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By now, you all must surely think I’d given up on the blog, since it’s been six months since my last confession blog post. So many things have happened since May. I’ll break them down for you.

In July, I went to work one day, and promptly got laid off. They said they were doing a restructuring, and eliminated my position. A big ball of crap, in my opinion, but whatever. They did have the nerve to ask me to stay a couple hours to transition my work. I dropped all of my files into a shared folder, said, if you can’t find it, then you’re a moron, and grabbed my stuff and left. I have been on numerous interviews since, and had one temp job that I knew was not right for me a week in, though I stuck it out a whole month just because I’m that kind of person.

Prior to the temp job, I utilized my time “off” as efficiently as possible. Meaning, I hit boot camp classes more often, took long bike rides, and went to the beach. I can’t recall a time where I’ve ever had this much “me” time, time to focus on me, so I used it to my advantage. Because of all the exercise, I have managed to whittle away close to 20 pounds. I also did a 30 mile bike tour at the end of September, my first, and definitely not my last. I’m aiming to do the 5 boro bike tour in NYC in May, just waiting to see what finances look like at the beginning of the year before I drop the $75 admission fee.

Now we’re at the reason why I dusted off the blog. Hurricane (Superstorm?) Sandy. You may know that I live on the Jersey Shore. My town got evacuated Sunday night of the impending storm. The kid and I went to my brother’s (about 15-20 minutes from our house, but inland, on a hill, and on the second floor), while the husband stayed to keep an eye on the house, with the promise that if it got REALLY bad, he’d leave and come to us. He left on Monday, rafting his way thru the streets of town, to a place where he could meet a friend who ended up driving him to us (raft was purchased last year for hurricane Irene, a damn good purchase!). We ended up losing power shortly after dark on Monday, at my brother’s, but we were all safe. Tuesday, after high tide, we went to check on our house. The first thing I noticed about our house was the water line on the front of the house. It was clear as day, no mistaking what it was, and about 3 feet high. The problem with this, is that our house stands about 3 feet up off the ground. Yeah.

Open the door to find a disaster. Things knocked around, visible water lines on the walls, wet carpet on the stairs and under the dining room table. The laminate flooring squished under our footsteps. It was disconcerting to see my possessions thrown around like rag dolls and wet with seawater. The scene of my kitchen from my dining room:

That big black thing is my fridge, pulled from the wall, flipped on its front, turned and pushed to the middle of the kitchen. WATER did this. It’s almost unbelievable that this happened to us.

Today, we have friends coming to help us remove everything that we hadn’t already tossed into a gigantic trash pile on our lawn before leaving town and heading on our already planned cruise (Grand Turk, happy birthday to me!!). There will be another gigantic trash pile on my lawn tomorrow, full of sheetrock, drywall, and insulation. The first floor is to be gutted. I learned yesterday from our contractor that even the tile in the kitchen will need to be pulled. The cabinets on the floor will need to be trashed.

I’m really sad and depressed today, already at 8:15am. I’ve got no job, no prospects of a job (though I do have another agency interview later this week), an impending pile of trash on my lawn, an impending gutted house. I can’t be the happy go-lucky person I normally am today. It hurts too much. But I know that I am luckier than most, that what I lost is just STUFF, and that it WILL be ok. I just have to have my day or two of sadness. I think I’m entitled to it.

Next time, knits from vacation…a pair of socks for the kid (size US 11 mens), a scarf, and 1/2 of a cardigan. Yeah, all this “me” time gives me plenty of knitting time.

I finally finished all my deadlined projects: Tess projects and KP projects off and received by their respective owners. A baby blanket I’ve been working on forever is finally done, with only a few days to spare before the baby shower.

I think I like this blanket enough to make it again, though I will be sure to have plenty of extra yarn. I ran out of yarn with one of the cabled edges left to knit. Thankfully someone on Ravelry was selling 5 balls of what I needed (because KP was out of ONLY the color I needed, and would not have it in stock until July), and it came with enough time to finish the blanket.

