What's on your needles & What's for Brunch?

Waiting for License approval from the State can be excruciating!

How do I spend my days?

1st: Check job scouts. Send Resumes & Applications. (Wait for phone to ring.)

2nd: Cook Brunch - Something like Organic Tofu, Organic Sprouted Barley Toast and Local Honey

3rd: Knit for a while..





Step 1: I don't think you really want to see pictures of job scouts, resumes, careerbuilder, monster, DICE, Caljobs.ca.gov.............. oh boy


Step 2: Organic Tofu - Easy and Nutritious!

1 lb. organic tofu (medium firm)
1/4 cup thinly sliced onions
3 T. Canola Oil
1 T. Butter
1/4 cup well rinsed and thinly sliced leeks
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
Fresh Parsley
Fresh Basil

Place Oil and butter in warm skillet. Add onion and leeks, cooking until onions become transparent. Add mushrooms and saute', stirring occasionally. (Mushrooms will throw off moisture which should eventually cook off.) Add cumin and fresh herbs. Last, add cubed tofu, heating and folding together until most moisture cooked off and flavors have had a chance to blend.






Mmmm.... fuel for further activities.... =)














Step 3: Knit for a while .... which brings me to "What's on your needles?"


Project 1: completed in a few short hours was an "Adopt Me" blanket. Pattern can be found in "Knitting for Peace" by Betty Christiansen. As you may know, I'm a hopeless dog lover and the very moment I have a job offer (if not before) there will be a new adopted member of this household... but in the meantime I receive email updates daily from local animal shelters. One of the most recent of which made a plea for blankets and comforters for pets awaiting adoption. Read about it here: Blankets of Love

I used odds and end balls of yarn I had sitting around from past projects. Two shades of Lion's Brand Homespun and one ball of Lion's Brand Suede, all three shades knit together using Size 15 needles. The result is very soft and densely "cushy". I'm hoping a small dog will feel comfy, safe and happy on it until the right family comes along to give him/her a forever home. ( sniff...)






















Project 2: My first pair of socks! It took two days and a lot of knitting on tiny needles to get to the first heel, but I'm there! =) Very satisfying, indeed! I'm using instructions from Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee





















Project 3: A quick and fun knitting bag from "Knitting to Go" I've been wanting to knit for ages but only made possible upon arrival of my new Denise interchangeable knitting needles ($5 from each purchase goes to Breast Cancer Research). I love this set and with possibly one or two tiny exceptions, I shouldn't have to purchase additional needles for projects ever again. (You have to know that my collection of "straights" is pretty extensive already. The only size I thinkI might need in the forseable future is a set of Size 2 double pointed needles for future sock projects...

The bag was knit in an afternoon using Lions Brand "Landscapes" . Although this yarn is 50% wool and 50% acrylic, the label clearly states that it should felt, so as soon as there's a load of Jeans ready for washing, this project gets thrown into the mix. I'll let you know how it turns out!

And finally (actually there are more projects on needles, but there's just not time today.... )



Project 4: Some of you have asked how my first cable project is coming along, and truth be told, all that remains to be done is knitting the neck edge and assembling front and back. I'm not sure* what keeps me for completing it, but alas, here it is. I came SO CLOSE to finishing before a recent outing just so that I could wear it... but (sigh) perhaps tomorrow?

*Perhaps the fact that I've ripped this poor sweater apart and started over maybe 20 times in the last year???? Nahh... that has nothing to do with it..



Close-up of cables:




By the way, the cables were the easy part of this sweater. The seemingly easy pattern was so decptive for me. I would be happily knitting along, thinking my dreamy thoughts, solving the world's problems, watching movies, thinking I was making GREAT progress, only to inspect my work a few hours later and realize I had made a tiny mistake (a knit instead of a pearl) 7 or 8 inches back. This sweater, more than any project to date, has taught me how to "unknit" as well as "knit". =) I know, I know, it's the only way to become proficient... practice, practice, practice. And it is a great exercise in staying "in the present" and aware at all times!

Happy knitting everyone!

Aunt Melissa