Practicality and Simpliticity

I had a conversation with my cousin over the summer about her Kindle.  She absolutely loves her Kindle because it is portable and do not have to worry about stacking books in your home.  I love the uses of technology, but enjoy having the feel of a book or newspaper in my hands reading on the train or the comfort of my home.  My cousin attempted making the argument of me purchasing a Kindle, but I think I am going to pass on this particularly technology.  I must admit, I could save a lot of space in my apartment but probably will fill my space with one of my hobbies like knitting and crocheting.  I could see the simplicity of having a Kindle that hold possibly hundreds if not thousands of books within reach of your fingertips, but there is nothing like visiting a Barnes and Noble and if I have limited funds, a trip to the public library suffices.

This post is leading to the topic of practicality and simplicity.  As I mentioned previously, I do embrace technology particularly when has anything to do with me learning something new.  The Internet was tool that led me to learn how to knit and re-discover crochet.  However, my research led me into discovering blogs of people who had similar interests and gave me the ability to learn about their joys, frustrations, and mistakes in knitting, crocheting and sewing.  Of course, the web did not end my trips to the bookstores as I can attest to purchasing at least 15 to 20 books on knitting and crocheting, and about 5 to 7 sewing reference and pattern books.

 

Prior to writing this post, I was through the Barnes and Noble websites for craft books, but came upon a book entitled How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew by Erin Bried who has a website how to sew a button .  I would compare the book to The Dangerous Book for Boys that purchased for my nephew a couple of years ago because he needed to know more than just playing video games.  In Erin’s book, she guides you through on how to fold a fitted sheet, tie a necktie and other resourceful and useful things for a practical life.  I think one of the reasons for the re-emergence of doing things yourself  is the current economy climate and the realities that we can no longer pay people to hem or iron trousers.   Self-sufficiency is back en vogue. 

I found that I become older, I have the need to live a more practical and simple life.  I do not find myself as a conservative person, but one who does not mind finding the divine in simplicity.  Even as I write this entry and listening American Masters about Louisa May Alcott, there is something very simplistic about writing about everyday life and learning something new, actually learning something about me.  That I do love write even if I am not the perfect writer with the best grammar, but it is important that through writing I can express my feelings, ideas, and thoughts.  I think crafting and writing can be the window to the soul and perhaps we can find practicality and simplicity in that.  Well these are my random thoughts for the day.

The Day After Christmas

I should begin by writing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.  I hope everyone had a happy and safe Christmas.  My brother’s birthday was on Christmas and today his daughter is celebrating her 18th birthday.  I had a good Christmas with the exception of my pilot light in my oven going out in the middle of cooking a rib roast and mac & cheese.  My father and I did not know how to relight it and so I went to my cousin’s house and finish cooking the mac and cheese.  All and all, dinner to finally turn out well for the most part.

Here is the exciting part of my day.  I received $300.00 in American Express gift checks from generous co-workers at work, and finally put them to good use by purchasing a new laptop, an HP G60-535Dx.  I love my laptop, but miss my Apple desktop that has not worked in over year because the on button no longer works and I am still deliberating on either replacing the button or recycling the computer.  My decision will be predicated upon the cost of repair.   In any event, I can once again write regular blog postings with great happiness.

It is amazing how much technology has become so integrated into my everyday life, in fact with many people’s lives.  Just ten short years ago, blogging and podcasting did not exist and the Internet had great possibilities.  Today we are blogging, podcasting, purchasing items online, learning how to knit, crochet and sew with thanks the technology of computers and the Internet.  We are also connecting with people living over the country and world.  There are times when technology can be a pain sometimes like people talking on the phone while eating at restaurant or on public transportation. 

I believe am digressing just a tad.  It will be fun checking out the new computer and learning Windows 7.  I just downloaded the home and student version of Microsoft Office 07, the only disappointment is that Outlook is not including meaning purchasing the application.  Well I suppose we cannot have everything in life, but does not hurt to try anyway. 

For the time being, I am going to do some reading of some new books I purchased over the past few weeks and write about them in a blog entry in the near future.  Until that time, Happy first day of Kwanzaa where the first principle Umoja (Unity) is celebrated.

