Are you all participating in the Ravelry Project Challenge this year? I’m kinda bummed I missed it for 2018 since last year it was such a struggle to keep up my knitting mojo, but since I signed up for this year, I’m really looking forward to my knitting year.
I set my goal to complete 25 projects in 2019, which shouldn’t be too difficult since I am doing a dishcloth KAL on Facebook. I’d also like to finish at least one deep stash UFO (there are a couple) and at least one of the two blankets I’m working on. Plus, I finished 2 projects while I was in Tampa!
January Sock A Long 2018 socks2 stitch check stripey dishcloth
What are you planning to work on this year? How is your 2019 Knitting shaping up?
On Wednesday afternoon, my middle kid and I left for Tampa, FL where he was to rehearse and perform with the Middle School All-State Band for the 75th annual FMEA conference. This was a Pretty Big Deal, as he was only one of two students and the first 7th grader from his school, as well as one of only twelve trumpet players from the entire state of Florida to make it into the Band.
It was amazing. The FMEA conference brings something like 8,000 people to the city of Tampa and features performance ensembles from elementary, middle, and high school grades in all genres, including Choir, Orchestra, Jazz, and Guitar.
I’m kind of bummed I didn’t get to go to all of the concerts, tbh.
My kid’s group had about 17 hours of rehearsals over 3 days to put together their portion of the concert on Friday evening.
130 members!warming up is srs fuckin bzns
Trying out unusual/expensive instruments at the conference was a major highlight of the event.
The kids really learned a lot from their director and they were absolutely fantastic. What an amazing experience for these young musicians! I’m so proud of and happy for him, and, not gonna lie, more than a little jealous haha.
If you want to have a listen to the pieces they played, click here. (Not from my kid’s concert obviously, just collected from YouTube.)
The year-end tradition here has always been to review the things I finished knitting over the past year and maybe talk a little about my plans for the coming year. 2017 was a fantastic knitting year for me, but sadly that post went to Facebook instead of my blog. If you’d like to check those out, you can see everything on my Ravelry page (of course). Link here.
This year wasn’t as productive as last year, unfortunately. I’ve been working on one huge project and diligently avoidingthreeothers. I didn’t even manage to finish a single pair of socks from my own KAL which I am running on Facebook!  I did make a few hats, however, and a dog sweater. Mostly I knitted dishcloths. And many of those I gave away before I could take a photo or make a project page for them đ¤Ł
All of the information for these projects can be found, of course, on my Ravelry page.
My hope for 2019, as I mentioned previously, is to spend more time knitting and less time scrolling. Maybe I’ll be able to finish my big projects! Maybe I will make more socks! Maybe, just maybe, I will actually make some knitted holiday gifts next year, instead of just saying fuck it and ordering pears for everyone lolol.
So, for 2019 I am going to try spending less time scrolling and refreshing my Facebook feed, helping to fill Zuckerberg’s pockets by creating content for free, and more time doing the things that I enjoy: knitting and writing and reading. I hate how Facebook has taken over and I hate that I feel trapped there because that is how we stay in touch with friends now, even though it is a TERRIBLE platform for staying in touch with friends. So here I am, back on the blog! Hopefully you’ll join me here too.
I had been craving a rich and comforting soup so when this idea popped into my head, I knew I had to make it. My original plan was to make it in the crock pot but of course I forgot to make dinner this morning, so it was my Instant Pot to the rescue! As per usual hahaha
â˘2 lbs chicken thighs
â˘3 Carrots, cut into bite size pieces
â˘3 Ribs celery, cut into bite size pieces
â˘1-1/2 boxes chicken stock (I actually used Turkey stock because that is what I have on hand this close to Thanksgiving)
â˘Olive oil (for sautĂŠing the chicken)
â˘Seasonings (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried minced onion, sage, and parsley, but anything you like to use in your chicken soup would be great, including curry seasonings!)
â˘Cheddar Bay Biscuit mix (or your favorite drop biscuit dough)
â˘About 1/2 cup of cheese (I used Asiago) for the biscuits
Into the bottom of your Instant Pot put a bit of olive oil and set to sautĂŠ. Cut up your chicken thighs into chunks and brown them up while you are cutting up your carrots and celery. Â Pour in the stock and add your veggies and seasonings. Mix up the biscuits and grate some cheese into them. Drop them by spoonfuls (I used my size 60 cookie disher) into the soup. Put the top on your pot and manually set it to 15 minutes at high pressure.
Y’all this was SO freaking delicious. My boys, who are NOTORIOUS soup haters, clamored over themselves to get 2nd and 3rd helpings, and super picky T ate, if not a sizable portion, at least SOME of the broth (into which I surreptitiously mashed some carrots).
This is a riff on a recipe that bubbled up on my FB timeline. It was a video tutorial that made me watch a god damn 2 minute ad so I’m posting my version of the recipe here so I don’t have to go back there again đ
Tex-Mex Chowder
1 can refried beans
1 can Ro-Tel
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 box chicken stock
optional: leftover taco meat from last night
Put everything into the Instant Pot and set it for 5 minutes. Serve with corn chips, sour cream, avocado, cheese. SO YUMMY. All the menfolk had 2 servings, which is a ding-dang miracle since the boys aren’t usually soup eaters.
I’ve been using Witty in the City’s Man-Pleasing Chicken thighs as the basis for a few different chicken dishes and they always turn out so yummy! Here are some possible combinations:
Happy New Year! I wish I could say that 2014 was a stellar year for my knitting, but honestly for much of the year my heart just wasn’t in it. I did do a little bit, however, and I am feeling much better about knitting in general after Christmas knitting and finishing a few things. All of the information for the pictured finished objects can be found on my Ravelry page, of course.
Not pictured is the stack of dish towels I started back in June as a kind of motivation to keep me knitting (and also to use up a bunch of scraps) which actually worked haha! I made 4 since I created the project on Ravelry and I’m probably just going to keep the project going to see how many I can make. It’s a fun pattern, quick to knit up and very portable, but my favorite part is since you are knitting in wedges, it has a lot of stopping points along the way so you can put it down any time, or decide, like often I did, to knit just one more section.
Also not pictured is the Teeny Tiny Santa I made for T’s tree this year, for which I somehow completely neglected to create a Ravelry page or even take a picture! You’ll have to rest assured it is exactly as cute as the one I made back in 2011.
So that was my knitting year. Not too horrible, I think, and I definitely got more done in 2014 than in 2013. Well. If you count the stuff that I’m not counting for this post haha. Oh well. Here’s to a great 2015!
Check it out, I made a sweater! Maybe I am getting my groove back?
It’s a winter coat for my toddler! She might even get to wear it if the temps ever drop below 75° (which is the point at which I start to feel cold. Yes, I am a tender-footed Floridian now, apparently). I’m so happy with the way it turned out, even though it felt like the damn sleeves were cursed. I had more trouble with garter stitch in the round than I thought I would. Silly.
