Copenhagen Really!

Out of some off the wall thing, my mum's friend in Florida needs someone to drop off a puppy, and pick up a puppy in Copenhagen Denmark next month. My mum being the wonderous being that she is at this point in time is attempting to facilitate me into being the transporter of said pooper. I know I shouldn't be writing about this since it could totally jinx the final out come, but it would be the most raddest honeymoon (that we yet have to take) and anniversary get away ever imagined. Especially since we haven't been able to agree upon where to go. Copenhagen for a week wow, how neat.
So I'm crossing my fingers and imaging all that lovely... whatever they have over there in Denmark!

In the lime light this weekend, the company Hoe Down, and yes this is 19th century gun slinger hoedown. I'm imagining something a little SteamPunk in style and attitude. Maybe I can finally get the husbeast to wear his wool pants, and make us some cute spats to go with our costumes. I'm currently starting a miniature bowler hat. I call it the lover. It's one of a triptych the other is the Butcher, and then there's Penelope. All taken after a song by the band Rube Waddell, local weirdo's here in SF Area.
Have a great and wonderous weekend all my little loverlies!

Adventure in Cayenne II

The Warning!

So the husbeast and I are making dinner last night, I had picked up a pork tenderloin, but had no idea what to do with it. I quickly turned to my favorite google request, and searched for what Aldon Brown would say. Low and behold he knew exactly what to do, Brown it!

I took the recommended seasonings, and added our delightful and ever interesting 90,000 btu African Cayenne from the Eureka Co-op (the last co-op in California I believe), and coated the tenderloin well. Brushed on a little olive oil and threw all that into my cast iron pan. My piping hot cast iron pan. Well the husbeast and I learned something very interesting last night. It becomes... mace! Our poor lungs, our poor house. There was cayenne smoke everywhere, and coughing and lung cheese, and opened doors and windows, and bandannas tied around faces.

Needless to say the browning was finished, and the meat laid to the side to rest. Here is where I snuck some dark brown sugar onto the poor little tenderloin. (I'm only thinking of my poor little lips here.)

Well about 45 min. later we had ourselves a sumptuous piece of meat. It was hot, but yummy from the brown sugar. And perfect with the mushroom ravioli.

On other fronts, the next log cabin comes along slowly.

But I have pretty much finished the yellow little mad hatter, and have started on a lovely brick red one. Oh and yes the trim for the yellow hatter, it is cutlery, precious cutlery on trim... wait till you see how prosh.

Cheers till then, tomorrow off to the new tax dude, then knitting in public.

A Letter

Dear Starpukes,

I believe you should know that your Ginger Chew cookies,

are well rather par under.

They're hard, and actually taste stale.

At times they even taste a bit like your chai tea,

which just to let you know is rather similar to the taste of soap.

There I've said it, and well if you could just make your ginger chews,

well more akin to their namesake I would certainly be content.

Thanks,

Bonnie Boheme

Enough said on that front. Oh and Peet's coffee, thanks for having squishy~soft, and filled w/ yummy ginger chews!

On the knitting front, I knit not a knot since Thursday, but instead I've very nearly finished the fabulous new little mad hatter in teal, it's been adorned but still needs some permanent staying ability.

Once I did that, I started a new yellow and silver hat for this weekend's hoedown! It's pretty cute, and not quite as Lemon Chiffon as I was hoping for, but it should work. That one's just about done. I was thinking of turning it into a bowler hat, but just couldn't find a good enough wooden knob to act as a hat block for me.

Speaking of hat blocks, guess what I found at Urban Ore in Berkeley on Sat, come on guess! Yep a nice rounded hat block in the exact hat size as my fat head, 23. Did I mention it's the shape I've wanted? It is!!!! I've very stoked as now I can make felt hats to my content. I even have some roving to start with, but first it needs a dye job. So cool though.

And I know I really shouldn't mention this so I'll write it very small:

the husbeast bought me a website in the cutest name for my birthday, which is at the end of the month. And he's the one that came up with the name and I reaallllly really adore it. Only problem is that he expects me to make it myself! The audacity. Me make a website. Oh, oh well.!!!!!

