Chickenlips Knitting

...so to speak. Odd-balls of yarn, stubborn excess body fat, you name it--I'm cleanin' the hizouse!



Was going through my stack of knitting books, and in Leigh Radford's AlterKnits I found simple instructions for a ginormous felted bag. Since I've got feltable stash up the wazoo, I started playing around with colors and mixin' it up:

This is the body of the bag, a little less than half completed. I've got another colorway of that "127 Print" that I love so much. Ah, I forgot how much fun it is to stripe. (that's stripe--not strip--although at the proper time and place, that's fun too. Hee.)

Just For Kiki

Cantonese Lemon Chicken, a la Chickenlips

For the chicken:

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 2" pieces


• 2 egg whites


• 1/3 to 1/2 cup cornstarch


• Canola oil for frying

Beat egg whites in large bowl with wire whisk until foamy. Mix in enough cornstarch to make a medium-thick batter. Add chicken pieces and coat evenly. Chill 30 minutes. Heat oil in deep pan over medium heat. Fry chicken pieces in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

For Sauce:

• 1 clove garlic, minced


• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth


• 1 teaspoon soy sauce


• 2 teaspoons cornstarch


• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice


• 2 tablespoons honey


• Few drops yellow food color, if desired

Heat 1 cup chicken broth in medium saucepan. Add minced garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice and honey. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer gently. Mix remaining 1/4 cup broth with cornstarch in small bowl. Add to broth mixture. Cook and stir until sauce is clear and slightly thickened. Stir in yellow food color if desired. Pour sauce over chicken.

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For some reason, I'm beginning to get really comfortable with jettisoning what doesn't work in my life, whether it's actions, people, behaviors, whatever. Riding the crest of the wave in firing that therapist, I continued this housecleaning of sorts by firing my M.D. too! I found a new doc, who is much more conveniently located AND has done me perhaps the greatest service I've received in the past few years: she re-evaluated my depression (backstory: I've been on antidepressants for a long time) and determined that a new medication was in order. I just began the gradual process of switching over, and I'm excited! For a long time, I was resigned to taking something that really wasn't working, just making life more bearable than if I took nothing, and now it's great to feel like there just might be a new "me" on the horizon. I'm not severely depressed; I've got enough mojo to work, love and nurture my family, and knit--but there's always an impetus to do more. And what that BS therapist would never tell me, I realized, is that I need to feel good enough to tackle my physical issues!

You know, maybe it's no accident that I named my blog "Chickenlips"--because, as the Belle of Amherst said, "Hope is the thing with feathers."

Sock Saga

If you're reading this, bless you, because it's around midnight and I'm rather droopy-eyed. Hope I'm making adequate sense.

Here is Thing One:

Fairly passable. It's another basic, flappy-heeled lightweight sock, in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. However, Thing Two met with disaster as I was standing in the Yarn Harlot throng last Friday night, trying to fit in by nonchalantly knitting the second sock, chatting with my neighbors, and then laughing at Stephanie. I don't have to tell you what happened. At the gusset, I discovered a dropped stitch waaaay back at the heel, and other messes. I'm going to have to frog it. Feh.

Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors are wonderful things, but they can't fix a bitched-up sock!