I'm back! (Part I)

Yep, that's right.

After writing half the things I wanted to say, though, I realized that this post is going to be wayyy longer than anyone would want to read, so I'm going to break it up. Here's part 1 for you all.  :)

So I'm back from an unintentional many-month long hiatus, and I'm back for a bit with some new projects and news. First of all, though, I want to catch up on some long-delayed and promised things:

1. Birthday presents for the boyfriend. I mentioned allllll the way back in August the birthday wonderfuls I was making but couldn't tell you about a) because I hadn't gifted them yet and b) because there's always a chance the boyfriend reads this blog.... maybe. Well, now not only have I given them to him (and he has been using them daily), I have the time to post the pictures!

 I made him a hat and scarf set from a wonderful Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair in Mesa (yay, alliteration!). The hat is the long, ear-covering version of the boyfriend hat from Stephanie Likes to Knit-- I chose this pattern not only because it's a hat designed specifically with a boyfriend in mind, but because I thought the decreases at the top were beautiful. It was super quick and easy to knit, and the boyfriend LOVES it!

I didn't use a full skein of the yarn with the hat, so I started a simple garter-stitch scarf to go with it. I ended up getting another skein to finish off the scarf, but it was well worth it: both it and the hat are super comfy and warm (I just HAD to try them!).

2. Well, this is a continuation of birthday presents, but it's another project so I'm giving it its own spot on the list. Or him, I should say, not It. Because this most certainly IS a him. Meet the bear the boyfriend has named "Mr Cuddlewuddles":

Isn't he adorable? The pattern (for Henri the Bear) is by Yarnigans, but the original site where I found the pattern has been shut down. I'm super upset about that, actually, because she had some wonderful patterns up, but oh, well. Mr Cuddlewuddles is knit up with Vanna's Choice in Fisherman and stands about six inches tall-- just the perfect size to travel with, so he was great for the boyfriend! He's super soft and snuggly and was wonderful to work on. He was a quick knit, too-- I finished him in only a couple of days. Man, stuffed animals are the best!

Which will lead me to my next post, involving more stuffed things... stay tuned.  :)

Christmas

Okay, so I know it's been a while, and I have another catch-up post in the works, but I wanted to post about this before it was no longer timely. Among lots of other wonderful, wonderful gifts, I got a smartphone for christmas. One with an android operating system, actually, and I'm writing this post from it right now. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I've been using it for two days now (almost) and I can't get over how freakin' cool it is. You know how every birthday people ask you if you feel any different? Well, it's the day after christmas and I really do, for the first time in a long time, feel different. I'm having a really hard time getting used to the fact that wherever I am, I'm connected to the entire world. I literally have a connection to all the information I could ever want in my pocket, or purse, or right in my hand. HOW FREAKING CRAZY IS THAT? I mean yeah, I'm sitting on my living room floor right now writing this, something I can do with my laptop, but I could .be posting this from a playground or an open field or even the tropical rainforest or the polar ice caps. Well. Maybe not actually. But anywhere there's cell phone service, I have a direct link to almost anything in the world. Wow.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful christmas! Catch-up post with some xmas goodies will be coming up soon. :)

Things I Miss at School

I love being at school. I love seeing people all the time and having a lot of freedom and interacting with intellectuals. But it makes me miss a lot of things about life and breaks and summer.

These are some things I miss:

• me time
• waking up for meteor showers or sun rises without worrying about being tired for class
• the boyfriend
• not being stressed
• baking elaborate goodies
• baking at all
• knitting
• the boyfriend
• swimming
• laying in the sun with a book
• exploring
• pondering the universe

So, I'm a Lazy Bum

I haven't taken photos of my beret or handwarmers, I haven't updated anything about being back at school, and I haven't even unpacked yet. I know. I'll get around to it.

Today's post is about a feeling. You know that feeling when you're surrounded by people but you feel lonely anyway?

That's my feeling of the day.

Projects Projects Projects!!! Part I

So after a brief (month-long) hiatus I am back! With lots and lots of things to share!!

Since the last time I've posted I have successfully completed:

1. A delicious experimental pie (for which I finally have the pictures)
2. A cuddly bear
3. My February Beret
4. Birthday wonderfuls

And am working on a pair of hand warmers to match my beret that will be done soon. Exciting, huh? And now you all know that even though I may not be writing I am certainly keeping busy.


First, the pie.

I found a spectacularly delicious-looking plum pie recipe over at Savour Fare quite a long time ago but I was afraid to start it because I'd never made a pie crust before, and all I've ever heard about them is that they're more finnicky than delicate machinery. The boyfriend, who is apparently the king of pie crusts, talks all the time about how he'll sit there and cut the butter into perfectly-shaped squares so it'll melt perfectly because otherwise the dough will be lumpy and your pie will be ruined oh noooooooo!!!!

