random crafty musings & more

for all you gmail users out there, you know that there's an RSS feed bar running across the top of your inbox.

when i first began to use gmail, that RSS feed didn't exist.  as google made improvements to gmail, one day it appeared. some time later, i actually went into my "settings" to subscribe to certain feeds while deleting others. i know i came across 101 cookbooks as one of the feeds, but not quite sure how it got there, so i'm assuming it was either already a part of the "set up" feed, or it became one based on some of the conversations in my mail. (that's a thought that is worth thinking about, but not at the moment...)

so from time to time, i would click on the feed for 101 cookbooks and take a read. it always made for interesting reading....heidi swanson talks about cookbooks, shares recipes, and other food related insight. now it's a recipe journal. early last summer, she shared a recipe for frozen yogurt, in which she believes will rival that of pinkberry. i need to try it...as i am so in love with the original pinkberry yogurt.

just recently, because of 101 cookbooks, i came across the breakaway cook, eric gower. now, i'd heard the term "breakaway" before, and i'm sure i've even heard "the breakaway cook" in passing but never thought to look him up. in this 101 cookbooks article, eric gower shares a few of his favorite cookbooks. he has a passion for herbs, which led me to click on the link for his blog. the entry i come across is "raw kale herb pesto." kale? raw? while i'm not the biggest fan of kale, i will eat it, and i love pesto. it's worth a shot. it went on to my list of "recipes i must try."

delving further into the blog, i learned that he was once associated with yahoo. and his new blog on blogspot just began in january of this year, so there wasn't a whole lot of catching up to do. (thankfully, he doesn't post everyday!!) but i've already come across a couple of other recipes that i would love to try in addition to the raw kale herb pesto. matcha sparkling water, and umami salt. the only thing that gets me about the matcha sparkling water is having my own co2 set up. the thought of it is a little daunting. so i may have to explore some other SIMPLE co2 options. here are several i found on amazon.

soda siphon       soda club edition, 1 soda maker      soda club fountain jet soda maker

for the longest time, i never considered myself a "foodie" by any means because i thought being a "foodie" meant being a "gourmet" and i felt that i could never be a "gourmet." not that i don't like to eat, but you know, gourmets are known to have discriminating tastes. and while i can tell what's good and what's not for myself, my taste cannot reflect the taste buds of everyone out there...and i can hardly say that i have discriminating taste on par with industry standards. (in my head i have discriminating taste for me, though...ha ha ha)

i feel a bit better looking up "foodie" on wikipedia. while the two terms are used interchangeably, a "foodie" is an "amateur(s) who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news" (thank you wikipedia!!)

no i don't follow everything, but i do love to eat, pore over cookbooks, and do sometimes follow which chefs open restaurants. sometimes, i go wine tasting, but that's a little rare for me right now...but i do hope to do it with more frequency....

that said, on to my next post...

well, i've been severely lacking in my efforts to crank out my hand knitted projects for the upcoming holiday season. yes, i realize it's already november! and i just barely finished a project today. a couple of posts ago,i mentioned that mantra for the day was "knit two, purl two" and i am happy to report that that is the project i finally finished today. it is for my little boyfriend (that's what he tells me...that he's my boyfriend) but he's actually the soon-to-be-4-years-old son of some friends of mine. his two favorite colors are...orange and green. and the minute i combined the two colors, the only thing i could think of was "peas and carrots" and so i have dubbed it the peas and carrots scarf.

this came as a result of a day devoted mainly to knitting in a mad effort to create as many gifts as possible. i'm sure i'm being overambitious, but at this point, i refuse to be pessimistic about this venture. i had minimal distractions (food, nap, and a quick trip to michael's) and so in light of the completed peas and carrots scarf, i have begun not one, not two, not three, but four, yes FOUR new projects.  and i already had one on the needles with the holidays in mind, which brings the project tally to 5.

the one on the needles, as mentioned in a previous post, utilizes a very pretty Silk Garden yarn by Noro. i hope the recipient will love it, as this color mix yarn contains many colors that this particular friend of mine likes. done in a simple garter stitch on size 10.5 needles, it is currently my most worrisome project as the yarn has a tendency to tear.

the new projects started today all use Lion Brand Jiffy yarn - from a previous shopping trip to Joann when they had the yarn on sale. as the Jiffy is a slightly bulkier weight than worsted weight yarn, it is easy to see progress, especially if done on big needles.

project #1 - "salem" pastel mix scarf - this is a very, very simple scarf, and as i write this i want to say that i'm already at 1/3 of the length that i want it to be. i'm using size 17 needles, and only 16 stitches across in a garter stitch, it really is a fast knit.

