crashing my car into company

baby romaine

2009-07-03T11:48:00.011-04:00

so young and tender, your salad days are here
but remember, sweet is always mixed with bitter
and April only leads to December

well, in the case of my updates, April leads to July. oops.

All my friends are having babies. Baby girls. If you're pregnant with a son, you kid is going to have his choice of the ladies.

I used leftovers from another quilt in the works to makes this green and blue quilt for my friend's soon to be born daughter. Actually, I had enough leftovers to make three copies. While the "mass production" makes me feel a bit like Baby Gap, I kind of love it at the same time. Also! I was strangely pleased at how efficiently the leftovers got used up.

Also! if I'm really happy with the final product, as I am with this one, I want to spread the love.

Kind of like how I feel about the bomo-bags, whose salad days are over... still I remain, baby romaine.

untidy towns

2009-04-15T19:13:00.001-04:00

first things first, I have a happy secret
the next bit’s worse, I intend to keep it that way

I've been up all last night and this morning making something new. I'm stupid excited about it. The first batch are designated gifts to some friends so I'm keeping it a secret. Though, I've already told about seven people. I promise, I know how to keep secrets. Just not my own.

the monkey wrench

2009-04-08T20:15:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time.

Once upon a time we had dreams and fantasies about what our lives would be like. We would have great jobs and meet great men. We would get married and have families and still be the best of friends. We would live happily ever after.

One day she met a great man and got married. I made them this quilt using the pattern she had picked out seven years earlier when he was just a dream. For some reason it makes me stupid happy to see this picture of it finished. Happy to think that you could wish for something and have it. Happy to have had such a constant friend over the years. Happy that dreams can come true.

And we lived happily ever after.

paper vs. plastic

2009-04-06T02:55:00.007-04:00

About a month or so ago, there was this article in the New York Times about the rumored plastic bag fee/tax. To reduce the negative impact of plastic bags on the environment, cities have been proposing plastic bag bans or fees for use.

Wanting to learn more about it I came across www.reusablebags.com. There is a wealth of information on there! It's kind of overwhelming, actually. The most interesting to me was their article, Paper Bags Are Better Than Plastic, Right? Shockingly, the answer is "not really".

But this is all a non-issue because why use paper or plastic when you can use a Bomo-Bag?!

the bomo-bag debut

2009-04-06T02:22:00.004-04:00

The Bomo-Bags first went on sale on March 14, 2009 at the Artists & Fleas market during the grand opening of 303Grand.

I was really stressed out and anxious about it for weeks but I had great friends who helped and supported me throughout the day, making it a success. I am a lucky girl.

the bomo-bag

2009-04-06T02:01:00.000-04:00

the origin of the bomo-bag

2009-04-06T01:54:00.008-04:00

I have at least five grocery stores within a 3 block radius of my apartment. The one right off the subway is open 24 hours. I'm always stopping in on my way home to pick up some forgotten ingredient or just a snack. It's so convenient. But the spontaneity this allows always leaves me unprepared to carry my new purchase home. Oftentimes I'll walk the few blocks to my apartment with a carton of soy milk or a bag of produce in my hand, but sometimes I buy more than I'll be able to carry without having to reluctantly take a plastic bag from the cashier.

I am also a sucker for a sale. I don't know how many times I'll be walking along and enter a shop to just browse before meeting a friend or going home or while passing the time and exit with a lighter wallet and a shopping bag in hand.

It makes me cringe every time. Just do a google image search of "plastic bag pollution" and your heart will break.

In January I went to Ikea with a friend. When we got to the check out we discovered that we would have to buy a reusable tote bag to carry our new Swedish household items home in. They were no longer providing plastic bags.

That was what did it because I am also a cheap bastard. I decided to make a tote bag that I could roll up and put in my regular hand bag so that I would always be armed.

This was the first one I tried. I sketched it out then used what remained of an old bed sheet for fabric.

I liked the idea of an elastic to quickly roll it up, but unrolled it hung off the side like an ugly hair scrunchie.

