Surly Purler

RIP dear friend of mine

2011-04-21T00:59:00.002-05:00

We are gathered here to mourn death of a dear friend of mine. She has been with me through thick and thin. (Well mostly thick to be honest, not so much of the thin)

I have decided to give up processed sugar for one month. I came to this realization tonight when I was recapping my day. I ate 2 peanut butter eggs, 2 high sugar caffeine drinks, oh yeah and then 2 more later, a few cookies, some brownies, oh good gracious it was a bad day. Clearly, I can't control myself. Admittedly it's hard to control yourself when at work even the soy beans are chocolate coated.

I was doing so well a couple of weeks ago. I was going to the gym 3 times a week and eating really well. I want to get back there, but honestly even then I was still sneaking a cookie here and there. Which is fine, but I can't stop at one cookie. Until I can control myself I'm going cold turkey. I'm 100 percent sure that I am addicted to sugar.

So let the withdrawal begin!

Screw Efficiency

2011-04-15T00:02:00.002-05:00

I can't understand why some people just don't get crafting.

"Why don't you just buy a sweater?", they say. Excuse me, why don't I buy a sweater? Because I don't want to. If I could go out and buy a sweater and get the feeling that I do when I'm making a sweater, trust me I would. I may just go out and solve world peace while I'm at it, or maybe the financial crisis better yet how about making either political party compromise on anything.

I then explain that I craft because I really like taking raw materials and making something. We evolved and thrived, because we are brilliant craftspeople. Yet, as a culture we don't really make anything anymore. We manage things, that's about it. We manage the machines that craft. I'm sorry but there's just no romance in that, no joie de vivre.

After taking all of this in I then hear, "ok, ok I understand all of this, but what I still don't get is that it just is not efficient." Well, I say if I wanted efficiency I would buy a pair of socks at Walmart. But they aren't the socks that I want. I want socks that I made. I don't care that by the time that I make socks I could buy a pair and wear and wash them a few times. I know that I must now have become a little bit less American. I understand that I am trained in my career, etc to maximize efficiency at all times. I understand that to get my chores done at home, go to the gym, do my grocery shopping, do the laundry, iron the laundry, walk the dog, and have a bit of free time left to relax and knit a bit that I must maximize efficiency. But I say this...

Screw Efficiency

Ch-ch-ch- changes... well I guess not so many

2010-05-04T17:44:00.004-05:00

Here I am blogging again. I'm not quite sure why, I just felt a yearning to write again. Perhaps it was because I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool this weekend, or maybe it is that I read my boyfriend's mom's blog. Who knows.

Onward and upward to the few changes that have happened. I work as a supervisor in retail currently. I am no longer a yarn rep. I found that, for me, when my hobby became my job my hobby wasn't fun anymore. I am still living with my bf and we will be together for 3 years this summer. That seems crazy. I feel like we just met. We are still a happy little family with our somewhat worse for wear pup, Cooper. Our poor mutt, which we adopted and were excited because he was a mix and so should be less inclined to inbreeding and therefore be more healthy.... right? Wrong! He is fairly healthy but he has epilepsy and seasonal allergies. Yup my dog is a ginger dog. He doesn't know the difference though he just gets a few laced treats in the morning and night. In fact, he might just be happier and slightly more rotund due to all of these yummy snacks.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-01-17T08:05:00.000-05:00

Oh, where to start! Well, to begin with I moved out of my parent's house. Thank goodness, I love ya mom and dad, but I was starting to go a bit crazy. Where have I gone? Well I must have gone crazy living at my parent's because I moved in with my boyfriend, Roger. Fast, you say? That's true, but hey it's been a little more than two months now living together and so far so good!
We rent a little house in Phoenixville, Pa. The house is great, it has a big kitchen, washer/dryer, screened in porch, a nice yard, garage, and a nice office for me. It's also a great location, although I do miss the mountains down in Virginia.
Oh, and one more big change, we got a dog! His name is Cooper and he just had his 1st birthday. We adopted him at the ASPCA. They said there that he is a lab mix, but I don't think he has any lab in him. My guess is an Australian Cattle Dog mix. What do ya think? We've thought about getting one of those puppy DNA tests done, but I'm not sure it's worth it. I am rather curious though, so perhaps down the road. He's been a great dog, very cuddly but active too. I'm hoping to make him my new hiking buddy. I did five miles with him the other day and he wanted to keep going, so I think it might work out. I also set up the tent to see if he'd go in it, and he did! He's on the road to becoming a great backpacking pup.

Here's a pic of Coop sitting on the very nice pillows that Roger's mom made. I swear it's the one and only time he's been on them in the chair. They are much too nice for him to be on them, but come on he looks really cute.
As for the important information, my knitting... I have been moving along slowly with my projects. I do have 800 yards of delicious qiviut to make a shawl out of. I've been looking around at patterns, but so far I haven't found anything that seemed perfect. Suggestions?

Bacardi in Terra

2007-10-28T08:05:00.000-05:00

Meet my next project everyone! Sorry I couldn't find a larger picture, but it's Bacardi, a fair isle sweater from No Sheep for You. As if the pattern itslef isn't interesting enough, I'm using a brand new yarn (not even in stores yet!) from South West Trading Company, Terra. It's a dk 50/50 cotton, bamboo blend. I can't wait to get the yarn! First I have to pick out colors though, I need to choose six. I'm always tempted to pick 6 different colors for fair isle, but I do think fair isle looks better when it's more tonal with just an accent or two. Here are the colors that I was considering:

The sixth is a chocolate brown that I couldn't find a photo of for some reason. I think the colors above might be too safe. What do you think? Here are the other colors that I was considering

I might do the light blue instead of the brown or one of the lighter greens. Regardless of what colors I choose I can't wait to start my first fair isle sweater!

Knitting for Penguins!

2007-10-02T20:01:00.000-05:00

My sister was in class and in one of her class her professor talked about penguins and oil spills. I'm sure you all know about the terrible effects of oil spills on birds. Basically the oil covers their feathers and the oil destroys their natural oils which makes them very cold. Also, the penguins will try and clean themselves and end up ingesting the oil and poisoning them. What is the solution? Penguin Sweaters! Which also happen to be insanely cute. They keep the wee penguins warm, in style, and inhibit them from preening.

Vick's Jury

2007-08-28T15:08:00.000-05:00

I couldn't help myself...

Birthday Wishes

2007-08-02T18:02:00.000-05:00

I googled "being lost" to find some pics and this is one thing that came up....I just couldn't resist using it.
As a rep, I go lots of places that I've never been to before. This caused me to get lost ALL THE TIME! I have made more u-turns in the past week than most people make in a year. Originally, when I first mentioned to my family that I should maybe get a GPS system she said, "People have gotten so crazy with technology, there's no need for something like that if you just use mapquest in advance." And at first, I agreed. That is until, you make a wrong turn and then those directions don't help you out much... you just stay lost. For a while, I would jokingly call my mom my GPS system, because I would call home and get her to hop on mapquest for me so that I could get back on track. She thought this was funny and a great plan, that is until my fiftieth call. It just wasn't working.

Luckily, my family wised up and I got GPS for my birthday... horray! I absolutely love it, I selected the male Australian voice and I call him Outback Jack. So far Outback Jack hasn't steered me wrong, but we'll see its still early in the relationship. He's a tad bossy though, watch it Jack.

I also, got more flowy pants (if you know me, you know how often I wear flowy pants), an awesome fair trade necklace, a pair of reefs, a vegetarian cookbook, and a cute little purse. Life is good!

Eek , moving out

2007-07-21T21:42:00.000-05:00

Most of you know that I am moving out of my apartment. I was planning on staying in the burg, but after repping for a bit now I've realized how much easier it is to travel up north... so many shops in such a small area! Thus I am doing the unthinkable and moving back in with my parents. It'll be fun though, because my sister is also living at home to finish up her degree. The family is reunited.

I remember vividly the night before leaving for my freshman year of college and thinking, "This is it, the last night of what I've known for 18 years." And here I am back again, never say never. When we were planning the move my dad was adamant the I claim the guest bedroom as my office. I said, "No, no I need a craft room... to house yarn etc." Then I realized why are we arguing? They are the same thing to me and that was a cool realization. How many people get to claim that they need a room soley for yarn and crafts that is therefore the office, because they are lucky enough to have such a fun job.

In other news, I've jumped back on the dating train... part of the reason for my lack of blogging...

Qiviut my Heart

2007-07-05T19:40:00.000-05:00

Most of you know the amount of UFO's in my possession. With the new job and companies saying to me, "Want to knit a sample, anything you want you can have", the amount of UFO's has increased exponentially. That being said, I was in Stitches with Style in Newark, De today and they had 3 delicious skeins of qiviut.

