Monthly Archives: March 2012

10:22 am - March 30, 2012 - AngelaH

Ribbing Forever

As promised, I cast on for both the sweater and my second sock this week. I thought it would be nice – you know, give my knitting a little perspective to have a big project and a (relatively) little one. But then I realized that I’d miscalculated. I should have cast on one, worked for a while, and then cast on the other. Because right now, I’m in a neverending loop of ribbing.

At least they're complimentary colours? I don't know why the lighting is so yellow, though. In real life, the sweater is much softer than this.

I suspect every knitter has their thing that they hate, but for me, it’s ribbing. I know it’s important. I know it will look nice when it’s done. I don’t care. Ribbing, for me, is slow. It isn’t interesting slow, though, like following a lace chart or something, it’s requires just enough attention to allow me to properly do anything else, and it goes on and on and on.

The only bonus to all this ribbing is that, compared to the sweater, the sock is flying (it’s also ribbing with mini cables, so it isn’t quite so annoying, but still). I still have half and inch on the sweater’s ribbing and, well, I really can’t wait to get there. I briefly contemplated not finishing the ribbing – just stopping at an inch and calling it a day – but I knew I would regret it when all was said and done. So I rib on (and on and on and on), and when the day comes that I get to pass through the glorious gates of stockinette and just knit mindlessly while listening to something, or watching something, or maybe even reading something, then I’ll be glad that I toughed it out.

Mini cables are still ribbing.

Category: Knitting Tags: complaint, ribbing, sock, sweater

10:32 am - March 26, 2012 - AngelaH

A Cautionary Tale

Last weekend I went into Lettuce Knit to exchange some wool (I had an extra, unwound skein of the wool I used for Almondine, so I thought I’d plan ahead and get something for the next pair of socks). I had just started the Happy-Go-Lucky socks, and thought I’d ask Natalie what she thought – I’m still new to colourwork and wanted to make sure I was doing things properly. For the record, this is how far along I was:

Just a bit of top.

At that point, I could get my foot through without any trouble. Nonetheless, Natalie took one look at them and said “be careful.” Her warning: She has highly-arched feet and there are some socks she just can’t get her foot into. I thought about that for a minute and then decided to just got for it. I was knitting above gauge, I thought, surely that will save me. Still, her warning haunted me all week, and when I Friday rolled around and I was halfway through the foot I thought I should check. The heel did seem small to me, and I was (secretly) a little worried. I couldn’t get my foot through. It was because the socks were still on the needles I reasoned, and plowed on.

Still, I was worried. I went to work that night and then spent all my downtime on Ravelry looking at projects I could start on the weekend in case these socks decided not to fit. I need to do this. I need to plan for the worst so that if it doesn’t happen, I can rejoice, and if it does I have something else planned already so no worries. I picked two patterns (this one and this one) and decided that I’d finish the Happy-Go-Lucky toe on Saturday morning and then go buy the necessary wool for the other patterns. No big deal.

Of course, then the sock fit. Only barely, to be fair, but I got it on and it was comfortable and lovely. Perfect, right? Well, yes and no. You see, in all my planning for ways to not be horribly disappointed in case they didn’t fit, I got kind of excited about these other projects.

Half of a pair. Secretly, I'm pretty pleased about how this looks – especially the surprise stripes on the sole.

That meant I went to the yarn store anyway.

Three skeins each of Cascade 220 Heathers in colourway 4008 (for the scarf) and three of Malabrigo sock in colourway Ochre (for the sweater).

I have been swatching ever since. I will cast on the second sock this week, but I might also cast on a sweater. Maybe today. Maybe right now. You see what happens when you preplan for disaster?

Category: Knitting Tags: Cascade 220 Heathers, Lettuce Knit, Malabrigo, scarf, socks, sweater, yarn shopping

4:23 pm - March 22, 2012 - AngelaH

Bread Dilemma

That’s what we’ve been having here in the last month or so. It all started because I work afternoons/evenings, and thus I pack a ~~lunch~~ dinner to eat at my desk. Because I’m a little lazy, this means I eat a lot of sandwiches at work. Don’t get me wrong – I love sandwiches. I love sandwiches so much (and especially grilled cheese sandwiches) that my sisters joke that I’m not a vegetarian, I’m a bread-and-cheese-atarian. I take exception to this, because I eat fewer grilled cheeses than people think. Anyway, that’s all an aside. Basically, I eat a sandwich for dinner almost every day and therefore, I like to at least have good ingredients, such as bakery bread, to use. There is only so many times you can use grocery store bread before you start dreading dinner.

