cole slaw

Cut up cabbage a nd put in food mixer. Can also add one carrot to mixer. Add mayonnaise to taste and then add a small amount of whipping cream and a little sugar to taste.

Beets

I boil my beets for maybe 40 minutes in pan of water and when done (check with fork) remove and under water, quickly remove the skins. Let cool and then cut into pieces. Can make it Harvard beets style or also vinegar and sugar style. or not anything. beets are a llittle higher in salt than other veggies, but still worth eating.

eggplant salad

Wash 3 eggplants and pierce skin in several places with fork. Bake in oven about 375 deg for about 40 minutes until done. Cool until able to open up. Remove the inside and put in cusinart or food mixer with about 2 tbsp of mayonaise a nd salt a nd pepper. also 2 garlic cloves well mashed. Put in fridge for several hours. Can always add salt and pepper to taste and also can mix with humous salad.

chicken wings with chili sauce and soy sauce

The other day I ate chicken wings that were very fattening and this is my attempt to make them but different. First you make a marinade of twice the amount of soy sauce to sweet chili sauce (Asian). Add water to dilute. Wash the wings after being cut in half and remove most of skin. Put in marinade for 1 hour to up to one day. Place in baking pan with tin foil on the bottom and sides but don't cover. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes until done and turn over halfway.

Oatmeal cookies with peanut butter chips

I used the Betty Crocker recipe in the 1986 ed and added peanu tbutter chips. Left out the nuts or raisins. Here's what I did:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
100 grams butter softened
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup flour
1 cup peanut butter chips
It was a bit dry so I added a little water to make it softer. Use ungreased pan in 375 deg oven for about 10 minutes. Make balls from the dough and press down with hand.

bracelet with size 6 beads

By mistake I bought some Toho seed beads size 6. I decided to try even peyote with 6 beads per first 2 rows and the embellishment was gold size 11s with Swarovski size 4. Since it's pretty solid, I used a larger clasp than I usually do and it seems very nice.

From Russian picture

This was done from a photo and it's done with square stitch which means in this case up and down each row. I was limited to the colors I had on hand and I used large twisted bugles and size 8s.

Crossweave necklace in different colors

crossweave necklace

Learned this at a store in Tel Aviv's bead section.

From Crystals 2

Design is by Deborah Farrand with RAW and crossweave techniques. I used one less repeat to fit me.

another odd row peyote bracelet

new bracelet

odd row peyote with gold preciosa crystals and picots. base is 8s

post office problems

Here in Israel our post office was privatized which I didn't much notice until this week when the papers announced that from Jan 1, 2011, all packages from abroad would have to be examined and for this unwanted deed, the cost would be another $10 added to the VAT and customs. Packages below the total value of $50 would only be liable now for the $10 which would not be going to the customs or tax authority. where will it go? I can only think it will go to make the private post office happy and apparently they want to be in t he same class as UPS and Fedex. For me this is a very big headache as aready all my books have to be valued at below $50 iincluding the postage. Postage on 2 books fromAmazon is $15 and add to that another $10 and each book now had an added cost of $12.50. For me this is just too much. Fortunately I have ordered the Kindle which will not be sent to me here because of the exorbitant customs and VAT. And if this announced new cost goes through, I will have to change my whole book buying procedures which means trying to use the Kindle more and ordering books only a few times a year which I can bring home on my trips abroad. As a knitter I will go and order on places like Ravelry where I can buy single patters for between $5-7 and immediately download them. For jewelry patterns there is bead-patterns and a few other sites. Most of the bead patterns that I like anyway are in magazines and this new ruling won't affect them. But as a trueblooded American who studied why the early settlers revolted when the British imposed the penny tea tax, this really upsets me. Apparently most Israelis are very calm about this unlike myself. My best friend tells me that they will just go on ordering and paying the extra $10.

