Ravelry Christmas Goodies

I got my first swap from Ravelry today ^_^

We were supposed to send 4 granny squares...

And a Christmas gift equaling 20 bucks or less.

She got me a bag of coffee, a sparkly scarf and a little ball made of magnets that had me playing with them and forgetting to take pictures ^_^ They are fun, don't judge me :P 

I wish what I sent her was cooler but as my bloggy readers know (ha, as if anyone is actually reading this) I am what people call "below poverty" I hope she likes them anyways. Also, what yarn are those two variegated squares?

My camera won't show the colors very well but they are gorgeous! The one on the right reminds me of a peacock. The yellow one is super soft and they are all awesome but these two are my faves. Pretty pretty!

I also have a new way of protecting my yarn from little kitty claws.

That is, if I can stop playing with it and remember not to get it near my comp ^_^ I love mail :D

Also, anyone have a use for this pink fluffy yarn? I rescued it from my brother's house, and I don't know what to do with it. It has a paper core, if I'm not mistaken. What do you do with yarn you can't block or wash or ever get wet? It's still pretty even if I have no idea what to do with it.

My First Shawl

So I'm new at knitting and I don't want to make a scarf or anything that will make me bored and not want to finish. I have a ball of green yarn and I found a leafy shawl that looks interesting. (Ashton Shawlette)

I don't have the right yarn or needles but hey, you deal with what you've got ^_^

12/29/12 You go into the first chart with 7 stitches on your needles.

Aaaand cue screeching halt.

1/2/12 I'm done with the first chart.

It took a few days to get here for a few reasons. I tried on my own for a few days and just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, then a few days more of talking with the designer (she was super sweet ^_^ ) until we figured out what I was doing wrong, then a day or two to get to this point. Turns out that I learned a stitch incorrectly aaaand it was a really important stitch. Yeah it looks like a pile of crap (my fault, not the design's) I know it'll look better as I go along and when it gets blocked. I keep losing a stitch somewhere on one side so the design over there is prolley gonna look funky anyways. Not gonna tell you where, just in case when it gets done you can't tell ^_^ But hey, for my first try at shawls and being a complete newbie at knitting, it doesn't look too bad. It could be on fire and have gaping holes in it right now and it'd still be better looking than what I would have had if the designer hadn't helped me so much. You rock ^_^

Playing with Rice

So I suck so badly at cooking rice that my friend gave me a rice cooker for my birthday. So far I've cooked in it three times, one of which was more successful than the others. So let's start with the first try.

*sniff* Ain't it beautiful? 

There it is making fluffy rice. I even went all out with the complicated ways of making rice. I cleaned the rice until the water ran clear, I soaked the rice for 30 minutes, added the right amount of water according to the lines on the inside of the bowl, and pushed the little cook button ^_^

Mom likes bunches of butter in hers.

And here I added tuna and mayo to another bowl.

It was a success ^_^ It was fluffy and awesome. Yays! =D Now for my less successful second try.

I took a can of mixed vegetables and drained the brothy stuff out of it. I added a chicken bullion cube to it and added enough water to make it a cup of water. I nuked it in the microwave until the bullion dissolved. Added the rice and broth to the rice cooker bowl and added water till it was at the little line. Scrambled an egg and lightly stirred it in.

Pushed the cook button and when it got done I let it sit for 15 minutes in the cooker. Buuuuut...

This is after it was stirred after steaming.

While it looks good, the rice wasn't cooked all the way so I dunno. I put it in the fridge and am saving it for fried rice.

