destashing and fair isle

recently, greg asked me to start destashing my yarn. I wanted some new yarn to start a sweater, but greg told me that I couldn't buy anything new until I got rid of the extra yarn around the house. so, on thursday, i brought 2 extra large bags of yarn to my knitting circle, and now I'm down to I large rubbermaid container.

in other destashing news, I learned fair isle knitting. fair isle is a way to knit with multiple colors. i started with a hat from knitty's website.

http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTcentersquare.html

i knit it out of blue and white yarn I had left in my stash... here is the finished product.

i have to say, it was a lot easier than i ever thought possible... i have to do more fair isle knitting.

when good tv shows go bad...

not all television is good... there are definitely a large amount of crap tv for everyone to watch (including me...)

but there is something so sad when a really good tv show goes bad. when the story line gets so absurd that you start to wonder why you are watching at all. when the characters start acting like other people then they are, and you start yelling at the tv screen...

sometimes this happens because the writers have written themselves into a corner and can't get themselves out. sometimes it is when the writers and producers have left, and the show is now being run by other people and there are mistakes in continuity... sometime things just all go to hell...

this has officially happened to one of my favorite tv shows - Gilmore Girls.

i have faithfully watched this show since the beginning. in fact, i still enjoy watching old episodes on ABC family. but this season has happened and a good show has gone bad. characters aren't acting like themselves. the old writers and producers put the show in a corner when they left at the end of the last season, and now the new staff is trying to get out of the corner while still pleasing the fans... and what has happened is now we have a show that doesn't make any sense with any of the other seasons, and i am angry!

what shows have you watched that have gone bad? i'm not talking about one or two episodes that weren't good, i'm talking entire seasons of badness... please comment.

i will be a better person today...

i am not someone who is big into new year's resolutions... they are too easy to break, and often times, too specific. most people want to lose weight, stop smoking, travel somewhere exotic...

but this year, at this moment, i am making a resolution to myself...


I will be a better person today than I was yesterday.


i am hoping to be able to keep this resolution, not only for this year, but forever.

give me my space!!!

i believe that when you live with someone, be it a significant other or just a roomate, that everyone deserves a little bit of their own space. it can be a whole room, or in the case of a dorm room in college, a corner where your desk is. but no matter what, that is your space to do with what you please, to keep as clean or as dirty (but not endangering the health of others) as you like.

i currently live in a 250+ year-old farm house in the Philly area. it is a really nice house, stone walls and a fireplace, but with all the modern ammenities like satelite tv and a bathroom on the 2nd floor. in addition to all these great things, is a fully finished attic space that spans the entire house. one half is currently used for storage of boxes and some old clothes, but up until recently, this space was where my husband and his friends would hang out and play video games. this was a perfect arrangement! he had his space to do with as he pleased, and i got to watch directv with tivo downstairs in the living room with no one to bother me... his space, attic, my space, living room...

and this was all great, until...

he got a Playstation3!!

now, the tv in the attic wasn't good enough... he needed the better tv and the sound system, which reside in the living room. he had to put the PS3 downstairs! but, he and his friends still occationally hang out in the attic when they aren't playing video games. and where do i go? tonight, i've been sitting at our kitchen table with my knitting. which really isn't so bad, but i would really like to catch up on my tivo'ed shows while knitting...

give me my space!!!!

if he wants to keep the PS3 downstairs, that's fine, but then I want the attic... wait, the attic doesn't have satellite or tivo! and the attic is covered in his posters!

need solution before I go crazy! please help!

mea copa... and a happy 2007 to everyone!

to quote fiona apple...

i've been a bad bad girl!

i know i haven't posted since 2006, july 2006... i know i have left many people wondering, "has stacy fallen off the face of the earth?" and the answer is... NO, but i've been a bit busy.

there has been baking going on, but nothing noteworth to speak of.

there has been a lot of knitting, and a few things to speak of, including my first ever baby sweater!

but this post is to apologize, and to make a new year's resolution... i will try to be better about posting. i will try not to abandon my blog after only a few months of writing. i will try to keep everyone apraised of what is going on in my life... i will try!

knitting socks instead of baking

my first sock
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

being up in maine for the summer means 2 thing...

#1. I'm instantly going to turn into the meanest driver in the state because everyone here is so freakin' nice. they stop for pedestrians, even if they aren't at crosswalks, they allow other cars to go before them at 4-way stops, even if they get there first, and... they go the speed limit! i'm from jersey, i learned how to drive in jersey, and we all know what that means... i'm not a nice driver. i think i'm the only person to use a car horn and my middle finger to express my thoughts on the other drivers here...

#2. i need to find something to keep myself busy when i don't have work. last summer, and this one, i've been working on my photography. but over the last few months, i've been learning how to knit. i found the most fantastic yarn store (http://www.uniqueone.com), and i've been learning how to knit socks. the above photo is my first attempt at a sock, and I have to say that I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

I've now purchased yarn for a pair to be knitted for greg, more yarn for socks for a person to be determined, and some beautiful alpaca/silk/wool yarn for a nice scarf for me... and, of course, i have a few other projects going for people having babies soon... i have a lot of knitting to do!

zucchini bread

zucchini bread
Originally uploaded by iushosh.

I made this as my first new dessert in Maine for the summer. As you can see, it pretty much got destroyed before I could take a proper photo. These are the 3 slices I managed to save for the camera.

receipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_14971,00.html

I used the exact receipe, but instead of dividing it up, I made one large loaf. Make sure to add more time to baking when doing this.