Desperation is when you leave the box of Lindt chocolates that your daughter gave you in your bedroom on a 38C summer's day and they melt, and you want the chocolate so bad that you can't wait to put them in the fridge to reset but suck the molten chocolate off the wrapper until you get a paper cut on you lip from the wrapper's edge.
Not that I would know anything about that, of course.
I have just completed writing our Christmas cards and enclosing a letter in each. I am feeling rather superior right now!
I find writing Christmas letters rather an anxious task, as it is often the only communication that you have with someone all year, and you want to make sure you share the information with your family and friends, but you don't want to be boring, and you don't want to sound like you are bragging, so you have to try and strike the right cord. I strive for somewhere between sharing the news and making them feel that their pathetic life is still ok. I mean, as a Flamingo Dancer, obviously whatever I do is far superior to anyone else, but I don't want them to feel too depressed during the Season To Be Merry, and we all know the statistics about depression and suicide at this time of year, so one must be careful. It is trying, but of course I can rise to any occasion.
Aren't you glad that you aren't on my Christmas list? Now that is something to be grateful for this Christmas!
This weekend was devoted to the loft bed that has been sitting in pieces around the bedroom and apartment. We've been sleeping on a mattress on the floor in an unfinished loft bed frame for about two or more months now. Quite the eyesore. I thought we would have gotten around to fixing up our bed a lot sooner than we had, but when you work a lot, many things suffer. Beds, social life, hygiene, sleep schedule, etc.
The bed was a whole lot of drama we just didn't want to deal with, I guess.
It was given to us. It's from Ikea, but Ikea doesn't make this design anymore.
And as luck would have it, we lost some important hardware that Ikea ALSO doesn't make anymore.
(We found that out halfway through constructing the bed, which is why we were sleeping in a frame.)
Anyway, we figured out another way to make things work.
And here you go:
I don't like being up that high.
The plus side is that we will be making the space underneath a little lounge area, which will be good.
I'll let you know what it looks like in three months.
My niece has been talking about doll houses for weeks! She wants one for christmas and she is making sure everyone knows!
While I am sure my sister is going to get her a nice big one, I came across this Winter Village and decided I was going to make her a little recycled one.
I had a small cardboard box and made the roof with a cereal box. I cut a door flap (kind of wide to make it easier to play inside) and started to paper mache.
!st coat - junk mail
I think instead of people I am going to make guinea pigs for occupants. She has a guinea pig and this way I wouldn't be trying to compete with the people doll house that her mom will be getting her.
I have this picture on my computer of guinea pigs I want to make. I don't remember where I saved it from... probably craftster.org... but I will use it as my inspiration.
I will add photos of the house after I take them.
Honeymoon with my brother - I first heard of this book on the today show many years ago and then a few years ago I found it at the thrift store so I picked it up. It has sat on my shelf and collected dust since. I decided I was going to throw in a few of the books I have on my shelves and mix them up with the awesome books I get from the library.
This book was a solid good. He talked about the journey he and his brother were on, but also the inner journey he was on. We all have our own personal journeys to make and I was able to connect with many of his feelings.
Enjoyed it!
I tried the Make it do recipe for white chocolate peppermint popcorn the other night. I had enough stuff on hand to make a small batch.
The ingredients...
I had leftover Wiltons white chocolate melting chips (leftover from making zombie fingers for halloween!). I had leftover Peppermint chocolate bits from last christmas (still tasted yummy!) . I took a few candy canes from the christmas tree. Popcorn is a staple in our house since we discovered how easy it is to make kettle corn!
Mixed it all together following the recipe... and Voila!
It's delicious! It would have been better with more chocolate but I didn't want to go to store and just used the amount that I had (much less than the recipe called for).
Would make nice addition to food gift basket for christmas.
So none of the people who I am giving
socks to this year read this blog which means I can put them all in the
entry for posterity before I give them out…
Apologies before I start for the picture quality - in Winter it is hard to get the decent natural light you need for good photos.
1. These are the Rambling Rose (pattern
by the Yarn Harlot) socks which I knitted up in some yarn wool and
nylon blend yarn from Knot Another Knitter in this gorgeous purple and
grey colour which was a mis-dye! When I first started knitting with it I just couldn't get into it and then when I got them out for photographing I suddenly fell i love with them. Despite the fact this is a mis-dye I think it looks amazing and should be
a regular colour.
I ended up doing the second sock wrong by putting the panel on the wrong side of the foot but I couldn't work out how I did it and I thought they look nice enough anyway so I am leaving them as they are. I loved this pattern and will definitely use it again, especially as this was the real beginning of a love affair with turn down cuffs which I seem to have acquired.
2. The Target Practice Socks (from Knitty) which are knitted in Socks that Rock Mediumweight Pink Granite.
These looked more fun to knit that they
actually were. They were very hard on the hands partly because I had a
very tight guage and partly because of the pattern. They do look good
but they fit a little bit weird so I don’t think I will be making them
again. Unfortunately this was about the time I discovered I much
prefer STR lightweight to mediumweight but the only skeins I have left
are both mediumweight. Nevermind I still love STR!
