Normally I would make lame excuses for not blogging for so long, but this time is different, this time there are good excuses! My mom was in the hospital for a crappy, scary stretch. She's ok now but for a while there it was not good and exhausting and sad. We're all doing a little better now, getting used to a new way of things. Just goes to show you never, ever stop learning.

Also it seems everyone has been sick! Really sick, like doctor visits and medicine and the cough still hangs on for 6 weeks sick. And I got to get sick twice too! I got a cold thing and then a stomach thing. Ick! And let me tell you there are few things worse than sitting in a hospital worrying about your mom, wondering if you should just crawl into a hospital bed yourself... Anyway, then last week when it seemed we were done with all the people being sick, little Ella developed some weird skin condition and had to have a vet visit and some medicine of her own...


We don't know if it's a scratch or a skin allergy or what but she has to wear that rotten cone collar until she's done with the medicine. Poor baby...

Ironically, in the meantime, despite everything else being a mess, the knitting has gone surprisingly well. Somewhere along the line I finished knitting Cosima. Let it sit around for 2 weeks with no buttons, and then found buttons and finally finished it for real. And boy I'm so glad I did.



Pattern: Cosima
Yarn: Cuzco
Needles: Clover circs, Size 8 and 10.5 (I think)

Results: I love this. I've probably already worn it 3 times in 4 weeks. It's not as heavy or hot as the bulky yarn would make you think, I think it's the 3/4 sleeves. And for some reason, it's just so comfortable. It wasn't a difficult knit but definitely more chart reading than I'm used to. Also, seaming the raglan sleeves on the purl side (the front is the purl side) with all that patterning was a little tricky at times. I did lengthen the body by 2 inches and make the sleeves an inch wider for my chubby arms. I'm not sure this was necessary, when this yarn gets wet it stretches considerably. When it dried it shrunk back to the dimensions I wanted but I wonder if I could have just knit it normally and blocked it to that size. Either way it's wonderful. Definitely something I'm proud of.

And already poof! I'm about to finish the second sweater of the season.


This is #994 V-Neck Neck Down Raglan from Knitting Pure and Simple and it is flying. In this photo taken 2 days ago I'm in the middle of the second sleeve but as I type this I've finished the sleeve, I'm on the garter stitch neckband (translation-garter stitch neckband easy and fast!!!) and then I'll just have the little garter button bands (also easy and fast!!!) to go. I didn't think I'd manage 2 sweaters this year before the hot weather set in. I had originally thought I'd be stuffing this in a bag to wait to be finished sometime next fall. But it looks like I'm going to make it and I'm thrilled. So far the sweater is coming out great. It seems things are starting to look up.

A little guy and some little knits

Last weekend I took a quick trip down to Florida for a very special event, it was time for my nephew to be baptized.

And believe it or not he was just that calm cool and collected throughout the whole ceremony. He is such a sweetie. And just to make him even more lovable when he's not dressed in his formal wear he enjoys lounging about in a onesie, playing with some handknits.


Can you believe it, he loves his blocks! He grabs them and squeezes them and puts them in his mouth while he makes this silly grunting noise like he's trying to be tough. It cracks everyone up, and then he starts laughing and he's all smiles and giggles like all of a sudden he thinks its so funny too. It's so cute. And I'm just thrilled that the blocks are put to good use. Remember how much trouble I had making them? Ugh, I look back on those awful last stages of seaming them and wonder how I made it through, it was really that miserable. And now, now they are toys- TOYS! That someone loves and plays with regularly. I just think its so cool.

I recently finished my toe up socks which came out ok


For some reason my toe-ups seem to come out a little saggy all the time. They just don't fit as well as top down. And they seem to take forever after the heel, I think I miss having a toe to look forward to. It might be awhile before I try these again. Anyway, after I finished the socks I had to start another 'toss in my bag' project to have with me all the time so I started this scarf.