So, I started buying bread from the bakery around the corner (there are are more bakeries within 30 seconds of us than is healthy). It was delicious bread, so we ate it quickly, so we bought more, so bread expenses went up. For me, this was okay, a sort of business expense, if you will. For L, it was extravagant (he eats dinners at home, after all). Anyway, we talked about it and I offered to start making bread, which would mean I still go nice bread for my sandwiches, but it would be far less expensive. I was raring to go and then L bought two loaves of bread in a row, so it was a bit of a false start.

I have not managed to take a picture of a full loaf. They just don't last long enough.

Nonetheless, we’re back on track now and I’ve made three loaves of bread this week. One was a housewarming gift for Wendy and her boyfriend (don’t worry, we don’t eat that much bread), but the other two were for us, and both turned out very well. I plan to experiment and try some new recipes, but for now my go-to is a no-knead, night-rising French bread that is too good not to share – I mean, this bread pretty much makes itself, you just have to plan ahead.

No-Knead French Bread
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1.25 tsp salt
1.5 cups water

Mix everything together in a big bowl until it resembles a wet, shaggy, sticky dough (you will know what I mean when you see it). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for 12 or so hours (I make it before bed, but you could just as easily make it before work in the morning).
Punch it down, cover it back up, and let it rise for another two hours or so.
About a half hour before baking, heat a dutch oven (that is, a solid – NOT glass – dish with a lid) at 425-450F until fully warm (I just leave it in there for a half hour because that’s easier). Turn dough into warm dish (no greasing or flouring necessary) and bake with the lid on for a half hour and then with the lid off for 15 minutes.
Bingo. Bread.

I am convinced that this recipe cannot be messed up. I’ve let the dough rise for 48 hours; I once had dough that didn’t rise properly (not enough water), so I punch it down and let it rise for another day and it was fine; I’ve baked it at 350 instead of 450 and even though it took a little longer, it was still fine. Seriously. If you have never made bread but are curious about it, this is your gateway bread.

The unfortunate quality of this photo is courtesy of my phone. Nonetheless, a daffodil! In full bloom! In March!

Also, there are daffodils out. In March. What the heck is going on here? I keep trying to not get my hopes up that winter is really and truly over (I’ve been disappointed by March before), but I don’t know. Daffodils. That’s really something.

Categories: Cooking, Recipes Tags: baking, bread, flowers, Spring

2:02 pm - March 19, 2012 - AngelaH

Happy Go Lucky

Wherever you are, I hope your weekend weather was a beautiful as the weather we enjoyed in Toronto. It’s March, remember, and it should be miserable, torturous weather throwing rain and slush and days no warmer than 5C at us; instead, though, we’ve been enjoying days of 15C, 16C, and 21C days! Deep down I know that this cannot last, and snow will likely fall once again before we’re fully free of winter, but right now I don’t care. This weather is incredible!

So, how do you knit in weather this delightful? My answer last year was not to. This year, my answer is take small projects outdoors. Thus, despite having just cast off one pair of socks, I cast on another. Meet the Happy-Go-Lucky boot socks from Sock Knitting Master Class, my current project go-to.

Happy Go Lucky, fresh out of the gate.

I’m knitting these in Cascade 220 Superwash Sport in 1910 (blue), 859 (teal), and 803 (purple). I am loving this wool. It is soft and buttery and it seems that 2.75mm needles are the perfect size because, in my hands anyway, the stitches feel almost like they’re forming themselves. I short, I am loving this project.

Anyway, because the weather was so gorgeous, and because I got the entire weekend off, L and I spent pretty much the entire weekend running all over the place and being outdoors. Except, the running (at least on Saturday) was actually bicycling. Oh heaven.

Old and hard vs. new cushy and new.

This is my new old bike, and on Saturday morning L put a new cork wrap on my handlebars and then we took off all over the city. In no particular order: We went to Lettuce Knit so I could exchange some wool, to the Ex to throw a frisbee, we watched planes land on the Island, we went for fancy sandwiches, we went to one of our new favourite coffee shops – in short, we did all kinds of things we’d been talking about doing for ages and finally did because it was such a gorgeous day.

I took many pictures of this plane coming in to land, but this one looks the most like an action shot. (It was much sunnier that day than this photo would have you believe.)

