Yearly Archives: 2005

FO: Phone Sock

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I’ve been playing around with dpn’s and my very first project was a phone sock (phone cozy, phone sleeve, as you prefer to call it). I made up the pattern myself (you can read the pattern on the side bar). The dpn’s were really slippery aluminium ones – old ones my mother had, since she is using the new ones, and the yarn is leftover sock yarn from a pair of socks my mother knit for herself. Anyway, see the pics:

phone sock

and

sock and phone

You can see the little sock for my smaller phone (yes, I own and actually use two different cell phones *geek*). I will also knit one for my bigger phone, and one for Jan’s (he asked me to, before even seeing mine!).

Sade

I’ve got news!

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I’ve got very good news! I’ve got a job! I will be web-designing for a department, and doing a bilingual site for them (helping them getting into the 21st Century). That means I’ll be slightly more busy – in the mornings work and class, evening study at home and trying to knit after dinner.

Mum finished another two pair of socks, one in green for herself (no pic) and another clown-colourful pair for me, with shorter calf. So with 100gr she’ll be able to make a short calf pair and an ankle pair for me, that I really don’t like high socks unless I’m wearing boots.

socks

And a pic of the lovely roses we have at home this week:

roses

My baby blanket is coming along nicely, tho slowly due to the amount of stitches, so the pic is about the same as last time.

Sade

Recipes: Pumpkin Cake & Guacamole

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These two recipes were acomplished during the past week while Jan was here. They were fun to cook, and Jan was very helpful in the kitchen :)

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter or margarine
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 1/2cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 500gr clean pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup candied fruit mix

Instructions:

  1. Chop the pumpkin into small pieces and cook until very tender, about 30 minutes or more, depending on pumpkin and size of pieces. Drain well (even pressing out excess water) and puree the pumpkin flesh.
  2. Beat both sugars, margarine and eggs with an electric mixer on medium for two minutes, scrapping bowl occasionally. Stir together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, vanilla and salt. Add flour mixture and pumpkin puree alternately to margarine mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until combined. Stir in candied fruit.
  3. Turn batter into a greased an floured 25cm fluted tube pan. Bake on 175C oven for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for ten minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 14-16 servings.

Notes:

  • This cake can be mixed by hand with a simple fork, beating enough to mix well all the ingredients.
  • For decorating, brush with 2-3 tablespoons of orange juice, sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of coarse sugar, and garnish with 6-8 small marraschino cherries.
  • Refrigerate cake, covered, up to three days, or freeze wrapped in foil for up to two months.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

  • 2 very ripe avocados
  • 1 small red ripe tomato
  • half onion
  • 1 teaspoon cumin powder (or cumin seeds, grounded)
  • juice of one lime
  • salt
  • olive oil

Instructions:

  1. Mince onion very thinly. Peel the tomato and chop into very small cubes as well. Cut the avocados in half, pit, and spoon flesh out. Mash the avocado flesh to puree.
  2. Mix the avocado puree with the tomato and onion. Season with cumin, lime juice, salt and olive oil to taste. Chill for at least one hour before serving. Serve with popotos (fried corn tortillas).

Yield: a bowl.

Tip: If the avocados aren’t ripe enough, wrap them in newspapers, put them in a pot covered with lid, and let them rest in a warm place, until they’re tender enough. This will take from a day to a week, depending on the ripeness of the avocado.

Bon appetit!

Sade

It’s My Birthday!

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Yes, I am a year older, who would say, eh? I’m still as silly and childish and playful as a kid!

Anyway:

“Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeee
Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeee
Happy Birthday dear meeeeeeee
Happy Birthday oh Yes!”

(a little egocentrism on *my* day doesn’t hurt, does it? :p)

You can pass by and get a piece of cake and a pot of hot chocolate to celebrate!

Sade

Back In Town

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Jan is already back home :( I miss him! But we had a great time together. We were slightly lazy, but we went to see the Portabandieri dil Calcio Storico Fiorentino (pics coming up soon) that was fun to see how they handle the flags, turning them and throwing them.

We cooked pumpking cake (I’ll post the recipe some other time), and had some quiet time alone. Of course I had to go to uni, and poor him came with me to become totally bored there. We did a little shopping here and there, visited a nice soap shop ( Bubbly ).

We enjoyed a nice japanese dinner at Mikado (Calle Pintor Juan Gris, 4 – Madrid), to celebrate my mother’s birthday (late) and mine (early) and it was great (as always – a very good japanese in my opinion).

Saturday eve we went to see Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (in english, of course). It’s a really good movie, loved it. After it, we had dinner at a nearby Ginos – it was pouring, so the closer the better.

We had lots of fun these days, but it was too short – as always.

I also got my birthday presents (a bit early): Labyrinth, by Kate Mosse, and the cutest tiniest digital camera on earth: the Olympus [mju:]-mini Digital S in sexy black (and a spare battery, and a 512MB xD card). I feel totally spoiled! It means, I’ll be able to post more and better pictures from now on (most of the previous pictures were taken with my phone’s camera).

