The Audio Chick with Sticks

314. Lest We Forget

2009-11-12T00:29:00.001-05:00

Today is Remembrance Day. I hope that everyone partook in a ceremony, and if you couldn’t, at least tuned in to a broadcast. I don’t care what your views of war are, it is important to thank those who are giving their all, and sometimes their lives to help others. Past, present, or future. To all those who are in the military or have family in the military, thank you.

-Cheers folks!

313. My Cookies

2009-11-10T22:21:00.000-05:00

I baked again. Apparently one oatmeal something or other wasn’t enough. This time it was cookies though. A whole lot less work than bread I will admit, and yet such a different satisfaction. They’re not sweet like most cookies, and these ones have a very cake like texture. I think I added too much flour. They’re still lovely though. Once again, the roommates love me. I made them fairly big, and thought they would level out and get bigger, but they didn’t. At all. Now I have these big chunky mounds of chocolate oatmeal cookies. Love them so much.

-Cheers folks!

312. My Bread

2009-11-09T22:25:00.001-05:00

I have apparently gone domestic. I spent this afternoon baking bread. Not just any bread though, I made oatmeal brown bread from scratch. It was so worth it too. I got one decent sized loaf and two dozen small rolls. They didn’t quite rise up as much as I would have liked, but they are still so very lovely. I do enjoy a nice dense and heavy bread though, so it’s wonderful by my standards. The first rise session was wonderful, it pretty much doubled in size, but when I separated it in two, put one half in the loaf tin, and divided up the rest into the muffin tins, that seemed to be all it wanted to rise. So I do have a fairly low loaf, but once again, that’s okay by me. My housemates commented on how wonderful the house smelled, I am not disagreeing. I now have loads of ingredients for more of everything. Maybe tomorrow I’ll bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Oooo, I like the sounds of that. Now I need to find a recipe.

-Cheers folks!

311. My Whoops Again

2009-11-08T14:52:00.001-05:00

Between work, the theatre (one show over, doing two night next weeks, and the musical just beginning), and being social with my housemates I have barely had any time to take photos in decent lighting conditions. I have managed to finish a beret which might be too small, and a shawl that I forgot the plain purl rows on, so it has gone to the frog pond. Alpaca does not frog well. It kind of makes me sad. In any case, it will get started again, this time with the purl rows as indicated. The beret is nice. I’m glad I chose a wool and not an alpaca, there is no way it would have had the memory for the ribbed brim. I might cast on the second go with a larger needle though, the 5mm seemed a little dense for my liking.

I really like alpaca though, so I’m glad I’ve got it for the shawl.

Even the purl side is pretty. I’ll be very glad to not have to do all that patterning on the purl side though. That’s for sure.

The beret turned out nice. I tried it on before I blocked it, and unfortunately I think it might be a touch short. Hopefully the blocking makes it better.

I got some funny looks from my housemates as I put a wet hat on a dinner plate, but I explained it and they only think I’m slightly crazy now. That’s okay, I can deal with slightly crazy.

-Cheers folks!

305. My New Projects

2009-11-02T22:30:00.001-05:00

A dear knitting friend of mine cast on a fairly sizable project a day or so ago, and he’s nearly done it. I do not understand, seeing as I don’t believe he has perfected the slowing of time, but if he has, I would really like him to share it with me. Seeing as I have been on a shawl kick for a while, and wanted a nearly instant gratification project, I went out today and picked up the yarn.

It is a wonderfully soft Alpaca from Estelle. A nice deep gray mix in a just over worsted weight. It reminds me of the Misti Alpaca I used for my Danica a couple years ago. I got three skeins, which is about 325 yards. I hope it will be enough seeing as the pattern calls for 400 yards, but that’s all the store had. I picked up some DK wool to make a beret to match the shawl too. I knew that I didn’t want to use the same yarn for the shawl as the hat, especially when I found the alpaca and fell in love. Alpaca looses all definition, and I needed something that would stay together at the ribbing, and still be a little slouchy. I’m not sure how I’ll like the beret, I’ve never worn one before, but with my hair as it is, I don’t think toques are the best and most stylish options. We shall see. I’ve currently got 1.5 repeats out of 4 done on the shawl and I’m not even half done the first ball of alpaca, so here’s hoping things turn out alright.

-Cheers folks!

304. My New Month, New Day

2009-11-01T22:20:00.000-05:00

It’s November 1st already. Where has 2009 gone? I finished up Daybreak, and it looks awesome. It’s blocking now, and instead of being triangular like most of the FOs on Ravelry seem to be, mine is more of a chevron. It is huge though. While I was knitting it, I never expected it to be so big, and I only did the small size. The pattern is well written, fun, and fairly quick. I would totally do it again, just not in the yarns that I did. They didn’t exactly like the needles I was using, slipping when I didn’t want them to, and sticking when I needed them to slip. It did soften up nicely with a good wash though, which made me very happy. Overall, I give this project a thumbs up. Finishing things always makes me happy, and this is no exception. I’ll get some action shots soon.

