I got a super nice message from Parisa of LightingLittleFires blog a while back, saying that I’d helped inspire her to start a blog and put together a blog “festival” of projects, which sounded like a fun idea!  She asked if I’d be interested in contributing something summery, so I put together a how-to for one of my favorite summer treats – cold brewed coffee!

Along with the coffee instructions, you’ll also find a pretty wordy interview… be warned, when I’m asked about my business and stuff, you can’t shut me up!  So head over to day 10 of the Midsummer Day’s Dream blog festival – and check out the festival home page to see all the projects for all the days (including some free knit and crochet patterns, recipes, and more!).

In other news… did you know this year’s Tour de Fleece has started already?!  My, how time flies!  I’m taking the year off, sadly, too much going on, but I did participate the last 2 years – see my posts about 2009 and about 2008, or the flickr sets, for some inspiration perhaps?  It’s such a fun way to spin a bunch with a huge group of people all spinning right along with you, yay!  (Head to the ravelry group to get involved!)

I’ve been meaning to mention this since the Summit of Awesome, where I met the creator of this amazing new website – unanimous craft!  From the site:

Unanimous Craft is a tagable, sortable index of resources for crafters, artists and indie business owners. We submit our favorite resources and welcome the community to do the same.

It’s still super new, and the awesomeness of it is dependent on how much it gets used… I haven’t been able to spend any real time there yet, but I plan to for sure, and you should too!

I got an email from 9-year-old Hannah pointing me to this video she made about Hats for Hunger – seems like a great charity to know about if you’re looking for a place to donate hats, or want to buy some hats for a good cause, or especially if you have kids in your life who might be into loom-knitting (or regular knitting) up some hats for the cause, since it’s all run by kids!  Pretty rad!

And one last thing to tell you about – Google voice has recently come out of beta so an invite is no longer needed to get an account!  It’s a great service (watch the video to learn about it) and I now have a new number that I can share publicly since it’s all screened and stuff…  (971)-leethal will reach me via phone call or text! Yay!

Well I’m finally almost not sick anymore, and catching up slowly on everything after a couple weeks of rest… oh, my poor blog, hopefully I’ll be seeing more of you!

My Threadbanger roundup on Friday was Drinks for Winter Warming, and ever since then I’ve been excited to try some yummy hot drinks.  I thought the White Spiced Coffee on delish sounded so good, but the super crazy time-consuming recipe involves simmering the crushed coffee beans in a saucepan (not up to leethal “recipe” standards!), so I combined some ingredients from that one with a Christmasy Coffee recipe given to me by Diane, with my own additions, and this is what I made (and very much enjoyed)!

I used:

• 1 big-ish serving worth of ground coffee beans
• cinnamon
• ground cloves
• grated orange peel
• soy milk (original flavor) (I’m sure regular milk would be good too)
• honey
• cinnamon stick (optional)
• dark rum (also optional)

Make the coffee as you normally would (I use a regular drip coffee maker, but it would be even yummier using a french press I’m sure!) except add some cinnamon, cloves (not much), and orange peel (more) mixed in with the grounds.  If you have a cinnamon stick, then add only a little or no cinnamon, but if not, then add a whole lot of cinnamon with the grounds!  Now pour your spiced coffee into your mug and add milk – as much as you like, or a little more than you’d normally add.  Stir the milk in with your cinnamon stick!  Now stir in some honey, as sweet as you like it!  Last, add some optional rum if you want your yumminess adult-style.  Keep the cinnamon stick in there and it’ll get spicier as you drink it!  Enjoy!  Mmmmmm.