I did some tweaking, received some feedback from my friends and coworkers, and the Bomo-Bag (named by my coworkers) was the final result. I have to say, it's the best thing I've ever made for myself. Every time I use it, it makes me happy.

a year later

2009-03-26T13:16:00.004-04:00

It's been one year and a handful of days.
I'm sorry to have neglected you. I've got some very exciting news. Stay tuned.
But for now, have a listen to some Magnetic Fields.

parentheses

2008-03-21T03:05:00.001-04:00

In the last week a number of people have commented to me about how I like to cook. How misleading this blog has been! Here is my refrigerator on a normal day:

I can't remember when I took that picture. Actually that day was particularly bad. There are maybe some vegetables in there right now, but also more booze. I don't even really drink at home. Everything is misleading!

Today for dinner I had some cheese and crackers, olives and grapes. I love Cerignola olives. I won't tell you how many I've eaten because it's too embarrassing. More embarrassing than that picture of my fridge.

if something in the deli aisle
makes you cry
you know I'll put my arm around you and I'll walk you outside
through the sliding doors
why would I mind?

be fruitful and multiply

2008-03-02T21:45:00.000-05:00

My friends have had a baby. He is the cutest thing ever. Sometimes when he is sleeping, he'll chuckle and my heart breaks.

It was his dad's birthday recently and I knit him an ear flap hat. Then I made a matching one for his "mini me".

Again, I didn't use a pattern. I seem to have a problem with rules. Instead I bought some yarn (Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran and alpaca silk). Pearl at Knitty City helped me choose needles (US 10.5 circs) that she thought would give me a good gauge. I read a bunch of patterns online and in books at the bookstore, but couldn't find anything that I liked. So I kept an eye out on the street for people wearing ear flap hats and followed the good looking ones around. Good looking hats, I mean. I think I started and restarted about five times until I had what I wanted.

and voilà:

They look cuter when they're actually on real heads because the boy is only about four months old, but this is all I have for public viewing.

finders keepers

2008-02-06T11:26:00.000-05:00

I have a friend. She's tiny. One winter, while coveting a pair of convertible mitts, she complained that she couldn't find a pair of gloves that fit her tiny hands. Since it was around the time of her birthday I decided to knit her a pair. It took about a year because I put them down and forgot to pick them up again! I used the Broad Street Mittens pattern from knitty using yarn I got from a knitting swap. I've made these before, but because the yarn (trekking) I used was so thin, the size was perfect.

The best part is the thumb, which I took from Berroco Pele.

The saddest part is that a week after I gave them to her, she lost one.

God's Footballer

2008-02-03T16:02:00.000-05:00

It's Super Bowl Sunday. I think New York is up against Boston. Something about Giants? The city is going to go crazy tonight if we win. I could care less.

the goals bring weekly wages
yet the glory of the sports pages
is but the worship of false idols and tempts him not

I wanted to make a tote bag for a friend of mine. A Say-No-To-Plastic-Bags type of tote bag. I didn't really have a pattern, but I didn't think it could be that hard. I went down to Purl to buy some fabric. One of my many bad habits is that I don't really plan things out. Overwhelmed by all the fabric choices, the simple tote bag turned out to be a more ambitious type of project as I bought extra fabric for a pocket and linings. And because I didn't plan out a pattern before I started sewing, it took about 5 times as long to make it and was way more frustrating than I would have liked. One day I'll learn.

In the end it didn't turn out to be the simple everyday shopping bag kind of tote I was aiming for. I guess I got carried away.

a day in space

2008-01-29T00:14:00.002-05:00

think about lying there when you're a hundred
a hundred and ten or whatever
looking back on your life and thinking:
well, what did I actually do?
what did I actually achieve?
"oh, I saw the pyramids"
big deal!
you can apparently see those from space anyway

It's been awhile since I've posted. It's been even longer since I've posted anything other than pictures and song lyrics so I thought I would write a bit for a change. Actually, I have a side-project in the works and was waiting to unveil it but it might not ever be ready so here I am, just as I am.

It's another New Year.

During the latter end of 2007 I read You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers while listening to a lot of Ballboy. The book was just alright and some might say the same about Ballboy, though I can't seem to get enough of them. However, I don't recommend the combination. I've been thinking of the feeling that they left me with. At first it made me want to go somewhere, everywhere, really quickly. So I did. I got on a plane and I went to a lot of places. Then I came home tired, broke and emptier than before I had left. Now I look around at my life and think: So what? You can see it all from space anyway.