Holiday Weekend in Charlotte

I spent my Thanksgiving holiday at my brother’s house in Charlotte.  I should have known better when he told me that I needed to do was bring myself and don’t worry about cooking.  When I arrived Wednesday afternoon, I discovered that he hadn’t cooked anything.  So I got to work with cleaning and cooking collard greens, making cornbread for the dressing, cranberry sauce, giblet gravy and dinner rolls.  He did manage to make macroni and cheese and sweet potato pies which he claims it taste better than mine but it really taste the same as he used the same recipe as I use.

It has been a nice holiday here in Charlotte, I managed to see the movie Precious on Friday.  The multi-plex is at the mall, so we had to deal with shoppers on Black Friday, and it was crowded.  I do not fathom the concept of standing outside of any retail store or mall the night before to get on an early deal on a product when there are only five in stock.  Perhaps I am not a shopper and may never understand the need to participate in shopping as a sport, but to each it’s own.

I managed to get some knitting while in Charlotte, but have some newfound interest in sewing.  Ever since the move to the new apartment, I have not got into sewing and I need some new clothes to wear as I do not like shopping to get them.  I also purchased some new Vogue patterns online as they have a $4.25 per pattern ($3.82 if you are a member).  I generally get very easy patterns because I am beginner and it just suits my lifestyle.  I also purchased the book ”Making Trousers for Men and Women” at Overstock dot com.  Fabric dot com and Fabric Mart dot com has some fabric I like to purchase, and probably will make a trip to M & Trim in the garment district in NYC for buttons and other accessories for the knitted and crochet hats.

Well I have to return my packing and getting my newphew to complete his homework before the trip back to New Jersey.

Thanksgiving and Knitting Projects

I have been living in my new apartment for a couple of months, and still in the process of settling. Believe or not I started a couple of new knitting projects, a scarf and a pair of socks. The pair of socks is a new skill for me. I wanted to learn how to knit to make socks for myself and five years later I found yarn that inspired me to knit socks.

It has been taking me a while with my projects as that thing call life sometimes get in the way. There times when I come from work and a wave of lethargy just overwhelms me. There some nights when I managed to get some knitting and crocheting done, and are nights when a nice warm bath does it for me. Although, today while at the yarn store, one of salespeople said she had about 20 projects in the works. But when I went to see Lily Chin at the Lion Brand studio for her book signing for her new kniiting and crochet technique and she wore a crocheted Land’s End inspired dress, she mentioned it took her three days to crochet it using the LB merino yarn. After hearing that, I really feel like a slacker, but realized that this is her full time job.

I am not cooking for Thanksgiving this year because my brother invited me to his house in Charlotte. The downside is that I have to the bus from New Jersey to North Carolina which is 16 hour ride because my cousin who is 70 is now afraid to travel by plane and I am bringing my nephew down with me as well. At least I can get some knitting and reading done on the ride down. I purchased some Spud and Chloe superwash merino wool/silk blend yarn to make the next pair of socks.

It has been a long day and time to call it night.

Moving Pains

It seems like an eternally since writing my last post, but I have occupied with moving to a new apartment. I have lived in my old place for 29 years, so there were a lot of stuff I needed to sort out and get rid things that no longer had any effect on my life. It is safe to say that I hate moving and not because it meant change, but the process and not mention the allegry to dust.

After two weeks of coming home from week each night, I finally packed my things and moved into new apartment Sept 4 and going through the process of making the new space mine and peaceful. I managed to hurt my back doing the move, so I am thinking of talking yoga classes.

I am working creating a space for knitting, sewing and other creative crafts. I have started knitting gifts for the holidays. I can knit about five scarves, but thinking about a spa set to knit for a couple of people. I am orangizing myself to finish up some projects I have started and placed on the back burner. Change can be a good thing.

Summer Cold, Julie & Julia and other Going Ons

It has been a good while since my last blog entry.  The last time, I was on vacation with the flu and making chicken soup.  As I write this post, I am recovering from a summer cold and my third cold this year.  I do not what it is this year about I have been getting a lot of colds this year and it can be attributed to my asthma.  My eczema is returning and wonder if it is from the rice I have been eating (I am allergic to rice).  Fortunately, I have my cream to combat the eczema.

I am going through the process of moving.  Yes, I am finally moving September 4 to a new apartment.  It is a smaller space and think I can manage it because I need to live a little simplier with the idea of maintaining my hobbies such as knitting, crocheting, sewing, and cooking.

