Busy Bea Knits

Napili Shores in Maui

2011-11-13T12:42:00.000-08:00

Our vacation in Maui last month was restful and relaxing. Unfortunately, I broke my foot a week before our vacation, so we had to slightly adjust our plans to accomodate for my temporary disability. The Jones fracture I sustained was a clean break on the fifth metatarsal of my right foot. Luckily, no surgery was required; I just needed a lace-up ankle brace and hot/cold treatment to promote healing of the bone fracture. We were really impressed with LAX and Maui airports' wheelchair accomodations; we were quickly whisked to the front of the TSA line; however, I did have to go through full body patdown since I couldn't walk through the regular scanner.

We rented a wheelchair upon arrival in Maui, and Kurt was so wonderful about taking me everywhere including shopping, restaurants, evening sunset watching, and daily trips to the swimming pool and jacuzzi. I took two books (The Kite Runner and Pretty Birds) and two knitting projects (Amiga and Leaf Lace Shawl). Memorable foods on this vacation included Fried Rice from The Gazebo (rice with Portugese sausage, bacon, Maui onions, green onions, diced purple cabbage, and scrambled eggs), French Toast and Moco Loco from The Seahouse, Mai Tais and Coconut Shrimp from Cheeseburger in Paradise, and Meadow Gold POG for breakfast everyday.

I mostly worked on the Leaf Lace Shawl during our week in Maui so it's near completion...I'm halfway through the Edging Lace chart, so eight more rows and I can bind off. I charted in Excel the main body repeat of the Leaf Lace Shawl pattern and printed it out so it would be easy to work on while on the plane and while on vacation (see photo above). It worked out so well, I'd highly recommend this for any travel knitting with charts. No plans to incorporate beads on the edging. The yarn I chose for this project is Madelinetosh Pashmina in Baltic, a dark rich shade of blue. Finished project photos coming soon.

Pork Lumpia

2011-08-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

Lumpia are one of my favorite deep fried foods...pork filling, vegetables, seasonings, and a wafer thin wrapper all deep fried. What's not to like? This past week I watched quite a few You Tube videos on how to make lumpia. I took ingredients that I liked most and combined them for my version below:

Pork Lumpia
1 lb. lean ground pork
1 carrot finely grated
1/3 c. cilantro finely chopped
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1/3 c. chopped white onion
1/3 c. chopped green onion
1/2 c. finely shredded cabbage
2 c. canola oil for frying
1 raw scrambled egg for sealing each lumpia

Place first seven ingredients in large bowl and mix together with a spoon (or your hands if you like). Set aside. In a small fry pan, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic first. Wait 10-15 seconds, then add white and green onions and shredded cabbage. Saute quickly for 2 minutes just until vegetables begin to soften. Pour into meat mixture. Fill each lumpia wrapper with 1 tablespoon of filling (it doesn't take a lot) and seal with egg wash. Filling will yield 36 to 42 lumpia. Deep fry in oil 2-3 minutes. Then carefully place on a platter with paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Use sweet chili sauce for dipping and enjoy!

Elote - Mexican Corn on the Cob

2011-08-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

My lunch today: corn on the cob with butter, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, and tapatio sauce. Parmesan cheese is a convenient substitute for Mexican grated cotija cheese. This tasty and popular street food is a big favorite at our family barbeques all summer long. The sweet white corn is such a treat all by itself. If you're not a big fan of mayonnaise, try it with lime and chile powder.

Arranging the ears of corn upright in my tamal steamer I was able to steam 20 at once. Split in half, they go a long way as an appetizer while all of the tri-tip and chicken are grilling away. What's your favorite summer food?

Need Some Inspiration?

2011-06-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Summer Solstice! Enjoy the longest day of the year with some knitting and a cold beverage (just a minute while I go get one from the frig). Okay now it feels like summer.

So what's been on the needles for the last six months? Well, one not so good version of Featherweight Cardigan because the armholes on the first pattern iteration were not so flattering. So that's in a timeout until I decide what to do with three gorgeous hanks of Punta Yarns Mericash. Oy vey. But I did finish something. It's a beautiful swing jacket that I found on Ravelry last fall. Pole is so cleverly designed to flatter so many body shapes; it's basically shaped like a donut with a retangle in the center and two sleeves knitted on each side. Take a look at my Pole sweater:

Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in Graphite (all 7 skeins of it) that I bought from WEBS at Stitches West 2011 was everything I hoped it would be. It definitely has lived up to all the positive reviews on Ravelry. It certainly has lots of bloom when washed and blocked, and it feels more like a heavy worsted than a light worsted. Just to give you an idea, I used a US 10 1/2 needle for the body portion of the sweater.
I've worn it everywhere! Love, love, love. What a wonderful pattern that Joji Locatelli designed...and twice the talent to offer it in two languages: English and Castillian Spanish. Joji is a gem.

And how clever is this tuck stitch sleeve? I love a ruched sleeve. Look at it. Isn't it beautiful? I'm planning on making another one, possibly from my stash using some Rowan Wool Cotton in a dark purple or the Malabrigo Silky Merino (Velvet Grapes) that I bought at Stitches West 2011.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

This holiday season wasn't filled with too much shopping or indulging in the material things that really detract from celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. This holiday was truly enjoyable for me, spending lots of time with my friends and family. My one indulgence was making enough tamales to share with family, friends, co-workers, knitting friends and neighbors. I made 44 dozen tamales total: 20 dozen pork, 12 dozen butternut, 6 dozen vegetable and 6 dozen turkey. This was completed over 3 1/2 days, so it wasn't as exhausting as it sounds. During the past 3 years, I've helped my older sister make tamales, learned under her guidance and gauged how long the process took from start to finish. This year I went from apprentice to official tamal maker...with the approval of my older sister. There's a lot of satisfaction in knowing I made something very special to share with others...much like sharing a piece of your knitting. Cooking for others brings a similar satisfaction. And with tamales, I'm sharing a part of my cultural heritage that others can enjoy. Only once a year, though. And that makes tamales pretty special. Hope your holidays are merry and bright. And hope you have a safe, joyous New Year!

Mythos Cardigan

2010-11-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving! Hope you're still out there knitting and cooking away. The cold weather sure has been perfect for lots of knitting. I finished Mythos a while ago, but haven't taken the opportunity to blog about it...not without photos in hand. It took a while for the right weather and some time to find the right brooch. I found the brooch at Lisa Toland's hand made jewelry booth at the Harvest Festival. She crochets wire jewelry pieces, each is so unique, delicate and exquisite piece of art work. This particular piece has two different shades of purple wire with green baguette beads incorporated along all the petals and center.

