Miss T's Mystery House of Yarn & Horrors

Who's Kreativ?

Certainly somebody was, with that spelling.  And I’m honored to report that someone (someone other than the creative speller, that is) thinks I’m Kreativ, too.  Wendy at Musings from a Knucklehead (and who is not actually a knucklehead), nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger award.  Thanks, Wendy!

You know how these things go.  The love must be passed on, and pass it on I shall.  The official rules, likely drafted by the Kreativ soul who dreamed up this award and made a button for it:

1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.

I’m being rebellious today.  (Wouldn’t be the first time.)  Five.  Not seven.  Just cuz.  Five blogs that are worth clicking on.  And because I’m rebellious and also a bit pressed for time, I’m going to break with tradition and not wax eloquent about each one.  They’re just cool folks I like.  And they're Kreativ.  So please read them:

My Middle Name is Patience

Random Meanderings

Knit Think

KitKatKnit

kmkat and her kneedles (I don’t think she had anything to do with the spelling of Kreativ)

If the fonts are all funny sizes, blame Typepad.  It’s being cranky today.  Not rebellious, just cranky.  But you won’t be cranky if you take some time out to read these very Kreativ Bloggers.  Have fun!  And thanks again, Wendy!

Nobody Took Pictures

Perhaps we should have.  Yesterday was an occasion, after all, but not what you think.

Nope, no grunting and roaring and beer-spilling over here.  Instead, we had...

Get it?

No footballs.  Just chili and cheese biscuits and

outrageously good custard buns courtesy of Ann (who also brought me very pretty Tigereye stitch markers).  The recipe’s posted at that link.  I’d click it if I were you.

Amy brought me the coolest coffee ever.

Isn’t that just brilliant?  I’m having some right now, and it’s fabulous.  (There may be a custard bun involved, too, but don’t tell anyone.)

Kayla (blogless, alas) somehow intuited my love of fruit butters and things with honey in them and brought this amazing gift basket.  She crocheted that doily!  Gorgeous, yes?

 

Pat (also blogless), arrived with wine and salsa and other goodies.  The M.E. put the wine on the rack; I forgot to take it down for the photograph.  However, if you saw it you would agree that it looks quite excellent, and since we know Pat to be a lady of good taste, we’re looking forward to cracking it open.  Not with a mallet or anything, of course, so stop creating dramatic images in your mind.  We have a very nice wine opener.  Oh, never mind.

Then we all pigged out and did a lot of knitting.  Amy wove in about seventy-thousand ends on the chevron scarf she’s making for a friend.  Kayla worked on a dishcloth which features the ASL sign for “I love you.”  Pat made great progress on her Rambling Rows afghan.  Ann worked diligently on the secret test knit she’s doing for me, and I got all the way to the gusset on the M.E.’s sock.  See?  We really were knitting, not just eating. 

Nobody threw anything, tackled anybody else or did strange dances, and, blessedly, there was no need to set foot in the hellhole that is Florida.  Really, the only thing missing was millions of dollars in commercial sponsorship.  I’ll try to get that arranged before next year’s event.

Thank you, my friends, for being such gracious guests and for making the First Annual Yarn Bowl a big success!

You Know What's Fun?

Saute red onion and garlic.  Season with s & p.

Poach some chicken and slice it.

Make dressing with oil, vinegar, thyme, oregano, marjoram if you have it, s & p.

Soak reconstituted sundried tomatoes, plus the onions and garlic, in the dressing for a bit.  Brush a little dressing on pieces of nice, crusty bread.


Make sandwiches on the oil-brushed side of the bread.  Chicken, tomatoes and onions...


Fresh spinach...


Havarti.

Then smash the sandwiches in a panini maker and cook until they’re brown and toasty and the cheese is running all over.  Mmmmmmm.….

Even more fun?  Invite a talented friend over to enjoy them with you.  She will bring her knitting, and her tatting, and a really, really great hostess gift.  Look:

Isn’t that the most perfect sock bag?  She made that.  Told you she's talented.  Check out the cute snap:

 
I’ve already loaded it up with a sock, because this will be the thing to carry when I go to tea tomorrow.  Since there’s a 10 out of 10 chance I’ll be wearing black, it will definitely go with my outfit.  Thank you so very much, AnnCrafts!

