I'm back in the groove

Yeah, I know.

Shocked, aren't you?

I'm actually blogging again.  I'm actually sitting down and putting my thoughts to....well, not paper, but on something.

Anyway, here's a status update:
Rubus Suberectus Socks cast on:  I'm trying to knit them 2AAT off one skein using both ends.  So far, this hasn't degenerated into a tangled mess, but we'll see.

Magrathea:  The problem with using a gorgeous silk laceweights is that you can't eyeball when you are done.  So far, I have 15 repeats and it took 2 repeats to decrease the weight 1 gram.  I have 11 grams to go.  I'm not feeling confident I'll finish this before October.

Must have been a cell phone upload

Bulky Hat:  This is sort of a "Let's get this finished and to Grandma's before it gets too cold' sort of present.  I knit two of them, a blue one (below) and a black/grey one for my maternal grandparents and I have just enough leftovers from both skeins to knit a bucket hat style hat for my paternal grandmother.  I want/need to line them in Polartec Fleece before I send them off.  Yes, the Polar fleece has been purchased; I just need to finish the last hat, line them and mail them.  Before October.  Yup, I have a plan.

The Rockefeller Shawl:  After painful consideration, I'm going to frog this.  Not only would I never wear it, I don't like it.  This is why I don't participate in mystery knit-a-longs I have to pay for:  When I don't like the pattern, I want my money back.

I think I'll send pictures of completed ones to Mom first to see if she likes it.  If so, then I'll finish.  Otherwise, frog pond.

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I needed a massage last week like you wouldn't believe.  The muscle on the side of my neck was so tight, I could barely turn my head.  So after 90 minutes of almost torturous bliss, I finished my afternoon of pampering with a mani and pedi.  Then I decided to grab a Chai Tea Latte.

Now, personally, I don't really drink anything from Starbucks unless I know I'm expensing it later.  It's not that I don't like Starbucks, their coffee (actually, scratch that.  I don't like the coffee), or the atmosphere.  I just don't feel a pull for it until I'm on the road.  So to feel a need for a Starbucks run is rare and almost always obeyed.  One grande Iced Chai Tea Latte later, I began to wonder about my dislike of coffee.  I've had good coffee before; I've even had coffee so good I didn't need to add any sugar or cream to it.  But never have I found that elusive mixture at Starbucks.

Anyway, a year ago I spied a post about Iced coffee on the Pioneer Woman website (I like her.  Not the show b/c I've never seen it, but the photography and Cooking sites are great).  I perused the links to Imbibe magazine she offered and decided to take a chance and try making iced coffee.

Then I promptly forgot about it.

I went back on Friday and pulled up the site.  I purchased a 1 gallon jar from WalMart ($7.44) and a Drink Dispenser ($9.00) and set out to work (on a side note: Now I'm really wishing I had not melted the cheapo one Mom bought me at the end of Summer.  $3 and it melted when I poured hot tea in it.  Well, at least this is BPA free and a lot stronger).  Well, actually, there isn't a lot of work.

1. Buy Coffee
2. Weigh 8 oz and dump into 1 Gallon Jar
3. Add filtered water from fridge (refill Brita pitcher)
4. Stick in fridge and hope for the best.

It's only supposed to hang out 8 hours to overnight, but I started it at 9PM Sunday and didn't feel a need for coffee until yesterday morning.

Hmm.  Looks like brownie mix.  Smells like coffee. 

Bubbles like primordial sludge. Whatever that is.  I mean it.  All the bubbling isn't appetizing.  Also, I love the flour sack towels as WalMart.  They're slightly thicker than cheesecloth, which means I can use just one for a task that would need 2-3 squares of cheesecloth.  It's secured with a rubber band.

Looks promising.

Oh my God in Heaven.....Does this have a Chai Tea Latte equivalent???  Because this is some seriously GREAT stuff.  For the first time, I understand what coffee snobs are talking about when they talk about the "bold rich taste with hints of chocolate and vanilla" because it's all there.  I added some sweetened condensed milk, a teaspoon of sugar and thought I died and went to heaven.  I actually have no idea how much I drank because I kept topping the cup off.  These cups are the kind you can prefreeze, so I won't have to add ice cubes to have iced coffee.


Best of all, living in Florida means that the weather outside will encourage iced coffee consumption until at least December.  :)  I can see now that this item will have a permanent place in my fridge in the months to come.

Excuse me.  Gotta go refill.