Thursday, January 31, 2008

Mission Accomplished!

So, I managed to start and finish a knitting project in January, and to knock off one of my twelve goals for 2008. ! I will create and update a Mission Possible 2008 link in the template as soon as I can. I finished the toe of sock #2 last night and grafted this morning. Here they are:




Details:
Pattern - Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks
Yarn - Opal Cotton in color #1957 (39% superwash wool, 13% polyamide, 48% cotton) - one skein with plenty leftover
Needles - size 1 bamboo dpns
Notes -
I like the color of the yarn. I came close to lining it up so the socks would match, but not quite. By the time I could tell it wouldn't match up, I'd gotten so far on sock #2 that there was no way I was ripping back. I like them anyway. The Opal isn't as soft and sproingy as Lorna's Laces, but it's fine. The socks are comfy. The pattern was great. The lace was super easy, and I could put the socks down and easily "read" the lace to see which row I was on. I did the scalloped edging instead of the ribbed, and I think it's really pretty. Yay!

I'm sure you're thinking, where are those photos taken? (Actually, I doubt you are, but it's a good transition.)

It's my little writing nook, complete with desk! I love this little desk, and it was super easy to put together. Past furniture I've assembled has been of the Ikea or Target variety, with a huge bag of doohickeys to insert and lock together, and slightly nauseating pressed wood product smell. This was actually real wood, and came almost assembled. Eight bolts to put the legs on, two wood screws to secure the hutch, and bam, a desk! This is in the guest room dormer, and I think it's a good use of a weird space. Anyway, I hope to get to use it for actual writing from time to time, but at least I have somewhere to keep my return address labels and stapler.

More knitting: Still going on SKB. I've been doing a row here and there, and I'm now 2/3 of the way through the yoke. I'll put up pictures when it looks interesting. I'm deciding whether to focus on this or cast on for another pair of socks. I did pick up Sensational Knitted Socks (thank you, KnitPastis!), and might try something in there with a short row heel. And maybe toe-up!

Reading: Reviews, reviews, reviews!

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress: At first, I wasn't sure what I thought of this book. I blame the publisher, who chose a rather misleading (though very cool) title and cover, which implied that this was a pirate adventure. We learn very early in the story that the Ironic Gentleman is a pirate ship, but much of the book is Alex *getting to* the pirate ship. So, because I was assuming it was a pirate adventure, the side stories on the way seemed meandering and off-topic. But what a fun journey! Kress's voice is enjoyable, earnest and adding fun asides in the Dear Reader tradition. The story seems timeless and placeless, and whimsy added to even the mundane aspects (Alex's interrogation at the police station, for instance) make the story move along easily and encourage suspension of disbelief. I had a lot of fun reading this. In a nutshell, it's the story of Alex, a 10 and a half year old girl (often mistaken for a boy due to her bowl haircut and name) who sets out to rescue her sixth grade teacher, a descendent of pirates who has been kidnapped by the descendent of rival pirates (still with me?). Along the way, she encounters a number of original and funny obstacles and meets truly memorable characters, like the Extremely Ginormous Octopus, who is a frustrated actor, Giggles the cat, and a quintet of scary old ladies. I had a lot of fun reading this. The pirate Steele is a complex villain and Alex is a fun heroine who manages very well on her own against all these obstacles.

Iris, Messenger by Sarah Deming: It's another Greek god juvenile fantasy, but is really completely different from the Percy Jackson series. For one thing, I could be wrong, but I don't think it's the start of a series. All the loose ends were tied up at the end and it seemed like a self-contained story. We'll see. Deming is a very good writer and Iris is an engaging girl. (By the way, here's another publisher-related annoyance--the cover shows Irish being held by a boy--it looks like he's rescuing her or something, but that NEVER happens in the book. What? There's actually a girl who can stand on her own as the hero of a book, and the publisher has to make it look like a boy is actually the hero?) Iris is a dreamer who doesn't have friends at her middle school. She is sent a mysterious birthday gift, a copy of Bulfinch's mythology, with directions on how to find the Greek gods (who now live incognito in suburban Pennsylvania), who need her help. Each god she meets tells her a story (an actual myth from Bulfinch, but with funny asides and dialogue) that leads her to an unexpected truth. This was a fun, well-written fantasy and really enjoyable.

