Author: -N-

A Cold Night’s Soup

Brrr!  Although we are not digging out of miles of snow and ice, the cold snap is hitting us here where I live.  Frost on the windows in the morning and waking to a 55 degree house remind us (a bit!) how other people in other climes live.

Tonight, the idea of a salad left me feeling cold – ugh!  Soup sounded good, so soup for supper it became.  Leftovers and a few vegetables here and there, and this is what we have.

California Cold Night Soup

Olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped fine
3-5 minced cloves fresh garlic
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 zucchini, diced
5 tomatillos, diced
2 cooked chicken breasts, diced
Basil, oregano, ancho chili powder, pepper, salt
1 T tomato paste
1/2 c. Italian parsley, chopped
1 qt. low sodium chicken broth (like from Trader Joe’s)

Add 1-2 T oil to large kettle. Add onions and garlic; saute till it begins to caramelize a bit. Add the vegetables; continue to cook. Add herbs, tomato paste, parsley and chicken. Cook a bit longer, then add chicken broth. Simmer about 20 minutes.

Balance flavor with a bit of lemon juice to taste.

Serve with a garnish of parmesan cheese curls.

Another Pair of Socks

I made these socks ages ago, using Noro Kureyon sock yarn.  I, like many knitters, did not enjoy the knitting experience, but like the final product.  These are warm and toasty and very comfortable to wear, far more so than the yarn implies while knitting.

The tops of the socks are easily reproduced, if you are interested.  What I did was c/o 55 sts.  Pattern for cuff are the following two rows:  1)  k2, p 3 to end.  2) k all stitches.  Continue until 4″ or desired length reached.  Garter stitch 3 ridges (p 1 rnd, k 1 rnd, p 1 rnd, k1 rnd, p 1 rnd) and then continue until you are ready to begin heel.  Make the rest of the sock as you so wish.  My gauge was 6 sts / inch.  Note:  Do not expect a stretchy rib that will hug your ankle; I measured my ankle to give some room, but not much.

 

Customer Service

I died when I watched this!

From BoingBoing.net:

Belgium’s much-reviled phone company Mobistar was elaborately pranked by a program on VRT Belgium; the pranksters hid themselves in a steel container, which they had dropped directly in front of the gates of a large Mobistar office at 5AM. The container had a prominent customer service number printed on the side of it — a number which rang the pranksters inside the container — that was promptly called by a series of Mobistar employees who wanted to get the container moved off before 2,000 Mobistar employees reported for work and found the parking lot blocked off.

The pranksters proceed to put the Mobistar employees through a high-art comedic phone hell, disconnecting them, subjecting them to terrible hold music (performed live from within the container on a little synthesizer), gradually ratcheting the misery up in a Dante-worthy re-enactment of every terrible, awful mobile phone company experience.

The program was a huge hit in Belgium (be sure to watch it all the way through for the a killer punchline), and has been captioned in English for those of us in the anglosphere to enjoy.

Josh’s Cardigan, ii

I have gotten past the pocket insertion, and continue the tedious task of stockinette until I am ready to begin the armholes.  Here is the pattern thus far:

Gauge: 4 sts / inch on US size 9 needles – sorta!

Cast on: Using stretchy cast on, cast on 144 stitches onto US size 7 needles.  K1, p1, k1, p1, k1, pm, *p2, k2* until last 7 sts on needle, end p2, pm, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1.

Repeat these rows, knitting and purling back and forth as the stitches present themselves, until ribbing reaches 2.75 – 3 inches in length.  End ready to begin right side row.

Body: Follow first five stitches.  K2, M1, k6; continue to second marker.  There should be an increase of 20 stitches.  End with last five stitches as presented on needles.

Pockets: Continue until ____ from bottom – time to begin the pockets!

This is what has since occurred since the first entry of Josh’s Cardigan – note the changes in sts cast on:

Changes in cast-on: Using stretchy cast-on, cast on 146 sts.  K1, p1, k1, p1, k1, pm, *p2, k2* until last 7 sts on needle, end p2, pm, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1.

Increase as above.  Total:  166 sts.

Place markers to indicate the sides so that you have the following markers:  5 sts (button band), pm, 39 sts (front), pm, 78 sts (back), pm, 39 sts (other front), pm, 5 sts:  total of 4 st markers.

Pockets: Continue until 6.5 inches from bottom of the cardigan.  End ready to begin a knit row.  Follow button band sts.  K12, drop main color.  Using contrasting yarn to mark pocket, k15.  Extend a long strand of original yarn about 6 inches, k12 to marker.  K along back to next marker.  K12, drop main color.  Using contrasting yarn to mark pocket, k15.  As before, extend long strand of yarn, k12, follow button band pattern.

And now, continue to follow pattern stitches as required until you reach desired length to underarm:  _____ inches.

. . . to be continued!