i haven't been knitting but i have been makin' stuff. i finished one legwarmer and i'm very pleased with myself and my seaming skillz. i have to say that this legwarmer is the best legwarmer i've ever seen in person (though i bet the legwarmers
michelle makes are better).
i've been cooking more than usual. friday night i made doggie cookies from a "recipe" i made up. my dog has food allergies and she can't have wheat, which is in most dog treats. so i make her vegan doggie cookies out of peanut butter, molasses, oats, oat flour, baking powder, oil, and carrot "chips." she adores them. i also made human cookies, but from a mix. saturday, i baked up a big pan of mexican style casserole.
here's my "recipe" for mexican style casserole: i layer the bottom of a big casserole dish with polenta slices drizzled with some olive oil. then i toss chopped zucchini, chopped broccoli, chopped carrots, corn, and pinto beans with salsa, hot sauce, garlic, cumin seeds, cinnamon, and salt and pepper. pour the veggies on top of the polenta, cover, and bake for about an hour until veggies are cooked. serve with a dollop of vegan sour cream.
sunday i started to hem a pair of pants for travis. he found a really nice pair of ben sherman slacks at tj maxx but they were way too long. it's taking me a while to hem. first, because i was shortening them by about 4 inches, i had to cut off several inches of fabric and figure out how to finish off the cut ends. i had never done that before, usually i just let out the hem and raise it like an inch without cutting the fabric. i have no idea what the correct way to finish off fabric is, and i doubt i have the tools to accomplish the correct method anyway. it looked like the end that i cut off had been finished with a serger and i definitely do not own a serger.
what i ended up doing is use the "zig zag" feature on my sewing machine to create a dense line beyond which the fabric hopefully won't fray (it was trav's idea) and then cut the fabric about a quarter of inch beyond the line. i hope that works. obviously, it doesn't look too pretty but no one will see it. then, i was kind of obsessive about measuring and pinning the hems correctly. so by the time i actually started hemming i didn't have time to get much done!
i still haven't found the yarn i need to finish my poncho yet. i will probably have to order it. while i was at ac moore looking for the yarn i bought size 8 needles and some lion jiffy to make a hat with. i want to make myself a really warm hat. none of my winter hats keep out the cold wind. the jiffy yarn looks super warm, and i want to knit it as tight as i can to make it dense and cozy. the 8s might be too small, but i thought i'd give it a try.
tonight i want to finish the second leg warmer so that i can give them to cameron on friday. i think now that i know what i'm doing, it will go much faster. i don't know why i was so scared of seaming -- as long as i remember to seam the correct pieces, it's actually pretty easy. later this week i want to finish the pants and swatch the lion jiffy for my warm hat.