The store recently changed hands and I was walking around trying to get a feel of the shop now that the inventory has changed. It's definitely my kind of shop, loads of natural fibers! She has lots of smaller companies that I've never heard of, which I love to see. In a little basket were 3 skeins of qiviut in cute little bags that were tied with yellow ribbons. There was also a small knitted swatch that had obviously been handled a great deal, because that's when the qiviut gets really yummy. Each skein had nearly 400 yds and was only $80. That's half price! I carefully reached out and touched the knitted swatch. I was so excited at the price and the feel of that swatch that I got a bit teary eyed. Then I envisioned a luxurious shawl knitted from 2 skeins.

I kept touching and walking by it and staring. Linda, the fabulous new owner, said she would hold a skein for me. I was trying to be good though and said that I may call back later.

On my way back to my parents house I was trying to scheme of a way to rationalize paying $160 right now to buy yarn. I couldn't...tear...then the solution. It was so simple, ask my mom to buy it for me! I know what I'm getting for Christmas this year!

Reppin' it up

2007-06-30T20:21:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm a yarn rep, I basically live on the road. Here are a few tips/ tricks and what I've learned:

If you see a Krispy Creme store, close your eyes. Even if you're driving still follow this guideline, it's better than the alternative.

It's perfectly legal to pass over a double yellow when over-sized trucks are taking up both lanes.

Annie Chun's meals are the best! I'm completely serious here...biodegradable bowl, no refrigeration, microwaveable, low sodium, no preservatives, and pure deliciousness. Perfection!

Super 8 is great. The rooms have a microwave, refrigerator, free wifi, HBO, and a continental breakfast: usually muffins, cereal, coffee, and juice (umm, I mean, Tang). Best of all it's cheap!

Don't knit and drive, you'll ruin your gauge.

Let Sims be your family. I know it's sad, but let's face it I am pretty isolated now. Sims is my stand-in family and friends. (Sadly, I'm semi-serious) Although the wonderful people I've met on my travels have kept me sane so far (a few of you are seriously threatening my sanity however and you don't want an insane person driving on the same interstate as you, so take it easy on my me would ya)

Audio books are the most essential item for long trips. Ahh, the many frivolous romance novels I have had the pleasure of listening too...so many fun-filled hours and delicious men(wink). I usually think of Bear...ahhh...Bear.

Stop fretting about what projects to bring with you. It's a fact that you will want a different project with you, no matter what. And for goodness sakes you are bringing a massive trunk filled with yarn anyway!

Stay in the right lane!!! Honestly, I can not emphasize this enough. Please please please stay in the right lane unless you're passing. If you're going to sit in the left lane and travel at the exact same pace as the car in the right lane....don't pass! It's illegal people, spread the word.

Always remember that you are in sales and it's key that you have a voice to sell yarn. Therefore screaming at cars who are not following rule 9, is counterproductive. Also, following rule 7 to avoid singing at the top of your lungs to Broadway or rock music will likewise prevent loss of your most powerful weapon.

And lastly, don't travel by donkey. You carry too much crap around for that.

Neighbors in Humanity

2007-06-12T20:25:00.000-05:00

That's right Gina I just couldn't help it! I had to relive that Halmark card moment somehow. Let me explain to everyone who was not lucky enough to be at the Vogue Knitting Party at TNNA (ya, I couldn't resist rubbing that in either), exactly what I'm talking about. Gina, Mimi, Debbie, Belinda, and I were all at the party and the topic of the squares for the VT afghans kept coming up. We were talking with the cool chicks of Modern Yarn about how even if you weren't there and had no direct connection with what happened, people were still affected by it. It was at this moment that Gina interjected with the beauty pageant queen comment of "Well, we're all neighbors in humanity". I'm lucky that I didn't have a mouthful of a cocktail or I may have sprayed it all over Debbie Bliss. The only way it could have been better is if she had made a grand arm gesture with a slight head nod. It was the funniest moment at TNNA, seriously, I'm laughing now writing about it.

Here's a pic of my Farmhouse cottonblossom sweater that everyone has been wanting to see. I LOVE it! Note the new hair cut. I cut about 11 inches off and I got it highlighted for the first time ever.

And here's a tam that I made yesterday with Farmhouse Fat Sheep (great name for a yarn). The pattern is from Knitting Nature. Norah Gaughan is a knitting rock star.

I just couldn't help myself and I had to arrange the baby skeins of Farmhouse Bopeep yarn into a yarnbow. Yarnbow was a typo and I was about to delete it, but I like it!

I arrange all yarn into rainbows, I love how it looks. I guess other people like it too, because I sold quite a bit of it today.

While I was arranging and posing for the above pics, I saw my dad holding our cat Pete and realized he looked like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers. I begged him to pose with the pinky at his mouth claiming it would get me more comments. I know, shameless, but it just may work....ha ha ha (Dr.Evil laugh)

Someone help me!

2007-06-02T20:10:00.000-05:00

I'm at TNNA with the wild and crazy Mosaic crew. We miss you Sandy! Thanks for holding done the fort. It's knitters gone wild here at the Hyatt. If I hear Shoes one more time, I'm going to pierce my leg with a knitting needle. I swear I'll do it, I really will.
Last night we had delicious food at a steak house. I had some of the best Pinot. It was a 2005 Macmurray....yum. Mimi had quite a few cosmos and Debbie had a healthy number of Appletinnis. They were highly entertaining. I have great pics soon to come.

Today at the show they had a contest to see who could get the most free samples. I think Gina won, but she also made up the rules...typical =>. I was working most of the day and didn't get around to see all of the booths, but here's where I need help....all of the companies I'm repping for keep telling me to come by when the show's over and take anything I want. Let's take a sec and think about that. Anything I want, umm ya, anything I want. These people don't know me yet, because I would clean them out of house and home if I took anything I wanted.

I can't wait!
Tonight we all went to the Vogue knitting party. We met every knitting celebrity you can think of, well almost. We met: Debbie Bliss, Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton, Louisa Harding, Jane Ellison, Kat Boardi, Maggi Jackson, Nicky Epstein, Claudia, Maie, Eunny Jang, Karin Strom, and probably more that I can't think of right now. Many pictures soon to come.

I have a gut feeling that something bad is about to happen. Around all of these celebrities, my dear friend Mimi did the most unglamorous thing. I'll let you all use your imaginations.

By the way, I finished my Farmhouse Cotton Blossom Sweater. I love it and wore it today to the show.

Looks so nasty in those khakis

2007-05-21T20:02:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting my little heart out and yet I don't think I'll finish my Farmhouse sweater tonight. I'm very close. All of the pieces are done, I just have to knit some trim, weave in ends, and seam it. I still don't have time though, o well. Maybe I'll finish it tomorrow night. Well I'm not really in a writing mood and heroes is on, but I wanted to put up a blog. Here are some pictures of my trip up to Mt Rogers.

A kiss on my pack for good luck!

View from the tallest mountain in Virginia, pretty good eh?

High mountain pasture where wild horses can be found

I love my tent!Ok, so I do get a little bored hiking by myself.

The wonderful hail that I hiked in. It was actually kind of cool.

Here are the boys I met from tech when I was up on the mountain.
O ya, I'm a badass.
Not a great pic, but it was so beautiful there. In fact, I stopped right there and cooked eggs for lunch. And may I say dehydrated eggs have a bum rap, they were delicious.
And lastly, here's a totally different hike. It's my sister, Kate, and Annie hiking up to the Cascades.
I LOVE HEROES!

I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it

2007-05-16T20:19:00.000-05:00

I'm in love with the summer interweave knits! I like almost all of the patterns, but there are a few that I adore! I love the summertime tunic. I like how simple it is. I've been working so hard to advance my knitting skills that I really like the idea of an easy knit that I can enjoy, but it's still chic.
Next is my favorite pattern writer Norah Gaughan. I don't think I've ever seen a pattern of hers that I didn't like. I love the cut on the sweater, I love bell sleeves and of course seed stitch. I can't wait to knit it.
One of the more difficult patterns in the issue the syncopated caps are beautiful. Ooh, fair isle how I love you so.
And of course the motorcycle gloves are one of my favorites. I mean come on combining motorcycling and knitting, shear genius. I am totally going to knit these.
I'm also in love with O-wool. It's produced by Vermont Organic Fiber Co. Every yarn they make is organic, which I of course love. The pic below is of Balance an organic wool/ cotton blend. I see a balance fair isle sweater in my future.

Lastly, I heard that my favorite musical, Spring Awakening, was nominated for 11 Tony's! It's so good- run to Broadway and beg for tickets. It's definately a must- see musical.