another Kaffe Fassett

shayelle in baby surprise

Kaffe Fassett pullover

Finished knit projects

Not been doing any fairisles lately, but I think finishing two Kaffe Fassett sweaters make up for it. Right now they're drying but later I'll have pictures. One was in VK Fall 03 and consisted of knitting st st and garter st from sleeve to sleeve changing colors every row or so. lots of ends to sew in and quite a big job. I started it several years back using my Rowan glace mainly. The many colors are in the autumn and red color zone. with some blues and lavendar stuff to change it a bit. The other one Rowan magazine 31, Smoulder, was a more traditional big stripe thing knit from the bottom uo and I changed it from a raglan ( not really sure why I did th at) to a set-in sleeve. It's a cardi and the first one is a pullover which also included doing hems and a sc trim around the neck. For that one (the first one) I really had to pull out all my bag of tricks because at one point I had to cut off an extra amount when I had originally started it for my daughter. I used the Norwegian sewing thing trick. I'm quite proud of it.
I also finished a baby surprise and a small cardi in cotton for my little gd. this second one was with cables and my own design. I'm now at work on the Szabo Cross-country aran Twists and Turns, summer 01, which I made once before in Reynolds Cantata (long discontinued) in an off-white and this time in a very pretty cornflower blue. Also on the needles is a gorgeous absolutely great item for knitters. It's a cable and lace cardi using shetland stitches and this is a pattern from the Bliss Traditional knitting from the Scottish and Irish isles which also has some very nice fairisles. I'm knitting it in a kind of dull pink in a Jaeger dk weight yarn and it's done in one piece up to the armholes. Really great fun to knit,
also on the needles is Fiesta by Irene York which is a side to side cotton top with short sleeves. Again I'm now making this second time around with different yarns. I also have an entrelac in a Noro yarn which will probably have sleeves as it looks like I've got enough yarn for it.
I've started some other projects but they will come out when these get finished. Oh, I'm also working on a small baby cardi from the VK toddler knits books.
But my great hope is that this winter I'll be working on fairisles again from my big stash. They're are several ufos to begin with.

remaining swatches

The swatch on the top left is 15 sts and measures 2.5" wide and has 8 rows. On the top right we have the side panel which is 20 sts and 3" wide. The small swatch is a 4 row cable of 12 sts and measures 2".
Taking a good look now at the pattern, everything works out to measurements. But I might decide to have a break for a seam so I can knit it back and forth instead of in the round.

aran swatch

This is the first swatch from a pattern I paid for and downloaded on Ravelry. I was extremely disappointed in the way it is written because I have no choice now but to swatch each pattern and measure in order to figure out the size I want despite it is written in 12 sizes! Since the yarn I'm using is also machine washable I have to wash and measure again for the right measurement. The pattern was written in a way I have never seen before and hope never to see again. However the picture of the finished sweater was so pretty that I paid $8.50 for the pattern. Usually an aran sweater has a chart for each separate pattern showing the # of stitches and rows and also given a letter title such as A,B, etc. This pattern shows half the sweater which is written to be knit around and only gives the row numbers on the last page of the chart downloaded which makes it extremely difficult and most important of all, the chart is printed so small that even my magnifying glasses for close-up work hardly help. What did help was to use the Windows magnifier program in order to read the chart online and then understand it. The pattern uses twist cables and regular cables and the chart symbols themselves are not that well done. I have told a few knitters that I am disappointed and they seem to have heeded my warning. However I am very stubborn (a trait I got from my aunt Fanny who was not the most likeable person I ever met) and I intend to make this sweater and make it fit me too.

The swatch above is 5"wide and 4" in height using 3.75mm needles and Phildar 3.5 washable yarn. The yarn called for in the pattern is dk which this is. This is the main pattern of the sweater and it has 32 sts and 24 rows. The writer has also made it more difficult as she has split her pattern so that instead of saying to start on row... and end on row... she just shows the rows once more which I have also never seen and find not necessary either.

2009 Beadweaving books purchased

There just aren't many beadweaving books published and certinaly not in 2009. Each one I purchased added to my collection and I find them to be very useful. Let's hope t hat 2010 will continue to provide quality.
Seed bead fusion by Nelson-Smith has elements of other techniques that don't interest me. But hopefully this book will help me.
DeCoster's Beaded challenge is all about RAW. Actually she has more interesting patterns in some of the bead magazines.
Cube bead stitching by Jensen opened my eyes and I went out to find 1.5mm cube beads. This was a very worthy addition and also the patterns are quite easy but pretty.
Shaped beadwork by Diane Fitzgerald is a blockbuster of a book. Written in such a way that it leads on to more unexplored territory. All her books are useful but this one was the best for me.
Beaded sphere by Judy Walker was bought from a bead supplier as it's not on Amazon. Again another very important book.
In addition to the books, the magazines continue to lead the way. Sad that Step by step beads has been gobbled up by Interweave. Interweave Press was sold to another company and since that time, it has become a very aggressive marketing power but sometimes the books have to be checked before purchase.

