A Recipe...Mostly for me so that I don't forget it

Not the greatest presentation, but it tasted really good. 

So I made a dish tonight for dinner that I want to write down somewhere so that I don't forget it.

I cooked a boneless, skinless chicken thigh by this recipe: https://www.thespruceeats.com/chicken-breasts-in-parchment-paper-479485. Only used salt, pepper, and the lemon (not sure if it added anything to the taste in the end). Need to cook it for 20-30 minutes to make it more tender. 20 minutes is enough, but the thigh won't be that tender.

In a separate parchment pouch, put some cauliflower and grated carrots. Drizzle with a little oil. Place in oven for 20 minutes. Stagger with the chicken if necessary.

Once all in the oven, make a half-recipe worth of this teriyaki sauce: https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/teriyaki-chicken/. Add equal amounts of brown sugar and honey (an addition to the recipe). The honey is needed to add more sweetness, which I feel the original recipe is lacking. Also add red pepper flakes.

When the chicken is done, shred it or cut it into small pieces. Toss everything together.

This would go really well with steamed rice.

The Necklace

Pattern available at the new website here.

Spiralis Scarf

Pattern available at the new website here.

Ottellea

Happy Mother's (and Grandmother's) Day!!

 

This is Ottellea. It is named after my grandmother's middle name and the first name of my great grand-aunt (although a slight spelling variation).

This is Grandma Irene Ottilie in 1946. She was 22 years old in this photo.

The pattern is available for purchase at the following sites:

Ravelry pattern page
Love Crochet pattern page

Here are some details about the pattern:

Yarn: Fingering weight
MC (block sections) - approximately 600 yds
CCA (bobble sections) - approximately 460 yds
CCB (three mesh sections) - approximately 220 yds
CCC (two mesh sections) - approximately 120 yds
[Note: If you want to use three colors instead of four, combine the estimated yardage of CCB and CCC.]

Approximate Dimensions: 80" along the longest side by 30" at the widest point. Your finished dimensions may differ depending on your gauge and how the finished scarf is blocked.

Even though the pattern uses simple stitches, such as sc, sc2tog, dc, and dc2tog to mention a few, I would say this pattern would be for an experienced beginner or an intermediate crocheter. The reason behind this is you will need some familiarity with finding stitches at the end of each row. That is probably the trickiest part of the pattern.

 

This one is the Floral Ottellea. The yarns I used are as follows:

[Dyer, Base, Coloway]

MC - Shalimar, Aerie, Chamois

CCA - Knerd String, Fingering Weight, Cherry Garcia

CCB - Avalon Springs Farm, Pendragon, Hobbit House

CCC - Shalimar, Breathless, Enchanted

I call this one the Autumnal Ottellea. This was actually the first color scheme I used, but I didn't like how the pattern was turning out at the time, so I frogged it. I rewrote the pattern, made the Floral one, and then remade the Autumnal. Here are the yarns:

MC - Tempting Ewe; Ewe So Happy Sock; Lock, Shock, & Barrel

CCA - Hazel Knits, Entice MCN, Hoppy Blonde

CCB - Hazel Knits, Entice MCN, Concord

CCC - Hazel Knits, Entice MCN, Sedge

Some of the yarns I used are from Maryland local dyers: Avalon Springs Farm (find their yarn at local events and on their website), Tempting Ewe (exclusive to Clover Hill Yarn Shop in Catonsville, but also online), and Shalimar (see her website for stockists).

Happy crocheting!!

Super Bulky Basket Weave Hat

Pattern available at the new website here.

Grandma's One Egg Cake Recipe

Hi everyone!

I want to share another one of my grandmother's dessert recipes. Like her butter cookie recipe, we don't know where she got this one from. I'm not going to lie. This is not the most spectacular vanilla cake I've ever had. But if you have limited ingredients, it works well.

One Egg Cake

½ stick of butter

½ cup sugar

1 cup flour (sifted 3 times)

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Sprinkles (optional)

1. Grease or butter a 8" x 8" cake pan. Add parchment paper to the bottom of the pan if desired. (This will help with removal of the cake.)
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Sift flour 3 times with baking powder and salt.
4. Add egg to butter/sugar mix. Beat well.
5. Add flour alternating with milk, beat well after each addition.
6. Add vanilla.
7. [Optional] Fold in sprinkles for a confetti cake.
8. Transfer to the pan and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester (e.g. knife, toothpick, piece of uncooked spaghetti, etc) comes out clean.
9. Once cooled, remove from the pan and add icing if desired.

For the cake I made in the picture, I used the Quick and Almost-Professional Buttercream Icing recipe from All Recipes. It was quick and easy, which was what I needed when I made the cake.

Cheers!

