A B Cs & 1 2 3s & 42!

I get to meet my student tonight! I'm really excited. Yesterday I observed a literacy level class, which is for adults who had less than 4 years of schooling in their native country and do not read or write in their native language. There are so many things we take for granted about knowing how to read. First is the recognition of shapes as having meaning. But there are also things like direction - we read from left to right, which is not the case everywhere in the world. We know how big of a space to leave between words. And we know that a 'G' and a 'g' and a 'g' are all the same, while 'b', 'p', 'd' and 'q' are all different.

So this is what I get to teach. I'll need to figure out what she already knows, and decide where to start. I'm nervous, but I'm excited. And I'll be honest, I'm having a bit of a power trip thinking of all the idioms and pop culture references I'll be able to teach her.

In other, crafty, news. My secret project is going along well. I had a few moments of panic 'this is horrible, what was I thinking?'; briefly considered changing things around, but then went back to my original plan. Once things started coming together I was thinking 'This rocks! This is going to be awesome!'. But then again, by that point I was getting tired and had consumed half a bottle of Bartles & James Pina Colada wine cooler (can you say 'malt-ternative' ;) ), so my judgment may have been impaired. We'll see.

Unfortunately, there will be little to no knitting content for a bit while I work frantically on this project. But I promise some day I will bring out the needles again.

And apropos to absolutely nothing - this is my 42nd post. Yay - 42. Now what was the question?

The sky is blue.

I know, I know, you learned that in kindergarten. (Did you learn about wind in kindergarten?) But it's a fact you can forget when you live in a temperate rainforest.






Is that beautiful or what?

And in keeping with a blue theme, Fraulein Peggy and I are working on a new project. But shhhhhh it's a secret. ;)

It's Over

There comes a time in every relationship when you must say good bye. After 10 years, that time has come. We’ve had good times and bad times. We’ve worked together on duvet covers, Halloween costumes, Christmas presents, summer skirts, flirty dresses, chair back covers, tote bags, patchwork quilts and blue jean patches. There have been broken needles and tangled bobbin threads, an unfortunate beer spill and a broken spool stand. (Yes, that's a crochet hook, cardboard & packing tape.)We’ve done together what neither of us could have done alone. But it’s time. It’s time to say good bye to my J C Penney Craft & Quilt Sewing machine. Rest in peace old friend.

Welcome Frauline Peggy, my brand new Pfaff

It was love at first stitch. I went into the store, and started looking her over. The salesman (in stark contrast to the one I dealt with in the other store), was extremely helpful. I asked him if I could lower the feed dogs, and he showed me how. He showed me how to wind the bobbin (drop in vs. my old tempremental vertical one), he told me the difference between this model and the one above it - stretch stitching for sewing knits (no, thank you I sew with cottons almost exclusively). When I asked him about the Janomes, he showed me a comperable model and explained the differences. He showed me a refurbished machine and listed the features. He even measured the opening from needle to inside of the machine... a generous 6 1/2 inches as opposed to the just over 3 inches in my old machine. Everything about the Pfaff was intuitive, while I intended to read the manual, I knew I could sew whatever I needed to without it.

Oh, and there was a sale! ;) So I brought home my brandy-new Pfaff Hoby for onlyj$250. Not too shabby. It does everything I need it to do with none of the fancy bells & whistles. Frauline Peggy named herself before I even left the store. I'm excited to see what the two of us will be able to create together. :)

And it's just beginning...

I can't even believe how much I've gotten done today. Sewing with Fraulein Peggy is effortless. She just hums along and sews sure and steady. I started with 88 of the light colored geese blocks, and seamed them up in pairs.

And have now actually sewn up two of the border strips. If I keep up this pace, I'll finish up the other two strips tonight.

I might even finish this quilt this year!

What day is it? Caturday!!

Sally and I were outside enjoying the fine weather yesterday.

We even had a picnic*

And I'm so pleased that lolcats are getting some props at Slate.com .

*If you call eating KFC on the patio outside your apartment a picnic anyway. ;)

Health Care in the US

Warning - this post will get a bit graphic, if you're squeemish, you might want to skip past the pictures.

