Time Off

I had unexpected time off the past couple weeks from one of the stores that I teach at. I had such high expectations for my time off, and, well, I didn't really do as much as I had expected.

Things I did do:
1. Signed up for Friendster but only because my best friend sent me an invite. I think it's really silly, but it's always nice to be more connected.
2. Spent far too much time outside in the heat taking pictures of jewelry, which leads me to:
3. Opened a small etsy store for my residual earrings. I used to sell to a boutique in South Pasadena, and this is stuff that was originally destined to them, but decided to try it solo. Again, we'll see, but it has been fun. And if you're curious click here.

Hmm, and that's about it. I thought I did more.

What I should have done:
1. Written up the pattern for my beaded purse and taken a picture of it for the stores I teach at. Will likely sell the pattern.
2. Finish second sample of the beaded purse.
3. Finish an ill fated repair that has given me fits in more ways then one can count.
4. Block the Flower Basket Shawl.
5. Stock the fridge. With all this time, I haven't even been cooking. Our fridge is a pathetic mix of condiments and leftovers from eatting out. Oh, and thawing young coconut juice.. mmm...

I did do the mundane house stuff, like pay bills, dishes, laundry, etc., but then I have to do that or it's just kind of an issue. My husband does a lot of the house cleaning though, because he gets upset over clutter much faster than I do.

So no knitting to talk about and no new beading. I did roast 2 batches of the same coffee (Guatemalan Dos Marias from Jones Coffee) at 2 different roast levels. Since the FR+ roasts so quickly I usually take the roast just into second crack. I decided to stop one roast about 30seconds to a minute before I thought second crack would hit. I'm not sure if I really like it. The flavor is far less full, a little flat even. My husband said, "you didn't brew this coffee as strong as usual." Today after a little more rest, I liked it better, but I think I like the coffee in general more at FC+ than C+. I will definitely try the experiment again now that I'm more confident in my roasting skills. I didn't get any grassy taste like the last time I tried it, so at least I'm learning. I'm afraid I'm roasting to the same level all the time, so I need to learn to vary it and not get stuck in one place.

Obligatory cat photo. This is of fatty sitting next to the catnip I'm growing for him in the backyard. He actually chased the ratty white cat with an orange tail out of our backyard when it invaded his territory. The white cat was going straight for the catnip, and fatty wasn't going to take that. It's big news in this house because fatty isn't known for moving very much if he sees no need to, which he doesn't see a need to most of the day. In this pictures he is only mildly high.

Parents should never get sick.

I think I'm really naive in thinking that nothing will ever happen to my parents. I'm in my early thirties, and I should know that occasionally things will happen, and much to my child like view, they are not immortal. For that matter, my cat is not immortal either. However my brain does not want to comprehend that at all.

My mother and father went hiking at Bear Mountian, New York, and my mother ended up breaking her ankle. They got her to the community hospital that we know quite dearly because I was born there and my father worked there for 35 years. It was pretty bad, so she was in the hospital since Sunday and was not able to get surgery on the ankle until today due to swelling. She'll be there until early next week.

However, I had a very impractical reaction to this whole ordeal. I just kept on thinking, "my mommy is in the hospital!" Apparently, my twin sister had a similar reaction, so I am not alone. Neither of my parents have ever been hospitalized except when us kids were born. I know we are fortunate that they are so healthy, but at the same time it really screwed me up when she entered the hospital because it was such a foreign thought. With my parents being across the country it makes it a little more difficult because I don't want to bother them on the phone and I can't help in any way.

Meanwhile, my twin sister had a biopsy procedure due to a possibly cystitis, and I had absolutely no fear for her. Jenny, I love you, but I just don't understand myself sometimes!

