by Kat | Oct 12, 2016 | General, Making
After spending the weekend in Knitting Time out (both me and the sock!) I ripped back on Monday and started the process of adding more inches to the Sock of Doom.
I fearfully began the decreases and stopped. There would be NO MORE RIPPING of this sock. I waited for the Large Footed Recipient to get home from work and try it on before I went any farther.
Sock One is done. Now all I need to do is cast on for the second one.
Perhaps a queuing up of the Gilmore Girls on Netflix (which, by the way, I never watched…) will make the second sock less painful than the first.
In the reading department, I have two books in the finished column:
- Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes by Per Petterson
- The Shepherd’s Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks
I loved both of them! They were dynamically different but each were fantastic reads. I highly recommend both of them.
I am listening to Clara read Knitlandia to me; I am about halfway through and I am thoroughly enthralled!
I begun The Year of Living Danishly and I also started reading another Karin Fossum novel – The Murder of Harriet Krohn. No thoughts on either yet as I am just a few pages in on both.
However, the reading might have to wait because on my task list for today is to turn these beauties into an oven roasted applesauce.
What’s on your agenda today?
by Kat | Oct 7, 2016 | General
Most of the time a short week is a good thing – but a short week after a vacation was perhaps not the smartest idea. My list barely has a dent in it! (However, laundry is almost done and yogurt is made!)
I had what I thought was a brilliant idea to get one of Steve’s socks for length so I could perhaps finish sock numero uno yesterday. That might have worked if he cut his toes off. Seriously, I thought about suggesting it for more than half a second! Today will find me ripping back the toe and knitting another inch (really, I am knitting WAY more than an inch and hoping they will be just a bit too big!!) Promising him and his size 14 feet a pair of hand knit socks was perhaps the most epic disaster of my knitting life. Really. I will persevere and finish these suckers, however painful it is. And trust me, it is plenty painful! I am trying to avoid the urge to put these socks in Knitting Time Out.
Rather I am going to focus on the beauty that is the Frankfort, Michigan beach.
Instead of feeling bogged down like these poor benches, buried up to their necks in sand!
How about a double dose of Friday Links?? There has been plenty of good stuff over the past couple of weeks:
That is all I have this week. Tonight, there will be a Grand Traverse Distillery Manhattan or two to usher in FriYAY and Steve is taking a half a day – so while it is technically not a “long weekend” it will be starting a wee bit early! The weather is calling for a backyard bonfire too!
I hope your weekend is fantastic, see you back here on Monday!
by Kat | Sep 23, 2016 | General
When one of my absolute favorite designers collaborates with some friends and they put together a collection of “Drop-Dead Easy Knits” I was excited to see what the collection would include. I pre-ordered the book and it was delivered on Tuesday – at which point, I dropped everything and started to page through.
Paging through turned into reading and before I knew it an hour had passed and I had a list of items to add to my Ravelry queue.
I had foolishly assumed the book would contain a collection of accessories, and while it has some really lovely accessory knitting pieces, there is so much more. Sweaters, baby items, and even a MDK Log Cabin blanket!
The thing I love the most about the book though is how the patterns are written.
How many times have you begun knitting a pattern and wished that some parts were highlighted boldly with the read ahead instructions? For me this has happened numerous times and it generally means frogging back several rows to correct the thing I have either omitted or kept doing but should have stopped.
In Drop-Dead Easy Knits the patterns have a special call out for “Concentration Zones” cluing you in to what is coming ahead. Likewise, they clearly mark areas where you can click on “Cruise Control” and knit on without worry (and it even tells you how long you can knit without worry!!)
Another bonus for knitters everywhere is the reference section where they give “alternate yarn suggestions by pattern”! Yes, really. And, the list is not compiled of one alternative – there are multiples for every project!
I was especially happy to see that it is number one on the Amazon Best Sellers in Knitting list this morning so if you buy only one knitting book this year, this would be an excellent choice. Seriously! Your knitting library will thank you!
Now for some Friday Links:
That is all I have for today! Have a fantastic week and see you back here on Monday!!
by Kat | Sep 14, 2016 | General, Making
Earlier this week I felt very overwhelmed by my To-do list, but I finally feel like I am getting on top it today! I made raspberry jam again, and will probably be able to pick enough berries to make one more pint. I have had a number of questions about what jam recipe I am using. I am using Nigella Lawson’s recipe that The Spendid Table shared on their site. The first batch I made was really raspberry syrup – it did not set at all. Subsequent batches, I made some changes. I follow the recipe exactly, and after I have combined the sugar into the berries, I add the zest of one lemon and the juice of half a lemon. It is the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness, the lemon zest adds a lovely brightness, and the juice is the perfect pectin boost needed for it to become jam.
I also made more peach preserves and roasted a couple of bushels of peppers. I will make some pesto also this week. And, maybe something with all the cherry tomatoes…
My reading this week has been extremely varied – I finished listening to David Sedaris Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. And, I am still reading The Hanging Girl and still enjoying Carl Morck and Department Q! Comedy and Mystery – joys for the opposite sides of your brain! You know, kind of like math and music.
Up next in my ears – Book Two of Inspector Gamache – A Fatal Grace.
I have been plodding along on my Altered Custom Fit sweater – these are some LONG rows and it is not a very portable project. So, it has been relegated to TV knitting when we watch at night.
I have not been knitting much on Triticum but my plan is to get back to this today and try to get the second front done so sleeves can begin. I think this is very doable and it will be the perfect laundry companion!
I also broke down and cast on a new project and got quite a bit done of the yoke. I am about half way through the charts. Thus far, the marriage of handspun yarn with the Briar Rose Fibers yarn is harmonious. This project is reminding me how much I love color work. To me, it is a bit like painting – I feel so inspired while I knit that it is hard to put it down.
What are you knitting and reading this week?
by Kat | Aug 29, 2016 | General, In This Moment
It was a quiet weekend in my corner of the world. Quiet, hot, and muggy. Relief is in sight however, which is ironically forecast to arrive on Thursday – September 1st.
I think the weather gods are having a good laugh over this. But, really. I am so ready!
We picked volumes from our little garden – we picked some things that were not quite ripe, which turned out to be a very good thing when the deluge of rain hit last night. It was nice (not!) to leave us with a foggy steam bath this morning.
My list seems long today, however, I was up bright and early. Yogurt is at work in the Instant Pot, quick Roasted Raspberry Jam is done and cooling in a jar, and in moments these lovely tomatoes will be on their way to the most delicious jam ever.
I hope your weekend was filled with good things! Here is to lots lines crossing things off my list for this week… how about you?