I think a hand made brooch is a great compliment to a hand made cardigan, no? I used my sock yarn stash to knit Mythos: Colinette Jitterbug Velvet Plum and Mixed Berries, Koigu somewhat solid in burgundy, and Pagewood Farms Aleska 5 in Fuschia Fizz. I changed yarns approximately every 8 rows to come up with the striped effect you see in the final product. I knitted a provisional cast on at the top of the sleeves and knitted the left and right body pieces first. Then I grafted the two pieces together along the center of the back. I knitted the sleeves last on double pointed needles and reversed engineered the sleeve instructions.

There were 100 stitches on each back piece that had to be grafted together. It took less than an hour to kitchener stitch up the back, and I did take a break halfway through the grafting. I'd have to say it was the most intense part of the whole pattern, but well worth the adventure. The other intense part was the sideways construction...that alone made knitting this pattern so worthwhile. I'd consider knitting a second one in the near future because I'm so happy with the look and fit of Mythos.

After finishing this sweater, I've started and completed another sweater that's a hybrid between the February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne and the Cabled Feather Cowl by Cindy Craig. It's blocking right now, but hopefully I'll have photos to share with you in the coming week. It's knitted up in Classic Elite Yarns Wool Bam Boo. What a beautiful yarn to work with. I highly recommend it. And today I cast on for the Cosmic Teleidoscope Vest. It's basically an EZ-inspired Pi Shawl pattern knitted up into a vest (EZ is knit speak for Elizabeth Zimmermann). I'm using yet more of my sock yarn stash to knit this beautiful vest and can hardly wait to show you.
As far as cooking, I've been experimenting with an enchilada recipe that was a hit this weekend here at home. I've got to get the proportions down in recipe form before I can share with you, but I hope you'll stay tuned. I should have plenty of follow along photos and a recipe in the next week or so. Have a great week.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup & Butternut Squash Cookies

2010-10-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

This past week we've had tomatoes in a few ways: bruschetta, caprese salad and tomato pizza. But the one that I really wanted to share with you was this photo. The recipe was perfect for our garden sweet tomatoes and our overcast Fall weekend weather. My sister made Ina Garten's Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup last weekend. We all liked the recipe so much, we made some more this weekend. It just doesn't get much better than the Barefoot Contessa's soup. Somehow her combination of ingredients makes the tomatoes really shine. I love, love this recipe. My sister kept her version hearty and chunky (photographed below) and she added cream at the very end.

I really wanted a smoother soup, so I put mine in the food processor (container on the right, pictured below). Both versions came out great. We'll definitely be having grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup this week.

Yesterday I was looking for recipes to use up leftover roasted/pureed butternut squash. I've already made butternut squash muffins and butternut squash pancakes with candied walnuts and maple syrup. Then yesterday I stumbled on this recipe on Flickr. How can I describe these soft, fluffy little treats? Well, they were so good that this is the only one left to photograph! I should have made a double batch as recommended by Danielle. Good thing I still have some butternut squash leftover for another batch. One of the advantages of using butternut squash in place of canned pumpkin in recipes is that you can get away with using less sugar plus it has a brighter, more vibrant shade of orange. So what's cooking in your kitchen lately?

Tomato Harvest

2010-10-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

With 100 plus tomato plants in our yard, this is just the tip of the iceberg. As I mentioned in a previous post, these tomato plants really came out of nowhere. I didn't plant any of them. They just showed up alongside the fuschia iceplants that I bought at Lowe's on Memorial Day weekend. It was a summer of anticipation waiting to see what tomato varieties we'd end up with. Well, we were pleasantly surprised to have a combination of the popular hybrid varieties available at most nurseries, two Roma tomato varieties and my personal favorite, the Campari tomato. I can't tell you much more than that. There are one of two plants that appear to be an heirloom variety. I'm really interested in saving those seeds for next year!

My sister made Ina Garten's Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup today.

I made a tomato vinaigrette dressing and some caprese salad. I'll probably use the Barefoot Contessa's soup recipe tomorrow and serve it with BLT sandwiches. I might try to oven dry some tomatoes if I have time. Hope your weekend is going well.

Summer Corn Salad

2010-07-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend was mostly about gardening. I spent most of today trimming my lemon verbena plant so I will have plenty of leaves for evening tea this Fall. I also filled a five gallon bucket with purslane. It took a couple of hours to trim away the roots and wash them thoroughly. They're going to be part of my lunch all week. I made some with onions and fresh jalapeno salsa. The tender baby ones were mixed with melon seed pasta or "sopitas" (I'll definitely have to post this recipe, I can't find any online at the moment for reference).

And I have a few tomato plants that came out of nowhere...I have a hunch they were accidentally planted as seeds on the same soil as the flat of iceplants I bought on Memorial Day weekend. There were over 100 tomato plants that sprouted.

The front yard is now home to about half of them while my sister is managing the other half in our backyard. I have a feeling we'll be making lots of salsa, bruschetta, pomodoro sauce, caprese salad and lots of this Summer Corn Salad. It's more of a recipe concept than an actual written recipe, so alter the proportions as you see fit. I'm still trying to figure out the vinaigrette myself, but I will say that the VitaMix is my secret weapon in the kitchen for blending vinaigrettes. It's so powerful! And it will taste even more like summer if you add grilled white corn off the cobb.

Summer Corn Salad
2 cans white corn kernals, drained
1 can yellow corn kernals, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large red tomatoes, chopped
3 large avocadoes, chopped
3-4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 small handful cilantro, finely chopped (about 4 tablespoons)

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette
4 tablespoons cilantro
juice of one lime (a good juicy one)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Blend ingredients in blender on high till smooth.

Pour vinaigrette over salad ingredients (everything except the avocadoes). Chill for one hour, then add avocadoes, gently toss and serve immediately. Enjoy!

I was pleasantly surprised at the effectivenss of the lime in the vinaigrette at keeping the avocado pretty and green. This was our dinner on Saturday. What a great way to use our avocadoes and tomatoes this summer!
This is what the frontyard looks like now...
I'm delaying putting in a new lawn till next year. We've got a vegetable garden this year instead. Actually the amaryllis still provide a nice view for passersby, so it's not completely taken over by tomatoes.
Hope your weekend was fruitful as well.

Buttermilk Dressing My Way

2010-02-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

Shortly after Kurt and I got married, I purchased the Betty Crocker Cookbook, Bridal Edition. One day in 2004 I was called in for Jury Duty (before I started knitting) and decided to bring the cookbook along with me as reading material to really become familiar with the different sections and to tag recipes I'd want to use regularly.It's a fantastic reference book and filled with excellent recipes. One of my favorite dressing recipes in this cookbook is the buttermilk dressing (page 434). I was disappointed with buttermilk dressings at many restaurants that had hints of vinegar or that had dill instead of parsley; I knew it could be skillfully executed with a bit of effort (read: months of trial and error). After about six months of "effort" my version of Betty Crocker's buttermilk dressing is a weekly Go-To-Recipe in our home. I really appreciate this recipe for it's balanced flavors, so I kept the proportions the same. However, I switched fresh garlic for garlic powder because I don't want it to overwhelm the other flavors, especially if it's going to sit in my frig for more than a day. I also use fresh chopped parsley instead of dried parsley, and use equal amounts of sour cream and mayonnaise instead of just straight mayonnaise. Since 1 1/4 cups just doesn't last long enough in our home, I quadruple the recipe. Enjoy.

