jingerly

What do you do when you are still unemployed and basically just filling out another job application every morning and then sitting around waiting to hear back and there's nothing else to do around the house and you're not in the mood to make a cake and it's really gray and cold and possibly snowing outside?

You decide that you are going to knit something for everyone for Christmas this year.

And then you are going to take some Advil because your fingers are cramping.

I already blogged about my presents for my mom and dad so far, so here's the rest:



Juggling Balls for Dan! I'm actually a whole lot further on this than the picture would have you believe. He already knows that these are on deck for his present (possibly his birthday present instead if I get them finished fast enough), so I need to get a good surprise gift for him to go along with these. Any suggestions? (Oh, and I made him five juggling balls because...well because he asked for four, and I figured that he was setting his sights too low.)

These next two won't have any descriptions or recipients named because all three of the people that they are intended for (one is a double-project sort of thing) have looked at this blog in the past, and I don't want to ruin the surprise.

Just sneak peeks:



Mmmm, yummy texture.



And something a bit more traditional. If you want to cheat, go look at my Flickr stream. Oh, who am I kidding? Nobody reads this thing anyway! The secrecy is all for my own amusement here.

The big news is this: I passed my CNA certification test on Monday morning! I drove straight home, and then Amanda and I celebrated by making Monkey Bread (recipe from Martha Stewart via The Food Librarian).

Get prepared for me typing the word "balls" a lot. And then imagine me giggling immaturely every time. Because that's just how it is.

Here's Amanda dipping balls.





(It's blurry because it's full of action!)

Then, we piled all the balls in the Bundt.



Then while the balls were rising, some knitting may have taken place.

First, I had to wind up a ball of Cascade Ecological Wool.



It barely fit in my bowl!



Here's the beginnings of my Hemlock Ring Blanket, designed by the ever-fabulous Brooklyn Tweed (aka Jared Flood).

After the balls were fully risen...



...we put them in the oven, and they became this...



...this lovely sticky caramelly sticky gooey wonderful thing that may have had large portions removed and eaten before it was fully cooled.



How could you blame us?

I had pictures of us eating said balls, but they were quite unflattering, and I'd like Amanda to continue being my friend.

It was a lovely celebration to end a lovely day.

What do you do when it dumps two feet of snow in less than 36 hours? You spend your time finishing up knitting projects and baking, of course.

First up...Sally.



This is a part of my ongoing process to finally have a Sally Stitches costume. I'm one step closer this year, but not quite there. Dan and I ran out of time and supplies, so our Nightmare Before Christmas costumes will have to wait yet another year.



This is based on a ridiculously funny Knitty.com pattern called Hallowig. I made a few modifications, of course, lengthening the back, shortening the bangs, and then "killing" the acrylic in the back. This involves quick hands and a very hot steam iron. Since the acrylic starts to melt whenever heat is near, you just press it quickly and end up with stretched-out ribbing that better resembles the flow of Sally's hair.



Maybe next year I'll even get to wear it out in public.

Next up, Shifting Sands.



This fabulous pattern from the equally fabulous Grumperina was the perfect pairing for the Dream in Color Classy that I picked up for my Dad's Christmas present.



He's really picky about color and usefulness, so after extensive searching, I think that this fits the bill.

I also finished my Christmas present for my mom, Brighton.



Even the purse handles that you can pick up at Jo-Ann's have class when you add them to lacy linen and crisp ivory lining.



Oh so fiddly and wonderful. Sewing is definitely not my thing, but I gained a bit of confidence on this one.

Let's do a baked good just to break this up a bit. Yesterday, I made the Pumpkin & Chocolate Layer Cake from Baking Bites.



And underneath all that Maple Cream Cheese Frosting...this:



Delish. It was a big hit at D&D last night, and an even better hit with me again this morning when I had another slice for breakfast.

And for my snow days finale, I finally completed the Moderne Log Cabin Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting.



It's been almost two years. And approximately eighteen million miles of garter stitch.



It actually seems really small to me now because it seemed so never-ending on the needles.



I'm so glad to have this for when the rest of the winter falls down around us.

