Crumbling.

I made these biscuits last night from the recipe off the can of Zingerman's Irish oatmeal. They are so good it's frightening. With that much butter, yeah, they had better be transcendant. I think baking a batch of these took less time than actually making porridge.

Irish Oatmeal Biscuits (about 2 dozen 2" biscuits)

3/4 cup Stone-Ground Irish oatmeal
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 3 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix together oats and flour. Rub in the butter and add the sugar. Knead mixture into a pliable dough. Rocll out dough to 1/8" thickness. Cut the dough into rounds or rectangles, about 2" across. Place biscuits on a floured baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 12-14 minutes.

Also, I added a few sprinkles of ground cinnamon to my coffee grounds. I didn't know French press coffee could get any better, but I found a way. Scrummy.

Have a super day.

But time is on your side, it's on your side now
Not pushing you down, and all around
It's no cause for concern.

Blanketing.

I want desperately and feverishly to make one of these lovelies and I vow I will someday. Right now though, it's granny squares for me. I read my stash and this is what happened. I work on this at night on the couch with Aaron and the cats and David Caruso or whatever. On a good evening, I make four squares. On a bad day, I fall asleep after one. While considering color combinations, I ask Aaron, "Which is grosser, this one or this one? Does this one hurt your eyes? Yeah? You like the lime green with the orange? OK, good." At an estimated 70% plastic, this garden will outlive us all. When the world ends, the only thing gonna survive are the acrylic afghans. Y'all have been warned. Rochester certainly got more snow than we did here, but Mississippi River Valley cold is unlike any other cold I've ever experienced. Sure, Buffalo is buried, but Midwest cold makes you wish you were dead as you walk from the car into Target or wherever. The Coldest Cold That Was Ever Cold. Seriously. Another 155 or so granny squares (Shooting for 13x13. I have a weird thing for 13. Probably just don't ask.) and I've have a nice, eyeball-blisteringly ugly blanket to block it out! JOY. But I can't complain, it's a tropical 47 degrees here in the QCA this afternoon.

I will be right here piecing a quilt-top for a baby that's already been borned. Have fun out there.

Sprouting.

My baby herbs are growing! From L to R, in ABC order, there's basil, chives, dill, and parsley. Love plants, oh yes, but the attention span isn't long enough to care for them properly. When I was twelve, I fancied myself a little aromatherapist. I got a book on soap and candle-making and a gripload of baby plants from the nursery. Planted them and all that, crushed some leaves, inhaled deeply, and clear forgot about them. The lavender perished, peppermint and spearmint continue to go bananas and my dad discovered that Sweet Woodruff (when dried, smells like hay, how romantic I was at twelve!) makes lovely groundcover. Eleven years later I'm making a mess of potting soil and plant food on the kitchen floor, dumping a whole packet of seeds into a 4" terra cotta pot. I don't know any better? The rhododendron cuttings my mom sent me off to Iowa with are looking kind of dire, but the Wandering Jew (yo I didn't make up that Un-P.C. name, swear it) that she yoinked from my grandma is happy. I just can't believe they're growing. You can't see it but the basil has two tiny sprouts in there. I am so proud of my little herbs. They keep on keepin' on even though their mama is a blooming idiot who has no idea how often to water them.

One of my cousins had a baby boy (name's Adrian) yesterday. I bought the fabric for his (mostly lime green!) baby quilt in December, before we even moved, and I was just thinking this morning, "Dang, I ought to get cracking on that quilt so it reaches them before he begins kindergarten", and of course I check my e-mail and there it is, he came at 4pm yesterday and both baby and mommy are well. Glad to hear, but rats. I'm strip-piecing this mohunker, hopefully it will be done much more quickly than Elke's quilt was. OH, LE SIGH.

Tomorrow I'll show you my mostly-acrylic "garden" that could quite possibly survive the Apocalypse.

Peeping.

I came here with a load
And it feels so much lighter, now I’ve met you
And honey, you should know, that I could never go on without you
Green eyes, you’re the one that I wanted to find.

Romancing.

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day. I had today off. So what did I do on this romantic holiday? I cleaned the house! Whee. How sensual. So I tried to treat myself special with some nice strawberry-rhubarb jam on potato bread with some soy-milky English Breakfast in my most hilarious mug. Then I made some Nestle Tollhouse because nothin' says lovin' like six dozen of The Tollhouse. You know this.

Le Playroom is coming along into a lovely and productive space. This beast is finally finished. Oh, I speak so harshly of the nice ribbon board, don't I? Well, after finding that the (I thought) safe-side SEVEN YARDS of yellow twill tape I bought was nowhere near enough, I had to make some design decisions. I told myself: Hey, Self, now calm down. Life thinks it's funny to do this to you sometimes, you know, throw you a little curveball, to make you think. Keep you on your toes. Lemonade and what-have-you. And thus the very Sally Shim pocket was added. OH LIFE, you almost had me there. But I win. NEENER NEENER.

