Eek.

It's been awhile, ain't it?
Well, turns out I've gone and gotten myself a nice infection in a formerly innocuous little cyst/pore/hole/thing on my ear, and it's all swollen and red and painful, etc., etc., and once the Amoixicillin kills it off, I may need surgery to have it permanently removed, beacause apparently, once this happens once, it'll continue to happen every so often. Oh, and the doc says there's about a 50/50 chance that it could explode in a most revolting manner. (But he doen't think it'll happen because it's not that bad yet. And the swelling's already starting to go down since starting the antibiotic on Friday.) Fun stuff. Not. Other than that, I've really no excuse for not blogging. Bad bad me...
I finished spinning all my fiber, and I wound up with a little over 100 yards of a bulky-weight single, and about 250 yards of a fingering/DK-weight single. I wonder if it'll be enough for a pair of tabi socks, if I use the bulky for the toes and heels, maybe? Otherwise, I'll probably alternate the yarns in a nice lacy scarf or something. Or I may just keep it the way it is, all pretty and being my first spun yarn and whatnot... Hopefully, I can get hold of another batt of that lovely fluff so I can make enough for a cute wrap and those socks... Hopefully.
I've finally decided what I'm really going to do with my six skeins of white Cascade 220: dye and sell it in order to: a) recoup the forty-some bucks I spent on it, b) pay my brothers the money I owe them, and (hopefully) c) buy some even cheaper (identical!) yarn from KnitPicks to start up my yarn business. Gotta love that Kool-Aid!
On the slightly more depressing side, there's an old saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." I've experienced the evil thoughts and torturous emotions inspired by being (or feeling) ignored more than I care to admit, and so I leave you with a couple bits of advice: guys, if you're interested in a girl, do not be afraid to approach her, or you run the risk of unnecissarily stessing out your future girlfriend and making her cry and feel miserable and inadequate and (temporarily) hate your stinking cowardly guts. And girls, if he seems to be ignoring you, choose to pity his fear of rejection (how silly!) and his ignorance instead of researching voodoo dolls on the Internet and wondering what's wrong with you, and whether you'll be stuck single, no prospects, forever, a true spinster... Be patient. God will bring your husband to you in His perfect time--what a disaster it could prove should he come later... or earlier! Your heavenly Father loves you enough to send His only Son to die for you and bear your sin; surely he can be counted on to come through with a mate for his precious daughter!
Pictures will be added later, when I find that dratted camera and get some sleep.

A Lesson Well Learned

I ran across this quote just now while checking my e-mail, and thought I'd share it with you:
"The man who sets out to carry a cat by its tail learns something that will always be useful and which never will grow dim or doubtful." -- Mark Twain

Jesus Party Pics

...Just like I promised.
Here's my sushi, which was a smash hit (!); I'm definitely doing it again next time, and more of it!

Jesus Party! Wooooo!

Tonight is the Upper Room Bible study's monthly (or so) Agape Feast potluck dinner, and I made California Maki (rolls). Come to think of it, I'm going to make some ocha (green tea) when I get there, so I'm not stuck with soda and bottled tap water to drink. As far as the sign-up list last week was concerned, we have two edible dishes for sure: my sushi and Sonya's salad. Stephan and some other kid are bringing brownies, there will be cookies, vegan pizza (or lasagna, Elise hasn't decided yet.), chocolate-covered strawberries, and chips and dip and salsa. So I'll wind up with some salad with my sushi and ocha...
I'll post some pictures tomorrow (or whenever) of my very nicely rolled sushi (nothing (totally) fell apart this time! ^v^), which I'll take right before I leave. Even cooler than the fact that nothing went horribly wrong this time, I did it all myself! No help! (Well, having Nate fan the rice for me while I added the vinegar doesn't really count, does it?... And Mom did help clean up... ^_^;)
Okay, so I'm working on the Hooded Jacket from this issue of Vogue Knitting the last few weeks, and I've finished the back and pocket linings and am all ready to start the left front when it happens: I lost my size 10 needlepoints from my Needlemaster kit, they're my only needles that size, and I can't cast on anything new without them! Two weeks later, I'm going crazy needing to start the front, so I decide to try to work the beginning 10 rows (after which I switch to larger needles) on my short dpns (good luck keeping the stitches from falling off the other end!), and I get out my little shoebox of knitting needles. As I look into the box, searching for my dpns, a shot of bright green catches my eye: my size 10.5 circular needle from little Mystery's dog bed kit, repaired with green lawn edger string by my awesome dad. I figure, what the heck? Why not see what size my needle gauge says they are, and lo and behold, they are not size 10.5 after all... they're really size 10! Imagine my glee! (Picture little kids on Christmas morning upon receiving exactly what they've been pining over all year, and you get an idea.) So now I'm going to switch off every other day between my sweater and Zach's vest, and with some feverishly fast knitting and a lot of prayer, I think I might be able to get it finished in time for his 14th birthday on August 15th. He won't be able to actually wear it until at least September, but it'll be finished.
And in the end, that's really all that counts.

Home-cooked Sushi!