Pittsburgh Series 3: Oakmont Hat

Pattern available at the new website here.

Pittsburgh Series 2: Tonidale Hat

Pattern available at the new website here.

Grandma's Butter Cookie Recipe

Recipe available at the new website here.

Pittsburgh Series 1: Bridgeville Hat

Pattern available at the new website here.

Baby Gifts for my Friend's Baby Shower

I haven't posted anything in a while, because you know, life.

But I just finished some crocheted baby items I'm going to give to my friend at her baby shower next weekend.

Here they are:

A Newborn Sorting Hat (although I think it might fit a 3-month-old with my gauge). My friend REALLY likes Harry Potter, so I thought it would be a cool thing to make for her.

A Fox Hat and Diaper Cover for a 6-month-old. The pattern originally called for it be a bear hat, but my friend's nursery theme is woodland creatures. I know bears live in woods, but I like foxes more than bears. I changed the hat pattern a bit, because as written, the hat pattern is worked flat then seemed. I hate making hats that way.

To make the hat in the round, I make the white brim flat then seemed the two ends together to make a wide tube. I started the first row of orange around the top of the tube then joined and turned when the pattern said to only turn. The second row of orange was worked from the inside of the hat. If you choose to make this hat this way, it will be best to count your stitches as you go so that you don't stitch into the joining stitch, and therefore, increase your stitch count.

I added pointy ears instead of round ones called for in the pattern. I also added the orange snout and nose.

Sorry about the poor image quality. I took these pictures with my phone. I think I need to clean the case it's in.

Cheers!

(Knitted) 1800s Hat-Scarf

Pattern available at the new website here.

Fiber Arts Studio Tour 2019, Part 2

Stop 3: Flying Goat Farm, 29 Bridges, and Dragonfly Fibers

This stop was hosted at the Flying Goat Farm. They were cleaning up some storm damage from an EF-0 tornado that hit the area two days ago.

What I purchased:
Got to Sock from 29 Bridges. Fingering weight. 75% superwash merino 25% nylon. Colorway: Mustard.

Stop 4: Dancing Leaf Farm, The Fiberists, and Magpie Fibers

This was my favorite stop. The gardens and landscaping at Dancing Leaf Farm is amazing. I love the country cottage feel it gives. Also, this stop had a doggo. :3 His name is Tapper and he's the sweetest.

What I purchased:
Swanky Sock from Magpie Fibers. Fingering weight. 80% superwash merino 10% cashmere 10% nylon. Colorway: Hell's Bells. This coloway looks amazing in the sunlight.

Stop 5: Wandering Wool
This stop was at a cidery I had never been to in Montgomery County. I don't drink and I was driving, so I didn't partake in any cider. But I did purchase two skeins from Wandering Wool.

What I purchased:
Ausable Sock. Fingering weight. 80% superwash merino 10% cashmere 10% nylon. Coloway: Cinderella.
Helvellyn Sock. Fingering weight. 75% superwash BFL 25% nylon. Colorway: Bohemia.

Fiber Arts Studio Tour 2019, Part 1

Today was a long day. 5 stops, 12 indie dyers and/or yarn producers in the Fiber Arts Studio Tour. I've put myself on a yarn-buying diet so I limited myself to no more than one skein per stop (mostly).

Here are the spoils of the day.

Stop 1: Avalon Springs Farm, Solitude Wool, and Feederbrook Farm

This stop was at the Avalon Springs Farm, which has angora goats and an alpaca. Avalon had a wide variety of colorways on display, including the one below.

What I purchased:
Pendragon Yarn from Avalon Springs Farm. Fingering weight. 100% superwash merino. Colorway: Hobbit House.

This yarn will likely be used for an upcoming test crochet piece.

Stop 2: Withers Wool

Withers Wool produces more "art" yarn than "standard" yarn. What I mean by that is "art" yarn is more go-with-the-flow and/or has embellishments such as feathers and beads. "Standard" yarn would be what we purchased at all other vendors on the tour. This makes Withers Wool unique. Cathy, the owner, gave us a short dying demo and explained her process from sheep to dyed roving.

To be continued....

Basketweave Hat

Now that I have some down time while I recover from back surgery, I was finally able to write up a pattern I made about 5 years ago. This basketweave hat would accompany my basketweave scarf well.

