A Quick Knit

This was a SUPER fast knit that was churned out over the 20+ hour car trip (one way) back home for my sister's wedding. 

 

The pattern is Lara's Cowl from Coats & Clark.  Available free online, a plus. 

Of course, I had to make it. Because let's face it, my name isn't that common, so it's REALLY COOL when I find something other than Dr. Zhivago or Tomb Raider with my name in it :)

It was a really fast knit too.  Like I said, all in the car trip.  I think the actual knitting took less than a day and a half of driving.  The only reason it's listed as longer on my Ravelry project page is that it took a few days for me to get a chance to block it and weave in the ends!

 

  

The yarn I used was Berroco Sundae, colorway 8717 Stilton.  It's a pretty nice wool-acrylic blend, more wool than some of them.  It does tend to fuzz a bit, but a lot of single-ply yarns are like that.  I wouldn't use it for anything really hard-wearing, but I wouldn't mind using it again.  For something that gets LOTS of wear, the fuzziness would probably be more of an issue.  Also, for where I'm living, it'd probably be pretty warm for much more than accessories!  I knit this in October, after all, and it was nearly a month before it cooled down enough to wear it.  Silly TX!

 

In the pictures above, with all the sunshine, you can see the stitch pattern so much more clearly, but it does wash the colors out a good bit.  The downside to working with dark yarn, after all.  In real life, the yarn is like a heathered Black Watch tartan - dark navy and greens all mottled up.

I used the entire 3 skeins of yarn in this project.  The only alteration I had to make was shortening the final boarder just a little because I was running out of yarn.  Other than that, no alterations or variations.  Pretty straight-forward.
 

There are a lot of ways to style a cowl this big, as I've learned.

 

 

And a final silly pose, all snuggled into the nice warm hood that it makes.  Just because :)
(And yes, that's why my hair's so fuzzy in the other pictutres!)

 

 

It's raveled here.

Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday: One for Zach

This is a recipe a family friend made regularly for him in school, and he's been asking me to try it for a while.  I found a bunch of variations on Pinterest from numerous blogs, food.com, and cooks.com, and have combined the pieces I like into one recipe.  Take your pick for where you want to start, as this appears to be a classic recipe!  

So here goes.  

And yes, I'm posting this partially so I have all my notes on the recipe in one place :)

Frog Eye Salad 

(or as he calls it 'Frog Salad' - I think I like that name better, less witches' brew-ish!)

 

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt (divided)
• 1 3/4 c. pineapple juice
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 qts water
• 1 tbsp. cooking oil
• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. acini de pepe or rose marie orzo (we use orzo) 

• 3 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges, drained
• 2 (20 oz.) cans pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (9 oz.) carton non dairy whipped topping (i.e. Cool Whip)

 

Optional Ingredients

• 1 c. miniature marshmallows (yeah, these aren't exactly optional in our house!)
• 1 (14 oz.) can fruit cocktail
• 1 (14 oz.) can peaches 
• 1 (14 oz.) can pears 
• 9 oz. maraschino cherries, halved
• 2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 c. coconut

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. 
2. Gradually stir in pineapple juice and well-beaten eggs. 
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened. 
4. Add lemon juice.
5. Cool to room temperature. 
6. Bring water for pasta to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon oil and remaining 2 teaspoons salt
7. Add pasta and cook until done (about 10 minutes, or according to package directions). 

 
8. Drain, rinse and drain again. 
9. Cool to room temperature. 
10. Combine egg-juice mixture and pasta, mixing lightly but thoroughly.
11. Refrigerate overnight (or, at least several hours) in air-tight container. 
12. Next day, mix in rest of ingredients, tossing lightly.  If it seems dry, add in some of the fruit juice from the canned fruits as well.
13. Chill in air-tight container. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Variations

• The coconut makes a good topping, apparently.  Zach's not a coconut fan, so I didn't include it, but there were several versions that included it.  Those recipes did say that if using the coconut as a topping, don't add in the coconut with the other fruit.  Instead, sprinkle it on top when you're ready to serve.
• The mix-ins are very customizable.  The fruits can all be adjusted to include ones you prefer.  And the marshmallows are optional (except in our house!) so if you're looking for a little less sugar in the dish, that's one change to make too.
• The recipe on food.com was a noticeably different variation, using vanilla pudding and milk instead of the cool whip.  Haven't tried it yet, but might be worth a try.

