March Favourites...

 March felt like a long month, and although the longer evenings are certainly an uplift, I only have a couple of cards that I really like enough to post here...My favourite is definitely the Tyvek one with the feathers, but the next one was a fun one to make. The theme was tickets, and I keep turning up train tickets from our second-last visit to Monet's garden in Giverny, so I decided to use one of those. Which turned into using both of them as I didn't consider that they were on thermal paper and would react when I tried some heat embossing. Just as well I had two...

Oswald has flown in to his new roost, so I can share him. Luckily I got the back of the cushion cover finished the day before I sprained my thumb - I haven't done any knitting since then, but hope to get back to it next week. With the weather suddenly turning cold again the latter half of this week, I've been glad of my toasty socks - it's an alpaca mix wool, and with the Aran stitch patterns, they are very cosy. 

Productivity

 Nearly the end of January, and I don't know where the month has gone. 

I'm working on the second sock of a pair in an Aran design, so I'll wait till I've got the second one finished. I took a break because C wanted a new hat, having left his warmest one somewhere in Maine or New Hampshire. He fusses about his ears so I spent a while choosing a pattern on Ravelry that had earflaps, and then he decided he didn't want them. By the time I'd lined the first one with fleece (which he was adamant he did want, it no longer fit him, so I had to knit another. It was a pattern that was easy to adjust, the coloured strip ran over multiples of 4, and the diamond pattern over multiples of 10, so to adjust the original 100 stitches up to 112 and down to 110 was easy. So, very unusual for us, we have a his 'n' hers. 

In the kitchen - C came across a recipe in Ottolenghi's "Ottolenghi" for a crusty Italian loaf, and he has fallen in love with the end result. It is, apparently, the sort of bread he dreams of buying when we are on holidays in Greece and France. It's a two-day affair, starting with a biga the day before, so it has required a bit of adjusting to my Sunday morning housework routine to ensure that it's not ready to go into the oven at the same time that I am trying to get the kitchen floor washed. I think we had the book out because I had been trying his double lemon chicken recipe, printed in our national paper and originally appearing in the New York Times, I think. Anyway, by now I have typed the recipe out and laminated it, to save having to hoist the book out every week. So far I have been using pasta flour as what I had on hand, but when C went to lodge a cheque at a bank in the town centre yesterday, I went along with him because I had a pretty good idea I would find 00 bread flour in the supermarket there, and indeed I did - the one specially for long slow ferments, so it will be interesting to see if it makes a difference. 

It is also marmalade orange season here. So I looked up various pressure cooker recipes, chose one and was delighted with the end result. It called for cooking the oranges whole for about 15 minutes first. Then they were wonderfully soft and it was easy to scrape most of the white off leaving the peel to cut finely. I used jam sugar so as not to have to boil it for too long, and we ended up with ten tangy jars. C was horrified when I said there was 6 lb of sugar in there, but he did his mathematics and realised that it was actually much cheaper than quality bought marmalade. I used this recipe here, and it was easy to scale up to 3lb fruit. I did move to a larger pot for the last boil with the sugar, having a larger quantity. 

I would make more before the season is over, but I only have one jam jar left! And, truthfully, there is so much blackberry jam in the cupboard from our September expedition that we are set for the year. I don't eat much of either of them. 

The mornings are already brighter - I'm going in to work a little later on Mondays, so while it's still dark I see the sunrise. I stopped the other morning to take this photo - I should probably have stopped about five minutes earlier, but on the bicycle, the tendency is just to keep going. The photo is from last week. It was just as beautiful the other morning - a dense mist rising and swirling under the trees, the sun just starting to show, and the contrails in the sky a deep orange. 

I got a new computer, which arrived earlier than expected (I wanted one with more RAM, and the advised arrival for that was March, so it was a surprise when it showed up in January, even before I had got around to getting an external DVD drive for it. I absolutely love the quietness of the solid state drive, but because I was unable to restore from my backup, I had to copy everything across manually from the backup, which resulted in every file having a timestamp attached to it. Thank goodness for bulk rename utilities! I upgraded to Windows 11 - the only casualty was the scanner which isn't recognised by it but can still be used downstairs. 