-Cheers folks!

303. My Happy Hallowe’en

2009-10-31T23:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Hallowe’en! I had a good time. Worked during the day, then got all dressed up (sorry, no photos of me seeing as I had the camera) and went first to Rideau Hall. That’s right, we went to trick-or-treat at the Governor General’s house. They had a bit of an outdoor haunted house set up, nothing too extravagant, but still it was pretty cool. We got loot bags (chips, a chocolate bar, a piece of gum, a sucker, and rockets), and then we proceeded to go downtown for the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was a blast and a half. I’m very glad that of all the guys in drag that I saw, they all pulled it off quite well. I do believe that I will be finding rice in everything for a while though, it’s worse then sand.

-Cheers folks!

302. My Return to the Kitchen

2009-10-30T23:43:00.000-04:00

I missed two days, so to make up for it, here are some pictures of my kitchen.

Dirty dishes, half from supper, half from desert.

My kitchen. Small, but functional.

Supper today was SO GOOD. Besides going for groceries in the rain, setting off the smoke alarm, nearly putting a rotten egg in with the meat, not having a big enough frying pan for the meatballs, nearly spilling all the sauce while putting the dish in the oven, accidentally dumping the pot with the potatoes in it on the floor, and spilling the sauce while taking it dish out of the oven.... it was a good supper and totally worth the three hours. Yea, I went for groceries at 5, and I put my plate with the dirty dishes at 8. Totally worth it though. Sweet and Sour meatballs (all from scratch). That includes making the meatballs, I fry mine, some people bake them, but I find that dries them out. Also, making the sauce. So easy. Take a can of condensed tomato soup, a bit of mustard, double that in ketchup, add a heap of brown sugar (I don’t know, half a cup or so), and a touch of vinegar. Mix, and done. Told you it was easy.

I took an hour or so, knitting and watching TV, then realized I wanted something sweet. I had nothing on hand, so it meant going out again. Thankfully the rain had stopped. I decided on making peanut butter cookies. But of course, me being me, I didn’t want just plain old peanut butter cookies, I wanted the ultimate peanut butter cookie. With chocolate. I used this recipe, but opted out of peanut butter cups, and was going to use Hershey Kisses instead, but I couldn’t find any of them at the store. I guess that’s what happens when you’re at the 24-hour grocery store (which I don’t care for too much anyways because their selection is sparse to begin with) at 10pm on a Friday. They didn’t have any baking soda either. I fixed that by adding more baking powder and leaving out the salt. I used chocolate chips in the middle of the cookies, which I put into muffin tins instead of on a cookie sheet. Partly because that’s what they did in the recipe, and partly because I didn’t want to dig through the kitchen to try and find a cookie sheet. Oh, another thing I was missing: measuring cups and spoons. Oops. I used a small Tupperware dish that I’m pretty sure is half a cup, in any case, I used it as a measure and worked things around that, except the flour, which I just poured in and mixed till I got a consistency I liked. I made 21 balls, pressed them into the muffin tins (which I greased with butter then coated with sugar), made a little divot in the middle of each, and added a few chocolate chips. Pop them in the oven, then 12 minutes later, voila! Chocolate peanut butter cookies. So moist, and very tasty.

Now to clean up. I can do that tomorrow. I already did one load of dishes today, I’m not doing another.

-Cheers folks!

300. My Happy 300th

2009-10-27T23:50:00.001-04:00

Today is the 300th day of the year. That means 65 days until it’s 2010. Scary isn’t it? Well to celebrate that I went out and splurged. I had been thinking about it for a while, and today was the day. I traded in my PSP which I hadn’t used in ages, as well as a bunch of games and bought a Wii. I popped back out later to pick up Mario Kart. It’s great fun, and one of my housemates is going to pick up another controller so we can all play together. Well, two of us can play while the other one waits their turn. Maybe we’ll pick up a third one at some point. But for right now, it’s awesome.

-Cheers folks!

299. My New Shirt

2009-10-26T23:45:00.000-04:00

I went into work today and was given a new shirt. I have never been a Michael Jackson fan, and the work shirt which is too big for me just adds to my dislike. No one in the store seems to have a shirt that fits properly. Our standard shirts are black, which is much easier to wear the wrong size of, but white shirts show all. Oh well, it will be over before long.

-Cheers folks!

