In the nick of time

Just before it gets too warm, we talked Lilah into modeling this cute little number:


FO pictures and pattern info are right here. She wasn't that excited about it, but we had to get pictures before it was too small. It's a 0-6 month, and believe it or not, our barely three-month-old has almost outgrown all her six-month stuff. At this rate, she could be the first female linebacker in professional football, though I hope not. It's also my theory that she's teething early, due to major drool and tiny teeth I SWEAR I can see, but no one else can, and some night waking that wasn't happening before. We'll see...

Please don't take it personally if I haven't commented on your blogs in a while. Things have been a bit hectic, and there are days when all my free time is spent doing laundry or something. I'm slowly getting more free time, and I can't wait to see what you've all been up to!

StringBean, I'm all about the vanilla soymilk on my cereal now. And Starbucks does a nice soy vanilla latte. Soy cheese, though...yuck. All in all, cutting out cow's milk has been less traumatic than I expected. I'm trying to take this as an opportunity to improve my Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Indian cooking. Anyone else have ideas for less dairy-oriented cuisine? Rachel, you may not have this problem at all! Less than 2% of colic cases are caused by cow's milk allergy, and it's a sensitivity to proteins in cow's milk (so I can have goat cheese), not to lactose, which is a sugar.

Fun news...The Whole Ball of Yarn(s) is moving! No, I haven't finally switched to Typepad. We're moving to Atlanta, where my husband starts a post-doctoral research position this summer. Since we met and fell in love as undergrads at Emory, we're kind of excited to go back. But, wow, is there a lot to do...finding a place to live, packing EVERYTHING up, throwing out junk that we're not moving with us. We have loved living in Madison, though, and I plan to take Lilah to the Farmer's Market, the Terrace, Great Dane, and our other favorite Madison places, as often as possible before we leave.

Knitting: Still going on Hedera. Rachel, I may be emailing you about a short-row heel when I get closer to the heel :) I decided to leave the FuzzyFeet excessively blue. It's getting warmer anyway, and when it gets cold, I shall just buy my husband new pajamas to match them!

Reading: I forgot to mention How To Be Good by Nick Hornby. Hornby wrote High Fidelity, Fever Pitch, and About a Boy, among other things, and my husband loves him. I quite enjoyed it. I think it would be a cool book for a book club because there are a lot of interesting issues raised. It starts out with a marriage that's falling apart. The twist is the husband's spiritual change. It's hard to summarize it as being "about" something in a succinct way. I think it's about modern society, doing what's right and how to figure out what that means, being connected to an increasingly disconnected society. It was very funny in places, and really made me think. To be honest, some parts made me uncomfortable, but I think it's good to be challenged sometimes.

I also finished Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House and loved it. No shock there :) I'm now working on A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt. This is a sort of Wiccan-ish murder mystery, the second in a series. I picked it up for the plane, and haven't read the first. There are some things about the pagan/mystical elements that I'm not sure about as far as accuracy goes, but it's not a negative portrayal. The mystery so far is fairly interesting.

Writing: Ha! I sat out on the porch yesterday (gorgeous spring day) and knocked off some revision while Lilah napped. I deleted some stuff, so the word count is 40,500.

Cooking: I made Sesame Noodles with Broccoli from the April Cooking Light, and it was fantastic! The sauce used tahini, dark sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce, and I could have eaten it with a spoon. It was excellent, and will go in my repertoire. I used soba noodles instead of whole wheat spaghetti. I have some Indian recipes I plan to make this week.

Kinda Fuzzy Feet

So, I've gone a while without blogging again, and I'm woefully behind in my blog-reading, as well. This is because I've been traveling! We've been in California to visit my family, and we've all had a great time. Lilah has really enjoyed being outside in the nice weather. Too bad it's back to the cold soon :) I've been doing lots of visiting stuff, but there's been some of my usual activity as well.

Knitting: I promised my husband a new pair of Fuzzy Feet. And here they are, obviously before felting, with my foot for scale:

I had this much yarn left from a skein of Cascade 220:

I don't remember the exact color, but it's one of the heathers. It's really not the right color, and I need to ask all you dyeing geniuses out there if there's a way to darken it to more of a navy. It's kind of BLUE, but the LYS here didn't have anything closer in a feltable worsted weight. This is why I usually order yarn, but I needed to get it before we left on a trip the next day. My husband insists that it goes just fine with his pajamas, but I'm not convinced. Any ideas? I really just settled on the color and let him talk me into them matching okay because I wanted to do them in the car on our five hour trip (each way) to Sacramento to visit my brother. I'm calling them Kinda Fuzzy because Lamb's Pride is more fuzzy than Cascade, but the LYS, which told me on the phone they had "tons" of colors of Lamb's Pride, turned out to have about six colors in stock, none of them close, though they "would be happy to order" for me. Urgh. If I wanted to wait for an order, I would just order it myself. Anyway, I also barely started Hedera from Knitty:

That's Sunshine Yarns in Strawberry Banana, which I think is a fun yarn. Hedera isn't my ideal sock, as I really wanted to try a short-row heel this time, but I only have dpns in size 1 or size 5 or greater, so I needed a size 1 pattern, and this was the one I found that seemed interesting. It'll be nice for the plane, and I can always rip it out when I get home if I find a different pattern. I've been having trouble getting inspired by knitting lately. I think the main problem has been the colic we've had around here for several weeks. The 5+ hours of crying every night were exhausting and really prevented me going through the stash and my knitting books to find what I really wanted to knit. Thankfully, it's over! But, sad for me, I had to give up dairy. I was allergic to cow's milk as a baby, and I think Lilah is, too, because two days after I gave up dairy, the colic was GONE. Like flipping a switch. So when we get back from this trip, I'll get my knitting to-do list in order and get excited about it again.

Reading: Lots of this! I've had The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst on my to-read shelf for ages, and I finally tackled it (it's 400+ pages, so not thin). It was excellent. It's billed as a political/social satire, but that makes it seem a little impersonal to me, and it's not. Nick Guest, a Henry James scholar who recently came out, lives with the family of a university friend. The father is a very wealthy conservative MP who adores Margaret Thatcher. The novel takes place in the 1980s, with the spectre of AIDS hanging over Nick and his lovers. There are better summaries over on amazon. I've read that the plot is Jamesian, which makes me want to read some more Henry James. The plot is divided into three parts, in 1983, 1986, and 1987. The social and political satire is incisive and very funny. I definitely recommend it, and I'm glad I read it, but I'm not sure it'll go in my re-reading pile.

In the "definitely re-read" pile is Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. This is a prequel to Peter Pan and it is FUN. I have to re-read Peter Pan now, as it's been years and years. It's swashbuckley and adventurous, and good for all ages.

I'm now on the sixth Jane Austen mystery, Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know I love it :) These are so fun, and a pleasure to read.

Writing: See above re: colic. Hoping to start again when we get back.

Cooking: No cooking on vacation.

Long time, no blog

Oops, I took a bit of time off unintentionally. We've been having some issues with our schedule, and I've had very limited time to do anything non-baby-related. I think we're doing better now, so hopefully I'll get back to my once or twice a week schedule. I'm working on catching up with my blog-reading, too, so if I haven't commented on your last five posts, it's nothing personal and I'll be back soon! Hmmm...what's been going on around here?

Knitting: I finished the Ribbon-Edged Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Special Knits. Sort of.

It's not just the lack of buttons that makes it incomplete. Look closer:

See the distance between the top and second button? And the length of the right side versus the left side? What the heck happened there? I went back and did the math, and I think it's the pattern. I thought at the time the right side seemed to be going a bit long before doing neck decreases, but this project has been so spread out over time (I started it before Lilah was born, and she's now 8 weeks old!) that I ignored it. Maybe I read it wrong. Anyway, bleh. A baby sweater on size 3 needles with mismatched button bands. Fabulous. And since I started it before she was born, I was making the 0-3 month size, which won't fit much longer, so I'm not inclined to take it apart and fix that side and put it all back together again. I think this one is headed to the frog pond. Urgh! Urgh, I tell you! My husband has requested a new pair of Fuzzyfeet to replace the ones I made a couple of Christmases ago, which now sport holes in the soles. Those are quick and easy, so I'm picking a color, probably navy again, and will start those soon. I still have the placket sweater half finished. I may decide to start a pair of socks for myself. If you would be so kind as to post your favorite sock pattern on size 1 needles, that would be great! I can't seem to pick one. I'd like a short-row heel, but I'm not good enough with socks yet to modify a pattern to include one. Lace or an interesting stitch pattern would be nice. The yarn is Sunshine Yarns in Strawberry Banana, which is pink and yellow variegated. I think I need a fun pattern to make for me to cheer me up after the sweater fiasco.