Flush by Carl Hiaasen: I really enjoyed Hiaasen's first YA novel, Hoot, and I suggest that if you enjoyed Hoot (and if you haven't read it, go find a used copy), you will also enjoy Flush. Hiaasen brings his trademark zany humor and Florida settings to YA novels quite well, so if you've enjoyed his adult novels, give his YA ones a try. I felt the environmental message was handled well, not too preachy. What the bad guys are doing is so heinous that even people who wouldn't describe themselves as "green" will cheer when they get what's coming to them. Noah and his younger sister Abbey (a former biter, which comes in handy) become drawn into their father's passion for protecting nature. Their father is in jail for destroying a casino boat--Dad insists that the owner is dumping his sewage into the water instead of paying for it to be properly contained and treated (ew), but there's no proof. Noah overhears his mother discussing divorce and he and Abbey set out to prove Dad right. A number of encounters with an entertaining cast of adult and junior bad guys (the casino owner's son is a bully) lead to Noah's hilarious idea for proving the illegal (and very gross) dumping. An unlikely alliance with Shelly, the scary ex-girlfriend of a worker on the casino boat, makes the kids' success more believable. A funny, fast-paced juvenile novel with a message.

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson: I've been on an Ibbotson kick lately. I really enjoy her fantasy novels, which are funny and warm. I summed up the book for Matt--there's a secret entrance to a magical world through a platform in King's Cross station--and he laughed and thought it was a Harry Potter rip-off. But this book was written in 1994. Anyway, the King and Queen of the magical world have an infant son. His nurses take him through the gump (the gateway between worlds that opens every nine years) and he is kidnapped by the horrible Mrs. Trottle who has no child of her own. She decides to go away and return with the baby, pretending he is her own. The gump closes before a rescue can be mounted. For nine years, the King and Queen mourn and plan a rescue at the next opening. A motley crew of magical folk go through the gump to recover the lost prince. They find a charming, wonderful boy at the Trottle home, but he turns out to be a servant. The prince is a spoiled, horrid boy, but they have to bring him back, anyway, as he is the prince. His mother learns of the plan and whisks him away. The rescuers have to track him down (with Ben's help). The plot twist is glaringly obvious, but I think the story is a lot of fun, anyway, and it ends very happily.

I also read Foop! by Chris Genoa, and really didn't like it. The premise sounded so good: a time-travel tourism company takes people back to see famous events in history. But the narrator was whiny, angsty, and completely self-absorbed, which ruined it for me. That and a lot of "weird for the sake of weird." Ah, well.

Writing: Nothing lately except setting up the desk.

Cooking: Nothing really noteworthy. Just the usual stuff.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Go ahead, make my day!



I'm not ready with real content to post today, but MLE Knits gave me the Make My Day Award, which really, well, made MY day. So I wanted to say thank you and continue the award:

"Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

MLE
Knit Pastis
TurtleGirl
String Bean
KnittyPants
Stefaneener (Reading While Knitting)
YarnThrower
Marie (A Knit's Tale)
Rachel (Lickety Knit)
Annie

It's hard to limit the number of awards, isn't it? Anyway, you guys all make my day!

Mission Possible 2008

Here is the challenge:

The saying goes that yarn and fiber does not have an expiration date. This is about change. Fiber that has been sitting in your stash…

-Find it!
-Remember when you bought it!
-Remember what did you want to do with!

Look for:
12 things – could be 12 balls of sock yarn for 12 pairs of socks
12 balls of yarn that you refuse to throw out or that are left over from another project
12 balls of roving
12 WIPs
12 UFOs…

The clock is ticking. Everything – meaning the 12 things you picked - needs to be gone by December 31, 2008. It is up to you to achieve your goal and finish 12 possible missions.

You can…

…Fullfill its original destiny!
…Do something completely different!
…Donate it!
…Throw it out!
…Set it on fire! But then we want to see the video on YouTube!

The goal is to get these 12 items out of your stash by the end of 2008!

And here are a few rules:

1. You commit to the 12 tasks and put your list either on the Ravelry group or on your blog.
2. You finish all of your tasks by December 31, 2008.
3. If you don’t accomplish your goal, you will have to donate the selected items.

So, I am going to actually post my 12 goals, and maybe stick them on the template so I don't forget about them. My larger goal is one FO per month (I know, this is unbelievably sad and pathetic, but I didn't even come close last year), but here are my 12 stash items and my plans for them:

1. Gryffindor Sock Yarn: I want a pair of Gryffindor socks for me this year. I made a pair for Matt and then lost momentum and didn't make mine.

2. Opal Sock Yarn in Tiger: I bought this to make a pair of socks for Matt for Christmas 2005. Enough said.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 3. Opal Sock Yarn from Christmas: I got this at Christmas, and I'm working on Waving Lace Socks for me. On the needles.

