Crafts - Cleaning out the sewing closet

My quilting guild is doing a UFO Challenge this year that I decided to sign up for.  I've agreed to complete 5 of my ufo's with one being due every other month.  When I came home and told Kate about it, we pulled out all of the UFO's I could find, took out the ones we really didn't care if I ever completed, and picked out 5.  Of course, there were more I wanted to get done too, but maybe next year, or not.

Anyway, here's the first of my UFO Challenge quilts.  I started it at a guild workshop with Karla Anderson, made about 12 blocks and put it away.  I wasn't sure I was going to like the finished quilt.  Boy was I wrong. I really like how it came out.

So while I was pulling out my UFO's I also found this quilt top that had been around for quite some time.  I think I dyed the fabrics in 2002 or 2003.  Then they sat in my fabric stash until the end of 2005 when I made it one of my cabin projects, decided on the yellow brick road pattern, and put the blocks together.   Boy, was it bright.  I wasn't too happy with it.

I had already cut out the borders, batting, and backing and then left it sitting in the linen closet pretty much for the last 4 years.  After pulling it out with all of the other UFO, and even though this isn't one of my UFO projects, I decided it was just time to finish the quilt already.  And here it is.

A bit loud, isn't it. But I think it might actually spend some time on my bed.  I am so tickled to have gotten this done.

It feels so good to be quilting again!

Life - The shock of working again.

I wasn't really prepared to go back to work.  I was very ready to to be retired.  But, we had decided this would be a good thing, so back I went.

Mind you.  I have worked from home full time for 5 years, and part time for 5 or more years before that.  So, I was very concerned about the noise of working in a cubicle farm.  I'm used to being the only one around.  No one making any noises but me.  Now I know I should really have been afraid of the silence.  This place is creepy quiet at times considering how many people work here.  No one is on the phone, everyone talks in whispers to each other.  Maybe if they realized I don't know how to whisper they might not have hired me.

Of course, there is one place where it's no holds barred, and that's the kitchen.  You walk in there and everyone is talking all at once, very loud and animated, in at least three different languages.

There are the other things that I have to deal with, like "coming out" to everyone.  Best line yet - "you don't look like one."  I just smiled and told her we come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and smiled.  We're daily lunch buddies now.

Then there are funny things, like IM'ng each other even though we just have to look over the 3 foot cubicle wall to see each other.  I am not kidding.  My lunch buddies and I sit three in a row, and we have these long conversations each day without even uttering a sound.   Some days I just want to laugh out loud.

I've also made it through withdrawals.  I am living without getting on the internet for any personal reasons and it's no longer making me crazy that I can't check my email.  (No, I haven't entered the world of 3g or 4g phones, but I did finally add texting to my phone.)

This week the thing that got my attention had to do with aromas.  Monday, the ladies room smelled like Double Bubble Bubblegum.  The problem with that is that I can no longer handle sugary smells.  Yuck.  Then yesterday someone walked down my aisle with a very sugary pastry.  I didn't see it, but I sure could smell it.  OK, I can deal with the silence better than the sugar smells.

The one thing I'm not adjusting to is the loss of "me" time.   Our evenings and weekends had been ours to do with as we want for the past two years.  Now, that time is when we get all the chores done that I used to do during the day.  At least I was able to change my hours from 8-5 to 7-4.   But I'm still not making it to the gym, or getting much sewing done.  Of course, tonight was really the first night we didn't have to do anything, and I'm sitting here writing this blog.

So on that note, I'm off to do something for me in the 1 1/2 hours I have left to my day.

Food - Crock Pot - Blah Healthy Chicken

I had my second crock pot failure yesterday.  The first one was in 2009.  I don't remember what recipe it was, but I do remember that it was from the same cookbook that I used yesterday.  


At least I did learn a lesson from it that served me well this time.  Back then I had made recipe that completely filled my crock pot, and it hurt me to have to throw the entire thing away.    So, when I tried this "Healthy Chicken" recipe from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly by Phyllis Pellman Good, I decided to cut the recipe in half and use the smaller crock pot.  And it was a good thing I did.  I would have hated throwing away four pounds of chicken.  


