Au Revoir 2008

2008 proved to be a less than exciting knitting year, however, it is nice to reflect on what one accomplished – and the biggest headline for me would be cooking.

For Christmas in 2007, Hart bought me a Kitchenaid mixer and after 3 solid years of obsessing over Good Eats it was time to roll up my sleeves and start cooking.

2008 was a year of major cooking accomplishments for me. Up until then, Hart and I ordered in take out literally 5 days a week – the other two were reserved for eating out. It was not only a waste of money, it was totally not healthy. I didn’t grow up with a lot of home cooking so despite being able to boil water, that was kind of it. Three things really helped me to start cooking well.

For beginner cooks, I can’t recommend these two magazines enough – they include basic yet delicious recipes that are really quick and easy. Whole Foods opened 2 blocks from my house about 2 years ago and if it wasn’t there, I wouldn’t feel nearly as inspired to get cooking.

Here are some of my highlights – unfortunately, food photography is not my strong suit, particularly when looking at this, however, this is a sampling of my accomplishments..

I’m excited about 2009. Hart bought me a pasta maker for Christmas this year, and we just got our first Dutch Oven – which apart from its function – is just beautiful.

Happy New Year!

November Check In

Hart’s mom (herself, a serious knitter) has convinced me that it’s okay to have really long periods of knitters-block and that’s what I’ve been having. And same with posting. It’s the posting I’ve been having an issue with. I used to be fine blabbing about any old random thing but now every time I sit down, I think “is this worth really posting about?” Even though I don’t have anything major – part of why I do this blog is to have a long lasting diary of what was happening at certain times – even if it’s insignificant.

Last week I buckled down and “endured” the Blue Print Cleanse for 3 days, which isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Before I did it I scoured for blogposts to get some insight beyond the wonderful marketing focused praises on their website, so I’m doing this for the next person who is googling away.

So what is this Blue Print Cleanse? Basically it’s a juice “cleanse” which you can do for 1, 3 or 5 days. It isn’t a recipe you follow – it’s an actual company - a small independent one based in NYC, run by a couple of woman. You pick your level (I did Renovation), your duration (I did 3), and they deliver your juices right to your door. They provide you with cooler bags – each filled with 6 numbered juices that you drink each day. They are numbered, which is great.

People do these things for many reasons and what I liked about Blue Print is that is not a psycho hard core thing like the Master Cleanse - instead it’s more health focused. I did this to give my system a break and also to re-set my eating patterns. I’m not really great with discipline and eating. I’m a vegetarian and frankly, I eat pretty well – I don’t eat typical junk food (chips, cookies) but Hart and I are terrible about ordering in food. Also, I’m bad about portion control and after awhile I just feel heavy and overcarbed and sluggish.

How did it go? The great part was that for me, it was actually pretty easy, relatively speaking. You drink a lot of water along with the juices and I really wasn’t all that hungry. I lost 7 pounds over 3 days (which as I expected, has come back – but that wasn’t my objective). Mind you, I have a few (or 10) pounds to lose so that was kind of nice. I felt like I did cleanse my system, however I didn’t feel like a new person after it was over. I have a few other friends who have done this and they have actually felt amazing afterwards. All of them are meat eaters and I’m guessing this had a lot to do with it. I was only 14 when I went vegetarian so I can’t remember exactly – but I do know many folks who went veg as adults and they feel like a million bucks by cutting out meat – so I’m guessing that’s why it worked better for them.

I guess my key takeaway is that I just eat too much normally and this was a great “reset”. I felt like a million bucks because I didn’t feel weighed down with so much food. I was getting all of my nutrition on a small amount of intake and that felt amazing. The problem is the discipline, which I’m terrible about. And also my love of food – which gets the better of me. I am going to actually try and hit a better balance. Real fresh juices (like the ones that are green, not Jamba Juice) honestly never occurred to me before. And I think it would be great, AND healthy to have those for breakfast or lunch once and awhile. My only concern had been drinking juice in that way that was for crazy dieters who were trying to starve themselves, and I no longer feel that way because they are actually filling, along with being far more nutritious than my cheese sandwich.

And with that, I head off to stuff my face for Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays!

Tribute in Light Memorial from apartment window

A New Beginning - Tomten Stash

I was so excited to receive a package from Webs today which opened to reveal 6 thick, squishy skeins of Cascade Eco +. Five in navy blue and one in maroon.

Last holiday my mom requested a sweater for the following year’s main gift and after stressing for a second about picking the right pattern, I immediately thought of the Adult Tomten by EZ. Actually, specifically I thought of Ann’s on Ravelry.