See I'm just really rather stoked. And yes I will keep all informed when it is out of construction.

Oh and this weekend I also weeded my ward, in preparation for seed planting, and my freesia are well into bloom, so yummy and pretty and Spring like.

Did I mention I love March? It's probably my favorite month, and not just because it's my birthday month.

Proof really is in the pudding

Redwood Highway, nearing Crescent City, Ca

We recently celebrated the husbeasts birthday (a little belated) with his family. They're uber cool people, real down to earth, and his mum is one of the most delightful cooks I know. So makes a fantastic Persimmon Pudding with a traditional English hard sauce. Just to die for. No really. Sometime I must share her recipe, but I have to make sure I can still find it! By the by the pudding is steamed for almost 2 hours, and it comes out thick and dark in color, not like Bill Cosby's crappy pudding.

So I know I talked all this talk about my fabulous and lovely millinery class that I had been going to, and have yet to procure any picts. Well there's a reason, see the hat I had created while the class was going on, as well as the 2 for the class, were in MHO just rubbish. Simply dooky on a stick. So I've been busy combining both the style I used to do with the wire frame and a bunch of yanking and pulling things tight, and the buckram framing that I was taught to incorporate under the fabric.
Wanna see just the buckram frame style alone, ok, brace yourself for it is hideous:
I told you, it's flat, and shapeless and looks like a form cut from a dye cast or something mass crap made. It's stiff and has no real motion. The construction isn't half bad, but honestly it should be either burned on the spot or better yet destroyed and reused. And please remember, "a passion for destruction is also a creative passion" ~old dude in the first movie Slacker (indie from the '90's)
So in between knitting the still unseen by all y'all log cabin squares, which I am currently on the seventh out of 9! I've been fusing my construction styles into something that is cohesive and readable, and much more me! And I believe I've had fabulous luck in my endeavors. And here we have it ladies and gents, the proof from the pudding:

Just click on the images to make them bigger by the by.
Here is the construction of the back:
It's so flat and has a straighter than normal seam that doesn't bulge or create an awkward shape! I'm flabbergasted that I've finally figured it out (well for now at least).
And here's a comparison shot: Do you see that difference, not only in height, but the depth and motion that the less used buckram framing has created. And the refined bias tape edging, which I will have you know that I made myself.
So I'm stoked, the new hat isn't quite finished since the cluttered picts, but I should have it done and off to it's new owner by next week. Just in time for the husbeasts company party, yes another! They're kooky people over there. This one is a hoedown in honor of their shed (a very large shed) being torn down. The company is currently constructing a new building and some more parking, and is just tickled pink to be growing. After all just a few years ago they were a small start up on a little island in the bay.
This morning I've been dreaming about turning this fabric into a cute little pair of bloomers, but I'm afraid to. I'm afraid to cut it, I'm afraid they won't be big enough, or that it would be better as a can-can skirt. Oh I just don't know. Just like I just don't know what the hell this fabric is! I was told by a friend years ago, but since have forgotten. Here's a hint, when it is washed and dried all those lines scrunch up into one bitch of a crinkle that takes a really long time to iron out. And I got it the oh so missed, Poppy Fabric in Oakland bask when I was still in Art School over there.
So there's most of all the proof, of the wonderfully fun things I've been up to.
If I finish the squares for the blanket soon, I shall show them all. As a hint I've been knitting them out of Noro Silk Garden in hoards of colors, but I believe I've already spilled that bean...
Cheers till then.

Adventures in Cayenne

Wow, I'm writing this dinner recipe down before I forget all that I put into it.
Let's call it:
The Cayenne Co-Op Special

So since there are just so many ingredients, I'll just go into it w/out a proper list.

