The Presents are Pouring In!

So, right before Christmas I finally made a decision on what spinning wheel I wanted.  At first I had myself convinced that I wanted an Ashford Kiwi, but then lo-and-behold the "Cadillac" of spinning wheels appeared on eBay and made me second guess.  A Schacht Matchless was up for auction!  I gave myself a maximum I could spend on it, did lots of research as to why this would be better than a Kiwi and decided to place a bid on the last day of the auction as long as it was below my max.

Well, sadly it wasn't.  So the Matchless slipped through my fingers.  Sad and pouty I went with Wino to work at the gallery in Carmel, and happened in on a quaint little knitting store to pick up the spare yarn for the rest of Salt's headband (see the previous post where I talk about that). In the corner of that store sat a fancy looking wheel.  Wino points to it and says "Is that the wheel you'd wanted?"  I looked at it and said "No, I think that's a Kromski, I'm looking at a Schacht."  Then I asked the owner of the shop if the wheel was indeed a Kromski and explained that I've been doing quite a bit of research on wheels lately.  She said she loved hers for many reasons but one was because it had a small footprint.

That little encounter got the wheels (pun intended) a-spinnin' (again, pun intended) in my little brain.  I got home and started looking at Kromskis and fell in love with the Minstrel.  It was reasonably priced, did everything that the Matchless did and came in a beautiful mahogany finish.  Lets just say that it took me less than a week to click the "Buy It Now" button on that one.  She arrived on the 23rd.

Everyone: I want you to meet Gwendolyn!

Isn't she just breathtaking!?  Sigh. I swoon each time I see her, even still.

I've been a bad spinner though, I haven't touched the poor thing since December 26th.  I've been all rush, rush, rush since then.  I go into the guest room to ogle her at least once a day though :)  I plan to spin some this weekend.

I've been a busy bee otherwise.  We took a trip to Napa (I was sick 100% of that trip, 'twas not that fun, but I still managed to get in some wine tasting).  Sadly, I was still sick for New Years Eve and spent it at home on the couch with Wino instead of with the "gang." That's ok, there's always next year.
I realized, on the first though that "this year" I'll be turning 30.  That made me panic for a moment (actually I've been panicking since then, but I'm trying not to show it!) I realized that I need to get my butt in gear and lose these last 23 or so pounds to make Lifetime in Weight Watchers.  So I've rededicated my efforts to get healthy again.  So far I've lost nearly half a pound....but getting back on this horse has been a struggle.

This past weekend we set up our new work out room.  Gotta get back to that running!

On to knitting progresses!
Salt ADORED her scarf/headband (yay!), and Pepper liked his scarf!  Joyous noise all around!

I finished my first sock:

There was no second sock syndrome, I cast on for sock #2 right away and was almost done with the leg ribbing, until I dropped a stitch and was too frustrated to pick it back up.  So I ripped the whole thing out.  The sock yarn is now resting at the bottom of my knitting bag.

I finally started the front of my sweater for the Lion Brand knit-a-long.  It's coming along slowly.

And finally, my LYS is hosting a year-long KAL for the Beekeeper's Quilt.  If you haven't heard of this, look it up.  It's awesome take-along knitting.  I even took mine to the airport with me to pick up a friend.  It's great way to pass the time and oh-so-adorable!

Ok, that's enough with the updates!  I'll be posting shortly announcing my new 365 days project (In which you're suppose to take a picture every day).  I'm going to try to post each picture here, beginning today (and I'll get you caught up from January 1).  Enjoy!

Flyin' By

How the heck did we get to December already?! That's what I want to know!  It's extremely difficult for me to believe that it's just over two weeks until Christmas!

Thankfully most of my shopping is done, I just need to get something for my dad, and wrap things for everyone else!  Go me!  I planned ahead this year!

As for knitting, I've pared down my original list.  The nieces will get no knitting this year, due to a technicality in finding an appropriate pattern for Girly.  Bro-in-law's scarf has now become Pepper's scarf, and I'm chugging away on Salt's scarf.  It will definitely be long enough with the amount of yarn I have left, and that makes me happy (especially after I ran out of yarn for Chicka's scarf!)

I had to take the picture in Instagram and use a fancy filter to get that color to come out remotely true.  It's still such a lovely yarn, I don't think I could get tired of it.  I still get gasps at Knitter's Anonymous on Wednesday nights, and usually at least one person comes by to pet it.  As you can see by the picture it's really long!  I'm so happy (and more realistically, relieved) that I had enough yarn.  My own mother was giving me a hard time because she didn't think I would have enough.  Boo-ya Mom!  Take that!

I'm currently in Carmel, we're at the gallery.  I'm knitting in the office (and catching up on my podcasts--knitting of course) and I'm hoping to have this critter pretty well done by the time we leave here at 5pm (I've got two hours....can I make it?!)  I mention where I'm at because I actually need another skein of this Malabrigo wonder!  Salt put in an extra request to have a head band (a la our other friend Giggles'), made out of the same yarn as her mitts (which yes, I finally did finish and sewed the buttons on!).  So I found a LYS in Monterey that sells Malabrigo yarns and plan to hit it up before we leave.

I will have a post soon showing all the delicious food we had at Thanksgiving.  I've been knitting my fingers to the bone lately so I haven't gotten around to writing that up.

Until next update, and hopefully with Salt's scarf and head band finished!

Ta-ta!

Edited 12/11

So guess who finished Salt's scarf before she left Carmel.....I'll wait while you think.....*whistles*

You're right!!  Me!!!  Plus I got another ball of Malabrigo in the same color way and have 10 inches of a headband on the needles!  Woot for progress!!

