That's Olive, our newest addition. She's a bulldog rescue we ended up fostering after a friend became insanely allergic to her...and of course she's never left. Funny how that happens, eh?
Saturday, December 18, 2010
True.
How snowy was it? This snowy:
That's Olive, our newest addition. She's a bulldog rescue we ended up fostering after a friend became insanely allergic to her...and of course she's never left. Funny how that happens, eh?
That's Olive, our newest addition. She's a bulldog rescue we ended up fostering after a friend became insanely allergic to her...and of course she's never left. Funny how that happens, eh?
Friday, December 17, 2010
Winter harvest
What does one do when home with sick kids for 11 days straight only to then be buried in 18 inches of snow for 2 more?
If you're me, you become totally obsessive about marmalade, that's what.
Turns out marmalade is a super simple concept many make mind-numbingly tedious. My first batches followed Alton Brown's marmalade directions to the letter and it is absolutely perfect, pure orange sunshine in a jar. Second batch used his process with the fruit proportions from this cranberry orange marmalade recipe on the Free Range Living blog. It is also perfect in a very cranberry type of way.
The beauty of both being that Alton's genius for food science (not to mention the inherent chemical make-up of oranges) makes extra pectin totally unnecessary....that and the fact that it absolutely tickles me to be able to put whole unpeeled oranges into my food processor and have fabulousness result.
20 half-pints of preserves later and I'm well on my way to having my holidays in hand.
If you're me, you become totally obsessive about marmalade, that's what.
Turns out marmalade is a super simple concept many make mind-numbingly tedious. My first batches followed Alton Brown's marmalade directions to the letter and it is absolutely perfect, pure orange sunshine in a jar. Second batch used his process with the fruit proportions from this cranberry orange marmalade recipe on the Free Range Living blog. It is also perfect in a very cranberry type of way.The beauty of both being that Alton's genius for food science (not to mention the inherent chemical make-up of oranges) makes extra pectin totally unnecessary....that and the fact that it absolutely tickles me to be able to put whole unpeeled oranges into my food processor and have fabulousness result.
20 half-pints of preserves later and I'm well on my way to having my holidays in hand.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Early harvest
Things go slowly in the veggie patch here in Minnesota. While we've only picked a few cherry tomatoes and have yet to see cucumbers or zucchini, there have been bumper crops of other kinds. Our exceptionally warm, wet weather is apparently much appreciated by our berries and rhubarb.
While things are tapering off now, for most of the month we gathered at least a pint of berries a day...including blackberries almost 2 inches long!
...and we've cut the rhubarb down to dirt twice already. With the freezer filled with more than we can likely use over the winter, there was a bit of Rhubarb-palooza going on:
The before:
The afters:
rhubarb strawberry apple sauce
muffins
bread
While things are tapering off now, for most of the month we gathered at least a pint of berries a day...including blackberries almost 2 inches long!
...and we've cut the rhubarb down to dirt twice already. With the freezer filled with more than we can likely use over the winter, there was a bit of Rhubarb-palooza going on:
The before:
The afters:
rhubarb strawberry apple sauce
muffins
bread
crisp, syrup (for drinks), custard bars
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Drum Roll, Please!
It's big announcement day! I've been dying to let everyone know that I've been working on some crochet design projects for Chris, the master dyer behind the subtle, earthy, dramatic fabulous-ness that is Briar Rose Fibers.
I first met Chris at the Michigan Fiber Festival, on my first road trip with my friend Jennie the Potter, where she generously let us huddle around the little TV in her trailer to watch the spectacle of the summer Olympics. After many years now, I staunchly maintain that a more big-hearted, lovely person with a more big-hearted, lovely business ethic you will never meet. (well, unless it is Jennie...soul sisters these 2 are, you can't help but want to be a better, more shiny person being around them.) Chris, it turns out, is a lapsed crocheter, and my ever optimistic crochety-ness eventually rubbed off on her and she has asked me to work up a few things with her various yarns.
I finished a few small projects for them earlier in the year, a cowl and a very deeply v-d shawlette that are available in their little dollar card patterns at shows. (...and of course I don't have pictures of those...was too excited to ship them out as soon as they were finished) BUT, my first major on-taking has just been released. May I introduce you to Arachne's Path?
Isn't it a great picture? Those Briar Rose folks are just so talented. It's a one skein scarf out of their Sonoma, which is a 100% wool I would categorize as on the lighter end of the bulky yarn spectrum, worked in motifs you interlock as you go along. The openwork semicircles overlap one another giving quite a dramatic effect. Here it is on me:
...and here it is blocking out:
Hopefully I'll catch up with the other booth samples soon and have pictures to share of those as well. This is an ongoing project, so you can expect other crochet lovelies in Chris' fabulous fibers to pop up throughout the year as well.