It's Rivolo by Anne Hanson. Like all lace it looks kind of bumpy and weird now but once its blocked it should look way better. I am having so much fun knitting this by the way. It's so simple, and every other row is purling back, so it's meditative with really short rows and seems to be going very fast. I worry that I might not wear this when I'm done. I realized I already have a very lovely green lace scarf that I never, ever wear. But I know that I am a process knitter, and sometimes I have to knit things just to try it, just to see how it will look finished, or just because it's there.

Inspiration, not for vegetarians

A couple of things almost inspired me to post recently:

My sister called me the other night giggling and asking what I thought about Rod Blagojevich’s idea to name Oprah Winfrey to the replace Barack Obama in the Senate. She and I both thought it was hil-lair-ious!! We had a very funny conversation, laughing about the different ridiculous things we had heard him say in various interviews that day and I just thought it was so cool that I have a sister who calls me about that stuff and that we have a very similar twisted sense of humor about such things. What can I say? It warmed my cockles…

I was also thinking about blogging about getting chart burnout. Cosima is trucking along and looking gorgeous. But I miss knitting without looking so I did spend a couple of days just vegging out working on my stockinette toe up socks for a little while. The chart for Cosima isn't hard by any means but it gets tricky keeping one eye on the chart and one eye on American Idol…

But the most inspiring thing, the thing I heard about recently that I really felt I needed to blog about, because it’s so wonderful, it needs more coverage and should be shared with others, is that new culinary phenomenon known as the Bacon Explosion…

Ahh, so pretty. Coming to us courtesy of the blog BBQ Addicts, this is the most unique and scary and mouth watering thing I've heard of in awhile. First Bacon is woven (see there are crafts involved!) in a square shape and then spread with sausage and then it's wrapped around-what else? More Bacon! All rolled together into one adorable tasty little heart attack.

The inventors suggest slicing it thinly and eating it on a biscuit-so see it's not as bad as you thought! Really, click the link, go read the recipe yourself, you'll see- it’s amazing!!! Now of course the question arises- will I ever make one? Unfortunately to the huge disappointment of my husband, probably no. But for now, just for today at least, I still want to acknowledge it's existence here on the blog and look at its picture a little longer and just think about it. Even just the photo of the Bacon Explosion is better than nothing. Just knowing it’s out there, I feel the world is a better place…

I think I miss summer

This is a shocking statement for me. I've always been a big winter girl. My reasoning is a) on a normal day I run hot as a furnace by nature, when everyone is cold I'm usually still warm in a t-shirt (I worry what menopause is going to have in store for me someday) and b) I'm a knitter. I want it as cold as possible as long as possible all the time. I need winter to maximize the usage of those lovely knitted items. They aren't going to wear themselves you know. But I have to tell you, these days... this year... everything is different...

This year I miss my garden. I miss my garden very, very dearly. These are 3 gardening books I got for Christmas and my first seed catalog for 2009. This past Sunday I finally got some time to curl up with them on the couch to start reading and I swear my jaw was dropped open and drool may or may not have fallen on some of (most of) the pages. Then there was a day recently when I saw Ina Garten make an ordinary Tomato Sandwich on her show. As she put the knife to that huge juicy tomato, I felt an ache in my heart like a food show has never inspired in me before. And you know I can get pretty emotional about my food. And speaking of tomatoes I've noticed all of a sudden that all the tomatoes in my supermarket suck. Did they always suck this much? And also I spend way, way, way too much time gazing out my dining room window, looking at my compost bin covered with snow and thinking "Is it going down? Does it need turning? Does it need more green or more brown? Will I have compost to put in the garden when the time is right?" Sigh... So much for being the girl that used to want to marry winter...

So in this distressed state I've reverted to my safe place and I've regressed to consoling myself with fiber...


