Chicken Awesome!

I have decided to call this Chicken Awesome. Because well it is. My best friend's mom first made this dish for me (well technically not for me, she made it for Becca and Becca brought it back to college and was generous enough to let me taste it). They call it Chicken Helushki. Typing that into google gets you some sort of cabbage dish. And plus I've written this recipe so you can make it in a slow cooker because the original required about 2 hours of stove top time. So now the only really complicated part of this recipe is the noodles. And they aren't so much complicated as they are time consuming. But so worth it. Soooooo worth it.

Chicken Awesome!

1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
3 tbsp paprika
3 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 whole chicken. I use the one on the bone, but cut up into pieces. I leave out the spine section and take most of the skin off. You could also use 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts if you don't want to debone them. But the bones add flavor in the cooking and it is very easy to remove them.
Water
1 15-oz can of tomato sauce
1 15-oz can of whole tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
Noodles (see recipe below or use egg noodles)

• Mix the first six ingredients together in the slow cooker. Add the chicken. Add water until all but the top inch of the chicken is covered (about 2-3 cups). You want to add just enough water to cook the chicken. Adding too much water here will mean a longer cooking time at the end to thicken the sauce. You can always add more liquid if it evaporates while you are cooking.


• Cook the chicken for at least 6 hours on high; or until the chicken falls off the bone (or if using boneless chicken, until the chicken shreds easily with a fork).


• Remove the chicken from the slowcooker and place into a dish or onto a surface where you can debone and shred the chicken. Obviously be careful, it is hot. Carefully remove all of the bones and hard bits of cartilage and icky bits from the chicken and discard them. Then shred the chicken gently using a fork. Your chicken should just fall apart and be in bit size pieces.


• Add the tomato sauce and tomatoes to the liquid in the slow cooker and stir to mix. Add the shredded chicken and any accumulated juices back into the slow cooker. Cook on high for about 2 more hours, or until the sauce has thickened to a thin pasta sauce consistency. You can stir in the sour cream before serving to make it a bit creamier. Serve over noodles. Unbutton your pants and get comfy because you aren't moving for a while.

Homemade Noodles
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
large pot full of boiling salted water
Butter

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
• You have two options for noodle making. 1. You can pour the noodle mixture a bit at a time onto the back of a baking pan. Scrape off 1-2 tsp into the boiling water with the back of a butter knife. 2. You can add the noodle mixture until a zip top bag and cut off a corner. Squeeze 1-2 tsp out into the boiling water at a time.
• Stir the water. Remove the noodles when they begin to float.
• Remove the noodles into a bowl with 2-3 tbsp of butter. Toss to coat to keep the noodles from sticking together.
• Repeat those last three steps until all of your mixture has been used up. Try to refrain from eating the ones covered in butter so you actually have some to eat with dinner.

Olympic and other updates

I have finished a few items for my guild Olympic events

For the Pentathlon spinning and the Figure Spinning events I have finished my 2 2-plys (numbers 2 and 3 from the left) and my speciality ply (number 5 from the left). The first one on the left was my attempt at spinning a 3-ply which came up about 40 yds short of the 100 yd minimum. Stupid math. The fourth one was me playing around. So I have dug into the stash and started a new 3-ply.

I have finished my felted bag which qualifies for the Pentathlon and the Nordic Combined events. At this point, it now has a navy blue lining in it to help it keep its shape.

You might ask yourself what in the world did she knit a scarf for. It is not part of the Pentathlon. No it isn't, but it qualifies for the Short Track Speed Knitting. Look at that, another event.

Here is my Cardiff Cowl which counts for the Curling and Pentathlon Free Style catogories. I just need to weave in the ends.

If you are playing along at home, you will notice I just need to finish a 3-ply yarn, a knit hat (which is about 1/2 way done), my second freestyle item (I am quilting and sewing a bag) and a woven item.

So you might have noticed I have deviated from my final plan a bit. For example I knit a scarf and I need to make a woven item. These were not on my original plan, but I have gone crazy and decided to enter all of the events. Why yes, having a 9-5 job and no kids does have its advantages. I am also changing my second freestyle item because I still can't find my stupid tatting needle and the bag is pretty much done at this point. Now I just need to figure out how to weave something without a loom. I am determined, even if I end up entering one of those potholders from the kit you get when you are in elementary school. The ones you make with those elastic loops. :)

The next step in the crazy is to start making more stuff so that none of the items are entered into more than one event. I already have a plan for curling. And I would need to make another felted item. And I think I have an idea for that.

