Friday, February 8, 2013

Friday Mishmash

The winner of the Today's Miles shirt is:


Congratulations!  Please send me an email (40somethingsjourney@gmail.com) with your mailing info along with your choice of shirt size, color and mileage so I can give it to my contact.  If I don't hear from you within a week, I'll have to choose another winner.

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Speaking of winners, I made Debby's baked oatmeal the other day - yum!  I don't do a lot of baking because I try to keep temptations out of the house, but this recipe has appealed to me for quite a while, so I finally made it.
 
I made some substitutions to her recipe - skim milk for the almond milk, 2 eggs for the eggbeaters, extra blueberries/no apples, and no baking power (because I didn't have any).  Still, the recipe is forgiving enough that it came out great!
...and this is why I don't bake very often...an extra piece mysteriously disappeared!

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Jeff was a winner thanks to the nice people at HooRag - I mentioned that he wanted me to order him one, "with skulls on it" but they didn't offer that pattern.  Guess what showed up in our mailbox?
Skulls! 
Yarrr!  Pirate Jeff be very happy!  (He says he's smiling, trust him!)

And that pattern, along with some other cool new ones, is now available on the HooRag website!

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OK, you all know that I love my dog.  But sometimes, he's just fun to mess with.  Especially when cookies are involved:
Paco is really good with the "wait" command when we give him food - he will stay still with a cookie on his head (or nose) for quite a while, and even when he was opening his mouth, it was in slo-motion.  That last shot looks like the ultimate "nom nom" pose.

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I had a winner with knitting this week, and also a bit of a loser.  Let's get that one out of the way first.  This is no more:
See how there are lots of thick areas around the lace pattern?  No good.  
 One of many slubs...

I loved the colorway of the yarn, but it had slubs (parts where the yarn was extra thick) and I didn't like how the lace was looking - it wasn't as defined as I knew it should be.  So I ended up unraveling it and buying new yarn.  Which meant starting the project over from scratch.  Here's my second try:
Much cleaner - I like how it's turning out a lot better!

What's that you say?  Why did you stop partway through a row?  Sighhhhh.  Something went wrong.  It's on the tricky "p2tog tbl" part, and I don't know exactly what happened, but I knew instantly that something went wonky.  I'll get some help soon and fix it.  I was so close to being finished with this section, too - only had three rows left!

My knitting winner is my latest hat - I know, you'd think I live in Antarctica for all the hats I've been knitting lately, but what can I say - they're fairly simple projects to work on when my brain is a little fried from trickier things (like that mystery project).  Plus, they don't take as much time, so it's nice to see a finished item!  Here's the hat:
I like how it came out, but I wish it tapered a bit more at the top - it feels a little square to me.
You can really see the "hurricane" swirl pattern in this side view.  I love how the yarn colors subtly striped themselves, too.
My complete ensemble - hat and cowl!

Now I just hope that the weather forecast stays on track for next weekend, so I can wear this outfit while I watch Jeff run the Austin half marathon - come on, Texas, give us a little bit of winter! 

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Have a great weekend!

41 comments:

  1. Here's hoping Jeff has a great run in Austin - and you get to wear your very adorable ensemble.

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    Replies
    1. Fingers crossed - so far the weather is looking cold 10 days out! :)

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  2. I think Lori and Helen deserve a hat from you with the big snow storm coming their way :) If you bring it too them you got your little bit of Winter too LOL

    I'm done with Winter, Spring can't get here soon enough. I had to cancel my run yesterday morning. Sure I did get out there but after 5 minutes I slipped and almost fell 3 times and decided it was too dangerous to run because of the icy roads. Grrrr

    I love, love Paco. How did you learn him that trick? It would be fun to learn Bella some tricks.

    Wish Jeff good luck and have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, I thought about visiting my east coast bloggy friends now - I'd get my taste of winter for sure!

      Too bad about your ice - no need to break a bone by slipping on it, so yeah, I'd cancel my run, too.

      We first taught Paco to "wait" when we put food in his bowl - he couldn't eat until we said "OK" - and it progressed to treats. Didn't take too long, but he's a pleaser (and was a puppy at the time).

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  3. Love that hat. Can you share the pattern?

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    Replies
    1. Here's the pattern on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hurricane-hat

      And it's also on this blog: http://lovehestia.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/hurricane-hat-pattern/

      Super easy pattern to follow - if you make it, show me a picture!

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  4. You have come such a long way with your knitting! That hat looks amazing :D

    Paco is so sweet. Pets are just awesome. Period.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, pets are awesome, even when they're being odd!

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  5. That's cool about Jeff's skull thingie; he's
    such a trendsetter! Haha.

    Really nice hat & cowl set, Shelley!!