So I’ve been thinking about this idea for awhile, and now that’s it’s halfway into November, I think it’s a good time to do something about it… Back in college I organized some Winter mix CD swaps with my fellow radio station DJs and buddies, and I have such fond memories of them that I want to do another one!  So I’m opening it up to anyone who wants it, but be aware, it’s a pretty huge time and effort commitment, so only join up if you want to do it right!  Here’s how it works:

• Swappers each create an original mix – it can be Winter themed, or not, any genres, no musical requirements, as long as it’s made with mixxy love!  (I spend so many hours on my mixes, it’s ridiculous, but you don’t have to be so crazy like me)
• Everyone participating makes a copy of their mix for everyone else (20 people swapping = make 19 copies)
• All mixes include some form of packaging with some kind of artwork which includes the track list
• Everyone mails their mix to every participant (remember, postage costs $ so this can add up a bit), except for swappers you see in real life, of course
• So each swapper receives a mix from every participant (20 swappers = you get 19 new mixes! so much music!)

I have no idea how many people there will end up being – it gets to be just too much effort if there are more than about 25 people, so I’m kind of hoping for a low-ish level of interest.  Also, it needs to be restricted to US only, because of postage, sorry everyone else.  But you can organize a swap like this in your own country!

So, right now all I’m doing is putting the idea out there – if you are interested, or might be interested, email me at leethalkoala at yahoo dot com with something like “winter mix swap” in the subject, by Thursday night at 8pm (Portland time).  I’ll see how many people express interest, and I’ll send out a follow-up email to let everyone know about how many people there might be, and then if you want in for sure, you’ll confirm then.  So, emailing me now does not mean you’re committing, but please only email if you think you probably want to do it, so that I have a semi-accurate idea of the swapper number.

If a ton of you are indeed into the idea, and I get well over 25 interested mixers, I’ll figure out a way to divide it into 2 or more groups, so that everyone who wants in can do it, without have to make and mail like 50 copies.  Oh, also, once it’s all organized and planned out, it’ll probably be a couple weeks from now, which means after Thanksgiving, which means holiday gift-planning/crafting stress galore – so, the mix mail-out deadline will be after Christmas to make it easier on us all, and allow plenty of time for track list making.  (Around the first week in January perhaps?)

As for some specifics, if you need more info to decide whether you’re into it… I’ll be making up a .doc file with every participant’s name and address, so we can all print that out to attach to packages for easier addressing.  You can totally include anything else you want with your mix packages (like a business card for your website, or anything else like that) – the only requirement is that each package for each swapper includes a copy of your mix CD with packaging/artwork.

Want some packaging ideas?  Of course there’s a normal CD case, or the skinny kind, into which you can slip a piece of cardstock (or photo paper or whatever) with your art.  You could go all out with a normal sized case, making art for the front and back, or even a booklet, but that’s pretty intense.  One piece of paper or cardstock can fold into a case, by folding the 2 long edges over the CD first, then fold the short edges in and tuck one end into the other end.  I’ve made a few mixes like that, including my leethal mix, made with this strip of art/track list which gets taped onto a recycled book page folded around the CD:

There are other ways to fold cardstock into CD cases/envelopes, or you could experiment to figure out your own weird way of making cases.  Mix CD packaging doesn’t have to be a big deal, but be creative with the artwork, because it’s fun!

So yeah, let me know if you want in (or might want in) via email – I’ll be doing all the swap organization and communication through my yahoo email, so even if you let me know via twitter or elsewhere that you’re interested, please still send me a quick email.  Thanks!  And comment if you have any questions or confusion, and I’ll answer in the comments for all to read.

I’ve become a little obsessed with this meal lately, working (and eating) at home every day – George Foreman grilled quesadillas are super easy, healthy(ish) depending on your filling choices, and so delicious!  You need a GF grill big enough to fit your tortilla, or else you can fold one tortilla in half and make a half-size snack.

My version is vegetarian, but of course you can substitute meat or vegan ingredients as you like.  You can also make a higher quality meal by using fresh ingredients instead of frozen, and you can use non-breakfasty ingredients for a lunch or dinner version; use whatever you like, it’ll be yum!