Reading: Ooh, lots to report here. I finished One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson, and it was excellent. I could go on and on about how amazing Kate Atkinson is, but I'll spare you :) She may be my favorite living writer. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year, and is fantastic. Her first three novels all deal with family dysfunction in various ways, but Atkinson is a masterful storyteller with a gift for creating believable, rich characters, so these are not insubstantial, derivative Oprah books. Atkinson is also wickedly funny. Her short story collection, Not the End of the World, is disturbing and gripping, and despite the title, is about the end of the world. Her fourth novel, Case Histories, introduced private investigator and ex-cop Jackson Brodie, who is involved in three separate cases that aren't exactly connected, but touch each other. This was her first "hit" novel, and I wasn't sure how I felt about my favorite literary novelist turning to the detective genre. However, this isn't your grandmother's detective novel. Atkinson takes her keen insight into the human condition and applies it to the genre, rather than allowing the genre to constrict her storytelling. The relationships between the characters are satisfying and well-developed. Her latest novel, One Good Turn, brings Jackson back as one of several witnesses to a road rage incident. Atkinson takes the events of a few days and shows them from the points of view of the different characters, who are all connected in some way. I had trouble putting it down. You don't need to have read Case Histories to enjoy One Good Turn, but I highly recommend both.

I also finished Jane and the Stillroom Maid by Stephanie Barron, the fifth Jane Austen mystery. It was lovely and fun, as usual. I'm now reading The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst, which has really grabbed me after only one chapter. It's billed as a political/social satire, and is set in England in the '80s (Thatcherite London, as the back of the book says, which struck me as funny somehow). Nick, the main character, has really pulled me in. I know basically nothing about English politics (well, outside of Jane Austen's time), so this is pretty interesting to me.

Writing: Sadly, nothing new to report. I usually manage one productive non-baby thing a day, and I've had other things lately that have needed to be done. Hopefully, will get going on this soon.

Cooking: Nothing exciting. I've made enchiladas, hummus, baba ghanosh, vegetable fried rice, and some other basic stuff. I'm making broth today after my nap (I feel silly needing a nap, but Lilah thinks bedtime is midnight!).

Keeping Warm

Our high temperature on Sunday was 0. That's 0 degrees fahrenheit! The guys are taking advantage of every sunshiney day (as are Lilah and I):


And Geronimo, looking like he's on a throne:


Knitting: I'm nearly done with the Ribbon-Edged Cardigan (ribbon-free edition) from Debbie Bliss Special Knits for Lilah. It's in a lovely rose color. I started the 0-3 months size ages ago, and I'd better hurry and finish it because she is growing fast! With the cold lately, layers are essential, so it'll get much use. After that, I need to finish the Placket-Neck Pullover. Then I think I'll rip out T-Twist and reclaim the yarn for a baby blanket or something. I have to take a look at my patterns and yarn and come up with a to-do list again. I have some Sunshine Yarns sock yarn in Strawberry Banana to make myself socks. I have the Blue Sky Alpaca Silk in blush from the failed attempt at Vintage Beaded Gloves from Handknit Holidays that I can make into a scarf or something. And, believe it or not, I still haven't looked at the Winter edition of Knitty! I was really pregnant and uncomfortable, and then I've been busy with Lilah.

Reading: I finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This is part coming-of-age story, part mystery, part magical realism. It starts with Daniel, age 10, who discovers the book The Shadow of the Wind by a mysterious author, Julian Carax. When he looks for other Carax books, he learns that someone has been collecting all the copies and burning them. He becomes obsessed with finding out everything about Carax. The story is as much about Carax as Daniel, and the characters are well-drawn and the suspense masterful. This is a flawed but beautiful book. I'm not sure how much is the author and how much is the translator, but you could easily remove a third of the similes and a quarter of the adjectives with no ill effect, and probably shorten the book by 100 pages. There's also a part near the end of the book that changes points of view for nearly 100 pages, which is jarring. Those pages are compelling, to be sure, and I'm certain that's why the author couldn't part with them, but they took me out of the story that was already in process. That said, I truly enjoyed this book. The mystery was satisfying and involving and the characters intriguing. It managed to be funny and bitterly sad. Lovely book.

I'm now reading One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. I love Kate Atkinson. The first book of hers that I read was Human Croquet, which I picked up on a whim at the bargain table at Barnes & Noble. Her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize, and is fantastic. Her most recent novel, Case Histories, was a departure for her--a detective novel. But not your grandmother's detective novel--the main criticism that I have heard is that it's too open-ended and focuses too much on character. If you read her earlier books, these are probably the things you love about it. One Good Turn is a follow-up to Case Histories, sort of the second in a series. So far I like it, though I'm still not sure how I feel about one of my favorite literary authors writing a detective series. I think I've adjusted okay, as the books still use her brilliant character development and intricate plotting.

Lilah and I are reading the first Harry Potter aloud when she's sleepily nursing (when she's awake, we read books with pictures).

Writing: Still slowly revising. I also...er...started a children's book I've been thinking about for the last couple of years. The first lines just came to me yesterday (as I was feeding the cats), so I've been jotting things down. My main project is still finishing the murder mystery, though.

Cooking: I made the Black Bean Chili from the December 2005 issue of Cooking Light. I also made a sourdough starter, though I haven't named it yet. I also made bread, this Italian Bread, which says it's New York style. I have no idea what that means, never having been to New York, but it is GOOD. Squishy, yummy white bread with a slightly crisp crust. Mmmmmm. I used the bread machine on the dough cycle, then formed into baguettes. I also made a cracked wheat bread based on this recipe. I doubled the recipe, used honey instead of sugar and upped the amount to 1 TBL, and used 2 cups bread flour, 4 cups whole wheat flour. Partly this was to make it healthier since I was already making squishy, worthless bread, but partly due to an excess of whole wheat flour hanging around. I used the Kitchenaid to do the kneading for me. This one turned out well, but I made too much, forgetting that my husband isn't a huge fan of "healthy" bread. And this tastes healthy. It's dense and slightly nutty, and I like it a lot, but it needs to be eaten in thin slices, because it's the bread that eats like a meal. It went very nicely with the artichoke dip I made for Super Bowl purposes. I use reduced-fat versions of mayo, sour cream, and cream cheese, and it's one of my standard bring-to-a-party dishes because it's easy and everyone loves it. I still have pumpkin and cranberries I need to do stuff with, so maybe I'll make muffins or a quick bread this week.

And the weird just keeps on coming!

So I know I already did the Six Weird Things About Me meme, and it's not like anyone requested some bonus weird, but here we go anyway, since I have a story to tell. I like spiders, I really do. I love Charlotte's Web. I think spiders are fascinating, and they eat bugs I don't like. So the rule in our place is that spiders are allowed to stay if there aren't too many and they stay in the corners, and I am able to deal with my slight issue with how many legs they have and how they're really a little scary, even the non-venomous ones. There is the, "Is it on me? I feel like it's on me" response when the spider has left it's corner. But a couple of nights ago, one of the resident spiders broke the rules and was on the wall right by my lamp when I got up in the middle of the night to feed Lilah. Usually rule-breaking spiders get relocated with the sophisticated cup-and-piece of paper method, but it was cold and I was tired, so I ushered him into the bathroom with a Kleenex and went back to sleep. Then I was feeding Lilah a couple hours later, around dawn, sitting up in bed, and all of a sudden, there was a spider SIX INCHES FROM MY FACE. Ack! I really don't think I'm so fascinating that it's necessary to float down to see me from the ceiling. So I grabbed the changing pad and scooted him toward the oppposite wall, and he's now happily installed in the bathroom. But he (she?) necessitated a new rule, which is No Spiders Allowed in the Bedroom. My husband doesn't think it's really that traumatic to have a spider show up right in front of your face when you're half asleep, but I'm not alone here, right? That's scary!

Thank you to everyone for your kind blogiversary wishes! I am also SO glad that I'm not the only one who started Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell ages ago :)

Knitting: I finished the Gryffindor Socks!!! Here they are, modeled by my husband, who wouldn't roll up his pants legs any further than that.




The details:
Pattern - From The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, men's medium
Changes - I did about an inch of ribbing, then switched to stockinette for the rest of the sock. I also used size 1 needles for the whole sock, and didn't change sizes.
Yarn - Gryffindor Stripe from Sunshine Yarns
Notes: Dani periodically posts new yarn for sale, and there isn't always Gryffindor Stripe. Even when there is, it sells out fast. I was excited to get two skeins at different times. I believe Dani takes special orders, though, if you contact her. I used an entire skein, plus additional red for the toe. For a woman's sock, one skein should be plenty. I cut out the yellow parts of the yarn for the top ribbing, heel flap, and toe.
Needles - Size 1 dpns
Gauge - 8 stitches per inch

Thoughts: I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of the heel flap method. My next sock attempt will be a short-row heel. These fit Matt really well, even though I worried partway through the first sock that the stockinette would make it too snug (the pattern as written is for ribbing). I love the yarn. The rest of the second skein is for a pair of Gryffindor socks for me! Final thought: men have big feet. Making socks for women is much nicer, but Matt really liked these, so it was worth it.

