Blackberry Bag and a Cute Cat

I'm constantly dropping my phone in my purse with lots of pointy things.. stuff like knitting needles, keys, random twist ties, shiny rocks (just don't ask) and other bits and bobbles. A long while ago I'd made a little knitted lace bag for my camera. I figured why not toss one together for my Crackberry? (really, smart phones are crack imagine if you've never had one what it would be like to have a teeny tiny little computer in your pocket. Imagine...your favorite crap you do at home on the 'puter you can do waiting in line at the store.)

Zarathustra inspects the contents of my poor abused Coach (thrift store, 7 dollars). And I don't smoke but you never know when you'll be stranded somewhere and would freeze to death but hey, you can make FIRE!

And here is how I made it. :)
About a half skein of Suger'n Cream Twists in 'Vintage'
set of 5 US5 DPNs
Two pleasing beads to go on drawstring

You'll be working this bottom up. Using Turkish Cast On, cast on 6 stitches. Knit front/back in each stitch to create a total of 12. Arrange stitches equally over 4 needles (3 on each).
Increase as follows: Knit to last stitch on each needle. Knit it front and back. Repeat that for 6 rows, total of 32 sts. Knit two rows, and repeat increase stitches once for 36 total.
Knit all for five rows. Now for the Chart!

I just did this on one side and repeated it twice. I just wanted a little decoration, not a theme. Do as you like. This is what I did though. After repeating the chart twice, knitting uncharted back stitches, I knit five more rows. My Precious now fit quite well. Almost done, which was nice because I knit this thing tight.

Then I did the rows with holes to run the cords through.
1. K2tog, yarn over, knit two* repeat for row
2. knit all.
3. Knit two, yarn over, knit two together*repeat for row
4. knit all.
5. knit all
You can bind off at this point. Run a section of yarn or icord through the yarn over holes. Add the glass beads to the ends of the yarn, and tie them off. Keep your baby safer in your purse.. or fill the bag up with dice or condoms or shiny rocks. Your choice.

I've got a new pattern. A Nasturtium for your books.

The Zar Kitten approves.





Half the proceeds from sales will go to a breast cancer group. As soon as I can find one that isn't doing crap like suing people over silly crap that is. And it is plenty inexpensive... just a buck fifty!

Nasturtiums are vine growing, prolifically flowering plants that are easy to grow and will reward little effort with masses of white, orange and red flowers. They are also edible and make a nice spicy addition to a summer salad.
I miss the summer you see, I'm tired of looking at dark skies and the dreary greys and browns of the Northeast winter. I want my summer back. I'm ready to flop myself under a shady tree by some lovely flowers and read a good book in the afternoon heat.

I can't have all that warm and outside yet, but I can have my flowers. I hope you like them.

Paintin' the Hooks Red! (With Beads and How-To)

So I'm a bit newish to beading. For the longest time it just didn't make sense. Then, I actually started to mess around with beads and hooks and yarn and bits of dental floss.

And I learned a few things.
First, it isn't that it is intuitive or that beading is hard. It is a bit unintuitive if you are used to using a crochet hook to actually crochet stuff. The dental floss thing makes sense after you do it.
Second. Beading projects tend to get messy. They are not travel friendly. Beads are small tricksy things that like to dive onto floors and scurry into the deepest darkest shadow they can... or at least the nook you have the most trouble getting them out of.
Thirdly, a single sized bead can be used on everything from fingerling to worsted.
Fourth, all steel crochet hooks look alike in the box..

I felt the second and fourth were issues that would impede my enjoyment of sticking bits of shiny glass on yarn. Must fix. 

So , everything I've learned from other places and trial and error and what I will call pure idiot moments is here. Maybe it will be usefully to someone else.

First, the tools of the trade.

Knitting with beads tools.

Don't mind my 5th hand crafting end table. It's a bit rough, but I don't feel bad if I spill paint on it.


The Basics
I use these items to knit with beads and or crochet with beads. You see here creamy beads in an old medicine container (keeps kids out), beads in a bead flat (works pretty good if you are somewhere with a table) and beads on safety pins.
Those pins are great if you want to bead in public or bead in a car or somewhere lacking table. You see a big bead on a pin, some dark shiny beads on a normal pin and a bunch of lighter shiny beads on a safety pin that I unbent. Depending on how handy you are with the pliers you can also bend the sharp tip of the pin into a hook and thus use your traveling bead holder as your beading hook as well. It's one less thing to drag around ya know? Just be careful not to jab yourself bending it...