Bea's Buttermilk Dressing

2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. Best Foods mayonnaise
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley (I like parsley)
4 tsp. dried minced onion
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh cracked pepper

Mix sour cream and mayonnaise with dry ingredients. Then stir in buttermilk. Chill in refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving. Yields 5 cups of dressing.

This will thicken as it chills so I stir in a bit of regular milk just before serving it over salad.

Mock Ceviche

2010-01-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

The rain came yesterday at noon, but it wasn't forecasted to begin till Sunday evening. I guess not everything is full proof. I still managed to make some "ceviche" which Kurt really loves. It's especially good in the summer time when you don't feel like cooking. But you could easily make it for your upcoming Superbowl gathering. My good friend Gina showed me this recipe years ago when she was living with us for a while. She called it cheater ceviche because you don't cook any raw fish in lime juice overnight like traditional ceviche. So let's be clear about this...it's good but it's not real ceviche. Hopefully your friends and family will forgive you once they try it...mine did. Enjoy!
Mock Ceviche
2 12-oz. cans of chunk light tuna, drained
1 lb. of 70/90 shrimp, cooked, deveined and chopped into bitesize pieces
1/4 c. Best Foods mayonnaise
4-5 medium roma tomatoes, drained of juice and chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped
juice of 2 lemons OR 3 Tbsp. of lemon juice concentrate
avocado slices for garnish (I didn't have any today)
16-20 tostadas or tortilla chips and tapatio sauce

First incorporate the mayonnaise with the tuna really well before adding the rest of the ingredients. This amount easily makes 16 tostadas. The largest batch I ever made was for my niece's college graduation party a couple of years ago. I made about 4 gallons worth, and there was none leftover. I've never measured for this recipe, so I really had to make a conscious effort when making it this time around for the blog. Leave me a comment if you decide to try it.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T14:08:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year and welcome to a new decade! May it be a healthy, productive and fulfilling year for us all.
I had some time off this week from work...so I experimented with an idea that hubby had about a Thanksgiving tamale. I added prepared cornbread stuffing with sauted celery and onions to the masa, and made the filling using turkey meat and gravy.

We came up with two kinds of sauces: cranberry chipotle sauce and traditional turkey gravy.

Kurt calls this photo Hers and His tamales. Here's to 2010.

On Family Traditions

2009-12-22T17:43:00.000-08:00

Chances are if you are Latin American or know someone who is Latin American, they might be making tamales during the Christmas season. Tamales are definitely a Christmas tradition in our family.
There are so many varieties of tamales throughout Mexico, Central America, South America and the Carribean that range from sweet to savory, from corn husk leaves to plantain, banana and corn stalk leaves. I remember enjoying corundas anytime we’d visit my Mom’s family in Morelia, Michoacan. My aunt would make plain corundas, so small yet so fragrant and satisfying. They are small, triangular shaped tamales wrapped in the tall green leaves of a corn stalk. I also had a Salvadorean friend who used to share banana leaf tamales that she and her family would make during Christmas. And I’ve also tried the tamales de elote that are sold at the local corner market. These are tamales made with sweet white corn, which is different than the nixtamal or hominy based tamal dough. My favorite kind of tamal though, is a pork tamal. There’s nothing better.

The two kinds we make are with corn husk leaves: green chile & cheese and pork in red sauce. Our morning began at 5AM. We got ready then headed to La Central Bakery on the corner of Sixth and Meta Street in downtown Oxnard. If you wait too long, there will be a line down the street and wrapped around the corner of Seventh Street. No joke. Then we stopped at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for the morning caffeine fix. It was going to be a long day.

The masa order this year: 50 lbs. of masa preparada (prepared hominy dough) and 4 packages of hojas de elote (dried corn husk leaves). Each package has approximately 120 corn husk leaves. This was enough to make 18 dozen pork tamales and 12 dozen green chile & cheese tamales. That’s 360 tamales total: 20 lbs. of masa was used for the green chile & cheese tamales, and the remaining 30 lbs. was used for the pork tamales. My sister uses a 1:1 masa-to-meat ratio. And at 0.67 cents/lb. for pork shoulder at Food 4 Less this time of year, it’s not a bad deal. Calculating our cost per tamal this year, the green chile & cheese were more expensive than the pork: 86 cents versus 58 cents per tamal. That calculation is based on supplies only. It does not include labor, mileage to get supplies, or cost of steaming them.

The amount of time it took for a sister team of two to prepare 30 dozen tamales? About 12 hours (we took an hour break for lunch) if you count only the preparation time, not the time needed to buy ingredients the evening before and the morning run to the bakery. And by preparing, I mean spreading each husk, filling it, wrapping it and placing one dozen raw tamales inside a Ziploc bag to freeze until they are ready to be steamed later this week. So those are the stats. Now here’s a little pictorial in case you haven’t seen one in its various prep stages. I didn’t remember to photograph the meat ones, but you get the idea. Once we got started, it was a race to get them done by evening time. Enjoy your Holiday traditions, whether they are making tamales or any other Holiday family tradition you cherish.
First you spread the masa with a wide spoon onto a softened corn husk.
This is what is should look like. You don't want to spread it too thick or too thin. And you want it spread evenly.

Next you add your filling: a few strips of roasted green chiles, a strip of queso fresco, and a few sliced black olives.

Stack up the tamales till you get a dozen, then place them into a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze till they are ready to steam.

Toasty and Cozy Cabin Jacket

2009-12-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

I have two finished projects to show you. I used the Offhand Designs knitting bag that I won at Loop & Leaf as a photo prop, just so you could see the beautiful detailed design of the leaf pattern. This is the Zelda Weekender in Foliage.

The first project is Toasty by Leslie Friend. I'm planning on making a dozen of these as Christmas gifts. If I can remember, I'll take a photo of the whole stack before wrapping them up with care. I bought some Berroco Lustra today at the Anacapa Fine Yarns Holiday party and Food Share fund raiser. It looks and feels luxurious with all the beautiful shimmer from the tencel, and I think it will make fantastic fingerless gloves for just about everyone on my Christmas list.

The other knitting project I have to show you took about 4 months to knit only because I wasn't knitting very much this summer. I'm very pleased with the results and have already been wearing it to work since it's been finally cold in Ventura.

