according to LoveMatch

Or at least someone who appreciates the subtleties of high-cocoa content dark chocolate.

For Christmas, I tried to order Dale the Pralus Pyramide, a 1lb dark chocolate sampler consisting of 10 50gram bars, each with at least 75% cocoa content. Each bar is made from cocoa beans harvested from a different plantation, so there are subtle flavor differences. The bars are hand-wrapped in different colored papers and come with an insert identifying each bar, the source of its cocoa, and the aroma and flavors peculiar to each bar. The insert reads much like a wine description. For example:

Indonésie : fresh and subtle, woody aroma with wild mushrooms, slightly acid and long on the palate

Each month, only a limited number of samplers are made available, and they sell out quickly. I thought I would order Dale’s in time for Christmas (a couple of weeks early) and they were already sold out, so I had to wait until the next shipment which processed at the end of January. Fortunately, that meant it arrived in time to be a birthday present for Dale. As a matter of fact, Chef Shop is currently sold out and taking orders for a mid-March shipment!

The sampler was pricey, but Dale’s really been enjoying trying out higher cocoa content chocolates, so I thought I’d splurge. I was nervous that he wouldn’t like it, but now that he’s tried them, he loves it. He says it’s some of the best dark chocolate that he’s ever had, and he’s had a lot of brands. He’s enjoyed reading the insert and learning the details about each bar.

I’m glad he’s enjoying this gift so much. Alas, it would be wasted on me. While I can eat these chocolates (they’re non-dairy!), I have an unappreciative palate. They just taste bitter to me, with a hint of orange, and I really dislike mixing chocolate and fruit flavors. I really prefer milk chocolate, so I’ll stick to Dove or Ghirardelli.

People are frickin’ weird. I was checking our domains’ referrer logs today. It’s not surprising to find that there are a few photos of ours that other people are direct-linking to. What gets freaky is one of the photos they’ve picked to steal.

This is a photo I took a while back of a bunch of clothes I bought for Olivia (except for the froggy jumper, which was sent to Dorota for Sonia). That’s our sofa under them. We have pictures of her wearing most of the clothes. Yet I have come across three Xanga users who’ve direct-linked this picture from our site and then claimed to have purchased the clothes for their own (or a friend’s) child.

OK, Nurse_in_Camo doesn’t claim she bought these, but she links to the photo and says she went to a baby shower, implying that these were gifts at that shower.

x0xstacy_keiblerx0x (who claims to be a WWE diva) said, “the baby came out,” and she named it desiree, posts a photo of a baby she claims is Desiree. Then she says, “Me and john buyed things 4 her:” and links to our photo, claiming it was taken “…in the back of the car we bought!” This one is just trippy, and it doesn’t end there. The photo of the baby she claims is Desiree is linked from an apparent online baby catalog. (For the record, I highly doubt this is the real WWE Stacy Keibler.)

The third Xanga freak was xoxoxo_playboyprincess_xoxoxo, who had also claimed to have bought these clothes for her own daughter, but that journal no longer exists.

I’ve left these people comments asking them not to direct-link to my picture. Nurse_in_Camo hasn’t responded in a month. I just found out about x0xstacy_keiblerx0x tonight. I’ll probably end up just renaming that file. I know it’s just a photo of baby clothes, but these people are really weirding me out.

Dinner at Khun Noi

Originally uploaded by monkeyjunkie.

Dale ordered Pepper Beef and I had the Garlic Chicken. We started out with Diced Chicken lettuce wraps (SO good). We gave Olivia a little bit of everything, except the snow peas which weren’t soft enough. Her plate contains samplings of Garlic Chicken, Pepper Beef, Diced chicken and crispy rice noodles (for lettuce wraps), green bell pepper, red bell pepper, sauteed mushrooms and onions, steamed white rice, and zucchini.

She enjoyed all of it, eating every bit of the rice noodles, most of the diced chicken, and she couldn’t get enough of the green bell pepper. She ate it as fast as I served it until I rotated the plate to get something else front and center. She also learned how to drink (water) out of a straw tonight!

The (I believe) owner was incredibly nice. He double-checked the noodles to make sure they were egg and dairy free. And later he brought over a hanging ornament thing as a gift for Olivia! If you like Thai food and you’re near Katy, Texas, I highly recommend Khun Noi on Mason Road.

