Green of indefinable wrongness...

Isn't that just wrong? Absolutely and completely terrifyingly wrong? It is of course why it had to be done. I stumbled across a recipe for Mountain Dew Jelly while searching for something else. I immediately shared it on a social networking site and my wonderful friends being who they are asked if I wanted to come over and make some. My friends are awesome! We made two separate pots of jelly so we added green food coloring to one hence the different colors. It actually doesn't taste horrible. I am not quite sure what you would eat it with, but that really wasn't the point. I think I might try root beer or cherry coke next.

What else has been going on since I last wrote...Well I had my first LARP experience in early November. It was unbelievably cool and I am actually traveling to Chicago tomorrow for another one (different designers).

There hasn't been much on the crafting front. We finally found bookshelves to suit our purposes and so much have my time has been spent unpacking. We have only two boxes left and if I am lucky those should be mostly dealt with this afternoon. Hooray for being moved in to our wonderful new home.

I did a lot of playing around with recipes from the Artisan Bread cookbook. Not all successes but some good experiments.

We are having a party on New Years day so I have been playing with recipes for that. I just made some roasted red pepper hummus as well as some edamame hummus (soy beans replace the traditional garbanzo beans). I bought a small food processor (I don't like them in general because of the noise but I thought it might be handy to have a small one around) last year and thought this was a good excuse to play. They didn't turn out too badly though I don't think I am a hummus convert as of yet. The second recipe came from one of the cookbooks I got for Christmas that is written by the local agricultural society. There are all sorts of neat things in this cookbook and I am actually going to make the orzo stuffed peppers for dinner tonight. Wish me luck. I also got a fondue pot and I am disturbingly excited to play with that as well. Inaugural melty goodness this weekend.

I have been home this week and it has been so wonderful to get more time to make meals. I made vanilla belgian waffles with strawberries and chocolate coffee this morning. There is a small part of me that wishes I could stay home and cook all the time.

Bread!

I made bread! No really, I realize this doesn't sound like anything monumental but it is vastly encouraging for me. I have never had much luck with it. I follow all the rules, I read all the instructions, and I can just never make it work. I have a 50/50 chance with focaccia but those just aren't very good odds. I have learned to accept the fact that if there is yeast in the dough there is a high likelihood for fail if I am the one making it.

However, at the Cooks Collegium last weekend I was presented with what seemed like a pretty fool proof bread recipe. I was enchanted with the idea of beautiful fresh baked bread, and I had to give it a shot.

And it worked. I made bread! Granted I have only made it once and it is possible that this will become the 50/50 sadness of my previous "reliable recipe" bread attempts. I remain hopeful. I am also excited about experimenting because a lot of the recipe is based on ratios so you can alter the dry to wet ingredients you use as long as you maintain the ratios and still have success. Hopefully there will be future happy bread posts. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I love cooking events...I always come home with such exciting recipes and kitchen ideas. I have a couple of others waiting for me in the kitchen I can't wait to try.

With the bread, I also took some pointers from the Good Eats bread episode (I have been watching these a lot lately...they are uber helpful), and I think between the two of them I had a good approach. One of them in particular is the proper temperature bread is supposed to reach in order for it to be considered done. I think that this is why I don't like a lot of homemade breads because a lot of times they end up really dry. Turns out the bread should be between 205 and 210 degrees F. Any hotter and it reaches the boiling point so all the water boils/evaporates away.

I should have put it on a rack instead of cutting board though. The steam all settled at the bottom and loaf got a little soggy there. I also cut into it too early and it didn't have enough time to set. It was still a little dough-y. Fresh baked bread is a challenge in patience.

Torta Bianca (updated)

Previously I posted a recipe for Torta Bianca a couple years ago. I felt that the recipe needed some work and just have not taken the time to make the corrections that I wanted to. I decided that I wanted to make this tart for a potluck at the Middle Kingdom Cooks Collegium that took place last weekend.

Life intervened and I did not end up getting the chance to make cheese as I did before and I was just going to use cream cheese. However, my traveling companion is quickly becoming a cheese goddess and made some neufchatel for me to use. This had a much better texture than the cheese I usually make and worked perfectly.