Do note, there is a lot of chilling involved in this one.  It's a very easy dish to put together, but it's not a last-minute option, with all of the fridge time involved.

Stores well refrigerated for up to a week.  One recipe version also said that the salad also may be frozen, but noted that freezing will alter the texture a little.

 

Makes 25 servings.  YES - this makes A LOT!  I actually don't have a container/casserole dish/serving bowl big enough to hold a batch, so it chilled in my fridge in my biggest mixing bowl (which is ENORMOUS, by the way).  So, if you aren't making this for a function, it's an easy enough recipe to halve.

Homesickness: A Knitting Project

No, this project isn't as depressing as the title sounds.  Still, though, it is a project that reminds me of home.  The yarn colorway is Virginia Beach, my hometown.  I honestly never though of VB as a 'brown town', especially after living in the Mojave and in Central TX.  Maybe the tweedy brown is supposed to be the Virginia Beach sands?  The pattern name is the area of Virginia Beach where my high school was (is) located.  And I guess it is good for homesickness too, those days when you just want to wrap yourself up in a blanket and pretend you're somewhere you aren't (usually via book or movie, for me).

My project is raveled here.

 

The yarn I used was Lion Brand Hometown USA.  Big, bulky, acrylic.  Not much more to be said, really.  It comes in some gorgeous colors, though, and it's honestly not the scratchiest acrylic I've used.  I'd use it again if I find the right project.  And, being Lion Brand, it was easily available, even in my tiny town.  Hobby Lobby didn't carry the yarn, but Wal-Mart did, so between the two in our area, I was able to get enough for the project.  I did have to compromise and ended up with 3 different dye lots of the colorway - I know, I know, cardinal knitting sin.  I was anxious to get started on the project, though, and didn't want to wait for a restock!  It worked out pretty well, anyway.  The yarn is mottled enough, and the pattern busy enough, that you really can't tell.  Had it been a solid color, I probably wouldn't have gotten away with it, but it worked out just fine with this combination.

The pattern is the Pembroke Wrap by Andrea Rangel.  It was first published in the Fall 2011 Interweave Knits, and is now available in the online Interweave store. 

It's a very straightforward pattern in most respects.  The only part that hung me up was at the end of the Arrowhead lace, where she talks about following the chart until there are 3 repeats.  I was reading that as 3 repeats of the whole chart vertically, not 3 repeats of the pattern horizontally.  I think it was all my issue, but in case anyone else makes the same mistake, don't try to just continue on in the lace for another repeat or two of the chart.  Your stitches won't match up and you'll be pulling your hair out! 

 

I liked the pattern and I liked my results, but I don't think I'd make this again, unless I was using a lighter yarn.  It's very bulky (bulky yarn, duh) and I just like something a little lighter weight around my neck, especially here in TX.  Too hot to get too much use from it, worn around the neck like that!  In a lighter yarn, though, this could work.  I'll stick with the sock-weight shawls for the most part.

I did make a few modifications to the original pattern. 

• I wanted it bigger than the original pattern, to be something nice and snugly to wrap myself in when I needed a warm hug.  In other words, I wasn't making a bandana sort of neck shawl like in all the pattern pictures.  I wanted a bigger, wrap-all-around-my-shoulders sort of shawl.  A blanket with shaping and a button, really.  So, I needed another repeat.  A Ravelry user had already figured out how to add another lace repeat before the lace edging, so I followed her directions.  You need the separate directions because the end of the lace and the beginning of the lace (if you're repeating the chart) don't match up in stitch count.  This user had worked out how to start the next chart repeat and adjust your stitch count to make it all work out.  Another bonus?  As she pointed out, this also means that you can use a lighter weight yarn for the shawl as well.  Thank you, thecalicolover! 
• The other modification I made was inspired by another Ravelry user, Lana-Luna.  I really liked how she added the button to keep her wrap in place on her shoulders.  So, I found some nice dark wood buttons that looked nice with my yarn, and added some myself!

Two last pictures.  The picture below of the left shows the pattern better.  The one of the right is closer to the true color.

 

I'm Back!

No, I'm not lost in the jungle.  Not fallen off the face of the earth.  Not dropped into a cave either (not even intentionally!).  I'm still hanging in there.

 

I realize it's been about 3/4 of a year now since my last post.  I'm not giving any excuses, just know there is a multitude of reasons.  In short, Real Life got a bit too much to handle, and I couldn't find time or thought or energy to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard, whatever) to blog. 

