ain't no party like my nana's tea party

Heeeeeeey! Hooooo!

Flight of the Conchords, anyone? Anyone?

It's a tea cozy, in case you can't tell...

It's got quilted insulation and my first piping!

My grandmother doesn't even drink tea, actually.

Hey! Weird Food!

I think that's what Chris said. So there's a new asian food source in town: Oriental Market - Seafood Place... it's at 203 Harding Blvd. in Roseville, right down the street from me!

I made Chris try the cuttlefish (after much prodding- literal prodding, with cuttlefish), which he promptly spit out... he did like the fresh tamarind and sweet rice cakes, though. Anyway, make your way there if you can- they have fresh produce like long beans and raw peanuts, a huge frozen food section, fresh baked goods (like bean cakes... mmmmm...), and a fantastic whole fresh fish selection where they will cut and clean your fish while you wait! You might see me there, wandering the aisle of sauce. That's right, and entire aisle of sauces. You just can't go wrong with that.

Sqeal!

Wendy of Knit & Tonic mentioned my pattern in yesterday's post! I squeal because this is one of my very favorite blogs... Not only is she a very talented designer, but the lady is Funny. That's right, capital F Funny. Even if you don't knit, the blog will crack you up, guaranteed...

Private Benjamin

Self Control is Overrated.

I could not live without it:

Monster by Amy Earles (aka Wool & Water)

Check out the sweet postcard it came with and the squeal-worthy ghosty stamp on the shipping envelope...

A couple more Sea Creatures...

They both join the other sea creatures in the bathroom.

---

Squid

Pattern:
Squid-A-Licious by Hansigurumi

The only mod I made was making the body in one piece instead of two. I just ran a length of yarn through the middle and tightened it to make up for that.
---
Cuddle-Fish

Pattern: Cuttlefish by Hansigurumi

I used to eat copious amounts of dried cuttlefish (as a child).

They're not really "fish". Obviously.
I really had to force myself to finish this one. There were many mistakes in the pattern (very unusual for Hansi… she’s pretty much a genius) (*I included my Errata below). It’s also a bit bigger than the other cepholopods- I’d probably would have used sport-ish weight if I thought ahead… I embroidered him with some stripeys to make him a bit more realistic, and cast off the fins with white for a little extra detail.

---

And speaking of Sea Creatures:

I'm pretty sure Maggie is an otter. There's more new pics of her here.

And her BFF, Laika, of course.

---

My Hansigurumi Cuttlefish Errata:

Page 4, Section 4 (last on page): Even Rows- do not wrap and turn, as you are at the end of the rows.

Hansi's Errata: Page 6, should read "Using Figure 1 as a guide, use MC and pick up a total of 34 stitches from the top selvedge of arms as follows...", and Row 1 should read "P22, w&t"

Page 6: Row 21: P25
Page 7 (top): Row 22: K9, SSK, k2tog, SSK, K2tog, K9. Place remaining 22 stitches...

Page 7 (middle): Clarification- When picking up 5 sts from the underside of the outermost arms, do not pick up from the webbing area.

Page 7 (bottom): Round 4: K1, *K2tog, repeat from * to the end of the round, end K1. (20 stitches)

Page 8: Round 7: (*K2tog, KI), repeat from * to last 2 stitches, K2tog. (6 stitches)

Page 11: Round 4: *SSK, (K1, KLR, K1) 3 times, (K1, KLR) 56 times, (K1, KLR, K1)...

Japanese Super Fun Animal Plush!

I acquired some Japanese craft books via Etsy to help in my sewing endeavors... I'd like to make my own patterns, so I wanted some help in the construction, since I'm quite a beginner. My first project from them was this:

Alligator from Animal Mascot

(ISBN-10: 4391624206, ISBN-13: 978-4391624205 )

On Crafting Japanese

For Kathryn's (belated) B-Day,

made with vintage velvet from my bedspread as a child,

cotton fabric, wool felt, beads, and embroidery floss.

This book is pretty popular and fairly easy to find (on Etsy or Ebay) and has super cute designs with clear pictorial instructions (the text is all in japanese). I also picked up a couple without names (as in, I can't translate the names):

I haven't seen these anywhere else (I got them on Etsy), and they are pretty fantastic. The instructions are not as clear as Animal Mascots (and the projects are a bit more advanced), but I think I'll do alright with them still... There are more pics of them on my Flickr.

Things You Should Buy for Me

Aaaah, disposable income, when shall you and I meet? I have a large wishlist of art that I want to live at my house from Etsy... where I could easily dump buckets of cash, if only I had it:

---

jacksonswift: Wolves

---
berkleyillustration: Everyone Serves A Porpoise

---
therunnybunny: Victorian Deer Lady

---
belleandboo: Lost and Found, Chance Encounter

---
LittleRobot: The Queen and I

---
robbridges: The Ursine Dream

---
NuitBlanche: Deer Print

---
woolandwater: Monster

---
misterrob: We Had Everything
---
ohmycavalier: Honey
---

There are more, of course, but there is only so much one can put in one post, right? I'd love recommendations, too... not that I need to add to my already ridiculous wishlist, but... wait, yes I do.

