Counting.

Ala Purl Soho:

I am going to do this in our bedroom. And it is going to be fantastic.


Props to Ms. Jang for her new gig at IK.


I'm so glad it's almost spring.

Reveling.

Oh, sweet Jesus. Aaron and Jeremy have found themselves a drummer. There is an ungodly amount of jammy noise coming out of my basement, just in time for Grey's Anatomy. Those jerks. Disrespecting my Thursday night TV rituals.




I'm doing this. BECAUSE CROCHET ATE MY LIFE. In a good way (?). Wheeeeeee. I've been off coffee and alcohol for about two weeks because I've been sick. Today is the first day I've felt completely human, and it's good to be back.

The spring issue of Knitty is up and I don't hate it. Nothing earth-shattering, but solidly okay. I want to knit that purple thing and an erin-sized version of the flutter tank.

Good lord. Can I come over to your house and watch my show? I'll make you brownies. Thanks, you're a doll.

Plotting.

As per the delightful Kelly Brown, I took pictures of TV. Elisabeth (I think I disagree with Elisabeth on basically every single issue there is to take a side on, but there is no doubt in my mind that she is a nice girl and that we could be friends despite being political polar opposites) was wearing the most cutest top the other day on The View. It occured to me rather late in the program that taking a picture of the TV was an option, so I didn't get a shot of the back, but it has a nice little white belt at the waist that ties in a bow at the back. I think this would be a fun fun little knit, a tasteful way to do some intarsia (for the vertical stripes). Now, does anybody know if it is possible to knit a Peter Pan collar? OH SHOOT, I'll figure something out.

In other crafty news, the Use What You Have afghan g-square count has reached: 34 completely completed, and 13 in need of black rounds, but the GINORMOUS ball of black nast acrylic from 4 years ago when I didn't know better that was just taking up space in the stash has run dry and now I actually have to suck it up and buy more. Unbelievable, people. We'll see what happens. I don't really have a goal here except Use It All Up Get It Out Of My Fort And Doin' Somethin'. I really don't know where in my home this thing will live but I could see it growing to queen sized and looking gross in my NEVER GOING TO BE COMPLETED MASTER BEDROOM. But that's neither here nor there. If crocheted insanity is your thing (don't start, it's addictive), here's the new granny square flickr group and the No-End-In-Sight Ripple-along.

Also: I found a really fabulous, bursting-at-the-seams and yet impossibly neat-as-a-pin (enough cliches for one sentance, no?) SCRAPBOOKING SHOP in my neighborhood yesterday (again, Kelly, it's on the corner of Rusholme and Nate's gramma's street). I don't scrapbook, but I make Stuff and I'm a sucker for paper and stickers, etc. So I'm glad it's there. There's also a fantastic natural foods store in walking distance and I wandered around there for entirely too long yesterday as well. I like it here. I wish it wasn't so far from, like, everyone I ever met in my life, but I really do like it here.

AND ANOTHER THING. I am really annoyed with domino magazine's latest issue. It's the "GREEN" issue, and while a.) I am all for Green Living and I try to do what I can, and b.) I normally love domino in like, a really intense, drooly way, I find this issue of the mag to be wicked hoity toity- yeah, I just said hoity toity - and kind of self-rightous. On the one hand, great, thank you for telling me which paints are low-VOC, I can use that information, and yes, right on with the low-energy lightbulbs, but then don't tell me I can be nice to the environment by using like 56 dollar shampoo and laundry detergent and salvaged woodflooring that's like 200 dollars a square foot. When it's THAT inaccessible, it doesn't do anybody any good. I realized a long time ago the magazines are there to show you what looks cool and what is in style, and it's your job to (if you so choose) find ways to mimic that FOOOORRR LESSSSS. But this shit is just bananas. And domino? Don't try to talk up organic meat, because eating meat is totally not green. So don't even PLAY. I'll show you self-rightous. I'm a vegetarianan and we own self-rightous!!

Last asides, I promise.

Eunny is alive and I want the pattern for the sideways cable hat because that is hot.

I start my new job with D-port Community Schools on the 19th.

