Russell Yarn

Muskrat Love...

...also known as the Amazing Lace Challenge #2!  This time we were challenged to show off our best X-treme lace knitting skills...X-tremely crazy, X-tremely terrifying, etc.  Problem is, I am X-tremely boring.  I don't skydive, hike up mountains, or even snorkle.  So I decided to take the challenge into Fear Factor territory, and this is where things got X-tremely crazy.

6/12/06:
Amby: I've finally decided what we're going to do for the X-treme challenge, Miss Sassy!
Sassy: Watch paint dry?
Amby: No!  You know that restaurant in Riverview, Kola's?
Sassy (suspiciously): Yeah?
Amby: You know what they serve there?  Muskrat!  They had it on the Travel Channel on America's Craziest Foods or something like that.  So we're going to chow down on some X-treme muskrat while lace knitting!
Sassy: Muskrat my %$^#ing ^&%!!!!

Now, since Miss Sassy is easily stuffed into a knitting bag and silenced, I carried on with my X-treme plan.  Yes, Kola's is a real restaurant, yes they serve muskrat, and you betcha I was going to eat it while knitting lace.  I was going to win at least one challenge in the Amazing Lace, and if it meant making the entire knitalong barf onto their collective knitting, then so be it!!!

6/16/06:
(Amby and a brave volunteer are headed to Kola's with Miss Sassy shrieking hysterically in the backseat).
Sassy: YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!  LOOK, THERE'S AN ARBY'S RIGHT DOWN THE STREET!  HAVE YOU LOOKED AT  THE CALORIE COUNT OF SAUTEED MUSKRAT?!?!?!
Amby: Shut up Sassy, I have visions of muskrat and mashed potatoes dancing in my head.  And you're going to eat it too, or so help me wool I'll give you to the Russells to play with.  I'm sure you'd look reaaaally nice wadded up on the bottom of a dog crate.

At this point, the Muskrateers pulled into Kola's only to find an empty parking lot and a sign on the door indicating that the restaurant was closed for renovations.  Miss Sassy sees this just before attempting hara-kiri with her Denise Needles. 

Sassy: THANK YOU GOD!!!!!
Amby: Sonofabitch!  Now what?

Much swearing and pouting ensued, and Amby picked up some questionable-looking Downriver sushi for lunch instead. 

Amby: Uh, Sassy?  I wouldn't touch that yellowtail tuna...I think it's supposed to be white, not brown. 
Sassy: Oh, so now YOU'RE the picky one since the muskrat fell through, huh?

I don't think it takes a genius to figure out what happened next.  Yarn barf, naturally.  Apparently Sassy didn't know that vast quantities of vodka will kill anything that has the power to turn white tuna brown (although she does now). 
So what all has come from this X-tremely bizarre culinary knitting adventure?  My in-laws continue to believe that I'm nuts:
JP (on the phone with his mom): So, Amby's going to eat muskrat for lunch today.
Mom: Why?!?
JP: Oh, it's some knitting thing.

My coworkers continue to believe that I'm nuts:
Coworker #1 (who was born in, raised in, and lives Downriver, and KNOWS the owner of Kola's): You're going to eat MUSKRAT?!?!  EEEWWWWW!!!
Amby: Well, it's not like it's some random rat I picked up in Detroit.  It's a USDA-certified rat!

And Miss Sassy will be nursing a serious hangover tomorrow.  (Martini recipe here).   

My Old Kentucky Home...

Today was the Kentucky Derby, and I bucked a lot of traditions this year.  I drank one mint julip instead of several, I didn't make a Derby pie (I'm saving the ingredients to make it when I visit my parents over Memorial Day), but as usual, I didn't pick the winner.  My picks came in 3rd, 16th, and 18th, which I think is a new crappy record!  I did cry during the playing of "My Old Kentucky Home" as normal, and vowed to move back Home within five years, whether  JP wants to or not.  The Derby (and thoroughbred racing in general) is a BIG DEAL to me, should I suddenly win the lottery I would love to get into the business.  The last Triple Crown winner was the year before I was born, so I'm hoping that with Barbaro's commanding win, I might have a chance to see one before I die.  As promised, my own personal mint julip recipe is over on the Knitters' Martini blog.