Now, what do I do with myself? I started a pair of socks with some Bugga. But I’m already bored with it. I have fabric washed and ready to be made into a lovely summer dress. But it’ll be my first time working with jersey and I don’t own a serger, so I’m nervous. I’ve got lovely new Dream in Color Baby (in Scorched Lime), waiting to be made into a shawl…but I really have no…desire? Ack! I guess it’s that period of time where I have nothing to do, yet so much potential in the craft room. And I’m overwhelmed with all the choices.

Maybe I’ll spin something. I do have a ton of fiber waiting to be spun. Or, I’ll go admire my new tattoo some more while I read. I got inked on Mother’s Day, with what I believe is my last tattoo. It fits me perfectly.

I’ll get out of this funk in a few days….and I’ll be back to let you know what I’ve started!

Almost every day, I sit at my computer and say, I have to blog today. I want to tell the blogosphere about this new project, or this fun thing I’ve found, or how life is in NJ. And every day, I forget. Something comes up, or I realize I can’t post photos of the newest project because it’s a test knit, or time just gets away from me and I must go to bed so I can get up to go to that work thing. I sometimes have a few moments from work to blog, and then I remember, I don’t remember the web address to get to the blog to update it (I wish it were as simple as just cooknknit.com!). I try to remember to send it to myself at work, and I have even emailed myself, but well, see reasons above for not blogging and apply them to this as well.

I have been quite busy with knitting projects. I’ve finished up some samples for Tess Designers Yarns, and just popped a test knit in the mail to Knit Picks last week. I’m currently working on a baby blanket for a friend of mine, who had her baby 8 weeks early in April (he’s doing fantastic, and is hitting all the marks that he needs to). The cabled edges were the subject of a photo of the day recently:

The pattern is Sunbreak (links don’t seem to be working at the moment), and going by quite quickly. Though, I am stalled at the moment, because I ran out of yarn. And of course, Knit Picks is out of stock of the yarn/color that I need until July. Luckily I found someone on Rav that had 5 balls of the yarn and was selling it. Lets hope it comes soon because the baby shower is on the 20th!!

I ordered yarn for a new project for ME earlier this week. I’m anxiously awaiting it’s arrival. I plan on making a shawl, and submitting it to Rhinebeck for competition this year. Until the yarn gets here, I’m going to start on some socks, for me (Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Bog Fritillary).

I knit a scarf for a coworker/friend of mine. He had seen a scarf that looked like bacon and he kept asking about me making one. When I saw Holiday Yarns had a “bacon” colorway, I knew that it was perfect for him. I told him that if he bought the yarn, I’d make the scarf. He did, so I did. I cast on the long way, did a few rows of seed stitch, and then it was st st for a few inches, with seed stitch on the ends, and another seed stitch border. Size 7 needles and some tv to catch up on, and the scarf was done in a week. Pics when its blocked.

Other crafty things I’ve been working on….a vest for the husband. He’s one of the announcers for the Jersey Shore Roller Girls roller derby, and well, he likes to make an entrance. I made him a bow tie previously, but this time he was going with an animal print theme and requested a vest. We went fabric shopping together, picked out an easy pattern, and I set to work. I also made a matching bow tie.

It has a satiny lining, with some medium interfacing on the fronts. The interfacing was an adjustment that I made, since the fabric was exactly what he wanted, but not quite thick enough for a vest. He got quite a number of compliments on his outfit. The next derby bout is Star Wars themed, and I’m in the process of gathering up the supplies to make a jedi robe for him. The things I do for love!

Home life is well. The kid is growing in bounds and leaps. I just bought him size 12 mens sneakers, and he’s about an inch shorter than I am (5’7″). He is heading to Baltimore for a 2 day overnight class trip, because he graduates from elementary school this year. I’m a little freaked out, but I think I’m remaining as calm as I can and doing my freaking out not in front of him. Graduation day may be something completely different however!

I’m still working on Project 365, with less than a month to go (May 30 is my last day!). I’m quite excited. Though I loved taking all the photos, and I’ve had some great (to me) photos, I’ll be happy when I don’t have to hunt for something to take a photo of every day.