Speaking of cooking, I managed to see Julie & Julia over the weekend and thought it was a delightful movie.  I loved Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Stanley Tucci as Paul Child.  Amy Adams has a fine performance as Julie Powel, the writer who decided to cook her way through Child’s classic cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.  I purchased the cookbook after seeing the movie along with Powell’s Book “Julie & Julia, my year of cooking dangerously”.  I always wanted to have french food and know that going to a restaurant is not an option, but I solve that problem by cooking it myself.  Child’s book does not have pretty pictures, but it is more than a recipe book insofar it gives you very good instructions on french cooking methods.  By learning those methods, you can take them cook just about anything else.  There is a part in the book where Child gives instructions on how to make canned green beans taste better, so she really makes it easier for the home cook.  However, you can find fresh green beans just about any supermarket in the country.

I have always had an interest in cooking from a child and thought I would have my chance in my 6th. grade home economics class which turned out to be a great disappointment.  The only thing we made in home ec was macaroni salad with tuna and cheddar cheese chunks, and I did not consider that cooking.  Boiling pasta (in which the teacher did and not the students) did not seem challenging enough for me.  I ended learning how to cook on my own by watching my grandmother or cooking shows where Julia Child was one. 

I am in the process of losing weight and perhaps purchasing Child’s cookbook does not seem like such a good idea considering butter is the enemy these days.  However, eating a balance meal is something we have abandon a long time ago along with not cooking our own meals.  I found that when I cook my own meals, I use less salt and butter, and watch my portion control.  I would rather eat  have a 4oz steak cooked with a little butter with sauteed spinach and baby carrots, than eat a Big Mac meal.  The former would have less calories and better tasting.  During the 40s and 50s, I noticed in many movies during that period, bowls, plates, cups and glasses were much smaller.  Everything is supersized in our culture that we are not really savoring good food.

Chicken Soup and Vacation

It has been a couple of weeks since I have written a post to my blog.  I intended to write during my time on vacation, but as the saying goes you plan and God smiles.  There is always something.  The Friday before I was to leave for my stayaction, I had the sense that I had a temperature, so I went to the pharmacy to buy a thermometer.  I returned to my desk and discovered that I had a fever of 101.6 and ironically writing radio copy for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hyigene telling people to go their primary care physician and not an ER.  I left work at 4pm to go to the doctor’s office and sat waiting from 4:20 until 7pm before a nurse finally called me into an exam room.  By this time, my temperature went up to 102 and the nurse commented that for a person who has a high fever, I look good, and I said I certainly do not feel well.  A swap was struck up my nose which I cannot stand and discovered it was the flu.  They did not know if it was swain flu, but treated as such.  The doctor gave my a prescription for tamiflu, gave me other instructions such as drink lots of fluids, and get homemade chicken soup (fortunately, there is a Whole Foods a couple of blocks away from the doctor’s office), and I finally left the doctor’s office at 8pm, but needed to fill the prescription (a CVS that has a 24-hour pharmacy is a couple of blocks) and go to Whole Foods to pick up some chicken soup and ingredients for soup for me to make the next day.  Fortunately, the fever broke the next morning and I spent time making some chicken soup, drinking lots of fluids, taking vitamins, and eating soup for almost two weeks.

I spent over half of my vacation being sick, so I did not do much crafting, knitting, crocheting, or sewing, but did end up making some very good chicken soup (it is good for the soul).  In addition to being sick, it rained almost everyday.  At least I did get better to attend my niece’s high school graduation.  I managed to go out a couple of days and picked up the current issues of Inside Crochet and Interweave Crochet, and both issues had some really nice projects to inspire.  I probably will just crochet the hat because it is really nice and stylish.  Well, that is all I have for the moment.  Enjoy your day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visual Journaling

I was listening to Allison Lee’s Craftcast a couple of weeks ago and she interviewed a woman named Lisa Sonora Beam who is the author of “The Creative Entrepreneur – A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real.”  She is a mixed media artist, writer and owner of Digital Hive EcoLogical Design which is a communications firm located in San Francisco working with green businesses.  Beam writes in the book about creating a visual journal as a vehicle of placing your original thinking and ideas to make them more realistic. 

I think the idea of creating a visual journal for yourself is a great idea and it does not have be for starting a business, but if want you travel and you have ideas, photos, etc to go into your journal for creating that vacation of a lifetime.  Beam suggests that your journal can include doodling, drawings, photos, writings, even a sales receipts anything that sparks an idea that you have and you want to get it down before that idea leaves your mind forever.

