I don’t really tend to like posting more than once a day. It makes me seem obsessive. But at this moment in time, I AM obsessive, so let’s get along with it!

What hath cause the novice knitter to act against policy? This:

And not only the fact that that yarn looks totally scrumptious. Because…

IT’S BEING SOLD IN A NEW AWESOME YARN STORE IN MY TOWN!!

I mean, my area isn’t exactly a knitting wonderland. A Local Yarn Store is a big deal. Especially when it’s as great as this!

Now, to stop hyperventilating, wipe up my drool, and go shopping!

A soon-to-be pile of yarn!

I thrifted this airy pink number for 8 bucks some weeks ago because I liked the yarn. At first I thought it was a scarf, because it did look like one all folded up! See?

Well, actually, right there it looks more like a squid. Okay. Is it just me, or is all my yarn mutating into evil creatures? First that Tiffany stuff, now this… moving on before I get freaked out…

The pink thing was then stocked in my closet for quite a while, all alone with nobody but the dust bunnies to plot conspiracies with. Today, I finally got around to looking at it and…

It’s a poncho! Okay, so I never really was into ponchos, even when they were in style, as I always figured they were the brainchild of some old ladies trying to bring shawls back so they could keep their shoulders warm without worrying about being accosted by “What Not to Wear.” So the only route for this fluffy blob of acrylic was….

Frogging, my friends. (For all you non-knitters, that means you rip it, rip it out!)

Ohoho. Left you in suspense, eh? Tomorrow, time to get to work!

Misadventures of a Novice Knitter

July 18th, 2007 by blog_allstars:hellokitty.com

SanrioTown has a lot of members coming from practically all ages, anywhere in the world, and being interested in anything and everything (aside from Hello Kitty and her other Sanrio friends, of course!) No matter how different your hobby or interest may be, sooner or later, you might just find someone who’s as devoted to it as you are here. Such is the case with our blog feature this week!

During May, we featured a knitting blog called “Knittin’ with the Kitten.” Who would have thought that a couple of months later, we’re going to have another blog created by a knitting fan?:D

“Misadventures of a Novice Knitter,” owned and maintained by akari_mizunashi. Don’t ever think that people who love arts and crafts are boring - she’s a living proof that artsy people are really fun! Her blog has got to be one of the more humorous here on SanrioTown, bits of witticisms inserted in just about every entry, and even in the pictures she attaches to her post. A reader of her blog will find it hard not to chuckle, because her descriptions, captions and edited images are hilarious.

Aside from knitting, the self-confessed “mini domestic goddess” proves her name right by also putting recipes and tales of her adventures in the kitchen. These aren’t the run-of-the-mill kind though, because she narrates this with the sense of humor that’s become her style of writing in her blog.

Know more about her (mis)adventures by going to http://blog.sanriotown.com/akari_mizunashi:hellokitty.com

Yes, my friends. It’s true: I am the blog of the week!! So this is how it feels to see your name in print.

Amazing!!! Absolutely amazing!! Especially that I was chosen the day I posted that hideous picture of eyelash yarn!

Just last week I was thinking as I read KT Sanctuary: “Sigh. I wish my blog was as famous and awesome as hers. Oh, well. I can dream.”

See?? Dreams really do come true! (images of Disney princesses)

Funny thing is, people hardly ever go on this blog. Oh, well! Those editors did, so that’s really all that matters!

Hm. Now I suppose I am pressured to post some more. Oh, well. Better get to work!

Some of you may be gratified to know I did go to Rag Shop today before it ceased to exist.

I meant to buy some patterned cotton to make a doll-sized yukata, BUT… when I walked in, ALL the fabric was gone!! And the almost all the yarn, too. However, patterns were 50 cents each as opposed to the usual $8-15, so to nurse my wounds I bought 20. That’s right. Count ‘em, twenty. Mostly doll patterns and little-girl-sized patterns, plus one misses’ kimono pattern and one (no, I do not fit this; it was an accident, I swear!) plus-sized tank top pattern. I also got one tiny skein of Lion Brand Tiffany eyelash yarn in Cream. Maria* bought one of the store’s shelves, mostly because it was just $1.50, which we knew because the greasy, skinny, bald, sleazy elderly salesman (whew, that was a lot of description) was bellowing the amazing fact every three minutes.  I mean, what do you do with a giant metal basket? Avant-garde coffee table? 

Rag Shop is closing in exactly 6 days. Sniff. I seriously feel like someone I’ve been close to all my life is dying. BOOOO HOOOOO! 

 This is the yarn. Ohoho. Doesn’t that look creepy? Does anyone know what I can do with this?

Before I begin, let me have you know that in my family, pound cake is a big thing. Every female member and a few males have their own variety. I tried making pound cake once a long time ago, but it turned out more like a doorstop, so I decided pound cake wasn’t my thing. However, I found a recipe in a old Good Housekeeping cookbook today while I was in a sweets craze and decided to try my hand at it once more.

After 60 minutes, the top of the cake was brown, risen, and lovely. I inserted in my trusty toothpick. It came out utterly coated in batter. Somehow, while the cake was the elusive “golden brown” that recipes always refer to, the inside was completely uncooked. So back in the ol’ oven it goes for another 5 minutes. Then another. And another. After quite a lot of this peek-a-booing, my 5th toothpick still didn’t come out completely clean. But I was sick of this relationship that was hurting both of us. So: pass off the cake as “moist!”

