Bonus!

I should really save this post for tomorrow since who knows if I'll have anything to talk about... but I don't care. I live on the edge!

The Interweave Knits Fall Preview is up. I'll definitely be purchasing a copy once it's available.

Here's some of my favorites... which I will probably knit someday.

And this one that I will not knit, but I like to look at anyway:

I believe that knit dresses should be approached with caution. As with knit skirts. Not that they cannot be cute or flattering, but odds are that you should probably say no if the urge strikes you to knit a dress. In case you're about to say "but _____ is really cute" I will remind you that knit dresses are, in fact, sweater dresses (usually) We all remember that time don't we? Does anyone really want to return to the era of the sweater dress? Don't answer that.

Okay... that's my knitting pr0n for today. Y'all come back now, y'hear?

Birthday Meme

So I didn't actually get tagged with this, but I saw it on Mia's blog and it looked like fun.

Here's the rules:
You go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post 3 events, 2 births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday, then tag 5 friends.

August 18:
Events:
293 BC The oldest known Roman temple to Venus was founded.
1920 AD The 19th ammendment was ratified
1958 Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita was published in the United States

Births:
1774 Meriwether Lewis
1904 Max Factor

Holidays:
Buhe (Ethipian orthodox)

I'm not tagging anyone, but I do hope if you participate you'll leave me a comment so I can go see :)

Be very very quiet...

We're hunting knits.




Aha... Caught one!




Stats:

Name: Sockapalooooza sock
Pattern: Kinda sorta Dublin Bay by Ryan Morrissey
Yarn: Lisa Souza Sock! in What A Melon
Needles: Crystal Palace DPNs size 1
Mods: Well... I didn't really follow the pattern at all... I just kind of looked at the picture and thought "hey... I can knit that" and so I did. The heel is slip stitch, the toe is the "French Toe" from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks

We'll see what else I can hunt down in the wilds of my craft room tomorrow.

When not knitting...

Well... knitting hasn't been non-existent. But it's been difficult to hunt the wild knits in their natural habitat to photograph them.

I thought I'd tell you about some of the other ways I've been recreating.

I read this on Saturday (and a little bit of Sunday):

No spoilers of course... but I'm really happy with how the series has closed. Although I wish it wasn't over *frown*

Also I have this checked out from the library:

It makes my brain tingle with the possibilities. It's a small quick read based on an article from Wired by the same name.

Maybe I'll get some knitting content soon... maybe not... I guess you'll have to wait and see. Is the suspense killing you? I thought so.

A Casserole (R)evolution

I've been experimenting with the classic tuna casserole. The classic dish is simple, complete, and when properly prepared, delicious; not to mention it freezes like a dream. I thought I'd share my results (because they are delicious) with you all.

So, to refresh your memories if you haven't had a tuna casserole since 1987 here's the premise, or "proto casserole" that I used as my jumping off point:

2 cans chunk light tuna

1 can peas

1 can cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup cheese, shredded

1/2 lb cooked pasta like penne or farfalle

Combine in casserole dish (oddly enough) cover and bake on 350 (d) for 30 minutes.

Remove, let cool, devour.

what's awesome about this classic:

Easy Peasy, that's what's awesome. Aside from cooking the pasta there is nothing on the stovetop and assuming you can set the timer on your oven, it's pretty hard to screw up.

The downside:

SALT... cream of mushroom soup, at least the can that I had (Fred Meyer brand) has something like 800 mg of sodium, and that's not counting the cheese and the canned chunk light tuna that always tastes like a salt lick to me anyway.

Texture... I find canned peas about as appetizing as dog food really. They're gray and mushy, it's just unnatural. And the chunk light tuna basically disappears in the mixture so that you don't really get any solid bites of tuna.

Solution:

1) Come up with a subtitute for the cream of mushroom soup.

2) Use fresh vegetables

3) Don't use the canned chunk light tuna

After some experimentation, this is what I came up with:

Ingredients:
1 head chopped broccoli - blanched

2 cans Solid White Albacore Tuna

1/2 lb cooked pasta (like Farfalle or Penne, cooked al dente)

1/2 cup Mayo

1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

1/2 cup Buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup cheese

Several crumbled crackers, like Saltines (a handful)

Preheat oven to 350. To a large skillet on medium heat add your desired form of cooking fat (butter, EVOO, Canola oil) add the tuna, broken up in bite size pieces, and broccoli. Cook just until heated through.

