Just Sit Back & Knit

Random Thoughts Weekly

If you remember, I'm quite the persnickety eater. Part of an e-mail exchange between me and my sister that occurred yesterday:

me: how long is pancake batter good for?
I made some last night & had more for breakfast
this morning but there is still about a cup and a half left.

jesse: Sometimes you will get a grayish film on top
after a day or two, but I think the batter is still good for
3-4 days. If you get the gray film on top, just scrape it off.
It is just oxidization and the batter is fine.

me: Ummm, are you serious? You expect ME
to scrape GRAY FILM off of my food and eat it anyway?
I think I'll just make all of the pancakes tonight
and then i can toast them in the toaster oven as I want them.

But you know what? I forgot to make up the pancakes last night. Today I pulled the jar of mix from the fridge, and wouldn't you know it, not just gray film, but gray sludge was floating on top. I scooped some off, poured some out and mixed the last of it in (!!!) and damned if those were'nt some good pancakes I had for breakfast this morning.

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We start our childbirth classes tonight.

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I haven't done any Christmas shopping, gotten out any decorations, thought much about what I'll get for people or figured out when I'll do any of the above. I think I'm having a hard time believing that December starts tomorrow.

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Getting out of bed has become a bit more difficult, I kind of need a running start to heave my body up. This morning I kicked my legs off the bed to get up enough momentum for the rest of my body to follow. Unfortunately poor Ted sensed my intention and stood up just in time for my feet to connect with his throat. Poor guy started coughing and making other strange throat noises.

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I think that I might only have sixteen more work days until my maternity leave (of indefinate length) begins.

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The baby has been moving a lot in the past few days. It's so much fun--I could sit and play with my belly all day long. If I have knitting for those times when the baby is sleeping, of course.

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My ribcage has expanded by almost four inches in the past seven months.

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I like these quizzes.

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It's about time I read Désirée again. And the Glass family books/stories.

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Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
--
Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca, 1938.

A woman can usually get what she wants from a man
if she has a well-developed figure.
--
Annemarie Selinko, Désirée, 1951.

For some minutes, before she fell into a deep,
dreamless sleep, she just lay quiet, smiling at the ceiling.
--
J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey, 1955.

A Few Finished Objects

I've got several posts (and pictures to go with them) I keep meaning to write, but somehow, I never get around to them. This isn't one of them. I'm writing this post clean up shop, so to speak. I've finished several objects in the past few months that I've not posted about, some I haven't taken pictures of, and none of these is going to get its own post at this point. So here goes...

Felted Balls from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick in Knitpicks Wool of the Andes. I made these at the beginning of the summer for a friend's babyshower. I put a kitten jingle-bell toy in one, a squeaker from a dog's toy in another and just stuffed the last one.

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I've made two more pairs of slippers from the Fiber Trend's Felt Clogs pattern. I really need to order the children's version of this pattern--the whole pattern is done in short rows so I don't feel confident trying to reduce the sizes.

Here is the pair I made for my mom for her birthday, pre-felting (I forgot post-felting picks):

Here is the pair I made for my brother for his birthday, post-felting (I forgot pre-felting picks):

my dainty size 8.5 - 9 foot shown for scale

I also made my mother-in-law a pair of slightly modified Basic Socks from Knit Socks! by Betsy McCarthy out of Cascade 220 Quatro in a pink blend. I didn't make the toes and heels contrasting and used every single bit of yarn. They were my first, and so far only, pair of socks knit from the cuff down. I knew I was cutting it close on the yarn quantity so I worked both socks simultaneously on different sets of needles, one from the inside of the ball and one from the outside. It was still such a stress inducing experience that I much prefer the toe up patterns. Alas, I did most of the knitting in the car on the way to and from Oakland that I never took a single picture.

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A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday night, one of my husband's good friends suggested that I A) Abandon the idea of having the baby while squatting behind the couch (he's worried about us having a homebirth) and B) make him a hat for his birthday (which was that Sunday). He didn't think it was likely that I would take him up on either suggestion. So I whipped up this Hot Head Hat from Stitch N Bitch with my in the round modifications in exactly two hours. Cast-on began at 12:21 PM on Saturday afternoon and finishing ended at 2:21 PM. The yarn is Noro Iro held single strand throughout. I think I cast on for the largest size but didn't swatch or check my gauge (just used my husband's head a few times to check the length before beginning to decrease).

