Idiot

That's me.

Or maybe super-duper stubborn.

But really, just desperate to knit.

I'm kind of in between projects right now. I've just finished a series of little knitted gifts. I'm waiting to start a sweater for myself until after I get back from my trip to France as I have a really bad habit of starting big projects, then setting them aside, only to pick them up and royally screw them up. And I don't want that to happen again, so I wait.

With lots of sock yarn sitting in my pretty yarn stash, I thought, perfect. I can whip out a pair for me and be on my happily knitted way. However, I don't have a swift to wind yarn. And I've tried winding yarn using my winder without a swift. And it generally ends up with me annoyed at myself, swearing and untangling knots until midnight.

And once again I have done just that. Only this time I started earlier in the evening, but it still took a while to hand wind, and untangle, 380 yards of Socks That Rock in Nodding Violet. And now I'm throwing my no-money-on-knitting-rule-until-after-France out the window and going to amazon.com and buying a damn swift.

"Pieced" Dreams

I've been kicking around this idea for a simple sewing project. One that would let me do one of my favorite thing about sewing: mix and match all the pretty fabric! Last weekend, I threw caution to the wind and jumped head first into the fabric creativity! Here's what my idea ended up looking like:


I'm calling it "Pieced" Dreams. I'm sure there are other patterns out there similar to this, but this is my own design. I really enjoyed the creative process of putting my own design together. I love the mix/match of the fabric. And I love the freedom of not following a pattern but gleaming ideas off of other projects that have inspired me along the way.

To me, that is so important in the creative process.

This project (and it's matching mate because you do need two matching pillowcases) went to a friend who is a very creative fabric force.

I can't wait to get back to the sewing machine and see what happens next!

Knitting Adventures....

The other night I was working on a cabled project with my DPNs (that's double pointed needles for my non-knitting readers). I realized that I had, um, "misplaced" one of the DPNs. Now, if you're wondering where DPNs get their name, well, it's because they have pointy ends on both ends (hence the name). And you might imagine that its not good to "misplace" something that has two pointy ends. So I started looking around where I was sitting. It wasn't in the quilt. It wasn't in my knitting bag or the under the chair. Not to concerned, I grabbed something else that would work and went on my knitting way.

About an hour later, it was time for bed. I still hadn't found the DPN. So I looked again. Still no luck. About this time, the hubby is now wondering why I'm on my hands an knees looking around the recliner. I fessed up that I "misplaced" a DPN, but that as long as he continued to sit on the couch, he'd be in no danger of "accidentally" finding it.

He muttered: "Alright."
Which I translated: "I can't believe you've lost another one of those pointy needles in the furniture! You better find it soon!" This isn't the first time I've "misplaced" a DPN in the furniture.

So I decided it was just time for bed. I went into the bathroom to get ready, and guess what. I found the damn DPN. I had stuck in my ponytail for safe keeping. And it was safe. And sadly, that isn't the first time I've "misplaced" a DPN in my pony tail.

Baby Boom!

There is a baby boom around the Knitting Knot these days (no it's not me, sorry to disappoint mom, Sara, Rebecca, and April!). Two coworkers wives had (and are having) babies soon. And a very close, dear friend called me with the news that she is going to have her second baby! So right away all projects came to a screeching halt as I quickly dove into the stash for yarn, needles and my standard go-to baby hat pattern.

Here are the results:

Both hats are the Child's Cotton Hat from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I just switched out the bow for a gender neutral stripe for my friend's baby. That way if Daddy gets his wish for a boy, the hat will work just fine. And if big sis (who's 2) gets her wish for a little sister, then her sister will just be Sporty Baby.

Um...I'm not so sure how I feel about this

Apparently the latest Jane Austen craze is to have zombies attack the Bennet women. As if finding a suitable husband and practicing such useful skills as the pianoforte and needle work weren't stressful enough for a woman wearing several layers and a whale bone corset.

The book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is due out in April.