Hot off the needles

 I didn't get nearly as much knitting done as I expected while we were away - in fact, almost none. I started the sock for which I had knit so many tension samples - and got the first one finished yesterday. I'm glad to say it's a good fit, so I'll get the other one cast on tomorrow. It's an alpaca/polyamide/wool mix from DROPS (the pattern is one of theirs too) so they should both be cosy and wear well. The Latvian braid was new to me, and has a little stretch in it, good in a sock.

And then there is the scarf which I couldn't share in my last "hot off the needles" post. I really liked how this turned out, and might knit one for my sister for Christmas. I was probably a bit over-enthusiastic with the tassels at the ends, they are very bunched. There were some great owl designs when I went looking, but I liked this scarf a lot and purchased the pattern rather than using any of the freebies. 

Hot off, warm off and on the needles

 I tried taking photos of the jacket (DROPS Medieval, from Ravelry) on the ground, but I had to resort to using the tripod and myself as a model. It's great being able to use the phone as a remote - it's several cameras back since I actually had such a thing as an old-fashioned cable remote.

It was meant to have three buttons, and I had three lovely antique silver ones. But when I ripped part of the front, I forgot the middle buttonhole when I knitted it back up again - and since I had two antique brass ones, I settled for that. It looks better in motion, because the draped panels have a lovely swing to them.

Once that was finished, I picked up a cowl kit I bought before Christmas last year. It's an Irish yarn, and called for an 8mm circular needle which wasn't something I possessed, so I had to order one before I could start. It's going to be lovely and cosy in the colder weather. 

After that, I started a scarf for C, in a lovely grey alpaca which I was tempted to keep for myself. I think there are going to be two balls left, so I might get gloves out of it, anyway.

Being DK, it was a nice step-down from the Aran/worsted of the previous two projects - getting me ready for some socks which are my next project. I've already knitted 6 tension samples, as the suggested needle size was 2.5 mm, but with instructions to knit to gauge. Well, despite the fact that, a very rare event, I had actually bought the yarn the pattern was written for, I had to knit samples on 2.5mm  2.75mm, 3 mm, 3.25 mm and finally 3.5mm gave me the right tension. Possibly because it's an intarsia design of daisies...it leaves me feeling slightly anxious that I will have put a lot of work into the socks and they won't fit. Fingers crossed - maybe that should be toes. Again, I had to go out and buy needles because I didn't have double-pointed ones in either 3.25 or 3.5. Plenty of smaller ones, thanks to the lovely knitted bird book from Lorraine :D. 

Hot Off the Needles

 as promised. I've been knitting this Aran sweater for a while - C picked out and determined on a v-neck cardigan pattern which he wanted converted into a crewneck sweater, so the sizing required adjusting and the whole front neck shapings had to be calculated. And there was a pause while I knit the baby blanket - but it's done.

 I also made him a shirt. I had ordered 1/4 metre of peacock feather fabric for masks, and when he saw it, he requested a shirt. So that was his anniversary present. For some reason it's very hard to get the colour of the fabric right. I sent my sister a photo of a spare mask to see if she would like it, and when she got it, she said the fabric was even nicer than the photo. It is - I've ordered more to make a summer dress for myself - and didn't think the photo I took of the shirt was worth uploading. There's more jade green colour in the fabric in real life. 

From Wednesday in the park, a coot chickling.

And on Thursday, as C had taken a couple of days off, we went for a drive and a change of scenery. This is Lough Tay, in the Wicklow mountains. Of recent years it's been used to film The Vikings, and the houses and piers visible in the second photo are part of the film set rather than authentic original scenery. From the amount of trucks and vans in the car park above it, I suspect that shooting was happening on the day. 