project #2 & #3 - the "basketweave" scarves - i'm using the same basketweave pattern to create these two scarves. i'm knitting #2 in a beautiful "wine" color on size 11 needles, and #3 is being knitted in a really pretty "violet" on size 13 needles. at this point, the two different size needles are only showing a slight difference in the knitted fabric, but i'm sure as time and length wear on on these scarves, i'll see a bigger difference.

project #4 - "grass green" 2 x2 rib scarf - i must confess to having a bit of a love affair with this particular 2 x 2 rib knit. i've already done several scarves in my short knitting career in this stitch - the only variance being the number of stitches used. i also did not intend to start this project today. on my trip to michael's today, i found that they were having a sale on the Lion Brand Jiffy yarn and so the "grass green" color was an impulse purchase. i have been wanting to knit a scarf for a particular friend as she lives in an area that sees snow regularly - and one of her favorite colors is green. she prefers earthy tones. and i know she'll get good use out of it. heck, i get good use out of my scarves - but maybe that's because i am scarf obsessed in southern california. even if i'm wearing short sleeves i have a scarf in case my neck gets cold. lol.

and since there are still a couple of quality knitting hours to be had before i go to bed, i'm off.

- morrissey

tuesday, i get to work, and get an email from my co-worker/friend, m. she asks me if i have plans after work, and if not, do i want to go see morrissey? it won't cost us anything except for the gas to get there and the parking fees. so i say, why not? and we have an event on our hands.

so along with my friend m, it's her boss d, and his friend d, and myself, making it a foursome. i have not seen morrissey in YEARS...omg, i'm guessing at least 13, 14 years...at the hollywood bowl. (satrina, figment...i know you two must remember that concert!) we make our way to the hollywood palladium, get in the will call line, only to discover we can bypass that will call line for the livenation.com will call line. we're in the door, and into the concert we go. it's general admission.

we've no idea who the opening act is...but once she's done, there's a bunch of videos displayed on the big screen while we wait for morrissey to come out. he comes out...and he still looks great. i'm not familiar with the more recent songs, but i did recognize these...

• tomorrow
• irish blood, english heart
• how soon is now?
• death of a disco dancer
• stop me if you think you've heard this one before
• please, please let me get what i want

and a couple of other songs i just can't pin down the title. clearly, i was the oldest of our foursome - when we rehashed the concert for a few minutes after it was over, i was the only one that knew all the old smiths songs...

oh well, it was a great concert....especially since i didn't have to pay for the ticket, :)

that seems to be the mantra going over and over in my head.

i realize now, that i probably should have started some of my xmas knitting projects a lot sooner than i already have, but hindsight is 20/20, what can you do? i am just rolling with it and hoping that i can crank out what i would like to by the time gift giving rolls around. this year has been a roller coaster with ups and downs (a *lot* of downs) and sometimes the motivation isn't always there.

so far...i have begun work on 2 projects that will be given away as xmas gifts. one one (the "knit two, purl two" project), i figure i'm about 1/3 done on it. i made a little more progress on it just before coming to the computer to blog about it.  for the other project, i started it with this beautiful yarn by Noro that i had only bought 2 balls of. yesterday, i went back to the yarn shop i got it at, hoping that they would at least have the same color if not the same dye lot, but lo and behold! luck was with me as not only did the shop have the same color, but the same dye lot as the 2 balls i already had. so i purchased 3 more, completely satisfied that i would now have enough to finish the project.

i told myself that i would not start any more projects for xmas until at least one of the two was completed, and i'm anxious to get back to them. a couple of weeks back, i saw that one of my favorite yarns by Lion, the Jiffy, was on sale at Joann. it had been at least a few months since i had been to any Joann...regardless of which shop i'd been to, the yarn selection (for the yarns i like, anyway) has always been less than spectacular.  so i went to Joann, and i had to re-learn the layout of the whole store as they had completely renovated the interior, along with the layout. on my first pass through the yarns, i didn't see that yarn at all, and was about to get angry that why would they not have any of the yarn that they advertised on sale?! and wandered through other sections to get a feel for where everything was.  then i came back to the yarns and paid more attention, and found the Jiffy yarns! i bought out what they had of the pearl grey and violet, and bought some burgundy, and also one ball each of a pretty girly pastel mix and a heather blue. that night, i got home and pulled out a small notebook to make notes of the various projects, and now i can't find the notebook! go figure. it'll turn up soon enough, i'm sure.

to stray away from the knitting, i now realize i need a new digital camera. a few years ago, i purchased the Sony Cybershot and was happy with it, but on a recent outing to Disneyland with some friends, i realized that something was off. at first i thought it was the LCD, but the more my friends and i played around with it, the more we figured something was wrong either internally or in the lens. so i've been shopping around for a new digital camera. while i love the cybershot, i think my next camera will be the Panasonic Lumix.

