Civil Bitch

2011-06-10T18:16:00.001-07:00

My name in Google Doodle

Maker Faire 2011

2011-05-28T14:08:00.001-07:00

Maker Faire 2011, a set on Flickr.

Way too much fun!

Maker Faire 2011

2011-05-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

We went to San Mateo for this year's Maker Faire.

SUPER FUN TIME!!

I went to Swap-a-rama-rama to start my Maker Faire project.

I took a blue T-shirt and used a serger to make it into a shrug for my 9 year old.

Many thanks to CC and Katy who helped.

CC was a wiz with the serger and made the whole process not so scary and Katy was wonderful at showing me how to do a button hole. I just may have to break down and buy one of those new fangled sewing machines because making a button hole now is SUPER EASY!

Right next to Swap-a-rama was the booth doing silk screening. M chose to do the flowers.

Then, while waiting for a demo on soft circuitry, I ran into Dia from SparkFun. She was great and gave me some supplies to try to sew in some LilyPad LED's. Here's what the soft parallel circuit looks like:

And the coolest part - what it looks like with a battery in:

SWEET!

Mochi Rocket by M

2010-10-17T12:21:00.001-07:00

Mochi Rocket by M
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

Went out to the October DARS launch this weekend. M decorated her rocket with some Mochi stickers. Had a good day but am paying a price - allergies are raging!

J's "I go whoosh" whooshing

2010-09-06T12:52:00.001-07:00

J's "I go whoosh" whooshing
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

This will be the last we see of the "I Go Whoosh". This flight went well and we were able to recover it with some problems - it got caught in the power lines. After tugging on it a couple of times, it came lose.

The next day, J flew it on an I 195 - which was not as strong a motor that this video had. It separated at apogee. The wind the third day was BAD.

I did help out with range duties at AIRFest and had a short lived time as Launch Safety Officer (LSO) - something I've done quite a lot - even at a large rocket launch. Granted, I was a little rusty, but I picked it up fairly quickly. I'll just say that it wasn't the most fun experience and leave it at that. The launch got called for high winds (you shouldn't launch in 20+ mph winds).

We hung around the launch site another three hours hoping that the wind will die down - and it didn't. We didn't have shade, because our EZ Up took a hit because of the high wind. The hotel, which was supposed to have a pool, was terrible and M started saying that she was homesick.

We also found out that the next day was supposed to be high winds (over 20 mph) again.

So I made the call - we were going home early. After 3 nights, none of us had had a good night sleep and it was time.

So we're home again and it was nice to get a good night sleep. We're all unpacked, washed, and have eliminated all traces of Kansas dust.

Can't wait till the next HPR launch (High Powered Rocket)

My rocket flying

2010-09-06T08:54:00.001-07:00

VID 00003.3GP
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

This is a video of my pink and black rocket I call the Starry Night. It's flying on an nice little black jack motor by Aerotec (I 195)

It went really fast and I didn't keep it on camera all the time - it really kicked off that rod!

Flying with your big girl

2010-09-04T06:05:00.001-07:00

M and mom with the Starry Night Sept 2010
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

After a very long 6 year hiatus, I finally have started getting back into High Powered Rocketry. We are currently in Argonia, Kansas getting ready to start day two of Airfest. It was really nice getting reacquainted with people we hadn't seen in quite a long time. I forgot just how friendly and helpful everyone is out on the airfield and the Kansas guys are super nice.

We have a superb location looking directly on to the air field and our neighbors are super. I'm not surprised at how many Texans we had out yesterday - seems like you were either from Kansas or Texas with a few Oklahoman's mixed in.

I tried flying my "Starry Night" yesterday on a motor that's OLD (gotta be over 8 years) - an Aerotek I 355 Redline - would have been super neat to see that. But after three attempts (and the final one with a very good igniter) and some consultation with some guys who cast motors for a living, we decided that it was not meant to go up.

So we bought another one - and I like these motors - SUPER black and smokey. I'll send my rocket up on day two.

We did fly J's "I Go Whoosh" on a J 355. Perfect flight! But we had a bit of a scare at the end. It got fouled in some electrical wires coming down. I tugged at it a couple of times and we got lucky - it came loose.

Day Two starts in an hour - gotta go.

Great Weekend

2010-07-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

My company (which I have officially hit the one year mark at) had a pool party with all my co-workers on Friday. I have to say a lot of work went into it and all I did was show up. School is officially on and I found myself leaving home at 7 am and not returning until 9 pm all week long. The pool party was officially a wonderful way to end a very busy week. Thank you to all my co-workers who put it together. Good job.

Saturday was spent over at Frisco at a mid-powered rocket launch put on by the Dallas Area Rocket Society (DARS). Years ago I used to be VERY involved with high-powered rockets and had to take a break when my little one was having sensory overload issues. I got to spot the Range Safety Officer for about an hour and had a great time. It was really nice to re-connect with past friends. We are thinking seriously about going to Air Fest this year up in Argonia, Kansas. Should be a good fun trip and it's been 6 years since we last went. I'm also due some time off and after this semester, I'm gonna need to blow something up.

Today we ran by a new home brew store in north Dallas today because I needed some more bottles - I have a German Light and a Koelsh in the buckets and needed to bottle this weekend or risk losing one of the buckets. 72 bottles later (which, by the way, were good, but the best bottles are the ones from Sam Adam's bottles) I bought some ingredients for my very first non-kit beer. It's a Stone IPA recipe, but with a liquid malt extract instead of whole grains. The house has a wonderful hoppy smell right now!

Knitting: Well, I have the body and hood done on a Central Park Hoodie. I had to do some serious modifications to the sleeves - 8 1/2" is not wide enough for a plus size gal. I added about 5 more inches. I'm currently knitting the sleeves. Slow going as I have LOTS going on. I also always have a wash cloth going in my purse and have a number of them knitted up waiting to be distributed to others when the time is right.

Best part of this weekend is seeing M get the rocket bug. I hated leaving the hobby years ago, but I know we're going to start up again - M loved it too much and we had too much fun to not do it again. Next launch: Frisco (August 21st).

Dallas ComiCon

2010-01-31T15:03:00.000-08:00

J saw that the Dallas Comic Convention was going on today, so we ran over to Richardson this afternoon.

You see, M is currently in a writing mode. So much that she gets into trouble at school for not doing her other work. It's something her teacher HATES to discourage, but M's writing *is* interfering with her other work.

So we are encouraging her as much as we can here at home, and it's working. She will disappear into her room to write.

So today, we went to Comi Con and actively sought out the writers - she wanted to take notes. These guys were SO great towards her and really listened to her and encouraged her. One even said he'd follow up with her over email. M even told them some of the stories she's been working on.

Good weekend.

Gads!

2010-01-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

Work is great and I enjoy the hell out of it. It definitely has put a crimp into my knitting and blogging time.

I've made a couple of scarves to wear to work. I'll get a photo and get them posted.

J called and told me they were running late at the dentist. She's going to get braces put on her front four teeth - man that's young. She'll be 8 in February.

Generally, she's going to do it in two stages and we're looking at wrapping it up by the time she's 12.

On flood watch this weekend. Looks like one of our lakes will hit conservation late tomorrow afternoon. First time for me! Years ago I did man some telephones on a mini event.

Great Weekend

2009-10-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

My new job allows me to have access to a cabin located on a lake one weekend in a year. We got fortunate last weekend and it was available.

What a great time! Even though it was cool and rainy, we still had a great time.

M caught a fish - granted, it was too small and we had to throw it back, but to see the bright shiny face and excitement of catching her first fish - what a great memory. She was so excited and was the only one who caught anything. Lots of fish interest, but no bites.

I also got to take the family and friends on to the lake spillway. We were spilling water out of the spillway gates and we were able to see the water go under the gates while standing over them on a grate. Wonderful and exciting. I love my job.

Oh, and I'm not a praying type, but I'm really pulling for a local lake to go one foot over full - it effects how we operate our pipeline and puts some pressure on our crews, but we can rise to the occasion.

I was also successful with grilling my first burgers with charcoal. I never have grilled on a charcoal grill - always have on a gas or electric. They were terrific. Simple pleasures. Simple pleasures.

Came home after a wonderful weekend and brewed a batch of German Light beer. I'll have to bottle the Cream Ale sometime this week.