And if we're lucky (note sarcasm), I'm sure we'll see Mr. Darcy slaying the zombies while riding through what was once the green peaceful meadows now drenched in blood from the mere commoners unable to flee their undead fate on the big screen.

Mmmm....now these are good

I'm always on the lookout for good snack recipes - especially granola bars. I don't like store bought ones, they just don't taste right. So the other day, when I saw this posting over at Living Senses, I knew I had to give these a whirl.

Just like Heather, I improvised a few ingredients to work with what was in my pantry (and my taste buds). Here's what I ended up with. And let me tell you, they are yummy!

Groovy Granola Bars (adapted slightly from Heather's recipe)

2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup wheat bran

1/4 cup ground flax seed (I used flax seeds as I couldn't get my food processor to grind them)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup Whole Wheat flour

1/2 cup regular flour

3/4 cup dried cranberries

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup honey

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Once I had it all mixed together I decided my granola bars needed chocolate chips. I threw in a handful of chocolate chips. Ok 2 handfuls. Ok, they were generous handfuls.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. The mixture will be slightly crumbly. Press into a well greased 9X13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Heather warns to cut the granola bars after 5 minutes of cooling.

I really don't think I'll be buying granola bars again as my search is over!

Capitan Hat

While it may look like there hasn't been a lot of knitting around the Knitting Knot lately, it's because I've been too busy knitting to blog about it. But now I'm done:

Project: Capitan

Yarn: Lambs Pride Chunky in Dark Gray

You can't really see the cables and the band due to the dark color of the yarn and lack of natural light in my plastic wrapped home.

It was a quick and easy knit. I'm ready for more cooler temps in Seattle!

Maybe it's just me?

But right now, I'm not loving the idea of a crock pot? Maybe I'm not using the right recipes which incidentally, I'm getting from the recipe book that came with the slow cooker that I have.

Here's my issue:

If this gadget is supposed to save me precious time/energy in the kitchen, then why the hell do I have to get up at 7 or 8 am to brown the pot roast and chop the veggies in order to eat dinner at a normal time? Because 7 or 8 am on a weekend isn't normal to me.

While the pot roast is very good (and last time I did this I did wash/chop everything the night before), but come on, browning meat at 8 am on a Saturday isn't my idea of saving me time or energy.

A little help here please?

I HEART the Fabric Depot

The next time you are in the Portland area (and you are a crafter), you must check out the Fabric Depot. It's 1 1/2 acres of fabric, sewing supplies, all kinds of notions and crafting supplies. It's huge. It's overwhelming. It's fabulous. While the place itself isn't that impressive (it's in an old Fred Meyer store or something like that and has terrible signage), the fabric collection is very impressive. Oh, and did I mention that everything is basically 30% off? And that it's in Portland, Oregon - no sales tax! And when you're coming from a state like Washington with high sales tax, it's essentially like another 10% off!

Here what pretty things that made it home with me:

Some pretty fabric for a variety of projects.

This soft and cuddly flannel for a baby that will grace us with his/her presence later this year.

And these Moda fabric squares. I'll admit, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these, but I'm very into the retro fabrics as they remind me of my Grandma Doris - the original crafter/artist in my life. I feel like collecting the fabrics that remind of me of her will somehow bring her closer to me even though she's no longer here. I'm thinking these may end up in a lap quilt. I'm also thinking if that's the case, I'll need another pack or two of them.

So, when you go to the Fabric Depot - be prepared. Go with a list. Go with a plan. Do spend time wandering the fabrics and feeling the pretty softness of it all, but don't let it overtake you. Thanks to Jessica for this tip and the idea of checking it out in the first place! This will be a permanent stop on all my trips down south! Maybe I'll see you all there sometime!

*Editor's note: I'd like to apologize to my dad for this post. He did ask me not to mention this place to my mom, as her fabric collection spans two rooms in their house (including what was formerly known as Meg's Room, now the Fabric Room Annex). But, dad, we crafters must stick together. And come on, how many sporting good/hardware stores have we girls wandered through as you checked out all the gadgets and gizmos? Yeah, thought so.