Still Life, With Cats

Today’s snowflake pattern (#51, for those of you who care) is the second one in the book (so far) that called for beads (I made the first one last year). As with the previous one, I just ignored the part about the beads, but this time I also adjusted the pattern accordingly by adding in picots (yes, really, on purpose, sigh) as I crocheted it.

If nothing else, making all these snowflakes has definitely improved my confidence with crochet (although not so much my gauge or speed, but shhh, let me have this moment).

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.

Normally, it being a Monday, I would have rehearsal tonight, except that this past weekend was our latest concert set, and that means now I’ve got two Mondays off. Yay!

I celebrated by eating homemade pizza for dinner and working on some test knits. Do I know how to party or what.

*****

Here is today’s snowflake. After the last couple weeks of increasingly more complicated looking snowflakes, this one was a bit…well…boring.

No worries, though, I see oodles and OODLES of picots in my future (sigh).

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.

Yesterday morning we were heading out of town and as we drove down I-5 through downtown, we saw flashing emergency lights on the other side of the freeway and then, bizarrely, a small white box truck perched precariously over the railing. This is on a section that’s up high, so if that truck had gone completely over, the occupants would have ended up in a world of hurt.

Shortly thereafter I spotted a heap of twisted metal, just barely visible over the dividing concrete barriers between the two sides of the freeway, and it took me a few moments to realize that that had once been a car, and another couple moments to realize that there was no way in the world anyone in that car could have survived.

It wasn’t until today that we found out what had happened. Some idiot was running from the police, and got onto the freeway going the wrong direction. The box truck just had the misfortune to be in their way. And I was right. The occupants of the car didn’t survive. The driver of the truck did, but is facing a long and difficult recovery.

That was a rather sobering reminder that no matter how careful a driver *you* might be, all it takes is one idiot doing something stupid, and you might be the one who ends up paying for it.

*****

And on *that* cheerful note, how about another snowflake? I know this won’t mean much to anyone else but me, likely, but this snowflake has 6 rows of directions (the most in the book so far).

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.

I thought I was doing pretty well with the snowflakes this month and then this one just…didn’t quite work out. I can sort of see where it was going, but clearly something didn’t work out. Ah well.

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.

A large box arrived from Amazon today. This was, of course, cause for great excitement among the cats because box (!) but even better, the stuff inside was covered with a giant length of wadded up packing paper.

Because I am a well-trained human, I immediately flattened the paper out and laid it down on the floor (it stretches a good four to five feet in length), and then we sat back and waited for the inevitable.

All cats like packing paper, of course, but none of them like packing paper like Sherman loves packing paper. And I mean he LOVES packing paper – or rather, he loves lurking *under* packing paper. And then he tries to ‘sneak’ around, and the paper moves along with him. So all evening we have been giggling madly, watching this giant length of brown paper drifting slowly around the house, propelled by nothing more than magic and the suspiciously Sherman-shaped lump underneath.

*****

Technically, the things in the middle of this snowflake are shells (via the aptly named ‘shell stitch’). You can choose to believe that, or you can instead see that the combination of shells plus the trio of pointy bits atop each shell makes them look like monsters roaring.

I’m making you look at snowflakes in a whole new way this month, aren’t I!

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.

I had to get up extra early this morning to drive down to a work meeting; early enough that I watched the sun rise as I headed down the freeway. It was rather nice.

And then on the way home I got stuck in construction related traffic, which wasn’t nice at all. Fun times.

*****

Oops, didn’t post yesterday, so here’s two snowflakes to make up for it.

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.

I was supposed to go to an off-site meeting today, for work.

However, when I got into the office and cranked up the computer to check email, I discovered the meeting had been postponed until Wednesday. This was a relief because I was feeling nauseous and my head was killing me, and so instead of having to drive several hours to go to a meeting, I could just go back home and curl up on the couch and try to make it go away.

(Cats are very helpful at the whole ‘curl up on the couch’ part of the equation)

I kept wracking my brain, trying to figure out what I might have done that led to me feeling so poorly, until it finally dawned on me that oh, right, the *weather* happened.

In my next life I am not going to have sinuses that hate me and use any change in barometric pressure to try to kill me. Ugh.

*****

Oh look, another snowflake. Yay, or something.

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.

This morning I made sandwich rolls (I make a couple dozen every few weeks and keep them in the freezer) and finished the eclairs.

I know that doesn’t sound like much, except that those two things took me ALL morning. Phase 1 of the sandwich rolls requires mixing up oats and butter and brown sugar in a big bowl with water to soak, so I set that up and then ran off to the store to pick up all the things I didn’t have for the pastry cream. As soon as I got back home, I tossed the yeast into the bowl with the oat mixture for the rolls, and separated egg yolks from egg whites for the pastry cream, and then after whisking the yolks into some sugar and cornstarch, I added in all the flour for the rolls and got that all kneaded and set up in the dough bucket to rise, and then it was back to the pastry cream, which required constant stirring, because of *course* it did.

And then when *that* was in the fridge I went and made a snowflake, before turning the leftover egg whites into a late breakfast for Richard and I, and then it was time to form the rolls, and while they were rising I worked on laundry, and chopped up chocolate for the glaze. Next the rolls had to go into the oven (thank goodness for the convection setting on the oven, because at least that way I can do all three pans of them at once), and while they were baking, I had just enough time to pipe the filling into the eclairs and dip them in the glaze and then throw them into the freezer for about 5 minutes (primarily to force the glaze to set so it wouldn’t make a huge mess in the car) and then I yanked the rolls out of the oven and dumped them onto some tea towels to cool on the kitchen counter, before heading out, a dozen eclairs in hand, for my meeting. Phew.

They turned out delicious, by the way, in case you were wondering (and I am sure you were). I’ve made cream puffs a ton of times in the past but this is the first time I’ve done eclairs, I think. Would definitely make them again.

*****

There are seven points on today’s snowflake. *That* was a joy to try to pin out evenly. Also, look, it’s the return of the little ghost-points!

Making a snowflake a day for Thingadailies.