The Slacker and The Harlot

Ok, ok, so I know I have been super slacking in the blogging department. I could use the excuse that I have an almost 6 month old babe and a pretty wild five year old to contend with, and that at the end of the day I am just too tired, but that really is just a part of it. I just have not wanted to. I really feel like my life and knitting (or lack thereof) are just not that exciting. Who wants to read about how I got to knit one row on the sock I started when I was in the hospital having Keelin? Which is about 3/4 finished (1st sock) and it has only taken me over 5 months. If I took pics you would not even be able to see a difference. So, why should I blog then I ask myself. The answer is for my lovely Ruthee and my Kniting Bitches. I can not promise them everyday blogging (you would be bored to tears) but they can hope to look forward to at least once a week blogging :)
So, here are some highlights from the last few weeks:




















Draken and Keelin at the Renn Faire












Our new dog Swirl- She is kind of a pain in the butt. Draken loves having a dog though. Hopefully with some training we get her on the right track.

Draken's First Day of School- My little boy has gotten so big. I was sad when I took him into the classroom and he was reluctant to give me a hug. He is so enjoying himself though. He says he does not like soup day though. He does not like the smell and says that only freaky people like soup. Haha!

We have been going to all the various farmer's markets in the area. They are all so nice and it is such a treat to have one in our little town. There are also certain things that can not be conveyed in pictures. Things like the crisp coolness in the mornings as I take Draken to school, the subtle awareness of the transition of the seasons, and the tranquility of living in such a beautiful place.

Well, now that I have caught you all up we shall get to current events. My sis, Sara, talked me into going to see The Yarn Harlot, Stephanie, this weekend. We made our decision Thursday, I booked our hotel on Friday, and I drove the 3 1/2 hours to Los Altos on Saturday (Sara had a 6 hour drive). I have to say it was so totally worth it. My sweet and loving husband watched the kids this whole weekend and I enjoyed a whole day and night without any responsibility!

Sara and I had lunch while we waited to check in at the yarn store, Full Thread Ahead. This is a very nice store in a very swanky shopping area. They carried alot of the Cherry Tree Hill and Lobster Pot yarns. I bought some Cascade Quatro, Plymouth Virgin Wool, and Rios de la Plata for some daiper covers for Keelin. 10% of the stores profits for the day went to Knitters without Borders which I thought was super awesome. There were 300 knitters that showed up for the evening and the store was busting at the seems with all of us fondling wool, silk, alpaca, cashmere, pashmina, mohair and even the synthetics. We all took our seats outside around 4pm and the sun sure was bright and warm. It was great to sit and be surrounded by so many knitters, young and old.

Stephanie took the stage around 5:30 and she was amazing. She is so funny and so personable. She had us all in stitches. We all enjoyed it immensely. I think she talked for a little over an hour and during that time the sun that was once so bright sunk behind the buildings. Once the whole lot was in shade the temperature dropped drastically. Of course I was totally unprepared. I sat there shivering in my short sleeves and capris while I had nothing to keep me warm but one of Keelin's slings and a skein or two of wool in my bag. After Stephanie's talk she moved inside to do the meet and greet and book signings. Sara and I were in the 3rd group so we had to wait an hour or so. Even though there were so many people she had to see and so many books she had to sign, our lovely Harlot took the time to say something nice and sign something special for everyone. We even had picture ops.


Sara opted to have her picture taken with Stephanie,

but I opted for something a little more special. I wanted a special shout out for all my Bitches and The Harlot was happy to oblige.
The sign was autographed and will be sent to Ruthee. We had a great time and it was so worth the drive. Any time The Harlot is within driving distance I will so be there (plus I got to visit a new yarn store which was totally worth it).

Next weeks adventures :California Wool and Fiber Festival

My new Crib

So, this is my new house. Since we are on the side of a hill (although it seems like a mountain to a flatlander like myself) I was not able to get the best shot ever. Hard to take a straight picture on an incline :) We have a neighbor to the side of us and one behind us but since we are pretty much surrounded by trees you do not even notice. Right across the street it is completely wooded. The nice thing is that it will stay that way since the city will not permit any more building up here due to water restrictions. With all the wooded area up here it is really no suprise that the wildlife around this area is so plentiful. We have a very cute family of quail that come out of the woods across the street for a walk with the kids every evening. It is so neat to see the Mom and Pop quail and their five little ones walking in our yard or along the road. We have tried numerous times to take pictures of them but they seem to be camera shy and they run whenever we bring out the camera.

