"You're Soaking In It!"

Remember that old TV commercial for Palmolive dishwashing liquid? A woman is getting a manicure and complaining about how hard the dish soap is on her hands. Madge, the manicurist touts the gentleness of Palmolive and, when the customer objects, Madge says "You're soaking in it!" and the woman freaks out and pulls her hand out of the soak. 

While knitting isn't quite as hard on your hands as hand-washing dishes without gloves, it is very drying - especially if you knit with wool. One would think that the lanolin in the wool would actually condition the fingers but, in my experience, it doesn't help much.

So, keeping lotions in my knitting bags has become a necessity. Cassandra made (you read that right), MADE, this awesome solid lotion. You can make your own by following her recipe, found here. 

As much as I love my Cassandra-made solid lotion, my all-time favorite hand cream is No-Crack. Crazy name, I know. But in the rough Wisconsin winters, hands crack all the time. I used to get deep, painful fissures in the sides of the index fingers and, occasionally, on the tips as well. It took me a few years to figure out that, between the cold weather, the forced-air heat, and my age, I could no longer get away without treating my hands better.

No-Crack actually works and has a really interesting origin story. Made right here in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, No-Crack started as an experiment. This copy is from the Duluth Trading Company website (where you can buy the product, of course):

One summer's day back in the 1940's, a woman walked into Hebberd's Drugs in LaCrosse, WI and asked for "bag balm" – a thick, greasy cream that farmers rubbed on cow's udders, to keep them from getting chafed and sore from all that squeezing and pulling. She explained she wanted it for her hands, not her cows. Enterprising young pharmacist Arthur Hebberd, the owner's son, said they didn't carry it, but he'd see what he could whip up.

Arthur Hebberd, creator of No-Crack Hand Cream

Arthur liked to experiment with different concoctions – deodorants, perfumes, shampoos and such. Now he created a hand cream. Next time the woman came in, she tried it. "It's too greasy," she said. "I couldn't use it during the day."

So Arthur developed a new kind of non-greasy hand cream that people could use as often as they needed to, without having to wipe away messy residue. It was a rich, heavy cream, made from lanolin, allantoin, mineral oil and other ingredients. He gave it a simple name: No-Crack® Hand Cream.

Arthur sold the company in 1993 and the two guys who bought it vowed (and kept their promise) to continue to produce the hand lotion just as Arthur had created it. They've added to the line - producing various scents - but I tend to always revert to the original "Unscented Day Use" cream. The "super" and "night" versions are a little too greasy for me and I find the day cream to work for all purposes.

So, if you need a really hard-core hand lotion, I highly recommend No-Crack. It's available in various places online. Happy knitting with soft hands!

- Alex

Winter Is Coming

Well, to be honest, it's pretty much here. 

Living in a four-season climate is a double-edged sword. Southern Wisconsin in the summer is glorious.

No... beyond glorious. The temperature is warm but moderate - usually around 80 degrees. The humidity can be high because there are lots of bodies of water but it's generally not uncomfortably humid. Most older homes don't have central air - just ceiling fans and the occasional window unit to take the edge off when it's necessary. This past summer, I ran my air conditioner for a total of 6 days.

But winter... ugh. Bitter cold and lots of snow. Even in years when the winter is considered mild, it's difficult (for me, anyway) to navigate the cold. A few years after moving here, I learned that winter is only as brutal as how inappropriate your winter wardrobe is. But, even with this piece of wisdom, I'm never, truly, warm. I live my life wrapped in wool, down, and long-johns. There are multiple blankets on my sofa and my dogs are required to act as heating pads. Oh... and the best thing I've ever bought for myself - bar none - is a heated mattress pad. I'd like to point out that it's really, really hard to be truly stylish and truly warm. 

Of course, along with the change of season comes the sniffles. I've already had one bad cold (it's still hanging on a bit) and Cassandra has pneumonia. And it's only November. All winter-season survivors have some routine for when they get sick. This year, I've started making my own Cold Buster Tea that came from a recipe that was originally printed in Bon Appetite Magazine (of all places). I swear it helps - especially when combined with a Neti Pot regime and a lot of sleep. 

