free ball-ing

mr. yarn ball boogie is, out of the goodness of his ♥, sending me a skein or two of some lovely magry yarn which is no longer available.

it's varigated white, bright cobalt blue, & sienna brown (think thai iced coffee). see how it pools in the scarf he's made?

i want to move to brooklyn just to be friends with him.

they won't replace guitar hero. yet.

grand theft auto IV is amazing. i still suck, but i've enough skill to now manipulate the controllers decently enough: i can steal cars; kick the crap out of innocent bystanders; & steal a car from cops while they're shooting at me.

i also ♥ katamari damacy. although the concept is simple enough, i am not so good at it -which sucks when the person you're playing with is getting 2-3x the needed growth of the katamari.

i'm anxious to try wii fit & play warioware: smooth moves while slightly inebriated.

"why can't you go home? aren't you good enough for your home?"

apparently, i'm not too shabby at miniature golf; i even surprised myself with a hole-in-one.

i'm hoping the next time i try this, it will be at one of those really tacky courses with animated obstacles & brightly flashing lights.

side note: while watching air force one, i was pondering on the presidential election...i wish we had (or there was a candidate) as bad-ass as the president portrayed by Harrison Ford. don't you want a leader who can pack a punch, fly an aircraft, & gets to the point ("get off my plane!")?

or, i'd more than happily settle for an upstanding man like president David Palmer, care of Jack Bauer.

luck of the tipsy

i won two games of darts. & i hit a bull's-eye (with several close ones to follow). i always thought the combination of booze + sharp flying objects as a game was a bad idea, but maybe that's the reason it's a bar game: skills sharpen after a drink or two.

i wish i had a cookie jar

i just made 2 batches (about 70 total) of chocolate chip cookies.

after the new york times printed commentary/recipes/archived articles on the humble cookie back in july, there were several weeks of debate on the best chocolate chip cookie recipe all over the food blogosphere.

at the time, i thought about joining in & testing batch after batch to find the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. melted butter vs creamed. 12, 24, 36, or 0 hour chill in the fridge? chewy, crispy, soft....oh, the variations!

but it sounded like too much effort. & who would eat all those cookies? so, i decided to let everyone else do the work & i've been keeping tips aside for when i actually needed to make them.

from my research on others' bake tests, the jacque torres' chocolate chip cookie recipe (posted in the NY times) is a bit too sweet & too much waiting for results that are, essentially, equal to waiting 1/2 or less that time.

i've always baked the standard, almost instantly gratifying, mix-drop-voila version. since i needed to bake 2 batches anyway, i decided to try two variations:
1. melted butter & a chill in the fridge. (for a crisper cookie)
2. standard creaming method & straight into the oven (for a softer cookie).

result: although a bit more work & time, i think i'm going to do the melt & chill from now on. it produced a delicately crisp outside while maintaining a soft chewy inside (these are pictured above). the creaming method was delicious, but came out with a denser crumb...almost like cake, wich my mother preferred.

an overdue review on pamela's (or why i miss pittsburgh pt.1)

i'm not a breakfast person during the weekday, but come saturday & sunday mornings, i am a complete advocate.

there's nothing better than lazily waking up & getting together with a group of friends for brunch at home or a local spot to sip on some coffee & delight in fluffy eggs or cinnamon-y french toast.

although i have a few favorite breakfast nooks, none compares to Pamela's on walnut street in pittsburgh, pa. (i specify this shadyside location because i've been to the other locations in pittsburgh & they don't compare).

out of standard breakfast fare, pancakes aren't usually my first pick; however, my mouth waters at the mere thought of hotcakes served here. a little heartier than a crepe, these babies have a crisp edge which compliment wonderfully with the rest of the buttery, melt-in-your-mouth center.

if you're not a pancake person or don't mind carbo-loading it & hitting the ultimate food coma, order a side of the home fries. they are perfect. that is all i have to say about them.

although this place serves straightforward classics, they are done incredibly well....so if you're looking for something fancier/updated/different it's best to head elsewhere.