On the knitting front, the flower basket shawl is done and needs to get blocked. I've been knitting quite a bit lately. I started a modular scarf and that is almost done. I'm making it out of Plymouth 24K in a green/brown/cream and of course gold colorway. It is coming out nicely and is very subtle, not as overtly zig zag looking as another yarn would look. A bit of a waste of time to do it with this yarn because it is so subtle, but I actually like it, where as I'm not fond of the whole modular look otherwise. It'll be a sample at Needle in a Haystack. Also making a larger beaded evening bag for the same store, and for pattern writing. I really need to put more pictures up.

Here's one my husband did of fatty:

First Novelty Yarn

I've been talking so much about coffee I thought I would share something from my knitting past. I taught myself how to knit back in college but re-taught myself and more seriously after I got married. We lived back then in a gorgeous apartment down in Redondo Beach with a partial ocean view, just on the other side of the street from the ocean. Partial, because we could only see the ocean if we leaned out of our balcony and peered between the buildings across the street. We had all the advantages of beach living with the cool breezes, the ocean air and a pier with the churros, ice cream and seafood within a 5 minute walk. It was a pleasant two years, and a time I look back on very fondly.

However, my husband was a dot com-er who was looking for a new job and he had an interview in silicon valley. I went with him, and to celebrate the job offer, we took route 1 back home and stopped for the night just north of Cambria. In Cambria, we stopped at Ball, Skein and More since I had just started to become more passionate about my knitting. My patient husband came in with me and was impressed by all the colors and different yarns. He happened upon a table of really soft scarves and made me touch the scarves. I had not ever bought any novelty yarn or even considered it. I was still just using Joann's and Michael's yarns with the exception of yarn for a pair of socks. I bought two balls of black Trensetter Zucca to make a simple garter stitch scarf. It was the softest yarn I had touched up until then and at something like $7/ball it was the most extravagant yarn purchase I had ever made!

The scarf ended up being a Christmas gift for my best friend. She was finishing up her last year of medical school near New York City and needed more scarves. Last time I visited her at her place, she still had this scarf although it looks pretty ratty. I've had the intention in the last two winters to replace the scarf, and I'm really happy the gift was so appreciated. She's one of the few people that I will always knit for since she appreciates what I make for her.

Compromises

So the Fresh Roast and I have made a compromise without having to send it back and without further complaint. I'm still not as pleased with the roasts as I was with the first roaster, but I think I'm getting pretty close with some changes. The roaster now gets connected to a 100ft extension cord borrowed from my husband's shop. Then I make sure the a/c, 2 fans and the tv is on. For some reason when the roaster is set up to the extension cord, the fan works a little better and the heating element is a little less hot. I'm now getting roast times up to the 9-11 minute mark. I still think anything under a FC roast will be too grassy, but the coffee is getting tasty again.

I picked up some Guatemalan from Jones coffee in Pasadena, and it already smells great from roasting yesterday. It'll be really convenient to have a local source of beans without having to stress about shipping rates and availability. I'm so hoping it won't disappoint.

I'm having a lot of fun with the beading books my husband brought home. I made an alligator for the wife of the couple that took care of my husband in Japan as a thank you gift. We are sending some other things as well, like coffee from Jones coffee.

I also made a flying piggie for my older sister and it has to be one of my favorite beaded projects so far. She is also getting 3 necklaces that we collaborated on while she visited. One is from a Tiffany bracelet given to her by an ex-boyfriend. It was oval pearls that was only knotted between the last 2-3 pearls and although pretty, was not really her style. So it is getting reincarnated into a long necklace with oval czech glass beads in the Tiffany blue opaque with a delicate chain in between the beads. It's simple and will be very pretty. The nice thing is we'll incorporate all the original bracelet's components, and if she gets bored down the road it can get done up a different way again. The gift that keeps on giving.

On the knitting front, I should finish my flower basket shawl, but in typical style, I already have my eyes on another project. The Japanese knitting book my husband also gifted me with has a great sweater with an acorn and oak leaf cable up the front. I already have yarn set aside and have started to play with swatches in another comparable yarn. I really need to think about getting pictures up!

