Claudzilla

The other day there was this incredibly powerful storm right at dusk; the sky looked many different ways all at once.

And then, toward the end, just for a moment everything was pink.

It rained so hard it was scary; not because I thought it would flood or that we would be struck by lightning, but it was just so much, it was hard not to be scared by it.  But at the same time it was really beautiful.  For most of it, the sky was really yellow, but soft and flat because of the clouds.  I’ve never seen so much water come out of the sky.  And then it went pink, and stopped.  It was wonderful.

Mystery knitting: it’s so… um… mysterious…

Yesterday and today we drove down to Knoxville to visit JW’s family.  Except for graduation, a journey composed entirely of familiar people and places, I hadn’t left New York since I landed in January.  I didn’t even realize that that’d happened until I was looking out the window at Perkins at the interstate.  Holy crap - this place just goes on forever and ever.

I took these two pictures in Virginia, where we stopped for a meal that was less like dinner and more like when Pac Man eats a cherry while zooming around in his maze.  I haven’t seen anything like this in so long - I forgot how wide things can be, how huge the freeways are and how much space there is between everything.

This was this morning, coming into Knoxville, where we were greeted as always by the fabulous Sun Sphere.  It is always much rounder than I remember, and sort of squat.  I love it.

A quality Monday night at home: JW’s playing “Zombies Ate My Neighbors” on Super Nintendo, and I’m blogging about a sock.

I feel it’s important to point out how very, very difficult it is to take a good picture of one’s own foot.  Still, this sock is the first thing I’ve finished in a while, and I’m pretty satisfied with it.  The pattern is Froot Loop from the spring issue of Knitty; I got a healthy start on it during graduation and then did the rest on the subway to and from work every day.  The yarn is Koigu KPM in color #1110, and the excess dye turned my bamboo needles the same color (and my fingertips too!).  I love, love, love the color, and the pattern is great too.  It’s interesting, but easy to memorize; perfect mobile knitting.  My only complaint is not with the pattern or the yarn, but the nature of the beast itself: it is very, annoying to frog this pattern.  Like, super-crazy irritating, which means that there’s a couple of mistakes in there that I can’t get out.  But, other than that, I’m quite happy with this, and can’t wait to finish the second one!

This was last night’s improv-dinner. Lately I’ve been experimenting with putting new flavors on top of basic platforms, like beans and rice or a basic stir-fry, and so far the data are very promising. This is the latest manifestation of the process, and I thought you might enjoy it.

I can’t think of any way that this recipe could be simpler. Start by heating up some pungent seasonings, then add rice, beans, vegetables and liquid. A bell pepper goes in at the last second for maximum crispness. This recipe makes enough for a hearty dinner for two (we each got two bean burritos out of it), plus enough leftovers for a couple of lunches.

Ingredients:
1 28-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes, drained, juice reserved
1.5 cups white rice
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
0.5 cup frozen corn
1 bell pepper, diced
1 - 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (you can freeze the rest of the can in an ice-cube tray for later)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
tortillas
for garnish: grated cheese, lime juice, chopped cilantro

hot tip: with the exception of the bell pepper (which doesn’t go in until the very end), I have found that it is wise to get everything prepped before you begin, since it pretty much all goes into the pot at the same time (and if you take too long adding things you’re going to burn the garlic - guess how I found that out).

1. Put chipotle(s) into a blender with roughly 1 cup of water and blend until pepper is completely destroyed. Pour liquid into a large liquid measure along with tomato juice, then add enough water to make a total of 3 cups liquid.

2. In a large pan (I used a Dutch oven, but anything big enough with a lid will work great), heat olive oil over medium-high heat, then add garlic, cumin and coriander. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in rice, tomatoes, corn, and beans. Stir in tomato-chipotle liquid and add bay leaf. Give it a healthy pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover, turn heat up and bring to a boil. When the liquid is boiling, stir once, clap the lid back on and turn the heat to low. Steam for 15-20 minutes, leaving lid on the whole time, until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

3. When the rice is cooked, turn the heat off, lift the lid and stir in diced bell pepper. Squeeze a lime over everything. Serve with warm tortillas, grated cheese, cilantro, and beer.