The scene:
So last night as I was watching American Idol I decided to work on my quilt a bit. I was unhappy with one of the fabrics I'd already cut out for the sashing so I was going to cut a different piece out of this one. It was late, I was tired, I was paying too much attention to the TV and not enough to the rotary blade. As I ran the blade through the fabric I managed to slice my finger! The blade is sharp so it didn't even hurt at first. But when I looked at the mat I saw a little chunk of skin laying there and I knew it was a *bad* cut!

So I did what I do in situations like that being the overly educated and intensely practical woman that I am. I got out a first aid book and read what you're supposed to for a bad cut, (after of course swearing loudly, and grabbing a tissue to press against my finger). It said to keep the cut elevated and maintain steady pressure for 15 minutes before looking to see if the bleeding had stopped.

I did this, watched the end of AI with my finger elevated on the back of the couch, pressing hard on the tissue with my thumb. But after 15-20 minutes, when I looked again, it was still bleeding. I started to panic a bit because, while I knew it was just a finger - still it's a bit unsettling to watch yourself continuing to bleed after that long. I decided to call my Dr.'s office to see what they said. There was a number on my Dr's card that said "Emergencies" so that's what I called. And this is just the quintessential experience of the bass-ackward US Health Care System.

Health Care Worker #1 "How may I direct your call?"
Me "Um... I think I need to talk to a nurse - I've cut myself and I can't stop the bleeding"

(now -being naive I had expected something like "how big is the cut" or "how much are you bleeding?" you know - so they would know if I was in immediate peril - how mistaken I was!)

HCW #1 "No, we don't have what you would call advice Nurses, and even if I could let you speak with a Nurse, it's against the law for them to give you any medical advice, because they haven't seen you."

Because - what I really needed at that moment was to be treated as though I were trying to engage in illegal behavior. Like I was some kind of junkie working the system to get morphine or something..... against the law to get advice from a nurse....

Me "Um... ok but who should I talk to? I need to know if I should come in to the ER or if it's okay"
HCW #1 "Well, we can't tell you that, but I can transfer you down to the ER and you can talk to someone there"
Me "Ok thank you."

HCW #2 "Hello how can I help you?"
Me "Hi, I've cut myself and I can't stop the bleeding, but it's just a small cut so I don't know if I need to come in or if there's something I should try at home"
HCW #2 (who I must say had a much more sympathetic tone than the first gal, but still) - "I can't tell you if you should come in or not, I'll leave that to your judgement"

At this point I'm getting kind of upset because I'm up way past by bedtime and I'm bleeding and just need someone to tell me what I should do, and right now my judgement is the last thing I want to rely on!

Me "I just need to know if this sounds serious or not"
HCW #2 "I can transfer you..."
Me - click. Because at this point I'd become a bit irrational and extremely upset.

On the one hand, it's late and I'm in my jammies and I don't want to go down to the ER and sit around waiting to be seen only to have them look at my little finger and laugh. But I also don't want to go to bed and slowly bleed to death. And I'm starting to get a bit hypochondriacal and afraid that I'm going to go into shock because my first aid book says that you can go into shock from even an minor injury and if not treated shock can lead to DEATH.

I tried to pull myself together and think "What would the Pioneers do?" Because you know I love doing things like the Pioneers did. And I thought people have been hurt way worse than this in various wars, and survived. I'd just need to bandage it up really good. So I went to the bathroom and started putting band-aids on. First one over the cut, then one to make sure the first one stayed on, then another just in case, and what the heck I have a whole box of band-aids here.

5 bandaids later:

Then I decided to call J. becuase I knew she'd still be up. And when I told her I cut myself her response was not "Let me transfer you." or "It's illegal for me to help you." but rather "Oh no! Are you okay?" which is why I love J. She did a very good job of calming me down. And also reassured me that if I did go to the ER they wouldn't laugh at me. In fact she relayed to me a story of her friend who went to the ER because he'd gotten his I-pod ear bud stuck in his ear and couldn't get it out. And another time he went to the ER thinking he was having an allergic reaction becuase he'd had a rash, but it went away. And that really made me feel better, because at least in my case there was actual blood involved.

I think my problem is that I watch too many hosptial-based TV shows, and I think the only people who go to the ER either have limbs missing, some rare and lethal tropical disease, or a pick-ax stuck in their head. I didn't realize that people went to the ER for minor things like getting an I-pod earbud stuck in their ear.

