Help!! I've Fallen & I Can't Get Up!!

I've fallen in love that is. No, I haven't committed adultery, I just fell in love with a pattern over at Knitty. Curious?

here's a picture..
.. and here's the pattern

Now I just have to practice my knitting so I might actually be able to make the damn thing!

Foodie Friday

I almost let the day slip away from me. Can you believe that I actually have a recipe to share today? It's only been what...3 months maybe since I last did the whole Foodie Friday thing? Today's offering is a super quick, super delicious, super easy recipe that Nathaniel fixes from time to time. This recipe involves only 3 ingredients and a crock pot. See, I told you it was simple! I will warn you though that the final product doesn't look too pretty but it is delicious I promise, even Geof eats it.

Crock pot Chicken a la Nathaniel

• 1 package chicken- it could be a whole chicken cut up, legs, thighs, breasts, etc.
• 2 small cans or 1 large can tomatoes- we use home canned tomatoes but any will do
• 1 small jar olives- we use green olives, but I bet black would be pretty tasty too

Dust off the ol' crock pot. Put the chicken in it. Dump in the tomatoes and olives, juices and all. Cook until chicken falls from the bone. Enjoy!

See, I told you it was easy. The first time Nathaniel tried to fix this for me I was a bit skeptical....ok, I was horrified. Then I tried it and now it's one of my favorite dishes. The flavor of the olives mellows a lot while it still adds something to the chicken. The best thing is that you can use any kind of olives and any kind of tomatoes, like the kind with chilies or different spices. Give it a try, I dare you!

I'm A Follower...damn it

Well, I jumped on the bandwagon and now I have one of those spiffy Snap linky preview thingies now. How could I not, really? I know the blogs that I've read with the same feature have been a pleasure to explore so I thought I'd offer that to you, dear reader. Don't say I never gave you anything! Wait..what?!..you don't know what I'm talking about? Well, see those links below this sentence? Move your cursor over the links and see what happens..

I wonder what page this links to..?
Ok, that was just silly
Could that last one be classified as "soft porn"?
I thought Elvis left the building
I'm sorry, Grandma

That was fun, no?

Updates & Reviews...sorta

Dear D.I.Y./HGTV...I love you, I hate you, I love you. Has anyone else been watching the new crafting shows on HGTV lately? They're all from the D.I.Y. network and totally kick a lot more ass than Carol Duvall! I don't get the D.I.Y. network so this new influx of shows is awesome! Lately I've been hooked on Craft Lab, Knitty Gritty, Uncommon Threads, B. Original, & Creative Juice. Everyday I find a new hobby, today it's rug hooking courtesy of Uncommon Threads! I've got crafty ideas coming out of my ears now! I'm really liking all of these programs, HGTV has really been lacking in the crafting show department. I'm so sick of house flipping/decorating/real estate shows. They've been monopolizing the air time lately, so this new group of shows has been a breath of fresh air. I do have a love/hate relationship with them though. I'm constantly introduced to new ideas and crafts that I want to try, but we all know that it costs time and money to get to needed supplies, etc. when am I supposed to crochet? Gah! Feast or famine. At least all this creative stimulation has gotten my creative juices flowing again, I thought that river was all dried up...feels great!

In other news, here it is 22 days into the new year and I finally bought a calendar. But, not just any calendar, THE calendar. I bought the Crochet Pattern A Day calendar...75% off. Who doesn't love a bargain like that?! Nathaniel had an eye appointment at the mall in Asheville, so Geof and I got to walk around that mad house for a few hours. There is a Borders bookstore in there and they had all of their calendars on sale. We were looking for one for Geof's room when I stumbled across the CPAD...how could I resist?! That's about the only good thing I have to say about that particular store. Their craft book section was seriously lacking and they didn't have a single fiber-related magazine in the whole joint! Eh, what can you do?

Geof and I spent this past week with my parents. My great uncle passed away from a massive heart attack. He was only 56. We went to the receiving of friends and the funeral. It was a good learning experience for Geof, I've tried my best to answer a million of the toughest, sweetest, weirdest questions this week. It's been quite an adventure and that's why things have been quiet around here lately. Not that quiet is unusual, but I am making an effort to blog more.

..anyhoo..

I've been crocheting and knitting on my Knifty Knitter. I started a hat for myself on the Knifty Knitter, but as luck would have it I started it on the wrong loom for my sized head. D'oh! I will have to say to anyone who is considering purchasing one of these looms to go ahead and do themselves a favor and also purchase the sold-separately booklet with patterns and instructions. The looms come with a useless piece of paper with vague instructions and terrible illustrations that make no mention of nor recommendations for which looms to use for which type of project. The booklet is less than a buck at WalMart but it's worth a lot more! I haven't decided yet if I want to frog it and start again on the appropriate loom or just go ahead and finish it up. I'm leaning to towards frogging at this point. Geof doesn't wear hats to much and I don't have one to wear! It should be a pretty warm hat and very soft. I'm using 2 strands of Homespun and 1 strand of Simply Soft!