When His Hubbiness gets home, we are going to Village Inn for some PANCAKES. Yeah, giiiiirl. No, we're not normal. We know. Hope you are having a lovely day. Go lavish someone (huzz, wife, dog, cat, self, knock yourself out) with affection. XOX.

Testing.

Aaron and I have a theory. I think I can call it a theory because it started as a hypothesis and I think we've proven it through experiments. Get ready to be blown away, because it is really scientific.


Everything looks cuter in a jar.

Would you look at that big ol' motherlode of candy? Can you even handle this much cute? Do you want SOME MORE?



Are those or are those not the cutest cotton balls and Q-tips you've ever seen? Do you like how that jar still kind of smells like a pickle after I washed it three times? I DO.


So anyways. I think I am getting a cold. It is probably from being exposed to freezing temperatures (and the germy public) while doing register all weekend long. It's fantastic.




Anybody needs me, I'll be right here (not pictured: Mason jar of M&Ms keeping me company).

hatching.

i feel stuffy calling it my studio, like i'm fancy and i'm going to make really groundbreaking important stuff in there. like valentines and knitted hot pants and baby quilts. very heady, i know. the paint color is glass green by laura ashley (from lowes, our second home). i love it. it looks amazing with the gumwood (no kelly we're not going to paint it, pinky promise). i did it myself. and it really needs a second coat. it's the perfect shade of robin's egg blue, which is fitting, because i'd prefer to think of it as my little nest anyways.

gleaning.

so i transferred from joann 1943 to joann 1645. i'm a freakin' lifer. i think my three favorite places in the store are the DMC floss display, the calico wall, and the notions wall. there is something about these spots that just make me feel like anything is possible. did you know that DMC makes 454 colors of six strand cotton floss? the greatest gift i could ever receive is one skein of each. oh my lord. each 8 yard skein is twenty-five cents worth of joy. i dont think you even have to quilt to enjoy the calico. i just love the prints. and notions. don't even get me started. those little glassheaded pins in the rainbow colors. and D-RINGS. i love d-rings. whatever gets you inspired. i need to be reminded that anything is possible. i wish to feel that way more often.

(can you tell i'm having a lousy time finding a "real" job?)

anyways. this is a short list of words that i think everyone should stop using so loosely: random. ecclectic. organic.

how long has it been since i actually posted knitting content? jeezaloo. ugh. sorry.

it's good to have you with us.

hi from iowa. this is my little studio. yes, it's currently a mess, and yes, it's rather far from Home. but it's mine.

merry chickmas!

shewt, you guys. i love you wacky knitters so. happiest holidays to y'all.

extremes.

three things that are way too easy to do with results as lovely as they are.


lettuce edges.
cake mixes.
scribble lace.

1. twelve days of christmas presents for my little sisters and former roommates are DONE just need to be mailed and delivered!

2. safety pin decorated red velvet cupcakes (fabric store jokes!) for my favorite manager's birthday.


3. scarf for baby sister, using scribble lace method from mason dixon knitting book.

can i just tell you, this move is taking so much out of us. as excited as we are, good god it is hard. we're SUPPOSED to close on the house in i believe eleven days. it's unreal. every moment is occupied with thoughts of paint and furniture and learning a new place and dwindling checkbook balances. oh my goodness. i do not look forward to hauling all my books and magazines around or thirteen hours in the scion with two pissed off tabby cats. one of my lovely co-workers told me they'll miss me but that we'll be able to have a better life there (lower cost of living, a wonderful little house after two years in a teensy apartment, havin kids someday. SOMEDAY I SAID SOMEDAY OK SIMMER DOWN). we don't have it half bad here, so i can only hope.

ATTN: debbie stoller, the boat just left without you.

gosh darn you urban outfitters.

they're even pointelle.

perseverance.

looks like it's true what they say about how the most difficult things are the ones most worth doing. appears to apply to baby quilts (assembled via the making-shit-up-as-you-go-along method) and motherhood (from an observer's standpoint). perhaps it also applies to moving into an adorable 1917 bungalow four states west of your hometown of 23 years. here's hoping.

HELLLLOOOOOOO!

oh my. it has been too long, little blog. the thing is that, much like you, dear reader, is that i have been working on way, way, way too many projects lately. so i keep starting more, haven't finished hardly a thing, and i dont think you need to see the mess i'm making of the entire apartment!

commercial message:
if you ever plan on making any bias tape, for quilting or otherwise, do yourself a favor and get one of these doodaddies. it worked like a charm. i was really really surprised. i kinda wanna go make like fifty eight yards of bias tape and just SQUEEEE over how awesome it is.

baby quilt family photo pathwork pillow 24X4 tiny presents bike tshirt amp cozy scribble lace fifty billion fingerless mitts fimo everything ack ack ack oh ack.

we'll be in chi-town for thanksgiving with my lovely inlaws, where we're going to do some birthday and christmas present exchangin', which definitley puts the hurt on my rushy rushy crafting my tush off. but i'm really excited about the gifts i'm working on. you know the feeling when youre working on a gift and you just know it's dead on and they'll love it? that is what is keeping me going.

oscar the grouch and i have something in common.

