Socks, Clapotis, and Cooking

Well it has been a rather busy last couple of weeks.  I had to order more yarn because I ran out while making Jessie's socks. :-(  The yarn came quick and I bought a little extra because I like it so much and want to make something for myself with it.  The only downside is that my yarn ball winder is no where to be found.  I went to my storage unit and tore it apart.  I found a lot of my knitting supplies which made me happy but still no winder.  I guess I am going to have to suck it up and go to a knitting store and pay for them to wind it for me.  I want to get her socks to her before its too hot to wear them.

One of the things I found during my search was a package of gold yarn that Jessie gave me for my 29th birthday.  I had not decided what I was going to use it for earlier, so it's been sitting safely and patiently waiting for me to become inspired.  I have been using knitting to help keep me distracted while I wait for my new job to formulate and while I deal with my lost friendship.  Therefore, when I happened upon my yarn this time I jumped onto Ravelry and searched.  I finally came upon the Clapotis, which is actually from Knitty.com.  I think it is really beautiful and decided it would look great with this yarn.  The yarn is Crystal Palace Yarns Creme.  It is 4.5-5 sts per inch and recommends US 8-9 size needles.  It is knitting up very nicely.  There are a few tangles within the ball, but nothing major or super bothersome.  I am getting close to the end of the main repeat section.  For a few days, I thought I would never finish but now I only have 4 more repeats to do before the decrease.  So excited!!!  I snapped an obviously unblocked picture of my progress.  I really like the color and am super excited to be done so I can use it.  It can be used as a scarf or a shawl and I have always wanted something like this.  Len is not a big fan of the look of larger scarves so he has always been against me buying one, but he can't stop me from making one! :-)

Last night was the Super Bowl.  I used that as an excuse to make two different recipes.  Both from Plain Chicken.  I have to give a shout out to Sheri Woolridge for turning me onto this sight.  At first  I was nervous about using any of the recipes because most of the savory ones seemed to be spicy.  However, I decided to take a chance and make the Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili.  It was so simple!  I changed the rotel to a can of crushed tomatoes with garlic and left out the chili powder and cumin, mainly because I am a heat wuss.  I may try it with a little of those two spices in the next go round just to see how it changes the flavor. Unfortunately, I cooked it on high rather than low because I wasn't paying attention and there was no liquid left when it was time to serve, so it was more like the filling for enchiladas (as Len said) than a soup.  It was still very good and there was none leftover which is always a good thing.  I also decided to make the Nutella S'mores Pulls for desert.  I had a hard time putting the nutella between the cuts.  However, I did just read the directions for one of her other pull breads and it says to cut one way spread the stuff and then cut the other way and spread the stuff. I wonder if that would make it any easier.  I will have to try it and find out.  The only alteration I made is that I had a package of regular sized marshmallows so I just cut those into pieces and used them instead of buying more.  This was a huge hit and is definitely something I want to make again very soon!

In other news, I am optimistic that I will have some real information to share about a job very soon.  I really hope it works out.  I am very bored sitting in my house all day every day.  Also, I am doing better at handling the loss of my friendship (see this post).  I still have my days of setbacks but I am feeling much healthier and actually see some light in this very dark tunnel (even though I am still shocked that this tunnel exists).  I have to say thanks to my friends Jessie, Omar, and Sheri who have stood by me and helped me maneuver through this nasty maze.  I am closer to the exit because of your love and support.  Thanks for validating that I am a person who deserves only goodness and light in my life and that the dark cobwebs shrouding me are not of my own fault.  Your words of encouragement are the best brooms a girl could ask for.  I continue to fight my insecurities so that I may one day see the me you see when I look in my mirror and can accept that this person is NOT WORTHY of me!

Well, that is enough sappiness for one day.  My Clapotis is calling me.

Eileen
Purlingkitty