iKnit

home again ... from upstate New York!

2005-12-26T12:16:00.000-05:00

We traveled way up north to see our daughter, her husband and the grandchildren. There was a fabulous snow while we were there and we got to take the 3 and 6 year old sledding. You haven't lived until you've taken two small children sledding for the first time!! The oldest one flew down the hill, stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs,

"That was totally awesome! I'm going to do it again and again and again!!"

And he did of course!

I bought some Mountain Mohair from Saratoga Needle Arts (Saratoga Springs, New York) while I was there. I purchased six skeins of rasberry to make a vest (I wanted a smaller project in order to evaluate the yarn.) It knits up like a dream with occasional problems of splitting - the small hassle of working with it is worth it to me as it produces a nice fabric. I'm making the "Artisan's Vest" from the Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book.

I enjoyed visiting this shop very much! They have so much more wool compared to shops I find in the southern US (which makes sense I guess, given our climate.) I love working with wool and I'm cold-natured so I USE it! Our office building is cold year round so my wool sweaters never get a rest! It was so much fun to see a different selection of yarns and I'm hoping that Mountain Mohair may become a staple yarn for me! I'm thinking it will work well for gift scarves; the heathered colors were absolutely beautiful!

Peace and beauty in the season

2005-12-05T21:29:00.000-05:00

Christmas used to be so hard for me. We were so poor when I was a single mom - I'm sure many people have experienced that in one way or another. I think the worst was when I truly wanted to give to others and didn't even have enough for ourselves.

I remarried and we struggled financially at first. As the years went by, we had more and more but Christmas was still such a time of frantic shopping, endless errands, clutter and exhaustion. It never felt quite right except late at night when the tree was lit. I think the pretty lights in a dim room crowded out all the mess.

It was different this year. My oldest son's girlfriend just furnished and decorated the townhouse she bought. It was so pretty. She did it so quickly and on such a limited budget that I blurted out that I'd love to hire her! She graciously accepted and we decided to start with Christmas. We had worked together last year putting up her tree in her small apartment. She filled that tiny place with such warmth and beauty and I wanted that for our home.

I had a picture from a blog that inspired me. The wallpaper in my house is peach (blech!) and the picture I found used silver, white light and greenery. I knew it wouldn't clash with peach but still looked shimmery and special. Mandy approved and off she went.

We shopped together buying new ornaments - I had never purchased new ornaments for an entire tree! I just added one or two to my pitiful collection! The day after Thanksgiving she came and we took out only the things that deserved showcasing. There were a few things my mom had made that still looked good but were traditional red and green. I used those upstairs putting them where they would be seen in an attractive setting.

We put lights and greenery everywhere taking real care. We did the tree together while other family members popped in and out. When we finished, everything was put away neatly.

Every night since then, the house has seemed like Christmas Eve. We've been determined to keep it this way. I bought some casual Christmas china and placements to match and set the table in the breakfast room. Everything seems ready! This weekend, we made a fire by the tree. George and I wrapped a few gifts then calmly put everything away. I worked on Christmas cards while he watched the Colts. We're smiling - no we're purring!

I'm not sure what made the difference - maybe not dragging out every single ornament made by every child from every year since pre-K! I treasure them but they were falling apart and didn't signify the special feelings I have for my children. Maybe it's because the colors aren't clashing. Maybe it's because I finally made it to second grade in the great school of FlyLady. Maybe it's the love Mandy has brought to our family and the friendship that is growing between us. Maybe it's God answering my prayers for His presence to bless my home and family.

But I'll always be thankful for this year that Mandy directed the decorations. I used to feel guilty for wanting to make a lovely home but now I'm seeing that it does minister to those who live here and to those who visit. And I'm wondering if Mandy may discover that this could be a true gift and calling for her?

Looking around at other knitting blogs ...

2005-11-28T23:28:00.000-05:00

I lost my links when updating my template and started looking around at knitting blogs - I haven't done that in a while.

Oh wow! They are so good! Everything is a riot of color. I've got to dig out my digi camera (yeah the cheap one but the pictures are okay for a computer monitor) and start taking pictures.

I haven't knitted in a while and I miss it.

Making some positive changes ... a first step

2005-11-28T12:34:00.000-05:00

According to Dr. Knox ...

Most of what he has counseled me to do involved positive changes - "do more of this" instead of "such and such is forbidden."

Except his first step ... get all trans fats (partially hydrogenated oil) out of your house. Don't finish that last bag of cookies or use up that opened can of shortening. Put it in the trash can.

Now!

The good news is that you can substitute real butter for margarine and shortening.