Anyway after talking to J, I felt significanly better, and no longer thought I was going to bleed to death in my sleep. When I got up in the morning, I showered & took off all the band-aids. I was glad I'd used 5 because I'd actually bled through the first 4. But it looked like it was done bleeding. I cleaned it off a bit, put some antibiotic ointment on it and put a few more band-aids on. I think I'll survive. Here's the gash this morning. I don't think the photo does it justice because it's hard to see how deep the cut is, but you get the idea.

When I told my coworker Nurse J. ( not actually a nurse, but she's planning on it and has taken First Aid & a bunch of anatomy & physiology classes) about it this morning she not only expressed a lot of motherly sympathy "oh you poor thing, your poor little finger" but she explained to me what my white blood cells were doing, and about the inflammatory response. I think Nurse J will be a good Nurse. I just hope the system doesn't ruin her.

I LOVE complaining!

I have to say it... I love complaining. I really do. When I lived with J. one of my favorite times of the day was when we got back from work and unloaded about all the crazy things that happened at work... or about perhaps the greatest source of complaints in Portland: Tri-met. (Because you know, Tri-met cannot always be exactly on time.) Anyway we'd go on and on, and occasionally work up some righteous indignation (my favorite kind of indignation btw) and decide to write a letter! One thing I love better than complaining is writing complaint letters. And if I really got going - I'd write a letter to Congress. Man I love writing righteously indignant letters to Congress. LOVE IT!!! I treasure the form letters I get back from my senators. Democracy at work, I tell you.

Now, I realize that not all complaining is entertaining or worthy of congressional inquiry. But sometimes it is helpful. When you complain you can see where things are going wrong in your life. And you need to see what's wrong in your life before you can change it. I think it even helps to complain about the little things in life. I complained a few times about a sales lady at a particular fabric store in town. And after the third time I complained about it, it occurred to me that she really bugs me, and there are a lot of different places to buy fabric in town - so there's no reason for me to go back there. If I hadn't complained, but rather kept my mouth shut, I'd still be going to that store, getting bad service and being cranky about it. Alternately, I could have complained to her, or to the store manager, and the situation may have been corrected that way.

Even better, if I complain publicly about something that's not going well in my life, there's a good chance that I'll get some advice - maybe really good advice. I might learn a new way to deal with the situation, or fix it, or get an alternate perspective on the situation that makes it less upsetting.

I do acknowledge that I am very blessed, and it's important to acknowledge that regularly. Focusing on the positive can really improve my mood, and also direct me towards what I really do like.

There's a lot of pop psychology out right now about thinking positive. The book The Secret claims that thinking positively will change your world due to the 'laws of attraction' - that which you focus on will increase. I don't buy it. I think there are things in this world that you can control, and things you can't. I don't believe that thinking positively is going to cure cancer - or that cancer is the manifestation of 'negative thought patterns'. But then there have been studies showing the effects of prayer / meditation on recovery from illness. So, I guess, think positively, but take your meds too!

Ultimately I think there's a time & place for everything. It's good to vent frustrations and voice complaints. But it's also good to get some perspective and try to focus on the good things in life. Too much of either- bitching & moaning or little miss sunshine-ing can make a person pretty intolerable to be around, IMHO.

Feel free to complain in the comments. But if you're going to complain about my complaining, you must acknowledge the irony. Oh, another favorite complaint of mine - the misuse of the word "Irony"! But don't get me started. ;) :P

Is this a knitting blog?

(said in young Fred Savage voice)

Here's the feather & fan shawl for my neice.

And here's the gothic leaf shawl. I've actually finished the first pattern repeat - yay!

So, I really am knitting... it's just that the progress is a lot slower, and honestly lace doesn't look that great until it's finished & blocked.

Size matters

At least in quilting. ;)




As I anticipated, the size of my apartment is becoming an issue when putting together my quilt. I tried to lay out the the pieces before sewing the rows together and just couldn't find a place big enough. I tried the bed... with moderate success. I could get the center part down, but not the borders. It was enough to show me how the blocks are going to line up, and to do some switching around so that I don't have two identical blocks next to each other.

It was difficult to get a picture of the entire quilt-to-be. But this is good, because I want it to be a bed-sized quilt, and it's going to shrink up considerably because of the seam allowances.

I think it's coming along though. I stacked up the rows in order and will be sewing them up soon.

