Archives for the month of: March, 2008

MoonDance Magic

March 30, 2008 //
7

So that Pink Lemon at Pink Lemon Twist – she is a genius when it comes to designing her stoles. Look at how this border is constructed:

Beginning

Finished

Yes, it’s knitted perpendicular to the stole! Isn’t that cool? And I unravel successfully on my first provisional cast on:

Beginning

Finished

And now it’s resting:

Maybe I will be able to take a picture of in the sun tomorrow afternoon, after it dries. Until then, I leave you our (David’s and my) favorite song lyrics:

Moondance by Van Morrison

Well it’s a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
‘Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I’m trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
You know the night’s magic
Seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight
Seems to shine in your blush…

Can I just have one a’ more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with a’ you, my love?

Well I wanna make love to you tonight
I can’t wait till the morning has come
And I know now the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you’re never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that, you can’t hide…

Can I just have one a’ more moondance with you, my love?
Can I just make some more romance with a’ you, my love?

Well it’s a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
‘Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I’m trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
You know the night’s magic
Seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight
Seems to shine in your blush…

One more moondance with you
In the moonlight
On a magic night
la, la, la, la, there’s a moonlight
On a magic night
Can’t I just have one more dance
With you my love?

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Categories wedding

Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage

March 29, 2008 //
2

I had a stroke of inspiration when I took out the sausage this morning and here is the result. And now I am shamelessly putting it on my blog for you to try. If you do, please leave a comment and let me know how it turned out!

Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage

6 slices of bacon – roughly chopped (I used maple bacon) [optional]
2 tbsp olive oil
4 links of Italian sausage – casings removed (I used sweet sausage, but feel free to use the spicy stuff!)
1/2 tsp of chopped garlic
3 crowns of broccoli
1 lb of pasta (I used Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Pasta in Ziti form, but feel free to use anything you have)
1/2 tsp of dried thyme or 1/2 tbsp of fresh thyme
Enough salt for the pasta water
Grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano to top the pasta

Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water according to the directions.

In a saute pan (I used a French style saute pan – the kind that has a little bit of the sides) on medium low heat, add the bacon and cook it until the fat has render a bit (about 5 mins). If omitting the bacon, use olive oil instead. In the mean time, remove the casing from the sausage and stir it in the pan with the bacon. Add in the garlic. Continue to saute the mixture and add in the thyme.

When the pasta is almost done (about 7 mins in), put the broccoli in the water with the pasta to cook. Cook until the pasta is done. Use 1 cup of pasta water and put it in the sausage mixture, turn the heat up high to get it boiling. Drain the pasta and broccoli and add it into the sausage mixture. If your pan is not big enough, then after draining the pasta and broccoli, put the sausage mixture into the pasta pot instead.

Top the pasta with grated cheese and black pepper if you choose. Enjoy!

Note: This is a very quick dish, everything happens simultaneously. Feel free to improvise with different things, such as add in saute onions, peppers, etc. If you like garlic, put more in, if not, don’t put it in at all! No thyme? No problem, add some oregano instead! Experiment and have fun!

Tomorrow, we will get back to the regular knitting programing.

Tags
Categories Food

It’s Here! It’s Here!

March 26, 2008 //
7

LOOK!!!!

My paper is here! For the wedding invitations! Here is a close up -

This paper is actually part of my wedding guest book and I was so excited that I found the paper so I can relate the two!

I bought this set awhile back and I couldn’t believe I didn’t blog about them!!! Oh, and I bought them at the Littleput Books before they were even featured in any of the shows!!!! If you need anything custom made, go ahead and email Ryan, she is brilliant!

And here is the Stardream Bronze cover stock that I plan on using to make the invitation covers. Now I just got to buy couple more things to make it all pretty!!!

Of course, the paper is not the only thing that is here. Spring is here also!

I have no idea what these flowers are for, but they are all over the yard!! So pretty.

And my magnolia tree is having buds! Can’t wait!!!

psst… I am very very close on finishing chart B of Moondance!!!

Categories garden, wedding

Dumplings, Anyone? And More!

March 24, 2008 //
4

This past Saturday, CostumeChick, WifeMomKnitter and I went to Anphoe‘s for some knitting and chatting, and also for some dumplings!