But really, this recipe was super easy. Basically you just throw some ingredients in a mixer, whip it up, and chill it overnight. Then tada! After a bit of shaping you've got yourself a pie crust! A beautiful, tasty, and deliciously flaky pie crust.

I'm glad I finally worked up the courage to tackle this. I visited the boyfriend and a bunch of other friends at school a few weeks ago and finally had the guinea pigs necessary to try something new, so I figured, why not? Thanks to all my guinea pigs... and look how wonderfully it turned out!

Okay, so... secretly the only picture I have of the pie is the one above. I was rushing out the door and didn't snap pictures when it got out of the oven. D'oh. Instead I will give you a picture of the hardest part of the whole pie: the plums.

You know how with pitted fruit it's generally pretty easy to cut it in half and remove the pit? Well, yeah. I was working with mutant plums.

See how those pits are only sort of existent??? It added so much time to the cutting process!! There wasn't a full pit to pull out, and I was stuck with all this nasty hard stuff that I had to cut out with my paring knife. Gross.

All in all, though, this was a wonderful experience. The crust is like the crostata (tart) dough in that if it's out of the fridge or too long the butter in it will start to melt, so I'd recommend keeping the lattice dough in the fridge while shaping the base. It's also missing sugar (and we definitely noticed its absence), so I'd add some next time. It's a super versatile recipe, though-- I also made a scrumptious blueberry pie that I kind of made up the recipe to but that I didn't take any pictures of (shame)-- and is something I would love love love to do again!


Next time: Part 2, and maybe parts 3 and 4, depending on how loquacious I'm feeling. Stay tuned!

Many Things, or Cranberry Madness

Okay, first of all I'd like to thank everyone who voted on my Threadless design! It finished scoring early early this morning and came out with a final score of 2.46 out of 5 total. I hope that's good enough to be printed, and I'll definitely keep you all posted as to what the next stage is!

Also, BLAAARRGGHALISJFLUGAOISHDHGA;LJSJROAIUHGD I LEFT MY CAMERA AT MY BOYFRIEND'S WHEN I WENT TO VISIT THIS PAST WEEKEND!!!!! And he's not coming to visit me until August 3 and there's NO way I'm having him put a Nikon DSLR in the mail, so until he comes to see me I'm camera-less. Meaning I am nice-camera-less and will, for the time being, be using my dad's little Canon point-and-shoot. I have some pictures of a new yarn I bought that I have to download, but not having my camera means that the few pictures I got to shoot of my pies (which were pretty delicious, by the way) won't be up until early August. Which sucks.

And now, to come to the second part of this entry's title. Yes, Cranberry Madness. The lovely yarn that I just bought, mentioned in the paragraph above, is actually really nice. It's Green Mountain Spinnery mohair yarn died in this wonderful deep red color, and the more I work with it the softer it gets. The problem is that the combination of it and the pattern for which I'm using it is driving me absolutely nutso.

I can guess what some of you are thinking. You're not even done with your beret yet; what are you doing taking on other projects??

Well, for your information, I'm done with three point five inches of the lacework on my beret, and I think that it's good to take a bit of a break every once in a while. Don't you? I expect this side project to be a quick knit, and then I can go back to my beret all contented-like.

Well, I expected it to be quick. Since I first cast on yesterday afternoon I have restarted this beast at least fifteen times. Either the stitches are too loose, or the spaces in between them are horridly uneven, or it's just a disgusting excuse for a first row and it's easier to sack it than try to fix it. Uurgh. As a result, I have huge cramps in my left pinky and I'm going a bit cross-eyed. I will complete this project, though. Just you wait and see.

VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!

Hey everyone, my design is up for a vote on Threadless! Which means YOU SHOULD ALL GO VOTE FOR IT!!!

You can find it, vote for it, and see a bigger image here: http://www.threadless.com/submission/284069/Self_Expression

Threadless is an online store for shirts and hoodies that has a really extensive, involved community. They hold an ongoing contest to find new t-shirt designs to print, and each design is up for only 7 days. The designs with the most votes and positive comments can then be selected to print!

Please, please go vote for my design. It's up until July 15 and I need all the help I can get! It takes five seconds to make an account if you haven't already, and then you're home free! (plus, Threadless is an awesome community to be a part of anyway-- just wait until they have another $10 sale and then you'll thank me!)  :)

Thanks to everyone who has already voted and those who will vote before next Thursday. I love you all!




(Up next-- plum and blueberry pies. Stay tuned!)