life « Knitting Interrupted

How to get Silly Putty out of hand knit socks

January 2, 2009 at 4:11 pm | In Knitting, life | 3 Comments
Tags: how to

Step 1. Pour a little rubbing alcohol over an old, soft-bristled toothbrush.
Step 2. Rub the silly putty gently with the toothbrush until it comes off the sock.
Step 3. Wash the sock as you normally do.

Also, Dear Santa, please no more Silly Putty. kthxbai!

NYR09

December 31, 2008 at 4:11 pm | In life | 4 Comments
Tags: new year's resolutions

It is tradition, here are Chez Interrupted, to post my New Year’s Resolutions. As I sit here today, reviewing previous posts and reflecting on the past year, I realize that this year’s resolutions are pretty much the same as last year’s, and the year before that. I guess that it’s easy, in a way, always trying to work on the same stuff, but does that really amount to improving myself?

Here’s my knitting to-do list for 2009

1. Finish my Master Knitter, level 1. (Only one swatch, the hat, and the written work left to do!)

2. Design and knit Mr. Interrupted’s Sweater of Rassilon. (Shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m planning on doing a seamless hybrid à la Elizabeth Zimmermann.)

3. Tackle Colorwork. (Time to finally get around to knitting Kate Gilbert’s Bird in Hand mittens.)

4. A lace shawl. (Kiri’s been queued since November of 2007.)

And here’s my reading list for 2009 (I want to shoot for a book a month and am 3 books short. Any suggestions?)

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
A Bad Spell in Yurt by C. Dale Brittain
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman
A Memory of Light (the final WoT book) by Brandon Sanderson
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen (the first NaNo novel to be made into a feature film (now filming))
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Lastly, yoga. Yeah. I’ll get right on that.

What I needed was a witty retort.

December 29, 2008 at 3:21 pm | In life | 7 Comments

On Sunday, Mr. Interrupted’s grandmother took us (including his 4 cousins, aunt, uncle, father, father’s wife, and one of the cousin’s bride-to-be) all out to have brunch at “The Club”. Now, there are two things you need to know. First, I am not a “The Club” person. I am descended from a long and proud line of emphatically blue collar folk. I may be the first person in my family history to ever have brunch at “The Club”. Second, no one told us we’d be going to brunch at “The Club” so I failed to pack appropriate “The Club” clothing for myself, the children, and Mr. Interrupted. He and I wore jeans and a nice top. The kids wore jeans and their snow boots. We arrived, feeling festive and ready to eat and socialize. After they took our drink orders, I took the boys up to the buffet line to get them some food. It was then that Some Woman approached me and said, “Excuse me, just so you know for next time, jeans are against The Club rules.” Of course I apologized and explained that I didn’t know we’d be coming to “The Club” today. It’s possible that I said something that sounded sarcastic like, “well, if I’d known…” Whatever. But after a while I realized that I felt really embarrassed about not having the proper attire and mortified that someone thought they had to tell me about it. I was so embarrassed that, since the dining area was filled with snooty, jacket-wearing “The Club” members, I didn’t go back to the buffet for more food, even though I was still hungry, or for any dessert, even though I really wanted to try their carrot cake which looked very sinful and delicious. I just felt too uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Now, a day later, I’m angry. I mean, why should I have to apologize for how I was dressed for gods’ sake? It’s not like I was all schlobby in torn sweat pants and a dirty tee-shirt. Geez. And I keep wishing I’d said something to that woman to turn the tables on her–to make her feel bad and embarassed, but I can’t think of anything appropriately scathing and hilarious. Any suggestions?

What is that old saying about revenge?

December 12, 2008 at 7:04 pm | In Doozer, life | 7 Comments

While I was out with the children yesterday, the cat did something really and truly heinous. He had nom’d one of Isaac’s newest and most highly prized toy, a small R/C helicopter. Mr. Interrupted caught him in the act, and immediately doled out what is likely an overly harsh sentence — a kitteh time-out in the bathroom. The helicopter is a complete and total loss, but can be easily replaced. Isaac was disappointed, but got over it soon enough. The bathroom, however, is another story. You see, at some point during his timeout, Doozer retaliated by peeing somewhere in the bathroom (rather than in the toilet where he usually goes).

The bathroom to which he had been confined is tiny, practically a closet, a water closet if you will, so it didn’t take much to really stink up the place. When I arrived home with the children in tow, the stink of cat urine was rather thick in there and spilling out into the rest of the house. I immediately removed the bathmat, which was the obvious place for him to have his feline revenge on us, but the acrid smell lingered. Then I mopped the floor, but to no avail. Resigned, I scrubbed every horizontal and vertical surface — the floor (again) the cabinets, all four walls, the shower stall, the toilet — and still the stench persisted!