Now for the things most people use for beading. Crochet hooks and dental floss. See the white thread there? That's floss. The travel size floss is behind the yarn. See the silver sticks with nail polish on them? Those are hooks that I have color coded. They are all about the same size. They range from 1.00 mm (the red one) to 3.5 mm (the black one). I use the tiny one to bead most yarns and the biggest one to grab dropped stitches in worsted projects. It was most annoying to grab the wrong one from my box o' crafting tools (because I can't be bothered to craft up a pretty tool holder.. I'd rather be making fun stuff!) So, I took some handy nail polishes and colored the end of each a different color. I marked the ones I used the most in the brighter/most noticeable colors. Now, it is very easy to grab the right one without having to always check the size. This was born of a pure idiot moment, heh. If you want to get all Martha on them.. you can do that too. I'd rather spend the time making other stuff though.

The yarns are Noro Kureyon and Rowan 4 Ply Soft. I have used these both with the same sized needle and bead. The Noro is a aran/worsted weight and the Rowan is a fingerling. Obviously, the bead was a bit tighter on the worsted yarn!

The Beads

Now, the beads I use are a size 6 bead. Seed beads have bigger inner holes I'm told; you can use a bigger hook with them, a 1.5mm steel hook (US 8, UK 4 1/2), and that combined with bigger hole means they are easier to get on bigger yarn. Regular sz 6 beads work better with a 1 mm hook (US size 12, UK size 6 1/2 and while you can use them with worsted, they slide better on smaller yarns. For most beaded knitting projects these sizes will do ya.
If you want a smaller bead on the smaller yarns or crochet thread (size 10 thread is what I've seen kicked around and it's roughly the same as lace-weight yarn or size 0 in the weight system), a size 8 will be what you need. You will need either a 1.0mm hook or possibly smaller. For thicker yarn, use a pony sized bead. Yes, they come in glass and other non-kiddie plastics. But, they are heavy. Use a regular small crochet hook or a 3.50/3.0mm hook.

How-To With a Hook

Making a sock..

Now for a little how-to lesson. With pictures! Because that indeed makes it simpler.. What you see here is Premier Serenity sock yarn on size 1 needles. It's a fairly fine yarn. It will also be our beading modal.

First you knit the stitch to be beaded but don't pull the new stitch tight. Instead pull it loose on the needle. Stick a bead on your hook.

black size 6 seed bead on 1.00mm hook

Replace the needle with your hook.

Your hook is now the needle.

Now slide the bead over onto the yarn.

The bead is now on the yarn. BEADED!!

 After sliding the bead onto the yarn remove hook, replace the knitting needle in the loop above the bead and pull the stitch tight as the rest.

For Dental Floss
I use this when my bead hole is too small for the hook or when the small hook would shred the yarn. It's not my favorite way to do things but it does work. Start the same way as with the hook method. Knit the stitch. Pull the loop loose and off the needle. Slide one end of the floss through the yarn loop. Pull taunt, but not so hard you are messing up the gauge.

Floss in knitted loop, bead waiting on table.

Stick the ends of the floss together. Feel free to lick the ends to make them stick together if needed. Slide bead onto floss.

And bead is on the floss!

Slide bead down floss and over onto the yarn.

Whee!!! You're beaded!

Now, just slide that loop above the bead back on the needle, tighten that stitch up and keep on trucking.

Now, I have yet to pre-bead yarn. I like sticking mine on as I go. I'm told one of the easiest ways to do this is to use a BigEye needle. They sell them where you get beading supplies. Or, you can use beading wire or dental floss. Instead of flossing onto one stitch, you just keep pulling those beads down the strand. One day I'm going to try this though.

Tiny dog needs help (not mine!)

Backstory: http://pleasehelptristan.chipin.com/tristans-leg-surgery


Spare some change for this lil guy? He reminds me of my old cat with the bum leg. Poor thing.

Diamond in the Rough.

This patten assumes some basic toe up sock construction knowledge. It came to be as I was in a place where working any sort of complex pattern would be impossible... but I would have been bored to bits working a plain sock. I was also using Patons Kroy FX. It is a yarn which has continuous color shifts using changing colors spun together instead of a single spun strand that is simply dyed. I wanted to showcase this feature of the yarn. It was why I had chosen the yarn in the first place! I love this look.



