Cooknknit.com

It’s kind of pointless to have a blog when you test knit. You have to keep everything a secret. And when you’re working on a tight deadline, and are doing nothing but the test knitting, it makes blogging kind of difficult to show and share things. I will share what my desk sort of looks like with the test knitting….

I can’t just sit and knit…I need to have some sort of noise in the background, and I’ve gotten very used to watching tv while knitting. So, even though this isn’t the best project to knit while tv watching, I have been streaming stuff from Netflix while knitting. I started watching Lost, Season 1 while swatching and have continued on with it. I’m currently on season 4, with 3 episodes left to go. That’s roughly 55 hours spent sitting at my desk and knitting. I’m almost appalled at myself for watching THAT much “tv”.

I’ve got nothing else going on….two baby projects lay at different stages, awaiting for me to have some time to work on them. The only other thing of interest may be that the garden is finally putting out something other than lettuce. We’ve eaten several cucumbers so far, and I just picked the first of the tomatoes.

Note the size of the tomatoes. I bought a seed packet claiming to be cherry tomatoes. CHERRY. These seem to be more like beefsteak. Oh well. I’ll try again for cherry tomatoes next year.

Why did I think sewing a dress would be easy? Or a good idea? I guess I’m always up for challenging myself.

Cutting out the pieces was easy. There are approximately 40 steps in the pattern, not too bad. The first couple went swimmingly. And then the next couple I needed advice on how to do it properly (next door neighbor who sews to the rescue!). And then came the dreaded zipper.

The pattern calls for a regular zipper. Both neighbor and I thought an invisible would work better, because I could not find the right color blue to match the dress. The closest I could come in both regular and invisible was a teal color. If you are on Facebook and a friend of mine, you might recall many status updates on zippers. Ugh. The zipper took about 7 tries. The last try involved hand basting the whole thing in, and then sewing it, a tip that came from my mom, also a professional seamstress, who the proceeded to yell at me that I should have just gone with the directions and used a regular zipper. Sigh. Isn’t sewing about tailoring things to YOUR needs?

Anyways, the zipper still is a little….dippy, but not enough for me to rip it out again and start all over. After the zipper fiasco, I had several nights where I could not do any work on the dress. I ended up finishing the dress at 10am the morning of the wedding that I was wearing it to.

I would definitely make the dress again, and I might. But now that I’ve gotten a “formal” dress out of the way, I may want to try something else. Like a blazer. Or maybe finish those darn pants that have been in time out.

Or maybe the sewing will have to wait because I’ve got a box ‘o yarn from Knit Picks and a deadline. Wait til you see this one! There may be a hint in the tags for the post. =)

All of a sudden, everyone I know is having a baby. So be prepared to see a lot of baby gifts around here.

My friend is having her second baby. She’s one of my closest friends, and truly appreciates a hand knitted gift. I wracked my brain thinking of the perfect gift for this baby, and came up with the Sleepy Monkey Blanket from Twist Collective. I had seen it, and my mom had told me I should knit it for someone, anyone, because it was so cute. It’s the perfect gift. So I ordered some Knit Picks Comfy. And it wasn’t til AFTER the order was placed, that I remembered that Comfy is cotton/acrylic, and the blanket is steeked. Sigh. Luckily steeking is made a little easier with my handy dandy sewing machine. I’ve made it work once before, I can do it again.

Because I was supposed to be taking it easy this weekend because of my back, I literally did nothing. The box from KP came, and it sat unopened for most of the day. I finally cracked it open late Sat. night, and cast on and did one or two rows from the chart (no swatching….I’ve gotten good at knowing my gauge with KP yarn). It wasn’t til today that I just couldn’t put the needles down.

I’m on row 55 of 91 of the monkey chart, and then it will be on to the back side of the blanket (the rings). It’s surprisingly quick, and fun to see the monkey faces appear.

I’ll have a dress update next time….It’s coming along slowly, but nicely. I’ve only got 2 weeks to finish it, so I’d better put the monkeys down, and get a move on the dress. Unless you think I can wear the monkey blanket to the wedding…..

What should I start with today? Lets start with the oldest finished project, another wrap skirt.

This one I tweaked a little. I placed the piping 5/8″ from the edge, instead of 3″, which gave me more of a “wrap” and more coverage when the wind blows. I also omitted the pockets, which made the sewing a smidge faster. The buttons that I bought for this are also a size smaller. Overall, I am happy with the skirt, though next time I am thinking of adding another inch or two to the fabric, so that I have more “wrap”. I work in a really windy spot, and I would rather not be holding my skirt down every single time I walk outside.

My current sewing project is a dress to wear to several weddings I am attending this summer. The first wedding is on July 9th, and I’ve almost finished the bodice of the dress. I better get a move on!

Next, there has been some cooking. I attempted homemade ravioli a couple nights ago. Hubby bought me one of these, and I cranked out some homemade dough and made some ricotta filling and made 3 dozen ravioli. It wasn’t til they were all in the water that I saw on the box that the ravioli needed to sit for an hour, flip and sit for another hour. Ooops. Oh well. They tasted just fine, and there wasn’t one ravioli left over.