I used:

• 2 whole grain tortillas
• 1 hash brown patty
• 1 veggie sausage patty (MorningStar Farms)
• shredded cheddar cheese
• frozen veggies (Trader Joe’s organic mix with corn, peas, carrots, and green beans – small veggie pieces work best)

Plug in the grill, put in the hash brown and sausage patties, grill for a few minutes.  Put the patties on a plate and cut them up into small pieces.  Place one tortilla on the grill, spread the hash brown and sausage bits over it evenly, add a layer of frozen veggies, then a layer of shredded cheese.  Top with second tortilla, close grill, grill until tortilla top is browned, cheese is melted, and veggies are done (around 7-8 minutes I think).  Transfer to a plate, let cool a minute, cut in quarters, let cool a couple more minutes, eat!  Yumyumyumyum!

Other ingredient ideas – add sliced mushrooms on the grill at the beginning with the hash brown and sausage; use a frozen veggie mix that includes beans too (some have black and/or kidney and or/garbanzo beans); use ripped up pieces of fake turkey instead of fake sausage for a lunch quesadilla; use pepper jack cheese for some spice; add fresh spinach instead of or in addition to the frozen veggies…..

The first in my new blog category of leethal “recipes”!  These “recipes” are in quotes because they’re not meant to be normal recipes – working at home all day, I get creative in the kitchen like I do with yarn and fabric, so I want to start sharing my weirdo ideas and inspire you too to look at what you have in your kitchen and try to make something new and interesting!

This first one is brought to you by the Pacific Northwest heat wave!  I start off every morning by making myself a mini-pot of coffee (Pete doesn’t drink coffee, can you believe it?!), enough for about 2 mugs worth.  Well in the heat, after my first small cup wakes me up, I tend not to want the any more hot, so I let it sit there for awhile; then a couple hours later the caffeine starts to wear off and I want another kick.  So, I’ve started making this crazy coffee soda pop!

You’ll need:

• coffee (cooled to room temperature or cold is best)
• any kind of dark soda pop (any cola, or flavored cola, or root beer, or Dr. Pepper, and diet works too….)
• optional chocolate syrup (my favorites are dark chocolate or white chocolate)

Mix the coffee and the pop about 50/50.

Normally I start with my room temperature coffee, add chocolate syrup if I want, then add the soda, slowly!  The warmer the coffee, the more fizz you’ll get – adding soda to warm/hot coffee can cause major fizz catastrophes!  I know this from experience, of course!

Add ice as needed; watering it down a little with ice can sometimes make it taste better, in my opinion, if the coffee is particularly strong.  Sometimes, if I know I want to make the drink later in the day, I’ll stick the leftover coffee in the fridge, so all ingredients are cold and less ice is needed.

I’ve used RC cola, diet lime Coke, diet Go (Safeway brand cola), Barqs root beer, diet cherry Dr. Pepper… they’re all great!  I usually don’t bother with the chocolate syrup, but I add it sometimes depending on what pop I’m using.  I’d bet flavored coffee syrups would be good too – like vanilla, cherry, or raspberry…

Just so you know, I’m not insane to have come up with this – Coke has (had, in the US) a cola/coffee bottled drink called Coke Blak that I used to get sometimes (guilty pleasure – I try to avoid supporting Coke).  And there is an official espresso drink with a name that I can’t remember or find that’s made with: Coke, espresso, and chocolate syrup.  Really, it’s true, I made it when I was a barista.

On a side note, your other hot weather coffee option is of course cold brew!  Yummmm!  I started doing this a couple summers ago (in fact, I mentioned it long ago in an early blog post), and I’ve been lazy about it this year, only making it once so far, but it is delicious!  If you have a french press, you can use that, but it’s easy to make without one too.  Enjoy!

some knitting stuff for you today… first of all, i’ve altered the mary jane booties pattern a wee bit.  just changed a couple decrease types for looks, nothing that changes the shape or anything, so it’s not a big deal.  i had knit them with fuzzy yarn that hid the decreases before, but while making another pair for a class sample with non-fuzzy yarn, i realized i should change the one side from k2tog’s to ssk’s for symmetry.  and i changed the k3tog on that side to sk2p… while i was at it, i thought about changing the other k3tog to sk2p also because it’s much easier with the fat needles and yarn (i don’t know about you, but i have a hard time with the k3tog’s when the needles get to 11), but k3tog does look better and hold the symmetry, so i left it alone and you choose which you want to use.  (the pdf has been switched on ravelry, and you can download the new pdf directly here.)