Passing Along a Nice Surprise

It’s been quite the momentous week, hasn’t it?  Last week was quite busy, if not dramatic, which is why I’m a bit tardy in posting about the lovely thing that Kitkatknit did for me.

It was quite a nice surprise because I love her blog, too.  You know, it really does mean a lot to me when I hear that somebody likes what I’ve been writing.  Writers always wonder about that:  Is anybody reading?  Does anybody care?  Is the work any good?  At least, I do.  Knowing that somebody does care is gratifying and humbling and reassuringly warm-n-fuzzy all at the same time. 

KitKatKnit is a creative person too, and I know she understands what the stakes are when you put your work out for the world to see.  So when I thought about whom I wanted to pass this award along to, I realized that I most wanted to give props to some fellow writers who are also out there...wondering.

But first, the rules.  There are always rules with these things, you know: 

1. Please mention of the award on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. You must nominate at least 4 fellow bloggers for this award.
4. Add links to the recipients.
5. Leave a comment so the recipients know they have received an award.

Got that?  Okay, on with the action:

First, one of the best writers I know.  Yes, it’s true, Amy is a dear friend of mine and I’ve given her blog recognition here before, and perhaps you think it’s rather predictable that I’m going to bring up the subject of Amy again.  But do you know about her other blog?  This time around, I’m not nominating Amy for the always amusing KnitThink, but for A Closer Look at Flyover Land.  Because it’s fun whether you’ve never been to Minnesota and have even the slightest curiosity about what to do -- and eat -- here, or whether you’ve lived here so long you’re probably in a rut and are ignoring most of the cool stuff to do -- and eat -- here.  Check it out.  You’ll want a burger when you finish reading.

On we go to another good writer, Del.  She turns out some really beautiful knitting (her Arctic Diamonds stole is to die for), soldiers on with her creative work despite the usual setbacks plus all the evil plots hatched by the Dimpled One, and has an enviable new haircut. 

Dan Vera writes Wondermachine, and some pretty fine poetry, too.  If there’s anything tougher than being a poet and getting attention for your work, I can’t imagine what it might be.  He’s also quite a talented artist, and if you pay attention to his blog you just might be lucky enough to pop in when he’s posted a drawing. 

Lorette the Knitting Doctor knits gorgeous lace, and loves good food and has very cute dogs.  What else do you need to know?  Oh, yeah.  She’s very quiet about it, but she’s done NaNoWriMo twice.  I’m impressed -- I don’t think I could do NaNoChapterMo in one month.  And I love reading her blog.

There you have it.  Four amazing, talented bloggers.  I’m always pleased when I see them light up on my Google Reader, so please say hi for me when you stop by and see them.  They'll be pleased to know you care.  And thank you again, KitKatKnit!

Arte y Pico

Now that is one cool award.  I received this honor from my dear friend Amy who got one herself because her blog is some of the best reading around.  (If you haven’t been reading it, what have you been doing with your time?)  Thank you, Amy!

I’m particularly pleased because of the meaning of the award.  If you visit the blog where this award was launched and scroll around until you find some text in English (unless you read more Spanish than I do and thus probably don’t have to scroll so much), here’s what she says about the meaning of the term Arte y Pico:  “…..it translates into a wonderful phrase in Mexico, “lo maximo.” LOL! It will never find its counterpart in English, but if it HAD to, it would be something like, Wow. The Best Art. Over the top.”

That really makes a girl’s day, you know?

So, one of my duties as an award winner, besides showing up at supermarket openings in a tiara to cut the ribbon and giving a glued-together-fingers wave from parade vehicles, is to make some other people’s days by passing on the award to five other bloggers.  It says so in the rules, right here: 

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.
 
I’m delighted to do so.  The only hard part is choosing five from the ‘leventy-squillion great blogs out there whose collective mission seems to be keeping me from knocking things off my to-do list.  And with no further dinking around so that I actually have some hope of getting to said to-do list, here they are:

1) Maple Corners -- A wonderful farm, knitting, spinning, and something entirely unique:  The Art of Alzheimer’s.  Yes, that’s right.  The author takes care of her mother, who has Alzheimer’s.  In her case, the disease has turned her into a charming trickster who sneaks around decorating the farmhouse with art installations made from household objects.  They’re way cool.  I mean, there have been one or two that I would have bought if I’d seen them in a gallery.  These are folks whose story I’m compelled to follow, even though I’ve never met them.  I think you’ll love them, too.