We had another vistor to our front yard the other day. I went out to water the front lawn when I startled this sweet little doe. I really need to keep the camera attached to my wrist from now on cause after running into the house to get it I was only able to get a pic of the deer running away. The deer are every where up here. The saying around here is that it is not a matter of "if" you will hit a deer it is a matter of "when" you will hit a deer. Both Kevin and I are trying to be very careful when we drive into town but the deer just don't care. Kevin had one jump out in front of him the other day, luckily it was a little ways up and he was able to slow down. We were told that during the full moon you have to be very careful driving since all the animals, not just deer, are likely to be hanging out on or around the roads. Deer, bobcats and bears are just some of the animals drivers have been startled by.

This is the view out of our front living room window. I put my glider in front of this window so that when I sit and feed Keelin I can look out at this beautiful view. The whole family really enjoys our new enviroment. It is hot here, but without all the humidity we are used to, we are able to go outside and appreciate it. We have a nice back deck and that is usually where we take our meals at night. There is something so peaceful being able to enjoy a meal surrounded by birdsong and fresh air. We still have not made it to any of the many state parks around here, but once we finish settling in we plan to explore a new one every weekend or so.

There has not really been any knitting to speak of around here. I have been so busy unpacking and wrangling the kids that it has really fallen by the wayside. I did finish all the major knitting on Keelin's Debbie Bliss sweater. Just need to set aside the time to block it and sew it. It is Thursday today and I am still so used to this being my Knitting Bitches night. I miss them all. I am sure that I will eventually find another knitting group to go to but I know that I will never find another group as unique and awesome as they are. I hope you guys have fun tonight, I will be knitting and thinking of you this evening :)

Our Big Trek

Well, we did it. We trekked our way across the whole United States, from Florida to California, in 5 grueling days. Kevin and I have promised that we will never ever move across country again. It is the most insane thing to do with children and a moving truck towing a car. Looking back I should have paid the $6k to have movers haul the junk out for us. Stupid me trying to save money.

I should have known that things would not run smoothly from the moment we picked up the truck. What idiots we were for thinking all our crap could fit into a 16' truck. Dorks! All my wonderful friends and their lovely spouses came over to help us load up the truck. They were awesome and kept to themselves how disorganzed we were and they never once mentioned that I looked like I was going to just freak out :) I was too much in a shambles to take pics of all of them hauling my stuff like I had planned. You will just have to use your imagination. Ruthee's baby daddy, Chuck, is the packing God. He crammed that truck so tight with stuff. I really could not believe how much he fit in it. I really just want to thank all of my friends for being such a help and supporting me even though you didn't want me to leave.

Well, we set out early on Sunday, July 9th, and we made it to Baton Rouge around 10 or so that night. Monday we made our way into Texas (the state that never ends) and ended the day in Sonora. Nice little town, very isolated though. They had mohair goats in that region, which I of course wanted to steal. Tuesday saw us out of Texas and through New Mexico and into Arizona.
This is the western part of Texas. Very pretty but very hot and desolate.
As we passed Tuscon, AZ and got closer to Phoenix the Sun was setting over the desert and it looked so pretty. This pic does not do it justice.

Everthing was going well as we headed into Phoenix, kids were behaving (Draken watched the portable DVD player the whole way), we were making great time and had already travelled 150 more miles than we had planned that 3rd day. It was late and all we wanted to do was get through Phoenix so we were out of morning traffic and get a hotel. Well, as we got to the outskirts our travelling luck had run out. The tire on our car carrier decided that it was a great time to start shredding itself to pieces. We pull over into an evil Walmart parking lot at 11pm and wait for an hour to get someone to change our tire. It was about 12am central time before we get into a hotel. Next morning we decide that since our next destination of Los Angeles is only 7 hours away that we will sleep in a little. Boy did we pay for that.