Quilt Progress

I've finished sewing all of the geese blocks, and the sashing triangles are all cut out. So now, I'm ready to start piecing together the rows to make the quilt top. Essentially, the easy part is over now, and each step from here is going to get a little harder. My main problem is space. I really don't have a good place to lay out the entire top. I mean, I've got room on the floor, but that requires vacuuming, and getting Sally out of the house (easier said than done). And when pinning the quilt top to the batting & backing, one is supposed to have a flat surface... and that's just not possible for me. Then, once it's all pinned together I've got to try to fit it all through my tiny little sewing machine. That's the part that was really challenging with my first quilt.


I've been thinking about getting a new machine... but I'm not enthusiastic about that. I went to the sewing machine store and told the guy what I was looking for, (a basic non-computerized machine that's reliable and has plenty of room to fit a quilt through the hole) and said I didn't want to spend more than $500. Then when showing me machines he told me "well what you really want is..." and showed me a $900 computerized machine that was on sale for $700. The fastest way to get me to walk out of your store without buying anything is to tell me that I want to spend more money than I said I did to get something that I said I didn't want. Oh well, I guess I have to do some research online to figure out what I *really* want and what it's going to cost, so I don't have to deal with a sales person at all.



For now at least, this little machine is hanging in there - but I bought it 10 years ago, and it was bottom of the line then... so it really is time for an upgrade.

Caturday!

Sally's hiding out in the garden.

Inspecting the Savory & Lavender:
And lest there be any doubt about who's in charge on Saturday - my artistic director at work:

Knitting interlude...

I took a bit of a break from working on my quilt to go to Knitting-Night with Melody, Hellahelen & Kschmitz. We had a good time despite the fact that the LYS was closed (ooops!). Fortunately we found a nice burrito place just a few blocks away & set up camp there. =)

I started a Feather & Fan shawl for my neice. In pink of course! She keeps borrowing the Cozy I made for my mom, so I thought she could use a shawl of her own.

It's an incredibly easy pattern, so I should be able to make more progress on it than I've been making on the Gothic Leaf Stole. I really need to pay attention to every stitch in the GLS and it takes me quite a while to get through a row, so I don't pick it up to do just a few stitches, I wait until I've got a solid hour or more with no distractions... and that just hasn't happened in a while.

Speaking French to a Russian man in an English class.

This morning I went to observe an English as a non-native language class at IRCO (the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization). It was a fun class, and a great opportunity to see some teaching methods in practice. The teacher had the students ask me questions, one of the first of course "Are you married?" LOL. Well one of the other students asked what language I spoke, and I said "English, and a little French." And one of the Russian students quickly replied "Comment ca va?" (How's it going?), and fortunately I remembered enough to say "Ca va bien, et vous?" but I stumped him! =) It took him a minute to remember "Comme ci comme ca" (so-so). The last thing I had expected when going in to observe an English class was to be quized on my French!

I'm excited, I got my student assignment, a woman from eastern Africa (not allowed to share identifying details), and a packet of materials. If she's ready, we'll start meeting this Saturday!

Wish me luck!

Making progress.

I've made some progress on my quilt. I've finished all 88 dark geese with light backgrounds.
And I've started the light geese with dark backgrounds.
I actually got a lot done this weekend. I'm eager to start putting all the pieces together though. I'm such an impatient crafter. I really enjoy the planning phase, picking out the pattern, sketching out how I want it to look, and picking out the fabrics. But then I just want it done! I mean, I don't want it done as in, I'd just pay someone else to put it together for me, because a lot of the satisfaction I get from crafting is having done something myself. But I guess I get more satisfaction out of having finished it, than I do out of the actual doing.

Caturday!

Kitty -where's your head?

Umm... hi Sally. Could you give me some privacy please?

More ATCs.

I've discovered that I really like making artist trading cards. Just a teeny little canvas, requires just a tiny bit of creativity, and not too much time. For these two, I started by shaving crayons onto the paper, then covered it with wax paper and ironed it. (I passed kindergarten art with flying colors - can't you tell ;) ) Then I added a picture & some text.


And some sparkles... 'cause this one needed some sparkles. :P

Artist Trading Card #1

This is my very first Artist Trading Card* - what do you think?