There we go! That's my last Christmas present knitting! Now, on to more baby things.

Reading: I finished Jane and the Genius of the Place by Stephanie Barron. Like the others in the series, I enjoyed it. It's more political than the previous entries and discusses the Napoleonic Wars quite a bit. The mystery wasn't quite as good, and I missed Lord Harold and Eliza. But Jane's voice makes it a fun read, anyway. I'm now reading The Shadow of the Wind and loving it so far.

Writing: Still slow revising. As we get used to Lilah's schedule more, I'm working on re-incorporating things like exercise (I missed you, Billy Blanks!) and preventing the apartment from devolving into total chaos (ha! too late!), so there's been less writing of late.

Cooking: I am very lucky to live near Lee, a fabulous cook (and also a knitter, and we were treated to a lovely homemade Indian feast, so we have been able to skip some cooking. I did, however, make cabbage soup, and this time came closer to the yummy vegetable soup served in Basque restaurants, so I'll post what I did.

Cabbage Soup (With or Without Beans)

2 TBL olive oil
2 small onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 cups stock or water (if you use all water, add a bay leaf and perhaps extra garlic and onion)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 large head of cabbage, shredded
2-3 cups pinto beans, Great Northern beans, navy beans, or chickpeas (canned or cooked) (optional)
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste (you'll use less salt if you use salted stock, canned beans, tomatoes that aren't no-salt-added, etc.)

Heat the oil in a stockpot. Add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook 30 minutes, or until vegetables reach desired tenderness. This makes a ton of soup! Serve sprinkled with grated parmesan and ground black pepper.

I used half vegetable stock and half water. I used chickpeas because I had some cooked ones leftover from making hummus, but I would have preferred pinto beans. At Basque restaurants, a bean-free version of this is served alongside bread, salsa, and soup beans (pinto). You scoop beans and salsa into your bowl, then ladle in soup. Yum.

A Whole Year at the Whole Ball of Yarn(s)!

So, it's my blogiversary, I guess. I ought to have something clever reflecting back over the year, or at least a fun contest or something, but I don't. Sorry! I did look back at my very first post and noticed that I was reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, which is still next to my bed with a bookmark in it, which I think is hilarious. A lot has changed in the year, though. A year ago, I was still upset over being laid off from a hideously awful job, and now I'm happily writing with a new baby. Things have definitely improved. What's more, I've actually kept a journal with some consistency, which I've never done before, and I've "met" lots of lovely people in the blogosphere. It's been a good year, even with the morning sickness.

Knitting: Still plugging along on the sock. I hope to finish it this weekend. First, I have to wind this really long skein of yarn. On the heel gusset, I sort of fudged the edges. I picked up an extra stitch, but instead of waiting till the next row to knit it together with the one next to it, I twisted the stitch and knit it together with the first held stitch. Does that make sense? It closed the gaps very nicely, I think.

Reading: I finished Murder on a Hot Tin Roof. I actually guessed the murderer and the motive! But the book was still enjoyable, since I wasn't positive until the end. This was a fun, quick diversion. I do recommend this series by Amanda Matesky if you enjoy cozy mysteries. I'm now reading Jane and the Genius of the Place, the fourth in that series, and, as expected, enjoying it quite a bit.

Writing: Still slowly revising. I got more sleep last night, though, which I'm hoping is a trend!

Cooking: Not much at all. I did a vegetable soup based on the blueprint in my recipe list to the left. I also soaked chickpeas to make hummus. Tim, I think you might have to go grocery shopping :) If you also have eggs and milk, I could possibly suggest a bread pudding with toasted cinnamon raisin bagel and applesauce. Don't you have any fruits or vegetables around? I do have to say--Ketchup chips??? Are you turning Canadian already?!

Lots of reading...not much knitting

Knitting: The heel has turned! I have three more stripes on the foot before the toe decreases. I think I may make it before February. Here it is:

And I think I did better with the heel gusset this time, thanks to your suggestions to pick up an extra stitch:

But, I'm definitely going to have to wind my second ball of yarn, since this is all I have left:

I'm hoping that it doesn't look obvious. These are not the same dyelot, but I have my fingers crossed.

Reading: I finished two excellent books. I'm currently reading Murder on a Hot Tin Roof by Amanda Matesky, the fourth in a series of mysteries set in 1950s New York. The sleuth is Paige Turner (ha, ha), a writer for Daring Detective magazine. I like these pretty well. Without looking at a jacket photo or reading a bio, I'm pretty sure Ms. Matesky didn't actually live through the 1950s. I think her 50s are well-researched, but there are a few too many stock characters, phrases, and events referenced. They don't bother me all that much, but, for example, her sidekick is her Jewish friend (who says Oy Vey a lot) who's dating a Beat poet and frequents jazz clubs. I can almost imagine Ms. Matesky going through a list of 1950s "must haves" and saying "Yiddish? Check! Beatnik? Check! Jazz scene? Check!" But the blurb on the back of the book from Romantic Times (is that a real magazine?) says that "Matesky adeptly captures the atmosphere of the 1950s" so maybe I'm being too picky. Besides, I do enjoy these, and as they're set in a different era, they're very different from your typical cozy mystery, and references like the films the characters go to see are fun.

I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Very, very good. Sort of gothic in feel, so if you like that sort of thing, you'll be right at home. It reminded me a little of Jane Eyre. It was an absolutely engrossing book with rich characters and a captivating plot. It begins with Margaret Lea, amateur biographer and daughter of a book shop owner, who is summoned by a famous author, Vida Winter, to write her biography. The author has told many versions of her life story in the past, all conflicting and none of them true, but now she's ready to reveal the real story to Margaret. Naturally, Margaret herself also has a story to tell. She listens to Vida's tale, visits her childhood home, and conducts her own research, and the story of Vida Winter slowly unfolds. The title refers to one of her works, a book of stories called The Thirteen Tales in the earliest printing, but later corrected because the thirteenth tale is missing. It was a lovely read, and Ms. Setterfield's first novel, so I look forward to seeing what else she comes up with.

I also zipped through Welcome to Higby by Mark Dunn. I had loved his Ella Minnow Pea, and I enjoyed this one as well, though it's very different. It's more of a traditional novel, a slice of life story set in a southern town over Labor Day weekend. The characters are all quirky in their own way, and all interconnected. The chapters are insanely short (75 chapters over 339 pages), but the story is remarkably cohesive, and the conclusion elegant. It was a light, fun read, and I'd recommend it.

Writing: Revising. Slowly.

Cooking: Nothing new to report. Haha! If you guys want to send me a list of what's in your pantry, I'll do my best to suggest menus :)

2007 Finished Knitting Projects

Novelties:

Sweaters:

Wraps, Shawls, and Scarves:
Branching Out
Ribbed Lace Bolero
Branching Out

Bags:

Baby Stuff:
Toddler Mittens
Earflap Hat

Socks and Hats:
Men's Fuzzy Feet
Fuzzy Feet
Gryffindor Socks

Business as usual

In case you're curious, here's how the cats have responded to Lilah's arrival:


Yup, they don't care that much. (Mirando is snuggled into the Boppy, which is a breastfeeding pillow, a fantastic invention. And also a good cat bed.) I guess from their perspective, not much has changed. They still get fed and petted. Mirando still snuggles with us in bed. Geronimo still gets brushed once a week. They don't care much for her crying (which fortunately she doesn't do much of), but other than that, they don't mind her at all. Every once in a while they'll sniff near her head or feet, but they don't get that close.

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed my birth story. The main reason I decided to share it is related to Areli's comment--all the birth horror stories out there. When I was eight months pregnant and flying back from visiting my family at Thanksgiving, one of the flight attendants told me all about her emergency c-section during which she almost died and her baby had to spend two weeks in NICU. Um...thanks? Seriously, what would possess someone to share that with a pregnant woman? And I had such a great birth experience that maybe my story can help balance out the horror stories some idiot has told you.

Knitting: Thank you to everyone who felt ripping out the HP sock was unnecessary. I love you guys. I'm still on the leg, but almost to the heel flap. Speaking of which, my next pair of socks, I want to try a short-row heel. As I was catching up on my blog-reading, I fell in love with these stunning socks by Turtlegirl. I like my Gryffindor socks (which are more or less from Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns) but the look of her short-row heel is lovely. I have some Sunshine Yarns sock yarn in Strawberry Banana that will be my next pair of socks.

