Hurray for quick projects!

While I still love working on the shawl I designed, it is still a shawl.  I even saved the charts in a printer friendly version if I try and sell the pattern online.
If I had more time to knit and didn't have to do anything else, I would be a lot farther.  So instead of showing a picture of a very small shawl, I wanted to show you something done.  It also helped me since I was able to get this done very quickly.  There is nothing like those small projects when you feel like something else is dragging on.

The ball band gives you a pattern, but I didn't like the look of the finished product on the front.  My friend and I were wondering if not many of these yarn skeins sold because of that reason.

 Here it is on.  It really is nice and cushy.  I like how the Möbius style lets is lay flat.  My friend did some arm knitting with hers and she was able to make a full scarf out of it.
This is how I made it:
I cast on 5 sts and did seed stitch until I was almost out of yarn. I bound off, twisted one end once and sewed them together with the tail.

This is a Paula Red apple.  I thought it just looked so pretty I had to get some.  I did not like them.  I like my apples to be very crisp.  The crisper the better.  If I had checked online I would have learned that "it has a firm white flesh that becomes soft and mealy extremely quickly as its season declines."  Oopsies.

Buffets Everywhere!

 Image from the internet.

 Let me tell you a tale.  Years ago there were two buffet places right next to each other.  One went by the name of Super Buffet and the other by Total Buffet.  Super Buffet was where you went for Chinese food and Total Buffet was where you went for Korean BBQ.  Unlike most Korean BBQs, the meat was buffet style too.  You did not have to order one style of meat, everyone could choose their own.  The sweet beef and the spicy octopus were my favorites.  You could also get a few options of sushi to go with your amazing grilled meats.  There were not a ton of options, but there were enough.

 Image from the internet.

One day there was a ‘for sale‘ sign on the doors of Total Buffet.  Before too long another Korean BBQ place by the name of GA Go Pa moved in to the location.  It made sense, there were already burners at every table and vents above.  They were more like a typical Korean BBQ and made you choose what meats you wanted from a menu.  There was, however, a larger buffet area of other items.  Fried noodle bundles, more sushi, and even some desserts.  The major downside was the fact that the vents were not run the same way.  Instead of turning them on when someone was cooking at a table, each row would get a turn.  This did not work out since a few rows might not have people in them, but the vents would turn on for a set period of time.

  Image from the internet.

Since people did not like this, it has been replaced by yet another Korean BBQ.  From what I have read online, there is no buffet part anymore.

It follows the same idea.

Today will be blocking day!  Yay!  Though this sounds like a lot more will get done than probably will.  It doesn't help me that I only have one dedicated blocking spot and a few large things to block.  We will try and make this work.

I have watched this video about Korean Shabu Shabu a ton of times, it helps they are both funny and adorable together.  Each time I see it I not only think it is a very good idea, but I also get very hungry.  You use all the broth but don't have just one type of food.   I always feel like the broth part of your meal at The Melting Pot is always wasted.  You cook things in it, make it more interesting, then they take it away.

So I am going to do my own version on Shabu Shabu/Hot Pot!  It is not going to be me trying to replicate what I saw, but more use what I saw as guild line.

I first made the rice and set that off to the side since I will be using the same pot again.  Do you like my rice holding bowl?

I then made broth and heated it.  I don't have any thinly sliced beef, but I do have some bacon that is getting old and needed to be used up.  They also had some veggies, so I threw in dried shiitake mushrooms.

While I did not have thick noodles like they had, I had a package of Ramen.  I did not use the seasoning packet because I knew that the broth base and the bacon would have made the broth salty enough and I didn't have to add to it.  I added some spinach at the end so it would wilt a little but not become bitter.
In the picture is also the beginning of a shawl.  It only has one stitch marker at this point because I thought I had two on me when I started it at the K&CC meeting yesterday but turns out I only had one.

I then added the raw egg and rice and stirred to let it all cook together.  Mine did not get as thick as theirs, but looking back on the video it seems I had more broth left than they did.  I didn't put a lot of it into my noodles when I ate them.  Next time I know I can share more of the broth with the noodles.

For anyone who wants something like a recipe ingredient list, here is what I used:

• 2 c water
• 2 tsp Better Than Bullion veggie
• cooked rice (1/2 c uncooked rice cooked in 1 c water)
• 3 strips of bacon cut in half
• a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms
• big handful of spinach
• 1 egg

This was so good and things cooked a lot faster than I thought they would.  I'm pretty sure the time it took me to cook the rice was longer than all the other cooking steps.

