Thunderstorms, backyard BBQ’s and Summer weddings…….. 

Balsamic Mustard Potatoes (as requested, recipe to follow)

Rustic peach tart with vanilla bean ice cream

More storm clouds

Bride and Groom (Bob and I met when the groom, his nephew, was six weeks old. If that doesn’t make a person feel old, well, I don’t know what does).  

My girl.

More cousins.

This recipe is loosely based on the Mustard Roasted Potatoes recipe from the Barefoot Contessa At Home

• 2.5 lbs small red potatoes

• 1 good sized red onion

• 3 Tbsp good olive oil

• 2 Tbsp whole grain mustard (the more brown and grainy the better in my opinion)

• Approx ¼ cup good balsamic

• Kosher salt

• One tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters depending on their size and place on a sheet pan. Slice the onions into half rounds and mix with the potatoes.  In a separate bowl mix the oil, mustard and balsamic then pour over potatoes and onions.  Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until potatoes are soft on the inside and crispy outside. Be sure to toss the potatoes while they are in the oven a few times so they brown evenly. About five minutes before they are finished baking I sprinkled them with fresh grated parmesan or romano cheese.

Enjoy!!!

Hitchcock Heroines it is!

Sign ups for the next round of Plucky Classics will be open today at Noon EST.

Power outages.

The culprit? A very large, very old oak tree decided to come down right across our lines. Quite sure all the storms and super windy conditions had everything to do with it.

Come Away With Me - MCN Fingering

Beaujolais - Merino Fingering Superwash

Desperado - MCN Sport Weight

Character - MCN Fingering

Between outages, I was able to squeeze a few skeins into the dye pot. There will be a Shop update tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST.

A February swatch……. Aslan Trends Invernal yarn. More details to come.

First full skein of handspun. 

I’ve now knit five sweaters. Four adult (the first of which was significantly too large, the second one landed in Plucky Girls hands and the third, well, there was a raglan issue, the fourth, the bind off was too tight - I’ll eventually get around to fixing that) and two baby sweaters. While following a pattern doesn’t intimidate me in the slightest (really, it’s just like reading a map) it’s the whole…. what size do I make?  Is that really my gauge? Let me measure for the 10,000th time….

Which brings me to - my LYS has a class on Friday mornings called You Pick It, You Knit It. Sounds pretty perfect for the gun shy sweater knitter. I just need someone to point me in the right direction. And, because I’ve been so obsessed with knitting a wearable sweater, I have quite a Q built up. Help me narrow it down, pretty please?    

Should I knit:

• February Sweater - Simply gorgeous!
• Francsis - Perfect for a Michigan Fall & Winter
• Asymetrical Cabled Cardi - so cute!
• Marilyn’s Not So Shrunken - I have the yarn for this

Or, am I totally missing a great pattern that I should be knitting? Suggestions? Recommendations?

On another note, I will be opening up a few spots in Plucky Classics for the next three month round. The spots will open in the next couple days. I will give a heads up before posting.

Hitchcock Heroines it is!  

Three weeks into my new ”routine” (I’m using that term very losely at the moment - still hammering out the new routine details) and here are some things I’ve learned and observed. The Good.The Bad.The Different. 

• Over-extended. Over-taxed. Streched way too thin. Boy, was I ever.  Like streched to the breaking point. It’s funny how you don’t even realize it until you are outside of a situation.  
• The house is never, ever “just so.” Now, not only do we live in it even more because someone is always here, I now work here too. The wood floors - don’t get me started (as soon as you sweep them they are instantly dusty. Again.).   
• There is always work to do (see above). I’m starting to find the wisdom in scheduling down time.   
• Want to make lists. No need to make lists. Must make lists.  So.Easy.To.Get.Distracted. For example:  “I really need to tag yarn…I’ll go get the tags (on way to get tags)… “oh look, there’s laundry to fold, let me just get that folded real quick, but, oh. I need to write out those tags”… and on and on. No lists = anarchy.   
• One thing I’m loving about working from home is being able to have random off days with my girl (talk about a very rare treat!). Monday we had crappy weather and Plucky girl didn’t have to work (no power at the coffee shop) so we were home, watched a couple old movies together, laughed and were just silly.   
• I’m not sure why I thought this would change, but I still don’t know what to make for dinner each night. And, the pressure is really on now. Every day around 3:30 Mr. Plucky calls asking ”What’s for dinner…..” so, speaking of dinner - what is your favorite recipe/meal planning website? 
• Not having to get dressed up every morning to head to the office is priceless. Now it’s lounge pants or cotton skirt and a favorite old tee.

So,  all you work from home types – how do you strike a balance? Any advice?  

Ellen tagged me.

The rules: Are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

• Ten years ago my only sister had just been married, Plucky girl was 6 (and was the toothless flower girl), I’d been married 7 years and was working as an executive assistant to the owners of a fire protection company and had NO idea how to knit or that I even wanted to learn.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?

• Get on treadmill, do laundry, clean the house, go to the bank and make arrangements to get our A/C fixed.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

• Dark chocolate. Spicy cilantro hummus. Fresh fruit. Fresh veggis. Ice Cream.

4. Places I’ve lived.

• Michigan. Michigan and Michigan. How about places I’d love to live…. Now that’s quite a list.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Buy a dumpy little cottage (with tons of character, of course) by the sea and fix it up. Make sure my family was taken care of. Travel. Travel. Travel. Give a bunch away.  

6. What are some jobs you’ve had.

• Babysitter, Rug Doctor character at a trade show (hey, I was 16 and it got us a trip to Chicago and San Francisco, right Niki?), assistant at a substance abuse clinic (among other things, I had to, um, watch the female participants deposit their samples to be sure they were theirs… and fresh), Executive Assistant, Office Manager.

7. People I want to know more about: Consider yourself tagged!

A little handspun eye candy~

Gherkins Bucket - Love!

MudCreek Handspun. WOW!