Reading: I'm about halfway through The Thirteenth Tale. The word "unputdownable" gets thrown about a lot in literary criticism, but it is no exaggeration here. This book is riveting. I'm a little bummed that there are only 200 more pages to read. Oh, I forgot to mention that when I got to the end of The Fourth Bear, I was delighted to see the following: "Thursday Next returns in The War of the Words, July 2007." I squealed and jumped up and down. I am not kidding, I did. Yay! A Harry Potter movie, possibly a Harry Potter book, AND a Thursday Next book all in the same month? Best. July. Ever.

Writing: We had a couple of rough nights without much sleep. Last night was better. But at any rate, laundry was almost above my capabilities the last couple of days, much less creative output. Back to revising today, though.

Cooking: Hey, I cooked again! We had almost nothing in the apartment so I improvised Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Fiesta Rice from random stuff in the fridge and pantry. Matt and I agreed that they were really quite good, and the filling for the enchiladas would also make awesome bean dip. I probably would have used black beans instead of kidney if we'd had any, but it was good this way. Cilantro would have been a nice addition, too. I've never made my own enchilada sauce, but that might be fun sometime.

Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

1 can refried beans (14.5 oz.)
1 can kidney beans, well drained (14.5 oz)
2 cups shredded cheese, divided
2 cans enchilada sauce, divided (I think these are 12 oz.)
2 cloves garlic
12 corn tortillas, warmed according to package directions
sliced green and black olives for garnish
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and cover with a thin layer of enchilada sauce. In a food processor, combine beans, garlic, 1 cup of cheese, and 1/4 cup enchilada sauce. Process well. Divide evenly among tortillas, rolling and placing seam side down in the pan. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce, reserving 1/2 cup for Fiesta Rice (if making). Top with remaining cheese, then olives. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Note: I used 2% sharp cheddar for filling and 2% Mexican cheese blend for topping, because that's what I had.

Fiesta Rice

1 cup white rice
1 can diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved (14.5 oz.)
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
About 1/2 cup enchilada sauce (left over from enchiladas)
1 cup frozen corn
1 tsp cumin

Combine all ingredients except reserved tomato juice and enchilada sauce in a small saucepan. Pour tomato juice and enchilada sauce into a measuring cup and add water to total 1 1/2 cups liquid. Add to pan. Bring to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce heat, simmering 20 minutes, or until liquid is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

First FO of 2007

It was meant to be a Christmas present (and is less than a month late!). Here's my Branching Out for Lilah's future Aunt Maureen:

Details:
Pattern - Branching Out
Needles - Size 8
Yarn - Rowanspun DK in Eau de Nil
Notes - If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love this pattern. Easy, fun, looks fantastic. I've made zillions (okay, more like 8 or so) and I'm still not tired of it. A very nice gift pattern. The yarn was a bit rough, actually, but softened up nicely with a wash. I adore the color.

Hey, do you see the snow in the background through the window? We finally got winter! It showed up yesterday. Must have taken the left at Albuquerque.

Okay, onto recent activities. StringBean, I will try measuring Lilah next time I change her. Boy, that's going to make her mad :) Scroll down to the end for my birth story if you're interested. By the way, welcome to the new commenters! I hope you enjoy it here.

Other knitting: I have begun Gryffindor Sock #2:

Okay, somehow I ended up with three more red rows below the ribbing section in sock #2. Is it so obvious I need to rip back? I'm leaning heavily toward no. These are "hanging around the apartment" socks for my husband, and I'm thinking no one will be staring at his calves to such an extent that it's going to be noticed. But anyway, I've made progress on it!

Reading: I finished Jasper Fforde's The Fourth Bear, the second in his Nursery Crime series. I loved it. I was a bit iffy on the first one, The Big Over Easy, and I need to re-read it to see if I like it better now. At the time, I was bummed because I really wanted another Thursday Next novel and I was distracted by the overlap with that series. So I'm not sure if The Fourth Bear is really better or if I'm just more okay with the new series now. At any rate, it follows Jack Spratt and Mary Mary of the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading police force as they investigate the disappearance of reporter Goldilocks and the escape of the serial killer Gingerbreadman. If that sounds nuts, it is. The whole book is crazy, witty meta-fiction, but, you know, in a good way. I definitely recommend it. I'm starting The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield now. I was debating between something fluffier and this and decided on this one.

Writing: Revising.

Cooking: Hey, I cooked! Well, I made pizza dough in the bread machine. Matt handled assembly. Last night I made really easy pasta. I sauteed a zucchini and a couple of cloves of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano, and then added a tablespoon of pine nuts. I tossed this with four ounces of pasta. Fresh spinach would have been nice if I'd had it on hand. I think I'm making enchiladas tonight.

Birth Story (I think this is pretty non-gory, but if birth stories aren't your thing, feel free to skip this):

I woke up Christmas morning feeling a little weird, and present opening is still kind of a blur. I seriously had to look at my
presents later to see what I'd gotten. I was kind of out of it. Then I started having contractions (uncomfortable, not painful) 10 or so minutes apart. I put my feet up and drank lots of water, thinking it was just the holiday craziness, and then I decided to take a nap, but the contractions were waking me up. I thought, "Huh, these seem kind of regular" so I timed them, and they were 5 minutes apart. After half a dozen of them, I got my husband and called my parents and said we had to leave
right away to come back to Madison. No one else thought a two-hour drive was a good idea, and my contractions weren't that strong, so I agreed to go get monitored to see if it was even real labor. I was a little panicky because it was too early for her to come.

So we went to the hospital about 5:00 pm, and they put me on the monitor. My husband and my mom stayed in with me. The nurse kept going back and forth on whether or not she thought I was really in labor. She was on the phone from time to time with the on-call doctor to keep her updated. I was a bit dehydrated, so she gave me lots of water and some crackers since I hadn't eaten in a while. When I started throwing up, she started to think it was real labor. My contractions were 5-7 minutes apart for ages, and not very strong (I could talk through them, and even doze between them), and I was only at 1 cm. Since I was under 38 weeks, no one wanted to do anything to speed things up, in case the contractions would stop. I had back labor, which I could already tell was going to make things fun. My contractions still weren't getting any closer together, or hurting any more than they had, so the nurse (after talking on the phone with the on-call doctor) wanted to put me on morphine, so that I'd fall asleep and either wake up in full-blown labor or relax enough to stop the contractions. Um, no, I said, I am not giving my child morphine, and maybe we should chat about my birth plan now. She was really surprised that I wanted no pain meds, but was very nice and supportive. She checked me again, and I was 4 1/2 cm dilated and fully effaced at 11:30. We were going to have her that night, and we switched from "wait and see" mode to laboring mode. Since it was my first, we thought it'd take all night, so my parents went back to my in-laws' house to sleep.

At that point, I couldn't doze off between the contractions anymore, so I got in the shower. The nurse asked me once if I wanted an epi and I said no. I stayed in there for ages (sorry, time is pretty fuzzy here), but all of a sudden I wanted out. The contractions were almost on top of each other and I was at 8 cm. I'm not sure what time it was, but after a few more contractions, the nurse checked again because I started insisting I wanted to push. I was at 10 cm, and everything went really fast. My water broke on its own, and 3 pushes and about 23 minutes later, Lilah was out! They put her on my chest right away and she started rooting around to nurse.

My husband was *awesome.* We had taken a childbirth prep class, and he remembered everything. I am sorry to say that I forgot all about breathing during transition, and he put his face really close to mine so I had to focus on him and literally told me when to inhale and exhale. That was the hardest part, but it didn't last very long. Immediately after she was out, I felt fantastic. She was born at 1:59 am, so it was really quick once things got going. I called my parents right away and they came to meet her. One of the great parts of not getting an epidural was that I could get up on my own and take a shower right after.

On the morning of the 27th, I started asking when we could get the heck out of there. "But your insurance covers you till tomorrow!" Honestly, when you're not sick, who wants to stay in the hospital longer than you have to? So I talked them into letting us out and we went back to Madison. Our parents had gone to Target to get us a carseat and some outfits and blankets, since of course we had *nothing* there with us. My parents were staying with us until New Year's for the holidays anyway, and my mom was able to change her plane ticket and stay until the 6th. The timing really couldn't have been better.

I was so proud of myself for doing it without medication. It was such an amazing experience. In a lot of ways, it wasn't remotely the way I expected, even though I'd read a zillion books and gone through the class. I've already forgotten about the painful part. I would definitely do it again this way. Not the out-of-town, really early, completely unprepared part, but without pain meds or interventions. Lilah was born alert, and we had no complications at all. I only felt like I was really "recovering" for about a week, and even then, I only needed ibuprofen for pain. If anyone has any questions, just let me know.

By popular demand...

...another picture of Lilah:


Re: Six Weird Things--Holly, I want to join your webbed toes club. Count Lilah in, too :) StringBean, I totally love even numbers, especially those divisible by four. Rachel, I cannot explain my weird alarm clock thing. I have done that since I can remember, and I have no idea how it started. Probably I was just being deliberately weird.