298. My New Place

2009-10-25T21:16:00.001-04:00

All moved in now. I love love love my new place. It’s so nice to have a closet again, as well as a square room. I didn’t realize how much those slanted ceilings cut off of my living space. This place has a smaller footprint, it feels bigger. And much brighter. That could be due to the color of the walls. I love it. Have I said how much I love this place? My room mates are great. The location is wonderful. And the rent is cheap! Happy Happy Happy.

-Cheers folks!

297. My Something or Other

2009-10-24T21:08:00.000-04:00

I finished another mitten. Yellow with navy thrums. I haven’t gotten on to the second mitten yet, today was a busy day. I worked 11-6:30, then it was out with a friend to get Hallowe’en supplies. Hello, Rocky Horror Picture Show participation screening! And then we came back to pack up my room. It didn’t take too long, but we got it done. Busy day, but another busy day tomorrow.

-Cheers folks!

296. My Thank You

2009-10-23T20:48:00.000-04:00

I worked the Agatha show tonight. It has actually worked itself out. I’m very impressed. When I got there, there was a card for the sound crew. Thanking us for all our hard work. I liked how it was written though: “To the sound guys and girl.” It make me chuckle, and then there was a good night with a sold our house. Tomorrow is sold out as well. Gotta love when things are good at the theatre.

-Cheers folks!

295. My Makeup Overdone

2009-10-22T23:42:00.001-04:00

I popped into a store to pick up a compact. My old one was done for, so I needed a new one. Not that I use them that much, I just like to keep them around for those “cast and crew photos are being done today, you’re up in five minutes” moments. Well, I walked in and saw all these price tags indicating a sale. I had to double check a bunch of times because I didn’t believe it. The pressed powder I use was on for $2.99. It’s usually $7.99. Concealer was the same. The compact wasn’t on sale, but the mascara was, it was on for $4.99. I ended up saving a bunch of money, and now I don’t need to pick anything up for a while now. I’m set! Can you tell that I like Rimmel? Seriously, I love the stuff.

-Cheers folks!

294. My Keys

2009-10-21T23:37:00.000-04:00

I picked up the keys to my new place today. Just two of them this time! So that means, in the last six months I have had … let me do some math here … 12 keys. Twelve keys that I have had in my hands and used. I hadn’t really thought about it, but wow. That’s pretty insane. Not all of them to were places that I have lived in, but still. In any case, I’m excited to move into my new place. It’s right in the Market, 5 minutes from the theatre, and 10 minutes from work. Can’t get much better than that. Oh wait, I can. It’s cheaper than what I’m paying right now. Yea, I don’t understand, but I’m excited. It’s a little smaller, but I don’t care. It’s not teeny tiny, and the location is amazing. Absolutely amazing.

-Cheers folks!

293. My New Deal

2009-10-20T23:50:00.001-04:00

I ordered Business Cards from Vista Print last week, and they arrived today. They’re free, just pay the shipping, so of course I jumped on it when I decided to start selling mittens. I’ve got my contact info on the card, and I’m writing care instructions on the back. I’ll write what they are made of on the front, and I’m thinking of numbering them too. That way I can keep a database. I’m a geek, I know, but I like to know what I’ve got. I do wish I had a small single hole punch. Using a three hole punch gets annoying, and I think the holes are too big. Oh well. It’s fine for now.

-Cheers folks!

292. My Theatre

2009-10-19T23:44:00.000-04:00

I realized while at the theatre that I don’t have any photos from the place. I spend enough time there, so it’s pretty darned amazing that I don’t have any photos. Well, here’s one. A horrible cell phone picture that is way over exposed, but it’s a photo. You can see the quality of the set which is amazing. Those books on that shelf, are real books. They have a HUGE props department, and there’s even an entire wall of boxes dedicated to flowers. And it’s all organized by color, and type. It’s amazing. We’re currently doing “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. The Dress Rehearsal went well, and the audience enjoyed it. Yea, we have an audience for Dress Rehearsal. It’s all friends and family, but it’s still people beyond production crew in the seats. On this particular night we had CTV there as well. You can see him in the front row, stage right (left side of the photo). Ottawa Little Theatre is wonderful, and I highly recommend coming out to see a play or two. This is my second show, and I’m also designing sound for the musical in December. Then there are two plays I’m doing for sure in the Winter/Spring. I’m going to be busy, but I love it.

-Cheers folks!

291. My Thrums Up

2009-10-18T23:09:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the pun. I took the picture, uploaded it, and it was just as I was writing the title that I thought of that line. I finished the first mitten of this pair earlier today, and I’m close to finishing the second, except for one problem. I ran out of roving. I need to use a different colorway that’s close but it’s not even the same fibre. Oh well. It’s close enough, and I doubt anyone would ever even notice. Just me. I think that the next pair I make will be bright yellow with navy blue thrums. Something nice and contrasting. Also, the navy blue roving I have is superfine merino, very soft, and awesome.

-Cheers folks!