Mr. Interrupted pressed upon me to retrieve a black light from the local Spencer’s Gifts, which I did, but no mystery spots were revealed by its velveteen otherworldly glow. As I backed out of the room, lighting the murky corners with the ultra violet light, eyes straining for even the barest hint of the florescent smoking gun, I caught in the corner of my eye a glimpse of Doozer, taking a shit in my shoe. Feline revenge, apparently, is a dish best served stinky.

Ah, yes…

November 27, 2008 at 6:43 pm | In cute kids, food, holiday cheer, life | 5 Comments

I’ve just finished putting away the Thanksgiving leftovers and am sitting here, enjoying a cup of coffee and the last couple of bites of Ezra’s pumpkin pie. I must say that I’m quite tickled with myself. The ginormous bird was roasted to juicy perfection. The stuffing, cooked in the crockpot with the turkey’s wingtips and tail, was delightfully deletable. The gravy, made with giblet broth (but no giblets) and turkey drippings, was velvety and flavorful. The green salad was cool and crisp, a perfect complement the savory warmth of the other dishes. All in all, it was probably the best Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever made. Sadly, there are no pictures. The entire meal had been consumed before it occurred to me to document it in photographic posterity. Oh well.

There’s another reason today is a special day. Today is Isaac’s 7th birthday.

How is it even possible? I can’t believe he’s seven already! Isaac had a pretty good year. He learned how to tie his shoes this year, and how to ride a bicycle (skipping over training wheels entirely). He has really started getting a handle on reading and math and we earned that, for Isaac, the number zero is really really red, the color of fire, and that the larger a number is, the greener it is.

Anyhow, happy Thanksgiving to all my bloggy buddies and long distance friends. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! (And a happy birthday if today also happens to be your birthday, hah!)

Thinking of Spring Pasta Bake*

November 13, 2008 at 5:57 pm | In food, life, nanowrimo, off topic | 4 Comments

The stars must have been aligned–this dish was a huge hit at our house tonight.

I riffed on this recipe featured on the Rachael Ray show today. All of the ingredients came from Trader Joe’s. Here’s how I did it:

1. Prepare one pound of dried tortellini pasta according to the package directions.

2. While the pasta is cooking, steam one package of frozen asparagus and then puree.

3. Make Rachael’s béchamel sauce (omit garlic by accident and instead use one part vegetable broth and one part fat-free milk). Add pureed asparagus.

4. Toss the now very very green sauce with the pasta to coat.

5. Brown a package of tomato/basil chicken sausages (squeezed from their casings and crumbled) and add to the pasta and sauce, stirring gently.

6. Pour into a baking dish and cover with TJ’s Quattro Formaggio (about 1/2 a package). Bake at 375° for about 15 minutes until the cheese is browned and the sauce is bubbly.

Isaac ate all of what he was served. Ezra had two servings. Karl snarfed up a huge bowl. Angels sang.

*The Thinking of Spring Pasta Bake is not figure friendly. Next time I’ll have to see if I can lighten this up a little.

Now it’s back to NaNoWriMo for me.

Sleep happens!

November 11, 2008 at 8:30 am | In cute kids, life | 3 Comments

Even if you don’t want it to. Don’t fight it!

What a Week

November 9, 2008 at 10:06 pm | In life, random | No Comments

1. NaNoWriMo started.

2. I came down with my first cold of the season. It’s the worst cold ever (not the flu as previously suspected).

3. Barack Obama was elected to the presidency on the United States of America on Tuesday.

4. I got my period.

5. I gave up on NaNoWriMo.

6. I changed my mind.

7. I finished one knitting project without actually starting another.

We live in interesting times. Seriously.

The Flu Strikes

November 3, 2008 at 7:54 pm | In life, nanowrimo, random | 5 Comments

Warning: the following was written while in the throws of flu-induced fever. I cannot be entirely responsible for the content.

I’m sick. I’ve got all the classic symptoms. I haven’t knitted or written at all today. I watched Regis and Kelly, Rachael Ray, and The View before taking a nap. When I woke up I watched CNN until 4 pm (it was an eternity), at which point I switched over to Oprah. Followed by the 5 pm news, the 6 pm news, the 630 “world” news and then the Election Eve News Special. Now I’m watching the Chinese restaurant episode of Seinfeld and Mr. Interrupted is trying to wrangle the children by bribing them with Taco Bell food. To top it off, 3000+ words into my novel, I think I need to start over. I’m already bored with it. I mean, two of my main characters are eating cereal and talking about the National Enquirer, for crissakes! Although, I probably won’t change the plot, just the starting point and the voice (from 3rd person to 1st). How long does the flu last?