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And finally, a failure and a learning experience all in one. Remember the Misti Alpaca Chunky scarf I was working on? Well, I finished it (just the one skein) and took some crappy pictures of it before (on the left) and during blocking (on the right), and loved it. Until I decided to wear it to work. I put it on and immediate itchiness attacked my neck. I'm not kidding this stuff is brutal. Is it all alpaca? Don't try to tell me it isn't, I think I'm scared off of Alpaca (although maybe I would try felting it) for quite awhile. It will be frogged. Someday.

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And finally, a knitting project that isn't one of mine. Well, it is now, it was a gift made for my little one-in-waiting by Sara (fletchersmama). These are from one of Little Turtle Knit's wool soaker patterns and they are so darn cute! I love them. Thanks Sara!

Christmas Time! (Updated)

First of all, Sara, I love your post! Everything--your nasty hand, pies, scarf, musings about and pictures of your boy... I'm so glad you're back with a commitment to post. I can't wait to hear more about your Thanksgiving dinner.

As my oldest sister said just the other day, "Barbara likes three kinds of music: Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Christmas carols." And lucky me, it's Christmas carol season. In my immediate family Christmas time lasts from the day after Thanksgiving until New Years. That means no Christmas decorations come out before Thanksgiving, no carols are sung and no special Christmas candy is made until Christmas time has offically begun.

And, despite the fact that our boxes of Christmas decorations haven't left the garage rafters yet, it is starting to feel like Christmas time. I forgot to pack all of my Christmas music last year so I was able to listen to Adeste Fideles first thing Friday morning. Then on Saturday I made my first batch of Toffee (pronounced toe-fee in my family--it is absolutely, absolutely not ta-fee!). This is my grandmother's recipe and it is the best candy ever. And so simple, a few ingredients gets you this:

Grandma Evelyn's Toffee
1 c. butter (real butter, please!)
1 c. sugar
3 T. water

semi-sweet chocolate chips (approx 1/3 of a bag)
chopped walnuts (about 1/2 - 1 c. -- enough to cover the top of the candy)

heavy skillet
wooden spoon
cookie sheet or heavy plastic food-safe tray (that won't melt)
candy thermometer

Place butter and sugar in a large, deep, heavy skillet (a cast iron "chicken fryer" pan works great) over a medium heat. Stir continuously. The butter will melt and the sugar will dissolve (it may still seem a little grainy but the mixture will be a semi-thick butter-yellow color). Add all three tablespoons of water at once at this point. The mixture will boil and thin immediately. Keep stirring! And stirring. And stirring...until the mixture reaches 300 degrees or hard crack stage *. Note that it will seem to take forever. But right around 280-290 the temperature will shoot up. Stir furiously, pull the candy off the stove at 295ish and pour contents onto sheet/tray. Let the candy set for about five minutes - until it is still warm to the touch but has hardened somewhat. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top. They'll soften/melt. Spread the chocolate and top with nuts while still warm. Cool candy in fridge (or freezer if you're in a hurry) and break into pieces to serve. Taste with caution. Addiction is common.

Optional: Spread some chopped nuts around on the tray before pouring out the candy. Almonds are really, really good.

* Here's the update - while I was writing this post last night my husband kept coming into the room, "Are you done yet? Can I use the computer yet?" (sometimes I think he's my preparation for parenthood :) and I subsequently forgot to add information about the hard crack candy stage for those who would like to make this recipe but don't have (and don't want to buy) a candy thermometer. I was going to write up my own description of how to determine if your candy has reached the hard crack stage, but then I found this very good description of The Cold Water Candy Test which reads in part:

The hard-crack stage is the highest temperature you are likely to see specified in a candy recipe.
At these temperatures, there is almost no water left in the syrup.
Drop a little of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard, brittle threads that break when bent.
CAUTION: To avoid burns, allow the syrup to cool in the cold water
for a few moments before touching it!

I would just add that your water needs to be really cold - like ice cold.

And yesterday, between bouts of raiding the refrigerator for one-more-piece-of-toffee-please, I started making Christmas gift bags after reading The Worsted Witch and being inspired by her post about making gift bags. I began by making stencils from the lightweight cardboard cover of the catalog Target gave me when I registered with them. Next I mixed and matched material, stencils and thread until I came up with combinations I liked. I cut out the pieces and used iron on sticky stuff (can't remember what it's called) to stick the stencil-material to the bag-material.

Finally, I zig-zag stitched the edges and sewed the top edge of the bag over to make a channel for a drawstring and then ran a seam inside along to bottom and side edge of the bag. Wa-la, gift bags.