Prepping For The Feast

I'd rather not talk about November.....especially the NaNoWriMo portion of it.  I'll get into the details of what happened some other time.  I just can't bring myself to talk about it at this moment.

Instead, I am going to prepare you for the hilarity that may ensue at our house the day after tomorrow (otherwise known as "Thanksgiving" here in the US of A).  I shall see if I'm still thankful after Thursday....we may need to rename the day.

So here's my menu for the day.  It is gleaned mostly from the Food and Wine November 2011 issue.

For the main attraction (the Bird) I will be serving a Cider-Glazed Turkey with Lager Gravy.  Next up is the veggie dish.  Now here I will put in an aside...I am trying something new and unique...I've never eaten a Brussels Sprout in my life.  Why then am I cooking them for Thanksgiving?  'Cause I'm adventurous (I hope the rest of our guests are just as adventurous!).  I am making Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Capers, Walnuts and Anchovies.  Don't everyone scream at once!!  I know, I know, "anchovies," but take a look at that picture and tell me that doesn't look delicious!  I will also be making mashed potatoes from our Anthony Bordain cooking class from Sur la Table (they are scrumptious).  I'm going for a "heartland" theme, so to go with that I picked up some mac & cheese from Costco.  I'm also going to bake some bread.  Finally, for the icing on the cake (literally), I will make a Pumpkin Spice Cake, a recipe I found on Country Living.

We will be hosting 7 people to our home: Wino and me (obviously), my parents, and Wino's parents & grandma.  It should be quite a nice time, very low-key.

Wish me luck, here's hoping there are no disasters that involve smoke detectors!

Day 3 - Midday update (Or: Lameness)

Alrighty, let's just call me lame and get it over with.  I soldiered on yesterday and hit 3,555 words at the end of my lunch break.  (Yay me!), but today I just wasn't feeling it.  Here is my list of excuses:

1) I was HUNGRY!  My dang English muffin, with 3 slices of Canadian bacon and a slice of provolone cheese was not enough.  My tummy wanted more and it distracted my head and hands from writing;

2) I'm recovering from a massive sinus related headache that tore through my poor body yesterday afternoon.  It was so bad I felt like hurling all the way home (thank God Tex, my carpool buddy, decided to drive this week, otherwise she would have been driving my car home for me.) and fell asleep the minute I got home.  Anyway, my brain was still shot at lunch from the pain, and frankly I can still feel that darn headache in there pounding away quietly, waiting for a vulnerable moment to reemerge in my life.

3) I am at the period in my job where all I do is type endless numbers of emails to disgruntled students for hours on end.....the thought of pounding away on my laptop keyboard sounded like pure torture (then why am I typing this blog post...??!!)

So, that's it...plain and simple I didn't write at lunch today.  But that's ok, because if my headache doesn't wreak havoc on my evening again I will write when I get home.  Though come to think of it we may be having a "Congrats" party for Pepper....hmmm.....it'll get done, even if I have to pull an all-nighter tomorrow night!

My word is true! 

Peace, Love, and Busy Fingers!  I'm out!

NaNoWriMo Day 1 - Midday Update

As planned I didn't get a chance to start on my novel until lunch-time today.  I managed to crank out 1843 words in about 45 minutes though.  Off to a great start.  Now back to work!

Pre-NaNoWriMo Goodness

Ack!!!  Where the heck did October go?!  Less than 15 hours to go until NaNoWriMo officially begins!!

Before I begin panicking over November being literally tomorrow, here is a picture of my Halloween costume.



I'm SO happy with the way it came out!  I'll wear it tonight to pass out candy.  I thought about wearing it at work, but decided not to.  I just took it to show off :)

So now to the November panic: I frantically cleaned off my desk yesterday in anticipation of the day.  I'll start writing tomorrow during my lunch break.  When NaNo starts on a Friday or Saturday I usually sit up until Midnight to start, but when it's during the week, I just can't manage it.

Writing at work means not knitting at work, but that's ok.  I'm pretty well caught up with the holiday knitting, plus there's always Knitter's Anonymous on Wednesday nights to get stuff done.

Starting tomorrow I'll try to post daily word-count updates and thoughts on writing.  I know I say that every year, and last year I nearly did it.  I'm going to try again this year, though.  I don't give up that easily.

I love attending write-ins, but I'm not sure how many there will be that I can attend this year.  I went to the kick-off party, which was fun (especially when I could finally say that I reached 50K last year, that got some applause).  We'll see what my busy schedule will support.

Amongst all this crazy, I (for some unknown-ungodly-reason) decided to make Thanksgiving dinner this year at our house.  So besides cleaning off my desk, I also started planning my menu, it's looking good....but is also looking like a lot of work.  That's ok!  I'm up for the challenge.

So welcome everyone!  Please enjoy my scatter-brained, nutty posts for November, and have fun watching me drive myself insane!  Catch you tomorrow for Update #1!!!

Things

Alrighty, let's get down to business.  No fluff, no frills, just updates.

Here's what we've got on the table today: Knitting updates, stash updates, NaNoWriMo (!!), and running news.

Knitting updates:

1) Red Scarf Project scarf is complete!



It turned out beautiful, if I do say so!  I'm so in love with this pattern that I'm going to make up one for myself in a different color.  That will have to wait until after the first of the year though.

Once my mom finishes up her scarves we'll pack them up and ship them off.

2) I started on Chicka's scarf.  I'm not 100% convinced I will make her a beanie, nor am I 100% convinced I'll make Girly a scarf....we'll see (I'll explain in the next line item) though Girly will still get her mitts.