[Crossposted to Olivia’s Blog]

So Olivia was recently diagnosed as being allergic to milk and eggs. Since I’m breastfeeding, that means I have to eliminate them from my diet as well. I did pretty well until last night, when I had a salad.

After learning that our beloved Beck’s Prime restaurant uses eggs in their buns, I ordered a plain salad topped with grilled chicken. When we got home, I even checked the packets of Italian dressing and discovered they contained a dairy product, so I got some red wine vinaigrette from the fridge that we knew was egg and dairy-free. It wasn’t until I was about 80% done with the salad that I realized it had been topped with grated cheddar cheese, and I’d been eating it with gusto.

So, that night, Olivia had to be put to bed without being nursed. Then when she woke late at night, Dale tried to soothe her back to sleep with a bottle of rice milk. It didn’t work. After 30 minutes of increasing fussing, I had to go in an nurse her. I stayed with her for another 30-45 minutes. She never reacted, so I went back to bed. She was fine this morning and happy to nurse again.

We didn’t really think there would be any reaction or issue from nursing. After all, she’s had dairy before with no reaction except a topical one when milk came in direct contact with her skin. But I know the point of the elimination diet is to keep her system completely free of these allergens so she’ll (hopefully) get over the allergies sooner. So I felt pretty stupid for being so cautious up until cheese was literally in front of my face and I didn’t even notice it.

Little Bitcher’s hiding place

Originally uploaded by monkeyjunkie.

He thinks he’s well hidden.

I picked up some of these at Whole Foods tonight. They’re like crack. I can’t stop eating them!

I also like the Mediterranean Terra Chips, but I don’t care much for the Red Bliss™ Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Balsamic Vinegar Potato Chips.

Manly band-aids

Originally uploaded by monkeyjunkie.

Because those regular “flesh-colored” ones are just too girly.

This afternoon, we loaded up the car with cakes, presents, ingredients for dinner, and us. After dropping off most of that list at Dale’s mother’s house, we picked up his grandmother and went to Cockrell Butterfly Center. Just inside the entrance they have a really cool live insect display and we lingered there for a while. After totally freaking out myself at the cockroach display, we got to watch a butterfly hatch from its chrysalis. I even managed to capture it on video with my camera. When we got into the conservatory, we were greeted by a waterfall and a lot of butterflies. Olivia would spot some movement and point off in the direction of a butterfly. She was also entranced by a small yellow bird that hopped around near us, and a large iguana hanging out by a window.

After wandering for a bit, the heat and humidity got to me so Grandmom Dean and I took Olivia to the upper area, outside of the conservatory. Olivia showed off some of her skills while we waited on Dale. After he joined us, we went through the rest of the exhibit then headed back to his Mom’s house.

At MiMi’s, Dale and Grandmom began fixing dinner (beef and vegetable stew) while I tried to get Olivia to take a nap. She’d only slept for about 10 minutes in the car, on the way to Grandmom Dean’s, so she desperately needed rest. She fought it hard and I finally had to lie down on the daybed with her, holding her tight so she couldn’t squirm. After about 10 minutes of that, she fell asleep. I dozed on and off too, until I opened my eyes and saw Olivia looking up at me. Once she realized I was awake, she smiled and started squirming.

We’d only napped about an hour, but Olivia woke up happy and perky. I got her dressed in her party clothes and entertained her until Aunt Vonna and Race arrived. They kept her busy while I went and finished wrapping her presents. (Unfortunately, two wooden puzzles I thought I bought last night are missing, and two big ones Dale and I mail ordered haven’t arrived yet.) By the time I was done with the presents, Olivia was getting cranky and wanted to be fed.

Dinner was ready, so everyone got their stew and ate while I fed Olivia. When she finished her baby food, I gave her some crumbled corn bread and let her taste the stew. She didn’t seem impressed until I put some stew on the cornbread, then she ate it. I was worried the stew would be too peppery but she liked it.

After dinner, Olivia got to open her presents. She participated in this more than she did at Christmas, tearing wrappings, pulling tissue paper out of bags, pulling out her gifts. She got several wonderful presents including PBK Anywhere Chair in red, a cute little kitty that came with its own house/carrying case and some accessories, a wooden puzzle of her own, and a beautiful drawing done by Aunt Jill that has her name and birth date on it.