In theory, this meant I didn’t have much time for knitting, but in practice, it all worked out fine (small projects, you see, are very portable). So, on Friday before work I spend three and a half hours knitting on a café patio with Zoe. Then, to cap on Saturday’s bicycling, Wendy and I met up for beer and sat knitting quite happily in a pub – much to the apparent amusement/confusion of a woman sitting at the bar, who turned around to stare at us for a quite some time. It was St. Patrick’s Day, though, so maybe she as just confused as to why neither of us were knitting in green. Who knows.

Cafe knitting, crappy cellphone photo.

What I do know though, is that if this weather keeps up, knitting through the summer will be an absolute pleasure because it will involve bicycling, coffee, beer, and lots of time out of doors with people I love.

Despite the busy weekend I still managed to get the heel flap finished (and now turned).

Categories: Knitting, Out and about Tags: bicycles, Cascade 220 Superwash Sport, photos, socks, Toronto, weather

1:01 pm - March 15, 2012 - AngelaH

I Can Feel the Seasons Changing

Crocuses – a sure sign of Spring.

I can always tell when spring is here because overnight my mood shifts. Last week, for example, I was anxious and frustrated and simultaneously bored with and all-encompassed by my projects. I couldn’t wait to finish Almondine, but I also couldn’t stand to look at them anymore; the apartment needed cleaning but the sight of the broom made me chafe, etc. On Monday, this funk was transformed into a super-productive get-shit-done mode. I finished my book. I finished Almondine. I finished a tea cozy that had been languishing since January. I cast on something new. I cooked. I baked. I went for a big walk in sneakers with my jacket sleeves rolled up.

This spurt of positive productivity (that is, getting stuff done that I wanted to get done – not just doing what I had to do, but enjoying it) definitely coincided with a shift in the weather. It has been gorgeous in Toronto this week and, although I know it’s March and therefore, more snow is likely, I can’t help but be excited by the prospect of spring. L and I went biking on Sunday and it was glorious.

So, that’s one reason I know it’s Spring. The other reason is that for the past two weeks I’ve been craving hot cross buns something fierce. It’s weird, because the rest of the year I don’t think about them (I’m also someone not tempted by shortbread unless it’s Christmas), but something trips in my head when the weather perks up and I get into Easter mode. I’m not religious, nor am I a super fan of pastels, nor do I have children excited for an egg hunt, all of which means that what I love most about Easter is the food, and particularly the baking.

Hot Cross Buns, fresh out of the oven and right after the lemon glaze went on.

Thus, yesterday I made hot cross buns – my first of the season – and half the batch is almost gone. When I was making them, L (who is not a super fan, but will indulge a bit) sand “Hot crossed buns, hot crossed buns, see how they run” and then stopped, because he knew he’d gotten mixed up somewhere in there (obviously his nursery school failed him). Anyway, these are Lemon Currant Hot Cross Buns, from the LCBO Food & Drink magazine from Spring 2009 (yes, I keep all the issues stacked on my shelf) and they are delicious! I didn’t have currants, so I subbed in raisins and pecans and they worked out perfectly; next time, though, I will find some currants because they really are delicious.

I don't have a garden, so I bought some primroses to keep me company inside.

What signs of Spring have you noticed? Have the seasons changed for you yet?

Category: Cooking Tags: baking, Easter, flowers, hot cross buns, knitting, photos, productivity, socks, Spring, tea cozy

12:10 pm - March 13, 2012 - AngelaH

Lacy Socks: Almondine is finished!

Can you tell I’m excited? I have been knitting these socks for nearly a month, which seems like a crazy long time for a pair of socks, but I am nonetheless pleased with the results. (I should perhaps add that I have not owned “lacy socks” since I was a very little girl, at which time their wearing was restricted to when I was also wearing a “party dress.” This history makes these socks feel very everyday fancy and fun.)

Almondine!

These strike me as the perfect kind of socks for Spring because the lace means they’ll breathe well and the merino wool they’re made from means they’re actually still quite warm. Also, as the weather gets warmer (it’s 16C in Toronto today!) I will return to wearing skirts and dresses and thus be able to show off my fancy work.

Right side, wrong side.

