"Socktober"

I am an avid knitter and always have something in the works.  Lately it is socks!  A few months back a dear friend bought me some of the most beautiful sock yarn, it is aptly named "Chocolate-covered fruit."  I had sock needles, now I have sock yarn.  While there are many, many patterns for socks, since I am teaching myself I picked a basic ribbed version, one with out a lot of fancy stitches that will only get lost in the colours of the yarn. 

Unfortunately I can't find the camera, and my phone simply does not do the yarn justice so pictures will have to come later. 

When substituting honey in place of sugar

Honey can easily be substituted for sugar in almost any recipe.  Because honey retains water, recipes made with honey tend to remain moister longer than similar products made with sugar or other sweeteners.
Some minor adjustments may need to be made to a recipe when substituting honey for sugar:
1. Use equal amounts of honey for sugar up to one cup.  More than one cup, replace each cup of sugar with 2/3 to 3/4 cup over honey depending upon the amount of sweetness you want to achieve. 
2. Lower the baking temperature 25 degrees and watch your time carefully since recipes with honey get brown faster.
3. In recipes using more than one cup honey for sugar, you may need to reduce the amount of other liquid by 1/4 cup per cup of honey.
4. In baked goods, add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of honey if baking soda is not already included in the recipe. This will reduce the acidity of the honey, as well as increase the volume of your product.

Honey is a little sweeter than sugar, but is a sugar that your body processes better than sugar.  Its less likely to make spike your blood sugar which results in you crashing a little while later.  Sugar can be used to preserve other things.  Tombs in ancient Egypt have been opened with jars of honey that weren't spoiled!

Blueberries!

Whenever there is a buy-one-get-one kind of deal at the grocery store, I try to take advantage of it within reason.  A couple months ago blueberries were on sale so I bought a couple pints and threw them in the freezer.  Last night I decided they had been in there long enough and made a pie with half of them.  I'm not ecstatic over the results, but it was still good.  Here is the recipe I used, based off of The Backyard Homestead book (which I love and highly recommend!):
1/2 c honey
1 t baking soda (a must when you use honey to balance out the pH)
1/4 c sugar (because I didn't have 3/4 c of honey)
3 T corn starch
1 pint (2 c) blueberries
1/4 c water
Toss everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until it thickens and clears.  Then pour in a prebaked pie crust (thrown in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes before hand) and bake an additional 12-15 minutes.

Here's what I will do next time:
add: 1 T lemon juice and maybe a 1 T butter.
Remove: 1 T cornstarch and maybe 1/4 c sugar.

It was a little too sweet, it definitely needed the lemon juice and could pry still stand to lose some of the sugar.

BP, bringing oil to American shores...

NPR recently ran a story about using hair to make big absorbent booms to help with the oil now spread in an area larger than Rhode Island over the Gulf of Mexico.  I wish they would do a follow up story later.  I'm curious how well these work.  I know of at least one hair salon owner in my area that is participating.

Sopping Up An Oil Slick With Castaway Hair

by Alexis Diao

Workers in the Gulf of Mexico are using oil containment booms to sop up oil and protect coastlines from the approaching slick.
Commercial booms are usually made of plastic. But an alternative source for the booms is found on the floor of salons across the country.
As it turns out, hair adheres to oil pretty efficiently, which is why your hair gets greasy. Now salons are donating their discarded locks to help with the Gulf Coast cleanup.
A group in San Francisco has been producing hair booms for nearly a decade now. Matter of Trust makes nylon stockings stuffed with human hair and trimmed animal fur.
"Booms will lie along the beach, the waves will come up, and they'll go through the hair and the nylon," says Lisa Gautier, co-founder of Matter of Trust. "And the hair will grab the oil and then the wave goes back out and it's cleaner."

Gautier says the BP spill is by far the biggest challenge she's encountered, so her organization is directing its current stockpile of hair — 400,000 pounds — toward the cleanup.
While the group does have lots of hair, Gautier notes, there is one shortage. "I knew that hair wouldn't be a problem, but nobody wears nylons anymore," she says.
Well, some people still do. Gautier says the great thing about being based in San Francisco is the city's transvestite community, which has readily donated nylons. The group has also received donations from Wal-Mart and Hanes.
Gautier says the response has been massive: More people have signed up for hair collection in just the past 72 hours than in the past six years.