Success?

My older sister is visiting this weekend, a short visit, but that's ok. She lives in Manhattan and I don't get to see her very often. We talk a lot on the phone and she is someone I can always rely on to give me a mostly unbiased opinion. If I'm complaining about my husband, she usually takes his side! But she's usually right.. darn.

I wanted to have some homeroast ready for her when she arrives this weekend so roasted two batches yesterday that should be perfectly rested for her on Saturday morning. I put the Fresh Roast on a 100ft extension cord with the 45gms, and I was finally able to replicate my times with my other Fresh Roast. Still marginally on the fast side, but I'm happy that I can get the slightly deeper roasts again. I'm not a big fan of bright coffees but I'm trying to learn to appreciate them.

My husband is back from his business trip. YAY!! He brought back many gifts and I got quite a haul of japanese beading books, as well as one knitting book and one crochet book. I keep on looking at them over and over, not knowing where to start. I will try to take pictures of them. No knitting going on, although the house looks great. My husband came home and wanted to do a complete reorganization which drives me crazy on one hand but I know is necessary. The house does look great and he did 90% of the work. We have my childhood piano coming in soon so we now have room for the piano. I hope I don't drive the neighbors crazy playing it!!

Fresh Roast try #2

So I tried the Fresh Roast again with only 45gms of coffee, with the premise that a smaller batch size will mean a longer roast time. The fan still felt a little anemic to me, but at least moved the beans a little better. My standard resting rate did not prolong the roast time to what I could do before on the old roaster, so I will definitely notify Fresh Roast.

I wish it wasn't so hot out here so I could use the poppery II. Lately, when the sun sets it's still around 80 degrees out. Waking up early is out of the question since I'm so used to staying up to at least 1am, usually 2am.

On a happier note, my 10lbs of Ethiopian coffee came in the other day, and my 45gm roast was the Sidamo. I'm already looking forward to it and its starting to smell great already. I need to stop opening up the containers to smell them, but I just can't help myself.

My knitting is at a stand still too. I'm supposed to finish this sweater from hell and I feel guilty if I work on anything else. However, the yarn is very old and squeaks, so I really hate working on it. I only have a little sewing and two bands to do, so I should just suck it up. I'm never, ever, taking in a repair again. I really would like to work on the Flower Basket Shawl.

Hubby is in Japan right now on business and he's picking up beading books and a knitting book for me. I'm really excited. The Japanese patterns are so great and the charts makes things so easy. The materials are a little harder to interpret but using a little common sense and educational guesses I've been ok so far. If all else fails though, my brother is dating this great Japanese woman that can translate. My brother is awesome, he is reliable and is always there to help when needed.

My little 3-d chihuahua is done except for some ends to weave in. I won't be able to take a picture since the camera is with my husband.
Cover of Japanese dog book
The chihuahua is on the cover. I made mine with light colorado topaz. I'm hoping that is the right color for her dog.

Stand Still

I'm at a coffee stand still and I'm a little upset, but I'll get over it. Fresh Roast must have sent an entirely new base unit in the mail to me because my roasting chamber does not fit into this base the way it did into the one I sent back. I did one roast I think on Wednesday and it was already at 1st crack in less than 2 minutes and the entire roast was done in less then 5 minutes. I noticed the fan was not strong at all. Using the Sweet Maria's tip sheet, I made the fan stronger. Tried another roast today, and again, even with tipping, my 65 gms of green beans did not want to move. I ended up manually stirring them for the first minute or so, and by that point they were ok, but chaff was all over the place. Did my usual stopping the roast for 30 seconds every 2 minutes or so for the first 6 minutes, but again, the roast was very rapid and I had to pull the entire roast at 7 minutes. Prior to this I would stop my roasts from anywhere from 9 minutes to 11 minutes. Now I have to start the whole process over and possibly make more modifications, most likely in batch size. That, or send the whole roaster back again. My fan could have died before because it was too strong, but at the same time it was perfect for my needs, in terms of quantity and timing. I was just getting comfortable with the timing of the roaster.

