Happy Pi Day. We’re celebrating with butterscotch pie and Paris-Nice. John and I love watching bicycle racing, I especially enjoy knowing that if racing season has started spring will be here soon.
Month: March 2019
WIP Wednesday
Happy Wednesday! It’s rainy and gloomy here, so it is perfect knitting weather (says the woman who will happily knit in any weather). I’m planning on sipping tea and knitting most of the afternoon, but I’m pretty sure the kids will make sure that doesn’t happen.
I’m continuing to work on my sweater. I’m finished with both fronts and I’m currently working on a sleeve. I have lost all of my sweater mojo and haven’t even looked at it in a few days. That is probably because it has been nice out, and who wants to think about wearing a super bulky sweater when the weather is above freezing for the first time in months? It is tempting to put it aside until next fall, but the thing is huge and I don’t want to store a WIP that big for that long.
I’m rocking on my rollers. I am pleased with these colors together. I have about a half-inch to go before I can start the heel of the second sock.
Jess and I started our Green Bay Packers sock KAL last weekend. These are the only thing I want to work on. I’m only a few stripes from starting the heel of the first sock. I told myself I couldn’t work on these again until I was done with the heel on the rose city roller socks. Time will tell if I stick with that or not. 
I hope you are enjoying your projects and making progress on them.
Sourdough Success
I am currently in the groove with sourdough. I remember to feed my starter. I don’t hesitate before throwing away some of the discard. I’m even finding recipes I like.
I usually stick with Cooks Illustrated or King Arthur Flour for all of my baking recipe needs, but I haven’t loved their sourdough options. I picked up a copy of Artisan Sourdough Made Simple by Emilie Raffa and it has changed my sourdough world.
The cookbook is worth it for the cinnamon sugar sourdough waffle recipe – if you enjoy mini donuts at fairs and carnivals you would love these waffles. I wish I would remember to take a picture of the waffles, but the waffles are devoured before I remember to take photos every single time. Everyone in my family loves these waffles, even John, who is a self-proclaimed pancake snob. The waffles use discard, so I usually make them once a week when I’m feeding the starter.
I’ve also made country farmhouse white sandwich bread from Raffa’s book. It was delicious, easy, and perfect for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (we eat a lot of those in this house).
I made the best bread I’ve ever made using another recipe in the book: Decadent Chocolate Chip. It has a flavor similar to pain au chocolat, which means I’m in danger of eating a loaf of bread in a day. This is going to be my going to a brunch and bring a fancy gift bread from now on.
In addition to baking enough bread to feed an army I’ve been getting the kids outside as much as possible now that it is above freezing. We went to the zoo yesterday and I snapped this tigertastic photo.
I hope your week is carb filled and above freezing too.
skinnytaste Week 10
This week I made blueberry banana bread. It was a nice make ahead breakfast for the whole family. I like that this banana bread isn’t very sweet and is made with white whole wheat flour. That made me feel like I was giving the kids a wholesome breakfast instead of giving them cake for breakfast.
I will probably make this again for mornings when we need to grab a quick breakfast. For normal banana bread purposes I’ll stick with jacked-up banana bread from Smitten Kitchen. Banana bread just tastes better with a bit of good bourbon in it.
WIP Wednesday
Ooof. I’m not making much progress on my projects.
My socks, which I thought I would fly through, are slowly moving along. I’m still on the first sock. Last week I was worried about the yarn I used for the heel, but now that the foot is longer I’m happy with it.
I’m slowly moving forward on my cardigan. If I would take the time to sit down and work on it the progress would move a lot faster. I am hoping to finish the left front this week and get moving on the right front. 
What have you been working on?
Well, crap.
I wore my new dress enough that I needed to wash it. I threw it in on delicate with other delicate items, and it came out of the dryer like this:
I think the issue is I snipped the underarm to press down the seams (as directed in the pattern) a little too close to the seam. The flannel unraveled enough in the wash to undo the seam. Once the seam was open the fabric tore. That’s my theory, at any rate (Kathy, do you have any advice or input here?).
This morning, after my 24 hour period of dress mourning was complete, I got out my sewing machine. I closed the underarm seam (and reinforced the heck out of it and the other underarm seam). I stitched up the tear. I was not hoping for magic, but I did hope the dress would be wearable.
In the end, I don’t think it looks that bad. I will continue to wear the dress, and I don’t think anyone will notice the repair.
What other sewing mistakes should I be watching out for? Have you ever had a sewing mishap? Please share your sewing problems so I feel better.
mildlygranola 