I also want to say that I'm terribly impressed by the people I work with. They are really outstanding people and incredibly smart. I'm very lucky to be where I am.

As far as knitting - I did a quick Grandmother's Favorite dishcloth and a Housewarming dishcloth. I'm still working on my black Susan Undulating Wave scarf and have knitted the required 14 repeats - but need to make it longer - it's currently on hold. I also did a quick burp cloth that I thought was a Mason Dixson burp cloth, but it wasn't. It's done, I just have to weave in the ends and wash it. I also have a golf club cover done for a friend and need to weave in ends and make a pom pom.

I don't have photos and need to get some, but I'm SO unmotivated to do so.

I also agreed to supply my aunt with a Gnome and a Robot for a November fund raiser. I haven't even started and need to. Buh.

Saddest news ever

2009-09-12T17:55:00.001-07:00

"We will not be holding a Maker Faire Austin this year primarily due to the economy."

Truly a sad, sad day.

I guess I'll have to try to go to the one in SF in May, 2010.

2009 Knitting Calendar

2009-09-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

Today I am the featured designer in the Knitting Calendar!

Whoot!

It's the baby halter top pattern and also covers tomorrow, too.

Double Whoot!

Windmills

2009-09-07T05:14:00.000-07:00

The family and I are down south for the weekend to see my folks. J & I got a room so we could be a little more comfortable sleeping. One of my favorite geeky travel things that I like to do is flip through the local hotel three ring binder. In the past I've found some really fun and memorable things to do in those things.

So I found this at our hotel:

"The Windmill Far at Tolar, Texas"
See History in Motion; 26 Windmills on 26 Windmills on 26 acres in a country setting. Drive through, walk around, always open.

I read this and though Wind farm - hey they have those really cool wind turbines. I want to see these up close.

We drove up and I kept asking J if he'd seen the turbines. No

We turned in - and saw 26 old windmills - which were in really great shape - but weren't generating any electricity. And it was a bed and breakfast. Very cute, but history in the making, not. History in the past - yes.

It was funny and we got a great giggle out of the whole trip.

Then we went back into town to shop at the local Walmart. Found some iCarly panties for M. One of the panties have the word "blog" written all over them. M thinks having blog panties is cool.

I also finally got a visual confirmation that the wedding garter I knitted fit and the bride wore it on here wedding day. I was really pleased. As soon as I have a photo of it, I'll post it here.

Yay!

2009-07-18T18:40:00.000-07:00

My cousin is happily married and THE GARTER FIT!! My mom has promised that she'd get a photo of it. As soon as I have a copy of it, I'll post it.

I've also been working on squares for an afghan that we're knitting for the local knitting guild. I volunteered to do two, and a friend ran into some trouble, so I'm currently knitting the final square. It's going quickly. I'll post a picture later.

Well, life has a funny way of changing directions on you. I keep pinching myself because I truly feel like I won the lottery.

As all of us, the economy has absolutely hit my company. In order for my traditional clients to get projects going, they have to be able to borrow money. I knew things were hinky after the big crash in October and we had gone into super serious conservation mode at home. No new yarn purchases (GASP!!), just buy stuff to survive. And I resisted it, but went along with it anyway because I understood that things were about to get ugly - but I never understood just how ugly.

Fast forward to April. I knew things were going south. Clients who used to tell me to get stuff done started to say things like, "we really don't need that done." I also noticed all the people I worked with were starting to be moved to other markets - not here.

I started floating my resume on April 1 - just in case. I also kept calling past clients to see what's coming up - nothing. Everyone was in survival mode.

Luckily, I have really good friends.

I ran into one of those friends back in November at a conference in Las Vegas. I casually mentioned that I really loved working at the place she still worked at and if I had to close my company, that organization would be ideal to jump to.

She said she'd keep an eye out.

I got emailed in May that the department was about to expand. I asked her out to lunch and during lunch, met up with my old boss and several former co-workers. Oh, and did I know about a potential opening?

Forward to today. I am now gainfully employed at a job that I used to work at 12.5 years ago. Looking back, I definitely wonder why the hell I left, but still feel that I needed to go out on my own. I have learned SO much out on my own. It's one of those bittersweet feelings. I'm just glad to be back.

After two weeks of working for someone else, I have to admit that I love what I do. I definitly work for the nicest man ever. He's one of those people who sees the diamond in the rough - and you, being the rough diamond, want to polish yourself to a billiant shine. (hokey, but very true)

My co-workers are hard working and kind.

I really am very lucky.

It's an adjustment. I hate commuting and it really eats into my knitting time - but isn't that really what everyone has to struggle with?

So now it's getting to be State Fair time. Do I have anything ready to go and to submit?

Not really.

But I plan on entering the following:

Knitted toy from a pattern (a Sheldon Turtle)
Knitted toy - original (not sure on this one - I have two ways I can go on this one_
Original item (thinking about the baby halter)

That's about it.

I'm not going to specify on this blog where I work. I just think it's not a good idea.

Garter

2009-06-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the garter is blocked and starched. Now I need to sew the darn thing together. I looked in my craft supplies and don't have a white spool of thread. I need it to sew the bias tape to the back of the garter. It still looks too big, but I know it'll shrink down once I have the elastic sewn in.

Knitting update

2009-06-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

I have finished knitting the garter but now have to wash and block it. I've never blocked lace before and am dawdling - gotta stop that.

I'm also playing with writing a new pattern. It's based on Mo Willem's Pigeon character.

Of course I'm in the throws of creating it right now - complete with knitting and frogging and re-writing my pattern as I go.

So far I am really woring on the butt to get the shape right.

M's Summer Story

2009-06-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

Since summer is in full swing and M is home, we are doing our own form of pseudo homeschool in the morning. On Monday, M has to write out her story in printed letters. On Wednesday, she rewrites it in cursive, and on Friday she types the story into a Google Doc.

Well, I'm a terribly proud mom and have to share. So here goes the story so far:

Chapter One:

Once upon a time...

There lived a little penguin. She was a pink penguin.

Everyone thought she was the cutest thing! By the time she was 5, she was able to play guitar really well. She even got her own show...Rock On Toddler! The only thing is, she never talks. The only one she spoke to was her mother.

Chapter Two:

The only reason she didn't talk was that her mom died, and her dad was King.

But she couldn't go into the castle because it was a "no kids zone".

On her birthday she got a guitar and became famous!

She took the bus while making herself look like a high school cheerleader.

She lived in an orphanage and went on lots of field trips.
Her FRIENDS knew she was Princess and kept it secret.

Chapter Three (this week's installment):

"My dad killed the queen," she said. "The King killed the Queen!"

Everybody looked at her and screamed with joy.

"Why are you soooo happy?"

"Three reasons," said Beca. "One, the queen was bad. Two, you spoke. Three, we get to name you."

"Bella?" asked Trixie.

"Mary?" said Jackson.

"No. Katie!" she said.

"Katie sounds great," said Ms. Oak

Stay tuned, and happy summer!

Bird

2009-06-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks we've been visited by a strange bird - he comes and tries to get into our home every day around the same time - 11-ish in the morning. I think he's trying to attack a bird that just happens to look a whole lot like him (i.e., the reflection in the window).

I finally looked around the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site to try to identify it. We initially thought it was some kind of wood pecker - mainly because the beak was long and thin.

But I finally figured out that it's a Great Crested Flycatcher. It's really a beautiful bird.

My Brute

2009-06-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

M and J got into this absolutely silly web site called My Brute. I finally got involved and now have two.

If you want, you can sign up here:

http://queenmargaret.mybrute.com

I'm trolling for pupils!

It's super simple, and I have to admit, a little fun.

Salsa!

2009-06-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Our good friends who also make stuff (cheese, beer, wine, yogurt, etc.) had us over to dinner a couple of weeks ago and opened up their most recent experiement - Salsa.

Oh, man. It was the perfect kind of salsa. I don't like my salsa chunky and I like a little heat - not something that will scorch your mouth, just a little kick.

Last Saturday, J went and picked up the Jebus food and they had lots of veggies that are salsa compatible. I asked our friend for the recipe and proceeded to make my own yesterday.

I got 6 wide mouth jar's full of salsa.

Here's the recipe (I'm putting it here so I won't lose it - I also added cilantro to the batch 'cuz I loves me some cilantro).

