Winter projects

Nothing like cold weather to really get you into knitting. So I started little projects only to have the weather turn warmer and my motivation slow down. I have managed to almost finish my shrug (need to add sleeves) and a cowl. If only the weather would turn cold again. I wanna make these mittens from ravelry- bella's mittens and wear them with my cowl. The only hope i have is that it will be slightly cold in London in march. That means the 9 hour plane ride and 3 weeks in hotel room at night will get me through a few more projects.


Casting on bella's mittens!!!

Playa del Carmen

This year I decided to do something a little different for Christmas. I decided to take a short visit to visit my family followed by a quick trip to Mexico, Playa del Carmen to be exact, with Matt. This required a little bit more traveling than normal and was completely last minute so the travel plans were less solidified. I ended up finding a nice local, Heights pet sitter to watch the kitties, and got some quick tips from friends who had been to Playa before. Our friend, Rich, told us about this cute little hotel about 100 feet from the beach called Hotel Illusions. It was quaint and within our price range for the spur of the moment holiday traveling.

We were in Playa for 5 days and 4 nights. We flew into the Cancun airport and paid for a van to take us to Playa del Carmen (45 minutes south). The van wait seemed a little to long so we ended up simply paying for a taxi to take us to the hotel. Next time we will take the bus, which is substantially cheaper and quite reliable (~$10 per person). After arriving at our hotel, we walked around Avenue 5, the 'bourbon street' of Playa.
It is filled with shops, restaurants, bars, tourist info spots, etc. It was fun, but a little touristy. Matt and I did find some great little gems there where we could people watch and enjoy the hustle.


I enjoyed a lot of the food, from cilantro ceviche to the spicy mayan chocolate drink! Here are a few pics of my favorite eats. We did splurge for one pretty nice meal at La Casa del Aqua. The food was great! We got a tuna and sea scallop ceviche, I got griled grouper with goat cheese, and Matt got blue fin tuna. Yum, yum. Plus it had a great view of the streets below.




The other days we spent either on the beaches or in the little town of Tulum (which I loved!). Tulum was a great place to eat at little shops on the main street, see ruins, and take short trip to the cenotes of the coast. Cenotes are limestone caves that have been formed from underground fresh water 'streams and rivers'. They are lovely places to snorkel and are popular for scuba divers.




All and all the trip was nice. Playa was a little touristy and I think I would enjoy visiting the areas that were not so touristy and renting a car to explore the other beaches and forested areas. This was a reconnaissance trip to get a feel of the area. I now know the average cost of things and the opportunities that are there. Look forward to visiting Mexico again. Perhaps Merida!

Christmas goodies

One of the best things about Christmas are the cookies. I mean, there is nothing like spending time in the kitchen on a cold, winter day with the oven on and the smell of fresh baked goodness filling the air. My mother and I would always spend a day making cookies and fudge for Christmas parties and little gifts. So, I am always on the look out for great recipes. And I believe I found one and I was surprised that it was a sugar cookie recipe. On of my least favorite recipe to make (just ask my mother). I just never liked the rolling and powdering and decorating of them-- sticky dough and me don't mix. Fortunately these cookies lacked rolling and there was a way to avoid the sticking. These cookies came from a recipe in Southern Living and they are simple and delicious!!! The recipe is listed below.

Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies (recipe from magazine)

Ingredients

* 1 chai tea bag
* 1 package sugar cookie mix
* 1/2 cup melted butter
* 1 large egg
* 4 tablespoons eggnog, divided
* Parchment paper
* Cinnamon sugar
* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Remove tea from bag and pour into bowl.

2. Stir together tea leaves, cookie mix, butter, egg, and 2 Tbsp. eggnog until well blended.

3. Drop dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. This was the easiest way to remove the cookies. Flatten dough with utensil dipped in cinnamon sugar. (I used the bottom of a measuring cup)

4. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet to a wire rack, and cool completely (about 10 minutes).

5. Whisk together powdered sugar, nutmeg, and remaining 2 Tbsp. eggnog until smooth. Then decorate cookies-- allow to dry.


These cookies cook up quickly and have a unique taste. I made a couple batches, wrapped them up in plastic wrap, tied with bow, and placed in bag for a gift. In addition to cookies, my mom and I always make red hot spiced tea. Yum, yum. I love this stuff. It is also a quick thing to mix together and makes a really pretty gift.

