Knit & Nosh

painted ponies

This month's wine label fiber club brings us 14 Hands Hot To Trot Red.  The club originates in New Mexico, but this wine is local to me and can often be found on my home wine shelves.  It is fruity and easy to drink and less than $10 a bottle.  What's not to love?

Perfect match.

This fiber has long color bands from one end to the other and seems the perfect candidate for Spinning Test #3.  To the wheel!

My thick singles are not as consistent as I would like them to be, but they are getting close.

I was aiming for yarn that is a little fatter, but it is airy and I think will plump up nicely when worked in garter stitch.  The only way to know for certain is to swatch.  Once the swatch is finished all will be revealed.

Ed King **spoiler alert**

I am going to give away plot points from Ed King, David Guterson's newest book.  If you do not want to know, please turn away.

The first book I read by David Guterson was Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense.  It was the tipping point for me.  When we were considering homeschooling I read many dozens of books and I felt like I was headed in the right direction, but Family Matters, that was the one book that made me realize that homeschooling was the right choice for our family.  Everything I read after that, was just affirmation.

I continued to read and enjoy David Guterson's books.  He is a local author and a homeschooling father so he is on my radar.  Also, he is a really good writer.  So, last Tuesday I made  space in my day and ran to the store to pick up his latest book, Ed King.  I starting reading the next day during Youngest Son's wrestling practice.  Now I knew going in that it is an Oedipus story, but I expected it to be more veiled.  I mean Ed King kills his father in the same way as the original, in an act of rage on the road into town.  GTO's, horse drawn carts, its all the same. 

My biggest gripe with the book is that it is probably 100 pages too long.  David did his research and did not want to leave a single word of it out.  Often I found myself thinking, "Get on with it already."  Like in Moby Dick when Melville goes on and on about the different whales.  OK, I understand that you know your whales, but I am here for the story.  Also, the book (Ed King, not Moby Dick) has WAY too much sex.  In hindsight I can think of three sex scenes that mattered.  The rest did not move the story forward, they stopped it dead in its tracks.  And what is up with Guido?  Like Ed, I too wished he would just shut up.  I have a feeling he is only there to facilitate the authors love of anagrams.  The epilogue contains names that I am certain are anagrams clever to the story, but I did not care enough to figure them out, beside the obvious Guido. 

I did like the ending.

The positive side?  It is going to make a fabulous movie!  The rights must have been optioned.  All of the tedious research will become background and make the story better.  The sex will have to be slashed and the story will flow perfectly.  People will love it, especially if it is not billed as a modern day Oedipus.

good advice

Perfect timing.  I hope I can remember to heed such good advice.

pumpkin fiesta rice

Because I can not eat gluten or MSG, and must be careful about dairy, all meals are made from scratch.  It is next to impossible to find anything in a box or bag that does not contain those ingredients.  Now you know I like to cook, and I am very happy about the meals that come out of my kitchen, but sometimes, being able to take a shortcut would make the day so much easier.

Last week I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Fiesta Rice that calls for a rice mix from a box.  A rice mix that does not contain any of the things I have to avoid!  I contacted the company and asked if I could reprint the recipe on the blog, they said of course, and then sent me samples of  their gluten free mixes. 

If you are a canner who has jars of cubed pumpkin on the shelf, this recipe is made for you!  It will come together in a snap, just stir in your pumpkin towards the end of cooking to heat through. The rest of us need to cook some pumpkin.  The ingredients lists 4 small pumpkins, but in reality you only need one.  The other three are used as bowls for presentation which you may or may not want to use.  Don't limit yourself to pumpkin, this would be great with any of the winter squashes.  I often have a bag of  butternut squash in the freezer that would work well.  For a pretty presentation use a whole butternut squash cut in half lengthwise and baked, then fill with the rice and  slice for serving.

 

PUMPKIN FIESTA RICE

1 package of Nueva Cocina Mexican Rice Mix

4 small sugar pie pumpkins (3 for serving purposes and 1 for recipe ingredient)

1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

~Heat oven to 350F.

~Cut pumpkins in half, remove seeds and strings then rub with olive oil.