One of the things that I was hoping to correct was the 'oily' texture my original tart had to it. I thought that it was just an issue of too much fat being added but decided to do a little research. By research, I mean watch the Good Eats episode on cheesecake :)

Turns out that one of the issues may have been that I didn't allow the pie shell to cool enough before adding the filling. The shock of heat caused the butter to separate and created the slimy texture. This made a lot of sense given my general impatience. I also approached the recipe as a cheesecake rather than just a recipe with some instructions. I wiped the cheese longer and to a much smoother texture than I did previously. I slowly incorporated the wet ingredients. And by using just ginger this time I improved the likely hood of snow white tart.

It is one of the interesting things about period redactions...the way you approach things can change what you ultimately get.

Anyway here is the new recipe:
12-16 ounces homemade cheese at room temperature (depends on what type of cheese you use. It should be a soft white cheese. You can also use 16 ounces of cream cheese)
6 egg whites
1 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of butter, softened
1 tsp ginger
1 cup milk
salt (to taste)
Rosewater/additional sugar

I beat the cheese and butter together until smooth, added the sugar, salt, and ginger. I mixed the egg whites and milk together and gradually beat these into the cheese mixture. This was poured into a pie shell and baked at 350-375 (depending on your oven) for 1 hour.

Sprinkle lightly with rosewater and sugar.

End of Summer

My toes are cold this morning - second day in a row so fall must be officially here. I suppose that means now is as good a time as any to wrap up my summer.

I did not really accomplish much on the crafty front with the crazy hours I put in at work all summer and moving into our first home.



I am still getting used to the space but I can't begin to describe how much I love it here. I am also starting to learn the personality of my new kitchen. It sounds odd but we seem to be a little shy around each other. It is getting better.

I did manage to do some canning at the close of the summer season. I made pickled green beans for my husband using some of the produce from the farmers market and also the end-of-summer jam he loves. It is a combination of peaches, pears, plums, lemon and ginger and is unbelievably tasty. It comes out this gorgeous blush color. Sadly my impatience meant I took it off the heat too quick so it is a little thin. Still workable but you have to eat PBJ very quickly :)



I also made some sekanjabin as well. It was a drink I was introduced to through the SCA and while not a big fan at first it has really grown on me. When properly diluted it is really very refreshing.

I am on vacation this week from work so I decided to use the time to get some knitting projects started. I had a bunch of time I needed to use up so while not an exciting vacation hopefully it will be a relaxed one. It is starting to look like it won't be as productive as I originally intended but after all these years you would think I would know that about myself. I have gotten 3 of my 5 knitting projects started. My intent is to cast on a bunch of different patterns/yarns into various projects so when I get a moment I can pick something up and knit on it rather than stalling because I don't feel like casting something on. Mostly just socks although my sweater project is staring at me waiting for me to get the courage to make a swatch. I know I shouldn't be daunted but I am.

On patterns and things and other stuff

I had this brilliant idea that I was going to sew my Halloween costume this year. I have long been obsessed with the awesomeness of costuming but my dislike and frustrations over sewing have turned me off to actually becoming a costumer. However, my desire to have truly awesome costumes has brought me to the realization that I am going to learn how to sew one way or the other.

I have done some sewing in the past. I actually made the vest my husband wore for our wedding. Mostly though it has been a "close your eyes and go" situation.

So, I took myself down to our local fabric megamart to look at patterns. And I quickly decided that I was in over my head (and my budget this month). I am proud of myself in that I finally decided to start small and bought a pattern to make an apron instead. It was a significantly better idea then spending money on a project I couldn't really afford that had a high likelihood of failure. I guess I will try the one step at a time approach.

This does mean that I am now clueless as to what I am going to do for Halloween this year. I think I will try to hit some thrift stores this week.

I have also been thinking long and hard about learning to make hats. I love hats and I am starting to realize a passion for crazy wild hats. They are expensive though and part of me has been wondering if it would be more affordable to make them myself. My one fear is that I am not really much of a designer so I don't know where I would come up with ideas but I thought I wouldn't worry about that so much just yet. For now I am going to work on assembling the skills. YouTube user "Threadbanger" has some interesting how-to videos and some of them involve hat making.

