Coffee | Elegant Economy

Afternoon Coffee and Knitting

Three weeks ago today I met our little Elsie, and while I hoped and dreamed there would be hours of mother/daughter time spent over coffee, I didn’t think it would start when she was just three weeks old. Me and the twins both needed naps this afternoon. I fed them both, put them down and got the house in order so I could get some shut eye as well. Then I heard her start crying, and since she’s having a bit of a challenge gaining weight, I decided to put off nap time for both of us, let her brother sleep and have some mother/daughter time over coffee and breast milk, while working on a few rows of her little dress.

These little moments make the sleepless nights worth it.

April 28, 2012 at 2:17 pm Leave a comment

Monday, Monday

So it’s Monday. It happens to be my last Monday as a business analyst at a major insurance company. I really can’t describe how blessed I feel. I’ve had 4 and half years of wonderful experience with some excellent managers. Sounds funny, but I really feel as though it will invaluable as I learn to run a household. I’ve learned the value of being organized, of having a plan for getting projects done, of defining vision for a series of related projects, so that you’re not just “doing stuff” as my boss likes to say, but not really getting any closer to a goal. Yes, this time has been totally worth it. But I’m so ready for it all to be over. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I don’t have to dread mondays anymore. Instead of coming in to the office, I’ll make coffee at my own house, drink it from a real mug, not a travel cup, spend time with the Lord, tend to my home, and then, get to focus on my knitwear design work for the afternoon. I haven’t mentioned it much, other than posting pictures of projects I’ve designed myself, but I do plan to dive into the design world at full tilt come the new year. I have about 3-4 patterns in the works that I hope to release in the spring as a collection.

December 20, 2010 at 9:43 am Leave a comment

Of Socks and Coffee

I finished those adorable little pink socks while on traveling for work last week. Aren’t they cute? I finished them on the first night of the trip which makes them the first pair I finished within one week. I’m very proud.

Then catastrophe struck. I brought the wrong needles for my next set of socks. All of my disappointment on that episode was shared here last friday. Well I got home, grabbed the right needles before a youth group administration team meeting, and before I knew it I was 2 inches into the leg again, this time with the right gauge. I truly swear I knit the first one on #2 needles, how could my gauge have changed such that I needed to go down a whole size to get the SAME gauge. Very annoying. Whatever, they’re coming along great now.

Also. I’m drinking black coffee. I can’t tell you how much this messes with my head. I’ve been drinking coffee since 5th grade. My mom used to get on my case with how much cream and sugar I put in. I gradually grew up and didn’t require quite as much sugar, but nowhere near black. Then last week suddenly I was drinking black coffee. I blame my friend from church. At a picnic last week, she and her husband brought coffee in a thermos, but no cream and sugar. They offered some to the rest of us. I was pretty desperate for a cup so I had some. It was delicious. It’s been a slippery slope since. In my hotel room every night last week I made some of that coffee in the little hotel coffee maker, and since I really don’t like the powdered creamer too much, I just drank it black. Now I don’t even put cream or sugar in at home. It’s like my sweet tooth is completely gone. Like I said it’s messing with my head. That and my potato chip obsession. But that’s another story for another day.

November 2, 2010 at 9:08 am 1 comment

Little Luxuries

This made my day yesterday:

I went in to buy a latte. They offered me a free sample of their new caramel via coffee. My curiosity overcame my overwhelming abhorance to the concept of instant coffee, so I gave it a try. I was shocked. It was good! I mean, it wasn’t “sit-at-Mom’s-kitchen-table-and-chat” good, more “I-wish-I-was-at-Mom’s-kitchen-table-and-this’ll-have-to-do” good.

Then the barista told me my drink would be free if I bought a pack of 6 of these little delights. I’m also normally not the type to spend more than I intend to, but there are exceptions to that rule, and this was one of them. $3 more and I get 6 cups of coffee at work? (I don’t have access to a coffee maker at work, but I can microwave some hot water.) SOLD.

So, I’ve caved, I’ve actually purchased instant coffee.

October 6, 2010 at 9:26 am 1 comment

Another New Convert, Me!

Back in May I went to the Carolina Fiber Festival. It was absolutely thrilling. It was my first fiber festival, and I only could spare an hour or two, but I still managed to snag a sweater quantity of 100% alpaca, a merino/silk batt and a few ounces of undyed lama/icelandic fiber. I was absolutely entranced by all the unspun fiber billowing around me. I loved the alpaca yarn, but I suddenly wasn’t as resolved as I had been about not getting into spinning. I decided to buy a few ounces of cheaper fiber for practicing, and something inexpensive, but gorgeous to motivate me to learn. I would use my little home made spindle, so if I never really took to it, the whole failed experiment would only cost me $15-$20.

I’d tried to spin on my little spindle before, but didn’t really get a good rhythm. This time, it took. I worked on it in spurts. I’m comfortable enough with knitting to bring it around with me, but not yet with my spindling. So I really only had those precious few hours I could grab on an occasional slow weekend. Eventually, I made it through all 3ish ounces of the icelandic/lama blend. With a quick tutorial on how to dye with coffee, this is how it turned out.

I’m actually quite thrilled. I was surprised how quickly I finally got it and how normal this yarn really looks! I can’t wait to make some cabley socks with it after my christmas knitting is done.

So now my aspirations have gotten higher. All I can think about is spinning and dying, techniques I want to learn, fibers I want to try, projects I want to knit with handspun yarn. While in Savannah, GA last weekend, I got a chance to stop in at Wild Fibre, a very, very cool LYS that stocked all kinds of fiber. I even got to touch some milk protein fiber. They were selling this gorgeous deliciousness by the bump. I got enough for socks… of course.