Old Timey Bathing Costume

Well, I have finished my very first clothing sewing... and I've made me-self a Bathing Costume! Old-timey, no? We're going lake type camping at the end of the month & I had no bathing suit, and no wish to get into one, so... you know, this is what happened:

I used a couple different patterns: New Look 6705 for the top (I added the belt & belt loops) and 6707 for the shorts (I cut the pants short). I added the stripes with seam binding.

I must thank Emily of the Black Apple for re-introducing me to sewing... I sewed her Doll pattern from her Martha Stewart appearance & was totally hooked. I had a sewing machine already (I'm 5'1", so most of my clothes are hemmed) & now I've been gathering patterns voraciously. The Black Apple Doll and Lambkins from my last post were my first two pattern babies, and now I have a huge queue forming for sewn projects, which will now compete with knitting for Ultimate Time Sucking.

Gifty

Soooo.... Chris made it into grad school, which means we can't spend any money for the next two years... then we'll be paying back loans, so umm, maybe more than two. Anyway, peeps will be receiving handmade goods for awhile:

---

Tammi's Birthday Cupcake:

---

Kathryn & Doug's Housewarming Present:

The pattern for Lambkins is here.

I'm working on something...

This is the first garment I've ever sewed... not counting the shorts and apron I made in my 8th grade Home Ec class (mostly because I can't remember a thing about them or the class other than they existed). It's a secret until I finish...

---

And a Happy Mama's day to all the mama's out there... We had ours over for brunch yesterday:

I can post this Strata recipe if anyone's interested...

---

UPDATE!

Ham & Asparagus Breakfast or Brunch Strata

1 1/2 lbs. Ham (ham steak, not lunchmeat ham, eeew), cubed (you could place this with more veggies for a vegetarian version)

olive oil

1 cup asparagus, cut into 1" pieces

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup onion, chopped

6 large eggs, beaten

2 cup 2% milk

2 loaves ciabatta bread, sliced (about 1/2" thick) & crusts removed

2 cups gruyere and/or swiss cheese, shredded

---

Saute the asparagus, mushooms & onions in olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) until tender. Mix in the ham.

-

Combine the milk and eggs together, mix well.

-

Oil a 2 1/2 quart baking dish and place a layer of bread in it. Top with half the veggie/ham mixture and a layer of cheese. Repeat with another layer of bread, mixture & cheese. Cover with a third layer of bread. Pour the egg & milk mixture slowly over the top, making sure to moisten all of the dish. Sprinkle generously with cheese. Refrigerate for at least an hour- I let mine sit overnight (up to 24 hours).

-

Preheat your oven to 350F and bake one hour (until browned and bubbly). Tip: I like to put a baking sheet underneath the rack in the oven to catch any drips.

-

Enjoy!

Maggie!

There's a new pup-pup in town! Chris's parents picked up Maggie (AKA Maggie Magnolia, Maggie May, Maggie Mags, Magpie, Auntie Maggie [because she's Laika's aunt now]) last weekend in Grass Valley...

She's a chocolate lab, 7 weeks old now.

---

Here she is plotting something sinister:

There are plenty more pics here.

Private Benjamin

A new design:

Private Benjamin

Knit in Artful Yarns Fable: Color #95

The pattern is available here.

Nessie!

Another Hansigurumi masterpiece!

Loch Ness Monster

Knit in Lion Wool-Ease.

Sea Creatures!

All patterns by the genius Hansi Singh (Hansigurumi)!

Jellyfish (or Sea Jelly, as my Marine

Bio professor would have corrected)

---

Dumbo Octopus

The color choices took waaaaay longer than the actual knitting.

I must have re-knit parts of this 50 times…
The Dumbo is a rare deep sea octopus. See "Grimpoteuthis” for more info.

---

Blue Ringed Octopus

The Blue Ringed Octopus is the most venomous animal in the world!

It carries enough poison to kill 26 adult humans within minutes! Yaaaay!
See Blue-ringed Octopus: Hapalochlaena.

I just added embroidered rings to the plain octopus pattern.

I also hand dyed the top of his head to get some peachy color to it…

---

They all live in my bathroom. More will follow... I will probably get around to all of her patterns.

Nesting Instinct

A pretty little nest for decoration or use as a pincushion, if your pretty objects must have uses...

My own pattern... available here. I used Lion Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Barley for the nest & Nature’s Palette Fingering in Lilacs for the eggs.

Treats!

So, I'm doing Weight-Watchers, so this is what I start knitting...

Cupcake

Pattern Here (I made it taller to allow for cake color to peek through.)

I like when they come with the gold paper.

---

Blueberry Muffin

Same pattern, but with some increasing added to make it puffier.

I knit the berries & leaves on top with embroidery floss.

---

Doughnut

Pattern Here

I used worsted weight for a full sized doughnut…

I think the original would give you a mini doughnut.

Oddly enough, I haven't actually eaten a doughnut in maybe a year...

but now I want one. Real bad.

---

Ummm... I really like sugar.

Happy Birthday Kitties!

White Kitty and Black Kitty are now both 10 years old!

Happy Birthday, buddies.

Yeah, that's how they roll.