4. Lorna's Laces in Vera: socks for me.

5. Lorna's Laces in Happy Valley: socks for me.

6. Tons of Peruvian Silk from elann.com in orchid: Destined to be a Henley Perfected.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 7. Malabrigo in Velvet Grapes: Simple Knitted Bodice for me.

8. Rowanspun 4-Ply in Siren: Tussie Mussie for me. On the needles.

9. Zephyr Wool Silk in Black: Irish Diamond Shawl on the needles for ages. Meant to be a Christmas 2007 gift for my mother-in-law, but fizzled out, and hanging out on the needles.

10. Sunshine Yarns in Strawberry Banana: either socks or something for Lilah.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 11. Lilah's Noro Silk Garden: Only one skein, which makes it challenging. I have to find something to do with this and knit it for her before the end of the year.

12. 7 balls of Peruvian Silk in dark purple: Find something to do with it and knit it! Maybe for Lilah, because she loves purple.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Mission Possible 2008

I've been waffling about goals for 2008 (in a number of areas of life, but let's start with knitting), and I found La's Mission through TurtleGirl's Bloggy Thing. It could not be more perfect for me! I have a lot of abandoned projects in-the-making, not much knitting time, and too much yarn to justify additional purchases. I've been organizing Ye Olde Stashe and thinking I really ought to do more de-stashing, but really, I need to make some plans for the yarn I want to use and figure out what is never going to happen.

Here is the challenge:

The saying goes that yarn and fiber does not have an expiration date. This is about change. Fiber that has been sitting in your stash…

-Find it!
-Remember when you bought it!
-Remember what did you want to do with!

Look for:
12 things – could be 12 balls of sock yarn for 12 pairs of socks
12 balls of yarn that you refuse to throw out or that are left over from another project
12 balls of roving
12 WIPs
12 UFOs…

The clock is ticking. Everything – meaning the 12 things you picked - needs to be gone by December 31, 2008. It is up to you to achieve your goal and finish 12 possible missions.

You can…

…Fullfill its original destiny!
…Do something completely different!
…Donate it!
…Throw it out!
…Set it on fire! But then we want to see the video on YouTube!

The goal is to get these 12 items out of your stash by the end of 2008!

And here are a few rules:

1. You commit to the 12 tasks and put your list either on the Ravelry group or on your blog.
2. You finish all of your tasks by December 31, 2008.
3. If you don’t accomplish your goal, you will have to donate the selected items.

So, I am going to actually post my 12 goals, and maybe stick them on the template so I don't forget about them. My larger goal is one FO per month (I know, this is unbelievably sad and pathetic, but I didn't even come close last year), but here are my 12 stash items and my plans for them:

1. Gryffindor Sock Yarn: I want a pair of Gryffindor socks for me this year. I made a pair for Matt and then lost momentum and didn't make mine.

2. Opal Sock Yarn in Tiger: I bought this to make a pair of socks for Matt for Christmas 2005. Enough said.

3. Opal Sock Yarn from Christmas: I got this at Christmas, and I'm working on Waving Lace Socks for me. On the needles.

4. Lorna's Laces in Vera: socks for me.

5. Lorna's Laces in Happy Valley: socks for me.

6. Tons of Peruvian Silk from elann.com in orchid: Destined to be a Henley Perfected.

7. Malabrigo in Velvet Grapes: Simple Knitted Bodice for me. On the needles.

8. Rowanspun 4-Ply in Siren: Tussie Mussie for me. On the needles.

9. Zephyr Wool Silk in Black: Irish Diamond Shawl on the needles for ages. Meant to be a Christmas 2007 gift for my mother-in-law, but fizzled out, and hanging out on the needles.

10. Sunshine Yarns in Strawberry Banana: either socks or something for Lilah.

11. Lilah's Noro Silk Garden: Only one skein, which makes it challenging. I have to find something to do with this and knit it for her before the end of the year.

12. 7 balls of Peruvian Silk in dark purple: Find something to do with it and knit it! Maybe for Lilah, because she loves purple.

I have older stash yarn, including a really annoying bag of Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton in various colors, Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in various colors, and a ton of feltable worsted weight in various colors, so I'll call it a bonus if I get rid of them this year. This list goes with my determination to knit socks this year, and except for the Irish Diamond Shawl, it may actually be do-able. We'll see! I'll save progress photos for next post, since this knitting section is pretty big.

Reading: I was reading, erm, romance novels. Ahem. But now I'm reading Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, a juvenile fantasy novel that I bought entirely for the title (but I guess a smidge for the pirate-y cover). It's extremely odd. I thought it would be more of a pirate adventure, but so far, not so much. It's very meandering, but I'll wait until it's done before deciding if that works or not. I like the voice, which is a narrator in the Dear Reader tradition, but I'm starting to wonder where the heck it's going. Still no sign of the Ironic Gentleman (a pirate ship) halfway through.