~ Place six pumpkin halves on a parchment lined baking sheet, cut side down. Bake for 45 minutes or until soft.  The size of your pumpkins will vary the roasting time. 

~Combine 1 cup of uncooked  pumpkin flesh that has been peeled and cubed with a box of Nueva Cocina Mexican Rice Mix.  Add water and oil as called for in the box and cook as directed.  When the rice is done, spoon it into the roasted pumpkin halves and serve.  If you are not worried about the dairy, a sprinkling of queso fresco would be perfect.

I skipped the pumpkin halves and served the rice alongside grilled tofu and a green salad.  If I were entertaining, it would be pumpkin bowls all the way! 

The only thing that would make this easier is to be able to use a rice cooker.  I thought I should give that preparation method a try.  Great success!  Popping a box of rice mix and frozen squash in a rice cooker, then hitting the COOK button and walking away (or heading to wrestling practice) makes this a super easy weeknight side dish.  Hooray!

 

 

 

October socks

I managed to knit up a pair of socks for Oldest Son. I did not manage to take a picture before I tucked them into his Halloween box. The box is now on the way to his dorm, so you will have to take my word for it that they are very autumnal.

That brings me to October's handspun socks. I am loving the colors! Simple pattern: round 1: *k5, p1*. round 2: knit. It makes for an attractive seed stitch rib that is perfect for men's socks. 

I am sure you noticed that the socks are being knit with two different yarns.  Where the stripey yarn ends on the finished is sock, is the halfway point of my handspun.  Husband's feet need way more than standard 4 ounces to be completely covered.  For the toe I am using Spud & Chloe Fine, held double.

I am very happy with the color match.  Especially since it was ordered online using my ipod!  The socks are thick and will be better suited to boots than work shoes.  Husband wears a lot of boots, so that is not a problem.

It is possible I will not finish these socks by the end of the month.  That's fine.  I have to admit that I am getting tired of knitting socks and am anxious to start something different.  Maybe these will be my last pair for the year?  Who knows.  I need to finished them up, then finish up a project I am working on for Patons, then I can begin a new sweater and do some swatching for next year's handspun adventure.

Spinning Test #2.  This braid was split lengthwise into two pieces.  It did produce some color match ups, but not nearly as much as I expected.  I think my next test will be done without splitting the fiber at all and spinning singles.  This is going to be VERY hard for me, spinning fat singles.  Fingers crossed.

 

thank you

Thank y'all for your helpful sinus tips. I am happy to report they are working and I have not yet had to resort to antibiotics.  While not completely healed, I am well on my way.

I am not sure how it happened, but this past week was a little over booked. Youngest Daughter turned 18 on Wednesday! An out of town guest arrived Thursday, Saturday morning my writers group was held at my house, Saturday evening was our monthly musical Jamboree. Jamboree fills the house with musicians I did not get to bed before 3am. Today, Youngest Daughter is having her birthday party.  It is happening as I type.  I have to admit that I do not miss the days of highly planned theme parties, all the preparations and shopping and crazy cakes.  I think back at some of the cakes I made when the kids were small and wonder what I was thinking.  Fruit roll up sails and lifesaver portholes...For this party Youngest Daughter requested quesadillas, cupcakes, candy, and a fire on the deck.  My only role was to pick things up at the store and then get out of the way.  I am OK with this.

With all of the goings on last week I needed to hit pause for a few hours and play with jars.  Well, one jar.

This is a mid-day quickie.  Horseradish.  From beginning to end took a matter of minutes and I love knowing that this little jar will elevate my cooking a notch.  I used this recipe and will use it again and again until the end of time. 

 

pickle emergency

I love a good, crisp, spicy, dill pickle.  Youngest Son used to eat them like candy.  Two years ago we ran out of homemade pickles and had to resort to the grocery store variety.  He was not pleased.  Last year I made lots more pickles so that we would not run out.  Then one day Youngest Son stopped eating them.  Just like that.  Here we are a year later and I still have four quarts of pickles on the shelf, so I decided not to make any this year.  Cucumber season is pretty much over and now Youngest Son has decided that he likes pickles again!  That left me scrambling to find enough pickling cucs for just one batch of pickles.  It was not easy, but I triumphed.