Start some meatballs in the oven, while those roast, in a frying pan melt 1T butter, and a little olive oil. Add 6-8 buttons of mushrooms, chopped in fat quarters, 5-6 cloves of garlic chopped fine. Stir down a until mushrooms turn color, add 1 zucchini, cut long. Stir down until turns color. Add fine ground pepper, course ground pepper, a little salt, some garlic salt, and about 1/8t. 90,000 BTU Cayenne (this is the hot! stuff from any natural grocer DO NOT SUBSTITUTE), add some thyme. Add frozen roasted corn (yeah Trader Ho's) and asparagus cut small. By this point you'll need some more liquid, so throw in enough white wine (I prefer $2 Charles Shaw ~edited from Schwab thanks guys.! - Sauvignon Blanc). Let all this cook at a high simmer. While that's simmering, start the pasta, what ever is preferred . Cut up 2 patty's of mozzarella, some white sharp cheddar cheese, and a mix of 3 Italian cheeses (you know the parmigiana, Romano...), melt all that down. To this add the zest from a sweet meyer lemon, and then all the juice. (this is the important step that added with the wine will cut the main part of the cayenne, and just be really yummy.)
Once the pasta is done, throw that into a big bowl, top off with the simmered veggies, and daub off the oil from the meatballs, and throw on top of all the yummyness.
Toss and enjoy with some of the left over white wine.

Oops!

Looks like I forgot to mention that some of the roving I got may have actually come from Tactile Fiber Arts, a booth that was sharing space with A Verb for Keeping Warm. Still a little confused on who's was who's but they were all really lovely women. And helpful to boot.
Cheers,

Ya got me in Stitches!

No really, rolling... okay maybe not really, but Stitches West was a wonderful convention, that my lady friends and I really indulged ourselves in. The vast number of booths was overwhelming to say the least. And I fell in love with one booth in particular, the Ribbon, button, and Trim shop from Rhode Island. To describe the booth, imagine with me if you will, shelves sectioned by color filled with little jars of buttons, old wooden spools of trim and ribbon, lace encased in glass charms, and bins everywhere categorized by color. It was heaven, a very expensive heaven. I got some delightful trims and a few cute little buttons, 2 called frogs eyes, and 2 Victorian embossed flowers on a black background.
I also picked up some lovely mohair/wool in my favorite color of blue. Now what to make with 400 yds? I believe it's sport weight. Don't ask me where it come from all I know is that the women had strong southern accents and the company started with a B. Helpful aren't I.
But the biggest and best thing that I did, I purchased some roving. I know, actually roving to be spun up into something delightful. It was from "A verb for Keeping Warm" a newer shop, but the gal is local, and she uses natural elements to dye her yarns, a major bonus in my book. I picked up 4 oz. of Alpaca, 4 oz. of Bluefaced Leister, 2 oz. BFL, and 2 oz. of Polworth (nice long staples in that one!). And to boot the husbeast fixed the broken leather piece in my wheel last night, and commenced to pointing out that indeed the wheel was warped from some particular event in his parents garage, it involved water. Also pointing out that the center wooden piece, some part of the axle, was broken and a new one should be ordered, but perfectly fixable. And the bobbin just needs a decent spacer to keep it from falling off of it's holder. So a few issues but nothing really major, and everything he can fix (except the wonky wheel). It'll work, and I'll try my best at spinning, and if that doesn't work for me, I'll utilize those lovely fibers and make myself some felt that can be shaped into some cloche like hats.
All in all a fabulous weekend. Especially when I discovered that my Narcissus had bloomed while I wasn't looking. And especially since I hadn't even realized my mum had given me narcissus in all those bulbs she gave me. I'm just stoked I actually planted them in time for their blooms to shower my garden this spring.
Happy knitting, I'm currently on the 6th log cabin block.
And yes I realize I said I would show picts of the lovely courty side when we went up North, but they just look like vacation picts, and well I was bored when trying to put them on the blog, go figure, I'll put something lovely up soon. Maybe a sneak peak at the lovely roving's I stashed in a drawer in my living room. And to the husbeast, sorry I lied when I said, 'a craft room, now I won't have to do projects in the living room.' Yes, shameful they're everywhere. But at least I'm keeping my hands busy