El Fenix hot sauce

8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained
2 1/2 cups onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups green peppers
1 cup jalapeno peppers, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons pepper
1/8 cup canning salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste

Mix all together and bring to a slow boil for 10 min.

(Note: The batch seems like it's not very liquid-y when you first mix everything together and you're gonna want to add some water - don't. The heat combined with the vinegar will break down all the veggies and it'll get nice and soupy)

Run in batches through a blender (or food processor) and then pour into canning jars.

Seal in jars and cook in hot water bath for 10 min.

FO - Baby Surpise Jackets x 2

2009-06-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

These are for twin boys of someone I know.

I wasn't happy with the way one of my BSJ's turned out so I ripped back and re-knitted it. This one is done with stockinette instead of garter. I think I like the garter a little better - which surprised me.

Just need to sew on the buttons - which I find to be tedious.

FO - Hemlock Ring Shawl

2009-06-01T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know I just said I don't understand the whole shawl thing, and here I go, knitting another one.

I cast on for this shawl during the hemlock ring rage on Ravelry. I do like it. I just HATED the bind-off. Really. Hated it. It took me months to do it as I just lost interest every time I started working it.

I still need to block it - I've never blocked lace so this will be a new thing for me. I'll post a photo after I have washed/blocked it.

FO - Self Fringing Bias Shawl/Scarf

2009-06-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

I now understand why people rave over the Brookes Farms yarns.

They are just lovely.

The Mas Acero I bought just shines in the sunlight. It's really pretty.

I was afraid of dropping the stitches for the fringe, but it worked out great.

I'm a little luke warm about owning shawls. They're pretty and all, but I just don't know how to incorporate them into my wardrobe - I live in Texas for goodness sake.

But this little shawl/scarf is really perfect. It fits in my purse and I use it now when I go into a building that has the AC on a little too low.

Yes, you cold weather people. It's almost manditory to have a sweater at your finger tips during the summer down here. You go from 90+ degrees outdoors to 60 degrees indoors - you'd freeze, too.

Socks!

2009-06-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

I broke out my CSM machines because I have too many socks to make as I've promised a lot of people a pair of socks.

I made a pair for a church auction - and forgot to get a photo (buh) of the finished item. I made them on my LeGare.

Then I made a pair of socks on my AK - and it's interesting. My AK likes making socks on the 72/36 combo better thank the 60/30 combo. I set up my AK and had no problems with ribbing the men's sock. The yarn I used is luscious - truly. Virgin wool, cashmere, angora - man are these socks nice. They're for a friend whose son is graduating from high school and going off to college (TAMU) in the fall - hence the maroon.

School, of course, is coming to a close. I made socks for the teacher and teacher's assistant.

I also whipped up a pair of socks for me - these are made with the hand painted yarn I made from a knitting retreat in February. I am so happy with the colors. I think I have enough yarn to make a low cuff pair for my mom - shhh. Don't tell her, it's a surprise.

On the three socks I knitted on the LeGare, I've learned on my 54/36 combo to put all my needles into play on the ribber dial and have every third needle removed on my cylinder. This makes a 1x1 rib. Do the selvage the normal way you do a 1x1. On the hand painted socks, I knitted 1x1 for 20 rows, transferred the needle that is located between the two cylinder needles to a cylinder needle for a 2 x 1 rib.

I can say that I honestly don't see a difference unless I look really closely to the 1x1 to 2x1 and it makes a nice tighter cuff on the top. I'm really pleased with this combo and it'll probably become a standard for my smaller socks.

I do love my LeGare - it's really a great little work horse.

Difficult times

2009-05-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

I had a really great weekend with my parents. My folks are great. M & I ran to Granbury and had a great time at D & G's Bed and Breakfast (my parents). They put in a pool in their back yard last year and their place is truly beautiful. They have outdoor speakers and can play music in the pool area. M told us that she'd fire the grandparents if they'd ever make the pool public - turns out she loves to skinny dip.

We had a great time.

But I have to say that this was a welcomed bright spot in a difficult time.

Professionally, I work in the land development industry. Work is tough lately - mainly because I just haven't had a lot of it.

I work in four different arenas:

Municipal
Residential
Commercial
Natural Gas

All are experiencing a major down turn lately.

I have to admit, I've been feeling a little down lately - but J is wonderful. He had me list out all the stuff my company has done over the last 9.5 years - and I get amazed. It was amazingly good for me to do that.

You see, I've been applying to various governmental jobs lately. It has been truly humbling. I've probably applied to over 60 positions - and have been over the past two months. I am used to getting good feedback from employers and many times I get the dreaded "You were not referred for this position. Your resume did not reflect the highly qualifying criteria the selecting official identified as necessary for successful performance in the position."

Bullshit.

I am a damn good engineer.

Fucking good.

(sorry for the language - I'm just frustrated.)

So, the dilemma. Try to keep my company going, or get a job with another one.

It's a hard decision. I've been self employed for almost a quarter of my life.

For an Air Force Brat who moved on average every year of her life until she was 21, this is true commitment.

It's hard to give up.

The freedom.

The excitement.

The hard work.

I almost gave it up 4 years ago.

Work started to slow down and I didn't think I could sustain a full payroll anymore. I did one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do - I let someone go who I knew needed to continue to work for me. I cried many, many nights and still wonder how my former tech is doing. I interviewed with a couple of consulting engineering firms - got some offers and turned them all down.

The pressure of a full payroll came off and I had enough work to cover me. I worked very hard for a long time.

Scan to now.

I hate waking up and going up to my computer with very little work.

I also am starting to miss working with people - you know. Waking up. Commuting. Getting to work. Drinking coffee. Conversing with co-workers.

I miss it. I really do.

But I love being self employed. LOVE IT.

"sigh"

So, I'm going to keep on keepin' on with my business and try to find some more. In the mean time, I'll keep floating my resume.

Who knows what will happen.

I still haven't had a firm job offer. I can't just stop working. My family needs me. I need to do it. I want to do it. I love doing it.

And you know what the irony is?

My company has more invoices paid to date than I've ever had paid without spending it. We've been on super conserve mode and just stick to basics - and it's working. We're actually doing okay. So we don't go out to eat as much as we used to. I don't get to buy as much yarn as I once did. I don't buy books anymore (I go to the library).

Life is still good.

I have a supportive husband. Loving and beautiful daughter.

I am one lucky woman.

And you know what?

I just know it will all work out.

It will.

No matter what happens, my husband will always support my decisions and my daughter has told me that she will be happy with whatever decision I make.

It just doesn't get any better than that.

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

Had a great mother's day.

M brought me a marigold flower that she planted in a pot she decorated.

She also wrote a nice note:

Translation:

You are the nicest mommy in the world! I Love you so much! LiFe is great with you! Ice creame is good. SuGar is sweet, But Not A Sweet as you! you always heLp with fun iDeas! You are the one Who is nice and sweet so I love you so much. Every Day you are sweet!

Oh, and this is a peace sign:
Then we went to church and had a lovely pancake breakfast. Church had a guest speaker, Marc Adams of the HeartStrong, Inc charitable org. He was great.

Got home and J gave me a note:
It came with a $25 gift certificate from Joanns. Whoot!

Knitting update

2009-05-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

My cousin is getting married this summer and I offered to make her a garter.

I have 12 inches knitted - 9 more to go. Made with cheap crochet cotton I had on hand. Free pattern is the Knitted Lace Wedding Garter by Diane Willett.

Also, I think I mentioned my aunt has breast cancer. I have knitted 6 pi topper hats. One I donated to the Fiber Fest last weekend, so I'm about to send 5 of these to my aunt today. I was able to run by the Knitting Nook on Saturday and get some cute buttons.

Speaking of Fiber Fest. I was able to pick up a skein of Brookes Farm Mas Acero. I cast on last night for a self fringing shawl.

And here's a close up because the photo above does not do the color justice.

M is finding that she likes to make things. A neighbor girl had some Capsters and showed M (and me) her necklace. We had most of the supplies and she made her own. I don't have a photo, but will post one later.

For some reason, it really sparked her creative side and I was presented with an early Mother's Day gift yesterday - this is supposed to be a bag.
Yes it's paper and I can't do much with it, but I think I'm going to have to really try to figure out how to fix it so I can use it. She was so proud - I will never forget the look on her face.