7 pints of Dill Pickles.  I could not find fresh dill this late in the season, but even with dried dill these pickles are better than the grocery store variety. This recipe is one I have been using for years and was adapted from my Grandma's recipe.

Spicy Dill Pickles

About 3 pounds of pickling cucumbers

4 cups white vinegar

4 cups water

4 tablespoons canning salt

2 tablespoons sugar

Fresh dill heads or 4 tablespoons dried dill

7 cloves of garlic

4 teaspoons of mustard seeds

4 teaspoons red hot chili flakes, or one whole small chili.

1. Wash the cucumbers very well.  Cucumbers have an enzyme on their skin and if it is not removed it will cause your pickles to be soft.

2. Trim about ¼ inch from each end of the cucumber.  If the blossom end of the pickle is left on, it will cause your pickles to be soft.  I trim both ends just to be certain.

3.  You can leave the cucumbers whole or slice, halve, or quarter them.

4. Combine vinegar, water, salt in sugar in a not reactive pot.  Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve salt and sugar.

5.  Into the bottom of each jar place, one dill head or 1 ½  teaspoons dried dill,  ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, fresh chili or ½ teaspoon chili flakes, and one clove of garlic.  Top with cucumbers and pour hot vinegar liquid to within ½ inch of the top of the jar.

6.  Seal and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes if putting up pints, 15 minutes for quarts.

Yield between 6-8 pints.

sockupy wall street

These three words were added to my facebook post yesterday.  The writer is not a knitter and is in fact the friend of Youngest Daughter.  I proclaimed him a genius.  What brought on the response?  A call for limericks.

"Sockupied, Interweave’s ground-breaking eMag about sock knitting, wants to hear from you! We are looking for a reader-penned limerick about sock knitting to include in our upcoming issue. A poem of the editor’s choosing will be selected and included in the issue, where the poem’s author will be featured as well.

(Need an extra incentive? We’ll reach into our bag of goodies and send some special sock or other knitting treats as compensation to the author of the limerick we publish.)

Please email poems to the editor at Sockupied. Poems must be received by November 21, 2012.

Need a refresher on the rules of limericks? This page has the basics. (Please note that our readers vary in age, so please keep them PG!)

By submitting the poem, you promise that it is your original work and that you have the right to license it for publication. The editor’s decision shall be final. Drop us a line for more information."

I will be burning the midnight oil trying to come up with a doozy.  I wish the PG restriction were not in there, so many inappropriate words rhyme well.

spinning test #1

This is probably my least favorite look for handspun, but it was good practice. 146 yards of 2-ply puts it squarely in the worsted category. I do not think I will be giving it a test knit, it is just not what I am after. 

 Next up

another 4 ounces from Southern Cross Fibres. The wool is Shetland, colorway Timber Wolf.  For this spin I have split the yarn lengthwise into two long strips for another 2-ply yarn.  I would like the colors to mostly line up in the finished yarn without having to do an n-ply. I am after an airy/lofty yarn and n-ply, at least my n-ply, is not very squishy.

It is getting cold outside. I have noticed that the workers have changed from color coded safety shirts to Carhartt jackets.

Tom Tom wishes they would respect his sleep schedule and try to be a little less noisy.

practice spinning

I have something planned spinning wise for 2012 that does not include socks.  Next year I will not be spinning 3-ply sock yarn, but fat, squishy, worsted weight.  Oddly enough, spinning thick is the most difficult for me.  I have to go very slowly and concentrate and know that it not going to be consistent.

This is yesterday's spinning.  Even going slow, fat yarn spins up fairly quickly and this was done while Youngest Son was doing math. 

I have not yet decided the best way to spin the yarn for what I have in mind.  Spinning and swatching and practicing, oh my.  For the first swatch I have taken a 4 ounce braid, broken it in half and then split those two halves into halves.  This makes for long bands of color that I will become a randomish 2-ply that will probably have a bit of striping.  The next swatch I will split into lots of narrow strips and spin a very random 2-ply.  A third swatch will be done with singles and maybe I will do a fourth using n-ply.  By the time I finish all of this I hope to have a better handle on spinning the thick stuff and a clear plan.