    Chrissy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That pirate thing goes back years, to when Jeff, Max and their Boy Scout troop went on a week-long canoe trip - they came back "yarring" and all pirate-like, and it seems to have stuck. Yay? ;)

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  6. LOVE that hat and scarf!!! Purple is my absolute favorite color!! And that blueberry oatmeal looks amazing!! Im heading over to check it out right now!!

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  7. I started to make baked oatmeal a while back.. SOOO yummy. My favorite is strawberry chocolate. :-)

    LOVE the hat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooooh, I didn't know you could put chocolate in OATMEAL!!!

      (maybe I didn't NEED to know that, lol)

      Delete
  8. Ok, Jeff is just a bada$$, hehe.

    And, I'm not a knitter and all that, but that purple hat and cowl are your best yet. Gorgeous.

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  9. Ah, baked oatmeal! Great idea for my bosses breakfasts since she likes sweet. Definitely going to try this one - thanks Shelley!

    You are becoming such a great knitter - I love the hat and cowl together.

    Best wishes to Jeff!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sweetness in the baked oatmeal really comes from the fruit - the only additional thing is 2 T of brown sugar. I like it, but if your boss really likes sweets, you may want to up the sugar content.

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  10. Strawberry chocolate baked oatmeal??? MUST TRY!!! And the blueberries--you just can't put too many blueberries in baked goods!

    I love that slubby yarn. You'll find the right project for it. Maybe another hat? I love the pattern on the hurricane hat--how the stitches circle at an angle, while the colors are changing on the straight of grain. Very cool.

    Mr. Paco needs to come and teach Sophie some manners! She will wait for her popcorn kernel now, but no way does she take it in slow motion. Hands beware!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that's a dachshund trait, to eat their treats really fast in hopes of getting another...

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  11. OK the whole middle paragraph of Debby's comment made my eyes glaze over and all I read was "blah blah blah blah blah blah." I think me and knitting = you and math.

    I KNEW YOU'D LIKE BAKED OATMEAL!!! Now we are blog twins this week posting recipes that are a variation of something we don't like.

    I just love the colors of the hat and cowl. You will be quite the fashion plate when you wear them while Jeff runs. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it stays cold. Cold is still better than snow. Or blizzard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And that wasn't even the technical part of knitting! ;)

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  12. Your hurricane hat looks great Shelly!! I love the colors and I know the yarn is a dream!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The entire time I was knitting the hat I kept thinking "what else can I make with this yarn?" - I love it so!

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  13. So Paco is definitely one up on me. I can NEVER wait with a cookie on my nose!

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  14. I would definitely agree with everyone on how amazing your knitting is! I love that you get to make whatever you want in Shelley colors!!

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    Replies
    1. I think that is a huge reason why there's been a knitting renaissance - the yarn available now is so gorgeous! Not just itchy wool in browns and grays.

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  15. YAY! Would you believe I had already forgotten I entered your giveaway? it's been that kind of week! I'll email you soon so I don't forget :)

    I love all of your knitting! I really need to work on mine, probably starting by doing it more often.

    And how long did it take you to train Paco to do the nose trick? We've tried with both of our dogs and they just don't get it.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. It didn't take Paco very long to learn the trick, but it may well be his breed/temperament, too. No way our previous dog, a dachshund, would EVER have lasted even a nanosecond with a cookie on her nose.

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  16. You're right...the baked oatmeal looks a little too tempting for me. I think I'd better steer clear. Our dog, Jack, has NO self control when it comes to cookies...The stay command must sound like "LUNGE" to him!

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  17. Oh Shelley, I'm laughing out loud at Paco, and I'm sticking my hands in the air looking at the picture of Jeff. I bet he's saying "stick 'em up". :) You are a master knitter Shelley, and I'm not sure what you're using on your hair lately, but it looks so good in all the pictures! Hope you've had a great Saturday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the hair compliment - I guess the better shampoo and conditioner I've been using are finally showing? :)

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  18. I'm with you on the winter. We don't have nearly enough of it in Dallas to suit me. And way too much heat! I did buy me a hat today. Some days I just need one on the walks to and from work. Now that I bought one, I probably won't need it. :) That's Texas for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Between my knitting hats and your buying one, we've definitely jinxed having a winter, lol!

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  19. I love the hat!!! Where can I get its knitting pattern instructions please? I love knitting for my toddler :)

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    1. Here's the pattern on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hurricane-hat

      And it's also on this blog: http://lovehestia.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/hurricane-hat-pattern/

      Delete
  20. Ooooh, the contract/complementary look of the swirls and the color variations of the hat is really pretty. I adore all of the hats you have been making.

    ReplyDelete

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