Hannah Montanna's Number One Fan

2009-05-04T07:19:00.001-07:00

At least that's what M told me when she wanted me to take her picture.

Pepperoni - home made!

2009-04-22T18:46:00.002-07:00

J tweaks me in my cooking challenges and he came up with a new one - make home made pepperoni. He came across a good recipe. It's Tammy's Spicy Pepperoni and it's SUPER easy to make. It just takes time to do. I'd say this was a three day process - and you need another day to let the rolls rest.

Here's what it looked like coming out of the oven.
I let it rest in the fridge over night and broke out my food processor to make the slices thinner.

It is really great. We used a VERY lean ground beef and I left out the crushed red pepper because M doesn't like spicy food. Next time I'll add it. It needs a little kick. I could also look at rolling it in black pepper next time, too!

Oh, and the following pizza is almost completely scratch made (I didn't make the tomato sauce). It's homemade crust (from the ABI5M), homemade mozzerella, and homemade pepperoni.

It was good.

I wish I had a better camera to do it justice.

Henson's 11

2009-04-22T18:46:00.001-07:00

I was a huge Muppets fan as a teenager. This mash up made me laugh.

FO - Chemo Hat #2 for Edythe

2009-04-09T09:51:00.001-07:00

Just another hat. Have one more on the needles and am thinking about making her a fourth.

FO - Chemo Hat #1 for Edythe

2009-04-09T09:49:00.001-07:00

Just need to add a button to it. Will break out my FIMO clay to do that.

Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Pattern: Pi Topper Hat from Elann.com

FO - Hillary the Mermaid

2009-04-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is crocheted and I was so slow at making it.

I am Officially a Hick

2009-04-09T09:19:00.001-07:00

At least that's what J says. And here's why:

I am now the owner of a 1998 Pink Red Rider BB gun. Look in the trees - yes, they're can's of Schlitz tied to yarn and thrown into the trees. I use them for target practice.

For the record, guns scare the pants off of me but I do like to shoot targets with them. This is the first gun that has ever been allowed into my home. I needed to "shoot" off some steam. It's a lot of fun. I have never killed a living animal with a gun to date, but if those squirrels keep eating my sunflower seeds I have out for the birds, I may be tempted.

And, no, I won't shoot my eye out. I have protective eye glasses!

Got the LeGare working

2009-04-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

And here's my first 2 x 1 sock done with a 54/36 combo.

I'm not happy with the selvage - seems like it's too loopy. Any of you CSM'ers know how to fix this?

Oh, and these are being modeled by my 7 year old. She's getting so big.

Passap is broken

2009-04-06T06:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the other day I finally spent some time with the Passap and found that the yarn changer was broken - as in, I need to get a replacement part or the thing won't work kind of broken.

Damn.

Episode 011 - Siphoning Your Beer to the Bottling Bucket

2009-04-03T07:19:00.001-07:00

I for the life of me couldn't figure out how to siphon my beer using the racking cane that came with my kit. This is a GREAT video that shows you how to do it.

FWIW, I bought what's called an Auto Siphon. Even though I've seen the video I'm blogging about, I would still go out and pay the $12 it cost for the auto siphon.

http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com/AutoSiphon.html

10 years ago

2009-03-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

I was studying to become a licensed professional Engineer. After the test (May) we had to wait for results. In order to keep sane, I made this rocket:
I passed, but the rocket didn't survive. :(

I loved that rocket. It was supposed to go 16,000 feet (not a typo - We had the FAA on the line to make sure we wouldn't hit any airplanes) into the air and return. It disappeared into a cloud, never to be seen again.

Where the hell did the time go?

I have succumbed to the dark side

2009-03-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

I recently had an opportunity pop up when I mentioned on one of my many knitting lists that I started to feel the pull to buy a flat bed knitting machine. Well, one of these kind ladies offered up *her* Passup Duomatic 80 as she never was able to make it work well.

I am now the proud owner of a Passap Duomatic 80, complete with the Forma and Deco extensions.

Now I'll definitely have to join the D/FW Machine Knitter's Guild.

Daddy. . .

2009-03-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

will you come out and watch the sunset with me?
(You can't really see it here, but they're sitting on large rocks being sweet to each other.)

We had a difficult, emotional day yesterday. M knew just what to do to diffuse the whole thing.

Machine Knitting

2009-03-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

I took the LeGare 400 apart into all it's various little bits and let them soak in some Marvel Mystery Oil.
I let the machine soak for about a month - ostensibly because I wanted to let it soak, but really it's because there were SO many small parts that I was intimidated by the darn thing.

J's one of those people who is really good for me as he doesn't let me stay intimidated for long.

So this weekend I finally sat down and put the darn thing back together - and didn't have a single bit put out of place.

Yay for me!

Bad news, though: I need a new yarn carrier and possibly a new yarn mast. I stripped the threads on the end of the yarn mast. The yarn carrier keeps hitting the needles and isn't able to be adjusted. That's okay. I love the carrier I bought from Roxanna. I'll just have to get another.

The hootch

2009-03-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have over 100 bottles of home brew in various states. (Each crate in the stack holds 30 bottles and the top one has about half). The crate on the floor holds the clean empties.

I've actually started a Beer Calendar on Google to keep track of what's drinkable. We put letters on top of the bottles to denote what it is.

A = American Lager (from the "just add yeast & water" kit - excellent beer)
B = Bock (Just tasted one over the weekend and it needs another week so we can get rid of that yeasty taste)
C = Continental Light (Now it's called German Light)
R = Red (the bad batch that ended up working out okay)

I'll need to come up with a different letter for the stuff located in the Secondary right now as A for Amber won't work out.

J has been intrigued by the recent postings of people making wine out of Welches grape juice. So we ran by our favorite beer making place (Foreman's General Store in Colleyville). Here's our first crack at making wine - that yeast really made it active! It also drastically changed the color from a thick Mogen-David color to something lighter.

The bottles are from some cheap wine we purchased and consumed.

We'll see how it turns out.

Garden

2009-03-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

I stumbled on the idea to use newspaper for seedling pots. We've planted carrots, squash, peas, peppers, and arugula. AND!!

I'm actually using my greenhouse. . .

We also planted onions, rosemary & potatoes

And we also planted a spearmint plant:

I'm hoping that will take over.

J got a true kick out of me while I was planting the seeds. "Hey, this looks like the seeds in "

We kicked around a lot when I was a kid. We were never living in one place long enough to plant a garden. I'm still nervous none of this is going to work or that it's going to be too much work.

Time will tell.

2009 Books

2009-03-11T21:46:00.001-07:00

Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey
Cemetary Dance by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston
The Fire by Katherine Neville (lame ending)
Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child (predictable)
A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston (quick read)
The Devil's Eye by Jack McDevitt
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
From Dead to Worse by Charlain Harris
Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin
Dead and Gone by Charlain Harris
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher (read 1/2 - decided to read first in series)
Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce
Terrier by Tamora Pierce
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston
Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Tiger in the Well by Phillip Pullman
Shadow of the North by Phillip Pullman
The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman

2009 FO's

2009-03-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

Grumpasaurus
Felted Day Pack
CSM Socks
CSM Socks
CSM Socks
Heart for M

2008 FO's

2009-03-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

Baby Sweater
Baby Surprise Jacket
Small Pocketbook
Flamingo
Easter Bunny
Trinomial Cube Afghan
CSM Sock - First Ribbed Sock
CSM Sock - Size 10
CSM Sock - Size 13
Charity CSM Baby Hats
Binary Hat
CSM Sock - Comfort Southland
CSM Sock - Comfort Hari Hari
Four Pairs CSM Socks - Knit Picks Essential & Felicity
Another CSM Sock - Comfort Yarn
CSM Sock - Comfort Yarn
First pair of CSM socks
Lucy Bag
Jaywalker Ankle Socks

More comments on Twilight

2009-03-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

I noticed I got a comment from an anonymous commenter regarding my hate for Twilight.

First off, I love reading vampire novels and have read several.

Twilight just pisses me off. The novel just kept going and going and NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED.

