Russia revisited & Podcasting
Posted by Nina on Feb 25, 2010
Some of you might remember that a few years ago my husband went to visit his parents in Minsk and he brought me back a few magazines.. I have never used them 
so I think for this summer I am going to make this shawl pattern right here. One thing about Russian knitting is that they do not really distinguish a difference between knitting and crocheting like the US does.
This also meant that I had to figure out what the actual stitches were with the help of my husband and some wonderful people at Ravelry.. for instance a chain stitch in English is translated as air knits in Russian so there is no direct word for word translation here so I needed help! Unlike American magazines there is no ‘beginners’ section.. these magazines always assume that you know exactly what the stitches are and do not teach you how to do them.. This shawl is a good starting point for me because I knew what the stitches were by looking at them, I was just unsure that I was correct, and there is no actual knitting in this pattern.
I am going to use KnitPick’s Palette yarn with a 3mm crochet hook since I am pretty sure that’s what the pattern suggests. It also says I will need 500gms of yarn but fails to tell how many meters that is so while 500grms translates to 10 balls of Palette, I am going to buy about 12-14 to be safe on the yardage. If this works out well.. I might venture into some other countries patterns. I have plenty from Japan ready and waiting!
The Podcasts
I’ve never really plugged my favorite podcaster’s on my blog before so I am going to do that right now!! I subscribe to both Vegan Radio & Vegan Freak and I like them pretty equally.. they are both pretty straight forward.. vegan life, vegan food, and issues we deal with.. I’d venture to say they are my favorite podcasters. Knitting podcasts I have yet to find one that I love almost as much as those, but I enjoy Lime & Violet, I am checking out others but I will admit there isn’t much that I find myself subscribing to.. Loveline is always interesting and those of you with little children you might enjoy The Story Home. 
I hope you will have a listen to these.. I am sure you will love them as much as I do!
Calorimetry & Cheeseburger Pizza!
Posted by Nina on Feb 24, 2010
I’ve finally found a solution to my problem! I often wear my hair up or back in a ponytail because it’s so long.. but living in Michigan doesn’t always make it easy, especially in the winter, to stay warm when you wear your hair up.. and I don’t know about you but… putting a hat over a ponytail is uncomfortable and it looks ridiculous.. I’ve known about the calorimetry pattern for awhile but never had any desire to knit one before, especially since they are so popular.. but I decided if you can’t beat ‘em – join ‘em.. now I see what all the fuss was about! They are warm and pretty and they don’t interfere with buns or ponytails at all! I knit mine up in black acrylic yarn with a celtic knot button.
Since I have been testing recipes so long, I turned to a cookbook for a quick and easy no-brainer dinner.. and who should come to my rescue but Sarah Kramer.. this is ‘the joint’s cheeseburger pizza’ recipe from La Dolce Vegan. You know how to make a cheeseburger right? well there you go.. you know how to make this pizza lol.. it’s exactly what I needed during this crazy month of little time! It’s delicious.. tastes like a real cheeseburger and this was the first time I ever got Vegan cheese to melt!! win-win! Thank you Sarah, for giving me some much needed rest and kick-ass food!
test crocheting & spinning
Posted by Nina on Feb 23, 2010
I’ve got a friend who has written a pattern and plans to submit it to KnitPick’s for you to be able to purchase! Since I have had a lot of experience crocheting I offered to be the tester for the advanced user. I had to go up a needle size and make about 2 extra rows to fit but over all, everything worked out exactly the way I wanted it to! I had no idea what the pattern would look like when I offered so I was pleasantly surprised that it was a beautiful cap!
I’ve chosen this beautiful gold color simply based upon my hair color lol. I thought the gold could compliment my red hair and fair skin pretty well.. and the button I used for the center is a beautiful clear button with glitter in the very center totally encased inside the button. I love the little bling! I need my husband to take some shots of me wearing this.. hopefully this weekend for my Ravelry project page.. anyway, I did not find any errors in the pattern and the most complicated thing about this pattern would be using magic loop for beginners.