Visual journaling are for those creative individuals who are those visual, action-oriented learners.  Although, the creating a visual journal is great for left-brain thinkers who need to get more in touch with their creative process.  I am still reading through the book and find it very interesting and probably will create a visual journal for myself.  The journal for your eyes only and it is your creative and thought process, and you can use the journal go back to see what ideas will and will not work.

I am going on my two-week stayaction next week and will use the time get started and also the chore of cleaning my house.  I think will take this time to say enjoy your day.

A TV Review and a Question or Two

Yesterday, I had a quiet and relaxing day.  I did some crocheting and watched the marathon of the Closet Cases on the Fine Living Channel with Lloyd Boston as the host.  The premise of the show is that someone like a relative or friend calls up me to re-style a person particularly around a certain event such as high school reunion and gives them advice on style.  Of course it comes with the cleaning of the closet of what to throw out, restyle and keep.  Lloyd and the person go out to shop for some items while a closet designer designs a new closet.  I like the show because it gives good simple advice about how to style yourself according to your personality.  There was an episode where Lloyd restyled his mother (who looked great by the way) because she was starting her own business.

I think I am going to get his book “Before You Put That On” and use it as a guide.  I also like the idea that he gave each person their own look book of the clothes they have in their closet as how to mix and match it piece.  I am going to ask this question, do you think it is a good idea to create a look book when creating and sewing our original clothing.  I know I put more thought of things I am knitting or sewing for myself to wear with an existing piece of clothing, or use what I am creating as a springboard to create other pieces to go with that.  Does it make sense to have few pieces of quality clothing that you can match with others?  It is just a thought.  Well I have a busy evening with an event at work.  Enjoy your day!

Happy Friday with more Rain

It has been a rainy week in the northeast area, and today is no different.  Weather reports have suggests that today is just one rainy day, but expect a warmer and sunnier weekend until Monday where there is a report of possible thunderstorms.  Today is the kind of day where you do not venture outdoors because you want to sit on your couch with a cup of hot chocolate.

I went to the doctor on Monday for a regular check since I have not been to the doctor in a couple of years.  My doctor me that my blood pressure was borderline and suggested not to add additional salt to food, exercise and losing 15 to 20 pounds should lower my pressure.  I have also have to cut back on drinking coffee as the caffeinedoes raise your blood pressure.  So I am on the hunt for good naturally decaffeinated coffee.  I rather make these changes than the doctor prescribing  medication.  A specialist gave me three different types of medication for asthma when I only needed a pump just in case if should have an attack.

I was listening to the destiknit podcast earlier today and she discussed different styles of knitting from other parts of the world from Portugal, Ireland, Lithuania, etc. and found it interesting how people from other parts of the world cast-on, hold their yarn while knitting, and different knitting technique that I knew nothing about.  The podcast also reminded me that I have to purchase a couple of Elizabeth Zimmermann books such as Knitting Without Tears and Barbara Walker.  I have been knitting for a few years and I do not own knitting books by these two authors who are influential in the knitting world.  However, I want to get to the point in my knitting where I can design my own knitting projects.  I also want to create my own crochet designs as well and not depend on following someone’s pattern as I always want to make a change or two in certain patterns I like to make.

Well those are my thoughts for the day.  Enjoy your day

Hump Day and Some Vintage Crochet

It is Wednesday and more commonly known as hump day. That’s right, I am working away until TGIF which some of us are glad to see to begin enjoying the weekend. I do look forward to the weekend because I use that time to relax, cook, and do some crafting. I knit and crochet during my commute, but the weekend is the time to really get more into it.  I picked up one of the books I mentioned last week, Vintage Crochet and saw a few things I wanted to add to my to things to make list.  I think this twinkle lampshade is so cute, although I see using different colors.  I also like this popcorn stitch cushion also in different colors.

However, the project that caught my eye in the book is the Nico Dress designed by Dee Clinch.  I believe some of the designers in the book are from Great Britain.  It is a shift dress that is an adaptation of an original 1960s design.  So the bodice is worked in double crochet and the skirt in panels of “Irish” crochet motifs.  Here is the definition of the techinque:

Irish crochet is a type of lace, which has its origin in the famine years of the 19th century in Ireland. Charity groups sought to revive the economy by teaching crochet lace technique at no charge to anyone willing to learn.^{[citation needed]} This type of lace is characterized by separately crocheted motifs which were later assembled into a mesh background. Other types of Irish crochet include Rosslea and Clones lace.

