Knitting Projects and a Surprise Visit

What have I been crafting lately? Well, despite telling myself I wasn’t going to participate in Camp Loopy this year, I am doing it again. The first month’s challenge was to knit something with yarn you hadn’t used before, that was easy enough, but it also had to use at least 375 yards of yarn. I was also on a quest to knit something from one of my MANY knitting books, so I paged through a bunch of them, looking for patterns. I settled on the Lifted Stitch Scarf from Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders, but a few rows into it, I could tell the yarn was not going to play well with this pattern, and I changed to the Ericka Scarf from the same book. The yarn is Desert Vista Dyeworks – Viso Self-Striping in the colorway Spumoni. Yes, it did make me hungry for Spumoni each time I worked on it.

I got it done before the June 30 deadline, because we were going to be gone to SD, and I wanted to finish and take pictures and get it uploaded to the Ravelry website. Here it is!

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Ericka Scarf Desert Vista Dyeworks – Viso Self-Striping Spumoni

Ericka Scarf Desert Vista Dyeworks – Viso Self-Striping Spumoni

And a little cat wants to help with the staging of this photograph:

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The challenge for the 2nd month was to knit a pattern that has been popular with other knitters, that you haven’t knit before. The project needed to have at least 1000 projects listed (or 1000 queued up) on Ravelry, and it needed to use at least 500 yards, single stranded. I chose the Stripe Study Shawl and am knitting it with Kauni – Wool 8/2 Effekgarn  (orange/yellow/red – slow color change) and Cascade – Heritage Sock in Black.

Stripe Study Shawl

Stripe Study Shawl

It has 12 asymmetric stripes, and I am on stripe number 8, but the stripes get bigger and bigger as they go, so I am only maybe half done. I HOPE I am half done. I really need some good thrilling movie to watch on TV to knit on this, since it is all garter stitch and it is getting kind of monotonous now. Or a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Marathon.

Didn’t get too much knitting done this weekend, but it was for a great reason. Ken’s brother and his wife and little baby *welll OK, not so little* Owen were trying to fly home from South Dakota to San Francisco on Saturday. Because of the crash of the Asiana flight at the San Francisco airport, they were advised to go ahead and fly the first leg of their flight to Denver, but they weren’t going to be able to get any further than that, so they were stuck at the Mostek B & B for at least Saturday night. Ken got on the road to the airport and I went to the grocery story and got started cooking (overfeeding your guests as much as possible is part of my heritage).

Only one picture of Owen on my camera, this is him trying on my crab hat! Will have to get some of him trying on the “mistake” crocheted hat that I am saving for one of my niece’s dress up trunks, it is pretty hilarious.

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We were lucky the house was quite clean since I had my knitting tea party (more on that tomorrow) and then I hadn’t been home much to mess it up, so we weren’t freaking out and vacuuming/mopping when we figured out they were going to be here overnight. Always great to see family, no matter how unexpected! Ken had never met Owen, so it was a real treat for him.

Fried chicken, Fried chicken

Fried chicken, Wishbone restaurant, Westminster, Colorado

Fried chicken, Wishbone restaurant, Westminster, Colorado

The Wishbone is quickly becoming our favorite restaurant. I believe this picture is from the meal where I suffered a small “incident” wherein a bone from the piece of chicken I was trying to eat came unattached and then flew through the air like the bone at the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Fortunately it landed in our booth and didn’t hit some other innocent diner. I thought Ken was going to have a heart attack, he laughed so hard.

Wishbone’s fried chicken is my favorite fried chicken that I have had in the Denver area. It comes with mashed potatoes (from a mix but good) and neon yellow chicken gravy. You get a cup of extra gravy, to use as you wish, whether you want to dip your Texas Toast in it or just drink it. I have learned that the best thing for me to order is the 3-leg dinner. If I get carried away and order soup as an appetizer, I get too full. Ken really likes the chicken tenders. Last Friday was National Fried Chicken day, so of course we had to eat there, with my friend Cathy who is also a  Wishbone fan.

Also last week, Leo the cat got his summer haircut:

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He actually seems to enjoy being cooler, and of course he gets all kinds of attention from us. And attention is what he loves best.

I don’t just eat fried chicken at the Wishbone. I am willing to try others.

Fried Chicken at the Southside Restaurant, Limon, Colorado

Fried Chicken at the Southside Restaurant, Limon, Colorado

I was on a work trip and we ate at the Southside Restaurant at Limon. I think everyone else had the chicken fried steak, but I was very happy with the fried (broasted?) chicken. Real mashed potatoes. Nice warm roll. We did not have the crabby waitress experience that several people mentioned in various online reviews.

On the same trip, we ate at Shorty’s in Granada, Colorado. This is a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, family-run, not the cleanest, but there are not a lot of dining choices in Granada, Colorado. I had to have the nacho cheese enchilada along with a regular enchilada. They were both tasty. No free chips/salsa here, but you do get a free serving of ice cream at the end of the meal. And free entertainment if the family’s 4-year-old daughter is there.

 

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On work trips, we usually eat at Chez Du Vall’s in Granada, but it was closed on this particular day.  Chez Du Vall’s is quite a good restaurant, we have had many meals there with meetings and with trade teams and have always had good food.

That evening, we had a dinner meeting at The Route steakhouse in Burlington, Colorado. They always have good food, too, although I recommend sticking to what they are best at: steaks.