Other than that, my CNA Certification test is on Monday, so wish me luck!

So I had a little dessert and wine party last Sunday to celebrate Dan and I's new apartment, plus the beginning of my CNA training.

There was quite a bit of baking involved, most of it specialized for everyone's dietary restrictions, which was actually kind of fun to figure out.



Vegan Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes. Oh dear. These were definitely the winners of the night. I'd make them every week if I could. Dan even gave them his stamp of approval by having 4 of them, even though he's not big into the vegan thing.



Gluten-Free and Vegan Golden Vanilla Cupcakes with powdered sugar in my haphazard patterns...both of these cupcake recipes are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.



Then, S'mores Brownies from Joy the Baker. Let's get a better look at these, shall we?



Gooey marshmallows, fudgy brownies, graham cracker cinnamony-ness. These were my favorite, hands-down.



Caramels from the Betty Crocker cookbook. Easier than I thought, but still required two separate tries to make them. First time...caramel-flavored hard candy that I'm still trying to get out of the pan.



Here's my little party table, complete with labels for everyone. You can see my Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble from everybody likes sandwiches in there. I couldn't get a good shot of it since it was ready after the sun went down, but it was tasty, especially with melty vanilla ice cream. First time eating rhubarb, too, so I think that I did pretty good.

I'll spare the pictures of my guests because I'd like them to still like me. No one looks good with a flash in a really dark apartment.

Other than that, I've been finishing up projects and going to CNA training everyday. The classes are 9-5 every single day, and I have to drive about 1 hour to get there. It's hard and it's a ton of work, but it's worth it. I'll have more to say about it when I'm done with my clinicals, I'm sure. Right now I'm still kind of overwhelmed.

So instead of that - pretty things!



My Cranberry Cowl Scarflette was supposed to just be a neckwarmer-type-thing, but the ball band on that handspun silk lied to me.



The yarn, though, made for a lovely knitting experience. It's soft and crunchy at the same time. I finished this a while ago, but I think that the Foofaraw shawl pin ties it all together.



Then, the Stricken socks.







Oh baby. This one was a real challenge, but it was worth it. I wouldn't do this with handspun again because it was just too irregular for something so convoluted, but oh man...I'm still in love with Cookie A. sock patterns, and I always will be.

Seriously. I made focaccia.

I know! It's crazy.



First, there was dough.



And then it rose. For about an hour and a half.



Then, there were two dough balls...



Which became dough discs...



Which suspiciously started looking like bread before they went into the oven.



And then this came out!



It has holes in it and everything! Like when you buy bread!



I limited myself to only two pieces. But the whole apartment still smells like deliciousness, so we'll see how long that lasts. (It's the Easy Rosemary Focaccia from A Year in Bread, by the by).

I also kept working on Angel's Stricken socks.



(more Stricken details on my Ravelry page.)

Being stuck at home all day isn't so bad with fresh-baked bread and handknit socks. I'll bet I just jinxed myself with that one.

Yesterday, Dan and I did nothing but watch Home Movies, knit, and then go out for ice cream.

Here's the result of the knitting:



You can also see our hanging ivy plant there.



And our new porch swing. These things make us ridiculously happy. Our old apartment had a teeny tiny "porch" that was basically an outdoor storage unit by the door. I don't think that you should be allowed to call something a "porch" if it's only 8' square and surrounded by 7' of fencing on all sides.

Our new balcony/porch is awesome. Soon it will be full of plants. Well, maybe not soon. Maybe next spring.



Anyway, about the hat. That's the Earflap Hat from Mew Mew's Yarn Shop in Louisville. It was a really quick, easy knit with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande. I might get some more to make a matching scarf. We'll see. You can see my project specifics on my Ravelry project page.



The long tassels on the earflaps make Bowie really happy.

So I made The Pioneer Woman's Gazpacho the other night in the blender.



This went into this:



And became this:



Which we ate like this:



Neither Dan nor I had ever had gazpacho before, and now we're big believers in the cold soup. I've got to make this again before the summer weather's over.

Today, I spent most of my day finishing the knitting on the pieces for a client's Dale of Norway ski sweater.