I'm making it in the same yarn that I made Chicka's mitts in, that way she has a matching set.  I'm using the Teaching Scarf pattern from Ravelry.  It's a simple pattern and that's what I was looking for.


3) After I finished the Red Scarf Project scarf (and rather than casting on another X-mas present!!) I decided to join a Lion Brand Knit-along.  We're making the Modern Lodge Pullover sweater.  It's my first endeavor into sweater-dom....and I'm nervous and excited.  I chose to use Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn in the Forest Green Heather colorway.  The suggested yarn was way too expensive for my taste, so I went for "quality cheap" instead.

4) Halloween!  I have my Minion hat complete!  I just need to crochet the accessories then I'm ready to go!


That's it as far as knitting is concerned.  There has been little to no progress on Salt's scarf, but I do have a funny story for that one.  Just this past Sunday, while we were celebrating Wino's birthday, she made it known that she wants to go back to the shop we got her Malabrigo yarn from to get more so I can make her a matching scarf and hat....I told her it would have to wait until after the first of the year because of X-mas knitting....little does she know...teehee!

Stash Updates:

I went on a bit of a shopping spree at JoAnn's a couple of weeks ago. 

1) I wanted to get sweater quantities of a yarn to make my sweater so I got 8 balls of the Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Forest Green Heather.

2) I also got 2 skeins of Red Heart for my Halloween project this year: I'm going to make Minion hats for me and Wino (if you've ever seen Despicable Me, you'll know what I mean, if not...look it up!).  One in Yellow and the other in black to frame their goggles, I'm going to borrow some white from my mom.

3) I got some fluffy pink yarn for Girly's mitts.

4) And finally, I picked up 2 skeins of Wool Ease in a deep grey for my brother-in-law's scarf and hat set.

That should just about cover all of my X-mas knitting for this year!!

NaNoWriMo:

This topic is soon to make it's way to the top of my updates....or just be the update by itself.  You all know that this takes over my blog in November!  The countdown has begun: less than a week left until NaNoWriMo '11 begins!

I already have my plot generalized, and my title picked out: The Not-Your-Average-Vampire-Novel Novel.

Love it!  The plot came to me in a dream.  You see, I used to love one particular vampire series (which shall not be named for fear of being a plague upon my house, but let's just say it isn't the Sookie Stackhouse novels that I speak of).  Yes, I read all 4 of these Books-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and absorbed every word.  Then I came to my senses and realized they were just drivel and not worth my time.  So I shall write the antithesis to these books this year for NaNoWriMo.  It will be comedy gold!

Running News:

I'm sorely disappointed with myself on this front!  I was short on dough near the end of September, and the deadline to sign up for the half-marathon walk was Sept 30 (the day I got paid), and I had intended to sign up for the walk that day....I wasn't feeling well, and totally forgot.  Now the price rose by $25 and frankly that's just too steep for my budget.  So, no half-marathon for me.

As yet I'm still unsure if I will run this year's 5K Race for the Cure.  I sort of just want to walk with my family this year, since none of them run with me.  We'll see.

So that's all the updates folks.  Catch ya on the flip side!

Some Updates

I have a few updates for the week most are knitterly but one is for running (bear with me non-knitters, that one is near the end!).  Let's get started:

Knitting Updates

I've been a busy little bee since last we spoke.  I raced for the finished line and cranked out my third hat for Operation Gratitude during the knit-in event.  I felt quite accomplished.  The 100 hat goal was met by the time the hats were picked up.  We all felt great!

Once I finished my last hat, I picked up Salt's scarf for a whirl.  I've been busily knitting on that when she's not around, which means on my lunch break at work and in the evenings when I have time.  Here's the progress I've made so far:

It's not terribly true to color.  You know how hard it is to get true life color on a little point and shoot camera (operated by a novice).  Here's a close-up of the real beauty of this yarn:

I get so many compliments on this yarn when I'm working on it at Knitter's Anonymous.  I am pretty sure that Salt is going to love it.  I love it!

Next to update is my scarf for the Red Scarf Project.  I chose the Men's Martian Scarf (this is a Ravelry link, so I'm pretty sure you would have to sign in or sign up to see it, but there's a picture below of my progress). 

To be honest, I didn't like it when I first started knitting it up.  Here's why: I didn't realize that it called for a lighter weight yarn than I was using, so it looked clunky and I couldn't see the pattern forming.  So, I stuck it in my project bag and let it sit for a week or two then I decided to give it a try again.  Once I finished one pattern repeat I fell in love!  It's such a nice looking scarf.  The best part is that even though it says it's a "men's" scarf, I think it would be suitable for either gender.  I wouldn't mind wearing it at all!

Here's what I had as of Saturday.....I've since knitted another repeat and a half.  It looks SO good!

As for the rest of my projects they've been sitting aside.  I will go shopping for yarn for my niecey knitting on the 1st....money's tight until then!  I plan to get their do-dads finished by the end of the month, then only have my brother-in-law's stuff to go.  If I like the hat pattern I may just crank one out for Pepper too...we'll see how much time I have though.

That said, I still feel pretty good about getting things done this year.  All of my projects are relatively small (as compared to the two gigantic afghans I made last year).  I had a long look at my "to-do" list and while busy, it seems reasonable.

Stash Updates

We went on vacation the weekend after Labor Day, and I made sure to stop in at the LYS.  I picked up two delicious balls of some Rowan Creative Focus Worsted in the Cobalt colorway.

I'm not sure what I will do with them....but I may just keep it for myself whatever I do make!

