Last night I went into the stash to pull yarn to match up with my new patterns. I had success and now have 6 kits awaiting knitting. I was contemplating which to start, and I just didn’t feel like winding yarn. Instead, I found a few luxuriously soft single skeins of a discontinued yarn, Classic Elite Miracle. I had bought this in three shades to start a sampler blanket with it because it is an amazingly soft alpaca tencel blend. I have this ball and a blue and taupe color. It never happened.

I decided to knit some baby things with it. I used a bit less than half to make this newborn size hat and I think I will make a pair of simple booties to go with it. And then make the same set in the other colors as well. Baby gifts on hand will be used as gifts or donated to charity and either way it’s out of the stash. I haven’t made a decision yet, but if I can knit down my stash by half, I can get a spinning wheel!

The above hat is Baby Hat from Leigh Radford’s One Skein.

One of my resolves this year is to reel in the stash…not necessarily to not buy yarn, but I really want to make an effort to use some of my loveliness for real.  I decided to take a cue from the Yarn Harlot and her self imposed sock club and I have set up a self imposed scarf club. I was on ravelry catching up with my forums and one of the side ads caught my eye. The designer’s name is Kitman Figueroa, and while I didn’t buy the pattern in the ad that caught my eye enough for me to go take a look, I scrolled through the projects on several other designs of hers and, umm…bought a few patterns. I saw that people were using some yarns I actually have stashed and thus, my plan came together. I plan to knit them all before the end of 2012. The following are the ones I purchased:

* Glasgow Argyle Scarf
* Tulip Grace Hat
* Octo Scarf
* Melosa
* Carlina
* Gothic Moss Shawl

Oopsie…one is a hat…but I have plans to knit a few of those, so will have used scarf quantity before I am finished. When I get home today, I will go through the stash and pull some yarn and pair up the yarn and patterns in kits so they are all ready to knit. Once I have done that, I think one will have come to the surface as the front runner to cast on tonight and get started on it. By the end of the year, I will have knit some lovely gifts, , some possible for myself, others likely for the Gratitude Project. Life is good!

This isn’t actually the first finished object. Before finishing this I actually frogged 5 projects on New Year’s Day. That’s still finished, right? And of the frogged projects, three of them were completely finished, all the ends sewn in and everything. I just wasn’t pleased with them and didn’t think anyone would actually use them if I sent them as gifts or for my ongoing gratitude project. And the yarn they were knit with was too nice to just toss in the goodwill bag. So the yarn has been restashed, and something else will become of it.

This sweater is made from Liberty Wool Printby Classic elite. It is the third one I have made with the same pattern and yarn, although each has been a different colorway. The first one was for the ever fabulous miss Ella. I like the Liberty Wool for a baby sweater because it is machine washable, and while I can appreciate the heirloom qualities of a lot of non-machine-washable wools, I wouldn’t do that to a new mother.

I posted the finished sweater for Ella here on the blog and then shared it via fb, and Aunt Patty saw it and said she wanted to make one, so I went to visit her and the plan was for us to both knit one over the weekend. I finished mine and after trying it on Crystal’s horse, and her being delighted by it, I gave it to her. But then AP had other ideas and asked if she could buy it from me so she has it to give to her friend for her daughter when she has a child. But her friend has two daughters and she was having some trouble with the knitting as her meds have affected her ability to concentrate. She had gotten to where the sleeves start and I told her to not let it frustrate her and to just send it to me to finish if it wasn’t working out. So she did…and I did. And this sweater is then the third one I have knit. AP had ripped out what she had done so I could start fresh…wasn’t that nice of her?

Here is the second FO of 2012. This would have been finished in 2011 if not for Clare, Spawn of Satan. The first sock whipped off the needles, practically knitting itself. About half way through the second sock, I went to the project bag to get the first to count how many rows I had knit so they would match, but it wasn’t there. I also hadn’t remembered seeing it loos on the coffee table. I was instantly aware of the possibility that the Spawn of Satan had indulged her fetish for shredding with my precious new sock.

When we got home from work, sure enough, said sock was out in the yard (in the rain no less, double sad…) with its freshly turned heel gone…just gone…sad…but because I knit socks for myself so short, I had plenty of yarn to knit a third one to make the pair. Also because it was for myself and I was feeling lazy, I closed the toe with a three needle bindoff because the seam just doesn’t bother me…

So now that I have finished two projects (7 actually, counting the frogged ones), I get to cast on for a new one. I am thinking a clapotis in some stunning silk I have floating in the stash…maybe…I might also swatch Laady Eleanor with the same silk to see if it is worth it or not. I think either wrap will be stunning with the skein I have…

I just had a bowl of the Chicken and Dumpling soup I made over the weekend. and oh my. The dumplings are so perfect, I hope I get it right every time I make this in the future.