 

But I'm back now! 

 

I'm finally feeling better, with life settling down a good bit.  It's a very good sign that I'm actually ready to chatter again about what's going on in my little corner of the world.  I'll be posting some catch-ups over the next few weeks - knitting and crafting projects I've finished that I want to share, recipes I've tried, movies I've watched, books I've read... all my usual stuff.  So, expect a flurry of posts over the next few weeks as I catch up, and then things should settle down into a regular rhythm again.

 

Anyhoo, it's good to be back!

Suprise!!

This is just a quick little post about a tiny little race, but I'm very excited about it and had to share. 

The race this morning was one of the free 5Ks that MWR hosts on base.  I was actually pretty excited about it.  The weather was gorgeous.  We'd had an unexpected cool front move through, so it was about 60 degrees, a bit cooler than usual for this time of year in TX.  60 degrees, sunny, light breeze - really couldn't ask for better conditions.  And running felt great - strong, powerful, comfortable.  How running is supposed to feel!

So, I run my race, and am chatting with Zach and a friend at the end of the race, and all 3 of us had run really good races.  His friend and I had both run PRs, and Zach had comfortably beaten his goal time (his PR was way back in high school and was crazy-fast).  I had dropped so much time off my old PR (which was, by the way, about 5 years old, but I hadn't run close to that in ages) that I was wondering if I'd set my watch wrong.  I go by my wristwatch on these races, as (being free) there aren't the big time clocks around the course and no chip-timing, so my own stopwatch is usually my most accurate time.  Hearing that the guys had both had unexpectedly great runs too, I was wondering if the course had been mis-measured.  You know, 3 miles instead of 3.1.  I simply felt too good to have been that much faster than usual!

So, we got home, pulled up LogYourRun and mapped out the course.  No, it really was a full 5K!  I had just dropped almost a minute and a half from my best time!  Apparently running in an area in almost perfect weather, without high winds and absurd dryness, will make a difference. No, I don't miss the desert! 

And my new PR makes me feel like a Runner!  I ran 26:47, which is about a 8:38 pace.  My old PR was 28:00, which is a 9:00 minute pace.  I seem to hang out around the 10:00 pace a lot, which isn't anything to sneeze at, but can be considered more of a Jog than a Run.  But now, my PR pace is under 9 minutes!  That would be right about a 2 hr half-marathon!  That's getting into Real Runner territory!!  I've been bouncing off the walls all day thinking about it.  So proud of myself  :)

And really, how often do you run a race so well, surprise yourself so solidly that you're more likely to believe that the course is inaccurate than that you ran so fast?

Review: the Thin Red Line

Yup, some more movie chatter!  Most of my viewing time recently has been TV shows, several of which might make there way here eventually, but yes, we do still watch movies from time to time :) This was one that had ended up on my queue after reading one of the Top 100-type lists.  I can't remember if it was in an article or one of the AFI lists, or what, but it was ranked as one of those 'movies you should see.'  So I did!  Here you go, my thoughts on The Thin Red Line.

Plot:  The movie follows an Army company during the Battle of Guadalcanal, from the landing on the beach through much of the fighting.  An ensemble piece with a very strong cast, the film examines the soldiers' thoughts and reactions to the bloodiness and chaos of the war they have been drawn into.

There are two areas of comments that I have for this movie - artistic merits and entertainment value.  It really is one of 'those movies' when it comes to art v. entertainment.  And the movie will appeal to some and not to others for exactly this reason.  If you're looking for a daring-do sort of adventure movie or a more 'traditional' sort of war movie, this is not the film for you.  Even other modern war movies, like "Saving Private Ryan" for example, while less traditional, are much more plot driven than this one.  "The Thin Red Line" explores greater themes using the war as a setting, rather than the story itself.  It really doesn't matter what battle, or even what war, this company is involved in.  Amidst the chaos of battle, the characters examine themes like courage, death, and the existence of God, among others.  I'm sure they could have set a similar story in WWI, Vietnam, modern day fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The point is more the human reaction to war, not the battle itself.  Very much a 'thinking' war movie.

And this cerebral aspect makes it an interesting movie, one to watch at least once.  It's a very Artistic take on a war movie.  I considered it a 'surreal vision of the idea that War Is Hell.'   The way they play with sound for example - some of the most chaotic, bloodiest, violent scenes of battle are almost soundless, simply a character's voice-over or an light instrumental piece.  Where another movie would be at one of it's loudest points, this one is at one of it's softest.  It give the fighting a very detached feel, like you have been inescapably sucked into the storm, but that you are watching from outside as it swirls around you.  The pacing too - things that might have been the focus of another movie (action scenes, battle, etc) are more quickly paced and more time is spent on the build-up to battle and on the aftermath.