They call me Baby Field Greens

2007-05-09T17:17:00.000-05:00

Recently I have fallen victim to the dark side. This is my cry for help! I have enrolled in the Knitting Mafia of Blacksburg. I'd say we have about 7 members right now. We have taken hokie colored yarn and using our knowledge of guerilla war tactics, hidden skeins all over Blacksburg! Ha, ha, ha! Ok, so we're not very vicious, but you feel pretty naughty doing it, which is why it's o so fun. We should all come up with knitting gang names...what's yours?
Mine is Baby Field Greens, it's really my motorcycle gang name though. I belong to a motorcycle gang, umm ok so it's really just my family and we call it a gang, but we look seriously badass in our matching tees and chaps. The pic above is of the rest of the gang, there names from left to right are : Black Mamba, Seitan's Angel, and Scampy. Annie, the dog, does not have a name or tee yet, because she refuses to get in the side car. Black Mamba has suggested sedation to get her in the sidecar, I'm not sure that's a great idea. I think it would still be hard to get her in, afterall she does weigh 150 pounds. I bet we could get Purl in, what do you think Gina?
In other news, I have been puppy sitting purl. It was loads of fun. I took her to lacrosse, we went to the park where we both met boys (thank you Purl), and we stayed up late and drooled while we watched Bear climb mountains. Well, I was drooling at Bear and she was drooling at the fudgesicle I was eating, but it was a deep bonding experience nonetheless.
I have been good though and I am projecting to finish my Farmhouse sweater this weekend. I can't wait to finish it! By the way, I saw on IMDB that the completion date for the Friday Night Knitting Club movie is in June 2008. Does that mean that they are definitely going to make it, anyone know?

Autographs anyone?

2007-05-04T19:52:00.000-05:00

That's right. I was in the New York Times. Ok, so maybe my name isn't in the paper and maybe I was out shined by the fabulous Gina,Mimi, and Lawre but the side of my head looks damn good! My knitting prowess is in fine form too.
The square I'm knitting in the photo is an intarsia masterpiece. It's a Canadian maple leaf for my French professor Mme. Couture- Nowak. I'm currently working on a square with a lacrosse stick and ball for Kevin Granata, a fellow lacrosse coach. Hopefully, I can get started in the next couple of days on a square for Stack who I marched with in the Marching Virginians. I'm thinking of doing a band hat with a plume.
If your one of the two knitters left on the planet who have not heard about Hokie Healing, here's the deal: squares must be 8 inches by 8 inches (so it's a good idea to make them a bit smaller and block them out to size), they must be maroon, orange, white, or black (absolutely any shade of orange and maroon, that's right any shade!), any stitch can be used so go wild or not whatever you want, send them to Mosaic by the end of May. So many people are worried about the shade of color, but what they don't realize is that the beauty in these blankets (at least to me) is that they are all a bit different. The idea is that people are uniting from all over the US to make a sort of memorial to those we lost, so be unique and do something different. Thanks to everyone for helping!
Sorry that I've been MIA for so long, just trying to get myself together and regroup. Those of you that don't know I'm starting a new job in a couple weeks. I have thrown my Biology degree out the window (well maybe I'm just locking it in the closet for a rainy day) and am going to venture in to the all too enticing world of yarn. Ha ha ha. I'm a yarn rep! I've spent the last couple of weeks feverishly knitting samples. I've already discovered that it doesn't really matter what your work is or how awesome it is, you still want to be doing something else. For know I'm spending a lot of time knitting samples and longingly staring at a lace shawl, 2 new pairs of socks, qiviut scarf, and so many other projects that I should not be doing now! I love the yarn and projects that I'm repping for I just have knitting ADD, ahh don't we all....focus, Loren, focus

I'm fine

2007-04-16T14:08:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've all heard about the shooting on the Virginia Tech campus. I'm fine. My senioritis finally paid off. The beginning of the semester I was planning on taking a class in Norris, but it seemed like too much work for a pointless class so I dropped it. I also wasn't on campus today either, so I'm fine. I'm going to sit in my apartment and knit.....

Home, home on the Range

2007-04-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

Our starting point for the hike was the Heart of Appalachia Information Center. We needed directions there and we were on the phone with our mom trying to get there. She couldn't find it on Google or Mapquest and we got a bit frustrated with her. We like, come on it's an information center...Did you search for an information center? Likewise she was frustrated with us. We finally found it and when we got there it was all too clear. I'm shocked that this bustling info center, or should I say a shack with a couple brochures, was not on Google. Sorry Mom!
This was by far the hardest hike that I have ever done. You would hike this massive, steep hill (mind you with about 35 pounds strapped to your back) and you'd feel great that you made it up. Then you'd walk 5 steps and descend down a massive, steep hill. Repeat this process ten or so times a day and that's Pine Mountain Trail! I got to the point that the uphills weren't that bad, but the down hills felt like my toenails were being torn off my feet. My sister just kept saying where's the flat part. (She used to nice flat Delaware) I kept telling here that it's called Pine Mountain Trail for a reason. It wasn't well marked either which was really frustrating.
We did have a great time though! Despite the difficulty of the trail there was lots of frolicking and singing on the trail. My favorite was story of the trip happened on the first day. We sat to eat a delicious lunch of cheese sandwiches... ooh ahh how exciting...when I noticed that my sister had brilliantly packed 8 slices of bread for 4 lunches for 2 girls. She forgot that a sandwich takes 2 slices of bread...I guess. We were two days short on lunch. Fear not, we most definitely did not starve. On the contrary, we had loads of food. Weeks before we left I started dehydrating like a champ. We packed ingredients for french toast, southwestern omelets, hot cereal, spaghetti with italian biscuits, minestrone soup, mashed potatoes, hash browns, lentil-bulgur chili, and loads of snacks (including of course chocolate, dried pineapple and the obligatory Cliff bars). In fact, it's entirely possible that we gained weight, well maybe not.

The first night in the tent, it was windy and there was an animal crawling around our tent. Now, bears don't scare me when I'm hiking, but when you are in a tent and can't see what's around you that's a different story. We found out the next day that there was a dog around the campsite, at night it sounded a lot bigger! To lighten the mood I got out my Ocarina that I bought in Alaska. It's basically a small clay flute. I played Home, home on the range, somewhere over the rainbow, and jingle bells while Kate sang along (I'm surprised her singing didn't scare off that dog roaming around). By the way, sing to yourselves home, home on the range and see if you can pick out what's wrong about this song, the biologists in Kate and I couldn't help but notice.
The worst thing that happened was forgetting my knitting! Ugh, I can't believe I forgot it! Also, Kate got blisters the size of a silver dollar piece on her heel. It was really gross! We made it off the mountain though and had fun doing it, which felt great!

Happy Friday the 13th!

Back to Blogland!

2007-04-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

My apologies for not blogging sooner. I have been waiting for my sister to e-mail me pics from our trip, which she has yet to do. However, I felt an obligation (and recieved a few death threats => ) to continue blogging, so I'm back! Before Kate and I left for our big trip, we went to the Cascades. I'm that orange dot next to the massive waterfall! It was gorgeous and the most instantly gratifying hike that I've ever been on. I had to walk across the stream for this photo op and I'm not sure my feet have ever been so cold. I can't believe the water was still moving. Then, of course, I fell coming back across and got wet from head to toe. I am such a klutz, it's amazing my fingers are coordinated enough to do garter stitch.

On another topic...Happy Easter! I couldn't get back home, which my family was not too happy about. Since I wasn't home, I made alternate plans on Sunday. I rented the third season of Six Feet Under, made a pizza and a brownie sundae, and that is all I did all day. It was wonderful!

I also knit all day. I've been working on the wrap sweater that was on the cover of interweave knits. I'm not sure about the sleeves, but I love wrap sweaters. The stitch is nice too, great texture. I'm using Farmhouse Cotton Blossom in Dusty Rose, which I adore. I normally hate cotton, I don't like how flat the color looks when it's dyed. The Farmhouse is a cotton, nylon blend and the nylon gives the yarn a sheen that I love. I'll put pictures up soon!

Kate's Here!

2007-03-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

My sister's here this week for her Spring break. Next weekend we're going to hike Pine Mountain Trail. I'm so excited to get back outside! Just me, kate, and bears (eek). I started out as usual packing for the trip. Initially, only the basics, there were no frills going into my pack. (Note I said initially) I talked with my mom one day and she just couldn't help but to ask if I were packing any yarn. "No, absolutely not" I replied "this is a hiking trip, not a knitting expedition". There were a few moments of silence and then a slow and careful "Do you think you can go four days without knitting? I mean not even a sock?". "Of course I can go four days without knitting" I quickly answered. Then it sank in. All I could think about was four days, hmmm, that's 96 hours without knitting. What could I finish in that time? Loads of Lizard Ridge squares, a couple pairs of socks, scarves, lace....ahh how could I commit to something when I can't knit for days on end. I mean I guess I could grab some sticks and sharpen them, maybe knit with some grass or tree bark, not exactly ideal. After all of this ran through my head, "Well socks don't really count and they don't weigh much either". Yup I cracked, thus a pair of trekking socks will be thrown into my pack. I'll be sure to get pics of me on a mountian summit knitting a pair of socks. Oh come on, that sounds awesome!
On a completely different note, I just saw Little Children at the Lyric and I highly recommend seeing it; great acting, interesting plot, good movie. Gather up some friends, go to the movie, proceed to the nearest coffee shop (knitting in tow), and have some great conversation.

