This Blog Has Been Moved

Here's the link to my new site. Thanks for all your ideas and feedback re: a new blog. I'm happy with it now. Hope you like it, too. If you subscribe to my feed, there will be a link on my new blog to subscribe to the new feed. Can't import New Blogger posts yet, so I'll keep this one active til I can do that.

Ang

Looky What We Got

Snow!

Wooo-Hooo!

Ang

Brunswick Stew

My friend Hakucho has a new site dedicated to her love for cooking called Hakucho's Kitchen. So, I would like to post my recipe for Brunswick Stew in her honor.

This is the soup my Grandmother Blake so often cooked for us during the late summer and fall months when her garden was brimming with fresh corn, butter beans, okra, and tomatoes. It is a traditional southern dish, often found at barbeque lodges and the like. There are some variances in recipes. Some use just chicken, while others go all out with chicken, pork and beef. Some recipes use a more tomato based broth. The basics of the recipe are the same, though. Mine is like Grandma's, but without the okra. Add some to yours, if you like. I always cook mine in a large stock pot and my family eats it for days.

You will need:
1 med to large whole chicken or packaged cut up chicken
1 lg onion
2 cloves garlic
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 pkg frozen baby lima's (I usually buy Pictsweet)
1 pkg frozen cream-style corn or 3 ears fresh corn (can substitute 2 can creamstyle corn)
1 pkg frozen cut green beans
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes

Start by boiling a chicken for broth. I generally throw mine in a large pot, covered with water, with an unpeeled onion and two unpeeled cloves of garlic. Salt liberally. The result is a fragrant, rich broth. I usually cook mine about 35-45 minutes.

Remove chicken, onion, and garlic cloves from broth and strain. Set chicken aside to cool.

Return broth to pot and simmer. Add butter beans and potatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add: corn, tomatoes and green beans. Remove chicken from bone, shred or dice and add to the soup pot. Simmer soup for another 30-45 minutes. Serve with corn muffins or yeast rolls....yummy!

Thanks...

Thanks to all of you for your input re: Wordpress and a possible new blog. Honestly, I like the new Blogger better than the old. But, I would like to change the look. Ann likes the flowerdy background, (I do,too) and you are all right-on as far as any cost involved. Per Wordpress, here's how it works:

"You can edit and save your stylesheet as often as you like; you can use uploaded images as backgrounds; you can modify an existing theme or start from scratch with the Sandbox theme. There is a CSS Customization forum where you can ask for help or give assistance to others.

Purchasing the upgrade entitles you to edit CSS on one blog for one year."

Meaning, I have to pay again one year from now should I wish to change templates again or do anything that requires me to edit CSS. Hmmm.

Typepad is another option, and I really like what I've seen so far. I set up a test blog so check that one out as well, if you have a little extra time. There is a whole lot more versatility and cool functions here. I'm tempted....

Livejournal is okay. It does allow customization with it's free service, but it has more of a MySpace feel to it...not what I was looking for. Here's a link to what that blog would look like.

Let me know what you think. You guys are valuable feedback for me:) Right now, I'm taking a nap...my head hurts.(go figure)

Ang

What Kind of Yarn Are You?

Found this at Hakucho's site...too funny! I would be Mohair....makes sense though, me being a pain in the ass, that is.

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Mohair.You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that's okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes.
Take this quiz!








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Working on Blog Format

Hey Guys,

If you don't mind, go over here and tell me what you think of this template for my blog. I am thinking of moving it there and would like your input. I have a slightly different template I want to use, but it will cost me $15 bucks to enable the ability to edit CSS at Wordpress (unless any of you know a way around this - legally).

Thanks in advance:)

Ang

Two of Many First's

Specifically, this is my first time knitting with anything Rowan as well as my first time knitting with mohair. The yarn is Rowan Kidsilk Haze, color 582/Trance. I have wanted to knit something with it ever since I read about it in Leigh Radford's 'One Skein.'

The pattern is from 'One Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn Shop Favorites,' by Judith Durant. There are instructions for adding beads, but I don't understand them. Maybe one of you can help me with that. The rest is super easy. Hope I can finish this by Sunday.

Winter Wish

Will Needs a Hat

But, knitting one he is willing to wear can be a challenge. For William, the simpler the better. He's nine years old, so very few stitch patterns would be acceptable and certainly pom-poms and i-cords are out. So, this morning, after he caught his bus to school, I whipped this up in about 4 hours. Anyone ever write a pattern on the back of a Food Lion receipt? The process was pretty simple. Will's head is about 18 " around. My guage is 3 sts/inch on a size 11 needle with this yarn. So I subtracted 2"( 6 sts.) for negative ease and cast on 48 sts. on size 10 1/2 needle. I worked 2" in k2, p2 ribbing. Then, I switched to size 11 needles and knit in stockinette stitch until entire piece measured 5 1/2". Then, I decreased every 4 sts. with a k2tog. decrease, purled back and decreased every other row 1 less stitch (k3, k2tog/k2, k2tog/k1, k2tog) and finally, k2tog to end. (This kind of decrease makes a swirled crown) I cut the yarn and pulled it through all loops left on needle and seamed up the hat. Done. Looks like it will fit, but remains to be seen whether William will actually wear it.

Yarn: Plymouth Encore Chunky, Color 240.
Needle: Size 10 1/2 straight and size 11 straight (I knit back and forth on my Denise circulars)
Gauge: 3 sts./inch on the size 11 needle.

Already Figured That Out, Did 'Ya?