I'm getting the hang of the loom and I really like how quickly things take shape. Eventually I'd like to get a nice longer lap loom to work on bigger projects. I've found a lot of resources online for the Knifty Knitter...patterns, different stitches, etc..I think there's even a Yahoo! Group or two.

I also picked up a magazine this past week. It's the Family Circle Easy Crochet. I actually liked more than one pattern in there!! As soon as I rid myself of my current WIPs, I have to try some of the patterns. Another great magazine I've had my hands on this week is from Lion Brand. I thought there was a great mix of crochet and knit projects. My head is bursting with ideas to try, this may be a very productive month on the crochet/knitting front. I'll just have to wait and see what happens!

Who Has The Greatest Husband?

Simple. I do. Geof and I have been trading colds back and forth since before Christmas leaving us both somewhat less than fun to be around. Me especially since my PMS has gone to a whole other level the last few months..seriously, it's scary sometimes. Poor Nathaniel works hard all week and is home only on the weekends. The last few weeks has been my turn with a cold and Nathaniel has been an absolute dream. He cleans, cooks, watches Geof, and lets me get as much rest as I need. Today he surprised me with a set of Knifty Knitter looms! What a sweetheart, no? I've already started making a hat and the progress is super easy and surprisingly quick. I'll post some pictures another time. I'm headed down to my folks for a few days for a funeral. I'll see you all on the flip side, take care of each other!

Winter Wonderland

The snowman's been built, the hot chocolate is flowing, and baby it's cold outside. Looks like a good day to stay in and crochet!

Back To Your Regularly Scheduled Program

Besides having a mid-life blog crisis, sorry about that, I've also been stitching away. I'm still working on that damn baby blanket which I promise not to talk about again until it is finished...and it's getting there...s..l..o..w..l..y. I've also been working on a little knitted drum stick pouch per Geof's request. He received a pair of drum sticks for Christmas from Santa and he came to me one day and asked if I could make him a case for them. How could I resist, right? I love it when he asks me to make something for him, I'm sure the day will come when anything I make he'll automatically detest. I had some blue variegated acrylic yarn collecting dust so that's what I'm using. Here are some progress pics for your viewing pleasure...

Several months ago I finished a doily. I'm not even sure if I mentioned it or not. I ran across it the other day, still unblocked so...I blocked it. I'm almost ashamed to post this next picture because you'll see what a horrible blocker I am. In my defense I must say that it turned out a little wonky and simply wouldn't block the way I wanted. This is the best I could do, maybe I'll redo it at some point...maybe.

Ok, I'm Over It!!!

Many thanks to all the responses to my last post. I found exactly what I needed...thanks Marina! I spent all morning getting things situated, I think with all of this unseasonably warm weather I've been wanting to do some spring cleaning. So, what do you think of the the new layout? Any suggestions for improvements?

New Year...New Me...New Blog?

There comes a time in every bloggers blogging life where they begin to feel a bit restless and the urge to spread their wings becomes almost unbearable....almost. Don't worry I'm not abandoning my blogs. Although I'm sure it seems that way with my posting habits...or lack there of. I'm just tired of my blogs. I'm not moving out or on, just up or possibly sideways. I need something new. I've looked into other free blogging services but nothing is really speaking to me. Maybe I should just change the template. But that opens a whole other can of worms. I downloaded Movable Type but for the life of me I have no idea how to use it....and I'm embarrassed to say that I don't fully understand exactly what it is either AND I can't even figure out how to open the damn file (yes I have winzip so that's not it). I've got all the time in the world to do my research, but when this feeling comes over me I need change and I need it now! I've also toyed with the idea of combining Holding Down The Fort and Yarn Junkie's Fix into just one blog, but I kind of like the two worlds separated, too. In my travels across the net I found an interesting place called Vox. I signed up to see what it was all about but haven't received my confirmation email yet despite several attempts. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Here's what I'd like to have for my blogging experience...

* Free reign over blog design/layout (I'd like to be able to change things here and there....not design the whole thing I'm not Wonder Woman!)
* A section in the side bar that shows different labels/categories for posts
* A 3 column blog...like this one for example, except I'd want both columns to be equal size
* Easy to use blog publishing
* Free blog hosting....I'm not a frequent enough blogger to pay for one just yet...plus I don't really have all that much to offer

I really like some of the layouts I've seen on Typepad blogs but as far as I can tell those require a monthly payment. I'm sure there is a free trial, but I don't want to lose everything after the trial period is up. Anyhoo, if you see things change around here don't worry, I'm just doing a little pre-Spring cleaning I guess.