In my quest for acquiring costuming skills, I have been paging through pattern books. Particularly costuming because that is really the kind of sewing I want to be doing. Here is the thing I don't understand about the costume world. I have seen in Halloween stores the costumes with the slutty-I mean "vamped" up versions of a theme. The sexy nurse, the sexy cartoon princess, etc where the hemline falls just below the butt cheek and the neckline falls in the middle of the cleavage. But you can also get patterns to make these.

For me costuming is about the escape and the better the costume the better the escape. I suppose I can see the appeal of sexy costume role-play but really good costumers can make some truly sexy pieces without having to cheapen it. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't judge. To each their own. Off for a walk and probably some playing with string later.

Fallen

I recently finished Fallen by Lauren Kate. It is a book aimed at the young adult/teenage audience. It is difficult to describe without giving away too much of the later half of the book. The first 3/4 is mostly setup of the characters and there is a lot of angsty soul-searching on the part of the heroine.

I am not really what one would call "well-read". I read a lot to be sure but not one would call "steady" reading. Most of the books on the list of books a person is supposed to have read I have found endlessly boring and have preferred to stick with books that amuse my brain rather than strengthen it.

However, I realized that there was a lot of really great fiction geared towards young adults that I missed when I was a teen. I read a lot of best-seller/murder-mystery type books at that time in my life. I have been trying to read more of what I missed.

The thing I like about the fiction written for this age group is it lacks some of the...and I have been wrestling to come up with the right word for it...but it lacks some of the pretentiousness and the boundaries that come when writing fiction for adults. And not even sci-fi and fantasy are able to overcome those boundaries.

I am not sure why but for some reason when I open the cover of a young adult novel, I feel like the author is giving me much more freedom as a reader to explore my own imagination within the structure of the world they are creating in the book. Maybe we loose something as adults as we get older and become more experienced that we expect the fiction written to target an adult audience mirror. Maybe we loose something as we gain wisdom and perhaps it is the connection to our imagination. Which is odd because there is quite enough examples of junk literature cluttering the adult fiction section. And I am certainly guilty of considering the devouring of a brain-candy novel before a more serious tome.

But even where the fiction is light and unencumbered it still lacks the freedom that youth fiction has.

Anyway, Fallen was in a recommended reading list based upon other books I had read so I thought I would give it a shot. It was pretty angsty. Don't get me wrong - at 15 I would have gobbled up every word and probably not left my room until I had poured through the whole series. I still have enough of a connection to that part of myself to see how it would have appealed to me. However, I have also lost enough of it to find it somewhat unpalatable now. I am not sure that I want to finish the series. I may but I am just not the sort of person the book is really written for.

You can't always go back to who you were and what you used to love I guess. I am finding this out when I try to re-visit some of my old favorite TV shows. Occasionally nostalgia is ruined when one attempts to re-discover.

Small Comforts...

There is something comforting about a murder mystery or at least certain murder mysteries. I am speaking particularly of the ones where one finds oneself in a small hamlet, with an over large cemetery. These are the ones where every time you meet a new character they are either a victim or a murderer. Stir in a lead character with some pluck and let the mayhem ensue. It is a little certainty in an uncertain world.

I am generally a fan of mystery type shows by which I mean at the beginning of the show there is a problem which through a series of steps clues begin to unfold leading the cast down a path of twists and turns ending up at a resolution. And they come in so many delightful forms these days: Castle, Bones, Leverage, etc

But every once in a while I like to return to the classics. Maybe it was all those late nights watching Murder, She Wrote reruns with my dad.

On Jane Austen and other things

As of late my biggest project for the last couple of months has been buying and moving into our new condo. I think I am officially a grown up now (or if I wasn't after getting married I am now). I haven't been doing much crafting in general, I am not in the right frame of mind to play with recipes, and even my knitting has been only plodding along.

I have been reading however. My latest brain candy are a series of mysteries utilizing Mr. & Mrs. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice fame. The series isn't brilliant literature by any stretch and the author occasionally over uses stereotypes to an annoying degree but overall they have been enjoyable reads. I have waxed poetic (that is a nice of way saying I was unreasonably indignant) over my absolute disgust at the whole "Classic novel + Monster" series that has been showing up on bookshelves of late. I am somewhat mollified that Jane Austen has not been the only target but only slightly.