i’ve been hard at work on a new pattern design project, which will remain secret for know, but this picture might give you some clues…

oh and by the way, that fat red book in the pile – “the complete encyclopedia of stitchery” – was one of my best goodwill bins finds ever!  dated 1979, with sections on crochet, embroidery, knitting, macramé, rugmaking, sewing, and tatting, the knitting section reaches from page 359 to 559, most of those pages with illustrated stitch patterns, like this:

that’s a heck of a lot of stitches for a dollar! woo!!  but while that’s super awesome for sure, i finally got myself a copy of barbara walker’s treasury of knitting patterns for some more variety.  so the last week has been filled with crazy amounts of stitch pattern swatching, frogging, and more swatching.  fun!

i also did some dyeing last week! it had been awhile away from the dyepot, i forgot how much fun it is!  these are all recycled yarns (mostly unraveled sweaters and a couple old yarns from the craft thrift store), all dyed with kool-aid.  they are mostly for me to play with, but they’ll be going into a few bracelet kits and maybe another secret future kit! (so many secrets… i hope to reveal things soon!)

and i’ll leave you with a couple images of my food creations – on easter day i felt a burst of baking/cooking energy, which resulted in these (recipe here, i added some chocolate chips, and a little coconut and almond extract)…

and this (brown rice, teriyaki tofu, red potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms)

yummmmmmm!

well well well it’s been awhile. sorry about that.  so that cold i had around the holidays left, i was all healthy, then ten days ago i got hit with a fever and a whole different crappy cold that still hasn’t left completely.  i spent about six days on the couch with the energy to do nothing more than knit.  so, i did a lot of knitting, but yeah, i have a lot of catching up to do.  with no energy to blog for all that time, and with nothing really to blog about, i’m back now but without much to say.  i have a bunch of projects now in the works, but not ready to talk about yet.  i’ll give you one photo sneak peek at a future knitting pattern-type-thing (yes, it will be a pattern, but oh so much more!)…

i’m also knitting a personal project for myself from someone else’s pattern (which is a rarity) – a bonnet using this handspun yarn (trying to modify it to be me-sized, hoping it works!)…

during my sick days, i also finished up this hat, which starts out with a 100% recycled spun art yarn i made awhile back (1 strand recycled wool, 1 strand recycled alpaca blend, 2 strands of secondhand thread, fabric scraps, and recycled/vintage/secondhand buttons and beads) and then i used up the rest of my “happy” handspun (one of the first yarns i ever spun), and a tiny ball of navajo plied i spun up to try out the technique, and then some leftover handspun single from one of my first yarns…

so those are some highlights of the knitting i did.  something else fun i did while couch-ridden – i uploaded about 300 old photos from 2004 and 2005 to flickr!  the ‘04 set is mostly silly shots of old college friends, but the ‘05 set is filled with fun film play and all kinds of experimental stuff.  some of the shots are in my photo portfolio website, which hasn’t been updated in forever (on the to-do list!).  here are a few that aren’t…

ok that’s enough of those.  let’s see, what else?  oh, yeah, last night i found out it was pie day, so i made a pie!

it was my first pie ever, and i messed up on a few big things, but it still turned out great!  i forgot to peel the apples (don’t know how that happened!) and i didn’t have enough sour cream, but it didn’t seem to matter much.  soooo yummy!  so, now i’m gonna try to make more pies, now that i know i can! the recipe i used was from the posie gets cozy blog: sour cream apple pie:

oh also, i’ve been spinning a lot the last few days! there’s a specific reason for it, which is to be announced later, but the awesome thing is that it’s gotten me hooked back into spinning! so, hopefully i’ll be adding some new yarns to the shop in the next few weeks, yarny yarny yarnyarn!