I first met Chris at the Michigan Fiber Festival, on my first road trip with my friend Jennie the Potter, where she generously let us huddle around the little TV in her trailer to watch the spectacle of the summer Olympics. After many years now, I staunchly maintain that a more big-hearted, lovely person with a more big-hearted, lovely business ethic you will never meet. (well, unless it is Jennie...soul sisters these 2 are, you can't help but want to be a better, more shiny person being around them.) Chris, it turns out, is a lapsed crocheter, and my ever optimistic crochety-ness eventually rubbed off on her and she has asked me to work up a few things with her various yarns.
I finished a few small projects for them earlier in the year, a cowl and a very deeply v-d shawlette that are available in their little dollar card patterns at shows. (...and of course I don't have pictures of those...was too excited to ship them out as soon as they were finished) BUT, my first major on-taking has just been released. May I introduce you to Arachne's Path?
Isn't it a great picture? Those Briar Rose folks are just so talented. It's a one skein scarf out of their Sonoma, which is a 100% wool I would categorize as on the lighter end of the bulky yarn spectrum, worked in motifs you interlock as you go along. The openwork semicircles overlap one another giving quite a dramatic effect. Here it is on me:
...and here it is blocking out:
Hopefully I'll catch up with the other booth samples soon and have pictures to share of those as well. This is an ongoing project, so you can expect other crochet lovelies in Chris' fabulous fibers to pop up throughout the year as well.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
This is becoming one very baaaad habit...
...but if I keep up the blog procrastination trend, I can keep posting entertaining catch-up notes. Here we go. New this summer:
1) Very much less hair. (about 6 inches)
With which I am trying new and exciting hair care things that involves much less sulfate-y shampoo product, banishing silicone from my head, and hopefully embracing the naturally not so straight mannerisms of my hair. If you need to know more, you can find a fabulous overview of this approach on this blog, or in the great comprehensive resource of Live Curly, Live Free. (There is also a website called naturallycurly.com, that I find hugely overwhelming, but it might just be helpful to you.)
2) Lots of brain-inflaming crochet designing. Thing like this:
...that I will be able to tell you about soon, soon, soon. More things that are not so soon to appear, but I can maybe arrange to slide in some sneak peeks now and again. Starting so many new things means there are not so many other things being finished, and that huge basket of packages still awaits me. I figure the longer it sits, the more surprising those surprises will be, right?
3) A puppy that isn't so much of a puppy anymore, who has decided that he is a swimmer:
4) Kids that cannot possibly be this big:
5) Family drama that just might finally knock me off my duff and make me build systems of self-care....if I can figure out how to do that amid spur of the moment eruptions of fever and vomiting whenever I even think of leaving the house without small people in tow.
6) Random spontaneous rants that seem to run rampant whenever I listen to or read the news. What news, you may ask? Really, any of it. State, federal, international. Is it just me, or is the world increasingly populated by the brainless? I really don't mind well reasoned, rational, fact-based discourse...I tend to learn something even if I don't agree with the conclusions...but where is that happening?? I see a lot of "just because I say so", and that makes me NUTS. Making things up and saying it over and over and over again does not at some point mean it is true. People are not evil or damned or your enemy, or even *GASP* wrong just because they don't agree with your perspective. Rational, respectful discourse is all but extinct and compromise seems to have become a taboo subject to even broach. Absolutism is more and more becoming the be-all-end all. It makes me want to institute mandatory remedial reading of some serious Dr. Seuss. Sneeches anyone? Zax? The Lorax? What's the one where everyone is dashing about thinking something's hot on their tail out to get them and as you follow the chain back it ends up being a frog stuck in a bucket or some such? Yes, Dr. Seuss could possibly be the savior of our times if only people would listen.
7) A shiny new cleaned up blog. That hopefully will see more regular use. ;)
1) Very much less hair. (about 6 inches)
With which I am trying new and exciting hair care things that involves much less sulfate-y shampoo product, banishing silicone from my head, and hopefully embracing the naturally not so straight mannerisms of my hair. If you need to know more, you can find a fabulous overview of this approach on this blog, or in the great comprehensive resource of Live Curly, Live Free. (There is also a website called naturallycurly.com, that I find hugely overwhelming, but it might just be helpful to you.)2) Lots of brain-inflaming crochet designing. Thing like this:
...that I will be able to tell you about soon, soon, soon. More things that are not so soon to appear, but I can maybe arrange to slide in some sneak peeks now and again. Starting so many new things means there are not so many other things being finished, and that huge basket of packages still awaits me. I figure the longer it sits, the more surprising those surprises will be, right?3) A puppy that isn't so much of a puppy anymore, who has decided that he is a swimmer:
4) Kids that cannot possibly be this big:
5) Family drama that just might finally knock me off my duff and make me build systems of self-care....if I can figure out how to do that amid spur of the moment eruptions of fever and vomiting whenever I even think of leaving the house without small people in tow.