* An Artist Trading Card is kind of like a Baseball Card, only for artists (not that I consider myself an 'artist' but I couldn't resist an excuse to pull out my scissors, magazines & hodge podge). According to Wikipedia, the idea started with the Impressionists, as a way of studying each other's techniques. But it seems like now it's just for creative expression and sharing your art with other artists. The 'rules' at least according to craftster are that they should be 2 1/2" by 3 1/2", and are not to be bought or sold, but only traded for other cards. But beyond that you can use any medium, any theme, any materials. I think I'm going to keep this one, because it's my very first... but I may just make some more to trade.

yes... it's a meme - get used to it ;)

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T .. .uh...

When it rains it pours.

I never knew it would take this much effort just to volunteer somewhere!

So, I've been looking into volunteering as an English or Reading tutor. I've been working on this since March. Admittedly I'm not as outgoing as some people, so it take s a while for me to work up the nerve to cold-call someone, even when it's, ostensibly, that person's job to talk to would-be volunteers. Anyway the first couple of people I spoke to worked with reading programs for children - SMART & the YMCA homework clubs. I almost signed up with one of them, but then decided I really wanted to work with adults.

One of the coordinators gave me the website of PDX Literacy which works with adults. I filled out their online application, called the information line and found out the next training was in April, and that I could either call a coordinator prior to the training to get set up with a position, or I could wait until after the training. I decided to get a jump on things and emailed the volunteer coordinator, and the training coordinator. Neither one of them responded. I called the volunteer coordinator and left like two messages, and called the training coordinator and left a message with her. Finally I get a message on my home machine from the volunteer coordinator saying that it was spring break and thats why she hadn't called me back. She actually sounded kinda snotty about it - as though I should have known that. But I work for a university, and *I* didn't get spring break off!!! And if I had - I know how to change the outgoing message on my voice mail! Well, I called both of them back - the training coordinator sent me the packet to sign up for the training. the volunteer coordinator, however did not call me back. Are we sensing a trend here?

I went to the training - and as I reported it was incredibly interesting, and further solidified my desire to tutor ESL (or ENNL = English as a non-native language) students. After the first training, I called the coordinator and miracle of miracles actually got her on the phone, but she was about to leave. She apologized for not getting back to me, said she appreciated my enthusiasm, and took down my information to call me back. Which of course never happened. At the second training I talked to someone who'd already observed an ESL class, and had an appointment to meet with her student the next day. I asked her who her coordinator was and decided to try that one instead.

So last Monday I called the second coordinator and left a message. Yet again - no call back. I was beginning to doubt whether this was an actual volunteer organization or just a cover for a covert para-governmental consortium. On the wise advice that if this is how they treat potential volunteers - they are probably not an organization I would enjoy working with, I decided to give up on them altogether and look for some other place to volunteer. I found some information about the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) and gave them a call this past Monday. As is my luck - the number posted was incorrect. It now belonged to a law-office who knew about IRCO but did not have a current number for them. I also hand an email address- I decided to try that.

And here is where the magic happened. That volunteer coordinator not only responded to my email - he did so *WITHIN TWO HOURS*!! I couldn't even believe it. I called the number in his email, left a message, and he called about an hour later. As if I wasn't in enough shock... he was very nice, and set up an appointment for me to meet with him on Thursday - TOMORROW! I'd spent a month just trying to talk to someone from the other organization - and here I go from first email to an appointment in 4 days! I'm really excited to get together with him - I'll get to observe a class and find out about their training & orientation. He said the training I'd had sounded good, but I'm happy to go to their training just to get a little more familiarity with the techniques I'll need to use. And the absolute best part... the part that I couldn't have even imagined - HE QUILTS!!! When he told me where their office was I mentioned that I knew where it was because of the fabric store nearby. We started gabbing about our quilting projects - it was really fun. If that's not kismit I don't know what is. He sent me the volunteer application & asked for some references - so that's all in the works.

By Tuesday I was really excited about this opportunity and feeling much better about getting the shaft from the other volunteer coordinators, and the fact that I'd given up two Saturdays in a row for them and still hadn't gotten a call back (not that I'm bitter). In one of those weird quirks of the universe, you can guess what happened next. I got to work today and had a message on my voice mail. It's the second coordinator from the first place calling me back & wanting to talk about me volunteering there. :P I intend to call her back - because I think it would be rude not to. But I won't be doing it any time soon!

I'm really excited about meeting with Mr. Quilterman tomorrow (at 8:30am urgh!)and I will tell you all about it.