Next order of business...nope, still no wheel.  I'm starting to get extremely a little concerned and frustrated.  It left New Zealand on April 28th, so I'm not sure if the dolphins are swimming it over or what.  USPS, UPS, and FedEx don't have a record of it.  I'm getting heartburn just thinking about it.  I AM spinning some lovely laceweight singles on the drop spindle out of the "unknown blend" I purchased on my previous trip to Heritage, so at least I'm practicing my spinning skills.  Speaking of Heritage, I visited again this morning to pick up more fiber, in the vain hope that my wheel would arrive today and I could spend the whole weekend spinning away.  I picked up a niddy-noddy since winding skeins on my swift was breaking my arm, but my main purpose was to get something other than "beginner" fiber.  Bring on the yarn pr0n!

This is a little teaser (or fluffer fiber, I guess)...I'll show the other lovely fiber later.  First, some gorgeous dyed merino...I don't even know what I'm going to make out of this.  JP will want it when he sees the colors, but it's MINE,  ALL MINE!  So soft and so pretty!  The second pic is of a soy silk/merino blend.  I've been warned that soy silk will drive the smartest spinner crazy, but the label assured me that the blend is completely spinnable by even less-experienced spinners.  The colors in this picture are pretty washed out, but I assure you it's the most gorgeous deep shades...I'm definitely saving this one for the wheel. 

Apparently I've already caught the multiple wheel craving that so afflicts spinners...despite the fact that my first stupid wheel is probably bobbing in the ocean somewhere, I'm already thinking about another one.  My wheel-in-transit is an Ashford Traditional which is not the most transportable wheel.  I'm having bad thoughts about looking for an affordable Ashford Traveller, primarily because I do go to Kentucky fairly often, and it would be nice to have one I could haul out into the backyard over the summer.  Of course, this could all be psychosis brought on by not having my wheel that was supposed to be here A WEEK AGO.  We'll see. 

In the meantime, here's one last pic...mmmm, whiskey and an alpaca/tussah silk blend.  Heaven.

The bar is OPEN!

Just a quick post to let you all know I finally transferred my martini recipes from this blog over to the Knitters' Martini Bar (regular link at right).  If you want to join in the fun, read the rules on the sidebar over there. 

Now, being that a) JP will be out of town this weekend and b) Saturday is Derby Day, I can guarantee I might do some whiskey-martini-experimentation!  And I'll probably bend the rules a little and include the recipe for my mint julips!

The Tangtini

I'll tell you straight off, there are really no knitting updates in this post, since all of my WIP are at that boring midpoint stage that no one really cares about pictures from.  BUT, I did put Birch details and NEW PICS on my Finished Objects blog (kindly click on the link to your right) if you're interested.  And a new martini recipe to boot!  Although that will come at the end of this post to ensure you stick around. 
So I've already ruined my "no more than three!" plan for my works-in-progress list, but in my defense, I do have a Knitting Plan for this weekend.  Which may be blown out of the water by the fact that JP is taking this weekend off...but since that is a rare and wonderful occurance in and of itself, I won't complain.  Here is my hopelessly optimistic plan: tonight I would like to finish JP's first sock.  This may already be doomed by the fact that I'm going to take a nap after this blog post.  But you never know...I only have one inch left before I need to start the toe decreases.  Tomorrow, I would like to cast on for JP's second sock, finish one Ugg bootie (which I have already done the sole for), finish seaming up the arms on the long-neglected Little Star Sweater, and finish the cuff on my first Dublin Bay Lorna's Laces sock.  Sunday, I want to cast on for the Top Secret Twinsie Project, which has been on my Works on Deck list forever, to my great shame.  Hopefully Monday I'll have a few more finished objects to show off. 
As promised, here is tonight's martini recipe!  First, I have to preface this by telling you I love Tang.  Seriously.  I lived on Tang, chocolate frosting, and pasta through college (which explains why I only weighed 113 pounds, but anyway).  So I was kinda hurtin' for a martini, but the cucumber juice-and-pepper vodka recipe did NOT go as planned (no worries, I'll come with another cuke-juice recipe).  But what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a container of TANG! and lotsa vodka!  Anyhoo, here's the Tangtini: put one level teaspoon of Tang into glass, add a splash of club soda, just enough so that not all Tang is dissolved (side note: this is a GREAT starter chemistry experiment, wait until you see what happens when you put these two together!).  Pour into ice-filled shaker, add about twice as much unflavored vodka as club soda.  GENTLY agitate...we don't want an unfortunate club soda incident.  Strain into glass, enjoy!  This is another one of my addled-mind inventions, but if you're a secret Tang devotee, like myself, it's a good one!