While I am waiting for the next two books in the series to come to my local library, I picked up Pride and Prejudice again. I haven't read it in a while because the movie adaptation is so faithful to the book I haven't really needed to. But there were a few things I had forgotten and wanted to get re-acquainted again. In doing so I think I discovered what it is about Ms. Austen's works that is so important to me. Her characters are so perfectly drawn that you can really imagine them - good qualities and bad. They feel more real than any of the other characters I have enjoyed in novels. Re-reading Jane Austen is like being re-acquainted with long lost friends. Which why the idea of having my "friends" eaten by sea monsters or zombies is so entirely unpalatable to me. (Well, that and it doesn't need fixing). So while I don't mind reading some Austen based fiction (as long as the author remains true to the original characters) I do have a problem with Austen-based abominations.

In any case, my brain is getting stuffed full of fun literary bits at present even if my string habit is being somewhat neglected. I am almost finished with my fingerless mitts and am very close to the half way point on my lace scarf.

In other news, Sharon Shinn has a new book coming out in October...SQUEEE

Reading...

As of late my reading list has been mostly the Temperance Brennan series by Kathy Reichs. I have long been a fan of mysteries though I wouldn't say that I would read just any mystery. I have to find either the characters or the concept palatable. Which doesn't mean that they are necessarily "good" fiction...just "tasty" fiction. And, I really like this series. I like the science; I like the concept; and I like the way the story progresses. It has even helped me find appreciation for the series Bones. I have always thought that this was a show I should like but could never get into. It turns out I needed to see the pilot. It made the rest of the series make sense, and has been my brain candy for the last few months as I work through back episodes.

In between my dives into the world of forensic anthropology there have been a few other side adventures. I picked up a copy of some of Jane Austen's short stories and essays that she wrote as a young woman. They were interesting and you could really get a sense of what a clever woman she was. They weren't brilliant necessarily but it was evident that hers was a mind that didn't often get to use itself to its full capacity. It was unlike anything I have ever read. I didn't get through all of it but I think it will be worth a revisit every now and again (though perhaps not in a full dose all at once).

It also seems I have a strongly tuned radar for Jane Austen inspired modern fiction. I don't always read them but I am always curious. I recently picked up Vanity and Vexation by Kate Fenton and was pleasantly surprised. It is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice but the author I think took pains not to make it the exact same novel. All the elements were there (well mostly) but they were used differently enough to make the story interesting. I of course knew where the novel was going from the first page (at least generally) but I didn't mind riding along with the author to get there. It worked. I have certainly read worse. And of course there are some "adaptations" I refuse to believe exist.

There is also another kind of book I need to find more of...autobiography/biographies in which food/recipes play a role in the storytelling. Books about food have always been comforting and I have stumbled upon a few books in which the author shares their story with the support of kitchens, recipes, and food. I have enjoyed them and need to find more...I am just not quite sure how to go about searching for them.

Egg Drop Soup

Egg Drop Soup is quickly becoming my new comfort food and I figured out a way to make it in a way I find very tasty:

1 quart chicken broth
ginger, garlic powder, onion powder
2 tablespoons corn starch
3 eggs, gently beaten
salt, pepper, other seasonings as needed.

1. Bring to a boil chicken broth with ginger, garlic, and onion powder.

2. Mix a couple tablespoons of the broth with cornstarch. Add cornstarch. Simmer until it begins to thicken - about 5 minutes. I find I need to stir frequently while this is happening.

3. Reduce heat to gentle simmer. Beat 3 eggs very gently (I don't like keeping yolks and whites separate so I don't like to beat the eggs too much) and pour in a circular motion over the broth. Allow to set. Stir gently until heated through. Serve.

Completed Knitting Projects

This hat was made for a friend of mine. I actually ended up making this hat twice as I needed a practice run with the pattern. I was pleased by the results of the second and want to make one for myself.



These turned out unbelievably soft if not necessarily the prettiest socks I have ever made.

---

Currently on the needles:

I only have the toe left of the second Devils Snare Sock. I should hopefully finish that this weekend in between packing.

My lace scarf is progressing very slowly. I am actually a little proud of it so far and I am worried I might mess it up. It requires my concentration so I can't knit on it while watching TV with most of my projects so it may be on the needles for a long time.