The drive out of Arizona the next morning went well. Made it over the California border on Wednsday with no problems. At a gas break Kevin and I decide that instead of getting a hotel outstide of LA we would just stop in and visit with my sis for a few hours then get back on the road for a few more hours so that our last day of driving on Thursday would be nice and short. We were about 60 miles outside of LA (and already in the middle of heavy traffic) when Draken tells us he needs to go the bathroom. Now keep in mind this is the first time in over 2000 miles that this kid has asked to go to the bathroom. I could not freakin believe that he needed to go now in the middle of packed traffic. So of course I let Kevin know and I follow the moving truck off the next exit. As the truck rounds a corner I hear a pop and a hissing sound. The car carrier in front of us has blown another damned tire. We pull into a Taco Bell parking lot and I am out of the car in a flash and shouting expletives at Kevin and the tire. So now we have to wait in the 110 degree weather for another hour to have the tire changed. Our plans have changed again and I have Sara locate a hotel outside of LA for us. We finally get to our hotel around 6:30 pm and we go out to dinner with Sara and her husband Sean. It was a nice evening even if our plans did not turn out as expected.

Next morning, day 5, we set out at 8 am the next morning. We are in the hills (mountains is what they seem like) outside of LA and we are coming out of them around 9 am. But there is this super steep hill you have to go down till you reach the plains around Bakersfield. It is so steep that big Semis have to go like 20 mph. As we were reaching the bottom I see this ramp over to the side that says "Runaway Trucks". It is essential a long ramp up with bumpers at the top so that if a truck goes out of control they ride up it to stop themselves from slamming into any of the cars. I was so freaked out by the time we made it to the bottom. I could not believe we had not been crushed to death. We make it out to the farm plain outside of Bakersfield when I start to notice little puffs of smoke coming from the bck tire of the trucks car carrier. Call Kevin and ask him to pull over so we can check. We pull into a little patch of dirt on a side road. I kick the very back tire and it just sinks in. At this point I just can not believe that this is the third tire on the carrier that has gone. We drive the truck to a little gas station in the middle of nowhere and Kevin calls Penske again about the tire. They are upset that this is the 3rd tire we are calling about (first 2 times it was the front tire on the right side of the carrier, this time it is the back tire on the right side). They send someone out to repair the tire. They take the tire off to fix it but they notice that the tire drum will not turn. The man decided to take it apart thinking maybe he could fix it, this is what he found:
The whole tire drum was completely rusted and locked together. We had to wait 4 hours in the scorching heat of S. California waiting for a new car carrier. Needless to say I wanted to throw myself in front of an oncoming semi truck, but instead I sat in the van, exhausted and pissed. At this point we had given up on making it to Willits that evening and all we wanted was to make it to Santa Rosa by dusk. Next morning we would only have an hour and a half trek to look forward to. By some combination of exhaustion and determination Kevin decided when we made it passed the San Fran/Oakland area that we just needed to push on to Willits that evening. I was far too tired to argue. That night is a total blur, but I know that by the time we were past Santa Rosa and in the hills I was pretty giddy with exhaustion and was staring to loose it. Was joking with my mom about seeing creatures coming out of the darkness. We pulled in to Kevin's sisters house around 10pm pst, and we gratefully crawled into beds that had been lovingly prepared for us.

Well, that is the tale of our long journey. Sure it is not as exciting as the tale of the Donner party coming to California but it felt as excuciating to me. Later I will tell you all about the fun I have been having settling into our new house :)

How to kill a Vampire within ten paces

So, everyone requests my hummus recipe. I swear people must get tired of me making it, but they claim otherwise. I happen to like it very garlicky (hence the title of the post) but you can tone it down by using less fresh garlic or by using roasted garlic. Nice thing about hummus is that you can change it up just by adding a little something extra. Roasted red peppers, black olives, pesto, parmesan cheese, etc can all be added to make a spectacular and special hummus. Experiment and see what you come up with.

Terra's Basic Hummus

3-6 garlic cloves
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp plain yogurt
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tsp cumin (start out with 1 and add till you like it)
Salt to taste
cayenne optional (for a little extra kick)

In a food processor, mince garlic until fine. Add olive oil and yogurt, pulse till smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend till desired consistency. Add salt to taste. Cayenne can be added last if desired. Any extra ingredients can be added now or to left over hummus. Enjoy with pita and crudites, spread on sandwiches or wraps or as a condiment with various middle eastern dishes.

