Category Archives: The Kitchen Sink

Whoa! Happy New Year 2013!

Time sure has flown, hasn’t it. Last I blogged it was the end of November. I’d petered out that last week or so of NaBloPoMo. I was holding my own for a bit there, but yeah. I’d probably have better luck with a sweater. ;)

But the holiday time has come and gone and there was crafting and the emergence of a new, obsession, to use a better word. Nails!

Christmas nails--Project52 week 52

I’d gone to a holiday swap dinner and learned about a monthly nail subscription from Julep. I really like the polishes I got from it; nice and thick, smooth texture and nearly opaque on the first coat! Not sure I’ll purchase every month but I’ll definitely be participating again. I like nail polish because it’s a way to pretty myself up without makeup. I don’t work outside the home, so I have very little need to keep up foundation and lipstick and all that jazz, so nails are the next best thing!

Between polish changes I’ve been crafting.

Cowl-Hat--Project52 week 51

Oh So Cozy Cowl

Handspun Falkland from ShadyFibers

Size 5.0mm  Tunisian crochet hook(H)

Remember when I picked up tunisian crochet back in 2012? Well, it resurfaces every so often and this time it was in the form of a cowl. Strangely enough, it was too narrow to be comfortable so I cinched off the top and now it’s a hat! Perfect! It has a nice, easily memorized stitch pattern, and I’ll probably try it again and get it right the next time!

And here’s my first two FO’s of the new year:

Quick Cable Slouch Hat

Quick Cable Slouch Hat

ArtYarns “Reality”, which I received in the holiday swap

Size 4.5mm and 6.5mm needles

Seed Stitch Mittens (for me)

Seed Stitch Mittens for Men

Misti Alpaca “Qolla”, also received in the holiday swap

Size 4.0mm needles

I’m currently working on a tunisian crochet shawl called Venus. I’m almost done, but here’s a sneak peek:

venus_beginnings_medium

It’s turning out fairly large unblocked because I’m using a sport weight yarn instead of lace, but it won’t grow that much more because it’s a microfiber yarn.

That’s it for this post, TTFN!

Give Thanks… (NaBloPoMo Day 22)

 

Obligatory Pie close up shot-- Project52 week 47

 

PIE! Pumpkin pie, to be exact. Nothing fancy, just something to take to the family or dessert this evening. Assuming we don’t eat it all first. ;)

No controversy, no animosity, no standing on lines half the day and all night waiting for crap you don’t need. Just relax with the family and enjoy each other’s love and company. Eat some good cookin, blast some music/football game, laugh at your drunk uncle knocked out in the recliner without his dentures(been there, done that), play with the kids, put your brother’s apron out when he never fails to set it on fire… whatever

 

Just. Be. Thankful. Today, tomorrow, always.

 

TTFN

 

Overloaded (NaBloPoMo day 10)

Whoops. Missed day 9. Sorry about that. Let’s move on, shall we?

Overloaded. That’s basically where I am in terms of things I like to do. My interests include spinning, knitting/crochet, photography, trying my hand at bastardized versions of ethnic foods, photography, and reading. Not necessarily in that order, though some do take precedence over the others. I especially like to read about all those other hobbies, and have recently acquired a stack of books, some of which fall into those categories.

I recently receive not one, but two crochet stitch dictionaries, and they both have a few patterns to boot. I got the Crochet Stitches Visual Encyclopedia, and Donna Kooler’s Encyclopedia of Crochet, and I can’t make up my mind which I want to use first. I’ve already browsed the beginning of the second book and it has a neat history or crochet, including photos of vintage crochet items and old hooks.

Then, last week I won the Lightroom 4 book from the Worldwide Photowalk contest.

But in the last few days, I’ve manage to gather more ebooks for my neat little Kindle:

Image

A couple of mystery and drama stories, two recipe books and even something for little Beanlet to read when we’re out and about and she gets bored. Which to start first? Decisions, decisions. So many hobbies, so little time.

TTFN!