Add Mayo, Yogurt, Buttermilk, cook for a minute or two until hot, then add eggs, seasoning and half the cheese. Cook until thick and bubbly, a few minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into a casserole dish, add pasta and stir until combined. Sprinkle remaining cheese and the crackers over dish. Cover, bake for 30 minutes. Uncover for last 5 minutes to goo-ify the cheese on top.

Try it... it's good. And Gooey.

Yuck!

20 days since I've posted? What a slouch.

And probably a few more until I get a real post together.

In the mean-time, How many presidents can you name in 10 minutes?

I got 39... but I totally should have had 40... I'm just dumb. (goes without saying)

I *have* been knitting, and I've been sewing and cooking, just like usual. I just can't seem to force myself to stay indoors any longer than absolutely necesary to put a post together.

Some new (non-knitting) toys:

Fabric Depot has a 40% off sale this weekend... I am totally there. Any suggestions on fabric for my new babies?

New Discovery!

I have found something WONDERFUL. I'm probably the last person on the planet to find it, but I don't care.

Goodwill has an auction site. Did you know this? It's spectacular, much better deals than EBay (IMO) at least in my short perusing time. See I'm looking fora cast iron skillet. I had not yet been able to find one actually at the goodwills near me, so when searching the web (not working) I found the Goodwill Auction site.

It is a lot like a Goodwill store... there's no real search feature although items are categorized and sorted by auction end time, but you really have to "dig" to find stuff. There is yarn there peeps... among other crafty supplies.

I now have 4 bids and a bunch of watched items... I really need to put it away before I get crazy :)

The only downside is the shipping on larger items. Like this 68 piece dinnerware set currently going for $11 but weighs 82 pounds total. Too much to ship, unless you live in St Paul and can pick it up... that'd be awesome!

Anyways, go, have fun, waste time. Remember it's reduce REUSE then recycle.

P.S. I watched a great movie last night "Her Highness and the Bell Boy" 1945, Hedy Lamarr and June Allyson. if you like old movies you should watch it, it's adorable.

Imagine the Knitting!

I did something very awesome this weekend, but I didn't take pictures so I guess that means it didn't really happen?

I cast on for a practice run of what will be matching mittens for myself and two of my best friends as Christmas gifts (Yes, I'm starting Christmas knitting in June... on December 22 when I have everything done and wrapped and you're trying to build a time stretcher... we'll see who's laughing).

The knitted item is the Pirate Mittens from Hello Yarn. I'm making them with Knit Picks Telemark in Snow Leopard (background) and Aubergine (skulls). Thank god these are not on sale now because I would have just died. Although it's not like they use a lot of yarn so maybe I just shouldn't be such a cheapskate.

When I bought the yarn I thought the Snow Leopard was more blue than gray. I was wrong. It's a lovely pale gray... quite reminiscent of the sky at this moment (because you can all see my sky) It's a lovely color, but paired with the aubergine that make the mittens maroon and gray... my high school colors (Franklin Quakers!).

But the big news about these mittens is that they're my first stranded knitting project! Hurray! I have all but finished the first one (had to rip out the thumb... it was bad). They went super fast and I think I may be hooked on stranded colorwork... super happy fun time. They look great (IMHO of course)

I have so much stuff to take pictures of and upload, but I swear I'll do it... eventually. I did join a new knitalong yesterday. The "Mystery Stole 3" run by Melanie of Pink Lemon Twist. If you're interested check out her blog and then sign up on the Yahoo Group... signups close July 6 so HURRY.

P.S. boy is taking his LSATs today, right this second as a matter of fact, wish him luck. :)

Buster & Aspen's Meme

Midge tagged me for the 7 things Meme, which I already answered. However two other bloggers had their pets answer memes so Buster and Aspen asked if they could do a joint one. (Buster & Aspen refer to my mom as "Mom" and me as "girl")

Aspen:
1) Mommy & Girl got me from pet store when I was a baby 10 years ago. They say they wouldn't get another pet store dog because of all my health problems, but they still love me lot's which is nice because I get really sick sometimes and mom says stuff about $300 trips to the vet. I don't know what that means but she doesn't sound happy about it.

