bonbon, grrr, and silk garden #2014 & #84! November 27, 2007

the thanksgiving weekend was nice: good food, good company, and a couple finished projects! i finished my bath puffs and then tackled the double stranded version of grrr…the washcloth is so cute but i especially love the back with the little massaging nubbys! i still have yet to test out its performance but once i do i will update you.

pattern: bonbon from knitty
yarn: gedifra clou in partie
needles: size 13
started/completed: nov 21/nov 21

pattern: grrr from knitty
yarn: knitpicks shine worsted in sunflower
needles: size 7
started/completed: nov 24/nov 27

i am the proud owner of 12+ beautiful skeins of noro silk garden. i love this stuff!!

on another note, i am happy to say that the large majority of my christmas shopping was completed before the holiday madness. although the christmas crafting might be a little behind schedule..

so my first and largest (ever) knitting project of 2007 is completed.. November 21, 2007

clapotis is completed as of 2am this morning! minus weaving in the loose ends and a possible blocking. i’ve never blocked anything before, but i’m contemplating this time as my clappy is a little misshapen and unruly. this was a great project to relearn how to knit!

ok, maybe some documentation would be appropriate:
pattern: clapotis from knitty
yarn: noro kureyon (#172? 5 balls), silk garden (#217? 1 ball, #267? 1 ball)
needles: size 8
started/completed: oct 30/nov 21

i know i know..it’s blasphemous to be mixing my yarns but i bought the yarn store that is close to my work’s last stash of noro kureyon/silk garden EVER..supposedly..and i was yearning to have enough just to make a clapotis, which is something that i had been eyeing on for years. to my delight though, i got the latest newsletter which mentions that they will be carrying every color of silk garden. wow! what a dream come true! i love how noro stripes into new colors since i have a low attention span and this keeps me knitting and wondering what color will come next.

oh, and i didn’t get a chance to go to the knitting doctor yet..i’m gonna go whenever i have some time but i guess the non-dropping stitch isn’t so bad that i may be able to live with it for a little bit.

i loved knitting clapotis and was contemplating in knitting it again in other silk garden colors but then upon thinking that over i don’t know about it because 1) it’s a pain to drop stitches with silk garden 2) it took 3 long weeks and i’m ready for some more instantly gratifying projects.

right now i’m working on a couple of bonbon bath puffs. i got the same yarn as the pattern asked for, gedifra clou, off of ebay. it’s been discontinued and is hard to find. i have a had less than pleasant experience with it so far as it isn’t very stretchy and makes what would be a quick knit a less quick knit. still, i was able to complete one during my lunch break. i love the variations in pinks and purples though.

p.s. remind me not to bring my knitting to work! it makes me anti-social and less productive when all i’m thinking about is a break when i can go knit in my car.

a dismal clapotis update..and some other patterns to cheer me up November 16, 2007

honestly, i didn’t want to post another picture of my clappy until it was done, but upon working on the very last stitch drop of the straight section, i unraveled the fact that i might have made a mistake way back in trying to find a quick fix to get rid of an extra stitch. i had knitted 2 stitches together maybe twice in the life of the clappy to resolve my problem..but it looks like at least one of them may be causing me trouble because i decided to k2tog in the area where the stitch is supposed to be dropped.. it’s still a theory though, i plan to investigate more tonight. kureyon is a pretty sticky yarn to be dropping stitches with but after fumbling around, my dropped stitch seems to have disappeared. i was a little frustrated in thinking that i may have to live with an incompleted dropped stitch, as it is way too late to frog; it’s a good 3 feet long so far almost!

 

i talked to jessica about it and she recommended that i make an appointment with the knitting doctor at knitting arts. a free service! how beautiful! i called in and the doctor was not in, and that i would have to come by at a later time, but the nice woman on the phone was still more than happy to listen to my dilemma.

when i mentioned that the stitch just disappeared she mentioned that a possibility was if i had accidentally done a yarn over (which i probably did and then in the next row knit two together to compensate) the stitch would disappear and then she went on to saying that i could possibly drop the next stitch..or something like that. i still have yet to be able to look at my completed stitches and be able to analyze what i did.

anyway, i’m not letting it bring me down too much, the mistake doesn’t impede on completing the project, and hopefully i can get it seen for professional help in the next week.

another thing i would like to do this weekend aside from getting as much clappy done as possible is to try out a new knitting pattern. i’ve pretty much been a monogamous knitter but i think i’m ready to take on some of the many projects i have been eager to work on (some for years!) here’s a little list of what i’ve got bookmarked..i’ve made the boobholder and heart scarf in the past but i would love to make it again with new yarns. oh, and yeah i totally love knitty, ok?

cabled scarf
little leaf lace scarf
muir
henry
branching out
boobie scarf, loulou socks, heart scarf
grecian plait
postmodern legwarmers
cleo
bonbon
hush-hush
adara rainbow shawl
tubey
argosy
everlasting bagstopper
bamboozelle
fake isle
boobholder
noro striped scarf
grrr

i cooked more than once a week this time! November 14, 2007

so this past week i have been tinkering with a couple recipes. on sunday i made slow cooker ginger-soy short ribs. i substituted lime zest for some kaffir leaves i had from making thai curry, but i mistakenly added them into the short ribs instead of the rice, so the short ribs had a pretty interesting and complex flavor. it was alright, however i do not think i will make it again unless i make some modifications because i found the sauce to be too unbearably sweet.

