Origami is Neat!

Especially when it is used in innovative ways!

Check this out! There's even a quicktime Movie available - (very slow to download - be forewarned).

I have to admit to being a bit on the nutty side when it comes to lightweight products for backpacking, and while I tend to not bring dishes, these would be fantastic - especially when pressed for space!

Frothy Piles of...

lavender Lace. After her initial troubles and stubbornness, my very testy Test Knit for SouthWest Trading Co. is churning off the needles quite nicely. I've gotten through 2 repeats of each of the major patterns (that would be something like 72 rows if I recall the pattern correctly). I believe I am now 1/2 way thru the back! whoo hoo! No photos of the work in progress as it seems every time I think to myself "boy, it would sure be a nice addition to the blog" I also realize there is no natural light to be had, and no matter what setting I use on my camera and all the tweaking on photoshop, I can't seem to rid my images of an odd color cast. Ah well, perhaps it's better to not jinx myself with a photo...after all, just contemplating a frogging session has the potential to put me into convulsions!

Inspired by an Eggplant

Super Eggplant, that is. Just in time for a road & backpacking trip, Mariko posted her results of the Chocolate Chip Brownie Double Deckers from the Oregonian. Because I'm always on the lookout for high calorie non smooshables for my hiking adventures, I had to give the recipe a whirl. They were a definite hit and are a most happy edition to my baking repertoire. My personal commentary is found here.

Sadly, because I was traveling, I missed out on the March IMBB (is my blog burning) event - which featured muffins and cupcakes - who can resist cupcakes?! All well, if you're just as cupcake deprived as I am, go check out the roll-up for some excellent inspiration.

As Promised....

Just in time for Easter...another Peeps Delight - this one is called "Peeps on Poop"

Yeah, yeah, I know. that doesn't sound particularly appetizing. But hey, it has a strange appeal. Just how does one go about making Peeps on Poop? Well, it's quite simple. Take a small plate or dish, add a small pile of chocolate chips - For anywhere from 10-20, top with a Peep, nuke on high power in your microwave for 15 seconds or so...and eat. How do you eat this delight? Well, take the Peep (no longer resembling a Peep, except perhaps by its lovely pastel color and the little brown eyes - be careful, it'll be hot!) mop up the chocolate and eat...If you prefer to go more for a controlled toasting and less mess, put the chocolate on a graham cracker, top with the peep and pop it in the toaster oven....Toaster OVEN folks, not one of those vertical slotted bread warming devices - the mess (and potential fire hazard) that will ensue if you throw a peep and chocolate in a standard toaster leaves me shuddering. Anyway, toast away - but keep your eye on the little bugger, they burn quickly...and eat it like a s'more...mmm....tasty!

Happy Bunny Day!

I'm not Dead!

Sorry Folks, Regular Blogging to resume soon...I promise :)
I'll even work up another Peeps Post just in time for Easter!

a Peeps Experiment

Around this time of year, those classic marshmallowy Easter treats start making an appearance...and for some odd reason, I always get drawn in by their sparkly sugary coating and squashy bodies. Even odder, since Peeps now come in all variety of holiday shapes, I am only possessed by this odd urge in the Springtime.

While in college, I conducted the standard variety of Peeps experiments - from submerging them in water and other liquids to see what would happen, to seeing how well they fared after being squashed under textbooks, to microwaving them, to toasting them over a burner...and of course the standard comparison between stale and fresh Peeps in these various situations...I've since graduated to more mundane experiments with Peeps, incorporating them into my culinary repertoire.

Sadly, I took no photos this time, but you can read more about my attempt at Peeps S'mores at my newly created Food Blog. (chalk that creation up to my urge for organization)

Terminally Cute

I don't know if I should be flattered or flabbergasted...I was called Terminally Cute this morning - all thanks to a response to an email...
someone was checking list traffic, saying it was awful quiet...and I responded a la Elmer Fudd:
"didn't anyone tell you? Be vewy vewy quiet. We're hunting Wabbits!"*

*Fear not, no bunnies were harmed, and I don't hunt rabbits...unless they are of the Peeps variety, which I find to be strangely entrancing.

A Little Irish

With St. Patrick's day comin' round the corner, I truly feel lucky!

Why's that you ask? Well, I've been ROAK'd. Had some co-workers from Ireland coming over from across the Pond, and I asked if they could pick me up a ball of yarn - figuring I'd get a 50g ball to play with...well, they got me enough yarn to probably make a proper Aran sweater - 1 kilo, that's right, 1 full kilogram of wool (2.2 lbs, for those of you who might be metric challenged). It's quite lovely :) Now I just need to decide what exactly I want to do with it....First things first though - my lovely yarn is white, so I'll need to decide if I want to change its color. I'll have to swatch it up of course, to see what kind of hand the fabric has...sadly, I find it hard to get enthused about a sweater right now, since the weather is warming up...but it isn't as if I have any lack of projects to keep me entertained in the meantime!

