Here’s a long delayed little project finally squeezed into the day. This is a needle roll meant for 7-inch DPNs and crochet hooks. I also tried out my new "handcrafted" stamp. The sewing machine is fairly purring after it’s recent visit for a cleaning and tuneup.
Earlier this month I ordered a couple three pound soap molds and some wooden soap dishes for the house. The soap mold has a little hole drilled in the bottom center to allow the soap to release once it’s set. The dark spot on the right is just a knot in the wood. You line the mold with parchment or freezer paper and then pour it 3/4 full with soap then top with more paper and the lid. The thickness of the mold provides insulation so the soap cools at the proper rate. I’m anxious to try these out and if all goes well we should be doing another batch of soap later this week.
Last night’s dinner was a little beef stir fry with snow peas and pineapple. Unfortunately Daniel refuses to eat brown rice so I end up making a batch of brown and a batch of white. I try to make extra white and freeze several servings for later so that I don’t have to do that too often.
Beef Stir Fry with Snow Peas
1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
2 cups snow peas
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 pound shoulder tenderloin, cubed
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons low sodium Tamari sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon red curry paste (more if you like it spicy)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
crushed red pepper flakes
hot cooked rice
Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown in canola oil over high heat until caramelized on all sides. Reduce heat to medium and add onions then cook 2 or 3 minutes with stirring until they begin to soften. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro, cover, cook 5 to 7 minutes or until snow peas begin to soften. Serve over rice garnished with cilantro.
I love my little reclining chairs because they look like ordinary wingbacks and have less bulk than your typical recliner. The fabric on them though is a bit wimpy for a house with rambunctious nearly grown boys and it’s beginning to shred badly on the seats. When it first began to split I tried an iron on patch like you’d use for jeans but then I needed another and the fabric gradually began to split all across the chair seat. As I was poking about the store yesterday looking for more patches I noticed a roll of Heatnbond and got the idea to try making a seat-sized patch. I found some tan denim and bought a roll and trotted back home to give it a try. I really ought to have done a zigzag stitch around the edge before sticking it to the chair but it’s a bit late for that now. This should help the chairs last until we are ready to replace them.
I’ve also wound up the yarn for my Bloomin’ Feet socks, aptly named "Spring Fever". I can’t believe it’s been so long since I had a pair of socks on the needles! I’m going to be working mainly on Jason’s aran sweater but these will go with me to knitting so that I don’t goof up any more cables! My goal is to finish them by mid April but I’d like to finish up the first one a fair bit sooner than that so I can be sure this Fair Isle sock will be stretchy enough to go over someone’s foot. Otherwise, I’ll pull out my backup STR and knit something else entirely.
I finished up the second pair of half-finger gloves this morning at knitting. These are a neutral tan that’ll go with my tan Wavy scarf and be useful just around the house. They not as lovely and soft as the malabrigo fingerless mitts but they’ll do nicely for a pair of "beater" gloves for shoveling and the like. They may get broken in as early as tomorrow morning if the promised snow arrives tonight.
After I got home from spa with my new books, I ordered a box’o'roving and some wool felt so I could try out some of the techniques in the books. I’d been really impressed with the hearts Rhonda of Stitchingnut created so I can’t wait to give this technique a try.
I’m preparing for another little sewing project. These fabrics have just gone into the washing machine. For quilting I always wash, dry, and iron my fabrics first but I sometimes forget that step for other projects. For clothing it’s especially important as some fabrics will shrink more than others and this can really cause problems if you’ve made something with a mix of fabrics.
The computer has been a wee bit grumpy of late so I felt it was time to clean house and double check that important things were backed up. I spent the whole of yesterday cleaning out unwanted photos that were duplicates, out of focus, poorly exposed or unusable for any other reason. I was left with photos dating back to December 2004 (the last time my computer imploded and ate all my digital photos) that total nearly 15 gigs of memory. I needed 4 DVDs just to back them all up but now they are happily safe and sound.
I also managed to finish up the first half finger glove out of the tan Frog Tree. This will be the pair that I keep for myself. I altered the ribbing for this pair from 1 x 1 to 2 x 2 which is a bit quicker for a thrower like me to knit.
I got the perfect surprise last night from a friend, thanks! I’ve been admiring all the Fetching mitts being made around blogland and at knitting. These go perfectly with my favorite scarf and boots. These are made from Malabrigo which I’ve been interested in but never did get around to purchasing. They are wonderfully soft and warm. All I need to do now is knit up a hat to match with the lovely cashmerino Trey sent in my last teaswap.
The local knitters will be happy to know I’ve finally knocked out Little Dude’s scarf and it’s ready to mail so the whinging can now cease. I do love the final result but were I to knit this again, I’d use larger needles for certain. The pattern is very simple, it’s (K3,P3) repeat to last stitch, K1. I think it was a multiple of 4 + 1.
We spent yesterday afternoon doing a bit of shopping. One of the things on my list was a cork board to help me keep track of projects and purchases. On the right I have current projects, in the middle is an immenent one and on the left are things in the upcoming queue. Gabby thought one of the shopping bags might make a nice napping spot.
Here’s a long delayed little project finally squeezed into the day. This is a needle roll meant for 7-inch DPNs and crochet hooks. I also tried out my new "handcrafted" stamp. The sewing machine is fairly purring after it’s recent visit for a cleaning and tuneup. 
