Pink Regia Socks

In my continuing quest to make 2011 the year of adding more handmade socks to my wardrobe, I made another pair of toe up plain stockingnette socks using 2 circs. My Pink Regia socks on Ravelry

On this pair, I did a turkish cast on for the first time. Prior to this I've always used Judy's Magic Cast on. I have to say I think I like the turkish cast on better. For me it was a little easier.
I also used a tubular bind off for the first time. I liked that too.
C/O 16 sts. I used Fluffy Knitter Deb's Turkish Cast On tutorial. I thought it was one of the best explanations of turkish cast-ons I found.

Toe:
Row 1: k1, kfb, k to 1 st before end, kfb, k1
Row 2: K all sts
Continue increasing until there are 56 sts and begin foot
K all sts until sock reaches where the top of the foot and leg meet.

Begin Heel
R1: 1st needle (top of foot) K all sts;  2nd needle: (sole of foot) k1, kfb, k to 1 st before end, kfb, k1
R2: K all sts
Repeat thes 2 rows until 52 sts are on needle 2

Heel Flap (only done on needle 2). Do not work Needle 1
K28, ssk, k1, turn
S1, P5, p2tog, p1, turn
s1, k6, ssk, k1, turn
s1, p7, p2tog, p1, turn
continue K and P rows, start ssk or p2tog 1 st before the gap until 28 sts remain

Leg
Continue K all sts on both needles for leg until the leg is 7" or is as long as desired.

Ribbing
k1, p1 rib for 1"

For these socks I used a Tubular cast off. It made a really pretty and stretchy bindoff.

Pecan Mushroom Sloppy Joes

I was inspired by several recipes on eatingwell.com to make vegetarian pecan mushroom burgers. None of the recipes on eatingwell were exactly what I wanted, so I borrowed a little from here a little from there and added a few things of my own.

1/2 c. cooked brown rice, cooled

1 tsp. grapeseed oil

4 oz. mushrooms, diced

1 small onion, diced

dash of balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. pecans, chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1/4 c. panko breadcrumbs

dash of cayenne pepper to taste

I heated up the grapeseed oil in the pan. I sauteed the the mushrooms and onion, with some salt and pepper to taste. When the mixture was dry I put a dash of balsamic vinegar and set it aside to cool down.

Add the pecans to the pan and toast until fragrant about 4 minutes. Add to the mushroom/onion mixture. Add the carrots, breadcrumbs and cayenne pepper.

I formed the mixture into patties. They were kind of crumbly and I set the patties into the refrigerator in hopes they would firm up.

I sauteed the patties in a little grapeseed oil and they kind of fell apart when I flipped them.

I served these sloppy joes with a blue cheese dressing and homemade hamburger buns (will blog on the buns another day soon). For the blue cheese dressing I combined greek yogurt, blue cheese and a couple of dashes of worcestershire sauce.

So, they were delicious, but they did not stay formed in the patties, which is why I decided they were really sloppy joes. Next time I try it I might add an egg and see if that helps them stay together, or I may just decide sloppy joes it is and keep them vegan (minus the blue cheese dressing of course)!

Detoxing in January Week 2

By the end of Week 1, I was thoroughly sick of the meals for that week. In fact, two of the meals, I could barely choke down, so when Week 2's menu plan started I was thrilled.
I also made sure my fish choices were varied and were more of the 'steak' type of fish - tuna, mahi mahi, salmon.

Day 1: everything tastes great (except for the dreaded meal 3 - pumpkin, oats and eggs). Can't do it. I need to leave out the pumpkin.
Day 2 - 5: Things were going well, but, frankly I was a little tired of the same thing over and over again. I totally abandoned meal 3 and was eating 5 mini meals a day instead of 6. This meant I was hungry and I finally caved and abandoned the diet Friday night.

I definitely felt better and was pleased that I lost some weight. It's been 7 days now since I went off the detox diet. Doing the diet for as long as I did helped set me up to be inspired to keep up more healthy eating habits for the past week.

I would definitely do this diet again, but, for me it's more of a non-winter diet since much of what is eaten is cold or raw. I would also find a substitute that works nutritionally as a meal replacement for meal 3.

Universal Toe Up Socks made with Noro Sock Yarn

I just finished my first pair of socks this year. I used Amy Swenson's Universal Toe-up Sock pattern from Knitty: Summer 2006 to determine how many stitches I needed for my gauge and the rest was my own vanilla sock pattern.  I like to do straight-forward stockingnette socks so I can easily tote them around with  me and not worry about where I left off or have to carry a pattern.

This was my first time working with Noro yarn and in the beginning I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. It feels a little rough and stiffer than what I am used to, but, it worked up very nicely. I really like the way the colors change and am overall quite happy with the end product.

Ravelry link to my page

My gauge was 6 st/in I needed 46 stitches to fit my foot my size 8 foot (9") with a circumferance of 8.5"
I used size 1 circs.

Materials: Noro Kureyon Sock - 1 skein = 462yds/100 grams (I had 43 grams left)
Size 1 circs. I used 2 circs. Gauge: 6 sts/inch

Toe:
Cast on 10 sts (5/needle) - using Judy's Magic Cast on
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K1, Kfb, K to 1st st before end, Kfb, K
End Row 2
Rep Rows 1 and 2 until there are a total of 46 sts (23/needle)

Foot:
K until sock reaches where the leg meets the foot

Heel
Row 1
Needle 1: Knit
Needle 2: K1, Kfb, K to 1st st before end Kfb, K
Continue until 2" shorter than total length of foot. I ended up with 44 sts on Needle 2.

Turn Heel:
Do not work stitches on Needle 1 (top of foot)
Needle 2 (Heel Flap): K 46, K2tog, K1, turn
Sl 1, P5; SSP, P1, turn
Sl 1, K until one st before the gap, K2tog, K1; turn
S1, P until one st before the gap, SSP, P1, turn
Repeat purl and knit rows until there are 23 sts. (original number of sts)


Leg:
K until the leg is the desired length.

Finish:
K1, P1 rib for 1"

Bindoff
I used slipslipkit.com miraculous elastic bind off.

Detoxing in January 2011

I am doing a 21 day detox diet which is primarily protein and produce. I have been feeling bloated and draggy from not eating correctly over the holiday season. Right now, I'm on day 5 and am finally beginning to feel better.
Week 1:
Day 1: No problem. I was all fired up and ready to go and had 'I can do this' attitude.
Days 2 and 3: I had a headache. It was probably caffeine withdrawal. I had no idea I had been ingesting enough caffeine to actually get a withdrawal headache. I was also a little nauseous. Two other people who are doing the same detox diet told me on Day 3 they felt more energy. Yes, I am jealous.
Day 4: Headache gone, but, wanted to give up. Nothing tasted good and it took all my willpower to get through the day.
Day 5: I'm down 6 lbs. It's unbelievable to me how much toxic sludge I must have been carrying around in me. I'm feeling pretty good today, although I'm still a little tired. I am feeling more motivated today to continue forward.
Days 6 and 7 will be more of the same food and then Week 2 starts.

Wish me continued luck!