Your life has been lived a hundred times. A thousand times. It's not all that great, really. Don't take it so seriously. Don't handle it so delicately.

I began to feel simultaneously bored and boring, which is another deadly combination. It's not nice thinking your life, and the lives of those around you, aren't that great.

It's another New Year. I've made some resolutions, resolutions to be greater. It's not going so well, but it's only January.

a long-forgotten fairytale

2007-12-13T09:32:00.000-05:00

Twelve days until Christmas.

I've been commissioned to make a red scarf.

Christmas is my favourite holiday. I love the lights and the carols and the parties and the office slacking.

It makes me want to buy everyone presents.

and a long-forgotten fairytale is in your eyes again
and I'm caught inside a dream world where the colours are too intense
and nothing is making sense

there's a floating town of eiderdown in a mist of mystery
there's an old enchanted castle
and the princess there is me
decked out like a Christmas tree

you spin me right round

2007-12-06T16:13:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time I saw a woman knit two socks at a time on circular needles. I was envious. So I went and bought these:

But the woman at the yarn store told me that one skein would not be enough. Because I'm cheap and yarn is expensive, I decided to stripe it with a blue yarn I already had at home. I was a little disappointed in the end because it gave the socks a darker colour than what I was hoping for and I have enough yarn left that I could have done the main body with just the grey. I guess I'll just have to make another pair!

loop duplicate my heart

2007-11-19T22:48:00.000-05:00

I found a reason for not going out tonight
I'm making out tonight
with my computer :

i am a faulty string of blue christmas lights

2007-11-01T11:53:00.000-04:00

hey I found the safest place to keep all our tenderness
keep all our bad ideas
keep all our hope
it's here in the smallest bones, the feet and the inner-ear
it's such an enormous thing to walk and to listen

i love you (but you're boring)

2007-09-12T21:44:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time I stepped on a screw. It poked through my sneakers and stabbed me. Just barely. Because tetanus is a scary condition, I went to the hospital to get a tetanus shot. They took a urine sample for a pregnancy test even though I told them that despite having just been "screwed", I was in no way pregnant. I had three x-rays taken of my foot and was put on antibiotics for a week. It was barely a pinprick. I'm currently trying to get copies of my foot x-rays because I am a bit narcissistic, but until then, here are some other pictures from the day of my wound.

I haven't been very creative lately. Or at all interesting. But hopefully you love me anyway.

strawberry fields forever

2007-08-01T09:15:00.000-04:00

fruit !

juice !

almond flour !

blending !

blended !

delicious !

line three, I forget

2007-07-28T00:47:00.000-04:00

Today a friend turned another year older. I baked her a little cake. It's hard to gauge in the picture, but it's only 6 inches in diameter!

I work at a university. Sometimes I overhear the young people talking and I think they sound so silly. I am sure, oftentimes, I sound silly to people older than me.

I am thirty-three.

Sometimes I remember where I used to think I would be at thirty-three. It seems so silly now that I'm here. Not there.

Anyway, at dinner we clinked our glasses, cheers, to my friend. I love that noise. The clink clink clink. Good times.

let's take a look at these crow's feet, just look
sitting on the prettiest eyes
sixty 25th of Decembers
fifty-nine 4th of Julys
you can't have too many good times, children
you can't have too many lines
take a good look at these crow's feet
sitting on the prettiest eyes

a new name for everything

2007-07-23T23:55:00.000-04:00

the boxes you brought here
and never unpacked
are still patiently waiting to go

mine, too!

But I've been getting better at it and have emptied these boxes (on the right), which are now patiently waiting to be thrown out.

Though I have to admit, it was mostly just transferring their contents (yarn, fabric) to plastic containers.

The fabric was from years ago when I was a more active quilter.

I'm kind of embarrassed by all my hoarding. I'm really in love with patchwork quilts and went through a phase of recklessly collecting prints.
In an attempt to reduce, I've picked up one of my UFOs. Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough of the purple! I will have to wait until my next trip to Toronto to see if Fabricland still carries it.