Now in the knitting world, I am almost finished with my spiral shawl. Only 5 more border rows and the bind off left. This thing is really sucking the life out of me. 600+ stitches for 1 freakin row is so crazy. Makes me just want to run screaming into the hills (this is FL and we don't have any hills so maybe run into the swamp instead). Lets just say I will be glad when it is done.

Keelin's Debbie Bliss sweater is coming along. Almost done with the last front panel and all that will be left are the sleeves. It is a nice fun and simple project that is a nice getaway from the soul sucking shawl. My traveling project are the jaywalker socks from Grumperina. Also a fun project. I am knitting them from the Socks that Rock yarn that lovely Ruthee gave to me. I need to start a sweater for Draken but that must wait till we are moved. Will be packing up my remaining yarn in a few days just to make sure it is safe and does not get left till the last minute :)

So, does someone want to come pack my house up for me? I am getting tired of wandering from room to room packing as I see something I can live without for the next month. The half packed, open boxes are driving me nutty. Maybe I should just pack all this crap up and live minimally for the next 26 days (yeah right).

Two posts in one day!

Amazing I know. Just thought I would share some pics of the town my clan will be moving to. Maybe that way my friends will not be so bitter if they see what a beautiful place I will be living in (yeah right). As I was searching out pics of Mendocino County I came across this great site that had some very lovely pics. Nice little commentary on there about driving through the redwoods. Also, you can visit the townof Willits website. Some nice info about the place if you want to look around. Maybe if I can get you all interested you will want to visit me :)

We have less than a month before our big moving day. It seems like that is still alot of time but the days seems to be going by fast. Only four more Thursdays with my Knitting Bitches. It will be very sad for me on that last night since I have come to cherish each and everyone of those ladies (and Robbie too). I know that I will never be able to find such a wonderful group of friends anywhere else.

Chicken, Chicken, whose got the Chicken...

So, I am being harrassed by Ruthee to give you all my Curry Chicken Salad recipe. I don't really have super precise amounts on it since I like to change it around depending on who I am serving it to. It is a recipe I adapted from an issue of Cooking Light (I don't remember what month or year right now). You can use left over chicken or bake some breasts up just for this purpose.

Curry Chicken Salad

2 large Chicken breasts, cubed (approx 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 c apple, diced (peeled if wanted, I prefer skin on)
1/2 c seedles grapes, halved
1 to 2 tbsp raisins (I like the golden variety)
2 tbsp nuts or seeds (I like sliced almonds, but pecans and walnuts are good. Sunflower seeds are also a nice change)
3 tbsp Mayo
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp honey
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl combine first 5 ingredients. In a seperate bowl combine Mayo, curry, honey, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add more curry or salt and pepper till satisfied. Pour dressing over chicken mixture until well coated. Chill for an hour before serving. I prefer to let it sit over night so that the flavors blend better.

Serve it wrap style or in a pita with spring mix. Also great served with crackers, pita chips or crostini as an appetizer.

More recipes coming soon. Will leave you all with a picture of my cheeky child :)
(Yes, he is wearing his shorts on his head and his shirt like they are pants. The scary thing is that he came out of his room like this himself without any encouragement from his father or myself. Tells you a little about what kinda family we are, lol)

Baby Knits

I am starting on my second sweater for Keelin. First one I finished knitting but never got around to making it up. Of course she is too big for it now. So I decided to start on a second one that will fit her in time for the beginning of cold in N CA.

This is the sweater I am making in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I love this yarn and since this is a Debbie Bliss pattern, why not use the yarn called for.

The pattern is from this book (which I plan on making the cover pattern for the babe too). Great little book with lots of cute stuff, including a little stuffed rabbit which I plan on being my next project. I have finished the back and both the pocket linings and am starting the fronts (pics later).

Still trying to finish the SSS but it is sucking the life out of me to work on it. I have 8 more rows before I start on the border so the end is near. I want to have it finished before we leave since it was a group project. I know it will look great when it is done, just have to keep telling myself that.

