yarn along: sweaters

{yarn along}

My Audrey cardigan has been speeding along this week. It actually looks like a sweater now (this was it last week). After the slow-going twisted rib at the bottom, the stockinette portion seems lightning fast. I'm almost to the lace yoke section! I've been knitting this cardigan exclusively (my socks and scarf are on hold) because I love the yellow yarn, and I'm excited to have a new cardigan finished, even if I do have to wait until fall to wear it. With all of the knitting and reading about knitting I've been doing lately, I've figured out that I am a product knitter. While I do enjoy the process of knitting, I mostly knit because I want that cardigan/hat/scarf. 

And you'll notice from the photo that I am reading another knitting book (Yarn Harlot), a children's book (Little House on the Prairie), and listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. What of it? It's summer, and my reading habits are like being at the state fair. I'm having ice cream, cotton candy, and a funnel cake. I want sweet, fluffy, and mind-numbingly good. Also, all of these fun, light reads balance out the finance book I found myself checking out from the library last night. What's the food equivalent of a finance book? Oatmeal?

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{sweater soaking}

In other yarny news, I just finished blocking my summer sweater. Yep, that's right. I bit the bullet and wove in all of those ends. I will get some photos soon to show you.

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Thank you to everyone who offered encouragement about the job interview. I am so glad to have you all cheering me on! Keep thinking good thoughts--there are more interviews to come. 

csa day

This week our CSA box came loaded with broccoli, French breakfast radishes (oolala--fancy), carrots, lettuce, kale, and kohlrabi. With the exception of the radishes, we got these same vegetables last week. That's fine--it just means I have to be more creative so it doesn't feel like we're eating the same thing over and over. This is what I've come up with:

Menu

Tuesday/Wednesday: Teriyaki vegetable and tofurky sandwiches

Thursday/Friday: Broccoli Lasagna

Saturday/Sunday: Kale and Feta Pizza

Monday: Hummus, pita bread, whatever raw vegetables we have left

Every day: Salad of lettuce, carrots, radishes, and kohlrabi

Dessert of the week: 25 cent ice cream on Saturday!

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Scenes from my kitchen last week

Chocolate chip pecan cookies 

I baked three dozen for a get together with friends. Then I froze the extra dough--enough for two dozen more cookies!

Eggs ready to be made into cake

I made a yellow cake with chocolate icing for my sister's graduation party. It didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but enough icing will cover nearly all flaws, right? The cake baked up tall and pale yellow. I frosted it with an old-fashioned chocolate buttercream. We cut thick slices that reminded me so much of the bazaar scene in Pollyanna. Every time I watched that movie I wanted to eat that cake, and now I have. Next time I'll have to snap some photos.

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What's on your menu this week?

breakfast chatter

Good morning. Won't you join me for breakfast today? It's my favorite meal, and I rarely get to share it with friends. Somehow people just don't want to get up with the sun and socialize. But a virtual breakfast, that's something we can all enjoy together on our own time. So pour yourself a cup of coffee and grab a slice of banana cake, no matter the time. Let's chat.

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I got a row of knitting done on my yellow sweater this morning. I finished the rib and am working on the body. It feels like quite an accomplishment to finally be working on the next step. I had hoped to have my other sweater (remember that red one with lace) done by today, but I can't motivate myself to weave in the ends. Soon.

I'm feeling nervous about a job interview that I've got today. However, once I finish that I have an afternoon of baking ahead of me and a visit with my dad planned. Those are good rewards. 

An out-of-town friend is coming for a visit in a couple of weeks, so I've been looking for fun places to take her around town. So far I've decided on a free concert by the river, Churchill Downs, and cheap beers at a baseball game. 

K and I went for a walk last night and discovered nearby streets that we'd never been on. I love finding new places to see. 

The sun was bright apricot this morning. It rose, small and brilliant, over the rooftops. And now there are three little birds sitting on my windowsill. This bodes well. I can feel a good day coming. Can you?

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How are you today? What's on your mind? 

yarn along: yellow audrey

yarn along

This week I am knitting some lovely yellow Quince & Co. yarn into a cardigan. I love the twisted rib so far, but am a bit nervous to start the more complicated bit of the sweater. I feel like I can handle knitting directions if I take them one step at a time, though if I look ahead I get scared. So I'm taking deep breaths and focusing on the twisted rib. The waist-shaping, sleeves, and lace yoke will come later. This is the first time I've done a bottom-up sweater, so it's a good, new experience. 