Meet Cosima. I know she's not much to look at now but trust me she's going to be a grand girl. What fun, really, really fun. And the color that I was kind of 'meh' about when I bought it? (This usually happens to me every time I'm forced to pick a color that is not black) All of a sudden I love it! It's perfect! And that yarn, the Cuzco, it's amazing. So lush and soft, such a pretty twist. Trust me if you're thinking of making anything with Cuzco make it. If you need something to line your shelves with, hang from a curtain rod, I wouldn't be surprised if Cuzco wouldn't be great at that too. Yes I love it that much. Yes I'm being silly. But it's going to be a windchill of like 8 degrees tomorrow, and I haven't had a decent tomato in years (3 months) so just bear with me for a bit. I'm sure spring is just around the corner...

The Cutesy Good and the Ugly Bad

The cute cat photo of the day is Ella in a box she found on the dining room table. She sat there for at least half an hour just posing. It became obvious she was waiting for me to take her photo.



And then this would be the ugly knitting photo of the day...


Blech. This is the GC Cowl (raveled here) which is still a pattern I like but not in this yarn. The yarn is Katia Nepal which is still a yarn I like but not in this pattern. Jess at Fig and Plum just made one of these and it's beautiful. But mine came out way too long and floppy and curly and it just doesn't really work. I wanted a cowl that is a little closer to my chin and higher, this one hangs down kind of like a scarf. Oh well, it's my first time making a cowl so go figure. I'm going to frog it and probably try another cowl pattern. I think one that's knit side to side rather than up. I think I'd like the stripes better running the other way and it will help the length/droopiness issue. I'm not going to re-knit it again right away, but I will eventually. I still really like the colors and the yarn is squishy and soft, it doesn't deserve to live in the stash unused.

Socks and some verse

Pattern: Sailors Rib Socks from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Knitpicks Essential
Needles: Clover Bamboo DPN's size 2
Result: I'm pretty happy with the socks in the end, not so much with the Essential yarn. It fuzzes up like crazy! When I started I knit a gauge swatch, frogged it and then started the first sock. That beginning was so fuzzy and pilly I cut it off and started all over with yarn that hadn't been used for the swatch. I realize it's great that Knitpicks can offer wool sock yarn at such a bargain, but this might be a bargain I'll just pass up next time. I'd rather pay more and have yarn that doesn't pill. Especially for socks and especially for socks that are meant to be a birthday gift for someone I love, like these.

This week I was listening to an old episode of the Knitpicks Podcast on Knitting in Literature. Kelley Petkun opened by reading An Ode to My Socks by Pablo Neruda. I remembered I had first read this poem in high school and I don't think I have read or heard it since then. Now, when I went to high school I went to a school outside my district so I could attend a really good magnet program for Performing Arts. My focus, believe it or not, was creative writing. I've always known that during those four years, taking extra hours of my school day to just focus on writing that well, honestly, I know I wrote a lot of bad poetry during that time. I was a teenager, into college rock and goth music, let's face it, adolescence is just ripe to be a breeding ground for bad poetry. But listening to Kelley read that poem I realized that you know, during those years I also read a lot of very, very good poetry too. And I should be respectful of that. Like this poem. And it all came back to me and I just keep reading this poem over and over and wondering why am I not reading poetry every day because it really can be so, so wonderful. The truth is that reading this poem over now that I'm a knitter, and a sock knitter it has very special reverberations for me. How amazing is it that one of the greatest poets that ever lived chose to write a poem about of all things, his hand knit socks. You have to admit, I does speak a great deal for hand knit socks. They really are just this wonderful.

Ode to a pair of socks

Maru Mori brought me
a pair
of socks
that she knit with her
shepherd's hands.
Two socks as soft
as rabbit fur.
I thrust my feet
inside them
as if they were
two
little boxes
knit
from threads
of sunset
and sheepskin.

My feet were
two woolen
fish
in those outrageous socks,
two gangly,
navy-blue sharks
impaled
on a golden thread,
two giant blackbirds,
two cannons:
thus
were my feet
honored
by
those
heavenly
socks.
They were
so beautiful
I found my feet
unlovable
for the very first time,
like two crusty old
firemen, firemen
unworthy
of that embroidered
fire,
those incandescent
socks.