In the mean time, I picked up a West Bend Poppery II at a thrift store in my search for a cheap convection oven top to make a SC/CO. I turned the popper on, and the fan worked well but it didn't seem to generate much heat. Opened up the bottom and the wire to the main heating element is disconnected. I'll probably solder the wire to where it should be in the next day or two and try this set up verses the Fresh Roast next roast day if its cool enough.

My Ethiopian Sidamo and Harrar are also not here yet, they are somewhere either in the USPS system or possibly was a miscommunication and was not sent yet. I was really looking forward to that too :(

So all in all a bad coffee day.

On a better note, I'm making a 3-D crystal chihuahua for a friend who works at the bead shop I go to. She had a pretty bad stroke a couple months back and I've been meaning to make this since she fell ill. Hopefully I'll have it done by my class at the bead shop on Friday. I'm so excited because I haven't taken a bead class yet at this shop, and I finally jumped in. I'm taking a beginning glass fusing class. I'll definitely take pictures.

I am a hamster

me



My last post I mentioned I might have hoarding tendencies, well it isn't might anymore, I am officially a hoarding hamster. Specifically dry processed African coffees. I just purchased 10lbs of dry processed African, half Sidamo, half Harrar. Yum!

I won't be afraid to roast my African coffees now that I have enough. My husband used to tease me because when I would eat sushi, I would eat in order from my least favorite to my favorite if I ordered a set sushi dinner. By the time I got to the last piece that I was salivating over, I would not enjoy it as much because I was already full. I think I'm doing the same with coffee, roasting and drinking the coffees I like, but don't love first, and even though I have more of my favorites, I'm afraid to roast them. I just don't want to run out. However, with this new order, I'll be able to roast with no fear.. hopefully!

In the mean time, roasting is on hold. My fresh roast fan decided to die mid-roast of a Colombian coffee, thank goodness it wasn't the Aged Sumatra that was due to go next. The roast was ruined even though I tried to pan roast the rest, the bottom beans were already burned, and I was too panicked while doing the pan roast that it was just awful.

However it was a blessing in disguise. I went to the coffeegeek forums and looked up some local roasting companies to buy roasted beans from while I wait for the fresh roast to get fixed (under warranty). I went to Jones Coffee in Pasadena and was pleasantly surprised and really excited at their shop. The owner was so sweet to me, even though I was nervous and shaky. It was just such a cool space and you could see the roaster and green beans behind the counter, and it made me so excited that I didn't know what to say. I picked up some Sumatra and am drinking it right now. Very tasty, and they sell green beans too! A local source of green beans is always welcome and I read their story on-line and they really are an asset to the coffee community.

I also read on-line that there are a lot of great coffee place in our area. We hit Coffee Klatch in San Dimas on our way to meet friends in Rancho Cucamonga. Yummy espresso and also a great space. My husband liked the space so much he wants to just go there to hang out.

On the knitting front, I have no right to start a new project, but I started the Flower Basket Shawl. My coworker is already well into the second repeat, and it looks great. I'm playing with the double decrease, whether to do a centered double decrease or the right slanting as specified in the pattern. I think I'm going to do what is in the pattern, because it might turn into a class. If it does, I really should stick to the pattern. I'm doing it in color 514 which is a combination of mostly greens and a little yellow. Not sure if I'll wear it, but it's a fun knit and will look great displayed at the shop. I also have to get my beaded purse written up for the store. So many things to do, and all I want to do is surf the web about coffee!