I had bought two skeins of several colors  of this stuff on sale... so I used a single skein per sock. This was enough for a sock, but if you like knee highs or have really big feet to cover you may want a third skein. Also this pattern assumes you know things like Turkish cast on and how to do a short row heel. Don't sweat if you don't...that's what google is for. :) Lastly, if you like this pattern, please consider making a donation to either breast cancer research or an animal shelter. If you are broke, you can always just give a click. If there are any mistakes in this pattern, my apologies. Just let me know via comments. Some sizing is possible. 6 diamonds from the center fits my US woman size 9 foot very well. Another repeat to 7 diamonds fits my US 11 man. Adjust as you need.

THE SOCK

2 skeins of Paton's Kroy FX
One set of 5 US size 2 needles (or circ equivalent)
You need to be able to knit/purl, knit front/back, and turn a short row heel as well as an YO Bind-off

Using a Turkish cast on,  CO 8 sts over 4 needles. Knit one row and place a marker.
Increase to 64 in the following manner:

1. From marker, knit one. Knit front/back, knit to one stitch before end of second needle, knit front/back. Knit last stitch. Knit one stitch on third needle. Knit front/back. Knit to second to last stitch on fourth needle. Knit front/back. Knit last stitch.
2. Knit all to marker.
Once you have increased to 64 sts total you begin the sock pattern.

Purl across the instep, knit across the sole. Begin diamond pattern on instep.

1. p1, k7. Repeat across instep. (To even out the pattern slip first stitch of third needle onto second needle to be purled.)
2. k1, p1, k5, p1 Repeat

3. k2, p1, k3, p1, k1 Repeat
4. k3, p1, k1, p1, k2 Repeat
5. k4, p1, k3 Repeat

(All rows on sole are plain knit.)

Continue till long enough,being sure to end on row 1 of pattern.

Do short row heel. It will be divided as 11 sts wrapped, 10 center sts and 11 sts wrapped. Begin pattern (if desired) on back of leg on final knitted row.
Work at least 4 repeats of diamond pattern on leg. When finished, knit two rows before beginning k2, p2 ribbing. Work ribbing for 6 rows (or more if yarn and desire to rib are sufficient) before binding off in the YO stretchy bindoff. Enjoy your subtle but super socks.

Working Away Here

The last couple of weks here have been rather difficult. But, I have had a few small pleasures. One of those pleasures was (and is) this super simple sock pattern that I will be sharing as soon as I get a few pictures. There is another pattern I will be dedicating to my mother. See, I worked it the night I watched over her. She liked owls....and there are four of us. Both of these will be up here soon. I just need a bit of time.

 ...and a few other patterns that I'll be hoarding for a bit longer.

Que sera, sera.

I lost my mother at dawn December 16th 2010. She was a Scorpio, a brunet, a lady who'd play Duke Brothers with the local popo and a lady who'd take in stray kittens and kids. She'd fought cancer for over 6 years and her body just finally gave out. Her mind was sharp as all hell all the way.

She fought hard that night, refused the morphine, and even said she didn't want to go when my brother broke down. She hung on till he was more ready... if such a thing could be said. Finally, very late that night when all was quiet she said "OK, I'm ready now" clearly without the slurring that had stolen her voice earlier. Those were her last words. As the sun rose she was gone.

And she was smiling.






And here is some mom music for everyone. Stuff she liked. Stuff she played and listened too. You get the idea.


Bobby McGee
She used to play this. It is making me cry to hear this.


Freaker's Ball

She had this album (and others very much like it on vinyl) and we'd play it as kids and ask her what it was all about and she'd just laugh and say we'd find out. My mom was a damned hippie. 

These are others she had too.

That first picture of the bridge. She took one just like that the first time she took me there when I was tiny to see family.

Love ya mom. Come visit sometime.

Capture June

June is awesome.

The Birthday Socks

I just turned 30. I'm still not sure how I feel about this event. What I do know is that it was a beautiful wonderful lovely warm day (and the nieghbourhood kids were in hiding! Yes!) and I couldn't enjoy it due to my back deciding it needed to pinch the sciatic nerve and leave me turtled all day.

Still hurts. Damn you, nerves. Perhaps more frozen spinach will help the pain (as far as I'm concerned frozen spinach is only good for a cold compress).

I did manage to finish my birthday socks. See, the first one is a Nixen-Socken.
Loved how it twisted as originally worked; when mirrored by its mate it looks even cooler. As it seemed a shame to hoard the mirror-pattern... I share it! (Please see link for other pattern)

This is a really easy pattern. Any questions, ask or google. Your choice!