2009 crochet books purchased

50 fabulous crochet squares was good purchase as was 99 granny squares to crochet from an earlier year but bought this year. The latter is a better book with twice as many patterns for the buck. But when it comes to grannies, I like all of them.
100 flowers to knit and crochet was bought because of the editor. good purchase.
Interweave crocheted gifts was also a good purchase. I hope to use it in the future.
Blueprint crochet is hard for me to understand but has some nice patterns. I notice that the author has done other patterns for magazines that are not charted and also this is not the first word on the subject as I have easier books published years before this one.
Freeform crochet and beyond Boght because I have another book by this author I like. This one doesn't come up to that one.
Tunisian crochet is good. Silverman designed everything and the many color photos look helpful. Plus I enjoy doing this anyway.

2009 knitting books purchased

I decided to check my purchases for 2009 on Amazon. I also bought some books in stores and on ABE but mainly Amazon.Overall I am quite disappointed. Somehow books were of higher quality years ago. Now it seems like each book has only a few patterns of interest. So I was recently in the far east and got to look at new books in actual bookstores. I was disappointed in most of them for the same reason that they promise a lot and don't deliver. I am going to itemize the books I bought now explaining what I think about each of them.
Knitting books:
Together or separate by McCauley. I was unhappy with her first book because all the necklines were done for someone with an abnormally long neck. This book didn't do that. Most of the items are really classic and a lot of them use cotton yarns. This book was a pleasant surprise.
All new homespun handknit. I bought this one because I thought it would come up to the level of a much earlier book but it didn't. It emphasizes handspun yarns and someone wrote me on that point, that I should not have been disppointed. There is a nice lace scarf from Nancy Bush, a shoulder lacey shawl and a lace scarf. The entrelac socks look good. Then there are several hats in colorwork. These are the interesting projects. It's possible that I might become more favorable towards this one in the future.
New stranded colorwork is a gorgeous book of Norwegian and some shetland knitting and since I like almost everything on that subject I was pleased with it. The main problem is that there are all kinds of yarns used so I would need to substitute for most of them. However that's probably academic as I'm just trying to use up my yarns and finish all my gorgeous projects that I've got.
Personal footprints by Bordhi was another disappointment as it mainly explains how to knit a perfect sock with one pattern. For me this is too bad I bought it.
Reversible knitting has 50 new stitch patterns and various projects. The patterns could be good but none of the projects interest me. Again I bought this one because I liked her earlier book on scarves which was definitely interesting.
99 yarns and counting was bought as I had been thinking of the earlier book from the Green Mountain spinnery but it looks like the whole group changed in the meantime. Unlike the first book, this one doesn't really list t he yarns used. Patterns are very simple so might be good for beginners but a big mistake for me.
Vintage baby knits was one of the few books I looked at before buying. There's a nice shawl but again not sure if this one will be of much use. The author prefers wool yarns and that is not practical as all the moms want something to put in the machine.
Norwegian handknits has a lot of nice small item patterns and a few large sweaters. Reminds me of growing up in Minnesota. Here I did feel I got a book that is worth the money. But not sure if I'll ever knit anything from it.
Knits from the North sea was criticized as not being very Shetland. I don't care. I feel the shawls and scarves are lovely. Happy with this purchase.
Amigurumi knits was another good purchase. Full of weird critters and different from the other Ami books which are all crochet.
Knit on down is a good collection of useful sweaters for all ages plus some hats and other stuff. Not disappointed with this one.
Knitting saddle style was another disappointment for me. There are no other books on this subject. Author doesn't explain how to design your own so you have to do the pattern her way. I wanted to know how long to make the sleeve and didn't get an answer.
Feminine knits was another disappointment.Main problem is that the yarns used are not American but primarily Danish. I didn't find anything I wanted to make but I could always change my mind. Mainly these patterns are not easy.
Knitting in the sun was another sad story. I found that t he gauges and yarns didn't work out mainly because each designer did her own thing. I tracked each yarn online to see what gauge was called for so if I decide to make anything, I'll have a general idea of the gauge I need. These are mainly sweaters for wamer climes which is good.
Custom knits might prove useful although I haven't bothered with it as the patterns are simple. I just noticed a cape from the top down which has no pattern stitches but might be helpful as I'd like to knit one.
Selbuvotter is in a class sof its own. I probably won't m ake any of the mittens but I'm interested in the fairisle/Norwegian patterns.
Knitted lace of Estonia is definitely a good purchase a nd I'm very pleased I've got it too.
So summing up: I need to be more careful in the future about what I buy. Wait until more reviews come in. The big problem is not to wait too long and the book goes out of print.