Here's the reason why you need to do this now: Your body (specifically the blood stream) "sees" the transfat ready to be assimilated into the blood stream. It thinks it is fat and that's cool - it brings it into the blood stream. That's when it realizes it's been faked out - turns out it's a substance that our bodies can't handle. It's already in the blood stream but it doesn't know how to assimilate it. Therefore it just stays in the blood stream ending up as deposits along the arterial walls. The affects aren't reversible - your body can't get rid of this stuff once it is ingested! So please! Don't eat any more of it!

(Please forgive me for my horrible way of translating what was a great lecture into terrible layman's terms. Dr. Knox gives a free nutrition class about every six weeks in Dalton. He explains this stuff very well. I'm a terrible note taker but I'm hoping one of my kids will read this and take it to heart. I'll try to find some good resources to link to later.)

So step 1 - get rid of all foods containing trans fats and don't buy any more that do!

A Healthier Way to Cook and Eat

2005-11-26T13:20:00.000-05:00

Since I'm helping Adam learn how to cook healthier meals for his 6 year old, I thought I'd blog about it.

I'm going on three tracks - one is an equipment list that I'll post with the most essential stretching out the posts so the purchases won't come all at once! The second track is building a repertoire of great basic recipes. The third includes suggestions for changing one's way of eating one step at a time.

I'm getting lots of this material from Dr. Stephen Knox in Dalton, Georgia. I see him for nutritional counseling. I've been his patient for over three years and I don't just don't get sick any more.

This post will be about equipment. You need a good heavy stainless steel saucepan. This month's Consumer Reports had an article on high end cookware and I was impressed with entire sets of high quality stainless for $150. I didn't have that article (ahem!) when I started shopping a few years ago. I bought a stainless steel All-Clad pan for about $100. It has been a wonderful piece of equipment especially since I've burned something to a crisp in it twice. It cleans up wonderfully with a Brillo pad and it cooks well with no hot spots. Ours holds 2 quarts and it just about right for my husband and I. It works well for side dishes when feeding about 6 people too. It will last a lifetime (or two!)

So this is first on my list for Adam and his son. It will last a lifetime and he won't have to worry about the effects of aluminum on his family!

Stay tuned for more ....

Fend for yourself night - a tale of two dinners!

2005-11-26T10:01:00.000-05:00

My husband wanted pizza; since I'm allergic to wheat and cheese we decided it would be "fend for yourself" night! He picked up a frozen pizza and I grabbed a head of fresh broccoli and a pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts. (Nutrition note: Our Kroger has begun carrying a brand of chicken raised without hormones, steroids or antibiotics so that's what I get.)

George started pre-heating the oven to bake his pizza; meanwhile I tossed about half a cup of hot water (we have a water cooler that delivers chilled or heated bottled water) into a stainless steel saucepan and turned the heat to high. I also pulled out a skillet and placed it on another burner - also on high. I quickly washed the broccoli then rough chopped it. That took less than a minute. The veggies went into the saucepan which was already steaming. I covered it, turned the heat down a tad and set a timer for two minutes. I washed and dried a chicken breast (just cold water followed by patting with a paper towel.) By then, the skillet was hot - in went a pat of butter to sizzle followed by a chicken breast. I sprinkled a tiny bit of cajun season on top and let the chicken breast cook for three minutes.

Meanwhile the timer went off for the broccoli. I took it off the heat and uncovered the pan as it was perfect - I didn't want it to keep cooking as much. I drained the water and tossed a pat of butter into the pan tossing the veggies. (Note to self - next time, start the chicken first as it takes longer to cook.) The chicken got turned and the other side sprinkled with the seasoning. I reset the timer for two minutes as three minutes had been more than enough time on the other side - so much of cooking is just paying attention and using good judgement.)

I asked George how his pizza was coming along - he said the oven had just finished preheating and as it would need to bake for at least 10 minutes for me to go ahead without him. By then - the timer went off and there was a huge meal ready in 10 minutes. It was hot, fresh and tasted great! I couldn't have gone through the drive through in less time!

Christmas Hustle and Bustle ... already!

2004-11-28T20:58:00.000-05:00

We have been out shopping quite a bit this weekend and very little knitting is getting done. I had the Jo Sharp sweater in the car and actually got some done during our day trip to Atlanta. The sweater is all in one piece and it's a monstor to drag in and out of the house. It's also a pain to work on as it's so heavy and cumbersome (Note to self: Learn to sew those seams will ya??)

In the meantime, I'm going to start adding favorite links and reads to this blog to hopefully make up for the lack of knitting and other substantial content.

I have found some other blogs and have had way too much fun reading them rather than updating my own!

Conservative Knitters!