Cold Buster Tea

1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (fresh makes a difference - I've tried using bottled and it's not the same)

2 teaspoons of honey (use more if you need it to be sweeter or if your throat hurts)

1 teaspoon of finely grated ginger (fresh is a must. powdered/dried ginger doesn't work)

1/4 teaspoon of echinacea extract (you can find this at natural food stores or online)

A pinch of cayenne pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a mug with one cup of boiling water. Stir until honey is dissolved. Let steep for a few minutes. You may strain it if you prefer not to ingest the tiny bits of ginger.

Additionally, I like comfort food when I'm sick and my new, favorite crunchy snack is homemade, seasoned hard pretzels. This also makes a GREAT game-day snack for those of you who follow the sportsball.

Seasoned Pretzels

2 lbs of hard pretzels, broken into pieces

1 1/2 cups vegetable or Canola oil

1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

1 teaspoon dill

1 teaspoon lemon pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

Put broken pretzels in a large roasting pan. Mix all other ingredients and pour over pretzels. Stir well to coat the pretzels. Do not cover the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Beware - these are totally addictive.

Stay healthy everyone!

- Alex

Back on the Needle(s)

It's cold. 

I broke down and turned on the heat last week. Most Wisconsinites try to make it to November 1 - it's a source of pride if you can tough it out that long - but I gave in. I simply can't sit around my house in a hat and coat... I want to be barefoot. And, if I'm a little cold, a blanket on the sofa should be enough.

Of course, with the cold weather comes the desire to knit. Since I prefer to knit wool over all other yarns, summer is a low-knitting time for me. But, once the temperatures drop below 50 degrees for any extended period of time, I get the itch to get back on the needles.

For about two months, I've been staring at this gorgeous skein of yarn that was gifted to me when I was sick. It's a hand-dyed, rough-spun Cascade - which I didn't even know they made. It's also variegated, which is normally something I dislike but the colors are fantastic - black, grey, and white.

Ah... the joy of breaking out the needles!

So, about a week ago, I started looking through my patterns to find some one-skein thing to make with this beautiful yarn. I wanted something cozy, so I focused on scarves and cowls, and I landed on a madelinetosh cowl which you may recognize from the stitch pattern. Three years ago, I learned this stitch pattern from someone who was making this exact cowl and I used the stitch for a hat and "gator".

The Honey Cowl

The madelinetosh Honey Cowl is a stunner, at 42" long for the large size with an easy, but beautiful stitch pattern. On Ravelry, there are over 1,200 projects for this pattern and each one looks great - even the ones done in variegated yarn. ;)

Sadly, my one skein of Cascade wasn't enough for the large size so I decided to alternate rows with the variegated and a flat, black DK wool. Every other row of this pattern is knit - I think it give some space between the rows so that the slip-stitch pattern stands out more. It made sense to use the flat black for the knit rows and, honestly, I think this ends up making the pattern really pop.

The cowl so far.

I've made a couple of mistakes in the pattern (I think I may be a bit rusty - or just lazy), but you really can't tell with the variegated yarn so I'm not going to worry about it. I love the way it looks and can't wait for it to be done so I can wear it!

42" is a LONG cowl...

I'll be sure to post pics when it's finished. Also, the Honey Cowl is a free pattern on Ravelry. Hope all our knitting readers are making something cozy and winter-appropriate too. :)

- Alex

Soup's On! Winter Edition

Over the last couple of years, we've posted a lot of recipes and some of our favorites get revisited - over and over.

The first year we were blogging, I posted two of my favorite winter soup recipes in a post called "Soup's On!" This post reveals my all-time favorite winter soup which has affectionately become known as Three Bean Soup. It also contains a good, basic summer squash and tomato soup that is easy, filling, and super-comforting.

In our second year of blogging, I reposted that original "Soup's On!" post because, in my opinion, everyone needs to try Three Bean Soup.

Addtionally, last year, I posted my great-grandmother's lentil soup recipe which is a standard in my household - both for its healt benefits, its flavor, and for the sentiment it brings to my table. I miss my Nonna.

And, finally, one of my favorite recipes is a White Bean Stew that we developed specifically for a Hoodoo Cookbook. That was fun.

So here is this fall's re-post of these favorite soup recipes. I hope you enjoy them!

Buon Appetito!

- Alex

Completely Distracted

I know we talk a lot about being distracted here at Mighty Distractible but, folks, I have to to tell you... 80 degree weather in March, in Wisconsin, is the equivalent of being stoned. I can't focus on anything!


I'm plodding through work and, about every 10 minutes, I stare out the window and think about how badly I want to be raking my garden.