Ingredients
1 large jar of tang mix
1 large jar tropical punch mix
1/2 to 1 cup instant tea mix
1 8 ounce bag cinnamon imperial candies (red hots)
some cinnamon or nutmeg for added flavor

Mix ingredients together and put in container (tins or glass jars!)

Hope everyone has a great holiday.

Oh-- and here are the pictures from my latest swap. I love the color of the yarn. It was surprising that it was a tea swap and I didn't receive tea-- but it is called tea and more-- so no complaints.

Joys of knitting groups

So I enjoy ravelry- I liked perusing the projects of friends and unknowns, wishing I knew everyone and could gain knowledge from them. Currently I have been meeting Heather (trifarina) at waldo's coffee shop on sundays. It has been a great way to meet someone new and also a great way to learn new things. I have been pretty much a self taught knitter. I learned from my two roommates, Brooke and Patty, when I was in grad school in wisconsin. The idea of knitting never really occurred to me until I lived in a very, very cold climate. Of coarse it was a challenge for them to teach me, because I insisted on learning left-handed. So, for my first 2 years of knitting I didn't quite do it right-- it was as if I had made up my own backwards stitch. But those were great times, sitting around drinking tea with them, knitting, and just talking.
After I left wisconsin, I tried to continue knitting, but it was hard starting a new PhD program and finding time to knit. It wasn't until my 3rd year that I really picked it up again. This time I corrected my wacky stitch and eventually found two lovely ladies to knit with, Jennifer and Valerie. During that time we drank lots of wine, laughed and cried over work, life, and school, and knitted a few projects. Once again I learned a lot and grew in certain skills. I miss them terribly now that we are scattered across the US (colorado, louisiana, texas).
Now that I live in houston I am once again trying to build a nice knitting group. Heather is a step-- she and I are trying to meet new people having both finished our degrees and taken a jobs in industry. Anyway-- I was just thinking how much joy such a small activity could bring me and how it really brings people together. Someday I should take a class to get to know people even more (maybe socks).

On a side note:
Right now I am going to participate in a tea and yarn exchange. Hopefully this will provide me with the opportunity to meet someone new and learn about the cool projects they create using needles and fabric. My first exchange was fun, but I didn't feel like it got people closer to one another. Hopefully this one will!

Here are some recent projects I have been working on for months-- I have been trying to get this pillow done, but was hampered by the button sewing. I kinda like how it turned out, but am not too happy with the button selection-- still fun to make.

Knit projects and reunions

Both reasons to celebrate (i.e. babies, wedding, etc.) and reasons to mourn seem to be the only things that brings friends together these days. That is one thing that is slightly melancoly about the wide-open world today. Instead of friends growing old together we have to watch from afar as our best friends from each period in our lives grow older- fall in and out of love, get married, have children, get jobs, find new jobs, finish school, lose family members and/or loved ones, travel, etc. In fact, the biggest life events are often followed via e-mail, facebook up-dates, or a chain or phone messages. I have recently come to understand how important all these friends from my life have been and are today only to also discover that we have all grown away and live in places either far from our original home or close-by. The sad fact is, even if we live in the same area we all find ourselves lost in the busy 'older, grown-up' lives that we let those friendships slip away.
I have been coming face to face with this reality more recently with brief events in my life that have caused me to reach out and ask for advice and an ear from those people in my life that I used to get advice from everyday. The funny thing is- even though we hadn't spoken in months or even years, the ease of catching up is so easy. One of these friends told me great news-- that she was gonna have a little boy in the end of november. This made me go out of my way to travel to her baby shower to catch up and see her and her family. It was great to see how respected she was in her resident community (she is finishing her residency as a ob-gyn). It was so amazing of me to think of us a silly little teenagers so full of angst and cynicism only to see how we have grown up to be successful adults so far. It just made me beam. Anyway-- enough pontificating-- these events just made me want to make some little project for her new little baby-- and also made me crave more 'reunions'. In fact, I also discovered that an old dorm roommate of mine is getting married in may and that all the suitemates are going to try to travel to her wedding-- this will be quite a reunion where we will all get to meet each others partners, children, and catch up a bit. I am looking forward to it (and hopefully more reasons to remain in touch and connected). On a sadder note though, one of my friends just watched her mom pass away from lung/brain cancer. It has made everyone have a reason to come together- to help support her in her time of need. It has also made us think to ourselves- 'we are too young to have to be dealing with our parents dying-- or are we?' We are in our 30's and during this time we start to discover not only the miracle of new life, but the inevitability of death. As this happens we start to think about life a little more seriously, understanding the importance of the relationships we have.