Booms will lie along the beach, the waves will come up, and they'll go through the hair and the nylon. And the hair will grab the oil and then the wave goes back out and it's cleaner.

- Lisa Gautier, co-founder of Matter of Trust

"There's over 370,000 salons in the U.S., and it's the people in the North and in the West — hundreds and hundreds every hour. And not just the salons and the groomers. Basically everybody is desperate to help. They just really really want to help," she says.
'Hair Sausages'
An hour's drive from the Gulf, at the Athena Hair Salon in Tallahassee, Fla., stylists Cody Traweek and Mary Rolling are alarmed about the size of the spill.
"And you just sit there and watch it and wait for it to come your way, I guess," Rolling says.
The salon just began collecting hair. Traweek says she always wanted an opportunity to recycle all the cuttings. When she learned of an environmental group gathering hair to help, she coordinated the local effort.
"We bag it, put it in a box," she says. "That's how they're asking for it to be shipped: Put it into a bag-lined box."
After the booms are constructed, they're tied together with zip-ties. Then this clump of what looks like hair sausages is shoved into a long mesh liner to make a bigger hair boom to be laid along the waterline.
As Traweek sweeps up the afternoon trimmings, she puts them into a can to transfer to boxes that she'll hold on-site while she waits to see where the oil moves next.
"There's all the hair," she says.
It looks like the Addams Family's Cousin It.
And beyond donating hair, thousands of people in the Gulf region are volunteering to make the booms. Volunteers will shoving fistfuls of hair and animal fur into nylon pantyhose later this week during parties dubbed "Boom-B-Qs."

 

Vinegar and baking soda

To make your own vinegar herbal hair rinse:

1. Place 2 tablespoons of the dried herb (or herb mixture) into a muslin bag or tea ball and put in a warmed tea pot.
2. Pour 1 pint (500 ml) of boiling water over the herbs and infuse for 2 hours.
3. Allow the liquid to cool then pour it into a quart (1 liter) jar.
4. Add 1 pint (500 ml) of apple cider vinegar and mix well.

Pour this over your hair (I like to pour it through it my hair over a large bowl so that I can reuse and use less) and comb through.  Use once a week or as needed.  Store bought shampoos and conditioners leave residues behind and this is a great way to make sure your hair is actually getting clean. 

Vinegar is also a great lice remedy and it is far cheaper than any of the shampoos on the market, for the moms with kids in school. 

Baking soda is also fantastic and safe to use around the house.  I like to use natural and hand-made soaps in the shower, but because the soap mixes with minerals from my tap water, I get soap scum in my tub.  Take a small dish of baking soda and a damp cloth.  Dip the cloth in the baking soda and scrub the surface of the tub.  I don't think my tub was as clean when we moved in as it was after I scrubbed it with baking soda.  Afterwards rinse it all away knowing that you are not adding harsh and most likely toxic chemicals into your water table!  I found a great article on Mothering.com about cleaning your home with green cleaners.

Will Twitter one day become a primary resource on life in the 21st century?

The Wall Street Journal has published an article in which the author likens Twitter to diary entries from the 18th and 19th century.  It is an interesting idea.  Will the tweets of today be a resource on everyday life for the people of tomorrow?

Happy Star Wars Day

May the fourth be with you!
In honour of this festive day, I am going to share a knitting patter that I found.  Its on my list of stuff to do (which is really, really long).  Enjoy!  (This is not my pattern, I had nothing to do with the genius.  It is available for free online and through Ravelry.)

Want a handmade Halloween costume this year? Have a geeky friend whose birthday is right around the corner? Or perhaps you are that geeky friend. That's okay. Be proud of who you are. Shout it out loud without saying a word. Knit this hat and wear it everyday, everywhere.

Queue this on Ravelry!

Materials:
Caron Simply Soft (100% acrylic, 3oz/85g, 165yds/151m) one skein each in Royale and Grey Heather
Small amount of worsted black acrylic yarn
Small amount of loose stuffing for projecting bits, if desired
US7 (4.5mm) 16in (41cm) circular needle

US7 (4.5mm) double-pointed needles
Tapestry Needle

Gauge:

18sts x 24rows = 4in (10cm) in stst on US7 (4.5mm)

Finished Size:

Child (Adult S, Adult L) = 19 (21, 24)in [48 (54, 61)cm] circumference

Note: This pattern is written such that a basic striped hat is created first, and then details are added with duplicate stitch afterward. If you prefer, you can use the appropriate chart and stranded knitting for rounds 8-12 (9-14, 10-15) and rounds 25-30 (28-33, 30-35), leaving less duplicate stitching to be done in the end.

