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January 28, 2009
Crafty Zarah strikes again!
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Originally uploaded by kerner
Did I ever blog this cute maternity shirt I made for my sister? I don't think I did! Well, I didn't actually make the shirt, just the decoration.
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Originally uploaded by kerner
It's your basic freezer paper stenciling, but I had never done ti before so I documented the whole thing in pictures. This one's not great, but it shows the design that I drew on the non-plastic-y side of the freezer paper. (I just free-handed it. This is my standard doodle. In high school I painted my entire dresser with a paint pen in this design.)
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Originally uploaded by kerner
Then I cut out the shapes with an exacto knife and ironed it down.
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Originally uploaded by kerner
Paint with fabric paint.... I found some a brand at Jo-Ann's called CeramCoat that lets you mix any color with some stuff called "fabric medium" and make fabric paint in any color. I could only find a basic maternity shirt in red, though, I so figured I'd keep it simple with white paint. I couldn't get the paint very even, so I figured I'd go with the blotchy/weathered look.
I followed the directions on the paint bottle to set the paint, and voila! Custom-made cute maternity shirt for my sis.
Posted by zarah at 7:33 PM | Comments (5)
January 27, 2009
Hooray for new knitters!
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Originally uploaded by kerner
My friend Alexandra finished her very first hat this week! Doesn't she look happy? It is a Christmas (2008, but who's counting?) present for her dad.
We got together last Friday night and I helped her finish up the decreases. She ended up making the "ribs" run horizontal instead of vertical, which was what I was thinking when I was giving her instructions via text message several weeks ago. It was quite funny, because while we were finishing it, she was telling me that she would NEVER be able to design a knitting pattern on her own. But... she picked the yarn and needles, she picked the number of stitches, she picked the design... sounds like a designer to me!
Posted by zarah at 8:35 PM | Comments (3)
January 21, 2009
Woo hoo!
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Originally uploaded by kerner
I conquered the diamonds! I knit them intarsia instead of stranded. It was my first attempt, but I got much better by the time I was done. Here's a picture of the inside:
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Originally uploaded by kerner
Nice, eh? And just a little bit crazy.
Posted by zarah at 9:53 PM | Comments (5)
January 18, 2009
Ummm... I have no clue what I'm doing
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Originally uploaded by kerner
Here's what I know:
1. I want to knit the New Ancestral Christmas Stocking from Mason-Dixon Knitting.
2. I cannot leave well enough alone and just knit a pattern as written.
3. Knitting the top part of the stocking flat, and doing the argyle section in intarsia instead of stranded sounded like a great idea. (15-stitch floats are not my cup of tea.)
4. I have no clue how to do intarsia. Also, I have an extreme aversion to yarn tangling while I'm knitting.
5. I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a hot idea after all.
One more attempt, and then maybe I'll research a better way to deal with those long floats.
Posted by zarah at 7:57 AM | Comments (2)
January 14, 2009
More than just BBQ
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Originally uploaded by kerner
I was twittering back and forth with Kelli this afternoon, and she asked me about Rotaract, which I had mentioned because we had a meeting today, and well, twitter is pretty much all about writing about whatever you happen to be doing at the moment.
So - Rotaract. The quickest way to describe it is Junior Rotary, or Rotary for people 30 and under (and I am very close to hitting that under boundary). But, if you don't really know what Rotary is, then that's not a very good description.
Basically, it's an organization of young professionals that meets twice a month for lunch and professional development (a speaker from the community on various topics - I think our speakers from the past couple of months have included the Exec Director of an improv theater company, the director of our local airport, a professor who studies gang violence... you get the picture. We like to have a wide variety.)
We also do social events, play in rec league sports, and do community service projects (our club mostly focuses on the needs of a residential care facility for school-age kids whose parents have lost custody of them). We do some fundraisers, but since we're all young we mostly have more time than money so we do things with the kids like throw them a Halloween party, do a Sports Day, decorate their cottages for Christmas, host an etiquette dinner, etc.
Another cool thing about Rotaract is that it is an offshoot of Rotary International which is involved in some really amazing projects worldwide, like eradicating polio. They also provide a lot of opportunities for Rotary clubs in developed parts of the world to partner with clubs in less developed regions to put in wells and other projects that are completely overseen by the Rotarians in the country where the project is taking place.
Right now I'm the president of the local Rotaract club. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up as President because I don't generally feel very leader-ishy, but I think it seems ot just happen to me because I get excited about things that I'm involved in, want to get more involved, and somehow end up in charge. I won't miss being president, but I've really enjoyed Rotaract to get to know a lot of people and it forces me to get involved in really good projects, even if sometimes I don't "feel like it," I'm always glad I did.