290. My New Sweater

2009-10-17T22:57:00.000-04:00

I got a new sweater today. I had realized that pretty much all of mine were either too thin for the cold weather, wouldn’t fit under my leather jacket for the cooler weather times when I don’t need a winter jacket, or are just too worn out. I have this one hoodie that has a sherpa lining in the hood and I love it so much. I popped into the mall after spending the afternoon with a friend, and headed right to Bluenotes. I’d say that 90% of my clothes are from there. It’s one of the few places that does women’s jeans with waist and inseam measurements and not just sizes with one length. Anywhos, they also always have really great prices. I managed to find a sweater that has a really soft fur like lining on the hood and the body, with double fabric on the arms. It’s so warm. I had to go with an XL because there were no larges and the medium was a tad on the snug side. In any case, it’s awesome. Very warm, and just what I was looking for. It’s a really nice blue with a floral print all over it. I can see it becoming my new go-to sweater in the winter months. Best of all, it was only about $20. Do I know how to shop or do I know how to shop?

-Cheers folks!

289. My Mittens Progress

2009-10-16T22:41:00.000-04:00

I’ve made good progress on mittens for sale. I’ve currently got 3.25 done. Yea, I know… a quarter of a mitten? Well it’s true, although it’s more like 2/8ths of a pair of mittens. I’ve got the cuffs done for another adult pair of thrum mittens. I’m going to use some random roving that I’ve got in my stash for the thrums though, not the white merino I used for the other two pairs. It' has gotten boring. I just hope I’ll have enough of the stuff.

-Cheers folks!

288. My Brights

2009-10-15T15:20:00.001-04:00

I said I had purchased some Cascade 220 when I was back in Halifax, well here it is. Some wonderfully bright colors that will be wonderful for mittens. I’m planning on using some brighter roving for the thrums as well, the white merino is getting boring. Fine for one or two pairs of mittens, but I need a change. I’ve got a bunch of multicoloured roving that I got in a sampler pack from Etsy that I got a while back, which I never spun up. I guess it will go to use here.

-Cheers folks!

287. My Mail Call

2009-10-14T15:06:00.000-04:00

I’ve always been a fan of retro. Anything in that styling is awesome. While I was perusing Etsy one day I came across this print. I instantly fell in love and had to have it. It’s a full sized poster, done by hand, and signed by the artist. I’ve got it pinned up on my wall with just the edges of the push pins holding it up, not actually going through the print itself. At some point in time I’d love to get a nice frame for it, but because of it’s size I think that would be fairly expensive. All in time I suppose.

-Cheers folks!

286. My Flight Home

2009-10-13T14:42:00.000-04:00

No picture again. My phone died, so I didn’t have that to take pictures with on the plane, in any case, it was dark and there was nothing to see. Also, my camera was packed well down into my bag, so I couldn’t use that. Just imagine me on a plane. Boring as it is.

My flight leaving Halifax was delayed by an hour getting in from St.John’s, so it was over an hour late leaving Halifax. It did mean that I got an extra hour with my folks, and my nerves were eased because I didn’t want to think about being late (I’m a very punctual person and when it comes to doing things for the first time I like to be super early). Earlier in the day I went for lunch with mom over in Halifax, and then popped into my favourite LYS. I picked up some Cascade 220 for more mittens. A few bright colors and a natural as well. Here’s to more and more mittens. I’ve got two sets of cuffs done, now it’s just for the hands, and the thrums… all those thrums. Wonderful.

-Cheers folks!

285. My Turkey Day

2009-10-12T22:30:00.002-04:00

No picture today at all. Not even one that I will be putting up later. Imagine a table surrounded by family, all filled with food. Turkey, dressing, potatoes, corn, carrots, broccoli, cranberries, fresh baked rolls, gravy. All the fixings. So tasty.

Happy Turkey Day. I hope you all had a wonderful feast with friends and family. And for those of you who celebrate Turkey Day later in the year, happy Monday. I hope you all had a good day. I'm filled to the brim with good food, I hope you all are too.

-Cheers folks!

284. My Party Time

2009-10-11T22:19:00.001-04:00

Picture of a friend, whom I yet again, haven't seen in far too long.

We went down to the Tract of Land today to pack up some stuff and to apparently start the winterization process. It was a beautiful trip down the shore, and then on the way back we went up the Valley, which yet again was beautiful. We tried to stop by the yarn shop up that way, but it was closed. I had figured that, but I was still game to stop by. Then it was party time. Good friends, lots of talk, and some Wii. Rockband is fun. We have figured out that sometimes two people on the drums is a good thing. Especially when there might be a touch of drinking involved. It was fun though, an absolute ball. It's going to be tough to go back to Ottawa, but I've got committments there now. I've got to go back.

-Cheers folks!