2004-11-27T07:05:00.000-05:00

We came home last night with full hearts after visiting our son in Atlanta and I slept so hard! I woke up really early full of energy and started my day visiting a knitting blog I hadn't read in a long time. I used to enjoy it so much but there it was! "Knitters Against Bush!"

Good grief! I'm glad I'm a positive person! There's so much to be optimistic about! As a Republican, I remember being disappointed when Clinton was elected but it wasn't the end of the world! There was so much to be for and knitting could and would not be a venue for negative feelings! I think that's why they lost this election actually. It was more about who they were against and not what they were for.

I guess I'm trying to say that "Knitters for Kerry" would have been fine. "Knitters for (insert blank cause even one I don't agree with)" would have been fine. But "Knitters Against Bush" was not a welcome mat. Not for me anyway!

Ranting over! Anyway I googled for "conservative knitters" again (I did it last month too.) This time, I got hits! The first Knits and Grits! took me to a blog with lots of comments linking to other like-minded blogs. Yeah! I feel like I won the lottery! Thanks for your blog Katie!

Now I'm ready to sign off and figure out how to link to these blogs. I hope to meet you all soon.

Thanksgiving Memories

2004-11-27T06:48:00.000-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope everyone stopping by did as well. It was the best one yet!

It means a lot to me that my siblings and my kids want to be here during the holidays since my mom died. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make the holidays special - that was one of her gifts. I didn't get much practice when she was around but I guess some of it rubbed off.

We're realizing that the traditional Thanksgiving dinner is actually a LOT of easy steps; it's just coordinating and timing everything.

I usually get up early and throw myself into everything. By the time everyone's here and the food is ready, I look and feel like a slob! This year I showered, dressed and did my hair and make up before I even looked at the kitchen. I wore an apron and didn't get too messed up.

Dinner was fabulous! George helped me this year (we usually fight over who gets to cook - in the past, he would let me do Thanksgiving but this year he wouldn't stay away. We cooked together the whole time and managed really well.) We used the book "The Best Recipe" for the turkey except George used his own brining mixture that had soy sauce, red pepper and maple syrup. We bought a free range turkey for the second year. Wow! It was terrific!

He fussed with the turkey (the book recommends roasting back up, then turning to each side and finally roasting breast up for the last 30 minutes.) I made homemade rolls and the fixings. Our son came in and took over finishing up the table setting complete with our china and silver (when did he learn THAT?!!) and lit a fire in the fireplace. We set up an extra table in front of the fire which was really nice. We printed out a list of things to do with time to start for the mission critical items. That helped a lot. Next year, we'll put a start time by every item. It made all the preparations go smoothly. I have the splattered list by my computer now and will update it. I can just print it out next year - am I a nerd or what????

Dinner was slightly behind schedule - about 15 minutes - really no big deal. Everyone came on time! People kept eating and eating and I noticed they lingered over dinner - talking, sharing stories and laughing.

It doesn't get any better than that!

Yesterday we went to Atlanta to spend the day with my other son and his girlfriend. They had Thanksgiving at her family's home - they were all given some devasting news last week (her sister - a young mother - has just been diagnosed with cancer) and they needed a happy together day before she's to report to the doctor to decide on the treatment. Paul and Mandy were good; it was a really good day.

I got to knit all the way there and hope to finish the last sleeve this weekend. I am so ready to be done with this sweater!

I've met a few of you who've stopped by and hope to do a better job blogging now that I'm getting some visitors! I've enjoyed the comments and just want to thank people who've answered questions and helped along the way!

I hope you all have a great holiday season as we count down to Christmas!

Scrappleface

2004-11-23T05:43:00.000-05:00

Apologies to my liberal friends but this guy just cracks me up!

Gore Presidential Library

Remodeling the bath and Jo Sharp ad nauseum

2004-11-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

We thought we would quickly tile the guest bath. It had carpet (okay everybody - eeeeewwwwwww!) We got a video explaining the installation, bought all the materials, ripped up the carpet and got ready to roll - I mean - tile!

Particle board was installed under the carpet. It's in very good shape but an hour's research on Google confirmed our worst fear: one should not install tile over particle board.

It looks like the house won't be together for Thanksgiving after all. Thankfully no one was planning on spending the night and it's a good thing cause there is a toilet sitting in the middle of the guest bedroom!

The house was so cold last night, I came downstairs. I piled the Jo Sharp sweater on my lap and started knitting. Then it hit me why the house was so cold. My husband would only grin.

One sleeve is nearly done - I'm ready to bind off the cuff. The armholes were so deep I had to decrease one stitch at each side every two rows. I'm worried that the sleeves look like batwings but George says they will look fine.