6) Random spontaneous rants that seem to run rampant whenever I listen to or read the news. What news, you may ask? Really, any of it. State, federal, international. Is it just me, or is the world increasingly populated by the brainless? I really don't mind well reasoned, rational, fact-based discourse...I tend to learn something even if I don't agree with the conclusions...but where is that happening?? I see a lot of "just because I say so", and that makes me NUTS. Making things up and saying it over and over and over again does not at some point mean it is true. People are not evil or damned or your enemy, or even *GASP* wrong just because they don't agree with your perspective. Rational, respectful discourse is all but extinct and compromise seems to have become a taboo subject to even broach. Absolutism is more and more becoming the be-all-end all. It makes me want to institute mandatory remedial reading of some serious Dr. Seuss. Sneeches anyone? Zax? The Lorax? What's the one where everyone is dashing about thinking something's hot on their tail out to get them and as you follow the chain back it ends up being a frog stuck in a bucket or some such? Yes, Dr. Seuss could possibly be the savior of our times if only people would listen.
7) A shiny new cleaned up blog. That hopefully will see more regular use. ;)
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Building it better...
*insert flashback to the million dollar man intro complete w/ cool bionic sound effects that really are from the bionic woman intro here*
In years past I've fallen all over myself joining in on swaps, clubs and -alongs...only to be generally nonplussed. Don't get me wrong, I've hand fun and had some fabulous surprises, but in general things have fallen flat. Adding that to a rather tight financial year cemented my resolve to steer clear of the bright shiny joiner bling. Kind of sad, but you know, doable. Or at least that's what I told myself a grownup responsible mom of 3 would decide.
Being an adult is just so BORING sometimes.
I do love me a good surprise though, and is there anyone that doesn't like a spontaneous present now and then? Yup, the kid in me held a wee small rebellion, which grew to tantrum level when people in the yarniverse started making noises about a certain rockstar status yarn club opening registrations soon. At which point the biggest boy glued our budget to my glasses. Party-pooper.
Then this tweet from the Yarn Harlot ran across my screen:
"Maybe taking my own advice and matching stash sock patterns w/ yarns for a random sock of the month club. All in a box, pull one a month?"
OOOOOoooooooooo!!! I've been sitting on TONS of great stuff I've picked up on my various travels and adventures over the past few years. We're talkin' lots of Handmaiden. Dream in Color. Lisa Souza. Skeins lovingly hand-dyed by my friend Meg. Briar Rose Fibers. Mine own handspun. Socks that Rock even! Every once in awhile I take it out and play with it, but in general it just sits, patternless and longing for a function. (Quite sad really. Bordering on neglect I think. Please don't turn me in.) Now this stuff, I would LOVE to find in my mailbox.
Now wait, with a little effort I CAN find it in my mailbox!
With a little time on Ravelry and some printing assistance when I squeezed the last drop of ink out of my printer, the great unearthing began:
Happy patterns. Happy fibers. Hours of organizational geek-out. Ah, the ecstasy. A bit later, here's what I gots:
Close to 30 anonymous packages of various sizes and shapes. Absolutely no identifying marks. Nice mix of knit and crochet. Some are small and quick, some a bit more elaborate...and one project I'm even a bit afraid of. All ready and waiting to please. Here are my rules:
1) I get my pick on the 15th of every month.
2) I get my pick when I finish a hibernating or temporarily-exiled-and-then-promptly-forgotten-about project.
3) I get my pick when one of several select people deems it necessary for mental health reasons. (you know who you are...use the power wisely my pod.)
How fun is that? A year of surprises! A year of surprises I know I'll LOVE! And no more fabulous-but-languishing-yarn guilt! BWAHAHAHA! This is genius!
[and for those that must know, here's the list, totally cross referenced to Ravelry for you. all patterns, with the exception of one pair of socks from a booklet a wonder friend brought me back from Rhinebeck, are free (that was part of my no-expense deal with myself):
Fawkes socks (knit)
Chevron Lace Cardigan (crochet)
Diamond Ridges hat (crochet)
Poinsettia (knit...Knitty rules!)
Springtime Bandit (knit)
Silk Kerchief (knit...but mine will be alpaca)
Edelweiss Mittens (knit)
Flapper hat (crochet)
Crocheted Mesh Scarf (duh!)
Kalajoki socks (knit)
Zagnut (crochet)
Falling Tears socks (knit)
Knotty but Nice hat (knitty rocks!)
