Knit-Nerd-Rant

Apologies for any regular readers who have come along, things have been crazy this summer, and that's really my best excuse.  I have a sweater pattern that I need to go back and write because the sweater is super-duper cozy and snuggly, and I've taken up cross-stitch, and have a couple nerd-tastic samples already mostly completed, so more on those once they are web-picture ready! So my inspiration for today's post was my reaction to seeing the amazing movie, Pacific Rim . (Don't worry, nothing here will reveal any spoilers beyond the basic premise of the movie. I hate spoilers, and refuse to add to them!) First, I had so much fun watching that movie. It was totally amazing and fun and hilarious.  I am constantly in awe of Guillermo del Toro's magnificently warped mind and the way that he can create such imaginative monsters.  While the kaiju are both traditional in their size and fierceness, the shapes they take and the faces (particularly the mouths) are ...

There is such a thing called PenisPans.com where someone has tried to see how many other uses can be made of a bachelorette party gift - a penis shaped cake pan. Hide any innocent eyes and go here to see the hilarity. And yes, they all still look like penises. This is the ultimate reason for the interwebs. My search is over.

[ Source ] from April 1 2013 People Magazine So, while waiting with family in a hospital room with now windows, I was flipping through a People Magazine and found the recipe here (which someone else decided to save as well to provide me with this lovely picture). With the recent online meltdowns involving certain bakeries that had had some interaction with Mr. Ramsay, it makes the timing even better. Anyway, since Lala the lavender came to my home, I've been hoping to find a way to make lavender shortbread cookies. It seemed perfectly natural! So, why not adjust this recipe for what I wanted to do. I didn't monkey too much with the ingredients, but had to make some adjustments. 2 1/2 cups flour (kept the same) 1/4 tsp fine sea salt (kept the same, luckily had some on hand) 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (reduced from original to make room for olive oil) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (not in original at all) 2/3 cup superfine sugar (confectioner's worked for me)...

This seems to be a topic of the moment. While chatting with my sister, we started talking about body image and how things seem to be so skewed, and our own issues with our body shapes and our body image. The other day, I had a great experience with a woman at a dress shop. Then today, a friend posted a link to this blog post on Facebook, and it got me thinking. It feels like there's a lot of judgement out there, a lot of mean competition between women that only tears people down.  This benefits no one but the folks at Slim Fast and the successors to PhenPhen, the cosmetics industry, and Spanx. There's also a lot of counter-activisim in a few flavors. There are women who strike back with just reverse judgement, turning the prejudice on skinny women while glorifying the other end of the spectrum.  The perspective that I like best is what came out of the conversation with my sister.  It's that of the authors of Fatcast , a podcast that is looking to breakdown the idea t...

To celebrate the 4 year anniversary with the boyfriend (has it really been that long?!?!), we went up to Montreal. We had some help from a friend with an abundance of airline miles who was appreciative of help finding a job recently. The boyfriend had never been there, and it had been over 10 years since I had been, so we were in for a treat. We picked up a Fodor's guide and even had a paper AAA map on hand. I found the Hotel Ambrose on Hotels.com, and it was a pretty sweet deal for being located right in downtown (on the advice of a coworker who had lives there ages ago). Right by McGill, which was almost my undergrad alma mater, was an interesting neighborhood full of English-speaking students and tourists from all over.  then it was a question of trying to prepare my brain to start back up in French (though it's definitely possible to get around with just English, having the ability to do both makes things a lot easier, and some people a lot more friendly). Begi...

Posting ground to a halt because I wanted to post about an anniversary trip to Montreal with the boyfriend--and a family emergency that has kept me busy traveling to be with them most weekends (and I will not be posting about it here in the interest of privacy). Anyway,  the Montreal info will be up soon, as soon as I can do it justice. We found some really fun and great places to see and I want to spread the word and reward some kick-butt small businesses! I am also working on a new sweater made out of reclaimed yarn from possibly one of the most hideous sweaters ever to come out of an international retailer. And I'm so angry that I didn't take photos before I frogged that sucker. It was amazingly awful. But the yummy lambswool will soon be part of a sweater worthy of its buttery smoothness.

Keep in mind, that this was totally designed on the fly, and I'm going back and re-constructing what I did, so please forgive me for and alert me to any errors you see! Luckily, many years of experience sewing long before I even picked up my first knitting needles helped me confidently make my set-in sleeves.  They may not be the prettiest buttonholes, but dammit, that's who I figured it out. Translations: CO - cast on K - knit P - purl M1 - make one K2tog - knit 2 together P2tog - purl 2 together Equipment: 1 size 6 circular needle (24" long at the very least), 4 size 6 double-pointed needles, some scrap yarn, and a yarn needle for sewing in the loose ends. Making buttonholes: I totally stumbled on this method, so I don't know if it's got a name somewhere, but here is the way I did it Knit full length of body for the particular stage in the pattern, until the last 6 stitches K1, chain bind off next 3 stitches, leaving 2 remaining P2 This is the ...