I also have a skein of fingering weight wool in a color way I totally love. However, it is really unpleasant to knit with. I was going to make socks but I don't think I can bare to work with it that much so I think I am going to make some fingerless gloves instead. It also doesn't have enough give to be as successful as socks as I think it would need to be.

Updates on Knitting

I finished the first sock of the Devil's Snare pattern using my Opal Harry Potter yarn. The yarn is probably too busy for this pattern but it makes my geek heart happy so I don't mind one bit. It needs a bit of tailoring to really fit. I think. I just finished the ribbing on sock number two and need to move into the lace again. I really love the heel flap and the pattern in general so I may use it again on a yarn that shows off the lace better. It gives me a good reason to purchase some KnitPicks yarn but honestly who really needs a good reason for yarn shopping :)



Sock number one completed. I started on the ribbing for sock number two. I love how soft this yarn is. My knitting wasn't so grand and I am disappointed in the colorway. I loved it on the skein and it was called "Sapphire" but once knitted it is mostly green and yellow.



These were a lot of fun and knit up very fast. I picked the wrong yarn weight and didn't do a swatch so they were enormous. I gave them to my husband though so hopefully no more cold hands after being up late playing video games.

Books and Knitting

I recently stopped by Frugal Muse in Madison to see if I could find any other copies of books by the Yarn Harlot and was pleased to find one. I of course needed to browse through the rest of the string section and found an inexpensive copy of "In Praise of the Needlewoman" by Gail Carolyn Sirna. Essentially it is a selection of art work spanning 1595-19something showing women playing with string in some manner or other: embroiderers, knitters, lacemakers, etc.

A brief glance through and I found a selection of paintings I always really liked and so I picked it up. And I am glad I did because there are some really wonderful images in there, many of which I have never seen before. It also has me re-assessing some of my favorite paintings. I always thought what drew me to them was the domesticity of woman working on some sort of project. It is what has always interested me about research in the SCA. I don't care at all about wars and kings and trade agreements. It is the domestic arts of history that I want to know more about, and apparently, the more they involve string the better. So, all in all I found the book a lovely bit of eye and brain candy. I have read a few blurbs but sadly I must admit that most of my perusal has been just to look at the pictures.

In other news, yesterday, I needed a bit of me time so I drove over to the Sow's Ear for some happy knitting and coffee time. String really does transcend boundaries. For some reason I can chat with strangers when my hands are full of string and needles. It is kind of a fascinating phenomenon. Anyway, while there I decided to pick up a copy of "The Complete Guide to Natural Dyeing" by Eva Lambert and Tracy Kendall. I haven't been able to afford a copy of the out-of-print "Wild Color" and this book had some similar features that I really liked. I think I also want to pick up a copy of "Teach Yourself Visually: Hand-Dyeing" by Barbara Parry to round out my background information. It had some different techniques and a different approach to teaching. Hopefully between the two I will get a good base knowledge before I start playing with dyes this summer (or at least that is the plan).

As for my knitting right now I have a ridiculous amount of stuff on my needles (at least for me). And I am starting to really branch out in the stuff I am willing to try and the things I want to make. However, I am also finding myself increasingly frustrating at my skill level with knitting. I very desperately need my pattern when it is anything other than garter or stockinette. I need to make little check marks and tallys and I need to re-write things if the original pattern isn't clear enough for me to follow. I know so many knitters who seem to be able to just knit by memory complex laces, socks, and sweaters, and I am completely unfunctional without my pattern. That isn't to say I am not learning. I am starting to recognize mistakes, I am getting better at reading my knitting, and I am even able to look at something when it is finished and understand how it could have been improved with some changes to the pattern but I certainly don't feel comfortable re-working the whole thing. I am also afraid to frog anything unless it is in the early stages. Even if I am unhappy with the results it seems horrific to me just to pull the whole thing apart.

I really want to make a sweater for myself. I have all the tools. The thing is the sweater I want to make has this sort of empire waste where above is just basic knitting and below is the lace pattern. For my basic person I think that in order for it to be flattering the lace will need to start below my breasts. The original model is a significantly more petite woman with much more perky breasts and from some of the other examples I have seen online the sweater really isn't flattering if it doesn't fall correctly. I don't know how to take my swatch piece and then from that figure out how the pattern is going to fall with the increased size so that I can make a flattering sweater from the onset and make alterations if needed. I will be heartbroken if it turns out poorly I think even though I know it is a first attempt. This is where clinging so desperately to my patterns is becoming a problem.