My next experiment is prolley gonna stain my bowl forever. Added a can of tomato soup and a can of water to the rice in the bowl. I checked it after it said it was done and it wasn't so I put it on for another go. Checked it after that and while most of the liquid was gone, it still wasn't done and I decided to break the rules and actually stir it. The bottom of the rice was burned so I added 2 of the little rice cups of water to it, stirred it and put it on again. Decided after a little while that tomato stuff prolley wasn't good to mess with in a rice cooker. Added another can of tomato soup, basil, worchestershire sauce, soy sauce, garlic salt, italian seasoning, parmesan cheese, american cheese slices, Texas Pete hotsauce, and A1. I know it seems overboard but it was tasteless for a good while. After all of that it was edible, just still a bit strange. I had to stir it the whole time, so the rice wasn't fluffy. It turned out to be tomato goo that was a little over spiced, but that was my fault

Nothing to get excited about, it was meh, it really needed meat in it. But! I figured since it was mostly tomato and cheese and too much spice it would be good on a pizza.

I only put it on half, just in case, cuz I like Totinos and would hate to screw the whole thing.

This was actually pretty good. Much better as a pizza topping with it's over spicyness. Only thing that coulda been better is if it had shredded cheese sprinkled on it. Nom.

Moral: Experimentation requires more research, but the rice by itself was badass.

P.S. This rice cooker is awesome cuz not even one stain after all of that abuse.

Boozin'

I'm dog/house sitting for my bro and he's got bunches of booze. Thought I would try a tiny bit of each and see how I like them. Gonna wait a while between each bit, just in case. (btw, I have permission to do this, so no thinking I'm stealing or anything)

First up is Disaronno on the rocks.
    Poured a bit into a glass of ice. This one is ok, it's way too sweet for me though. There might be other ways to try this where it's not so sweet but I'm ignorant to the ways of booze. Went looking for something to help this drink cuz I would feel bad if I poured it out. It's only a tiny bit but alcohol is not cheap. I found some lemon juice and put a few drops in it and it's better. I think I can finish it now that it's not like drinking syrup. This would prolley be great when mixed with other things and boozes but I'm not gonna waste it by experimenting.

Next up is vodka and orange juice.
   I put a little bit of vodka in a glass of orange juice. I can still taste the vodka, but not bad. There are apparently people who mix it different ways, like putting more vodka than orange juice, stuff like that. I can tell you now, not gonna happen. I have a bad memory of drinking straight vodka and it was disgusting so any time I'm gonna be drinking it, it's gonna hafta be covered up with something. I think if I were to drink a bunch of these (with the tiny amount of alcohol I put in it) I might get drunk a while from now, but since that is not my aim (plus I don't wanna drink a bunch of their orange juice, that stuff is expensive) I'm all good with my glass being the way it is.

This is my last experiment of the night so I'll save it here and come back later.

So my next one is spiced rum.
   I like this stuff but it's a funny sort of drink. I put about a gulp into the bottom of my glass and I've been sipping on it for about an hour. How on earth can anyone get drunk off of this stuff without setting themselves on fire? It's good, don't get me wrong, and would prolley kick ass if mixed with certain things but itty bitty sips is all I take so I don't burn myself.

Next up is a mango Carribean rum
   Smells good, a little sweet but not bad at all. I kinda like this one. Only put a splash in the glass so I can't tell you if a big gulp will burn but it's got a pleasant warming to it and it doesn't smell bad like so many others. I could see myself getting some of this, if I ever have monies to my name again.

Now we have tropical banana Carribean rum
   Smells fruity (imagine that) Not bad. This would probably be best mixed with something else. There is one more flavored rum they have and I'm thinking the three flavors would prolley work really well together. The mango one is better cuz this one is just a little over the edge making it a bit too sweet. It still has the pleasant warmth that the mango had without the burn of the spiced rum. These two also had pretty good aftertastes, that's always a plus. ^_^

Last of the rums...at least I think so, I haven't really gone snooping too deeply, is coconut carribean rum
   Smells similar to the banana rum for some reason. Maybe it's just a general tropically smell? This one is alright, not as good as the mango. I'm harping on that mango aren't I? =D It seems that there is a more alchoholly taste to this one. Could take or leave this one really. I've had a lot worse though, so in perspective, it's really not bad. That damn mango ruined me for the night it seems. Maybe I should mix a spoon of all three of these together?