After presents and cards, we went back to the dining room. Olivia was placed in the booster seat and her mini-cake was presented with its #1 candle as we sang “Happy Birthday, ” then I blew out her candle for her. After stripping Olivia down to her diapers, she was allowed to ‘eat’ her cake. She was much less wary than the first time, and rapidly consumed a lot of icing using her left index finger. While we ate dessert, Olivia continued to scrape the icing off the cake, then lick it off her fingers. It wasn’t until she was full that she finally just demolished the cake, poking and pulling at it until it fell apart.

During the peak of the sugar rush, while she squealed and shrieked, I called my parents and put them on speakerphone.

Unfortunately, I had to cut the call short because Allison took a tumble and banged her head. She was more tired and upset than hurt, thankfully. And her crying distracted Olivia from the cake finally, so it was time to get Olivia into the bath. Little stickyfingers said ‘good night’ to everyone who had to leave. Then I bathed her, got her into her pajamas, helped Dale load up the car, and we went home.

When we got home, I nursed Olivia and Dale tucked her into bed. She was clearly tired but protested going to bed, as usual. This time, she was asleep after only a few minutes of crying.

Although she can’t tall us, I’m sure Olivia had a very fun birthday!

I can’t believe a full year has passed since Olivia was born. Each day has brought a new surprise and more love and happiness than I ever could have imagined. I’m looking forward to her second year.

In Korea, a child’s first birthday is called Tol and is a very special celebration. Traditional clothes are worn, special foods are prepared, and there’s even a little ceremony that is supposed to predict the child’s future. While we were in Virginia over Christmas and New Year’s, we went to the Kama studio and had a Tol photoshoot for Olivia.

While she didn’t wear the traditional Tol clothes, Olivia did wear the Korean dress known as a hanbok, along with other traditional accessories. She sat at a low table stacked with some of the traditional foods and decorated with poinsettias.

For the Toljabee event, different items are laid out on the table in front of the child. Each item has a different meaning, and the order in which the child picks the items is said to predict his or her future. The first and second items the child grabs are considered the most important.

Laid out in front of Olivia are a bowl of rice, a book and pens, a long thread, and money.

Olivia wavered between the money and the book for a bit, then settled on the book, predicting that she will be a scholar. Then she went right back to the money for her second choice, signifying success in her future.

After the toljabee, we let Olivia out of her formal dress and the photographer took a bunch more photos. These are some of my favorites.

At the playground

Originally uploaded by monkeyjunkie.

Memorial City Mall has this pretty colorful play area. I took Olivia into it for the first time. She stayed in one place on the ground, having a blast watching the other kids, until she got up the courage to climb these stairs into the central tower.

Lynn was my Secret Pal (6) and she likes frogs, knitting, and blue, so for one of her surprises, I made her a set of stitch markers.

They’re made from Pewter frog and yarn pendants, some gorgeous blue and green glass beads, wire, and earring findings.

This little guy is the Robot pattern from Jess Hutchison’s Unusual Toys for You to Knit and Enjoy. He’s knit using Cascade 220 in burgundy (control panel, some embroidery, antenna), white (chest panel), and red/orange/pink multi (hands and feet, tip of antenna), Knitpicks Wool of the Andes dyed with black cherry Kool-Aid (body), and LB Fishermen’s wool dyed with orange and Tamarindo Kool-Aid (arms, legs, head).

He was a very fun little project. The pattern is well-written and I didn’t have any problems even though this was my first time using some of the techniques, including backwards cast-on, intarsia, mattress stitch, and fake grafting. I did extra embroidery on the control panel because I thought it was a bit plain. I also embroidered the eyes because I didn’t feel like waiting until mail-order eyes could arrive.

Seaming him was a pain and my least favorite part. I think I did well with the mattress stitch, but I’m unhappy with the fake grafting. I think I messed up tensioning on this and pulled the edges together too tightly. You can see how the top edge of his head is rather wonky.

I had a hard time parting with him, but I ended up giving him to my sister’s fiancé for Christmas. He was well-recieved and I know he went to a good home where he’ll be appreciated.

Overall, this was a great pattern and a fun project. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who likes making toys. I’m looking forward to trying some of the other patterns too.

when I began knitting, I polled a few of my friends and asked if I were to ever knit them anything, what would they want. Genevieve asked for a super long scarf. I knew it had to be deep purple because she’s obsessed with that color. I figured Gen would want this scarf more as an accessory than cold weather wear since she lives in central Texas where winter is only two weeks in late January, so I used some purple Caron Simply Soft, huge bamboo needles, and a simple yarn-over knit two together pattern.

