Catching up

I have been knitting up a storm and really need to post some of my finished objects.  Here is what I have been up to from August 2015-February 2016.

I have also started sewing again.  I made an apron for my youngest.  I have cut out the material for the next apron for my oldest.  Pictures to come later.

Another thing that has been keeping me company are my audio books.  My current favorite that I have listened to is “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline read by Wil Wheaton.  It is set in the not to distant future during a time were the real world is undesirable to live in and everyone plugs in to an on-line world called the Oasis.  There is a game to win billions all you have to do is win the game, but the key is your knowledge of the 80’s.  It is wonderfully read with great enthusiasm by Wil Wheaton.

The other stories I am enjoying are the Lord of “The Rings Trilogy” by J.R.R. Tolkien and read by Rob Inglis.  I am on the last of  book “Return of the King.”  I have read these book before, but it has been enjoyable listening to them again.  It feels exciting and familiar, like coming home after a long absence.

I have “The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman read by a full cast next on my queue.  I have read this book before when it was first released, but I am looking forward to listening to it.

Grilled Pizza

We just made grilled pizza today and it was a hit!  I used this recipe.  It took a bit to get our grill up to 550 degrees F.  We used paper towel coated in some vegetable oil with coal and wood chunks.  I think next time we will just use coal and the paper towel.  My husband, the grill master of our home, did the flipping of the dough onto the grill.  I put the dough on oiled (learned it the hard way and lost some to the grill) parchment paper set on upside down cookie sheets.  It cooks very quickly and we did have all of our topping ready.  My dough did a decent rise on the grill, better than in my oven.

For my toppings I did a black bean, jalapeno, corn and tomato salad with pineapple tidbits and veggeroni I made.

The other pizza had roasted onions, yellow squash and rutabaga with pineapple tidbits and veggeroni.

No cheese was used since I am vegan.  Even the nonvegan members thought this was very tasty.

I am excited to use the grill again for cooking.  Since eating as a vegan our grill has been sadly under used.  I am on the lookout for other vegan recipes that use the grill and I think I am going to try this one next weekend if I can find the right mushrooms.

Kohlrabi Pickeled

I just tasted this recipe.

I get lots of kohlrabi from my CSA share and we are not big fans of it shredded in salads or as a coleslaw so when I saw that you could pickle it I jumped on it.  We love pickles at our home and it has been a big hit.  The changes I made were using fresh dill (4 large pieces) instead of dill seeds, omitting the chipotles and using yellow mustard seeds instead of brown mustard seeds.

Kale, beets and beet greens

We bought a CSA (community supported agriculture) share from Grant Farms this year for the first time.  We receive a vegetable share for 4 people and a double fruit share.  It is going to be an adventure trying to cook with all the greens we get.  For dinner last night we made a kale salad, salsa, beet chips and beet green chips.  It was a success.  We also canned all the cherries in a light simple syrup.

Our Dog

 

Just want to do a little shout out to our loveable dog Hero.

Ramping-up for the Holidays

I have officially started working on gifts for Christmas and I don’t know if I am behind or ahead.  I guess it depends on what I am making.  I have finished the gift for my mom and I know what I am doing for the girls and my sister, but my dad and husband I haven’t a clue.

This January I am going to try to make my first sweater, gulp.  I shouldn’t be intimidated, but I am.  I have already knit a lace shawl, cabled some objects and even done fair isle.  I now need to get a sweater under my knitting belt.  I also need to upload all of my finished objects on the computer so I have a record.  So many little things to do.

Yard work is also calling my name.  I have a giant shrub I need to move and it is a huge task.  It has rocks surrounding it and it is at least 10 years old, probably older.  I think I just have to do it the old-fashioned way and slowly move all the rocks one by little one and then dig through the clay soil and then replant it.  It will look great in its new home and have enough room to grow to be as big as it can grow.

Knitting Socks

Well, I have now finished my second pair of socks and I must say I am very happy with them. I used a self-stripping yarn and made sure to start both yarns in the same place and making sure that both yarns came from the same dye lot.

I went looking around for the best way to make socks. I went to the library and checked out books, looked online and asked if anyone could show me.  There are many ways to knit socks is what I mainly found out and some of them are highly complex.  I was starting to feel like to would never learn this longed for project.

After a month of searching I found this wonderful woman name Liat Gat.  She uses the magic loop method and I am hooked. I downloaded one of her e-books and away I went. I have never knitted sock before and wanted to expand from simpler knits. I easily finished the socks in about 2 weeks. She has written instructions and the video of her knitting SLOWLY shown over her shoulder are perfect.

And here they are

T-Shirt Quilt

I like this idea of a T-shirt Quilt.

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/T-shirt-Quilts/

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/7394/how-to-make-a-t-shirt-quilt/page/all

My husband has a lot of old t-shirt that become rags. Too many to keep as rags and I just can’t bring myself to throw that many away. Has anyone else done this? Is it worth the time as in does it turn out nicely? Thoughts?