Earl Grey socks (knit)
One Row Handspun Scarf (knit)
Susie's Reading Mitts (knit)
Hedgerow socks (knit)
Mojo socks (knit)
Magic Mirror socks (knit)
Crochet Lacy Shawl (duh!)
Cross Skull Cap (knit)
Abby (yup, more knitty!)
Sunday Swing (...and more.)
Pebble Lace Crochet Tam (hooks and needles both, it's a 2-fer)
Elissa set (crochet)
Alpaca Angel (crochet)
1 pair of socks from the Thistle & Fox book
crochet ripple out of my own head (becasue it's malabrigo lace i bought for that purpose) ]
In years past I've fallen all over myself joining in on swaps, clubs and -alongs...only to be generally nonplussed. Don't get me wrong, I've hand fun and had some fabulous surprises, but in general things have fallen flat. Adding that to a rather tight financial year cemented my resolve to steer clear of the bright shiny joiner bling. Kind of sad, but you know, doable. Or at least that's what I told myself a grownup responsible mom of 3 would decide.
Being an adult is just so BORING sometimes.
I do love me a good surprise though, and is there anyone that doesn't like a spontaneous present now and then? Yup, the kid in me held a wee small rebellion, which grew to tantrum level when people in the yarniverse started making noises about a certain rockstar status yarn club opening registrations soon. At which point the biggest boy glued our budget to my glasses. Party-pooper.
Then this tweet from the Yarn Harlot ran across my screen:
"Maybe taking my own advice and matching stash sock patterns w/ yarns for a random sock of the month club. All in a box, pull one a month?"
OOOOOoooooooooo!!! I've been sitting on TONS of great stuff I've picked up on my various travels and adventures over the past few years. We're talkin' lots of Handmaiden. Dream in Color. Lisa Souza. Skeins lovingly hand-dyed by my friend Meg. Briar Rose Fibers. Mine own handspun. Socks that Rock even! Every once in awhile I take it out and play with it, but in general it just sits, patternless and longing for a function. (Quite sad really. Bordering on neglect I think. Please don't turn me in.) Now this stuff, I would LOVE to find in my mailbox.
Now wait, with a little effort I CAN find it in my mailbox!
With a little time on Ravelry and some printing assistance when I squeezed the last drop of ink out of my printer, the great unearthing began:
Happy patterns. Happy fibers. Hours of organizational geek-out. Ah, the ecstasy. A bit later, here's what I gots:
Close to 30 anonymous packages of various sizes and shapes. Absolutely no identifying marks. Nice mix of knit and crochet. Some are small and quick, some a bit more elaborate...and one project I'm even a bit afraid of. All ready and waiting to please. Here are my rules:1) I get my pick on the 15th of every month.
2) I get my pick when I finish a hibernating or temporarily-exiled-and-then-promptly-forgotten-about project.
3) I get my pick when one of several select people deems it necessary for mental health reasons. (you know who you are...use the power wisely my pod.)
How fun is that? A year of surprises! A year of surprises I know I'll LOVE! And no more fabulous-but-languishing-yarn guilt! BWAHAHAHA! This is genius!
[and for those that must know, here's the list, totally cross referenced to Ravelry for you. all patterns, with the exception of one pair of socks from a booklet a wonder friend brought me back from Rhinebeck, are free (that was part of my no-expense deal with myself):
Fawkes socks (knit)
Chevron Lace Cardigan (crochet)
Diamond Ridges hat (crochet)
Poinsettia (knit...Knitty rules!)
Springtime Bandit (knit)
Silk Kerchief (knit...but mine will be alpaca)
Edelweiss Mittens (knit)
Flapper hat (crochet)
Crocheted Mesh Scarf (duh!)
Kalajoki socks (knit)
Zagnut (crochet)
Falling Tears socks (knit)
Knotty but Nice hat (knitty rocks!)
Earl Grey socks (knit)
One Row Handspun Scarf (knit)
Susie's Reading Mitts (knit)
Hedgerow socks (knit)
Mojo socks (knit)
Magic Mirror socks (knit)
Crochet Lacy Shawl (duh!)
Cross Skull Cap (knit)
Abby (yup, more knitty!)
Sunday Swing (...and more.)
Pebble Lace Crochet Tam (hooks and needles both, it's a 2-fer)
Elissa set (crochet)
Alpaca Angel (crochet)
1 pair of socks from the Thistle & Fox book
crochet ripple out of my own head (becasue it's malabrigo lace i bought for that purpose) ]
Monday, January 04, 2010
Well Helloooooo!
Wow does July seem a world away. Was it ever really warm enough here to pick berries and do projects outside? Crazy talk.