The pattern is Cozy Cabin Log Jacket by Anne Lecrivain-Cozzoli. The yarn is Mochi Plus by Crystal Palace in Violets Rainbow. It took about 13 balls (approx 1210 yards for the 44" size). Looking forward to taking more photos soon of the February Lady Sweater that I'm making my sister in Berroco Softwist and the FLS that I made for Nancy as a Christmas gift. She's already worn it to work this week.

This is definitely a sweater that lives up to its name...very cozy indeed. Thanks, Anne for doing all the math for this beautiful pattern.

How I Spent My Weekend

2009-11-22T21:59:00.000-08:00

I met Jared Flood this weekend. I even asked for a vacation day at work just so I could attend his book signing. Well, I didn’t have to…but you know there’s this taco stand in Santa Barbara called La Super Rica, and as long as I’m going to SB there should be a stop at La Super Rica somewhere on the itinerary. I ordered a tamal de verduras (a vegetable tamale covered in a white sauce), a #20 a gordita de frijoles (a thick corn tortilla stuffed inside with pinto beans) and a #6 a quesadilla de rajas (2 fresh corn tortillas topped with melted cheese, roasted chile pasilla strips, onions and herbs)…amazing, sublime, ethereal, but I digress. So where was I? Yes. I met Jared Flood! It was such a special occasion. I actually met him and heard his voice. It’s so interesting to meet someone you’ve only read about through the blogosphere. I wasn’t exactly sure what he looked like. Am I the only one? His photography is amazing, but he doesn't show his face too often on his blog. He was very gracious. He’s also younger than I thought. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to meet such a talented designer who has so much to offer our knitting community. I'm looking forward to knitting some of the patterns from Made In Brooklyn.
I got to Loop & Leaf early enough to get a parking spot behind the shop. I bought my copy of Made in Brooklyn, found a few skeins of Frog Tree alpaca in a beautiful shade of pumpkin for Nancy’s blanket, and I bought a raffle ticket. Loop & Leaf is celebrating their two year anniversary and is giving away three bags from Offhand Designs. All of the raffle ticket proceeds go to charity. And Jared would pick the winning ticket at Friday's book signing.

Being a scaredy cat about driving at night, I didn’t stay long at the book signing. I took a few photos, got my pattern booklet signed and headed home. What a party pooper I am! Celeste Varner's parents brought out some amazing hors d’oeuvres platters of stuffed figs, goat cheese with slivered almonds and drizzled honey, White Stilton cheese with dried apricots, and sparkling wine with jasmine tea ice cubes. I should have stayed. Just about the time I got back home, my cell phone starts ringing. I picked it up and it was Jared. I won the three bags! My heart fluttered and I think I may have screamed. I think I was hyperventilating too. The combination of Jared Flood calling me and winning three Offhand Designs bags was enough to make me lightheaded.

So today I went back to Loop & Leaf with Nancy and Stephanie. I got a beautiful Zelda Weekender in the Foliage leaf design along with a deluxe knitting clutch in the Jack green velvet design and a Stella Bella clutch in the Chicks in a Row design. You know a knitter can’t have too many bags. I feel so lucky to have won such an exquisite set of bags from Loop & Leaf. I think the only way to enjoy it more is to share it. I asked Nancy and Stephanie if they would accept the accessory bags as early Christmas gifts. And Nancy actually had a tougher decision to make. I offered her the choice of a completed February Lady Sweater in Berroco Alpaca Peat Mix #6277 or one of the Offhand Design accessory bags. Well, it was a tough choice but she went home with a warm hand knitted sweater. I will be sure to take photos of her wearing her hand knitter Christmas gift very soon! And Stephanie picked the super cute Stella Bella clutch.

We completed our field trip to Santa Barbara by stopping at Pascucci Restaurant for dinner. That Stephanie knows all of the great places to eat. There are Italian restaurants and there are Italian restaurants. This was the latter. (An obvious twist on one of my favorite lines in Casino Royale, where Eva Green's character, Vesper Lynd explains the difference between dinner jackets and dinner jackets). It was a good weekend.

Shredded Beef Tacos

2009-11-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

There’s plenty of 7-Bone Pot Roast meat leftover to make another one of my favorite recipes: shredded beef tacos. Here’s how I make them. Start by preparing your toppings first: shredded sharp cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded iceburg lettuce, and some pico de gallo if you like.

I added a can of fire roasted diced jalapeños to my pico de gallo because today I didn’t feel like fussing with fresh jalapeños. Grab a couple of Mission yellow corn tortillas and have them ready to warm up. Line a serving platter with paper towels to absorb excess oil from the tacos once they’re done, and keep it close to the stove before you begin. Add a generous amount of vegetable oil to a 12 inch fry pan. Let it get really hot over a medium high flame. Test it by adding a small piece of tortilla. When it begins to sizzle on contact, that’s when the oil is ready. In the meantime, take out just enough shredded beef for the tacos you’re planning to make. Mix in just enough Embasa salsa verde to moisten the beef as it warms up in a skillet. I like Embasa green salsa because it's mild, chunky and fresh tasting for a small can and a small price.

Next, warm up the tortillas so that when they’re folded in half they won’t break apart. Fill tortillas with meat and fold in half. Carefully place tacos in hot oil one at a time, being careful not to overcrowd. My 12 inch fry pan fits about 4 tacos at once.

Allow them to fry to a dark golden brown color (I think my two past the golden stage…oops!). Turn them over with tongs and brown on other side. Remove from frying pan and absorb excess oil with paper towels. Add cheddar cheese immediately so it can melt over meat. Top with lettuce, tomato and pico de gallo. Enjoy!

Empanadas

2009-11-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

Whenever 7-Bone Pot Roast is on sale, I’ll stock up and make a few of my favorite recipes with it. One of those recipes is shredded beef empanadas. Here is a picture tutorial of my decidedly unauthentic empanada recipe. It’s a favorite in our house, and several folks have asked for the recipe. This is a recipe I came up with using ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store and one that I'm happy to share with you!

Shredded Beef Empanadas
Meat Filling
2 c. shredded beef
1 c. frozen vegetables
2 medium potatoes, diced
½ medium onion, diced
Tomato Soup Sauce
1 can tomato soup
1 can El Pato Sauce, hot tomato sauce (yellow can)
½ can tomato paste
2 c. shredded medium cheddar cheese
Pastry dough
1 canister Pillsbury Grand Biscuits
1 c. flour and rolling pin for rolling out biscuits

This is definitely a weekend recipe. Ideally you should slow cook your meat the day before you want to eat the empanadas. Crock pots are excellent slow cookers for this recipe. Season meat however you normally would and slow cook it for 6-8 hours, or until the meat falls off the bone. Shred the meat after it cools, and store it in the refrigerator till you’re ready to make the meat filling. This weekend, the 7-Bone Pot Roast was too big for my 6 quart crock pot, so I used my oven roaster instead and cooked it for 2 ½ hours at 350 degrees. I used two cups for this recipe. The rest is for flautas or BBQ beef sandwiches later this week.