Left of Nixen

sts - stitches
st - stitch
k - knit
k-f/b - knit front and back loops
w/t - Wrap and Turn
SSK -slip 2 sts as if to knit, knit together
YO - yarn over

I used a skein of Plymouth Socketta yarn in Plum colorway. It reminds me of a spring flower or a warm evening's sunset..so it's perfect for this time of year. It's also a nice cotton/wool blend which seems like it would make a nice breath-y summer sock.
I used a set of 5 US2 DPNs. I'm a US size 9.5, give or take.
To re-size remember this stitch pattern is worked over 6 stitches!

I did these toe-up (I'm rather hooked). I cast on 16 stitch total, 8 on each of two needles, Turkish style. I love this cast on but you can use whatever on you prefer.
Knit the first row, knitting 4 stitches onto 4 different needles (so it will be 4, 4 4, 4). Pull the tail though the stitches as a row end marker (or add a row end marker)
Next row after slipping marker knit one, knit front and back, knit rest of needle.
Second needle: knit 2. Knit-front-back loops, knit one.
Third needle: knit one, knit front-back loops, knit two.
Fourth needle: knit two, knit front-back loops, knit one. You will be at start of new row and will have increased 4 stitches.

Continue in this fashion:

ROW 1 K1, K-f/b, knit to last 2 sts (on next needle). K-f/b, K2, K-f/b, knit to last two stitches. K-f/b, K1 (At stitch marker)

ROW 2 Knit all

Repeat these two rows until you have 66 sts (or resized number divisible by 6!). When 66 sts are reached, work the foot of the sock in stockinette until the sock is two inches shorter then the foot. You are now ready to start a short row heel.
(Seriously, these are easier then heel flaps!)

Place the bottom 30 sts on a single needle for the sole. There will be 36 instep stitches. Double check that you are not twisting the body of the sock so that the toe is all weird. (Yes.. I have done this.)

Row 1 Knit to the last stitch of the heel needle. Wrap and Turn that last stitch.
Row 2 Purl across the heel needle until you reach the last stitch. Wrap and Turn Purlwise that stitch.

Repeat these two rows until you've ten stitches on each side wrapped (total of twenty wrapped stitches) and ten unwrapped stitches in the middle.

Now, pick up the first wrapped stitch, and knit (as one) the wrap and the stitch.
Turn work, slip one st, purl across to first wrap on the other side and repeat the pick up purlwise. (slight difference)
Turn, Slip one and knit to first un-worked wrap. Pick up.
Repeat this procedure until all wrapped stitches are worked and heel is complete.

Congrats. Mostly done!

Knit 6 rows (or more if you want the lace further from the heel)

Begin pattern at beginning of 7th row.

ROW 1 *2k, SSK, 2k, YO* Repeat this stitch pattern. Be careful not to loose any stitches as the YO's are at the end of the repeat!
ROW2 KNIT ALL (Original calls for a purled row between lace.. if you want to match existing socks which are purled between pattern rows.)

Repeat this till desired sock size. My little summer socks have 12 repeats of these two rows. (24 rows total)

To end, I worked three rows of 3x3 ribbing. I knit the first three sts (the higher part of the lace), and purled the last three (lower part of the lace).

Bind off as follows for a lacy very stretchy edge: Knit one. Yarn Over. Knit one. Slip needle under YO and leftmost stitch and slide both over the right most stitch. Repeat. Use a little crochet hook if it proves difficult to slide the YO and lift knit st over the right st. Use that same hook to slide the yarn tail though the very first bound off stitch to avoid a gap in the edge.

Tuck in yarn ends and enjoy!
For the record, my pattern makes ones that look like the sock with the yellow at the top. It mirrors the Nixen pattern. Please do not profit from this pattern. If anyone asks for this, send them back here to get it themselves. :)

The Boyfriend Sock Saga

Sometimes I'm a bad girlfriend.

Yeah, you heard me. For example. Many moons ago I told the boyfriend I'd make him some socks. And, I kind of have. House socks in some fugly Red Heart yarn of his own choice. I didn't pick this out nor do I understand just why he seems to be drawn to the fugly Red Heart multis (my skein of neon pink and red, let me show you it. Why lord? Why!??) Now, I don't mind Red Heart in its place. It makes great blankets and hard wearing items.... and after a wash and dry or three these will be very soft and comfy for around the house. It's his color scheme I don't get.

