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Redoing the Bookshelf
I don’t know what it is, but something about the sun shining in and the ability to have the windows open and a breeze rushing through the apartment just makes me want to clean and decorate. Unfortunately, satisfying that urge can be difficult when you’re on a strict spending fast – no, I can’t buy those new throw pillows; no, that bookcase is not purchasable right now… So to satisfy my urge I set my sights on rearranging our single big bookcase – it belongs to the apartmentmate, and is a beautiful, antique behemoth that has its home in our dining room and doubles as a liquor cabinet. Me and…
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Pysanky Friday
I finally got around to varnishing those pysanky I teased on instagram a ways back, and so today I have one of them to share with you in detail. I was still getting my sea-legs back on this batch, so you’ll notice that my lines aren’t all terribly straight. This particular egg (which I’m calling the “Big Vine” Egg) was actually the result of a catastrophic mistake – those massive vines on the side were NOT supposed to be that big. But that’s what happens when you’re not being attentive and get a big blorp of wax smack dab in the center of your egg. The top and bottom of…
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I Have a Sweater Problem…
…A very big sweater problem. And it’s just a tad out of hand, as you can see. While I must admit that some things are a little tighter around the middle area than they used to be, I’ve been relatively the same size on top for about a decade now and my taste really hasn’t changed that much. I’ve never been really daring when it comes to trends, so most of the items I go for are pretty classic (or as more than one person has put it “boring”… I like classic better) kinds of styles. As a result, nothing really gets purged unless it shrinks or felts in the…
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Miso Soup Love
There’s nothing quite like miso soup, particularly when you need something satisfying and light, but FAST. Well, satisfying, light, and fast that’s still warm and comforting that is. I never have been much of a salad girl. But anyway – miso soup is not only fast, but it’s easy to make and to customize. All you need is dashi stock (Japanese fish broth), miso, some tofu (if you like it) and really, anything else you want to throw in. For the dashi stock, I just use granulated dashi stock, since it’s hard to find katsuobushi in this area and I feel weird ordering it from amazon because they market it…
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On the Needles…
On the needles at the moment is a Liesel scarf (ravelry link) using some of that lovely yarn I broke all my spending rules for a few weeks back. This will be the third time I’ve attempted this scarf – I love the pattern soooo much, but as of yet have never been able to successfully complete it. The first attempt was a number of years ago and I think my lace skills were just not yet up to the task. I don’t follow written lace instruction well – it’s very hard on my eyes – and I hadn’t learned to read charts yet. So after many many mistakes, it…
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What I’ve Been…
…planning: Pysanky designs. The easter season is over, yes, but I plan to keep making them year-round this year. I really need to start honing my skills and getting creative if I ever plan on using this to drum up some extra income. …working on: grading. And more grading. It’s crunch time, and of course, as I always do, I ended up planning tests and papers too close to one another. Every single semester I say to myself, “I’ll plan this out better next semester…” And I try – I really do try – but no matter what, somehow it never works out. Right now I’m plodding my way through…
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Behind the Scenes
Sorry it’s been a bit quiet here; it’s been a bit crazy this past week thanks to the holiday, high school musical season (always a busy time for freelance musicians), and crunch time at school. But I promise there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled posts at the very least by Friday. Until then, here’s a quick peak at the pysanky I’ve been working on recently. I have a bunch finished and ready to share here a little bit later!
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Kogarashi Cowl
Today we have an FO from before I started my financial yarn fast (so it doesn’t count towards those 5 FOs). Another Fern Lace Cowl in the books (ravelry link). This will make 3 of these cowls – the second was my Mom’s Birthday Cowl and the first was an FO I finished during my time off the blogosphere… and I still haven’t gotten around to photographing it for Ravelry. This time the cowl is once again for me. The yarn is Noro Kogarashi in colorway #7. I’ve had this in my stash for a very long time, and sadly this yarn has been discontinued since… I actually bought this…
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Mom’s Afghan
Hey, remember when I mentioned that I made an afghan for my mom for Christmas way back in December? Yea, I realized the other day that I never got around to showing that off. So here it is! I started it at the end of November and was just finishing weaving ends in at midnight on December 23rd at my parent’s house – my dad acting as lookout to make sure my mom didn’t come into the kitchen (we’re a family of night owls when we’re all home for the holidays). I’ve done an afghan like this before. Those of you who knew me back in the olden days will…
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Penne with Vodka Sauce
No Mani Monday today – I’ve had to trim my nails due to upcoming gigs on cello and the need to practice. They’re just so horribly hard to keep painted when they’re nothing but nubs. Instead I have for you a dinner I made last week – Penne with Vodka Sauce. Unfortunately I don’t have a recipe for this one. It’s a family dish (yea, a mostly Russian and Ukrainian family has a heritage Italian recipe… figure that out) that I’ve been cooking so long I’m not even sure there ever was a recipe to begin with. I just sort of go and throw stuff in until it looks right.…