I’m working on Knitty’s Boogie Vest, in Shetland’s Chunky yarn in brown. Size 10.5 needles. It’s stockinette stitch front and back with two big cables up the front. I just have to get the rest of the way up the front and sew it together.

The pattern has been super easy so far, even for an impatient beginner like me. And it turns out that cabling is super easy, too. It looks so complex, but the process itself is totally simple.

It’s even simpler if you ignore the instructions and just do your own thang, apparently. I was trolling flickr for other people’s versions of this vest and noticed that most people had done a different (and cooler) cable pattern. Doy. Now I have to decide if I want to rip it out and do it correctly, or embrace it the way I have done. I’ll also have to decide if I want to follow the pattern as written for the neckline or modify it to be a V-neck rather than a slit-neck. (The pattern photo did not make it clear that this was a slit-neck vest.) If my knitting is like my sewing, I’ll probably do my own thing and modify it. I generally only use patterns as a starting point — in fact, this is the first knitting pattern I’ve ever followed (cable mistake excepted).

The knitting was going so well that I decided to whip up a sweater for Owen, too. At two stitches to the inch, it came together in no time. The pattern is from the Yarn Girls’ Guide to Kid Knits, which I love because everything in there is made with big chunky yarns and big needles. Just the quick, unfussy way I like to operate.

There is a whole row of twisted stitches on the front, and some other mistakes I didn’t realize until I sewed it together. I learned a lot from this sweater — how to bind off for a neckline, how to sew it up, not to twist my stitches — and might try it again in Cormac size.

These projects mark my first foray into Beyondascarfland. Pretty successful, in that nothing has, like, spontaneously combusted or ended up a giant knot or been tossed out the window. That right there is a mark of achievement.

But what I really am trying to take to heart is this: Do it right, not fast. When I knit I always want to see the final object, and it takes willpower on my part to go slowly and fix my mistakes as I go. Maybe I’ll rip out those cables after all.

Stop! Challenge tlme!

So, Sunday night is crockpot night for us Crockpot Challengers. This week I made Chicken Marsala, from flickrite and Challenger JulieJordanScott’s recipe. Delish.

I chose Chicken Marsala because I remember having it at my senior Prom, at the totally fancy Union Ballroom in the student union at Bowling Green State University. At least, I think it was senior prom. Could have been junior prom, come to think of it. That was the year I went stag with my similarly un-boyfriended girlfriends. I wore a thigh-length black dress with white lace around the super-high neckline and my hair flipped out like Patty Duke. Senior year I wore floor-length satin the exact color of lime Kool-aid and an inexpertly constructed French twist.

You know what else was weird? Theme for prom senior year was Star Wars. I remember this because I was in charge of designing the after prom t-shirts. I think it was the first and last time prom’s theme was neither a Grateful Dead song nor a Dave Matthews Band one.

Anyway. That was your tangential treat for this week, my Prom reminiscences. My point: Chicken. Marsala. Good. Changes to the recipe include using cream of celery and cream of chicken soups instead of cream of mushroom, because Iain’s hatred of mushrooms is jumbo-sized and prohibitive. I served it over good ol’ egg noodles with a side of beans. I had seconds. That’s all you need to know.

As always, we’re welcoming all comers over at the Crockpot Challenge Flickr Pool! Bust that slow-cooker out of storage and come join us.

I lost my camera cable last week, thus preventing me from updating last Sunday’s Crockpot Challenge. But I found it, so I’m back doubletime this week. Aren’t you lucky?

So! Crockpot Challenge Days Two and Three! To begin: last Sunday’s Baked Potato Soup

Recipe based loosely off this. Sadly, two and a half stars is about right.

6 Potatoes
1 chopped onion
1 can cream of celery soup
salt, pepper
milk
flour
bacon
shredded cheddar

As usual in our kitchen, Iain did most of the work. I take the pictures and enjoy the end result. This meal came out all right. I liked it better than Iain did, but we both needed to top it off with bacon and cheese to make it better. I’d leave off most if not all of the onions next time. Not a big onion person. And I probably used an indecent amount of bacon but you know what? I like bacon. Plus I had to compensate for the onions.

•••

This week: Crockpot Chili. Perfect Superbowl food. Iain made this one, based on this recipe.

• 2 pounds coarsely ground beef round or chuck
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 (15 oz.) cans red kidney beans, drained (Iain used one can kidney beans, one can “chili beans”)
• 2 (14 1/2 oz.) cans tomatoes (used a can of tomatoes with onions and peppers instead)
• 1 green pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 to 3 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. ground cumin (we didn’t have any, so used cilantro)
• salt, to taste

Dudes? This was so good! I’m not even a big chili fan, and I ate a whole bowlful. Owen and I baked some cornbread muffins to go with and the whole mess was delicious.

Remember, we’re welcoming all comers over at the Crockpot Challenge Flickr Pool! Bust that slow-cooker out of storage and come join us.