i just can't get enough

While my days have been mostly consumed by construction, I have managed to slip in a little knitting and noshing.

I read on digginfoodabout a Caramelized Red Onion Relish.  Oh my.  The recipe book she referenced was not one I own, but a quick trip to the library put one in my hands.  Not only did I make the Caramelized Red Onion Relish, but I also made the recipe on the facing page, Sweet Onion and Fennel Relish.

 

These little jars will be heading south to my brother-in-law.  He and I are the serious cooks in the family and I share whenever possible.

The book that holds these recipes is The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving.  I am guessing it is the small batch angle that kept it off my bookshelf in the past.  As I continue through this stressful period, I have found that pausing to make just a few little jars of something is so relaxing.  No big production, just some focused time spent chopping things and standing in front of the stove stirring a pot. 

As for knitting, I am smitten with Cleopatra.  Cleopatra is the Spring 2010 shipment from Shakespeare in Lace.  It is an intricate pattern with many charts and beads and should have been set aside in anticipation of calmer days.  But I could not wait. 

 

The yarn is a merino/tencel blend that I just love.  It is the same yarn used for Desdemona.  The color is amazing, it glows in real life.

 

The pattern has a center panel that remains the same and side panels that change.

 

The finished shawl will have the shape of the bird wings you think of when you think of Egyptian paintings.

 

The beads undulate through the center panel.  I just can’t get enough.

   

Comments

[Toby]

I am simply drooling over that detailed photo! And the photo before it - that's some serious progress.

My yarn from this kit is half wound, but I think I'm going to resist starting this until after I do Rosalind.

[knittingkitty]

Small Batch Preserving was the first canning book I bought (thank you half price books!). Only made a few recipes from it but found them all the be pretty reliable so far.

Shawl looks stunning