2) Bricolage Life -- I only recently started reading this blog (thanks to my friend Lisa over at Mappa Mundi, --  more recommended reading), but the concept of bricolage resonates deeply with me (it’s one of my favorite words), and I love seeing what this blogger does with it.  She posts “One Good Thing a Day,” and each one is good indeed.

3) Shut Up, I’m Counting -- Cass is so funny that you’re likely to injure yourself while laughing about her tales of, well, injuries.  And knitting.  And dogsitting.  And more injuries.  She’s a lovely person and a terrific writer, and if she ever writes a book, I’ll buy it.  I won’t even wait for the paperback.

4) The Uberstrickenfrau -- Olga is opinionated and amusing and self-deprecating and has a pink vintage bike planted with the flowers in her front yard.  I’m sooo jealous of that bike, I have to keep returning to her blog just to see it.  You will, too.

5) Thyme for Cooking -- How could I not include a food blog?  This one’s a treat to read because she not only gives intriguing recipes, she writes about all sorts of other burning topics.  Like the pay outhouses in Paris, and living in a house that looked like it belonged to Vlad the Impaler, and the importance of words.  Good stuff.  Worth a look.

That’s it, five fabulous blogs, perfect reminders of how wonderful blogging can be when the blogger truly has something to say and isn’t simply listing the contents of the nearest desk drawer just to have blog fodder.  (Because your desk drawer is only interesting if you’re a famous published writer and you’ve got some secret magical thing in there that will help me become a famous published writer, too.  And then you probably wouldn’t show it to me.) 

So go forth, read and be amazed, and do leave a little thank you for the bloggers who’ve made your day more interesting.  You know, a comment.  Especially you lurkers -- they’ll love you for it.  Thanks again, Amy!

 

The Best Food of the Summer

Last week, I was too busy to blog.  This has been the case quite a bit lately; too busy to blog and too busy to read other people’s blogs.  So I’m a week late in reporting on our very best food experience of the summer, and here I am, trying to catch up.

Labor Day weekend.  The last hurrah of all that is State Fair and summer and school being out.  Lots of folks squeeze in one last summer trip.  We didn’t, but my dear friend Amy did.  Because she went somewhere very cool and got to relax and read books all weekend (instead of painting shelves), she couldn’t pick up her CSA box, and was sweet and generous enough to give it to me.  Amy is a really, really good friend.

So, off we went to the Mill City Farmers Market to pick up the box.  Well.  That place is just far too much fun.  Best farmer’s market I’ve ever been to, I’m telling you.  It’s just the right size, and all the growers and vendors have obviously been carefully selected.  We got purple potatoes, garlic sourdough bread, cheese, and the only truly good mini-doughnuts I’ve ever eaten.  I don’t normally like mini-doughnuts, but these were fabulous.  Missed out on the duck eggs, not realizing how quickly they vanish--won’t make that mistake again.  We picked up the CSA box, and also bought 20 pounds of canning tomatoes from the same wonderful organic farmers.

I didn’t can them, though.  (The tomatoes, I mean.  Not the farmers.  Maybe you figured that out.  Either way, I didn't can the farmers.)  Nope.  Instead, I performed my favorite end-of-summer ritual. 

I don’t know what you do for your end-of-summer ritual, but I make soup.  Tomato soup.  A giant vat of it, this time with homemade chicken broth from this amazing recipe.  No salt, which is good for my mom, the intended recipient of most of the tomato soup.  The broth simmers so long that it becomes incredibly rich with hardly any seasoning at all.  That took an entire day.  The tomato soup took the next afternoon.  And I was one happy, tomato-covered girl with a seriously messy tomato stove.  I love making the soup.  You can find the recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Square Meals, by Jane & Michael Stern.

What did we do with the CSA box?  I’m getting to that.  We immediately devoured some charming little brown tomatoes with CSA basil and good mozzarella on the garlic bread.  I intended to take pictures, but that didn’t happen.  If I had abandoned the table to get the camera, who knows what the M.E. might have done, while left alone with my lunch?  Too dangerous. 

That night we got some good tuna, seared it for about a minute each side in a very hot pan, and topped it with some of Francisco’s Salsa (which is wonderful) and avocado.

In the CSA box, there was a bag of lovely salad greens.  They were quickly munched with homemade buttermilk dressing.  This homemade dressing thing is not a big deal.  You can do it.  Whisk a little buttermilk with a small amount of mayonaise, and a little cider vinegar and some s&p.  How much?  I don’t remember.  Taste it.  Make it the way you like it.