What Olympic Knitting?

Well  I did what I'd threatened to do...I upgraded my Typepad membership to "Plus" which not only gives me more creative control over the blog appearance, but gives me two more blogs!  Whoo-hoo!  So instead of concentrating on Olympic Knitting tonight (25 more rows on body, 1 1/4 sleeves) I worked on the blog.  Unfortunately I STILL can't find my Photoshop install disk, which is driving me bonkers, so I designed the new banner and button on my OLD computer, then burned to a disk to transfer to the NEW computer, which has the internet hookup (tired yet? I am!).  I've added a Finished Objects blog and a Russell Prints photography blog, both of which are empty at the moment.  I'll probably work on those after the Olympics are over.  In the meantime, puh-lease swipe my button...that's my little mouse on there, and I'll probably die of excitement to see him on someone else's blog. 
To reward you for reading/skimming through all that, here's a new martini recipe.  (OH...warning, more blog blabber...I also added categories, so you can click on "Martinis" at the bottom of this post and it should bring up all the posts with martini recipes!  Cool, huh?!)  I invented this one myself too, and it is a very subtle martini, no strong tastes in this one, as in the Tastes Like Lemon! martini.  It's also a good way of using up those leftovers you may have around the house when you're craving a drink.  I named this one the Chocolate Orange Martini...gee, wonder what's in this one?  Juice one orange, combine two ounces fresh orange juice and two ounces of  unflavored vodka in a shaker, add ice and shake.  Strain into glass, add a dash of club soda and grate chocolate on top (I used milk chocolate, but dark would work too).  Enjoy!

Olympic Knitting, Days 7-8

There are no lovely clear-cut pictures in this post demonstrating the inches I have added to my sweater primarily because  I...um...have only gotten five rounds further along since the last time I posted, and the difference is neglible.  So instead I submit to you this soft moody picture that gives absolutely no indication as to the progress or lack thereof.  In case you're wondering, that's one of my and JP's engagement pics posing with the Addis.  Now, before you start panicking on my behalf, I am leaving for Kentucky tomorrow morning (daylight!) and my brother is driving the whole way there and back, giving me approximately 13 hours to knit, not counting the time we'll be down there.  So no worries (yet). 
While I'm in Kentucky, my drink of choice is Southern Comfort with cranberry juice (aka the  "Scarlett O'Hara"), no martinis for me there.  It's comfort food and comfort booze all the way, baby!  So to tide you over until my return, here is tonight's offering, the Tastes Like Lemon! martini.  I am proud to tell you this is one of my creations, although there's nothing creative about the ingredients, just the tweaking.  It's a variation of the Lemon Drop, which I don't like because adding sugar AND simple syrup and then lemon vodka completely misses the point, in my opinion.  If I'm going to drink something lemony, I want it to taste like a lemon!  With just a lil' sugar to take the edge off!  Kind of like preferring fresh-squeezed lemonade to concentrate, y'know?  Anyway, juice one lemon completely, use a clean finger to rim the glass with the fresh juice, and then rim with sugar.  Pour 2 1/2 ounces of the lemon juice into a shaker, add 2 ounces unflavored vodka and 1 tbs of sugar.  Add ice and shake, strain into glass and garnish with lemon twist.  This is definitely a lemony martini, it has some sour bite to it, but the sugar rim sweetens it up a bit. 
So we're off to celebrate my dad's birthday (and never mind the laundry, cleaning, dishes, errands and other miscellaneous stuff I have to do before we leave), so have a great weekend, and hopefully I'll have a lot more knitting to show you when I get back!