Click here for Abbreviations

Pattern:
With grey yarn and circular needles, CO 84 (96, 108) sts. Join to work in the rnd, being careful not to twist. Work 4 (5, 5) rnds in k2, p2 ribbing. Join blue, but do not cut grey. With blue, knit 2 (2, 3) rnds in stst. Twist blue and grey strands once to prevent a hole. Knit 1 (1, 1) rnd in grey. Twist strands and knit 5 (6, 6) rnds in blue. Twist strands and knit 8 (9, 10) rnds in grey, twisting strands every 4 (5, 5) rnds to carry blue strand along, but still working with grey.
Crown Shaping:

Switch to dpns with 28 (32, 36) sts on each of 3 needles.
Rnd 1: With grey, [k6 (7, 8), k2tog, k6 (7, 8)] around - 78 (90, 102) sts.
Rnd 2 and all even rnds: knit even with same color as previous rnd.
Rnd 3: With grey, [k6 (7, 8), ssk, k5 (6, 7)] around - 72 (84, 96) sts.
Rnd 5: With blue, [k5 (6, 7), k2tog, k5 (6, 7)] around - 66 (78, 90) sts.
Rnd 7: With blue, [k5 (6, 7), ssk, k4 (5, 6)] around - 60 (72, 84) sts.
Rnd 9: With blue, [k4 (5, 6), k2tog, k4 (5, 6)] around - 54 (66, 78) sts.
Rnd 11: With grey, [k4 (5, 6), ssk, k3 (4, 5)] around - 48 (60, 72) sts.
Rnd 13: With blue, [k3 (4, 5), k2tog, k3 (4, 5)] around - 42 (54, 66) sts.
Rnd 15: With grey, [k3 (4, 5), ssk, k2 (3, 4)] around - 36 (48, 60) sts.
Rnd 17: With grey, [k2 (3, 4), k2tog, k2 (3, 4)] around - 30 (42, 54) sts.
Rnd 19: With grey, [k2 (3, 4), ssk, k1 (2, 3) around - 24 (36, 48) sts.
Child Size Only:
Rnd 21: With grey, [k2tog] around - 12 sts.
Rnd 22: With grey, knit even.
Adult Small Size Only:
Rnd 21: With grey, [k2, k2tog, k2] around - 30 sts.
Rnd 23: With grey, [k2, ssk, k1] around - 24 sts.
Rnd 25: With grey, [k2tog] around - 12 sts.
Rnd 26: With grey, knit even.
Adult Large Size Only:
Rnd 21: With grey, [k3, k2tog, k3] around - 42 sts.
Rnd 23: With grey, [k3, ssk, k2] around - 36
Rnd 25: With grey, [k2, k2tog, k2] around - 30 sts.
Rnd 27: With grey, [k2, ssk, k1] around - 24 sts.
Rnd 29: With grey, [k2tog] around - 12 sts.
Rnd 30: With grey, knit even.

All Sizes: Cut yarn and thread tail through rem sts using tapestry needle. Pull tight and tie off. Weave in ends. Using tapestry needle and duplicate stitch method, add details to match appropriate chart below.

Child Size:

Adult Small Size:

Adult Large Size:

Projecting Bits, make 2 (if desired):

With grey, CO 12 sts leaving a long tail. Dist sts to 3 dpns - 4 sts on each needle. Knit 7 rnds in stst. Join black and cut grey. Next rnd, [k2tog] around – 6 sts. Next rnd, [k2tog] around – 3 sts. Cut yarn and thread through rem sts using tapestry needle. Stuff with batting and use tapestry needle and CO tail to sew to hat along dashed lines from chart. Weave in ends.

Put on hat and make beeping noises.

Feel free to comment here with questions.

This pattern is intended for personal use only. Please do not try to sell it or any product made from it. Thank you.  http://carissaknits.blogspot.com/2007/06/r2d2-beanie.html