Nevertheless
I fought
the sharp temptation
to put them away
the way schoolboys
put
fireflies in a bottle,
the way scholars
hoard
holy writ.
I fought
the mad urge
to lock them
in a golden
cage
and feed them birdseed
and morsels of pink melon
every day.
Like jungle
explorers
who deliver a young deer
of the rarest species
to the roasting spit
then wolf it down
in shame,
I stretched
my feet forward
and pulled on
those
gorgeous
socks,
and over them
my shoes.

So this is
the moral of my ode:
beauty is beauty
twice over
and good things are doubly
good
when you're talking about a pair of wool
socks
in the dead of winter.

Happy New Year!

We had a great night last night. Despite the frigid weather blustering outside this week we rang in the new year warmly with good friends and fine food and drink. It was very fun and heartwarming. And now today, New Years Day things have gotten off to a good start. I hit the gym early for a yoga class this morning. I put the Christmas tree away did some knitting, more on that later, let me just say I love finishing things! And then tonight I decided to whip up some toasty soup to fill our bellies. My Christmas gift to myself this year was a little ice cream scoop. One of those that that helps you measure cookie dough just right every time so the cookies all come out the same size. You know what else that little scoop is just right for? Mini meatballs for soup!


I picked this tip up from a woman I used to work with who was a busy mom of 3. Rather than browning meatballs in batches in oil in a skillet, she just threw them on a cookie sheet and in a hot oven until they were brown and cooked through. When you're talking about mini meatballs you can make a whole big bunch and it saves you oodles of time. When I started this recipe out I really just wanted to use up some ground beef and parsley I had sitting around in the fridge. They went in the meatballs with the other usual suspects- breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, parmesan, egg. I had pasta and beans in the cabinet. All I had to pick up was some chicken broth and kale. I like kale in my soup, it has a little bit more texture than spinach and I think it holds up better. In the south people eat leafy greens like kale on New Years day to bring about prosperity in the new year since kale is the same color as money. I had forgotten that little fact until I was making this. And I made it on New Years Day. That was kind of a cool coincidence.



Hopefully everybody has a great year in 2009. Like all years there are going to be ups and downs, new stuff to enjoy and new things to endure. But if you can at least try to start it off good. Make the first day count and maybe it will increase your chances of make the ones that follow good too. A bowl of hot soup is a pretty positive direction to head in if you ask me.

Taste test

Just because I haven't been blogging for a little bit doesn't mean I haven't been reading other blogs. I've always read other knitting blogs, and I've been reading other food blogs for a little while, but this was the first week that I actually decided to try some recipes from some of the blogs I read. Judging by how the recipes came out, I think I'll be doing this more in the future.



The first thing I tried are these Spicy-Sweet Glazed Pretzels and Nuts from the blog Everybody Likes Sandwiches. This came out sooo good! The glaze is amazing, at first when you eat it it's yummy sweet, and crunchy and buttery. And then that spice sneaks up on you on the back of your tongue and then you realize you must eat more! Besides being so tasty and delicious I'm thrilled to add this one to my repetoire of gift recipes. The pretzels make me the happiest. I'm a big pretzel eater. I eat them plain as an almost daily snack. In a gift recipe they're a nice change of pace from plain nuts or cookies all the time. Plus-not to sound like a penny pincher, but pretzels are super cheap. And when you give as many food gifts as I'm giving this year (translation-I bought 8 pounds of butter at Costco and STILL HAD TO GO BUY MORE) cheap tasty fillers are very appreciated!