growing stash

when my grandmother & a friend taught me the basics of crocheting in high school, it was picked up with novel amusement -& to this day, i have several unfinished projects i have no intention of finishing; odd sized granny-squares meant for an afghan, half-finished baby items, etc all shoved in the back of a closet.

i should be eco-freindly by unraveling & recycling the yarn, but i just don't feel like it because i know i won't use them. it's crap acrylic. not crap because it's acrylic, but because it's the itchy weird stuff that i picked up not knowing better many years ago from a large craft store (too inexperienced to realize that there were such things as lys's espcially since there wasn't one in the city i lived in) that doesn't carry many options.

starting this knitting habit & with several lys's at my disposal, i've been (re-)introduced to the yarn game. a few of my favorites from my slowly growing stash:

pagewood farm sock yarn
colorway: bird of paradise

blue sky alpa
cacolorway: mango & ruby
project: endpaper mitts

malabrigo
colorway: velvet grapes & natural
i've already used the velvet grapes for a cowl.

noro silk garden lite
colorway: 2037 & 2017
project (maybe?): noro scarf
i think this is currently my favorite of the stash. i've been told the color gets better. i love it so much, i don't even want to use it.

lock & key*

heather & i slowly walked past the see sound lounge. it was dark inside & i would have thought it closed had i not caught the flicker of a few candles. we both peered into the window and tried to gauge any goings on. i caught 3 heads at the bar, & one on the couch. it looked completely empty otherwise.

it's 15 minutes past check-in.

heather suggests we head inside as there's a back room, & the party might be held there. once we step in, it is obvious that there is nothing going on. there is the guy on the couch, 5 guys spread across the bar, and a co-ed group of 6 in a corner near the front. there are no signs of revelry, no obvious organizers of any sort of event.

she & i stand awkwardly in the middle of the club, when the guy on the couch speaks up. his voice surprises me; it's much higher than i was anticipating.

"are you two here for the lock & key? it's usually pretty crowded....& i spoke with the bartender...the event sponsor never showed up or made contact. maybe the venue changed? but there wasn't an email sent out or a notice on the website."

"man, i could be knitting right now!", i exclaim. "i even put on make-up for the first time in weeks for this thing!"

this answers our questions. we both decide to have a drink at the very least. we order our orange vodkas & sodas. we briefly chit-chat with the two guys sitting next to us, joe & jeff, also there for the lock & key. we are snarky in our usual way.

the man on the couch comes over to us at the bar & continues the small talk.
"there's supposed to be another lock & key next month."
"oh yeah...isn't that supposed to be for the 30s-40s set though?" questions heather.
"are you showing your age, sir?" i ask jokingly.
he looked slightly perturbed with this question & promptly left the club a few moments after.

30 minutes later, as we're finishing our drinks & getting ready to leave, couch guy is back & at our sides again.
"i went to get some food", he states factually with bit of surprise, as though he had informed us of his actions before leaving & that there was some sort of agreement made that we were going to wait for his return.

we ended the evening with a drink & some food, no numbers, & some new inside jokes at matador in ballard.

note: prior to the non-existent lock & key, i was at a knitting group happy hour & had extended the invitation to one of the girls i met there since she was new to the area & looking to meet new people. i'm really glad she had other plans set for the evening.

*lock & key party: 1/2 the attendees get a lock, the other 1/2 a key. you then spend the evening trying to find your corresponding lock or key. once your match is found, your names get thrown into a raffle for prizes & you receive a new lock or key & repeat.

no shame

yes, it's one of those slouchy, hipster-ish caps, but i love it.

i just need to keep in mind not to wear it with my crochet boots, lest i look like i take all my fashion tips from nicole richie.

mee-ow!

an amigumuri project that finally has all its appendages & doesn't look creepy (sorry impy)! meow, meow.

wake & bake

i woke up at 5am & wasn't able to fall asleep again.

instead of lying around, i got up & baked this.

