Low(er) Carb Nut Loaf

Okay, I made four of these, so it's gonna look like a lot in the bowl.
2-3 eggs
1-1/4 cups ground nuts (a salad shooter is amazing for this)
1 cup cheese (again, good in the salad shooter)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
3/4 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp salt (adjust based on how salty your nuts are)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp smoked paprika (hardly neccessary, I just like the stuff)
1/2 c bread crumbs (mine was part canned, part wheat germ, and part bread run through the salad shooter)
Remove rings and moosh up good between fingers. Add anything you like in meatloaf. Subract the stuff you don't like. Shape into loafy-ness. Cook at 375 about 45 minutes. Clean underneath your nails. Replace rings.

Ooh, I'd so like to relearn knitting backwards. I figured it out probably twenty years ago. I'll bet there's an online vid for it. Just a sec. Found it!
Doncha just lurv the interwebs?!

Paper or Plastic?

Guess what this is? Now it's finished. Now it's in use. Yes, it's a furry grocery bag. I was given a length of this cheetah fur (fake, of course) and... well, what would YOU do with it? I didn't wanna stuff it in the stash and forget about it. And can you just imagine handing THAT over to the clerk?

"Paper or plastic?"

"Fur, please."

Here's instructions for making your own. Well, really, they're for making bags to use AND give away. As I've made a grand total of one, I think I'll use mine.

Just a few people that make my computer/world a better place

A knitter/blogger/everythinger that inspires me: Jane Brocket

A knitter that just makes me laugh: Yarn Harlot

A crafter that's making something cool that I'm buying: Black Belt Knitter. If you want the possible bonus, jump on it soon!

Aspirations

When asked if I can draw, well, duh. Of course I can draw! I could draw when I was in kindergarten. I can at least draw at that level. Sometimes better. Same goes for dancing. And playing the piano. Especially playing the piano. Sorry, Mom.
I don't like the idea of hanging back because I don't think my skill level isn't there. I can do most things. It's... other considerations.

1. Materials If I want to make a big beautiful sweater coat straight out of Vogue, it's gonna take a lot of yarn. Even if I was as tiny as Hottie, it'd still take a lot. And it would be expected to match. Well, at least the washing instructions would have to be compatible.
2. Attention Span Those sweater coats and bedspreads that take an average knitter six months of knitting would be long forgotten because, in case you haven't noticed, I like to work on more than one project at once. Short attention span is good for forgetting grudges, not so good for afghans.
3. Portability Possibly the most important aspect of knitting for me. I think of knitting as a purse project and it's kinda hard to just drop a sweater into my purse. Unless it's a really big purse... But a big knitted purse would be a big project too...

So I guess I aspire to having knitted a sweater coat, but not to the actual knitting.

Ooh! I figured out something to aspire to: using up everything. That's right. Every inch of yarn, every scrap of fabric, every spool of thread. What do you mean, it's impossible? That's what aspirations are for!

Okay, okay. As this is a crafting blog, I can hear you asking, "Where are the pictures?"Right here, Sweetie.

Here is a simple quilt. Sometimes I just like grabbing the box of batiks and throwing a few very large squares together. These are cut 9.5". This is for border numero uno...and border numero due. (That's Italian for dos.) This is on my "Goals by Friday" list. Wish me luck.

History Best When Edited

This is the first in a series of questions answered by various bloggers this week. Today asks me to evaluate the origins of my own knitting. Seems to me this would work best as a list.

1. Girl meets boy.


2. Girl meets boy's mom.


3. Boy's mom teaches girl to knit. (Also gives her giant bag of romance novels. In hindsight, maybe boy's mom was hoping girl would be making booties.)


4. Girl begins long narrow strip of knitting, ostensibly a headband.


5. Romance ends.


6. Girl continues knitting, making the world's longest headband, as she does not know how to bind off.


7. Girl meets new boy, resumes knitting, and begins scarf for new boy.


8. Romance ends.


9. Girl meets new new boy. Finishes scarf and gives it to new new boy.


10. Romance ends.


11. Girl meets man.


12. Girl marries man and has baby.


13. Girl is charmed by amazing fibers and makes scarf for self.


14. Repeat step 12 until need for scarf is exceeded by a factor of ten.


15. Girl knits sompin' else.


16. Repeat step 15. A lot.

Important information: when knitting booties in three colors, you will have six ends per bootie to weave in. I'm just sayin'.

Gooey/ Groovy

The poison oak medicine is gooey. Scary gooey. So much so that I'm afraid to cross-stitch. Quilts I can wash, socks I can definitely wash, cross-stitch not so much. So I may occasionally stitch when the medicine has been washed off and not reapplied, but... Well, let's just say that the attention to stitching is mostly limited to longing gazes. (Very Romeo & Juliet: it could end in tragedy.)

So on to quilting! Today at PQM, I finished the Have a Nice Frog top. I used more of the groovalicious tie-dye style fabric and I really like the result. (Click on the pic for a closer-up view) It's one of those things that look so different when you step away from it. I'm happy with how it came out. Oh, and today Transporter Malfunction got designated, so send up a prayer for Anita if you're so inclined.

Azkaban Reopened

What do you mean, I haven't written lately? Neither has Shakespeare. Um. Yeah. So there.

First order of business: I've finished Sheherezade. Now it is off my plate, the agenda, and the sidebar! Looking at it, I think it could have had another border, but... feh! It's done. And I like it.