Stefaneener, I sent you my birth story. Feel free to skim...I do go on and on. If anyone else is interested, just post and I'm happy to share. I love my story, and I am so pleased that I was able to do it with no medication, so I love to share it with people. If enough people are interested, I may write it at the end of a future post.

Knitting: I swear, today is the day I FINISH THAT SCARF! Ahem. Excuse the yelling, but seriously, I have got to finish it so I can do Matt's second sock, so all my Christmas knitting will be done by February. It's a good thing I have "new baby" as an excuse :) I can't knit while I nurse yet, but when Lilah's sleeping on my lap, I can. And I can read while nursing, and type one-handed if I'm commenting on blogs. (So if you notice my comments on your blogs are getting more succint, I may be doing the one-handed method!) She loves to be held (not that surprising for a baby, really), and while I put her in her swing or her baby rocking chair to do laundry and write, I just love holding her.

Reading: I finished S is for Silence by Sue Grafton. You don't have to read these in order, so if you like mysteries, I highly recommend this one. I had trouble putting it down. An interesting quirk of this series is that they start with A is for Alibi in (I think) 1985, and they progress slowly, so S takes place in 1987. No cell phones or computers, just good old-fashioned gumshoe action. Kinsey is a private investigator asked to investigate the disappearance of Violet 34 years before. She thinks it's hopeless, but agrees to spend a week looking around. The book is first-person from Kinsey's point of view, except for interspersed chapters that tell about the days before Violet's disappearance from the points of view of different suspects. Anyway, it was compelling and tightly written, and it was an excellent mystery. I am now reading The Fourth Bear, the second Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde. I enjoyed the first one, The Big Over Easy, though my favorites are his Thursday Next books.

Lilah and I read the Pooh story about Pooh and Piglet tracking the Woozle today, along with several Mother Goose rhymes. Reading has always been very big in my family, and I hope to share that with Lilah. My parents always read to me, and I was the only child I knew who would be grounded from reading. This stunned all my friends, who were always being bribed to read. But I could be grounded from everything else and not care that much, because I could still read :)

Writing: I opened my mystery novel file today! Woo! I'm starting on some revisions, then moving on.

Cooking: StringBean, if breastfeeding counts as cooking, I am doing a LOT of cooking! You crack me up :) I plan to make pizza tomorrow...we'll see if it happens. I also have ingredients to make other stuff, and I would like to make some bread. I need to make a sourdough starter again, since I lost Steph and Lula in the holiday/baby craziness. It might need to live outside the fridge (since our fridge sometimes freezes stuff). Stefaneener, I think you mentioned once that you can keep the starter out? Do you have to keep feeding it every day, then? The big perk of keeping it in the fridge is moving to a once-a-week feeding, though it's not that big a deal to do it every day, I guess.

Back to Knitting Content

I think I remember how to do this blogging thing. Here's a quick update on my "things I do," besides feeding the baby.

Knitting: No, my Christmas knitting is still not done. I have another Gryffindor sock to make for Matt (though the first one fit perfectly!). And I have a scarf I'm finishing, a Branching Out in Rowanspun DK in Eau de Nil, for Lilah's future Aunt Maureen. Since I wasn't going to see Maureen at Christmas, I planned to cast on for her scarf on Christmas day and send it with my brother-in-law on the 26th when he went to visit her, but, ha ha! I went into labor instead. It's almost done:


Reading: I finished re-reading the Diane Mott Davidson books. The last couple bugged me more than I remember. The early ones are definitely better. Now I'm reading Sue Grafton's S is for Silence. I don't think I've read her since O. I don't think I liked P, so I stopped. But S is good, a really tight mystery about a woman who disappeared 30-plus years ago. After this, I might start some actual literature...I got some good books for Christmas. Lilah and I are reading Winnie-the-Pooh. I haven't read these stories in years and years, and we're both enjoying them.

Writing: Nothing yet, but I'm getting into my schedule with Lilah, so I hope to start tomorrow. I've been writing thank you notes...does that count?

Cooking: Ha! I might make pizza tomorrow night, but there hasn't been time lately. Surprise, surprise :)

Tagged left and right!

Thank you so much to everyone who posted in response to my news. It's so nice to have warm fuzzy thoughts from so many people, most of whom have never met me! My inbox was really overwhelming, in a good way. Stefaneener, writing down the birth experience was something I hadn't thought of, but I've done it now. It was pretty extraordinary, but I won't bore everyone with the gory details, I promise. Lilah is still really little, so she doesn't fit into anything I knit for her yet, except the angora baby booties, which she's quite adept at kicking off. We hadn't actually picked out a name before she was born (we were planning on doing that after Christmas...ha!), so she was Baby Girl for her first 16 hours. The funny story is that we were out of town, a two hour drive away, at my husband's parents' house for Christmas. My parents and my brother were in from California for the holidays, since it was too late in pregnancy for me to travel. It was the first time our families had been all together since our wedding. I woke up on Christmas day feeling weird and starting having contractions in the afternoon. By 5:00 p.m., they were 5 minutes apart, and I wanted to hop in the car and drive back home. However, I was persuaded that I did not want to be on the news for having a baby born on the side of the interstate on Christmas, so I went to the local hospital, where Baby Girl puttered around for hours before getting serious about being born around midnight. Both our families were together the next day to welcome her...how cool is that? We think she just wanted to meet everyone right away, and decided to come early.

Rachel, I love that I'm not the only cloth diaper nerd! I ended up going for the "potpourri" approach to cloth diapering. After a bazillion hours of research on Diaper Pin and cloth diapering forums (fora?), I settled on two kinds of one-size all-in-ones (AIOs)--Bumgenius and Mommy's Touch--for the bulk of our diapers. In theory these work from birth to potty training. Since they use the most when they're littlest, I also got FuzziBunz in the small size (not just because the name is so cute, honestly) and Chinese prefolds with Bummis Whisper Wraps. I figured if I liked the prefolds, I could always get larger sized covers when she's big enough. So far, I like them all. The FuzziBunz are too big for her little thighs, though. Matt likes the AIOs best. No major incidents that haven't involved a prematurely opened diaper (she likes to wait until the dirty diaper is off and then zing us and everything around her). They are more bulky than the disposables, but I like that there are no weird chemicals in them and I'm not filling the landfill singlehandedly. On the cloth diapering forums, there are a lot of women who sew their own diapers, but I am not crafty that way. I do want to knit some wool soakers (in fact, I planned on doing that in January while I waited for her arrival...another ha!), though.

Since this is not a baby blog, I am happy to report that there is still knitting and reading going! Writing and cooking are starting to make a comeback as well. I'm not sure how much time I'll have for blogging and such, but I hope to be able to do at least once a week.

So before the holiday craziness, Tim tagged me with a music meme (his list is very cool, no doubt much cooler than mine, and is right here.) And String Bean tagged me with the Six Weird Things meme. Since I'm a little rusty on blogging after the holidays/childbirth extravaganza, I thought I'd tackle these before returning to my usual format.

Six Weird Things About Me

1. I have webbed toes. My second and third toes on each foot are partially attached to each other. It's really very little webbing and doesn't go up very far, but it's there. It was one of the first things I checked on Baby Girl--she's got 'em, too.

2. I set my alarm for times ending in 2 or 8. So, if I need to get up around 6:00, I decide between 5:58 or 6:02.

3. I can count on one hand the number of books, movies, or television series I have failed to finish, no matter how awful. (And David Foster Wallace, you're the middle finger on that hand). I watched The X-Files to the bitter, bitter end. I *have* to get to the end, and I can't just read the last page to see how it winds up. This is why Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell has been next to my bed with a bookmark on page 42 for a YEAR.

4. I get upset during nature shows when one animal eats another. It's not the violence--it's the conflicted feeling that I don't want the orca to starve, but I also don't want the seal to die. I wish nature worked more like a Disney movie.

5. I dislike Donald Trump with a bewildering intensity. When I see his piggy little eyes and stupid floppy hair on the commercials for his show, my teeth clench, my eyes narrow, and I can feel my blood pressure shoot up. I cannot explain this.

6. I eat the crust of my sandwich first, all the way around. I have done this as long as I can remember. At least when I'm at home--I try to eat like a normal person in public.

Top Twenty Songs On My iTunes

This is hard. I have trouble listing "favorites" of any kind. Astrology-minded people would say this is classic Pisces wishy-washiness. I like coffee AND tea. I like cats AND dogs. But I will try, anyway. With just 20, I'm leaving out classical. I can't possibly put these in order, either, so they're just in the order they occurred to me.

1. Tori Amos, Pretty Good Year: This was the first Tori song I ever heard, so it makes the list even though it's not my current favorite of hers.

