Yarn Box

mildlygranola5 Comments

Yesterday I headed up to Ankeny to enjoy some family craft time. One of my cousins from NW Iowa was in town visiting another cousin, so my sister and I joined them for an afternoon of fiber art. We drank tea, ate freezer bars (a treat so delicious I have had the recipe for years but have never trusted myself to make, as I would eat the entire pan), and watched Zac Efron musicals (totally appropriate for a group of women in their 40s, right?).

Before heading down to Ankeny, my cousin Annie asked if I would be interested in any of the fingering weight yarn her friend gave her. After confirming that it was wool, not acrylic, I said I would take any she would be willing to part with. I said this because yarn that is given to me doesn’t count in my yarn diet, I knit a lot of socks, I can always use yarn for my scrap blanket, and I’m so incredibly cheap I’ll never say no to free yarn (unless it’s acrylic, because that’s not my jam).

What awaited me when I arrived was not a few skeins of sock yarn. It was a giant box of yarn.

In the box there was 600g of Plymouth Select worsted weight yarn. There is enough to make Elliot the Gus Sweater in the 12 year size or a large shawl for me. I don’t love the color, so this might sit in my stash for years. I’m OK with that, as it will eventually leave.20190119_1904598127369503156186429.jpg

The box also included 160 g of red fingering weight yarn. I really like the color and the yarn. I’m thinking this could be a shawl.

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There was 375 g of tweed fingering weight yarn. This yarn is beautiful, and I’m looking forward to working with it. I’m thinking maybe a shawl or a cardigan for Audrey.20190119_1904211221221516684806810.jpg

The final surprise was 1320 g of super bulky yarn. If my calculations are correct I have enough to make myself a cardigan. I’m thinking Shawl Collar Cardigan #6501. I plan on skipping the texture and going for stockinette on the body instead. This color might be awful on me, and if it is it will give me the chance to experiment with dying a completed garment.20190119_1901281574724219833076623.jpg

Do you get excited about free yarn too? Do you have any suggestions for what to make with the red and tweed yarn?

 

 

skinnytaste Week 3

mildlygranola2 Comments

This week I tried Turkey Breast with Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, and Gravy from the skinnytaste One and Done cookbook. I had been eyeing this recipe since I got the cookbook (a whopping 20 days ago). I hoped that the recipe would be the one that made me fall in love with my multicooker.

Oh, how wrong I was.

After two hours of prepping and cooking I was left with a meal that looked and tasted like bland nursing home food. I threw away the leftovers.

I think I’m done with skinnytaste multicooker recipes. Luckily she has lots of other recipes for me to try.

In positive news, I did find a recipe that I loved in the multicooker. It was macaroni and cheese from the America’s Test Kitchen Multicooker Perfection cookbook. I’m hoping to try a few more recipes from that cookbook before I have to return it to the library next week.

WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola, , 8 Comments

Happy Wednesday! This week feels like it is flying. I think it is because Elliot is refusing to nap and the days go faster when I miss my down time at naps.

I started a new pair of socks on Monday. They are plain vanilla socks. As part of my yarn diet I’m trying to work in my old yarn instead of just using the new yarn that I buy. I realize there should not be an issue with LIFO inventory management of yarn, but it really bugs me.

I think that it bugs me because I know that years ago, when I was a new knitter, I bought a lot of crappy yarn. I am knitting socks on a rotation, one pair knit with nice yarn, one pair knit with cheap yarn. My goal is to eventually work through the craft store yarn. Sadly, I have a lot of cheap yarn to get through.

These socks are knit in Deborah Norville Serenity. There is nothing wrong with this yarn, it just isn’t the kind of yarn I prefer to work with. It does wear like iron though – I knit a pair of socks for myself in this yarn in 2010, they still look as good as new. I am thinking I’ll make these socks for Mary-Claire, unless she never responds to my text asking if she wants them. If she snubs me I’ll make them for my Aunt Kathy; she has small feet and loves hand knits.20190116_1338281787704851689566919.jpg

I’m also working away on the Hoarfrost shawl. I LOVE it. The pattern is knitting up springy and delightful. I am about 2/3 of the way through the garter pattern. I’m looking forward to getting to the lace, but I fear I won’t remember to order new printer ink before I get to the point where I need to print the pattern. If someone could text me tonight to remind me to place an order with Amazon that would be great. 20190116_133933-18657345082277061900.jpg

I think I’ll pull out the sweater that has been in hibernation since Christmas of 2014 soon. I think I’ll like it once it is done, and I think I have the patience for working on a project that takes 15 minutes each row.

What are you working on right now? If you are trying to reduce your stash this year, how is that going?

skinnytaste Week 2

mildlygranola, , 6 Comments

This week I tried Cheesy Turkey Taco Chili Mac from skinnytaste. This came together fairly quickly in my Dutch oven. I liked how you use a cup of refried beans in the sauce – the texture and flavor were great. This dinner received high praise: Elliot actually ate it. John and I both like it enough to make again. The leftovers were great the next day, but went downhill quickly after that.

I was also feeling like soup this week, so I made some Chicken Tortilla Soup from the skinnytaste One And Done cookbook. This one was not as well received. The chicken was a little tough (my multicooker seems to cook hotter than an Instant Pot, so I am going to try adjusting cooking times). I am the only one who will eat this soup. Elliot made himself throw up to avoid taking a second bite. I would not recommend this soup.

I bought a multicooker after finding the Cooks Illustrated best buy on sale the day after Christmas. I’ve heard so many things about the Instant Pot I decided to give this multicooker thing a try. Four recipes in the only thing I think it is good for is making hard-boiled eggs that are easy to peel. If you have a multicooker/electronic pressure cooker recipe you love please send it my way. I have buyers remorse, and I would like that to change.

WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola, , 3 Comments

I’m working away on my Wonder Woman socks. I just picked up the stitches for the gusset. Audrey starts swim lessons again tomorrow, so I’ll get lots of pool side knitting done on these. 20190109_1546319157151740137961019.jpgThe socks are far enough along I should start thinking about my next pair. I am thinking I’ll grab something that is already wound and ready to go, as I’m feeling kind of lazy. I am pretty sure I have some more self striping yarn in my stash that I will probably pull out, as I’m feeling stripes lately.

I haven’t touched my shawl this week. I have been on the go lately and haven’t had much time to sit down and knit. I’m not feeling that shawl right now, so I’m not spending my time on it. I think it might be because it’s a fingering weight shawl, and I like worsted weight shawls more.

Due to my shawl weight recognition, I decided to throw caution to the wind and cast on a second shawl in progress. I started Andrea Mowry’s Hoarfrost last night (side note, whenever I think about the name of the pattern I think Whore Frost and then I think that it would be a great title for a novel about a Victorian era sex worker strike, but I digress).

I’m using yarn that has been in my stash for well over a decade. I remember picking it up at a stash bash event thinking I would make myself a sweater. That never happened, although I did eventually make a sweater for Elliot from the yarn. I think I have enough yarn leftover for the shawl, but if I don’t I will either find gray yarn in my stash for the lace portion or frog a scarf I made for John from the same yarn about a decade ago. 20190109_1547562306218279510924228.jpg

As you can see, I just started this and haven’t made much progress. I need to print the pattern before I really get rolling on this. I’m using one of the new project bags my sister made me for Christmas. This one is perfect for large projects like a sweater or big worsted weight shawl.

This week I hope to finish my socks, start a new pair of socks, and try not to cast on a third shawl. I wish you luck in your knitting this week.