Episode 39: Truffles of the Serengeti or "The vacation that wasn't"b

Episode: 39

1. Production scheduling

   1. Production

      1. Knitting Mojo exhausted

   2. What’s in My Teapot

   3. Materials Sourcing

   4. After 5

2. Production

   1. Gnome Socks By Spilly Jane

      1. Another week of little progress. Last time we talked I wasn’t liking my tension which was skewing my gauge. The big debate was to Frog, perfect and frog, or Plunge on. I’m taking the path of least resistance and plunging forward with an eye to perfect and frog. I also manage to botch the pattern this week. Which has made me lay these down in disgust. (With myself… and my lack of skills…) So Despite having a few more rows done I’m pretty much in the same conundrum … “To frog, or not to frog, that is the question:
         Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
         The Slings and Arrows of outrageous color work,
         Or to take up needles against a Sea of troubles…”

      2. Back onto the project pile they go.

2. Ruffled and Ruched Scarf by Pam Powers

   1. Ruffed and Ruched Redux

   2. The party is next weekend! ARGH! Where have I frittered my time away to?!

   3. I finished the 1^st half. Unraveled the provisional cast on and will be starting the final ribbing on the scarf. With any luck my knitting mojo will hold up and I’ll be able to finish this before I have to wrap it on the 31^st.

   4. As mentioned last week this is a gift for someone who I’m not totally convinced will not A) turn it into a cat bed or B) toss it in the wash so I’m using and acrylic / alpaca blend. I believe this is a Hobby Lobby house brand. I like the color, the feel is nice and soft… about as far away from crunch as acrylic get but I’m _really_ not happy about the knots. I had one knot that was a complete break and 2 that one ply had a break and was knotted and plied to a non – broken single. REALLY?!

3. Knitted Knockers of a Good Yarn Shop

   1. Knitted Knockers is part of Debbie Macomber’s Knit 1 Bless 2 initiative for 2012. I found out about them through a suggestion on my knit groups face book page. I try to be fairly open to trying any thing once so why not try to knit a prosthetic breast. The pattern is free and can be linked to through Debbie Macomber’s web site or through www.agoodyarnshop.com

   2. The pattern calls for cotton or any soft and washable yarn. I picked up some Rowan Hand Knitting Cotton at the yarn shop this week for mine in a mauve that Joe calls “Bright Red”. All in all the pattern is easy. The hardest part was starting out with the i-cord and then increasing in each stitch to work in the round. Doesn’t sound hard but the needles were a bit “fiddly” in my opinion with only 2 stitches a piece. Nothing insurmountable and since the back side is decreased in the same way at the front increases knitting the back before the front doesn’t help. I knit a B cup the pattern can be sized to a DD. I went with the smallish size so as to maybe be able to complete a pair from my tiny ball of yarn. I finished it in one night so this is a quick and easy piece of charity knitting that can be done socially. Note for the squeamish… it looks like a baby hat. No one need know what it truly is… unless of course you’re like me and my knit group co hort who though maybe a piercing would jazz it up…

4. Hexipuff Count for the week.

   1. ½ I took it along to knit group and I ran out of yarn ½ ways into my puff. <Knitting Fail>

3. What’s In My Tea Pot

   1. Oriental Treasure Green Tea (The Boston Tea Company)

   2. I was bumming around Tuesday Morning looking for yarn and I found tea! Almost as good.

   3. Back of tin:

   4. Even though the canister says Connoisseur’s Favorite. I beg to differ. For a Green this tea goes bitter quick. This may be a case of “I bought tea at Tuesday Morning….” But BLECH. Even the packaging is clunky the top of the canister has come off several times and dumped the canister into my desk drawer. (Why I have some sort of crushed herb in my desk drawer is not something I want to discuss with HR! “It’s tea! Honest!”) I also don’t believe that what’s in this canister could be considered “Loose Leaf” It’s crushed beyond belief and could at best be considered Fannings.

   5. Lesson learned… if it’s marked down from 6.99 to 2.99, probably not worth drinking.

4. Materials Sourcing

   1. Whatever it was that sapped my knitting Mojo didn’t extend to my spinning,

   2. Finished!

      1. The Jacob Fleece from the Anne Arbor Fiber expo.

         1. A lot of burrs and that wonkiness with the staple length.

         2. But with all that kvetching and complaining what I think was 4 oz of fiber turned into gorgeous and squishy DK worsted – ish (some heavier some lighter…) yarn. When I first started swatching for plying. I thought I’d want a nice rustic, chunky, three ply. But when I knit up the two ply the gray and black made gorgeous stripes that faded into each other. While the heavier three ply just muddled the colors. In the end I could part with the stripes. SO another thinner yarn into the stash.

         3. Squeezing this yarn makes me happy this week. So I have it hanging in the dining room so I can squish it every time I walk by.

      2. Black Cherry Mystery Wool Roving

         1. Finally this ball of roving is done.

         2. In my world just about everything has its place. I do tend to get grumpy though when I buy something expecting it to behave a certain way and find out that I’ve been sold a bill of goods. When I bought this fiber the section I “tested” was too small and I was too inexperienced to see what I was getting. The small piece I drafted out looked smooth and lovely. What I got was a textured roving that was never meant to be the smooth yarn I had in my head. It’s spun now in to a pretty cool “arty” yarn full of lumps and bumps. Not the softest thing in the world but will make an awesome hat or Pair of mittens. 4 oz came in at 297 yds.

   3. On the wheel

      1. I took a look through my stash and I wanted something with bright colors and something easy. I need a break from the veg matter and issues the Jacob and to a lesser extent my homemade camel batt had. So I pulled out a 4 oz ball of Merino from Copperpot Woolies in Cotton Candy. This was the ball I had to go “Hockey Mom” (A well place elbow / hip combo…. Just Kidding. But I did grab it and ran away when she turned her head to talk to her friend…) the colors in this are lime green, Aqua Blue, and an Electric purple. I’ve about half a bobbin so far and it’s spinning like “buttah”. The colors make me smile. I can’t wait to see how this plies up.

5. After 5

   1. What a Week.

      1. Joe had a Brush with unemployment.

      2. The stress is what probably killed my knitting Mojo.

      3. St Patty’s Day Truffles

         1. So Rich…. Sooo Good…. Soooo Simple.

1 Package of Cool Mint Oreos 22 with Filling 8-10 Without

1 Brick of Cream Cheese

Smash the Oreos and combine with cream cheese.  Roll mixture into balls for centers and cool in fridge or Freezer on Wax paper to firm up.

Melt Chocolate for Coating.  I got mine at party city green was on sale.  Zap in Microwave for 30 second intervals until smooth.  Coat centers.  (use a fork to coat and then tap off the excess chocolate.)   Melt white chocolate in a Ziploc.  Snip off corner and drizzle whit over green or Pipe on shamrocks.  (Use a tooth pick to smooth out the shamrock)

It’s that easy.

4. B’s Birthday party at the Science Center

   1. Dry Ice + Bubble Solution = Awsome!

   2. People who RSVP and don’t show… GRRRRR

5. The Vacation that wasn’t

   1. We had planned to see the Shed Aquarium and the Field Museum in Chicago this week. Long story short… there were some “Elder Health” issues and my Ollie sitter had to cancel so we stayed home. Oh well…. There’s always next year.

bbb