During the olympic events at Ravelry, I joined in the flying camel or spinning event.. I have been working like crazy to finish projects and spin so here are two yarns that I spun super fine and plied with Rowan Kidsilk Haze mohair.. it ends up being a light lace weight yarn and each skein is over 270yrds. When I say I have been busy, I mean busy! I am now afraid that I won’t finish everything I need to before the end of the month.. but I am still working to finish 33% of my Nightsongs shawl and finish up the Imbolc shawl I started a long, long time ago!
I’m Just Here For The Food!
Posted by Nina on Feb 20, 2010
Celine & Joni’s new cookbook Vegan Substitutions is getting ready to wrap up and it looks like my taste testing time is nearing an end.. and I am really, really sad to say that! The food I have tested this far has been incredible. Only one recipe I tested didn’t work out too well for me.. but this book has the best burger recipe I have ever eaten!
It’s called the western bacon cheese burger.. 100% Vegan, 100% incredible. I ate this for dinner for 4 nights and when the last burger was eaten I seriously wanted to cry! It’s that good! I browned mine in a cast iron skillet (it’s not burned!) and then oven baked them to ensure an even cooking and I served along side baked french fries… and the burgers were huge!
Then there was this incredible recipe for Orange County Sushi & Spicy Sushi Sauce… the sushi was great but the sushi sauce (not pictured) was incredible. I don’t think I will ever eat regular sushi with soy sauce again! It was this spicy, creamy, dipping sauce that made everything in this sushi roll pop and it was so simple to make!!
This red curry rice was incredible! It was more like a risotto than rice but when I say it was incredible.. I mean every single grain of rice was eaten and Sergey even ate some! Those of you who follow my blog know that he doesn’t ever eat anything Vegan but this he ate a big bowl of! It’s creamy and rich and decadent.. this has become a family favorite! I really hope this makes it into the book because omg is it delicious!
Then we had this instant potato soup.. it was pretty good and was super easy to throw together.. it took me maybe 5 minutes from start to finish. It’s instant . potato . soup .
We planned to have this green bean pesto linguine for valentine’s day but it ended up coming a day or two later.. I had never had green beans and pesto together before but it really works well! The pesto is fresh and this is a very garden friendly recipe.
Last but not least, we have this delicious coconut raisin bread.. this came out a little heavier than I had intended and I think that is because I needed to add more oil or less flour.. the topping on this bread tastes exactly like a coconut macaroon! My husband ate a piece of this bread and even threatened to take it to work! I think I will try to make this again and go with my instincts and add more oil/less flour next time. It ends up tasting like a cross between coconut pound cake and raisin bread topped with a coconut macaroon but not overly sweet at all.
I don’t know if I have convinced you through reading my blog that this cookbook is going to be an amazing addition to your collection or not.. but the food is fantastic! I would have bought this cookbook for the hamburger recipe alone!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Posted by Nina on Feb 14, 2010
We had a wild and crazy Valentine’s day.. nothing went quite as planned but we had a wonderful time. The morning started off with our gift exchange.. Sergey did really good this year! I got roses and lilies and a little blue box from Tiffany’s! I’ve never gotten anything from Tiffany’s before.. inside was this beautiful aquamarine bracelet.
This year I decided to knit him a little gift and when I saw this breast pillow, I couldn’t resist making it for him! The hardest part of the project was finding skin and nipple colored yarn.. I mean can you imagine having to explain what you’re making when the people at the local yarn store ask you what you’re going to do with the two balls of yarn you’re buying? Everyone thinks its hilarious.. I don’t know what he plans to do with them but for now they sit on his desk lol
After the gift giving and romancing, we headed to Panera Bread and had a quick bite to eat and headed back home to snuggle on the sofa and watch a movie. We had a pretty good evening at home, just the 3 of us… and Bella found out that she likes popcorn.
moonlight sonata
Posted by Nina on Feb 4, 2010
Here she is!! My brand new Kromski Sonata! She’s a full size wheel that folds up for storage and travel. She took only minutes to put together and spins like a dream! The travel bag she comes with is heavily padded and large enough to store extra bobbins and fiber in as well. She uses Scotch tension to wind the bobbin which I have found takes up a much tighter and more even bobbin. She’s roughly half the size of my Symphony but spins pretty equally.