Olympic Knitting, Days 5-6

What a wonderful, happy, lucky day!  First off, I have been desperately searching for a Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D since I heard Minolta was bought out by Sony, and that the 7D's weren't being made anymore.  I stopped by Woodward Camera yesterday and was told (not very politely) that they were all out.  This morning, I called my old standby, Adray Camera, and they had one left.  Rick very kindly offered to hold it for me, so I've got my camera!  Expect better blog pics very soon!!!  I have the film version of this camera, but film is neither practical nor budget-friendly for blog pics, so I've been looking to upgrade for a while. 
Next, the very wonderful Christine stopped by The Knitting Room to pick up the Addi Turbos I so desperately needed, since I'm chucking the Denise needles on my Olympic project.  So many many thanks to her...it enabled me to finish 11 rounds (at 182+ sts each) at Caribou tonight!  We had a great time at Caribou tonight...the prudish and faint of heart need not stop by (well, you could, but you might be shocked...topics tonight included selection of our knitting gang colors).  We have such a great time, and I am so lucky to have these gals in my circle of friends! I mentioned the progress I made on the sweater after the introduction of the Addi's...here's a pic of it sitting on my swift...sorry it looks like a hat!  I can't get over what a difference the Addi's have made, and my faith that I WILL have this finished within 11 days (gulp) has been renewed!
Here is tonight's recipe, the Apples 'n Oranges Martini!  Chill and then moisten outer rim of a martini glass with an orange wedge and coat lightly with Tang.  Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add two ounces of tangerine or orange vodka (we used Svedka) and 3/4 ounces of sour apple liqueur (we used Pucker's Sour Apple) and shake well.  Strain into the martini glass and garnish with the orange twist.  For the 'bou ladies who are breathlessly waiting to hear what surprise my darling husband had waiting for me after 'bou-time tonight, this was it...he had a finished martini waiting for me.  And he even FOLLOWED the recipe (trust me, very unusual for a chef!).  Delish!  I've polished off two as of this blog entry!
Finally...have you ever seen a Jack Russell Turbo?  If you've visited my home for any length of time the answer probably is yes, if not, here's a pic, captured by my new 7D...it's  like being inside a pinball machine.  But they make our life fun!

Olympic Knitting, Days 3-4

By popular request, I will be posting some of my favorite martini recipes here, starting off with this delish recipe called Blueberry Cobbler.  This is actually supposed to be a cocktail, but I've modified it to be a martini, which means no ice taking up room and less club soda to cut the liquor.  The way it should be, y'know?  Then, to finish it off, you get to eat the gin-soaked blueberries, so you're all primed to knit.  Or sleep.  Anyhoo.  In a cocktail shaker, muddle 14 blueberries, a wedge of lime, and 1 1/2 tsp of sugar.  Add 1 1/2 ounces of gin (I used Bombay Sapphire, but use your fav) and ice.  Shake well, strain into glass.  Top with club soda and garnish with 4-5 blueberries.  Enjoy!

In knitting news, I did finish the ribbing on my Olympic sweater and am now 10 rows into the stockinette stitch.  Doesn't Jerry look THRILLED to be modeling my knitting? Unfortunately, the Denise needle I switched to isn't cutting it...the stitches aren't sliding nicely along the Denise cable as they were on the Addi (for the ribbing).  I'm knitting 10-15 stitches, pushing them off the right needle, shoving clumps of stitches along the cable, then pushing more stitches up onto the left needle to knit.  Not very efficient.  Dana is going to check her Addi stash for a size #6, but otherwise I'll be stopping by HYAW to buy yet another Addi tomorrow after work.  It's a good thing Denise needles have their random Very Handy uses, otherwise I'd sell the kit and buy a couple more Addis. 
I've added a button to the multiple Olympic buttons I already have at the right.  If you're a proud member of Team Detroit, feel free to swipe!