Look what I did this weekend!

I’m a bachelor!  A crazy, swingin’ bachelor!

Everyone was very proud.  I admit to being rather pleased with myself as well.

Thank you again, so much, to everyone who came and who sent their love and good wishes.  As of now, there is absolutely nothing standing between me and Real Life.  All of my plans are coming to fruition!  Haha!

And in one sense, it is. I just finished the ribbing for the body of my new cardigan, Cables and Os from No Sheep for You. It’s going fine, although I think I want a different needle for the body. I used a Knitpicks nickel-plated circular for the rib, and I loved it - nice and slick, and not so much pointy as sharp. Awesome. Now the bamboo feels way too blunt, which is a problem when one is forever knitting and purling through the back loop with stretchless yarn. But more on that, and the project itself, later on.

No, it turns out that this post is actually about photography; call it, “An Examination of the Results One can Expect when Snapping a Quick Photo in the Morning Before Work.”

You see, I really wanted to be able to post about this today, and show pictures and progress and all the other nice things, so I threw my knitting on the floor (we have four different rug colors to choose from, so it actually makes a great background) and, still en-bathrobed, pulled a quick snip-snap. Bad call, Ripley. Since I couldn’t be troubled by such petty concerns as, say, light, I now have to choose between two disastrously poor photographs.

- OR -

Sigh. The second photo gives the best representation of the actual color of the yarn (pretty, right?), but the flash has made it so shiny and lurid that I hate to put it up with a proud “I made that!” But the first photo, while lacking in the aforementioned grossness, is just too dark. So now I have to wait until I go home and catch some real daylight (an actual possibility now - hello, spring!) before I can write a proper knitting post. Lesson learned.

Last weekend was Sakura Matsuri at the Botanical Gardens. I went last year, and thought I’d go back again to check it out. Once again, the gardens were filled with people who understood the day to be about stepping out in their samurai bathrobes and anime costumes. To each his own.

This looks more likely to be a plum tree (or something completely unrelated - there were plenty of magnolias, lilacs and what-have-you in bloom as well) than a cherry. The gardens were blooming all over; I elected to avoid the crowds and station myself in some quiet grass with my book. The day was warm (hot, even), and my beer was cold. Not to shabby.

One of the best features of the Gardens is the Japanese Pond Garden; there’s a big, red gate rising out of the water, and lots of birds and turtles. Every group of turtles had a cluster of eager observers, who burst out with ‘ooh’ and ‘wow’ every time one of them moved or opened its mouth. You should have heard the cries of astonishment when one of them climbed out of the water onto a rock!

Well, okay, I guess they are pretty great.

The very first moment that the weather allowed, JW and I took some furniture outside for repainting.

Sandpaper is amazing; the finish stripped right off JW’s desk.  The chair, which I picked up on the street a few months ago, was less willing to submit.  Frankly, it already had so many coats of paint on it that I figured one more couldn’t hurt.

The color is called Pear.  I love spraypaint now.

The desk needed priming; JW took the opportunity to camouflage (can you see him?).

We removed the drawer-pulls (which are like this, only black), but this piece wouldn’t come off.  I like it better blue, anyway.  The color is called Prussian Blue, and it’s much more navy (with green undertones) in person, really beautiful.  I’m definitely really pleased with how everything came out.

We couldn’t resist.

Claudzilla is one year old! Hooray! Happy birthday, blog!

This was a pretty patchy first year, I have to say. About 40 posts in 52 weeks; not very encouraging. And so, I pledge that year 2 will be different. More posts, more pictures, more content. You’ll notice that the blog has changed its name. That’s because knitting is not enough! a large portion of what I wrote here in the past year has been non-knitting-related, and so why don’t I just embrace that and make it more of a knit/life(/book?) blog? It’ll be bigger and better, and I’ll be able to write more, because I’ll have more to write about!

And so, I embark upon a series of low-key renovations that should help this little blog grow up big and strong. New name, fresh coat of paint, more pictures and content. So don’t go far - the horizon is crowded!