At Clovis Fest this past weekend, I ran by my LYS to drop off some hats my mom had knitted for Operation Gratitude and to pick up my birthday present...remember that wish I had made to have the Knit Picks interchangeable circular set....yeah, I decided they were worth way more than the necklace.  So I had Wino get me those instead. (Oh, how my priorities have changed since I learned about the wonderful world of fiber arts!!)

Whilst there, I also picked up a couple goodies, two skeins of the Geek Chic Minion Sock Yarn in colorways Lady Macbeth and Dryad:

Keep in mind this is ONLY available through my LYS...and it's locally dyed yarn!  Fantastic!  No clue what I'm going to make with those either.  Probably just some vanilla socks for practice, but they'll be yummy!

Running Updates

For my non-knitting, running friends: I've taken on a new challenge.  You all know how much I have been struggling with motivation for the past 6-9 months.  I don't know what has come over my brain, but it's been a dark and stormy cloud of "let's-eat-everything-in-sight-and-sit-on-our-butts-and-do-nothing."  I fell off the healthy wagon, and gosh-darn it, I'm ready to climb back on!

I recently got asked to walk a half-marathon (that's 13 miles folks!) with my aunt in November.  I am nowhere near in shape enough to do that without ending up at the hospital!  So I'm going to remedy that with an accelerated Couch to 5K regimen.  I'm going to be running 5 days a week using C25K as a guide, perhaps modifying it slightly as I progress.  That should have me ready for my race in October and at least in some semblance of physical fitness to walk 13 miles the following weekend (yes, I did say "the following weekend" - perhaps I'm biting off more than I can chew?  I'm motivated, that's what matters to me right now).

I did week 1, day 1 on Monday.  It was easy, actually surprisingly easy since I haven't ran much since October last year.  Yesterday I tossed on week 2, day 1 and that was challenge I needed.  I'm excited and I plan to lose these last 20lbs so I can start my Weight Watchers maintenance phase and make it to Lifetime membership before February (that's an arbitrary goal, it means nothing to me other than just having a goal in mind).

I seem to have found motivation again, and I plan to keep it.  This is my busy season with knitting gifts, running/walking plans and NaNoWriMo right around the corner.  Busy seems to be my motivation.  I seem to remember a vaguely religious quote: Idle hands are the devil's playground....this seems to ring true for me!

Warming up those hands

'Tis the season to start warming up my fingers and start an Olympic-level knitting and crocheting spree.

The holiday season is but a few short months away, anyway in my eyes it's short.  I've got tons of projects I want completed before December 25ish and less than 4 months to get it all done!  Add to that mix a variety of birthdays, holidays and NaNoWriMo and I've probably got less than 2 months of actual crafting time to get gifts done!

Here's what I've got on my plate:
Current Projects
1. Operation Gratitude hats - I'm shooting to have 3 done by this Saturday.  I have one finished, I've still got one on the needles that I'm hoping to complete tonight, and have another one cast on by tomorrow, luckily I've got 'til 5pm on Saturday to finish that last one.  It'll be a knit sprint to the finish on Saturday though.

2. Salt adored the fingerless mitts that I gave to my oldest niece for her birthday, and commissioned me to crochet her a pair for those early morning yard duty stints she has to do during the winter months.  Instead of outright payment to me, she paid for the most beautiful shade of Malabrigo yarn in Purple Mystery.  Gorgeous!

She bought two skeins of it, and one pair of mitts takes maybe 1/3 of a skein.  I had already decided that I would knit her a scarf with what was left, so she had a matching set.  That may be an X-mas present, though I'll give her the mitts as soon as I'm done with them.  That leads us to:

Projects to complete before December 25ish

1. Salt's scarf - I had anguished for weeks about a design for this scarf, I combed Ravelry for a pattern I liked, and a pattern suited to my knitting skill level (which at this point I would deem "beginner plus").  It came to me this morning: why the heck not just make up my own pattern.  I knew exactly what I was looking for in Ravelry...but couldn't find a pre-made pattern that I liked, so as soon as I could, I grabbed my notebook and a pencil and sketched out the design I wanted.  I think it'll be good!

2. Red Scarf Project - It's become my mission this year to do some charity knitting/crocheting.  The hats were my first endeavor and I heard about the Red Scarf Project through one of the blogs I read (Now Norma Knits - read it, she's hilarious!).  It's a worthy group doing good things to help kids transition from the foster care system into successful adults.  The Red Scarf Project is designed to be part of a care package that is sent to college students around Valentine's Day to say "someone loves you."  They accept submissions from September 1 (that's today!!!) to December 15.  I encourage my crafty friends to knit or crochet a red scarf, check out the details in the link above.

Due to time constraints, I'll probably only knit one this year.  I'll get a head start next year though and hopefully donate the maximum (which is 5).

3. Niecy knitting - Last X-mas I busily crocheted two afghans, one for each niece.  I'm not going to be quite so ambitious this year.  For the youngest's birthday (whom we'll call Girly from here on out), I made a cute little beany.  She's a girly-girl so it was hot pink.  I'm not too sure she wears it, but it's the thought that counts right?!  She was envious of her sister's (Chicka's) birthday gift though, of the fingerless mitts.

At that point I decided I should round out their sets: I want to make Girly a scarf and mitts, and Chicka (I'm spelling it that way on purpose) a scarf and a beany.  I already have the patterns picked out on Ravelry.  I just need to find the yarn I want and buy the interchangeable needle set I've been coveting so I have the sizes I need.  Money's tight though....I need to con someone into buying it for my birthday....if I didn't want a new necklace so bad, I'd just request it from Wino.