Anphoe made the pork filling and I made the tofu one. They were YUMMY! After that, we knitted and played some Wii. Well, let me just put this out there first – I’m not big about playing video games, because 1) I’m not very good, 2) I’m not a good sport about losing. But this Wii thing… It’s addicting! And so much fun! You can see pictures and video on Anphoe’s blog.

So besides playing video games and eat, I did make some progress on the MoonDance:

Chart B is almost done!!! Which means this stole is almost done! :) You can’t see the edging in the pictures, but I can assure you they are all there.

On the other news, I bought a scratch ticket and the result:

I won $25.00!!!!!!! The biggest one I’ve ever got!!! I think before that, the most money I won was ten bucks! Well, I’m one step towards winning big, right? ;) A lady I worked with won $200,000 on a scratch ticket not too long ago. Yeah, you read that right. Then shortly after, she won over $8,000 at Mohegan Sun… Only if I have her luck! But I think my risk taking level is too small to win that level. I guess that’s why I’m an engineer.

So I bought couple of Alice Starmore books from amazon not too long ago and they finally arrived, along with Beyond Wool with a trade from Ravelry.

Only if I can find a copy of Aran Knitting, there are so many patterns I want to knit but I just can’t afford the book! Too rare. ::sigh::

Speaking of books, I have a duplicate copy of this one:

I posted this on Destash book forum on Ravelry, but I figure I will offer this to my friends as well – I”m willing to part with it for $8.00 + actual shipping (if required).

Well, I’m off to go over the new books and complaint about no progress made on MoonDance to the dogs.

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Categories Food, friends, Reading, wedding

Pay It Forward, Part 2

March 20, 2008 //
5

Awhile ago, I have offered up the Pay It Forward when I left a comment on Octopus Knits‘s blog. No one signed up on my blog, so I had forgotten about it. Today, Octopus Knits showed up at SnB with this:

And it contains these:

Snowflake wash cloth in organic cotton and snickerdoodles!!! The cookies are delicious (I already ate 3!!!) and the cloth is soooooo soft!

Thanks so much Octopus Knits! And it is nice FINALLY meeting you! :)

As for those of you who are still interested participating, just click above and leave me a comment!

Categories exchange, friends

The New Stuff

March 19, 2008 //
8

Well, pictures are much better than words:

I got At Knits End from paperbackswap.com and I traded two skeins of gloss for Casts Off from kknitter (Ravelry link). And I made the bracelet by taking a class on Monday night at Manifest Beads (class link here). I really enjoyed it! I can even start making my own charms to make stitch markers! Do you think anyone out there will buy them?

So I went to TLC Eye Center this afternoon for a consultation for LASIK – well, my corneas are too thin so I’m not a candidate. I’m actually really bomb out about that because I really don’t want to wear glasses for my wedding pictures! And I know some of you out there are probably thinking – why don’t you wear contacts? They are inexpensive and completely accessible. Well, you see, I’ve wore glasses since I can remember and my prescriptions are so high that there is no soft lenses out there for me. Each of my gas permanent lenses cost me about at least $150 and there is only one month warranty. If it broke after the warranty period, even just one day, I have to cough up another $150 to have it replaced, and they take at least two weeks to make them since they are custom made to fit my eyes. And by the end of the day, my eyes are bloodshot!! My other option is implants! Eye lens implants! Sounds WAY TOO SCARY to me. I guess I’ll stick with my glasses for now. ::sigh::

Anyways… I’ve been knitting away the MoonDance – 9 repeats down on the man body and 7 more to go. Gotta keep going!

Oh, and mariknits is having a contest! Go check it out and make sure you let her know that I sent you there!!!

Categories jewelry, Reading

R?

March 16, 2008 //
3

Here is what you do. Use the 1st letter of your middle name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names,things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you took this from had the same 1st initial.
You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. Middle name letter: R
2. Famous artist/band/musician: R. Kelly
3. 4-letter word: Road
4. U.S state: Rhode Island
5. Boy name: Roger
6. Girl name: Rachael
7. Animal: Rhino (the formal name is too hard to type up!)
8. Something in the kitchen: Rolling Pin
9. Reason for being late? Rolling Around in Cash
10. Body Part? Ribs
11. Drink? Root Beer, Red Death, Red Bull…
12. Something you shout: Rat!
13. Something you eat? Rice
14. A movie you’ve seen? Riding In Cars With Boys

I tag Archknist, Sunflowerfairy, and MomWifeKnitter. Tag 3 more when you are done! :)

Categories random

What Have I Been Up To?