Ah, the fuglies themselves. I started these around Xmass. I was hoping to have them done by the time I went back to home-not-near-family. Then I realized that hey, this is acrylic. It won't stretch like wool or wool blends will..and manbeast has giant manbeast feet! (my ladybeast feet are also big.. but since they are attached its easy to size them.) I had my brother try them on and I stopped making them after they came to his toe... he's two sizes smaller in manbeast feet sizing. Then I stuck this one into my bag o'shame and started on the second one.

....and then when I went home I left said second sock on the US5 brand new bamboo needles laying in my mother's bedroom... I'd been in there watching TV with the small nephew beast. (We were avoiding his crabby mother.) Major Xmass sock fail. No sock and no needles. Sad Kat.

And time passes. I get teased about the lacking socks. I make socks for others; I make socks for me. The mom keeps saying she'll mail out my needles (and his sock) and instead just keeps adding to the box to be sent out. Our deteriorating car prevents a quick trip out. Thick house sock weather is almost over anyways.

And I get a coupon for Knit Picks and an idea for fun to make manly socks. As his feet are huge.. they will be in sport weight. I picked a very nice dark green solid and a dark grey for a toe, These are both colors he likes. And, I've charted up a awesome knot for the sock. Squee. Anyways, here is the initial sketch; it doesn't look that much like this in the final form. I've finally charted it... and look forward to the knitting of it. If it looks good I'll release it as a pattern.



Yeah, I think he'll like the birthday present. *is smug*

Naturally, as soon as this idea struck me and I bought the yarn (en route) we started to plan a me and tiny dog only trip east. So, yeah, I will get my needles and he will also get his Red Heart Socks!

Thing is the nephew just had a birthday (which no one bothered to tell me about till after it happened) and my cash flow is rather not there for a nice gift...his mother would die if I thrifted him anything and she found out about it... so I'm crocheting up something.
Apparently he was given a goldfish at a party he went to. Don't ask, I don't agree with giving any animal as a gift but what is done is done. I'm thinking a golden fishie will be just the thing.

CABLE WORK!!!!

(this was part of a prior post but I edited to expand here)

Cables. Cables are fun, cables are dandy... if you get one wrong you're in for a treat. This is a test project panel over 80 stitches wide, no repeats and no surrender. See, I've done cables before. I love the way they look on flatwork. I love them on socks. I love them on pillows and hats.

I thought to myself.. 'Kat, you love cables, you even designed a very simple X and O cabled glove (free on rav)... this lady makes awesome and awe inspiring cabled projects and well.. she needs test knitters....'

Sweet.

I didn't realize just how big it was. Nor did I realize that this is a non repeating pattern. And my first try was on dark green yarn. I've ripped it out and restarted more times then I care to count.


But.. I have grown as a knitter and have learned a new technique. Crocheting the mistake. You need a screwed up cable (6 or more rows down seemed to be when I noticed the problems) a number of DPNs/extra cable needles and a few small crochet hooks. (Mine were a D and an F and I was knitting with US 10 needles and worsted weight Red Heart yarn) You want to be able to have plenty of loose yarn around said hook. Oh, and a good picture or great chart of whatever you are doing is helpful!

Anyways all you do is slide the stitches to be reworked off the knitting needles. Secure the points (I stuck point protectors on mine) so no other stitches would slide off. You can unraval with the little hook pairs of stitches down to the issue and fix them pair by pair (or trio by trio) like I did with the smaller fixes.. or just yank down the entire section (as in the picture) and rework the entire piece till it looks correct. This was a 6 stitch rip down through 10 rows. I'd 4 needles holding pairs of stitches here and there as I retwisted and reworked them.
I'd miss-crossed on the first cross which was ruining the look..and forgotten to cross two others. Took almost two hours... but compared to the ten-fifteen hours it would have taken to restart the work.. Yup.

Some others reknit the ripped section. I think hooking up as for a dropped stitch is faster. YMMV.

Things I have learned about complex cabling.
(thanks to a fellow Ravelry member faeriesandpixies and others)

1. Color the different cable stitches in both your legend and the chart. Color one cable cross at a time, for the entire chart (say, starting with c2 over 2left). You will then see how that cross moves through your chart. This will be the visual representation of your pattern and will be really helpful as you knit

2. Study the differences in the cable stitches. You don’t need to memorize them, just understand them. (Hint: basically there are only two kind of cables, left- and right-leaning, or left- and right-crossing. After that, the differences are in how many stitches are crossed, what kind of stitch is crossed, and what kind of stitch is in the background. Usually the knits are crossed and the purls are in the background. And they are in this pattern.)

