Medicine Park on Sunday

Unlike the Falls of my youth in the great Northwest, with large mountains covered in huge ancient Fir trees and the foothills full of bright fall colors, fall here is painfully short and lacking the color. We tried for a little fall foliage and headed out to Medicine Park, a strange little community just north of Lawton.
First of all Medicine Park is tucked away between the two Lakes collectively know as LETRA. It's a funny little art community which is best compared to a very small Vashon Island. Its less artsy than totally nut-jobby.

We headed out to checkout the Bath Lake area, which is about downtown, after a piece in the local paper caught my eye.
We couldn't have asked for a better day, cool wind, bright sun, very few people.

We even ran across a bale of turtles warming in the sun (look it up, a group of turtles is called a bale, that's what wiki is for)

Not much Going on

These days it seems like nothing is going on, and yet not a lot is getting done either. No pets that need walking or have funny attachment to thing, thought the parakeet loves the remote control. Other than trying to track down where in the world the part to my dishwasher is since it hasn't work in the two months I've lived in this house and have had to wash EVERY single plate, dish, cup, soup etc by hand. The finally agreed that the 10 year old contraption had to go and I got a brand spanking new one. Granted its about the size of a suitcase rather than the newer larger types but it's a working dishwasher none the less. BUT! It leaks, from the back, into the carpet. :( Wet socks are really gross. I needed to go to the grocery today, get things to eat, to make dinners with but now I get to call the rental people and wait for someone to check on my wet carpet. GOODIE! But its not all bad, I can get some more spinning in and work on my sewing project.

So far the spinning is going well, I do predraft and all that, but I think my very first try at making yarn was a good one. It had some really thick spots but that seemed to get better, and the twist is a little tight so that the yarn will do something a little funny when I knit it, I'm sure, but I'm okay with that. Only problem now is that I have to get some more fiber. If I was back in TN I could go to the up coming fiber fair but alas I'm here. I should just get on it and order more of the same since it was well priced and only faintly itchy. I do have about 4oz of undyed silver alpaca. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

COOKIE!

Since I've been home during my stay-cation (aka unemployment) I've been releasing my inner Martha Stewart. This includes crafting, cooking and more importantly COOKIES. See the Hub loves cookies and power through a bag of chips-a-whatevers in like 3 days. I started out with those just add an egg and stick a butter type cookies but recently moved up to see what the COOKIE of the day was at Martha Stewart.com.
Now you can go back through the past few days and see the other cookies. Lots of those too may ingredient kinds of cookies, even more of those too complicated for cookies which will be consumed in one bite kind of cookies. But every now and again, you get a good one.
When I was a weee little Claire my gram and I would go to the bookstore on friday (after lunch-bunch but that's another story) and then go two stores up the hill to the deli and I'd get a snickerdoodle and milk. Never failed for years. Mmmmm they were those big snickerdoodles, that are a little crisp on the bottom up soft too.
I just had to make them, and when the Hub asked "whatsa snickerdoodle" I was sure if I'd have 3 dozen cookies to myself or if he's eat them too.
The dough even tasted like right, just like the cookie but unbaked. These are quite possibly the tastiest cookie I've cranked out in a long time.
I highly recommend this particular recipe, You'll find it here! They are best served with Milk or tea, and are not half bad with coffee, water, soda, or just after dinner.

Welcome home

So after I went to the grocery store on Friday, I made it home just in time to see the UPS man in the back of our housing development. OOoooooo, could it be! It was he was there with my wheel just as I unpacked the groceries.
Hub packed it into the house for me while I spent a little time with a friendly puppy who had a bit of a jail break. Groceries, lunch and then my spinning lesson from Woven-Spun. She showed me some of the little ins and outs of spinning. After that I went home to attach the treadles and get started.
I've been spinning a few hours everyday just to get the timing right and the magic pinch, release, give pattern. We're working on it. Right now it's more predrafting then spinning but that's okay with me.
Still no name for the wheel it's self or the ladybug.