To make the tomato soup sauce, mix together one can of tomato soup, one can of Pato Sauce and ½ can of tomato paste. Set aside and use approximately 1 cup in this recipe. The rest you can freeze for later use.
To make the meat filling, first panfry the potatoes in a skillet with some oil till they are soft. Then add the onion and sauté till they are clear. Next add 2 cups of the shredded meat along with 1 cup of tomato soup sauce and 1 cup of frozen vegetables. Stir well until meat is completely incorporated into sauce and warm. Transfer meat filling to a mixing bowl.
You’ll need a smooth clean table surface to roll out the Pillsbury Grand Biscuits out like tortillas with a rolling pin and plenty of flour.

Flour the table work surface, flour the rolling pin, and flour each biscuit. Roll out a biscuit till it measure about 6 inches in diameter.

Use approx. ¼ cup of meat filling on top of flattened biscuit. Top with shredded medium cheddar cheese and seal ends of the biscuit securely.

Use a fork to help seal the edges.
Repeat this till you have used all eight biscuits.

Follow cooking directions for the biscuits, about 12 minutes at 375 degrees. Enjoy!

Summer Days

2009-07-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

I savor the summer months here in Southern California. You can stay outdoors till way past sundown, feel the cool breezes gently wrap around you as you reach for a comfy fleece blanket or an old but favorite broken in sweatshirt. Mine happens to be a sweatshirt hoodie in a faded shade of teal green. We take our electronic gadgets, a beverage or two, and perhaps a dessert snack then head to the backyard and stay out late till the stars come out. We've had some really neat bonfires in our backyard this summer...we're definitely taking advantage of our bonfire pit.
One of my sisters came to visit in June/July. We had great quality time at the beach, over coffee and sharing our spiritual journeys and challenges. This is a sister who was like a mom to me. She watched over me: my homework, my bedtime, my chores, my laundry and made sure I had clean clothes to wear to school. Being the youngest of ten, it was all too easy for some tasks to get overlooked in the busyness of everyday life. So Mom assigned my sister Martha to be my "mom." She was more than a great sis, she was a terrific mentor and friend. I vividly can recall the day she explained the birds and the bees to me. Succinct and memorable! Hopefully she will be able to move back to California in the near future. In the meantime, I'll cherish the good times we had during her visit.

One of the trips I took photos to share with is of our Big Sur weekend.

Just before arriving to our camping destination, we stopped at Nepenthe to take in the spectacular coastal views. Just look at this photo taken at 1:30 PM. You can still see some fog hovering over the waters. It was perfect weather all weekend, not too hot and not too cold. We went hiking up to Pfeiffer Falls and Valley View on our first day. That was a good two hour hike (round trip). Our second day, we walked to Andrew Molera State Beach on a 1.5 mile walking trail with magnificent and majestic mountain views. Take a look at this photo below:

When you get to the beach, the landscape changes dramatically and it's amazing how you can go from mountain views to coastal views.

After a nice morning at the beach, we made our way to Monterey to visit a friend and new homeowner. Monterey has a nice coastal community and Wharf. Our last day, we explored our campground's walking/hiking trails and found some beautiful spots we'd like to come back to visit on future trips. On the way home, we stopped to see the Elephant Seals in Piedras Blancas. This is part of a Mammal Marine Sanctuary along the Pacific Coast and near San Simeon. Take a look at this big fellow:
Needless to say, I have been knitting very little this summer! I will post some knitting next time. Hope your summer is going well.

Life Goes On

2009-04-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

What I thought would be a follow up visit to the Vet ended up revealing more than a UTI. Chito had a cancer mass pushing up against his little heart. He also had masses in his lungs. He was at least 14 years, so he was getting old.

It's the saddest loss I've had to deal with as far as pets. Chito was fiercely loyal, loveable and such a vital part of our family. He kept Dad company after Mom passed away. When Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I promised that I would take care of Chito. And I did. Every year that went by, he felt more and more like my cat. He'd sit at my feet when I'd knit, he'd wait to greet Kurt and I as we'd come home from work or errands. And when he was younger, he'd leave us little "treats" in front of our door.

It's been such a difficult week without him, but I know we did the right thing. The doctor said that he had maybe 2-3 months of life left and chemotherapy would was not recommended at this point. I was ready to say goodbye knowing that there was nothing we could do, but I was not ready for the emotional loss and the impact of his absence day to day. He enriched my life more than he could ever know. RIP: April 18, 2009 6:20 PM

Balaclava for my Fishing Man

2009-04-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

I made a balaclava for hubby. He's had one that I made for him when I first started knitting. The free balaclava pattern source that I used is found here and is designed by Nanette Blanchard. It worked really well. Now that it's been worn for quite a few fishing trips, he asked for another one and made some recommendations on personalizing it to his needs: a tighter knit gauge for extra warmth, a larger face opening and more stretchiness around the face opening. I used Nanette’s free pattern as a guide and made the following modifications:

Modification 1: a tighter knit gauge
I used size 6 needles throughout and more cast on stitches for a custom fit. The yarn I chose was a superwash worsted weight wool (Nashua Creative Focus – a little more than 100g for the balaclava)

Modification 2: a larger face opening
I knit flat rows for two inches after the first bind off.

Modification 3: more stretchiness around the face opening
· The bind off I chose is a variation of the Russian stretchy bind off that Wendy D. Johnson blogged about here and uses for toe up socks. This seemed like the best candidate for the bind off along the chin area.
· For the cast on after approximately two inches of flat knitting I chose a versatile and stretchy cast on that Stephanie shared with us from her Stitches West class this year. Here's a You Tube video that demonstrates this two-needle cast on. She said learning this cast on alone was worth the price of admission. I couldn’t agree more.

And now I'm off to make more progress on the second February Lady Sweater I'm knitting in red Cascade 220.

Oh, and you should read Pamela Wynne's recent post. If you like the February Lady Sweater as much as I do (I plan to make a few more), then consider a donation for all the careful math calculations, time and effort that Pamela put into this very popular pattern. I did.

More Felted Slippers

2009-04-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

I've made three more pair of felted slippers. This Fiber Trends pattern has more than earned it's purchase price. There are at least four more pair that I want to make including a pair for myself. The first pair I made fit my niece Becky perfectly so they're hers now.

These pink ones were made for my sister Ofi.

And these violet ones were made for my niece Sera. We're just waiting for this weekend to wash them with a pair of jeans. The Lamb's Pride Bulky is perfect for making these. Lamb's Pride and Cascade 220 both felt at about the same rate and turned out really well. I have some Patons Classic Merino in my stash that I plan to try as well.