Yum.

Other days, we had tomato orgies and corn orgies and BLT orgies.  The CSA box was such a blast that I quickly emailed the Loon Organics people and got us on the waiting list for next year.  Already!  I didn’t forget! 

That wasn’t the end, though, because the always-thoughtful Amy gave me something else special, too.  She went to Garlic Fest on another weekend while I was painting and going to hardware stores and getting covered with sawdust and pouting, and she brought me fancy garlic.  Amy knows how to cheer a person up.  Garlic is very, very cheerful.

I tried the Inchellium Red with a variation on my garlic shrimp recipe.  Absolutely delicious.  Great, mild flavor.  Mild, but interesting and different than the usual grocery store garlic.  I’d love to know where to find this variety all the time.

It’s sort of mysterious that Minnesota grows 100 varieties of garlic, but you only ever see the same-old, same-old in the stores.  Where’s it all going? 

This is what you do for garlic shrimp:  Chop up a lot of garlic.  More than you think you need.  Saute it in a little olive oil.  Don’t let it get too brown, because it will burn quickly.  Throw in shrimp (half a pound per person) and some thyme, either dried or fresh, whatever you’ve got.  When the shrimp is just done -- which will take about 3 minutes or less, unless they’re gigantic -- add some butter, s&p, and some fresh lemon juice, and stir till the butter melts.  Get it on plates quickly.  You can serve this with pasta, or sans pasta.  We were in a sans pasta mood that night.  Shocking, I know.

There were other adventures with the CSA box, but I think I’m done writing.  I’m getting hungry thinking about all of it.  So to Amy, a huge thank you and a big hug.  We really had fun. 

Bliss

I’ve made progress on my easy stockinette sock, and that makes me very happy.  Why?  Because this is the sock I work on when I’m knitting with friends.  I can talk and knit and be assured that I won’t make too many mistakes I can’t easily undo.  You can see, by how far along it is, how fortunate I’ve been lately--much good company.  I’ve worked on this sock over tea with friends, and during the open knitting time at my LYS. 

Yesterday, I was extra lucky because a group of beautiful knitters came to visit, and we spent the afternoon giggling, eating and clacking away.  It was an honor.  I mean that.  Each of them made a real effort to come.

Kmkat worked late on Saturday night so that she’d have Sunday free to knit.  Kelly only gets one day a week off from running her busy yarn shop.  Sunday is the day she likes to spend with her husband, but she came over to knit instead.  Jeanice did so much creative work before coming over that I’m amazed she had energy left to knit.  Just look at what she brought:

Soap was the easy part.  Keep going.

Beautiful handmade cocktail napkins.  We used them right away, so these two are the ones that aren’t down in the laundry room waiting to be washed.  I love cloth napkins, and you don’t see many of them in this size.  And as one who’s quite pathetic with a sewing machine, believe me, I’m impressed by those nice, straight seams.

A luggage tag that’s like nobody else’s, so I can easily find my suitcase.

Front and back, that’s an artist trading card which is not only cute, it makes a perfect bookmark.  I adore unique bookmarks. 

A pretty tissue holder, which I definitely needed.  But wait, there’s more!  All those things were inside this:

SQUEEE!  Is that the coolest, most gorgeous quilted bag ever?  It’s the perfect size for carrying along a sock.  You know, when I go to knit with friends. 

She made all that.  Well, except the soap.  (If she made that, too, I really am not worthy.)  But, I mean, she actually sewed and quilted that bag.  Jeanice, aren’t you tired?  All this has to be worth a gold medal in the Hostess Gift Olympics.  I absolutely love everything.  Thank you so, so much!

It was a blissful afternoon, and I thank you all.  My sock and I are feeling lucky, and we’re looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Was There Yarn?

Yes, there was yarn!

Sandwiched between the deep blue laceweight and the lilac bulky merino from Handpainted Yarn (both courtesy of the M.E.) is some beautiful Vesper sock yarn given to me by Amy.  Mmm...Neapolitan ice cream feet coming up!  I’ve got lace projects in mind for both of the others.  Shoot, I’ve got lace projects in mind for these, too:

   

I loved working with Schaefer Laurel so much that I may have hinted a wee bit that I might possibly sorta want more for Christmas.  Oh happy day, I’ve now got enough for a shawl, in the Billie Holiday color.  And on the right is STR Laci in Oregon Red Clover Honey, because I’ve been dying--dying, I say--to make this.