3. Try to use a light-colored wool or wool/blend yarn.

4. Mark off each row that you have completed. Everyone occasionally forgets what row they are on. Try to do each RS(odd #s) and it’s following WS(even #s) row in one sitting. Then look at your work to make sure it’s correct. Stopping and starting mid-row tends to make for mistakes. Knitting cables is alot about attention span and concentration (both I struggle with from time to time :).

5. Cover the rows above the working row.

6. Set yourself some goals. Do two rows, have a soda, then eight more, have a tea, then ten more.

Yeah... I'm glad I'm doing this. I'm just that much closer to writing another pattern of my own...with cables. Now I should stop procrastinating on this here blog and go finish the thing.

My Big Gay Socks, A Travelling Woman and Ireland Forever

My Kali approves of my Big Gay Socks. Maybe. I have a theory about this. First, she is a chihuahua. Chis and gay men do indeed travel together very often. Secondly, she was brought home by one Big Gay brother (yeah, he's my baby brother but he's still well over 6 foot..and he is very very gay; like Big Gay Al gay) and in his room he had the rainbow well covered. In this rainbow-laden delight she spent her first few weeks of formative time. Third, this brightly colored thing is taking my attention from its rightful recipient...namely, her.

This dog and these socks do indeed amuse me. She normally just tries to sit on my knitting much like a cat would. These socks get little 'riff-riff's barked at them. The socks themselves are a resized Spring Forward for my size 10 US feet. Namely, I am doing them toe-up on US2s with a reworked lace stitch.
Now my Travelling Woman shawl... it's soft and warm and of course I made it just for her to rest upon or under. I cannot throw this thing on without her trying to borrow underneath it.

I mostly took this shot to show the crocheted edge I threw on the thing to stop the edge rolling up. Yes, it's worsted, yes it is killed acrylic yarn.. but no I'm not going to sit for any damned rolling. I do love this thing for late night snuggling/book reading/knitting when a blanket would be too much or get in the way.


I'm happy I made it. I'll probably make more shawls soon...





...And here is one! This is a
Multnomah with a few mods. I started it on St. Patrick's Day hence the name.


Almost finished with the plain bit. Garter gets so dull after a while. This will probably be redyed darker green or blue...the neon is too much for this white girl.
This one will probably get to leave the house when finished.





This is a skein of Malbingo lace in colorway VAA.
No idea just what that is short for...just that this is probably the softest thing I have ever personally touched. The colors are dark green, dark brown and deepest green-blue. It looks of summer.

Estonian Lace Cliffs Notes

http://www.knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/lace/estonian.html A how-to guide

http://www.twosheep.com/blog/?p=538 deconstructing lace

http://www.marniemaclean.com/words/2006/01/shine_your_ligh_1.html star stitch
With a multiple of 4+1
Star: P3 tog, but leave old stitch on left needle, yo, P same 3 stitches together, removing the old stitch from the left needle.
Rows 1 and 3: Knit
Row 2: *k1, star stitch* repeat to last stitch, k1
Row 4: k1, p1, *k1, star stitch* repeat to last 3 stitches, k1, p1, k1

http://estonianlacestudy.blogspot.com/ collection of videos and guides

Lace

http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/03/majoring_in_lace_introduction_1.html Lace 101

http://www.jessica-tromp.nl/index.html a motherlode

http://www.heirloom-knitting.co.uk/beginners_guide.html GUIDE TO CHARTS!!!!!!

http://tiajudy.com/lace.htm

And thus concludes my tiny gathering of usefull linkage.

The Man in Black..

Creamy Potato Soup

Creamy Potato Soup is a very simple recipe involving a potato, a few small onions, some flour, a pat of butter, a bit of cheese and milk. Oh, the ham is optional but it adds a special something to the taste or leave it out to be a vegetarian meal. It's yummy either way.

Serves Two.

Needed
1 Large Red Potato, (or two small ones.. or you can use non-red taters)
2 small onions. I like the yellow onions for this soup.
1 slice good deli ham
whole grain flour (or the white crap if that's what ya got)
milk
butter
sharp Cheddar cheese

Slice up the onion and potato into similar sized bits. They should be fairly small, but not smaller then a US quarter. Toss into boiling water in a 2 quart pan. Turn down heat and cook till potatoes are soft and almost fully cooked.

