On My Block

I live across from a park that takes up a whole city block and sometimes the chain link fence gets decorated.  This so far has been my favorite and most interesting "graffiti".  I was lucky enough to notice it on a bright clear day. 

Returning to Blogland

Me in Oz over Christmas.

I'm back!
Where have I been you may ask?  Everywhere!
But for real I have been all over the city and half way around the world since I last posted.  I've been working at multiple theatre companies, finished my internship at Theatre Exile, got hired as the assistant production manager at Theatre Exile, got myself a production intern at Plays and Players, opened a few shows, went to Australia for Christmas, met my nieces for the first time, bought a pair of orange skinny jeans, and knitted a new sweater.  Well, that's all the big stuff, so where am I now in my crazy life.  Right where I want to be.   What does that mean for this blog?  A new outlook and a new mission.

The second day of load in for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
 at Plays and PLayers in Philly.
(I built that!) 

Since I stopped kidding myself and got back to the theatre world I've never been busier or more happy with work.  Does that mean this blog will become all about theatre? Nope.  Will my life in the theatre world of Philly be featured here and there on this blog? Yup.  What about knitting and sewing?  I still do those things and will be posting about them from time to time.  Then what will this blog be about?  This blog is going to be about living, working, knitting and sewing in the city of brotherly love.

I took this pic just a few weeks ago.  
The weather was warm enough to trick the cherry trees  into blossoming.

I will still post about sewing and knitting.  I will still have free knitting patterns on the blog from time to time.  I will still post "For the Love of Philly", because I am biased and really love the city I live in.  New posts that you will see around the blog, more photo's of Philly (I have a new fancy phone that takes pretty awesome pics), more posts about what my jobs are in the theatre community, and anything fun I can cook up (a tutorial on making stage blood?)  All I can says is that this will be a new blogging adventure and I am looking forward to it!

Philly's Skyline on a cold crisp winters day. 

Blogger Hiatus

Sadly I have to announce that I need to take a blog hiatus.  My life has taken some wonderful twist and turns these last few months.  Because of all the exciting new opportunities my schedule has become jammed packed with a crazy amount of work and I am finding it hard to keep up with the blog.  I want to make sure that the blog is up to my high standards and am having trouble with keeping up with my self imposed deadlines and quality.  Therefore I will be taking sometime off from the blog till my life becomes a little less hectic.  That means I should be back to the blogging world no later than Thanksgiving.  I want to thank all my readers for their commitment to this blog and I hope that upon my return to the blog I will be able to give it the time and attention it deserves.  Until then, keep knitting, sewing, surfing and just plain being awesome.

Alchemy Hour Sale

I honor of my birthday week I have made a coupon code to be used at Alchemy Hour.  From today till Sunday you can get 20% off your purchase at Alchemy Hour by using the code Bday20.

Don"t forget to enter the pattern giveaway!

October Link Love

Link Love is back!  I've missed doing this type of post, I love sharing my favorite DIY and recipes that I find around the internets.  So with out further ado, here are some great posts from the past few weeks from some of my favorite blogs and websites. 

Burda Style

1. Want to try out the peplum trend?  Learn how to refashion and old top or dress into a flouncy peplum over on Burda Style's blog. 

Good Knits

2. Need that certain something for your Halloween costume, or just want to have fun pretending to be a masked crusader?  Then get your crochet hooks read because over on Good Knits there is a free pattern for  simple mask. 

Cup of Jo

3. Brussel sprouts are one of my favorite fall and winter veggies and I keep seeing them at the farmers markets and whole foods.  I usually make mine with garlic and balsamic vinegar, but I am excited to try Jo's Best Brussel Sprouts You'll Ever Have.

A Pair and a Spare

4. I love elbow patches and what could make them any better? Sequins patches!  

Delightfully Tacky

5. And what fall day isn't complete without a good hardy soup?  Delightfully tacky has a yummy recipe for Thick Tomato Soup.  I will be making this very soon. 

Recipe: Pumpkin Butter

Last fall I made apple butter, a project I intend to do again, but I decided to try making pumpkin butter this year.  It's stupidly easy and if you have a slow cooker even more so.  Some things you will need: 

1 Pie Pumpkin, now the size of your pie pumpkin will determine how much butter you can make.  Since this was my first try I purchased a small two pound pie pumpkin.  (Reminder! Some of that weight is seeds.)

Brown Sugar

Apple Pie Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice.  The ingredients are very similar and if you don't have either of these some cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves will do the job. 

One clean jar to store your pumpkin butter.  

I started by cutting my pumpkin down the middle.  Not a small feat as this guy had a tough skin.  I hollowed out the seeds then placed them flat side down in a pan with about 3/4 cup of water in it and baked these puppies at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. 

After backing the insides are soft and easy to scoop out. 

I placed the pumpkin in my slow cooker with 1 cup water, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons apple pie spice.  I placed the slow cooker on low and covered with the lid.  The pumpkin will get even softer in the slow cooker and once the pumpkin turns from bright orange to a more burnt orange color it is time to take the lid off.  

This is where the magic happens.  Take the lid off the slow cooker, but leave the pumpkin mixture in the slow cooker for a few more hours.  I left mine in for about four hours.  This lets the liquid evaporate from the mixture making it into a think paste.  

Stir your pumpkin butter occasionally and when you think it is think enough transfer your pumpkin butter to a blender and blend till it is smooth.  That's it. Done.  I placed mine in a mason jar and put it in the fridge.  It should last about a month maybe two if i keep it cool and the lid on tight.  

P.S. I've been having too much fun with picmonkey's Halloween affects

October Knitting Update

I've been in completion mode these last few weeks and have been finishing projects left and right.  The only problem now is I'm not sure what to knit next.  It's time I start swatching and designing again.  This means a strict ravelry diet till I get my sketches and swatches done.  The above project is a simple cowl I've been knitting in my down time.  I'm almost done with it and can't wait as this yarn has tried to be two other things before I got it right on the third try.  

I also blocked the lace Abalone and am very pleased at how it turned out.  Now I just need to style it and get some use out of it.  The weather finally broke this weekend and it's back to feeling like fall again so I'm sure this will get worn.  

Here's the other sweater project I've been dragging ass on.  I started this back in June and then took a break to work on some Christmas gifts.  Now I'm in the home stretch.  

I was finishing the sleeve up the day I took this picture.  Two episodes of the daily show and back to the body of the sweater.  I stopped working on the body because I wanted to make sure I had enough yarn to make full length sleeves with thumb holes.  The plan was for a long sleeve hoodie with a pocket in the front, but I think I only have enough yarn for a long sleeve hoodie and no pocket.