Another note: I know that Knitters and Crocheters Care meetings are usually the fourth Sat of the month and yesterday was only the second one.  We lost the old room that we were meeting in, but Uniquities said we could move to their smaller class room.  This is a pretty small space since it is also used as a storage area.  We will have access to the room when they do not have a Sat class during the three hours we normally meet.  This means that there will be no set weekend in each month for that space.  However, last weekend we tried meeting at Wegmans.  As usual, Wegmans is a fun place to meet.  It also means I wouldn't have to leave early to get food before having to run to work.  So our usual place will be Wegmans with a bonus weekend at Uniquitites.

It's like pie in a cup.

My mom found a listing for some things on Craig's List.  This pottery studio had a bunch of stuff people had made/painted that they had left behind.  They were giving them away today from 4-6pm.

This is the place.  It was back behind a bunch of places I have been to before.  I had no idea there were a bunch of other businesses back there.

They give a bunch of different classes and stuff.  You can take a class on the potter's wheel or just come in and paint a pre-made form.

So while the ad had said that the giveaway was today, it seems people had been stopping in all week.  My mom was hoping to get the flying pig, but that was not still left.  My mom got the cat and I got the Pegasus behind the coffee cup on the right.

Here is where the title of the post comes in to play.  It was the first time I have been to Peet's Coffee.  Since fall is slowly coming and pumpkin things are making an appearance I decided to get the pumpkin chai latte.  It was sooooo good.  It tasted like pie in a cup.  It didn't just have the spices, it tasted like the whole thing.  You could almost taste the crust to go with the smooth pumpkin center and also a hint of whipped cream on top.  I know the sound of crust in a drink sounds bad, but it was not.

On the knitting side.  I have finished the knitting on my kite shawl and just need to block it; my heart cardigan is almost done, I am working on the second sleeve; and I have knitted a swatch for my leaves and vines shawl.  Pictures of those things coming...at some point.

I'm good at starting things!

For as long as I can remember I have been really good at coming-up with ideas and getting the first bits of those ideas started.  Say, making some super cool Kukui nut necklaces the second I saw them in lei form when I was in Hawaii.  I got a few different colors and brought them home.  I found my memory wire and some black cording and set off to make samples to see how my idea would work best.  I bought beads and other fun things to go with the nuts.  So far I have made one for me, one for a friend for her birthday, and one to time myself on about how long it takes to make one.  None have been made to list on my Etsy shop.  I also get the urge to go out and buy all new fabric for a new sewing idea, even though I have a epic ton of fabric and probably didn't use the new fabric I got for the last awesome idea.
I mention this whole long thing because I will sometimes find cool things, or finish a project, but not know what else to mention in a post.  So I have a few partially started posts with nothing but a link or some pictures dumped in them.

This hat is one of them:

I took this hat to block at work before I left for my cabin fun.  You remember the one, where I didn't get any knitting really done but got my legs to a state to baffle doctors.  Well, I didn't have any round objects that were the correct size at home so here it is at work.

Since I was wet blocking it, I had to let it sit for a few nights.  The brim was even still a bit damp when I did take it home with me.  Though since I had left it there so long, it got a bit of notice.  I saw this note on it the second morning it was there.  Why yes, we do have two 'Debbie's at work.  At one point we also had three 'C(h)ristina's and one Christine; and a Mary, Meri, and Gary.  Ours is the store of similar names.

I left this note and mentioned it to at least one of the Debbies.  I hope the other saw it too, but I didn't get to see her before she left for the day.

In case anyone is wondering about how my follow-up with the doc went, it wasn't too bad.  The new doc didn't think I needed any more antibiotics, so that's a nice thing.  He also thought that from what he heard about their previous state that I am healing quite nicely.  My legs are now more of a neon pink than purple and I can be upright for many hours without wanting to cry.  Go me!  I am supposed to supply my poor skin with much aloe vera throughout the day.  It still feels nice.

There is also this guy.  I can not tell you how happy he/she made me.  I love cicadas so much.  It was such an awesome time for me when the 17 year swarm came out.  I had one that would not leave me, I would put him on a random plant, but then he would fly off and land on my leg again.  It took me about 5 tries to get him to stay.  I also had one crawl up to me in a field and start singing his cicada love song at me.  I told the hubby he had competition.  I was super bummed when there was supposed to be another huge batch of them around, but I never saw any.  I hear them all the time, but I love seeing the creepy little buggers.  They are so big but so non-threatening to me.  I went to go rinse out a glass and saw this little guy/gal.  I wish I could let him know how much he made me smile.