I've been reading such fun books this week. Bossypants cracked me up. K read it right after me, so we got to talk about our favorite parts. He has told me several times that he wants to be just like Tina's dad, Don Fey, a guy who doesn't mess around. I loved reading about the origins of 30 Rock and Tina's time on SNL.

Of course I've also been reading a knitting book because I am a yarn nerd (if you are here because of the yarn along, you can probably empathize). Adrienne Martini describes a year she spent knitting a super-complex Fair Isle sweater. She throws in interviews with well-known knitting bloggers and designers. The book gave me a great overview of the knitting community as well as a lot of (a little too much) information about Alice Starmore's designs and legal issues. I especially liked this book because I don't have a knitting group yet, so I liked the interaction with another knitter.

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You all have had great book suggestions these past few weeks. What are you reading this week? What's in your project pile?

csa day: still salad season

This week our Finger Picking Farms CSA box contained (clockwise from top): Summer Crisp lettuce, Oriole Orange Swiss chard, broccoli, purple and white kohlrabi, Winterbor kale, and Danvers Half long carrots.


Menu for the week

Tuesday/Wednesday: Spicy Black Bean burgers on toast topped with caramelized onions and sauteed chard. Salad of lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and kohlrabi with homemade thousand island dressing. I'm making my own burgers because you guys shamed me into it. Last time I posted veggie burgers on our menu I got several requests for the recipe. Yeah, I just took them out of the box in the freezer and heated them. [head in hands] I'll let you know how this homemade version goes.

Thursday/Friday: Stir-fried tofu and vegetables (carrots, onions, broccoli, kohlrabi) over rice. Served with garlic mirin sauce or maybe magic sauce.

Saturday: Dinner out (Julie's graduation party)

Sunday/Monday: Toasted kale with soy crumbles and marinara sauce (credit goes to Jodi for this one), bread

Bread of the Week: Light Wheat

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I am so glad to be back in the kitchen after several semesters away. I've been baking a lot this week, and I'd highly recommend making your own cheddar crackers (via maya*made). They are a delicious and addicting snack.

Last week's dinner winner was homemade bread topped with sauteed chard, a fried egg, and bechamel sauce. We had this instead of chard gratin because I didn't feel like taking the time to bake everything.

For dessert last week we had strawberry sour cream ice cream from The Perfect Scoop. Punch cups full of sweet homemade ice cream are my favorite summer treat. Of course, I think my favoritism might shift once I make these fudge pops.

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What's going on in your kitchen this week?

the bookish lamb

This little lamb is newly born, but he already loves books. He climbs mountains of paperbacks, beds down amongst pages, and every so often nibbles a tasty word. He likes galloping along bookshelves and cuddling up to listen to a favorite read. So sweet, this bookish lamb.

He has found a home with my cousin's eight-month-old son, where I know he will get lots of snuggles and play time. 

Now I think I need a bookish lamb of my own. Do you need one, too? All you need is a few sewing supplies, wool felt, embroidery floss, and this free pattern. 

yarn along: sweater and swatching

It's yarn along day. Yippee!

This week I have been working on my Strawberry Summer Sweater (thanks to Marfa for the name idea). I am almost finished. Today I did the bottom rib and the rib around the neck. Now I just have to knit the sleeves (only 3 rounds each), but I don't have the right size needles. Since progress is halted on that I went ahead and swatched for my Audrey in Unst. I can already tell that it's going to look good in yellow. I hit gauge, so I guess I might go ahead and cast on. I've got the right needles to get started, but need to get a few more to make the whole thing. I figure at some point I'm going to have a stock of needles and when I decide to make a new project I'll be able to pluck them from my stash rather than buying some. This day will come, won't it? 

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Right now I'm reading On Writing and have enjoyed King's memories of how he started writing. I also like that he gives concrete instructions about writing. Sometimes "everyone works differently" isn't enough to get me started; King's suggestions are helpful for people like me who want more guidance.

I've been listening to audio books every day. I'm making an effort not to watch TV, so audio books are filling that place. I thought I was productive while I watched TV--I always have yarn and hook or needles in hand--but I get much more done when I am only listening and crafting. This week I listened to the first Harry Potter book and Alice in Wonderland. Today I started Heidi and found myself longing to carve wooden spoons, build a three-legged stool, and eat goat cheese. It sounds like such a dreamy life in the mountains. I downloaded Alice and Heidi from Librivox, a site that records public domain books. I've found this website helpful for searching, if you're interested in free audio books. 

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Do you listen to audio books? Are there any you'd recommend?