Well, not quite wa-la. I managed to get through the sewing portion of three bags before back pain, an earthquake and the desire for more candy made me stop for now. I've got four or five more bags ready to be sewn up still. And I've yet to decide what to use for the drawstring in each bag. I've got a ball of twine that might work for some, ribbon for others, and, of course, there is always yarn...

The last bit of Christmas-time evidence is the potpourri burner I've tried to hide behind some picture frames. This is the best smelly stuff...water, orange slices, cloves and cinnamon sticks in a mini-crockpot.

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Adeste fideles,
Laeti triumphantes;
Venite, venite in Bethlehem;
Natum videte,
Regem Angelorum:

Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus Dominum!

Don't Call it a Comeback

I love L.L. Cool J.  I can't help it, I really can't.

So, I'm back, again.  I have tried posting a few times lately, but get so upset with my computer and slow uploads of pictures, I have walked away cussing each time.

I have decided to keep it short and sweet, and make a commitment:  to post at least once a week, even if it's too short. 

Barb, I love your meme (which I plan to steal) and your randoms thoughts, which I paln to copy!!!

I do have injuries that prevent or at least really slow down my knitting!!!
******WARNING******** the following picture is graphic and gross:

   
these injuries are well on the way to healing.  I was walking down the drive-way just over a week ago holding Fletch (We were going down to "see what the worker guys did to our street") when I slipped and fell forward taking all the weight and momentum on my left (thank-you, thank-you, thank-you) hand.  It was nasty and hurt worse than childbirth (I kid you not).  Fletch started crying right away, but once he saw my hand and my face he stopped.  He was so sweet and helpfull.  I stayed on my back on the driveway for at least five minutes.  Then slowly made my way up the stairs, across the porch and inside to my living room floor, taking breaks to muffle shouts and wimpers.  Fletch got the phone for me and I called my sister who left work to clean my hand, pick out the pebbles and bandage me up.  The whole time I was unbelievably whimpy.  I'm not sure how she put up with it.  She did though, patiently and sweetly - that's what sisters do.

I'm back to knitting now, still just a bit slowed down. 
Fletch is asleep, Jim is out. 
Tonight it's just me, the t.v., my knitting and Turkey day leftovers. 
I was so excited, then I did this:

burned my yarn-tension fingers while heating up my dinner!!!!!!
This may be the night I look into continental knitting.

random thoughts and pictures:
Thanks to my MIL for being here this weekend.  Having her around to knit with inspired me to get back to work on Fletcher's airplane sweater, and past my problem of getting my in-the-round sleeves joined and not looking TOO sloppy for words:
  I still don't love this sweater, but, I still want to finish it.  I want to get my first sweater behind me and I do love the airplane and FLY above it.

Kathy gave me some beautiful yarn and a pattern from her stash.  I will start it soon - a new SKP!  I will make it for myself!  This is really very exciting because I never want to spend my yarn money on things for me, I always want to get things to make for others first, thank-you Kathy.

Just before I burned my fingers I finished a scarf for
my little (who is taller than me by lots) brother Matt. 
 
This scarf was modeled  after a scarf my Stepmom, MaryLee, bought from a friend. 
Matt picked the colors and I got to work.  Again I wasn't crazy about it as I was
working on it - I'm not real fond of the super bulky yarn. 
Once I started sewing on the pockets I fell in love. 
I think it will look awsome on Matt and hope he likes it as much as I do.
I'll post a picture of him wearing it soon.

I just have to mention how disapointed  I was in the movie The Davinci Code.
I loved the book and hated the movie. 

I think Fletcher is an amazing person.  He makes me laugh all the time with his quirky humor.
During conversations - i love conversations with my three-almost-four-year-old-  I am ofter struck dumb by the complexity of his thinking process. 
I'm not trying to say I think he extra-ordinary in comparrison to other children.  I mean he is extra-ordinary to me, but I just think children are amazing and he constantly reinforces that knowledge. 
It's truly exciting. 

And so, here are a few recent pictures of him:
These are from our two most recent outings
with our home-schooling group.

building a shelter:

trying out the shelter:

face-painting with rocks (this is from the week after halloween, he
was a SCARY GREEN VAMPIRE BAT and wears the costume at
least once a week):

inside a replica of an early native-american dwelling:

I think I am done for tonight.  I am excited I took the time to contribute, and want to say thanks to you Barb for starting this blog and inspiring me each time I read your entries.

