FP

Wishing everyone a great Memorial Day. It's hot but beautiful today, so I'm doing my best to keep cool.

Keeping cool is not something I'm actually suited for today, however, because yesterday I was on the front page of Etsy for an hour, in the citruscitrus Treasury.  *flails quietly*




I had my doubts about the front page being all that influential in the grand scheme of things. But... *flails*

It's not. It's really, really not. The front page is brilliant and incredible. That one skein of yarn had a jump of over 200 views in that hour, and then sold within a few minutes of the Treasury switching over to the next one.

Heartfelt thanks for everyone who puts Treasuries together. I know they're hard work, because I've contemplated assembling one and been totally stalled by the sheer scale of the task. But OMG, it's been a very OMG kind of weekend to end a very OMG kind of year. 

OK, back to the knitting. I have a baby hat and some ice cream cozies to make before I can do anything else.  And when it cools down, I have to wind some yarn. :)

I'm bit

I have a hat design idea. It could be awesome. It's cables and colorwork and fingering weight yarn, and I don't know if I'm insane or it's genius. I think it might be the former.

This comes about because of a Ravelry thread about what's impressive in a hat, and that started the juices flowing.  Mind, I've designed cables and colorwork before, but, well, I don't think this really counts as impressive.  Nuts maybe, but not precisely impressive.

Now this, this could be impressive, I think.  As an inspiration:


Yeah. So that's what I'm thinking. An 8 section hat with closed ring cables and I'm not sure what else. High nuts quotient is definitely a possibility.

In other things, I should deadhead the roses.  They're loving the hot weather with lots of sun.


These are my favorite single white roses with a blush of pink on the buds. They were battling a bit of fungus earlier in the spring, but I think all the extra sun has helped, even if it makes me want to melt.  The shrub has gone from weedy and sad to an explosion of glossy leaves and flowers the size of my palm.

Not the kitchen sink, but the seat of the pants

After I have measured the milk, yogurt, egg, and vanilla and beaten them all together is not the time to discover that we only have 86g of wheat flour left in the entire house.

I thought the "there's no plain sugar" situation was bad enough, but I have my emergency jar of vanilla sugar so that was OK. But one cannot make scones without flour!  And one cannot have berry shortcake without some sort of short cake.

So, I improvised.  I had potato flour and stone ground yellow cornmeal; I went with the cornmeal.  I ended up with something a little bit like the sweet "cornbread" common up here, but much less sweet and not at all greasy. I like it enough to save the recipe and  make it again.


Strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, with vanilla ice cream and a corn... something or other

Recipe after the jump-

Updating in the actual month the yarn was dyed! (And a sale)

Shocking! :P

These are the colorways I've started listing tonight.  All from this month, they fall mostly into two themes.  I will finish listing them some time tonight:

Clicking the image will take you to the shop. It's all Three Hares except Nebula, which is Arctic Hare.

Colonial Day and Kobol were colorways thought up for the BSG FPB group on Ravelry.  Sea Wrack is an old favorite on a new base, and Nebula is another one I've done before.
 
Titania, Bottom, and Peasblossom are my June Phatfiber contribution:


Also, I'm having a sale right now.  The particulars and coupon code after the jump.

It's my day to cook

It's too hot to cook. 90°F in May? You've got to be kidding me. So, I'm grilling the big chunk of leg of lamb. Hot = cooking outside. But curry was suggested, so I'm going with a bit of Indian flair in the seasoning.

I also got some knitting done in anticipation of this ridiculously hot day.  Pint glass cozies!


More knitting chatter and the lamb marinade after the jump.

Groups and knitting, but not knitting groups

I started a Ravelry group for my shop yesterday.  Light Brown Hare (group)  I've been thinking about it for a while, worried that I would be the only one at the party, as it were. But it seems time with the one year anniversary of the shop coming up fast and the things I have planned with both the shop and this blog.

