Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!

I've seen this Pummelvision on Chawne's blog, and I could not help myself, and created one for myself. This shows 2000 photos from my flickr photostream, and reflects part of my life over the last couple of years, as I recorded it in photos. Enjoy! And Happy New Year to all of you!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Chevron Love Mittens

While looking for something else, I found a bag with my Chevron Love Mittens in it. Well it was only half a mitt so far. As I said, I'm determined to finish of my WIP's, and while I totally forgot about these, I have finished everything else, except a mohair scarf, and now it's time to finish them off, since I've cast them on about a year ago (or longer?).
first Chevron Love mitten almost done
This is the first mitt, and I'm going to finish the thumb today and hopefully cast on the second mitt. I still love this colorway. I've got this kit as a gift from C. It's about time I get them done!

For comic relieve I've got Mr. Personality:
Dec. 28-total relaxation
Denny knows how to relax, while we watch TV. I had to laugh so hard, when I saw his hind legs sticking up in the air. I took the photo without flash, but had to play with it, because it was too dark. It's not the best quality, but I'd rather have a bad photo of this then none.

Dec. 28- Maggie waiting for a treat
My son sent me this photo made with his iPhone. As soon as I saw it, I said "Awe!" So cute. This is what came to mind:
"Can I have some more, please?" (Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens)
Dec.8-studio
And not to forget about Happy, who seems happy on the sofa. He's a little exhausted I think, because he's got to do double shifts, playing with Maggie, and playing with Denny.
He's a super Nanny, and deserves extra treats. I don't know what we would do without him, entertaining, and looking after the Baby, and wrestling with Denny all day!
Dec.10

Dec. 7-the boys

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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Pomegranate Meringue Mountain

Shortly before Christmas I watched an episode of Nigellal Lawson's cooking show, quite by accident, even though I do love watching her cook, but rarely do. I even have a couple of cook books of her. I was just flipping through channels, when I got stuck on her show.
She was making a mountain out of whipped cream! I LOVE whipped cream, so I guess that's what made me curious.
making Pomegranate Meringue Mountain as seen on Nigella Lawson's show-2

This is the most delicious dessert, and sooooo very easy to make. I even made the Meringue myself (first time), not perfect but good enough for this purpose. They didn't have to look good, so I just blobbed some heaps on the cooking sheet, and off they went into the oven.
Pomegranates are beautiful to look at. I think I've tasted them once before. I forgot that the kernels have pits in them, but the juice is tart and delicious.

making Pomegranate Meringue Mountain as seen on Nigella Lawson's show-4

Since I'm the only one who likes whipped cream I made just one portion, which was very hard to do. I really wanted a mountain out of this stuff. I had many meringue left over, so I see this dessert in the near future appearing on my dining room table soon.
After I took the photo I squeezed juice from the other half over it, which did not look too good, but tasted heavenly.

What you need to create this delicious mountain?
Whipped cream, Pomegranate, Meringue (store bought or home made, both good), and a blender.

Want to see how Nigella does it? I found the episode to watch here. Enjoy!
Let me know if you decide to give it a try, and how you liked it!

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PS And as Ikki said in the comments, I can see this dessert made with many other fruits as well, especially strawberries! Mmmm.

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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Elphaba mittens

I've finally finished my Elphaba mittens.
Elphaba mittens done

pattern: Elphaba (rav link) by Valerie Johnson
yarn: Wandering Cat Yarns Barn Cat SS in colorway Sleepy Hollow, I used about half the skein, 80% merino 20% nylon
needles: 2.5mm
start-finish: October 27 - December 19
mods: they are fingerless mittens originally, with the chevron stitch pattern all over. I don't need fingerless mittens, and I got bored with the stitch pattern, so I decided to make them full mittens, and knit only in stockinette.

The yarn is self striping, which is nice, not many ends to weave in. I've already been using them. They are good for up to -10C, but I'll need thicker mittens once it's getting colder than that.

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Monday, December 27, 2010

After

With all the built up, Christmas is over so quickly, and always leaves me a little BLAH. For the last two weeks in this year, I'm commited to finish my WIP's. After the Daybreak failure, I've decided, I work better, with a clean slate, and besides it's time those WIP's get finally done anyway.
I've only 1 1/2 rounds on my Giant Granny Square Blanket to go, cut the ends (I've crochet them in as I went), steam iron it, and it's done.
Dec.23
This blanket is going to be huge. No left over yarn used here. It's a yarn eater for sure.
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I haven't done any Christmas cookie baking, but I did bake a Reindling (very easy yeast cake, filled with cocoa, butter, cinnamon, chocolate/cayenne pepper for a little kick), as requested by my son. I made two of them, and they turned out very well. I left out the raisins though, turns out that's one thing my family has in common, the dislike of raisins. I haven't been baking for most of the year, obviously, and start to enjoy it again. I have to wrap my head around the fact, that I have a fully functional kitchen again, and can do whatever I want to do in it.
Dec.23-baking Kaerntner Reindling

Ah, innocent looking Maggie. She's already attacked my crochet blanket, and ran off with the ball of yarn attached to it twice. She's chewed on the single thread from my spinning wheel, and it gave me a deja vu from not long ago, Denny doing all the same things (ahem, he's still doing it too, but not as often).
Dec.23

O.K. the green on my wall is NOT that shade you see here! Anyway, isn't she cute?