However, this modern version is like Irish Crochet, but I think it is very pretty and since I am losing weight I have this visual to work toward a goal to continue and keep going.  The dress is crochet in one size from 8-12 and will be nice for a spring/summer dress. 

Hump day are not so bad when you have something to look forward to.  Enjoy your day.

Breakfast and Crocheting

It’s nine this morning, and I am sitting here listening to Weekend Edition on my member station WNYC Radio and writing this blog entry. I am also wondering what to have for breakfast which is ironic because I went grocery shopping yesterday evening and still have to wonder what to cook. I can go the lazy route by having some Greek yogurt with blackberries and strawberries with a cup of oatmeal, or make a spinach and tomato omelet wrap with a sprinkle of cheese. I’m making a conscience effort to have veggies at every meal, and no fat free products like cheese (yuck).

I am doing some crocheting today. I had a couple of things going on during the week. One was my niece’s prom which was a fun evening for her and really an all day event of getting the hair and nails done, make up, and the actual putting the dress with the taking of 5,000 photos, lol. Back to the crochet project, I am almost done with the bottom piece of the cardigan sweater and hope to start on the top piece by tomorrow.

May I get in a walk together as it is such a nice day and getting a little exercise is always a good thing. I think I am going to take a yoga class to improve my flexiability. Well time for breakfast. Enjoy your day.

Niece’s Big Moment

So, I have been talking about the niece in a few of the blog post about graduating from high school, deciding on what university to attend, and now I am going to boast and bore you with her promo photos.  I have to admit that I may be bias, but I cannot remember when I have seen anyone look so elegant and sophisticated at a prom.  My niece was going for being princess of the ball, and was in fact voted prom princess (although, I still think she have been queen, but she had fun nonetheless).

Her father play the chauffeur for the evening in a silver Cadillac, and her date came from Charlotte, NC (she attended his prom as his date a few weeks ago).  I am not going to write a long post, but will post quite a photos of my niece’s big night.

 

 

 

These are only just some of the photos that I took of my niece before going to the prom.  Yesterday, she sent me a photo of the girl was voted prom queen, and you can make up your mind if she should have won or my niece.  My niece came in second and voted prom princess, but she liked being the princess better.

Swiss Chard with Pasta

I was getting hungry, so I looked into the refrig to see what I could make for lunch. I had a package of Light Life Smart “Chorizo Sausage” which is a vegetarian sausage and spaghetti. I decided to make pasta wiith these ingredients. I cook 2 oz of pasta as usual just to the point of al denta because I added the pasta to the pan with rest of dish to finish cooking. I chopped one bunch of swiss chard including the stalks, minced two to three garlic cloves, and cut two links of the veggie chorizo into 1/4 circles. I added a little olive oil into a saute pan and cooked the sausage for a couple of minutes, then added the garlic, and swiss chard along with red pepper flakes. Now you can a little of the pasta water into the pan or chicken or vegetable stock (I had mushroom stock from rehydrating dried mushrooms from another recipe) to add more flavor without using additional fat. I cooked the chard for about 4 to 5 minutes and added the pasta to the dish and cooked for another minute or two. Then you are ready to plate and serve with shredded parmesan cheese.

I plan to use the remaining links for a tofu scramble I’m cooking tomorrow for breakfast. I do eat meat, but it is good idea to have more meatless meals throughout the week. Has anyone watched the new cooking show on Lifetime called “Cook Yourself Thin”?

A Recipe to Share

It is a Saturday morning, I am having my morning coffee and thinking about a dish to make. I remember first eating curried chicken salad for lunch at a place called Elixir in New York City. The place no longer exists, but loved the curried chicken salad stuffed in a whole wheat pita. I decided to recreate the chicken salad at home. You make this recipe using the ingredients:

4 cups of chicken breast diced into cubes
Cup of diced celery
Cup of diced apples (a tart like a macintosh)
Cup of diced red onions
Cup of chopped dried cranberries or currants
2 to 3 teaspoons of curry powder (depending on taste)
Half of teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
Quarter cup of low fat mayonnaise

Mixed the ingredients together and add to salt to taste. The measurements are approximated, so you can adjust the recipe however you want. You always use whole wheat bread if pita bread isn’t available. You can eat this with Wasa bread. This recipe is great to make in the fall when apples are in season and the taste is opitmal.

I lost the cover to my G1 phone, so I am either will knit or sew a new cover from existing fabric and yarn. Well I am going to run some errands and do my grocery list. Enjoy the day.