March 11, 2008 //
2

Schaefer Swatches!

That’s what I have been up to! I am almost done! Schaefer Susan is a very generous skein and it is really feeling like I have this yarn and project FOREVER. But Alas! The end is in sight! (No pictures because it is just the same as the other… Nothing more to see – Oh right, maybe when I am finally done with it and I’ll take the picture of the pile.)

On the wedding invitation front – I found the perfect paper! But they are OUT OF STOCK! DOH! I have to call the store tomorrow to find out when they can get them in. My third floor is empty so it would be a perfect place to do my wedding invitations!

On the store news – I’m working on the business plan whenever I can. And I’m getting my taxes done so I can get some down payment!!! It’s just feeling like it’s taking forever!!! Blah. But I want to do it right, so I’ll take my time with it.

Well, on that note, I should go and work on that swatches project. Until next time, go check out the new Knitty. My friend Michelle has a pattern published in this issue!!!

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Categories wedding

Sock Knitters Pentathlon #1

March 4, 2008 //
8

So I must be insane when AuntLizzy (Ravelry ID) messaged me and invited me to join the Sock Knitters Pentathlon (The Ravelry one is here) to celebrate the Olympics. At first I wasn’t sure, but then I decided to join since I have two months to make a pair of socks.

But then, things changed. One of the knitters asked if the moderator would consider changing the pattern release time each time so it will be more fair to each continent. You see, the first pattern was released at midnight March 1st, so PST is still at 9pm and Europe just woke up, and Asia is in the middle of the day. If the moderator always release it at midnight EST, eastern US America will always have that disadvantage of not able to cast on right at the time of the pattern release.

I thought it was a legitimate question, but apparently not to some others. Some of the comments from these people are “Are you really that competitive? This is a celebration of the Olympics, not some crazy competition!” or “I’m just happy to participate and learn. There is no need to be so competitive!”. And when one of the ladies from Sweden finished the pair of sock in 9 hours, the message became “Why would you stay up all night knitting it? Knitting should be fun and relaxing!”

So this is what I have to say – WTF???? Here is the definition of the Olympics:

Olympics Games: : the modern revival of the ancient games held once every 4 years in a selected country.

Need I say more? Olympics itself have many contests within it! Olympics IS competition and the whole point of a pentathlon was to compete on knitting socks! So I decided that I WILL stay up all night and finish those damn socks, just to prove my point!


Pattern – Jacobean by Julie Persinger
Yarn Used – Almost 2 balls of Regia Stretch Color in semisolid blue
Needles – Option size 0
Gauge – 8 sts per inch
Knit – March 01, 08 to March 02, 2008

Yes, you read that right. I stayed up Saturday from midnight all the way through, went to bed on Saturday at 11pm and got up at 9am and finished Sunday night.

I knitted these toe up with my usual magic cast on. I did modify the pattern to fit my itty bitty feet. Instead of cast on 26 stitches, I only did 22, and increased until I have total of 58 stitches. But I forgot how stretchy the yarn was and if I were to do it again, I would decrease even more to 54 stitches only. The pattern itself was pretty easy to modify – I just decease the side panel charts to 4 knit stitches instead of 5 specified. Since I didn’t have to do a lot of increase or decrease, I left the center panel alone, but I can see how easily the diamond pattern can be modified as well. I originally did the decrease bind off but it wasn’t as flexible as I needed since I’m more of a tight knitter, so I redid the bind off using EZ’s sewn bind off, the first one came out perfect, but the second one was still kind of tight. Oh well.

This pattern would certainly be rated as beginner pattern in my book – all you need to know is knit and purl. So for all your sock virgins out there – try this pattern!

Until the next socks pattern release (May 1st). I’m out.

psst… I’m ranked #28 so far… But due to some people who can’t follow instructions, there are some “In Progress” photos in the “Finished” folder. So I should really be 27, but I have a feeling that I will be stuck in 28. No, I’m not competitive at all. :P

Tags
Categories Baby Makes 3
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