I heart NY

Easter Fun

yellow flowers

Not to rub it in or anything, but the flowers are lovely here and the weather is mild and sunny.

lilies

In honor of Spring Break and Easter, Kristen and I have been knitting Easter eggs. Well, she knit 2 and I knit one.

eggs

The pattern can be found here: http://purlbee.squarespace.com/knitted-easter-eggs/

She also made home-baked bread. We will have Pumpkin Soup and home-baked bread for dinner tonight, and lamb chops tomorrow.

bread

Kristen

The bread recipe is from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook:

5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. yeast
1/2 cup milk
butter

Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Heat 1 1/2 cups water, milk, and 3 Tbsp. butter until very warm (120-130 degrees Butter does not need to melt.) With mixer at low speed, gradually pour liquid into dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 min. Beat in 3/4 cup flour to make thick batter. Beat 2 min. With spoon, stir in enough flour to make a soft dough.

Knead 10 min on floured surface. Place in greased bowl to rise till doubled. Punch down, cut in half cover with bowl for 15 min.

Grease 2 bread pans. On floured surface, roll out dough to 8 x 11", roll jelly-roll fashion and place in pans. Let rise till doubled.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush loaves with melted butter. Bake 25-30 min. till sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on wire racks.

And the Cream of Pumpkin Soup:

2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic.
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
4 cups (32 oz) chicken broth
pinch nutmeg, salt, (white) pepper
1 cup half and half cream
1/4 cup grated asiago or parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley or another herb (sage, rosemary, basil)

Saute onion and garlic in butter. Stir in other ingredients till hot and smooth. Add cream and cheese just before serving. Makes about 6 cups.

This soup is a fine backdrop for lovely homemade bread, with its mild creamy flavor. Kristen's bread was perfect, with a lovely texture.

baa baa birthday sheep

So I made this little guy out of a sock, using a pattern from a book called Sock and Glove, and then I made the cupcake out of a felted sweater. I knitted the top using a pattern from One Skein. And the candle was my own idea, made from i-cord. He was sent to cheer up Kristen in the gray gloom of Chicago's late winter, as she studies for finals. And apparently it worked, because she called me yesterday evening to say that she loves him.



Happy Birthday, Kristen!! (Or should that be Happy Baaathday?)

Watching Paint Dry

Knitting a sweater, even one that people say is fast and simple, is a long process for me. This afternoon I finally finished the back of my minimalist sweater and bound that off, and I started on the second front piece. I kind of re-arranged the order of knitting. After that wide back, this front feels fast and easy now.

somebunny loves you!

This little guy was hand sewn using an old cashmere pants and sweater set that had long outlived its usefulness. In fact it was full of moth holes. So I washed it in the washing machine to try to felt the holes closed, but that didn't happen. It did shrink up a bit, but the holes were everywhere still. When I got ready to do this, I washed it one more time, but it still wasn't really felted. I cut out the pieces that could be salvaged, and boiled them in the spaghetti pot on the stove, to be sure that no little moth-babies were still alive. I dried the pieces in the clothes dryer for one last attempt at felt, but it was still quite soft and not very thick.

I traced a picture of a knit bunny from Last Minute Knitted Gifts as my pattern and adapted that idea into a flat rather than rounded shape, and I drew the face. Then I just hand-stitched the whole thing.

Kristen received it on a very tired Saturday evening after several stressful weeks in a row, and she fell in love with his sad little face.

And I still have enough pieces of semi-felted cashmere to make maybe a kitty cat!

Winter Dessert: "Baked" Apples

I love old-fashioned baked apples, the way my mother used to make them. She would core 6 or 8 apples and put brown sugar and raisins inside, then sit them up in a baking dish and bake them in the oven for an hour or more, and serve with Marshmallow Fluff melting over the top.

Well, my take on baked apples is faster and easier, and probably even more nutritious. I use Fuji apples, and without peeling, I cut them into quarters. Remove the seeds and then cut each section into 3 or 4 pieces. Place in small serving-size bowls and pour a small amount of real maple syrup over (use "maple-flavored corn syrup" at your own risk.) Cover each bowl with wax paper and microwave for 3 or 4 minutes. Carefully lift the wax paper and see if the apples are soft. Continue microwaving to desired softness, then remove carefully (bowls and steam are very hot.) Eat.

Trans-Continental Socks

These socks were started in Torrance, CA. They kept me company while I waited for my flight to Chicago, and they kept me company as I flew across thousands of miles of empty vastness. They kept me occupied while Kristen studied and attended meetings. They waited at Midway airport and again crossed the country, from east to west. then they accompanied me to Borders back here at home, and finally today, they were complete. Now they have been packaged up and dropped at the Post Office to make one more trip to Chicago.

I hope they will keep Kristen's feet nice and warm in the bitter cold and snow that Chicago is experiencing this winter. They were a pleasure to knit, with beautiful bouncy yarn. And I think I finally have the hang of the pick up and knit and decreases after the heel turn.



So time to get back to the Minimalist Cardigan. But it's also time to get back to teaching, so that will move along slowly. I thought I would complete it in January, but it just wasn't as suited to travel-knitting. Socks are such great travel companions! I have another lovely skein of sock yarn awaiting my attention, but perhaps I'll save that for my trip to New York (and possibly Maine)in April. And perhaps the cardigan will be done by then??

Las Vegas from the air