Obsessing over coffee

Posting has slowed down, I think I'm obsessing over coffee lately and the blog is getting a little skewed, I had hoped to balance things out, but the coffee has become really important. I'm up to 15 batches in my Fresh Roast, and I'm pondering what will go in today. I'm a little bummed that I didn't jump fast enough on some Harrar on one of the coops, but at the rate of my consumption, it's probably a good thing. I guess these things will come up from time to time. I'm surprised though at how fast Sweet Maria's sells out of beans, and my hoarding tendencies are getting a little nervous.

I've not had the best coffee education in the past, and I thought I was not an African coffee fan. However, my first sip of Ethiopian Harrar was a wow moment, and I'm starting to rethink the whole African bean phobia. I just did not like the level acidity but I see there are so many other types of beans and maybe I just tried ones that were very pronounced for the region. Not all African beans are overwhelmingly acidic I'm starting to learn. It may have to do with wet verses dry processing, and I think I'll do some research on that today.

On the knitting front, I'm nearly done with a cashmere scarf for commission work. It'll be nice to get that over with. Also have some finishing I've been putting off far too long that I'm hoping to get over and done with soon. My next project I think will be the Flower Basket shawl, the smallest version from the Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. A co-worker and I will start it this week and I picked up yarn at the store's sale yesterday. I've already started the same shawl on a thicker weight yarn, but I just don't like lace in a dk weight yarn or heavier. Especially for a shawl, it just seems bulkier than it should be. This attempt will be Koigu.. mmm.. Koigu.

I'm hoping at some point to get the husband up to my computer so I can fix my Dreamweaver issue and get pictures up on this blog.

organization

The key for me to being organized, like many people, is to come up with a plan of attack to begin with and stick to it. It also doesn't hurt to be super obsessed about said thing.

I have officially done 9 roasts in my fresh roast. I now have an excel spreadsheet with important roasting data, notes about the roasting and notes about how it tasted. I also have the same information in a binder but with a little more detail. The spreadsheet is so I can sort the data if necessary, the binder because I know myself and I know that I process information better when I can flip through something physically. I think I perfected my roast sheet, and am feeling very smug. I can bet in a couple weeks it'll all change, but I feel good so far. My binder is separated by coffee, in alphabetical order, with an index of what is represented in front. I'm also sorting my roasting by batch number.

I'm feeling a little guilty though. After reading through the coffeegeek forums, I'm now coveting a Stir Crazy, Convection Oven set up. I read the forums before and couldn't figure out what a SC/CO was, but now I see it could be an answer if I want to have longer roast times and bigger batches as gifts.

My twin sister's birthday gift to me, is on its way, and shortly I'll be the proud owner of a Capresso Infinity grinder. My Braun is not so good, produces a fairly even grind but mixed. The grind I want but an additional third of my beans ends up as powder. The waste of the powder is starting to bother me and the new grinder is going to be very welcome. I've started to strain my grinds to get rid of the powder, so now I don't end up with sludgey coffee in my french press. At the same time, the waste is really showing.

On the knitting front, at knitting group on Wednesday I pretty much finished the second half of the beaded purse. I grafted it last night and started to sew it up. Hopefully I can finish it today so it can go into the case and I can be done with it for now. It'll still need a liner, but that can wait. The important part is done. I don't know what I'll work on next. hmmm :)

Birthdays and Coffee

This past Wednesday was my birthday. I've been telling people that I think once I hit 30, I stopped being excited about my birthday, and definitely am more apprehensive about telling my age. I feel old, even if I don't look old. My only wish is that I look as if I'm out of college instead of in highschool. I know looking young is a blessing, but sometimes it's just a pain in the ass! I used to teach near a highschool at around 3pm just as they were getting out. I once overheard a woman say to another woman that Patty didn't work before 3 because she had to go to school. Not that I want to go back to highschool, but it would certainly be nice to not have as much responsibility that I do more than 10 years later!

But onto the good stuff. I have many memories of regional coffees through college. India Monsooned Malabar reminds me of a time I spent in Scotland, while Costa Rican La Minita reminds me of Coffee Connection in Boston, years before Starbucks bought them out. Doing a little research on replacement parts for my french press, I found that you can buy a personal coffee roaster for under $100, and I was so excited. I miss those coffees that I have not been able to find roasted in years and they were all available green (unroasted) .