BYOB

2007-03-17T19:33:00.001-05:00

First of all, Happy St Patty's day to all! I completely forgot to wear green today... o well. I haven't really posted in a while, because I have been working on formatting of the blog. Now if you want to see what I am knitting, the percent bars tell you how far I am and you can click on the project to get more info including: pics, where the pattern is from, what yarn I'm using, and any other useful tidbits of information.
The knitting love of my life right now is definitely my lace qiviut scarf. It's so deliciously light and airy. I adore the feel of it and the pattern is really nice too. For those of you who have no idea what qiviut is I'll give you a brief education... Qiviut (kiv-ee-ute) is from the down of a muskox and actually that's what qiviut literally means- down. It's an amazing fiber. It's eight times warming than wool, has a smaller micron count than cashmere (so it's softer once it's blocked and handled a bit), very strong, and is the lightest weight natural fiber known to man. It's very rare as well and also expensive! I can't remember how I initially heard of qiviut, but when I found out I was going to Alaska last summer I was determined to find and buy some.
I visited the Oomingmak Co-op, but they don't sell the yarn only premade garments. They are gorgeous though and each pattern they use is specific to a tribe of Native Americans in Alaska. My search continued and finally in Fairbanks, I found some Windy Valley Muskox. It is fabulous!
On a non-knitting note: I already loved Ikea, now I am sure that we are sole mates! They have started a new campaign called BYOB- bring your own bags. Ikea is going to charge customers five cents for every throw away plastic bag that they use and then the proceeds will be donated to American Forests. Why are they doing this here's why:
The amount of plastic shopping bags that we all use once and toss is overwhelming.
- The average family of 4 accumulates 1460 plastic shopping bags a year
- 100 billion are given away each year in the US
- Plus it can take up to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to break down in the environment.
I love the idea of this campaign! But let's all take it a step further. Knitters Unite! Let's knit our own bags and challenge ourselves and family members to use recyclable bags. Check out my hemp for knitting bag or the tote made from recyclable bags. It's great for the environment and it's instant gratificaition. I always use reusable bags and I generally get compliments from people in the grocery store, plus I feel like I'm saving the environment every time I buy groceries. That's one more reason to buy food, hooray!

Recycled plastic bag tote

2007-03-17T19:28:00.000-05:00

Got tons of old plastic bags under the sink? Me too. Shred them and make a fun tote that you can reuse at the grocery or for an interesting purse. It's fun to save the colorful bags (like the ones from Gap) to add interesting stripes.

Hemp for Knitting Bag

2007-03-17T19:24:00.000-05:00

This is a wonderful reuseable grocery bag. I am using three colors of Hemp for Knitting that I purchased in Maryland a while back. It will be great at the farmer's market, but just as practical everyday in the grocery. It's pretty compact when not full, but expands to an amazing size when filled. I love the feel of it of the hemp for knitting, super durable and still soft to touch. Here's an idea, try using Euroflax...just in at Mosaic!

Chaco Trekking Socks

2007-03-17T18:40:00.000-05:00

These are basically a sock that you can wear with a thong sandal. The idea behind these was to create a sock that I could wear with my Chaco's which have a toe loop. I love to wear them, but it's too cold in the morning and at night to wear them without socks, thus I created the Chaco Sock. I made up the pattern myself and I used Trekking, because it's a nice sturdy wool and I will put a lot of wear and tear on these socks.

Leaf and Trellis Rectangular Shawl

2007-03-17T18:29:00.000-05:00

I started this shawl a while ago. I was to stop knitting on it over Christmas when I had loads of gifts to finish. It is knit out of Egyptian Mercerized Cotton in color Leaf. The pattern is from Victorian Lace, my absolute favorite lace book, on page . I'll be doing a lot of work on this, so that I can finish it and wear it in Spring and Summer.

Lizard Ridge Afghan

2007-03-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

I love this pattern! It's a free pattern on Knitty and it uses Noro Kureyon. I have 18 squares done and I'm just going to keep making squares until it covers my bed. I LOVE IT! If you want to see it in person, it's at Mosaic.

Qiviut Lace Scarf

2007-03-13T12:26:00.000-05:00

I bought 3 skeins of Windy Valley Muskox qiviut when I was in Alaska this summer. I gave one skein to my mom for Christmas, one I kept and we're splitting one. I finally picked a pattern from the Arctic lace book. I chose the Skeleton Scarf on page 132. I love knitting with qiviut, but I can't wait to block it. That's when it'll get really soft.

Dream Swatch

2007-03-13T11:42:00.000-05:00

For my Dream Swatch, I used SWTC Twize in color number 330, Twocean. I love the feel of this yarn! It's soft and durable. The pattern is fairly simple and knits up fast.

Ecowool Sweater

2007-03-13T11:28:00.000-05:00

Nobody puts my yarn in the corner

2007-03-06T16:42:00.000-05:00

Over winter break my roommate called my house in Delaware. She wanted to know if it was ok to rearrange a bit. I said it was fine. I could tell she was nesting and I wanted her to comfortable in the apartment. She moved my cd player which was fine, it was ok that she moved my craft table (in my non-knitting craft life I also scrapbook and sew a little bit), although she moved it away from its convenient spot by the TV in the livingroom. She crossed the line when I noticed she moved my yarn. I trotted into my apartment after a month of estrangement, skipped up to my former yarn spot and it was gone! It had been gorgeously displayed in an old steamer trunk (the kind that they took on the Titanic). It used to be open and on a large wall for all eyes to see. I turned quickly to find my yarn and it was stuffed in an odd corner and I could hardly get the drawers open. It got worse when our couch finally arrived and then I couldn't even see my yarn anymore.
When I asked her why she moved it, she said she wanted to put a day bed there. I know you can't see the layout of the apartment, but you're going to have to trust me on this...it made absolutely no sense. You can't see the TV from there, it would be like sitting in the middle of the apartment with a gorgeous view of the kitchen...not exactly ideal. This is the same girl who wanted to bring a grand piano into a tiny two bedroom apartment. I had to put my foot down on that one.
So, for the last two months I have tried to live with it, my most cherished possession stuffed in the corner. I cracked before spring break. I was cleaning the apartment and I just couldn't take it anymore. I was trying to dig through all of my UFO's and I couldn't get the flippin drawers open. The night before about 7 of her friends slept over. I ended up cleaning there mess up and she hadn't even warned me that she was having so many people over. That was it! My yarn was going back! Back I say! I would return it to it's former glory and display it for all eyes to see, damn it!
That's just what I did too. I put my wicker chair in it's place, which makes more sense. That's one more chair for all her friends that are always there.
Later that day, I was doing the dishes. I unloaded the dishwasher and what did I find....my double pointed knitting needles in the dishwasher, which I suppose she thought were chopsticks! This could be an honest mistake, but almost every sweater she owns is handknitted by her mom and she knits too. She knows what needles look like! My double points also say "Brittany US size 7", I'm positive that her chopsticks don't say that. I know she means well, but come on.
On another note, I've been on Spring break for three days and I've already bought some yarn. I bought some Trekking at Still Water Fibers in Oxford, PA. I really liked the shop. It's not very big, but there were some yarns in there that I hadn't seen. I managed to restrain myself and just by the one skein of sock yarn. I should reward myself for that, hey maybe another skein of yarn!

Fair isle, Pinot, and the Oscars...Perfection

2007-02-26T21:17:00.000-05:00

I worked at Mosaic this weekend and organized the Ella Rae amity. Looks good huh!

I stopped in on Sunday too. I got to see Purl and another pug stopped in! His name is Curbie (He's in the pic above). He was about twice as big as Purl with twice as much extra skin too. They chased each other around the shop. It was pretty cute.

I had the bug for a new project and I picked Red Light Special from Brooklyntweeds blog. Like Mimi, I too have been wanting to expand my knitting range. One of the things I have on my "skills I wish I had list" is fair isle. A fair isle hat seemed like a good starter project and it seems like a lot of people are making this hat, so I assumed it's a good project. It has a silk lining which will be excellent in cold weather. For the outside of the hat, I'm using Silky Tweed in navy, forest green, light blue, and chocolate. Here's a pic of what I've done so far...
It hasn't been very difficult. There are only two colors on every row, so it's pretty easy. Most of it I knit while I was watching the Oscars. That brings me to my best and worst dressed list. I thought the best dressed was Reese Witherspoon and Kate Blanchett. For the most part, I was unimpressed this year by the clothes. Reese was by far my favorite! The worst dressed were Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman (It's the Oscars, not Christmas she looked like a present I swear)and the absolute worst was Kirsten Dunst (there have only been a few acceptable dresses in fashion history with feathers; stay far, far away).