2. Regina Spektor, Fidelity: Matt and I just discovered her, and listening to her new CD, I felt like I should already know the words.

3. Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy: Every album of hers after this one is depressing because it's just not as good.

4. The Cranberries, Linger: Oh, stop making fun. This song is *so* high school to me.

5. Aimee Mann, Wise Up: So I loved Magnolia. So sue me.

6. Garbage, #1 Crush: It's hard to pick one Garbage song.

7. Elton John, The Last Song: Yes, I like what Matt calls "Fogey Rock." What can I say? My parents listened to 70s music.

8. Dido, Hunter.

9. Loreena McKennitt, Dante's Prayer: Or any of her songs, really.

10. Marc Cohn, Walking in Memphis: It's not a happy song, really, but it makes me happy.

11. Pink Floyd, Comfortably Numb: Lovely depressing music.

12. Collective Soul, The World I Know: See #11.

13. Bowling For Soup, Almost: I cannot account for how much I like this band. They're just fun, and balance out the lovely depressing music.

14. Aerosmith, Dream On: I do not apologize for liking Aerosmith.

15. U2, Where the Streets Have No Name: Yes, Superstar/Diplomat Bono is a little annoying, but early U2 is awesome.

16. Norah Jones, Sunrise.

17. Etta James, At Last: This was our first dance at our wedding reception.

18. David Bowie w/Queen, Under Pressure: David Bowie AND Queen? What's not to like?

19. Bree Sharp, David Duchovny: This song cracks me up. And it's catchy.

20. Billy Idol, Don't You (Forget About Me): Ah, 80s nostalgia. It's a beautiful thing.

That's it. At least for right now :)

What I Got For Christmas

Lilah Irène
Born December 26, 2006 at 1:59 a.m.
6 pounds, 14 oz.
19 1/4 inches long

She was 3 weeks and 3 days early, but healthy as can be! We're both doing very well. Time for a nap. More later :)

I hate you, Martha Stewart!

So, it's been a busy week or so. My husband finished his Ph.D in August, but his graduation was this past Sunday. Graduations aren't the most entertaining, but I did tear up a little bit when he walked across with his advisor. Anyway, we had family in town, which is fun, but necessitates cleaning the bathroom and such :)

Our cloth diapers came in yesterday, so I'm prewashing those. I can't believe how excited I got about cloth diapers :) Areli, I'm due January 18, so it's coming up!

So, onto my Martha Stewart vent... I have this holiday cookie magazine issue of hers, and I've made several kinds of cookies from it. I've been happy with all but one (so 10/11 have worked out great) UNTIL last week. We have a friend studying baboons in Botswana for several months, and another friend is going out to visit her. She very kindly offered to pack any gifts we wanted to send to Liza (mailing stuff there is...challenging). So we put together a few things, and I decided to make Hanukkah cookies to send to her (I know doughnuts are the traditional way to go, but it's a multi-day trip and I didn't think they would stay good). First, I couldn't find Hanukkah cookie cutters except online, and I didn't have time to order any. But I had a six-pointed snowflake cutter, and Matt and I decided we could use frosting to make six-pointed star cookies. We also decided to make some monkey cookies, since Liza's a primatologist and she missed out on monkey cookies earlier this year. I decided to use Martha's basic sugar cookie and royal icing recipes. I followed the sugar cookie recipe exactly, and the dough was really crumbly. But there were a couple of chilling steps, so I thought it would end up okay (I've made sugar cookies maybe twice in my life and couldn't remember how the dough was). Nope. A crumbly, pain-in-the-tush mess of dough resulted. Matt managed to roll it out, more or less, and cut out shapes, though they were not smooth and shiny like the ones the lady in the illustration cut out. So then, I made the royal icing recipe, which called for beating the frosting on LOW speed for several minutes (which seemed weird to me, since I thought high speed would be more likely to thicken frosting). Naturally, it stayed thin and runny. I chucked in some cream of tartar and cranked up the speed and it worked out in the end. Throughout this process, there was much maligning of Martha's intelligence and ancestry. Anyway, here are the cookies:


On to...Knitting: My mom's scarf for Christmas is going.

This is the Column of Leaves Scarf and I really like it. It's an 8-row repeat, and it's fun. Even the p2tog tbl is entertaining. It's steadily growing. I have one more scarf to bust out this week. Matt will be opening a Christmas gift of one sock, as I won't have time to do the second one before Christmas. That way, I can make sure it fits him first, anyway. Thank you to everyone for the suggestions on picking up stitches. I'm sort of a sock spaz, since I don't have much experience with them, and I tend to be afraid to deviate at all from the patterns. I will pick up a couple extra on the next sock and see how that goes! I also chucked the lace photo mat idea, which was a nice one, but I just don't have the energy for high-pressure knitting right now.

Reading: Still re-reading the Davidson books.

Writing: Meh.

Cooking: Besides the Martha Stewart cookie drama, I made Cranberry Banana Muffins. I happened to be re-reading the Davidson book that includes the recipe for low fat banana muffins, and I decided to use cranberries and add citrus for a little tang. I also busted out my jumbo muffin tins, which I thought would be festive with company coming. So, here's the recipe:

Banana Cranberry Muffins
(makes 24 regular or 12 jumbo)

4 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 tsp salt
3 mashed ripe bananas (about 1 3/4 cups)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
juice and grated zest of one orange
2 cups fresh cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray. Sift together the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together bananas, oil, eggs, buttermilk, and orange juice and zest. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients. Stir in cranberries. Divide batter evenly between 24 regular or 12 jumbo muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes for regular muffins, or 35 minutes for jumbo. Check with toothpick for doneness. Serve warm with honey butter. This recipe freezes well.

Afloat in a sea of pink

We did a fair amount of cleaning yesterday (fun!) and one of the things I did was to consolidate the shower gifts that were floating all over the apartment in gift bags and boxes. I now have piles of clothes to pre-wash (I hear no one does this except with their first baby, and I can see why, although washing and folding the little tiny things is strangely fun...at least for the first load of laundry), a stack of toys to put away, blankets to find a shelf for, and books already shelved in Butterbean's bookshelf. I set out a couple of boxes that need to be taken out to the recycling, and Mirando really enjoyed this one filled with tissue paper. He took quite a nap in it. He's always loved boxes (like Ralph Wiggum on The Simpsons, whose response to the news that their field trip will be to the box factory is the opposite of the other kids': "Yay, boxes!").

Geronimo is less into the boxes (though he enjoys them), but he really liked all the stuff I piled on the dining room table to await organization.


Knitting: Check it out--I made a sock.



Yup, that's a sock, all right. It's too big for me, which is good, because it's for Matt. The leg part, I'm a little worried about, though. It's not so big. I suppose I can rip back a few inches from the top and use bigger needles or something if they won't fit him. I hope you are entertained by pictures of that sock, because you can get ready for progress photos of another one EXACTLY LIKE IT for the next few days :) I like the striping a lot, and I'm eternally grateful to Rachel for suggesting the cutting out of yellow parts at the heel and toe. I think it looks much nicer that way. And another thank you because I will definitely wash these separately so we don't end up with even more pink stuff in this apartment! I wish I'd taken a "before photo"--that is, before weaving in ends and closing up the tiny holes I always get at each end of the instep stitches from picking up and knitting for the foot. Because I wonder what I'm doing wrong to leave the holes. Should I pick up one extra stitch at each side and decrease right away? Am I picking up stitches wrong? It's not hard to go back and close the holes; I just feel I shouldn't have to. I'll be sure to do photos of it on the next sock, and maybe one of you amazing knitters knows just how to fix it. Oh, and I think I'm pretty weird, because I just *love* doing Kitchener Stitch now that I've gotten the hang of it. It's so satisfying at the end.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that even though I've been knitting this around Matt, it may still be a surprise when he opens his stocking at Christmas. He seems to think it's a baby sweater, which 1. would be way cute! and 2. actually makes sense, since the leg part is a tube with ribbing on one end, which he's seen before as sleeves for sweaters knit in the round. Aren't non-knitters funny?

I'm going to start my mom's Christmas scarf soon, maybe tonight, so I'll have more than just repetitive sock photos to show you. I'm using Rowan Cashsoft DK in cream, and this lovely free pattern called Column of Leaves Scarf. My mom was quite complimentary about the Branching Outs I made for my shower hostesses, and loved the cream-colored one I did. I'm ready to do a non-Branching Out scarf, but I'm sticking with the cream color, which my mom pointed out would go nicely with her red coat. Since my family, who live in southern California, are dreadful to knit for (from a purely climate-related perspective), I was thrilled that she gave me this idea. After that, I have one more gift scarf to do for Christmas, though I haven't settled on a color or pattern yet.