4. I haven't been in communication much with my brother-in-law down in Texas, so I had the idea that I would send him a care package with some cookies and a hand knit scarf and hat set.  I'm sure he's lonely out there on the plains with just the dogs, cats and chickens to talk to.  He seems like he's doing ok though (from what I hear through the grapevine).  I still can't believe it's been almost 4 years since Dawn passed away.  It's still hard to conceptualize that she's gone, since I hardly saw her even when she was alive.  I still miss her just the same though.

Anywho, (wiping a tear from my eye), back to more pleasant topics: I wanted to surprise him and let him know that I still care and think about him and Dawn frequently.  What says "I care" more than homemade goods?!

On that note, please donate to my Race for the Cure campaign this year by clicking here.  This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart, and always will be since breast cancer stole my big sister away from all of us.

**********************

That's pretty much the extent of my projects, but it's still a huge undertaking since #3 is actually 4 items, and #4 is actually 2 items.  I'll make it though, I somehow always find a way.

Knitting news!

My knitting class went well.  I discovered that knitting is much easier this time around (after proper tutelage) than when I tried to teach myself.

My spinning has taken a back seat.  Partially because of frustration, partially because I got a hair up my tush to knit socks.  Yeah, I know that's nuts to even attempt as a freshly reacquainted knitter, but I just couldn't resist.

I have this utterly luscious merino that I got for quite a discount at Yarns...at the Adobe in SLO while on vacation, and even though it's worsted weight, I figured that would be a good way to learn.  Naturally they'll be lounge-y socks (not for walking on!!! It's merino after all!).  Here's the progress I've made.

Yesterday evening, while Wino was at a friend's birthday dinner:

And today from my lunch break:

It may not look like a lot of progress was made between the two pictures, but believe me, there was!

Here's a look at my spindle recently.  Like I said it's been stalled. I think I need something a bit lighter, my strands are continually breaking at this point:

I still want to get a spinning wheel, but they're so dang expensive that'll probably have to wait until tax season.

I'm really enjoying this knitting business, my next project may be to start a sweater.  On that note, it's funny to observe that now that I'm knitting my compusion has been to make garments rather than accessories like I do with crochet....funny how that works out....

Plans In Motion

I have set a few plans of mine in motion this past weekend.  I'm feeling more motivated in some ways, which is good, and I'm really hoping it will extend into new territory!

Here's what I've done:

I attended a learn to spin class on Saturday.  It was a hoot, I'm terrible at it now (I really mussed up on the wheel when I was given a chance, but with practice I know I would figure it out).  I'm working with a top whorl drop spindle, and it's entertaining and relaxing.  My fiber is starting to become consistent and I feel like I know how to manage it now to keep the big fluffy bumps from happening.  As Wino said to me yesterday: "This is your first one, imagine what your fiftieth will look like!" So true, so true!

Here's a picture from the class, note the uneven spinning (I've since covered it with far more consistent thread):

That got me pumped for crocheting in general, so after I did my requisite 15 minutes on the spindle yesterday morning, I picked up my crochet hooks (a lovely set of Laurel Hill in ebony!!) and started making up my own dish cloth pattern.  This is my first crack at designing and I'm happy with the result, so I wrote up the pattern and plan to place it on Ravelry.

That got me pumped for the idea of starting my own Etsy page (see here where I talked about that before).  I had already decided on the name for my little side business, so while I was feeling particularly optimistic, I decided to snatch up the Gmail, Twitter, Blogger and Etsy for my business!  With the exception of Twitter I was successful (I got as close as I could there).  My ideas started flowing, and I enjoyed creating the dishcloths and I figure I can sell the finished products on Etsy, along with any excess afghans or doo-dads I also decide to create!

Once everything is all launched and live I'll make an announcement here with relavant links.  Next weekend is my learn to knit class, so my options will be wide open for new product development (once I get the hang of that, too!).

Spinning away

I've decided to take a spinning class!  No, not stationary bike spinning, fiber spinning! (I've tried the cycle classes and I nearly pass out!)

I'm super pumped, I want to delve deeper into this world of fiber and yarn and knitting and crochet.  I've also decided to take a beginning knitting class.  Lets face it: knitting is the more popular yarn "sport," crocheters usually get sneers from the knitters.  I don't care really, I will continue to crochet because it's easy and fun.  But, you can knit so much  more intricate things than you can crochet.  You can make actual sweaters from knitting, and you just can't do that with crochet.

Pictures from my endeavor to follow!

Baby Boom

Life is all about choices.  We all know that.  (Of course there are an unlucky few who have no choice in some matters....but at this moment I'm being selfish and focusing on me).

My life has certainly been all about choices.  Starting in high school: what school to go to?  What to major in? Where to go to grad school (that wasn't really a choice, I only had 1 option...but I'm not counting that)? What to do with my career? Where to work? Do I really want this dang drive every day?!? What people to surround myself with? Who to "settle down" with? Buy a house? Have kids? Get married?

All of these things I've made choices about.  Some more unconventional than others mind you...especially in the kids/married department.  I made a choice, long, long ago, when I was but a wee one that I did not want children. 

I've never been the "maternal" type, except with animals, but even then the burdens of pet ownership are costly, emotionally and financially.  It started when I was 3 and my younger cousin was born.  Most little girls that age are fascinated by babies, they think of them as living and breathing dolls.  Not me though! I was grossed out to no end by this squirming, drooling, stinky thing that was set before me and introduced as my cousin.

Fast forward about 10 years later and one of my older cousins had just had a baby.  His obnoxious wife asked me if I wanted to hold the child, and I politely declined saying (and yes this is mature of a 12-year-old) "No thank you, I'm not comfortable holding babies."  Her reply to little ol' me: "Well, you don't have to be a bitch about it!"  That caused a little rift in the family that has since been mended.

