blog was to document my knitting progress. I find it easy to start a project and then find it difficult to finish it. I have quite a few projects that are partially done. One of my New Year's resolutions was to get those projects completed.

Here is a (partial) list of the UnFinished Objects. (For all of you non-knitters, this is referred to as UFOs.)

1) The Chanel-ish Cardigan Jacket from Greetings from the Knit Cafe. This is a sweater for Tate that I started in November of last year. The yarn is Knit Picks Swish in Sand Dune and Coast Grey. I have the body and one sleeve completed and have about 3/4 of the second sleeve finished. I am dangerously low on the grey yarn. I hope I have enough to get the whole sweater done. The finished sweater has a crochet embellishment, and I'm certain I will have to order more of it. I just want to have the same dye lot for the body of the sweater.
2) The Ribby Cardi by Bonne Marie Burns. This is supposed to be for me. I'm wondering if it will fit me. I might just give it to my daughter, Caitlin. The yarn is Cascade 220 worsted in Cranberry. All pieces are knit except for I'm about 1/2 way done with the second sleeve. (I'm beginning to see a pattern here.) I can't remember when I started knitting this one.
3) Ruffles Scarf from Scarf Style in a chocolate brown Jo Sharp yarn. It's about six feet long. Maybe I should just bind off this pup and cross it off the list.
4) EZ's Surplice Baby Jacket from Vogue Knitting Spring Summer 2007 in a blue Koigu KPPPM. The increases are perplexing me.
5) The Hyde Park Pullover by Elizabeth Morrison in a lovely flecked green yarn from Ireland. This sweater is also just missing the last bit of the second sleeve and the collar, which needs to be picked up. This is a sweater for me. http://www.thegarterbelt.com/em_hydepark.html
6) Fetching glovelets, from Knitty is a lovely pea green. http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTfetching.html One finished. The other half finished.
7) Lizard Ridge blanket from Knitty Fall 2006. http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall06/PATTlizardridge.html I absolutely love this pattern. It is so beautiful. I have two squares completed and was working on a third. But, since I recently found out how hard it will be for me to obtain Noro yarn, I think I'm going to rip these out and use the precious yarn on another project. I really wanted to make this for my son, Dustin. But, alas, it's too much of a pain in the ass to get the yarn.
8) Branching Out from Knitty in black Elsebeth Lavod Silky Wool. I haven't gotten much of this one done. I'm new to lace knitting.
9) Socks for me in Lorna's Laces Watercolor for me. I'm just on the toe decreases on the first sock. I like to use the Knitter's handy Book of Patterns for making socks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have also knitted up a portion of Janda from Knitty. But, it looks friggin' HUGE and the yarn I used is this fabulous hand dyed yarn from Bonkers. This needs to be ripped out and the yarn used for a different project. The yarn has beautiful blues, purples and greens in it. It reminds me of the colors in a Monet painting.

Another project that needs to be ripped out is the Kimono Cardigan from Dovetail designs.
http://www.dovetaildesigns.com/AKNIT/Kimono.html
I got some really great yarn from The Yarn Barn in Lawrence for this sweater. It was a bulk yarn (no manufacturer.) I've made a few mistakes and just need to start over on this one.

Well, that is just a PORTION of the UFOs in my knitting studio. Hopefully, I can keep track of my progress and dig myself out of this mess. This weekend, I hope to get the body of the Chanel-ish Cardigan Jacket blocked. And work on that damned second sleeve.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Hanging Out

On Tuesday, my daughter, Tate, asked me if we could hang out on Thursday. I took part of the day off to do so. We had a lovely day. She gave me my Mother's Day card and gift. She likes to make her cards for me, so they are always a special treat. This one had a silly poem:
You gave me my eyes
You gave me my thighs
in the beauty competition, you
would win first prize
She gave me this soap:










We went to a little Mexican place "Pocos's" for lunch. I had the pork in spicy red sauce, rice and beans. Tate had a malted waffle. Then we went thrifting. But, we didn't find anything we really liked. Then, we sat and talked in the family room until it was time for her to get ready for work.

My mother gave Tate and me antique hankies that belonged to my grandmother, who collected them from all over the world. Tate took the colored ones, and I took the white ones. I have a huge stack of them. They are all catalogued with the date they were acquired and the country. We talked about how they should be used instead of stuffed in a box. After all they have already been sitting in a box for well over 60 years. Tate thought it would be cool to sew the hankies together by hand and display them on a wall.
Here is an example of one.
I'm about 50% done with the Noro Silk Garden Scarf:
The weather was cooler today. We made Pasta with Vodka Sauce for dinner.















































Sam got the Reverse Osmosis water filter installed, only tofind that the filter had a defec