Reading: Still on the Diane Mott Davidsons. I think I missed a book review, though, before Thanksgiving. I read The Flaming Luau of Death by Jerrilyn Farmer, the latest in her Madeline Bean series (well, the latest paperback. Call me a snob, but I don't buy mysteries in hardback. Some books are hardbacks. Some are paperbacks. Mysteries and romance novels? Paperback!) that takes place in Hawaii. It was cute and fun, as usual. I'm not sure who would hire this woman to plan parties that are destined to end in police tape and chalk outlines, but Madeline and her two assistant-type people are entertaining, and the rich/famous people they plan parties for in LA are always entertaining. The first in the series is called Sympathy for the Devil.

Writing: Slowly working out what Chapter 9 is all about. It's been kind of a nesting couple of weeks, with lots of cleaning.

Cooking: Sunday night, I made Beer Cheese Soup from the November Cooking Light (I split the recipe so Matt could have cut up brats in his half) and a basic rye bread in my bread machine. This is as Wisconsin as cooking gets. Matt was happy with both components of the meal, though when pressed, he admitted that the soup did taste "kind of healthy" so maybe next time I do this sort of thing, I'll just say to heck with saturated fat and make a "real" version (well, as "real" as a vegetarian version gets). Despite all the simmering, the celery remained crunchy, which was weird, so I'd want to address that issue as well. It might have needed some, I don't know, butter or something to give it some oomph. The rye bread was nothing special, but we liked it a lot. I love my bread machine when I'm not up for the full-on bread-making experience, but I really want fresh bread. I wish there were some way to keep fresh bread fresh for longer, though. It's just so divine warm from the machine.

Thank you for the recipe link, Stefaneener! I love sweet potatoes, so I will have to try these.

We had a potluck kind of thing over the weekend, and though I felt like I *should* make a main dish, I *wanted* to make an elaborate, chocolatey dessert instead. Guess which one I did? I actually took a photo of my cake, since it turned out way less ugly than my usual decorating attempts. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera at the party to take a picture of the slices with their pretty pink filling.

The trick was that I didn't actually have chocolate on hand, and I didn't want to go to the store (I can barely reach the pedals on the car with my seat back far enough for my belly), so I had to get a little inventive. I used a Chocolate Buttermilk Cake recipe from Caprial's Desserts as a starting point for the layers. (I love this book. You can find it here. It's based on a number of "master recipes" for which she includes a number of variations. I have made several things from this book, and have been impressed every time.) I have a chocolate buttercream frosting recipe that's evolved over the years. Caprial's frostings are fantastic, but I was either missing ingredients or disinclined to make frosting you have to cook (lazy, I know). Both frosting and cake use cocoa powder, so the lack of chocolate was not a problem. For the filling, I decided to get creative. My first dessert inclination for the potluck had been to make apple cheesecake. I was actually a little obsessed with apple cheesecake, but I would have needed to go to the store for ingredients, and my husband (who is my voice of reason in cooking matters) suggested I find something else. Still a bit obsessed with cheesecake, I decided to make the filling out of cream cheese. And what's this in the freezer? Half a bag of cherries! So I tossed some stuff in the food processor and it was GOOD. I had a bit left over after filling the cake, so we've been eating it on bagels and it is GOOD. If you don't have Cherry Marnier on hand, you could substitute another liqueur. Chambord would be nice with raspberries in the filling. Grand Marnier would be nice, as well--it enhances chocolate wonderfully. Or use nuts in the filling instead of fruit and use Frangelico or Amaretto. So here's what I did:

Chocolate Cherry Layer Cake

Buttermilk Chocolate Cake (makes two 9-inch cakes):

3 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 TBL baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 cup hot coffee
1/2 cup Cherry Marnier

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 TBL Cherry Marnier

Cherry-Cream Cheese Filling:
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup frozen cherries, thawed (do not drain)
2 TBL Cherry Marnier

Assembly:
2 oz. white chocolate*

Make the cakes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Mix dry ingredients in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment ON LOW SPEED. Add oil and buttermilk and mix on medium speed until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on low after each. Add coffee and Cherry Liqueur gradually and mix on lowest speed (or it will splash and coat your entire kitchen). 3. Divide evenly between cake pans. Bake at 350 until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center, 30-40 minutes (depending on your oven and pans). Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Make the filling:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add additional liqueur or sugar as needed for consistency.

Make the frosting:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk. Add additional sugar or milk as needed for consistency.

Assemble the cake:

Invert one cake onto your serving plate. Starting in the center and working outward, spread cream cheese filling not quite to the edges of the cake (leave maybe a 1/2 inch border). The weight of the top layer will squish the filling outward a bit, so I make the filling a bit thicker in the center and thin it out as I move outward. Save some filling for bagels later :) Top carefully with the second layer. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the buttercream frosting. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl for 20 seconds at a time, stirring for 15 seconds after each interval, until melted. Transfer to a baggie and snip off the corner. Carefully drizzle over the cake in a design of your choice. To serve, cut into 12-16 pieces.

*Check the ingredients carefully. You want cocoa butter in your white chocolate, and no coconut or palm oils (white chocolate with the latter doesn't melt properly and you will end up with a gross, solid mass of slightly charred white chocolate. Ask me how I know). I use Ghirardelli or Droste.

On the way to Hogwarts

Knitting: Nearly to the heel flap on the first Gryffindor sock, which is much faster than I thought I knit socks. I sort of wonder if my knitting has gotten faster, especially after the four Branching Outs in a week I did. I tend to overestimate how long a project will take now, where before I definitely underestimated. Anyway, I'm using size 1 dpns and the basic sock recipe in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns (men's medium), though I only knit about an inch of ribbing at the top before switching to stockinette instead of the 4 or so the pattern calls for. Hope that's not a problem, but I have seen socks with only an inch of ribbing at the top. It's a top-down pattern, and pretty easy. I didn't bother with splitting the skein into two balls or anything, as I have a second skein of this yarn I can dip into if I run out. I love watching the yarn striping. If you are a Harry Potter fan, definitely try to score a skein of your favorite house's self-striping yarn from Sunshine Yarns. They can be hard to get, especially Gryffindor, but the rush you get when you finally make it to checkout with your skein is totally worth it :) I'm following Rachel's suggestion to cut out the yellow parts for the heels and toes.

Thank you for the ribbon warning, Yarnthrower :) I may try to tack down the ribbon to be sure it can't come loose. Or maybe it'll just be a carseat blanket for when someone else is in the car with us and can watch her. Rachel, the Branching Out-fest really took me by surprise, too. I just got into a groove with the pattern and couldn't stop! It's actually lace you can do while talking or watching a movie. My shower hostesses liked them a lot. It's such a nice, simple pattern, but fairly interesting to do, and it looks impressive. It's a great gift scarf. Plus, while traveling, it was nice to just have my notecards with the pattern written on them, a size 8 circ, and the four balls of yarn (well, five, because the Baby Silk one took two balls). Otherwise I might have tried what I did for my last shower, and made all different lace scarves.

Reading: Still on my Diane Mott Davidson re-reading kick.

Writing: Urgh. Trying to make progress today.

Cooking: Yesterday, I had a seasonal craving--latkes. I made a batch from this recipe and they were lovely. I went fairly easy on the oil, and I didn't have matzo meal and used flour instead, so I suppose they're sort of goyish for latkes, but were nice anyway. I prefer them with sour cream, though I've never actually tried them with applesauce. Mirando prefers that I have them with sour cream, as well, since he can sit next to me and I'll give him bits of it.

I decided to make pasta last night, using a Cooking Light recipe for Alfredo sauce. When I mentioned this to Matt, he said, "light Alfredo? Not real Alfredo?" in a hopeful voice, so I ended up un-lightening the Cooking Light recipe a bit, and it turned out very well. It got Matt's thumbs-up as well. The goat cheese, which I tossed in on a whim instead of CL's reduced-fat cream cheese, gives it a creamy, full-flavored yumminess (technical term) that pairs nicely with the earthy roasted veggies. I think it gives it a depth and richness that makes it okay to use 1% milk instead of cream. Substitute your favorite roasted, steamed, or sauteed veggies for the ones I had on hand (asparagus would be fantastic, especially with a bit of lemon zest added to the sauce; broccoli would be good, too). For a less artery-clogging effect, use all 1% milk and no cream, and reduce the butter as much as you like (but leave in at least a couple of teaspoons). You can also use cooking spray for the roasted veggies instead of the oil.

Light (But Not Too Light) Fettucine Alfredo With Roasted Vegetables

1 pound fettucine, cooked according to package directions

1 red bell pepper
2 TBL olive oil
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 pound mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 cups 1% milk
2 TBL flour
5 oz. goat cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 TBL butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup grated Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup parsley, minced

1. Preheat the broiler. Cut the pepper in half, removing membranes and stem. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and flatten. Place under broiler until skin is blackened, then transfer to a baggie for 15 minutes to steam. Carefully remove pepper and peel under running water. Chop and pat dry. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 450. Toss zucchini with 1 TBL oil in a small baking dish. Toss mushrooms with remaining oil in a separate dish. Roast mushrooms until they've given up liquid (about 10 minutes). Drain well. Roast zucchini until browned, turning once (about 20 minutes total). Set aside.