Thinking of pacing, this is veeeeeery slowly paced (it is 3 hours, after all).  It honestly took me a good third of the movie to get into the story and to distinguish and care about any of the characters.  This is where the 'entertainment value' critique comes in.  I will care much more about the philosophic pondering of someone if I can distinguish them from each other.  Characters also appear and disappear from the story with little announcement or explanation.  Yes, I realize that's how battle goes, but it does make it harder to follow which soldier is following which train of thought.  And thinking of details almost omitted, I had to look up the plot description first to even know what battle they were preparing to fight.  It was very vaguely discussed at first, more talk of "taking the airstrip" or "taking the island" rather than Guadalcanal as a specific name.  I guess this was done intentionally, to keep the movie as more of a commentary on war itself, as opposed to this specific battle.  For an entertaining movie, one typically turns to plot-driven films.  This is much more slowly paced, taking the viewer through the characters thoughts as they face battle and survive it.  Quite honestly, philosophic epics aren't usually what one chooses for light afternoon fare.  Still, if you're looking for something deeper, this is a well-done film.

Finally, the cast.  This is another area in which the film excels.  It's an ensemble piece, and just about everyone who has a speaking line is Somebody, or became Somebody.  The leads, if there are any, are played by Sean Penn and Jim Caviezel, as a jaded sergeant and a quiet, spiritual, almost ethereal private.  Caviezel does a lot of the narrating, and his soft, smooth voice suits well all the talk about finding courage and finding what lies after death.  Penn's gruff sergeant tries more to find the numbness that will let him survive this carnage after being in so many other battles.  Ben Chaplin plays another major role, as a soldier thinking of his wife at home (definitely a part where the movie drags, as he dreams of his wife).  Chaplin's longing and sadness give him probably the most emotional character.  It's a very strong cast, and seeing the reputation of the director, I'm sure people were falling over themselves to be a part!  

Overall: 3 of 5.  Liked it, very well done, but also very veeery long.  Hard to get into, and hard to feel for the characters for easily the first third of the movie.  Not one for the shelf, but I'm glad I've seen it now.

Pinteresting Wednesdays - shelf signs

A little home decoration this week on Pinteresting Wednesday.

 

This is one of those Shelf Word Frame Things.  I'd give an original inspiration pin, but there are so many variations out there, that it would be hard to pinpoint my exact inspiration.  Some use blocks or wood pieces for each letter, others (like mine) use picture frames, some use candles for each letter, and still others use those apothecary jars that are so popular.  Some are for holidays - "Boo" for Halloween, for example, or "XOXO" for Valentine's Day.  Others are more general, like "Home."   Like I said, lots of variations! 

Here, I humbly present my version "Read", made for our library at the house (the room with all my bookshelves and the main computer desk). 

Materials:

• Picture frames, enough for 1 per letter.  I got mine at the Dollar Tree.  I wanted them to be "a set but not matching" so they are each a different style, while all being the same photo size.  You can mix or match yours however you want, obviously :)
• Old book.  I used an old law text that was being discarded by the library where I work (if you look closely, you'll see that the pages all mean something to me by topic!).  Libraries and used book stores will be a great source for this part.  Make sure the pages of your book are big enough to fit inside your frames without gapping.
• Chipboard letters. I used chipboard instead of wooden letters or scrapbooking letters because they were the size I wanted, were not too big that they couldn't fit beneath the glass of the frame, were cheaper than scrapbooking letters, and
• Spray paint in desired color.  I used Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze.
• Glue.

Instructions:

1. Spray paint letters and frames desired color (prime if needed, depending on material, paint, etc).  As I mentioned above, I used the Oil Rubbed Bronze color on both the letters and the frames.  It took several coats to achieve a nice rich look, but I like the end result a lot.  Let dry completely.
2. Trim book pages so that they fit inside the frames.
3. Place your painted letters in the desired positions on each page.  I tried to keep mine centered in each frame, and (of course) lined up with the text of the pages.
4. Glue letters in place.  Let dry.
5. Place pages with letters in frames.
6. Arrange on shelf!  I love simple projects :)

Here you go, in place on top my bookshelves in the library: