It's 80 degrees outside - what else to do but bake cookies! I'm making these russian tea cakes with hazelnuts. Delicious!
In other news, I survived a birthday party last night and one this afternoon, but my arms have been munched by mosquitoes.
I ripped out the LotR sock because I just can't cable. I don't know what it is, by my arms hurt too much. I'm freestyling a pattern: just a traveling eyelet. I don't know why k2tog or ssk is no problem but c2b is. Argh.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
I have a scratchy throat
And I have to go out to the bar tonight for a relative's birthday party. Sore throat + smoke = yargh.
I broke down and bought some yarn - breaking my streak of not buying yarn until the Sheep and Wool Festival - but it's for my bff's birthday, so I figure that makes it okay :) It's DIC Smooshy in Pansy Golightly. My friend is a purple fanatic - she even had her pool table recovered in purple felt - so I figured this would be the perfect yarn for her. I'm going to try to teach her to knit long distance...we'll see how that works out!
Back to my knit hat :)
I broke down and bought some yarn - breaking my streak of not buying yarn until the Sheep and Wool Festival - but it's for my bff's birthday, so I figure that makes it okay :) It's DIC Smooshy in Pansy Golightly. My friend is a purple fanatic - she even had her pool table recovered in purple felt - so I figured this would be the perfect yarn for her. I'm going to try to teach her to knit long distance...we'll see how that works out!
Back to my knit hat :)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
I hate mosquitoes
I really do. They're so thick outside that I can't mow the lawn or pick any of the veggies in my garden! Sadly, I'm hoping for a quick rise in temps (95 or so!) to kill them so I can actually go out in my yard . Argh.
My shawl is coming along, though slower than I'd hoped. For some reason, I've only been able to get a few rows in on it this week. I'm further on it than I've ever gotten, so I'm going to keep bulldogging ahead, but it seems such a slog. I think that it's totally psychological, since I was buzzing along on it quite well until this week.
For bus knitting, I'm working on a top down mini sock on dpns with a flap and gusset heel. Crazy! I figured that I might as well teach myself how to do a flap and gusset on the fly so that I can have it in my arsenal. I've just picked up the stitches and am on the gusset decreases. Oh yeah - I also made a picot cuff...my first! This little sockie has been such a learning experience so far, and it's not even done yet :)
My shawl is coming along, though slower than I'd hoped. For some reason, I've only been able to get a few rows in on it this week. I'm further on it than I've ever gotten, so I'm going to keep bulldogging ahead, but it seems such a slog. I think that it's totally psychological, since I was buzzing along on it quite well until this week.
For bus knitting, I'm working on a top down mini sock on dpns with a flap and gusset heel. Crazy! I figured that I might as well teach myself how to do a flap and gusset on the fly so that I can have it in my arsenal. I've just picked up the stitches and am on the gusset decreases. Oh yeah - I also made a picot cuff...my first! This little sockie has been such a learning experience so far, and it's not even done yet :)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Attack of the cucumbers
When I planted my garden this spring, I just planted what DP would like to eat and what I thought might grow. I didn't know much about anything, frankly. Now, I've discovered the horrible truth - cucumbers are the mafia of my garden. They've been elbowing everyone else, and now they're twisting their tentacles around my other plants! The flax has already fallen prey, and the asparagus is next. Only the sunflowers and the green beans seem strong enough to survive the onslaught.
The green beans, by the way, are doing wonderfully! I picked a bowlful of them for dinner yesterday, and cooked them in a couple tablespoons of salted water. I would have picked more, but I was being eaten alive by the mosquitoes. When they started biting my face, I knew I had to flee.
Now that it's July, I need to dig into my silk shawl. I still don't have pictures for you, but they're coming soon. DP just notified me that he'll need to work through the night for the rest of the week, so I should actually be able to get some rows done! Even with all my swatching, I still haven't settled on the pattern for the lace band. I guess I have a while to go before I work the band, but I'd like to be settled on the pattern by the time I get to it. I need a pattern that gives the impression of leaves or trees, is 9, 18 or 36 stitches wide and preferably has plain purl or knit rows every other row. The leaf pattern I planned to use looked wrong with the feather and fan, so I've been reworking it and playing around with some openwork cable-y things. Oh, what a world.
The green beans, by the way, are doing wonderfully! I picked a bowlful of them for dinner yesterday, and cooked them in a couple tablespoons of salted water. I would have picked more, but I was being eaten alive by the mosquitoes. When they started biting my face, I knew I had to flee.
Now that it's July, I need to dig into my silk shawl. I still don't have pictures for you, but they're coming soon. DP just notified me that he'll need to work through the night for the rest of the week, so I should actually be able to get some rows done! Even with all my swatching, I still haven't settled on the pattern for the lace band. I guess I have a while to go before I work the band, but I'd like to be settled on the pattern by the time I get to it. I need a pattern that gives the impression of leaves or trees, is 9, 18 or 36 stitches wide and preferably has plain purl or knit rows every other row. The leaf pattern I planned to use looked wrong with the feather and fan, so I've been reworking it and playing around with some openwork cable-y things. Oh, what a world.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Sigh
Today is just one of those days. I feel totally out of balance and uninspired. Yargh. Yesterday was much better. How, you ask?
My arm was too sore to knit, so I made a pizza instead. Since it's so hot, I didn't want to turn on the oven and work against the AC, so I decided to make a pizza on the stovetop and melt the cheese under the broiler. I made my usual dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes. While it was resting, I chopped up some onion, minced some garlic and browned it in a little olive oil and a sprinkle of crushed black pepper. I heated up my cast iron griddle and rolled the dough into a round a little smaller than the griddle and about 1/4" thick. I put the dough on the griddle (no oil), browned it on one side, then flipped it. While it was browning on the second side, I got out my shredded cheese and opened the tomato paste. One more flip of the dough, a quick swipe with tomato paste, a sprinkle of sauteed onion and cheese and then under the broiler for 3 minutes to melt the cheese. Heavenly! A couple of glasses of wine and it was a mini-feast.
Tonight I think I'm just going to have cheese and crackers :)
Hopefully I get in a bit of knitting time...my arm is still sore, but I really want to knit.
My arm was too sore to knit, so I made a pizza instead. Since it's so hot, I didn't want to turn on the oven and work against the AC, so I decided to make a pizza on the stovetop and melt the cheese under the broiler. I made my usual dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes. While it was resting, I chopped up some onion, minced some garlic and browned it in a little olive oil and a sprinkle of crushed black pepper. I heated up my cast iron griddle and rolled the dough into a round a little smaller than the griddle and about 1/4" thick. I put the dough on the griddle (no oil), browned it on one side, then flipped it. While it was browning on the second side, I got out my shredded cheese and opened the tomato paste. One more flip of the dough, a quick swipe with tomato paste, a sprinkle of sauteed onion and cheese and then under the broiler for 3 minutes to melt the cheese. Heavenly! A couple of glasses of wine and it was a mini-feast.
Tonight I think I'm just going to have cheese and crackers :)
Hopefully I get in a bit of knitting time...my arm is still sore, but I really want to knit.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Delicious frangipane
I love frangipane. Last night I decided to whip up a batch of it and add a couple extra tablespoons of flour - that way I could bake it in a pie pan without having to make a crust! I sprinkled a few blackberries on the top, baked it at 350 for about 35 minutes and proceeded to munch away :) Even DP liked it, and he's very particular.
Work is progressing on the silk shawl. I'm through one repeat of the center lace pattern (24 rows), and I'm working on the horizontal lace band design. I graphed out a leaf motif last night so I'll be able to swatch it tonight. My initial plan was to use bleeding hearts as the inset, but I don't it will give me what I'm looking for. I left out my swatching yarn and needles so that I can jump into it tonight.
The socks are on the back burner, mostly because of the cabling. I think I'll do a couple more cables and leave well enough alone. My arm hurts just thinking about it! I don't know if cabling with a cable needle would make it less painful, but I can't stand the slowness of using a CN.
My current traveling project is the spoils of war tie shawl. I'm onto the wool/mohair section, and rows are getting longer. I love the shape of the shawl, and I'd like to incorporate that shaping into something else...what, I don't know yet.
Onward and upward!
Work is progressing on the silk shawl. I'm through one repeat of the center lace pattern (24 rows), and I'm working on the horizontal lace band design. I graphed out a leaf motif last night so I'll be able to swatch it tonight. My initial plan was to use bleeding hearts as the inset, but I don't it will give me what I'm looking for. I left out my swatching yarn and needles so that I can jump into it tonight.
The socks are on the back burner, mostly because of the cabling. I think I'll do a couple more cables and leave well enough alone. My arm hurts just thinking about it! I don't know if cabling with a cable needle would make it less painful, but I can't stand the slowness of using a CN.
My current traveling project is the spoils of war tie shawl. I'm onto the wool/mohair section, and rows are getting longer. I love the shape of the shawl, and I'd like to incorporate that shaping into something else...what, I don't know yet.
Onward and upward!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Am I horrible?
I just bought a copy of this pattern, even though I could have easily reverse engineered it, to get entered into a drawing for a bunch of yarn. My father in law has MS, and I support the research, but I also love fiber.
I also found out that the MS color is orange - DP's favorite. When he wakes up, I have to find out what he thinks about that.
In less horrible news, I'm working away on my silk shawl - I have about 13 rows done. I'm finally getting to the decreases, so that should occupy me for a while. My main problem seems to be that the cable on the Addi lace needle I'm using is too kinky. The fabric of the shawl is so light that the stiff cable twists it up. Yargh. At least the rows are only taking 30 minutes.
The going on this installment of the LotR socks is slow - cabling now really screws with my right arm, so I have to only do a bit of it at a go. I'm to the second color in the gradience kit, and I like how the colors go together. I'm just not sure the game is worth the candle - what with all the ends to weave in and all the skein switching.
DP's friend and the friend's family came over last Sunday, and their 4 year old was totally enamored with spinning. He decided that he'd treadle while I spun, so we spun up the bolly roving I'd dyed for the spindler's challenge. I can dye up something else, and it was the only dyed roving I had in easy access. We skeined it off on the umbrella swift, and I asked him what he though I should make out of it. He decided on a hat, so I'm making a simple top down knit cap for him. We'll be seeing them in a few weeks, so I hope to have the hat done by then. I hope he likes it!
I also found out that the MS color is orange - DP's favorite. When he wakes up, I have to find out what he thinks about that.
In less horrible news, I'm working away on my silk shawl - I have about 13 rows done. I'm finally getting to the decreases, so that should occupy me for a while. My main problem seems to be that the cable on the Addi lace needle I'm using is too kinky. The fabric of the shawl is so light that the stiff cable twists it up. Yargh. At least the rows are only taking 30 minutes.
The going on this installment of the LotR socks is slow - cabling now really screws with my right arm, so I have to only do a bit of it at a go. I'm to the second color in the gradience kit, and I like how the colors go together. I'm just not sure the game is worth the candle - what with all the ends to weave in and all the skein switching.
DP's friend and the friend's family came over last Sunday, and their 4 year old was totally enamored with spinning. He decided that he'd treadle while I spun, so we spun up the bolly roving I'd dyed for the spindler's challenge. I can dye up something else, and it was the only dyed roving I had in easy access. We skeined it off on the umbrella swift, and I asked him what he though I should make out of it. He decided on a hat, so I'm making a simple top down knit cap for him. We'll be seeing them in a few weeks, so I hope to have the hat done by then. I hope he likes it!
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