Anyway, here is the bib I am trying to finish. I need to sew on the patch and button. I wasn't too thrilled with the yarn (Bernat cottontots), but it was in my stash and I needed to try to use it up.


I am also trying to make myself something a little more challenging than a scarf or headband-- here are the beginnings of a lace shrug-- hope to finish it before it warms up again.

My new love of DIY terrariums

I got inspired to make a few terrariums when I saw this etsy seller, weegreenspot, featured a couple of weeks ago. She made the cutest terrariums with lichen/moss from the redwoods of the northeast. Often she would include a little creature like a deer or hobbit to live in these mini-forests. I wish I could get a'hold of some of this soft beautiful moss, but alas-- Houston is not really overflowing with moss. I was still inspired, however, especially since the cooler weather is upon us and I like the feeling of living in a lush surrounding even in the bleakness of winter (as bleak as the south can get). In case you are interested, terrariums are basically small ecosystems created in a container. They usually require low light and little watering.

I started picking up pieces of terrarium materials with my purchase of a square glass terrarium from Smith & Hawken. Don't worry, it was on-sale because they were having a store closing so I picked up a $50 terrarium for $24. Awesome!

Hence, the terrarium constructing began. Also, in the madness of terrarium supply shopping I also decided to pick up some winter greens plants that included kale, arugula, butter lettuce, and spring greens mix. These were later placed in my little red container after I cleaned out the dead okra and cucumber plants from the summer container garden.

Back to terrarium construction....

Materials needed:
- glass container with top (i.e.; jars, clouche, aquariums)
- soil (I got organic soil from the local garden store and combined it with some sand for draining)
- pebbles (I got them at Pet Smart)
- activated charcoal
- plants of choice (I picked up an african violet, tillandsia, and different fern varietals and also found some pre-packaged moss)
- In addition, I went to target and picked up a glass candy jar for a second terrarium.

Basically it is a layering construction method with pebbles on the bottom, charcoal, then soil, plants, and finally water.

I had a great time making mine and now they have added a splash of color and comfort to my house. Honestly I could make more and more of these, but may have to stop at some point.

Close to the gulf coast

One of the greatest joys I have gotten from living in Houston is the fact that the gulf coast is only 1 to 2 hours away just south of small towns like Clute, Lake Jackson, and Freeport. The short drive allows me to take the opportunity to visit this dynamic environment at least 2 times a month. I get great joy out of this because the coast is filled with all the things I love- water, fish, birds, vegetation, and geologic processes. Whenever Matt and I visit the coast we normally go to Surfside Beach, a quiet beach community away from the clamor and crowds often encountered at Galveston, TX. There are about 20 miles of open beaches that are open to the public where you can drive feet from the waters edge, park, and then relax by fishing, wading, swimming, kayaking, or just plain sitting. Matt visits a lot more often than me- leaving at 4 in the morning with his fishing poles and kayaks. Sometimes i go with him to just watch the sunrise and focus on the waves slow movement into and out of the coast. Every time I go there I wish I had 2 things 1) a shorebird id guide and 2) a seashell id guide, both things I could pick up at a used bookstore if I remembered.

This weekend was a little different- Matt explored Matagorda peninsula and really liked it, so he took me there. The peninsula is 51 miles long and is crossed at the mid-point by the Colorado River. It is a strip of land separating the gulf from Matagorda bay. There is beach access and hardly anyone is there, which makes the beach quite a bit cleaner than most of the other beaches.



Even though it is clean, there is still quite a bit of interesting beach trash for those who love collecting (a place my grandpa would have loved visiting). The trash ranged from televisions, hardhats, plastic shipping crates, and balloons- lots and lots of balloons. I think one of the main reasons it is a less visited beach is that beach access is slightly more tricky. The sand is cleaner and can be very fine at places making it hard to drive without a 4wd vehicle. my favorite parts are the groups of brown pelicans that take to flight whenever you get to close to them. For a second you feel as if you are flying right by with them. There are also oyster banks that are slowly being eroded by the waves. So I sat looking for shark's teeth and shells most of the day, in addition to helping Matt spot fish. I didn't find any exciting shells or teeth, but Matt caught several lady fish, whiting, and a black tip shark.



I love this little secret vacation spot close to home.