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

100 Things About Me

I have been knitting on and off for over 35 years.
I have a horrible “startitis” problem.
I love to cook with my husband, Sam.
We rarely eat at restaurants.
I graduated from college in 1980.
With a degree in Theater.
I went on a USO tour for six weeks in Germany my senior year in college.
Then, I wanted to go to Chef’s school.
But, I became pregnant with my son, Dustin.
So, I have an insatiable appetite for cook books, cooking magazines, and cooking blogs
I have four children.
Dustin, age 25.
Caitlin, age 23.
John, age 21.
Tate, age 19.
There was also a fifth child, Not Me.
Not Me was responsible for all the wrong-doings ever committed by my children.
My children have all “flown the coop.”
I haven’t seen Not Me since my kids moved out. Strange
Two of my children are gay.
I’m proud of all of my children.
My main hobby when my kids were younger was sewing.
I loved making hand-smocked dresses and jumpers for my daughters.
I haven’t sewn in years.
I’d like to start sewing again.
My first marriage lasted 18 years.
I was divorced for about 7 years.
I briefly took up acting while I was divorced.
I was in an improvisational comedy group for a couple of years.
I found that I didn’t enjoy acting as much as I did in high school and college so I returned to knitting.
I have been happily married to Sam since July of 2005.
I met Sam at work.
I have worked for a prominent investment company based in Kansas City since 1995.
I am one of two extroverts in a team of over twenty at work.
I love to tease and play practical jokes on the people I work with.
I started tele-commuting (working from home) in December of 2006.
That means I get to work in my pajamas.
I love my job.
The people I work with are a close-knit group.
Our work team has a book club and a knitting group (which I lead).
I have lived in my house since 1984.
My hair started turning prematurely gray in my mid twenties.
Probably from having all of those kids.
I stopped coloring my hair on or about my last birthday, only to discover that it is silver.
I have a happy, fat Beagle named Daisy.
I have two cats, Boy and Joms.
All of my pets were rescued.
I am the only child in my family that had children.
My family gets together every Sunday for dinner at my parents.
We have been having Sunday dinners together since before I was born.
My early childhood was spent in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.
We moved to Kansas when I was going to be in the third grade.
I prefer to eat organic foods.
And drink filtered water.
I do not like sweets.
I do not like lamb.
I love Indian food.
I love spicy foods.
I vote.
I am an animal lover.
I swear.
I avoid the sun.
I have sensitive skin
I bruise easily.
My favorite colors are yellow and red.
My house is yellow with a Chinese red door and shutters.
The main color scheme of the interior of my house is also yellow and red.
My favorite musician is Joni Mitchell.
I also love Leo Kottke.
I do not read the paper
I do not watch the news
I guess that makes me the perfect juror.
I would love to learn how to spin yarn.
I love the ocean.
I am a Libra.
I think goats look like Satan.
I am a yarn snob.
I have collected an insane amount of yarn.
I love to check out lots of books at the library
I love to laugh.
My favorite movie is Annie Hall.
My favorite perfume is Joy.
I’m bad at math.
But, I’ve learned to be much better at math because of my job.
I love to play cards.
I like the WilliamWegman photos of Weimaraners.
I like to sleep late on the weekends.
I don’t like driving on the highway.
I’m no good in an emergency.
I want to go to Italy.
I want to take competitive BBQ judging classes.
I like having people over for dinner.
I have bad dreams a lot.
I have a vivid imagination.
I like yard work.
I like to look in windows of houses while driving by at night.
I like cheating at board games.
I prefer tea over coffee.
Tailgaters piss me off.
I don’t wear a lot of jewelry.

Monday, May 21, 2007

5/21/07

The weather was perfect again today. I worked with the windows open and a nice breeze blew in all day.

I made Kimchi fried rice for my lunch today.

The colors on the Noro Striped Scarf are much more subdued than I thought they would be. But, I only had about four colorways to choose from. I made some good progress yesterday.



We counted the pepper and tomato plants and we have 14 of each. Now to keep the squirrels from getting the tomatoes. I have heard that placing human hair around the tomato plants keep the squirrels away. I think I will stop at a Great Clips with a plastic bag and see if they will let me have some clippings. Sam thinks that is simply disgusting.

Tonight, I am making the Crispy Potatoes from Fine Cooking 2007, http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/pages/fc_083_044.asp, sauerkraut and sausages. I like to buy new Grass Bison products. This is a product made fairly close to where we live. Check out the Web site: http://www.newgrassbison.com/Company/About.aspx. I like the fact that they bison are grass-fed etc.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Lazy Sunday

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this weekend. Yesterday, Sam planted the rest of the tomato and pepper plants. The tomatoes I planted three weekends ago are coming along nicely. But, the basil seed must have been washed away when it rained. So, basil will need to be planted again.

We have three Earth Boxes http://www.earthbox.com/ on the patio. We have space for three more plants, so we'll make a trip to a nearby nursery for three interesting pepper plants.

I have been working on a Noro Silk Garden striped scarf

(inspired by b r o o k l y n t w e e d).


I was shocked to find that my LYS had just a few skeins of yarn to choose from. They also had only a few skeins of Kureyon. They indicated that the yarn was too hard to stock. This is a bummer for me, since I want to make Lizard Ridge from Knitty. I have several skeins of Kureyon in my stash and had started on some of the squares.

I intentionally chose more subdued colors for my Silk Garden scarf, as it will probably end up being a gift. And while I'm not afraid of colors, some of my recipients may be. It matches Boy quite well, don't you think?


Last night we grilled a tri-tip. We also had baked potatoes and a salad made from organic baby romaine and arugula, which I purchased at our local farmer's market. The big treat was the two soft-shell crabs that will only be available for Kansans for a short time. I sauteed them in garlic butter with a squeeze of fresh lemon.