I only have a couple of minutes

before I need to dash off north to return DTE to school, but I just wanted to give you a quick Happy New Year again, and let you know there will be more recycling soon.
(Oh, and some finished hat pictures!)

Very awesome dinner tonight,

so I figured I would share.

Coconut-curry-ginger-carrot soup
1 TBS oil
1 inch + fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
2 small or 1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp curry powder, more to taste
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
8 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk, regular or lite
4 cups water, veggie or chicken broth
1 tsp salt, or to taste

Saute ginger in oil in a 6 quart pan until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add onions and cook over med-low heat until onions are almost translucent, stirring often. Add garlic and curry powder and cook briefly. Add the carrots, potatoes, salt, coconut milk, and broth, stir well and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until veggies are soft. Use either an immersible hand blender or regular blender/processor to puree until smooth. Adjust salt (and curry) as needed.
I considered garnishing it with lightly toasted coconut, but that would have meant I was going to have to toast it, and we were hungry.

(You can substitute sweet potatoes for regular potatoes, or add a bit of cayenne pepper with the curry. Or even a dash of cinnamon.)

It has been very busy

over here at Casa Coffee Yarn. Knitting, sewing, cooking, pet wrangling, and a few other things have been going on. Of course, there is more of all that to be done in the near future. Oh, and the traditional recycling time is coming up!

Oribell,

meet your new Best Friend Forever (or at least until you loose or hide it like all the others). Coaster, meet your new owner, tour-guide, and tormentor. She will carry you all around the house, telling you who-really-knows-what-all sort of stuff in the process; she will give you baths in the dogs' water dish; help the fish do some interior decorating with you; and teach you the joys of playing fetch with the humans, I just wish she wouldn't decide to play that game at 4:30 or so in the morning.

 

Ummmm, Miss O, Sadie really doesn't want to take your BFF, she just wants to walk past.

 

 

Oh, and could we please just stick to giving it drinks of water, instead of tea? Though I am really glad it isn't a bat.

(Don't forget today is Whiskers on Wednesday!)

Still no pictures,

but the hat is now growing up properly with no problems. I have made an executive decision to put in a lifeline when it is time to start the decreases. Just to be safe and all, since there have been more than enough operator errors already.

Note to Self:

When knitting a hat (or anything else for that matter) with cables, and you can't see the pattern developing or read your knitting after the first round, double check to make sure you are knitting the knits and purling the purls on all the background knitting.
The score as we enter round 4 of this wrestling boxing match:
Hat: 3
Me: 0
But we all know I only need one knock-out to win.

ETA Obviously there is some kind of brain-function problem going on with that chart reading, I just hope all this doesn't make it worse.

Since I have already distracted you

with pictures of sunshine and a cat, and still don't have any hat pictures to show you; I shall continue to distract you with some dog pictures.

 

(If you need more, I would strongly recommend going here for another dog fix.)

The sun has been shining

around here as of late.

Want to guess what that means?

 

The hat is growing,

but it wasn't done last night and it won't be done today. It takes me about an hour and a half to get through all the stitches and rows for the current section of cable pattern repeat, but it is getting faster and easier each time I go through it. I am sure by the time I get to the fifth repeat, it will be down to an hour or less. Of course, then I start decreasing and the pattern changes, so even though I will have less stitches, it will be back to paying super-close attention, though this pattern requires a lot of that, no matter what.
It isn't really worth trying to show you a picture at this point, as it is hard to see the cables without putting it on something and I don't feel like taking it off the needles just to do that. I think I will be able to be done with a picture by this time next week, maybe sooner. I have some cooking to do as well (today I'm making pita bread), and a few things in the yard while the sun is shining.

Things that are just wrong

1. I am out of my favorite everyday tea.
2. I didn't mail order more in time before I ran out.
3. The store that usually has it when this happens was all out today.
4. I am having to settle for a different, but it just doesn't taste the same.
5. It is really all my fault that these things are wrong.

"In just seven days

I can make you a man" me some socks.
Started: November 1, 2009
Finished: November 7, 2009
Pattern: No Purl Monkeys (as in knit all the purl stitches)
Made for me, to go with these socks from last year. Since these are made with yarn from then, they bring me to 16/12+1.
Next up: A hat that has been worked on today and may well be done by Monday night or Tuesday.

The company was awesome!

Yesterday I got a phone call that had me flapping my arms in excitement (not that there was anyone to see me besides the dogs and cat) and this morning I got a follow-up call that resulted in a drive of about 140 miles round trip for a lunch date. It was totally worth the drive and day away from home.
(My oldest brother is a professional truck driver based out of SLC and and his current trip put him in my "neighborhood".)