I need to find the digital camera and take some pictures. I feel like I need some advise!!

On another note, don't you love the hot meals that come from the kitchen on these colder days? George is taking the entire week and he had roasted chicken, turnips, potatoes and onions. The house felt warm when I got home this evening and the food was delicious. Maybe I should give up trying to work from home and just write a cookbook so he can be the house mom? Now there's a thought!

Jo Sharp Adaptation - Part III

2004-10-24T14:46:00.000-05:00

I took the gauge of this sweater and found it is 5.5 stitches per inch. Therefore I decided to pick up stitches along the armhole at the rate of 4, then 5 stitches (skipping one between each group.) I knitted the sleeve for about an inch and noticed it was gathering slightly. Ripped (sigh - again) and picked up the rate of 4 stitches for every 5. I've knit nearly 2 inches and it is looking good. This is a huge amount of stitches (192 to be exact and I'm wondering how I'll decrease quickly enough to wind up with a decent looking wrist. I know I just need to subtract the number of stitches I need to end up from the beginning amount and then divide that over the number of rows needed for the sleeve. Why am I resisting doing the math?? (If I had taken two more math classes in college, I would have had a minor in math. As is I took two solid years of calculus for engineers and several junior level math classes. What's my problem anyway?) Maybe I'll embarrass myself to the point that I'll work the numbers before knitting any more of the sleeve.

Is anyone else like that? I gripe about ripping but honestly I most often just make my best guess and then knit away.

Jo Sharp adaptation - Part II

2004-10-21T20:21:00.000-05:00

I googled for the words "pick up knit stitch ratio" and BAM! I was at a Knitty article written by Bonne Marie (www.chicknits.com) herself explaining how she does it. Since my yarn (DK weight) wasn't among her examples, I figured she takes the gauge (x stitches per inch) and subtracts 1.
The resulting number is the number of stitches to pick up per inch.

I'm going to go try it and report back soon.

I'm getting obsessed about finishing this sweater! (I'm not usually project driven but Grandpa wants to wear his sweater before his grandson outgrows his!)

On another note, I'm really distracted by the election coverage, polls and political blogs! I'm a hopeless news junkie but it's wearing me out! It seems like more people are interested in this election which is invigorating. I'm conservative and have several liberal friends at work. The discussions are lively and stimulating!

Jambalya

2004-10-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

Tonight we made one of our favorite dinners - a jambalya that really starts off more like a creole (I don't pretend to really know Cajun cooking - consider this the Tex-Mex version of Louisiana cooking!)

We buy free-range chickens that have been raised without steroids or antibiotics. We've been really happy that two local grocery stores in our small town has started carrying this type of chicken and the prices are coming down. We pay a little more for quality food but haven't noticed a big change in our food budget. I think it's because we no longer buy junk food or sodas. Also I haven't had a sinus infection this year (I usually have one in September.) That alone was over $100 savings. I think it's worth it.

Ingredients:
1 free range chicken
4 links Hans chicken sausage with red pepper and garlic
2 bell peppers
2 onions
several cloves of garlic
3-4 stalks celery
1 large can diced tomatoes
olive oil
2 bay leaves
Cajun seasoning (we use Tony Cachero's) to taste
Brown rice

Boil the chicken until done. Let cool and keep the broth.
After you put the chicken on to begin cooking, start cooking the rice.
Start sauteeing the onions in a bit of olive oil, then add the celery, the green pepper and finally chopped garlic. When the vegetables are soft, either remove or push to the side and add the sausage. I remove it from the casing but you can also slice it up if you prefer it that way.

Keep an eye on the chicken and take it out of the broth to cool once it's done. Let it simmer a few minutes to blend the flavors. Ladel over rice to serve.

This dish freezes really well. You may also add shrimp at the end and other veggies like corn or okra - really just about anything you like.

The can of tomatoes go into the veggie/sausage mixture followed by the cooked chicken pulled from the bone. Add the bay leaves and cajun seasoning. Add some of the broth from cooking the chicken until you get the consistency you like.
Next you can start chopping the veggies while the chicken and rice cook.

After we eat it (a bit soupy and brothy the first night) we mix in the leftover rice and enjoy the leftovers as a thicker version - more like jambalya. We like it both ways and never seem to have enough left to freeze. It's a great meal.

Jo Sharp Sweater

2004-10-19T20:40:00.000-05:00

I call myself an intermediate knitter. I made "Forester" for my grandson from the Jo Sharp book for kids - sorry it isn't handy but I think the book was "Heartland." (I'll edit this post later if I find the book!)

