A poem that Antonio wrote about our trip

Whisper Natchez, Call Chickasaw

The grass must bend and roll,

near the cat-tails that bow

to the rippling water of the heart,

the providence of the soul.

Southwest Mississippi, near the border of Louisiana

The old man's beard, Spanish moss does not grow

But exists, breathing life into the forms surrounding,

Taller than time itself.

That imperial and solemn language of the dead

resonates in the the silent blooms stacked on hills

beneath the great sun. Let down your tresses,

sweet tender-footed ancestry.

When we say yours is lost to time,

what we really mean is that we are lost in our own time.

Unlike you, we have forgotten to remember

we must forget time if we are to live.

You are what you Yoga!

Hey Gals!

Alanna and I put together her new website! Hooray! Take a look....

http://www.youarewhatyouyoga.com/

There are still a few changes in the works, but it's fully functional! :)

And hey, I finished my sweater!

My First Sweater!

Huzzah!

I have been knitting my first ever sweater!

I have dubbed her (yes, it is a her) the Mermaid Cardigan, because the color is green like a mermaid. I've been having fun dreaming about all of the next sweaters I'm going to knit, and also trying to choose buttons. See? Wicket has been helping.

And Daisy thinks she's helping by looking all prissy/pretty/cat-like.

And I'm almost done! Just 1 and 1/2 sleeves left! 

This picture is from before I started the sleeves...

<3

Cookies

I just ate three cookies. They were good.

Soul Mate

Yoga Journal had some good insight today...

A committed yoga practice can absolutely transform our relationships. "Through our yoga practice, we learn to look at ourselves, including the parts of us that are less evolved. Learning how to do this physically, with discomfort in an asana, helps us to do this emotionally," says Bo Forbes, who is a yoga teacher, Integrative Yoga Therapist, and clinical psychologist in Boston. "If we can't sit with our emotions, we are more likely to act them out on ourselves or others."

Our culture and traditions school us to believe that someday our prince (or princess) will come, that a relationship has the potential to solve problems like loneliness, that the right partner will make us feel whole. Popular romantic movies propagate the myth of another person completing us. On the face of it, the idea of being "completed" by another seems deeply romantic. But it's a fantasy that can weigh down a relationship with impossible expectations. The truth is that while your partner can offer many things, he or she can't "complete" you. The only person who can give you a sense of security and an unshakable love of you is you. And though you may "know" this with your mind, sometimes feelings of unworthiness, insecurity, and incompleteness are so deeply buried that you aren't even aware of them or of how they influence your behavior.

full article: http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2520?utm_source=Wisdom&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=Wisdom

Alpaca Eyelet Cowl

I just knitted this cozy alpaca cowl in record time. In like, 3 days guys! ah! And it is sooooooo cozy-warm.

I based it off of this awesome pattern here:

...but I modified it (since I used bulkier yarn) by using bigger needles and casting on less stitches (which is why this is so quick!). I'd like to do another version just like this one with lightweight yarn for warmer days. The one I made is cozier looking and not as delicate.

When I get a picture of me wearing my cowl I'll add it....

Here is the pattern:


Gauge: 4x4 inches = 15 Stitches and 20 rows on size 10 needles

Needles: Size 10 circular needles (36 inch ones)

Yarn: 2 skeins of Bernat Alpaca in Tundra (only used about 1/4 of the second skein). This yarn was a Christmas present, but you can find it at Michael's.

1. Cast on 144 stitches, and join in the round. BE SUPER CAREFUL not to twist the yarn!
2. Work 4 rounds of garter stitch (knit 1 round, purl the next round, repeat).
3. Now knit the first Eyelet Section:
   
   Rnd 1: Yo, K2tog to marker
   Rnd2: K2tog, Yo to marker
   
   Repeat rounds 1 and 2 again, then repeat round 1 again.
4. Now knit the Solid Section:
   
   Knit 5 rounds of stockinette stitch (knit every round).
   Purl 1 round
   Knit 5 rounds of stockinette stitch.
5. Knit the second Eyelet Section.
6. Work 4 rounds of garter stitch (knit 1 round, purl the next round, repeat).
7. Cast off loosely.
8. Be cozyyyy.

And in case you were wondering, here's a sort-of close up where you can see the eyelet pattern, with the solid pattern in the middle, and then the eyelet pattern again:

Fitted Twisted-Star Jake Hat

Guys! I finished another hat. I used the same yarn as I did for the Oversized Slouchy Gaby Hat but I used a different color - with gray-blue-green variations. See?

Adorkable.