Not only did I knit while watching the Oscars, I also had a nice glass of Pinot Noir. Since everything I do must be knitting related, I had to find a wine that fit the bill. Thankly, I found Dyed-in-the-wool! It's a good wine too!

I took another picture of the ecowool sweater I just finished so you can get a better look.

Binding off!

2007-02-23T19:43:00.000-05:00

I've finished a couple of projects in the last few days, so I'm feeling pretty darn good. I made a really cute sample for the store. It's a flower shaped wash cloth made with Araucania Nature Cotton. I just love it! It's the perfect little gift. I think you could get 3 out of 2 skeins. The pattern is in Weekend Knitting. The other washcloth there is a peaches and cream one that I made a while ago. The pattern is on the tag and in Mason Dixon Knitting. The ridges give it a great texture which lends to washing things.

I like it so much I decided to make a few more. I got a valentine's day card from one of my friends that used to go to tech, so I thought I would send her one out of Pehuen, another Araucania yarn. It's a very pretty teal and blue color. Here's a picture of a ball I hand wound with I cactus I've had since my freshman year. It was one of the few plants to survive the dorm hall.

I also finished my ecowool sweater! I initially thought it might be too big, but I wore it today and was extremely happy with it. First of all I love the neckline. The cardigan is asymmetrical with adds the quirkiness I love in a knitting pattern. The buttons are perfect too. They're hexagons and really play up the hexagon pattern in the stitch pattern. On top of all that, I was warm and cozy all day, I never felt hot. It's the quintessential wool sweater that everyone should have in their wardrobe.
As soon as I cast off on projects, my mind starts going crazy. I look through all of my books and start thinking of endless possibilities for new projects. I really want to make the urban aran cardigan. I started searching through Mosaic and my favorite was a blue color of Reynold's Lopi. Then I had a brainstorm! Sheep Shop! This is the color I'm thinking of...
I just love it!

Knitters Eat First!

2007-02-21T16:48:00.000-05:00

While my mom was in town we had to go to the best breakfast place in the burg. Gillies! It's a vegetarian restaurant, but even if you're a meat eater Gillie's is a must. They have delicious homemade biscuits, fabulous seasoned potatoes, and mimosas!

We walked in and found ourselves a table. As soon as we sat down we realized that we were going to have to wait a while. The dining room was full and there were only two servers in site. That was fine by us, we're knitters after all. We got out our projects and started knitting and chatting. Shortly, after we sat down two women came in and sat at a table next to us. After about 5 minutes of sitting at the table without service they stormed up to the counter and complained, snatched menus angrily, and returned to their seats. Their waitress apologized and explained some people didn't show up for work. They ordered and a few minutes later my mom and I placed our order. We had our coffee and knitting projects and that's all we needed to make us happy.

Somewhere around 20 minutes later we received our meals. The rude, angry women did not. Right away we could hear them moaning and complaining. They stormed up to the waitress again and said they had been waiting 45 minutes and were trying to catch a movie. First of all, it was about 1/2 that time. Secondly, if you wanted to catch a movie eat McDonald's. Thirdly, if you weren't so damn rude you probably would be eating already.

They finally got their food. They started slamming their plates and making all kinds of noise. My mom and I couldn't contain ourselves and kept laughing hysterically. It was absurd. I then noticed that one of the woman had ordered grits. The my cousin vinny references couldn't be held back. Did you think you ordered magic grits? Why do expect water to soak into a grit at Gillie's faster than at any other restaurant? Did you think the laws of Physics don't apply at Gillie's?

After they finished, they threw some money on the table and stormed out. I'm assuming they rushed to their money. After the entire dramatic scene, one of the woman came back in and grabbed her purse that she had forgotten. So much for their grand exit. She then threw a sheepish smile in our direction and finally left.

If they had been knitters they could have avoided that whole mess. They probably could seriously lower their blood pressure too!

My Funny Valentine

2007-02-17T23:02:00.000-05:00

I woke up Valentine's day and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Almost every morning, I have a green smoothie, which is green juice (has algae, spinach, barley, all that good stuff), frozen fruit, some ice, and usually a little mango juice. I looked at the fridge, contemplating if I wanted yogurt this morning. On the fridge are those word magnets, they're just plain white magnets with black words on them. My crazy mother, sent me a set that was knitting terms. Of course my roommate immediately tried to write dirty sentences with them. Anyway, what I noticed this morning in particular was that one word had fallen on the floor. Love. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign, but I figure it's either really good or really bad, what do ya think?

Here is a pic of my Valentine this year...

Ok, so he's a tad young and a little messy, but a single girl can't be picky on Valentine's day. His name is Hunter and I'm visiting him in North Carolina this weekend. I've known him for about 5 of his 6 years and I swear he's only grown a foot in that time which is probably due to the fact that his mom isn't even 5 feet tall. He runs around even faster than purl, I swear!

We all went to REI today in Greensboro. I bought 4 hiking shirts for about $50. If that's not a bargain I don't know what is. We visited a yarn shop too, called This and That. It's a nice shop. They had lots of buttons (hint, hint Gina ;P ). I was very tempted to buy some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, but resisted the urge. I must say that I am one of those obsessive sock knitters now! I am so sad I missed out on the Socks that Rock Sock of the Month Club this year. They get sent colors that the rest of us not so lucky knitters won't get to see until 2008! I will definitely sign up next year.

By the way, I'm so close to finishing my ecowool sweater. I have to knit the collar and seam the sweater together. I'm so excited!

Snow's dangerous!

2007-02-11T21:23:00.000-05:00

Funny story, well kinda... We had our first big snow here in the Burg during the week. I was so excited that I immediately went outside and made some snowcream. For those less fortunate that have never heard of snowcream, you mix together 1/2 c. milk, 1 tbs sugar, 1 tbs chocolate syrup (or other delicious flavor) and then add clean, white snow until desired consistency!

Later that evening, I couldn't sleep and crazy me decided it would be a great idea to go sledding. It was midnight by then, but that didn't stop me. I mean, come on, one of the best hills in B-burg is a 2 min walk from my apartment. I was sledding for about 45 min and really having fun. I hiked back up the hill and said those famous last words, "This will be my last one". I say that when eating brownies too and that never works out either! Anyway, I ran, jumped on the sled and off I went! When I was almost at the bottom, my foot caught on the ground, my sled turned, and I rolled off and on to the ground. I stood up and immediately could feel that I had sprained my stupid right ankle. I tried to walk up the hill, but instead I had to ask two strapping young gentleman if they could get me back to my apartment. (For other single ladies out there, I think faking the sprain and picking the cutest guy on the hill is an excellent strategy) One of them was bigger than me and I had complete confidence when he asked me to hop on his back. They then decided to switch and this little guy that I probably outweighed by 75 pounds told me to hop on his back. To which I said a resounding, "Hell no!". That evening had already been embarrassing enough, thank you! They carried me up the hill got my roommate and I was off to the ER.

They confirmed the sprain, gave me crutches, pain medicine, and sent me on my way. However, the trip wasn't a total wash. I meant the real life mc Dreamy. mmm, let me take a moment and stare at the picture......... ok back to blogging. That's right ladies head out to the ER in the Montgomery County Hospital and you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse. Luckily, I had knitting with me... umm, of course, who do you take me for? As a woman was x-raying my ankle I unconsciously made my pitch for Mosaic. I bet I say it in my sleep too. She said I was a good salesperson! Woo hoo! And that she'd stop by Mosaic and sit and knit. She also admitted she had a weakness for good yarn, so I'm sure she'll love Mosaic!

I spent the rest of the week in my apartment, basically by myself. Thank goodness there is finally a couch in the living room, so I could spend all day watching my free Starz and HBO. All last semester my roommate kept saying next week the couch is coming, then a week would go by and no couch. At last, it's here! There's a love seat too!

I did, however, get gobs of knitting done. I finished a pair of jitterbug socks (to be mailed to a special someone), one lizard ridge square (though I'm not sure it's going to make it into the afghan, Do y'all like it?), a scarf out of Ozark (a thank you present), one chaco trekking sock, and I'm about 6 inches from finishing my ecowool sweater!

Vaseline + Knitting = ?

2007-02-05T18:59:00.000-05:00

I've already graced you all with a few quirky stories about my family, but we are about to reach a whole new level.