Second in line: the Peeps Bedsocks are finished! Knitting on it was like eating popcorn: a few stitches and--before you know it--the bowl is empty! Aren't they cute? Slightly goofy, I know, but sweet in their special way. As always, there was some yarn left over so I decided to make mirror booties with what's left. I've read about, heard about, and thought about a new technique: knitting two socks at a time on one circular needle. So I gave it a shot. I like it. This way, the socks have a chance to be nearly identical.

Lastly, Playtime at Azkaban has returned. I wasn't completely satisfied with 'em. They kept falling down--not really desirable in a pair of socks. I determined that the cuff was done in a twisted rib and that's not very stretchy, albeit pretty. That needed to be re-knit. But--and it's a big BUT--you can't just unknit ribbing from the top if it was knit top-down. It requires... surgery. That's right. Cutting. Warning: The following pictures may be too explicit for some knitters. To prep, I used Jasmin's advice: slip a smaller guage needle into all the stitches in a row.Then take a deep breath and (I know it's scary) CUT a stitch. Just one. From that stitch, pull out the following stitches all around that row. The needles in place should keep your beautiful work from unravelling. Now that you've got your work stable, you can work on your project peacefully. (And I am!)

Full Bloom

Spring has officially sprung! The cowbirds are scouring the parking lots, the surfers are shucking their wetsuits, the poison oak is budding, the skies are clear, and... wait, what was that last one? The skies are clear. No, further back. That crack about poison oak? Yup, that's the one. Let's just say that spring is in full bloom and... so am I.
You know what an itchy rash is good for? Projects! It gives me something to focus on besides NOT SCRATCHING. I mean, come on. If we're told to not do something, isn't that the only thing we want to do? Instead, put a lace pattern in front of me and knitting supplies and say, "Go!" Then my focus is much better channelled. I've been mostly knitting. Riding in the car with The Man of the Place, standing in line at Soup Plantation in between scooping gobs of broccoli onto my tray, waiting for a pan of mushrooms to cook... whenever I need something to do. For a heavy duty attention grabbing project, I've been working on my lacey Gasp of Spring socks. (It's actually a much darker, richer purple but the camera wanted to show it to you in a less intimidating color.) For sheer fun, we have these silly bedsocks. The pattern is Emma Bedsocks, from the Jane Austen Yarn Club, but I call 'em Peep Socks because they look just like that Easter marshmallow candy. Well, at least the yellow and purple look Peep-ish. Because they are knitted with DK weight and size 4 needles, they are fairly flying off the needles.

Then there's another pair of my own design I won't show you right now because I'm hoping to sell that pattern to a knitting publication. Right now that's only in plain stockinette, so it's perfect for zombie knitting. (Just knit and knit and knit.) And I've finished a pair of blue baby booties for a friend who's preggers with a little blue one.

Have a Nice Frog!

Here's what I came up with for this groov-a-licious combo! I thought I'd have a whole top to show you today, complete with borders, but... okay, here's the story. Friday is quilting group. Here's my routine:

1. pack up my portable machine and my current project in a rolling bag
2. set it outside the back door
3. put my other stuff in the car
4. walk around the house to the back door
5. put rolling bag in car
6. drive

Well, I went straight from step 3 to step 6 yesterday. It was more like this:

1. pack up my portable machine and my current project in a rolling bag
2. set it outside the back door
3. put my other stuff in the car
4. drive
5. get out of car
6. realize that I am one rolling bag short
7. call home and ask the man of the place to put my stuff away.

So it was time to find out what opportunity I was in line for. We do have an extra machine and plenty of supplies. I yanked out the blue, purple, and green scrap bins. I started finding fabrics that might want to go together. Then I noticed a bunch of 3.5" width-of-fabric strips in the blue bin, all the same blue funky floral. To me, that just screamed, "Border!" Already cut and ready to go. I used it as the inspiration fabric for the quilt and pulled in some pinks and oranges for sparkle. I cut the fabrics into 4.5" width strips, not worrying about their lengths. I also cut a few 6" squares and folded 'em into prairie points. Then I made long strips and laid them side-by-side. I scattered in the prairie points and assembled the whole thing. I still needed an outer border, so I grabbed the fushia bin. No dice. The dark green. Ew. Purple? No way. Yellow really wanted to play so... Here is the final product. I'm calling it "Transporter Malfunction." Get it?

Heh-heh-heh...

If you were given this: and this: and this: ...what would you make? I'll post my answer tomorrow.

Mayday! Mayday!

Okay, Kids, I'm stuck. I started this post:

SABLE that's ... Stash Aquired Beyond Life Expectancy. I think I may be SABLE at
this point. I have so many creative supplies, I could open a store. So, why not? I'm not going to use it all. But it's hard. I bought this stuff because I like it and I believed I'd use it. I've got to say, this is a hard bullet to bite. I'm... opening an etsy store. I'll preview the stuff here, and a few days later it'll pop up in my (gulp) online store. I am starting with the cross-stitch tub. I have some gorgeousness just languishing away in there. Then perhaps I'll move on to the acid-free papers.

And then I got stuck. Yup. I took pictures and wrote a description or two. And then nothin'. I like my stuff. Even the stuff I don't like as much as the other stuff. So I don't know what I'm going to do. Any suggestions? How do you manage your oversupplies?