I feel like every post I've put up this past year has been playing a bit of catch-up. I hope to do better this year. I do get a lot out of having a forum in which to clear my brain...and you know pretty pictures and a bit of brag are always worth the effort too. Yes, the blog shall be part of my ever ambitious "it's a brand spanking new year, so let's build a brand spanking new me" action plan.
That said, let's do play a game of catch-up shall we?
Summer's end saw us once again at the MN state fair. IMO outstanding fiber craft entry o the year being the quilted game of Candy Land, vintage style, not the lame modern retake...scaled so you can be your own piece. Serously. Cool.
We also adopted what we thought would be a new resident of our abode and our long awaited second dog, Mazey: ( I know, blurry, but I love the look on her face)
She's actually Gus' champion of a grandma, recently retired from breeding. The dogs got along fabulously as Gus loves nothing better than being bossed around by a pretty girl. Initially it seemed like a great fit, she was super submissive to all humans in the house, but in the long run the unpredictable energy of a 3 yo was just too much for her and she tried to keep him in line as she would a puppy...so back she went to the breeder. She was with us for almost 4 months by then, so quite a few tears were shed going into the holidays this year. We miss her, and that also makes us miss Emma and Willy. Sometimes I wonder if the hurt will ever ease.
Gus has been out of sorts ever since, and that breaks my heart. He's lonely and a bit bored with us at times...and the long stretch of below zero temps is not helping one bit. He's a cutie though, and quite a cuddle bug. Love the 55 pound lapdog.
The kids went back to school and I became engrossed in righting the wrongs of public school funding by taking a leadership roll in the PTO which has basically turned into a full-time job. There's always more to do, and not enough people willing to do it. They're getting a stellar education, but sometimes I wonder if the constant fight it takes to keep a charter school up and running is worth it. When I look at our alternatives, I know 100 and 10 percent that it is, but wow could things at a state and federal level be organized to make things saner.
On the fun side o' life, we picked innumerable apples this fall and turned them into much yumminess:
I spent some time playing with handspun (from my own batts even!)and crochet post stitches:
...made children deliriously happy with fiber goodies:
...and in general fell even further in love with my Kitchenaid mixer:
That about brings us up to date. I'll leave you with this reminder that wrapping paper, though bright and shiny, is not to be the next taste sensation:
I feel like every post I've put up this past year has been playing a bit of catch-up. I hope to do better this year. I do get a lot out of having a forum in which to clear my brain...and you know pretty pictures and a bit of brag are always worth the effort too. Yes, the blog shall be part of my ever ambitious "it's a brand spanking new year, so let's build a brand spanking new me" action plan.
That said, let's do play a game of catch-up shall we?
Summer's end saw us once again at the MN state fair. IMO outstanding fiber craft entry o the year being the quilted game of Candy Land, vintage style, not the lame modern retake...scaled so you can be your own piece. Serously. Cool.
We also adopted what we thought would be a new resident of our abode and our long awaited second dog, Mazey: ( I know, blurry, but I love the look on her face)
She's actually Gus' champion of a grandma, recently retired from breeding. The dogs got along fabulously as Gus loves nothing better than being bossed around by a pretty girl. Initially it seemed like a great fit, she was super submissive to all humans in the house, but in the long run the unpredictable energy of a 3 yo was just too much for her and she tried to keep him in line as she would a puppy...so back she went to the breeder. She was with us for almost 4 months by then, so quite a few tears were shed going into the holidays this year. We miss her, and that also makes us miss Emma and Willy. Sometimes I wonder if the hurt will ever ease.Gus has been out of sorts ever since, and that breaks my heart. He's lonely and a bit bored with us at times...and the long stretch of below zero temps is not helping one bit. He's a cutie though, and quite a cuddle bug. Love the 55 pound lapdog.
The kids went back to school and I became engrossed in righting the wrongs of public school funding by taking a leadership roll in the PTO which has basically turned into a full-time job. There's always more to do, and not enough people willing to do it. They're getting a stellar education, but sometimes I wonder if the constant fight it takes to keep a charter school up and running is worth it. When I look at our alternatives, I know 100 and 10 percent that it is, but wow could things at a state and federal level be organized to make things saner.
On the fun side o' life, we picked innumerable apples this fall and turned them into much yumminess:
I spent some time playing with handspun (from my own batts even!)and crochet post stitches:
...made children deliriously happy with fiber goodies:
...and in general fell even further in love with my Kitchenaid mixer:
That about brings us up to date. I'll leave you with this reminder that wrapping paper, though bright and shiny, is not to be the next taste sensation:
Monday, July 13, 2009
Pictoral Proof...
...that summer is progressing apace.
After math of pitting 2 1/2 gallons of sour cherries from my friend Jennie's tree.