Decisions, and Finding Peace– Day 4

Aside from the daily rigors of my family’s needs, crafting is always somewhere on my mind. Such is the case when finding a sale coupon in your email for half off some yarn of your choice, providing it’s not already on sale. I hit the pavement today in search of something to knit the Cabled Yoke Pullover.  Turns out, I didn’t like the yarn I had considered, especially for the price they wanted and decided I could do better. That, and the fact that I have a sweater’s worth of wool to spin up, which really guilted me away from purchasing anything.

 

Before I hit the craft store though, I made my way to the Harlem Piers park to get a look at the scene along the Hudson River. So hard to believe this river was all up on the shores, thrashing and flooding everything, the skies dark and foreboding.   The river was calmer today and there were people sitting, taking pictures and the usual runners and bike riders going up and down the pier walkways.  It just felt good to be out and about.  I only wish recovery and resolution to those who are struggling now with the  loss of their homes and livelihoods, and that they, too, will soon be able to look up at the sky and see a beautiful day.

 

Peace and Blessings.

TTFN!

 

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Numbers

Weekly Photo Challenge-- Numbers

Metronome Clock at Union Square, NYC

I admit I actually thought this was a US debt clock but it’s not. Oops. It’s just a regular clock. The first 7 numbers indicate the time in 24-hour format, down to the seconds. The last 7 show how long til midnight, again in 24-hour format. Way cool.

Food Frenzy!

So far the week’s turning out to be fairly good despite the rain. No good outdoor pics since every time I saw something snap-worthy it was raining and I couldn’t take the camera out. But in between those drenching moments…

All that remains..

This is all the remains of the yummy lunch I had today. Zagat was sponsoring a Food Truck Frenzy today! It was actually last week but the rain caused a postponement. No matter,k as it rained today too, though not hard enough to stop me from enjoying the food samples. ;)

I’m no foodie by any stretch of the imagination so take these reviews with a grain of salt:

1) Luke’s Lobster Truck: The offerings were a Lobster roll or a Shrimp roll. I choose Lobster and loved it! I’ve tasted chilled lobster before and I didn’t like it at all, but this roll sample had it with a tasty, slightly spicy sauce, on a sliver of buttered roll. Mmm good. I’d definitely get a whole one if I could meet up with the truck again. They weren’t allowed to sell at the event or I’d have seriously bought one! Add one to the twitter contact list!

2)Desi Truck: Having always wanted to try Indian food, this name jumped out at me on the event list a few weeks ago. The choices were a Biriyani, Haleem, and various Kati rolls. I chose the Kati roll with chicken. Sadly, I’m not impressed. Now, I’ve never eaten a Kati roll before so I truly didn’t know what to expect but I would have liked the chicken to be way more moist than it was. It’s as though they just cooked up a bunch of the fillings in anticipation of the crowd and then let it sit. The wrap was light and crispy which was a nice touch but the flavors just didn’t get me. I won’t be clamoring for this truck any time soon.

3)La Cense Beef Burger: They were serving Grass-fed Angus Miniburgers with a few topping choices. Having never tasted grass-fed beef before(as far as I could recall, anyway), I asked for the burger to be plain so I could taste the meat better. Yeah? No. It reminded me of those mystery-meat ‘burgers’ they served in the school lunches years ago. Umm No. Either they’re lying about the quality of the meat or I just don’t like grass-fed. Gimme grain-fed any day! NEXT!

4) I wanted to try the Steak Truck but even after almost 40 minutes they still weren’t open. I don’t know what their deal was but I would have thought they’d have been ready by the opening time. Oh well. On to Treats Truck!: The offerings were a Pecan Butterscotch Bar or a Mexican Chocolate Brownie. I went with the first one. It was nice flavor-wise but this, too, was a bit on the dry side. It was just the right amount of sweet for after lunch. I could see myself going back and maybe trying something else. Maybe today was an off-day?

Then I got to wash it all down with an ice-cold bottle of Perrier. And they even offered these little Colgate Wisp mini-brushes in case you had something sticky or garlic-y. That was very thoughtful.
So that’s it for my mini-reviews. I’m supposed to vote for my favorite truck and today that was the Lobster Truck. Mmm I miss it already.

TTFN