The Weekend & Grocery List

With the long weekend, I decided to hang around the house and work on projects I have in process.  I have boring things to do such as plan meals for the week.  I have ingredients in the house to make oatmeal and banana pancakes and a tofu scramble, so I can add that to my meals to make.  I am also thinking about getting some buffalo ground meat for some burgers to eat during the week.  I want to prepare a couple of asian meals, so I am going to add edamame and buckwheat noodles to the grocery list.

I went by Borders again yesterday to check out some cookbooks.  I love to cook just as much as I love knitting.  You can say that I am foodie.  One cookbook that caught my interest is the book called “The Family Chef” by Jewels and Jill Elimore who are sisters and private-home chefs for such people like Jennifer Aniston (who wrote the forward).  I browsed through the pages and the books have some very nice recipes that are easy for the home cook to prepare.

From time to time, I purchased the Clean Eating Magazine and its website .  There is a great variety of recipes to prepare and healthy to eat.  I think going to try the Couscous with seven vegetables, but think I am going to change up on some other vegetables that are in season, and have the spices to make the ras el hanout for the recipe to give it the flavor of Morocco.

There are few ideas I have for my grocery list and continue the habit of cooking my own meals and bringing to work for lunch.  I am going to sign off and tie up a few ends and off I am for the long weekend.  Enjoy your day.

My Wish List

Yesterday after work, I decided to browse through Borders Books to see what is new in reading material.  The Cook Yourself Thin hit the bookselves this week, it is the companion cookbook to the new Lifetime series of the same name.  However, I could not resist walking over the craft books section to what I could find in the way of crocheting, knitting, and sewing.  The section is very small and all of the books are crammed together on the selves.  A knitting book could be right next to a sewing book, and I wonder how are could it be to organize the section, but that is another story for another day.  I saw a few books that caught my intererst.  A couple of the books are a couple years old, but it was my first time ever seeing them.  The first book is called “Vintage Crochet” which was first published in November 2007.  This book has some very nice vintage look pattern, but one pattern that caught my eye is a crochet lace dress with flowers to give it a third dimensional look.  The pattern is only done in one size that fit people in the size 8 to 12 group.

 The second book that caught my attention is another crochet pattern called “Embellished Crochet,” and the tunic on the cover had me right away.  This is definitely not your grandmother’s crochet.  I have to see if this book is available at the library so that I can make a copy tunic pattern on the cover and a couple of other patterns in the book.

Here is a knitting pattern book with embroidered and embellished knits called “Beautiful Embroidered and Embellished Knits.  I have always wanted to learn how to use beads and other embellishments in knitted garments.  There are some really cute projects in this book and I have been in the mood for being a little more artsy in my crocheting and knitting.

Another book is specific to different kind of stitch in crochet called “Tunisian Crochet”.  Tunisian crochet is sometimes called the afghan stitch and is considered by many to be a cross between knitting and crochet.  The distinctive fabric created by this technique looks almost woven instead of either knitted or crocheted.   Tunisian crochet is typically worked on a long hook with a stopper on the end -  similar to a knitting needle that also has a stopper on the end so that the stitches held on the tool do not fall off.   Here are a several points about tunisian crochet from the website Crochet Cabana: 

 1) Never turn your piece. You work down the row on the right side, then back on the same side. (If you want to turn your piece then you might be interested in working with the cro-hook which is basically tunisian, but you turn your work, and uses two colors – and it doesn’t curl.)
2) Always begin the second half of a row by pulling yarn through one stitch only. After you’ve completed the first stitch, pull through two stitches at a time.
3) The last stitch remaining on the hook is always the first stitch of the next row.
4) Always skip the first bar when starting on a new row.
5) You will always be working with the same number of stitches as established on the chain (unless you are doing a decrease or increase)
6) Increases and decreases are worked only in the first half of the stitch row.
7) To decrease curling, purl your first row.

I have other things on my wish list as well.  A dedicated craft space with a visualization board with my desk, computer, sewing machine, serger (serger on the wish list), and fabric stash, knitting yarn and notions.  The color of the room would be blue, green and white with all my craft books and last but not least a stereo with music from everyone from Chopin to Three Doors Down to Indria Arie.

I guess these are my thoughts for the day.  Enjoy the day and what is on your wish list.

