Spring Garden tee

I've finished making my socks for Mother's Day gifts and now I'm ready to make something beautiful for myself to wear in the hot summer months.  Alana Dakos' Women's Spring Garden tee fits the bill perfectly!  You can find this  and many other beautiful patterns on nevernotknitting.blogspot.com


I'm especially excited in trying out Be Sweet"s Bamboo yarn.  I've chosen the loveliest shade of 'sea green' and I can't wait to wear it.  In my climate this will still be great as a layering piece in the cooler months too.

Be Sweet Bamboo in Sea Green

Be sweet yarns are made in South Africa under a program to create jobs in an economically depressed region and help to support the local school there. I like the idea that I'm doing a small part to help others at the same time I'm indulging in my knitting addiction and creating something beautiful.

 It gets so hot here in the desert where I live and knitting with bamboo yarn sounds a lot nicer than the usual heavy wool that I prefer.  I'll post pics of how this beautiful sweater is coming along in a few days.  Cheers!


 


Chocoholics Anonymous Muffins

These muffins will be the best chocolate muffins you will ever eat and eat and eat.  I promise.  Consider yourself warned.  I'm willing to bet my last bar of Green & Black's that you'll love them.  You can thank me later.

Chocoholics Anonymous Muffins

1. In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl melt 1/2 cup good quality dark chocolate chips and 1/2 butter.  You don't want any margarine here, spring for the good stuff.  Melt together on low, checking every 30 seconds until melted.  Mix well.
2. Add 3 large eggs and 2/3 cup of sugar and mix well.  After this is blended mix in 1/2 cup of milk and 2 tsp real vanilla.  Once this is all mixed set it aside.
3. In another bowl mix together the following ingredients:  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/8 tsp salt.  I don't bother with sifting any of this but stir it together well with a whisk to make sure you don't have any lumps in your cocoa powder.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the melted chocolate chip and butter mixture in.
5. Now add 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional but delish) and 1 cup of dark chocolate chips.  I usually add a heaping cup of the chips because these are a splurge.  Gently combine everything until it's well combined.
6. At this point you may need a strong will to resist just diving in and eating the gorgeous brownie-like batter as is.  Refer to pictures of waif-like models in Vogue or Glamour magazine to help you with this part.
7. Spoon the batter into muffin cases and tins and bake @ 350 for 15-18 minutes.  You'll get 12-18 muffins out of this depending on if you add the walnuts or not.
8. After the timer dings and your muffins are cool enough, toss those fashion mags out of sight and fall in love with chocolate.



Why I wish I could be Nigella Lawson....

Nigella Lawson is my favorite chef.  Technically she's not an actual chef, but a really amazing, really knowledgeable home cook and someone who is unapologetic about the simple pleasure of eating.  For me that makes her even better. With all the diet do's and don'ts all around us I've decided to follow the Nigella diet and delight in the simple joy of food. Really good food that is...

I covet her pantry more than I should and enjoy long, leisurely strolls through the International Marketplace and Whole Foods searching for just the right ingredient to get creative with often.  I also love that she stockpiles chocolate. Lots of chocolate.  That's someone I can relate to. Seriously. 

So far my favorite book she's written to date is Nigella Express. If you haven't taken a look at it then treat yourself to a fabulous food experience.  Many of her recipes are in constant rotation around my house.  Take a look at what's on my bookshelf and check her books out. You'll be glad you did. As for me? I'm going to go set up a chaise in my pantry and dream about what to cook next.  Happy days!!

I'm not dead yet...

After a very long and boring hiatus from my life, I am back again.  I've been ill the last few months, getting ready to move, going to see my husband while he's away at training, etc. It's been a huge blessing to me to have my sweetheart home for a short time before he goes overseas. During this time he's been home we've been busy remodeling our new home and getting ready to move.  Moving is the time you realize how disorganized you really are. Scaryily so.  I will finally have an art studio once we move so I'm hoping I can finally get my act together.  Sooo excited for this! I'm sure there will still be yarn spread all over my house but maybe I can get all the supplies I own together in one room that can be closed when company is over, etc.  No more sewing machines on the dining table, scrapbook layouts strewn about--- you get the idea. The big move is in about 3weeks. I'll be posting before and after pictures of the rooms shortly.  This is the first time I've been able to really decorate with the things I love. Most exciting is how when you get rid of the junk your treasures and collections can finally shine. Get ready!!!

What in the heck???