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn (170-200 yds) - 1 or 2 colors if you would like the brim to be a different color than the main hat
• H hook
• G hook

Abbreviations:

• ch - chain
• dc - double crochet
• sl st - slip stitch
• st/sts - stitch(es)
• fpdc - front post double crochet
• bpdc - back post double crochet

Pattern:

Main Hat
H hook

1. Ch 3. 9 dc into third ch from hook. Join with a sl st to first dc. Join like this throughout (join with sl st to first stitch in the round). (You can start this round with a magic ring instead of the ch 3 if you would like.)
2. Ch 2. *Bpdc, fpdc in same stitch. Repeat from * around. Join. (18 sts)
3. Ch 2. *Fpdc in next st. Bpdc, fpdc in same next stitch. Repeat from * around. Join. (27 sts)
4. Ch 2. *Bpdc in next st. Fpdc in next st. Bpdc, fpdc in same next st. Repeat from * around. Join. (36 sts)
5. Ch 2. *Fpdc in next st. Bpdc in next st. Fpdc in next st. Bpdc, fpdc in same next st. Repeat from * around. Join. (45 sts)
6. Ch 2. *[Bpdc in next st. Fpdc in next st.] twice. Bpdc, fpdc in same next st. Repeat from * around. Join. (54 sts)
7. Ch 2. *[Fpdc in next st. Bpdc in next st.] twice. Fpdc in next st. Bpdc, fpdc in same next st. Repeat from * around. Join. (63 sts)
8.  Ch 2. *[Bpdc in next st. Fpdc in next st.] three times. Bpdc, fpdc in same next st. Repeat from * around. Join. (72 sts)
9. Ch 2. [Fpdc in next st. Bpdc in next st.] around. Join.
10. Ch 2. [Bpdc in next st. Fpdc in next st.] around. Join.
11. Repeat rounds 10 and 11 until hat is as long as you need it to be. 6-7 inches from the top of the hat is a good length. The brim will add about 1 inch to the length of the finished hat.
12. Cut main hat color and switch to brim color, if applicable.

Brim
Switch to G hook.

1. Ch 1. Fpdc in the fpdc sts, bpdc in the bpdc sts around. Join.
2. Repeat round 1 two more times.
3. Cut brim color yarn. Secure and weave in ends.

Cheers!

Pattern Ravelry link.

Back Surgery

Hi everyone!

For those who have been following me for a while will remember my ACL reconstruction and subsequent second surgery 7 months later. The first surgery was an awful an experience. I found out the hard way that I likely have some sort of genetic anomaly which makes opioid pain medication completely ineffective in me. Hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (Oxycotin), and morphine all don't work. I get zero pain relief and no semblance of a high from any of them.

Well, I just had my third surgery in four years. Luckily, my knee is okay. It's my back this time. I've talked about my back twice on this blog. I herniated what is probably the most commonly herniated disc in 2008. I was 18 at the time. I've had some flare ups since (about 5 of them), but the latest flare up that started last November was different from the rest. The previous ones were all because I didn't keep up with the core exercises and muscles just got weak. This recent one was the result of me exercising. Physical therapy didn't make things better and sometime made it worse.

After missing several days of work over a couple weeks because of the pain, I got another MRI and saw a spine specialist. He told me the disc had herniated more somewhere in the last 10.5 years. I opted for surgery (microdiskectomy).

I'm still in a fair amount of pain, four days out from surgery. Just like with my knee, pain management was an issue that, in my opinion, was not resolved. I was discharged from the hospital with pain I was rating as 7/10. I understand they couldn't admit me, but I feel like something else should have been done for the pain.

I'm hoping things will start feeling like they did before last November (but really like before July 2008) soon. I've been in pain for so long I'm really at a breaking point. I keep seeing people in videos online, TV shows, movies, and just outside my window and they are able to walk normally. I haven't been able to do that since last November. It really feels like I'll never be back to that. I know that isn't the case, but it feel like it.

I guess the reason why I'm sharing this and why I shared my other medical issues in the past is that it makes me feel less alone in this. If you want to help support me in this, I have a link to Buy Me a Coffee somewhere on the right panel.

Two Tone Ribbed Winter Hat Pattern and Tutorial

About a month ago, I received an anonymous comment on my original Ribbed Winter Hat pattern asking how one would go about making the brim (the folded up part) a different color than the rest of the hat. I gave a written reply, but I don't know that it was the best I could have done. I decided to make a video tutorial for how to make a two tone Ribbed Winter Hat. 

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn 
• K hook (However, depending on the yarn, sometimes the top of the hat [the part in the round] becomes rather open between stitches. If this occurs, switch to a smaller hook, like an I or H.)

The video below is probably the best way to work this pattern. If you would like an accompanying written pattern, it is below the video.

Feel free to let me know if anything is not clear. I don't mind revisiting the content of the video or the written pattern to clarify things. 

