The Great Yarn Fiasco

You think this looks bad, but really it's on it's way to being much better.

I used to store my yarns in that bin. Loose. And loose yarns did what they always do in a cramped space: they reproduced. They made this lovely little yarn tangle, which actually used to be much bigger before I started organizing.




Recently I bought some new yarn, and when it wouldn't fit in the bin, I knew I had to take action. First I bought some gallon sized ziploc bags. I wish I had noticed that they were the blue ones before I bought them, but oh well. They were on sale. Next I started organizing the yarn into these bags by weight.



Here we have some fingering weight, I think. Or is it called bedspread weight? I can't imagine making a whole bedspread out of these tiny threads, but I'm sure someone, somewhere, has done it.



Next we have some yarns of similar weight but different.



I discovered while doing this that if I leave a little opening in the ziploc, I can fit much more in the bin. I can squish the air out of the bags as I go along. I'm not particularly interested in having the bags keep the yarns clean or dry. The bin will do that.

I just want to keep them from swapping genetic material.



And oh! Aren't these some pretty yarns? The red and teal ones are new. They are mohair/acrylic and so soft and fuzzy. Can't wait to see what project I'll be using these for. Probably not scarves, tho. Too itchy. Leg warmers, maybe?



I love eyelash yarn. Can you tell?



On the very top I have more new yarn: some very soft acrylic in white and multi. I will want to get into these soon.

And so there you have it: all my yarns fit in the bin and they're neat and organized, and protected prophylactically.

Well, almost all my yarns fit in the bin.



These yarns are some that I have decided need to live at a new home. So if you're reading this Carol, and you don't want any of these yarns, speak now or they are showing up with me at your house on Friday!

Except for the granny squares. I will repurpose those, I think. Maybe they need to be potholders or coasters or something...


And here is proof that I got the lid on:



And the moral of the story is: I will not buy anymore yarn until I use up some of the yarns I already have. The end.

The Quilt That Sold

This is the quilt that sold last week. I was having trouble getting the picture to load to Blogger. But it is now making it's way to Washington, DC! Woohoo!

Does This Make You Happy?

Yeah, me too.

I have been so distracted lately with all sorts of different things. I had to chase one particular rabbit down a very long and involved hole just to see where it would go, and I'm so glad that's over!

So yesterday (yes, a Sunday!) I started a new quilt. It felt so good, so right, to be working on this. It's like I really know this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

Not that I can't do other things, too.



This is the beginning of yet another scarf I'm working on. It's sooo soft!

And then there's other things that I want to do, because I'm awesome.



These are red blood cell cookies and white blood cell marshmallows with coconut. They are for a science project my daughter is doing at school today. Aren't they crazy? Aren't I awesome?


And the house is a mess and I have choir practice today and I must go grocery shopping. Mountain of dishes left over from the weekend. But this quilt is going to get made.
It's making me happy.

Cute Attack

Last week my daughter had a dream about baby rabbits. She woke up enthralled with their cuteness and described one to me. She held her hand out, palm up, and petted an imaginary bunny sitting on her palm. My imagination worked perfectly to fill in the blank.



I had to wait a few days as I was all out of grey mohair yarn. But the other day while shopping for a blouse and necklace, I was at Holland Village where the yarn store is, so I just popped in and bought a skein.



For days after my daughter's dream, we would hold our hands up and pet the imaginary bunny there and squeal to each other.



So when she got home from school yesterday, I asked her to hold out her hand and then I placed the bunny on it. She decided his name was Stuart. She never names her pets/toys with pet or toy names.

Needless to say, she loves it.

And now onto other things: Blogger has been a real trial for a few days, but I'm so happy that I can finally get pictures posted this morning. Lately many Google related sites have been giving us problems, but hopefully things are going to improve.

And lastly, I am happy to report that Fizzy Pink Lemonade has sold. Hooray! I would post a picture here to remind you, but suddenly, I can't get any pictures to post. Sigh. So much for technology. I will try again tomorrow.

D.I.Y.

click on the pic to see how pretty these beads really are

OK, long story short: I needed a necklace for an outfit that consists of a white dressy tunic blouse over a floor length straight black skirt. It's for the spring concert the choir will give in May. I just bought the blouse yesterday, and wandered for hours trying to find just the perfect necklace. I want something to tie the black and white together, but pulls in lots of colors since it's a spring concert. And, besides that, I just love color as you all know.

So I looked at umpteen stores and found nothing that really did it for me. I was set to give up and go home; I was at the bus stop, actually, when I got inspired. My vision was for a necklace similar to the one pictured above, but with jewel-toned Swarovski bi-cone crystals. Ding! I left the bus stop and went immediately on foot to the bead store in Holland Village (which is where I was already).

I was surprised to find out this store has never carried Swarovski beads, but I made do with these Czech glass beads. It isn't exactly what I had envisioned, and I may still make that necklace, but I'm much happier with it than with anything else I saw.

This is the best part about knowing how to make different things. You know how they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing? I've never found that to be true (except, perhaps, in the area of theology. I'll leave that to my DH) - rather being a Jane-of-all-trades can be very satisfying, and certainly costs less than buying something someone else made that you could have made yourself.

I tried the necklace on with the blouse this morning and it looks really great. Now I just need to make earrings....

Frittata Whatta?

Frittata with Arugula, Lemon, Dill and Feta

I had the week of potlucks this past week, and for the last one I played around and invented a frittata. This was always going to be iffy as I had a recipe for a frittata with different ingredients, and because I was going to serve it to Chinese Singaporeans, and who knows what they'll think of something like this?

So I started with chopped onion, which I sauteed slowly in some olive oil in a non-stick pan. I cooked them until they were browning nicely, about 10 minutes, because I thought I might need a little sweetness in this dish.

Then I put in the arugula, which was a little scary as I've eaten it raw, but have never cooked it. And it smelled a little funny while it was cooking - not good. But I guess I used around 2 cups. Then I had about a tablespoon of fresh dill, chopped, and about half a lemon zest, grated. I put these ingredients in after the arugula wilted nicely. The smell began to improve at this point.

Next I added 5 eggs and I tilted the pan to make sure they were evenly distributed. I had sliced some red peppers - not bell peppers, but another kind that has a little heat. I made a decorative arrangement with these. Then I crumbled some feta all over the top. As I was cleaning up my materials while the frittata was setting up, I noticed I had a tomato in the refrigerator, so I sliced some of that and made more decorative arrangements with them.

After about 10 minutes, I needed to transfer the whole shebang to the oven to get the top to brown and set up. But the non-stick pan I was using has a plastic handle. So I fiddled around under the frittata with a spatula until it was mobile enough, and then I slid it into the pyrex pie dish. Phew! That could have been a disaster, but it wasn't.

Well, it all went well and I brought it the meeting and waited. We ate buffet style, and I was one of the first one through. So, I took a wedge and moved on. Later I went back and the frittata was almost gone! I was so surprised! But it was really delicious. You taste the lemon first, then the dill and the arugula, and then the heat of the peppers, followed up by the creaminess of the feta. Are you drooling yet? I was quite pleased. I hope you try to make this recipe. Let me know what you think. No one at our meeting said a peep to me, so I need some feedback. Thanks!

Translation

Sorry to everyone who asked for a translation for the last post.  I meant to do that and then forgot.  Yes, Ojos de Dios does mean eyes of God.  It also refers to a craft that many of you may have seen, or even made when you were a child, and which kinda reminded me of the way the colors are placed in my quilt.




Thanks for all the wonderful, encouraging comments left yesterday. It was wonderful to wake up this morning and read them all before breakfast. How could it not be a great day after that?