There's Nothing More Disappointing...

...than coming home from a business trip late on a Friday Night and discovering that your car's battery is dead.

Can you guess how I spent my weekend? Needless to say, it certainly wasn't spent running around doing errands...even tho I managed to get a successful jump on my car Friday night, Saturday morning it refused to do more than "click" when the key was inserted. Sadly, there wasn't anyone around to give me a jump - so I settled for a semi-productive day of laundry, knitting, reading and petting my neglected cats:

they weren't too excited about it.
I suspect the heat is starting to get to them...we had a warm spell move through over the weekend, and usually they are much less loving when it's hot.

Sunday was spent visiting with friends from home who are currently on an extensive roadtrip.

Mariposa is progressing nicely, I've finished the first full pattern repeat and am about to start the next one - just need to do the increases and away I'll go!

Don't be a Pill!

*sigh* Ribbi is seeing plenty of use, and unfortunately, she is also starting to pill on high wear points. This leads me to wonder about several things:

1. Is it because this particular wool is prone to pilling? (Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann.com)
2. What causes different yarns to be more or less prone to pilling?
3. Once a garment starts pilling, how can I prevent it from getting worse? Are there any care tips?
4. Is anyone else experiencing this problem? or is it just me?

Hopefully I'll learn more before I sit down and knit myself another garment. In the meantime, I'll have to figure out how to neatly rid Ribbi of her unsightly pills.

a Kat by Another Color...

....is even more tasty than the original!

In my opinion anyway. I've recently discovered white...and dark chocolate Kit Kats! Yum! The white were alright, but the dark were most delicious and addictive as well. A handful of dark chocolate KitKats paved the way and I've now completed my first row of decreases to get into the Pebble stitch portion of Mariposa - after a slight false start (I calculated out how to space the decreases evenly across, but flubbed in execution resulting in a fair time tinking back to get it right the next time round)...I'm officially caught up to where I was before the great Frogging Fiasco of last weekend! Hooray!

Fat Quarters to the Rescue!

In addition to the remedial baking, post frogging activities involved stash enhancement of a different variety. Since clearly the food diet was side tracked and I am still officially on a yarn diet, a little Fabric Stash Enhancement was in order. A cute little fabric shop for quilters called the Quilters Koop had these fun fabrics to offer. Plenty of excellent quilting fabrics to be had, and an idea for a pincushion made of felt...ah, the crafting list grows longer and longer :) Now if I could only find the time....

Remedial Cookies

Frogging was made fun at Coffee Talk with the ultra cool Crafters. A delicious mocha and a slice of chocolate & peanut butter cup cake provided the fortification for the terrible undertaking.

Hours (or what seemed of hours anyway) of yarn winding and I was ready to re-cast on.

Sadly, the trauma induced by having to frog out all that lace triggered a massive cookie craving so a round of baking ensued. mmmm. There's nothing better than fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies with a tall glass of milk! It put me all in the mood for tackling Mariposa - and I'm nearly caught back up (and yes, I checked, re-checked and checked again to make sure I had the right number of stitches cast on!)

Rrrriiiiip.....it!

Oh. My. Goodness. I *can't* believe I did this to myself.

You know that lovely Mariposa I'm knitting for Southwest Trading Company? The one I had to frog back before even getting past row 1?? Well...I finally finished off the first full pattern repeat (row wise - 22 rows worth of lace) and happily started my decreases....only to discover that when I re-cast on, I cast on 1 FULL PATTERN REPEAT SHORT (34 stitches). At first, it was total denial...after all, it was midnight when I came to this realization. And in true denial form, I tinked it back, then re-did the decreases, came out short again and tinked again...and the realization hit. I'm already disappointed in myself because I know SWTC likes their test knits back as soon as possible! And this shawl was taking longer to knit because I had to keep going back to refer to the pattern...the good news is the pattern is now memorized, so it should go faster this time 'round. I can't believe I'm such a dunderhead.

Zoom!

My goodness, what a difference!
I'm inordinately pleased to be blogging from the comfort of my couch!
That's right, I've joined the rest of the world and have gotten myself a high speed connection and a wireless router. Whoo hoo!

Spring has Sprung!

The ridiculous rains let up enough to get outside and do some hiking. While some of the trails are rather mucky and others are completely underwater, it is clear that all the wet weather has triggered the beginning of the wildflower season. Some gorgeous blooms were seen and the best (in my opinion anyway) is yet to come...fields of goldpoppies and lupine! I can't wait!

I love Cable!

Knitted cables that is :) I don't have cable for my television and my lack of high speed connection at home has already been discussed :D

Slow progress with the shawl for SWTC, 309 stitches are quite the large number to work on, especially when my weekday knitting is limited to the small time I have after finishing dinner and going to sleep - and the time is small indeed, since dinner usually wraps up around 9pm...ah the life of a working woman *sigh*.