Busy Busy Bee

i've been a pretty busy little bee the last week or so.

I had a job interview (exam...thingy) yesterday - monday. Part 1- Dewey Decimal System..good thing i know that, Part 2 - Alphabetize. good thing i knows my abc's! but 90 people applying for one job opening, doesn't seem promising. /sigh I'll keep lookin.

Husbeast started his new job, well, new old job, he's back at Burger King (yay.../sarcasm). But work is work, and he'll keep his eyes open, or so he says.

Kaeley get to go to the circus on saturday! Richard is making noises like he doesn't want to go, so mom said i could have his ticket! I haven't been to the circus in years, and Kae's not been either..../dance!

On the knitting front, i'm pluggin away on a baby blanket i started last week, i'm about half done 106 rows of 160 before i can start the decreases. Nazzie is having a girl, and it gets some ancient acrylic out of my stash, plus, it's mindless, after the Saroyan i just finished, i need mindless. Also, i can read while knitting this, working on the Tattoo Faerie books right now =D

On the Spinning front, i've finished my first 2-ply and skeined it. And i have a thread-plied 43 yards of Merino drying in the shower. The merino was leftovers from my first attempt at Drop spindling. and i spun up the Caterpillar batt for the BohemianKnitterChic Spin-a-long while watching Where the Wild Things Are. It's pretty, the milk fiber gave me a little bit of trouble, but the faux cashmere was a dream, i wants more of that! I still have the Queen of Hearts batt to spin up, and my Demeter Batt for Fiber-Fancy's Greek Goddess Spin-a-long is here! plus i broke down and bought The Unseelie Court from Corgi Hill Farms.../sigh
.so pictures!
First two pictures are the 2-ply, then Caterpillar, then Merino, Demeter Batt and then Unseelie Court.

Cheaper than Therapy

Today, i woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It happens sometimes. Everything has gotten to me. The Bratling, the Husbeast, Gigantor. everything.
So i decided to play with my wheel, and ply up the two singles i've done with some grey/tweedish Corriedale that came with it.so we went from this


to this

to THIS -

and finally to this 2-ply -
i still have to wrap it around my niddy noddy (which i need to put together) to see how much i have, and soak and dry it. I'ma guess it's bulky =D very thick/thin, but it's a really pretty grey tweed type color.

/cheer i feel much better. I'm gonna try for a single with some Merino i have leftover from a batt i got with my first spindle now.

Happiness

I must thank Sandi, she is an angel. Not only did she give me a spinning lesson tonight, she happily helped me keep an eye on Kaeley at the bookstore (and bribed her with dark chocolate), and listened to a man drone on and on about some chick years younger than him that he met on a dating site.

But really, the spinning was the best part =D
my first (very over-spun) single on my Kiwi. Sandi showed me how to draft just once and it clicked! (i had trouble with drafting with my Spindle - but i think it'll be easier now!) and joining pieces.

I'm so happy, it was so much fun.

If the husbeast comes home and brings me down i'm going to shave his entire body while he sleeps.

Apologies now...and a Recipe

Sorry for anyone who was at the Fiberarts Guild meeting today that gets sick. It's probably my fault, i have a child, she's been sick, i was bound to finally get it. yay.

The guild meeting went well, we got a lot accomplished. And the next meeting is (tentatively) April 18th @ 10am (for spinners) at the Greenwise Publix in Legacy Place. the Guild meeting is 11:30 - noonish until about 1 and then Knitting/Crochet from 1 to about 3.
Sandi was voted president, who'da guessed!?!? =D i'm doing assistant secretary/historian. Not too far of from doing the Public Relations stuff for ROTC in high school. (i hope).
Before i left for the guild meeting (which was way too early /sigh) i put some stuff in the crock pot to cook, Sandi and i talked about sharing recipes in our blogs, so i'm putting up my:

Crock Pot Beef Stew with Sun Dried Tomatoes!

1 package stew beef, usually comes cubed
1 small box frozen pea/carrot mix
1 can french cut green beans - drained
1-2 cups cubed Potatoes (i use white, it's what we have, red works well though)
1 large can Italian seasoned Diced Tomatoes - partially drained
1/2-1 large white onion finely chopped
1 beef bullion cube dissolved into 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup red wine1/2 cup water
1 package sun dried tomatoes
white flour for dredging potatoes

Brown the meat and put it in the bottom of the crock pot, add everything but the potatoes
dredge the potatoes in the flour and put them in a bag or bowl in the fridge, cook the stew on low for about 7 hours, put the potatoes in and turn to high and cook for another 30-45 minutes (flour thickens it, potatoes don't get soggy)

i usually serve with cornbread.

oh! and my Alice in Wonderland batts arrived /dance

The one on the left is the Queen of Hearts, the one on the Right is the Caterpillar. they're 2 ounces each (squeeeeeee) Tracking on my wheel says it'll be here tomorrow (Monday) and i'm going to practice a bit with the pound of fiber i got before breaking into these pretties.