Basically, I can sum up Twilight for you

Girl moves to cold place to live with a dad she really doesn't know.
Girl finds out the boy she likes is a vampire.
NOTHING HAPPENS with the boy/vamp.
The vamps have a baseball game and a psycho vamp decides he wants to kill the Girl.
Girl runs away from estranged dad to be tracked down by psycho vamp.
Boy/vamp kills psycho vamp.

The End.

There are better vamp books out there. Really.

The Susie Stackhouse series is the best, IMHO. There are others that are good, but Twilight is just filled with NOTHING.

I'm a fan of good story lines. I also really wanted Twilight to be a good book. I was very disappointed.

FO - Grumpasaurus

2009-03-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

I mentioned that I finished a Grumpasaurus. Here he is in all his cuteness.

I'm also knitting a Super-sized Captain Underpants. I'll post the modified pattern once I have all the details worked out. Here's a progress photo.

Here's where I am on the crocheted Mermaid. I was waiting on getting some peach colored Berroco Comfort. That and I also got some Comfort Chunky for the hair.

I also finished a pair of CSM socks for my mom. I'll post a photo later.

Brewing Beer

2009-03-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

I have brewing beer down. Granted, I still use kits, but it makes it easy and somewhat quick. Right now we have over 100 bottles waiting the requisite 6 weeks from brew date. We've found that's how long you need to let the beer age so the funky yeasty taste is gone.

In the mean time, I just bottled 49 bottles today of an American Bock. It's REALLY dark. I get nervous when the beer is that dark.

I moved a Continental Light from the primary fermentor to a secondary and brewed a new batch of Amber.

I like making home brew beer. It does spoil me when I drink the mainstream stuff. Two home brews is enough to get a quick buzz. They definitely have a little more of a kick.

I have been somewhat lucky. We've only had one batch that didn't work out and that was because I forgot to add a packet to one of the batches - I think it was to lower the pH of the wort. We've been adding them to chili and various other things that taste nice with beer. As soon as my oven is fixed, I'll have to whip up some beer bread.

Oh yeah. My oven burn element arced on Friday night and burned all the way through. We took the screws off, and found that one of the electrical leads burned up all the way into the oven - which means that we can't fix it ourselves. At least the stove top still works.

I also made a Grumpasaurus this weekend. J was impressed. I made it for him since it's the second thing he has asked me to knit. M immediately confiscated it for herself. It was a lot smaller than I thought it was.

I also cast on for a super-sized Captain Underpants. I sold the State Fair one in a church auction. In order to do that, I promised M I'd make her a large one. This is my attempt to make one a little more detailed. I'd like to make a Krupp outfit for this one.

I also have been working on a crochet mermaid. I just needed some peach Comfort in order to finish her. I got some on Saturday when I went to Yarns Ewenique - everything is 40% off as they're going out of business. Too bad. It was a cute shop and I could tell the ladies there were really nice.

The reason why I'm doing the crochet mermaid is because they have a great tutorial on how to do doll hair. I've been wanting to make a Franny K. Stein but couldn't figure out how to do the hair. Perhaps doing this pattern will help me figure it out.

I hate Twilight

2009-03-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

I really do. I read the book sometime last year - and hated it.

I just bought into the hype of the movie and finally watched it.

I hated it. I reminded me of why I hated the book so much.

I like to read vampire novels. This vampire novel, however, was deadly dull and *filled* with sexual frustration.

The movie just kept going on. . . and on. . . and on. J reminded me of when the boys of MST3K watched the movie The Killer Shrews. The boys were playing "The Killer Shrews" game. All the pieces were glued down because NOTHING HAPPENS while playing the game - just like the movie.

Twilight is the modern day Killer Shrews.

Don't waste your time. Really.

Post #700

2009-03-02T07:13:00.000-08:00

J was sweet today and made a new banner for this blog.

Since this is post #700, I thought it was time to overhaul CivilBitch's look to match.

For the record, I wouldn't be caught knitting any of those tacky sweaters.

J canz writez - Part 2

2009-02-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

J got two more books.

He edited two of them (one is the orange one above) and wrote chapters for the other two (the black and blue ones above). He's only received three out of four.

I'm terribly proud of him.

M is 7!

2009-02-27T08:25:00.001-08:00

I'm so glad M's birthday is over.

That may sound terrible, but it seems that the ramp up to the birthday started a month ago.

My folks gave her a Wii and we got it two weeks early. We set that up early. Partly because I wanted to play with it, too.

Then we got stuff from J's parents on the Thursday before her party. She's wearing her party dress she got from Grandma to her birthday party - M LOVES party dresses.

We had a Mad Science party with 15 kids. Here are the pics (Thank you so much COH!) We forgot our camera at home and we had someone with a camera phone take pics - at least we have something.

Love this photo - My kid - the know-it-all.

Then on Monday - she celebrated at school.

As she was going to bed on her birthday, she mentioned that she hated that it was over so soon.

Ugh!

Pilates Hell

2009-02-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

I have a good friend who has been kicking me into activity for the past three years. (Thanks, M).

We even now have J working out!

Yesterday, we all took our first Pilates class.

It. Kicked. My. Ass.

I'm not as sore today as I thought I would be, but I ended up falling asleep in front of the tube last night and ended up not going to a game night because I was just incredibly exhausted.

I am just amazed laying down on the ground and lifting legs and butts, etc. can be so taxing.

I plan on going next week, too.

We're okay

2009-02-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

Each day, J will occasionally look over to me and say, "It's okay. We're going to make it."

Currently, my business is just so slow. The clients can't borrow money in order to get stuff done. Cities are scaling back because the bond markets are just so bad.

I know we're not past the worst, but I do feel that we have hope.

We're going to be okay. Tight, but okay.

Weird KIP moment

2009-02-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

I've found that knitter's who knit in public (KIP) are generally very friendly people and more than happy to talk to you about your shared love of this hobby.

I went yesterday to get allergy shots - we have to stick around for 30 minutes after getting shots. There was a woman there knitting - which isn't something that happens a lot. So, I told her that I was a knitter, too and asked about her project.

Man.

She didn't want to talk to me AT ALL. Every question was answered with a monosyllabic response. At first I thought it was because she was counting and trying to keep the pattern - which I was very nice about and backed off, but when she put the knitting down, I tried talking to her again only to have the same response.

Bitch.

More Socks!

2009-02-19T07:13:00.000-08:00

I'm getting back into the groove with my CSM. Here are a pair of socks for a friend of mine's mother.

Women's Size 9
Paton's Stretch Sock Yarn
Leg: 50 rows 1x1 rib
PH: 10
Foot: 54 rows
Gage: 9 rows/inch

Interesting: Toe measuring 1.5"

FO - Felted Daypack

2009-02-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

I knitted this out of stash yarn for a church auction. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

CSM Socks!

2009-02-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

Made the socks with one of the hand-dyed yarns last night.

I'm dyeing

2009-02-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

yarn.

My neighbor is a true fiber artist and knows everything there is to know about them - at least that what it seems like. And she's also really humble about it, too.

Her kiddo's were off one weekend and she invited me over to show me how to dye yarn.

This is what the results were.

It's a lot more darker than what the photo shows - oh and that's the new floor laminate we have in our living room now - isn't it beautiful?

I also did the yarn dying class at the fiber retreat. Here it is drying:
Can't wait till I can knit this up into a pair of socks!!

Catching up

2009-02-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have been knitting/crocheting (!) and just not keeping up with my blog posts.

I just finished a heart for M. (Pop Heart by Diana Prince) It's made with kitchen cotton yarn.

She loves it.

I also just finished knitting a felted back pack that will be donated to a church auction (I belong to a local UU church now - I like it).

It's being felted right now. I'll post a photo when it's done. Made with some stash yarn (Reynolds Lite Lopi and Cascade 220).

I also finished up a square that will go into a guild afghan - we're going to enter into the State Fair.

It's the first time I was able to knit straight from a chart. Yay!

Fiber Retreat

2009-02-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

I spent Saturday and Sunday at a fiber retreat located just north of where I live.

It was a lot of fun as I schlepped my CSM. We had about 5 other CSM'ers there and I had a great time. The first day was terrible - I made three socks only to have to rip them out due to dropped stitches or screwing up some other way.

My CSM does not like to travel.

