A Little Knitting

Posted on December 30, 2011

I got a new camera for Christmas! So now I’ll have some halfway decent pictures again, no more blurry camera phone shots. I got a Canon PowerShot SX230HS and I really like it. It’s small, pocket sized, and it takes great pictures. I need to play around with it some more.

I’ve also been doing a bit of knitting. My cold went away and then two days later decided to stage a comeback, so I spent a couple days doing nothing but sitting in bed and reading and then I decided to knit. I found this old thick and thin black yarn and knit a Dorflinger Tee from the Fall 2010 Knitscene. I washed this up Wednesday and it’s still drying, it will probably take a few days since it’s cold. I made this in a size 47 so it has a little over an inch of ease and I should be able to wear a shirt under it comfortably and I’m blocking it pretty aggressively so the lace shows better. I almost didn’t have the yarn to finish, I have about five yards left, it was close, but I made it.

Then today I buckled down and finished my BSJ that I started in June. This is such a neat little sweater, I can’t believe I waited so long to knit one. All I had left to do was seam up the sleeves and knit the I cord around the neck and it took all of 30 minutes to do. So this is done but I think it’s still a bit big for the baby I made it for, oh well. Next time I’ll know to use thinner yarn, this is worsted weight. Now I just need a couple little buttons.

Here’s another picture from my new camera. It has a toy camera setting which changes the colors and puts a vignette on the edges. This is picture hasn’t been retouched at all. It’s nice having a real camera again.

A Little About School

Posted on December 22, 2011

So, I’m bored tonight and feeling a little better, the cold is almost gone, and I got an e-mail a few weeks ago asking me about school, so I thought I’d talk about it a little. I’m on winter break until mid-January and I actually miss it, which I’m kind of surprised about. This is my school in the picture above. I’ve mentioned before that I’m taking a baking and pastry certificate course at OTC, my local community college. There isn’t a “real” culinary school anywhere near where I live and there is no way I could afford to move away to go to school. I’ve been asked if I’m worried about being able to get a decent industry job after school since I’m not going to a fancy culinary school and I’m not, at all. From what I’ve read it really doesn’t matter where or even if you went to school, it matters what you know how to do and how good you can cook. I know I’m a good cook, I just need to learn the proper skills and I can get that just easily at community college as at a culinary school and it’s about $40,000 to $50,000 cheaper (and yes, those numbers are right).

As far as the classes I’ll be taking, they are the same as any other culinary school. Last semester I took my ServSafe class, kitchen safety and sanitation and I’m now ServSafe certified, I passed the test a couple weeks ago, and the school requires a public speaking class so I took it, too. They also require an English 101 and Math class but I had transfer credits from when I went to college before so I don’t have to take them. In the Spring I’m taking Purchasing and Product Identification, Intro to Food Prep and Theory, and Intro to Baking and Pastry. And then next Fall I’ll be taking European Pastries and Classic Desserts, Quick Breads and Yeast Breads, Cakes and Cake Decorating, and Chocolate, Sugar and Confections.

So I’ll be getting a well-rounded eduction in all desserts and pastries. I would love to be able to take some other classes at other schools but I doubt I’ll be able to afford that for a while. I do plan on taking workshops to learn new skills through my career, though. I’m not really sure what I’d like to do after school, if all goes to schedule I’ll be out in a year. The city I live in doesn’t have any really nice restaurants with pastry chefs and there aren’t any big hotels or convention centers that would have a pastry chef on staff, so I’m looking into moving out of town, I’ll have to save up some money first. I’m looking at Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, and possibly St. Louis or Kansas City or Little Rock, since they’re closer to home. I might be able to swing something in Branson, though I would rather not work there if I don’t have to, maybe just to save some money until I can go somewhere else. I’ve also been researching catering around here and maybe doing wedding cakes or something until I can leave.

Now I just need to go buy my books, uniforms, knives, and baking kit and I’ll be all ready for school to start again. I’m really excited about my cooking classes and I’ll keep the blog updated.

Christmas Knitting

Posted on December 21, 2011

This is all the knitting, well, technically half is crocheted, that I’m doing for Christmas. My cousin wanted a black hat with kitty ears so I used the pattern in Stitch ‘N Bitch with some black (I know it doesn’t look black but it is) acrylic and made her a kitty hat. And since her favorite color is neon green (she’s 10) I whipped up a crocheted scarf. I used a pattern from Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet for it. And that is all I’m making for Christmas. I’m sick, I’ve had a cold that I can’t shake, and I’m tired and don’t feel like messing with it. So there.