3. While vegetables are roasting, in a blender, combine milk, cream, goat cheese, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.

4. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until soft. Add cream mixture and bring to a simmer. Simmer until slightly thickened, 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmagiano-Reggiano and parsley. Toss with pasta.

Serve pasta topped with roasted veggies and additional cheese. Serves 6-8.

Back in the snow...

So, I did it again. I went out of town and didn't say anything, because I always think, "I'll have plenty of time to blog remotely." Ha! I should know better. I never blog remotely, even when I bring my laptop and camera and cable. Why? Not sure. The lack of wireless internet is involved. I am too lazy to plug the cable modem into my laptop and hit the reset button. And the computer desk there is not comfy. And I get busy doing things with my family. This deters a person whose first internet experiences involved AOL and a 2400 bps dial-up modem? Sad, eh? (That 'eh' is for you, Tim.) Anyway, I was at my parents' house in California for an extended Thanksgiving trip, since I won't be able to travel at Christmas. My husband had to come back shortly after Thanksgiving, but I had an extra few days, including a bonus day since I was supposed to fly back on Friday, but the blizzard pushed it back to Saturday. It was a lovely trip, complete with a wonderful baby shower. Watching all the parents with small children at the airport, I really appreciated how easy Butterbean is to travel with right now :) Sure, she makes my feet swell to unbelievable size on the plane, and my back hurt in the oh-so-comfy coach seat, but I got to travel with my own stuff instead of a huge bag of baby things, and she was very quiet on the flights and in the airport! In other news, the doctor says that Butterbean has turned head-down, so yay! Since it's been ages, I have a fair amount of things to blog about today.

Oh, this is funny. I was talking to my mom before leaving for California and I said something about how nice it would be in the warm weather, and she told me, "It was 55 today! It was cold! Bone-chilling cold!" Hahahaha!

Kitty story of the week: So, we have a down comforter with a cover that buttons at the bottom. Today, I hear Geronimo doing this weird meow in the other room, and I go looking for him. In our bedroom, I notice Mirando standing on the bed, but I don't see Geronimo. But then I notice that Mirando is standing on an odd lump that doesn't belong there. The lump is meowing, and Mirando is stepping all over the lump, clearly distressed. I lift up the comforter to check on Geronimo and realize that he has managed to climb up INSIDE the down comforter cover. Mirando obviously doesn't approve of this. Figuring Geronimo is stuck and can't figure out how to get out of there, I unbutton the bottom of the cover, reach in, and pull a meowing Geronimo out. He's fine, and goes running off. We are all covered in down. Lovely :) Cats are hilarious. We clearly need a cover that zips.

Knitting: Here's the baby blanket. I was going to do a nice ruffle edge, but I didn't have enough yarn. So I just picked up stitches on a long circ and knit around in stockinette, increasing two stitches at each corner on every row, with an eyelet row to include a ribbon, and a crochet cast-off. Cashmerino (or, Acrylicmerino, as the case may be) is easily tamed with a high-steam ironiing, so the stockinette was fine.

Number of eyelets I should have made per row: 10
Number of eyelets I did make per row (after counting eleventy-seven times "up, down, up, down" to make sure I would end up with the ribbon on the same side at each corner): 11
The ability to call a stupid mistake a "design feature" with a straight face: Priceless.

Details:
Pattern - sort of the Garter Stitch Blanket from Debbie Bliss Special Knits, except I made it a square instead of a rectangle. And there's no satin edge. And I knit on a border with an eyelet row for a ribbon. Okay, there's no pattern here. I wonder if I remember how to do it well enough to write it up...
Yarn - Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in pale yellow (6 balls)
Needles - Size 8 (40" for border)

I'm done with the back and sleeves of the Ribbon-Edged Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Special Knits, and onto the left front. It's looking cute. If I have any yarn left, I'll knit up a hat to go with it. I started the Placket Neck Pullover from LMKG in Knitpicks Crayon in Purple, and got up to the armholes--it's a nice travel project. I'm thinking I'll unravel my T-Twist and use the Brooks Farm Fourplay in a baby blanket of some type. Maybe with another yarn in a Big Bad Baby Blanket? Not sure, but I love the yarn and want to use it. And it's December!!! I have to make at least my husband's Gryffindor socks, even if I'm flaking on any other Christmas knitting this year. I'm thinking of whipping up a couple of scarves for gifts, too, along with a couple of the Lace Photo Mats from Handknit Holidays. Physically possible? We'll see. My husband's pretty understanding--the year I made him a sweater, I wasn't quite finished at Christmas, so I wrapped up the WIP for him to open and finished it in a couple of days. He may be opening one sock this year. I've also made Butterbean lots of sweaters, and no pants. That look might work for Donald Duck, but I think I should get going on some pants for her :) I'll probably prioritize Christmas stuff first, then move on to the rest of the Butterbean projects. Two photo mats, three scarves, one pair socks. In less than three weeks. I think it's do-able with mostly small projects.

I almost forgot--while traveling, I busted out four more Branching Outs for my baby shower hostesses. One in Cashcotton 4-Ply in a light aqua, one in Cashsoft 4-Ply in cream, one in Elann's Peruvian Collection Baby Silk in lavender, and a shorter one in Cashsoft DK in dark red that's more of a neckwarmer. Did I take photos before gifting them? Of course not! I totally forgot. Here's the Baby Silk one, anyway.


Other people's projects: My grandmother came to my baby shower and gave me this gorgeous baby blanket she crocheted. It is so soft and beautiful, and it's so special that Butterbean has a blanket made by her great-grandmother.


My future sister-in-law is also a crocheter, and she made this darling hat and felted hedgehog. The cats have no idea what to do with the hedgehog. It has them completely perplexed.


Reading: Travel means lots of reading time. I finished Jane and the Wandering Eye, the third Jane Austen mystery. I continue to love this series. I also read Bubbles Ablaze, which I enjoyed. Bubbles is a hoot. I think I've mentioned this series before, but Janet Evanovich fans should check it out. What else? Besides baby books, I decided to start rereading the Diane Mott Davidson series when I was looking through the books for a muffin recipe I love. I like the books, despite some repetition and irritating bits. Seriously, having your character look in the mirror and describe herself? Bleh. (Do you hear that, Dan Brown?) Anyway, some of her recipes are really fantastic. The Grand Marnier Cranberry Muffins are divine, and the Gourmet Spinach Soup is lovely. And lots of nice baked goods.

Writing: Well, at least I got something done during November. The holidays pretty thoroughly derailed me, though, and it's back to work this week.

Cooking: I need to start baking stuff. I haven't baked in ages.

It's been cold, so there's been soup. I thought I'd post my soup blueprint for quick and easy veggie soup. I made a spinach version today that was lovely, though people less enamored of spinach may want to cut the amount in half (I used a whole box of frozen in three cups of broth). The blueprint makes two good-sized bowls. You might want to eat the whole batch if you're really hungry, or save half for the next day if you have bread or a salad to go with it. To keep it simple, I often eliminate the sauteeing step. So yesterday, I just chucked frozen peas and alphabet pasta in broth, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then whisked in egg and parmesan. Today I had a bit more time and did some sauteeing. I also do a cabbage and bean version or a tofu and pea version in which I eliminate the egg. Parsley is almost always very nice if I have it on hand.

I got the egg-thickening idea from this recipe for Paraguayan Zucchini Soup, and I love it. By the way, if you're a soup-lover, that's a great site to poke around on. Anyway, the egg adds protein, which means all I need to eat at lunch is the soup, and it really gives it oomph (technical cooking term).

Simple Soup Blueprint

Step One (optional): Saute some combination of onion, leek, and/or garlic (about 1/4 cup, obviously less if you're using garlic alone) in a teaspoon or two of olive oil.

Step Two: Add 3-4 cups of broth (I use my homemade frozen veggie broth) and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper and dried herbs to taste. If you use canned broth, watch your added salt.

Step Three: Add 1-3 cups of vegetables (e.g.; a box of frozen spinach OR a diced zucchini and frozen peas OR shredded cabbage and white beans OR frozen peas and diced tofu OR whatever's in your fridge or freezer) PLUS 1/3 cup tiny pasta OR 1-2 small diced potatoes. Simmer until tender.

Step Four (optional): Whisk 2 eggs together with 1/4 cup grated/shredded cheese (parmesan, fontina, asiago, romano, whatever you like) and gently whisk into soup together with any fresh herbs. Cook 3-5 minutes, until egg is well set.