Aren't they gorgeous though? Went straight into the freezer to await their turn as pie.
Baby present. SO beautiful and drapey. 2 hanks of parakeet sock yarn from The March Hare.
More berry bounty! 3 gallons of strawberries met the same fate as the cherries. Add 5 quarts of rhubarb to the mix in the freezer and there a long tasty winter ahead of us!
...and the baby just keeps growing and growing and growing.
After math of pitting 2 1/2 gallons of sour cherries from my friend Jennie's tree.
Aren't they gorgeous though? Went straight into the freezer to await their turn as pie.
Baby present. SO beautiful and drapey. 2 hanks of parakeet sock yarn from The March Hare.
More berry bounty! 3 gallons of strawberries met the same fate as the cherries. Add 5 quarts of rhubarb to the mix in the freezer and there a long tasty winter ahead of us!
...and the baby just keeps growing and growing and growing.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Update-o-rama
Summer break. 3 kids home full time. Soccer. Baseball. Swimming lessons. Unseasonable HOT-and-STEAMY-ness. Sprinkler. Kiddie pool. Constant demand for snacks. Library. TV ban.
That's pretty much the picture around here right now. I myself am variously sinking and swimming. It depends on the day. Or the minute. Or how long it's been since I've spoken with someone older than 8.
The garden:
The monkeys:
The water-loving puppy: (yes, I'm sure he's a bulldog...he's just a gangly, adolescent one.)
That's pretty much the picture around here right now. I myself am variously sinking and swimming. It depends on the day. Or the minute. Or how long it's been since I've spoken with someone older than 8.
The garden:
The monkeys:
The water-loving puppy: (yes, I'm sure he's a bulldog...he's just a gangly, adolescent one.)
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Home to heartbreak
Back from wonderful trip to Maryland Sheep and Wool with my wonderful friend JenniethePotter where we hooked up with more wonderful old friends Amy and Heather and I met even more wonderful new friends Gretchen and Aisha and Lara.
Wish I could wax rhapsodic about the trip, but a lot of the wonderful came to a crashing halt when my husband had to put our older dog to sleep after a bizarre and very rapid illness. (stomach acid in lungs = very, very bad.) And I was still in Maryland. Yeah. For those keeping track, this was bang on 1 year and 1 month after Willy had to be put down while we were vacationing as a family in Florida. Don't even know what to think about it all. Anger. Pain. Hurt. Huge vortex of all 3 surrounded by a cloud of SAD.
Oh sweet Emma. I miss you. Miss you. Miss you.
Wish I could wax rhapsodic about the trip, but a lot of the wonderful came to a crashing halt when my husband had to put our older dog to sleep after a bizarre and very rapid illness. (stomach acid in lungs = very, very bad.) And I was still in Maryland. Yeah. For those keeping track, this was bang on 1 year and 1 month after Willy had to be put down while we were vacationing as a family in Florida. Don't even know what to think about it all. Anger. Pain. Hurt. Huge vortex of all 3 surrounded by a cloud of SAD.
Oh sweet Emma. I miss you. Miss you. Miss you.
Monday, April 27, 2009
...yeah I know. But I'm here now!
OK, so there was yet another blogging black hole...but good reasons this time!
#1: My neighbor returned my copy of The Time Traveler's Wife...one of my favorite books ever and one I had no clue I had loaned to her. Of course I immediately sat down and cracked it open. Proceeded to read ravenously until it was done. Oops.
#2: Sock Madness. Busy, busy, busy knitting.
#3: Gus.
Sun on ceramic = gooood in puppy land.
Emma has come to terms with him...but he still startles her at times.
Boy and dog.
Girl and dog.
Crocheter and dog.
#1: My neighbor returned my copy of The Time Traveler's Wife...one of my favorite books ever and one I had no clue I had loaned to her. Of course I immediately sat down and cracked it open. Proceeded to read ravenously until it was done. Oops.
#2: Sock Madness. Busy, busy, busy knitting.
#3: Gus.
Sun on ceramic = gooood in puppy land.
Emma has come to terms with him...but he still startles her at times.
Boy and dog.
Girl and dog.
Crocheter and dog.Sunday, April 05, 2009
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Payin' it forward!
First, general commentary on what's been what with me lately:
Rabbit hole of the moment: The first round of Sock Madness 3 coinciding with 3 consecutive weeks of spring break for the small people.
Brag: I had another article published, this time in the Spring 2009 Interweave Crochet. This time around I had the extreme pleasure of profiling designer extraordinaire Julia Vancosin. Spastic joy of chatting up a multi-craftual, multi-lingual grown-up aside, this process also stretched some very underutilized brain matter and opened my eyes to some horizons toward which I was definitely not looking. Loved the process. Hope to do more.
