Knitting meme (For my personal enjoyment)

I feel like doing this for some reason, so feel free to either ignore or enjoy. ;o)

Mark with bold the things you have knit at least once, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

I did stars instead of bold, because bolded text isn't very noticeable on my blog.

* Afghan
* I-cord
* Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
* Shawl
* Stockinette stitch
* Socks: top-down
* Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
* Hat
* Knitting with silk
* Moebius band knitting
* Participating in a KAL Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
* Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
* Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
* Cardigan
* Toy/doll clothing
* Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
* Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
* Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
* Scarf
* Teaching a child to knit
* American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
* Knitting to make money
* Button holes
* Knitting with alpaca
* Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
* Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
* Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
* Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
* Knitting with DPNs
* Holiday related knitting
* Teaching a male how to knit
* Bobbles
Knitting for a living
* Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
* Fulling/felting
* Knitting with wool
* Textured knitting
* Kitchener BO
* Purses/bags
* Knitting with beads
* Swatching
* Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
* Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
* Stuffed toys
* Baby items
* Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
* Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
* Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
* Short rows
* Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
* Pillows
* Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
* Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
* Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
* Knitting in public

Ahhh, nice and useless. And kind of entertaining, at least for me. (Sorry.)

Do you see that? "With sweet coating." Disgusting! Now when I take a tylenol I have to use juice instead of water so I don't have to taste the disgusting sweet abomination.

I've knitted three pairs of knee socks and bought the yarn to make two more pairs.

I think about how I need to go buy skirts to match knee socks I've knitted.

YouTube TimeMachine

Somehow (How? I can't even remember) I was alerted to the existence of Ghoti Hook reunion concert footage on You Tube. They played this week! In Philadelphia!

Here is some, and here is some more. My goodness, I had forgotten how good "Seasons" and "Shrinky Dinks" were. (Find them around the four minute marks.)

What else can I find on You Tube. Christian punk/ska music videos from my past? Let's see!

Ghoti Hook- Shrinky Dinks

Five Iron Frenzy- A Flowery Song My favorite band of all time. I saw these guys in concert a LOT.

Five Iron Frenzy- Old West (live) You might not know this about me, but I can skank like nobody's business. This video (12 years old!) makes me want to go back in time to a ska concert so much.

The Orange County Supertones- Adoni

The W's- The Devil is Bad

MxPx- Doing Time

Switchfoot- Company Car

Switchfoot- Chem 6A Man, I was listening to these guys in 1997.... I saw them open for Five Iron Frenzy one time, and Yuri from MxPx spilled water on me from a balcony.

It's getting really late, but I must include one more band. Warning: strange music ahead. I bought Danielson Famile's first album in 1996. When I saw them live in 2006 everyone at the sold out concert was talking about how they were a "Myspace phenomenon." Ha. I saw Daniel in concert by himself in 2003 with Ben. There were less than ten people there and it was one of the best two concerts I've ever attended.

Danielson Famile- Rubbernecker

Danielson Famile- Did I Step on Your Trumpet A recent video, but seriously. I think this music video is perfection.

Whew! Now I need to dig out my album of high school CDs! Hope some of you enjoyed these too. :o)

List: Tasty

I've been busy dealing with... stuff. If you know me in real life, you know what I'm talking about. Things will be better soon.

I thought I'd list out all the recipes from The Pioneer Woman that I've made so far, because 1) Yum and 2) I am curious to see my own list and 3) you need to try some of these too!

Apple Tart- So easy!!
Apricot Bars
Beans and Cornbread- I keep making this. It is cheap and tasty.
The Bread (herb-y)
Cinnamon Rolls (omg)
Egg in a Hole- Egg! In a hole!! That is all I have to say.
Ginger Steak Salad
Macaroni and Cheese
Monkey Bread
Mystery Rolls
Onion Strings
Penne a la Betsy
The Pioneer Woman's Favorite Sandwich- This is seriously super good.
Roasted Potato Wedges


There are a lot more that I have my eye on... I only found the website 3-4 months ago.

