Needle Book

I've been keeping my three needles (the same three needles I've had since college, and before college, these needles were owned by my mother) stuck in a shoulder pad.  This shoulder pad is usually stored in my "sewing kit" which is really just an old chinese tea canister.  It's served me well over the years, but I realized recently that it might be time to get some new needles.  I picked up a little pack at Joann's but there was no case for them.  Today I decided to sew my own little needle book.  I saw a couple of examples online, and came up with my own "pattern."  I think in retrospect I could have thought it through a bit more, but I'm happy with how it came out and my needles are all happy now.

Here is a picture of it closed:

Here is a picture of it open with needles inside:

I topstitched the felt on the inside before closing up the top.  Unfortunately, I had to topstitch the top closed so it looks a bit off.  Next time, I would add a tab or button of some kind to hold it closed.  I would also sew something decorative to the outside, it looks a bit plain.  I'm really fond of how the red felt looks against the blue fabric though.  This is the same fabric I used for my bag lining.  I'd like to make a skirt or dress from this too.  The color is so pretty.

Patchwork City Bag

A few weeks ago, four animals made their way back to the suburbs for some Arby's and shopping. Our first stop after lunch was Joann's and R and I went to town. Or really, I went to town, with R helping me along. She already had a lot of the stuff I wanted so she was able to offer great advice. During the visit, a little pattern for a bag caught my eye. I convinced R to make one with me and we spent a happy time choosing appropriate fabric. I got three fat quarters and some blue fabric for the lining and straps. The pattern calls for 36 5"x5" squares, assembled in a 4x9 rectangle. Cutting was very slow for me because it took me a while to get used to the rotary cutter and more time to try to measure them with some degree of accuracy. Here are my squares laid out on my bed (I'm sure Jess will take issue with the quality of my shot):

Bag sewing took several days. I was worried that the interfacing we had chosen was too heavy for the bag, but now that it is finished my happy with it. It's a large (enormous) bag and I tend to cram it with a bunch of stuff plus groceries so I'm quite happy with the heavier lining. I only wish I had interfaced the straps too. Overall, I'm very pleased with it and will get a lot of use from it this summer. Here is a picture of the finished version, hanging on tony's cat tree:

I made a little pocket and sewed it to the lining before sewing the lining to the bag. Next time, I would make the pocket larger. As it is, I can fit my keys and chapstick in there. I cram my wallet there also, but it doesn't really fit. Here is a bad picture of the pocket, sadly you can see the can of tomatoes I bought and a tissue, oh well:

Movie Update Part: Who Knows By Now

our hospitality: i'm fond of buster keaton but for some reason this movie didn't grab me.  was it because i was knitting?  who knows, but i like gold rush quite a bit better.  Rate: **

ratatouille: i watched this in the theater when it first came out, but ferret had never seen it so i watched it with him again recently.  of course, i was quite dying to, because it's a lovely movie.  linguine is exactly like an undergrad who used to work in our lab.  looks, mannerisms, everything.  i am always fond of movies that extol hard work and a psychotic level of perfectionism and dedication.  Rate: *****

taken: daaayumm!!  this movie was absurd.  the plot makes not much sense and the action was hysterical.  the perfect plane movie.  Rate: **

burn after reading: i really like the cohen brothers and this was a pretty slickly put-together movie.  maybe too slick?  the only character i liked was the ditzy brad pitt character.  francis mcdormand plays a very unsympathetic character here.  all in all, entertaining, but kind of glossy.  Rate: ***

watchmen: yay! i was really worried about this adaptation of the comic book but it was very well done.  first of all, how did they manage to find an night owl who looks EXACTLY like the comic book drawing?  it was really uncanny.  i'm glad they amped up the fight scenes a bit, gave it some oomph.  dr manhattan was done well and the changed ending was very nice i thought.  i wish they had found a different lady to play laurie though; i don't think this actress can act very well.  Rate: ****

feast II sloppy seconds: as bad as this movie was, i will probably be watching feast III, out of completeness.  but this movie was quite bad.  quite bad.  Rate: *

it's a boy girl thing: this is classified as a knitting movie because i would never seriously watch what is clearly a teen flick.  that said, i am always fond of the body switch plot and i actually thought this movie was pretty cute.  

freaky friday: lindsay lohan was pretty good as the mom in the teenager's body.  i added this movie shortly after watching the boy girl movie.  needless to say, this was another knitting movie and i made good progress on my sweater.  the scenes with jamie lee curtis as a teenager in a mom's body were near unwatchable though.  way too embarrassing.

castle in the sky: oh how do i love hayao miyazaki.  please please come out with a new movie soon.  i didn't like this one as much as some of his other ones, but it is still so much better than most movies out there.  a charming story.  Rate: *****

in the name of the king: i just watched this last night and omg was it bad.  again, i wish i had a negative star system available.  it's like a lord of the rings movie, without the plot, the acting, the budget or any sense.  Rate: *

Pork Vindaloo (v.2)

 

The bunny has been harassing me to post this recipe since I made it a week ago. So here it is. It's actually a recipe from the bunny's friend's dad. Bunny was bffs with several Indian girls during her college days and managed to graduate with basically zero recipes. So I was dizzy with delight when she forwarded this recipe to me several months ago. Unfortunately, I was in the throes of getting my proposal together during that time so did not have the opportunity to make it. Last weekend, I finally got the dried red chilies I needed and threw this dish together. First off, it doesn't actually taste like any vindaloo I've ever had at a restaurant, nor does it taste anything like my go-to vindaloo recipe, which will now be referred to as v.1 (and also tastes nothing like restaurant vindaloo). That doesn't mean it doesn't taste damn good though. It was almost absurdly easy to throw together, although I did spend some time coughing over the chili dust that flew out of the blender. Don't say I didn't warn you. Like many curries, this one tastes increasingly fabulous with time.