I am doing most of my spinning in the wee hours of the morning.. my insomnia has flipped my sleeping schedule again but I won’t complain.. I don’t mind spending my nights spinning beautiful yarn instead of 8 hours sleeping.. although sleep sounds awfully inviting now! I am avoiding that for the time being in hopes of actually going to bed at a reasonable hour. We’ll see how that goes! Ravelry olympics are set to start soon! Keep an eye out for some speed spinning and finished works in progress! Without any further adieu.. my Sonata in all her glory.
deadlines!
Posted by Nina on Jan 31, 2010
First up we have the Green Autumn (Druid Mittens) by Jared Flood. I love these mittens more than words can say.. however, I have found that the yarn I chose has left a lighter dyed band around the center of the mitten and I am obsessing over it. I think I might have to knit an additional mitten to mask this. I finished the pair this morning at about 8am. The pattern has amazing texture exactly like you would expect from Jared. I made a few modifications to the pattern. I decided to mirror the chevron pattern around the cuffs of the mittens as well as the cables on the thumbs.
Next we have this beautiful yarn! I purchased these two batts from Uniquely Yours. These were the New Year’s themed mystery batts (I purchased them without seeing what they would look like) for the spin-a-long. I don’t think there are very many of us spinning these batts and so far, mine are the only yarns posted on the contest thread! I had planned to spin these two yarns together so I made them very thin but once I finished them I loved them separately so I plied the black base with black nylon thread and the white base with white gold metallic thread.
I’ve over taxed myself in January. I decided to do all 6 HPKCHC classes, a new years themed spin along, plus working on my HPKCHC OWL project. I finished 6 projects, 2 skeins of very beautiful yarn, and have done a lot of knitting! February I have committed myself to the Ravelry olympics games to finish off some of my works in progress (event: wip dancing) and spinning (event: flying camel).
That about sums up January for me! oh yeah, and some fantastic food in there too! Celine & Joni’s new book is going to be incredible. Every recipe I have tried is turning out to be my new favorite! Last nights dinner was ‘beef’ & broccoli bowls.. I lacked the seitan so I used tempeh but was FANTASTIC! I think I might make another batch to eat on all week lol.
they say time heals all broken hearts?
Posted by Nina on Jan 30, 2010
I would say that it’s every parents nightmare to outlive their children and it’s every child’s nightmare to lose their parents. These days we have so many things that rob us of precious time and one thing about humanity that is certain and that is one day we will all die, hopefully later rather than sooner, but none of us will get out of this battle alive.
When I lost my dad it took me a long time to really be able to talk about him without crying or at the very least trying to fight back the tears. I don’t think you ever get over losing a parent and I am sure you never get over losing a child.. but I can say that every day that comes it gets a little easier to get through but that doesn’t mean the hole is filled. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about my dad or wish I could call him up and just shoot the breeze.
I used to hate to watch television after he died because I would constantly see something that reminded me of him.. little girls standing on their dads feet and dancing, fathers hugging their daughters, songs, movies, weddings, funerals, sports games, food, holidays, every thing reminded me of him. It took me 2 years to realize that I shouldn’t feel pain when I see these things because every little thing that reminds me of him is a little piece of him still alive… alive in me.. in my family.
No, I still cry from time to time.. I’ve decided that trying not to is pointless because the tears come anyway.. but my dad wouldn’t want that.. in fact he’s told me “Baby don’t cry” more times than I can count.. no, I will never stop hurting but it’s getting easier to smile when I see and hear things that remind me of my dad… the most is hockey and music… those are two things we shared… they were special to us… something that was just his and mine.. something that connected us and in a way it still does.
