Boring

Even Maurice can't stay awake for 'Financial Decision Analysis' reading.  At least its not just me having this problem!

First Drafts

Yes!  I am still alive.  And by this point I am sure I have lost the 1 or 2 return readers that this blog may or may not have had...
I stole a few minutes this weekend to do some crafting, and started drafting some invites for the kids craft bday party i have been hired to do in May.
I thought I would share my first drafts of the invites...

Pug Life

Just another hard day in the life of a pug

Sometimes he like to test out my knits for me...I think he liked this one.  Too bad pugs don't really have any use for a scarf.  You know, that whole lack of a neck issue.

On The Horizon

So I thought I had my 2012 knitting projects all lined up, until I went to a local yarn shop to spend the rest of an expiring gift certificate and saw a completed version of this:

pic found here

I also happened to lay my hands on this:

Once I touched it, I knew I had to have it, and thought the above mentioned pattern would be a good project for it.  Anyways, it is a big skein to wind (especially considering I already wound my mom's for her), but I hope to get to it this weekend.

Anyways, happy Friday, and have a great weekend!

Knitting Lately, With Some Perspective

There have been some great knitting developments happening lately.  The first being that I attended my second knitting group meet up, and it is actually only the third one that the group has ever had and attendance is growing rapidly.  The first meet up had one person there (not me), and at the second there were three of us.  Well on Sunday there were eight of us (I think).  I snapped the photo below before everyone else arrived because the space is beautiful, and the view is amazing, and the weather had been fantastic all day. 

 The second great thing happening is that once a few of the girls (or ladies, not sure which one fits) at work realised that I knit, the idea of knitting at lunch somehow transpired.  So now every day at lunch a few of us knit, which is great because it is a nice way to break up the working day.  It has been a bit of an eye-opener for me, because it makes me realise how far I have come with knitting as I answer some questions that other people have.  And I can answer them, because i know what things like garter stitch, or W&T mean, and can explain how they should check their gauge before starting a project.  Plus it stops me from sitting at my desk surfing the Internet all lunch hour.
So the third knitting-related this is that I finally used the blocking squares that I bought from Knit Picks ages ago, and they are great!  It was so nice to have something to actually pin to, as opposed to a towel on my ironing board.  Which would not have worked for the blanket show below.  I have no idea what I would have done.  Probably just not blocked it.  But wow, what a different it make, the shape was all wonky and not square at all before I did that.  I also blocked the Dovetail Cowl I mentioned a few days ago, and it made an even more noticeable difference for that project.  So that was $40 well spent (or however much it was I spent on those boards).

OK I will stop rambling...for now.  BTW, I do believe that these may be my worst quality pictures yet.  Yikes.

Favorite Dinner

One Sunday night I was looking for something quick but tasty to make for dinner, and was browsing AllRecipes.com (which is fantastic, btw), and came across this recipe.  I picked it because I happend to have all ingredients on hand and felt like having pasta.
It has been made so many times since then because it is my new fav, but has been heavily adapted to suite our tastes.

Lemon Pasta:

• Any type of pasta - I use penne, or linguini, usually
• Shrimp (optional)
• Mushrooms and other veggies (optional)
• 1/2 cup butter
• sprinkle of parsley
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

I put on a big pot of water to boil, as this always seems to take way longer than I think it will. 

While that is heating up I melt the butter in my largest frying pan, and add two (or more) cloves of minced garlic.  When the butter is all melted I then add the shrimp, mushrooms, and whatever else I want added.  Usually nothing, but a few times I have added zucchini from my mom's garden and that was good too. 

When the mushrooms, shrimp, etc are nicely browned I then add the lemon juice and chicken/veggie stock and make sure the heat is set to at least medium, maybe a bit higher.  I also sometimes add a sprinkling of cornstarch to help the sauce thicken, and sprinkle some parsley flakes in.  I stir occasionally until the sauce begins to thicken.

When the water boils I add pasta, and cook according to directions, and at this point if the sauce is thick I turn the heat to low so it can simmer.

When the pasta is done I strain and pour into a large bowl.  I then pour the sauce from the frying pan into the bowl and toss evenly to coat all pasta.  I dish it out and sprinkle with parmesan.

And then I eat...lots of it...and hopefully have enough for leftovers the next day.

Enjoy!

First Co Becomes First FO!

So I am done the Dovetail Cowl that I was working on, so my first FO only took a week!  This is perhaps my worst picture yet, so I apologize.  I was pricing out real cameras today, so hopefully picture quality improves about 100% in the next few months.
Also no picture could ever describe how soft this thing is.  I love it!  Too bad its not for me to keep.  This was a really fun knit, because every row is different so it keeps things interesting, but its not too complicated that you can't do other things at the same time.

First CO of 2012

So staying true to this post, the first thing I cast on for in 2012 was the first item in my queue on Ravelry.  I guess maybe I should actually go and update Ravelry now.  I cast on for the Dovetail Cowl because the wool was a Christmas gift, attached to a promise to knit a cowl as soon as the recepient chose a pattern that she liked, to match gloves that I made her last Christmas.  Words can not at all describe how soft this wool is, and how soft the WIP is turning out to be, but I can't stop touching it!

Also I had an expiring gift certificate to a nearby wool store that I had to use up, so went with my mom on Saturday to use it up.  It turns out that it wouldn't have actually expired, but after I had invested so much time browsing the store and choosing wool, it was too late!  Also, my purchases may (or my not) have altered the list of 2012 knits I was contemplating, and planning on working on.  But more on that, and my purchases, later.

Life Lately

Studying, studying and more studying.
All I actually want to do is curl up in bed with Maurice.  He has been doing a lot of that lately.
Except this morning, when he actually dragged himself out of bed to see if he could have some of the cheerios I was pouring into my bowl.

Craft Party Inspirations

As mentioned here, in November I hosted (along with some help from my mom and a few other good friends) a christmas craft party.  The people attending the party came and purchased a package for $8, and this package, along with everything else supplied at the party allowed people to make pretty much as many gift tags and envelopes as they could make in an evening, for their Christmas wrapping.
So one of the people attending the party has since contacted me about throwing a similar party for her daughter's 12th birthday which is coming up in May, along with making the invitations for the party.

So as soon as I agreed, the wheels started turning and I began brainstorming about all the things I could do for the inviations, the kits for this party, and the samples I would make for things that the girls attending the party could make.  I started a new Pinterest Board to start collecting my ideas.

I thought I would share some of the inspirations I have found, in terms of creating invitations.  I am loving the idea of glassine envelopes, and some sort of paper confetti to go along with the invitation.  Seriously, how many twelve-year-old girls wouldn't like to get a little envelope full of sparkly hearts??

Pic Found Here

Pic Found Here

Pic Found Here



Pic Found Here

 So I have yet to come across exactly what I am picturing in my head, but this is a start anyways.

Happy 2012!

We rang in the new year in Vegas, and it was an amazing way to start the year.  I was glad to see the end of 2011, and to see what 2012 brings.  I am optomistic that it will be a better year, and will bring great things including lots of knitting time (here's hoping).