I had wanted to take my new LeGare 400, but it's so gunked up that it needed to soak some more in the MMO. I was finally able to take the v-cam off. I'm glad I did because the previous owner never did clean it up and the gunk build up has actually made the metal wear so much that I'm a little concerned about how it's going to work after it's been cleaned - i.e., there will be too much play in the v-cam. Time will tell.

The second day proved to be a little more productive - I got a pair of socks done - for me. I have a number of socks I have to make (Mom, I have my machine up and running - I'll start getting some whipped out for you.)

This pair was done with Lion Brand Sock Ease.

Leg: 60 rows 1x1 rib
10 row pre-heel
Foot: 44 rows (7.5 rows/inch gage)

Size 10.5 Women's

Happy Birthday Abe & Charlie

2009-02-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

Today is Abe Lincoln ("Abraham Lincoln is the sixteenth pres-i-dent") and Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.

Two extraordinary men.

Ugh-part 2

2009-02-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

So, I was told by the Editor of Craft magazine that they wanted to do an article on me for Craft:11.

Alas, there will not be a Craft:11. :(

I'm not all that upset about the article - I kept telling them to interview other CSM'ers 'cause I'm just a newbie struggling to figure out my machine.

I am upset there won't be a Craft: anymore.

RIP, Craft:.

RIP.

Ugh

2009-02-11T09:42:00.000-08:00

I just got a call from a client - he's in Florida trying to scare up some business.

It's been like this with all my clients - they just don't have money because they're investors disappeared almost literally overnight.

I have been watching a lot of debate of the the latest stimulus package. I am on the fence.

J said, "If we're in debt, do we go out and spend our way out or do we cinch up our belt and slowly pay off the debt."

Well, we don't borrow more money - that's for sure.

I absolutely hate how the TARP has been handled to date. The bankers really stuck their middle fingers up to the American people.

I'm just really frustrated right now.

The Repub's are pounding the tax relief drum, but since I'm doing my taxes right now, when would I get tax relief? Next year?

Proud Mama

2009-02-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

M was given an option, since she's in first grade, to participate in this year's science fair.

She loves anything dealing with science. I give the credit completely to Mad Science - we've been sending her to the after school program for about two years now and she LOVES it.

She decided to do something with Diet Coke and Mentos since she saw the Eepy Birds perform live at Maker Faire last year.

Her hypothesis: the fountains of cold and warm diet coke will be the same height when you add mentos to them.

We bought 7 liters of diet coke and a number of mentos (of course you have to have extra for sampling!)

I took three of them and put them in the oven at a very low heat. Another three were put in the fridge, and the last was kept at room temperature.

We took the temperature of the coke, added 4 mentos to it, and measured the fountain height.

Here's her science fair display.
She was so proud when she took to to school today. I was proud if her, too.

FWIW, the warm coke fountains were really higher than cold coke.

The Time - It Is Crawling. . .

2009-02-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

I got a package in the mail today - and it's from Canada.

Must. Resist. Opening. It.

Oh, and gotta go run by an auto parts store for Marvel Mystery Oil

Economic Stimulus Idea

2009-02-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Okay. I'm a small business person. My husband is also self employed. We meet up with a lot of people who would like to be self employed, but are held hostage to health care coverage. I mean that literally.

I pay $550 a month in health care premiums and that's for a crappy HSA. We were paying $1000 a month.

Why don't we get universal health care for every one - then people who have been wanting to start a business can do it without fear of bankrupting their family if anyone falls seriously ill.

I think that is a fine idea indeed. It will also put us on equal footing with the Canadians, the French and the Brits. You guys are so smart.

Pop Pies 2

2009-02-09T09:19:00.001-08:00

J has just released a new game.

It's fun and I hope you like playing it. I'll post it here when he releases it to the four winds.

Beware of IKEA furniture

2009-02-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

I have always liked the deals you can get from IKEA. We bought a number of items from IKEA. Almost three years ago, we bought an EKTORP sectional couch. We were a little skeptical about buying the couch as it was IKEA furniture, but they had 10 year warranty splashed all around the area and the assurances that we could bring it back if we had problems.

About a month ago I had called IKEA to see what I needed to do to get the couch fixed. I knew it was having troubles. The call center put a trace out to track down my receipt as I didn't have the original and said someone from the store will call me to tell me what I needed to do to get the warranty work started.

A week later, I got a call from the local IKEA store. I was informed that I had to bring the sofa to the store for inspection before they would authorize any work. I asked what the inspector would be looking for and the answer was "workmanship". I asked what that meant, and he replied, very rudely, "workmanship". I asked if there was any way I could pay for someone to come out to the house to look at the couch as I had to have the couch delivered. "No, you will have to bring it in. It's the only way." I asked if he could fax a copy of the receipt and he said is wasn't necessary - just bring it in.

So, when we cleared out the living room to get the flooring done, I actually got to see the extent of the damage - and it wasn't good. The center beam had sheared through the main frame and the back was coming undone.

First of all, the shearing was happening because there is no structural support at that location. It's bad design. In the photo above, what you're seeing is the cross beam below the frame. The frame beam has broken and the dowels going into the beam sheared straight through the beam. Maybe this photo will show it a little better.

The other real problem is the back is no longer stapled to the back beam. This is what it should look like:
Here's what it does look like:

To me, the staples are really bad quality and the whole reason why it's coming apart.

My friend doing the flooring installation was really nice and allowed me to use his truck - so I loaded the pieces up and got to IKEA - it was 10:30.

I had to wait for 20 minutes before I got someone to help me at the desk only to be told that this was not her usual station. She refused to get anyone to help me get the furniture into the store until she was able to track down the reciept - and she told me a number of times that it was MY responsibility to keep the original receipt and that she was just doing me a favor by tracking down the transaction. So, I had to wait for 40 minutes before she came back and said that they had a copy of the reciept. I asked for help with unloading the sofa and she wandered off. After getting one piece off the truck, I finally had someone come and offer to help. That took another 20 minutes to unload everything. I was then told to wait till they had their quality control guy look over the sofa.

By this time, I was a little hot so I told the guys that I needed to cool off and I went to look at stuff. After a half an hour, I came back and waived at the Customer Service guys to show them I was back. It took them another 10 minutes to get a manager. Kim, the manager, came up and told me that her QC guy looked at the sofa and determined that it was not a workmanship issue.

I told her that I did not agree and tried to explain to her that the wood sheared right at the joint. Then she told me that she had the same sofa and had a 3 year old niece come and jump on her sofa and it broke in the same place as where the damage was on my sofa.

I must admit that I thought I was calmed down pretty well when I came back. When she told me about her niece, she was basically telling me that we were abusing the furniture. I told her that it was very insulting that she told me that because it just sent a message to me that she believed that we were abusing the furniture.

I was really upset.

I asked if there was any one I could appeal this to, and she said no. The decision was made. So I told her that I wanted to load it back onto the truck and asked if I could have help. She helped wheel it out to the truck and then told me that I had to wait for help. I looked at her and told her that I had been here for two and a half hours and that I wasn't going to wait any more. I also told her that this was terribly inconvenient to have to haul the whole couch here to find out the warranty was not what was originally billed to us. She said that someone could have come out to look at the damage. I must admit that at that point I yelled. I told her that I called two weeks ago and asked. She said that that was a call center and they wouldn't know. I told her that NO it wasn't the call center it was a person from THIS store. Well, she would have to take this issue up with the managers of the store to see if they could offer this service. I was so mad at this point that I started to load the furniture onto the truck myself. THEN I got the help I needed to get it loaded.

Ugh.

Never. Again. Will. I. Buy. Furniture. That. Can. Be. Sat. On. Or. Slept. In. From. IKEA.

Plus their customer service SUCKS.

I'm also a savvyer person now when it comes to warranties. Workmanship warranties aren't worth a damn.

So, now I'm having a furniture repair guy come to see if it can be repaired fairly inexpensively. An upolsterer wanted $500 to fix it and said that it wouldn't last.

Make the hemoraging of money stop. . .

More Updates to the Home

2009-02-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, J found a post on Craigslist for some wood laminate. Turns out the family had the laminate in their kitchen and their dishwasher backed up and ruined a large spot. They salvaged what was left (325 SF). This included all the padding. While getting quotes on installation, we found out that the flooring/padding is top quality so I feel good about the deal.

It's being installed by a good friend right now and I have to admit that I was on the fence regarding putting this in my living room. I have wood paneling (oak) and am gun shy with putting wood with faux wood.