Anyway, my views on babies and children in general haven't changed much through the years.  I get annoyed to no end when I hear a baby crying, or a child screaming at the grocery store.  I mutter things under my breath that are better left unsaid (or at least undocumented!).  Most times when I'm handed a baby I put my hands up like I'm being robbed and slowly back away from the situation.

I just have no desire to have children.  Most people just think I'm a cold hearted bitch, must like my cousin's wife assumed.  But I'm not.  Really I'm just partially terrified of them, and partially disinterested in being spit up on (or worse!).  I like my life, nay! LOVE my life.  I am free to do as I please, take whatever vacations, I want, when I want, do my own thing (with Wino of course ;) ), drink my wine, and eat fancy food.  Frankly a life with kids would deprive me of one of the things I hold dear in my life: freedom!

I don't want that lifetime responsibility of raising a child.  Nope, that's not for me.  I also don't want to be pressured to ogle and coo at other's children.  If you ever hear me say (after being shown a picture of someones kid) "Oh, it's a baby!" know that I am being insincere and that kid ain't cute.  I'm not one to lie and say something is "adorable" if it isn't.  Pointing out that it's a baby (and putting an exclamation point after that) is my way of being polite.  No, I don't think all babies are cute (I'm totally going to get hate mail for that one....).

My point in this lengthy rant is that everyone around me is having babies (except the ones closest to me, thank god!  I don't want to lose my friends to the "family way" just yet!).  I'm having babies thrust at me at an alarming rate.  I'm proud and happy to say that each and every one of these kiddos is cute (so I don't have to lie) and I have yet to be forced to hold one.....but.....

I'm quickly approaching one situation this weekend and I'm terrified.  No one in my family has had a baby in about 9 years.  But! said younger cousin from my first encounter with a baby, is now a daddy himself.  The family is overjoyed.  This will be my first meeting of the little Jelly Bean, and I'm hoping like hell that my cousin's wife doesn't have a "don't be a bitch about it" moment with me when I politely decline to hold her child.  Yes, I am nearly 29-years-old, and I still refuse to hold babies.  I like my shirts to remain clean, thank-you-very-much!

Sigh, anyway, choices are hard, especially when you don't want to offend people you care about.  I'm just praying to keep a good relationship with my cousin.  He should know that I'm not a baby fan, and will hopefully not even offer her up for my embrace.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Shamed

Here we are: April 30....do you remember what was supposed to happen today? Naturally I do. I was supposed to have my NaNoWriMo '10 novel finished and ready for editing today.

Yes, I failed, but I have justified reasoning and actually changed my game plan about half way through April. After struggling to pick the story back up, I realized that the rear end of my story was so full of fluff and padding for November's end of month scramble that it was impossible to continue without editing first.

I have to figure out where my story really leaves off and where the BS begins. So, I've been going through this entire time and actually reading what I wrote (what we're not supposed to do in November) and editing as I go. This process is much harder than I had expected, but then this is the first time that I have ever made it to this point in the novel writing process. It's hard, but exciting!

There are people out there!?

Wow!  I've got to say I'm impressed!  Here I thought no one was out there reading, but Blogger just added stats and I'm pleased that there are actual readers (or at least visitors) to my blog!

I've heard that to be a "successful" blog you need to have a focus.  I have too many areas of interest to choose just one focus though, so I think for now the blog is going to continue to be just "me."  You'll see bits about crocheting (I need to buy some yarn, for heaven's sake, so I can get on to another project), about jogging (I'm really, really trying to start up again), and during the month of November, you'll get my usual barrage of NaNoWriMo stuff. 

I do realize that some of my posts are unpolished.  I don't claim to be a professional blogger, I've got my day job and I'm sticking to it!  So bare with me as I try to refresh myself for this coming year.  I've been a bit run down this winter, and so blogging has taken a back seat to just keeping my eyes open long enough to eat some dinner and make it to my cozy bed.  (Hopefully the recent discovery of my Vitamin D deficiency and the ensuing action being taken against that will help me find some energy again).

As you may remember from my post, NaNoWriMo: The Finishing I have given myself until the end of April to have my novel from 2010 wrapped up and ready for editing.  I'm sad to report I have accomplished exactly 0% of this.  Of course this past month has been busy, but excuses-excuses right!  I'm going to kick-start my attempt starting tomorrow night (I'm going to do my own NaNoFiMo for the month of April).  It has to be done by April 30.  So, starting tomorrow, I will be giving (semi) regular updates about my progress.  I really need this accountability.

That's all for today.  Thanks for reading, and if you're a "regular" please drop me a line.  I'd love to say "Hi!"

Green Stuff

Sadly, I'm not speaking of money.  That's is short supply these days (what with gas prices spiraling out of control!)

No, I'm speaking of St. Patty's Day.  I used to be religious about wearing green on March 17.  I suppose it's that ingrained fear you pick up in elementary school that someone's going to pinch you if you get caught without it.  The last couple of years though, I've been purposefully not wearing green.  Here is the conclusion I've come to:  in the grown up world there's no more pinching!  Hooray!  It's safe to go out into the streets sans green!

I did pop in a green nose stud this year, just to be safe (that fear still lingers), but it was nothing noticible, lol.

The story might have been different had we spent the holiday with Pepper's family.  You see: Pepper is Irish, and we usually celebrate his fake birthday on St. Patrick's Day (since he was born on X-mas day, his family gave him the option of choosing a new birthday and he chose March 17).  They usually throw a huge shin-dig for him, and frankly, you don't want to be caught without wearing green around an Irish family (particularly his, they're a fun-loving group).  But, there was no party for Pepper this year, so Wino and I didn't have to drag out our green attire.