This scarf whipped up quite fast on the large needles. I did manage to mess up my pattern a few times, which was quite a pain and forced me to learn how to pick up stitches that included yarn-overs.

This was my first real blocking job. I blocked it in sections on top of my ironing board, blasting it with steam from my iron. I’d heard of blocking wires but didn’t have any, so I used bamboo skewers and T-pins. It worked, but I did have to pick some bamboo flecks out of the scarf. (oops). Pre-blocking, the scarf was a loopy mess only a few inches wide but rather long. Post-blocking, the pattern opened up into a geometric pattern of triangles and grew another foot and a half.

It was presented at Christmas rolled up and tucked into a black satin make-up bag that had purple velvet ribbon trim. Gen now owes me some pictures of her modeling this scarf.

Olivia’s room tends to be cold, so I wanted a light long-sleeved cover we could put on her instead of having to change her into her pajamas at nap time. I decided to make this simple shrug. I simply measured the length of her arms and back then knit a rectangle. The shrug was knit flat from one 2×2 ribbed cuff to the other, then I sewed the sleeves shut. (If I make another, I’ll do one sleeve in the round, then the back flat, then the other sleeve in the round.) At the point where the sleeve ended and the back began, I did some increases and put a small garter stitch edging to combat rolling. It didn’t work too well and the edging tends to fold to the inside of the shrug, but it still serves its purpose quite well. Olivia’s even worn it out on the few cool days we had this autumn.

I made it a little large so she’d be able to wear it for a while. I made it early last autumn and she hasn’t outgrown it yet. (Yay.)

There are jokes, and there are blonde jokes. Then there is The Best Blonde Joke Ever!

You’re never too young for video games

Originally uploaded by monkeyjunkie.

Olivia’s kicking my butt at Bust a Move.

a.k.a the mini hat (for the knit Katamari Damacy hat)

Cast on 6 stitches using waste yarn, evenly dividing them amongst 3 DPNs (or use the Magic Loop technique if you prefer). Knit one row. Join MC yarn, leaving several inches of tail, and knit one row. This is your first row.

Row 2: kfb every stitch, (12 stitches)
Row 3: knit every stitch
Row 4: *kfb, k1* to end of round (18 stitches)
Row 5: knit every stitch
Row 6: *kfb, k2* to end of round (24 stitches)
Row 7: Join CC1, knit every stitch
Row 8: *kfb, k3* to end of round (30 stitches)
Row 9: knit every stitch
Row 10: *kfb, k4* to end of round (36 stitches)
Row 11: knit every stitch
Row 12: *kfb, k5* to end of round (42 stitches)
Row 13: Join CC2, knit every stitch
Rows 14-18: knit every stitch

Bind off. Using the tail from your cast on and a tapestry needle, pick up your first row of ‘real’ stitches. Once you have them, carefully cut away the waste yarn. Pull the tail tight to close the hole. Weave in ends.

Katamari Damacy hat

Last spring I decided to learn how to crochet. When my sister heard about that, she asked if I could make her a Katamari Damacy hat like the ones sold at Mad Teaparty. I said sure, once I felt more comfortable with crochet. Before that happened, I taught myself how to knit and discovered I enjoyed it much more than crochet. As Christmas drew near, I remembered Phaedra’s request for a Katamari hat and decided to try knitting one. I used Cascade 220 in burgundy on size 7 circular needles for the main hat. The bumps were Cascade 220 (white stripe), Knitpicks Wool of the Andes dyed with pink lemonade Kool-Aid (pink stripe), and Knitpicks Wool of the Andes dyed with black cherry Kool-Aid (red stripe). I also had some multicolored Cascade 220 (a blend of pink, orange, and red) and LB Fishermen’s Wool dyed with orange and Tamarindo Kool-aid, but I ended up not using those colors.

the base hat

I found a great top-down earflap hat pattern/tutorial at The Knitting Fiend that I used for the basis of the hat. I failed to take any in-progress photos of the hat construction, but I did get photos of the completed-but-bumpless hat. I also learned some new tips and techniques, including a waste-yarn cast on, knitting with two circular needles, yarn over short rows for the earflaps which I frogged and reknit using Japanese short rows, and how to do an attached i-cord edging. (For part of the hat, I even practiced knitting Continental.) I did have to switch to larger sized DPNs for the i-cord because the cord knit with the size 7s was too tight and caused the earflaps to curve into a distinct cup shape. Even after I used size 9 DPNs and knitting the i-cord fairly loosely, the earflaps cupped a bit.