A lot of the information will overlap with this blog, but I think the format difference will be enough to make both worthwhile in their separate ways. One of the things I'm not used to about this kind of blog format is how difficult it is to have an actual conversation, and the group forums are specifically designed to facilitate conversations.  I also don't plan to duplicate the giveaways. So, right now I've opened up the group for an inaugural June giveaway of stitch markers. Anyone who joins the group and comments in the relevant thread by June 4th will be added to a random drawing.  I'm going to pick 12 people to each receive a widget stitch marker.  Meanwhile, the June giveaway on this blog will be a skein of yarn. But I'm waiting for June 1 for that. :)

As an aside, my yarn has been in 3 Etsy Treasuries recently. Treasury East, but still treasuries.  I'm never quite sure what to do about them, but it's lovely being included.  Apparently Moro appeals! :) B l o o d Orange; Electric Blue; We Belong Together.

Meanwhile, on to the knitting.  I finished my Vertex, which I have called Vertiginous, late last night which was really early this morning. But I'm still calling it "yesterday" in my head.  Ravelry project page  It's not blocked yet. Far too hot and humid to wear scarves, let alone block them.

Can't sleep, dragonflies will eat me

Weirdest micro dream where I woke up and then went back to sleep for a minute and dreamt that I walked to the door, opened it up and a dragonfly flew into the crook of my neck trying to get past me into the house.  One of the big black ones we have that have the spots on their otherwise clear wings. Totally woke me up with a start.  I don't usually remember my dreams, so this stands out.

I've been dealing with insomnia lately, which is good for my progress in the Vertex (Ravelry pattern page link) knitalong in the Phatfiber group. I'm making a smaller version with some of my fingering weight Three Hares, trying to make it with just one ball.  I really like the shape of this scarf, and I'm intrigued by how the constant row length changes will work out with the dye job.

Last night I didn't just knit. I played with wire, too.  I got caught up in wondering how to include my bunny logo somewhere when I go to festivals, especially if a t-shirt is impractical. And, well, this happened.  It's coated copper wire which is slightly annoying as the coating flakes off. I might have to try it again with an uncoated and heavier gauge copper.  This is 20ga and I also have copper in 18ga.  It's pinned to my Vertex in Progress, Taiga colorway, Three Hares yarn.

I love ice cream

I eat it straight out of the pint container when I can get away with it. I don't see the point in wasting time with a bowl.

This means I need an ice cream pint cozy, however. It keeps the ice cream cold longer, and it keeps my  hands from getting too chilled. It's perfect for hot weather.

In the last Phatfiber box, I got a lovely bit of handspun:
 

So I decided to make an ice cream pint cozy with it:

Chilly

Post 2! Oo-er.

So, it's been very chilly for May. As a sort of reaction, I made chili, and beans, and cornbread for dinner. It's my very inauthentic out of the recesses of my brain sort of chili, the beans are just basic black beans with onions and herbs, but I'm basing my cornbread off of this cornbread recipe and this one.



Served everything with a side of tomato/avocado/vidalia onion salad and topped with crumbled extra sharp cheddar. I'm pleased. It's all very tasty indeed.  And I didn't have to go shopping for any of it! That's an extra bonus.  Recipes below the fold.

It's box day!

It's also Wednesday, which means it's my day to cook so it's going to be a two post day.  But before I run off to ready packages for the mail, have a PhatFiber Box!


This month's theme was Blossoms and Bark.

More pictures and links within.

Stitch marker update

This is a picture of the lawn. See that stitch marker in my hand?  There's one just like it lost in the grass and weeds. This is why I should never photograph my stitch markers outside. Especially when I put the camera down on my board, causing it to tip over and fling 36 widgets into the lawn.

Especially when the widgets are green and brownish red for the May Phatfiber theme of Blossoms and Bark. 

*facepalm*

I found all of them but one.  I finally gave up when I was starting to lose what light there was, as I had to finish the pictures.  Despite this, I did manage to update the shop with more markers, today. I also relisted the custom set since I mailed out the ones from the weekend.  Pics and links after the jump.