The other recipe I tried and liked was the Crockpot Chicken Makhani from A Year of Crockpotting. Sorry I missed out on a photo op, this was made on a busy day, but there's a photo if you follow the link. I love this blog so much. Nothing holds Stephanie back, she makes everything in her crockpot, chocolate, beverages, side dishes, dips, you name it! Once in awhile she has Fondue Friday, which is just so fun. Because who doesn't like fondue? Anyway, I knew this was going to be good before it was even cooked. The spices smelled just like when we get takeout from our favorite Indian place down the street. And when it was done, it tasted just like it too! Complex and fragrant and creamy and wonderful. Delish! I don't think this will be the last recipe I try from this blog either.

December happens

So I know I haven’t blogged in a long, long time and I miss it. It’s sad, it’s just there is always so many thing I always want to do and never enough hours in the day, never, ever. November was a crazy month for me. First I went to Stitches East with these fabulous ladies.



Oh my god we had such a good time! The laughing and the food (and the drinks, oh yes, the drinks) and of course oh the yarn! Such good yarn. I promise to take a picture for you soon I promise it is very, very pretty.

And then almost immediately after Stitches I went on a cruise! The husband and I went on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas out of Puerto Rico to Aruba, Curacao, St. Martin and St. Thomas. It was wonderful. We relaxed a ton. We didn’t even do any crazy scuba or sightseeing excursions or anything like that. Most days we laid on the beach, and then laid by the pool. Ate a lot, napped a lot, caught up on some reading it was wonderful.

And then Thanksgiving hit and now somehow I’ve found myself drop dead in the middle of the Holiday season! And I’m up to my elbows in cookie flour and wrapping paper and decorating and loving every minute. And I’m still knitting Christmas gifts too! This a sock for my godmother. Hope to finish these soon!



You can see I'm knitting on my lunch break in my car here. I took this photo then because it's dark so early nowadays, there's never any natural light. It's been hard to get good photos and this has made it hard to blog. Also must make deadline! Must make deadline! I do not want this to be the first year I give a gift with the needles still in it, I don't! I fear that is a slippery slope I just don't want to go down. I also have to knit through lunch because of course the baking at home has cut into the knitting time in a big way. I would say this stresses me out but I don't know, there's just something about giving lots of plates and baskets of cookies that makes me really, really happy. Cookies make it hard to be stressed.

Back in a Mac

Wow the last time I posted was almost a month ago!!!  While I totally admit laziness had a lot to do with it, there was also a major computer malfunction that was partly to blame.  The motherboard went on our old Dell computer and since it was kind of held together by spit and tape at that point anyway we decided to put her down.  We've since gotten a new IMac much to the delight and joy of several of our Mac pusher friends.

In the meantime I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Florida and visit the niece.



She is into everything right now so we spent lots of good time swimming, playing, dancing, coloring, reading books and all that good stuff.  And when I was exhausted and would collapse during naptime or at the end of the day I managed to spend some nice time with her new baby brother!

What a big boy already!  He was born September 25, is happy and healthy and wonderful.  And of course he loves his Mason Dixon Log Cabin Blanket!

Between traveling and computer acquisitions there has been knitting too.  And I now I give you-what is for me at least-this year's Fetching!



Pattern:  Cabled Footies from One Skein by Leigh Radford
Yarn:  Cascade 220 Superwash

I've made two pairs of these already and I have two pairs still to make.  I think they'll make great Christmas presents.  I had had this book forever and was never that interested in making anything out of it until I had seen some really cute ones on Ravelry.  My new theory is that the ones in the book are on this super-skinny model and for some reason they look huge and bulky. Almost like they're made out of bulky weight yarn.  But they're not, they're made with worsted and they knit up very adorably and super-cute!  Footies for all!

I also made my first pair of no-purl Monkey socks



In Socks that Rock colorway Highway 30, I adore these also.  The yarn is just scrumptious and makes me wonder why I don't wear these colors all the time on the rest of my body.  Ok, that's a little much I guess, but the sock pattern is awesome also.  The no purling means you're practically knitting stockinette with just a few pattern stitches thrown in every other row. Nifty!