In the meantime, I've been wasting hours and hours looking at Quilt Blocks Galore and wanting to buy even more prints. I'm quite fond of Amy Butler at the moment and it's taking all self-control to not hit "add to cart".

judge a book by its cover

2007-07-17T00:22:00.000-04:00

Last January Knitty City held a book launch for Kate Jacob's new book The Friday Night Knitting Club. They promoted the event by promising free copies of the book, free knitting kits, and free refreshments. Keyword: free. Hordes of knitters gathered round, crowding the store past capacity. Knitty City gave out
gift bags for those of us willing to leave immediately. My friend and I each got a bag containing a scarf pattern and two balls of Tahki Yarns: Cloud (colour 4). Kind of ugly, eh? So ugly, in fact, that I ended up with all four balls as my friend claimed that she could never knit anything with it. I don't know, I thought. It could have potential. I told her that I would take the yarn and knit her a birthday present. She didn't seem that excited but after I suggested a bunch of random objects, she consented to take a pair of armwarmers. I don't think she believed I'd actually do it.

My friend's birthday was over a week ago. I had six months to make them but of course I procrastinated. And while I left enough time to knit them up, this yarn is not only ugly, but a bitch to work with on account of the sudden transitions from fat and fuzzy to really thin.

I had to really struggle to get even tension throughout and after starting over several times, I finally finished one arm using a k2p2 rib. I guess it didn't turn out that bad? Though I think I will be able to finish the pair using only one ball of yarn, leaving me with three more. I feel burdened by the free yarn!

it's tragic, yes it's true

2007-07-09T02:20:00.000-04:00

hey eleanor, it seems your heart's on your sleeve
and it's the reason that you want to leave
so if you're going to go
just go, just go

we've come to understand that the letter in your hand
it came from a boy who won't be your man
it's tragic, yes it's true
but don't let it ruin this town for you

eleanor, it seems that train's going to leave
and you'd better hurry if that's what you need ..........(cftpa)
but if you still don't know
don't go, oh honey don't go

There is something really exciting about living in New York. I used to have to sometimes jump up and

down to dispel the energy. Now I just kind of bounce. One day I will have to leave, but for now, I have great friends who tell me: Don't go.

a hiccup in your happiness

2007-06-30T12:22:00.000-04:00

the start is the hardest part
to step inside and announce a newly broken heart

I often get the hiccups late at night.
When I've been out.
And have partaken in some drinking.
Last night I learned a new trick.
It's foolproof!

take a deep breath.
without exhaling, take several more small breaths until you can't inhale anymore.
let out the air in equally small increments until you are empty.

it hurts, but it works.

I had gotten the hiccups on the way home from seeing The Ballet at Cinders. Cinders is the cutest gallery ever! There I discovered my new favourite artist, Kevin Hooyman. Browsing his website I found this:

but please don’t despair, Louise
today will end and your heart will mend, if by degrees

and it hurts even more than you thought
and it feels like forever just now
but one day you’ll look back on this
as a hiccup in your happiness.

I can't inhale anymore.

speaking of outer space...

2007-06-22T10:18:00.000-04:00

I went to Iceland.

We spent one afternoon at 12 Tónar. Their hospitality and expresso making skills compelled me to spend an exorbitant $60 on only two CDs. I purchased self-titled albums by Apparat Organ Quartet, who are currently providing my soundtrack tune (The Anguish of Space Time) and are pictured on the wall above my head, and Benni Hemm Hemm, who are playing in New York soon with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Go see them!

Yesterday was the summer solstice. In New York the sun rose at 5:24 am and set at 8:30 pm. In Reykjavík the sun rose at 2:55 am and set at 12:04 am equaling over 21 hours of daylight. Crazy!

the anguish of space time

2007-06-19T01:49:00.000-04:00

I have too many UFOs in my life.
(UFO = UnFinished Object in knit blog talk)
Some of these I haven't touched in years.
Some are shockingly belated gifts. (sorry!)
Some are from unphotogenic parts of my life.

just, sometimes the start is the most exciting part.

i heart pork

2007-06-07T14:47:00.000-04:00

operator, get me sweden

2007-05-24T00:49:00.000-04:00

Use any methods you require to get her on the wire
I know you understand me you've heard it all before
Because you are this earths' long distance love ambassador

I went to Stockholm!

Our apartment is one of those buildings. Maybe the yellow one second from the left? I forget.

It was kind of eerie because it never really got dark. We could go sightseeing at night, even. It was nice except for when I would wake with the sunrise every morning at 4 am. Then it was kind of shocking.