I walk outside and my brain fizzles at the feel of a WARM breeze hitting my lungs.


I meander around the block with my dogs and the ground is a riot of color from early blooming crocuses and now daffodils.

My brain simply can't handle the dichotomy of May weather in March.


The cynics around me keep saying that they're "waiting for the other shoe to drop" - a stupid euphemism for the expectation of another snowfall soon. However, I simply refuse to believe it.

This past Sunday morning, I took down the winter, insulating curtains and put up the summer shears. My living room was immediately transformed from a cozy cave of darkness to a sun-filled paradise - and I could see every speck of dust that had accumulated over the last six months. I spent the day dusting and vacuuming (hoovering for you @pinkundine!) and generally ushering in the Spring. That made it official. I nearly moved on to my closets and to put away winter clothes but thought better of that. While I don't believe it's going to snow again, I do imagine I'll need sweaters (occasionally) for a couple of months yet.


This weekend I'm tackling the yard - as long as the weather holds. My cherry tree has leaf buds ready to burst and my flowers are breaking through the fall mulch.

Welcome Spring and thank you Global Warming. I've never been happier to be a Wisconsinite.


- Alex

FREE! Hat Pattern

It's winter. We all need hats. Thought you might like to whip one up from this pattern I designed. It came out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. (My arm just cracked from patting myself on the back.)

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I created a "Poodle Hat" to go with my niece's Christmas present, the infamous "Poodle Scarf."  It's only poodle-y because it's got pom-pons and is pink. Make it in some other fun colors and it could just be a super-cool snowboarding hat or "I'm a fun person and not boring" hat. Frankly, once I'm done with some obligatory gift knitting, I'm making one of these for myself.

The pattern can be found on our "Free Downloads!" page or by clicking here. I hope you all enjoy it. If you find any errata, please, please, please let me know so I can fix the pattern accordingly. It's pretty simple so hopefully there's nothing seriously wrong with it.

Enjoy!

- Alex

Hey, listen up people!

It has been a cold, windy week here in Wisconsin. Not being too outdoorsy of a gal, I spend a lot of my time going from house- to car- to work- to car- to home. It makes the time ripe for 2 things in my world - crafting and listening to podcasts.

In lieu of running errands or doing anything that requires being out in the elements for too long, I choose to knit at my desk (or a cafe) at my lunch hour and listen to a podcast or two. And, if it is completely necessary for me to run an errand through this frozen tundra, I can plug my ipod into my car stereo and listen while I'm driving around and waiting for the car to warm up.

Even this bird on my window feeder looks cold as hell.

So, since I've been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, I thought I'd tell you about my knitting top 3.


Cast On by Brenda Dayne
Brenda's show about knitting (and there is also some talk about cooking, dying, designing, sewing, etc.) is produced so beautifully. She obviously puts hours an hours of time into each segment because the show listens like someone is reading to you from a really good magazine. And Brenda's voice... smooth yet expressive. I could happily listen to this woman read the dictionary. Luckily, she just tells stories about her life as an American ex-pat in Wales and reads essays on making and life that always have me riveted.


CraftLit by Heather Ordover
This show is so much fun. Heather spends the first half of the show talking about her life and her crafting (usually very knitting focused), and the second half of the show is her teaching us about the chapter of a classic novel that she plays directly after. She does a wonderful job of introducing the chapters and gives us great insight on the more interesting aspects of the book. Heather is a teacher, and it is really cool the way she teaches to her audience. She knows she's not talking to teens in this podcast, so the things she chooses to point out are always relevant to her very crafty listeners.

Electric Sheep by Hoxton Handmade
Maybe it's because I'm a Midwesterner. I dunno. But man, Hoxton's life in London seems so darn glamorous. She tells us about trips to the Victoria and Albert Museum, biking around the streets of London, the London theatre community, and more, along with her knitting talk. She has this lovely, posh (Mary Poppins like) accent so anything she says sounds so sophisticated. She's witty and clever and a whole lot of fun to listen to. She is also an excellent knitter with very good taste.

Now, I know I promised to share some of my recent sewing adventures with you today... but, you might just have to wait until next week for that. I would like to get a little further along on what I'm doing so that I can give you a more complete view of the projects. But, here is a little peek from one project...

Soon-to-be pocket!

Pockets!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I intend on hitting the sewing machine pretty hard and sharing it with you... wish me luck!

–Cassandra