The pattern is, as you can see from the title of this post, called Almondine, and it’s from the book Sock Knitting Master Class by Ann Budd (the pattern is designed by Anne Hanson) – once I’ve knit a few more projects, I’ll write a little review of this book, but so far I quite like it. When I bought this book back in January, it was for two main reasons. First, I pretty much always have cold feet, so knitting socks seemed like an obvious way to keep myself busy and productive; after knitting a few pairs of basic socks, though, I decided I needed to spice things up, hence a book of patterns. Secondly, I wanted to expand my repertoire of knitting techniques, and it seemed to me that the repetitive nature of sock knitting would be a good place to do so. Thus, I have been making an effort to try new things. For example: I learned how to do the long-tail cast-on for these socks, which were also my first lace-work project. I also forced myself to concentrate on Kitchener stitch, which I had tried before but never felt very confident about.

Anyway, here are all the details:
Pattern: Almondine by Anne Henderson
Wool: Indigodragonfly Merino sock in colourway My Boyfriend had a Bicentennial (Buffy) – this colourway has almost a dozen gorgeous, subtle variations of purples and reds and pinks (my favourite of which was the cranberry-tinted mid tone) and I loved working with it. It isn’t a soft yarn, but it is smooth and even and perfect for socks.
Needles: Clover bamboo dpn in 2.75 mm

My Boyfriend Had a Bicentennial (Buffy)

Modifications is getting its own line, because it includes things I learned about my own knitting strengths and weakness, as least insofar as they relate to knitting lace.
First, I suppose, it that once I figured out the logic of lace (the relationship between where a stitch is added to where one is decreased), the pattern became simple enough that I could put away the chart.
Second, that swatches are really important when you’re doing anything new. Maybe this should be point one, but whatever. I swatched this with 30 stitches on toothpick-thin 2.25 mm needles (as recommended) and ended up with a little tube that fit snugly around my thumb. Clearly, this was much too small, so I went up a needle size and delightfully found myself exactly on gauge. Imagine if I hadn’t swatched!
Third, when it comes to moving between needles, some connections are better than others. Knit to knit, fine. Purl to purl, fine. Purl to knit, fine. Knit to purl, loose and ugly. Because of this, I ended up with ladders along the “seam” of needles one and two all the way up the foot of my socks. In this pattern, it’s actually not noticeable when I wear them, but I know it’s there and I am annoyed. I have ravelled my solution to this.
Fourth, lace is really impressive. I knit these socks at home, on airplanes, in a bar, and at home, and everyone who saw them (knitters and non-knitters alike) thought them quite fancy. As a knitter, this is very satisfying and makes me want to knit nothing by lace in public (lesson: I am a little vain).

I will now, I suppose, learn lesson number 5, which is about blocking (something else I’ve never done). More on that once it has been (I hope) successfully accomplished.

Category: Knitting Tags: Indigodragonfly, lace, lessons learned, merino wool, ravelry, socks

1:19 pm - March 8, 2012 - AngelaH

Granola, Two Ways

I admit that I had hoped to be posting about finishing my Almondine socks, but I haven’t had as much time to knit this week as I’d hoped and it’s looking like it may take the weekend to get them done. Am I the slowest sock knitter ever? Maybe. But I’ve been distracted, at least partly by the following.

Right out of the oven.

Granola!

For a while last year I was in the habit of making granola regularly – every two weeks or so – because I loved having it with fruit and yogourt for breakfast. It was quick, healthy, reliable, and, when I could get to Bulk Barn for supplies, quite cheap. This habit ended abruptly in September when L and I moved and our new oven was such a disaster I put off cleaning it for a month. That, combined with no easy access to a bulk foods shop (a new one has since opened downtown) put an end to my granola making. Well, no more!

My favourite serving: fruit, yogourt, honey, granola

Inspired by L’s recent musings about how it’s been a while since I made granola and the Slate Culture Gabfest (one of my favourite podcasts)’s recent Granola-off – you can listen to all the action here – I decided it was time to revive my granola habit. I am so pleased I did. Our apartment smelled great, breakfast is no longer a sort of sad chore, and it felt a little like getting reacquainted with an previously enjoyable routine. The recipe is below.

After it's all mixed up (the pink is from raspberries).

But yes, my post title does say Granola, Two Ways, so here’s the second: cookies.

Two dozen cookies.

Although I usually call these Trailmix Cookies, they have pretty much all the same ingredients as my granola, with the addition of baking things and dried fruit, and are just as simple.

There's a lot in there.

This is the basic recipe I used (from food.com), but I definitely modified it. For example, instead of 1 cup of brown sugar, I use 1/2 cup of molasses and a 1/2 cup of brown sugar, which lets me get away with not using any eggs; I also use shortening over margarine; 2 cups of flour instead of the flour-wheat germ blend; and no chocolate chips. As for nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, I just use whatever I have on hand. The result is a reliably delicious, but not too sweet, cookie chock-full of crunchy, chewy goodness. Seriously, you cannot go wrong (even my sisters, who hate raisins in every form, love these cookies with raisins in them).

