I Took a Weekend Off

Finally, and mostly because I'm still a little sick, I took a whole weekend off. For me this is quite rare and I did cave and do a few hours of "work" but the rest of the time I did NOTHING. I even have tomorrow off as my sister took the day off and my niece doesn't need watching all day.

I think I'll work on her and the dog's Halloween costumes. They're both going as fairy princesses all in shades of pink. At least the dog is a Bichon, they're not "quite" as strange to dress up in a Halloween costume and for some reason they don't seem to mind wearing them.

The new sock pattern for my knit along group is coming out tomorrow but I can't play this time around. I'm broke for a while so no yarn purchases for me. I have other things to work on though so it won't be too bad.

My happy thought for the day...there's a new "American Dad" on tonight. I know it's crass, rude, offensive and juvenile but... that's why I love it!

All I want for Christmas is Lead Poisoning...

No, it doesn't sound right to me either but today we have .... wait for it.... MORE RECALLS. Before that an apology to China!!

The devil you say, but it's true the big toy company said it was sorry, China, that you make crappy junk and are so irresponsible and uncaring to your own people and our children.

No, that's what they should have said, they mostly said sorry we made you look bad China it was all our fault please don't cut us off from the very profitable slave and child labor you got going over there. I am disgusted. I'm also boycotting and Christmas is coming, nuts to them.

Lookie, lookie, at what I'm doing instead. I'm MAKING a toy for Christmas. I found this old bag of plain wooden blocks ( made in Maine ) and I'm painting them with letters and stamping little puzzles onto them. Pretty cute huh? A couple coats of non-toxic, made in America, water-based varnish and they're all done. Guess what? My 2yr old niece won't know the damned difference and she'll still be happy with a new set of letter blocks. I'll know she can chew on them till her adult teeth come in and not drop dead or get brain damage.

Looks like we're all paying the price for outsourcing labor. Let's face it the toy companies don't really care, they care about getting caught. If they really wanted to know what was going on in those factories they wouldn't send Western clothed, English speaking, executives. They'd send native speaking Chinese "spies" unannounced and get a real look at what was going on in those factories, not the show they put on when the foreigners are coming to town.

OK, ranting over. Oh, and if you want to make some of your own wooden blocks go here http://www.craftparts.com/. They're in TX, they can tell you where EVERYTHING they offer was made, and they're wholesale. Get together with friends to meet the minimum order. Have a painting party. Just try making one gift this year, it's fun and SAFE.

Less Sick is Still Sick

At least I'm getting a little knitting done between naps. This sock is a really simple one. Self striping yarn and around and around on the needles. You can see the contrast thread where I'm going to open it up for an afterthought heel. They're for my nephew and I use this heel on almost all the socks I knit for men. It can be ripped out and reknitted quickly when the inevitable hole shows up. Just a couple more pairs after this one and the socks are done for Christmas this year.

I Hate Being Sick

I thought it was so cute when my niece wanted to share her soup with me on Monday. I feed her, she wanted to return the courtesy. Except, the very next day, she came down with one nasty cold. Tuesday I was OK, Wednesday I was fine, Thursday I chocked it up the seasonal allergies and Friday I was in denial. Saturday and today .... I'm SICK. I rarely get sick so I'm not very good at it. My husband has taken to chasing me with a ruler and the threat of a swat every time I dare get out of bed. There is just too much I KNOW isn't getting done while I'm down with a cold. I made a list, I hope at least some of it got done while I was napping away all afternoon in a NyQuil induced coma. At least I put some emergency meals in the deep freeze so I don't have to cook for at least a couple days. Leftovers will also be on the menu.

At least I negotiated some computer time and my knitting basket into my quarantine. Tomorrow I'm going to try the evil, yucky, burns your throat and nose, ginger cure. Tonight I'm a hot white needle tea and lots of lemon girl.

What Can You Do While the Cable Guy Goes Nuts?

