Time Off

Today is the first day of many days off from work. Yippee!
I plan on spending today and tomorrow cleaning like a Banshee. I had to take a block of time off this week to wage war against the ants in my kitchen. I walked in there, and they were all over the place. It was disgusting. So, I had an emergency cleaning of the pantry. Everything is contained now. I have tried everything to get rid of ants this summer. Nothing seems to work. I sure as hell don't want them around when I have guests in the house.
Over the past few days I have been obsessing over http://www.goneraw.com/. I loved the green smoothie and then tried and loved the watermelon cooler. Then, I found this recipe. After I used this recipe, I looked up information on Ann Wigmore and found that there are lots of recipes for Energy Soup and you can add different stuff to it. The main thing is to use lots of leafy greens, some sprouts, some seaweed, a fruit, part of an avocado, and Rejuvelac. I didn't know what Rejuvelac was either, but found the recipe on her site. It's now completely finished and ready to bottle. I really like the Energy Soup and have been sipping it for four days now. We'll see if it makes me feel a ton better.
We have also been doing the Colonix program for a little over a month now. And a few days ago I bought some detox foot pads. I had heard that detox foot pads can help you quit smoking, which is one on my goals. However, ever since I've been using the foot pads, my joints have been hurting pretty bad. I'm chalking that up to the detox. Everything was hurting so bad last night, that Sam suggested I take a ginger bath, which seemed to help.
When I first started working from home, I had all these grandiose plans for self-improvement. I must admit I spent the first few months sleeping in. The Beagle has recently put the kibosh on sleeping in. And I get even less sleep now since Nell came into the picture. So, the diet change and detox are now in high gear.
Taking care of a puppy has eaten into a lot of my spare time. I know this won't last forever. They're only puppies for a short time. But, alas, not much to report on the knitting front. I've been working on the KP&S cardigan. I have about 14 inches of the body done. It's supposed to be 25 inches in length. The sleeves, collar band, and button band are added next.

After I get Nell settled for the evening, I've been working on the crochet blanket, too. It's a no-brainer thing to do.
The Beagle and Nell are getting along a little better now. At first they played Keep Away and Tag. Nell always being the chaser. Now, they play a little better, though The Beagle usually tips her over on her back with her paw and sniffs her. And they bark at each other. They will also sleep on the couch together.

Tomatoes!

The tomatoes we planted by the patio are the ones that seem to be undisturbed by the rabbits and squirrels. I think we can thank the trusty Beagle for that. We planted Italian plums in this area. But, one of the plants turned out to be a cherry tomato plant and the other just a plain tomato. Fine with me. So, I'm making tomato soup. It's nice to have the homegrown tomatoes for this. The ones you buy in the store are always waxed, which is disgusting.

I also made more of the multi grain bread. I added ground flax seed to the grain mixture this time. This loaf turned out huge! I also worked on the sour dough. After reading the recipe a little more carefully, it has to ferment at room temp today and spend the night in the fridge before baking day. I also check out "Beard on Bread' from the library and plan on making a whole grain recipe using whole wheat kernels. Probably later in the week when I have my time off.

Our air conditioner stopped working lat night around 7 p.m. It's amazing how these things ALWAYS break after business hours. We couldn't get anyone out until this morning, so we had to tough it out last night. Fortunately, it was about 78 degrees last night an only around 80 in the house. I was a little hacked off because I replaced the air conditioner around three years ago. I was hoping to avoid having the damn thing break during Kansas August weather. As it turns out, one little piece had worn out and it was a quick and inexpensive fix. Here I was thinking it was going to be hundreds and hundreds of dollars but it was just a little over $100 because of the service call.

Nell (aka The Piddler) was up a lot last night. Man, I was tired this morning. I've figured out it was because of the heat. All of the pets have slept peacefully all day long.

After winding the Bonkers yarn last night, I really wanted to cast on for a new project. I even had Sam choose the next one. But, I stuck to my guns and worked on the KP&S Cardigan today. The Addi Turbo has helped tremendously and the knitting is much easier. I'm a little nervous about the yarn yardage.

Machine Gun Nell

Here is the reason I haven't posted in a while. Introducing Machine Gun Nell, the Basset pup. The Beagle isn't too happy about it. I hope this blows over, as I was hoping that they would be playmates.

Other than taking care of Nell, I have been working on the beading of Nikko. I wish I could say that I have been enjoying the time beading. I went back to the bead store and got a bead needle threader and a magnifying contraption. It's still slow going. I remember when it was no big deal threading needles when I made jillions of smocked dresses for the girls. But, that was over 15 years ago. Maybe I'll figure out why this is a favorite past time for some folks.

I also bought an Addi Turbo needle to use for the KP&S Cardigan. The Denise needles are hugging the yarn too much, and I have to spend a lot of time rearranging the yarn, which takes its toll on my wrists. Since I spend most of my day typing, I have to do what I can to preserve my wrists. I have over 7 inches done so far.