The next morning, our meeting was at Dos Hijos Mexican restaurant in Keenesburg, Colorado. They opened early for us to have our meeting. They have a breakfast menu but usually don’t open until 10:00 a.m. Well, when I see something like “Breakfast Stuffed Sopapilla” on the menu, I have to have it.

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It was pretty good. Their spicy green chile is actually spicy, which I am in favor of. The sopapilla is stuffed with your choice of meat, plus eggs and potatoes. It certainly filled me up.

We didn’t have a lunch meeting, so we ate at the Home Plate Restaurant in Fort Morgan, which I would also recommend. I just had soup for lunch, because I was saving room for the dessert fruit-stuffed sopapillas. It was a sopapilla kind of day.

We shared peach and cherry around the table. They were Amazing.

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Fruit Stuffed Sopapilla, Home Plate, Fort Morgan, Colorado
Fruit Stuffed Sopapilla, Home Plate, Fort Morgan, Colorado

Fruit Stuffed Sopapilla, Home Plate, Fort Morgan, Colorado

Do not pass up the vanilla ice cream with them.

All in all, another tasty trip around Colorado.

 

 

 

San Francisco Trip Report January 2013, Part III

For lunch, we went to the Crab House at Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf. Oh, this place was amazing. I have been craving crab ever since we ate there.

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I had the clams cioppiono, delicious.

My friend S. had something for herself, I no longer remember, but I do know she liked it. AND we shared a 1/2 order of the Killer Crab in their roasted garlic sauce. Amazing.

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Then we went and looked at the sea lions at the Wharf. And then we went shopping at the Boudin Bakery gift shop . . . which is when fate brought us together . . .

Me and the . . .

Crab hat

Crab hat!

Of course, I purchased it immediately, and it accompanied us wherever we went.

Ghiradelli chocolate (some chocolate purchases were also made, of course.)

Crab hat

On the trolley. The same TERRIBLE busker was there singing again. I warned S. but this is something you have to hear to believe.

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At Lombardi Street.

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At Chinatown.

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We were in Chinatown because we had a dinner recommendation from another friend to eat at the House of Nanking. It is a small, kind of hole-in-the-wall place, but has a lot of character and really good food.

We had the fried calamari:

Calamari House of Nanking

This calamari was different than any I ever had before, it was not heavily breaded and it was in pretty big pieces. Good, though!

And then the steamed dumplings:

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They were also delicious, but we have never had dumplings as good as the ones at the conveyer-belt sushi place in Spokane….

And then I had the Garlic Ginger Poached Scallops, and S. had something else too, or maybe we were just happy with all of this….apparently I didn’t do as good a job this trip getting pictures of everyone else’s food! Lots of nice greens with these, you can hardly see the scallops.

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At the end of a long day, we were very glad to go back to the hotel and crash. Here is all the “loot.”

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I like to get edible souvenirs, if you hadn’t noticed. All of those jelly beans, and the ghiradelli chocolate, were wonderful. S. and I did have to traipse all over Chinatown to find that crab magnet again, I greatly appreciate her patience there. I should have purchased it the first time I saw it. The dragon magnet also is springy and bouncy. The cinnamon bread and jalapeno cheddar roll from the Boudin bakery were also great. And I do believe I bought a peanut butter cookie there also, but it was already gone. This trip may have led to a small obsession with peanut butter cookies for a while. And of course the CRAB HAT, best souvenir ever!

S. left the next morning, and I hung around so that my brother-in-law could come get me and I could get to see my newest nephew!

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My brother-in-law N. took this picture, and it pretty much sums up how I feel about the nieces and nephews. Awwwwwww.

2013 San Francisco Trip Report Part 2

A few more pictures from the Alcatraz garden tour. Again, very interesting, if you have any interest in plants, I would recommend it. Also just a good way to get more inside stories of life on “The Rock.”

More fuschia, so jealous.

Fuschia, Alcatraz Garden Tour

Fuschia, Alcatraz Garden Tour

This is an artichoke plant

Alcatraz Gardens Tour Artichoke

Alcatraz Gardens Tour Artichoke

.It is a large, very attractive (I think) plant – so I put it on my mental list and I have purchased one for my yard this year. It will probably not go in the garden per se, I don’t think that spot is sunny enough. I think I will try it in the flower bed on the south side of the house. We will see how it works. As of today, it is still alive, at least.

Poppies! Poppies! Oh, I do love poppies.

Oriental poppy Alcatraz Island Garden tour

Oriental poppy Alcatraz Island Garden tour

The light was shining through this one so beautifully.

Poppy Alcatraz Garden Tour

If I could capture that in a quilt of a painting, I would be happy. I have had poppies in some of my flower beds but they haven’t survived. I need to get some transplanted from my Grandmother’s poppy bed up at the ranch in SD – those are some healthy, spreading poppies. They are the traditional orange-red ones. Very hardy. But I also like the more delicate oriental ones, and I purchased some the other day, to try in a few different places around the yard. We will see if I find a place where they will thrive.

More amazing ground cover and succulents. Alcatraz was very green for being a rocky island, but most of this consisted of plants that had been brought in over the years.

Garden Tour Alcatraz

Garden Tour Alcatraz

The inside of the jail was, well, a jail. It was interesting, but I preferred the gardens! I managed to resist buying a tin cup and/or an Alcatraz Women’s Club cookbook….

And this seagull was there to tell us good bye!

Seagull, Alcatraz

Next up, more shopping and eating.