Unlike many, we didn't go out last night and get drunk off of our pattooties.  We didn't even really acknowledge the holiday (since neither of us is Irish) except to call Pepper and wish him a "happy fake birthday."  Then we settled down and had us some good ol' fashioned mac n' cheese (from Costco's take n' bake section.  It's SO good!) and a couple glasses of wine.  Yeah, we're boring ;)

NaNoWriMo: The Finishing

After November finished, I couldn't even look at my novel without feeling sick.  I'm sure this happens to most of us who attempt to conquer this goal.  You just get sick of typing like a mad-man (or woman, in my case) and every ounce of creativity has been drained for your fingers.

I didn't even want to think about my novel.  I accepted the pats-on-the-back of congratulations, but when anyone asked "so what's it about," I usually deflected the question with a hearty "it's really crappy, don't worry about it."

In my heart though, I know I'm a decent writer.  I write the sort of plots that I know I would enjoy reading, and with this novel, I actually have a beginning, a  middle, and an end (well nearly so).  That makes me feel great, but I still didn't want to think about the thing until just recently.

Here's my problem: my life has gotten "loose."  Let me explain - I'm not sleeping around, don't ring the alarms! - I have no structure right now.  Starting in July I had so much structure that it was easy for me to complete tasks: 1) C25K, 2) Crochet-a-long mystery afghan, 3) NaNoWriMo.  All of these things overlapped last year, and I'm a creature of habit, if I know I should be running at 5am, I do it; I know I should write on my lunch break, I do it; I know I should be crocheting from the moment my butt hits the couch, I do it.  After X-mas, NaNoWriMo was over, my race was done, and afghans were gifted, I felt sort of lost.  I still do actually.  My weight loss leveled out, I haven't exercised in months and until just earlier this month I haven't really had a project to crochet.  I've lost all my steam!

I came to this realization just an hour ago: I need goals in order to accomplish anything, I need structure and deadlines to really keep myself on track!

I was reading an excerpt of my 2010 NaNovel during my lunch break and I was enthralled by the plot, I wanted to read more.  When I finished the 1700 words, I immediately wanted to pull out my laptop, hit print and start editing and finishing my novel!  I think I may have my motivator again!  I've given myself until the end of April to have it finished and ready for editing.  I've also vowed to start running again.

I need to give myself some structure so I can get back on track in life!!

Foodie Extravaganza

I've got tons of places to review for this blog, so sit back and prepare to take notes!

Wino and I took our journey to "The City" (as those of us in central CA often refer to San Francisco) for our cooking class through Sur La Table (in February).  The series we took was Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Basics.  No, he does not teach the class, but he designed the series and all of the recipes seemed to be basically his own, and using his styles and techniques.  The first class was knife basics and included cooking tons of starches. It was fun!  We made mashed potatoes (using a potato ricer, which I would not waste my money on, I'd rather just mash mine using the old fashioned masher), rice pilaf (a little bland, but with a few alterations would be pretty good), spaghetti with tomato sauce (very basic, but really good), fennel and haricots verts salad (basically fennel, blanched green beans, orange slices and a citrus vinaigrette-this was my favorite recipe from this class, I'm SO excited to make this!) and last a french omelet.  I did not partake of the omelet, I'm not a fan of eggs.

This class was on a week by itself so we did an "up and back" trip that day.  It was nice but we didn't really get to mill around the city much.  However!  The next two classes were back to back and on a Monday/Tuesday, so we decided to make it a little vacation and go over on Sunday.  Here's where the real adventure began!

Sunday, we decided to go over early and hit SFMOMA.  I love MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)!  They were having an exhibit on wine, and well, you know how much we both love wine!  It was a fantastic exhibit!  We had a blast, and only paid half price to get in since half the museum was closed due to setting up new exhibits.  After that we went to dinner.  We had heard about this place called American Cupcake from the Food Network and wanted to try it.  We were intrigued because they touted their wine and cupcake pairings, and even did a tasting flight with three mini cupcakes and three different wines.

At first we thought they just had cupcakes, we were SO wrong, they also had a pretty basic "savory menu" (their words).  Things like mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup, Cobb salad, fried chicken, etc.  You get the idea.  We figured we would just eat whatever they had and go for the gusto with desert.  Ho, ho, ho boy were were surprised when even the dinner food was fabulous!  Here's what we had:

I had the basic Cobb salad.  The pulled pork sliders sounded good too, but I wanted to keep my dinner light to enjoy the cupcakes....when the salad came out it was beautiful!  Little fresh cherry tomatoes cut in half littered the top of the luscious greens, a quarter of a beautiful green avocado lay sliced vertically and fanned out over the pieces of crispy apple-wood smoked bacon which was a lovely compliment to the moist roast chicken breast.  It was gorgeous! It was delicious!  I would say the best salad I've ever eaten at a restaurant, EVER!  My mouth is watering as I write....

Wino had the Red Velvet Fried Chicken.  Now, before I describe this don't sneer!  You have to try it to really appreciate it!  This is chicken dipped in their red velvet cupcake batter, then rolled in crumbled red velvet cupcakes, then deep fried.  I sneered when I heard this and promptly opted for the salad.  BUT I tried some to be a good sport and O.....M.....G.....you wouldn't even know it was cupcake batter that the chicken was fried in!  It also came with the most creamy, flavorful mashed potatoes, and a delightful "slaw."  Ugh, it was good!