For starters, the chicken was overcooked.  But it called for 3 1/2 to 4 hours on high, and I had it on high for 2 hours and then I turned it to low since we were leaving the house for a while.  So it was only in there for a total of 3 1/2 hours.  What I was surprised to see was how much liquid was in the pot considering I didn't add any in the first place.  It literally sucked the juice from the chicken thighs and left them really dry.  We ate it, but it wasn't a very appetizing meal.  


I suspect I need to learn a bit more about how crock pots cook food.  


I just got The gourmet vegetarian slow cooker : simple and sophisticated meals from around the world by Lynn Alley out of the library.  Lot's of choices for my next slow cooker experiment.

Knitting - Toe Up - 2 at a time socks - First Pair

Since I can't knit at the moment due to hand eczema (yuck) I thought I'd share my latest completed project.  A couple of years ago I found this book by Melissa Morgan-Oakes.  I was thrilled.  I had a number of single socks floating around that I never finished the second sock.



I actually unraveled the socks and started each pair over.  I fell in love with the technique, but I still hated doing the Kitchener stitch to sew the toes together.

Then last year, while on vacation in Solvang, I found this book by Wendy D. Johnson



Of course, I couldn't be satisfied with just starting with the toes, I wanted to start toe-up AND do two at a time.  I somehow managed to get the first pair figured out on my own, but it was very difficult to get the first two rows done.  So I did a little more research and found this book, again by Melissa Morgan-Oakes.



What more could I ask for.  I was in heaven.  And, of course, I immediately started on another pair of socks.

Here they are in progress and completed.

Lessons learned - read the instructions completely.  I didn't quite get the toes correct because I didn't read the part about knitting in the back of the stitch to prevent twisting.  Which leads me to how I got hand eczema in the first place.

Since I really wanted to learn the technique, I immediately started on another pair of socks, which made three pair of "wool" socks in a row, and I'm also working on a sweater with wool yarn.  So, the dermatologist figures I've developed a sensitivity to the yarn.   After this clears up, I'll try knitting something with some wonderful cotton yarn I have.

Food - Crock Pots - Chili

Heading back to work soon.  Being out of work for two years, I've been doing all of the cooking.  But my work schedule is going to be 9-5, and KR is working 6-3ish.  Which really changes our schedules a bit.   I decided to get a new 7 quart Crock Pot so I can do the cooking in the morning instead of when I get home at night.  I had to get one with timers I can set so it shuts off or goes to warm when it's done.  My little 4-Qt one needs to rely on me deciding when to turn it off.

Due to the fact that we won't have our new fridge till Saturday, I haven't been able to experiment with the crock pot.  But I like it already because I can make a double recipe of my chili in it.  Chili freezes very well, and I can use the small canning jars for lunch time servings that we can grab in the morning and it'll be defrosted by lunch time.

Here's my chili recipe.

      Title: Slow-cooked Chili

 Categories: Main dish, Legumes, Crockpot

      Yield: 10 Servings

      2 lb Extra-lean ground beef

      2    16 oz. cans Kidney beans,

           Rinsed and drained

      2    14 1/2-oz cans tomatoes

           Low-sodium, undrained

      1    8-oz. can low-sodium tomato

           Sauce

      2    Onions medium-size chopped

      1    Green bell pepper, chopped

      2    Garlic cloves, minced

      2 T  Chili powder

      2 ts Salt, optional

      1 ts Black pepper

           Shredded low-fat cheddar

           Cheese, optional

           Sour cream - optional

  1. Brown beef in nonstick skillet (or microwave strainer).

  2. Place in slow cooker

  3. Add all ingredients, except cheese.

  4. Cover.  Cook on high 4 hours or on low 8-10 hours.

  5. Garnish individual servings with cheese and/or sour cream if

  desired.

 

  Note:  Serve as a soup, or as a topping for rice or potatoes.

 

  Per Serving:  270 Calories (80 calories from fat), 9g total fat
  (3.5g saturated, 9g trans), 35mg cholesterol, 1220mg sodium, 
  22g total carbohydrage (6g fiber, 6g sugar), 25g protein, 25%DV 
  vitamin A, 20%DV vitamin C, 10% DV calcium, 20% DV iron.

 

  By:  Bernice A. Esau - North Newton, KS and Carol Sherwood - 
  Batavia  NY

  From: Fix-it and Forget-it Lightly by Phyllis Pellman Good