You might gasp if you saw the highlighted index of my 2009 Cooking Light book, where I marked all the recipes from the magazine I made in the last year, for future re-cooking. I spent like four hours doing that today.

I wish I could just cook and knit and bake all day, instead of this pesky "work" stuff.

67 Cinnamon Rolls!

So, I made eight pans of cinnamon rolls tonight with this recipe.

Go take a look....

Ok. Now, the only problem with that recipe is that it does not accurately portray the FREAKING OUT that will occur if you attempt to make these by yourself. Okay, maybe if you have Ree Drummond's kitchen it would be okay, but not here in teenycondokitchen. We didn't even have enough counter space to roll out the dough, so I floured the kitchen table and we rolled the dough out on that. And then poured melted butter all over the dough. (Yes... about that melted butter. She says 1 1/2 - 2 cups but WOAH that is way too much.)

Said freakout happened when I could tell that there was imminent danger of melted butter flowing right off the dough and onto the table and floor. Which it did. Then, when I was rolling the dough up, a huuuuge flood of melted butter-sugar-cinnamon started charging toward another side of the table, and how can you be sitting there playing video games? There is melty cinnamon sugar butter falling onto the floor!!! Get up! Help!

I think I lost a few days off my lifespan there. Fortunately the second batch of dough went better, since it was cooler in the house and we rolled the dough much much thinner. And I didn't even attempt to use 1 1/2 cups of melted butter.

I made a lot of cinnamon rolls... more than I thought was possible to make.

In the morning I'll be making these "Mystery Rolls" at school. (Also from The Pioneer Woman) It is my turn for treats, and I have a tradition of slightly insane baking. Usually it involves two large sheet cakes, plus something else.

Ah yes, we made soft pretzels from scratch last Sunday. They're from Smitten Kitchen.

(Maybe I'm a little crazy with the baking this week. I also made my first from-scratch brownies last night. They're "Brrrr-ownies" from the book Baking: From My Home to Yours. They have York peppermint patties in them.)

Enjoy! Go do some crazy baking! Or come be my coworker and enjoy the baked goods I keep bringing to school because I tend to make too much...

I have a lot of time to knit.

I finished the knee socks after I came home from my surgery on Wednesday. I worked on them in the waiting room, and would have knitted during recovery except that the doctor forgot to ask Steve to bring them back like I'd asked. But anyways, socks are done! When I finally am able to try them on, I'll have what appears to be a 2.5 inch long vertical scar straight up my right kneecap. (I won't actually be able to see the scar until next week, when the rest of the surgical dressings come off at my post-op appointment.)

I wrote some stuff here about the surgery, but I'm just going to replace it with this: it was scary, I cried, and the nurses were really nice. I fortunately don't remember the surgery, as the anesthesiologist put something in my IV that made everything go blank. My leg didn't hurt until the next day.

Right now it only really hurts for a few minutes every time I stand up, and I'm supposed to spend as much time as possible sitting with my leg elevated. No bending the knee, and no unnecessary walking. So far I've finished the knee socks, started a sweater for mom, made a felted box for Steve, and crocheted an apple, three apple slices, a mushroom, and an ice cream sandwich for a set of play food I'm making. Not bad for three days...

I can't wait to be able to bend my knee again.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers regarding my surgery. I'm very glad they didn't have to do a skin graft or tissue rearrangement. I don't even want to think about how much more it would have hurt. I'm still waiting for the pathology report on my knee area, and I have oncology and other appointments lined up for the next few weeks.

A proud day.

I am the #1 search result for zap with 17 z's.

Earthquakes, peanuts, and oncologist appointments

1) I bought this bookcase from Ikea's as-is department two weekends ago, and we covered it's imperfections with beautiful fabric. So pretty!