Recipe courtesy of Maya's Dad

2 lbs (1kg) meat (a little fat doesn't hurt) - cut into 1 inch cubes

10 cloves of garlic peeled

One medium onion diced

10-15 dry red chillies decorticated (you need to break them in half and roll them to get the seeds out. Use gloves or wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. monkey note: I used 12 and that was plenty for me)

Fenugreek seeds - 2 Tbsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Vinegar 1/2 cup

Water 1 1/2 cups

Salt to taste

Cooking Oil 1Tbsp

Saute meat with a oil for 10 minutes. In a blender - first rough grind fenugreek seeds with chilies, then add rest of the ingredients and blend. Pour the blended mixture over the meat. Simmer cook for at least one hour. Serve with steamed rice. (monkey: I tossed in some more water during the cooking and gave it a stir once in a while so things would not stick to the bottom. Cooked two hours and I included a cubed potato).

I also made some toor dal to go with and that was pretty good too (although again, tasting nothing like restaurant dal, what the heck do those people put in their food??). Here was a recipe I assembled, based on a couple of found on the internets:

Rinse and pick over 1 cup of toor dal. Combine with 2 cups of cold water in a pot and bring to simmer. Skim away the froth that appears during this process. Cook for a while until tender and kind of thick. Add more water during this process and give it a stir once in a while. Takes many 25 minutes. Add some frozen peas (1/2 cup?) near the end. In a separate small pan, heat 1 tbs ghee (I used butter since I couldn't be bothered to make ghee) and add 2 tsp whole cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chili powder and cook together for a minute or so. Add to the dal and simmer a couple of minutes longer. There is a spice that people seem to add to this, but since I didn't have any, I omitted. This is a recipe I will be playing with more in the future.

Knitting Needles Bag for Double Pointed Needles

 

The sewing bug, long dormant, first showed signs of reviving at Joann's (of course). The very talented R and I were busy feeling up every piece of fabric in the store and I decided to try my hand at dress-making again. My first attempt (several years ago, back in Brooklyn) had gone quite well and so I managed to forget the subsequent attempt (an awful skirt made from this retardedly stretchy fabric) and decided to go for it. While at Joann's, I also picked up a remnant for $1 and decided to make a case for carrying knitting needles around. I remembered seeing a pattern for one in my stitch n bitch book and it didn't seem very hard. This morning I checked out that pattern and realized that it called for three pieces of "funky" fabric, preferably upholstery, each 3/4 of a yard in length. So I chucked the book and decided to wing it. That might have been mistake #1. I didn't have any plans to actually make anything tonight until I saw an extremely wonderful bag R made for tortoise. It is beyond excellent. I will try to get a picture to post. Anyway, after seeing the bag my sewing bug was wholly revived, leading to tonight's adventure. It is 1am and my house is brightly lit with pieces of thread and fabric everywhere. I'm just going to make a laundry list of subsequent mistakes to get it over with:

mistake #2: should have kept my sewing machine covered, it was filthy. much time spent industriously scrubbing with combo of paper towel, windex and swiffer dust wipes. next project will definitely be some kind of cover for sewing machine.

mistake #3: having not touched my sewing machine in two years (last thing I made were pillow cases for my sofa pillows), I probably should have practiced on something. in any case, i had to fish out the manual just to figure out how to thread the machine. this mistake led to some of the more interesting and wobbly stitching that appears on the case. I like to think it gives it a rustic air.

mistake #4: not having any thread in bulk besides white and blue, I decided to just go with the white because what the heck, the polka dots were white. sadly, white shows up extremely well against the green fabric, and all the irregularities of my sewing are immediately apparent.

mistake #5: since my sewing supplies were completely disorganized, I could not find some key items, including a measuring stick (otherwise known as a ruler) or chalk. my fabric wasn't cut perfectly straight but I couldn't really fix it precisely (more eyeballing) and this led to some trouble with hemming. I also had to rip out some of the stitches as they were embarrassingly crooked. subsequently, I used an envelope containing italian parsley seeds to make some light pencil marks around the places that needed it. GHETTO.

Despite this series of disasters, I think my case came out rather cute. I've already developed a sentimental attachment to it, just because I made it and they do hold my needles perfectly. I need to attach some kind of strap to it so that I can roll it up and keep it tied shut. Overall, this was a huge amount of fun and I can't wait to make something else!