angry chicken

more wooden blocks

I made mounted more postcards on wooden blocks for a gift. These cards are illustrated by the lovely and talented Emily Martin and look so sweet stacked up together. They are double-sided, like the first set I made. I used YES paste this time instead of spray adhesive, and it worked so well and required no toxic huffing, which is always advantageous. I could make these all day. I think I mentioned this when I made them the fiat time, but the trick is to glue the postcards on the wood first, and then cut off the overhang with a very sharp blade, using the wood as a straight edge.

Unrelated:

• This instagram account of the purple cupcake makes me smile every day. Her cakes are so amazing—like sculpture. Happy edible sculpture.

• Interesting post busting Korean Beauty Myths

 

 

 

 

egg bake

 

The meal planning continues. I I know I have said this before, but I can't imagine not doing it now. We are going on vacation for a week this season and will have a kitchen. I'm going to take a meal plan there, too. I know if I don't it will make me grumpy, and I really don't want to be food grumpy on a vacation.

We are now repeating our favorites and one is an egg bake. This one is canned tomatoes, lots of garlic, red peppers, onion and spinach, which sauteed for a long time (except the greens) and then transferred to a baking dish with cracked eggs on top, and baked for about 25min at 350°. (I just remembered how to do that degree symbol without looking it up!) I serve this with toast, or a side salad, or both. There is a very similar recipe here. Everyone likes their eggs harder than I do, so I take my portion out early. If I were smart, I'd make a single portion in a ramekin for me. This is my favorite breakfast the next day. We always have leftovers of this because only 3 of 5 of us really eat it—the other two politely move it around the plate, pick out the egg, and focus on the toast and salad.

pincushions

I mentioned sewing pincushions a bit back and here's a small group I made. I dived into these right after the holidays. I had so much fun using up my stash for pot holders that I wanted to keep going. They are a nice balance to the ambitious projects I have tackled lately, like the ballet bodice with boning (alliteration for the win!) and the stretch velvet leotard with a zipper, which was an epic fail.

I didn't use a pattern for these, I just winged it, but I did find directions for how to make the one on the right (the offset square pincushion) over at Planet June. Also, I was thrilled to find tips for stuffing. Polyfill is just too soft, it won't give the cushion any weight so when you take out the pin, the cushion lifts up. No good. I need a one-handed pin removal experience. I also like the heft of these little guys, they aren't small pillows, they mean business. The internet told me I can use Lizard Litter as a filling, which is ground up walnut shells. I found mine at Pet Smart, but it was sold as an all natural kitty litter. I filled them almost completely with the ground up shells and then used a little layer of polyfil for the top, because I do like the pin to glide in easily. I also lined some of these fabrics because they were to thin to deal with my robust filling.

 

done! (but maybe not quite done.)

I finished the Stopover Sweater! I'm so happy I did this KAL. I hope to do more KALs—it was very motivating. This is blocked and ready to wear. It grew a whole bunch after blocking, which I was told it would. It was a good thing because when I tried it on before blocking, it was cropped and almost 3/4 sleeved. I figured my 13 year-old could wear it if it didn't fit me, but it does fit me now, which is good, because it's too itchy for her.

I don't wear pullovers much, so I am thinking about to making this into a cardigan. I thought about steeking it and adding a button hole ribbed edge, but I might just get crazy and sew in a metal zipper. I would wear it much more that way and this was so quick to make, I feel like I can experiment with it. I really want to knit another in bright colors. Big thanks to Kay and Ann for making this so fun.

Unrelated:

We are watching the video series of This American Life, and really enjoying it. Pete and I have always listened to the show, and the girls do sometimes as well, but I had forgotten about the 2 season video series they made. The DVDs were given to me as a gift years ago and I was so happy to find them tucked away. This series has some mature content, I'm glad I previewed it because it's definitely not appropriate for all my kids. So much to talk about! This series is also can on amazon prime video.

honey toast at home

We pass by a cafe almost everyday called Honey Toast Cafe. They serve honey toast. Very straightforward. They serve other tasty items as well, but it's the honey toast we go in for. I had never heard of this dessert before this cafe opened, but it's a thing, and you tube can show you how to make this treat at home. This dessert is delicious because it uses lightly toasted very thick (but airy and light) white bread with ice cream and honey on top. That's it. You can customize it as much as you like. The warm slightly crunchy bread under the cold ice cream is so good. Sharing the big ones in the cafe is hard, it turns into a mess real fast, not in a good way. Buying small ones really adds up, so we made our own using the Japanese bread we bought at our local Asian market.