3. The Magus Socks knitted in Violet Green's Merino, Cashmere, Nylon base yarn and leftover orange Wollmeise.
These are socks for my Dad using a modified verion of Cookie A's Cauchy Socks which are a sort of fancy triangular ribbed pattern. They knitted up pretty quickly despite the massive size (size 13 - I used 80 stitches over 2.75m needles). I was worried that I would run out of yarn (because of these being for such big feet) and that is why I chose to do the contrasting heels and toes. I actually think that the contrasts look even better though and make the socks really pop.
4. The Other knitted presents I believe have been blogged before so Cowl (homemade pattern), Ribbed Sky full of Bees, Nutkins in Kaw Kaw and finally the Komet Socks in Indigo Moon which are being given to my pa from work.
Recently I had some unsettling things happen. Nothing terrible just something which unsettled me a great deal for a couple of weeks. Almost as soon as I happened I found some Tide Pooling STR on Ravelry for sale in lightweight. I loved this colour when it came out in the club and was really hoping I would be able to buy it. Clearly this was a sign so I got it straight away and very shortly it arrived.
Immediately I cast on for Cat Bordhi's Jewelled Steps Socks as I really
thought (correctly as it happens) that this would best show off the
varigated yarn. Basically I knitted out all my stress into these
socks. Partway through the first one I realised that the sums were
wrong and it was far too long (and too long in a way which would have
meant I ran out of yarn). So I ripped out about 1/3 of the whole of
the first sock and started again. And I didn't mind doing it at all
because knitting these socks in STR lightweight on Harmony needles
(2.5mm) was nothing but a complete joy from start to finish.
They are now finished and despite having knit them through such a stressful time everytime I look at them all I can think about is how calming the experience of knitting them was. I am not wearing them yet however. I have (in the last few years) started a trend of making sure that I wear a new pair of hand knitted socks every New Year's Day. It is a silly little tradition of indulgence that I have created for myself. They are in storage until New Year's Day or until I have finished another pair of socks for myself between then and now.
Currently I am knitting J another pair of Orange Socks - I am using the Saxony Pattern (72 stitches on 2.5mm needles) and some great merino cashmere sock yarn from Cariad Yarns in this fabulous bright colour. I am getting a bit of laddering on the needles which is annoying but I think I can block it out in the final product. I have made the heels unusual wide because a) J has strangely high arches and b) I was very worried that the intense cable pattern would make these very hard to get on over the instep. So far they fit him like a dream but the extra yarn has left me panicking I don't have enough to finish them. I am persevering and if the worst comes to it I have some other orange yarn which will have to finish a toe or something.
I am also knitting some red socks for R. I have never knitted socks for R before but I am confident she is someone who truly appreciates knitted gifts and she has dropped several hints over the last couple of years that she would like more knitted socks (I am not her only source of them you see!) I realised that knitting her a pair of socks was probably well overdue and so last Sunday I cast on for a pair of Kai Mai socks from Cookie A's Sock Innovation book (66 stitches on 2.5mm needles). I started out with some Lisa Souza Yarn but the gauge was totally wrong and I ripped out half a sock and then picked another yarn instead. This time I got out the red yarn of Unknown Origin. This is the yarn that Triskellian and I bought together about 3 years ago at Ally Pally. We bought 500g of it for £5! And then eventually split it in half. I already used some of it on the "push me pull me" socks in stripes with plain black yarn (and I happen to think that the PMPM socks are probably some of the most gorgeous and striking I have ever knit for myself) It is lovely stuff and really well dyed and doesn't seem to have lost its colour at all in the PMPM socks. I have now completed 1.5 Kai Mai socks in the red yarn (after having ripped out 3/4 of a foot for getting the second pattern repeat spiralling the wrong way and only realising far too late) and they look great. I will be giving them to R but only because I have a will of iron!
I am finally ready to admit something - 3 years after I first noticed the problem, our breadmaker really is just broken now. The only thing it is useful for is occasionally making pizza dough or pitta dough. Everything else - even wholemeal dough! Is coming out like a brick.
In fact the last couple of batches of bread were so bad that I began to doubt my ability to make bread at all. Enter "Fresh from the Oven" a bread baking community who post monthly bread making (by hand) challenges and you have to complete 8 in a year. I have been watching it for some time through the Domestic Goddess in Training blog and when I admitted the breadmaker was dead I decided to join myself.
I joined just in time for the December challenge which I shall be tackling this coming weekend but I also wanted to get a bit of practice in before hand so I decided to do the November challenge as well for a fast knead plain white loaf. The recipe is here on the DGIT blog. Well after several dodgy wholemeal loaves this was an absolute joy to make, the dough was easy to handle (the short kneads meant it wasn't too arduous) and using oil instead of flour is completely inspired. The first loaf was light and tasty and looked like this:
The 2nd and 3rd loaves were likewise and this is now the new favourite bread recipe in the Fraxknits household. There are a lot of fiddly bits to this recipe and I slavishly followed all of them each time (except I doubled the amounts to make loaves 2 and 3) and I can confidently say it was worth it and I shan't ever be tempted to cut corners if I make this again.
December is Stollen and I remember when I finally got access to the public blog to pick up the recipe being really rather excited by the prospect. This is precisely why I joined the blog. To make things I wouldn't normally make and improve my skills. So this Sunday J is out and I have a day to myself. I am going to spending it wrapping Christmas presents in front of old Dr Who episodes and making this Stollen recipe. Probably with some knitting and maybe some creative writing thrown in as well.
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