tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51563772012-02-16T19:26:37.763-08:00patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-91258432175754494772008-06-06T06:21:00.000-07:002008-06-06T06:22:52.102-07:00

The Sunrise Lands by S.M. StirlingMy review rating: 4 of 5 starsI thoroughly enjoyed this continuing saga of the human race after the great "Change". Stirling does a fine job of transitioning the focus of the novel from the old generation who had lived through the tumultuous times immediately following the Change to the younger generation who have never known things like electricity and

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-27744969068171084102008-06-06T06:10:00.000-07:002008-06-06T06:21:15.839-07:00

Another Thing to Fall: A Tess Monaghan Novel by Laura Lippman My review rating: 3 of 5 starsThis wasn't my favorite Tess book, but it was a fun read, if a bit predictable. The mystery this time included a television show crew and it was interesting to read about some of the technical aspects of how that is done. View all my reviews.

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-85983019260348748412008-05-27T11:52:00.000-07:002008-05-27T12:00:48.334-07:00

We got the first harvest from the garden last night! Spinach, arugula and romaine lettuce to make a really nice salad!Contrast that picture to the following, which was taken at BJs this past weekend, where we stocked up on paper goods with a free BJs card.No, we didn't buy the cheese balls...

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-79906103910096215902008-05-05T18:15:00.000-07:002008-05-05T18:45:29.373-07:00

A $25 trip to Russo's looks like this:1 bunch of kale1 bag carrots1 bag baby bok choy1 package cherry tomatoes1 fennel bulb1 leek2 sweet potatoes2 turnips1 bunch parsleysmall bag Shitake mushrooms1 spanish onion1 bunch beets2 pears1 avocado1 package strawberries Saturday evening I made 'Braised Cabbage, Fennel and Leek' from Halé Sofia Schatz's book If the Buddha Came to Dinner. I'd never cooked

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-14899275850516262182008-04-17T09:45:00.000-07:002008-04-17T11:11:19.339-07:00

I certainly wasn't anticipating replacing ceiling drywall as a major home project at this time. To see descriptions on the pictures below, click on the "notes" link.

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-6000686740112746762007-08-13T07:31:00.000-07:002007-08-13T07:40:25.891-07:00

From Bella Knitting, as linked to from Grumperina, this is a meme going around the craft blogs asking what you would like to do. I'd add one more section to this, section 0.0. What the heck is this?Shibori1. I have no interest; omplete lack of creativity in this area.Scrap BookingStampingPainting or DrawingCartooningDoll or Toy MakingGift WrappingPoetryGraphic Design 2. Would love to try

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-87027522173312537232007-05-06T16:03:00.000-07:002007-05-06T16:21:27.430-07:00

Went a little overboard at Mahoney's today. We went there to find some plants to fill our new upside-down planters. We ended up with much more than we planned.1) Cherry tomato plant in the new Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter. I read about this on Jane Dough's blog last year; she seemed to have great success with it and I've never had good luck with tomatoes, so worth a try!2) A Roma Tomato plant

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-69593838587919463472007-04-28T06:00:00.000-07:002007-04-28T06:21:24.457-07:00

With the warmer weather upon us, a woman's thoughts turn to Lace.As a reward after a particularly crazy week at worked, I picked up some Handmaiden Sea Silk, which I've been aware of since I first read about Grumperina using it, and obsessing about since I felt it in person at Windsor Button.The Spring issue of Interweave Knits has this lovely:It looked fairly simple for my first real lace

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-65411484914324385282007-01-08T17:14:00.000-08:002007-01-08T18:41:43.309-08:00

Thought I would give a wrap-up of what I worked on over December. Unfortunately, my knitting was sidelined for a few weeks due to a wrist injury at work, so I didn't complete as much as I would have liked.Reversible HatYarn: Cascade 220 in Black (815) and MaroonPattern: Alison's Double-Knit Ski CapThis was my first double-knit project and I'm not sure I enjoyed it. My hands seemed to hurt after

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-34115655512961787942006-12-08T10:10:00.000-08:002006-12-08T10:16:09.144-08:00

Wow

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-42251933508869041682006-11-30T11:37:00.000-08:002006-11-30T11:47:52.536-08:00

Behold the wonder of the socks. I love them. He does too. Now the handmade sock bug has bitten him and he's been surfing the net for his next pair. These socks with an apple logo have been requested (http://www.magknits.com/feb06/patterns/tech.htm), but it could be a while. I'd like to finish my own socks and do some more work with Mind's Eye sock yarns..