Dec.23

Eeeeeek - get away from me!

Happy and Maggie playing
Even though Happy loves to play with Maggie, sometimes her needle sharp teeth are a bit too much for him, so he goes to the one place she can't follow him (yet). The brown sofa is just a little too high for her to jump on. And she's really trying very hard to get up there too.

Dec.7 Denny

Denny is laughing his head off because of the two of them (in reality he's just protesting to have to sit still for a photo, that's all.) I love his pearly white teeth!
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Happy Holidays!

I wish you all Happy Holidays!


2008 was the last time we had a Christmas tree put up. I love red and gold and lots of lights. My sweet pups where still with us that time. With the new gang there will be no decoration this year. Maybe if they are all good throughout the year, there might be a tree next holiday season.
Dec. 10-Biko & Sam-1

Happy Holidays from the boys, to all their fans, to those who care about them, and want to read more about their shenanigans.

July 1-3

Happy Holidays from Maggie, who has no clue what's going on, but is excited nevertheless.

Dec. 12- Maggie

It's going to be a quiet Christmas time in our house, well amongst the humans for sure. Definitely not with the pups. Boy do they keep us on our toes!
Hannah was here, and left for Sydney, Australia for a long time. She'll be studying there come March 2011, but also living there with her boyfriend. I wish them wonderful times!

As for me, I'll cook some special meals, and get cosy in my studio. I love being in my renovated house, every "new" room, I can linger, and look, and just feel good. I've had enough stress this year, and try to relax now for a bit. I love that we'll have white Christmas, I just love the snow, and even take the cold weather which comes with it.

I hope you all have peaceful Holidays ahead of you, and will meet me back here, for more show and tell, and whatnot. I'll be back in a few days!

Love, Peace, and Joy on Earth!

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Monday, December 20, 2010

Daybreak

I really wanted to show you my finished Elphaba mittens, but the batteries in the camera crapped out, and the daylight was gone, once they were finished recharging. But that does not mean I have nothing to show.
Here's my Daybreak, another of Stephen West's designs. I love this design, but this piece is no more. I've ripped it.
Daybreak not happening
I was close to finishing it too! It's my own fault of course, because I didn't read the instructions well enough. I found out about myself, that I really like charts more, then written out instructions. When the row is long, you can overlook a decrease, or increase easily. I've started this shawl several times, and didn't like the increases, tried different ones, until I was satisfied. It looked nice to me, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the original instructions.
I knew there was something wrong with the center stitch increases, but ignored it, until I no longer could.
I've used some cotton yarn here, it has a lovely drape, and feels soft. I like it because of the color changes. But, I think I like it more for crochet, and that's why I'll use it for a bag or something.
I'm not casting on Daybreak again right away, but need a break to do something else first.
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Dec.10
This photo was taken December 10th. Maggie has outgrown her first fleece jacket already, but we'll wait and see if she needs another one. She's been fine without one the last week. She's played in the snow, and shivered not once. She also was very itchy when she had it on. But she sure was cute in her jacket. :o)
Dec. 12
The spot under my desk seems to be a favorite spot for all the pups.

Dec. 12

She's the wildest pup so far, even mores so than Denny was. At least he could be let off leash at this age! She's trying to get through every small opening, and runs like the wind around the pool, mostly like a bunny, not in a straight line, and often stopping dead, so that we have a hard time not falling over her. As all the others she loves the snow. She was 10 weeks yesterday.
Dec. 15

And here's another boys on the couch photo. It will get crowded soon, since Maggie managed to jump on the red sofa last night for the first time!
.
We still spend a lot of time down in the basement, since it's a wonderful playground for the pups, with the carpet flooring. That's why I still have my spinning wheel down there too.
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Hmmm, this post went into a different direction. I was going to talk about something else. Oh well, have to do that next time.
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Friday, December 17, 2010