Writing: Not a thing, darn it. I need to have a goal for writing in 2008. Maybe "Do some writing" would work. Ten words a month? Actually, I'd like to actually complete a draft of the murder mystery this year, which requires some help from Lilah and Matt. As I was typing this, FedEx brought my writing desk! I'll set it up at Lilah's next nap, whenever that may be.

Cooking: I made some kickin' granola (well, if granola can be described as kickin'). My first attempt was not that great. I was inspired by a Cooking Light recipe in the December issue, and it just didn't work out that well. My husband said nicely that it was okay, but he didn't like "those chewy things." "Which chewy things?" I asked. "The apricots? The dried cherries?" He didn't know. I mostly thought it was sort of blah. So I took this granola recipe I found on allrecipes.com and cut it in half because it looked like it would feed a platoon. I also cut down on the honey and oil, because, well just look at the nutritional info. I added vanilla and cinnamon because of the aforementioned boring granola experience. I thought it was really nice, and Matt liked it too. I made it with the original proportion of sesame seeds, which was A LOT of sesame seeds, so I cut the amount (reflected below).

Great Granola

INGREDIENTS
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cups honey
1/4 cup apple cider
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 300.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, flax seed meal, coconut, sunflower seeds, salt, and cinnamon. Combine oil, honey, cider, and vanilla in a microwave safe measuring cup and microwave for 2 minutes on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until mixture is well-combined and warm. Pour over the oat mixture, and stir to coat evenly. Spread out in an even layer on a jelly roll pan coated well with cooking spray.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the oats and nuts are toasted, stirring once halfway through cooking. Immediately after it comes out of the oven, stir in the raisins and dried cranberries. Let stand until cooled, and stir again to break up any large clusters. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I also made hummus and baba ghanosh. And this awesome black bean soup from the Jan/Feb Cooking Light. Even Lilah loved it, and it was easy.

Monday, January 14, 2008

The State of Other Stuff

After doing my State of the Yarn post, I started thinking (especially prompted by Rachel's hilarious comment) about the State of Other Stuff. Thinking about it, I managed to accomplish a lot in 2007--it's just not as obvious as a pile of knitted objects. I still want to increase my knitting output and (for the love of Pete) get back to my writing (dare I say, complete draft finished in 2008?), but I'm not such a slacker, I guess. Scroll down if bragging annoys you, and you can see my knitting progress!

Things I accomplished in 2007:

1. Made it through a full year of baby-related sleep-deprivation, with sanity more or less intact. Lilah is a bad sleeper. A *bad* sleeper. She thinks sleep is a waste of her time. She hates going to sleep, and she hates staying asleep once she's finally succumbed. A friend of mine was talking wistfully about a friend whose baby goes to sleep at 7:00 pm and wakes up at 7:00 am WITHOUT WAKING UP ONCE. I could not comprehend this. "How long does your baby sleep at once?" I asked. He sleeps 10 hours, then goes back to sleep for two more after having his diaper changed. Oh, and he takes two naps, 1-2 hours each. I stared at her, dumbstruck. "And you're complaining? Last night, it took two and a half hours to get Lilah down, and she woke up four times, once for over an hour! And I'm lucky if she takes one one-hour nap." She seems (knock on wood) to be doing a bit better. For the last week, she's had one 6-8 hour stretch of sleep. Not to whine or anything (okay, I'm whining!), but constantly getting a maximum of 4 hours of sleep at once is tough. But if she takes a decent (over an hour) nap, she won't take a second one.

2. Made it through a year of breastfeeding. Lilah has actually never had formula. It was really important to me to breastfeed for her first year. And I made it!

3. Made all of Lilah's food, except for baby cereals (for the iron content). Lilah has never had jars of baby food, and I'm really pleased about that. It took almost no time for me, and she's turned into a great eater. We're transitioning to feeding her our food (sometimes with modifications), and it's going very well.

4. Made it through a year of cloth diapering. It actually isn't that much work, and when she's been learning to walk, the extra padding on her rear end comes in handy :)

5. Moved from Madison to Atlanta. The house is reasonably the way we want it, too, although we still have a few boxes here and there, and no pictures on the walls.

6. Increased our square footage at least threefold, and added a yard. And managed to keep the place, not spotless, but free from Health Department interference.