Snape is a very bad man!

Warning - Harry Potter spoilers/overly emotional rants about fictional characters ahead.

I don't care if Snape (professor Snape) works for the Order or not. He's just a jerk. I don't have a problem with him giving Harry detentions or taking points for his misbehavior. McGonagal does it too - she's very strict but at least she's fair. I'm not even that upset about what he did at the end of book 6. Whatever his motives for doing what he did - it was man to man.

The thing I hate is the petty way he picks on Harry - from the very first day they met. I hate the way he ascribes intention and motive to Harry's actions. It's so unfair for him to assume he knows why Harry behaves the way he does. And the fact that this grown man is holding a grudge against a young boy simply because he hated his father - that's just so immature. I mean get over it already! I can hold a grudge with the best (worst) of them... but even I know when to give it a rest.

I hope he kicks it in the last book. :P

Yummy

Here's the Pizza I baked yesterday, topped with crimini mushrooms & kalamata olives. It's really good, and extra cheesy (the second layer of cheese is obscuring some of the toppings) but as you can see, it got a little burnt. Both mushrooms and olives give off a lot of water when cooked so the top was really wet when the timer went off - so I left it in for another two minutes. Probably should have stopped at one minute. Oh well, it's quite tasty.

And here is the focaccia. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks pretty good. I'll have to make some soup and have it tonight.

Betty

Betty is my pink KitchenAid Mixer. I bought her immediately after I tried to make Brioche by hand. Yes, I attempted to incorporate something like a pound of butter into the dough by hand. I thought I was going to die. I'm sure there are purists out there who do all their baking by hand, and make indescribably wonderful brioche... but... uh... I'll take all the help I can get!








Here's a close up of her chrome. She's such a trouper, can mix the stiffest doughs, the fluffiest merrangues, the creamiest potatos. She's wonderful.

Today we're making focaccia from the Bread Bakers Apprentice.* He says to drizzle herb infused olive oil over the top of the bread prior to baking, but I like adding a bit of Rosemary (fresh - but from the store... my little plant still hasn't recovered from what I clipped last year!) to the dough even before it rises. It's a two-day recipe, so I mixed the dough yesterday, and let it ferment in the fridge overnight. I also used a little bit, about a cup, of wheat flour - you know 'cause I like to live dangerously. ;) I used sea-salt instead of regular salt, and the dough tastes a bit salty. I'm not sure if it's because sea salt is a finer grain & thus more ends up in a teaspoon than regular salt, or if I made one of my classic mistakes using a tablespoon when I was supposed to use a teaspoon. I don't think I did. In any case, I used the same spoon when I measured out the yeast - so it should be okay. It actually rose quite a bit in the fridge. Now I've got to leave it out for about three hours before shaping it & panning it. Um... well... according to the recipe I was supposed to do that part yesterday and then refridgerate it once panned. But, you know... living recklessly again.






It's going to make a LOT of dough, I'll split it, and make one pizza and one pan of focaccia. Maybe I'll bring the focaccia to work tomorrow. Don't you wished you worked with me? You don't, by the way, you really really don't.




* Side note about the Bread Bakers Apprentice. There's a part in the cookbook where he absolutely rhapsodises about THE GREATEST BREAD IN THE UNIVERSE, I mean, the story involves a man throwing a baguette against the wall and the phrase "you've ruined me" (for all other breads). Anyway, the story cracks me up, but it also made me curious about THE BEST BREAD IN THE UNIVERSE which of course comes from a bakery in Paris. So when I was in Paris last year I tracked down the bakery. It involved a few different metro transfers & wandering down a decidedly non-touristy business & shopping district. The bakery was, seriously, just a hole in the wall (although a very fancy hole in a very expensive looking wall) down a side street. When I went in there were no other customers! Just four very stern looking older French women wearing aprons and looking... well like they weren't going to want to hear my story about the cookbook and the guy throwing the other bread against the wall, and did they know which bread I was talking about? So I glanced around for a bit and ordered their Pain Poilane (the baker's speciality), not THE BEST BREAD IN THE UNIVERSE. The Pain Poilane (aka pain ordinaire was in fact a 7 lb round - had to be at least a 14" in diameter. It's supposed to feed a family for a week. It was really really tasty. Like a whole-wheat mild sourdough. It has an amazingly complex flavor considering all he uses is flour, water, salt & yeast. But I won't bore you with the science of bread making. Just wanted to leave you with the mental picture of me on my return trip to Gorgeous's apartment carying a giant loaf of bread in a bright pink tote bag.