Lumix

it boasts of a Leica lens and 7.2 mega-pixels. that's better than what i had on the cybershot. i need to get it soon....before the holidays roll in...

can you enjoy afternoon tea right next to a casino!

tea tier

Who would you trust with your life?

that's easy...there is more than one person i would totally trust with my life, and 3 of them happen to be on vox with me! that's girasole, figment, and satrina. then there's also y, k, j, k, and k.

one of my favorite sellers on etsy has to be VintageBodySpa.  i am a sucker for bath & beauty products and etsy definitely has its fair share of sellers in this category.  i first noticed VintageBodySpa when the owner (founder, and creator of awesome products!), Gabreial convo'd me with a wonderful comment to the cards i had posted into my etsy shop, which subsequently turned into a sale with the passage of time. curious to try one of her products, so the first thing i ordered was her Butter Beans.

butter beans

i ordered them in the yuzu scent.  yuzu, if you don't know, is a japanese citrus fruit similar to a lemon but not as tart with a wonderful aroma and flavor that is often found in japanese cooking. being a fan of the yuzu scent, i just HAD to try it.  the Butter Beans are little bath fizzies that you drop into your bath water.the main ingredients are cocoa and shea butters and they help to keep your skin moisturized.  along with this order, i also purchased a sample size of the yuzu mango scented Wherever Body Cream, and Gabreial was kind enough to throw in a sample of the Wake Up Sugar Scrub, which I was also curious to try.  while i don't take baths as often as i like, every time i do i make sure to use my butter beans!

wherever body cream

the next item that i have to rave about is the Wherever Body Cream.  i was so in love with my sample size that i soon purchased a jar of the cream in the Red Currant and Thyme scent. it keeps my skin soft and hydrated all day long, and it absorbs fast quickly and feels light to the skin. (i hate heavy creams!) the cream is available unscented (as is many of their products), but the scents are light and not overpowering at all. it has quickly become my favorite body cream/lotion.

wake up sugar scrub

finally, on to the Wake Up Sugar Scrub.  i use it about twice a week to exfoliate skin. it also keeps your skin moisturized, and gently sloughs away the dead skin cells, bringing out the new.

what i really love about VintageBodySpa is that they offer natural products - not weighed down with anything that could potentially be harmful to the body.  and the customer service provided is great! i have been a big fan since first using their products, and have given it to several friends as gifts for the holidays this season just past.  find them on etsy, as well as their full on site. sign up for the mailing list to learn about what they are up to and any new product releases!

on etsy: vintagebodyspa.etsy.com
on the web: www.vintagebodyspa.com

by CloudFish. so here goes...5 facts about me.

1.  i was born in japan, and raised there by my mother and her parents. my grandparents totally supported my mom, a single mom, back in the day, and they've influenced me greatly on who i am today.

2.  "quality over quantity" are words that mean so much in my life. i may not have a whole lot of friends, but the ones i do have, i wouldn't trade them for the world. they are wonderful, caring, honest and are supportive of me for what i want to do, a loving shoulder when i need one to cry on, and always there to share good times with.  when i create cards or a page in my scrapbook or create a knitted item (my new craft!), i would rather have it turn out the way i hoped instead of churning them out just to get them done. (and if you...and you know who you are.. all are reading this, i love you!)

3.  i like to cook. and i'll admit it.  i don't cook everyday, but i love cookbooks and pore over them looking for recipes i want to try and the time to try them.  my current obsession is cupcakes and can't wait to get started on them. not to mention, i'm a food network junkie. i HEART tyler florence! and i've met him twice at book signings.

tyler florence (and me)

4.  the hubs and i were married just over 2 years ago, but we were together for just over 9 years when we finally tied the knot. he is younger than me (gasp!) but we have a great time together, and he can almost always make me laugh, even when i'm really mad at him, and i love him and hate him for that particular quality.

5. i love tea over coffee.

and i tag...Girasole, Satrina, girl wonder, the hubs, and Figment.

last fall, a dear friend of mine, Girasole, let me know about a friend of hers that opened up their on etsy shop. i heart etsy, and of course i had to check it out! social studies design, started in the spring of 2004,  fuses the creative minds of aldo & sean - bringing the world their view of art, style, and "unique, handmade yet affordable goods for the urban male."  they have a diverse collection of items ranging from clothing to accessories to plushies, but my favorite item in their collection is a scarf. and not just any old scarf...they breathe new life into vintage t shirts by using their own special method to turn them into scarves, carefully crafted and knitted by sean. the picture below is a mere sampling of what their t shirt scarves look like.

t shirt scarves

i custom ordered my first scarf by contacting them through etsy.  i loved it so much, i immediately ordered 5 more as gifts for christmas. in the end, i kept one for me - but the other 4 have found a new neck to call home.  just today, i found a new one to add to my collection.

this one is mine!