PS - this picture is not totally random. It's from the annual Rock'n Ribs BBQ festival fundraiser that all the Rotary clubs (and Rotaract) sponsor each year - we've given away over $50,000 to Ozarks area childrens' charities each of the past 2 years from the money we raised from this event.
Posted by zarah at 8:35 PM | Comments (2)
January 8, 2009
Knitting again
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Originally uploaded by kerner
One of my challenges for the new year is to knit more for others. Before the niece and nephew onslaught begins this spring, I'm finally going to finish the Mizzou hat and scarf set that I promised to my husband last fall. Go Tigers!
Posted by zarah at 8:44 PM | Comments (2)
January 7, 2009
Winter CSA
It all comes back to a book for me. Last summer I read "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, and started trying to find ways to eat more locally. (It should be easy in the summer, but we had rain, rain, and more rain last year, so my little backyard garden didn't work too well.) I discovered that a couple was starting a CSA (community supported agriculture) in Springfield. I was too late to sign up for the summer share, but I did get in for the winter share. My husband and I are splitting it with another couple so it doesn't cost as much and we're more likely to eat everything.
I love winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., so I thought it would be a good way to ease into the eating local thing. I must admit... I wasn't expecting so many turnips! I'm still trying to find ways to cook them. So far, roasting a big batch of vegetables (including turnips) is my favorite.
On Monday night I attended the first CSA Core Group meeting. We're all sharers that want to take a more active role in the CSA - basically we will do more of the administrative tasks and let the farmers focus on farming. My friend Kim and I are taking on the task of starting a CSA blog! We're going to publish recipes for some of the more unusual vegetables in the share (sunchokes, anyone? more turnips?) as well as hopefully some pictures of the farm, the Millsaps and their adorable kids, and the friendliest farm dog on the planet.
Posted by zarah at 9:43 PM | Comments (3)
January 5, 2009
Crockpot Mondays
Not Crackpot Mondays, which is what my co-worker thought I said when I cheerfully announced I was reinstituting Crockpot Mondays at my house. I love my crockpot - especially when I put together the ingredients on a lazt SUnday afternoon then reap the rewards of a hot, homemade, and healthy meal on Monday evening after a long day of work.
By request of my new twitter friend, EatPlayLove, here's my recipe from tonight:
Crockpot Chili Verde
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. olive oil
4 oz green chiles, canned diced (or if you're lucky and have New Mexico green chile sauce in your freezer like I do, that makes a great substitute)
1 jalapeno, diced
7 tomatillos, coarsely chopped
2 lb. lean pork, trimmed and cubed
2 t. oregano
2 t. sage
1 t. cumin
1 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 c. beer (oh darn... I guess you'll have to finish off the rest of the bottle!)
Directions: First, saute onion, green pepper, and garlic in olive oil. Throw into the crockpot. Next, throw in the diced green chiles, jalapeno, and tomatillos. Throw into the crockpot. Brown the meat and add to the crockpot. Grind the spices in a mortar, add salt and pepper to taste, and add to the crockpot. Finally, add the beer. Cook in the crockpot on low heat all day.
Traditionally this is served in bowls with hot flour tortillas, salsa, and cilantro. You can also serve with sour cram, grated cheese, olives, and pickled carrots and jalapenos. I like to make Spanish rice (brown rice and Rotel) and refried beans for side dishes. For leftovers, mix pork with rice for yummy burritos!
Posted by zarah at 7:48 PM | Comments (4)
Oh hai
Well, I know there's no way to top what I wrote yesterday, so here's something just a *bit* lighter.
more animals
The look on the squirrel's face is just priceless.
Posted by zarah at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
January 4, 2009
A New Leaf
Looking back over 2008, I'd say one thing that really changed my outlook was reading the book "Style Statement" with my book club. It's a great book on its own, but discussing our personal styles with close friends was invaluable. The book is a huge series of questions, with the point being to define your personal style in a two word statement, with the first word representing 80% of your personality, and the second word as your 20%, or your "spark." A little tidbit out of the book that really helped me was to remember that if you are your best self when completely embodied by your style statement, you may at times represent the opposite of those words when you are not at your best. Also, at first you might think that two words are very limiting, but in fact they create a succinct phrase (easy to remember) that can expanded with the many meanings of the two words.
Even after reading the book, answering the questions, and discussing them with friends, it still took me several months to finally decide on my style statement. I think this process is probably one of the more thoughtful exercises I've engaged in for quite some time,so I'm going to make this my theme for 2009: Cultivating Joy.
Here are some small steps I'd like to take in 2009 to follow that theme:
Read more fiction.