I've turned my whole family into obsessive recyclers. Even my dad, the carnivore, is a zealous recycler. My mom has really gotten into recycling and has been working on one of those knit tote bags that is made out of recycled plastic bags cut into strips. She was having trouble though sliding the plastic on the needles so she switched from a bamboo needle to an aluminum needle. It still didn't work.

Now so far, I agree with her logic: recycler--> recycle plastic bags--> knit tote using plastic bags--> use aluminum needles..... The next step, or shall I say leap in logic, is perhaps what I love about my mom the most, she's crazy. She decided that she needed to reduce the friction between her needles and plastic, so she got out the vaseline and lathered the suckers up. I bet none of you new that handy little trick! It actually is working too.

Today, she was in Panera knitting on her tote. Alas, her needles didn't have any more vaseline on them, so my mom digs in her purse and finds some lotion. She did the only logical thing. She puts some lotion on her hands and starts putting, or shall I say, stroking her needles with the lotion. As she is admitting the lubricant, casually she looks up and sees a man staring. Yeah, I know you all get it, certainly Mimi does.

As a result, I have decided to spend the rest of the evening searching the internet for her premier (I hope) voyeuristic video. I'm sure someone captured the moment and put it on You Tube.

She's a brick...... hoooouse

2007-02-02T20:39:00.000-05:00

My family's dog Annie has gained some weight recently. She tips the scales at about 135 pounds. She's not overweight though, just a very big dog. In an effort to shed those holiday pounds, my mom cut back her food some and when I was home I would take her on hikes to increase her exercise. She didn't really lose weight though and now we have the answer!

Today my mom was minding her business in the kitchen when Annie pranced in and looked at her bowl. She then looked at her food bin which is basically a trash can (never used for trash though) and she used her nose to press on the hinge and open it. She proceeded to have herself a little snack. Now, one might wonder how no one seemed to notice the dog opening her food bin, but here's the amazing part if you ask me. After she eats, she actually closes the bin. What can I say smart family, smart dog.

We had a dog before Annie, named Mandy (a doberman), who had a similar trick which my mom also witnessed. She took the top off of a glass candy dish, ate all of the candies, spit out the wrappers, and then placed the top back on the dish. Either my mom is delusional, or we have some amazing pets. She's probably just delusional, must be all that crack, right mom?

Back to what this blog is supposed to be about, I stumbled upon some amazing yarn today while surfing the net. Fleece artist has some of the most gorgeous colorways these eyes have seen. The website is www.fleeceartist.com I adore almost all of them except for a couple that are too pastelly for my taste. Check out handmaiden yarns too. It's a new line from fleece artist. They have some very interesting yarns including sea silk (a yarn with sea weed in it!), beautiful lace weight silk, a slubbed silk, fabulous plyed cashmere, and of course wool. I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it! I haven't even felt this yarn yet, but I seriously need to find some!

On another note I think I may be going just a tad crazy. I got a shipment from REI the other day, it's a big hiking store for you knitting nonhikers. I got a REI quarterdome tent and I hadn't seen it in person, so I pitched it in my bedroom. And hey it was pitched, so I went ahead and slept in it last night. For a fleeting moment I thought of getting rid of my bed, painting my room black, putting glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, covering the floor in turf, and getting more plants. I decided against the idea, though clearly I did put some thought into it.

Life's little ironies

2007-01-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, I've definitely decided to make Joy out of my alpaca from Alpaca Jack's. I started working on the back this week and so far so good. The only thing I need is beads. I also decided to cook a wonderful casserole from Vegetarian Times Magazine, so it seemed logical to go to the supermarket by Divine Inspirations, the local bead shop, which is not the closet supermarket to my apartment. In fact, it's all the way on other side of town, but it made sense so that's what I did. When I finally get to Divine Inspirations, they were closed! I was so angry! They're closed on Sundays AND Mondays. Ridiculous! It's really not that big of a deal except I had a long day of classes and I wanted to make this friggin casserole. They lost a lot of business too. I need 5,000 beads!

Anyway, the casserole was wonderful. It has polenta on the bottom then a layer of tomatoes, squash, garlic, chiles, coriander, cumin, pinto beans, corn, onion, red pepper, and then another layer of polenta on top. The recipe is copied and pasted below. I didn't make the pumpkin seed pesto, but I'm sure it's delicious too. Though I don't think it's needed the casserole is fairly complicated in flavors as is.

After dinner, I went to the gym. It's seriously depressing to find out how out of shape one can get from one bad semester. I'll definitely be living in the gym this semester though. As I was leaving, some girls came in, clearly freshman. Keep in mind they were entering a gym. They strode up to the door and hit the handicapped button and waited for the door to open automatically. I suppose they were going to gawk at hot men and not for the work out. I started laughing, but they clearly didn't see the irony and just stared.

Three Sisters Casserole

Serves 6 -- Vegan

A Native American expression, “three sisters” refers to the practice of growing beans, corn and squash together. This filling casserole can be frozen for an upcoming party or made fresh for dinner.

Polenta Topping
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 Tbs. chili powder
3/4 tsp. salt

Filling
3 Tbs. olive oil,
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large red or yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch dice (about 1 cup)
1 lb. kabocha squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes with chiles
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 15-oz. can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

Directions:
1. To make Polenta Topping: Whisk together cornmeal, chili powder, salt and 4 1/2 cups water in double boiler, or in large metal bowl over barely simmering water. Cook 40 minutes, or until polenta is thick and stiff, stirring 3 or 4 times. Remove from heat.
2. To make Filling: Preheat oven to 375F. Heat 2 Tbs. oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and cook 7 minutes, or until softened, stirring often. Add bell pepper, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring often.
3. Stir in squash, tomatoes, garlic, coriander and cumin. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/2 cup water and salt. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer, partially covered, 10 to 15 minutes, or until squash is tender. Stir in beans and corn, and cook 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.
4. Coat 8x11-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 2 cups polenta over bottom of prepared dish. Spoon squash mixture over polenta. Smooth remaining polenta (about 2 1/2 cups) over top.
5. Score casserole into 6 squares with knife. Brush top with remaining 1 Tbs. oil. Bake 30 minutes, or until heated through and top is lightly browned. Serve with Pumpkin Seed Pesto (below).

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Makes 1 cup, Vegan, 30 minutes or fewer

This pesto adds an elegant, flavorful touch to the Three Sisters Casserole. Try it as an alternative to salsa on nachos as well. Pumpkin seed oil is stocked with other specialty oils in many supermarkets, but you can substitute olive oil in a pinch.

1 cup unsalted hulled (green) pumpkin seeds
1 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seed oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp. salt
pinch cayenne

1. Toast pumpkin seeds in large skillet over medium heat, 4 to 5 minutes, or until puffed and golden, stirring constantly.
2. Transfer seeds to food processor. Add remaining ingredients, and process until smooth. Serve with Three Sisters Casserole, or store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to a week.

PER SERVING: 304 CAL; 8 G PROT; 8 G TOTAL FAT (1 SAT. FAT); 52 G CARB.; 0 MG CHOL; 830 MG SOD.; 9 G FIBER; 5 G SUGARS

What a Weekend!

2007-01-28T22:47:00.000-05:00

I had a great weekend. Saturday it was 55 degrees here and I got to ride my motorcycle in to Mosaic. Purl came in too! She really is the cutest little puppy. Anyway, I ended up taking a ride over to the New River. It's gorgeous! I love water. That sounds weird, but it wasn't that long ago that I was doing stream ecology research. The worst part was I had to drive on gravel. You try balancing a 300 pound piece of equipment on gravel! Not fun, not fun at all.

I meant up with Cassie, my ex-roommate and best friend (it's my sister in the photo not Cassie I'll post one of her later), to see Volver at the Lyric. It was nominated for a few Oscars and I guess I was expecting a lot. It was good, but not fabulous. I really didn't think Penelope Cruz was that great in it either. Actually, I thought she was sort of flat. We ate some Cajun food and I had a great beer. If you like dark beer, try Road Dog it's made by flying dog. Extremely good winter beer.

Then this morning Cassie and I went to my favorite restaurant for breakfast. Gillie's! It's absolutely delicious and a vegetarian restaurant too! After that I cleaned my kitchen. Those of you who know me well understand how unusual that is. And I really cleaned it, I even mopped. I know my Uncle Tony, Mom, and sister will be proud. There are a lot of people in my family that are neat freaks, but I didn't get the gene. I'm kind of a mess really. The whole kitchen is spotless however!

My weekend was finished with some sushi, kobe, a nice riesling, ben and jerry's, and Shopgirl. On top of all that the ground is covered in snow, so I know I have a happy boss! I feel completely ready for the week to come.

These are a few of my favorite things

2007-01-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

Everybody has that list of things they want to do before they die. Today I discovered a few more I want to add on, but before I get to that here are a few of my current goals.