It was intermittently cloudy and quite windy, but after the prolonged lockdown that started at the end of December, it was lovely to see some totally different scenery. 

Hot off the Needles - May Flowers

 I knit this for a friend. I left it a bit late to start something, because we heard so early that she was expecting - probably the best bit of news I got all last year. If I'd had more time I'd have thought about knitting a large cot blanket with jungle animals which was a great hit with both recipients who have got one in the past. I was showing C a couple of possibilities on Ravelry, and instead of any of them, he picked this one out. By the end there were 750 stitches on the needle - I had to order a 60" one, I didn't even know they came that long - and one ball of wool knit about 7 rows. (Editing to clarify that it was knit on circular needles in the round. I hadn't known they came in that length - I couldn't source one in Ireland at all.) It was hard to get a good photo. It's approximately 36" diameter. The pattern was called May Flowers

We had atrocious weather yesterday, heavy downpours - C's motorcycle ride-out was cancelled. I'd warned him that if the weather was half decent this morning, I was hoping for a quick trip to the Botanic Gardens to smell the lilacs and see the peonies. It was very overcast and grey looking, but we headed out anyway. I'll have to swing back with another post for the peonies, whenever I get time for a bit of editing later in the week. But here are some of the other treats we found...the hawthorn in full bloom, a little moorhen chick, rhododendrons. beautifully backlit gunnera. The robin was perched on the border hedging in the peony walk, and so close I could have touched him. 

The herbaceous and annual borders were both pretty bare, with just sand marking where the different seeds had been sown in the annual bed. But it was a worthwhile trip - and it started pouring on our way back, so the timing was good. 

Warm off the needles

 This sweater has been my pandemic project - it's a design by Joji Locatelli which I got from Ravelry. The construction is very satisfying - it's knit all in one piece. You start from the centre front and knit sideways to one side, then pick up from a provisional cast-on (bind on) and knit to the other side - a partial yoke is included in this section. Then you knit each sleeve down to the cuff, creating the back yoke in the process. The back is knit downwards, picked up from the yoke. Even the side seams aren't stitched - they're a 3-needle bind off. The only reason it took so long was my tiredness and inattention to detail a couple of times. Well, that and the fact that I used to be able to knit in work and that's a thing of the past - and hopefully the future again some time.  I'd actually bought the wool to make a sort of mediaeval panelled swing-type jacket but I couldn't get the tension right for that.

It looks better on - but by the time I arrived at my sister's last Friday after a trek across Cork city, I wasn't looking photogenic enough to ask her to take pictures. The weather forecast had been dire and I'd dressed for heavy rain which was over by the time I got there.

I'm including a few unedited photos (taken with my phone) from Friday. There was a Ferris Wheel set up on Grand Parade - to C's amazement when he saw the photo. He and his friend drove down the street at some stage, and he hadn't seen it. 

The next two are a nice initiative  called "The People's Parklet". This one is near my sister's, so I've seen it through several seasons now, as it was opened in July 2019.  The city is hoping to establish up to ten more. There's a small amount of seating, and they plant insect-friendly plants in the planter parts.  It's empty in this photo - but most times I have seen it, there have been people sitting and making good use of it. 

And a sign of the times - though given the Irish climate in the first place, plus the fact that there's always a cold wind off the river, I saw this little dining domes outside one of the restaurants on Lapps Quay. 

Warm off the needles, recipe time

C took this photo - so it's not the best, but it's better than the one I took of the tunic laid on the floor. Sorry -  I'm not looking my best  either, it was housework day, I'm pretty tired at the moment and the sun was shining right into my eyes. 

I had bought some lovely undyed natural Blue-Faced Leicester yarn  (made by the West Yorkshire Spinners Ltd) in a closing-down sale last year, and the time had come to use it. Each hank came with its own  numbered certificate of authenticity.  Now that I think about it, when I worked in Yorkshire over thirty years ago I took a trip to the Dales to visit some relatives and I remember seeing Jacob's sheep in various shades of brown. I decided to buy a pattern produced specifically for the brand of wool and it turned out well - though I didn't read it properly and my back is patterned the same as the front, while it was meant to be plain. I had plenty of wool, not a problem.