Today, I made the barm for my sourdough bread. I should be able to bake it tomorrow. I'm also soaking the grains for another load of the multi grain bread. For some reason, the last loaf went fast.

Caitlin comes home on August 23. I've taken a big block of time off (over a week). I'll get the house nice and clean before she comes. And then I'll have time to spend with her and her partner, Danny. I think the last time I took a week off was in December of 2006. And lots of time to have fibery fun.

The Bonkers yarn is wound, beckoning me to cast on for the Cobblestone Pullover. As you can see, there are two dye lots. There is tons more of this yarn. It just wouldn't fit in the picture.

And yet, I do want to cast on for the Eleanor Wrap. This is the Soy Wool Stripes yarn.

What's a girl to do?

Playing with String Some More

My dang computer was down yesterday.

We had a busy morning with Sam's folks. In the afternoon, while Sam took a nap, it was time to play with string in a different way.

I had made all the pieces for a v-neck sweater some time ago. But, the size was all wrong and the colors turned out wonky. I used this fabulous hand dyed yarn I bought from Bonkers Fibers. It's the picture of yarn I have at the top of my blog. At the time, I didn't realize that you need to alternate every row of knitting since hand dyed yarns never really match. So the back, front and one sleeve were all one dye lot and then the last sleeve was a different more brilliant version of the colourway. So, to the frog pond it went.

First, I ripped out the knitting and wound the yarn around an old packing box. You have to tie the loop of yarn in a couple of places to hold it together. It's best to use a contrasting yarn. I used a bright red mercerized cotton yarn.

Then, a soak in the sink with Eucolan. The yarn will look like Ramen Noodles and you want to relax the yarn so it can be knitted again.

Then, squeeze most of the water out, place on a towel and roll up to get more water out and hang to dry. After the yarn is dry I will wind it up for a different use. This is the second time I've ripped this yarn out. I just haven't found the project that does this yarn justice. I'm thinking of doing the Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood in the current Interweave Knits.

After frogging the entire sweater, I looked in my closet and found my Haiku sweater that I made several years ago using Peace Fleece. I never really wear this one either. So, I started frogging this one too. This one was more difficult to frog because I had actually put the sweater together. Hopefully, I'll salvage enough yarn to make a vest or something. I love Peace Fleece yarn. It's just too dang hot to wear indoors.

After an afternoon of ripping, I was pretty hungry. Caitlin had mentioned that she prepares her own juice concoctions when she gets hungry in the afternoon. I don't have a juicer, so I made this green smoothie. It was delicious. I'm definitely having this again.

I've reached the stall wall an the Nikko wrap. I've purchased the beads and the beading needles. But, I cannot for the life of me get the damn needle threaded. The eye of the needle is so small I cannot see it! I even bought a damn needle threader and it got stuck and broke off in the needle. I guess I'll have to call the bead shop and ask that awful woman what I'm supposed to do. It's frustrating.

Playing with String

The knitting in finished for the Nikko Wrap. It has 110 lengths of yarn and 55 lenghts of embroidery floss used for the fringe. Needless to day, working with this string was highly entertaining for the Boyz. I have been shooing cats off left and right. Now to add the embellishments.

I went to the craft store to buy the embroidery floss for the wrap and some Patons Soy Wool Stripes made it's way into my cart for the Eleanor Scarf from Scarf Style. A cheaper alternative to the yarns most widely used. Noro Silk Garden is gorgeous. But, far to expensive and hard to come by. No manufacturer has come close to the Noro yarns. But, I've seen some of the Eleanor scarves online, and this will do just fine.

The starter for my own sourdough bread seems to be coming along just fine. Messy, but fine. It might be ready for making bread by the weekend.

please read

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPI7zdGdqo4

Saturday, Part Deux

A three-day weekend. Gosh, I haven't had taken one in a long time using my own paid time off bank. It's a nice break from all of the overtime.

Yesterday, we had Book Club. The book for the month was "God Rest Ye, Merry Soldiers: A True Civil War Christmas Story." We had a lovely time and the hostess had a fabulous spread of food. And I learned about the Civil War. Next month, the book is "The Things They Carried."

I also went to the library and checked out an armload of Cook Books. Lots of bread baking ones and two Madhur Jaffrey cook books. I also started my own sourdough starter. It should take about 5 days to be ready to use.

Today, I made brown rice, Anasazi beans, my favorite iced tea, and Multi grain Bread Extraordinaire, which is made with oats, cornmeal, brown rice, and wheat bran.

I've also discovered that The Beagle does not mind playing dress-up. Oh, the possibilities.

Today, I worked on Nikko.

Tonight, we will have The Ultimate Greek Salad from Nigella's "Forever Summer."