While they are cooking slice up the ham and cheese.

Now, remove pan from heat. Drain off half the water from the pan, tater and onions still in the remaining water. Add milk to the mix. Add at least enough milk to replace half the drained water. Return to heat till mix is hot.

Keeping mix at a constant not quite boiling spoon out 1/4 cup of the liquid. Put in bowl. Add flour to this mix till you've a thick paste like substance. Be sure to mash all the dry chunks out. Slowly pour (while stirring soup) this back into the still cooking soup. Add sliced ham and a small amount of cheese.

Continue stirring over heat till the soup thickens and the flour taste is cooked out. Allow to set a few minutes to finish thickening and serve with a nice slice of homemade buttered bread and a cheese topping.

GLEE's Sneaky Gays

My Crisis Garden

Watch Crisis Garden Mock in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I now have the fear. I need a Crisis Garden!!!!! I can do this.


One starts with a worm bin. A worm bin can be something as grand as this 100 dollar deal or as simple as my old large ice cream bucket and lid. (Ice cream bucket was from some cheapo ice cream we get in bulk 5 gallon pails for the manbeast to feed his lust for all things sweet. And yet, he's the skinny one!)

For a bucket like mine you punch it full of holes for air exchange and drainage..making sure the holes aren't so big the worms can escape. I also have a plastic 'root saver' (one of those plastic things they stick in the bottoms of pots to give the soil and roots a small air space over the bottom of the pot) to keep my mulch off the bottom of the pot. Gives wormies more air flow.
One adds some sort of dampened bedding (mine's old spag moss from orchid re-pots and newspaper) and old food/peelings/egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds... basically organic food garbage. I was feeding mine this this round:
That's eldery rice and even more elderly curry. I have a small bin because me and the manbeast do not create much food waste. This is it for the last month outside of tea bags and potato peels.. those I didn't bother with a picture!

Anyways, scoop out the ready to use compost. It'll be the decomposed non-identifiable non-smelly brown gunk in the bin. Add it to a soil mix in your pot. Add fresh damp newspaper over the pile of the gross food bits in a section of the bin. Replace lid. Replace bin under kitchen sink. (yes, that is where I keep mine. No, you can't smell it.)
Oh, I got my worms at Petco. I just asked for 'red wigglers'. They sell them as turtle food. The number they give you is just about right for a little bin like mine. They ran me 3-4 dollars. Bait stores will also carry them and probably for less dough.
More worm info?
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm
http://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html

Now we are here.
I used an old knife to 'chop' the compost material into the potting soil mix. It's some peat potting soil blend... anyways, wet fully while gently chopping the two soils together. If you find a stray worm or worm egg (look like tiny clear marbles) throw it back into the worm bin.

Now for my crisis veggies!!!! I LOVE me some garlic and onions! But, I always end up with slightly more lively individuals then I want to eat.
Little bastards. Trying to grow green parts and roots and all. You'd think they didn't want to be food! Anyways... dig holes in the container and shove them in. Cover up the bulb parts. Water well and stick outside (if the freeze-time is over) or in a nice sunny window.
Gloat that you just saved over 149 dollars and still have a 'crisis garden' any sane person can enjoy. Next time I'll share my yummy potato soup method. I promise the pictures will be more appetizing! :)

Education is in Great Shape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzHTOZz4j_g&feature=player_embedded


I found this song both beautiful and moving.

It actually made me angry to hear the lyrics. There is such a disjointed feeling between what I know to be true and what the words paint as true to be jarring to anyone with any kind of decent education. And yet in Texas very recently they have rewritten the history they will be teaching the kiddies.
It may as well be an accurate account of what some persons would choose to have the kids learn... wonderful things like the Confederate president is as worthy of note as Lincoln; Reagan was Even More Awesome(TM) and that all Founding Fathers were Christian...oh, and McCarthyism had a point.. the commies were there after all. Just bloody wonderful.

Lyrics here just in case.

Then, you have this. I graduated HS in 98. I remember kindergarten as mostly being all about the gluing of paper together, playing with letter blocks and learning to write "My name is >>>>" and other stuff...oh, and learning about stranger-danger and stuffs.

Calm. Centered. Calm.

Emerald City

EverLove

Cindy from Optimara

To induce the calm enjoy these lovely African Violets.

Glen Beck is ...