KB was great tonite but I missed my Ruthee. Her beautiful daughter Grace was sick so she could not attend. Hopefully next week.

Promises

So, I have not blogged in quite some time I see. Been a little busy lately, what with having a baby and all. Things are somewhat settling down on that front only to be replaced by other bigger things. I am in the process of breaking my best friend Ruthee's heart by moving away from her. We (Kevin and I) made a decision to move back to Kevin's native Northern CA when we were told by our landlords that they were selling our house. I am sad to leave all of my Knitting Bitches and all my good friends here, but in the long run it will be much better for the family.

Well, I have been told that I must blog more frequently by my previously mentioned heart-broken friend. So, I have promised and I shall try my best to keep it. Stay tuned in the future for pics of our new place, new knitting and maybe a little spinning (if I get my birthday wish *hint, hint* Kev). And I leave you with a pic of my new little one.

~*Terra*~

On the needles

So, I promised I would post pics of my works in progress.

This is a baby blanket for my soon to be here little one. The pattern is the Cabled blanket from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick. I am using some very soft 50/50 Merino and Cotton I got when I was in CA last October from Nancy Finn's Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks. I know it may not be a super practical fiber choice for a blanket that may get spit up on but it is a little more practical than the 100% cashmere pashmina yarn that was called for in the pattern. I mean who is going to spend $300 on yarn for a baby blanket. Not I.

This is a close up of the pattern. I am enjoying knitting it even though it is a little tedious. I will probably wait until my Olympics project is done to finish it up.

The other project I am working on for my little babe is the Ribbon-edged Cardigan from Special Knits by Debbie Bliss. I enjoyed the knitting but am not liking the making up. My first time sewing up seams on the shoulders and it is looking a little wonky to me.

You can't really tell from the above picture, but I am pretty sure the seam is not supposed to be so bulky. From what I am reading it is supposed to just look like one piece of fabric. Oh well, I dunno. Guess I will just give an evil look to anyone who mentions the funky shoulders.

Last project (and one that I am so liking) is the Super Spiral Shawl.

This is as spread out as I could get it, but there is still about 4 in of knitting under on all sides. Aside from the circular cast-on, this has been a very easy and quick project. Have not worked on it a whole bunch but I am already at 43 st in each section (approx 344 st). I will probably have to go up to about 80 to 100 st in each section till I have the shawl big enough to my liking. I am using a US 8 because I wanted the fabric to be knit a little more tight. The yarn for the SSS and the cardie came from Knit Picks. The shawl was the Shadow laceweight yarn in Campfire and the Cardie is the Shine dk yarn in Apricot. I was not thrilled with the Apricot color (it has grown on me though) but the super softness of the Shine yarn more than made up for it. I highly recommend and I will be ordering alot more of it in the future.

I want to get a couple of these projects completed before I cast on for anything else (not counting the olympic cast on). I have a sweater for Draken and a lace cardigan for myself I want to do, plus I still need to finish the 2nd sock for Kevin . I am also looking for a good project to bring with me to the hospital. Something small and not too difficult. It will probably be socks, but I want something new so it will not be Kevin's sock (too bad for him). I still have a little time to find the right thing though.

Swatch, swatch, who's got the swatch?

Well, I do!

I honestly cannot believe that I have swatched something. First time in the history of my knitting career. Guess there has to be a first time for everything.

This little lovely is the swatch for my Knitting Olympics project.

I have decided that in 16 days I will finish a sweater for my darling husband. Now it is no Dale like, but hey it is a man sized sweater and for me that is something. I decided on a pretty straight forward pattern, knit in the round, all one color. Should be do able. May have to have a little extra TV time thrown in for Draken, but hey, a couple extra tv shows won't rot my childs brain too much.

This pattern is from the very cool AntiCraft site. It is the Curse Your Boyfriend sweater. Not that I in any want to curse my husband (although sometimes I really do think about it), I just thought it would look good on Kevin.

I will be making it out of Knit Pick's Wool of the Andes in color Mist. Kevin picked it out himself. I would have chosen a green, but again I am not the one who will be wearing it. Cost for the project is about $30 and that is not bad for a 100% wool sweater. Gotta love Knit Picks!