There are so many online tutorials on how to make this, most with relaxing music. We keep the bread in the freezer and use it as needed, to give the ice cream that special lift.

banging out a sweater

I am deep into bang out a sweater, my first KAL and my first sweater knitted in the round, bottom-up with a yoke. I have done a few top-downs, but not a bottom-up. I was successfully able to join the 3 tubes into one using Kay's delightful explanation in The Three Tube Situation, which I found so amusing that I read it aloud to several people, most of them non-knitters. I have patient family members and friends.

Homeschooling wise—we are learning about northern and arctic regions right now. A wonderful reason to eat at broder and try some new folk art crafts. This sweater KAL is perfectly timed. We watched Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, a documentary about fur trappers in Siberia which Pete and I loved. The girls were a bit bored, but that's fine. Herzog films are always fascinating, funny, and boring to me. We are almost done reading First Light, which takes place in Greenland.

valentine's day charms

We have been making some more charms around here. These were made for valentine's day to give away. The larger hearts were made into magnets or brooches. I love making these, they are really relaxing. Sometimes. Sometimes, they are maddening, but that's only when the clay gets too soft. I helps to pop it in the freezer and wait a bit. Then it's all so much easier. I also still love watching the tutorials on you tube—there are so many out there and I find them mesmerizing.

I just finished Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir, by Carrie Brownstein and it gave me such crazy dreams! I have been having crazy dreams anyway, mostly about babies, but these dreams were not about babies, but about living in Eugene and Seattle in the mid/late 90s during the whole Eugene/Portland/Olympia/Seattle scene. This book brought back so many memories. Mostly of being freezing cold or very hot waiting for shows to start or end, my ears feeling like they would bleed the music was so loud, seeing amazing raw bands that blew my mind (or were unbelievably horrible) feeling itchy from goodwill clothes, and the smoke. She doesn't mention the smoke, but god, remember that?! I would have to put my clothes outside after shows because they stank so bad.

january floral arrangement

I made this arrangement last month. I forgot how pretty it was. I am trying to do at least one arrangement a month, if not every two weeks, using Trader Joe's flowers, or items from the yard. So pleasing.

This week got crazy. We had a busy week of life-stuff, ending with having some out-of-town friends over. A few hours before they came I threw my back out, in a bad way, and faked it while they were here and then sort of hobbled to the sofa where I have been ever since. I'm exaggerating bit, but only a little. It's getting better just now. This back thing happens from time-to-time, and this time, I think it won't be too bad, if I am careful. But it canceled a snowshoeing trip and forced me organize a ton of help with driving this week. It's always good to ask for help, something I am terrible at. So bad, that I don't even think I am bad at it because it doesn't occur to me to even ask for help. So, I see this as a "growth opportunity" (swear word.)

I did not spiral into a sever bout of anxiety with this injury, which I did do last spring and early summer. I am so grateful for this. That time was a horrible stew of back pain, medical issues, family issues, hormonal changes, (hooray perimenopausal symptoms!) and uncontrollable anxiety that no amount of my own reading, meditating, exercising, eating healthy, or Pema-ing could temper. I got a ton of professional help from everywhere I could—emotionally, physically, and medically. I am in a much better place now. So, I guess I can ask for help, actually.

Good things this week—I already started that KAL sweater and I can knit while lying down or standing. I am done with the body, have started the arms, and can't wait for the magical moment where I knit the yoke, which will be a new thrill for me. I also am reading a lot, so that's good. The girls are helping and can learn from the sofa. Who doesn't like sofa learning?

My searches and inspirations have been silly and all over the place:

• strawberry cake charms (I made this and it turned out so cute.)

• Japanese deco cakes. Also, this one is amazing.

• K-beauty (I ordered from Memebox)

• meals plans from oh my veggies

• I must make a Pavlova. I can't believe I never have. I like these two videos, Mary Berry and Donal Skehan.

• I bought some adorable enamel pins for the girls for Valentine's Day at Gimme Flair and will attach them to these super cute free printable cards over at Aww Sam.