a tale of two scarves & non-existing socks

a.

b.

now that i have knitting, purling, & a few basics down (& the amazing reference tool that is the internet), i understand why so many knitters have multiple wips (work in progress -i'm getting the lingo down as well!). working on one project can get repetitive or frustrating....as i've learned with the above scarves. i've been alternating between these two scarf patterns the past few days & they are now both complete. finally.

branching out (scarf a): my first go at a lace pattern. you can't tell by my crappy picture, but it's turned out quiet well -for which i am glad since it's going to my grandmother. this was much easier than i (as a beginner) thought it was going to be. there were a few fumbles along the way…99% which are invisible. the mistake that is the 1% is kind of a 'where's waldo' & only seen if you search for it, so….pat on the back for me.

silk evening scarf (scarf b): fate had me destined to knit this cute, easy, elegantly fun scarf…a day after finding the pattern, the lys had the yarn at 1/2 price!!

trying to manipulate 5 needles is much harder than 2. i heard the transition from crocheting to knitting was awkward due to the concept of two needles vs, one hook, but i quickly adapted & had no issues handling an extra stick. adding 3 more needles just seems ridiculous to me right now. but no, i haven't yet given up on learning to knit in the round. i am determined to knit a pair of eff*ing socks. however, for the time being, after monkey-ing around with toothpick-thin needles & de-tangling equally thin yarn for about 3 hours, i've decided to put the socks aside until i'm feeling a little more optomistic. or, masochistic.

i'd rather be running

pilates kicked my ass. my arms also feel like jello from doing 120 push-ups (modified). i only did these thinking it was the pre-pilates class warm-up (i was told to come to class 5-10 minutes early for prep...but "prep" actually just meant setting out your mat & deciding whether you wanted your socks on or off), when in fact, it was just the last moments of a hip-hop/toning class.

"what's in the box? what's in the box? woah, woah!"

while googling for some background entertainment, to my extreme surprise & delight, i came across the full version of one of my childhood favorite movies: raggedy ann & andy: a musical adventure.

this movie played frequently on the disney channel or nickelodeon (i don't remember which, but as kids, we only watched those two channels), & i'm fairly certain that my brother & i watched every showing. evidence of our enthusasim is captured in footage somewhere in my parents' home-video collection: an embarrassing/cute clip of my brother & me doing the wo-wo twins' song-&-dance number.

it being 19-20 years since last viewed, i couldn't recall the storyline, only fuzzy images of characters & scenes. as i watched it though, i realized that the makers of toy story seemed to have borrowed quite a bit from the rag-doll twins...a new doll on the owner-child's birthday; toys escaping to the outside world via window; the despair of being a toy w/out an owner to love him/her...and catchy tunes.

i was worried that, being older, i wouldn't enjoy the movie as much as i did as a child. thankfully, unlike the adventures of milo & otis (have you tried watching this again!?! the animals are absolutely adorable, but you can only take about 5 minutes 'til you're done ooo-ing & aww-ing over the animals), the escapades of ann & andy didn't bore me now that i'm all "growed up".

the entertainment is due to richard williams (who framed roger rabbit) & joe raposo (sesame street, electric company). animation, directed & overseen by williams, is well done. the music & lyrics, by raposo, are smart, catchy, and appropriately adorable (no ear bleeding).

there are several scenes which the audio-visual combination creates a creepy, trippy vibe that the stoner set would enjoy in their own way. for instance, when the twins meet the greedy:

if you'd like to watch the movie in it's entirety, you can view it here.

who would have thought this much amusement would come from a hand-made rag doll?

the 5 hour baby sweater...

took me much longer than 5 hours. i think 8-10 hours is more accurate.

i started the sweater multiple times because the count was off, but then i realized it wasn't me. after scouring the web a while, i found another version of the exact sweater and realized the the pattern i was using was inaccurate.

i'll toot my own horn and say that for someone who recently taught herself how to knit, my first "major" knitting project came out pretty damn well.

the 5hr baby sweater pattern.