I have also chosen my Knitting Olympics National Team. Team Wales will be the country I will be supporting. Gotta love their button!

As for all my other projects, I was able to finish the knitting on my little one's cardi but the making up is driving me crazy. Will save it for when I feel in the mood for some sewing. The Super Spiral Shawl (SSS) is coming along nicely. Will again post pics a little later.

The Nesting pays off...

So, I know it was a few days ago, but we finally recieved our new couch!!!! I am pretty excited since we have been living like we live in a dorm with a futon on the floor. Rest of the house put together nicely, but I just could not make myself invest in a couch.

Guess all I needed was a little pregancy nesting instinct to loosen the purse strings. And I sure am glad we did.

See, Thalia (my cat) loves the couch. Helps her reach the window she could never get to because she is gravity challenged (she weighs too darn much).

Draken approves, as you can tell by the goofy grin on his face. I am just glad that we decided to get the stain resitent model since my wonderful son decided later that same afternoon that the couch would be a perfect place to wipe his yogurt covered face on. His logic is that it is cloth like a towel so it is ok. Needless to say Mommy did not agree.

In this case nesting made a positive impact on the household. My garage would disagree with with anything positve coming from my crazy cleaning spree. Mr. Garage kinda gets stuck with all the crap I can not find a place for. Maybe if Kevin gets his own nesting vibe (lol, yeah right) the garage will then have its turn at being clean.

I do not really see this happening though.

Next thing, bookshelves!!!!

On the knitting front, I am coming along with my little ones cardigan (only need to knit one sleeve and then make it all up) and I started and am progressing on my Spiral shawl for our KB's KAL. Getting psyched about the Knitting Olympics and the sweater I plan on accomplishing in the 16 day time period (crazy, I know). I think I may have the lovely Dana (fellow Knitting Bitch) join me in the insanity. Yay, I will not be alone. Doubt all you want, but we shall succeed!

Swimming in Yarn

So, the little group I knit with every week (Knitting Bitches) are planning on doing a Knit-along lace project from Meg Swansen's A Gathering Of Lace.

This is the lovely Super-Spiral Shawl which most of us are going to attempt, many risking our sanity and having the fun of using some very colorful language in the process. I am looking forward to it, but I am sure it will take me forever to finish. If my little girl makes her entrance into the world around or after her due date (March 23rd) I will have plenty of time. If she decides to come earlier (as I so hope) then maybe not so much time, and project will be put on back burner.

Well, I recieved all the lovely yarn in today, and not only was it my own but most of the KB's as well. This was what I wanted to pretend was all my yarn,

when in actuallity this was my yarn.

Not a ton, but enough for a few projects.

And, as a nice gesture to all of our lovely friends, Ruthee and I plan on winding all the lovely hanks of lace yarn for everyone on Ruthee's new swift. Oh, what an exciting way to spend a Saturday :)

In the Beginning

Okies, so this is my first foray into the magical world of blogging. Apparently all the cool kids are doing it, so now it is time for the not so cool to join in (that would be me ).

So, maybe I need to tell you something interesting about myself to reel you in and hook you for more...hmm...I need a backstory. Alrighty, how about this...

As an infant, I was a self-styled Hobo Queen. I would ride the rails with my fellow hoboians, eating beans out of a can and enjoying the freedom only a locomotive can give. Living life in a crib was too static for me, I wanted to explore. So, I set out from life in suburbia and became Patches McSmacky, Queen of the Hobos!

Now, how is that for a backstory?! Not too shabby if I say so myself.

What, you're not buying it?

Well, that's my story and I'm stickin to it! Life for me now is not as exciting as those bygone days, but it sure has its surprises. I am a wife (to my un-hoboish hubby) and mother (to my almost 5 yr old hobo destined son, and soon to be mom to my little princess who is due in March).

I am also an avid knitter (ha, now I know I have hooked you!)

This blog will be filled mostly with my family, friends (and fellow knitters) and yarn. Lots and lots of wooly love!

Hope you all enjoy my zany little world :)

~*Terra*~ a.k.a. Patches McSmacky, Hobo Queen extraordinaire