This recipe was originally from Cook’s Country Feb 2009 issue and I used it as is one time and then started playing. I have made it 4 times now and this weekend the recipe was lost so I had to wing it. Here’s what I did and honestly, this is the best the dumplings have come out. I went to the Cook’s Country website and this recipe (as I think all recipe’s) was listed as premium content. They have a 2 week free trial, but to do the free trial you have to give them your credit card info and then opt out if you aren’t interested. What planet are they on? I would have done the free trial and maybe stay on as a paid subscriber if they prompted me for cc info at the end of my 2 week free trial, but no…

The recipe did not use durum semolina, just straight up flour, but I found those dumplings lacking something. My favorite chicken and dumpling soup was from Eatzi’s, a gourmet market that had food for the taking which sadly, is no longer open in Houston. There’s was a thick hearty creamy version and the dumplings were like big thick chunks of pasta. So I added the semolina flour and the first time I made them with 2 parts semolina to one part regular. The dumplings were tasty, but a bit heavy and too chewy. This time I used one part semolina to two parts regular. spot on.

The original recipe also didn’t use any herbs, but I have a slew growing in the garden so I chopped up a handfull and added half to the dumplings and half at the end to finish the soup. Perfection.

dumplings
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup durum semolina flour
generous pinch salt and pepper
1 egg
1 cup water (more or less as needed)
handfull chopped fresh herbs (optional)

The consistency of the dumpling batter is pretty loose. You mix all this together and let it rest in the bowl on the counter while you make the rest of the soup.

soup
1 rotisserie chicken
4 carrots sliced
4 celery stalks sliced
1 onion diced
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 serrano chile (optional)
8 cups chicken stock
s + p to taste

I use a 6 quart Dutch oven but any large pot will do. Add some olive oil to the pot and saute all the veg together about 5 minutes until they start to soften. add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. I use an unsalted that comes in a 4 cup box. reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. While this is cooking, remove all the meat from the chicken and shred it, then add to the pot and cook another 10 minutes or so. Then drop teaspoons-full of the dumpling batter into the soup and cover and cook 2-3 minutes more. Stir in remaining herbs if using.

A note about the chile…I am new to experimenting with adding heat to my cooking because in that regard, I am still a yankee at heart, but I do like a little heat, I am just wussy (according to EF) about it. I recently made a white bean pumpkin soup that had a serrano sliced up into it and that was just the right amount of heat. The heat was more of an afterthought. I used a chile that was bought at the same time in the soup this weekend and actually only used half of it and the soup was much hotter than I thought it would be. After having the first bowl of this, I was unsure if I would be able to eat it again thinking the heat would intensify as it sat. Not the case. The heat is still present, but has mellowed nicely.

This soup usually feeds us for 3 or 4 meals. Hope you like it as well as we do!

The second session of my painting workshop started last week and as part of forcing myself to show up and just do it, I am blogging about it. It adds a layer of accountability that really pushed me forward in some way. If you read any of my previous posts about it, you’ll know I don’t in any way consider myself a painter. My day job is not going anywhere.

Last week was all about finding a devotion in the mix of it all. It seems like authenticity and equanimity seem to be the current recurring themes in my life so rather than fight it, I squoze out some paint and jumped in the deep end.

This is a pretty crappy picture. I don’t know why I have such a hard time with an autofocus camera. My first pass at this was just swiping some color on the page.  If I remember correctly, it’s 28×40. That’s a lot of color swiping. Pink, lime green, grape and yellow. I am not sure why those colors, I just went with what seemed to grab me.

The next morning, I was walking by and saw the swirly arms of a starfish, so I picked up the jumbo Sharpie paint pen and just drew it in before I walked out the door. I think it was a day or so later that I got to painting again and defined the star a little further with the butter color and embellished with the burnt umber and turquoise.

When my energy strayed from the painting, I tried to nudge it back and made an effort to remain present. I wanted to be equanimous about using all of the pain I squoze out. I didn’t want to favor one color over another. I then was also equanimous in not making any judgements about what or why this painting is, but rather thinking that it just is…

This week we were challenged to play. Here’s where Lilli Munster rocks the house.

I think Lilli was less than a year old in this picture, but she remains pretty much unchanged at six. She gets a short hair cut about every 3 months to not become a matted mess because princess that she is, she’s not having any part of the grooming required for her to have long silky Yorkie hair.

As I got ready to paint last night, she was scratching at my leg for some mamaa time. I picked her up but she was restless so I gave her a treat and she settled down for her portrait, facing away from me, of course.

Meet Muppet Lilli Munster. Elizabeth declared that it shall be framed and installed over the toilet in the main bathroom. It’s cracking her up that any male guests we have over will have her staring at them when they pee. I think she looks none too pleased.

I got a message from my son recently about a batman hat I knit him a few years ago. Before he even had to beat around the bush, I had guessed that he washed it and well, its no longer a hat that will fit a human…so he asked if I could knit him another one and of course, I said sure.

I looked (sort of) for my pattern notes because I know I did something to tweak the chart so it could be knit smaller. As it is, it is designed for a child’s pullover and is a bit too large for a hat. I made adjustments and the hat came out great and because it was early in my knitting career and I was impressed with myself, I made notes in my knitting journal (a habit I have let slide).  They weren’t where I thought they were and I didn’t look further, but decided to just wing it.

I found the right colors in my stash of Lamb’s Pride worsted leftover from another project. I also had a pattern for a hat that used Lamb’s Pride and I used that for the numbers, and then I had the chart for the logo.

