Is it October Yet?

I participate in two knit along groups on Ravelry. I am actually a member of quite a few more, but I generally do Cookie A socks and "Sock Knitters Anon".

Cookie A this month is Wanida. I'm very excited and have picked out a Lorna's Laces yarn to use (it's blue.)

SKA this month has 3 challenges: holiday stocking (not happening), men's socks (no way), and a Jeannie lastnamehere design. (I know the last name, but I'm not sure she uses it publicly This is her blog- amazing socks. She is a fantastic designer. I will be knitting a sock she did as a Mystery sock* for another group, out of green Wollmeise.

This will be a great sock month.

*Mystery sock- A knit along group is given 4 clues spread out 1 week apart. You start knitting with no idea what you will end up with. I'm not a fan. But I love using the final products.


In other news: as a skater, it is very weird that on Glee sectionals is before regionals

The week begins again...

Question for you: Candy Apple or Caramel Apple? (Kevin made caramel apples, but I have yet to dig in)

Weather outside: SO WINDY
What hurts: tongue from super hot salsa
What I want to eat: more jasmin rice
What I'm wearing: Zombie socks, black land's end shoes, old navy black pants, light blue land's end polo, white land's end fleece
What I'm crafting: Mockery socks at work, Daffodil Design on hiatus
What I'm watching: TAR was on last night. I love it!
Best thing that happened this weekend: TAR WAS ON LAST NIGHT PEOPLE
Worst thing that happened this weekend: Nothing really. It was a fun weekend. Got a bit of skating in, helped a friend move, went to a birthday party. No worst about that.
What I'm most looking forward to this week: Does this week start October? That's cool.
What I'm least looking forward to this week: A meeting I have to go to.
Last thing I bought: no idea, probably fries on Wednesday
Something I want to buy: Alphabet Cake pans, though I have no idea why I want them. But doesn't that seem cool.
A link to share: Surely you know about Television Without Pity- but if you don't, it has fantastic recaps of all kinds of shows and the most comprehensive television forums (ruled with an iron fist though!) I've ever seen.

Super Secret Knitting done!

WOW this project was fast. I thought it would take me about a month. It took me 6 days, including 2 days of not knitting, and 1 day where all I did was bind off, so really 3 days, and only one of those was a weekend where I knit all day, so this is something I could totally knock out in a weekend.

Things I learned
-size 4 needles are big (the pattern actually calls for 3s, but I knit tight), but not big enough. I was still 1 stitch/inch tight. (Non knitters- that may not sound like a lot but over 128 stitches it means a loss of 3 inches. Yeah, my project is 3 inches too small- for the project I made, that is a lot of inches. But it fits me. And it fits my husband. So hopefully it will fit the recpient. But if it doesn't, hey it's quick, i'll make another.

-knitted hems suck. I still haven't sewn it down, so I guess I'm not technically finished. But it's a much cleaner look than ribbing, or rolled stockinette.

-using your own head to block wool makes for one really really hot evening. I just gave away what I made. Where you paying attention? (But really- what else would fit both me and Kevin?)

If you are a ravelry member you can see the project in my notebook I'm not giving you a direct link because then the name will come up and ruin the surprise. If not, the teaser pic is all you get right now. I'll post a full one after the holidays.

Glee?

Are you watching Glee? It's quickly becoming one of my favorite shows ever. Singing, dancing, mostly witty. It's a good show.

Best part (well most entertaining, the best scene was a more touching one) of last night's episode (Kanye approved, probably)
Start at 2:34 if you want to shorten the video.

Video

Off to skating, but saw this on facebook and it was really cool (check out their other videos too)

Monday

Question for you: Do you try to talk yourself out of your favorite color?
I love pink and want everything to be pink, but I try to convince myself I need diversity and then I actively don't get pink stuff, and now I feel like I don't have enough.

Weather outside: About to rain, chilly
What hurts: hip, maybe
What I want to eat: salsa
What I'm wearing: Angee socks, black land's end shoes, old navy black pants, red land's end polo, red land's end fleece
What I'm crafting: Mockery socks at work, Daffodil Design on hiatus, super secret christmas project
What I'm watching: Does Big Bang Start tonight?
Best thing that happened this weekend: Finished my rainbow socks
Worst thing that happened this weekend: It seemed very short
What I'm most looking forward to this week: Maybe finishing super secret knitting
What I'm least looking forward to this week: Yoga tonight. It was a bad day and I just want it to be over
Last thing I bought: I think it was 4 skeins of sock yarn
Something I want to buy: nothing in particular
A link to share: Literally, the best word blog

Smoke Detectors, Secret Knitting and Sushi

We started the day getting new smoke detectors. Even though the light was still blinking the fact that we managed to have a teeny (immediately put out) kitchen fire while making patacones, and then a house full of smoke making burgers and they didn't go off was a good clue they were broken. (We test them when the clocks change like your supposed to...)

So we went to lowes and got new smoke detectors. They are nice and pretty white and match our ceilings instead of the awful old yellow look. Grungy, and gross, and probably original to the house, so it was time to replace them anyway.

Then I took out the dye pot and made two shades of pink- super bright bold, and super bright but light- that makes no sense at all- you'll have to wait for pictures later in the week. I'm pretty impressed these colors both came from the same fushcia dye. They are nothing alike.

Then I started my super secret knitting project. It's Christmas knitting for my secret santa pick. No way s/he reads this blog (you couldn't pick your spouse) but I'm gonna hide it for awhile. I'll let you know when I post it on Ravelry, so knitters can check it out. S/he is definitely not on ravelry, and that's not searchable by the public.

