Call me Purl Girl

I am officially obsessed with knitting. When I see someone wearing a sweater, I stare and try to determine the kind of stitch and the yarn weight. When I'm falling asleep at night, I think about what I knitted that day and/or what I'll knit the next day. I'm falling behind on my quilting and way, WAY behind on scrapbooking (Joshua Tree? Only happened a year ago. I did purchase an album for Australia though...). I can't remember the last time I left my house without an in-progress knitting project in a tote.

What have I knitted so far? Three hats, which are pretty cool. Part of a poncho. And the front of a sweater for my four-year-old. The poncho is on hold because I need help with my increases, which are MUCH harder than decreases, IMO. I hope to actually complete some large projects soon...

Knit happens

Last month Megan taught me how to knit! If I knew where the scarf that I was working went to, I would have a picture of how the rows that she cast on and started for me are all neat and lovely, and then there are a few rows of mess before I start to get the hang of it. Over Christmas I bought a book and taught myself how to purl on the plane home. (Purling is not the horribly un-fun, nearly impossible task some people would have you believe.) With this same book I taught myself how to cast on, increase and decrease. These are all good things to know if you want to make stuff with yarn.





I made this hat with a pattern in the book. I followed all the instructions and made a swatch to check the size of my stitches, but it turned out way too small. I made it with the intent of wearing it myself but it's too small for two-and-a-half-year-old (who has a giant head, but still). Maybe my little one-year-old niece can wear it.

I'm knitting another hat in the same pattern but with 20 percent more cast-on stitches and about 15 extra rows. I've also ordered some circular needles to do the next project I want to work on from the book: a sweet-looking poncho.

*Yes, I stole the title of this post from the book.
** If you're ever in St. Louis, get thee to the Knittery.

Butternut squash and split-pea stew

I made this recipe tonight, and as usual, it was fantastic. I clipped it out of Sunset Magazine a few years ago because I love butternut squash, and it sounded interesting. I make it at least a few times each fall. It is so flavorful and unique.

I halve the amount of butter used to save some calories, and I don't believe that it detracts from the taste. The star anise are a bit pricey, but not any more than the meat for a similar sized non-vegetarian dish would cost.

It also goes pretty quickly, after you get the squash cooked. Earlier in the afternoon, I cut the very top off a big squash (to vent) and put it in a glass baking dish with half a cup of water, covered loosely with plastic wrap. 15 minutes in the microwave and I was able to easily slice the skin off with a knife and chop the meat. I left it in a bowl on the coutnertop covered with the plastic wrap.

Yum yum yum!!

Eggplant parmigiana FAIL

Last night I tried to make eggplant parmigiana and the problem came with drying out the eggplant. The recipe called for sprinkling the eggplant "generously" with salt. It didn't indicate how much salt to use, nor how I would get the salt off. I thought, "maybe it will come off in the hot oil?" Well, it didn't. The final result was too salty to eat.

Any suggestions on how to prevent this in the future?

Sale sale sale!

My garage sale got mostly rained-out, so I'm offering the choicest leftover items in a "virtual" garage sale. Please email me at kathy@schrenk.org if you're interested in any of the items.





Wet suit, probably 1.5 mm thick, served me well on one dive in Florida in March. Size 9/10, brand name Dacor. $25


Wool jacket, size 6 petite, it's BLACK, not grey, like it appears in the pic. $10




Lot of two women's pants, size 8 Short, by Old Navy. Pretty darn nice dress pants for Old Navy! One is grey, the other black. Would work well with the wool jacket above! $12


Lot of 3 jackets, size 12-18 months. Grey one is Greendog (Macy's) brand, orange rain jacket is Old Navy, orange hoodie is Gymboree. $10




Women's black sweater vest by Old Navy, size Medium. $5



24 month Carters onsie, new with tag, $5



Red Talbots Kids sweater, super-cute, size 18 months, worn maybe twice, $5


Chariot jogging kit for a Chariot double chassis (click here for details). $50


SF tank top, teen size XL, fits a petite woman, $5





Lot of 3 onsies, all by Talbots Kids. Blue one is long sleeved, size 18 months; red one is NWT, size 24 months, short-sleeved polo; cream one is NWT, size 18 months, long-sleeved turtleneck. If your boy fits into these long-sleeved ones now, he'll fit into the short-sleeved one in the spring! $15

Thanks for checking out my on-line garage sale! :-)

Cookin up a storm

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This has been a good weekend for producing tasty treats in the kitchen. First I made pumpkin chocolate chip bread on Friday night, after I devoured a bunch that the snack mom served on Thursday morning.

Last night was chili night, with cornbread from scratch, my own chili seasoning and tomatoes from my store. For some reason it seemed better than usual. Maybe the white beans?

And right now I'm eating a dish that I just dug up on the CSA web site. I don't know why I always worry about what to do with "all these beets" from the CSA. After I cooked the ones for this recipe, roasting as directed, I could have eaten a whole serving of it without anything else. The recipe probably didn't need the raisins, and I skipped the pine nuts because I didn't have them, but the beets made it so flavorful that it didn't matter.

Ch ch ch changes

Last week Arthur started at a new school. It's a Montessori, which basically means that the approach is to provide academically enriching activities for the child to chose from and let them work at their own pace and on what they chose to work on. This sounds pretty unstructured, but it's mega-structure compared to the play-based parent co-op Arthur had been attending.

Last week was his first official week at his new school, but he only attended for about a day-and-a-half, due to runny noses and grandparents in town. Monday was mega-meltdown day. He screamed and yelled and fell on the floor writhing when I tried to drop him off. Finally I pried his hands from the door and ran, and he was ok. Yesterday was Tumblebus day, promptly at 9, so that was easy. And today he walked right in, I said "Adios" (the Spanish teacher comes Wednesdays) and took off. All good.

Arthur doesn't do so well with transitions, so it's no shock there'd be a couple bumps. The biggest challenge may be getting used to the teacher, who today passed on a note that said: "Arthur got a timeout during recess today for saying to the other children in the sandbox 'stinky penis.' Please discuss this with him tonight."