Here's the pattern:

Gauge: 4 stitches per inch

You'll need both a size 7 and size 8 circular needle.

To begin, cast on 70 stitches with the size 7 needle, and join in the round. Mark the beginning of the row with a stitch marker (I use a hair tie)

For the first twoish inches (I used the length of my middle finger), knit2 and purl2 in the round. You will begin and end each row with a knit2, but hey, who's perfect?

Once the cuff is at the length you want, start knitting in the round, switching to the size 8 needles, and continue knitting until the hat measures about 4ish inches ( I used the length of my palm) from the top of the cuff.

Now it's time to decrease. This decrease will make the pretty twisted star at the top of the hat, like you can see below:

First decrease row: k12, k2tog, repeat to end of row (should be five decreases).

Knit the next row.

Second decrease row: k11, k2tog, repeat to end of row.

Knit the next row.

Continue decreasing every other row, subtracting one from each decrease:

K10, k2tog
k9, k2tog
K8, k2tog
k7, k2tog
K6, k2tog
K5, k2tog

After the k5, k2tog row, I casted off the hat (because at this point I had Jake try it on and it was a perfect fit).

Cast off by cutting the yarn with about ten inches of tail, and weave it through the remaining stitches, and tie it off.

Now take it someplace really cold... :)

(Cat)erpillar

Its finally here

Enjoy my little hobbits!
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thehobbit/

Doing Absolutely Nothing

I like your face so much...

Christmas Ornaments!

I asked Lisa to pick up some colored plain ornaments for me at Michael's on her way to my place on Friday.

As usual, Lisa picked up exactly the opposite of what I asked for. In this case, she got those see-through glass ornaments. And I was like, "Damn it Lisa!!!"

But, as usual, it turned out to be better than originally planned because I turned them into colorful works of art of my own.  My mom did this a few years ago, and I took her idea. I like mine more though, because I am biased.

See? I put some drops of acrylic paint in them and added a few drops of water and swished them around, and now they look like Marbles!

and for these I diluted some glue in water and dipped them in, and then dipped them in this flaky snow stuff I got from Michael's and now they look all frosty! Almost good enough to eat! :P

So, in conclusion, thank you Lisa for never listening to my actual requests. You make life more interesting. <3

Lurve,
Jabbers

I'ma Bear! RAAAAA!

Mum's new kitten!

And this is my mum's new kitten!
There are new kittens everywhere!
I can't wait to meet her on Thanksgiving :)

Her name is Vita.

Jake's new kitten!

His name is Eddard!
He's cuteness all over the place!
He kept rushing the camera and wouldn't stop moving long enough for me to get a sharp picture but here he is!

<3 

Forest

I walked through the forest,
I followed the narrow path,
Shadowed by the children
Of the trees.

They watched me quietly
With those wild eyes;
Glassy round and wide

Beautiful copies of yours and mine.

Yummies

Hey, just felt like sharing a recipe for one of my favorite fall foods: roasted butternut squash soup. It's like, so good.

It's dairy-free but still so creamy somehow, and you can make it vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock for the chicken stock.

I like to make a lot, either to share with people or to freeze some for later. So this serves about 5-8 people. Also, it tastes so much better if you can use all organic ingredients (stock and veggies are pretty cheap).

Ingredients:

2 medium-large butternut squashes

2 quarts/cartons chicken stock (homemade or store-bought is fine).

2 stalks of celery

1 large onion

1 large carrot

3 shallots

2 apples

olive oil

cayenne pepper (or chile powder is fine too)

curry powder

allspice

cinnamon

rosemary

salt and pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and chop squash into 1-inch chunks, scraping out all seeds from the middle (this is a pain in the ass). Arrange in a large baking dish with shallots (peeled and chopped in half) and sprigs of rosemary (dried rosemary is fine too). Season generously with salt and pepper, and drizzle a little olive oil over the whole thing. Roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender.

Chop the onion, peel and chop the apple, carrot, and celery (you don't want celery strings in your soup). Heat a large stock pot over medium-low with a little oil or butter (I like to use butter for this, you just need a little). Once the pot is hot, pour in the onion, carrot, celery, and apple. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cook them all together for 10-15 minutes until the veggies are soft and translucent. You don't want to brown them or caramelize them, so make sure the heat isn't too high. At this point, pour in the roasted squash and shallots, and then pour in enough stock to cover everything. Add in a healthy dash of cayenne, a tiny dash of curry, a regular dash of allspice, and a regular dash of cinnamon. It's very technical so get it right. Bring soup to a boil and then lower heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. At this point, you must blend the soup. If you have an immersion blender it is so much easier, but it can be done in a regular blender. Just add the soup in small quantities, and go REALLY slow. Once blended, if the soup is too thick, you can add a little stock to thin it out. You want it to be thick, but not like baby food. Taste for seasoning, and add whatever is missing. And then, voila! Soup du jour!