These pictures were taken around 9 or 10 at night without a flash!

Remarkably, the Swedes seem to like food in tubes:

I bought some tubed "bacon ost" but haven't tried it yet.

Not wanting to show up empty handed, I knit a sweater for the son of my swedish friends. I used the pattern for the Shawl-Collared Jacket from Baby Knits For Beginners by Debbie Bliss. It was the first time I've knit anything without deviating from the pattern. I even bought the yarn specified. But even then I still had to buy a sixth ball of yarn. I must be a tight knitter. It was my first garment, but I think it turned out not bad, right? The kid's freaking gorgeous so I'm sure anything would look good on him. I think next time I'll try to add pockets.

This was knit with Debbie Bliss merino aran (colour: 325300 black, 6 skeins) on size US8 needles.

fun park fugitives

2007-05-03T21:03:00.000-04:00

from our heads down to our sneakers
we're natural born thrill seekers

I told you I'd eat it.

I wish that I was beautiful for you

2007-05-01T20:02:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I went to Brooklyn and took a lot of pictures for a friend. Then she took this one of me:

(for the gender confused. hee.)

and I wish that I was beautiful for you
I wish that I could change things with a pill
for a quick fix modern tonic that would change me with one swallow
I would kill
watch folks line up to pay
to stare at me all day
but I’d turn them all away if that be thy will
one tiny little innocuous pill
but a wish is just a pin in a swimming pool of needles

Sometimes life is easier when certain aspects of it are blurred.

double decker fun

2007-04-24T01:24:00.000-04:00

So I went to see Low the other day (well, weeks ago now), and when they came back for the first encore (yes, they did two!) Alan Sparhawk (who, by the way, is quite sexy. y'know, in that rock star kind of way) said in his deep baritone, "We're going to do it a little different. Everybody clap your hands. C'mon. Pretend you're eating cake."

ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water

instructions:
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. grease and line pans with parchment paper
3. sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda, salt

4. cream butter and sugar
5. beat in eggs one at a time

6. alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk

7. mix just until incorporated

8. add boiling water, mix for one minute

9. bake ~40 minutes

I found that recipe for Jan's Chocolate Cake online back in January and have been obsessed with it ever since. I can't stop making it!

I even had to buy a second cake pan to be able to bake it faster (and therefore more often!).

I've added mint extract to make it minty, substituted hot coffee instead of boiling water to make it coffee-y, added raspberries, blueberries...

The possibilities are endless!

For Party Bobobomo (happy birthday to me!) I used canned blueberries between the layers.

Though now I'm on the hunt for a vegan cake recipe.

Do you know of one?

We also made cupcakes!

candle with care: music to hold hands to

2007-04-12T01:32:00.000-04:00

Look what came for me today:

It's the end of an era. Or at least the end of Candle Records. In a panic I ordered all the Lucksmiths and Darren Hanlon recordings I was missing. I can be a bit of a completist when there is a sale.

If I could only listen to one band for the rest of my life, it would have to be The Lucksmiths. I love them. Not only are they extremely catchy but their craftsmanship of the English language never ceases to amaze me. So many times I'll be dancing around my apartment like a loser and then struck absolutely still by the beauty of it.

How does Tali White sing so flawlessly while banging the drums at the same time? It's a mystery.

Though I've got to say, of all my new CDs, I like the cover art of Darren Hanlon's Hiccups EP the best. Brilliant.

I am such a sucker for a catchy tune and smart lyrics. There's a long list of songwriters that just break my heart.

And now instead of my taxes, I'll have to rearrange my CD shelf.

you can't keep a secret
but you keep a diary anyway
and you get away with murder
because you've got a way with words

This was supposed to be a knitting blog, but whatever.

mak'n maki

2007-04-05T01:41:00.000-04:00

My cereal cupboard is empty, and while I still have leftover chowder in the freezer, a recent tea break at Pearl River Mart in SoHo -->
has got me drooling over ceramic dishes and craving avocado rolls.

Check it:

I like to use the pressure cooker.

Janet says for every cup of rice, dissolve 1/4 cup of sugar in 1/4 cup of rice vinegar and add a bit of salt to taste:

But I never end up adding even half that.

I've got your picture, I've got your picture. I'd like a million of them all round my cell.
I asked the doctor to take your picture, So I can look at you from inside as well.

hail ceasar

2007-03-29T00:41:00.000-04:00

Rosie came to visit the other week and brought me 10 litres of Clamato juice!

Some interesting trivia (from here):
"The Caesar, a quintessential Canadian invention has been one of this country’s most favored savory cocktails for over 35 years. Spiced up, or spiced down, each year, over 300 million Caesars are served to Canadians across the country (almost ten times the nation’s entire population) reflecting the fact that the savory Caesar is a cherished part of Canadian life. -- The tale of the Caesar began in 1969 when inventor, bar manager and mixologist extraordinaire Walter Chell was challenged to concoct his own unique cocktail creation to mark the opening of a Calgary restaurant. Since then, the infamous blend of vodka and Mott’s Clamato tomato-clam cocktail (a combination of tomato juice, mashed clams and a top secret blend of spices) has become a true Canadian icon."

Here we go, yo:

So anyway, I guess this evens the score: New York 1, Toronto 1

Isn't celery lovely?

happy birthday (for yesterday)

2007-03-25T11:01:00.000-04:00

did the host raise a toast to the day your life began?

I was two months behind with these legwarmers for Caroline's birthday. Only because I ran out of one of the yarns and it took me a trip back to Toronto to find it again. But here they are:

Novella Socks from Knit 2 Together. I knit them with a strand of each Berroco Softwist (41% wool, 59% rayon, colour: 9427 dijon, 3 skeins) and Katia Ingenua (78% mohair, 13% nylon, 9% wool, colour: 16 yellow, 2 skeins) on size US6 needles. I think if I had obeyed the instructions and used the yarn specified in the pattern (Rowan Cashsoft DK) the socks would have had a bit more give. It's a good thing that girl is so skinny!

I was only a month behind with her hubbie's gift because I was smart enough to buy the yarn in New York. (Actually, I had Caroline's legwarmers ready a month ago but I couldn't very well show up to Jack's birthday brunch with only a gift for his wife!) I knit him a pair of Broad Street Mittens from Knitty. This pattern had several mistakes in it resulting in a very frustrating experience and my having to frog the first mitt twice! And then it was difficult to judge the sizing because my hands are relatively smaller and so I was never really quite sure about them. But I'm happy with the way they turned out, and he says they fit. Hoorah!

These were knit with Blue Sky Alpacas (sport weight, 100% alpaca, colour: 523 grape, 1 skein, and colour: 308 navy blue, 2 skeins) on size US2 and US3 dpns.

breakfast in new york

2007-03-05T22:50:00.000-05:00

key tags: New York 1, Toronto 0

saw you going crazy on the dance floor

eggplant and potato stew

2007-02-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

you like potato, I like potahto
you like tomato, I like tomahto
potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto
let's call the whole thing off

eggplant, aubergine
Either way, it's still stew season as far as I'm concerned.

The first time I made the Italian Vegetable and Potato Stew from Ashbury's Aubergines was last December and it was a horrible catastrophe. I tried to double some parts and triple others. My pot was overflowing. There was tomato splatter on the walls. I felt very Bridget Jones. Eggplants take a lot of patience! But apparently it's called stew for a reason, and eventually it became quite tasty, much to my relief as I had a bunch of hungry people to feed! I made it for the third time on Saturday and I think I've now got the hang of it!

ingredients:
1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
2 tbs salt
4 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 medium boiling potatoes, chopped
1 x 28 oz can tomatoe puree
1 cup vegetable broth
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried basil

instructions:
1. place eggplant in colander and toss with salt
2. let stand for at least 1 hour
3. rinse well, drain and pat dry

I forgot to peel the eggplant!!
whoops!

4. heat 2 tbs oil
5. add eggplant, stir until lightly brown (~5 min)

6. transfer to plate and set aside
7. heat remaining 2 tbs oil
8. add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic, stir until softened (~5 min)

9. add eggplant and potatoes

10. and tomatoe puree, vegetable broth, red pepper flakes, and basil

11. bring to simmer
12. reduce heat and cover, stir occassionally until potatoes tender (~1 hour)
13. eat!

oh the weather outside is frightful

2007-02-25T11:45:00.000-05:00

I realize it's February 25th and not December, but I didn't have a camera two months ago to take photos of all my christmas knitting!

For my mother I knit Branching Out from Knitty using Rowan Kidsilk Haze (70% super kid mohair, 30% silk, colour: 600 Dewberry). This was really frustrating to knit at first because I kept forgetting or adding yarn overs and ending up with the wrong number of stitches. I had to pay strict attention! I was a little worried at first because it was knitting up rather bunchy and ugly, but I took it in to a yarn store while I was in Vancouver and asked the lovely lady there for some advice about blocking. Following her suggestions I soaked the whole thing in a sinkful of lukewarm water with a drop of dishsoap, swished it around a very little bit. Then I filled the sink with fresh water and dunked it in there. I rolled up the scarf in a towel and stepped on it to get as much water out as possible. Then I pinned it out on an ironing board. It dried in no time and come out all flat and soft and lovely! My mother says, that despite all the holes, it is very warm. :)

I knit a scarf for my dad using Catalina (100% baby alpaca, colour: 206 Natural Jute). I love this yarn. It felt like butter. Really. The pattern came from One Skein and is a cross between the Double Cable Scarf and the Triple Cable Muffler in the Rib and Cable Quartet series. My yarn choice, although soft like butter, was a different thickness than suggested, hence my adaptation. I think I'd like to try another one in a heavier weight yarn.

Also from One Skein, I knit my sister's arm warmers using the Silk Sleeves pattern. She requested black and since I had a bunch of fine alpaca yarn (Mystic Alpaca, I don't believe this is 100% alpaca because the label says machine washable and to tumble dry. Could that be possible?) I used that.

My other sister got a Dayflower Lace Scarf in Misti Baby Alpaca (100% peruvian baby alpaca, colour: 7238 chartreuse melange). I don't know why I knit it so tightly, except that it was my first attempt at lace.

And lastly for my brother I knit this scarf following the mock-cable rib pattern from Warm Fuzzies in Stitch'n'Bitch Nation using Lang Silk Dream (50% merino, 50% silk, colour: 24 silver and 4 black). I kind of wanted to keep it for myself. I switched colours every two rows so that I would not have to cut the yarn. I hate weaving in ends! This scarf ended up needing four skeins. Sometimes knitting is expensive.

Maybe next year they will get matching mittens!

take this job and shove it

2007-02-18T22:42:00.000-05:00

there's a choir behind me
egging me on
placing their bets and
hoping I'll do no wrong

One of my old co-workers has decided to quit his new job and travel Europe. My boss is finding this incomprehensible. How can his star pupil want to throw his career away in this manner? It's inconceivable. Or isn't it? My boss's voice went up two octaves when I told him once that I was thinking of doing more or less the same thing. The quitting, not the Europe bit, though that would be nice, too!

Anyway, I was thinking of this again the other night. I went to a showroom party thing (?) for a company that makes bedding. All these beds draped with beautiful sheets and duvets and pillows. Who uses that many pillows anyway? And waiters walking around with trays of hor'deurves and booze. And a live band! Two bands! I even got a little loot bag when I left. Oh private sector, stop taunting me!

If I could do life all over again, would I be who I am? Would this job be my job? Probably. I am scared of taking chances with my career. I am a sucker. But I still wish I were doing something else.

I love textiles. I would love to make things all day. I would have liked to make bedding, maybe. I like blankets.

my beginner’s luck is wearing thin
I’ll need to rely on skill if I’m going to win

hello kitten

2007-02-14T00:45:00.000-05:00

songs with handclaps are the cat's meow.

via PostSecret

How can it be so funny and so sad at the same time?
(I, er, didn't write that, by the way. I'm freaking fantastic!)

you have a blue iris with a hint of burnt sienna and it wrestles my hate to the ground

chili corn and squash chowder

2007-02-10T23:30:00.000-05:00

lunch was always leftovers
the art of cooking for two
is lost on me and you

Elizabeth gave me this recipe when I was visiting her in Vancouver. I think that she got it from the supermarket. It looks like one of those supermarket recipes. In fact, a little google searching and here it is from Save On Foods. I love bacon (!) and cilantro (!) and butternut squash (!) so I thought that I would try it:

ingredients:
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 large onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 anaheim pepper, seeded and minced
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced

4 cups corn niblets
2 large carrots, cut into coins

2 cups chicken broth
4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

5 slices lean bacon, fried to crisp and chopped

1 large butternut squash, peeled and chopped

1 cup light cream
6 tbs fresh cilantro, chopped

instructions:
1. heat oil
2. add onion, garlic, jalapeño, anaheim and habanero peppers, stir 1 min

3. add corn, carrots, chicken broth, chili powder, pepper, stir
4. simmer 15 mintues (until carrots almost tender) with lid tilted

5. add bell peppers and bacon
6. simmer 3 minutes

7. add squash and cream
8. simmer 15 mintues (until squash tender)

9. add cilantro

10. eat!

I wish that I could somehow upload the lovely smell coming from my kitchen!

vegetarian chili

2007-01-28T23:18:00.000-05:00

Today I did some cooking. It's a rare event so I thought that I would archive it. I got the recipe years ago from Peggy D. I don't know where she got it. Whenever I make it, I'm reminded of Soup Nights and our copious consumption of bread. I wonder what those guys are all up to now...

ingredients:
1 tbs vegetable oil
2 onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs chili powder
2 tsp cumin
2 sweet red peppers
2 jalapino peppers

1 x 28 oz can plum tomatoes

2 x 19 oz can red kidney beans (I like to mix it up a bit)

1 cup corn

salt

pepper

instructions:

1. heat oil

2. add onions, garlic, stir 10 min

3. add chili, cumin, stir 1 min

4. add both kinds of peppers, stir

5. add tomatoes

6. boil uncovered until thick (10-15 min)

7. add beans, corn, stir 10 min

8. add salt, pepper to taste

9. eat!

optional: top with chedder, parsley

annie's blue cable arm warmers

2007-01-16T19:25:00.000-05:00

I've been home sick since Thursday. I feel much better now but it got kind of sad and lonely for awhile. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a job where I just worked from home, where I didn't have any coworkers and didn't have to interact with people. Perhaps it would make me a little eccentric, because sometimes I feel borderline.

Anyway, with all this time in quarantine, I was able to finish the armwarmers I was knitting Annie for her birthday. Today is her birthday! Unfortunately I am still too sick to go to her birthday party. But they're finished! I feel quite proud of them because they were my first real attempt at designing, and look how lovely they turned out. I was so pleased! Now I will attempt to write out the pattern so that in the future, I can remember what all that scribble means.

blue cable arm warmers:
cast on 36 st
divide evenly over 3-4 dpn
place marker and join

row 1: p1, k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1
row 2-4: repeat row 1
row 5: p1, k2, *p1, C4F, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1
row 6-14: repeat row 1

to form thumb hole: turn after each row and knit back and forth
row 15: repeat row 5, turn
row 16, 18, and 20: k1, p2, *k1, p4, k1, p2, repeat from * 3 more times, k1, turn
row 17 and 19: repeat row 1, turn

to close thumb hole: join and begin to knit in the round again
row 21: repeat row 5, join
row 22-30: repeat row 1
row 31: repeat row 5
row 32-36: repeat row 1
row 37-47, repeat rows 21-31

to increase:
row 48: p1, m1 k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1
row 49: k1, p1, k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, m1, p1
row 50: k1, m1, p1, k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1, k1
row 51: k2, p1, k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1, m1, k1
row 52: k2, p1, k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1, k2, k2 from next round, place marker (40 st on needles)

row 53: p1, k2, *p1, C4F, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1, C4F
row 54-62: p1, k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1, k4
row 63: p1, k2, *p1, C4F, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1, C4F
row 64-68: p1, k2, *p1, k4, p1, k2, repeat from * 3 more times, p1, k4

repeat rows 53-68 three more times
bind off and weave in ends

bah, this probably could have been written better, and in the other direction so the increases were decreases, but considering this sheet is what I was working from, this will have to do for now.

Annie's were knit with one strand of Seasons Greeting yarn (95% acrylic, 5% lurex, colour: blue?) and two strands of Kid Seta Madil (70% super kid mohair, 30% silk, colour: shade) knit together.

new year. new blog.

2007-01-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

Life has gotten all Bridget Jones on me. Nine days in and I've already forgotten my resolutions.