Shop update

Click on the image to go to the shop, as a large version of this collage would be huge.

Colorways are from top to bottom: (in the first row the first three are Jackrabbit 6oz, the last one is Arctic Hare 6oz. The rest are all Three Hares.)
Granite, Moro, Poseidon, Lupines.
Promethean Fire, Moro, Poseidon, Common Violet.
Taiga, Banana Cream Pie, Sand and Sky, Bluebell.
Toffee, Morning Fog, Sunbleached, Silver Lining.

Big update in the shop as I toiled in the GIMP mines all night and finally got most of April edited and listed. It takes up most of the first two pages. I'll move them into color order when I list new things.

It's Wednesday

Must be my day to cook. Tonight is one pot couscous again, because I am lazy. This time with dark meat chicken marinated in a very Moroccan blend of seasonings.

And oh yeah! I forgot to say that there's a giveaway for some of my stitch markers on the Phatfiber blog. Just comment there and be entered for the drawing. Meanwhile, I'll be having my first giveaway on this blog starting June 1.

Now back to the food. No real measurements! Makes a giant pot (because last time, I missed out on leftovers)


one pot couscous all ends up looking the same....

Victory!

Of a sort. 100 samples boxed up and ready to send. They may not make it in time for the video this month, but they should be in plenty of time for box day. That's 50 for May and 50 for June.


May's miniskein samples: Hickory, Banana Cream Pie, and Common Violet

Normally I do 60 per month, but I didn't like how small the miniskeins were getting. Cutting down the total number per month lets me make them just a little bit more substantial, while cutting down on costs and work overall. My samples are expensive and time consuming to put together. There are 3 skeins of yarn pulled for the miniskeins, as well as part skeins of each of my different bases for the small twists that get attached to the card. Then there's the cards themselves which I print out, spray with sealant, cut in half, and then cut and fold. It's generally 2-3 days of solid work to get it all done.

Not really a fun Mother's Day activity, but Mom wanted to help. :P

I made crepes for dessert in appreciation. Stuffed with strawberries macerated in a bit of sugar and some Grand Marnier, and a bit of sour cream/plain yogurt. Very tasty even if my crepe batter was being cranky.

Of course, I didn't finish the scarf I was knitting, but I can do that tomorrow. Then to get cracking on getting the yarn that those samples represent listed and the new graphics prepared, etc. Busy busy busy, but at least I can forgo the sample rush for June!

Wind wind wind print print print

I'm completely off schedule due to the great zombie invasion. But I managed to dye up some yarn yesterday and I'm pretty satisfied with the new offerings. Today and the weekend is all about getting my samples for May's Phatfiber box ready, since I'm a week behind schedule. I'm also trying to get 2mos done instead of just one. We'll see how sleep deprived I am by the end of it.


Left to Right: Colonial Day; Kobol; Titania; Peasblossom; Bottom

Given that I have a scarf to finish knitting by Sunday, I'm a little frazzled.

Meanwhile, Etsy appears to be back to functioning. *crosses fingers* It was messed up for days for people in the Northeast US, not even counting how many of the hacks that I rely on being broken. But it appears to be working again. Which means after I get this lot of samples done, I really need to get my April yarn up in the shop.

Zombies have eaten my brain

And I don't even like horror movies. But I've been playing a ridiculous quantity of Plants vs Zombies in a desperate attempt to finish it so I can stop playing. I love puzzle games, and it's a tower defense game with strong puzzle elements, so it totally hits all my buttons.

In an effort to wean myself off PvZ, I started a new knitting project last night. To whit, a scarf for my mother. Of course I would do this right as we head into a weekend of ridiculous heat. What is with the upper 80s and into the 90s in May? It's May 1, for heaven's sake!


Noro Kureyon Sock in color S180

But she borrowed the silk scarf I made for my father a couple weeks ago citing the fact that she has no light scarf for those cool days, and that everyone seems to be wearing scarves lately. So, a scarf. It's simple feather and fan/old shale, although I had to modify it because the asymmetry was annoying me.