Darn.

My first knitted-sock-with-a-hole. Sigh. I guess I'll have to go get one of those egg thingies.

Beef: It's what's for dinner

A week or so ago I was cooking up some ground beef (with other stuff, of course, we don't eat it plain) and it turned out to be less-than-ideal. Having worked in a few different customer service-type jobs, I know how important it is for companies to get feedback. If something is wrong, they won't know unless you tell them. So I sent them a quick comment letting them know that while I liked their beef very much (and I still do), I had had a Below Average Experience.

The next day I got an e-mail from the president of the company thanking me for my comment, apologizing, and he said he wanted to replace the ground beef I had purchased. I fully expected to get a coupon for a free pound of ground beef in the mail. However, on Wednesday we came home to this:
An overnighted cooler with 6 pounds of ground beef, 2 filet mignons, a New York strip steak and a ribeye steak.

Wow.

Dakota Organic, I am a very impressed, happy, and loyal customer.

First Lace

I finally got around to making my first lace project; not that I thought it would be too difficult, but I hadn't ever knit from a chart before (which turns out to be extremely simple) and therefore required more thought than usual. That and I've always got a list of twelve "very next" projects.

Before:


Soaking:


And finally, blocking:

I am very pleased with how it turned out. This is Whisper Scarf One in Cherry Tree Hill's Spanish Moss from The Loopy Ewe.

Shooting down the UFOs

Do you read Knitting Daily? I do, and last week they did a survey of how many UnFinished Objects (UFOs) people had lying around. Wanting to be helpful, I dug around my several bags and baskets. I was rather surprised to find that I had a grand total of 17 partially finished projects. I answered 15, but then afterward found two more, which I subsequently lost and then re-found this afternoon.

As I mentioned in my last post, we have all been sick. I was tired and I was shamed by my 17 projects so I decided to take yesterday evening "off" - as much as one can when one has two young children - and work on a few things. I really got a lot done number-wise; I now have finished 6 of those projects.

The abandoned baby sweater was bound off and is therefore now a baby hat. I might still add tassels on the corners because that would just be so cute.



I also finally stuffed and sewed up these little balls from Knitting for Baby:


And last but not least, I finished a sock.

Chicken Poodle Soup

Several years ago I read of a typographical error that resulted in the restaurant's menu offering "Chicken Poodle Soup". This has stuck with me and I at times find it difficult to even think the word "noodle" in combination with "chicken" and "soup". Though since I now have a couple of small someones to teach about how the world works, I've really been trying to break that habit.

We have all had a yucky cold and both the girls ended up with croup, so I decided to make some chicken noodle soup the other day. Try this and you'll never go back to canned soup. Measurements are rather vague because I don't measure.

Chicken Noodle Soup
1 chicken
water
carrots
celery
pasta (not angel hair or anything tiny that cooks quickly)
salt
parsley (I use dried)

Put the chicken in a large pot and cover (or mostly cover, if your pot isn't big enough) with water. (Those pasta pots with the perforated inserts are perfect for this.) Bring to a boil, lower the heat, put the lid on and simmer for 2-ish hours. Take the chicken out of the pot and let it cool a bit. Tear about half the meat into bite-sized pieces, tossing them back into the broth as you go. Save the rest of the chicken for something else (or another batch of soup, later). Turn the heat back up and while you're waiting for it to come to a boil, chop up some carrots and celery. I use maybe 3-4 cups (several handfuls) of carrots and 4 ribs of celery. Put those into the pot. When it's boiling, add about 8 oz (usually half a package) of pasta. If it's something long like spaghetti break it into 2-3" pieces as you put it in. Add about a tablespoon of salt and 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of dried parsley. Cook for 10-15 minutes or however long is appropriate for your chosen pasta. Check to make sure the carrots are soft and taste to see if it needs more salt before turning off the burner.

*If you're short on time, boil a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts for about 20 minutes. Chop those and add to the resulting broth and continue as directed, halving the amounts stated.

This stuff is seriously good.

Watch the birdie!

This dancing bird is great. I found it over on Emily's blog.

While you're at it, check out the bird moonwalking, which was shown to me by my husband.

Costuming a baby

This is a hilarious costume. If S was younger I would totally make this for her.

Hum.

Well, I have a lot to blog about.

I suppose I'll start with this sewing project that I made several weeks ago for a friend's second birthday. It had been some time since I last sewed and I really enjoyed it.

This is the Little Artist's Drawing Case (unfortunately the tutorial seems to have disappeared) by Craft Apple.





I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and it seemed to be a hit with the birthday girl. I put erasable crayons in the pockets because... "Erasers! Don't make a mistake without one!" Now I need to make one for my daughter when I get a chance.

You are my sunshine

For those of you who use Feedreader or another program of that sort, I have to share with you the quote now found in my header:

"[Lady Bostock] considered, possibly correctly, that there is nothing that brings the sunshine into grey lives like a sock or two." - P.G. Wodehouse

Thank you, Dear, for pointing it out to me.

Tiny art

This is incredible. Check out the photo gallery, linked on the left side of the page.