It has been done

Hub gave me a lovely gift, the chance to buy my Wheel. I had said that I really never wanted to learn to spin, that I didn't need another hobby that needed me to sit on my butt. I was never thrilled with the way most wheels looked, the darn Alpaca looking at me on some, the total lack of anything on others. I knew if I ever spun I wanted a double treadle, and something slightly portable since we move every two years (either state or house) like clockwork. While at the Dickson Fiber Fair I saw it, THE WHEEL (insert angels and lights here), but then I fell on my face when I saw the price. $925! Ugh. But a Schacht Wheel, with all it's lovely wood work, and art deco appeal, the way the wood aged and the the way the treadles worked! I was smitten. I couldn't even use a drop spindle, how would I have get a Matchless. Not long after I went head over heels for the Matchless Schacht introduced the LadyBug, and my heart leapt again! *SQUEEEEEE* It was affordable, for any wheel, painfully cute, and well just want I wanted. Thing was I was working full time, and drive roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes round trip daily. Which left me NO time to spin, and barely enough knitting time. Fast forward a year or two, new town, no job until January (adjunct at the college to teach lab) and some new friends who spin and weave. What's a girl to do? After an evening breakdown that focused on "I didn't get to BS's to wash dishes and make house" Hub looked at me and said "well do something you've always wanted to do but didn't have the time, so get your wheel." After a wee bit of hemmming and haaaaaaing, and me trying to make excuses in my head for why I didn't REALLY need it I broke down and ordered the thing.
No idea when she'll be here but Friday is my first spin lesson!

Wrap

PATTERN: Strangling Vine
YARN: Fiber Denn Sport Weight 1 large-ass Skein
NEEDLES: Knit Picks Options US6
SIZE: about 63", so me sized
Before being Blocked
I loved this yarn and this pattern, which was super easy to remember and the pattern was easy to modify, I added a few repeats to make it more wrap than scarf. It was a lot of yarn.
I bought this yarn some time ago, when I can't quite remember. I do remember that I was going to split the yarn and share with a friend who purchases the more purple of the two. It would have made a great chevron scarf. Well it never happened and I needed to knit some lace!

Every Thing Off the Needles

I've been using my excess of time to get things, everything, off the needles. My rule about only three things on the needles was blown out of the water sometime along the time when I started knitting some gifts and teaching toe up socks to the lunch bunch at the BVC. Soooooo, I've frogged the dish cloth because I couldn't remember what row I was on, I finished the Strangling Vine Scarf and blocked it (pictures to follow), the black shrug is super close to being done, the Hew shrug is giving me fits and killing my arm, pink socks need binding off, teal socks need a toe sewn up. I still have a stormy sea sock to make and most of the Potato chip scarf to finish. I'm kinda running on empty though. I REALLY WANT TO CAST ON FOR A NEW PROJECT. But what? The Lady February Sweater just in time for winter, the Chevron Scarf with two beautiful skeins of alpaca bought last year at the Dickson Fiber Fair. I just can't do it, I MUST FINISH!!!!! I must finish what I have on the needles before I can start anything new.
I'll post pictures soon!

Just What I Don't Need

I don't need another bag, I have tons and tons of them. It doesn't stop me from making more of them though...
Once again another project from the Sew Everything Workshop, which is a great step by step book to learn from.





Don't forget to check out the new earrings at The Good Bird

Round and Round

Sooooo a long while back Tracie and I from my old job back in my old city, back in my old life (I do miss it but only because I was comfortable and happish there, but this, this new start in a sorta new place is a means to an end. That end is Seattle) started the Circle Shrug from the lovely Glampyre knits which Lion Brand featured for free. We love free, and we love shrugs. While I'm not thrilled with the way the pattern is written and it's lack of measurements in important places (ehhhh TATAs) I will wear it and it is soft and comfy.

Side effects

So one of the side effects of chronic unemployment is that I have lots time. Loads and loads of time. I've been getting stuff done, lots and lots of stuff done. Besides lots of earrings for Etsy
I finally got around to finishing some projects that have been floating around my knitting bag. For starters I picked up the stitches for the button band on the basic black cardi, not as hard has I had thought it would be.
I'm going to block the whole thing again because it's a little dumpy, I made the sweater to fit the tatas but forgot that I have to arms and shoulders of someone much smaller.