Just Sayin': Spent the last 3 days with my oral-surgeon of a sister in Milwaukee. She had some enlarged lymph nodes removed from her neck. This is the 4th time she has had this done. I have some general thoughts for you. 1) If someone takes an unexpectedly large thing from your loved ones neck, upon telling you it is much larger than it looked on the MRI they should be able to tell you immediately whether or not it is cancerous. I know that is likely a hugely unreasonable stance. Just sayin'. 2) When someone has a big ass surgical incision in their neck you should take all precautions humanly possible to avoid their upchucking. Do not believe them when they contend that being queasy after surgery is normal...make them switch pain meds thus hopefully stopping all stomach unrest ASAP. The alternative is horrific to watch someone go through, much less almost passing out because that someone is someone you love terrbily. Sometimes being a righteous bitch is justified. Just sayin'. 3) Jing in Milwaukee's Historic 3rd Ward rocks the Chinese food world and their combo fried rice has magical healing powers. (Their Singapore noodles and crab rangoons, while not magical, are quite tasty.) Just sayin'.
World-view shattering realization: After 3 days in my sister's apartment with little to do but make sure she continued to breathe, provide a variety of fluids and document consumption of pain meds, I question the need for yarn when in the presence of Wii. The crazy obsessive joy of Wii-ing could have disastrous implications for my stash.
Hope on the horizon: Puppy. Stay tuned.
On to the fun and games!
[What follows is totally ganked from Heather's blog.]
Rabbit hole of the moment: The first round of Sock Madness 3 coinciding with 3 consecutive weeks of spring break for the small people.
Brag: I had another article published, this time in the Spring 2009 Interweave Crochet. This time around I had the extreme pleasure of profiling designer extraordinaire Julia Vancosin. Spastic joy of chatting up a multi-craftual, multi-lingual grown-up aside, this process also stretched some very underutilized brain matter and opened my eyes to some horizons toward which I was definitely not looking. Loved the process. Hope to do more.
Just Sayin': Spent the last 3 days with my oral-surgeon of a sister in Milwaukee. She had some enlarged lymph nodes removed from her neck. This is the 4th time she has had this done. I have some general thoughts for you. 1) If someone takes an unexpectedly large thing from your loved ones neck, upon telling you it is much larger than it looked on the MRI they should be able to tell you immediately whether or not it is cancerous. I know that is likely a hugely unreasonable stance. Just sayin'. 2) When someone has a big ass surgical incision in their neck you should take all precautions humanly possible to avoid their upchucking. Do not believe them when they contend that being queasy after surgery is normal...make them switch pain meds thus hopefully stopping all stomach unrest ASAP. The alternative is horrific to watch someone go through, much less almost passing out because that someone is someone you love terrbily. Sometimes being a righteous bitch is justified. Just sayin'. 3) Jing in Milwaukee's Historic 3rd Ward rocks the Chinese food world and their combo fried rice has magical healing powers. (Their Singapore noodles and crab rangoons, while not magical, are quite tasty.) Just sayin'.
World-view shattering realization: After 3 days in my sister's apartment with little to do but make sure she continued to breathe, provide a variety of fluids and document consumption of pain meds, I question the need for yarn when in the presence of Wii. The crazy obsessive joy of Wii-ing could have disastrous implications for my stash.
Hope on the horizon: Puppy. Stay tuned.
On to the fun and games!
[What follows is totally ganked from Heather's blog.]
The first five (cinq) (cinco) (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. (No refunds... no exchanges!!!!)
2. What I create will be just for you, with love from me.
3. It'll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. I may even create something totally unbelievable and surprise you!! Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange...or awesome...or lovely...or offensive!
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note/post of your own and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to it.
7. Send your mailing address if you don't live close to me! Feel free to email your mailing addy to crochetcompulsive at gmail dot com.
IMPORTANT: This offer is null and void if I do not see you post your own note to pay this forward...and believe me, I'll look. I don't have a real job and I get bored easily so I have all the time in the world to stalk your ass!
So. Who's playing?
Monday, March 09, 2009
Of sauce making and time flying
Today, I've a tale of sauce and socks.
So it's no secret that I've been a bit unsettled. A bit restless. A bit lost. The beginning of the year pretty much always does that to me. I always make big plans to start something new and shiny and fantastic...and my life always finds a way to shut it down. Or at least that's how it seems. Truth being that I have a way of convincing myself that if I can only get more organized, more regimented, more controlled I can somehow manage to be perfect. Lose the weight. Turn the house into Pottery Barn. Banish dust bunnies for all time. Perhaps master karate or re-master yoga. Pick up a PhD or 2. Be a Super Hero of a Mom and Rock Star volunteer, yet still have time for all of the yarn play, baking from scratch and obsessive reading I can handle.Yeah right.