7. Made friends and got involved in our new community. (Remember all the bake sale posting?)

8. Kept up with my reading, even some literary reading (although the proportion of "comfort reading" (re-reading favorites or reading more fluffy fare) to literary is not exactly where it could be), which is nothing to sneeze at. I also started (and keep up with!) LibraryThing.

9. Lost all the baby weight plus 20 extra pounds that had been hanging around since college. Went down 2 sizes from just before pregnancy.

10. Kept blogging! Not always often, and not always interesting, but I've kept the blog going. I've enjoyed the people I've "met" through blogging, as well as having a record of my main pursuits, even when I just keep posting "nothing new" in the writing column over and over.

Okay, bragging over. Onto the content.

Knitting: I'm on the foot part of Sock #1 of the Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks. I'm using Opal, which is not my favorite, but I think the colors, which are vaguely oceanic, complement the waving pattern nicely. I wore my only handknit pair of socks yesterday (Jaywalkers), and I may rip those out after I finish knitting all my current sock yarn (in addition to what I posted last time, I have Opal in Tiger (for my husband), a Sunshine Yarns skein in Strawberry Banana, and Gryffindor stripe). They look nice, they really do. Only it's a huge pain to get them on and off my feet. I read that the pattern was inflexible, but I assumed that since it was a sock pattern, they'd at least be functional, but they're really not. So, I'll be screening my sock patterns more carefully.



I also cast on for the Simple Knitted Bodice with my Malabrigo. My word, this is soft. Knit bloggers are always going on and on about Malabrigo, and I get it now. It is luscious. And the colors are just out of this world. But I knit a few rows on this, then switched to my sock, and the Opal felt like sandpaper in comparison. This sweater has been on my list since I saw Rain's lovely version. And the Malabrigo is perfect. I have four balls and ordered two more. There are no dye lots, so I'm really crossing my fingers and praying to the knitting gods that they look okay together. This may be the worst progress photo ever. The lighting in our house is really challenging, especially on cloudy days, and I need to find somewhere I can consistently get decent photos. The other problem with the sweater is that it's just a couple inches of stockinette right now, and so likes to roll into a ball. But here's an idea, anyway:



Rachel inspired me to get the Winter issue of Interweave and add the Henley Perfected to my queue. If you haven't seen it, check it out here. It's the kind of knitted sweater about which a non-knitter would say in awe, "Wow, that looks like something you could buy in the store!" and think it's a compliment. I have Baby Alpaca from Elann in a light orchid color, and lots of it. I had started a tank, but wasn't really into it, so I ripped it out, and I have more than enough for the Henley Perfected. I stopped getting Interweave, mostly because of a lack of knitting time, but also because there aren't that many patterns I was into. But there are a few sweaters in this issue that I might like to knit (I really like the Gathered Pullover). Although, if the skirt makes the size 2 model's rear look big, there's no way I would ever attempt it. And there's a ruched tank that looks like a maternity top, again on the size 2 model. So those won't make it to my queue.

Writing: You know the story: no time, no energy.

Reading: Not Just a Witch by Eva Ibbotson: Heckie can turn anyone into an animal and Dora can turn anyone into stone. The two are best friends until a falling-out over a hat. They end up duped by a furrier looking for exotic pelts, but join together to make everything right in the end. Not her best effort, but a cute story nonetheless.

Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson. Tired of waiting for the next dark wizard to take his place, Arriman the Awful decides to marry. He auditions all the local witches with a contest--whoever performs the darkest magic wins. Belladonna desperately wants to win, but flowers and fluffy bunny rabbits tend to spring up all around her and she finds dark magic impossible to perform. With the help of an orphan named Terrence, she comes up with a plan. This one is really cute and charming. Terrence is adorable, and Belladonna's inadvertent white magic is very funny. Arriman is a hoot. This is one of my favorite Ibbotsons, and that's really saying something.

Books 2 and 3 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The first is The Lightning Thief (the author is Rick Riordan), and 2 and 3 are NOT a disappointment. If anything, they're even better than the first.

I also read Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich. Everyone says the between-the-numbers Plum books are not as good, and they're right. But this was still fun. Grandma Mazur at the slots, Lula modeling underwear, a guy who thinks he's a leprechaun...what's not to like? And it's a fun diversion while waiting for Fearless Fourteen to come out.

