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Too sick to be bored.
MintyNinja blogged yesterday about being “Sick and Bored.” I thought about doing a similar drawn self portrait, but after not showering for a grand total of four days, it would be far too ugly to show the world.
I’ve been far too sick to be bored.
This is a strange thing for me, who always has something on the go. I’ve been home for the past 3 days solid, except for Monday morning’s doctor visit and the Tuesday 1am visit to the emergency room when I was having a hard time breathing and too feverish to make any sense.
I’ve had a bit of a sore throat for a week now, but it got worse on Saturday, then again on Sunday when I lost much of my voice. By Monday morning, I was in agony. The strep test results aren’t back yet, but I’m guessing that’s what I’ve got. I know I had a +100 deg fever for nearly all of Monday. Because we were at the hospital until 6am on Tuesday, I spent most of Tuesday day sleeping. I can’t eat anything solid. I tried a piece of cantaloupe yesterday and nearly cried. My throat and cheeks and neck are puffed up like a chipmunk’s. And I’ve been living on liquids; chicken broth, hot water with honey, pureed carrots with broth, pureed apples.
I’m on Day 3 of the antibiotics and also 3 solid days of Tylenol 3 and advil. Together. As soon as either pain med starts to wear off, I’m in agony again. As soon as I cough, I want to cry.
I have never ever been this sick in my life.
Although Sandra’s been sick too, she hasn’t been nearly as bad off as me. She’s gotten me tea, heated the water, cooked soup after soup after soup. Ran to the store for more frozen yogurt. Ran out and bought a thermometer to check my temperature. Even so, our house is a disaster zone from both of us being too weak and sick to do much of anything.
I think the fact that I’m noticing that means today I’m a little better.
The doctor said that I need to stay home all week so I don’t make anyone else sick at work. I have a note to prove it. And to be honest, it’s a good plan.
See, I’m not bored yet. After three days of sitting on the couch and laying in bed, I don’t even have the energy to start a new book after finishing Rachael’s How to Knit a Love Song (delightful, btw!).
I’m hoping to be bored tomorrow, or maybe later today. I am tired of being this sick. I’ve missed out on the prettiest Toronto weather so far this year. Even my dogs are getting sick of me, and wish I’d just take them to the park.
The T3 is kicking in again so I’m going to go back to bed. I had some yogurt and hot water for breakfast. I miss coffee, but it hurts my throat too much from the acid. I haven’t had coffee since SATURDAY. I feel like I’m on some kind of perverse cleanse. Honey in hot water. Clear broth. Yogurt. Bah.
Tortilla Espagnole
On Thursday nights, Sandra’s been taking a Flash class down at Ryerson, so I’m on my own once a week to work on code and hang out with the dogs. I generally use the time to get all the things done I just don’t feel like doing when she’s around; laundry, computer stuff, dishes. But also, I take the opportunity to cook dinner for myself, choosing recipes that she wouldn’t like.
This simple skillet involves sauteeing potatoes and onions, and cooking with an egg mixture, then finishing under the broiler. I made a few twists to the base recipe to make it healthier.
Enjoy!
Tortilla Espagnole Swenson-Style
Makes two generous servings. For more, double the ingredients and use a full size skillet.
Ingredients:
- 2 white potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 3 eggs and 2 egg whites
- 2 T shredded aged parmesan (optional, but delicious)
- Olive oil
- Salt, pepper and chili flakes
Instructions:
Preheat the broiler to high.
Heat 1 T of olive oil in a small omelet-sized ovenproof skillet. Add onions and potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook over medium until tender but not falling apart.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat eggs and egg whites to combine and add additional salt, pepper, and chili flakes as desired.
When potatoes and onions have cooked, add to bowl of egg mixture. Add 1 T of olive oil back to skillet and heat. Pour egg / potato mixture into the skillet evenly. Do not stir!
Let cook, covered if possible, over low until the edges are fully cooked and the middle is set but still glistening, approximately 10 minutes.
Sprinkle parmesan evenly over the top.
Uncover and put under the broiler for an additional minute or two until cheese has melted slightly and top is a light golden color.
Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Place a plate over the skillet and invert, then slice and serve.
Prep: A Love Letter toRaglans
Often when I cast on for a new design, it’s after hours of prep work. Swatching, re-swatching, changing stitch patterns, taking measurements, doing math, making notes. If you’ve taken one of my classes, you know I’m a huge fan of gauge swatching. Taking that half hour to work up a good square of sample fabric – and then blocking it properly before measuring – is time well spent. In addition to just making sure that you’re knitting at the right tension, it’s an opportunity to break the ice with your new yarn, to learn how it feels under your finger tips, to see how the texture unfolds with every stitch.