What life has a way of doing is bringing me back to reality. I have this regular, recurring date with facing my limitations in an often stark manner. And it always, always pisses me totally and completely off. Because somehow the propaganda gets me. I should be able to have it all. I should be able to do it all. And that's a lie. Life is compromise. Give and take. A series of trade-offs.
And for some reason I need an annual reminder. OK, perhaps bi-annual.
So that's where I've been.
Now, where do the sauce and socks come in?
The sauce is a sop. It's my grandmother's recipe. (or non-recipe really as the making of it was distilled into my synapses at a very early age) As is the lasagna. The Italian Wedding soup. Pasta i Fagioli. Garlic bread. Carbonara. Alfredo. The tiny fried dough balls drizzled in honey and topped with sprinkles. (they have a name I cannot recall...) The things I turn to when I'm down. Yes, for me self-love = serious cooking. (hence the need to lose the weight...) The results are spectacular and bring much praise. Making these dishes, I shine. And eventually that turns me around. The house may be a cluttered mish-mash, I may be well padded, things may fall through my mental cracks well more often that I am comfortable with...but I make some truly fine Italian nosh.
So, there's been a bit of cookery going down.
Now for the socks. The socks, they've been living in a quite dark corner for almost a year now, stuffed there to keep me from thinking of them...and the things bound to them. They were started for round 2 of Sock Madness last year. They're a quite ingenious and inventive pattern...fully reversable, exactly the same inside and out.
The pattern came out whilst we were in Florida on vacation last year, a fact I thought would most likely knock me out of play. Traveling with 3 kids under 7 generally does not translate to much free time. And I was right. I might have made it had not one of our dogs needed to be put down the day after we left. Talk about guilt. I was a wreck. My husband got deathly ill. We powered through the week, me pouring all of my stress into these socks so I could hold it together and take care of everyone when we were not in a place to fall apart. By the time we got home the kids were sick as well. Really, really, really sick. And I spent many late, sleepless nights surrounded by a huge void in my home and knocking off row after row of these socks. By the time they recovered, I of course got it and was sicker than I ever remember being. By the time it was all over, I couldn't even look at the socks without being overcome with yuck. So away they went. And I promptly forgot about them. Convienent, no?
Having decided to tackle Sock Madness again this year, a few weeks ago I started pulling things out - reclaiming needles, unearthing sock yarn. And I found the socks. And I cried. And cried. And totally freaked out the other dog by hugging her a bit too much and a bit too often. The grief I hadn't had time for last year had to play itself out, so I let it. And I started working on the socks again...and finished them. But I didn't want them. At all.
So, when my sister came to town last week I happily gifted them to her. They fit perfectly (as you can see above), better than they fit me actually. She loved them and claimed them as her own.
...and 4 hours later woke me with excrutiating abdominal pain. 7 hours in the ER on every narcotic known to mankind found her being admitted with a kidney stone and apparently intractible pain. 24 hours of that and she was home again. Fine.
Anyone know how to exorcise socks?
Sunday, February 01, 2009
mitts, mitts, mitts!
s
I knit 3 pair of fair isle fingerless mitts for holiday gifts. 2 for teacher gifts, 1 for my sister. Was running so last minute compounded with lifeless camera batteries led to a lack of documentation. I've only this in progress pair to show. Used 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Lite, so they were all very fraternal, but so very stunning. The pattern was Pam Allen's Fresco Fair Isle Mitts from Winter 2008 IK. There was enough left over for some mitts for m'self even. Who knew Noro could be so economical??? Frantic holiday knitting firmly behind me, I started a pair based on Julia Vaconsin's Basic Fingerless Mittens pattern on CrochetMe. As this was fingering vs. her aran weight, I fiddled with the maths a bit. Started with 10 more stitches then worked 3 more reps of the increase at the gusset. And I added stripes. LOVE. THEM.
I knit 3 pair of fair isle fingerless mitts for holiday gifts. 2 for teacher gifts, 1 for my sister. Was running so last minute compounded with lifeless camera batteries led to a lack of documentation. I've only this in progress pair to show. Used 2 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Lite, so they were all very fraternal, but so very stunning. The pattern was Pam Allen's Fresco Fair Isle Mitts from Winter 2008 IK. There was enough left over for some mitts for m'self even. Who knew Noro could be so economical??? Frantic holiday knitting firmly behind me, I started a pair based on Julia Vaconsin's Basic Fingerless Mittens pattern on CrochetMe. As this was fingering vs. her aran weight, I fiddled with the maths a bit. Started with 10 more stitches then worked 3 more reps of the increase at the gusset. And I added stripes. LOVE. THEM.
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