That’s all for now, and I’d like to promise I’ll be back soon, but well, we all know how those promises go!

A few weeks ago, I came upon this on Pinterest. So ridiculously cute. It was great timing too, since I have a friend whose little girl turns 3 soon. So I set out to find materials for this. All in all, I purchased a tin of Altoids, 5 pieces of felt (about $.30 each), some fleece marked for clearance, and a bottle of fabric glue. The fabric glue was the most expensive part of this project, at about $4.

I did take my time sewing this, doing a small bit each day, since I had plenty of time. My small changes included adding the pink felt to the ears of the mouse (because, duh it’s MUCH cuter!), and handsewing the majority of the mouse together instead of gluing arms/legs then sewing the body together. It made more sense to me, and it was easy to sit and watch tv with the hubby and handsew.

The mouse house is being gifted today, and I can’t wait to see the little girl’s reaction (or her mom’s…her mom is totally knit/craft worthy and appreciates every stitch). Because the pieces are so tiny, very little of my purchases were used, so I have the ability to make more of these….only needing to buy a tin of Altoids!

It seems like everytime I finish a test knit, I am stuck with a lack of ideas on what to make next. Something from my rather large Ravelry queue perhaps? Something for a new baby that will be joining this world sometime soon? Something from the brand new issue of whatever knitting magazine I can get my paws on? Whatever it is that I narrow it down to, I feel like I don’t have the right yarn. Nothing calls to me. I’m sure that other knitters feel this, and probably like me, can’t just pop over to the LYS and buy new yarn, or purchase it on the web. Times are tough, ya know? Thus the reason my desk is covered in skeins of yarn, hoping that one of them will call to me and say, knit me!!

This was the case when I pulled from my stash some yarn that I purchased while up in Canada last year. It was a gorgeous jewel color teal with hints of purple. I turned it into this:

It’s for my cousin, who’s expecting her first baby in March. Unfortunately, since it’s a baby item, and I, well, I knit fast, this was done in under a week and I was once again, left with the question of what do I knit. I have spent a lot of time on Ravelry the last week or so just browsing patterns. And Escargot looked interesting enough and quick/small enough until my Knit Picks order comes in for a baby project that I need to start working on (I wish I had 15 balls of the same superwash yarn in stash, but alas, I don’t). And being the fast knitter that I am, I finished it in 2 days. No pics yet, as it is blocking, but I love it. I found some Cherry Tree Hill Possum Worsted in my stash that was perfect for it. You can tell how long that’s been in stash since that yarn is now discontinued, according to Ravelry.

And now, here I sit, with probably another couple days before that KP delivery, wondering….what do I knit now? Any ideas dear friends?

PS…Anniversary dinner was great. We had 9 courses of food, over 3 1/2 hours. Definitely an experience, but I don’t know if I’d do it again if the money was coming out of MY pocket. Photos here, if you’re interested.

The last few weeks have been a blur. I finished up my Knit Picks test knitting, mailed it out and started on a sample knit for Tess Designer Yarns the next day. From what I understand, if you are going to Stitches West, you’ll be able to see the sample. But for those not going to Stitches West, from the current issue of Vogue Knitting, the Drape Front Sweater in Kitten.

I need to win the lotto so I can make every sweater/scarf in the future out of Kitten. That stuff is to die for. Anyway, the pattern was very simple, all in stockinette. No shaping, and the most difficult part was seaming stockinette to reverse stockinette. I’m very pleased with the way it came out, and I hope Tess is too.

Cupcakes. For superbowl, I wanted to make snacks for me and the kid (hubby was going to a party, and not that we weren’t invited, we’d just rather stay home). I made these taco cups, which came out pretty great. And cupcakes. Oh my the cupcakes.

I made them mini size (recipe as written makes 8 dozen minis and 6 regular cupcakes….I was over the baking portion and couldn’t stand any more minis). They were scrumptious. These are a definite make again cupcake.