Handspun Friday - Slightly Aster

I've bought some fiber from destash, and Slightly Aster is one of them. Dyed by Spincerely Yours, called Slighty Aster, 60% superwash merino, 30% bamboo, 10% nylon.
Slightly Aster
I've got one skein, ~ 268yds, 2-ply, 4.4oz/126g, I think it's dk weight, definitely thicker than fingering weight yarn. I've listed it in my shop for your knitting pleasure. As always spun with love. It felt good to spin something within a reasonable amount of time.
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As I've mentioned on flickr, and on ravelry before, this year there will be no Christmas Tree, because of the "gang". Maybe if they will be good over the coming year, we'll put one up. But I've done (very) little decorating. I've put down a christmasy table cloth on the coffee table, and as soon as I turned around, Denny was up on the table, thinking I've put it down just for him.
Dec.8-studio
Can't be all that comfortable, can it?
Dec.8-studio
He was on it quite a while, because I had to run downstairs to get my camera. But later he moved over to the sofa. Silly boy! I just thought it was hilarious.

Dec.8-studio

Wish you all a wonderful weekend!
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Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Wild One

I want to post these pictures before she's grown even more. She already doubled her weight since we've got her, 2 1/2 weeks ago.
This was her on December 7th, still a little mouse turd:
Dec.7 - Maggie-1
Looking oh so innocent!

Dec.7 - Maggie-11
Chewing the rug is in a puppy's job description.

Dec.7 - Maggie-13
"Hey Maggie, what are you doing? Bad puppy!"

Dec.7 - Maggie-14

"Who are you calling a bad puppy?"

Dec.7 - Maggie-16
What's that now? Somebody calling my name?
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

cards

I've been following Paivi's blog for a while now, and I love her colorful creativity, especially her knit/crochet folks bag. She had a give a way on her blog, and I was lucky to get a set of her beautiful cards. Thanks!
gift from Paivi Eerola-2

Look at the pretty stamps, they are lovely too: I don't get to see stamps like that all that often anymore. It's mostly the print out from the post offices, unless one asks for nice stamps, they don't use them anymore. Stamps are little works of art, I'm not a collector, but I think it's sad, that they get thrown out so easily.
gift from Paivi Eerola-3-love the stamps

Here's the link to her etsy store, if you like those cards, or just want to have a look around.
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As usual with a new puppy I'm home bound, especially with this weather right now. I'd rather my son does all the errands, because the roads are in bad shape with all the snow, and ice. Last night was horrible cold, with heavy winds. Maggie needed to poop, but screamed bloody murder, when carried outside, and held it in until this morning, which was just a little bit better. Later today she'll get her next round of shots, which means a trip to the Vet.
The boys can't be outside for more then three or four minutes, before they start lifting their paws because of the cold. Once again I'm thankful for our large basement, with carpet flooring. They play so nicely down here, and even to the point where their tongues are lolling, and they are exhausted, and sleep.
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Well, it looks like more snow is coming. Glad to be inside, where it's warm, and the tea pot is steaming. Oh, by the way, since yesterday our kitchen is officially finished! Our contractor came and brought the missing pieces, installed them, replaced another 3 cabinet doors, which were damaged, and I hadn't even noticed. They didn't say anything, because they didn't want me to get more upset. He had to fix a few things, but now it's done! Took only half a year to finish it all.
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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Shop update

It's Sunday evening, and I'm tired. Days start early now with the new pup. I'm doing the morning shift. She's not so good during the night, keeping up my son, and herself, so she's sleeping most of the morning, after she had breakfast. That's good. After she's dealt with, the boys get their breakfast and after they are satisfied, I get to brew me some tea, and enjoy it in peace.

I've finished one little skein of "Awesome Boyfriend" colorway, and I've put it in my shop.
I truly love this colorway, and I've more of this fiber to spin.

This is one skein, ~ 195yds, true 3-ply, 2.5oz/73g, BFL. It's enough to make a pair of fingerless mittens. Enjoy!
Awesome Boyfriend
I'm hoping to get more spinning done soon. I really miss it.
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Hannah came home from University for a short while, before she leaves for Australia. We were surprised by the pups reaction.
Dec.12-Hannah, Denny's personal belly scratcher-3

Denny could not get enough belly rubs, and enjoyed it very much. Look at his face! It says it all. :o)
Meanwhile these two were hiding out under my new desk. Happy is still spooked by Hannah (and her boots, her bags, everything belonging to her), but he's a little better now, because he's staying in the same room with her, or even right beside her, as long as she totally ignores him. No eye contact at all, or talking directly to him.
Maggie reacted the same way as Happy. Running away and hiding, and she's never met Hannah before. So I don't know what's that all about. She was leaving the room whenever possible, when Hannah was there.
Dec. 12
Both of them were stressed out, and stayed in their crates, even after I opened the doors. Hannah left for a few days this evening, and soon after they realized the "air was clear" (Happy ran through the house looking for her, and settled down after he could not find her), they returned to their crazy playfulness.
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I've put away my knitting for tonight. I'll go and read for a change. I hope you all had a nice weekend!
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Friday, December 10, 2010

Handspun Friday - self dyed fiber

Earlier this year I dyed some fiber, which is my Spring ritual, when I get the urge to dye up something, as soon as it's getting warmer out. A couple of month later I spun these two fibers into yarn, and now I must hurry to get it in in my Handspun Friday's posts, before the year is out.