The bookcase was only $40, and it is close to 7' tall. That is one tallll bookcase. So I did something I've not done before- I asked Steve to secure it to the wall in case of earthquake. I even said, "I know we're probably not going to have an earthquake, but it would make me feel better."

So I was pretty surprised when THE NEXT MORNING I was teaching math and suddenly.... shaking. As soon as it started, I said, "Boys and girls, I think we're having an earthquake. ...Yep... an earthquake. Duck and cover, everyone." Pretty long earthquake for me to say all that eh?

If you live outside of CA and think earthquakes are pretty common here you might not realize how strange this is. This is only the second earthquake I've felt in the last 10 years. [Edit- Actually, it was the third, because there was a decent aftershock the day after earthquake #1. I was sitting at my desk after school and it started bumping against my tummy and the school walls were creaking.] We really don't have them very often. This earthquake was a 4.3., and was centered less than 5 miles from where I work, which explains why it felt so strong. You could feel it in San Fran., I hear. That was certainly a strange coincidence.

2) Evidently my husband has taken to eating peanuts, shell and all. That is all I can say about that. It's weird, right?

3) I spent three hours in appointments today about my stupid knee cancer. I had a physical, talked to some other lady, went to the hospital and was... pre admitted or something. (Plus they gave me this paper so I can sign up to have someone in charge of making decisions for me if I'm unable. It also has checkboxes for things like... ______ person can request an autopsy be done! [!!]) After that I went to the dermatologist and had my stitches out, confirmed that I had an allergic reaction to Neosporin, scheduled a biopsy on this other mole on my back, and got an oncologist referral.

Then I was off to the medical secretary, where I got a copy of my pathology report. As the nice lady pointed out, my report mentions that my case was shared at the Department Consensus Conference. I'm famous? I understand most of the report, but will forward it on to a family member who is a doctor. The strangest thing about my pathology report is the words "Malignant Melanoma" and the description of the mole... "pale tan." Look here for a little melanoma checklist. Asymmetry? Nope- looked like the "ordinary mole" photo. Borders? Regular, unlike the melanoma picture. Color, Diameter... my mole is like the normal example! The only off thing was that it grew quickly. ("Evolution.") Get it? ABCDE. Mine didn't look like a melanoma at all. My severe pre-melanoma when I was 14 looked more like a melanoma than this one did, which I really don't get.

Okay, no more looking at medical pages for me. This one is scary. 95% five year survival, even if I have the best case scenario at this point, which is Stage 1A. (I'm beyond the 100% curable "In-situ") Uck. 1 in 20 chance of being dead by 31? No thank you. Which brings me to...

4) I have an appointment with the oncologist at the beginning of May. After that they'll arrange blood tests for cancer and probably some body scans. (MRI, CAT.. stuff like that.) I think these are to make sure I don't have stage 3 or 4 melanoma somewhere else in my body from another melanoma lurking.... somewhere. No one has actually said this to me, but that is what I think the real reason is. Again, uck. Trying not to think about this. It makes me feel barfy. These tests will also give us final staging information, along with the pathology reports on the additional tissue they remove in the surgery. I don't think there will be a final say on the stage until June. I still expect it to come back as Stage 1, but then again I expected the mole to be pre-cancerous at worst.

5) I'm knitting myself crazy stripy knee socks. I think they may be slightly symbolic although I didn't do that on purpose. You can see the first one in the sidebar. I now have about 6" of the second one done and hope to finish the pair before my surgery on April 15th. This might not be possible, but I'll try!

I almost forgot to mention this, but I asked the nurse who was doing my pre-op physical whether she was a knitter, as she was wearing hand-knit socks. She was, so I pulled my completed knee high out of the bag I had with me. The nurse was so excited about them she went out of the exam room with the sock, showing all her coworkers. My surgery scheduler is a knitter too- she had yarn and projects falling out of her purse in the office we were in.

I saved my own life.