Knitting is very much on my mind as 2008--2008, isn’t that crazy?  Remember when that sounded all far away and sci-fi and everything?--begins.  I have such an embarrassment of riches to work with (on top of the embarrassment I already had), and I’m excited about every one of these projects.  Huge thanks to Amy and to my incredibly wonderful husband!  You guys know how to keep me off the streets.   

Luck

I’ve been unusually lucky with blog contests lately; really, this doesn’t happen to me all the time.  But the loot has just been flying in the door. 

KitKatKnit sent me an incredible package of goodies after drawing my name in her Wayback Machine contest.

That great card she made is definitely going in my T collection!  There were Almond Rocas (the bag is no longer as full as it appears), coffee, a terrific pair of snippin’ scissors, and some of the softest, most lush alpaca ever.  It’s even purple!  Thank you so much, KitKatKnit!

From Rhonda the Stitchingnut, when I correctly guessed that she’s making an Einstein coat, came this lovely package:

Pretty sock yarn, soft cotton chenille that I’m guessing will make a nice scarf, and a fun book filled with great vintage photos of knitwear.  I love vintage knitwear!  Thank you very much, Rhonda!  Knitters are incredibly generous, aren’t they?

I’ve had one more bit of luck this week.  A big one.  You may recall that back in September, my computer crashed.  Permanently, spectacularly and traumatically.  All indications were that I’d never be able to retrieve some of my files, at least not without shelling out a heinous amount of money (which should probably go to better use than retrieving old email). 

Well.  Never say die.

The M.E. related my tale of woe to some of his colleagues at work (make a note:  being married to a geek who works with even more geeks is a good thing), one of whom happened to have a buddy who’s apparently a Mac genius to end all Mac geniuses.  There was a trick, a $20 trick which would fix everything, and he willingly, kindly shared the details with us.  Good folks, geeks.  Even people who are not knitters can be incredibly helpful and generous.

You start up the sick Mac while pressing a special, magical key that nobody knows about except certain Mac Gurus.  The coolest thing about this magical key is that it’s the “T” key!  Who knew?

Then the sick Mac starts doing this:

See that magical blue cable?  That’s a firewire.  You hook it up to both the ailing Mac and the healthy one.  Bodily fluids are about to be shared, but hang on, it’ll be okay. 

The magical blue light and the special magical key somehow trick the dying Mac into thinking it’s a hard drive which has one more critical mission to perform before expiring.  It comes to life and allows you to transfer its entire contents onto the healthy Mac in about fifteen minutes, without any drama.  Twenty dollars for a cable = problem solved.

I. Have. My. Stuff. Back!!

Huge thanks to Craig for asking the the right guy the right questions, and enormous thanks to Brenton for sharing the secret!  I feel like we made it past the Sphinx and found the treasure.  Thanksgiving continues into this week, for sure.  I'm very, very grateful for so much good luck!

Happy Mailbox Tales

That’s the yarn I’ll be packing up soon to send to knittingnovice.  Two skeins of Karaoke wool/soy silk, and two skeins of hand dyed Mystical Creations rayon.  I hope she'll like her loot. 

My mailbox is happy because of the marvelous packages that have recently arrived; one I expected and one which was a complete surprise.  I’ll have to come up with extra special projects for both of these gifts.

I knew that some lovely yarn would arrive courtesy of Quiddity, because I won a contest on her blog. 

And lucky me, it’s just beautiful.  Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Jeans, which perfectly suits me since I’m nearly always in jeans when I leave the house.  She threw in some cute notecards, too.  Thanks very much, Quiddity!  I love it.

Here’s what I wasn’t expecting, another gorgeous skein of blue which went a long way towards banishing the blues.

From my dear friend Amy, gorgeous Malabrigo laceweight in Alpine Pearl, with a Day of the Dead card that’s a work of art.  I intend to frame it.

Inside the card was this:

Could that be any cuter?

Amy’s intention was to give me a thank you gift for something I did to help her out, but when she heard I was having a rough time last week she was sweet enough to send it early.  It arrived exactly at the right moment and was a beautiful reminder of how important it is to have a good friend in your corner.  Yarn can be a nice reminder of friendship, can’t it?  Thanks so much, Amy!