Oh and I bought myself a little present. Some Wollmeise in Hollerstaud'n. Nom nom nom

Christmas round up

So I finished all of my knitting that needed to be done before Christmas, before Christmas. Shocker! Sorry this took so long to post, but it had to wait for some people to receive their stuff and I've gotten distracted. So now for a review of what has been made.

Mary Jane Slippers for my SIL. She also got my Bella Mittens. I realized I don't like mittens and I know how much she likes Twilight.

Diagonal Lace Socks for my mom.

A customized Rubix Cube for Mike.

A D20 for my Secret Santa. :)

A Wookie for Amber and the Java Joint

A lab rat for Becca.

Some Felted slippers that were a bit too big for my MIL. But she did get to steal my FIL's hat because it was too small for him. So it worked out. :)

A scarf for Brian.

Fiber Olympics

Today marks the start of the River Cities Fiber Clan Fiber Olympics. We will be finishing on the 28th and judging/closing events shall be on March 6th.


There are 6 events:

• Figure Spinning: The entrant must spin 3 skeins of yarn: 1 2-ply, 1 3-ply, 1 speciality ply. Skeins must be at least 100 yds each.

• Short Track Speed Knitting: The entrant must knit as many scarves as time allows.

• Curling: The entrant will create a crochet item.

• Nordic Combined: Entrant will make as many felted purses/bags as time allows.

• Freestyle Weaving: Entrant will create a woven item.

• Winter Pentathlon: Entrant will spin 2 skeins of 2-ply yarn at least 100 yards each, knit a hat, create a felted item and create 2 free style projects using any of the fiber arts.

Guess which one I am going to try to do. That is right, the Pentathlon. Although actually I plan on using one of my free style projects and the felted item to complete the Nordic Combined and Curling events. And I hope to spin enough to complete the Speed Spinning. Why no, I don't have a life. Why do you ask?

But here is the plan. I have some lovely fiber from Aimee that I will be spinning all 8oz into a fingering weight single. I will then use the voodoo math of Yards per Pound to calculate how many yards of singles I have by weighing it. This will tell me if I have enough for both the pentathlon and speed spinning. One 2-ply will be a ply of two blue/purple singles and the other will be a ply of the blue/purple with a hot pink single to be dyed and spun at a later date. If those are done and I have plenty of yardage I will make a 3-ply of the blue/purple (mayhaps with the addition of other fibers if I run low) and a 2-ply with beaded/sequined thread/single.

I plan to knit the Cabled Button Toque (pdf) for the knit hat. Yay for size 13 needles and super bulky yarn. I need to make this hat for Becca so I thought it was perfect timing.

I am crochting the Cardiff Cowl. I will be using fingering weight yarn and a size G hook. I don't like the way the yarn is turning out so I think it will find its way into a dyebath before it is done.

I will be making two felted bags from sweaters as I discussed in my previous blog post.

And I will be tatting something. If I can find my stupid needle. I have somehow managed to lose the one size I wanted to work with. And Hobby Lobby doesn't have a 40% off coupon this week so I will have to go wait to pick up new ones. Which is fine, because I still don't know what I want to make. I want something impressive, but I want to be able to get it done by the 28th.

And honestly, I would love to be able to finish all of the events. But I know I could not knit a scarf that fast. Just not happening. And I don't have anything to weave on. I do not need another hobby. And I don't imagine having my first woven object judged against people who have been doing this for a while is a very good idea.

Sweater Bowl

Since I am waiting for our Fiber Guild Olympics to start, I am trying very hard not to cast on anything new. So I decided to indulge in a current minor obsession (I blame Jess). I went to Goodwill this weekend and picked up 4 sweaters. Three of them will be taken apart for yarn. The other will be used to make a felted bag for the Olympics. I just finished taking apart one sweater and I have two more I bought a while ago that need dismantled.

So I spent yesterday evening watching the Superbowl and taking apart sweaters. Yay, SweaterBowl! Now, you might ask why a knitter would take apart a perfectly good sweater to get yarn. Can't I buy or spin my own? Yes, yes I can. But where can I get 900 yards of 100% sick yarn for $2.50 (well I actually traded for this but I know sweaters at Goodwill cost $2.50)?

And can't I knit my own bag to felt? Yes, but then I would have to actually do the fair isle myself. And something that might take me months will only take a few days. So this sweater is becoming a bag.
Beyond checking to make sure if I can take the sweater apart, I just require that the sweater be a natural fiber. Acrylic yarn is pretty cheap, but wool can be expensive. Especially when you are looking at a blend of merino wool, silk and cashmere. Nom nom nom. And also, if you don't like the colors, if it is a natural fiber you can dye it.

But basically I do this because it is fun, and I can get nice yarn and save a bunch of money. If you are interested, I have a couple of links for you.

Soulful Hues Knits has some great information.