Last one for the night (I've had about an hour between each of these, in case you were wondering) Mixed a teaspoon of the three tropical rums together.
   Smells fruity with the scent of alcohol. Maybe I shoulda added half a teaspoon of the coconut instead of the full spoon? When mixed together though, it's not bad. Kind of a general fruitiness with alcohol. Still got a little warmth to it, not bad though. I'll say one last time (for the night) I promise. I would prefer the mango by itself, mixed with the other two kinda drowns it's taste into a vague fruit being.

Off for the night. Maybe tomorrow I'll try some of the kahluas? I'm off to down a glass of water to make up for lost liquid from this.

I've had normal Kahlua so I'm not gonna do that one. It tastes like coffee. I hate coffee but I like Kahlua, go figure. Doubt you could become drunk off of this stuff but hey, I'm not an alcoholic who is gonna try.

So first up we have peppermint mocha Kahlua.
   Isn't mocha just another way to say coffee? Kahlua by it's definition is coffee flavored. I dunno, anyways. This is really good. I am fond of mint (except wintergreen, bleck!) so I'm into this one. I mixed it with milk btw. Never had straight Kahlua, don't think I'd like it, but you never know. So yeah, this gets the Tonna seal of approval. It's not alcoholly and it's like minty chocolate, nummy.

Next up is a pumpkin spice cream liquor thing.
   It's not Kahlua but it's close enough. I tried a sip with no milk and gagged. It's way too strong and just, dayum. Added to milk it's really good. Just tastes pumpkin spicey with no alcohol. This one is good too.

He has more but I'ma stop for now. It was fun, thanks for coming along for the ride ^_^

Yarn Ends Have Much Love

For a while I've been tying yarn ends together. Whenever I make something and I have to weave in ends I save what is left over and tie it into a ball. Why?

 That's why.

I think it looks bad ass, and to be honest, I don't really care if other people don't like it. This one is for me. It's gonna take forever since I only add, at the most, a couple of inches every color change or project.

After I've added a row.

At least I have color in my life ^_^

It's bumpy and full of knots but I don't care. It's a special project just for me. I think it's a great idea and it's technically recycling and I love it. And if you don't, I honestly couldn't care less. If you do think it's cool, awesome ^_^ It's small right now, but it'll grow over time. I'm also saving the little bitty pieces that are too small to tie together for fluffy stuffing if I ever make a doll.

Purple and Black Scarf for the Gilgameshy one.

I made a purple and black scarf for my friend Gilgamesh.

 

His favorite color is purple so in order for it to not look too girly I added black as well. Unfortunately my camera won't pick up the reds in the purple and make it kinda blue in the pics. It's the amethyst yarn that they sell at Wal-mart. I don't have wool or anything really warm so I'm hoping that the two strands will make this warm. I'm worried about it being scratchy due to the acrylic, but that's all I've got. I think after he washes it, it will be softer. It's kinda wide as well so it can protect his face against the northern cold. It's between 5 1/2 and 6 feet long. He's a tall guy so I'm hoping it's long enough.

If anyone is interested, the pattern that I based this off of is here -> Super Fast Scarf

Hope he likes it ^_^ It makes me happy to make things that get used and, hopefully, loved.

Cinnamon Toasted Doughnuts

A friend of mine gave me some expired doughnuts from the gas station where she works (so awesome btw) and I've been nomming them and wondering what kinds of stuff I can do with them. Unfortunately I'm almost out of them now that this thought has occurred to me, but anyways. I cut some doughnuts in half and lightly buttered them.

(Since they were old they cut easily)

I threw them in a pan heated to med.

And sat back and smelled the sweet smell of burning. Seriously, I had forgotten about the fact that sugar burns like crazy....oops. I left them on for a minute or so and dusted them with cinnamon once they were plated. 

I figured they had enough sugar on them so I didn't add more. The burned parts are sugar, I promise. Besides having a slightly burned taste (I have no idea why, honestly) these were pretty good. Slight crunch to them from the butter and pan cooking, which was nice, just wish I could figure out a way for the sugar not to burn.

Moral: Burning rings of sugar are a go.