Headband with I-cord Ties

Nothing fancy, but I LOVED the [Frog Tree Ewetopia] yarn I picked up at [Warm 'n Fuzzy] in Cary.



[Pattern .pdf]

Fingerless, Asymmetrical Skull Mittens

My first attempt at duplicate stitching! Because skulls are TOTALLY RAD!


[Pattern .pdf]

Pork and Sweetpotato Baked Wontons

Yum! I want to mix-and-match on the filling ingredients with some ground turkey and spinach.



Filling:
-1 lb. ground pork (I ground mine at home!)
-1 large sweetpotato, cut into slices or small chunks
-3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
-1/4 cup of onion, chopped fine
-2 Tbs. fresh sage, coarsely chopped
-1 Tbs. soy sauce
-1 Tbs. Korean barbecue sauce (or sriracha)
-1 egg
-coarse-ground pepper to taste

Skins:
-1 package wonton skins (50 skins)
-Mini-muffin tin
-A couple damp paper towels to protect wontons from drying
-Some kind of oil to brush on skins (sesame is really good but I used an olive oil spray because it was easier)

Mix the filling in a bowl with your hands or a spatula. Done!

Pre-heat oven to 450 F.
Oil both sides of the wonton skins. This helps prevent the corners from toasting too much. Tuck the skins into the muffin tin. As I prepare on side or one tray, I like to lay a moist paper towel over the stack or tray of wontons I'm not working with so they don't get too dry. Drop a small spoonful of filling into the cup and fold the corners in.

Back at 450 F for 8 minutes. Serve with a dipping sauce! I cheated and bought the Trader Joe's gyoza sauce.

It's really easy to make the filling the night before and stuff and bake the wontons right before serving, but you could cook them the day before and warm them or assemble and refrigerate (covered with moist paper towel and wrap) and bake right before.

So what if it wasn't for my car?

Today I went into an Advanced Auto Parts in Cary to buy some car wax.

A 50- or 60-something gentleman approached me amiably as I was picking out a wax and exclaimed, "A girl is going to do this?!?"

I didn't feel especially chatty so I just smiled and nodded, saying, "Sure!"

He then proceeded to mansplain to me what hard "elbow work" it was. I answered with something about it being good exercise and he told me I was pretty and already in shape. I kept trying to politely return to comparing waxes but finally just had to walk away.

I didn't even bother telling him that I was buying wax to restore some worn knitting needles because I was so tired of the conversation and didn't want to feed into his "Aw, isn't that cute? It's standing on its hind legs!" thing.

He wasn't being intentionally rude (and I didn't take it as such), and I could have cut the conversation short less politely when polite wasn't cutting it, but sheesh.

Here's a picture of my waxy needles!

Naughty Knitting

Pattern offered for free courtesy of [RattleFox]!

Go Wolfpack!

Rule 34: There are no exceptions.

[Rule 34]: if it exists, there is porn of it.

So the most interesting thing I learned all week is that there's a lesbian, D/s, puppy play porn based on the [A. R. Gurney play] Sylvia.

Sylvia (the play) is a story about a guy, Greg, who finds the titular dog in the park and brings her home to live with him and his wife, Kate. Hilarity and strife ensue. Sylvia is played by a human woman but is an actual dog in the world of the play.

Sylvia (the porn) is a story of a Kate and her lesbian partner and the adventures and sex they have with their puppy slave, Sylvia. Sylvia is played by a human pretending to be a dog but is actually a human. (If you're unfamiliar with puppy play, there you go.)

The porn was directed by my favorite feminist pornographer and sex-positive activist [Madison Young]. The fact she has a Sylvia porn makes her even more awesome. She did a very articulate [interview at The Rumpus] in May (link semi-NSFW).

Young's Sylvia DVD is on sale at her [online store] (link definitely NSFW).

Knitted Friend

I found an adorable ["Chubby Chirp"] pattern on [Ravelry] and went to using up some chunky scrap yarn. It's in 6 wpi yarn on size 10 needles.

The pattern is from Rebecca Danger of [The Big Book of Knitted Monsters] and she has several other free patterns available!



I only started knitting at the end of last year and I can't believe how fun it is. Now I can fit in with all the other knitter/crocheters at sci-fi cons!
[Find me] on Ravelry!

Cleaning Schedule!

Pinterest is super-fun and I want to follow your boards. Here's [mine].

I came across Becky's series of posts at Organizing Made Fun about [How to Have a {fake} Immaculate House]. She posted a copy of her cleaning schedule and said she spends about fifteen minutes a day on each task.

I made mine and put it on the fridge! It helps coordinate chores between me and Richard because we have easy goals for the day. Wednesdays? Someone should vacuum. Mondays? Someone should wipe down the guest bathrooms.

I hope I can stick to it! It's made things easier so far, and she emphasizes that it's TOTALLY FINE to skip something one week.
Anyway, thanks to Becky for the jump-start on actually writing down a plan.

Where the Hell is Matt? 2012

Matt travels around the world and dances with anyone who will let him film. Some of the earlier videos are amazing, but this one is still heart-warming!

He's also not a very good dancer and that makes it better.

Strawberry Peach Muffins

Peaches and strawberries are in season! This called for muffins.
Recipe is a slightly modified version of this one from [Modern Day Pirates].


Strawberry Peach Muffins
1 cup coarsely chopped peaches
1/2 cup coarsely chopped strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Dump everything in a bowl together and combine. It's gonna be lumpy.
Fill a greased muffin tin or papers 2/3 full.
Bake at 400F for about 18 minutes, give or take.
Yields 14-ish muffins.