What I’ve Read

Posted on December 16, 2011

I set a goal this year to read 25 books and there for a bit I figured I wouldn’t make it. When I set the goal I hadn’t yet decided to go back to school, honestly, I wasn’t planning on it all at the time, so I thought it would be no big deal. But I almost didn’t make it. I actually ended up reading 26, not too shabby.

Here’s a list of what I read. I’m not going to review them all, there’s just too many. I put links to the books on Amazon, too.

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- This series was fantastic. I highly recommend it and I’ll be reading it again, soon.
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz- This was one of my favorite books this year.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Very good book, starts slow but the second half is good.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Heartbreaking book. So much better than the movie.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Loved it.
Griftopia by Matt Taibbi
The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
The Passage by Justin Cronin. This was really good, too, and really long.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. I’m not really into the whole zombie thing but I had heard this was good and it is. It’s going to be made into a movie, too.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11) by Charlaine Harris
Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is being billed as the next Hunger Games but it’s pretty different, just more dystopian young adult fiction. I liked it and part two will be out in May.
The Iron Heel by Jack London. This was good, that’s all I can say. Nothing like London’s nature writing.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. Had to read it again before I saw the last movie.
63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read by Jesse Ventrua.
Veganist by Kathy Freston. Read this after I saw her on TV, maybe Martha Stweart, I don’t remember. I didn’t like it but I can’t remember why. I actually don’t remember anything about this book except not liking it. If I was going to recommend a book about veganism it wouldn’t be this.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg. Loved it but I loved the movie, too.
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. I don’t know what to say about this. The book was good, the story was good, the writing was good, but it dragged on forever. I’ve heard the movie is excellent, though.
Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson. Another good book but I figured out the ending really fast so that disappointed me.
Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health by Gene Stone. I go on these kicks where I read these vegan diet books, the next is one of them, too. I do recommend this for someone who is thinking about veganism or vegetarianism and the documentary is fantastic as well.
The McDougall Program: 12 Days to Dynamic Health by John McDougall.
Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I found this under my bed, didn’t know I had it. It was good to read in bits and pieces before I went to sleep while I was all stressed over finals.
The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. I loved this. I want a Worm-Cam.

And that’s it. I should have enough time to read at least one other book by the end of the year if I can decide on a book. I’m either going to start on 11/22/63 by Stephen King or Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, I don’t know which, maybe both.

Decisions, Decisions

Posted on December 15, 2011

I am officially on my winter break from school and now I have time to catch up on things that I actually want to do, instead of rushing to do all the things I have to do. Yesterday I sat down and finished the book (The Light of Other Days by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter) that I’ve been reading since freaking October and today I’m going to knit and make cookies.

But my biggest thing right now is trying to decide what to knit next. I have a little money, I’m trying very hard to keep this under $75 since I’m basically broke. I really need a black cardigan. I have a couple that are gray, one blue, and a really heavy bulky black, but I need a black sweater that I can just throw on over a shirt when it’s chilly. I want it to be either solid or slightly heathery, no tweeds, and I’d prefer a v-neck with cables and maybe a shawl collar. And I don’t want to have to pay extra for a pattern, so it either needs to be free or in my library. So I’ve been scouring Ravelry and I found five that I like and that fit all my criteria and one that doesn’t fit but that I think could work.

Here’s the candidates and I’ll link to them on Ravelry.

First up is the Dollar and Half Cardigan by Veronik Avery from the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits. The pattern calls for a linen yarn but a lot of people have used wool and it seems to work fine. I like the closer fit of this and the low v-neck with the mix of cables and lace.

Next is the Central Park Hoodie. It seems like everyone but me has knit one of these, it really made the rounds of the knitting blogs a few years ago. I like that this is open but I’d probably put some buttons on it anyway and it’s nice and simple and looks very comfy.

The last on the top row is the Montview Cardigan from the Fall 2011 Knitscene. I keep wavering on this. I like it but there’s something about it that keeps making me change my mind. I like the fit and the slight shawl collar. Maybe it needs more complex cables? I don’t know.

Down to the bottom row. First is the Livingstone Cardigan from the Winter 2011 Interweave Knits. This is the one I’m leaning towards. I like the pretzel cables and I love the collar, the deep front ribbing, and the loop and toggle buttons. I could definitely see this in a heathery black or very dark gray over a t-shirt and jeans.