I’m headed to SF tomorrow and I’m itching to start but this puppy requires swatching, measuring and planning and despite Demi not being travel friendly – I would rather bring her as at least I know what I’m doing.

Hopefully I’ll have some great Demi status shots when I return and I’m so excited to start this new project!

Minimalist Cardigan - FO

I’m excited to present My Minimalist Cardigan, which has to be one of my favorite sweaters so far.

I really loved knitting this sweater – it is the perfect combination of easy knit with an interesting pattern – which is very satisfying. It’s also incredibly classic – which is why I decided to knit it in black. I envision this as the sweater that either stays on the back of my chair at work for cold days or the one I throw on over a top with jeans or a dress.

Mini was also the sad recipient of my knitting downslide. I actually finished this in January but between my ordeal with Dollar and a Half, my downright hate of finishing and my unfortunate downward spiral into apathy towards knitting, this just didn’t get done until now.

Recipe:
Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan, Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Size: 35 ½
Duration:
Start: October 2007
Finished: Knitting: January 2008, Seamed, blocked and finished: July 27,2008
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran in black, 10-11 skeins. Love this yarn and highly recommend it.
Needles: size 7
Modifications: Not much, as usual, I lengthened the sweater. I find most patterns walk dangerously close to being “cropped” and therefore ususally add a few inches. In this case, only 1 inch, and only to the back (knit moss to 14 ½ ” instead of 13 ½

Alton Brown Cinnamon Rolls

As you may know, I love Alton Brown. If you aren't familiar with Alton, I highly recommend DVR/Tivo-ing Good Eats on Food Network.

The first time we saw the "House of the Rising Bun" episode we knew we would eventually make the star of the show, the Cinnamon Buns, but at the time, we didn't have a stand mixer. Hart gave me a Kitchenaid this past Christmas. The sad part of the story is that it went unused (due to my intimidation) for 8 months, the good part of the story is that it was christened with this recipe.



This actually isn't really hard at all - the only non-traditional ingredients that weren't in of our pantry were yeast, buttermilk and powdered sugar - but those are pretty easy to buy. I'm also a non-baker and for a first attempt at using my mixer and for a relative beginner - this couldn't have been easier.

Below is the ingredient list and click here for the full recipe.

main ingredients

eggs

sugar

butter

buttermilk

AP flour

Instant yeast

Kosher salt

brown sugar

cinnamon

Icing

Cream Cheese

milk

butter

Winter Knits in 100 degree weather

There’s nothing like the combination of getting over a chest cold, having the apt to yourself bc your b-friend is out of town, and it being 100 degrees outside to get you focused on a project. Today (and a good chunk of yesterday) was knitting extravaganza in my household.

I had two things on the agenda: to knit Demi and to weave in ends/ block my Minimalist Cardigan. This whole thing started at 1pm and I had a very specific plan. With the aid of NPR, I would knit Demi until 4pm and then start the Mini Cardigan work.

I tell you, Demi is a bear, but a really sweet one. I really am excited about this project, but I wouldn’t call it the most joyous of knit experiences. I’m actually a moderately fast knitter but as mentioned before, at least for me, this requires full attention. It’s getting SO much easier than when I started, but I’m still clocking a 10 -15 minute row depending on it being a WS (10) or RS (15). I know, that’s weird – anyone else ever do that? So if you saw my last pictures (I haven’t knit since), this is what I accomplished in 4 hours. Not much but progress nonetheless.


I have a very specific vision for Demi. When I saw the picture in Vintage Knits – and then all the glorious FOs on Ravelry - I immediately thought that this would be a classic pullover that I could keep and wear forever. It would be for cold winter nights and ski trips and I don’t know, it’s no EZ classic but I kind of have visions of handing her down. It’s this vision that is my motivation.

Anyway, I stopped at 4pm. Again, being weird, I’m very specific like that – but I think only with projects that are a) hard and b) are in the end weaving/blocking process. Both of which I was dealing with.

Anyway – I am SO excited with Mini Cardigan’s blocking status!

I looked back and I think I finished this 6 months ago. I don’t know what it is but I just stall at the finishing stage, at least lately. I loathe this part. It’s a process, right? At least for me it is but I’m starting to think I make things harder on myself than necessary. I always seam it up pre-block, using some contrast color. And then I inspect it for a few days – determining if things need to be lengthened during blocking, or seeing which areas need to be smoothed out. And then I get all mathematical and draw diagrams about blocking dimensions. Maybe if I just chilled I would not have sweaters sitting in WIP piles.

I wished that I loved summer knits because I think I need another project to switch off with Demi. Have you seen Jared’s squishy blanket? Love…..