I also now have 2 skeins of Alchemy Silk Purse in this really wonderful red/purple colorway, And no frigging clue what to do with it...Traveling Woman maybe? ideas?

Sad Face

When Kae is sick the whole world seems to slow down for me.

A few minutes ago she was laying in bed watching hello kitty. Suddenly she's next to me holding the little jar of Children's Vicks Vap-o-rub and says "Mommy, i need more magic syrup" where she got this idea..no clue. But now my hands smell like Vicks.

Then, just as quickly, she snags my tube of Burt's Bees Lifeguard's Choice lip balm and runs off...the sick kid can keep it..seriously.

So hubby, Brother AND Bratling are sick, again, and once again, i'm the only one who hasn't picked up the bug (::Knock on wood::)

I'm hoping i'm still healthy as of Sunday for the Guild meeting.

I finished my knit item for the Beltane Vampire Swap, it's beautimous if i do say so myself. But it's still a secret until my swap package is sent, so no pictures until then. I cast on (again) for the Spring Beret, omg i finally finished the ribbing /cheer

This is the high point of my day thusfar. My poor baby...maybe she'll watch Clash of the Titans with me.

I feel very much like watching it since i just finished the first three Percy Jackson books yesterday (i get to read a lot when Kae's sick)

Oh, and on a funner note, my Alice in Wonderland inspired batts should be here today, doing a spin-a-long with that, and my Greek Goddess inspired Demeter batt should be out by the 25th, (i'm hoping to get a Circe batt too)

I can always use my spindles, since my wheel is in ups limbo.



*this is the picture my Greek Goddess Demeter batt is going to be "inspired by" i don't know the artist, anyone have a clue?*

Presto Pesto!

Tonight we had Chicken Pesto for dinner...I thought I'd share, since i try and do the whole, cooking healthy on a budget thing


2-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (i broil them)
1 box bow-tie noddles (wheat noodles in our case)
1 package Knorr pesto sauce powder.
(3/4 cups water - 1/4 EVOO)
3/4 cups Unsalted Peanuts


Cook the stuff to be cooked, dice chicken, put everything in a big bowl, toss, chill for about 3 hours, serve with Parmesan Cheese and Garlic bread

omnomnomnom

This is something Even KAELEY will eat...which is good

Arachne

So the last week or so i've been doing mondo research on spinning wheels.

I thought i had it narrowed down to a Heavenly Handspinning Bellus (it's got a bike tire as the wheel). it's on the cheaper end of the scale, which is why it appealed to me.

But the more I thought about it, the more i wanted something that would last me a long time, through beginning, and be able to take alot of mileage. So I narrowed it down to an Ashford Kiwi.

Then.../sigh and then, i stumbled upon the Kromski Fantasia. It's such a pretty little wheel, and i was going to spend a little extra on this one, because of the look, the portability...but watching a video i realized i'd have to put out alot of money for the fast flyer add-on and such, plus i couldn't find any deals that came with practice fiber, or extra bobbins, or anything, I know the wheel is new (just came out this month) and if i get a second wheel EVER, i'll probably get this one.

But i went back to the Ashford Kiwi. I purchased it through Copper Moose on Ebay. The lot came with (get this) the Fast Flyer, A Niddy Noddy, and a POUND of corriedale fiber to learn with. the kit also comes with 3 bobbins and a lazy kate, the bobbins are easily purchased if i feel i need more (probably will eventually.) and the best part! FREE ups shipping (2-7 days), so in theory i'll be spinning by the Fiber Guild meeting on Sunday the 21st! /dance

I joined the Ashford Kiwi group on ravelry, and someone mentioned that they can just put their kiwi in their daughter's car seat and strap it is, so it's easy to travel with! yay, so even though it doesn't fold, I'll be able to move it from place to place.


The love of my life strapped in most of the time, Kaeley, NOT the goat...














And the Ashford Kiwi...now i just need to decide if i want to paint it.

oh, and i've already decided on her name, Arachne

I'm so Crafty ::Wink::

I've been talking about busting out the Brother this week and popping out some project bags. I have MILES of fabric from my MIL (and my own purchases /blush).

So today i did! Rain sucks, makes the bratling cranky, makes me cranky. And i needed to take a break from my Beltane Swap knit item (this is typed with a big smile on my face) i'm so happy with how that's turning out too!

I made two mini bags, they're 8"x10" using a purple with dragonflies fat quarter i got like, a year ago and sat there. Intended to be a quit..never happened, it's a small project bag. Sandi, you need more sock bags?!