I’ve realized that I am all my dad has left to carry on for him.. for myself, for my family, and some day.. for my children. He didn’t want to leave us.. and with the types of cancer he had, its amazing he lived 4yrs with it.. he was a fighter.. he beat alcoholism, divorce, he was a single parent, and he was extremely giving and kind.. very laid back and down to earth.. and I don’t think there was a single person he met that didn’t love him. I made a single vow to him as I watched his casket be lowered into the ground… and that was to just keep breathing and carry on..
So Daddy… this is me carrying on remembering how amazing you were, how blessed I am to be your daughter, and just how very much I miss you.
All my love,
Your Daughter.
Hogwarts Express!
Posted by Nina on Jan 25, 2010
Remember when I joined the Harry Potter Knitting & Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry and I said I would share a little more about it with you? Well.. now is the time! We are sorted into houses at the beginning of the term (3 months) and each month a class listing is given and the more classes you participate in the more points your house earns.. and you are also competing for some real prizes! I have met some really fabulous people there and they are cheering me on to reduce the size of my knitting queue and finish up those works in progress (during the Ravelry olympics of course!) and I have created some of the cutest little things for the first round of classes!!
First up we have this super cute flying spaghetti monster… I made him for potions class. We were instructed to create something dangerous or something that Dumbledore would love.. I think he fits on both accounts.
Next was this really cute cupcake for Charms. We were instructed to create something to make the professor smile.. well being that I was sorted into Gryffindor.. our house decided to create a secret food fight where we would all make cupcakes and food items to turn in all at the same time (I lost count after 18 of us turned them in!) and later that evening we would storm the Slytherin dungeon and start the food war all over again! I made a white cake with lavender frosting and a cute little cherry on top with rainbow sprinkles.. it now functions as a soft toy or pin cushion.
Last but not least we have this adorable little apple cozy I made for Defense Against The Dark Arts.. we were instructed to create an item that represents your resolution for the year.. it represents two for me.. start & finish projects on my queue and to stay healthy! I spent most of 2009 either ill or injured and I figured the old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ might not be a bad thing to start with!
Take a look at the Harry Potter Knitting & Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry… go right now! It’s my favorite group! Oh and I was the Gryffindor featured for the 2nd interview on our house blog!
You probably won’t see me again until the end of this month while I am busy finishing up class projects and spinning like crazy for a contest!
Tasting..
Posted by Nina on Jan 12, 2010
It’s been a while since I shared some photos of the food I am testing for Celine & Joni’s new book ‘The Complete Guide to Vegan Foods Substitutions‘. If there is one thing I can say about the recipes I have tried from this book.. all but 1 has been a huge success! That single recipe that caused me some trouble has worked well for every other tester though! The photo you see above is a delicious polenta and chili bake.
This is an incredible sweet baked vegan brie!! I loved spreading it on bread, crackers, toast, and eating it with fresh fruit! I never really ate brie cheese before but this spread is dangerously good! I topped mine with blueberry jam for the photo but it works equally well with apple butter, pumpkin butter, or any other sweet preserve.
This is a little bowl of heaven. This is a rustic pasta bake and tastes fantastic hot or cold. It makes up a bunch and I can see it being a fantastic party food. I have a love/hate relationship with artichokes but this recipe makes me love them! You could easily adapt the spices to change the flavor of the whole dish.
Last but not least is this delicious green temeph casserole.. I didn’t expect to love this recipe as much as I did… I love tempeh, that’s no secret, but this was just plain insanely delicious. I can see eating a bowl of this for dinner or wrapping it up in spring rolls for lunch.. its just FANTASTIC. It’s super healthy, very cleansing, and very garden friendly. It looks to me like Celine & Joni have another hit on their hands… and I cannot wait for you all to get to taste these incredible dishes!!!