Chaotic Crafter has some very good pictures of the process and how to wash and finish the yarn. The only thing I disagree with is hanging weights on the yarn when it is drying. It will stretch out the yarn, which tends to make it more limp and lifeless than it actually is. This could affect your gauge if the yarn springs back to life after you wash the finished object.

Dyet Yarns has great pictures and critera for picking a sweater. I don't mind if the yarn is scratchy (good for felting) or that it be thicker. I work mostly with lighter weight yarns and I'm not going to get something I won't use. But light fingering is about the thinnest weight I will go with, it just gets harder to see the stitches if they are too small.

Oh and as a note and to emphasize this point. The seams of the sweater are very important. It makes the difference between useable yarn or short pieces that make good stuffing. Don't get so excited about finding a cream sweater in a worsted weight, tweed wool that you fail to look at the seams. At least I can felt it. I need to get some brown wool and backstitch around the cables to make them pop.

Look at what I got and made and these websites...

Things I've gotten:

From Haley. Bought before they could even make it to her store. http://www.themustachery.etsy.com/ and http://www.wildwoodflwr.etsy.com/ Hopefully stuff will be going up when the sun returns so nice pictures can be taken.
Obligatory boob shot of my pin.
Fingerless Mitts from our Guild Christmas Party. Made by Jess. I was very excited when I opened them because I reconized the sparkly red yarn as soon as I saw it. Yay for sparkles!

Stitch markers from Mel, which I now realize is only half of what she gave me because the other half had already jumped ship to a project. They are that awesome. Little buttons for the win.

Stitch Markers from UglyStepsister Designs . These little guys are awesome and will be perfect for sock knitting. Now if only I were allowing myself to cast on a project these would be in use.

Things I've made:

DPN Roll

Crochet Hook Roll

Circular Needle Hanger, although this might become obsolete because I just ordered a set of Knitpicks Interchangeable Options needles. Yay!

I also made a Straight Needle Roll, but I didn't take a picture because it looked pretty much like the DPN case just bigger. Oh how I love having my sewing machine out and available for use.

And the reason I made all those needle rolls for me is I was commissioned to make a DPN roll in exchange for some yarn for Jess. I thought it would be a good idea to do a test run to make sure I knew what I was doing, because apparently patterns are for smart people.

But they seem to be a hit because I need to make two more of them. And have I every mentioned how much I love the bartering system. I will totally trade my handiwork for yarn/fiber. I also trade my handiwork for cleaning services.

Websites I've found:

How adorable is this cross stitch: Big Damn Heroes. I will be waiting anxiously until she finishes up the pattern. Jayne is sooooo perfect. I don't know if I want to do one with all of them to hang on the wall or to make individual people to make patches or to add really good quotes. For example I would love to do one of just Jayne with the quote by Wash about his hat. I might have to do them all.

And homemade curry powder for the win. Zach and I go through this stuff pretty regularly. I need to head to Krogers to see if it is a financially viable option. Considering the container of curry powder we get now is $4.00. I think this might work.

And these, I must have these. Preferably without the chain that dangles down underneath the shoe, but wow these are hot. It makes me want to get out the tatting needles and try this out. All of her stuff looks so classy and elegant in black. ::makes mental note to run to AC Moore to get black crochet thread::

How to spot a knitter

I'm pretty sure the Yarn Harlot has talked about this before. And I know I still haven't done a post with all of my Christmas knitting. But I was amused at myself the other night.

Most people purchase their hats, gloves/mittens, and scarves from a store. Most people tend to buy these things as a set or at least make them coordinate.

Now a knitter only has so many things they can knit. Not like patterns, cause there are bazillions of those. But things like slippers, scarves, etc. So you tend to start repeating items. I have more scarves than I will ever need in my lifetime. So unless a knitter has unlimited people to gift these items to, they begin to stockpile. Now logic would dictate that once you have a scarf, you wouldn't make anymore. But logic would also dictate that spending 20 dollars on yarn that will be turned into socks and worn on your feet is a little excessive. We see where logic has failed me.
So your average knitter has several hats, scarves and gloves sitting around to wear. Naturally they are going to have their favorites. I for example like my slouchy beret hat made with the purple alpaca. But I am currently enamored with my colorwork tam, because well it is just that awesome. And still slouchy. I have been wearing my Clapotis to the exclusion of all else since I've finished it. And at our fiber guild meeting, I got a pair of fingerless mitts. They sparkle. I have realized how much I like the ones without the individual fingers. The stuff in between the fingers is just too bulky. So this is how I look when I go out.
Yeah, I don't match at all. It is a pretty good bet that if you see someone with knitwear that matches as well as mine does, they are a knitter.