The cake cooled for exactly the precise times called for in the recipe. It was cut (and was proven to be soft enough not to require a chainsaw). Then came the moment of reckoning: the first bite. And: (dun-dun-dun)… it was great! It was moist in the middle and crunchy on top, but in a good way. The center bit that was bugging me so much had solidified and tasted like it was totally on purpose. I would have posted some photos (yes, the camera is back to life!), but it got eaten up too quickly! The fateful recipe:

Vanilla Pound Cake

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups softened butter

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 large eggs

3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10″ Bundt pan (although I used an ordinary cake pan). In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar and butter until just blended (whatever that means). Increase speed to high; beat about 5 minutes or until light and creamy.

2. Add vanilla, salt, and eggs. Reduce speed to low; beat until well blended, frequently scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Increase speed to high; beat 3 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. With wire whisk, fold in flour just until smooth.

3. Spoon batter into pan. Bake 60 to 70 (although for me it was nearer 80)  minutes, until toothpick inserted near center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. Devour.

I’ve noticed most of the people on Sanriotown like Japanese culture.

And I like food.

What would make a better post than a how-to-make-onigiri page?

You will need:

cooked Japanese rice

nori (roasted dried seaweed)

filling (Anything goes, as long as it’s mashed to a pulp. Meat and fish is usually best.)

Directions:

1. Wet hands and sprinkle them with salt. Grab a handful of rice and shape it into a ball.

2. Shape the ball into a cupped shape in your cupped hand. Place a small amount of filling into the cup.  Fold the edges over the filling, sort of.

3. Shape the rice into a triangle. Wrap with a small rectangle of nori to help you hold it.

4. Eat!  I think that the cutest edible thing ever is a perfectly-made onigiri. Plus, it’s ultra-yummy, filling, and easy, great for on-the-go.

Egads! Horrible news! Terrible, horrible, horrible news!! Rag Shop, that glorious nationwide craft store giant, the ONLY one that actually sells fabric by the yard, is… (dun-dun-dun)

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!!

This is horrible! Horrible, horrible, horrible! Where else will I spend hundreds of dollars on various buy-one-get-one-free deals? What will the fabric cutters do without me to drive them completely beserk? And worst of all, what will I do now with all those 40% off coupons I have lying around?

Right now, a huge sale is going on. I’ve been meaning to go check it out (and probably end up buying the entire store), but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. But I will! I swear by my stash, I shall!

I just got back from Orlando and man, is that place barren.

I did not see one yarn store. Or fabric store. Holy boucle, I didn’t even see craft stores giant franchises!!

Obviously, that place is in need of an immediate revolution.

And the novice knitter is just the one to lead it.   

Pink hair and all.

Armed with super-pointy #15s, I shall conquer them all! Oh, yes, I can imagine it now…

Muahaha. VICTORY SHALL BE MINE!!

Fin.

I just finished reading a great book, Chicks with Sticks: It’s a Purl Thing by Elizabeth Lenhard. It’s really awesome and it should win a million billion awards because not only is it well-written, it’s about KNITTING (giving me something to blog about while my camera continues its cantankerous-ness crusade)!

Chicks with Sticks is about four vastly different Chicago high-school girls: Scottie, Amanda, Tay, and Bella. Scottie, the main character and narrator, is a meek, decidedly un-artsy daughter of a modern artist mother. Scottie is in mourning for her favorite aunt who recently passed away. Amanda is a gorgeous, wealthy girl with a secret severe learning disability living on Chicago’s exclusive Gold Coast. Tay is a punk freshman dealing with her parents’ rocky divorce. Bella has been brought up in a  New-Age, hippy-ish household and is just starting to try to form her own identity. What is the only thing that could possibly bring these chicks together? Knitting, of course! 

It even has some great knitting patterns in the back! And a preview for the next installment: Chicks With Sticks: Knit Two Together. It looks to me it might be a little romantic, which is just fine with me if it mentions yarn at all!

Oh. Almost forgot to mention. The copy I read is Danni’s*, but I kinda got it a little (completely) ruined, so I’m going to have to buy her a new copy. Don’t read this, Danni.

Now go out and do some reading!

*Name changed. Sick of this, yet?

Today I went to Gigi’s* house and she made the most INCREDIBLE brownies the world has ever seen. They really were delicious. All fudgy and crumbly and chocolatey and … sigh. Plus, she said they were really easy to make! And she gave me the recipe!

If I ever get around to making them (which I should), they had better turn out better than the last batch of brownies I made. Oh, man… those were horrible. I used the wrong kind of chocolate and it turned out pale and bubbly and really, really sweet. Totally saccharine. (Geez, I love that word!) I was very grateful my digital camera still isn’t working so as not to frighten my readers. This recipe doesn’t use baking chocolate, though, so I think it will work out okay.

For those whose eyes are not in the mood for deciphering sized-down handwriting:

Ingredients: 1 c. butter, 3/4 c. brown sugar, 1 c. white sugar, 1/4 tsp. salt, 4 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 1/4 c. flour

Directions: Melt butter in large saucepan. Add sugar, cocoa, and salt and mix well. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla. Add flour and mix thouroughly. Put in greased 9×13 baking dish (she used Pyrex) and bake 25 min. at 350 degrees F.

*Name changed. Gigi. Hahahaha!