note to self: do not buy short ribs at the asian supermarket! i found them to be incredibly meatless and mostly bone and fat; i had to go back to safeway to get more short rib meat. and this time i opted for boneless.

last night, with 2 pounds of leftover short rib meat (i tend to overbuy) i made a modified beef bourgignon and instead of roasted tenderloin i thinly sliced the short ribs and allowed them to simmer in the gravy. i doubled the sauce and added 6 tsp of corn starch mixed with 6 tsp of water and served over rice and it was delish! it was the first time that i had ever cooked with shallots and i’m starting to love them because they are milder than onions and have a sweet taste to them. i also threw in some frozen peas to give a little extra color and veggies.

that being said, i’ve been trying to incorporate more veggies into my dishes..it’s been nice just making a one-pot all in one dinner but i’ve been highly considering in making side dishes as well. last night i wanted to make some szechuan long beans but i lacked the time, so i will probably make them tonight to enjoy with the leftovers.

clapotis is still coming along, i have 2 more repeats left on the straight section before i start on the decrease section. it’s getting pretty long now; i feel like it’s qualifying itself as a nice lap blanket at this point. i’ve been trying to drop a stitch at least everyday or other day or so and i’m pretty pleased with my progress as once i start the decrease section the rows will have less stitches.

i am really falling in love with noro silk garden in colorway 2014. check it out on this one knitty pattern. beautiful!

woops, i promised pictures. maybe next time. !

new yarn! November 8, 2007

i figured it would be more interesting if i put some pictures up here, more often, or at all. i got my knitpicks yarn today! please excuse the extremely crappy quality pictures.

 

better photos next time, i promise. in other news, clapotis is chugging along. i’m about halfway done with the straight rows section…honestly i don’t think the photo does justice, but further comments when the project is complete. i hope to finish as soon as i can so i can get started on my christmas knitting! although i am trying to limit myself to knitting no more than 2 hours in the day, just so i remember to enjoy other parts of life, too.

my friend helina told me about ravelry.com. from what i pick up it’s a website where you can share and track your knitting projects. it’s still in beta phase and i put my name on the waitlist. i’m excited to try it out, especially now that i’m knitting again!

my last cooking creation was beef stroganoff from the joy of cooking. it came out wonderful! the only thing that i changed was i added 4 teaspooons of cornstarch mixed in with 4 teaspoons of water because the sauce wasn’t thick enough to me. i made it with beef tenderloin and it came out so so good. maybe i should start putting up pictures of the recipes i play with..

earthquake shepherd’s pie November 2, 2007

i found a couple recipes for shepherd’s pie and was trying to make a quick dinner on tuesday when in the midst of me mashing potatoes i felt a pretty long but slow earthquake. it was actually kind of scary because i was home alone and the earthquake was going on for so long. i tried to quickly scramble together everything so dinner would still be at the table with everything else on my mind..but actually it turned out to be pretty good! here is the recipe:

1 lb top round steak, diced into small pieces
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups beef broth
2 tbsp worsterchire sauce
1 1/2 lb potatoes, quartered
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp sour cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste

add potatoes to boiling water for 10-15 minutes until thoroughly cooked. while the potatoes are cooking, season beef with salt and pepper and saute on stove for 5 minutes. add carrots and onions until they are cooked. in a medium sauce pan, brown the butter with the flour, making a gravy. add worsterchire sauce and broth. add beef, carrots, onions, and peas and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. in the meantime, mash potatoes. combine egg yolk, sour cream, and chicken broth and stir into potatoes. preheat oven to 400 degrees. grease and 8×8 in pan and pour the stew into the pan. top off with the mashed potatoes. add 2 tbsp of butter crumpled in pieces on top of the potatoes if desired. bake for 30 minutes. before serving, add chopped parsle and salt and pepper to taste.

~*~*~*~*~
clapotis is finally making a comeback! i have completed the increase rows section and have just started the straight rows section. this is taking longer than i thought..but it’s a great project to work on after not knitting for about a year or so..it’s complicated enough that i learned and relearned some techniques but not so hard that i get too frustrated..plus it’s getting huge!! i need to hurry up and finish so i can get started on my christmas projects..which reminds me, i placed an order from knitpicks..they have some beautiful lace-weight hand-dyed yarn on clearance =) i’m excited to do some lace knitting again.

i gave blood for the first time ever! i’ve been so apprehensive about doing it even though i’ve wanted to for years because i have had some pretty traumatic experiences with nurses and needles (think getting poked in the arm 4-5 times with no luck of finding vein or vein not wanting to give blood..) but my coworker jamie convinced me to do it and i feel so glad! the nurse made me feel so comfortable that i was in good hands even though i explained to her my fears and past failures..YAY.