My niece Erin has thoroughly been enjoying her colorful and mismatched pair. Yes, it's a family friendly pattern and fun to make. The surprise to me was that the pink yarn (Ultra Alpaca) felted at a much faster rate than the rest of the pair made from Cascade 220. Note to Self: Do Not Mix Yarns When Felting! So the blue one was washed twice and the pink one was only washed once. Problem Solved.

February Lady Sweater by the Beach

2009-03-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

It's been two and half months since my last post, but nobody's counting, right? So what's new? Well, I've been wearing my black February Lady Sweater a lot. And I've been making a few Dolores Park Cowls.I wore the February Lady Sweater to Stitches West and got lots of compliments. It's nice to have hand knitted items admired, acknowledged and given an appropriate amount of attention.
Nancy, Stephanie and I had a terrific time at Stitches West. We stopped in SLO at Blue Sky Cafe and had chicken breast sandwiches with our own favorite toppings. Mine included applewood smoked bacon, avocado slices, sharp white cheddar, and chipotle mayo on grilled sourdough. Steph's had sharp white cheddar, chipotle mayo, and tomato slices. And Nancy's had ancho chile glaze, roasted anaheim chiles and swiss cheese. Of course, we all had their sweet potato fries. The best fries in town. We got to Great America Parkway exit exactly at 5:05 PM. So like true knitting troopers, we skipped the hotel check-in and went straight to the Market Place! The preview hours changed from last year: it was from 5-8 PM. My favorite stop was Webs. Andra who works at Webs was a hoot and a great help. We had pancakes for dinner and called it a night.

The next day Steph had a class while Nancy and I shopped at the Market Place. Then it was time for the Fashion Show. It ended really late, so we cancelled dinner reservations at Amber India and had dinner at Bennigan's Grill & Tavern. Great place!

The next day Nancy and I had classes...did I mention that we stayed at the Holiday Inn down the street from the Santa Clara Convention Center? The hotel had complimentary shuttles going to and from the Convention all day. That worked out great esp. with our class schedules. So my class with Edie Eckman (We're Do They Get Those Numbers From? -- Math for Knitters) was everything I had hoped for in a three hour class. Our day ended with dinner at Amber India. The restaurant had a special menu in honor of Slum Dog Millionaire academy award. We had Sea Bass Masala, Butter Chicken, and Basmati Rice (the rice had chicken on the bone, rose water, mace and green cardamom). Everything was sooo good! We might finally have a decent Indian Restaurant locally...let me know if you've been to The Curry Leaf in Camarillo. I'd love recommendations.

We had great weather the entire trip with just an hour or so of light drizzling on our drive home. Nancy was a terrific driver. I came home with a "Mama Bear" swift and ball winder from The Oregon Woodworker. My two other significant buys were from Offhand Designs: the Dr. Zhivago Weekender bag in Berry Bliss and the Fiona Tote in Persian Parfait, a perfect match. I got to meet the designer, Larissa, and was sold on the Stitch Diva Studio show discounts.

I was home just long enough to do laundry and pack my suitcase again for a 4 day trip to Albuquerque. It was a conference for work, and it was very well organized with lots of excellent reference material and case studies. I can't say too much about Albuquerque because there wasn't a lot of leisure time to sightsee, but I managed to get a decent New Mexican style meal at Garduno's. The Hatch green chiles and red chiles were very tasty. This is what I knitted while on the plane...a second February Lady Sweater only this time in Cascade 220 and with plans to knit the gull lace as outlined in Pamela Wynne's pattern.
The past three weeks have been full of unexpected surprises. My cat Chito got in a cat fight, got his hynie whooped, had to have stitches and a draining tube on his tail. I had enough time to take him to Banfield Pet Hospital for surgery. The follow up appt to take out the draining tube was a day before we left for Stitches West. When I got come home from Stitches, Chito's stitches were healing and closing well, but Kurt came down with pink eye. When I got back from Albuquerque, Kurt's pink eye was better and Chito had his stitches removed.

I was finally home and could work on felting these slippers that I finished a few weeks ago. It took a whole year to make these only because they were hibernating so long. The actual time to make is only about two evenings in front of the TV. I could finally enjoy my new purchases from Stitches West like my new swift and ball winder. The nieces helped me wind lots of Cascade 220 in my stash. All day Saturday. Things felt like they were back to normal.

It doesn't end with the cat tail and pink eye. The next day my sister finds lice on her daughter. Ugh. She spent the rest of the day cleaning everything. Both of my sisters stayed home on Monday and spent five hours cleaning out niece's hair with a nits comb. Both nieces had their hair combed thru. The lice are all gone, thank God.

There's more...my car breaks down on Monday. It overheats on my way to work (I'm so thankful that Nancy drove to Stitches!). So we're waiting for a radiator overflow tank to come in. In the meantime, I'm carless for a week.

The excitement doesn't end yet. I start wheezing on Tuesday night. I noticed it especially at night while sleeping. And it doesn't go away. So I'm home today waiting for the pharmacy to fill my Rx for cough syrup with codeine and an inhaler. Yes, it's good to be back home.

The bright side of today is that I get to knit. This picture is the beginning of a Moderne Log Cabin Baby Blanket. The Cotton Ease yarn has been in my stash since last summer. The inspiration for this color combination is Noro Kureyon color #95 - Green, Yellow and Pink. The fourth color is going to be a pretty berry color that Lion Brand has added to their line.

Progress on the red FLS is coming along about a dozen or so gull lace repeats. It fits my niece perfectly. After I'm finished with this FLS, I'll be working on an FLS and a CPH both in green for me. I know. CPH is an old pattern, but the four I've made have all been gifted away.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Wishes to You

2008-12-31T09:33:00.000-08:00

My favorite time of the year and I've been busy spending it with my family. Did I mention it's a big family? And there's always something going on?

This time of year is when my sister makes tamales for the whole family. I'm not sure when she started doing this, but I'm grateful that she picked up this tradition that my Mom had. For Thanksgiving, we observe the American traditional meal of turkey, ham and fixings. But for Christmas, there's nothing that says Feliz Navidad quite like a tamale.

So here are just a few snapshots of our Sunday before Christmas. We began our day at 4:30 AM, went to the preferred bakery to get masa preparada. Then we kneaded the masa, shredded the meat, spread and filled the corn husks, etc. till 5:30 PM. It was a good day.

I love my big family...

Maria bought the magic cookie bars
Ofi leads the way with age, beauty and an uncanny ability to make the best tamales
Virginia brings the mimosas...and the good times
Josie is a sweetheart and brings love and today she brought us pork posole to eat

¡Feliz Navidad y un Próspero Año Nuevo! Hope your time with family is merry and bright.

Serafina Socks

2008-12-01T17:45:00.001-08:00

Serafina socks are now available thru Ravelry. I had a few ideas when I first started working on this pattern, like working the cables in mirror images or making the arrowhead go in different directions for the left and right socks. This is the end result and I'm pretty happy to share it with you. I'm not going to do an elaborate photo shoot because we're in the midst of the Holidays...we'll save that for another day...with more daylight opportunities.