And knit socks are going to be a good thing in this chilly economy and this chilly weather.  I'm set though, fall is my absolute favorite season ever.  Today I did a good fall thing and made a little compost bin for my Recession Garden.



I know it doesn't look like much but it warms the cockles of my little home gardener heart.  Plus, the Recession Garden deserves it.  Despite the fact that it's late October my cherry tomatoes are still coming in in droves and it looks like in another week or so I'll finally get to harvest that lettuce I've been tending to!  I am very excited!

Recession Cherry Tomatoes

The squash vine borers got the zucchini. The european corn borers are attacking the peppers. The cucumber beetles eventually got the the cucumber vines. But god bless the cherry tomato plants. They've been going all summer and they just keep on coming.

I also have a couple of dishcloths to show for my week.

Yarn: Lily Sugar and Creme
Pattern: Honeycomb from Dishcloth Boutique

An oldie but a goodie. This pattern is a lot like the Mason Dixon Ballband pattern as it just flies along. These look a little wonky and wrinkled but I'm sure after a few uses and trips through the washer and dryer they's tighten just a little and look perfect.

In TV news does anybody remember in 1998 Camryn Manheim won an Emmy for her work on The Practice. In a rare honest moment for an award ceremony when she finished her acceptance speech she shouted out "This one's for all the fat girls!"


Now I have never seen a single episode of the Practice in my life, but as one of those girls I just had to shed a little tear. Just to hear someone say the words 'fat girls' on an award ceremony let alone dedicate their award to them was just so shocking and heartwarming at the same time. I still totally well up just thinking about it... Anyway tonight the Emmys are on and Tina Fey is up to win for 30 Rock and America Ferrara is up to win for Ugly Betty. If I could I'd give Tina an Emmy just for her brilliant Sarah Palin sketch on SNL last week and America one for the HBO movie Real Women Have Curves from 2002. Well, they aren't nominated for those but I still love both 30 Rock and Ugly Betty. I'll be watching, rooting for either one of them to win. And who knows, maybe if they do the could send a shout out to all the smart girls? Or maybe just all the girls that wear glasses? Wouldn't that just be really, really cool? I certainly think so.

Yarn, Cheese and my Opinion of Knitted Fingers

So yesterday I had a very fun day. The knitting girls and I took a trip to Yarn-It in Deal, NJ. I had been feeling lately like I needed to buy some more yarn. I also am always feeling like I need to be buying more at local yarn stores. Both of these issues were well-remedied.

I got 2 balls of Katia Nepal for a cowl eventually, 2 balls of Cascade Superwash for Christmas sock/slipper gifts and 3 balls of Debbie Bliss Luxury Donegal Tweed to someday make Gretel by Ysolda Teague.

I really liked shopping at Yarn-It because there is a really nice variety in the yarn selections there. There were a few cool novelty yarns, lots of nice yarns to treat yourself with like Berrocco and Malabrigo but she also has the wooly basics that I love-Brown Sheep, Cascade. There was also this one wool I hadn't heard of but I liked a lot-Ella Rae. The other girls said it was itchy, my response was "That's why I love it." That and the fact that I thought the colors were very warm and saturated yet muted somehow. It was pretty. I was tempted to buy a big sweater's worth, but I abstained. Bari, the owner of Yarn-It also made our visit a very enjoyable. She was friendly and knowledgeable and helpful, and most importantly she didn't kick us out when we were giggling and swearing and carrying on the entire time as we have a tendency to do.

We ended up back at my house for a surprise dinner from my husband. It was a surprise in that he had been talking about making us dinner all week but would not tell us what it was. What was it? Macaroni and Cheese topped with Chili! It was the tastiest heart attack on a plate I've ever had! And you know I've had more than a few. It was really, really good. There was also an appetizer of Queso in case we had not have enough cheese. You really can never have too much cheese you know. And what a sweetheart for cooking! So we had cheezy treats and beer and knitting and watched the 4th season of The Office. Good, good times.