The next sweater is probably my second choice, it’s Breezy Cables, and it’s been on my to knit list since 2006. This cardigan just looks so easy to wear, I love the collar and the open front and the pockets and the long fold up sleeves. This looks so snuggly and warm.

The last is the outlier, Takoma from the deep fall 2011 Knitty. This is more of a jacket than an easy cardigan, it meets none of my criteria, but can you just imagine it done all monochrome in a black, white and gray?

So, there’s my choices. I guess it all comes down to me deciding if I want something like a cardigan or something more like a jacket. Decisions, decisions. Maybe I’ll just scrap the whole idea and make a St. Brigid.

Let’s Bake a Cake-Like Thing

Posted on November 23, 2011

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow here in the US of A, I’m baking. Every year I make this pumpkin cake-thing and it is always my favorite dessert, but I never make it any other time, just Thanksgiving. I have no idea why I don’t make it more because it’s super simple, but there it is. Since this is my favorite cake-thing, I thought I’d post the recipe. I don’t have any fancy pictures because I’m still camera-less, but I have some slightly blurry shots from my phone cam. I call this a cake-thing because even though you use a cake mix, it isn’t very cake-like but it isn’t very pie-like either. It’s soft and creamy on the bottom, almost like a pie, but there’s no crust and a crispy top. It’s really good and hard to describe. Let’s get started.

My Favorite Cake-Thing

Ingredients:

One yellow cake mix. It doesn’t matter what kind.
28oz Canned pumpkin. I have two smaller cans here.
3 Eggs
1.5 Sticks butter
12oz Evaporated Milk
1.5c Sugar
A bag of pecans. I used a 1.5 cup bag of chopped pecans and it was plenty.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix half the cake mix (I just eyeball it), the pumpkin, eggs, evaporated milk, and sugar in a bowl. Don’t worry about getting all the lumps out, just make sure it’s all moist and combined. Pour the mix in a 9”x13” pan and sprinkle the rest of the cake mix and the pecans on top. Melt the butter and pour that over the cake mix and pecans. At this point you’re going to have a soupy looking mess but it will be fine. Bake for about 60 minutes. It’s not going to look like it’s done but it is. When you move the pan it will probably wiggle around a little and it may look kind of puffy on top. Let it sit on the counter and cool and it will firm up. Store it in the refrigerator and I always have to put mine in a different pan or the bottom will turn black, your pans may be different, though.

Here’s the finished product and I know it’s not the best picture but, trust me, it tastes like nutty pumpkiny heaven. I’m going to sneak a piece right now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

And Now for Some Knitting

Posted on November 10, 2011

See, I still knit. In fact, I’ve finished up a few things recently and here they are.

First up is my new hat that I just finished today. The pattern is Wild is the Wind by Lee Meredith and I used some yarn leftover from the Morrison Cardigan, KnitPicks City Tweed DK. It took about a skein and I used size 6 needles. This is a neat pattern. It’s knit from the top down with a twisted stitch pattern and then you cast on stitches for the edging and knit the edging on as you go. It worked up quick and it looks really nice on. With my hair so short my head gets very cold so I need lots of hats. I’d like to knit another of these with some big chunky yarn.

This I finished up on Tuesday. It’s also a Lee Meredith pattern, Parallel Lines. I love her patterns. They’re always something creative that I could never think up on my own and most of them can be knit in any yarn, so they’re good to use up extras. I bought myself her book in progress, Remixed, for my birthday and I’ve already two of the three patterns, this scarf and the previous hat. There’s a shawl, too, and I’ll be knitting it soon. I might even cast on today. So this was again knit with the leftover City Tweed DK, I bought a lot more than I needed.

And my last FO, my Charvet Pullover. This was from the Fall 2010 Interweave Knits and I made it out of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (and it only cost about $30). I really liked knitting this sweater, the construction was very cool. You knit each piece separate, the front and back and the sleeves, but you start at the bottom left corner and knit in garter stitch on the bias and all the shaping is built in. This was one of those patterns where you really have to watch what you’re doing and keep track of the stitch counts but it’s worth it. The sweater is warm and comfortable even if it is a little small for me and it feels bulky, but that’s the garter stitch. And I’m sure it would feel less bulky in a drapier yarn, like the llama/silk the pattern calls for but I couldn’t afford that. Anyway, I really do like it how it is.

I have one other project on the needles, a big Shetland shawl and I’ll try to post something about it tomorrow.

Stitching for Sanity

Knitting and Stuff