One last image:

This is what is left of our Thanksgiving pies and goodies I must, and will throw out first thing tommorow morning in order to stop eating them!!!  I made the pumkin pies from scratch this year, it's the second time I've done it.  There were very good, and I must say I make a mean crust.  However, when I bit into my dad's apple pie, I realized I've still got alot to learn about crust-making.  Nothing beats my dad's pies.

Random Thoughts Weekly - Thanksgiving Day

My Nana has (something like) twenty-eight great-grandchildren (by my quick count). She'll add four more in the first four months of next year.

It is very strange, but in a fun way, to be eating breakfast and have your belly jump up and down in your lap.

This is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever as far as food goes. I can eat lots of mashed potatoes and clover leaf rolls and turkey, only to be hungry again two hours later. Then, leftovers! And sour cherry pie (Thanks, Jess!)

This is also going to be the best Thanksgiving ever because my husband and I are going to my in-laws again (as we've done for several years now) but my whole immediate family is coming too! I couldn't be more excited! And once again the travel distance is, oh, a mile, maybe?

Bob Dylan's newest album, Modern Times, is absolute perfection. I love, love, love "Spirit on the Water."

I'm three-quarters of the way through my pregnancy.

If I wear a skirt to Thanksgiving dinner I need to shave my legs. Maybe I'll wear pants.

Thank you for life, family, friends, love, literature, knitting and this wonderful, wonderful belly I've got.

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Find ecstasy in life;,
the mere sense of living is joy enough.
-- Emily Dickinson

I stand in awe of my body.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Random Thoughts Weekly

I've decided to attempt a weekly feature, posted each Thursday. Hopefully, I'm not searching for a smittin'.

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There is a button on my keyboard that deletes entire posts as I'm writing them. I hate that button.

Déjà Vu. Don't tell a knitter, wrapped up in her lovely new Clapotis that she looks like she's freezing. She's not. Here is why. Once upon a time in the far-away land of Japan, there was a man. His name? Eisaku Noro. This man made beautiful, beautiful yarns. In what was clearly a stroke of genius, he created a wonderful yarn that he called Cash Iroha. He even offered it in a beautiful teal color that happens to be one of our *warm* knitter's favorite colors. The *warm* knitter bought lots and lots of the beautiful yarn to make a beautiful sweater. Only the sweater pattern was called The Hourglass Sweater and our *warm* knitter became pregnant and not at all an hourglass. But she loved the yarn anyway and decided to make something one size fits all, and since she still eats french fries and has nothing against french kissing or french toast, she picked the lovely Clapotis pattern--the scarf/wrap with a French name that was designed in France, by a non-French genius knitter, Kate Gilbert. And when the *warm* knitter finished the French scarf/wrap and wore it to work and was not at all freezing because she is a knitter and is prepared for cold situations and always has something to keep her warm. The End.

Don't tempt fate by glibly predicting how your knitting will progress by writing something like this:

Now I have to complete this sock with the tubular
bind off from The Knitting Answer Book by Margaret Radcliffe
(the more I use this book the more I love it) and cast on for the other...hopefully I'll be able
to finish the second sock sometime today or this evening.Because if you do the knitting gods will smite you and once so smitten you will spend three? four? six? hours binding off and ripping back those thirty little itty-bitty stitches on US #1 dpns because no bind off is attractive while retaining the all important quality of allowing circulation to continue.

Pregnancy and wooden chairs, even padded ones, don't go together for nearly three hours. Especially not at a seminar about an update to a software program that I hardly know to begin with. And again, not when "lunch will be served" translates into to-go containers each with a sandwich, a teeny-tiny bag of chips, grapes of questionable quality and a cookie. I don't eat sandwiches. I don't like having to wonder if I accidentally ate a moldy grape. But I do like knitting and getting paid for it. Another pair of wool soakers grew several inches today.

It isn't "on accident" it's "by accident."

I am so disgusted.

I'm often surprised that more people don't use cloth diapers. I am also often surprised that I don't use (and dispose of) less disposable plastic baggies.

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Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
-- T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
1917

Sick Day

I stayed home from work today because I thought I might be getting one of my old migranes (the kind I haven't had since the beginning of my pregnancy). The headache hasn't developed, but isn't completely gone either, however, I have been spending an uncomfortable amount of time in the bathroom today, if you know what I mean. I don't feel like writing any of the many posts I've been meaning to write (mostly about finished projects) but was able to take some pictures of what I've been working on recently.