That's how I'm looking at it right now. The fact is, if I hadn't told my dermatologist that I was worried and wanted the mole removed, she never would have picked it out as being a problem. When I had my biopsy I asked her if there was anything strange looking about the mole to her, and she said no. She only took it because I wanted her to.

If I hadn't noticed it, who knows. I could have ended up dead in a year.

I saw the plastic surgeon today, and scheduled a miniature fleet of appointments. Stitches removal, pre op physical, surgery, post op (and I assume another round of stitches removal will be scheduled later.) As it stands they couldn't fit me in for surgery until April 20th. I hope to get a cancelation before that, because the timing isn't great for work.

When I have the surgery they will be carefully checking the skin for any evidence of migrating cancer cells. I should be okay, and if everything looks good then it is just Stage 1 and I'll have a 99% chance of being okay. Of course, there is the fact that I seem to be prone to melanoma, so I'll have to be even more careful than I've already been with my skin.

If they find more bad, then I think I'll need some lymph node biopsies, etc. I don't think my doctor expects them to find anything more.

The scar on my knee will probably be pretty big. I am hoping (oh so much) that I will come out of surgery with a normal looking scar. Depending on how it goes I may have a crazy puzzle scar if they have to move tissues around, or what I'm really afraid of.... a skin graft. I really really really don't want a skin graft, but I won't know until the surgery is over.

My priorities:
1) No more cancer in the area
2) No ugly skin graft

I'll be in a sexy leg brace for a while and will miss about a week of work.

I'm feeling a little calmer, but this is still very scary. I cried a few times today, but mostly about my puppy. I miss him....

Officially the worst day of my life.

I'm not exaggerating.

My biopsy came back and I have skin cancer. A melanoma.

...Yeah. You didn't see that one coming, did you? Neither did I. Or my doctor. Or my uncle who is also a doctor. He's never diagnosed a 26 year old with one before.

I'm not really sure, but I think it is stage 1. My doctor said stage 1 or 2, but from the thickness level (0.36 mm) and Clark level (2) the internet says I have stage 1.

I am freaking out, freaking out bad. I have chills and I feel a little like throwing up and I just don't understand how this is happening to me. Isn't that what everyone says? I thought this was something that happened to other people?

There is "very good survival" for my situation, but anything where the doctors talk about survival rates is... I don't know how to finish that sentence. I have a plastic surgery consultation on Friday as I'll need further surgery on my knee. I shouldn't have to have chemo or anything, but I'll be meeting with an oncologist at some point too.

Besides this, this very bad, very serious thing, I also had to say goodbye on the phone just now to my puppy, Ty. He is 12 years old, and has just gotten very sick. I am so sad that I can't give him a hug. He goes tomorrow at noon.

This really is an awful, awful day.

If you pray, please pray for me. If you don't, think good thoughts of calm for my heart and a healthy future for my damn stupid skin.

Veselka-Style Ukrainian Borscht and Vegan Ukrainian Borscht!

The last time I was in New York I went to my favorite restaurant in NYC, Veselka, 3 or 4 times in the week I was there. And I was staying upstate! This stuff is what my Ukrainian great-grandma would have cooked if she had ever made me borscht. (Unfortunately, I just got a lot of cabbage rolls.)

When I got home, I was obsessed with recreating Veselka's borscht. I searched all through the internet, without finding the perfect recipe... I did find some that were close, and put this together. Veselka's borscht is savory and hot, not like the more typical sweetened and even chilled Russian version. I owe much of this recipe to Leigh Witchel, from his blog post here.

This weekend I modified the recipe for my vegan friends- it turned out great! It's also cheaper to make with the lack of meat, and the flavor is just as good.

I hope you enjoy these recipes. Let me know if you try one!

Veselka-Style Ukrainian Borscht

3 medium to large beets. (Or 6 small to medium)

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp butter

1/2 lb stew beef in ½ inch cubes

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped


4 cups beef stock
2 cups water
1 cup canned diced tomato and liquid
½ small head cabbage.