Ok so that was just dinner, we were both thoroughly impressed already, but the best was yet to come....desert!  We wanted to do a cupcake flight.  We did each did a "Walk of Shame" flight, which consisted of a lemon, a butterscotch and a coconut cupcake, paired with a Sav Blanc, a Chardonnay, and a Merlot, respectively.  The cupcakes were light and moist on their own but what really made them was the light, airy, but rich "frosting" (I'm hesitant to call it frosting because to me frosting is heavy and too sugary).   It was like a little yummy pillow of loveliness set atop the cupcake and I nearly died and went to heaven when I took that first bite of the lemon....I love lemon anything that this blew. my. mind.

Needless to say were were highly impressed by this place, even the ambiance was great.  It was all white (counters, floors, walls, ceilings, furniture) and they had probably a hundred globe lights hanging from the ceiling of various sizes that had multi-colored LEDs that would shift color depending on the music.  It was great!  We had a blast.  I highly recommend this place to everyone!

--Ok intermission time--If you need a potty break here you may want to go.  I've still got two more days to talk about!--

So Monday we had session two of our cooking class.  The topic was stocks, soups and sauces.  This was my least favorite class, most of what we made was seafood and I don't care for seafood.  There wasn't much to eat at the end of this class.  Most of what we made was being saved for the next day's class.  Here's what was on Monday's agenda: rich chicken stock, fish stock, mushroom soup (yicky!  but then I don't like mushrooms, Wino enjoyed it though), mussels steamed in white wine (Wino loved this, and even though I wouldn't eat it I wouldn't mind making it for friends because it's so easy!), and lastly sauteed chicken breasts with Bearnaise sauce.  The real technique for that one was the Bearnaise sauce.  That is REALLY hard to make.  We blew it and ours turned to scrambled eggs.  It's very temperamental, so instead we made the chicken breasts for the rest of the classes' sauce to go on.

Since there wasn't much to eat during this class we decided to do an early dinner at a little place called Spice Kit (again something we found from the Food Network).  They do "authentic Asian street foods."  Their set up reminded me of Chipotle, super fresh ingredients, very simplistic menu - choose your starch, choose your meat, choose your side, ba-da-bing you've got a delicious meal!  I had the Banh Mi sandwich with the beef short ribs and it was SO good, Wino had the Ssam (I called it a huge fresh spring roll) with the roasted pork and was also very impressed.  They also do something cool for a side: lotus chips.  Very yummy and I highly recommend.  The one thing neither of us was crazy about was their ginger-peanut slaw. It was ok, but nothing spectacular.

We wandered SF for a while then decided we needed to treat ourselves to our ritual Ghirardelli sundaes.  They were great as usual though we left feeling stuffed!  The next morning we set out to find some breakfast (smart phones are SO handy!) and we found this quaint little mom n' pop Crepe place.  I'm in love with Pacifica now and I want to move there, just so I can go to this place every Saturday morning for breakfast.  I had their pesto chicken crepe and it was phenomenal!  Yum!  We were so stuffed that we didn't really eat for the rest of the day (yes, even in our class!)

So for our last day of class the following was made beef bourguignon (I really thought this would be more interesting than it was, it's just beef stew!), we learned how to roast a chicken (SO simple, but kind of messy, we've tried this one at home and had a little snafu, but it was still good), seared steaks (yummy!), and fish stew (again I did not partake).  Overall, I'm glad that we took these classes, we really had a lot of fun and now we both feel more comfortable in the kitchen.

Sigh, ok, that was the trip.  If you have any questions about my babbling, feel free to shoot me a comment!

Happy, Happy......Everything!

Hello again, happy new year, happy fresh starts, happy resolutions, happy life!  May 2011 be a year filled with great things for all of us!

I went off the map while I hurriedly completed my afghans and Salt's hat before the dreaded day (the 25th!).  I managed to sew the final stitch on both afghans on Christmas Eve (that night was a bit fuzzy because Wino was making fudge and creme brule flavored with Grand Marnier --very yummy btw!-- and I decided to have a nip [or two, or three] and didn't realize that stuff is 80 proof!  It knocked me out of my socks -- literally, I was wandering around barefoot mid winter!)  I then wrapped everything up, and was satisfied, but exhausted.

Wino and I "exchanged" gifts several months ago when we purchased cooking classes in SF for February.  We agreed that we wouldn't get any more gifts for one another... but I can never trust that stinker and he ended up getting me something HUGE!  First I thought he had just bought me my latest Sheldon book and the bread book I've been pining after for a year or so (I was very happy to get those, but playfully slapped him anyway).  But as everyone was winding down opening their gifts, he suddenly disappears (I totally thought he was going to the bathroom!) and he reappears with a huge box wrapped in a huge blue bag.

Immediately I knew what he had done!  The jerk went out and bought me the Kitchen Aid stand mixer that I have always wanted!  I was angry with him for spending that much money, but so thrilled I could barely contain myself.  I started crying and ripping at the bag anxious to see if it was even the color I wanted (Imperial Black!!!), and it was!

SO, this Saturday night (after a crazy new years eve celebration) at 10:30pm I whipped up my first loaf of this fabulous bread from my new book (I mixed the dough on Friday morning before we headed out to our party).  After I pulled it out of the oven I crashed on the couch and Wino woke me up around midnight so we could slice it and try it.  We were both blown away.  How could something so simple to make, taste SO good!?  Needless to say the bread was a huge hit at our New Years party #3 yesterday, I only got one slice out of the two loaves I made!

I will have more adventures in bread later this week when we bake up some more bread to make panini's!