Take better care of my veggie garden and our native plant gardens (that means: pull some weeds once in a while!!)
Learn to hand-quilt.
Spend more time studying the Bible and in prayer.
Save money for a trip to Spain in 2010.
Knit more gifts for others; less for myself.
Get involved with a running or multi-sport group - no more Lone Ranger.
Turn 30 with joy, not panic.
Spend more time in nature; less time watching TV.
I searched "cultivating joy" on flickr to see if I could come up with a good photo to accompany this post, and I found an amazing quote from Jack Kerouac that uses the phrase. I'm not really even a Kerouac fan but these words are just a perfect way to sum up what I'm trying to say:
"to be in a state of beatitude, like st. francis, trying to love all life, trying to be utterly sincere with everyone, practicing endurance, kindness, cultivating joy of heart."
Posted by zarah at 8:36 AM | Comments (4)
January 2, 2009
Further Afield - House Projects 2008
Befores on the left - Afters on the right
I am so proud of my husband and I for finally tackling some of the house projects that we've been talking about since we moved into this house in 2005.
The kitchen project (top) really opened up the room, letting light from the sliding glass doors into the entire room, and removing that pesky Have-to-stoop-to-talk-to-my-guests-who-inevitably-end-up-in-the-kitchen problem. We were worried about losing the cabinet space, so we took everything out and didn't use them for several months before we finally took the plunge and took them down for good.
The dining room project (bottom) is my favorite, since I did almost all of it myself. I forgot to take a true "before" picture, but it had vinyl wallpaper, a chair rail, and a funky light fixture that I could swear would occasionally whisper "Feed me, Seymour!" We still need some different chairs, but this is a lot closer to the Arts and Crafts style that we're going for in our home.
There's definitely more to do... I'd say the next big project will be replacing the peel-n-stick tiles in the kitchen that were left for us by the former homeowners.
Posted by zarah at 10:58 AM | Comments (3)
January 1, 2009
New Year's Meme
Happy New Year! This meme is getting to be a tradition around here - this is year number 3. Without further ado: The first sentence I blogged in each month of 2008, plus a little commentary:
January: I did this meme last year, and it was pretty fun, so here it is again. (See, I told you I did it last year!)
February: Good ole Clapotis.... she's sort of like a model. Very pretty, but not so much with the conversation. (Yeah... I ended up frogging it. Way too boring to knit a second time.)
March: No new pictures lately, but these socks were cruising right along. (I just can't get excited about socks these days... apparently back in the good ole days of 2008 I knit quite a few of them!)
April: Ugh! Those on Ravelry will recognize that sentiment. (Bad projects sometimes happent o good people. But that sweater ended up fitting my sister, so it was fine after all.)
May: The weather is warm... the birds are chirping... and I just can't get that excited about blogging these days. (Warm weather? That sounds pretty fantastic right now. I was pretty psyched that it was around 50 degrees today. But I ended up taking a nap instead of going for a walk like I intended.)
June: I "finished" the Flutter Sleeve Sweater a couple of weeks ago. (That thing never did turn out right - super baggy I will not being knitting sweaters out of cotton/silk blend yarn again anytime soon.)
July: Are you on twitter? (Yeah - are you? I'm zarah - follow me and my exciting life of exercise, knitting, airport law, and general randomness.)
August: I must admit, the opening ceremonies for my own personal Ravelympics were nothing compared to the drum-beating, calligraphy-dancing, torch-flying festivities in Beijing. However, I think this year's competition is shaping up nicely. (I love the Olympics. love love love. I'd love to go to the winter games in Canada in 2010. Anyone have any inside info on how to make that reasonably affordable?)
September: Yay! I'm happy to report that I finally finished my first lace shawl! (That made a great Christmas gift for my grandma. Resolved: No more triangular shawls.)
October: I knit a reusable shopping bag - isn't it cute? (Why yes, it is! The baggers at the grocery store are a bit befuddled by the crazy macrame-looking bag, though. They seem to do much better with the cloth bags shaped like paper grocery sacks.)
November: Really great Missouri election map here. (bah - Missouri broke it's streak of always choosing the winner of the preseidential election. Maybe that will mean fewer robocalls in 2012?)
Posted by zarah at 7:35 PM | Comments (0)
2008 Knitting Mosaic
Here it is folks! I knit a bunch in 2008 - most of it wearable. But I'd say my big accomplishment for the year was completely unrelated to knitting - I made two baby quilts in 2008 that I am extremely proud of. I can only hope that their recipients will be carrying those blankets around like Linus for many years to come. 
2009 goals to come later this weekend.
Posted by zarah at 10:25 AM | Comments (2)