Anniversaries. In January, I hit 5 years at my current job. And they decided to implement something new, a small bonus on the anniversary for those who have been at the company 5 years or more. SO, I am using my Amex gift card to celebrate my other anniversary, my more important one…my wedding anniversary. Today is 13 years since I married the hubby, and I honestly couldn’t have dreamed of a better life than the one we’ve built together. We’re headed to Montclair, NJ tonight for our anniversary dinner, at Adara. Molecular gastronomy! I’ll have pictures of that next post!

I really have to start blogging more than just once a month. I’d say it was my new year’s resolution, but, well, since it’s halfway thru January, and this is the first blog post of the year, I’d say I fail. I was never really good at making resolutions anyway. Ha!

So, you may know that this weekend is VK Live in NYC. I was lucky to get a volunteer position this year, as opposed to being just an attendee. I got to see the behind the scenes bits (lots of boxes and people running around like crazy), and lend a helping hand to my fellow knitters, AND enjoy the marketplace like a regular attendee. I even got to take a class this time around. I was not planning on taking a class, but scanned the list anyway, and just as I was about to give up, I saw a 1 hour weaving intensive. I was excited and I was not disappointed.

There was a little bit of history on weaving, and then we were sent to the looms to play. We covered plain weave, basket weave, twill and herringbone. I believe we were on Ashford looms (4 shaft table loom) and compared to my $10 garage sale find…holy cow. I could have done that all damn day. The one hour flew by and next thing you know, we were packing it up and I walked out of class with this.

My volunteer shift for the day was to be at the marketplace entrance and check to make sure people entering had badges and wristbands. And answer questions on where things were (mainly classrooms, fashion shows and most importantly, bathrooms). I got to see a whole lot of people walk by. And a whole lot of knit wear and knit wear designers. It was fantastic.

At several points in the day, I walked around the marketplace. I talked with Alasdair Post-Quinn about double knitting for a few minutes (I wanted to force him to mentor me…my double knitting is nowhere near as impressive as his is). I contemplated briefly a purchase of qiviut sock yarn ($90), but I managed to walk away from it. I did get a copy of Knitting with the Color Guys for being a volunteer, and Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably were signing today, so I got the book signed just before I headed out.

The entire time I was in the city, other than a bag I bought at Nine West (70% off!!), food and transportation, I spent no money. WHAT?! Not one bit of yarn has been added to my stash this weekend. I’m quite proud of myself. I’ve got WAY too much as it is.

I leave you with a picture of my sister’s cat Buddy…who looks like he may be a cousin of some other orange tabbys I know…(and if you want more VK Live photos, they are here)

This holiday season is very lean. But I still wanted to give those I loved a small gift. So I spent just a small amount of money for materials and headed to work.

But, before we take a look at Christmas presents, let me show you what I did last weekend.

The husband has a disco ball suit. I’m not even sure where he purchased it, but he wanted to turn it into a Santacon outfit. So I hand sewed fur trim around the lapels, the cuffs, and the bottom edging of the jacket. He was quite shiny, and quite a hit at Santacon I am told.

While he was out at Santacon, I used my free day to work on Christmas presents. I had marinated 2 different cuts of meat (brisket and london broil) for about 4 days and put them in the oven to make….homemade beef jerky! Now, I don’t eat the stuff, but I tasted it, and for someone that doesn’t eat jerky, it was pretty darn good.

I filled up 2 canning jars, each with a different cut of meat, and topped the jar with a bit of scrapbooking paper.

Those are for the men in my life. The women are getting a canning jar as well. One of these:

That is filled with homemade Vanilla Brown Sugar body scrub. I couldn’t find sunflower oil in my supermarket, so subbed safflower oil. It smells delish and I’m almost sad that there wasn’t enough for a jar for me!

To top off the little bags with the jars of goodies, I made two batches of peppermint bark and put them into festive bags.

I never realized how easy peppermint bark was to make! Some melted dark chocolate, a smidge of peppermint extract and crushed candy canes. The hubby may have called me Martha Stewart as I was filling up the gift bags with jars and bark bags. And after today’s cupcake making, I may have to agree with him.