ooooh it’s snowing!  it’s pretty as long as it doesn’t stick….

update: this offer is over now, but see this post for info about the hat pattern!

are excited to vote?  i think most of you do stuff! blog readers probably already are, but, if not so much, i want to get you more excited!

to everyone and anyone – if you comment here or email me (leethalkoala at yahoo dot com) with some kind of proof that you voted (link to a photo of yourself with “i voted!” sticker, for example) i will send you this pdf!  (see bottom of post for more details.)

the pdf includes: pattern for this knit flared hat!

the dandelion stencil design up top, and this alpaca applique design:

and for non-crafters, this thank you card to print out on cardstock paper:

and, contributed by pete, a page about mac and cheese with some fun “recipes”

some extra info and linkage to go along with the pdf……

my flared hat example is made with 2 strands of malabrigo merino worsted held together.  the hat is very fitted, to the point of maybe being a bit too small, but i haven’t blocked it yet.  if you want a bigger, floppy hat, this pattern will work great for that style by using fatter yarn (or 3 or 4 strands of worsted).  the hat pattern uses size us 11 double pointed needles.

the appliqué page has minimal instructions, recommending steam-a-seam just because that’s what i used.  i didn’t elaborate further because full instructions are on the fusible web packaging. there is a fantastic detailed appliqué tutorial here, which includes machine sewing around the edges too (which would be pretty tricky with my alpaca, but i’d love to see pictures if anyone does it).  there are more how-to’s around the web, including videos (just do some quick googling).

for my appliqué examples, i did one at 100% print size, with the nose/mouth piece, the same way it prints out.  the zebra print one is flipped (mirror image) of the way it prints, at 50% size, with no nose/mouth piece.  yay alpacas!

the dandelion stencil was made by taking a photo of the print i did from the original hand-drawn stencil, and adjusting to get a black+white image.  so, the lines are a little textured (wavy), but it’s meant to trace/cut onto freezer paper, so that shouldn’t matter.  (you can find a fabulous f-p stencil tutorial over at neither hip nor funky!)  you can print the stencil out any size you want and use it for something besides freezer paper printing if you want – i’d love to see what you do with it!

the thank you card is a drawing i did by tracing this photo and parts of this photo.  it’s designed on the pdf to print out on cardstock, fit to 8.5′x11′ paper size, for a card that folds in half to measure about 6.25′x4.25′.  you can color it if you want to!

pete’s mac and cheese page is full of meal ideas and fun facts.  i didn’t want this pdf to appeal only to crafty voters!

i am happy to give this pdf to absolutely anyone who voted and wants it, regardless of who/what you choose to vote for, but i won’t hide the fact that i really hope you don’t vote for mccain.  just sayin’…

for oregon voters (and any others states that are weird like us and do mail-in only) – i can’t figure out any kind of proof you can give if you’ve already mailed it in.  if you haven’t already dropped it in the mailbox, you can send me a picture of the filled/sealed envelope or something like that, but if you’ve mailed it, i’ll have to take your word for it.  i am very trusting and won’t doubt anyone who claims to have voted without photographic proof, but seriously, that would be way lame of anyone to lie about it.  seriously.

and this is completely free of charge, i did it just out of inspiration (hey, speaking of inspiration, check out the event my brother ben put together down in so-cal!) but if you are overcome with the need to contribute a little something for the time i put into this, i’m throwing a donate button down there.

and hey, one more thing if you got this far – i wasn’t able to get this done and posted until super last-minute as you can see, so if you have a blog i would reeeeally appreciate it if you mentioned this!  feel free to use any of my images, copy/paste text, whatever, as long as you link to this post.  thanks!!

angela correa, of correatown, the low standards, and les shelleys, was rad to contribute a recipe + drawing to the zine. a black and white photocopied version is in the zine, of course, so i am posting the full-color version for all to see here.