Well I made a whole hat. Yep, either I'm the worlds fastest knitter he took a REALLY long time. More like a combination of both. Took the poor guy 3 hours, 2 cans of Coke, 4 calls to the office and 1 attempt by my niece to trade her stuffed pig for his wire strippers to get the cable upgraded yesterday. Comcast, fearing Verizon's arrival in town, decided to offer everyone a bundle two weeks ago, our uber-cable package, DVR, phone and broadband for about 60 bucks less a month than we're paying now if we opted in for a year.

Of course being Comcast nothing went smoothly. It's not the poor installers fault, his work order was wrong and we have some funny old wiring plus we were only converting one phone line in the house to the broadband phone. I don't want to lose a land-line just yet and this seems to have thrown everyone for a loop, even though I went over it thoroughly with the girl who came to the door with the offer. Ok, I admit it I grilled her like a salmon, but I thought she got it in the end. Needless to say the poor installer who came to do the work had a hard day. He was very nice, very patient and I must add one of the best they've ever sent out here. I'm blaming the office for the snafus.

So what do I do in the meantime? I knit a hat from the new Fall Knitty. http://www.knitty.com I used some handspun from my stash and added a picot bind off. It went really fast I was surprised. I have enough yarn left to make a matching scarf in the lace pattern and maybe mittens for a complete set. It's all going into the Christmas stash. With 8 nieces and nephews, my sisters, their husbands, my husband's 4 siblings and their spouses it's a BIG stash by December.

Now it's time to see if I can figure out how to set the new DVR to record my anime tonight. Wish me luck.

Another Pair Finished

Just in time for my weekend goal. Time to decide if I want to start the next pair or take a break with something easy like a hat. I like how these finished out but they're a bit fussy for a project that needs to be "completely" done at a specific time. They spent over a month in the "mostly" done category.

Guilt Free Pizza Dough

A few people have asked for this recipe so here goes.

1 cup skim milk
2/3 cup water
2 tbsp dried herbs (I use 1 dried whole rosemary 1 granulated garlic, or use Westminster Whimsy Sundried Tomato Dip Mix)
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar (you need this to help the dough rise)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast ( or 1 packet active dry, proof it first)
1/4 cup flax flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 to 2 cups all purpose flour

Mix together the milk, water, herbs, salt, sugar and flax flour. Add 1/2 the whole wheat flour and the yeast and mix well. Mix in the rest of the whole wheat flour. Add enough of the all purpose flour to make a soft but not quite sticky dough. (I use the dough hook on my kitchen-aid mixer on low for mixing and most of the kneading)

Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes or until supple and stretchy. Form dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled 1 - 2 hours.

Cut dough in half and roll out each piece on a floured surface. Roll edges and pinch to make a raised crust if desired. Brush with olive oil and top as desired. Bake in a 475 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.

Makes 2 - 12" pizzas
Careful with this one if you take insulin, there are a lot fewer carbs to jack your sugar and my dad bottomed out the first night I made it. His nurse LOVES this recipe though.

I make this once a week, it's WAY cheaper than delivery pizza and MUCH healthier. Most people won't know it's whole wheat unless you tell them.

Time to get ready for Halloween

I love these shades of pink. What could be cuter for a 2 yr old and her dog for Trick-or-Treat than matching fairy princess costumes with sparkly wings. I think my niece is going to be thrilled. Sewing silky fabric is kind of a pain in the neck but it's a small project and it only has to be worn once so there's no need to be spot on perfect. I'd much rather make a costume than buy one that was made in China, who knows nowadays if anything imported for kids is safe.

The Christmas Knitting Goes on and on

I've been working of this pair of socks for 6 weeks now. I keep putting them down and making other things. They're not particularly difficult or frustrating, maybe I need to work on something more mindless for a while.

Between the first and second sock, I made 2 other pairs and a hat. Perhaps it's the coral color, it was nice in the Summer but now I'm more interested in warmer Fall tones. I'm determined to finish them before the weekend.