I couldn't resist trying it on, even though it has yet to get armholes.





I feel like a Knitter with a capital K right now, as the Yarn Harlot would say. I learned double-handed Fair Isle for this, and I think I haven't done half bad.



I love/hate/love again these little picky details like the sewn ribbed hems on the bottom of the body and sleeves.



There's a shock cord that goes in there on the body so that you can tighten the sweater if you wear it while skiing, or some such other winter sport nonsense.

Here's a geeking out shot of the inside, for those of you that love that sort of thing:





All the pieces are knit, hemmed, and have their multitude of ends woven in.



So many ends...next step is the sewing machine and scissors, zippers and patches. I'm excited.

I had some great cooking mojo yesterday, and I'm almost scared to post about it and jinx my new kitchen.

First up, Pastor Ryan's Bread from The Pioneer Woman Cooks!



This was my first time making bread of any kind, so I was extremely nervous.



Plus, yeast kind of squicks me out.

I chopped out some rosemary and threw that in there, and after about an hour, this:



turned into this:



Oh dear.



Mine was a bit denser and squishier than the original since I used all-purpose (plus a smidgen of whole wheat) flour instead of bread flour, but I didn't care. It was like the moist center of perfect garlic bread.

While it was baking, I tried my hand with my new blender (well, Dan's old blender that is new to me) at Pinch My Salt's Artichoke Hummus.



Again, delicious. And a good, although unconventional pairing with the bread.



It was enjoyed by all.

Here's a shot of our darling Bowie, just to break up the food content a bit:



After Dan came home from work, I made some of everybody likes sandwiches's Easiest Pizza Dough in the World. And, true to its name, it was quite easy, especially to someone who'd never made pizza dough ever before.



We each took our own side to top, since Dan hates cheese and all other delicious things in the world. Okay, actually just cheese.



I had mozzerella, basil leaves, black olives, mushrooms, red peppers, and some stray bits of Canadian bacon from Dan's side which he insisted I needed.



Dan had Canadian bacon, pepperoni, red peppers, mushrooms, black olives (which he'd never had before), and extra sauce. The boy is obsessed with extra sauce.



I *heart* macro.



We decided that the only thing that would've made this better was if we owned a rotary pizza cutter.



The crust was not just easy, but perfect! Crispy and crunchy on the outside without tasting burnt, chewy and soft under the toppings. Yum.

Quite a successful day in the kitchen, especially considering two of the projects involved yeast. I think I'm getting the hang of this.

My Livejournal account informed me that I haven't posted in 19 weeks. It's sad, really, but I'm posting now because we watched Julie & Julia last night, and I became reinspired. I know, I know, it's ridiculous, but I refuse to be ashamed to be inspired by a chick film.

Posting aside, the movie also made me want to bake, so here's my favorite cookie ever: Dark Chocolate Cherry Chews from Pinch My Salt. All photos were taken in our new kitchen in our new apartment in Lafayette, and once we get everything all situated, I'll have pictures of that, too, but this will have to suffice for now.



First, we chop up an obscene amount of Ghirardhelli semisweet chocolate.





Then, some dried cherries. Yum!



Get our dry and wet ingredients together.



Cream the butter and sugars.





Add the chocolate and cherries, and then drop by tablespoon-full onto our cookie sheets.





Plus, we have to give Dan a don't-I-look-cute-in-my-apron obligatory pose.

One of Dan's co-workers, Martina, gave me what might be the coolest present ever for my birthday this year:



Here it is, filled with fresh-baked goodness.



This will be considerably less full by the end of the day, I'm sure.

P.S.....



I'm in real trouble now.

I just participated in my first-ever Ravelry swap with the Little Tins 'N Things Swap group.

My partner is a new knitter, and she loves yellow, green, and blue, so I tried to find things that would be useful and suit her fancy:



I have to admit, having an employee discount at the candy store definitely helps out here.



I wrapped everything up and boxed it up to send out this morning, and look what's on my doorstep!



Never have I ever gotten so many bunnies at once! Plus my favorite candy! There's a bunny cookie cutter in there and a bunny mini cake pan, so desserts for Easter are taken care of. My fledging bunny collection has received a big boost, and I'm officially down for any other swaps that people can throw at me.