Hump Day

With the pending holiday weekend, I have to work ahead at my job and that means things are little more stressful than usual.  I am combatting that situation with continuing to eat as healthfully as possible and reducing any additional stress.  I have been a little lax with crochet project and have not completed handsewing the leaves to my scarf, but with the long holiday weekend, I think I can find some time to do it.  With my crochet project, I managed to get the second decrease with the first piece.  I have to make crochet four additional pieces and getting excited.  This is my first crochet cardigan and would be nice to have a spring/summer sweater.  I still have to start my niece’s graduation sweater and probably will finish it before starts the fall semester.  She is attending a college in state, so I will still see her.  I wanted to mentioned a website that I used to keep track of things from craft projects to recipes.  It is called Springpad It which I read about in a Real Simple blog entry a few months ago.  I have this knack for writing something down once, and remembering it for that point on and do it with telephone numbers.  I rarely look at a telephone number after the first, particularly if it is a number that I am going to dial frequently.

Before the leaving the house today, I picked up a book that I have not read in a while and thought it was a good time to read it again.  The book is “Wherever You Go, There You Are – Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life” by Jon Kabat-Zinn.  I find this reading that goes along with my hobbies of crocheting, knitting and sewing because these activities are about being still and in the moment.  You are paying attention in a world where multi-tasking seems to be an everyday norm.  Mindfulness is not about forgetting, but fully aware of the what is going on around you and there are times when I need to do that.  Sometimes, we can lose sight of everything that goes around us, but there is a time to reconnect and reengage before it passes us by.

On that note, I think it would a good moment to end this blog post for the day.  Enjoy your day and remember wherever you go, there you are.

Chocolate Pancakes and Sunday

I am creating the habit of bringing my lunch to work. It is cheaper to BYOB than paying $10.00 five days a week. In addition, I am in contol knowing what is in my food. I made a couple dishes yesterday to freeze in batches. I made pasta sauce with chicken sausage. I added green, red, and yellow pepper to get in veggies. My second dish is lentils and sweet potato stew, and will freeze half of it.

This morning I made chocolate buckwheat pancakes. I used a mixture of buckwheat flour, flaxseed (got to get in that omega-3), cocoa powder as part of pancake mix. I am a big advocate of using buttermilk in a pancake recipe because it makes pancakes tender and buttermilk is low in fat. Pankcakes can be good and healthy. I think the next time I make the pancakes, I will make a peanut sauce to go along with them or a nice berry compose.

Another recipe I like to make is a frittita which is a spanish omelet. I start sauting the vegetables like asparagus, leeks, peppers, onions, etc. Crack six eggs and whisk with 1/4 cup of milk and pour in the skillet with vegetables already in, and make sure the heat is low. Give it a little stir, season with salt and pepper and cook on low heat for a few minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and finish the frittita by placing into the broiler to finishing cooking and to brown the cheese (that should take a minute or two). It is an easy and cheap dish to make, it feeds four people. You can add meat to the recipe, but I love using veggies.

I still have time to do some of my favorite cardi sweater today and watch the movie Doubt. Before ending this blog entry, I came across a podcast called Cast On (www.cast-on.com) the other day. Brenda Dayne is the host and I find interesting as she has a theme for each show and it ties into knitting. She had an interview with Susan Crawford, a british knit designer who has a website called www.knitonthenet.com. She has great vintage knit designs and a book entitled “A Stitch in Time” available in the UK. Well that sums up the weekend for me. Enjoy the day.

My Crochet Project

I mentioned on the my blog the other day that I started my favorite cardi sweater crochet project and it is coming along thus far.  I worked on it during my weekly knitting group at work.  I even started the row to decrease and will work another four inches for the next row of decreasing.  I am finding it an easy project so far.  The photo does not look too bad considering I took it with my G1 phone with the exception of the color is much lighter than the actual color of the yarn, but we cannot have everything.

 

I am realizing that my crocheting is little tighter than my knitting.  I suppose the reason for that with crocheting, I am using my dominate hand with is my left.  However, I think I am a better crocheter than knitter or perhaps I have been crocheting longer than knitting.  I began crocheting when I was a kid.  I am sometimes envious how some people mentioned that their mother or grandmother taught them how to crochet or knit as I for the most part a self-taught crocheter and knitter (I think I spend too much time with myself, lol).

This is a short post today as I am have some errands to run and see what is new a the bookstore, make a stop at Whole Foods, and finally trek my way home before it rains again.  Enjoy your day.