Also at Yarn-It yesterday I had picked up two balls of Plymouth Encore for some baby hats. I cast the first one on pretty much as soon as we left the store.



These are not for my sister's baby but for another friend who is due in a couple of months. It's a boy. Yes, I'm still on the blue and brown kick. So I finished the one before yesterday was over (yes!) and now I'm making the second one blue with a brown stripe.

I also finished my Knucks the other day. Sorry for the totally craptacular photo, I can't find my tripod anywhere.



I've been dying to make Knucks forever. I've been dying to use the yarn forever. Unfortunately, now that they're done I have to give the result a completely mediocre "meh..." They fit kind of weird, they're pretty tight. And doing the fingers first was kind of a pain. However, I know that from when I've tried to make gloves before that making the fingers last is no picnic either, which leads me to the conclusion that me and knit fingers just are not going to make this work. Put knitted fingers down on my list of stuff I should not knit next to bathing suits and skirts. No thanks. I'll still wear these cause they're purple and kind of cool, I just wouldn't knit them again. I feel like the 'ok' appearance and result does not outweigh the fiddliness factor of the fingers. It's fingerless for me from here on out I'm afraid.

Deep Purple

These two hooligans are completely convinced my new knitting project must be a bunch of little cat toys.



But they're not. They're the fingers for my Knucks!



They're a bit fiddly at the moment, but I'm pleased as peaches to finally be making these. I've had the yarn in my stash for-ev-er and yes, I'm still very addicted to fingerless gloves once the weather starts to get frosty. Next on deck are the Delicato mitts. In the same purple Rowan Felted Tweed you see here. My plan-kill the stash. I've had it with my stash. I love it, but I want to be knitting with it already. I figure, all the yarns currently in my stash are for small projects, dishcloths, socks, mitts. They're already portable, so there's no reason to have more than one project on the needles at a time right? So the plan, pick a yarn and knit with it until it's gone. The last yarn I did it with was some ancient Kroy socks that was just aging away in it's basket.



I grabbed it, churned out bunch of quick little baby socks for my sisters very soon to be born baby. (Yay!) And now it's gone. Aah... One yarn down, not too many more to go.

In addition to purple yarn there are also some purple peppers growing around here.



These are the Burpee Sweet Pepper Carnival Mix and aren't the pretty? I started them from seed in March, can you believe it. They are supposed to sprout peppers that are purple, orange, red and white. As far as I can tell the only plants that made it to the garden are a couple of purple ones, and then a bunch of regular green ones which turn red eventually.



That's ok, I was glad I at least got to see a few of the purple ones. The purple ones taste like regular green ones anyway. And I like the flavor of the red ones a lot better so I'm glad there aren't too many purples.

I also knit some dishcloths this week as part of the Kill the Stash endeavor.



I still have dishcloth cotton left, that I can't knit all in one swoop. I figure I'll eliminate these one by one by color. The towels are not the most exciting the to knit but I have to admit I love to use them. I make them with one and a half to 2 balls of cotton and they're big and tea towel sized. I keep them slung over my oven door where they are easy to get to and look very cute.

Beefmasters of the Universe-in which food probably figures way too prominiently

The tomato variety I'm growing in my garden is called 'Beefmaster.' This never fails to crack me up. However the name is appropriate. These girls are ample and full, the Nell Carter of the tomato world if you will.



They make me very, very happy. Even happier was that today for the first time I actually got to use produce I've grown myself to make one of our very favorite recipes-Gazpacho.