Link to Ravelry

Abbreviations:

• Ch - chain
• Sc - single crochet
• st/sts - stitch/stitches
• sc2tog - single crochet 2 together
• BC - brim color
• MC - main color
• BLO - back loops only

Pattern:

Row 1. Chain 10 in BC. Drop BC. Join MC. Ch 26. (36 ch sts total)

Row 2. Using MC, sc in second ch from hook. Sc across to last MC ch. Sc half a stitch (i.e. don't complete the stitch with the last "yarn over and pull through"). Drop MC. Complete the stitch with the BC (i.e. the last yarn over and pull through). Sc to end using BC. Ch 1. Turn.

Row 3. Using BC, sc across in BLO to last BC st. Just like in Row 2, sc half a stitch in the last BC st. Drop BC. Complete the stitch using MC. Sc to end in BLO. Ch 1. Turn.

Row 4. Using MC, sc across in BLO to last MC st. Just like in Row 2, sc half a stitch in the last MC st. Drop MC. Complete the stitch using BC. Sc to end in BLO. Ch 1. Turn.

Repeat Rows 3-4 until you have 61 sc rows total. End with ch 1. (Note: check the hat at this point by wrapping it around your head. The ch row should touch the last sc row. You may need more or less rows to accomplish this. Make sure you end on an odd number of sc rows.)

Fold the piece in half so that the first ch row is next to the last row. Slip st together each st of the first row and the last row starting with the BC. When you get to the last BC st of the last sc row, sl st this using the MC. Continue using MC for the remainder of the hat. Ch 1 at the end.

Sc across the top of the piece in every other row. Do not join to ch st or first sc.

*Sc2tog in next 2 st, sc in next 2 sts. Repeat from * around until there are 12 sts left.

Sc2tog six times.

Fasten off. Weave yarn through last 6 stitches and pull tight to close the top of the hat. Weave in ends.

1800s Hat-Scarf (Crocheted Version)

Pattern available at the new website here.

Gather at the Pyramid Knit Hat Pattern Review

Hi all!

It's been a while since my last video. I have a new one up today. It's a review of the Gather at the Pyramid knitted hat pattern.

You can find the free pattern here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gather-at-the-pyramid .

Cheers!

Pittsburgh Yarn Crawl, Part 2

Time for Part 2 of the yarn crawl. These were the second set of three yarn shops I visited.


Stop 4: Sewickley Yarns

Stop 1 on day 2, stop 4 in total was Sewickley Yarns in Sewickly, PA. This is a very quaint town and I wish I had more time there to explore.

The yarn shop had a lot of hand-dyed and indie dyer yarns, including several local yarns.

Goodies:
1 skein Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock, Bewitched colorway
1 skein Feederbrook Farm Entropy DK, Potential Energy colorway

Stop 5: Tonidale Yarn and Needlecraft

This was probably my favorite stop, certainly the most memorable. Tonidale is in Oakdale, PA, just west of Pittsburgh. Most of the yarn at the shop is cheaper yarn, acrylic or acrylic blends. There is nothing wrong with that. Not all customers in a region are looking for $25 or more skeins of yarn. That being said, they do have higher-end brands such as Plymouth Yarn Company, Juniper Moon Farm, and Urth.

At Tonidale, I met Richard, the husband of the owner of the shop. Richard and his wife have been in business for 30 years. Richard was filling in for his wife that day. I wandered around the shop and then went to a back room where the higher-end yarn was. Richard was there having an issue with his laptop. While I was deciding what to purchase, I helped Richard with the computer issue and helped him learn something new that day. I want to be vague about what I helped him with to respect his and his wife's privacy. He was grateful for my help and I was glad I could help. :)

The next time I'm in the Pittsburgh area, this is definitely a shop I will return to. 

Goodies:

1 skein Juniper Moon Farm Findley Dappled (fingering), Hay colorway 

1 skein Plymouth Yarn Co. Happy Feet 100 (fingering), 207 Ice Grey colorway

Stop 6: Kid Ewe Knot

I must have spent an hour to an hour and half at this shop in Bridgeville, PA. The people there were wonderful. I wore my Woodbridge scarf into the store. Sandy, an employee there, and I started talking about it. She showed me a scarf that she had designed and gave me the pattern. (I've already started making it. I'll post here and on Instagram about it when I'm finished.) She looked up my scarf on Ravelry and I saw that someone at the shop had favorited my pattern. :D

Toward the end of my time at the shop, I talked with the owner of the shop, Heather, about my scarf, which she really liked and about things to do and eat around Pittsburgh. It was a very thorough list, which I appreciated.

Another shop I will definitely return to when I visit again.

Goodies:

1 skein The Fiber Seed Sprout Sock, Rock Creek colorway 

1 skein Manos Del Uruguay Alegria, Cinnamon colorway

1 skein Manos Del Uruguay Alegria, Natural colorway

A retractable measuring tape

A potato chip bag clip

A pen