Cooking: From this month's Cooking Light, I made Tomato-Braised Beans Over Polenta and Orange-Cranberry Wheat Germ Muffins. This beans were really good. Every year, they tweak their format a bit, and for 2008, the Inspired Vegetarian column is looking at a different world cuisine every month. This month was the Veneto, the region in Italy that includes Venice. The recipe calls for cannellini beans, although the notes say that cranberry beans are authentic if you can find them canned. I found dried cranberry beans with no effort at all, and prepared them. (Seriously, how hard is that? You dump them in a pot with water and leave them overnight. The next day, you drain them, add more water, and simmer them for an hour and a half or so.) Lilah LOVES cranberry beans, as it turns out. Matt thought the muffins tasted rather healthy for him, but I like them. They're not big, though, for 200 calories per muffin. I could eat three pretty easily. From the December issue, I made
Peanut Squash Soup. I'd made this before, but this time I started out doubling the recipe, and made it thicker, like a stew. I only had one squash, so I added a sweet potato. I also took some out for Lilah before adding the peanut butter and chile. She loves the mild, peanut-free version. She's getting really insistent about eating what we're eating. She'll point vigorously past her own dish to indicate ours. My little brother mostly pointed and grunted until he was, like, four, and then we couldn't shut him up, so I'm trying not to worry that Lilah mostly points. She says Dada, Mama, Ki-Kat (for kitty cat), and Meow. When Matt comes home, she rushes to the door, saying "Da-Da!" and smiling up at him. She yells "Mama!" and pounds on her tray when I'm not making her dinner fast enough. Hmmm. Anyway, I also made oatmeal cookies. Nothing fancy, just the recipe from the barrel of Quaker Oats. But yum!

Peanut Stew (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients
1 TBL peanut oil (I used canola for Lilah)
4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (1 medium)
4 cups cubed peeled sweet potato (1 very large)
1 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
4 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash and next 6 ingredients (through coriander); sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth, peanut butter, tomato paste, and pepper, stirring well to combine; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes or until the squash and sweet potato are tender. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve over brown rice.

Note: Cooking Light called for reduced-fat creamy peanut butter. I have never seen the point of this. It has the same calories, and they just replace the fat with sugar. Or high-fructose corn syrup. Once I tried natural peanut butter, I can't even eat Skippy or Jif, with the corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils (or palm oil). It's completely different, and it's real food. Worth the slightly higher fat content.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

The State Of The Yarn

First, a quick comments round-up. Rachel, thank you for the cousin information. I've always been fuzzy on those distinctions. And thank you for Lilah's happy birthday wishes. We went to the aquarium for her birthday, and she loved the penguins and the pink and purple fish. Her penguin thing is a crackup. She's loved penguins since she was 5 or 6 months old. Thank you to everyone who was nice about my Branching Out and Fuzzy Feet. I was really pleased with both of them. I want to do more gift knitting this year, if I can fit it in.

Well, I updated my 2007 Finished Project list (to the left), and I was pretty appalled. Really???? That was it??? No sweaters and only eight items. Boy, motherhood has really slowed me down! We've been doing lots of cleaning and organizing while my mom is out visiting for two weeks (which is totally like having Mary Poppins over), and I decided to catalogue my stash and take a look at the projects I'd like to add to my to-do list. And maybe set a goal like, one FO a month at least! I want to knit socks for me, because I have only my Jaywalkers as far as hand-knit socks go, and I was suddenly bitten by the sock bug. I would like to expand my sock-knitting capabilities, as I have only done top-down, heel-flap socks on dpns. I am a newbie sock-knitter, though, and kind of a spaz about it, so I don't feel like I can modify patterns to suit my needs at this point. So when people say, "Oh, I did XYZ pattern, but I changed it to toe-up and magic loop and short-rowed the heel" I am in awe. I need a pattern to spell out what to do right now. Fortunately, there's my Christmas sock knitting book, and also knitty. I have some goodies to show you because I got a big box of yarn for Christmas.

Here is the Noro Silk Garden that Lilah picked out:

I have one skein and want to do something cool with it. No idea what, yet.

Christmas gifts:
Lorna's Laces in Happy Valley:


Malabrigo Worsted in Velvet Grapes:


Opal Cotton:


Lorna's Laces in Vera (I love this color):


(By the way, I started this post ages ago, and I'm only partly through my cataloguing. Not that I have a huge stash, but I had to unravel some UFOs and move things around.) I have so many good yarn pictures up that I think I'll wait to post my current project, socks on the Opal yarn. The yarn is nice, but I think I like Lorna's Laces better. I love the colors, though, like the ocean. I'm not all that thrilled with the dpns, which are still awkward to knit on. Turtlegirl helpfully pointed out that her Red Dwarf Sock pattern was on two circs and toe-up, both sock techniques I really want to try. I love the pattern, but all my sock yarn is fingering weight, and I have no sport weight. I have Interweave Knits' Favorite Socks book, and I'm starting with a top-down, heel flap sock since it's been a while for me and sock knitting. I like it quite a bit so far, despite the dpns.