BUT! I was wrong to be worried. Here's what it looks like as it's being installed.

Getting excited about moving back in.

FO - Beachbum Outfit

2009-02-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

The pattern was confusing on how to put the "life jacket" together and how to sew the trunks. It would be nice to have had a better photo.

Just a link so I won't forget

2009-02-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across a great tutorial on how to do bust darts. I'm just putting it here so I won't lose it.

Nerd crush

2009-02-02T06:48:00.000-08:00

I guess crush is really the wrong way to describe this, but I've been fascinated by the idea of wearable electronics. When I went to Maker Faire in 2007, I spent HOURS at one of the areas trying to get a simple soft circuit to work (I never did).

I have an RSS feed to the Craft: and Make: blogs and they have been recently pimping the LilyPad system. I want to order a kit, but don't have any idea what I would do with it.

I guess I'll keep on dreaming.

New Toy on it's way

2009-02-01T19:34:00.001-08:00

This was a deal that I just felt like I couldn't pass up. It was for sale on eBay for $350. A LeGare 400 with a 54 cylinder/36 ribber dial.

The knitting you see here dates back to the 80's from what I got from the seller.

It definitely will need a good cleaning.

2009-02-01T17:18:00.001-08:00

I'm torn about who to root for - Cardinals first time, but Kurt Warner is annoyingly fundy. Steelers pos. 6x winner, but has youngest coach.

2009-02-01T17:14:00.001-08:00

Wipeout is a RERUN. Come on. If you pimp out to switch to you for the half time show, at least make it original content.

2009-02-01T17:13:00.001-08:00

The kitty bowl half time show just isn't a cute as the puppy bowl. They just look scared all the time.

2009-02-01T17:12:00.001-08:00

DH mentioned that Bruce is becoming more like my generation's Jimmy Buffet. Will we start seeing Glory Day's restaurants?

FO - Pirate Sheldon Outfit

2009-01-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

I need to add a little elastic to help hold the hat on. I did a three stitch cast-on i-cord along to top of the hat because I didn't like the way the single crochet looked.

I also started on the Beachbum Outfit. One problem I have is that the photo's on the pattern really aren't that clear - only a photo in one direction. The Beachbum outfit has LOTS of elements to it that I'm having a little trouble visualizing them as I knit.

Counters - After

2009-01-22T14:52:00.000-08:00

I'm very pleased.

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - AfterKitchen Island - before

Kitchen Island - after

Here's where my sink is. The tile is all new.
Guest Bathroom - before
Guest Bathroom - after

The nice thing is that we do have tile on both bathroom floors - and they look really nice. We're probably going to tile the utility room, hall, and kitchen with the same stuff. Here's a photo from the hall.

The utility room before
The utility room after
Utility sink before

Utility Sink afterMaster bath before
Master bath after

Turns out the counter top guys broke off the pipe that goes into the master bath sinks. That's why you see a nice big hole in the bottom.
If you ever replace counter tops, don't forget to factor in the cost for a plumber. The counter tops guys set the sinks and left. $1,500 + later, we get the sinks all put back together - which is not something we planned for. Since the home was built by a homeowner, the plumbing is a little screwy. Plus, it's been a while and they have to upgrade stuff as they come across them - our supply lines were screw in and have a tendency to leak if you re-connect stuff to them.

All in all I'm pleased. Next up is to tile and laminate the floors downstairs (which all this work was done - downstairs). I'm also rethinking the yellow in my utility room.

FO - Sheldon

2009-01-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

I got a gift certificate for my birthday this year from my in-laws to Knit Picks. I had been eying the Sheldon kits, so I bought both. M wants the Beach Bum Sheldon - so I was about to cast on for that shell and - crap! - the kit didn't have the right color in it. The kit fulfillment people ran out and substituted a light blue. It's just not the same. I called and they had turquoise in stock and are sending it to me gratis. Thanks, Knit Picks! What great customer service!

Counters - Before

2009-01-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

My home is 25 years old this year (We've been here only 5 of those years) and it's time to upgrade. I did some work for a local granite counter top company and we struck a deal - basically for the cash equivalent of replacing my kitchen, I could replace all flat surfaces on my first floor.

So here are the before pictures.

My kitchen:
Nice faux wood laminate.
The island in the kitchen.
The guest bathroom
The utility room
The utility sink
Master bath - look at that faux marble-y goodness - away it goes!
Along with the gawd-awful sinks!
The guys are installing the counter tops right now. I'll get after photo's later.

Whoot!

J canz writez

2009-01-21T09:50:00.001-08:00

J has just received a copy of his first book (he wrote an article in this one, two others he was an editor). Congrats, J!

Daring Bakers December 2008 Challenge

2008-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

This challenge took the most time of all the challenges I have done so far - but it was really fun.

There were so many different places to start on this bugger. We had to make six elements:

Dacquoise Biscuit
Mousse
Ganache Insert
Praline (Crisp) Insert
Creme Brulee Insert
Icing

After looking through the PAGES and PAGES of the challenge, I decided to start on the Creme Brulee since it takes three hours (one hour to infuse, one hour to bake, and another to freeze). One of the options was to infuse the Creme Brulee with lavender - which I did. . .

After tasting the final product, I wish I hadn't infused with lavender. If the log was white chocolate based, then I can see it being tasty. As it was, the lavender just didn't go with the dark chocolate and hazelnuts. Should have gone with vanilla bean.

The next thing was to make some praline powder for the praline crisp layer. Here's a photo of the caramel.

And the one cup of hazelnuts mixed in and poured out onto a parchment paper to cool:

Next I had to make get the Dacquoise Biscuit started. Here's the egg whites whipped up with sugar.
Then I added the hazelnut meal. Here's the biscquit before I baked it. I made the size approximately the size of my "mold". I put this in the oven.
Then I put the hazelnut pralines in my food processor.
I added the egg yolks to the lavendar infused cream, and put it in the oven with a water bath.
Here's what the biscuit looked like when it was done cooking.I then finished up the praline crisp. I forgot to get a photo of the finished product, but here's the chocolate melting in a double boiler. I used rice crispies for that layer and now wish that I had mushed the rice before adding it to the chocolate. It stilled worked well.
Here's the creme brulee finshed and in the freezer.
Part of the mousse is to make a pate bombe. Here're the yolks being whipped until white-ish.
Here's the sugar syrup I made that will be added to the yolks.
This is the chocolate & 1/2 cup whipped cream mixture.

This is what the egg yolks looked like after I added the syrup.

Next thing left is to assemble the log. I put in some plastic wrap.
Added 1/3 of my mousse.
Put the creme brulee on top.
Added another 1/3 of the mousse. . .

I didn't get a photo, but I put the praline crisp and the final 1/3 mousse on that. Then came the dark chocolate ganache and I cut the biscuit down to fit the bottom of the loaf. This went into the freezer for an over night freeze.

Today, I mixed up the cream and cocoa.

But softened the gelatine at the same time I was boiling it.
Here's what it looked like after I added the gelatine. This icing was made with Special Dark cocoa and it was so black in color.
This is what the loaf looked like right after pulling it from the freezer.

After I iced the loaf. . .Since I had some hazelnut praline powder left over, I dusted the sides.

Here's what it looked done and ready to go.
I took it to church and here it is being cut into many different pieces. The praline crisp layer made it difficult to cut - which is another reason why I wished I had crushed them smaller when making the crisp.
Wow! What a challenge! I really felt like I was being a true pastry chef!

Maker Faire

2008-12-21T18:34:00.000-08:00

This is cool. I was video taped at Maker Faire and it was just posted earlier this week.

Antique Sock Knitting Machines - CRAFT Video Podcast from make magazine on Vimeo.

M being a supermodel

2008-12-21T18:28:00.001-08:00

57
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

M had a great time in Cozumel - mainly because there were more kids there her age this year. That, and she was not afraid to go to the Pirate's Club this time. When the kids were at the club, the professional photographer's came around and took pictures. She hammed it up for the camera and they said that she was a supermodel that day.

Click here if you want to see her in all her supermodel glory.

Silly goose.

Home again!

2008-12-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

So after the big marathon trip to Nashville and Las Vegas, we were actually home for a week before we headed off to Cozumel, Mexico.