I miss Paris.

Caturday!

WARNING: This post may contain material that is unsuitable for grammarians, librarians and basically anyone with an IQ above 25. Reader discretion is advised.

In honor of I Can Has Cheezburger:

I can has soda with mah cheezburger.

Shhhh.... now I'm sleeeeping

And a movie for your viewing pleasure: The Private Life of a Cat

Look! Knitting!

I cast on for a gothic leaf stole last night. I tried the pattern a few times at knitting night, but I kept messing up. So I practiced it a few more times actually getting it right (stitch markers are our friends!).

I actually had the pattern for a Gothic Leaf Stole - from a pattern-a-day calendar, but I've lost it somehow. So I'm just using Mary Webb's stitch dictionary, adding a few rows of garter stitch at the bottom and on either side. That should get me somewhere.

I'm using Elann's Highland Silk in the color Oxblood, and size 8 needles.

Eye Candy Friday

I almost forgot today was Friday! Here is some Lorna's Laces Bullfrogs & Butterflies in the Lakewood colorway. Blues, purples, and a bit of green. I bought it at the big Knit Happens sale, I never would have indulged at the regular price.
Here's a closeup of the purply bit. Beeee-uuuu-teee-fuul!

Fly little geese, fly!

How to make three triangles out of two squares and a rectangle:

Pin the first square to half the rectangle - then sew it from corner to corner.









Then you fold back that side, and attach the other square. It's also a good idea to clip the excess fabric at this point, so the seams don't get too bulky.











Press the second side open and press with a hot iron.

Voila! A geese. ;)










Here's a first look at how some of the different fabrics look together. I had a few "oh maude what have I done" moments looking at the combinations of fabrics one on one. I'm betting on two principles to make this work: 1. Red and Pink really do go together (if this is proved wrong, I'm in trouble!) and 2. If I use enough different shades of red & pink, even if two fabrics clash with each other, they'll match enough other fabrics that they won't stand out too badly. That's the hope anyway, we'll see how it all works out.

I spent a couple of hours of pinning & sewing & pressing & clipping last night and I managed to complete 17 geese. I need 176. Wish me luck!

Can you dig it?

Here is my tiny front garden, complete with compost bin. There are aproximately 700 million worms in this little patch of earth. Or at least that's what it looked like when I was planting the flowers. In the front there's some kind of ground cover that I don't know the name of, there are a couple Primroses that I planted when I first moved in, and then more recently planted Hostas, Impatiens, and a couple of ferns. There's a rose back there too, it's a bit pitiful though, I only get one or two good blooms a year.



Here is one of the Impatiens, a shade lover that should be pretty happy there. I've got to find a few more shade-loving plants to fill in the gaps here & there. If you haven't noticed... the master plan behind my garden is "stuff I hope doesn't die".









And the magic of the flower setting of my camera - makes the tiny flowers on the ground cover look quite spectacular. =)














Here's a close-up of the side garden. Another itty-bitty well shaded plot. You can see that there are Tulips, Daffodils, and a nice Lavendar shrub. There's also a bit of Sage, Savory, Mint (which actually *died* over the winter - didn't know you could kill mint!), and a straggly little Rosemary. I was hoping that would take off, but like the majority of plants I love - it requires sunshine. Some silly thing about photosynthesis I guess. ;)

Anyway that's my garden.

Bags!

This is just a cute little Ice Cream bag I made last summer. I used the tutorial from Super Eggplant
(I can't figure out how to make that link prettier - hint anyone?) Thanks Jessica!



Here's one I've been using lately. The proportions are off a bit. But they are easy to make, and handy to have around, so I'll keep practicing until I get the perfect bag.

I didn't end up knitting last night. I went to the fabric store to pick up another yard of fabric for my quilt. The short-cut flying geese pattern involves a fair amount of wasted fabric. I have mixed feelings about that. But, it saves a lot of time, and when I have to make 176 geese, I'm in favor of that. Tonight I can start pinning peices together and maybe sewing a couple of blocks. Let's all hope my sewing machine cooperates!