Be fluent in 5 languages (I'm going to have to work harder on this one since I've been taking French off and on for about 12 years and am still not fluent)
Knit a shawl out of vicuna
Learn how to spin
Own alpacas, angoras, a cinnamon quarter horse, and goats
Make my own wine
Get ripped, but not scary she-male ripped
Live in Europe for at least a year, or own a home there
Hike in the rainforest
Climb Denali
Visit every Continent

And now for the recent additions... I found these adventures at REI. Here's the link http://www.rei.com/adventures/index.html

go to Antarctica (They take a helicopter from an icebreaker into an Emperor Penguin colony. You get to see the chicks!)
Climb Kilimanjaro (After the climb you can go on a safari and then take a balloon ride over the Serengeti)
Multi-sport in Australia
Hike in Laos and Cambodia
Hike the Julian Alps

I'm sure there are more places I will want to visit when I find them, but those are the top ones of the moment. I guess I better sell a crap load of yarn. What are your top things to do before you die?

By the way, I'd like you all to meet Bear Grylls. Watch his TV show, Man vs Wild! He is seriously badass and sexy!

Picking a pattern

2007-01-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, so turns out Gaia and I are not yet one, because I definitely had class today. All the more reason for me to hike more and really get in tune with mother earth.

Anyway, I have all of this gorgeous chocolate colored alpaca just sitting around and no pattern yet. It's a sport weight yarn, so I've had a little trouble finding a pattern I really like. Most of the modern patterns are not knit on a very small needle. A lightning bolt stuck today and I realized that I should look through the vintage knits book. Eureka, it seems a lot of these vintage inspired knits are made from a lighter weight yarn. So here are my choices and feedback would be greatly appreciated. For all of you nonbloggers out there anyone can leave a comment and I love reading them!

First, is Joy. The down side to this snazzy little sweater is about 5,000 beads, but hey I'm patient. Or at least I will be if I ever finish this.

Second, is Charlot. I'm not very good at embroidery, but I'll figure it out when I get there.

And last, is Fleur. I really like this sweater, but I think I might get bored. It's worth it though if the sweater will be fabulous.

Ok, which is your favorite?

Oh the suspense

2007-01-21T23:13:00.000-05:00

I love this part of school! The part when a winter storm is coming through the area and I might not have class tomorrow! Woo hoo! It's just like the night before Christmas. Yes it has snowed and sleeted all day, now the challenge to mother earth is to freeze it. Ha ha ha, Gaia and I are already working as one. Our minds have combined to force Virginia Tech to cancel classes. Well, I hope anyway. Ya, ya, ya class just started and I should be pumped about it. If you were me, a senior, and facing an incredibly boring paper for evolutionary genetics about introns, wouldn't you hope for the same thing? I thought so.

The not so fun part of my day was being sick. However, being sick does have its advantages. For instance, when one is sick and one is confined to bed, it is absolutely necessary to order Chinese and knit all day. O yes, Mimi beware. While you were searching Blacksburg for Nintendo Wii, I was knitting lizard ridge squares and bringing myself back into the lead! I'm working on my 14th square and have 12 put together. It just occurred to me that one of the Wii games should be competitive knitting. I can just picture knitters from all over the world logging on to knit a pair of socks the fastest. I'd totally play.

Browsing through my pics, I've decided it would be fun to share a few photos of my trip this summer to Alaska. The first of which is one of my favorites. I was hiking through the woods and came upon a clearing. I was by myself, but was following all hiking precautions icluding my bear bell and singing to myself. I saw about 100 yards away two Grizzlies. I remember thinking, "ok what is it I'm supposed to do? Run away screaming, no that's not it; stop, drop, and roll, nope different emergency." I just stood there and waved my arms sheepishly saying hey bear, hey bear. Well of course it worked. I mean what could two 5 or 6 hundred pound animals do to me? Anyway, I took a picture after this encounter and here it is. I suspect I'll have a similar expression when I'm named "Lizard Ridge Champion"!

The last two are of Denali, aka Mt McKinley. That's about as close as I got, but one day I'll climb her. The last is of a Dall Sheep, brilliantly taken through my binoculars. Pretty, isn't he?

You know you're a knitting nerd when....

2007-01-20T18:36:00.000-05:00

You're TI- 89 graphing calculator is used to help you with gauge not calculus.

Your top homework assignment is to write on your blog.

In math class you ignore the professor and use graphing paper to write up new patterns.

The first Sunday of every month is devoted to taking your yarn inventory.

You knit socks in class.

You don't use a pocket protector, but you do have a case to protect your needles.

You TiVo Knitty Gritty.

You had to construct a library with a floor to ceiling rolling ladder to house your knitting book collection.

You compete with knitting friends to see who can make lizard ridge faster.

You knit the binary code scarf in the latest Knitty issue.

Are you a knitting nerd?

Bloggin in the Burg

2007-01-17T14:52:00.000-05:00

I know I've been bad...it's been literally weeks since my last blog. Luckily, I don't think that many people read it yet so hopefully I haven't disappointed anyone. I have loads to talk about, but I'll start with the beginning of this semester. I'll get to New York tonight or tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm taking 19 hours. Those of you who are pessimists may think this is far too many hours, but I'm an expert at time management (when I want to be). 19 hours is really not that many to me since I don't have many extra curriculars this semester. I'm taking plant taxonomy, general zoology, evolutionary genetics, economics of food and fiber systems, statistics, global ethics, and finally a completely bogus physics lab. Plant taxonomy is going to be sweet, I hike and I want to know more about the plants in the area. The second half of the lab is just walking in the woods and IDing plants. I'll be in hog heaven! Global ethics is interesting too. Today in class we were assigned numbers and divided into 4 groups; wealthy people, middle class, working class, and lower class. I, obviously, was of the highest class. We were given these sheets of paper with toxic waste written on them and we had to get other groups to take it. They didn't know it was toxic, ha ha ha.

To get myself through some of the other more boring class, I knitted! I have decided that I am definitely a sock knitter. They are my knew garter stitch scarf. I just love that you can get sock yarn in gorgeous colors and patterns so all I have to do is stockinette stitch. So this afternoon I went to my statistics teacher after class and asked him if it was ok if I knit. After which I took a deep breath and was chanting in my head "please say yes, please say yes". If you've never taken stat before, it's insanely boring! Without my knitting, I may just have to stab myself in the leg with a fork to make sure I'm still alive. He said "wow, no one has ever asked me that one before". He then said " um, I guess so. As long as you don't knit anything that's offensive". A million things ran through my head, the first of which was what I could I knit that was offensive. Now I did recently see knit pasties in a book, which is great for all those strippers out there who are busy knitting in their spare time, but I can assure you I'm not one of them. The next thing I thought I could make was a knit tapestry that says Stat sucks, maybe with a few choice expletives in there. While I think that is an excellent idea, even I can't knit intarsia and really pay attention in class. Finally asked "Do you find socks offensive?" I was expecting a laugh or just a simple no. Instead he said "well I guess it depends on what you do with them". I just gave a weak laugh and really didn't know what to say. I just kept thinking what exactly is this guy doing with his socks, and I hope no one is hand knitting these socks that he has found such an offensive use for. In the end though I can knit in class which is good, but now every time I go I'll think about that mysterious offensive use. Any ideas?

New York, Here I Come!

2007-01-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, my mom and I are headed out to New York! We are driving up early in the morning and plan to spend most of the day touring the yarn shops. The last time I went to New York I wasn't as focused on yarn, so I've actually never been to NYC yarn shops. I'm very excited! I plan to map out our route on the way. My top stops are Purl, Knit New York, and Habu Textiles. I also want to hit some good vintage/ discount clothing stores. I highly recommend Canal Jean Co. in Soho. I've found great things there for only $20.

My sister is taking the train there (so metropolitan of her) and we'll meet her. We're also meeting our uncles ; Uncle Bill, red and Tony, blue (color of sweater, not political affiliation). I think we're planning on eating at a vegetarian restaurant too! I'm so tired of eating spinach artichoke dip at restaurants. Apparently the restaurant industry decided the only thing on every menu that's vegetarian is that @$%#ing dip. You can't even get a salad without meat on it!

I also hope to run into this gentleman! Do you thing he likes obsessive compulsive knitters?

Defining the Undefinable

2006-12-31T20:54:00.000-05:00

As the new year commences and difficult decisions are being shoved down my throat I find the need to define myself. I am a knitting, motorcycle riding, tree-hugging, animal-loving, reality TV watching, vegetarian, hokie. Ya, that sounds pretty good.