Yesterday, I made popovers for something like the eightieth time, and they finally came out right!



Seriously, just nothing but light eggy wonderfulness shooting right out of that muffin pan.



I also finished my Candy Striping baby blanket!



This was a custom project for a client. She wanted a baby blanket that had fading colors and stripes, reminiscent of a baby blanket that their grandmother (I think) had originally made. The little girl who owns the blanket drags it around everywhere, so now they need a replacement so that it doesn't fall to shreds.



I used 2 strands of Dalegarn Baby Ull throughout, just switching out whites and solids to make each color stripe slightly "fade" in and out.



It was a fun experiment, but there's a ton of yarn in there. It's about a 3' square, and it's got 16 balls of Baby Ull in there. Plus, with all the color switching, there's an awful lot of ends to weave in.



After all that, Dan and I did our taxes, and I finished buying all the stuff for my first-ever Ravelry swap. It's for the Little Tins 'N Things Swap. I'm excited. Pictures to follow.

I definitely think that Boulder is at its most beautiful during Spring. Are you supposed to capitalize the seasons? I think I will today.

I play D&D on Sunday nights, as most of you already know. Our friends and fellow adventurers, Mike & Maddie, are moving back to their summer island home for 9 months, so we decided to make the last two sessions full of decadent baked goods. On Saturday, I made Joy the Baker's Orange Chocolate Bundt Cake.



It came out great! It was my first foray into making an entire cake from scratch (although I cheated a bit on the icing), and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. Yesterday, there was only one tiny piece left, so I'm guessing this one was a winner. I'm thinking it would be fun to try this in pumpkin and chocolate for fall.

The next night, Mike & Maddie brought over the makings for...(wait for it)...Broffles.



That's right. All you need to make Broffles: brownie mix and all it requires, some extra water, a waffle iron, and a sense of adventure.



Action shot!



And the finished product. (Sorry for the flash, but we geeks can only game at night.)

Broffles (and yes, it must be capitalized, according the everyone who's tried one) are especially delicious with Neopolitan ice cream, as demonstrated here by Tillie:



We feasted on these fantastic treats and left our adventure on a cliffhanger ending.



I love Sundays.

A few days ago, I met hopelovepeace while I was shopping at Shuttles. This marks the second time that someone I've followed online has shown up in my real life. (Well, the third time if we count going to see the Yarn Harlot for her book signing, but I don't think we will. She had an entire auditorium full of fans there, and by the time I got up there to get my book signed, I babbled like an idiot about how she should come and see the store I worked in. She kindly ignored my chatter, thankfully.)

The first time was when Molly came to see me at work after we had messaged back and forth a bit about yarn for a sweater. This second time was completely happenstance and therefore brightened my day immensely. Thanks, Jamie, for saying hello!

So, I haven't updated in a long time. But I have a really good excuse, I swear.

I quit working at Showers of Flowers in mid-October. One of my reasons for leaving was that I had been getting these horrible back pains at night. They had started the month before, and Dan and I tried everything to make them go away before I went to the clinic to see what the problem might be. The doctor there told me that they were probably stress-related (which seemed to make sense at the time, if you know anything about working at SoF), and she gave me tips on how to take care of them and some muscle relaxers. It all seemed to go away until mid-October, coincidentally when I was having a really hard time at work again. I left, without giving notice (because I gave a notice the first time that I quit, and I figured that was probably enough, really, I was just so done).

I start working immediately at the candy store downtown again (Powell's Sweet Shoppe on Pearl Street), and everything's great for about a month. Then the back pains start again for no reason at all, this time accompanied by severe abdominal pain and vomiting. Fun. Another trip to the clinic, and the second doctor informs me that he's already called the ER to expect me because I have to have my gallbladder removed immediately.

The actual gallbladder removal wasn't so bad. My dad flew down to see us, and I was even walking around the same day. Everyone at the hospital seemed so excited that I was up and ready to go.