Secret Knitting Project
This project is secret out of necessity (since it is a gift for a friend who may or may not read this blog) so I've tried to disguise what it is. I tend to stick to projects that require no seaming because I'm not good at it and hate doing it. So now I'm stuck on this project because I need to seam two bound off edges together and each time I try it looks like poop. The directions say to use mattress stitch, which I haven't had much success with in the past, and this time the seed stitch makes it even more of a challenge for me. I almost modified the pattern to allow me to kitchener the edges together, rather than binding them off and seaming them, and now I wish I had.

Misti Alpaca Scarf
When I became stuck on the above project, I cast on for a simple garter stitch scarf out of a skein of super-soft Misti Alpaca Chunky in Natural Brown (Color 410). I'm knitting it on US #9 straight needles for a tight stitch that I'm really pleased with. It's going very quickly, but I'm realizing that this is going to be one short scarf if I don't either block the heck out of it or buy another skein of this yarn. I'm leaning toward more yarn because I really like the weight and look of the scarf as it is and don't want to change that by blocking it for more length.

Simple Baby Socks
Last night I received a baby shower gift from a friend who lives in Sacramento and was unable to come to my baby shower since she has a six week old baby of her own. Receiving the gift from her reminded me that just after her daughter was born I had started knitting a simple pair of baby socks for her out of some Sirdar Snuggly (purchased for the fact that it can be machine/washed and dried) I had in my stash. So, this morning, wanting something more challenging than the scarf and less stress-inducing than the secret project, I found the sock and was able to knit what remained of the foot, turn the heel and knit the cuff including rib pretty quickly.

\

Now I have to complete this sock with the tubular bind off from The Knitting Answer Book by Margaret Radcliffe (the more I use this book the more I love it) and cast on for the other...hopefully I'll be able to finish the second sock sometime today or this evening.

The Best Babyshower Ever

Yesterday my wonderful mother, sisters and niece, Olivia, threw me the best babyshower ever. It started at eleven in the morning with a brunch feast--three different egg dishes (one being plain scrambled for the picky among us, like your's truly), croissants with preserves, two fruit salads (one with plain, one with nuts and white stuff--what is that white stuff people put on fruit salad?), and my favorite, plenty of breakfast sausage! We also had a beautiful, wonderful tasting sour lemon cake with cream cheese frosting, made by my sister, Jesse, and decorated by our wonderful friend, Rebecca, who arrived at 9AM to help out and worked through the entire party until she slipped away, unannounced. Thanks Becca!

We played a few great games, one of which involved everyone introducing themself and saying how they know me. It was funny and sweet and was a great way for everyone to loosen up and get acquainted. Then I got to open presents, and wasn't a teary-eyed wreck the entire time.

This is a small sampling of the gifts I received. I'm in far too many of the pictures (mouth open, double chin and moles prominently displayed) to post more pictures of the present opening.

Throughout the party guests were able to decorate a onesie if they so chose. My sister had purchased roughly one onesie for every two guests, knowing that not everyone would be feeling crafty. The result is a wonderful array of personalized onesies.

I've never had an ultrasound or an amnio, therefore, no one knows what we are having but Amber (the designer of the "Little Man" onesie) is pretty sure about her guess.

Finally, Katie and I took our six month picture a week late. Notice the completed Clapotis I'm wearing...post about that soon.

Thank you, thank you to my dear family and wonderful friends for giving me such a special day! I love you all.

** Photo credit: to Ki took (all but two) of the personalized onesies pictures, I took the picture of the big bear, and my dear, sweet sister Maddie took the rest.

Sometimes I Get Very, Very Scared

BabyPlus Prenatal Education System

BabyPlus is a series of 16 scientifically designed rhythmic sounds that resemble a mother's heartbeat. The rhythm of the sounds increases incrementally and sequentially as the pregnancy progresses. The BabyPlus sound pattern introduces your child to a sequential learning process, built upon the natural rhythms of their own environment.
This "auditory exercise" strengthens brain connections during the developmental time period when the advantages will be most significant for a child. BabyPlus is the first educational tool designed for prenatal use that has been proven effective. BabyPlus children have an intellectual, developmental, creative, and emotional advantage from the time they are born.

I'm fond of the phrase, "Let kids be kids." Now I see that I need to add "Let fetuses be fetuses."

New Look

I've been meaning to update the look of this blog for sometime now and today I just finally got fed up and created a new look. I'm not totally satisfied with the it, but it's a bit of an improvement at least.

Don't the last two hours of a forty hour work week just drag by so slowly? Ugh.