Pattern: Serafina Socks

Yarn: Shibuiknits sock yarn

Needles: US 1 dpns, Knit Picks Options

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/serafina-socks

For now, I should tell you a little about this lace and cable pattern. It's based on the Germaine stitch found in Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitted Patterns, page 275. The 9 stitch pattern repeat is easy to follow as there are only two rows of actual lace knitting to memorize. Since I knit backwards, the C4F that I knit will appear like a C4B...don't let the photo confuse you. This is my second time using Shibuiknits sock yarn (in Wasabi, S7495) and it works up really nice. If you're looking for a solid yarn, I would not suggest this yarn. It does has a substantial amount of striping as you can see in the photos. I have knitted the medium size (Women's size 7-9) and calculated the numbers for a larger size and listed some suggested yarns. If there are any modifications to the larger size, I will post them here and on Ravelry (once that size is test knitted). Enjoy.

Working on a Sock Pattern

2008-11-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

I'm still here...I'm working on my first sock pattern. It's interesting all the considerations I need to keep in mind as a backwards knitter when writing out a pattern.

The first thing I knew would be challenging would be to find a good division point for the instep stitches and continuing the pattern along the entire front length of the sock (from cuff to toe). Accomplishing this with an odd number of stitches in the pattern repeat meant I had to chart out the pattern for my backwards knitting first, find the cutoff point for the instep and the heel stitches, then rechart its mirror image for right-handed instructions. This was a pretty important step since it's not a symmetrical pattern repeat. After that, I went back and knitted two different size heel flaps and turned the heels with scrap yarn. One of the things I like to be able to write in a pattern is the exact number of heel stitches left after the heel is completely turned. So I needed to figure out those numbers.

I'm definitely going to have it test knitted. And the pattern will be available for free once it's ready. I was thinking about knitting it with Malabrigo sock yarn, but the shipment still has not arrived at Anacapa Fine Yarns yet. Maybe I'll use a couple of different yarns (I have green skeins of Shibui and Koigu are calling my name). I'll let you know when it's availabe in PDF for free download...hopefully within the next month. Thanks, Preita, for all of your excellent suggestions...like improving the chart symbols and offering more than one size!

There are lots of wonderful and helpful reference tools online that I've been using this past week. Here are a few:

Elizabeth Bennett's sock calculator

Heels by Number available on the Sock Knitters website

Marnie Talks tutorial on using Excel for charting cables

I'm terrible at keeping secrets like this. So now you know what I'm working on.

Road Trip: Santa Barbara

2008-10-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Stephanie, Nancy and I went to Santa Barbara to shop at Loop & Leaf. We got there before noon and spent 2 1/2 hours taking in everything that the store and owner Celeste had to offer.

The store is located in a residential area filled with historically significant houses. Stephanie and I are showing off our Harvest Festival purses that we got last week: a Danny K Classic Backpack in orange suede and fern stitch detail and an Anna Krikul Art of Bags backpack in the medium size.

The inside of the shop is packed with wall to wall yarn. Celeste definitely makes maximum use of all the wall space. This is the wall you see when you first walk in...Hand Maiden fine yarns, Alchemy and cashmere. I bought Hand Maiden Casbah to make some socks with just a touch of cashmere.The green lace scarf in the photo is a forthcoming pattern that will be available for sale and will be named the Loop & Leaf scarf. I think the store sample is made with Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple silk.

Nancy found some beautiful hues of blue to incorporate in her Alpaca Blanket #2 including Shibui baby alpaca DK and Frog Tree alpaca. I haven't mentioned it here, but in June 2008 Nancy's car was broken into at a local community college while she was in class. The only thing that was stolen was the bag that had her Alpaca Blanket #1 which she had worked on for over a year. She went thru a mourning period and now has started a second one with lots of donated Peruvian alpaca from our kind Thursday night knit group.

Here Nancy is winding some of the blue alpaca she bought. Isn't that a great looking winder?

And here is the Tea Room filled with a wide selection of organic teas available in tins as loose dried tea, and tea bags are availabe for purchase for a cup of tea to enjoy while you shop. I made myself a cup of organic jasmine. It was so good, especially on a blustery day like yesterday.

All of this yarn shopping can make a girl hungry...so off we went to La Super Rica for lunch. It's a humble taco stand on a corner. You wouldn't know from it's unassuming hole-in-the-wall appearance that it's regarded as the best Mexican taco place in Santa Barbara. You can read the reviews and judge for yourself. I'm definitely stopping here for lunch anytime we're in Santa Barbara. Anyone who can make vegetables taste this good rates pretty high on my list. And I'm not a vegetarian. There are no flour tortillas or cheddar cheese on the menu(neither of which are authentic Mexican food ingredients), only fresh made corn tortillas pressed and cooked right in front of the order window. That alone deserves an A rating.

Nancy ordered the Alambre de Pechuga...a grilled dish made with chicken breast, bell peppers, onions and mushrooms and served over two fresh made corn tortillas.

Stephanie order the Chile Relleno de Verduras, a roasted chile pasilla filled with vegetables and cheese then topped with sauteed tomatoes and onions and covered in white sauce. It was to die for. It's a messy looking plate, but it was amazing.

And we all ordered one of these: a Tamal de Verduras. A corn tamale filled with vegetables (chayote, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin puree and sweet white corn) then covered in a white sauce that is to die for. I love meat, but they knocked it out of the ballpark with all the tasty vegetarian options. And no lard on any of the dishes. Hats off to the owners of this fine establishment!
And speaking of vegetarian...the last time I had a taco de hongos con epazote was when I went to visit Mexico D.F. years ago. This is my kind of Mexican food: simple and tasty like Mom used to make. I'd love to go back and see if they use squash blossoms in their quesadillas. That is truly a treat when they are in season!

And I can't forget to mention our celebrity siting...unbeknownst to us (we were so busy talking and taking pics of our food). There was a couple that we shared our table with, and the young man offered to take pictures of us when he saw me pull out my camera. He started taking lots of pictures of us and later asked, "Well did they show up in the pictures?" We said who? He said, "Well, didn't you know that Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins (and their son) were sitting behind you?" No, we had no clue! So there you have it, a celebrity siting to finish our road trip. And all I was concerned about was recording our gastronomical adventure at La Super Rica! You can see better close-ups in my Santa Barbara set if you like. This post is really long...but we made our way to Tienda Ho to walk off our lunch and to Natasha's and to Mrs. Anderson's and finally to McConnell's. This was a fun road trip indeed. More details next time.

Buen Provecho and have a good week!

