FINE! you want to see the sweater?

here it is, sickos.



see? failure. failure. i really don't want to talk about it anymore unless you have some suggestions. and don't tell me i made it the wrong size. i am a small...i am barely 5'3" but i tend to have problems in the shoulder area. in that case i could have made a medium, but this was just so messed up everywhere that i don't know if it would have made a difference. the arms are ok, right? and no, it's not supposed to be a midriff baring piece.

doll took some time to relax on her tummy in the sun this afternoon.


here i am about 25 minutes later with calmer hair, along with a pissed off rabbit. (fyi...i didn't take her away from the sun. she came over to me and therefore she was fair game for the photo.)


here is alton brown's baked mac and cheese that i made for our black history month potluck at work yesterday. we're supposed to make something "traditional" from our family, or whatever. i didn't. i make this every year cause it rocks and people love it. (though, i do admit, last year i put too many onions in it and didn't let it cook long enough, so it was kind of oniony, but i got it right this time.) someone always brings in a stouffer's frozen mac and cheese, which i don't get. this year, that contribution was at least presented in a corningware dish, so it didn't look as icky, at least some thought was put into presentation.


ag has a gig tonight, so i'm excited. scap will be playing, too, as the event is his creation. yaaaay.

blue sweater failure...FAILURE!!!

i finally finished the blue sweater...all along i thought the body was a little short, but that was ok. worked on the neck and got the v part all set to go.

and then i finished the neck ribbing and cast off.

i tried it on...


NO!


there is no picture of me trying this sweater on. it ends about an inch above my belly button. i am so annoyed. to fit me, i would need a medium (large?) body and small sleeves! it's not going to happen. i'm going to take the whole thing apart now and figure out what to do with the yarn. dang!!!

arms and body have joined together!

here we are...arms and body together at last! i'm almost done with the front shaping...it'll wind up being a "v" neck. then all i'll have to do is sew up 10 stitches under each arm! i hope to finish it during this three day weekend (yay for president's day!)


also, my coworker and i just came back from lunch. there was a homeless guy asking for money outside of cap city brewery next to union station. we passed him and she and i went to abp and got soup and bread for lunch. then we decided to get soup for the man, too. we got broccoli cheese soup, nice piece of multi grain bread, gave him napkins, spoon, salt, pepper in the bag...go out to give it to him, he wasn't there. we've seen him before so we're going to try again. we're not saying we're saints or anything, but it's cold outside and we enjoyed our soup and thought he would too.

more rockin' the crock pot and sweater

the sweater didn't go in the crock pot, no. this is the blue sweater i was working on back in september and never really got around to finishing. i am ready to join the arms to the body. to recap, the yarn is from webs and is one of the yarns from their valley yarns line, shelburne. it's super soft. considering the cold days we've had recently, it will be a welcome addition to my messy closet.

also, i made some chicken last night in the 'crock.

i know what you're thinking..."that looks like boiled chicken!" well, that's pretty much what happened, but it was still super tasty.

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

several sprigs of rosemary

several sprigs of thyme

1 large onion, sliced into 1/3 inch slices, then sliced in half again to get semi-circles)

1 package button mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters

4 large cloves garilc, cut into large pieces (i just quartered mine)

1 10.5 oz can chicken stock

1 cup white wine

1 lemon, cut into slices

pepper

(i didn't add any salt because the stock is salty and i used kosher chicken. you can add salt, if you want, but most likely it will be too salty.)

place chicken in ziplock bag. chop up half of the rosemary and thyme and add to the bag, makign sure to cover each piece of chicken. let it sit in the fridge overnight.
layer onions in the bottom of the crock pot. place chicken on onions, add mushrooms around chicken pieces, add garlic and lemons. add stock, wine, the rest of the rosemary and thyme and pepper to taste. cook on high for about 5 hours or low for about 8 hours.

if you want to make the potatoes, cut up two red potatoes and steam until they start to get soft. spoon off some of the fat from the chicken and add to a skillet on med. heat. add the potatoes and cook until crispy and brown, turning each piece to cook all sides. add salt and pepper to taste.

i want to marry my crock pot

and it's a really deep bowl, so just in case you think there's nothing in there, oh, it's full.

today's lunch was scrumptious as well. i need a nap now.

stew! loving the crock pot

i am in love.

i am in love with my crock pot. (mine is red, though)

i've had it for almost two months now, and i've already used it about 6 or 7 times. this morning before leaving for work i threw in this beef stew, which will be ready for me when i get home at 6 tonight. it will be a most welcome meal, as right now it is 14 degrees outside. i took out the ingredients last night (except for meat and veggies) and i was all set. total prep time this morning from chopping veggies until turning on the cooker....14 minutes! excellent!

i have made soups and stews in there. i also cooked a whole chicken. it was FALLING APART when i took it out. ag and i couldn't get over it. so delish. i'm going to attempt some kind of herb chicken later this week, maybe for dinner thursday night. i have a whole cut up chicken (8 pieces) in the freezer right now and rosemary, lemon, garlic and thyme. i will experiment. maybe with a side of rice.

not to brag or anything, but i have inspired at least TWO people to purchase (and fall in love with) crock pots! for a singleton like me, the 3.5 size is ideal. not so small that you can't make anything real, and not too big that you wind up making an obscene amount of freezer-filling food. this one makes about 4 servings. perfect!

are you a crock pot cooker? please share your recipies!