No knitting (as I said) was done during these days. I checked the blogs and tried to keep up to date, and so I discovered some people were curious about a certain reader (see: this post on affiknitty).

Ta-dah!

More updates soon!

Sade

Lithium Sunset

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Sunset

Such a beautiful sunset on tuesday 1st, November. Sometimes Madrid gives out good pics too. It deserved some lyrics to go along.

Lithium Sunset – Sting

Fill my eyes
O Lithium sunset
And take this lonesome burden
Of worry from my mind
Take this heartache
Of obsidian darkness
And fold my darkness
Into your yellow light

I’ve been scattered I’ve been shattered
I’ve been knocked out of the race
But I’ll get better
I feel your light upon my face

Heal my soul
O Lithium sunset
And I’ll ride the turning world
Into another night
Into another night
Into another night
See mercury falling…

On other news, the Hoover Blanket is already at 18% and going up. It’s a small blanket, about 65 x 50 cm – enough to cover the baby in her stroller. You can see the actual progress and how it looks like the double knitting in the next pic:

Blankie 02

Also, and action picture of the clown socks!

Socks In Action!

Now, back to knitting!

Sade

The Hoover Blanket – In Progress

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So, I started the baby blanket this past weekend, after finishing the two previous projects. I casted on 110 nice stitches (with stitch markers every 10, so I wouldn’t get lost counting them). The result was a 6 mm. needle (50 cm long, perhaps) totally crammed with stitches. A beautiful sight you can enjoy here:

Crammed Needle

Then I took my (lovely, adorable, sweet, soft, delicious) Addi Bamboo in size 5 mm. and 100 cm. long, and started knitting away! Garter stitch is boring boring boring! Fifteen rows later, and nearly a 50 gr. skein gone, I start pondering if I bought enough yarn. So I asked my mother what should I do, and she suggested reducing the garter border (bless you!) and start with the double knitting section. Instead of the 7.5 cm. border it will be something around 5 or 6 cm. Since it will be a stroller blankie, the size is more than enough (seeing the strollers now…). Another pic, of the garter stitch border already on my circs:

Blankie on circs

So at the moment I have doubled all the center stitches, and I have 200(!), and 180 of them are the double knit part: 90 in one colour, and 90 in the other. And I’ll continue along knitting having fun with the blankie tomorrow. I need a side project!

I didn’t get any sewing done. I wasn’t feeling like it. I guess that’s the problem of not having a room dedicated to it, and having to clean the table, set up all, start sewing, then clean again and put all away… I hope I can get something else done soon…

Sade

It’s Halloween! It’s Samhain!

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Halloween‘s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain marks the end of Summer and the beginning of Winter, the end of the light and the beginning of darkness. It’s historical origin is the Celtic Feast of the Dead and the beginning of the new year. It is the day when the gates between the worlds open, and souls are allowed to walk amongst the living and visit their relatives.

For this day, I’ll share a couple of recipes.

Soothing Tea

Ingredients:

  • green tea leaves
  • dry mint leaves
  • dry orange peeling
  • honey

Instructions:

  1. Bring water to boil (a bit more than a cup per cup of tea). Once it’s boiling let cool a bit so the temperature gets down to about 85-95°C.
  2. Prepare a mix of green tea and dry mint leaves. Warm the teapot with hot water and discard this water. Add one teaspoon of leaves and a (1 x 1.5 cm.) piece of orange peel per cup of tea to the teapor, and cover with the hot water.
  3. Let the tea brew for 3 to 5 minutes for a nice relaxing tea.
  4. Serve hot, with honey for sweetening to taste.

Note: You can dry the orange peel yourself. Peel an orange trying to avoid the white skin as much as possible. Place the orange skin in a bowl, and the bowl in a cupboard, so it doesn’t have direct sunlight, the temperature is cool, and there is a certain air circulation (any kitchen cabinet is fine). Let the peel dry for at least a couple of weeks, or until it’s totally dry. And it’s ready to use!

Edited to add, as Lia says on her comment, that the orange peel can aslo be dried inside a jar with sugar. This way also, the sugar won’t form lumps because of humidity, and it’ll get a slight orange smell and taste.

And a tea isn’t a tea with something to eat. Be brit and serve cool cucumber bite-size sandwiches. Or go along with the Halloween pumpkin crazyness and bake these cookies:

Pumpking Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 150gr sugar
  • 150gr flour
  • baking powder
  • 4 eggs
  • butter
  • 1/2kg pumpkin
  • raisins
  • liquor

Instructions:

  1. Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds and boil for 20 minutes. Drain very well, and mash the pulp. Mix well together with eggs, sugar, flour and baking powder.
  2. Meanwhile, soak the raisins with the liquor. Drain them and mix with the dough. Butter a cookie sheet, and put scoops of the dough. Bake until golden at 180C.

Have all a happy day. And all hallow’s eve. Don’t forget to put a candle on the windowsill so your ancestors don’t get lost!

Sade