Yeah, we went away for ANOTHER week.

I have never been so happy to be home. We arrived home on Saturday around 6 pm and had a party in Granbury were were invited to.

I became an absolute brat and put my foot down and said I wasn't going to go. I just had to sleep in my own bed that night. We woke up early and I had a HOT shower - the first in a week. We then headed off and got a Starbucks - I was tired of having really bad coffee. It was heaven.

We ended up going to Granbury and found out that we missed out on a singing cowboy the night before. We were sad to hear, but it was nice to see all our friends.

I have been hand knitting and will post my projects later. It's just so nice to be home.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T18:05:00.001-08:00

MaggieSanta08
Originally uploaded by civilgrrl

M with Santa when we went to Las Vegas.

I wanna go home

2008-12-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

Really.

We've been on the road since Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It's Friday - the second Friday we've been away from home.

Fun stuff we've done:

Seen J's family in Nashville. Ate at Aquarium restaurant there for J's birthday. M essentially disappeared as she was glued to the hips of her cousins. I missed her a great deal.

We got to Las Vegas last Saturday and stayed downtown at the Gold Nugget. M got to see the big movie in the sky. She also declared the Gold Nugget pool to be the coolest pool EVER. They have a slide and you get to slide through a shark tank towards the bottom. We actually opened the pool and closed it in one day.

Monday rolled around and we had to move hotels to the MGM - it's the hotel we stayed at for the Autodesk University. The twin beds were twin queens, not two twins. M & I actually got some good sleep. The day before my birthday, M & I went to see Mama Mia. We didn't make it through the whole show as M just got too tired. We still had a good time.

On Thursday, we went to Craftsteak located at the MGM. It's one of Tom Colicchio's restaurants. I wanted to eat in a celebrity chef restaurant. We stopped by a couple of them that were located in the MGM. One actually had a menu starting at $459 per person. (Yikes!)

Tonight is Friday - we're tuckered out and really just want to be home. M want's to go down to the Excaliber midway (yes, we're staying there tonight) and we just don't have the room to fit one more stuffed animal - so she's a little upset with us right now. That and the Excaliber doesn't have Nickolodeon - which is M's all time favorite channel. So she's essentially unpleasant right now.

So we get home tomorrow only to leave one week later for Cozumel.

AU Day 3

2008-12-04T17:08:00.001-08:00

I felt like such a fan boy today - I saw Dana Probert was speaking at the conference and had to go stalk her down and say hi.

I did buy her book on the Expo floor today. I'm finding that there's SO much about Civil3D I just don't know. I think the book will be a great reference.

Also, it's my birthday today. So happy birthday to me, damn it!

Autodesk University

2008-12-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

AU rocks. It just does. I'm here and just am learning a great deal. Plus, it's in Las Vegas - let's face it, Vegas is great.

I'm halfway through and have already used some of the tricks I've learned - plus AU has the added benefit of making you feel so not worthy!

Looking forward to going home, though. We went to Nashville for Thanksgiving and flew directly to LV. I want my own bed. . .

Terrible

2008-11-21T13:41:00.000-08:00

I am just death on television shows. If I like it, it will be canceled. J gleefully points this out. He just IM'd me this gem.

I just found out that Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, and Dirty Sexy Money won't be renewed for next year. All three are on my DVR series that I record.

Damn.

Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money doesn't surprise me. Eli Stone does. I guess I have a soft spot for musical style stuff. Blame it on my college, I-love-Andrew-Lloyd-Weber, days.

Another show that's being canceled: Boston Legal. That show makes me laugh out loud. I don't do that often as I'm a jaded television watcher (read: I watch too much).

More socks & such

2008-11-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

I saw a cute scarf made on a CSM on Ravelry, so I tried to make one myself. It's not finished - I have to add eyes, nose & a pom pom at the end.

Isn't it cute?

Next: Joann's Socks N More sock yarn size 13 mens (gotta Kitchener it close):
Thought I was making a size 13, but the gauge is off. This will probably go to my big foot nephew.
This is a size 9 Women's knee high sock. Elann.com Sock-it-to-me sock yarn (great value)
Trekking cotton yarn (Women's 10)
Re-knitted the square toed sock (Women's 7)

Still have more to crank out!

Sad Anxiety

2008-11-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

My local Curves is closing. (Curves is an exercising place)

It's the only regular exercise program that I've successfully done for over 2 and a half years.

Things are already uncertain right now and it's that uncertainty that is stressing everyone out. But how uncertain is it, really? I wake up and things are still the same.

I just get anxious when I read the news. Are things really this bad or is it just our imaginations?

Ribbit, Ribbit

2008-11-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

I know I sound like a broken record, but I do have my ribber working VERY WELL. So well, that I knocked out a number of ribbed socks last weekend. Three pairs of socks for M.
Red Heart's Heart & Sole yarn (Tropical Stripes). This is also ribbed down the top of the foot!!!! M loves the socks as they're all knee highs.
Lion Brand Sock Ease. The pair M wanted to wear first - she loves all things pink.
Another Red Heart Heart & Sole (Watermelon Stripes)

These are for me. Berroco Sox. I LOVE the colors for these socks.
I also did a fifth pair, but I forgot to knit the toe. I was so tired when I made this I even SEWED the darn thing up! Gotta square foot?

Best GIS Site Ever

2008-11-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Another boring CAD post. Just trying to keep this info in one place.

Great GIS info available for download for the state of Texas:

TNRIS.

Very cool.

Has all Digital Raster Graphics available for download (use the UTM ones) so you can import them into AutoCAD. FREE!! (Squee!)

More Socks!

2008-11-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been on a bit of a CSM adventure as I was determined to get my ribber running smoothly. At Maker Faire, I was able to crank Sarah Easter's Legare 400 a couple of times with it loaded with ribber needles. It turned so nicely and easily. It's always been a struggle with mine. That and the eating of the latches started to become expensive.

Thanks to the SockMachineFriends Yahoo! group, I got the diagnosis: The nose on my tappet plate was too blunt. I used some metal sand paper and sanded the nose into a duck tail so the nose will direct the latches to the side rather than snap off.

It worked.

Then I made a You Tube video to see if any of the more experience CSM'ers could help me out. They are amazing! I did the adjustments and my machine is working really well - finally!

So, I have whipped up two pairs of ribbed socks and an i-pod cozy over the past two nights.

First pair:

These are going in the mail as soon as I get them washed.

Leg: 1x1 rib for 50 rows
Pre-heel: plain for 10 rows
Foot: (I forgot - I'll have to look this up)
Womens Size: 7.5

With the i-pod cozy. This time I didn't turn a toe. That's why it's nice and square (Sarah's idea). I'm on the fence regarding sewing in a zipper.

Second Pair (Tasha's):
Leg: 1 x 1 rib for 20 rows, 3 x 1 rib for 50 rows
Pre-heel: 10 rows all stockinette
Foot: 48 rows
Women's size 9

I also started a new blog: http://circularsockmachinefaq.blogspot.com

Daring Bakers October 2008 Challenge

2008-10-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

Bah.

I need to start putting these posting dates on my calendar - I missed it by a day!

But, I did do the challenge!

From the DB Kitchen page:

THE CHALLENGE: You have to use the tossing method (as explained below) for at least 2 Pizza Crusts. If you are not comfortable with it, then you can switch to the rolling method, but you HAVE to try the traditional method and exercise it, using at least two dough pieces. You should also capture the moment by either filming or photographing yourself while tossing the dough.

So, I made the pizza. Here's the dough flattened and resting for two hours before I start to throw it.
My pizza peel prepped.
Here's me tossing it - this was tough to get as my camera has a pretty long delay
Put on the peel to dress it.

For the first pizza, I made a simple red sauce (this is from a jar of Ragu with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled and a spoonful of chopped garlic).

Add some pepperoni . . .And some cheese. . .

Bake for 8 minutes and it was a HUGE hit with the family. "This is WAY better than store bought, mom!"
For my experimental pizza, I tried to replicate the Thai Chicken Pizza. From my local Krogers, I bought some peanut sauce.

Then I grated some carrots on that and put some grilled chicken on top.

Add cheese and - most importantly, a little bit of cilantro. . .
The first pizza was such a hit, I had to hurry to get a finished pizza picture.

This was dead on, BTW. Really delicious.