It was a hit - the pattern is easy but the sweater really looks good. Jo Sharp's merino wool is wonderful and the sweater is soft and has worn well.

Grandpa wanted one so I thought "how hard could it be to adapt it to his size?" The sweater is a modified drop shoulder with a crew neck. Well it's been harder than it should have been! My first struggle is that George has lost three sizes since I began the sweater. That's a good problem so I ripped and reknitted. I was comparing to another Jo Sharp sweater I had made him so at least had a point of reference for shaping the neck. All the pieces are knit, the shoulders have been knit together (I used short rows for the first time - yeah me! Man does that look good!!) The stitches for the crew neck ribbing were picked up and the neck is done. Tonight I laid it all out to start seaming (does anyone else dread this part the way I do?) The sleeves are way too narrow. I pulled out the first sweater and the sleeves match perfectly. Somewhere along the way I made the sweater too long in the chest. Thankfully I bought way more yarn than anyone would ever need so I think I'll just pick up the stitches along the "armhole" and knit down to the cuff. I have a row count for the right length. There's a little math to do to know how often to decrease to end up with a properly narrowed wrist. Now I'm looking through my books and favorite blogs to find out the ratio of how many stitches to pick up for each row along the armholes. I'm pretty sure Bonne Marie of Chicknits has written that this relates to the gauge. I haven't been able to find it on her blog. If anyone knows, please help me out and share!!

Thanks for putting up with a long rant. I've been knitting for years but only recently completing garments that I'll let my family wear in public. In other words, only recently enjoying success!! It's hard for me to get all the pieces to fit together as they should in the end.
My husband wears a 37" sleeve so he's been very grateful to receive custom made sweaters that look nice and fit well.

I need to get my digital camera back from my son and start posting pictures - it's so much easier to describe with a good picture!

Really good bread ...

2004-10-19T01:28:00.000-05:00

My daughter Amber and I talked about bread today. I love October; my husband and I fall back into a rhythm of baking bread. Some people are surprised that we can do this given that we both work full time and neither of us works at home. I told Amber that warm bread from the oven elevates a dish to a grand meal. We grind our own flour and I believe that whole grain bread is a simple way to improve one's diet. A grilled cheese sandwich gains quite a bit of nutrition, a soup becomes more warm and filling and a stew becomes special when its juices are sopped with home made bread.

I think the trick is to have a routine for baking and a great recipe that becomes an old standby. You learn the ingredients by heart but you also learn to feel and judge the dough. You learn to tell when it has enough flour and also when it has been kneaded sufficiently.

We use a Kitchen Aid mixer - we've had ours for about 15 years. I throw in the ingredients as soon as I get home from work. The dough hook kneads the dough - it usually takes about 10 minutes. The dough rises while we cook dinner and is usually baking in the oven by the time our dinner is finished cooking. When I'm disciplined and baking daily, there is usually fresh bread from the day before. Sometimes we wait for the bread to come out of the oven and/or time our cooking so it all finishes at the same time. It just depends on what we are having and how hungry we are!

Right now I'm perfecting a whole wheat bread recipe from the book "The Perfect Recipe." I'll report back on this one after a few days (excuse me - loaves!)

A Lame Intro

2004-10-19T00:40:00.000-05:00

I hate pompous introductions and prefer to see how a blogger's personality emerges as they post from day to day.

So that's what I'll do.

Simplified Wellness

2004-10-19T00:12:00.000-05:00

A lot of my thoughts lately center around simplifying life. My daughter Amber has a baby and a toddler at home. She's getting interested in improving the diet of her family but has limited time to shop and cook. I'm trying to remember how I did things (I was a single mom of four attending college full-time and working when my children were little.) I don't remember our food being that bad but I wasn't as careful to avoid processed food as I am now. I relied a lot on one-pot meals and stir fries. Both types of meals included lots of veggies. One standby was a crockpot meal consisting of stew meat tossed with chunks of fresh potatoes, carrots and onion and topped with a decent canned spaghetti sauce. It smelled wonderful when we got home and the kids all ate it.

I've got to figure out how to keep a list of recipes here or on my (in construction) web site. We are looking for new ideas and ways to make eating right achievable with limited time and money. Please share your tips with us!

Flu Shots

2004-10-18T23:48:00.000-05:00

I caught a doctor's comments on Fox News Sunday morning. He said the challenge most years is to convince people to go get their flu shot. Go figure!

It made me stop and realize that I have only had 3 Advils in the entire past two years. Life is so different since I've stopped eating processed foods. Thank you Drs. Antalis and Knox.

I'm about to sew up a Jo Sharp sweater that I finished knitting last weekend. It's made in her merino wool and will be a gift for my husband.