I will get there. I am just not very patient.

Re-reading Jane

I decided to re-read the two novels of Jane Austen's that I have only read once. (Mansfield Park is not included on this list because it took me 6 months to get through it the first time and I just can't do that to myself again.) Usually, I find myself reading Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion, the later being my favorite, when I find my brain in need of a dose of Jane. I don't read Pride and Prejudice anymore simply because the A&E movie version is so faithful to the original narrative that I find it tedious to read what I can watch.

Anyway, I first picked up Northanger Abbey. I honestly can't say why I only read this novel once. I remembered liking it when I first read it but for some reason it just didn't stick the same way that Persuasion did. The characters are beautifully drawn. More than that, it is a joy to watch our heroine, Catherine Morland, grow into a young woman through the progression of events she encounters as the story unfolds. It is fantastic story-telling and is one of the best examples of my favorite element in fiction writing - character development. I am sorry it took me this long to re-discover it.

Next of course was Emma. I was indifferent to this the first time I read it and I still am I suppose though perhaps with a little more educated non-chalantness. Emma is just not necessarily someone I would ever want to take tea with. That isn't to say she is a bad person. On the contrary at the heart of it she is a good person who just hasn't figured out the world yet or rather she is a good person; she is just really bad at it. I think a lot of it is that she lives a life of privilege in a small neighborhood. She doesn't really have a chance to learn from experience because her world presents a predictable set of incidents to react to. Her stubborn misplaced snobbery I think is more the effect of not knowing better and never being given a mirror to see her behavior reflected in.

What I think I respect the most about this book is that Miss Austen created a heroine who is undeniably flawed. She is real because despite all her more charming characteristics she is still just as fallible as the rest of us. This is especially true when compared to some of the other characters in the book. While Emma may never be my ideal friend, I think I would have found her society infinitely more enjoyable than say Mrs. Elton's.

On another note, I was discussing with a friend recently about the fact that Emma is always cast as a blonde in film adaptations (even the delightful "Clueless") when she is never described. And it is true. Emma as a person is never described. The best I could come up with is the repeated references to her as "fair cousin" "fair sister" "fair friend" which is more in reference to her character than her coloring I think but it is possible that someone else misconstrued this. *shrug*

Knitting Progress

As part of my resolution to venture out of my safe zone when it comes to knitting (lumpy squares and stockinette tubes), I decided to try the Devil's Snare Sock pattern. I liked that the lace part was on only one section (my all the way around lace effort turned into epic fail the first time I tried that) and I loved the detail on the heel flap. I even saved my special Opal Harry Potter yarn for this purpose.

I finished the first sock tonight and it didn't go to badly. I had a few false starts but a friend quickly cleared things up. They are a little to big and I think I know how to fix that but I am not willing to frog the sock to do try it (I am conquering one fear at a time here). The variegated yarn doesn't really show off the full effect of the pattern but I still love them and I think I may use the pattern again in the future.

Now, I need to finish the second sock...sigh

"Free-Range Knitter"

I recently picked up a copy of "Free-Range Knitter: the Yarn Harlot Writes Again" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

I was somewhat skeptical. I have seen her blog, and while I do not dislike it, I also never really got into it*. I am not a huge blog reader in general, and I am not much of a person for books that are collections of stories or essays. But, I thought I would give it a try, and I am really glad I did. I enjoyed it immensely; it was honest, thoughtful, insightful and rather witty. It is the kind of writing (aside from perhaps a few style changes) that I always wished I could do.

One of the things I really appreciated about it was that it made me feel more like I belonged. I am neither a very good nor a very fast knitter. I knit because I find the movements relaxing, I like that my boredom can be turned into a sock, I have a somewhat unhealthy addiction to string, and I always feel like I need to be doing something with my hands in order to be really comfortable. Most of my knitting to date has been lumpy dishrags (garter stitch squares of cotton) and basic stockinette socks. I don't look at a pattern and immediately go "I can do that!" Actually, my reactions to interesting patterns are usually jealousy (I wish I could do that), longing (I need that beautiful bit of string), or frustration (even if I get up the courage to do it, it will take forever and come out wrong).

So, I have never really felt like a real knitter. I think about knitting a lot (I think about string more often) but I always feel that I can't be a real knitter until it becomes intuitive. I watch women knitting at yarn stores or gatherings or in public and they knit complex lacy bits of knitting without seeming to need to follow a pattern or even look at their hands. Whereas, I cling desperately to my pattern and make little tally marks to track where I am as I go along. That isn't to say that I think the knitting community is unwelcoming - I have actually found them to be quite the opposite. And, as I have become more exposed to knitters in general I have started to feel more open not only to the fact that despite my deficits I might just be a knitter and maybe just maybe I can start to pick up more complex patterns. But for some reason, I needed to hear the author talking about all sorts of different knitters to be able to truly feel like my own particular idiosyncratic tendencies as a knitter have their place. It helped to bring home to me that I am a knitter when I found myself laughing at the knitting-related references/jokes; it helped to draw me into the shared experience that is being a knitter.

I was a little envious (ok extremely envious) of how much the author is able to find knitting time. I have tried traveling with my knitting but I can't seem to manage it in most circumstances (although it never occurred to me to bring my knitting to the movie theater). I found the bus I was too squished and confined; I think I need my elbows to steer when I am knitting which is difficult to do when I am trying to politely hold them in at my sides. Walking by itself is hazardous at the best of times for me so the idea of walking and knitting seems ludicrous (I used to walk home from school and read at the same time and to this day I am not sure how I managed to keep myself from getting hit by a car). And then there is my charting problem. I need my pattern, especially as I start to explore more complicated applications for my knitting. And while my sock knitting has helped me to better understand how things go together to the point that I am starting to learn how to fix my mistakes I still couldn't turn a heel without my pattern.

So knitting has become sort of a special treat for me. It is special time I steal for myself to play with string. It relaxes and inspires me at the same time even if I am frustrated by how little I get to do compared to how much I want to. Some day I will get to knit all the complex things I am afraid of. Someday I will find the courage to frog something I truly loved that didn't turn out. And some day my stash will be epic and will I make no apologies for that.

So Thank you Stephanie Pearl-McPhee for helping to solidfy in my own mind that I am a knitter. It was a wonderful journey and I shall be looking for more of your books.

*In fairness my visual/tactile learning style can't handle reading that isn't a fiction based novel (I think my dreams of grad school are probably doomed).

Felted Slippers

These are made with Berroco Peruvia yarn using this pattern. I also added non-skid leather patches to the bottom.

They were a really enjoyable knit and for the first time felting a piece that i actually intended to use I was happy with the results. I felted them too small for my toes to have enough wiggle room so I am hoping to find a good home for them.

Project Backlog

There were a bunch of projects I completed recently I didn't want to post as they were thank-you gifts for the people who helped out with our wedding. Now that we are mostly recovered...

I decided to make gift bags full of fun goodies, pretty bits of silliness, and where I had time a hand made item to express my sincere thanks for everything people did for us. It still amazes me how awesome our friends are and our day would not have been successful without everyone's help.



My former roommate likes froggies and has a kitchen painted a lovely fluorescent green (it is a much better color than this and much better than you are probably thinking). She was a huge help organizing and implementing successful cleanup after the wedding so my groom and I could retire to our hotel. I found this pattern and thought it appropriate for her gift bag.



This was my first attempt at hardanger. My maid of honor and dear friend did such an amazing job with the bachelorette party and keeping me sane in general. She recently purchased a home and her front room was decorated in these colors. I am not sure I like doing hardanger work but I really liked this pattern.



These were originally going to be a holiday gift for a friend until I found out (shortly after finishing them) that she doesn't like wool - not even the amazingly soft cloud like wool I used on my wedding socks. These are a thicker tougher wool designed to be worn with boots so I figured they would be right out. Happily the wonderful woman who made all of the tasty-tasty food for our wedding liked them and has been enjoying their thick cozy warmth.



This was a silk scarf form I had purchased and did some embroidery on as a gift for the woman who made our unbelievably flavorful cake.