not so pretty pictures, but lots of awesome things.

Christmas knitting has been completed but I only made two hats so it was hardly a marathon. another hat is in my bag with me at a meeting in Seattle, but it is a gift unrelated to the holidays.


Recently I bought a Fidelis spinning wheel from Heavenly Handspinning second hand thanks to the magic that is Ravelry. There were initial complications.
1- the drive band felt loose and was slipping so I shortened it.
2- couldn't get enough tension on the flier but with some adjustment and help from Ravelry I got around that.
3- pedal/treadle tore out of the wheel rod and I solved that with a hose clamp.
I finally got to sit down and learn to pedal and draft at the same time, but after all the fixing I had to do I wasn't looking forward to touching it again. After a few days I finally sat down and produced Charlie. Everyone, I would like you to meet Charlie...

Then I produced Branson. Everyone, I would like you to meet Branson...

I used roving purchased from The Sheep Shed Studio which are mill ends from Brown Sheep, but I'm not sure what kind of wool they are. My limited experience has me guessing merino, but I need to ask.

I have begun another baby blanket. Basix 3x3 ribbing in Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed in Earthy Brown and Dark Forest green. I am almost 3/4 of the way completed already as it is so simple. It has become my movie/busy knitting. But it is so large already, it is not my travel. knitting.

This is my first time using this yarn and I like it. The color choice for a baby is non-traditional but seems much more in the taste of the family it is going too.

I have come to Seattle, WA for a mix of business and pleasure. I have too many friends in the area to not have a good time even tough I am sent on business. I love Seattle. It makes me want to sing and dance around lamp posts bundled in wool handknits and clutching a coffee.

When I boarded the plane i was wearing my own Olive Striped Raglan and I watched another woman board in a beautiful red-orange top down raglan hoodie pullover. She said the pattern was Wonderful Wallaby and just raved about it (RavLink). I just love to go somewhere that hand knits are worn, appreciated and needed.

I got to thinking about how an experienced knitter can spot hand knits a mile away in the wild and the cues that allow it. I know it comes with experience, but what exactly are the cues that they see. Are seamless patterns more likely to be hand knit? Is garter stitch more difficult on a machine? Are finer gauges more likely to have been machine knit? Excessive color work usually machine knit? I mean hand knitters wear machine knits frequently and non knitters can be spotted wearing hand knit gifts so the presence of knitting needles is non conclusive. There is nothing that works all the time and yet when I see a hand knit I usually know right away. How do I do that?

Survivor: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

So I am halfway through another Palahniuk novel entitled Survivor: A Novel and it opened the way most of his novels do. Dark and gross and weird and I had a hard time getting into it. Now, halfway through I am enthralled. I just finished chapter 28 and I wanted to quote almost the entire chapter on Facebook. But I didn't. I can not wait to see how this comes out, I presume just like all the rest, he will shock me and twist the ending in ways I can't imaginge.

Penny Arcade on Ravelry

Ok I could not wait any longer. I did not want to create a group, I'm a lousy moderator, but I have been waiting ages and I finally could not wait any longer.

I created a Penny Arcade group on Ravelry. You can find it at http://www.ravelry.com/groups/penny-arcade. Between the recent links for the Katamari Forever Contest and Twitter pictures of crocheted PacMan and Ghosts on Jerry's desk by Mike I figured it is time it was done.

If you are on Ravelry and as big a PA dork as I am, lets get this thing started.

Chili? We'll see.

So my parents are arriving tonight about 8pm and I plan to have some kind of dinner waiting for them when they arrive. I'm going to try chili and cornbread. I haven't made it yet, but I am going to try the following ingredients...

Stew beef
3 kinds of beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
onion
carrot
chili powder

I'll let you know how it turns out.

I will also be stocking up on rum, coke, chips, salsa, pinot grigio, coffee, creamer and Sweet n low. I can not wait to wake up in the morning, run to my parents condo in my jammies and drink coffee on the couch. I might even scratch my daddy's back if he's nice to me.

What happened to me?!?

I sound so freaking old. Soup recipes. Spinning and knitting projects. I don't feel old. Except in the mornings when I roll out of bed. I keep up on video games, though my gaming idols are getting to be old men themselves at Penny Arcade. And I watch too many cartoons, though mostly Anime of late. I have a closet full of T-Shirts filled with video game references and nerd jokes.

I am now some kind of cross between a crafty old woman with cats and a 30 something bachelor gamer.

Oh well. I guess I can deal with it. But really? Not the person I thought I would become.

Butternut Squash and Chicken soup

More yummy soup.

This week I made a butternut Squash and chicken soup and it came out fantastic. Reminder, my slow cooker is only about a quart and a half, so up or down size accordingly.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Butternut Squash
Bacon ends
Collard Greens
Onion
Shredded carrot
Chicken broth
Thyme sprigs
Water

Starting with the squash I cut it into large cubes, a little over an inch and tossed it into the slow cooker. I had two large chicken breasts in the freezer which I partially thawed, then cut into large cubes like the squash. I didn't use all the chicken. I just used enough for one thin layer in pot over the squash. The rest I cooked for dinner that day (I make my soup overnight for the next day). I also had a large lump of bacon ends in the freezer for adding to soup and I just cut a good portion off, dice it up and throw it in the pot as well.

Chopped 1/2 an onion, threw in a handful (literally) of shredded carrot (I buy it in a bag, I've used it in several soup recipe's now and it is very handy). I used half of a bunch of collard greens. I thought I was buying Kale that's what a great chef I am. But it turned out to be great in the soup. I coarsely chopped the collards into 1.5" strips and tossed them in as well as 4 or 5 sprigs of thyme from my little herb garden, need to use them up. I used the rest of my chicken stock, probably 1.5 cups and added a little water.

Let cook overnight. Now this one is sweet thanks to the squash and went fantastic with cornbread muffins. you don't have to add the bacon if you don't want to and I honestly don't know what possessed me to throw it in. I think I understood collard greens to be cooked with ham usually and I do so love me the bacon.

I used the remainder of the collard greens with onion and bacon in a pan with the rest of the chicken dredged in bisquick for dinner for the curious.

Look what I found!

Earlier this year while on the USCGC Healy in the Bering Sea I patched up some gloves for my gal Jessica. I used the yarn I had on hand for Sylvi so that's the red part. It totally didn't go with the gloves but hey, they were wearable again.

Did I ever show you all the roving I bought for drop spinning? Turns out 2lbs is a lot. Since I made this purchase I learned a new rule of thumb, there are approximately 60 yards of single ply worsted in 1 ounce. Now I know. I have been absolutely loving this fiber though. It is from The Sheep Shed Studio and they sell Brown Sheep Mill Ends for 7.50/lb. How could you not buy two pounds?

The Great Alaskan Baby Blanket on the needles aboard the R/V Endeavor.

The Great Alaskan Baby Blanket nearing completion.

I added to this project another piece, but I really don't have a picture of that right now so hold tight.