I've also been working away on my strangling vine wrap. I want to use up all the yarn but it just seems to keep going and going.

Eye Candy Friday

Helper Bird

Frankie has always been know as "an up in your stuff" budgie, and he's always helping people out....


I caught him doing Hub's CFA homework, I knew he had a head for numbers but too bad he's only got seed for investing.

Great big move...

So the great big move is all done, still haven't changed some addresses but mostly all moved. Still unemployed, which is a major crapper. A few pictures of the new house...

Living Room

Kitchen

The house

I've also did something I've been meaning to do forever... ETSY PAGE!!!!!!!!
The Good Bird is up and running.
Please go check it out there will be lots more promise!

It's on

We hit the road at around 10:30 this morning. One Mini Cooper packed to the gills, a Jeep stuffed with Booze and TV's and a Huge Yellow Penske truck pulling a huge red car. One Parakeet, four people and a spare roll of TP rolled into the city of Van Buren AR at about 7:30pm with all kinds of road buzz. Tomorrow morning we will cross over into Oklahoma and officially move into our neato house. See you there!

Moving

So Lawton, OK is home to Field Artillery and now home to the Army's ADA (air defense artillery) which means that the homes they had for FA now has to make do for two sets of people. We lived on post the last time, in a hotel room. Now we're getting a real house and living like normal(ish) people. Because of the house crunch they've been jacking up the housing cost, someone wanted to rent this house for $1200 a month....




We just kept looking. We did find a place but the last renter left the place a little sad so I didn't take any pictures at the rental lady's request. Time line is as follows.... Movers on monday to pack, Movers to move on tuesday, Wednesday last day of being with the 101st (sooooo long), thursday pick up and fill the uhaul and car trailer then pick up the parents, friday get up at the ass crack of dawn to leave for the first half of the trip, saturday second half of the trip and arrive in Lawton.

Just Noms

The Great Big Quiche of DOOOOOM, 6 eggs, two sticks of butter, 1 pound of bacon, two onions
It was beyond good.............


Chocolate Banana Bread, the recipe needs some work it turned out a little dry, but I've got Banana's and some sour cream and lots of time...

Finally, the Spring Onion Corn Bread! Normal Betty Crocker Corn bread with whole corn nibblets and spring onions, brushed with butter!

Back by popular demand

A few facebookers have requested the London photos sooooo here they are.....

LONDON

Birthday wishes

You know how some friends are "buy stuff" present people. The kind of people who know just what they want and it's just better to buy that one thing for them, but you also have "make stuff" present people. I have one of these friends.
She loves the ocean, which was my inspiration for these. I picked all the beads that reminded me of seaglass.

I searched for a good owl pattern but never found one so I just made this little guy up. I call him Hooty. I promise that a recipe for him will make it to this page someday and for his bat stunt double. She also got a nice hand made draw string bag. It was a little preview of things to come on my Etsy site when I get it up.

Claire-cation Day One

Today was the first blissful day of my three day Claire-cation. I've been sleeping in (6 am!) Grocery shopping in the middle of the day! and making yummy foods, chocolate banana bread. I have lots of plans not all of them will happen. The most important thing that I'm going to get to this week is making THE quiche from St. Thomas Keller's Bouchon cook book. I know that better cooks than I have tried and failed but I am confident that I can make something passable and at least yummy.
Not only do I have a pound of butter with my name on it but I also have some lovely fabric to play with.

Dry Those Clothes, Damnit

So I was watching Sunday Morning, as we always do and they had a short segment about a nice lady in Oregon who was drying her clothes outside in the FREE sunshine. Well her super bitch neighbor driving her SUV, wearing a big fat diamond Channel Necklace and a pair of super expensive bug sunglasses was interviewed about how ugly it was and how it was against the rules blah blah blah, and as she pursed her old wrinkled lips to bad month her neighbor some more it came to me! Go outside and dry you clothes today and every day! It's free!