Meet Me at the Fair

2008-08-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Meet Me at the Fair: that was this year's theme at the Ventura County Fair. I look forward to going and experiencing all the sights, smells, and tastes of the Fair. This year we went to see The Doobie Brothers...what a great concert they put on! And the crowd they attract was just as great...from teens to grandparents all clapping and singing along. That was last Friday...

Then on Monday I immersed myself in a weeklong conference at UCSB, complete with daily commuting. It's a great conference that I look forward to every year. But boy! That hour commute sure takes me out of my element because I'm spoiled with such a short commute. I'm happy to say that this was my fourth and final year of the attending. We even got certificates. Yay.

Nancy, Linda, and I we went to the Fair to volunteer at the Anacapa Fine Yarns knitting booth. Yay. We had a good time, we ate yummy food, and we even played Bingo and won. In case you're wondering, we'll be spending it on yarn this Thursday!

I've been working on the Feather and Fan Organic Wrap this week and I have to stop...not sure if this is what it should look like, so I'm going to take it to Thursday night group to make sure I'm reading the instructions correctly. Boy, those instructions sure are confusing to me.

That's all for now...stay tuned next week for Wavy Lace Socks that I'm making for Nancy.

Berry Happy With My Socks

2008-07-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yay...they're done. Knitting these was super enjoyable...my favorite color in Koigu and a pattern that just felt so right: a perfect balance of interesting repeats and yet remain memorizable (after several repeats though, not right away).

Pattern: Twinkleberry Socks by Beth La Pensee

Yarn: 2 hanks of Koigu KPPPM, dye code K856

Needles: Knit Picks nickel plated dpns, size 2 (2.75mm)

Started: 7/17/08 Completed: 7/30/08

I liked the idea of trying a different heel using short rows with wraps. After trying it once, I'd probably use it again. However, heel flaps with garter stitch edging really top my list. Who am I, though, to quickly jump to conclusions when there's a long list of other sock heels to try out. Okay...it's my favorite for now. Fair enough.

And speaking of fair, I'll be at the Fair this year volunteering at the AFY Knitting Booth in the Home Arts Pavillion. I'll find out how my Spring Forward socks did in the hand knitting division. Our County Fair is pretty unique...the fairgrounds are located on beachfront property. The view from the Ferris Wheel is just amazing...maybe I should get on it this year just to take pics (something I haven't thought of doing, duh). Preita, I need to take photo tips from you like taking my camera along everywhere I go. Must remember to take pics of my favorite foods too: Pink's hot dog, funnel cake, deep fried burrito, smoked turkey leg, roasted corn, corn dog, and pork chop on a stick. Y.U.M.

So I'm resting tonight from knitting because tomorrow I'll begin Lacy Mock Cable Socks by Ann Budd. Last week I purchased Feather 'n' Fan Organic Wrap because I'm so inspired by Lisa and Julie (from Thursday night knitting group) who have worn their works of art. This is going to be a really fun project as soon as I get a chance to cast on. That's all for now.

Spring Forward Socks

2008-07-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Spring Forward socks are complete. Panda Silk is smooth and silky soft to work with. It’s also pretty thin: my gauge was 9 sts/inch so these socks were a little snug. Next time I’ll remind myself to cast on 72 stitches when using Panda Silk and size 1.5 dpns (2.50 mm). The pattern was easy to memorize after a few rounds, and cleverly written. I’ll be making another pair of these soon.

Pattern: Spring Forward Yarn: Panda Silk, bamboo green

Needles: Susan Bates US 1 (2.5 mm)

I knitted a garter stitch edge that I like so much on both sides of the heel flap. The bamboo green definitely shows off the lace pattern as I had hoped.

Can you believe that I made my first purchase on Etsy last week? I've read so many things about Etsy and have seen super cute handcrafted items and hand dyed sock yarns, etc but never made the plunge till I started looking for stitch markers...Kuromi stitch markers to match my little knitting bag mascot. Ask and you shall receive...thank you Knitspirations for the custom listing! It feels like the beginning of an Etsy online affair. I'll be certain to buy more crafy things. Who knows? I might make something crafty to sell one day.

For now I'll be content as the happy consumer who has a Kuromi mascot and matching stitch markers in her knittting bag.

And now I think I'll go knit some berries...Twinkleberry socks that is. Have a good week!

Buy Me Some Peanuts & Cracker Jacks...

2008-06-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

Stitch 'n' Pitch was pretty fun and we had great Southern California weather for it too. We got there early enough to walk around, get some food, and check out the TNNA Stitch 'n' Pitch table. We got free Stitch 'n' Pitch hats, and we all got to sit next to each other even though we bought tickets separately...what were the chances?

Marty, Sandy, Nancie, April, and Lisa were in the row above us. Look at all that knitting going on.We had a pretty neat view of the game and the outfield...and very neat to be in the first row of our section. It's also a quick way to find out whether you're scared of heights. Apparently, I'm scared of heights because I was holding onto that banister railing for dear life.

Nancy worked on a pink scarf and she finished her first felted purse. We had Dodger Dogs and garlic fries...yumm. Did I mention that the Dodgers won? Good game.

Star Struck

2008-04-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

I received some cheerful news today...my very good friend and former housemate, Jeannine, met Yarn Harlot at Third Place Books in Seattle, WA yesterday. I might be one of the few people in her life who can share in this exciting moment. Jeannine and I go way back. My college life was enriched by living with her and her family for about a year. Ingrid and I shared a room in her home. Having a good Christian role model like her at such an impressionable time in my life was priceless. And we've somehow have kept in touch all these years, even if at times it was only thru Christmas cards. So here's the proof:
See that? That's the famous travelling sock. And doesn't Jeannine look great in her hand knitted vest? I love those colors. Very flattering.

One of these days I'll make it to a Stephanie Pearl McPhee book signing...one day. Till then, I'll be happy to share this moment with Jeannine. Thanks, Jeannine. And, yes, I think you need a knitting blog.

Coctel de Camaron - Shrimp Cocktail

2007-10-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

This was dinner yesterday. I made it after seeing an inspirational photo on Flickr from disneymike called Lobster Avocado Martini. I will definitely make this again for dinner.

Coctél de Camarón or Shrimp Cocktail

Two pounds of shrimp (cooked, peeled, deveined 91/110 per lb.)
8 -10 medium vine ripened tomatoes (from sister's garden)
1/4 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 small bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
3 jalapenos (deseeded and deveined)
juice of 2 limes
4 avocados, cubed
A good squirt of ketchup

We had it with chips and a Mexican coke. Mexican cerveza will pair with it quite well on a Friday evening or a hot summer afternoon.

If you're interested in the Monday morning sky photos I took this week, you can see them in my Photography photo set. I shared them with the Southern California Fires 2007 Flickr group. We have some amazing heroes fighting these horrible fires. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families who have lost their homes as a result of these fires and to the firefighters and their families as well. We are lucky to have escaped from any real danger.