So, I haven't posted in forever because I got sick.  Flat out, butt in your bed for a week sick.  No biggie, it happens to all of us, right?  Then, once I start feeling a little bit better dh got to come home for 2 days.  YAAAY!!  We weren't able to be together for Valentine's Day so he surprised me with an adorable picnic in our completely empty, kid & noise-free new house.  Complete with roses, tulips and chocolate.  Heaven!  Then on Sunday I start having dizzy spells.  Bad ones.  Hubby, meanwhile has had to leave again to Fort 'Lost in the Woods'.  After a day or two in bed with no break from the dizziness I go see the dr.  She prescribes me 'Meclizine' because it may be some leftover nonsense from my cold that's causing the dizziness.  After picking up the rx I take a look at the little warning stickers they put on the bottle.  This is the good part :

#1 -"May cause drowsiness. Alcohol could intensify this effect.  Use caution when operating a car or dangerous machinery." ---- I'm always tired anyway so that's a given.  Don't drink so I'm good there.  As for the driving and dangerous machinery- WELL, DUH!!!

#2- "May cause dizziness."  Seriously? Isn't that what I'm hoping to prevent? Honestly...

#3- "This medicine may cause blurred vision."  Ok, at this point I'm pretty sure it's not worth taking.

Luckily for me, my endocronologist squeezes me into his insanely busy schedule today and we find the answer to my dizziness right away.  Blood pressure was way too low.  I've been used to it being really high because of the thyroid and then adrenal tumors.  The aldactone I take for the tumors has been doing its job so I can finally quit taking the bp meds.  Thank heavens for small victories, right?

On the way home from the dr (my sister is driving so I can 'use caution with dangerous machinery)' we pass one of those people who stand on the corner in the funny costumes waving signs so you'll rush over to a- sign up and get free cell phones, b- get a $5 footlong,  etc...   Problem is, this guy? He's wearing a fat suit.  Inflated fat suit. With a serious plumber's crack.  If that wasn't bad enough when he turned around we saw that he was also wearing a pseudo kilt. complete with sporran.  Topping it all off was a clown wig and make up.   I need not mention that this sighting induced a panic and disgust that had us screaming at the endlessly long red light.  Low blood pressure? Not anymore, thankyouverymuch!  It's gone way up by now I 'm quite sure.  There was even a guy with a mohawk walking down the sidewalk who joined in with the dancing, kilted clown. 

Only in Vegas.  What happened in Vegas? Please stay there.  I'm outta here.

Here goes nothing....

So I've been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time now. I've procrastinated because I'm not too great with technical stuff. Can I knit? Check? Can I sew a formal or and Elizabethan costume? Check. Make a wedding cake? Yup. Pretty much anything right-brained? Got it. I was hoping to find some sort of blogging for dummies book out there but I've finally decided to just wing it.



This blog is mainly going to be a way for me to stay busy and sane with 6 kids, 3 dogs and 4 cats. Yes, you heard right. Oh yeah, I also have to do all of this while my dearest is deployed. I also have to do this while on the rebound from Thyroid Cancer and Adrenal Disease. I do, of course, realize that some people reading this may have to pick their jaws up off the ground. Others will wonder why I'm bothering or if I'm on drugs. Why yes I am-but only those prescribed by my endocronologist.



When I found out that I was cancer-free I decided to attempt an "I CAN DO THIS!!!" attitude to multiple areas of my life. Then I found out my husband was going to Afghanistan. For a year. And he has training for 5 solid months clear across the country. But I forgot to mention the latest news... we're moving to a new house during all of this. I may be past help, but just for kicks I'm going to see if I can stay sane during all of this. Here's my plan:



*Eat mass amounts of chocolate, dark only (it's full of anti-oxidants, right?) Plus It has a definite calming effect.



* Knit anything and everything as fast as possible in an attempt to lower my blood pressure. Knitting has also been proven to be just as great as a session on the couch with a shrink. I really don't want to pay for a shrink-- that would cut into my yarn budget.



*I'm also planning on totally re-doing my personal redecorating style as I move over to my new house this Spring. No more of the 'Early Halloween' aka. 'college dorm room/whatever is cheap and the kids won't ruin' style. This time I'm going to have fun painting, decorating and starting tons of DIY projects that I may or may not complete.



*Unfortunately for dearest husband (to be refered to as 'dh' in future), staying sane will also require occasional, or perhaps more often than that, retail therapy.



Today begins my journey.....