This is Norwegian fiber, rather course, but good enough for sock yarn. I wanted to keep the colors separate as much as possible, so I navajo plied it. There is one skein with 225yds. I love the aqua color. I should use it more often.
Norwegian
As 225yds is not quite enough for a pair of socks in size 11, I thought I'd spin up some semi solid yarn to go with it. I thought Blueberry would be nice.
Blueberry
I don't know what fiber that is, there was no label in the bag with the fiber. It's softer then Norwegian for sure, but definitely NOT Merino or some such. It was lovely to spin, and I navajo plied this one as well. Unfortunately it turned out squishy after its bath (well that's not the unfortunate part), and a little too thick to combine it with the Norwegian in one project. It's wound into a ball, just waiting for the right project to come along.
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The boys, relaxing after a hard day of playing in the snow, sleeping, and eating, and sleeping some more.
boys Dec. 3

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Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Foiled!

I've finished knitting Stephen's Birdwing. It was a fast, and fun knit. I just have to sew it up, and block it. He calls it a shawl, but in my opinion it's more like a scarf. Photos once it's all done.
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Before I started test knitting, I'd cast on for Heart of the Mesa mittens by Grace Schnebly. Wonderful mittens, and I was all geared up to knit them, after I finished my Strago mittens. It's knit with finer needles, and fingering weight yarn, and the chart is long, but I was determined to get them done, one stitch at the time.
Heart of the Mesa mittens, the beginning
That's how far I got, before Denny had a go at it! I had to leave him alone for a couple of minutes, praying he would not do such a thing, because I had no time to stick him into his crate. Sure enough, he did what I feared. I should have thought of him, sleeping on the couch, or gnawing on a bone. Double sigh.
Denny's art work
And to make it even more painful, this is precious Wollmeise yarn!!! I've untangled enough to finish the mittens, but it comes in many small balls now (one skein is 576yds). There is still some untangling left to do, but his action has knocked out the wind of my stranded knitting desire for a while.
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And now for some total cuteness:
Dec. 7-Maggie and her fleece jacket-7

This is the first time we bought "clothes" for one of our pup. She really needed it. She stopped shivering, and got used to her fleece jacket pretty quickly. I was surprised that she needed size S, and size XS was too small for her. She's growing fast.

Dec. 7-Maggie and her fleece jacket-13

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

First real snow day for Denny!

Denny was born in February, and we've got him at the end of April, so there was no snow left for him to explore. But as all our dogs do, he LOVES it! I wish I could upload the videos we've made over the last week, of Maggie and the boys, but it's just not working. Anybody knows what could be the problem? I've checked, the videos are not too big, and not too long for flickr to be uploaded there. It just stops at 99% and after that it "processes" until I stop it. Sigh.
Anyway, here are a few photos of the boys yesterday afternoon, enjoying the snow.
Dec. 6-first snow day
It's hard to keep ones face out of the white fluffiness!

Dec. 6-first snow day
My pretty boy! He's been a bit grumpy these days. He acts like all shoveled snow belongs to him, and him alone. He jumps right into the snow flying from my shovel, and growls at Denny if he wants to get in on the fun.
Dec. 6-first snow day
Sitting still is REALLY hard!
Dec. 6-first snow day
See how Happy's chest is a little pinkish? That's from Denny's saliva, where he grabs Happy when they play (fight). Happy just grabs Denny's fat roll around his neck, and since he's brown already, one can not see discoloration, and he does not seem to mind, he's got a neck like a bull.

Dec. 6-first snow day
Are you going to throw the ball or what?

Dec. 6-first snow day

Happy found a tennis ball, which had another one frozen to it.

Dec. 6-first snow day

Meanwhile, little Miss Maggie has a bladder infection, as we'd suspected. David went to the Vet with her yesterday. She was just peeing too much, even for a puppy, and her pee was too yellow. Even with her being cold, and small, she enjoys jumping into snow heaps, as long as you keep her warm afterwards, it's fine. She's even harder to photograph then the boys.
Dec.5
Poor camera, desperately trying to focus on the white fluff ball. Well, at least her chest hairs are in focus. Just in case you are wondering, she is pure White Shepherd, and her ears are starting to stand up, a little bit more each day.
I better get a spot cleared of snow for her to pee....
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