I also sewed up a MASSIVE project bag for Gail-ie. She's been working on a Simple shawl using LB homespun, and tried to cram it into an exsisting project bag, didn't work. So, for Future shawls, or afghans, or whatever, i made the Ivy Leaves project bag, thing looks like a pillowcase (i guess it could be that too if she wanted....) it's about 14.5"x20" i didn't add a drawstring yet.
it's got my Barrington Shawl i did for the Ravelympics and an extra Skein of Barrington Homespun crammed in it for size comparison.

I used my sewing machine without my mom, this is a big thing for me, usually she's pulling it out because her old Kenmore died and she needs to use mine. I also used up..well, not that much of my fabric stash, but...yeah, not it's not even a noticeable dent.

But as i get more confident (And learn to read a pattern......) I'll be able to make so much more, as well as finally start kae's Twin sized Pink Hello Kitty quilt..omg..so much pink, makes my eyes bleed....

=D

-Paula

Le Sigh

Commence Operation Meltdown!!

Shite hath Hiteth, the Faneth.

The beast is pretty much on the verge of being jobless. I've been frantically searching for a job, but the market here sucks. Went to get a newspaper today: one.single.section of want ads, go to the Post webpage, it redirects you to Yahoo Hotjobs. /sigh

The Job Boy-o was counting on fell through, and he's been so down about it he's not done anything to fix the situation. I emailed his mom today to ask about the pdf file of his resume so he could get it updated, because he keeps forgetting.

So, no more Warcraft (even though i just purchased my Authenticator). After Beltane Swap, probably no more until the Birthday swap in October. and...

::cry::

::Sniff::

WAAAA no more fiber purchases...i have to knit entirely from my stash
which also means, my hopes of getting a Spinning Wheel...smashed. Yay...isn't life grand?!

Upside, Got Kae a dr's appointment to get her VPK voucher so she can start VPK this year and K-Garden next year...yeah, that's the upside of my day.

Ninja Casserole

the husband-type unit has been having a really hard time at work lately, basically he hates it. He's on the hunt for another job, but it's depressing him.
Today he had to go to work on his only day off, so i figured I'd make one of his favorite things for dinner to try and cheer him up, Baked ziti. But what do you know? we don't have any ground beef. /sigh

so i Ninja'd a casserole out of some stuff we had already in the fridge/freezer/cupboard.
thought i'd share =)



2- 5oz packages Vigo Yellow rice (Cooked by directions on package)
1 can Yellow corn
1 Boneless Skinless Chicken breast (broiled)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup (just the soup, no milk or water)
1 small green pepper
about half of a small red onion
1 package (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese

cook the rice, broil or fry, ok just cook the chicken, i let Kae shred it into tiny bits after it was cooled a bit. dice the green pepper and onion and dump everything into a casserole dish, mix in cheese and put some on the top to cover.

cook uncovered for about 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees

it was a hit (i love when my experiments are well received...fewf!) some suggestions from the boys on things to add, Green onions instead of Red onion, more chicken, and possibly top with Sour Cream.

Slow

March is going slow, but fast, don't care if it makes sense to anyone else it makes sense to me! neener.

I sped through my ravelympics projects and i've been putzing around, i keep telling myself if i get started on christmas presents now, i'll have them done way before i need to, but i don't wanna.

So i cast on for the Spring Beret, Faith made one and it looked so cute i decided to make one, i've had to rip out the 1x1 ribbing twice already because i keep screwing up. I'll get it eventually. (*note to self, do not work on 1x1 ribbing in mostly dark at midnight*)

But now i have to think about a project for the Beltane Vampire swap. I have my partner and i've been doing my research, and I'm working on things, probably let my daughter make something for this swap too, like she did for the Folklore and Fairytale swap, she painted a picture frame in teal and glitter. (I have it on good authority that my swapee loves it, she told me so!)

Ross is looking at quitting his job at Blockbuster and going back to Panera (if he can) which makes me sad, the Franchise down here for Panera is well...severely racist, Ross isn't, and it bothered him, that's why he quit, for him to go back to that, well, it sorta makes me mourn for the part of his soul that he'll lose. I need to start seriously looking for work again i guess, and getting kae in day care /cry.

On a lighter note, i read 22 books in february. my favorite being Spinning Straw Into Gold - What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman’s Life. I bought it for the F/F swap, and ended up reading it before i mailed it, i'm going to have to get a copy for me too.
I'm also addicted to Fringe, what could be better than X-Files with a Mad Scientist?!? and a cow.
oh i know, my Blood Elf hunter Nendarea and her snow leopard Kousetsu (snow). I ran all the way to the Dwarf starting area (evil side of the world, through big, nasty, death level zones) just to tame him, at level 10...Yes, i'm crazy.