Any ideas for the Malabrigo? The chunky would work perfectly for Cherie Amour, but I'm not sure about the worsted. It's 864 yards, and I adore the color.

Reading: I've been reading quite a bit. I'm trying to read What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire and having trouble getting into it. I may need to read something else first.
The Lightning Thief: I had such a great time reading this book. And I took one of my Christmas B&N gift cards and ordered 2&3 right away. And probably I'll be pre-ordering #4. This was such a fresh take on juvenile fantasy. And such a sneaky way to get kids interested in learning about Greek mythology. There are two ways to go with this sort of story; either put the hero into a magical world or bring the magic into this world. Harry Potter goes the first way, and the Percy Jackson books go the other. Matt asked what I was reading and I told him "post-Harry Potter juvenile fantasy." He laughed and asked if we were already at the post-Harry Potter age of literature. I guess I just think of juvenile fantasy written since Harry Potter became an unstoppable force as inevitably influenced by it (at least authors publishing new books, especially series--authors who were already writing don't really have this problem). And Riordan really could have pitched this to his publisher as "Harry Potter, but in New York and with Greek gods." But his writing is crisp and witty, Percy is an immensely likable hero with whom kids will love to identify (especially kids who tend to not like reading, those with dyslexia and ADHD, both of which Percy has as a result of being half-blood), and the book was just plain fun and action-packed to the hilt. He's charting Percy's hero journey, and the necessary archetypal elements make comparisons to Harry Potter inevitable. It didn't bother me, though, because Riordan's story is original and inventive, and the ways he finds to bring Greek gods into modern-day America are endlessly creative. I can't wait to read the next installment.

The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson: Madlyn and Rollo go to spend the summer with distant relatives who live in Clawstone Castle, a crumbling money pit opened to the public to raise funds to preserve a herd of white cattle. The children audition ghosts to help bring in more visitors, but a terrible fate befalls the cattle, leading to their quest (together with the memorable collection of ghosts) to save them. Ibbotson has written several ghost stories with a twist. In the tradition of Dial-a-Ghost and The Great Ghost Rescue, the ghosts are good guys and the bad guys are very human. She has subtle anti-animal-cruelty and environmental messages in the text, but nothing preachy or extreme. Madlyn and Rollo are good kids who want to help out their great-aunt and great-uncle as well as the cattle. Ibbotson, as always, is very, very funny in a dry, witty way that I really enjoy. I would definitely recommend this, as well as her other books.

I read Died in the Wool and Knit Fast, Die Young by Mary Kruger. I thought these were fun mysteries, not the best, but enjoyable reads. I'd pick up #3 once it's in paperback, but I wouldn't rush out to buy the hardback. In Died in the Wool, Ari discovers the body of tightwad customer Edith Perry in her shop, and she sets out to help the police solve the murder. In the second, Ari is at a wool festival when she stumbles into the well-hated knitting magazine editor as she's dying (stabbed by a knitting needle). With yarn an important clue, Ari is in a better position than the police to find the culprit. Ari is likable enough and Josh, the cop in charge of the case, tries to keep her in the real world. I have a few gripes: there's almost no comic relief (except some extremely bad puns), in each book, there is a second murder that seems really unnecessary (almost as though Kruger got halfway through the first book and thought the death count was too low and so threw in another), and in each, Ari confronts the killer Jessica Fletcher-style. However, unlike a lot of cozy mysteries these days, the writing is very good, the book is well-edited, and I thought the character development was well-done. If you enjoy cozies and/or knitting, chances are you'll like these. I thought they were better written and the characters more fleshed out than in the Maggie Sefton knitting mysteries.

I also read The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood, the third Beatrix Potter mystery by Susan Wittig Albert. These have all been utterly charming. As a bonus, you could easily read these to kids, as there's no adult content of any kind. The first is The Tale of Hill Top Farm in case you're looking to start these. Talking animals, nosy villagers, charming children looking for fairies--if that sounds saccharine and cheesy to you, well, you might not like these. They're gentle tales that evoke Miss Potter's own charming tales for children, and the mysteries take a back seat to the intrigue of the village and of the animal communities. If you're looking for pulse-pounding suspense, this is not the mystery for you. But if spending a couple of hours in the company of a cast of charming characters, both human and otherwise, then light a fire in the fireplace, make some tea, and sit down with one of these novels.

Writing: Just notes, but I've been able to work in some plotting and ideas.