Recipe time: when I was at the greengrocer's last weekend, there were some lovely beef tomatoes and I thought they looked really nice. When I got home, in spite of the fact that it must be over  20 years since I last made this recipe, I knew exactly where to look - in Rose Elliot's The Supreme Vegetarian Cookbook. And they were very nice. 

Tomatoes with spicy stuffing:

4 large beef tomatoes

4 tblsp oil

1 large onion, chopped

450g / 1lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" / 5mm dice

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 tblsp roughly chopped coriander/cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Cut off and reserve the tops of the tomatoes. Scoop out the pulp (I missed my old curved serrated grapefruit knife for this, but I managed). Discard any woody bits and roughly chop the rest. Season with salt and pepper, and put in the base of a dish the right size to take all four tomatoes.

For the stuffing, fry the chopped onion in the oil over a medium to low heat till soft but not coloured. Add the potato and garlic and cook for another ten minutes. Add the spices and coriander/cilantro. Cook for another 5 minutes, or till the potatoes are fully tender. Season as required with salt and pepper.

Use this to fill the reserved tomatoes, and cover them with their lids. Place over the chopped pulp in the dish.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 200°C/400°F, till the tomatoes are just tender. I cooked some spicy yellow rice to serve with ours.

I forgot to change the blog header over yesterday. It's some New Zealand Flax, growing along the seafront in Greystones. 

Hot off the needles...

I did add the blackbird - and I see I need to brush a few strands of stuffing off him. Still not sure where this will hang, but for the moment it's where I can see it in front of me when I sit downstairs, so that I can decide if anything needs to be adjusted or secured a bit more firmly.

Frankie's Woodland Wreath from Ravelry.com

Blackbird from Arne and Carlos' Field Guide to Knitted Birds.

The Goldilocks zone

No, nearly, yes.

I don't know why the one on the left just didn't work, whether it was just because the yarn was slightly thicker. Or the colour was off - it's a beautiful blue but just didn't look right on the wreath, hence my debating whether to include them at all.

The middle one, the yarn is finer and is probably pure wool with a slight lustre, so maybe that's why it looks better, but the stem was wrong.

The one on the right is fine and I'm just going to go and knit another few stems. I also incorporated a stretchy bind-off which lets the bell flare out a little more. I just came upstairs to find yellow beads for my blackbird's eyes. I hope he'll fit on the wreath, or maybe even hang in the centre. He's turned out very well. 

The home straight

Back in Christmas '14 I finally finished  a woodland wreath as a Christmas present, using a pattern from Ravelry by Frankie Brown. At the time I bought two of the polystyrene wreaths, because I knew I wanted to knit one for myself. And ever since, I've been buying odd balls of green and brown wools any time I saw them.

Well, come the end of October this year and we suddenly had an unexpected house guest for nearly a month. I knew she could knit, so I suggested some knitting as something to do that would be therapeutic and relaxing, found her a couple of patterns and some wool and pulled this out to start for myself.

I just have some flowers to add - I've finished some pink and yellow ones, and am in the process of deciding whether I want to add the bluebells or not. Just because they're in the pattern doesn't mean I have to! I'm also planning to knit a blackbird from the book Lorraine gave me and see how he looks on it. C thinks the scale would be wrong, I don't think it will matter and I'd like to see what he looks like.

So I'll be back in a few days with the finished project - when I've added the last details and found somewhere to hang it.

In the meantime, here are a few work-in-progress shots.

Basic wreath with a garland of leaves, ivy and oak

Add the holly and some colour starts to give more life to it

And the mistletoe looks good too

Here I've added the toadstools and little pinecones.

Now the fauna - hedgehogs and owls.