I am most definitely a hokie. For those of you out there who are a bit confused a hokie is a Virginia Tech fan, student, alumni, whatever. Maroon and orange are fabulous color choices in my book, if I ever have twin boys I'll name them Frank and Beamer (that is if the hokies can manage to win a bowl game in the next decade), and I don't eat turkey (blah, blah go ahead and argue the VT mascot isn't a turkey it's a hokie bird, but let's be honest it looks like a turkey and gobbles....it's a turkey).

I've been a vegetarian now for 2 and 1/2 years and going strong. I'm not ready for the jump to vegan, but maybe some day. My tree-hugging ways and a seriously convincing, and may I say very attractive, philosophy professor are responsible for my current convictions which my carnivore-like father disdains. I am however a card carying PETA member, and I believe I'll be a vegetarian for a very long time.

Reality TV is a vice of mine. I now that it's stupid and definitely not reality, but I just can't help myself. My favorite's are Beauty and the Geek, Real World, The Duel, Flavor of Love, Biggest Loser and most recently Man vs. Wild (Bear Gyllis you drive me wild). Really though, I'm just a TV junkie in general. I mean come on knitting and TV are the perfect marriage, so it just fits. And now that I can get online and watch episodes for free whenever my little heart desires, I'm in real trouble!

I definitely love animals. I however don't own any myself expect for some pretty pathetic fish. My roommate does have a very cool cat, Adam. My parents have two cats, Pete and Sophie. Pete a fun-loving, good cat. Sophie on the other hand lacks that agile grace that most cats possess. In fact, one day I saw her run into a wall, seriously I really did. Annie is our dog, a Great Dane. She's 150 pounds of gorgeous. If you've ever read the comic Marmaduke then you sort of know Annie; she's goofy, smart, and takes offense at being told what to do.

I also try to change the world one plastic bag at a time. This is my ultimate pet peeve. I absolutely hate it when I buy chap stick at the supermarket and they try to place it in a huge bag. I mean come on we all know it's going in my purse anyway. If they can't grasp this concept you should see their faces when I have a pile of groceries and say, "oh no I have my own bag". They gawk at me as if I'm insulting their polluting plastic bags and maybe I am; deal with it. Since I work in sales, this is precisely the reason I always ask if the customer wants a bag. Ha ha, I've defeated the system!
Motorcylcing has been in my life since I can remember. I started riding with my dad when I was three. We had a side car. That's right I was a badass even at three. I got my license a couple years ago and now I ride a Honda CX500. My sister just got her license, so now the whole family drives. I made us matching t-shirts too. No it's not dorky, I bet you wish you had one.

And finally, I am most certainly a Knitter with a capitol K. I want to own alpacas and angoras some day and learn to spin so I have an unending amount of fiber in my backyard, just in case those terrorists attack. I'm seriously thinking of becoming a yarn rep too, so yarn will truly be my life!

I'm pretty happy with that description at least for this year. Maybe this time next year I will add; thin, sky diving, and gourmet chef to the list. Hmmm, two of those seem to clash, but oh well. I'll leave you with a picture of my lizard ridge afghan. I have 9 blocks seemed together and 2 more finished that leaves 13 to blocks to go!

Swimming in Yarn!

2006-12-31T00:29:00.000-05:00

I realized I haven't written about my Christmas presents yet! Well, I got some great stuff. First of all and most importantly, I received from my grandma enough alpaca to keep me in hog heaven for at least a month. It's this beautiful chocolate brown dk weight 100 % alpaca yarn from alpaca jack's (pic on the left). It's fabulous and I found a gorgeous kimono sweater pattern on knitpicks that I think I'm going to use. I ordered the pattern and the needles so I hope to cast on soon. I also got a new hiking backpack and a new joe rocket motorcycle riding suit, which is nylon perfect for the tree- hugging vegetarian! I also received a beautiful cashmere sweater, fabulous jewlery, and some nice knitting project bags. It was a great Christmas!

In the mean time, I started my first sweater, well cardigan really. I'm not a novice knitter, in fact I have no fear of any pattern expereinced or otherwise, but I just haven't taken the plunge with sweaters. I have done lace and other complicated things, but I have to say I'm very excited about this sweater. I am using the Asymmetrical Cardigan pattern from Knitting Nature (pic from the book on left) and I'm using Cascade's Ecowool (which can both be found at Mosaic, though we may be out of the book). It's all in one piece which I love! I cast on almost immediately after Christmas and have the entire left front done and am now working on the right front. Ecowool, be still my heart! I just love it! It's environmentally friendly, no dies and it feels like knitting with handspun yarn. Honestly, who doesn't love a good handspun yarn? Not to mention that it's also very affordable; $15 for 450 yards. Run to your nearest store and purchase immediately!

Also, I have been working on some socks for me! My favorite knitter, Sandy, brought me back some gorgeous sock yarn from stitches as a gift. I cast on Christmas for these as well and have completed one beautiful sock and am fervently working on the second. No SSS for me! I love, love, love them. They're fabulous in every way =>

By the way, I completely agree with Gina! This silly knit from your stash movement must be stopped! I mean come on! Why should anyone deny themselves the shear pleasure of entering a yarn shop and imagining the endless possibilities of projects, buying the yarn, and getting the greatest high there is for a knitter; casting on? Not to mention knitters have stashes for a reason! We love being surrounded by yarn! Life would be terribly boring if I didn't wake up every morning drowning in yarn. Honestly, the whole concept is ludicrous and I simply refuse to think of it any further. With that soap box statement, I'm off to bed!

Christmas is Done!!!

2006-12-28T17:54:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong I absolutely love Christmas, but I knit almost all of my presents this year. I of course have been warned that this is a terrible idea, but I thought " oh no, I'm not like those other people, I won't procrastinate. I love knitting and I love my family so my presents will surely be done weeks before Christmas". And guess what, I did it! I finished all the knitting on my fabulous presents. Here's the list: Teddy bear - grandma, Huge socks- grandpa, knit wall hanging- sister, motorcycle polishing cloth- dad. My mom, got a skein of qiviut that I bought her in Alaska over the summer.

However, I did not finish weeks ahead of time. In fact, on Christmas eve I stared down at 17 teddy bear pieces that needed to be seamed together, not to mention finishing on other presents. I stuck it out though, I spent almost the entire day with that teddy bear and she got finished! My grandma cried when she opened her so I guess I did well. Teddy was done by about 8 on Christmas eve. I quickly went downstairs and asked my dad the question all young knitters ask at some point in their knitting career. Yup, that's right: Dad, where's the gun?

No, I was not about to shoot myself after hours of insanely seeming together ridiculously tiny pieces and an unending procession of weaving in ends (oh, intarsia you give me hours of such fun) . I actually, needed the staple gun to finish the wall hanging for my sister and was shocked when my dad refused me the satisfaction of finishing that last project. I pleaded, "Please, I need it what am I going to do without it! Christmas is doomed, I need to finish!! Months of intarsia need to come to an end! TONIGHT!" He, of course was confused and meanwhile my mom was staring at us, probably trying to contain herself. She was watching this argument go back and forth like a tennis match. Finally, she screamed "staple gun, she needs the staple gun". My dad and I quickly understood the confusion and thank goodness, Christmas was saved and Kate, my sister, received her intarsia masterpiece!

As far as presents I recieved, I guess this blog worked! I got a fabulous present from Gina! (She did technically give it to me before I started the blog, but I still think the blog helped.) I got a silk Lantern Moon backpack. I haven't gotten a chance to take a picture yet so here's one from the Lantern Moon website.

Greetings!

2006-12-20T23:19:00.000-05:00

Hello fellow knitters and welcome to my blog! I was provoked to start a blog by my boss Gina. (I'm hoping for a good Christmas present) I'm a student at Virginia Tech (that's my parents and I with the hokie bird!), where our moto is "We're a drinking town with a football problem". Thus, freshman year I developed a terribly addicting habit. (Dun dun dun, scary darth vader like music) That's right knitting! Not the worst habit, yet my wallet became seriously light. Something had to be done, so I started work at a knitting shop, Mosaic in Blacksburg, VA.

For all of you who have yet to visit this beautiful town nestled in the heart of Appalachia, you must come visit! Definitely come visit Mosaic too. It's truly my favorite yarn shop and I have seen my fair share. (Happy Gina?) No seriously, I love it and am usually there even when not working. Anyway, not only do I get a sweet discount which supports my habit I also get valuable advice from the resident knitting guru of Mosaic, Sandy. Sandy is a virtual knitting machine, turning out entrelac shawls, intricate lace, sweaters in mere weeks and Lord only knows what knitting tricks she has hiding up her sleeves. She's good for gossip too, my favorite combo in any knitting pal.

Well, it's getting late and I need to finish those Christmas knitting projects details and pics soon to follow, but if I post it my nosy family will definitely find out what knitted treasures await them under the tree. Ok, well they're mostly on the needles now but eventually they will be under the tree...hopefully