Now, here's where the real fun starts. The day after I get home, I show my dad around Boulder. We walk around the mall and drive around, lots of stuff. The entire time, I can see that I'm starting to get a weird rash on my legs and my stomach. It looks like little pin-pricks, and feels the same. During the course of the day, it gets worse. We call my surgeon, and she thinks that I might be allergic to the painkillers that I was prescribed, so I stop taking them.

The next day, nothing's better. In fact, everything's worse. I can barely walk around because of the regular surgery pain, plus now the rash is going everywhere and is all over my legs and ankles and feels like I'm being stabbed with needles repeatedly. I can't sleep at all that night because my ankles hurt so much and have gotten so covered in rash that they're basically just solidly red and swollen now. We head back to the ER at around 3 am, and they give me painkillers and stare at my ankles for several hours as they turn dark purple and blister heavily. I get admitted again, and we can tell that the doctors have absolutely no idea what's going on.

Over the next few days, not only does the rash not get better, but other seemingly-unrelated symptoms keep piling up. Suddenly, I have this intense pain and swelling in my joints, and I can barely move. Then I can't keep any food or liquids down at all. Then even more fascinating kidney and intestinal issues. The doctors have no idea.

At some point, I even had to have a tube put down my throat through my nose, which is, quite possibly, the most painful thing that I will ever have to experience. It feels good to have that moment of my life over now. I had countless IVs done, so many that they eventually had to put in a pick-line, which is like a more permanent IV that can also be used to draw blood for tests (which happened pretty much two or three times a day for two weeks).

After many, many doctors saw me and ridiculous amounts of blood were drawn and biopsies were taken, the doctors finally concluded that I have HSP (Henoch-Schonlein Purpura). Basically, it's a fairly rare immune system reaction to either medication or infection which causes a severe rash, arthritis in the joints, and intestinal and kidney damage. Click on that link for more explicit information. Seriously, it's gross, yet fascinating. We still don't know if it was because of any mediciation or antibiotics that I took or if it was because of the gallbladder infection in the first place.

No matter what you do, HSP does not have a cure. Therefore, it has to run its full course, usually about 4-6 weeks. The doctors gave me steroids to help me get my strength back and help me be able to eat and drink and walk again, but even after that, I was still stuck in bed for a month. I watched a lot of TV on DVD and hung out a lot with Bowie in bed.



That's Bowie. He's our new kitty. He arrived the day that I quit SoF, and made the bed rest period of my life much more tolerable. (Why is he named Bowie? Because he has one gold eye and one blue eye. David Bowie has two different-colored eyes. And he was originally named Brian when we saw him in his shelter. Brian is a terrible name for a cat.)



It was hard. Seriously hard. I couldn't knit because of the arthritis in my wrists and hands. As I got better, I felt like I had to relearn how to walk, how to knit, how to drive...it was like my muscles forgot how to do a lot of this stuff.

I went back to work little by little, and now I'm back full-time. I'm finally back living my life again, which is great and weird, because I don't really feel yet like I'm the same person. However, all of this coinciding with the New Year feels right somehow. Like a new beginning.



Dan brought me this orchid in the hospital. During all the recovery and confusion, we almost let it die. However, after a few weeks of care, this new bloom appeared yesterday. Life's getting better, a little bit at a time.

Sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, Dan and I bid a fond farewell to Atticus Fish III.

Atticus Fish I had been my first betta, purchased in my junior year of college. He met his untimely end when a misguided attempt by a friend's mother (who was taking care of him over winter break) to keep him warm put a heat lamp over his bowl and basically poached him.

Atticus Fish II lived with my brother and I in Ann Arbor, and was unceremoniously eaten by a friend's cat when we were out of town.

Atticus Fish III was purchased the week after I moved to Boulder and, I'm pleased to say, lived a very long happy life, almost making it to his 3rd anniversary of purchase! It's ridiculous, I know, to be happy about this, but after the track record of fish with this name, I'm glad that he died of natural causes instead of horrific accident/being eaten.

We'll miss you, Atticus.

Dan's betta fish is named Scout Fish, by the way, for anyone keeping track of our amusing Harper Lee-inspired pets.

On the knitting front, I finally finished my Moss Grid Hand Towels from Mason-Dixon Knitting.