How’s the garden doing, you might ask? Well, the peppers didn’t sprout at all, so I bought two starters and planted them. Hopefully they will do well. Also not growing is the watermelon. I am most sad about that. I really wanted to say I grew watermelon. Oh well, I’ll try again next year. BUT, everything else is doing great. Lettuce is growing out of control, and the cucumber and cherry tomatoes have started to flower.

And then there’s the 2 plants that look very similar, but since they are in the same family, I don’t know if they are the same, or if I have one of each. Here’s one of the plants; it’s either brussel sprouts or broccoli.

And last, but not least, before you go thinking I’ve abandoned the knitting for gardening, cooking, and sewing, I have been working steadily on the Mystery Shawl. I have 24 pattern repeats left on the edging and then it’s off to block.

It may be awhile before the shawl gets blocked. I’ve been in some serious back pain, in addition to pulling a glute muscle (while sleeping of all things!!), and I’ve been walking around like a crippled old lady. I have a nightstand full of medicine bottles and bengay tubes. It’s quite sad. But the crafting continues during the pain. Because I’m just that dedicated. Or crazy. You decide.

Thursday I went to my 9th or 10th (I’ve lost track) Bon Jovi concert. I took the train to the New Meadowlands stadium. I worried about taking the train and having to walk a really long way or take a shuttle bus, but the train drops you off RIGHT in front of the stadium. Well worth the price of a train ticket. On the way there, I knit.

The new stadium is big and clean, and we had a great time. The view from our seats.
















Friday I prepped for the big bbq on Saturday and made 90 mini Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. I honestly think I’m doing something wrong, because every time I use a recipe I find online, I always get SO many more cupcakes than it says. This recipe said 40-48 minis. I got NINETY. Oh well. Saved me from doubling the recipe to feed the masses.

Onto the crafty….I have weddings to go to this summer. One in July and one in August. I am hoping to get a move on and sew a dress to wear for both weddings, but definitely for the August wedding. I had a pattern already in possession and set out to Joann’s today (10% off entire purchase, even on sale items!) and bought some fabric/lining/notions for it.

The plan is to make the dress on the left, in the blue fabric, with a brown sash. The fabric is a lightweight linen with a wonderful drape. I can’t wait to get started on it. You should be seeing a lot of it on the blog soon.

It’s been 2 weeks since my last garden update. There’s not much more to tell, things are growing bigger, and I am like a little kid on Christmas morning, going out to the garden every day looking for new growth.

Lettuce getting bigger every day. It takes all I have not to pick it and eat it now.

This came up in a spot that I neglected to mark, so it’s either broccoli or brussel sprouts. I think it might be brussel sprouts, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

There’s a new leaf on the cucumber plant, and there are wisps of green where I planted onions and scallions. Peppers are not doing anything, but if I remember correctly, last year it took forever for them to grow. I’ll continue to be patient.

The cherry tomato seedlings look like they are toughening up, and in another couple weeks, I will have to decide which one or two to keep and which ones to pull. Speaking of tomatoes, I have a lot of random growths in the garden. They looked suspiciously like the tomato plants, but they are not where I planted tomatoes. It seems that the plants from last year (regular size tomatoes, I forget what kind…maybe beefsteak) may have reseeded in the soil and when it was tilled, started growing in random spots. I have a good 5 seedlings, and all look pretty hardy. If you are in the NY/NJ area, and would like a seedling, let me know. I’m happy to cultivate them a little bit longer so they can be transplanted better. If no one claims them, I’m pulling them and tossing them. I don’t think that even the kid can eat that many tomatoes.

On a different note, I took the ferry home from work today, and because I take it from the city, I used my waiting time to hit the ATM (my bank, no fees! Yay!) on Wall Street. They are filming something there and I got a glimpse and subsequently a picture of one of the stars. IMDB says he was in Oz, but I never watched that. I know him from Rescue Me. I tried to snap the pic without him knowing I was taking the pic….I crossed the street and zoomed in. But considering he’s looking straight at the camera….I think he knew. Oh well. A stalker I will never be.

I sneaked out of work 1/2 hour early on Friday. What did I do with my time? Go to Joann’s of course! The weekly flier showed a cutting table that I’ve had my eye on for ages, on sale. I picked up the kid early and we headed to Joann’s. Of course, the table wasn’t the only thing I bought. I picked up some odds and ends I needed for this weekend’s sewing project.

I dragged this table home, and I set to work putting it together. As I did, I reminisced over the countless times I visited my mom at her job as a kid. My mom, for those of you who might not know, is a patternmaker. She’s worked mostly in women’s wear, but for the last several years has done children’s wear. I told her she needed to keep a job that provided samples in the kid’s size! I used to go to her job and sit at her long table, filled with all these sewing gadgets. Rulers in funny shapes and sizes, pencils, a tailor’s ham. I guess I took in more than I knew at the time, because sewing seems so…..natural to me. The second my cutting table was put together and standing in my craft room, I felt so close to my mom. So much like her. It was a feeling of happiness.

I put together all the pieces of paper to create the pattern on Saturday.