My husband used to forget the name and would shorten it to 'Gestapo' the first few times I made it. So now we often affectionately refer to it as Gestapo. I always use this recipe here. Back in the early days of the Food Network there used to be a show on at seven o'clock every night with a woman named Sara Moulton. Sara Moulton was the executive chef of Gourmet magazine and also did this hour long show every night where she would cook and actually take live phone calls over the air. I adored this show. Almost 10 years later a lot of the recipes I still make are from this show. My meatball recipe. My salsa recipe. Pasta e Fagioli soup. So many. Favorites I've made over and over. And this one that she made on that show is just as good as all the others. If you don't think you like vegetables make it and try it anyway. My husband hates vegetables yet somehow devours this stuff by the bowlful. It's the sweet tomatoes, crunchy cucumber and peppers, a little bite of red wine vinegar, a little salt and cayenne just manage to pull the whole thing together in perfection. And making it today with my own tomatoes for the first time ever. Well, I have to admit I remembered my old tv friend Sara and felt a little sentimental.

And don't worry, lest you think this is no longer a knitting blog I promise you I've been knitting my head off.



Trying to work my way through that big bag of Peaches and Creme cotton. I have this ballband pattern memorized now and I don't care. I still covet it and these cloths. These are for my niece (pink and brown) and future nephew (blue and brown of course). I am on a big "and brown" color kick if you couldn't tell. And yes, I'm totally aware they're more likely to be gifts for my sister to use on whoever is in the bathtub when that cloth is on the top of the pile. But still, I like the "and brown" thing.

And if just in case you still wanted to hear more about food (sorry) I cannot help but mention the brilliant episode I caught of Jamie at Home yesterday. Oh my gosh, I was practically fanning myself from overheating, it was such a great show. First of all I love this show because let's face it, this



plus a British accent = yum! Please sir may I have another? Plus, he spends a good deal of the show in his garden, I'm newly into gardening so this appeals to me. Third, yesterday he made this amazing salad with kaleidoscope carrots (beautiful!) and ground lamb. I love it when a dish includes something totally rich and decadent like lamb but it's still 'a salad.' Anyway, I loved it. I rewound it with the tivo and watched him make this recipe twice! But-do I know anyone I could serve this too who would probably like it? Not that I can think of. I adore my family and friends dearly but they always want gazpacho or meatballs or macaroni and cheese. Not that I don't love those things too, I do, I totally do. And I will never, ever tire of making them for the people I love. But sometimes I just want something different. Something I could probably only get by having it in someone else's or my own kitchen. Anyway, such is the lonely road of the foodie nerd! No matter, that won't stop me from making lamb salad for myself and eating it out of the serving dish in my jammies while dreaming of Jamie one night. Or I'll probably just force it on the husband anyway, he'll usually try anything at least once. We'll see, if I do try it I'll let you know how it comes out!

Limited seating

It's not that the cats want me to get off the computer...


They just want me off of the chair. It's their favorite spot in the house!

Socks and Blockers and Blocks

I started these socks in May, which means for some reason they took me longer than usual. But that doesn't make them any less special!

Pattern: Double Lace Ribbing from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Socks that Rock, Raven Clan-Valkyrie colorway
Knit on Knitpicks size 1 nickel dpns

The yarn was gifted to me by Tracy for my birthday. I have knit with Socks that Rock before and loved it, but those were gift socks. These are my first Socks that Rock socks for me and I am psyched! Another thing to be psyched about, the socks are on sock blockers gifted to me also by Tracy. Her and her Dad did a bang up job on these handcrafted custom made blockers and they are perfect!

I also finished these darn baby blocks this week:



Pattern: Baby Blocks from Knitting for Baby
Yarn: The rest of the Knitpicks Comfy I had left over
Needles: Bamboo Size 3

I'm glad these are done. Yes they are cute, yes I think my future nephew will like them. But good golly miss molly it seemed like there was a lot of seaming (haha!) involved. I realized at one point that each block was 6 squares but 8 seams. And dealing with different colors and stitch patterns made that seaming pretty challenging. No run of the mill easy peasy mattress stitch here. Nonetheless, my sister is one of the best knitting gift recipients ever. And she also likes the idea of 'green' toys involving no lead, no plastic, etc. So I know these will probably get used and played with, which is the best thing. But will I be making these for anybody else anytime soon? Nope! I'll just go and buy some regular blocks from the store probably.