Beadwork for Dec 2010

I'm pretty unhappy with the latest Beadwork. I did enjoy all the interesting patterns in earlier issues but going back through them, I notice a big change when Melinda Barta became the editor. It seems to me that most of the patterns are doing the Laura McCabe rivoli type thing or RAW and actually t he patterns by Macia DeCoster in RAW are easier than most of the other ones. I enjoy Rivoli too and once learned it but I don't care to keep on with it all that much as it takes a long time for one thing. Now in this latest issue there is just about nothing that is easy. There are a few quickie easy ones at the beginning which don't appeal to me and also one bracelet Arabella near the end which has been done many times already. It's the peyote thing. The only difference here is that the embellishments are different. But frankly I don't even call that one a pattern. However, there is one interesting item in an adv in the back on page 104 the middle picture. It looks to me like brick stitch holding the ever increasing pie shape of beads which I learned to do this week from a Deb Roberti pattern. So maybe I'll try that one from the photo. The article on David Chatt is nice for him but rather sad for me as he seems to have abandoned beading for now. The actual projects only begin on p.40 after wading through pages of advertising. First one is a herringbone rope with a McCabe pendant, etc. Then come the three editorial quickies .DeCoster has an interesting pattern idea as long as I change the beads as I don't care for the pictures. The Kan necklace is another RAW with netting thing. The beaded tubes don't appeal to me. Next is another McCabe wannabe. Then a RAW cuff in two layers and I don't care for that idea either as it just makes it all that much heavier. Next is a peyote triangle with a spiral rope which might be ok if I adapt it as I definitely don't care for the colors. Then a bead embroidery which has been done often before a d finally a bracelet which looks nice but again is a McCabe wannabe. Final project of a brooch is a bit different but still RAW. So just about all of them are going to take a lot of work and are not for the beginner and probably not the intermediate beader either. The advanced beader can take out some ideas and do her own thing as she probably has her own copy of the McCabe book. Also the reason I am so disapppointed is that Interweave Press bought out Step by step beds and then forced it to go to easy beginner projects and then a few months later killed it. So now there is nowhere for the easy pretty patterns that were in that magazine unless Bead and button gets smart and sees there is a big opening for beginning projects. I'm making a bet with myself that Barta will be on her way sometime soon as people walk away from Beadwork. Really, for whom is the magazine now?
And going through my printed out patterns from all my magazines, I am not that surprised to see how many came from Step by step Beads when Rogalski was the editor. They were fairly easy to do, interesting, taught me something as well, and in a rather short beading time I was able to come up with a piece I enjoy still today. So where can the beginning beader or fairly new one now go?
One hopeful note for the end: happily the 4 beaders of the year are being replaced by 4 more. One is McCabe herself, two is Carole Ohl who is a favorite with me. The other two remain to be seen.

Eye of God earrings

This was a pattern in Beadwork and I used 1.5mm Toho cubes instead of the regular beads called for. I like it very much and these will be earrings and perhaps also part of a bracelet.

roberti bracelets

Worked according to the Roberti bracelet pattern but in 3 of the bracelets I c hanged the size of the cube to 1.5mm and I'm very happy with it. I'm using also in one of them a thread called Sonoho which I bought in Singapore. I'm told it's another name for Sono. Anyway it works like the 1G and the KO but it might be more economical as it comes on a much larger tube. I also used Fireline crystal in one of them but I find this difficult as the pattern is brick stitch. I also made a pair of earrings as I didn't have enough of that pink color for a bracelet.