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-36101736453174756552006-11-30T11:22:00.000-08:002006-11-30T11:37:00.884-08:00

Finished the sweater/hat set in time to give to dear nephew on Thanksgiving as a belated birthday gift. The finishing was difficult (I really need to take a class on finishing techniques), but I'm pretty pleased with the results.The sweater was HUGE for him, though. It may be another year before he can wear it. The hat fit him well, but keeping it on him could be a problem. As you can see

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-88042434222525321362006-11-22T10:14:00.000-08:002006-11-30T11:37:31.555-08:00

J is getting very obsessive about his socks; every night he asks me when they will be done. I made the mistake of starting a double-knitted hat and I'm not finishing the socks fast enough.Here's the latest; I'm going to rib up the rest and hopefully be able to get these done over the next few days!

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-9500443831289391102006-11-19T07:22:00.000-08:002006-11-19T08:09:00.746-08:00

Last Saturday I made a trip to Mind's Eye Yarns with a good friend who is trying knitting again and purchased some bee-uuuu-tiful sock yarn that was hand-dyed onsite there.I've been wanting to try Magic Loop technique for socks and as I'm currently experiencing 'sock fatigue' around the Jaywalkers, thought I'd combine knitting two socks at once with learning Magic Loop. Oh, and toe-up sock

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-1162818525682260732006-11-06T04:58:00.000-08:002006-11-06T05:11:12.776-08:00

Finished the first Jaywalker sock. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, especially since this is the first sock I've knit in years. What I'm not so cray about is the toe and the work right above the ankle. I adjusted the pattern slightly in order to allow a quicker decrease on the right side of the sock and a slower one on the left as my big toe is freakishly larger than my other toes.

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-1162391439763250122006-11-01T06:05:00.000-08:002006-11-01T06:42:58.210-08:00

I was travelling to NYC for several days this week for work. I'd not made any evening plans, so I decided to use the time to check out some of the local yarn stores. I limited the selection to stores that were walkable from midtown in order to get some much-needed exercise after sitting all day at work.It was fantastic! The first night I was there, I walked 30+ blocks to get to Knit NY, down

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-1162044905649736482006-10-28T07:08:00.000-07:002006-10-29T09:24:11.183-08:00

I have to confess that I'm a big fan of 'mindless' knitting. Keeping the pattern simple so I can work on it while watching Lost, talking with friends, or generally letting my mind drift elsewhere. This sweater/hat set is completely in garter stitch and was great for mindless knitting. The baby in the pattern picture also reminded me of nephew #2 with his big blue eyes and chubby cheeks. I have

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-1162044436274208082006-10-28T07:01:00.000-07:002006-10-29T09:24:02.273-08:00

I like having several different projects going at once and while I'm waiting for Nephew #1's yarn to come in, thought I'd start some socks. I've always enjoyed knitting socks -- the tiny little needles and stiches appeal to my neat and anal side. I came across this 'Jaywalker' pattern (http://magknits.com/Sept05/patterns/jaywalker.htm) and picked out some fun sock yarn. This is the start.

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-1161716459724014442006-10-24T11:55:00.000-07:002006-10-29T09:23:52.836-08:00

When I recently started knitting again, I haunted the local yarn store and spent hours looking at patterns and yarn. I had no idea what I wanted to make or for whom except I knew I did not want to work on any more afghans.I fell in love with a beautiful Sirdar Snuggly pink yarn (Sirdar Snuggly Tiny Tots Baby Fashion DK, Strawberry Color 955) and then spied a poncho pattern to go with it.

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156377.post-1161715501802227012006-10-24T11:44:00.000-07:002006-10-29T09:23:40.466-08:00

A very good friend of mine from college had a baby shower last weekend. This was for "Shorty".This was made with Bernat cottontots 100% cotton worsted weight yarn. The duck's body was in 90005 Wonder White and the feed and beak were 90616 Lemon Berry. It was very easy to work with for crochet. It wasn't as soft as I expected; not sure I would use it for baby clothing or blankets. Might try

patchworkgrrlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090539864826649560noreply@blogger.com0