Here are some things that you probably already figured out about me....

1. I'm hopelessly optimistic: that is to say, I start things, completely convinced that it will be simple enough, and then realize that I am not up to the task. Maybe there's a better word for that....

2. I start projects with excitement, and sometimes procrastinate or do not finish them at all.

3. I have a tendency to be somewhat unrealistic, maybe even having grandiose ideas about myself. This may explain the extensive Christmas knitting list I started in October and drastically cut a couple days before Christmas. Occasionally, I get lucky and successfully knit something despite this flaw in thinking. I know you are glad to see it when I do. "Finally! Some knitting pics!"

4. I become overwhelmed at times and have to back away from things, give myself some space, until I figure out what the hell my problem is. I think, sometimes, others may think I have forgotten about them or just don't care...not so. I'm just weird that way.

Isn't it funny how we do these things to ourselves...everyone around us can see it, but we cannot? Thank God for Friends:)

Ang

Model

My model is Diva Emma, modeling the lovely blue fur scarf made for my Aunt Faye and gray watch cap made for Uncle Jim.
The scarf was knit on size 19 straight needles with three yarns combined: Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair, Paton's Soft Boucle, and Lion Brand Fun Fur, each in navy/blue tones.
The watch cap is knit in Plymouth Encore on Denise size 13 circulars.

Isn't she lovely, folks:)

Alert!! Very Important Correction: Please Read!

It has been brought to my attention that something I wrote in this post is incorrect/inadvisable, and rightly so. Thanks to Not An Artist and Auntie Ann for pointing out that MS Word is *not* best to use for copying code. It is better to use WordPad or Notepad, simple text editors. Word can play tricks with the formatting of the code and lead to major frustration and pulling-out-ofhair.

Please forgive my ignorance. I did not think that there was very much difference between Word and WordPad. I always viewed WordPad as 'mini Word.'

Thanks for setting me straight. I hope this did not cause a problem for anyone.

Sincerely,

Ang

Found on the Web

Here are some of the knitting related stories I found. Check them out.

Jail Inmates Knit for the Needy Great Story

Socks for Soldiers Just joined. Looking forward to starting a pair.

And, saving the best for last, there's this...

Knitting Obsession Comes From Our Kidneys: (Who knew...)

Feminine Kidney?

"... a Croation lumberjack who received a life-saving kidney transplant is suing the hospital that performed the operation, claiming the new kidney, donated by a 50-year-old woman, has left him with a passion for housework and knitting. The 56-year-old man who once enjoyed drinking with friends says he wouldn't have been caught dead doing the housework before his operation and blames the hospital for making him a local laughing stock. "

— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report

The Skinny on New Blogger Switch

Since I've had a few questions about the ease of switching to the new Blogger, I thought I'd share my experience, thus far.

First, I should say that I fully intended to put this off until I had no choice. I could see nothing but frustration and anguish in my future as I contemplated an entirely new blog engine. However, with a few extra days off, I thought it better to attempt this exchange now as opposed to the somewhat distant future.

When I began the switching process, Blogger informed me that my new blog would look like my old blog, but most (read: all) of the changes I made to the template would be lost, and truly, it is as if you switched templates and had to redo everything. You will have to redo everything. But, if you copy and paste your current template code into Word and save it, you can reference it as you replace all those elements on your new Blogger blog. I've found the switch nearly seamless thus far due to this simple little trick.

I did experience a small problem adding back my Google search, Flickr badge, and profile. The problem was a little crowding due to spacing, but I was able to fix that by switching the order that these elements appeared on my page. I was also able to go into the new template and make changes. I had to edit the template to include my lilac background. There is no interface to add a new background with the drag and drop features in the new Blogger, but there is the same capability for editing the template and previewing changes as there was in the old Blogger version. Therefore, I have been able to make any change I've wanted without difficulty.

I do like the drag and drop feature...a lot. It's nice for those of us who are CSS and HTML challenged. We can pick an element to add to our page; link lists, text, pictures, buttons, and fill in a few blanks to make it appear where we want it to. Can't beat that.

I hope this helps you guys. Blogger says that they will save a copy of your old blog should you need it in the future. I would not necessarily depend on that. Copy and Paste the template, as it is now, into Word or your preferred word processor, before you ever click that 'Make The Switch' radio button. There will be fewer headaches and a smoother transition

Ang

My blog is going to look like crap for a while....

At least until I make all the necessary adjustments with the new Blogger. I can see some advantages to the changes that have been made, and, so far, I haven't run into anything that is too much of a pain. (other than trying to add a break between page elements) Anyhoo, thanks for your patience. I should have things back to normal in a day or so.

Ang

New Year, New Obsession?

I don't know, ladies. I really am enjoying this new spindle. I wrote previously about my growing interest in learning to spin. When I visited my lys, Shuttles, Needles and Hooks, Carol presented the wheels she had for sale and offered to teach me to spin. She said that she thought I should try a spindle first, to experience working with the wool, before I actually bought an expensive wheel. She also advised me to practice only 15 minutes per day until I got the hang of it, lest I develop bad habits. I didn't ask her to explain specifically what the 'bad habits' are, but I have found that I have been able to improve with each attempt at spinning with the spindle and have yet to become the least bit frustrated. I am using a roving I bought from her to practice with. It is the pink wool you see pictured here. I would say that the yarn that I have spun so far is anywhere between lace weight to worsted and is becoming more consistently worsted as I practice. I could use some helpful links to gauge my progress. Also, I think I may need to visit Carol again for more instruction:)