2) Some of my health problems include chronic ear infections, a torn knee (they fixed that but then mommy was yelling about $1200 for a stupid knee), fatty deposits, and last year I had a hematoma (I don't know what that is but it hurt) in my ear and had to have surgery and then I shook my head too much 'cause it was itchy and I tore the stitches.

3) I like going to the vet because they give me treats and tell me how pretty I am. Some dogs (I hear) don't like the vet. They must not be very pretty.

4) I like to be petted more than anything. People like to pet me, but sometimes they forget that they can, so I put my head under their hand to remind them that it's okay to pet me.

5) Sometimes we go to the beach and I think that's awesome. I can run in Tide Pools (Girl yells stuff about delicate ecosystems... whatever that is) and roll in dead things. I think dead things are the greatest thing to roll in. After we go to the beach I get really itchy though and I need a bath.

6) I liked it a lot when girl lived here because she would spend all day Sunday making special food for me because of all my allergies. She'd roast chicken and yams and green beans and turnips and carrots like my vet told her and I'd eat that all week. YUM! But girl doesn't live here anymore and mom is too busy to cook for us so now I eat prescription dog food from the vet. It's good... but I liked girl's food better.

7) Katz R Dum.

Buster:
1) My people adopted me from the Golden Retriever Rescue in Utah when I was 7 (2002 I'm told) The rescue place was okay, because it was on a farm, but I really liked coming to a forever home.

2) I am not a dog. I'm a rare wolf/bear hybrid and I'm very dangerous. My people think I'm a golden retriever. They're really stupid and don't even know what a wolf/bear hybrid looks like (they look like me). I was born in the wild and captured and raised like a dog.

3) When I lived in the wild I ate bacon a lot from the bacon bush. I tell my people this all the time and that they should give me bacon because it's my natural food but they don't listen to me.

4) I don't like children. I'll growl at them and might even try to nip them. Children make me really grumpy. The people keep children away from me and that's the way I like it. Children are stupid.

5) Sometimes I get grumpy if people get too close to my face and I'll growl. No one's really scared which pisses me off because they don't even know that I could tear their throat out (since I'm a wolf/bear hybrid).

6) My favorite thing to do is nap on the couch with my dad.

7) I think puppies are stupid.


As you can see Aspen & Buster are two pretty special dogs. Buster does have a bit of an attitude problem, but he's old so we let him get away with it.

And she's back

I'm back!

Friday was Grandma's service in Newport and it was beautiful. I didn't think I would cry because I had already done so much crying and I had been to the viewing earlier and cried a lot then and I was really just feeling unemotional. Then one of the hymns was "On Eagles' Wings" and I started bawling like a little baby (when you get to "take you to the breath of dawn"). Stupid songs.

Joel and I drove home late that night. I was a little tipsy from dinner so I slept some of the way. Saturday I went to the Portland Farmer's Market at PSU where I purchased some tasty sweet sugar snap peas, new carrots, asparagus, and some delicious Hood strawberries. They're a little tart so I think I'm going to mix them with pineapple for some pineapple-strawberry muffins. yummy! Saturday night I julienned the carrots and tossed them with the sugar snap peas with olive oil, blasamic, salt/pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. It was delish.

But the best part was the salad bowl. A large pot with six varieties of lettuce, I can't remember them all right now, but there was two types of romaine, two red leaf, Butter lettuce and regular Green Leaf. I set it in the full sun of our back porch and can't wait to have some tasty garden fresh salads.

Sunday I baked Banana Bread Muffins (using Alton Brown's recipe in I'm Just Here for More Food) and laid around the house like a bump on a log. It was great.

Now here I am back at work, back in the groove. I rode my bike again today and as usual it was great. I think this Friday I'll take some pictures on my way in so you can all see what I mean. 5 of my 7 mile ride to work are on a bike trail along the river, I see all sorts of herons and ducks and geese and stuff.

Anyways, that's all, I hope everyone had a great weekend. See ya tomorrow.