My Fresh Roast Plus 8 arrived on Monday and within an hour I already had it out and was roasting. I wanted to have fresh roasted coffee on my birthday, and doing a lot of research learned that coffee needed to rest before it was brewed so received it just in time. I did a sample roast of a Colombian coffee and a Costa Rican. I was in for a little shock, I naively did not realize that roasting coffee smells like you are burning wet hay. The whole house smelled.


This is a picture of my first roast and the difference in volume of unroasted verses roasted. The picture is a little dark, and I roasted a little dark because I'm used to Peet's coffee, but since that roast I'm going lighter.

I have a lot to learn about roasting, but have already done 4 batches and am pleased with my results so far.

On the knitting front, I'm working on a beaded evening bag, and had to rip it out, but it'll be worth it. The pattern is my own design and it just needed some tweaking, the width I envisioned just wasn't proportionate to the handles, so had to make it a little wider. I'm also making a baby hat to look like an acorn. I made one before, and of course can't find my notes for it, so am starting from the beginning again. Oh well, at least it's just a hat!

Scottsdale

My husband and I went to Scottsdale for a couple days. He had some business to do out there, and I decided to tag along with him. I only had to cancel 1 drop-in class to go, so it was a good opportunity to get out of town. We had not been on a vacation together since our first anniversary that did not involve family or friends going with us.

First impression was, HOT! Yes Los Angeles has its very fair share of heat, but it was just the beginning of May and I was already sticky. However, other than that, we felt that people were very friendly. It definitely had a different feel than Los Angeles which was a nice change.

My husband very graciously went with me to a bead shop and a yarn store. Scottsdale Bead Supply was small compared to where I get supplies here in Los Angeles, however they had a huge selection of beads. The beads went from floor to ceiling and was well organized for a small space. They are currently building a new space and looks like it will be a lot larger. If we go out there again, I will be curious to see how it looks. I'm currently on a severe beading diet, but I could have easily spent some money there. They had a great selection of silver and semi-precious beads.

We also went to Arizona Knitting and Needlepoint. From the outside it looked like this little tiny house, and I didn't expect much from it. But the house was very long and it was filled with yarn, including lots hanging from the ceilings. They had a great selection of basics, which is always nice to see, as well as standard novelties. I was impressed by their Ironstone collection too, I don't think I've seen that much Showstopper and Pizzazz in one place! Since I had knit most of a baby hat on the way to Scottsdale, I picked up some yarn for more baby hats to knit on the way back. Just some cotton classic, since that is my standard for baby hats. It knits up nicely and wears well.

The trip overall was not as successful as we had expected mostly because the hotel was just awful. Smoke filled with a sleazy looking massage parlor next to it. However, we were glad to get out of town and see something new.

Introduction

My name is Patty and I'm not sure why I'm doing a blog. I've always thought of them as kind of silly but at the same time was a little envious of those that had the organizational skills to have them! So I'm going to see if I have the persistance to do this.

What is spurring this blog is my love of two things, and by the name of the blog that is kind of obvious. Since highschool I've had an obsession of coffee that only got worse when I worked in a coffee shop during college. We were such geeks at the store that we would test one another on where a coffee was from by smell. It wasn't a quality store by any means, but we had fun and it was a good experience.

Knitting is a hobby that has turned into a job. I teach knitting at two different stores in the Southern California area. I'm in a little bit of a rut with knitting because I don't have much time to actually knit for myself. So in the time I give myself, I bead. But calling the blog: coffeeandknittingandbeading would just be a little much.

So if you decide to read my ramblings, it'll not be a pure knitting blog, but more about all the hobbies I don't have time for. It will be a little bit of knitting, some beading, and talk about coffee with food mixed into it.