I would have done actual sewing on Saturday, but I hit a couple of yard sales and scored a pasta maker for $3. Hubby wanted nothing to do with a pasta maker when I suggested one several months ago, but for $3, even he could not argue. I can’t wait to show you guys homemade pasta.

The sewing all happened today, and with a few minor mishaps, I think it turned out great. I have plans for a second one already, with fabric from my stash.

So, things I would alter the second time around:

- no pockets. The pockets are a little odd shaped, but I think it’s because of the piping issue, and how much seam allowance there is.
- piping….the pattern states to sew the piping on 3 inches from the raw edge. This is WAY too far in, and because I lost 3 inches of fabric on both edges of the skirt, my skirt doesn’t quite “wrap”, closing more in the center. Because of this, I added a couple snaps a couple inches down from the button, so when the wind blows or I walk, I don’t have to worry about the world seeing my business.
- smaller buttons. The pattern calls for “2 large buttons”. I guess everyone’s definition of large is different, but I picked buttons that are a smidge too big for me. I like them, and I don’t plan on replacing them, I would just make the next skirt with a medium size button.

Overall, I’m quite happy with the skirt. I forsee more than just a second one in the future!

I started the newest Anniversary Mystery Shawl a couple weeks ago. I have been on top of each of the clues, 3 so far, and was chugging along quite nicely til this afternoon. This afternoon is when an email appeared saying that the chart I had chosen for clue 3 had errors in several rows. Of course, the first round that had an error I had done 7 rounds ago. 7 rounds to rip. 288 stitches per round. Ugh. At least it’s a pretty color.

This weekend, for the first time in weeks, if not months, we have no plans. And it is supposed to be a gorgeous weekend. So, my plan is to do my laundry and a quick spot cleaning tomorrow night (Friday), and play around with this:

I had purchased the pink retro-like fabric for a skirt, and while reading blogs last week/early this week, I fell upon this pattern. I’ve got it all printed out and am going to attempt my first pattern resizing with it, because my waist is sure as hell not 30″. Luckily, I had purchased the brown fabric which is perfect to pair with the pink. I need to stop and get piping, and I’m thinking a pale pink piping….I can’t wait to make this skirt.

That is, if I can find my sewing machine under all the mess in the craft room……and I can drown out the time-out slacks with some Bon Jovi (whom I go see in concert in 2 weeks!)

I got all my housework and most of my errands done between Friday and Saturday, so that I could truly enjoy today, my 9th Mother’s Day. All I really wanted was to sleep late, but since the kid is pretty self sufficient nowadays, that happens most weekends. I made a request last night to go play mini golf, and my wish was granted today.

We have a mini golf place down the road, no more than 10 minutes away. But we’ve played there before, and I wanted to try a new place. The couple of times I’ve been to roller derby in Asbury Park, I’ve noticed a mini golf place. So that’s where we headed today. The hubby won, by 6 points, I came in second, and the kid came in last, but I only beat him by one point. He’s getting so much better at the game.

After the game, we walked a little ways down the boardwalk (have I mentioned that I love living so close to the beach?) and we came across a large chess board. The hubby has been teaching the kid, so they played a game. I love that it makes the kid think, and already, he knows a whole lot more than I do about the game.

The hubby won, but I don’t think it mattered much to the kid. He was so enthralled with the huge pieces and the game board. I knew the first time I saw it, that he would love it.

After standing in the cold for awhile, we headed back home, making a pit stop at a place to get something warm to drink and a small snack. It’s a place I’ve seen and wanted to stop in, but never had a chance. I got a chai tea and an oreo brownie. They warmed up the brownie for me, and it was chocolately heaven.

I’m now awaiting a dinner of tilapia and asparagus, made by the hubby. He sure knows how to treat me right! I hope all you moms out there are having a wonderful Mother’s Day!!

When we bought the house and started gardening, I had no clue what I was doing. I still don’t really. It’s a compilation of things gathered off the internets and hoping that they work. So when a friend said she was taking a bunch of gardening classes, I took a look and settled on taking one with her: organic vegetable gardening. It was only $30, and I was sure I was going to gather a lot of information.

I did gather a lot of information, and I understand that it was an ORGANIC gardening class, but it was like those extreme religious people who believe that if you don’t believe in what they believe in, then all is lost for you. I’m all for doing as much as I can to garden organically, but I don’t want it shoved down my throat. BUT, I did learn a good deal of things.

Because I was taking this class, I was waiting to plant my seeds. I was good last year, starting them indoors in starter pots and then transferring them to the garden proper. This year I was lazy and planted the seeds directly in the ground the day after the class. It’s been almost a week now and there is growth!!

Lettuce
















Cucumber



















Tomato

I saw this little bit of green in the garden today, and I think I’m in for a surprise.
















I have a feeling that this is a seed from last year, because it’s in a spot in the garden that I did not plant anything. I will wait a bit before declaring it a weed and pulling it.

And lastly, for some color other than green, the kid brought me two little pots of this flower today for Mother’s Day. There’s nothing telling me what kind of flower it is, or how to take care of it. I put a little bit of water in them and stuck them out on the back deck for a little sun. Hopefully one of you is more well versed in flowers and can tell me what they are?