Serve with a little dollop of sour cream or yogurt, or toasted nuts if you're fancy. Crusty bread is a must!

There you go loves!

Oversized slouchy gaby-hat

The Smalls keep asking for their own slouchy Gaby-hats.  

Here's the pattern in case any of you feel adventurous 'cause there's no way I have the time to whip one of these up for each of you, no matter how deep my love for your pretty pretty faces.

P.S - My mum hopes ya'll like your Jammy-jams. <3

Now you too can make the slouchy green hat I'm wearing in this picture (you can't see it, but it's extra roomy in the back, and in general....I have a rather large head though :P ).

And hey don't forget guys...an apple a day keeps the doctor away (see evidence of my own impending apple consumption below) (also see close up of finished Gaby-Hat):

Let us now commence the knit-o-log!

The Yarn

I found the yarn at Michael's! It's a wool blend, and it stripes all fancy-like all by itself. :)

Lion Brand Amazing yarn in Rainforest

Gauge

4 stitches = 1 inch in stockinette stitch

Fit

Custom sized to fit an average Smalls head, in a slouchy way.

Note: A Lisa-Smalls head may warrant a decrease of about 8 or so stitches...though her hair may make up for it.

Especially perfect for stuffing up-and-in some poofy Lisa or Nina hair. <3

Cuff

Cast on 78 stitches to the size 8 circular needle. (Nina, size 8 is not THAT small. Get over it :P ).

Join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches. Place marker to indicate the end of the round.

Round 1: *K2, p2, repeat from * to end of round.

Repeat Round 1 until the piece measures 6 inches from the cast on edge, for a wide, glorious cuff.

Crown

Change to the larger needle, and knit every round until the crown measures 7 inches from the top edge of the cuff.

Time to decrease! 

Next Round: K17, k2tog, k17, k2tog, k18, k2tog, k18, k2tog (74 stitches)

Knit 2 rounds.

Next Round: *K2, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round.

Knit 2 rounds.

Next Round: *K1, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. 

Knit 2 rounds.

Next Round: *K2tog, repeat from * to end of round (This round will be a litle tight on the circular needle.)

Just a few more seconds...

Cut a 12 inch tail and thread the tail through the remaining stitches.

Remove the circular needle and pull the tail tight. Thread the tail through the center top to the inside of the hat.

A Halloween Story

I was just reminiscing about Halloween.

And how as kids my brothers and I went out all decked out in my mom's most recent sewing projects armed with nothing but a pillowcase each and the pure resolve to fill them to the brim.

I don't think we ever actually got them that full, but in my mind the pillowcase was always half-full.

(being of an optimistic nature)

Anyway -

THE best part about all the trick or treating was coming home, dumping our candy out on the living room floor in three piles, and tallying up the goods. We never mixed our candy (NO WAY), but rather took careful stock of what we had (in preparation for impending thievery), disposed of anything open (popcorn balls?), broken (lollypops), or unsavory (peanuts/raisins) and then proceeded with the process of trading goods.

This was way more badass than any monopoly property trades, and definitely had way more on the line.

This was like, little-kid-trade-your-soul-for-a-mounds seriousness right here. And we definitely had a barter system...like:

One name brand candy (milky way) = six shitty candies (excluding gold pirate coins)
One mini Three Musketeers = one full size Snickers
One Starburst packet = two Dum Dums.
One Nerds box = One Nerds box (seriously)

And so on.

And we knew that we damn well better save a few blow pops for mom (as payment for making our costumes, of course), and almond joys and Reese's peanut butter cups for dad (as payment for escorting us safely through egg-bombed streets) or else use them as decoys to steer him away from the full stash later on. (I don't know about you people, but I had an entire drawer devoted to halloween candy, and the stock would last until Easter...albeit by then it consisted of stale tootsie rolls and the occasional starburst)

And then when the trading and packing away and tallying was done, I rationed it out until the next appointed mass-candy-receival (i.e. Easter).

Like, I'm talking, I get ONE Three Musketeers a week ( my favorite halloween candy).

Now I just buy a bar of super dark chocolate and I'm set for approximately ten days before I need to replenish the supply.

Extreme Mountain Camping

www.slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2011/february/extreme_mountain_camping.htm