But, I won’t lie to you. I did not swatch for this design. I simply pulled out my 4mm addi clicks and cast on.
Sometimes an idea is too captivating to wait. I had this cable in my mind, and I wanted to design a raglan around it, with the cable panels coming down on either side of the yoke, then continuing through the body on a background of reverse stockinette. Because the cable panels are quite wide, my neckline cast on was more or less set, without swatching or multiplication.
The yarn is Plymouth Galway, close enough to Cascade 220 that I could predict my gauge within a fraction of a stitch.
So, I took that leap and cast on.
Raglans in the round are popular for this very reason; spontaneity.
They are forgiving. Because you start with a square (or a circle) for the neckline, if it’s a wee bit large, it won’t matter; just pick up stitches and knit on that neckband a little deeper than planned. (Of course, if it’s too small to fit over your head, that’s a massive problem that can only be remedied by cutting or frogging back to the beginning.)
Raglans are easy to fit. If the body gets a bit large before your yoke is deep enough, Raglans look even classier when working a few inches even at the end of the yoke. Because you can try on as you work, you can make sure the size is right, and the shaping is bang-on, long before you’ve finished the garment.
They are the ultimate blank canvas. Working in the round affords unique design opportunities that seams and set in sleeves can’t fathom. And for designers, with the yoke in a single piece, it’s easy to see the big picture early on in the project, early enough to shift direction, or add in some feature you hadn’t planned.
However, raglans aren’t the be-all and end-all of knitting pattern design.
There’s nothing like a proper set in sleeve to make you feel elegant and classy. And seams ARE often important in knitting. Seams lend structure to garments, helping them stay in shape over the years, or keeping a potentially unruly stitch pattern in check. For example, on my Slow Curve pattern, seams play an important role both in terms of structure and design. Circular yokes are beautiful to work, and allow for seemingly magical colourwork that grows and changes organically. And so on.
But I love the Raglan. And I love it for designs like this one, where the structure fits my idea so very perfectly.
I’m designing more and more this way right now. Brief flash of an idea turns into the beginnings of a garment. Some math, some planning, some design details fleshed out on the needles. I find it exciting and rewarding, if not exactly low risk.
I may need to rip this beautiful blue thing back to the beginning. I know this, and I’m prepared, just in case. But maybe not. Maybe it will all continue to come together, the right shape, the right size. With little advanced prep work and one solid idea.
Creekside: Pattern NowAvailable
With sideways yoke panels featuring an interesting blend of twists and eyelets, the Creekside tunic is as fun to knit as it is to wear. The length is flattering as a layer over leggings or skinny jeans, and has slimming side panels featuring a similar eyelet and cable design.
Named “Creekside” after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics venue. This was my Olympic project, and I am awarding myself a gold medal for completing the design and publishing the pattern before the Closing Ceremonies. Yay!
I hope you enjoy the pattern as much as I did!
Sizing:
XS(X, M, L, XL, 2X)
Finished Measurements:
Chest: 31(35, 39, 43, 47, 51) inches
Length from Shoulders: 28(29, 29, 29, 30,
30) inches
Hips: 33(37, 41, 45, 49, 53) inches.
Because the cabled panels are deeper than usual armholes, measurements are given based on the beginning of the stockinette portion. Your actual bustline should fit in the cabled portion, with additional stretchy ease. For a close fit, as pictured, select the size 1-3 inches smaller than your bust measurement, or the size 1-2 inches larger than your underbust measurement.
Materials:
Chunky yarn, approximately 850(950,
1000, 1050, 1100, 1200) yards.
32” US 10/6mm needles, or size to obtain gauge
16” US 10/6mm needles, or size to obtain gauge
Cable needle (optional)
Stitch markers
Removable stitch markers, safety pins, or scrap yarn
Yarn needle
$5.00 US
Olympic Knitting –completed!
While watching something other than the Olympics last night, I cast off the monstrous cowl and wove in about thirty five ends, due to the surgery performed earlier in the week.
I was scared to put it on. See, I’d tried it on last week, and it fit absolutely perfectly. What if the changes I’d made to the armholes didn’t work out right? What if this (third!) version of the cowl still didn’t sit exactly right?
What if I had to rip back again?!?
Luckily, it fits great. And I love it. And it’s exactly what I’d pictured when I first cast on.
Happy Friday, everyone!