No, this isn't what I meant. Although I did knit them myself...
Friday I finally got to cook my own sushi, and boy, is it harder than it looks! I kept forgetting basic stuff like wetting your hands before shaping the rice so it doesn't just stick to your hands, and my rolls didn't quite want to. But the highlight of the evening's fiasco--er, meal, even beyond the prep/cook time of about three hours (the time just flew!) and subsequent hour-or-so late dinner, and my dad's accidentally eating his half-inch ball of wasabi, thinking it was just a piece of sushi (poor guy, shoulda warmed him, huh?) was when my brother Zach completely gagged on the tobiko I bought from Akina Sushi-Teppan (they'll even sell you "kits" to make your own sushi at home, and they teach sushi-making classes!) and had to go-er, regurgitate his mouthful of fish eggs in the kitchen sink. (Although he did tell me the other stuff "wasn't too bad" afterward.) Nate, however, was a real trooper, and (I'm pretty sure) actually enjoyed the meal... for the most part. Me and Mom loved it, though, and that's what really mattered. ^_^
The real story, however, is in the series of total and complete miracles that God beautifully orchestrated to just about make my year. First off, one of the recipes called for tenderloin steak (the Inside-Out Rools with Beef Teriyaki for the boys), but (much to my noob stickler side's glee) said that really any kind of meat (even tofu) would work, and while we didn't have beef steaks we had swordfish steaks, so we used those instead. (This was the most minor, so bear with me...) Second, when our search for tobiko came up empty, Mom (or me, I don't remember) suggested I call some nearby sushi restaurants to see if they'd sell me any. I called Ooka first, knowing they served it (and wasabi tobiko too!) but there was no answer. Then I remembered that Akina, which is closer anyway, does serve it (most I've seen just serve salmon or maybe smelt roe), so I called them up, and lo and behold, they were willing to sell me some 8 tablespoons for 4 bucks! (You have no idea how thrilled I was! I've been looking forward to this forever!) This was around 1:30 or so, and they close for lunch at 2: perfect timing. When I get there, I almost didn't take my purse in (Mom said I wouldn't need it, just the four dollars she gave me), but on a whim (or the leading of the Holy Spirit) I took it with me. As it turned out, there'd been a miscommunication, and the little container probably had a bit closer to four tablespoons in it, and the price was actually $4.31-my pathetic bit of change was about come in handy, I thought, and when I looked in my wallet, I discovered much more change than I'd anticipated, and (remember I have NO INCOME WHATSOEVER) seven one-dollar bills. So I bought two more little cups. And then the guy tells me that they sell people whole kits for homemade sushi because of their classes, complete with rice, nori, and topping; all you have to do is put it together! Miracle after miracle, people! And so I told him; he seemed impressed.
And for a final touch, only God saved my rice from a certain doom (and the rice is the backbone of the sushi, as everything else we had, save the tobiko, had to be at least partially cooked); I forgot to watch it as it began to boil, and when I looked it was really going!
So not exactly perfect (not my Dad's cup of tea, as he put it), but all-in-all, absolutely wonderful. I finally got to use my pretty dishes, too! Next time, though, we fry the fish outside.

Cotton Candy

I have been knitting for nearly three years now, and I recently started spinning my own yarn as well. Using some dowels as shafts and wooden toy wheel and plain disks as whorls, my dad and I made some spindles, and I bought my first fiber from Crystal Creek Fibers on eBay. Let me tell you, this stuff is beautiful, and very easy to spin. It is equal parts mohair, llama, and rambouillet (a breed of Merino) wool, in an oh-so-pretty pink-and-cream color blend that looks like cotton candy.
Having finally found our digital camera and conned Dad into buying some batteries for it, I've taken some pictures of my spindles (albeit already with the yarn on them) and fiber, as well as some practice strands of yarn.













Sadly, however, I've somehow lost my size 10 needles from my Boye Needlemaster, and I need them to work on my sweater... What a bummer, since the only other needles I have in that size are double-points! I fear I may have to actually buy replacements, which would totally not be cool, since the money I get in my allowance for the next month or so I owe my little brother! Oh well, the allowance is a new feature in the current scheme of things anyway, so at least I have some kind of income now where I had none previously.
The other day, I discovered Rosemary's blog, where she has posted pictures of her K'Nex spindles and Lazy Kate, PVC niddy-noddy and spice-bottle nostepinne. Awesome. I'm seriously considering building myself a spinning wheel out of K'Nex, since we have billions of them (Okay, maybe a couple thousand) and I have no money to buy one or the materials for one, or heck, even the plans for one! ^_^;
We'll see how that goes.

Wasabi Tobiko

Wasabi Tobiko is tobiko (flying fish roe) and wasabi (the Japanese equivalent of horseradish) over sushi meshi (rice) and wrapped in toasted seaweed paper called nori and served raw as sushi in many Japanese restaurants. If you should ever have the courage to order it, keep in mind that the roe is normally bright orange, and that the amount of wasabi needed to make it so vibrantly green is enough to clear out even the stuffiest of sinuses. This stuff is not for sissies.
I figure it's kind of my theme food: a little weird, or maybe a little normal, but definitely not what you were expecting. I thank you for joining me on this, my latest journey into the unexpected.
Hang on.