So anyhow, on this particular type of knitting I knit with even more of a death grip then usual and have to give myself a break every 2-3 rows or my hand will break off. I have no idea how to loosen up. It's not a skill I posses.

Kevin is making sushi (California rolls and shrimp "tempura" rolls. Sadly no tamago this time.) I'm hoping it will be ready soon. I'm hunry!

Skate Bag

I originally intended for this blog to take over for my skating blog, but I've decided to keep my practice posts over at Skittles Skates on livejournal. But here's a skating related post for those who don't keep up with that one.

I subbed LTS today (grr... the adult for the first class didn't show up, so I got to twiddle my thumbs for an hour) and then I helped two tot classes, including one HUGE class, that was just fantastic.
When I came home, I brought my skates in, rather than leaving them in the car. (I know, you shouldn't do that.)

So I decided I should clean out my skating bag. This is everything that was in my skating bag. (My bag is a backpack).

I’m not even sure how all that fit in there. This is what actually belongs in my skating bag:

It’s still a lot: 2 skates, 2 ankle pads, stinkeez, a microfiber cloth, mismatched gloves, a fleece, hard guards I never use, a screwdriver, oder eaters that are about ready to be thrown out, tissues, chapstick, a pen, a notebook, the LTS guide, 2 patella tendon straps, my MITF and dance diagrams on a keyring, dance CDs, my checkbook, and a baggie with my membership cards, a hair tie, nail clippers, safety pins, shoelaces, blister pads, and band aids.

This is the stuff that shouldn’t be in there:

3 pairs of socks, including 2 handknit, a sock in progress (I was working on that today), 5 baby sitter club books (I lend them to a girl at the rink), leggings from Wednesday, a shirt I brought as a back up for Detroit, sharpie’s from Detroit, assorted pens and pencils, food packets from Detroit, random money, misc pieces of trash, including an ice cream tester spoon, a sticker from skating in Arizona, a synchro receipt from a year ago, and mail from a few weeks ago.

Monday, Monday

Question for you: I've just added a ton of blogs to my blog roll, but I'm looking for more. What's your favorite blog.

Weather outside: Fall is in the air.
What hurts: At this second, I'm doing okay.
What I want to eat: Nothing in particular, because I ate so much this weekend. Amanda came over and we hadpatacones (fried plantains) with shredded chicken/salsa; tortilla soup, and fried tortillas (sopapilla style for me!), and then on Saturday we went to Formossa.
What I'm wearing: Black pants, blue shirt, Nutkin socks
What I'm crafting: Mockery socks at work are on haitus, Daffodil Design is on burn out mode, Dead Simple Lace Socks
What I'm watching: will miss Big Band Theory and How I Met Your Mother tonight
Best thing that happened this weekend: Awesome food and got to visit with Kevin's uncle.
Worst thing that happened this weekend: Barely slept at all
What I'm most looking forward to this week: Yoga starts tonight
What I'm least looking forward to this week: A bit nervous about the yoga class, actually
Last thing I bought: Groceries
Something I want to buy: nothing in particular
A link to share: Ice Network

Oh, gross.

If you read food blogs, especially diet ones, you've likely read Hungry Girl. Hungry Girl has some good ideas but uses TONS of processed foods, LOTS of Splenda, and mystery products I've never seen in grocery stores, so I rarely actually use her recipies. (NOT a fan of splenda)

Today, at Hy-vee, I found one of the mystery products: Tofu Shirataki noodles made by House Foods Every pasta-swap HG raves about these noodles, and they feature her logo on the back. I was excited to see them, because I am a noodle-aholic. They cost $2.19 for a 2 serving bag, but it looks like 1 serving to me, and I got the "spaghetti" size. I could not wait to try them, so I decided to prepare them tonight. The full bag: only 20 calories.

I decided to make them for dinner, and even though she recommends cream sauces most of the time (not all the time, she has some red sauce recipes) I prepared them the way I eat 90% of my noodles "Shanna Style": cook noodles, add tomato sauce. (Like Hunt's tomato sauce, not a spaghetti sauce). For more flavor I added pepper and paremesan cheese.

Let's back up a step; before I could "cook" these (they are pre-cooked and microwaving takes 1 minute) I had to prepare them. First cut open the package, drain and rinse. Okay, no problem. OMG- disgusting. These noodles REEK of fish. It is disgusting smelling. Like a bait shop. I am not exagerating. GROSS. They are tofu noodles with yam flour. I'm not sure how either of these ingredients gets a fish smell. So I rinse them in a colander and then pat them dry. Everything I read said to get them REALLY dry. (One site recommended a blow dryer). I used about 10 paper towels. (Between the rinsing, the paper towels and the plastic packaging, these aren't really going down well with tree hugger me.) Then I stuck them in the microwave for 30 seconds, and then another 30 with sauce.

The taste test: 1 took 1 bite, and even though the fish smell was gone, they tasted like eating fish. Disgusting. I actually spit it out. I tried another, and I also could not choke it down. They are also very chewy and difficult to break with your teeth. I will not buy these again.

(Kevin tried them and said "they don't taste like fish to me")

Having read more reviews it seems they do well in Asian dishes like Miso soup or shrimp stir-frys, things with a fishy background to begin with, and things I don't eat anyway.

Two thumbs DOWN, and $2.19 into the trash.

(Okay- Kevin made a shrimp stir-fry with the rest of them and I asked him what they thought. His response "They're...not...great... they don't taste like anything but chewyness")