STORY OF MY MESSY, MESSY, CLUTTERED LIFE.

smallest launch party ever.

erin made this is officially available at g. inc designs, 639 monroe ave rochester ny 14607.

six pairs of lucky 13 fingerless gloves.




i can really do this.

happy halloween!

love, erinosaurus rex.

so please be kind if i'm a mess.

cheddar shortbreads from moosewood celebrates - i made these in heart-shapes for our wedding. for the team joann potluck. they taste like goldfish crackers. having another one of our super exciting two-day sales--- MOONLIGHT MADNESS, daddy. everyone brings food to keep spirits up. weekend is sure to be full of arguments about coupons and wackadoos who drove two hours into rochester from the middle of nowhere to buy half-priced drapery lining and annoy me!!!

in other news, i'm on my fifth pair of fingerless gloves.

IF A GIRL WANTS TO DANCE.

we've been able to sponge bandwidth off someone, somewhere, for the past few days. as unexpectedly and elusively as the innernets appear, SO DO THEY STOP DISAPEAR. enjoying it while it lasts. so hi, friends, it is me, and i'm in my sweatpants and barefoot. tres lux, as compared to going out in public.

hey did you know brooke shield's first baby (tom "i know everything about post-partum depression i'm a scientologist" cruise, remember?) is named ROWAN??? pshaw! totally true access hollywood says so.

ok, so do me a favor? go to designhergals.com and tell me if you think i should get some business cards from them. i made a girl that i think looks like me, dressed her in a pink jacket with ballet flats and put a cupcake in her hand. my spendy muscles are, like, twitching in anticipation but i don't know. should i come up with something on my own? and i'm sorry if you go there and become addicted to personalized cutie stationary and other printed matter. i'm really sorry.

today at work i popped advils and helped a mother and daughter figure out some drapes for the daughter's bedroom. and it turns out that the daughter and i both graduated from brockport this spring! her degree is in dance, which is about as useful as my studio art degree. she's living at home with her parents now and she's not feeling very good about herself. kinda lost and kinda scared and kinda sad. i feel like we need to get together for a disapointed SUNY brockport graduates support group. except no, cos she's thinking about going to school for nursing, and i've been knitting like a mofo. fingerless gloves or bust, so help me god. something good is going to happen if it kills me. i think i threw out my back hunching over (hence the advils), but that's nothin! do these people know who i am? no way. i'm on fire, ladies.

speak slow.

did you guys think i was dead? no!!! it's been a week of drunkdialing and mischief, but mostly i've just been up to my neck in wilton method class buttercream. no joke.

this is cake #1. very ugly and also delicious. a fine mess indeed.

THIS IS CAKE #3! i made some cute cupcakes in between but i let the girls at the store eat them so they were not photographed. us joann girls love us some baked goods it seems. but cake 3 looks nice and i don't mind saying so!!! i am awesome. however. it's been a week and the thing is still untouched. i have to throw it away before it gets up and walks out to look for a job or soemthing. so. in conclusion: don't try to make stiff consistency buttercream with a hand-me-down handmixer because you will feel bad for making a small appliance groan so. and also, don't make anything chocolate so beautiful that it pains you to bring a knife to it to feed your friends and dear husband. it's a waste of devil's food. good times. but i'm glad i get to go back to knit club.

GIFT SPOILER: IF YOU ARE LISA MY HETEROLIFEMATE AND YOU ARE READING THIS CLOSE YR BROWSER AND GO DO SOMETHING ELSE.

is she gone? ok.

poor lisa's 22nd birthday was july 20th, and her worthless friend erin (THAT'S ME) is so worthless she just this week made her a present to commemorate her birthday and new townhouse. so this is the pillowcase apron. i can't believe how well it worked out.

and this is a recipe card box for my pookie's new kitchen. i got the box from the unfinished wood section at my store and i painted it and glued some stuff to it and filled it with a few recipes (the cheese crisp recipe she requested, my favorite brownies and some cocktails) and a stack of colorful 3x5 cards. i miss lisa so much. she moved two hours away so i must box it and mail it off to her. i am such a bad friend.

what a blabberpost. anyways last thing.

the girl on the cover of the latest urban outfitters catolog is wearing some cute, cabled fingerless gloves. they are selling for like 16 dollars and they are wool and ACRYLIC, PEOPLE. gross! so erin here, she says "eff that", gets herself a skein of cash irona from village yarns, who BTW are severing all ties with knitting fever international and selling off the debbie bliss and noro for like, dirt cheap, and also a 32" circ, finally figures out the magic that has earned it the name magic loop, faked some cables, and five days later bam i rule urban outfitters sucks. my lovely sister cut my hair and every single lady at her salon asked me what i was making and was all AWWW WHAT A GOOD IDEA THOSE ARE CUTE. plan: i'm gonna knit 38472 pairs and sell em and make my first million.

they keep yr hands cozy and yet you can still find your keys and send text messages while you wear them. magic.

speaking of my haircut, i can't believe how when alex styled it, it was adorable, and when i try to do it, it look like a messed up cross between tegan and sara's haircuts. save me from myself.