the stashbusting curse strikes once again

Stashbusting projects generally don't turn out so well for me. OK, the finished projects themselves may be lovely, but more often that not I run out of yarn and then am wracked with guilt as I try to figure out what to do. Plus I don't want to spend much money to acquire more yarn to finish, as the whole point of the exercise was to knit from my stash.

In sum, stashbusting is stressful.

One more case in point:Another giant granny square, this time using all my Noro leftovers and odd skeins, mostly Kureyon and Cashmere Island. As you may have guessed, I've already run out of yarn at just 30" square.

What to do? Just crochet a big-a@% contrast border using nature's brown or oatmeal Fishermen's Wool? Buy more Noro? Anybody have any tips for a great source of discount Noro? Webs (which is where I usually get my closeout/discount Noro fix) doesn't have any right now.

Just enough ruffles...

But not enough yarn.


Oh no! I'm about 1/2 done with the bind-off. Now I get to scour the internet for a tiny bit of Lion Cashmere Blend in "cream" (yes, Lion Brand -- don't judge me too harshly -- it was in the 60% off sale bin at JoAnn a while back -- I just couldn't resist). It's a fabulous pattern, although man do those rows seem long (600 sts at the ruffle section).

More bad news... this time on the Dr. Who front. I'm crushed, just crushed.

However, back on the topic of ruffles, I'm loving the November Ruffle Wrap pattern (rav link) by Kate Jackson. The Yarn Barn of Kansas has put together a pretty affordable kit for it.

Speaking of new patterns, the Interweave Winter 08 Preview is up! The Climbing Vines Pullover is gorgeous. It looks like a Phildar or Rebecca pattern from a while back, though. Also, the new Twist Collective issue is up, and it's great. I'm especially taken with the Critter Comforts section. Too darn cute!!! Talk about creativity in more than just one medium. It almost makes me want to pick up the old watercolors again.

rara avis

A bluebird of happiness was spotted alighting upon the pothos plant in my study this morning:
Then again on a spider plant in the dining room:

What is this rare and elusive creature? I fear the Audubon guide will be of no use in this instance.

Pattern: Bluebird, by Marnie Ann Joyce (Curlypurly)
Yarn: Cascade 220, light blue and gold
Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere, black, for the eyes
Needles: US 6 Clover bamboo DPNs

Notes:
As with most knitted toys, this was a bit fiddly to knit, and the finishing instructions were rather mysterious. It helped to check out the photos from Marnie's blog as well as look on Ravelry. Both Grace and Kim knit very cute birds last spring! I wish I had read Grace's notes on the increases beforehand.

I ended up attaching the tail horizontally with a bit of a curve to it. The beak was enormous when knit as per the directions, so I cast on again with just 4 stitches. It's still awfully long. I went down to size 6 DPNs to get a firmer fabric.

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Winter garland update:
7 hats and 3 mittens down -- 5 hats and 9 mittens to go! While I do have a glorious array of blues, neutrals, and reds, I have absolutely no green worsted weight wool in my stash. I guess this won't be entirely a stashbusting project, after all.

leftovers

(photo from Garnet Hill)

Last year Garnet Hill's hats and mittens advent calendar captured my fancy, but I never got around to actually making one. That's changing this year! I'm using up leftovers from a year's worth of knitting full-size hats and mittens. While it would have been easy enough to wing it, I decided to go with this pattern.

4 hats down, 8 hats and 12 mittens to go...
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I feel so lucky to have been here in Chicago for the election experience. So many of my friends and neighbors have worked so hard for this Obama victory. Obama's speech brought me to tears Tuesday night. What an amazing time to be an American! I was also touched and moved by McCain's thoughtful and gracious concession speech. Let's hear it for both of the candidates, and hope that we can rebuild and reinvent this great nation together.

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On a much more pedestrian note, I'm thrilled with my find from a charity handbag sale this morning. I've had my eye on Orla Kiely bags for quite a while now.

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We saw Role Models last night, and it was absolutely hilarious. Crass, crude, laugh-out-loud funny. Way better than it had any right to be!

Doesn't it look like the cats are doing yoga together? What a hoot.

Utopia

Phew... life seems awfully busy all of a sudden. My last prelim exam (of 5) is scheduled for early March. So much reading to do... I've still been knitting, though. :-)

Pattern: Utopia Hat, by S.M. Kahn
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino, denim mix, less than 1 ball
Needles: US 5 16" circs

Since I am a l-o-o-s-e knitter, Size 5 needles were a good choice for a medium-sized adult head. It's nice and stretchy. For Paul, using 6s would be perfect. I mostly followed Susan's modifications, except for 1.5 inches of ribbing, then I didn't quite finish the 4th repeat of the upper stitch pattern.

While the marled blue yarn may not do the cables justice, I am so pleased to be blowing through my Patons merino wool stash. All these hats have been awesome stashbusters. I like knitting with the Patons, so I used to impulsively pick some up when it was on super-sale. Unfortunately it doesn't wear all that well.

Last weekend Paul and I made an old favorite recipe, Thai pizza. It's far superior to the rather bland CPK version. I usually make the sauce from scratch, but cheat and use bread dough for the crust. The pizza's best with a bready, hand-tossed style crust rather than a thin crust.

Thai Pizza

Makes 2 pizzas; serves 8

Sauce (see variation below):
1 tsp canola or olive oil
2 tsp. red curry paste
2 T. brown sugar
13 oz. light coconut milk
1 tsp. dried lemon grass (optional)
juice and grated peel of 1 lime
4 tsp. cornstarch
a little water
3/4 C. creamy peanut butter
4 tsp. fish sauce (AKA nam pla)

Pizza:
2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
a little olive or canola oil
2 loaves Rhodes white bread dough, thawed (OR your favorite recipe for pizza dough)
1.25 - 2 C. mozzarella cheese, shredded (depending on how much you like cheese)
1 or 2 medium carrots, julienned or grated
1 C. bean sprouts
5 scallions, thinly sliced on the angle
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

Make Sauce:
1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the curry paste and stir through. Stir in the brown sugar and mix well. Add the coconut milk, lemon grass, and lime juice and peel. Bring to a boil

2. Make a paste of the cornstarch with a little water. Stir into the sauce to thicken slightly. Strain this mixture, then add the peanut butter and the fish sauce. Set aside to cool.
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3. Trim chicken; slice thinly, then cut into 1-2"pieces. Heat a little oil in a skillet (optional); add chicken; saute and add a little peanut sauce.

4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Form each loaf of bread dough into a crust on a cookie sheet. Cover the crusts with sauce, leaving a 3/4" border around the edge of the dough. Add chicken, carrot, bean sprouts, and scallions. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Sprinkle cilantro over the cheese.

5. Bake for 10 min. Pizza should be golden brown when done.

Sauce Variation:
When I'm feeling lazy, I sometimes use a whole package of Taste of Thai peanut sauce mix (requires 1 can of coconut milk, light or regular).

Follow package directions, EXCEPT:
While cooking the sauce, add:
- a little red curry paste
- a bit of dried lemongrass

At the end, stir in:
- 2 tsp. lime juice
- fish sauce, to taste (maybe 1-2 tsp? I love fish sauce, so I add more)

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Fun fact:
The Romans were absolutely nuts about fish sauce, which they called garum. See here to learn how to make fish sauce in the ancient way.