SALLY, I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE. I am (tentatively) going to craft a rip-off bird lamp. I'm going to need a lot of floral birds. I might need to make a Rochester friend go to Craft Service on University and scoop me up some vintage milinery birds. The whole thing reminds me of Alicia's cagelets. I'm picturing large embroidery hoops for the circular bits at the top and bottom of the cage. Sigh. Another undertaking. I'm gonna go see what Elisabeth is wearing today. xoxox.

Wanting.

This is the cutest effing thing I've ever seen in my life.



I hate you, Anthropologie, for instilling in me an insane desire to blow a month of minimum wage on a light fixture!!!!! That's more than our mortgage payment!!! I'm going to go poke my eyes out.

Twisting.

I knit a swatch. Yay.

Trudging.

I feel kind of like a heel because as of late, "Knit or Die" has been a real misnomer. It's been "Granny Squares or Die" and "Use Proper Caps or Die" and "Eat A Stick Of Butter or Die", all kinds of other NOT-KNITTING stuff. I just have not been knitting much. I don't quite know why. My life has kind of changed a lot recently. Could it be the nine pairs of fingerless gloves have temporarily killed my knitting drive? I started a sock based on Kate Gilbert's sock chart, but once I turned the heel, I got bored. I knit that green pickle pillow in one evening out of some Lion Brand Big I got for 1.75$ at Hancock Fabrics on US17s (I made those big buttons out of Fimo, it was fun). If the non-knitty stuff doesn't interest you then I'm really sorry but here comes another one.

I GOT FORTY VINTAGE ZIPPERS FOR 1.95$ AT THE D.A.V. THRIFT STORE. As we all know, zippers are the devil, but they come in handy once in a while, and I'm probably never buying one ever again because I found 40 of the little bastards for less than two dollars.

This was .50 and it's a slightly bigger version (with a lift-out tray) of the sewing case my mom gave me for my drawing supplies freshman year. That poor case took a beating after four years of hauling charcoal around campus.

I also got a huge bag of really gnarly faux-as-they-come floral bits and a big old bag of lace trims, and a lovely embroidered lacy thingie I want to frame, and a little flower charmie necklace that I don't feel like photographing. It was a really good trip. I never find that much good stuff in one go. The thrifting has been really good here in D-port. The lady in front of me at the checkout (who totally beat me to a full roll of turquoise pompon trim) handed me a 10% off coupon, and I was like, "Oh, uh, thank you" and I felt weird using it because, um, it's a thirft store, it's cheap as hell to begin with, and the money goes to a good cause.... But they give 'em out on their website... I still sorda feel like a dirtball who just robbed the disabled veterans of like 75 cents.

It wasn't easy but I faced my fear of letting someone other than my lovely sister Alex cut my hair. It was sort of scary but the girl had her work cut out for her (that was so not a pun don't even go there), because it was just too long and shapeless. And my bangs were crooked because someone thought it was a smart idea to trim them herself with the good Fiskars, but she was totally wrong. I feel better now. Thanks for asking.

Waving.

This is pretty much all I accomplished this weekend. Whoop-dee-doo, no? After seeing this cutie by Anna Maria, I needed one with a big old cherry-printed "E" and a handful of buttons and some crocheted laceyness. I love stuff with my name on it (like my husband, right!?) because I am a dweeb. It's not that I think "Erin" is the most amazing and spectacular first name ever (not that there is anything wrong with it), it just makes me feel special. I'm mad because I haven't seen any "Erin Go Braugh" St. Patrick's stuff this year to festoon my little house with. Wow, I'm going to stop because this is getting far too dorky.

This is how we spent Saturday night. WHEE! Power outage for almost 3 hours. We couldn't make a pizza with no electricity, nevermind that we had no heat and no way to watch L&O:SVU on DVD. It sucked. NO PIZZA, YOU GUYS.

Granny Square Count has reached 20. I have a new plan. I am weaving in the yarn tails as I go along now (ok I still have 8 left that need their tails darned), because I do not want the reason I never finish the blanket to be because I let 1690 little yarn ends scare me. I have to go buy a ball of red because that is the only color I am really missing (secret: I don't have any purple but I don't think that's going to be a problem. I do not love purple. I have too much PINK, are you surprised?) and if I only have to buy one ball of yarn to complete this project, I don't think anyone can call the Use What You Have police on me. What knitter doesn't cheat on their yarn diet? Fr realzies.

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.