Cooking: Nothing special I can think of. Just the usual stuff. Maybe I'll come up with something good for you guys before my next post :)

2008 Finished Knitting Projects

Novelties:
Octagonal Washcloth
Z Scarf and Drawstring Bag
Going Green Coffee Cozy
Arrowhead Lace Headband

Sweaters:
Simple Knitted Bodice

Wraps, Shawls, and Scarves:

Bags:

Baby Stuff:
Pink Placket Neck Pullover
Striped Placket Neck Pullover
Placket Neck Pullover
Alpaca Baby Shawl
Last Minute Purled Beret

Socks and Hats:
Waving Lace Socks

Month-by-month:
January: Waving Lace Socks
February: Last Minute Purled Beret
March: Simple Knitted Bodice
April: Going Green Coffee Cozy
May (but really finished June 1): Arrowhead Lace Headband
July: Alpaca Baby Shawl
August: Ummmmm....
September: TWO Placket Neck Pullovers
October: Pink Placket Neck Pullover, Z Scarf and Drawstring Bag
November: Octagonal Washcloth

Just Under The Wire...

Two more FOs for 2007!

My husband's Fuzzy Feet:

I had just read an entry from Turtlegirl's Bloggy Thing in which she was making Fuzzy Feet and had chosen to double the yarn for a sturdier slipper. Since my husband has worn holes through his last two pairs (the most recent lasted one winter plus a bit of this one), I decided to try this. I had plenty of Cascade 220 in my chosen color (leftover from Pinup Queen from SnB, which I think I did pre-blog...I should do a Blast from the Past post with my early work--heh heh!) so I started, using size 11 needles and knitting the foot to 11 inches before decreasing for the toe. I felted the heck out of them and they're a bit snug. These loosen up, though. I usually wear them over two pairs of socks while still damp and let them dry.

Pattern: Fuzzy Feet from Knitty
Yarn: Cascade 220 (held doubled) - 2 skeins and a bit of a third - no idea on the color, a dark greeny-blue
Needles: Size 11 for men's feet
Notes: I already went on and on quite recently about loving this pattern and I still do. Doubling has made for an extra thick slipper. We'll see if it keeps them hole-free for longer this time. I knit longer as directed for my husband's longer feet, and the fit is great. I actually finished the knitting on December 31, but felted on January 1. Since only the washer did any work on it today, I'm counting it as a 2007 FO.

And my Branching Out gift scarf:



Pattern: Branching Out from knitty
Yarn: Rowan Cashcotton in Pretty, one skein
Needles: Size 8
Notes: Love the pattern, love the yarn!

Knitting: I started a pair of socks for me with Christmas presents. I got Favorite Socks (an Interweave collection) and Charmed Knits. I also got a box full of delightful yarns, but I think I'll introduce them on my next post.

Reading: I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. Wow. After I finished it, I sort of sat for a few minutes, then decided I needed to read something fluffy (Died in the Wool by Mary Kruger--thank you, Holly!!!). This is a rather slim (under 250 pages), poetic novel about family secrets and betrayal. It was literally relentless, with no chapter breaks, which made it even more difficult to put down. Three voices are balanced (ambitious for such a short book): Iris, a young woman who discovers she has a great-aunt in an institution (for whom she is now responsible), Esme, a woman committed to an asylum over 60 years ago as a young woman for being difficult and inconvenient for her family, and Kitty, Esme's sister who is now afflicted with Alzheimer's, and always spoke of being an only child. This could easily have been a mess of a book in less capable hands. O'Farrell's writing is stunning and she handles the three voices brilliantly. The book doesn't so much have plot twists as revelations that gradually tease out family secrets to reveal the betrayals of Iris's family. The pacing is flawless. I wanted to find out what had happened, but I didn't really want the book to end. It's haunting and horrifying and beautiful. I can't recommend it enough. To my delight, O'Farrell has written three previous novels, which I will have to look into.

Writing: Ha! I figured out that the person I thought committed the murder didn't actually do it. This is great progress, as I was never that happy with the solution. While my mom is here, I want to re-write the first chapter, which I have loads to change in.

Cooking: Not too much. My dad and I did Christmas dinner. He handled turkey and his famous Macadamia Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and I made Simon & Garfunkel dressing (parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, along with apple, onion, celery, and pine nuts--yum, I love dressing), cranberry relish (my Aunt Mindy's recipe with lots of orange), and apple-pear cobbler. I made Black Bean Corn Enchiladas last night (recipe at left).

Lilah has a new cousin (first cousin once removed, I guess). My cousin's wife had her baby on December 27, the day after Lilah turned one, by emergency c-section (mom and baby are fine). They live on opposite coasts for now, but I hope they can meet soon. Welcome to the world, Maggie!