The finished lining

Edge of the lining

Barely visible

The finished hat came out a little large, and the elasticity of the wool let it stretch even more. My husband, Dale, is modeling the base hat, which fit him comfortably, and he has a huge head. I figured adding a lining would make it a little more snug. Plus it would give the hat more stability, and it would make the hat warm enough for Phaedra to wear in New York during the winter. I couldn’t find a fleece I liked that was in the same color scheme as the hat, so I just picked a fun pattern. An obnoxious blue floral pattern. Making the lining was simple. I figured Phaedra’s head was about the same size as mine, so I wrapped the fleece around my head then cut it where it overlapped. I then folded it right side in and stitched up the long side. (Note: fleece is hard to machine-stitch!) I turned the knit hat inside out, set it on a styrofoam head, then slipped the fleece tube over it, sliding it down until the bottom edge of the tube met the bottom edge of the earflaps. Then I pinched and pinned the fleece at the top, creating four curved darts. I machine-sewed the darts, refitted the lining over the hat to make sure it fit, then cut away the extra fabric. Once I had the lining shaped, I pulled the tail from the center of the hat (that I’d left loose for this purpose) through the small hole left in the center top of the lining. This allowed me to make sure the centers were aligned. I then smoothed the lining and hat together, pinning at intervals. Next I carefully trimmed the lining using the inside edge of the i-cord as my guide. I didn’t have to hem the lining since the fleece wouldn’t fray. I used regular sewing thread to hand-sew the edge of the lining just about the i-cord. I pulled the i-cord slightly away from the hat so that when it was released, it naturally rolled back over the edge of the lining, hiding the stitches nicely. I was a little worried that the lining would show through the hat, but it doesn’t. The roll of the i-cord hides the stitching on the outside too. I should note that I only sewed the lining to the front edge of the hat at first. This was so I could reach the inside of the knit part when the time came to sew on the bumps.

a perfect bump!

8 finished bumps

Once the hat base was knit and lined, it was time to work on the bumps. I kinda winged the bumps and it shows in my first few attempts. First, I tried a three increment increase. This led to an extremely pointy bump. I moved up to four. This made for a neat looking knit pyramid, but it was still way too angular and pointy. So, I tried a six increment increase. This worked beautifully, but I ran into another problem. The knit into the front and back (kfb) increase I was using leaves a horizontal bar. That didn’t bother me, but the way the increases coincided with my color changes resulted in very visible bars. I solved that issue by changing the number of rows for each stripe so that the increases landed solidly within a stripe. Now that I had the proper bump pattern and I was happy with the color scheme, I made seven more bumps.

blocking the bumps

I decided to block the bumps before attaching them. I bought a six pack of styrofoam balls that were the perfect size. I then tied the balls inside lenghts of old pantyhose to keep the yarn from snagging and breaking off little bits of foam. Then I dampened the bumps, shaped them over the balls, pinned them, then let them dry. I only had six styrofoam balls and eight bumps. I found a rubber ball that was the same size as the foam balls so one bump blocked on it, but the eighth bump had to wait until the others were dry before it was blocked.

placing bumps

sewing on a bump

a finished bump

After the bumps were blocked, I put a generous pinch of polyester fiberfill into each of them. Then I held them against the hat and used T-pins to tack them in place. I tweaked their positions until I was happy. I had left fairly long tails on most bumps, so I was able to thread the tails onto a tapestry needle and use them to sew the bumps to the hat, making sure to tuck in the fiberfill as I went. I left the hat on the styrofoam head while I sewed on the bumps, removing the T-pins as I came to them. This worked well to keep the loose bumps in place and out of my way while I worked. Since the inside of the hat was going to be hidden by the lining, I cheated and knotted the yarn on the inside before weaving in the ends. The seams between the bumps and the hats blend pretty well since the colors are so similar. I’m glad I only partially attached the lining before sewing on the bumps. Once all the bumps were in place, I finished sewing in the lining, then I was done!

Phaedra and her hat

Phaedra was quite thrilled with her hat and spent most of the rest of her vacation wearing it. I’m quite pleased with it too. I had a lot of fun making this hat, learned some new things, and even wrote my first pattern (for the admittedly simple bumps). I’d like to make another of these some day, using more stripes in the bumps and a different color palette. I just don’t know who I’d give it to.