I should have done it intarsia, but I really dislike intarsia. Instead, I decided to do it strandedm hence the checkerboard around the back.

I might go back into the stash and see if I have some other wool that might work, and if so, I think I might knit another one…you know, one with better tension and no twisted stitches…one better planned so the numbers work out…but until that happens, I know William will be delighted with this one and deem it perfect.

I just learned the real reason for US postage to be going up…and up…and up…

Through a link on one of the blogs I have been reading, I happened into the usps postage store. I thought it was a good way to get a variety of interesting stamps to use on the letters I am trying to get back into the habit of writing. The last time I tried to get a variety of stamps at the post office, they didn’t really have much selection. I ordered stamps on Thursday I think, and they arrived in the mail today. I won’t be doing this again in the future.

Let me repeat that…I won’t be doing this again in the future.

The packaging waste involved in getting my stamps to me is not only excessive, but nauseatingly so. My stamps arrived in a large tyvek envelope. If that wasn’t bad enough, each different stamp variety, I ordered seven, is in its own sealed celophane sleeve, each with a stiff cardboard backing.

Now I appreciate the post office wanting my stamps to arrive undamaged, but one piece of cardboard in one envelope would have more than been sufficient. Not only is it economic waste, but environmental waste as well. I can at least recycle the cardboard…

Delighted with my stamps, but really disappointed in the waste…

I find it most aggravating when the blogs I enjoy reading go unattended and here I am guilty as sin of blog neglect. It isn’t that I am feeling lazy about it. I want to blog. I just don’t have much to say. Life is good. Where’s the interest in that. It isn’t that I think only the drama or crap is of interest, but this time of life is good is just rather ordinary. I like ordinary, there just isn’t a lot to say about it. Unless there is.

I feel like something has been percolating on the back burner, but the brew isn’t quite strong enough yet to pour into the cup. Does that make sense? Not really, but it is the best analogy my brain is capable of at the moment. That’s part of the not much to say deal. At the same time I feel like I could continue talking circles around it, but all the while, saying nothing.

This is the last painting for my BIG class. class is officially over, but I am not quite done with this painting. For the final installment we were challenged to paint creative juicy BIG by taping 4 of our regular BIG papers together. I jumped right in.

Meet Max. He is my grandfather and he died while my mom was pregnant with me. Max and Anna came to the US in the 1920s from Poland if I have the story right. The only thing I have of him is a pocket watch that doesn’t keep time. I am sure I could have it restored, but I am not ready to part with it yet so it sits either on my bedside table or sometimes in my pocket. I go for long stretches of time where I just put it in my pocket when I get dressed in the morning without any formal thought, just as if it were something I did every day, or as if it actually kept time in a useful manner.

Besided the watch, a have about a dozen pictures my dad took of Max in the 50s. In almost all of them, Max is standing holding the day’s catch, most off a large flounder (or some other large flat fish). In one of them my grandmother is holding up a tape measure that is at least 3 feet long, maybe longer. When I started to paint this, it was from the memory of the photos.

One of these days I will figure out why the automatic setting on my camera doesn’t take a good picture. I take full responsibility in this and I am not at all blaming the camera. This is a camera my dad used a lot in his final years and he took awesome pictures with it. Much in the same way I am not a painter, I am not a photographer and I usually leave that to Elizabeth because she takes some groovy awesome pictures. I know my artistic strengths lie elsewhere. but for the purposes of blogging or sharing online, my crappy pictures will do just fine.

This painting is 58×80. If that is creative juicy BIG, I don’t know what is. I am not sure
Max is a finished painting, but I might be finished with Max. The point of the class is painting for process, not product, and since this painting isn’t going anywhere beyond maybe the garage wall, I might just call it finished. I don’t want to sell myself short and not finished, but I might rather get on with it and be painting something else. Maybe. I will knit a few more rows and ponder…

In other artsy news, I have started keeping a sketch book on my desk at work and am trying to do a page a day. I might post those here and I might not. What would the world do without these updates?

Yesterday, I went to Dr Sketchy. I had read about it not too long ago, and when Kat asked if we wanted to go, I said yes right away. June was a knitting theme and I figured I could knit if the drawing wasn’t quite working out. Elizabeth went too, and we had a fun time. There was a variety of timed poses from 2 to thirty minutes and a few short breaks here and there. I didn’t think we would stay the entire time, but the time passed rather quickly and all of a sudden the last pose was being announced.

This was my first time at any sort of legitimate life drawing class. I have only been attempting to draw in the last year and I enjoy relaxing into it. We got there a little late and the tables (which were small) were all taken. The sketch book I brought was too heavy for me to work without it distracting me, but I might sorta actually like this effort. I also had my Moleskine watercolor journal with me and did a few in there.

After Dr Sketchy, we went to Brasil for dinner. I am addicted to their spinach couscous salad. Yes. Spinach. Who knew? There is spinach and couscous, of course, some feta, sundried tomato, marinated artichoke hearts and toasted sliced almonds. Yes, I am going to try recreating this at home, and I even think it will be a pretty easy task.