We’re attending a surprise 40th birthday party tomorrow, and I was tasked to make cupcakes. I wanted something simple, and not chocolate. I settled upon cupcake 23 from here. Ok, not SO simple, but it was exactly what I was thinking of. And of course, I made minis.

I tasted a bit of the lemon filling on the center pieces that I cut out, along with a small dollop of frosting….this cupcake tastes like lemon meringue pie. The picky kid, who does not eat pie unless it is chocolate pudding pie, stated: “This makes me rethink my position on pie.” I say this is a winner.

Whatever holiday you celebrate this season, happy holidays, from my family to yours. <3

This year, I have much to be thankful for. Like, my health. I’m thankful that I did not do more damage to myself at the end of last year and that the fracture wasn’t one vertebrae lower. I am also thankful that Hurricane Irene didn’t do that much damage to my house or my neighborhood. I am mostly thankful that we had the money this year to fly my mother in law up from Florida to spend Thanksgiving with us.

Because she is in town, I wanted to have all of my family at the dinner table. My brother and sister and their significant others. My brother in law and his family. My mother & stepfather. The invites just kept going and I ended up with 18 at my table.

There were 2 turkeys, a ham and a crapload of sides. As we were clearing up the table and getting it ready for dessert to come out, my back crapped out on me. The pain put me in tears, and I knew that it was from all the prep for the day. I also knew that over the counter meds would not be sufficient. I feel bad that I didn’t get to spend time with some of my guests because I was hopped up on muscle relaxers and laying down. But I think they understood.

Today, the day after turkey day, I have slept, ate leftovers, read on my new Kindle Fire (my birthday present!), and well, started a new hobby. Because I needed a new one like I need a hole in my head.

I purchased this loom at a yard sale in the summer. I’ve been busy with Knit Picks projects, knitting of my own, and just life in general and haven’t had the time to sit down with instructions and play with it. But with a week off of work, and a clean house, family fed, no knit picks projects, and only a scarf for the husband on the needles (ok, 2 projects on hiatus as well), I thought this was the perfect time to play.

I warped the loom with some white yarn that I found in stash. It’s probably some yarn I bought to make for baby stuff. Not quite red heart, but close enough, and good for playing around with the loom.

The yarn on the shuttle is some leftover sock yarn. I know it’s different weights, which is probably a no-no, but for my practice piece, I’m ok with it. Next time, I’ll work on having the yarns the same weight.

My thoughts on weaving? So far, so good. The warping of the loom took a long time, and I didn’t quite get it at first, but now that it’s done, I might be able to do it a little quicker the next time. The passing the shuttle back and forth and the up/down shed is not as….relaxing/rhythmic as I had hoped, but maybe it just takes time. We’ll see. I still have another few days before going back to work.

A fairly last minute decision was made to go to Rhinebeck this year. My normal crew were planning on either a day trip or not going at all, so I was unsure. Then I talked to Nancy and we arranged for me to crash on a cot in her hotel room.

This trip up was fairly relaxed, as I had no plan of action in purchasing things, seeing things, or eating things, other than lamb chili and the chopstick knitting competition. Lamb chili was bought and eaten:

I placed fourth in the chopstick knitting competition:

I’m rather pleased with myself, and proud that I placed 2 higher than last year. Shall I aim for 2nd next year? Hahah!

I did purchase some yarn, only 3 skeins. 2 from Tess Designer Yarns (one Peruvian Dream, one Baby Alpaca & Silk), and one from Sanguine Gryphon (Little Traveller sock yarn). I also got a signed copy of the Yarn Harlot’s new book, and got to give her a cupcake.

I’ve got plans for the Tess yarn, as soon as I finish up the stuff I’m currently working on. Oh heck, who am I kidding? It’ll get started as soon as I am bored with what I’ve got on the needles, which will happen quite shortly!

Another great Rhinebeck trip under my belt. Already looking forward to next year, and possibly Maryland next year? Who knows!

PS Anyone in need of a Cables & Arans Harmony stitch book? I got one as a prize from chopstick knitting, and I thought that I didn’t have it, but, alas, I already do. Will send it off to anyone who’s interested….