I've also started Cleite, and I'm pleased with how it's going so far:



Notice the biggest ball of yarn in the world? The thing is larger than a cabbage ball, almost as big as my face. It's ridiculous and awesome and I love it.

Sorry, my lovely knitting compatriot Marka, but you are a goner!



My hat for Hat Attack was in the mail at noon today, along with lovely treats.

What's that? Am I wearing my Hey, Teach? Why, yes, I finished that this morning, too.



Dan and I took pictures near this cute little church around the corner from our house. I'm so excited about how it turned out.



Sorry about the death and all. I'm sure you understand. *hugs*

I finished my Mingus socks last week:



These were so fun to knit, but towards the end I thought it was never going to end. Hey, Teach! has been a delightfully addictive change of pace.



I'm in love with Cascade Venezia Worsted. I don't think I've ever enjoyed working with a yarn so much (well, maybe Austermann Step, but the aloe's such a treat!). I've been tweaking the pattern as I go, doing a combination of length/fit alterations and incorporating a few of turtlegirl's modifications. I'm loving it. It's really the first time I've ever made substantial changes to a pattern in order to make it fit me better. Let's hope that the experiment pays off.

Other than that, my friend Jani's knitting group made a beautiful baby blanket for charity, and it came out so great that I had to show it off:



And the preparations for Pick Your Own Path have moved on to building the set and finishing up the individual poster designs. Witness the engaging battle between undersea poet and mythical god, already in progress:



We are such dorks.

I hope that all my friends and family are already out of New Orleans and on the road to safer pastures. Boulder is absolutely lovely right now, if anyone wants to visit! I know it seems flippant, but actually, I can't even think about all of the hurricane-related anxiety again. I just need everyone to be safe.

Today I got up early and went to Knit the Gardens, a knitting/crochet/fiber arts experiment sponsored by the Denver Botanic Gardens.



We all gathered at the Denver Civic Park and decorated the stone walkways with pieces of knitting, crochet, and unfinished projects, put to better use as public art.





That's Kim, the manager of special events at the Botanic Gardens, on the left, and Ann (msknittycat) on the right.

And here's the first piece that I created, out of 2 scarves that were just being wasted sitting in my closet:



(Can I even call it a piece? Is it too pretentious? And yes, that's a boatload of Colinette Isis and Noro Kureyon up there.)

And here's more fiber-y art-y goodness, by yours truly and the other great knitters that showed up:











That stocking gave me such distress over it not fitting that I decided to hang it up as well. It makes me think we should do something for Christmas down there, maybe little stockings on each post?













Ann and her family were responsible for this one around the stair rails. I love the way it twists and drips down the stairs.









Ann and Lisa, our fearless leaders and coordinators of the project. And of course, a group shot:



It was great to see people getting into it and being creative with their pieces and placement, but I wish that more knitting folks had shown up. Lisa said that they definitely wanted to do something again soon, possibly in the fall, so hopefully there will be more word of mouth for the next time. I can guarantee that you'll see me there again!

Afterwards, I went for a stroll in the Botanic Gardens to check out the Urban Nature exhibit.



I have tons more pictures of beautiful graffiti art and flowers, but I'll give your browsers a rest.

I just wanted to share some of the lovely things that my students are working on in my knitting workshop! (I teach every Tuesday evening from 6-8 PM at Showers of Flowers.)



This lovely lady didn't know how to crochet at all 5-6 weeks ago, and here's her fantastic granny-square-esque baby blanket in progress.



Another fantastic project in progress...first time doing cables and using stitch markers. And she's finally hit her stride.



A first sock in progress by Jolene, creator of this lovely felted bag:



Mary's My Geisha in progress.



She's been into Nicky Epstein lately, just finishing up the felting on her Striped Rose Bag, and just needs to finish sewing it all together:





Amanda's Gathered Pullover, all pieces knit and ready for seaming. (The color's actually a vivid teal, but my camera hates it for some reason.)

And then Nancy, a newcomer, showed up with her blanket for Project Linus, and we were all excited.



All in all, a great night of knitting and fun...