1 15 oz. can large lima beans (aka butter beans), rinsed and drained

Seasonings to taste –
1/3 cup white vinegar

2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp Tabasco

Sour cream
Fresh dill


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim stalks and taproot from beets. Wash the beets and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake about 1 hour, until beets are tender and skin separates easily from the beet. Let cool. Peel beets and chop coarsely.

In a large pot, melt the butter and vegetable oil. Brown beef over medium to medium-high heat and add garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. When the onions are just translucent, add the beets and sauté another minute or so.

Add beef stock, water, and tomato. While mixture heats to a boil, slice the cabbage into ½ inch wide strips and add to pot. Simmer covered for 45 minutes to an hour, until everything is tender. 5-10 minutes before the soup is done, add the lima beans.

Season to taste. (The vinegar is really what makes this soup.)

Serve with sour cream and fresh dill.

Makes about 16 cups of soup. (Serves 4-8, depending on how many of the people you’re cooking for love borscht as much as I do.)

Vegan Ukrainian Borscht!

3 medium to large beets. (Or 6 small to medium)

2 tsp vegetable oil


1 large garlic clove, minced

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
3 medium carrots, coarsely chopped


4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 cup canned diced tomato and liquid
½ small head cabbage.

1 15 oz. can large lima beans (aka butter beans), rinsed and drained

Seasonings to taste –
1/3 cup white vinegar

2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp Tabasco

Vegan sour cream substitute
Fresh dill

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim stalks and taproot from beets. Wash the beets and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake about 1 hour, until beets are tender and skin separates easily from the beet. Let cool. Peel beets and chop coarsely.

In a large pot, heat vegetable oil. Saute garlic, onion, carrots, and celery until onions are just translucent. Add the beets and sauté another minute or so.

Add vegetable broth, water, and tomato. While mixture heats to a boil, slice the cabbage into ½ inch wide strips and add to pot. Simmer covered for 45 minutes to an hour, until everything is tender. 5-10 minutes before the soup is done, add the lima beans.

Season to taste. (The vinegar is really what makes this soup.)

Serve with sour cream and fresh dill.

Makes about 16 cups of soup. (Serves 4-8)

Still bad, but at least this time it's funny...

It is rainy and cold, so I decided to bring the neckwarmer I knitted a few weeks ago with me to school. But... I somehow arrived at school and couldn't find it. I looked in the car and on the floor next to my desk, but no luck. In the afternoon when I talked to Steve I told him it was missing and that I thought I'd dropped it on the way out. Did he see it anywhere? No. He didn't.

Of course, I saw it as soon as I pulled into the driveway. It was in the GUTTER. Right smack in the middle of the nasty muddy rainwater filled gutter.

I washed it out 5 times in the sink, and then I threw it in the washing machine. It had huge amounts of dirt in it, in addition to little pieces of metal and chunks of plant. I'm kinda oogey feeling about wearing it next to my mouth, even though I washed it on warm.

Let's hope it's clean! Unfortunately, it did get a bit fuzzy looking with all the washing.

--------

My mom also had an interesting day. She drove off in our 80 year old Model A but forgot to remove a five foot long box containing a set of roof racks for our SUV from the passenger side running board before she left. Someone in our neighborhood found the box in the road and called our house to return it. She also dropped her phone in the toilet today.

I think I'm depressed. Either that, or my life really does suck right now.

My job is draining me, the state of the education system in California is.... bad. We have no house, and now Steve has no job. I'm betting I'll be pink-slipped this spring but not actually laid off.

Oh, and I have a possibly cancerous (but probably pre-cancerous at the worst) mole I need removed. My doctor wants me to skip the sissified "shave biopsy" and go straight to hard core stitches time. Which sucks, because it is on my knee. And I won't be allowed to like... walk. Which means I can't work. For a few weeks. I'm not sure if I feel happy or upset about this.