Vanilla-Scented Granola

4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1.5 cups whatever other unsalted nuts you want, broken to your preferred size (I usually use cashews, pecans, and pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup flax seeds
pinch ground cinnamon
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey (could sub in maple syrup)
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract (don’t bother with this if you use maple syrup)

Preheat oven to 300F and lightly oil a large baking sheet (make sure it has edges).
Mix oats, nuts, seeds, and cinnamon in a bowl.
In a small saucepan, combine oil, sugar, and honey. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat, and add vanilla.
Pour hot liquid over dry ingredients and stir well. Use your hands to toss the mixture until everything is thoroughly covered.
Spread on prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 or so minutes, until it’s golden brown.
Cool and enjoy!

Categories: Cooking, Recipes Tags: breakfast, cookies, granola, socks

1:12 pm - March 5, 2012 - AngelaH

Tomato Soup bliss

Not Campbell's soup.

For years, thanks to Campbell’s, I thought I hated tomato soup. Then I went to Europe. When I was backpacking through Austria, tomato soup was one of the most reliably vegetarian and cheap items on the menu, so, in the spirit of trying new things and eating on the cheap, I tried it. Well, it turns out those Austrians know a thing or two about making incredible soup. I ate pretty much nothing else the entire time I was there (well, that and bread and cheese, of course).

Anyway, when I got back to Canada I set out to try and find a reliably good tomato soup recipe. So far, I haven’t found anything as good as the Austrian soup (I should say, though, that it’s just as delicious and consistent in Switzerland, so maybe there’s a skiing connection?), but I do have a couple of good ones to fall back on.

My first foray into tomato soup making was four years ago via the New York Times. It was right around the time they started their ‘Recipes for Health’ series, and they posted a recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup. It is delicious (although I always use stock, not water), but it can be pretty time consuming to roast and peel all those tomatoes. I also ruined several baking sheets before I realized I could use a pyrex dish just as effectively.

Lately, though, I’ve been mixing it up. First was that Georgian Tomato Soup with Walnuts and Vermicelli, which was very rich and meaty-tasting, despite being completely vegetarian. Anyway, when I had friends over for dinner on Saturday I thought about making that again, but since I was also going to make the Khachapuri, I thought I should at least change up the soup. So, I went looking for a new recipe.

I scanned through a lot before settling on The Kitchn’s Cream of Tomato Soup. It wasn’t too time consuming (good if you’re having people over) and sounded like it might get me in the neighbourhood of my European dream soup. I used tomato passato instead of canned tomatoes – there are fewer preservatives and, for a pureed soup, it makes for a very smooth texture – and since I didn’t have any dried basil I just subbed in some dried oregano; I also left out the celery, because I didn’t have any. Delicious, and a perfect match for the Khatchapuri – who doesn’t love tomato soup and something grilled cheese-esque?

Cream of Tomato Soup

I didn’t take pictures on Saturday, but it was so good and there weren’t any leftovers, so I made it again today. In the meantime, I bought some basil, so I used that and dried oregano. I also added a swizzle of olive oil, a little bit of honey, and some leftover (frozen) puréed Marzano tomatoes (ostensibly pizza sauce). For a richer taste, I think 35% cream would be ideal, but we only had 1% milk, so I used that. Anyway, if you’re in the mood for an easy and very yummy soup, add this one to your repertoire.

This soup is even faster if you have stock on-hand. I usually try to make big batches so I have some in the freezer when I feel like soup.

Reliable Veggie Stock
2 sticks of celery, washed and chopped into big pieces
2 large carrots, washed and peeled and roughly chopped
2 onions, quartered
2 med. potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 apple, washed and chopped (just cut around the core)
5 or 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
12 or so pepper corns
3 bay leaves
12 cups of water

Put everything into a big pot and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for an hour or so. Strain and you’re finished! Use it warm right away or cool completely and then freeze.
To give it more body, I recommend adding mushrooms (or, just the stems, if you have them – just make sure to wash them well).

Categories: Cooking, Recipes Tags: bread, Europe, soup, tomato soup, veggie stock

12:40 pm - March 2, 2012 - AngelaH

Seen Knitting

I love seeing people knit in public, especially on transit. I have been known to knit in bars and cafés, but I generally use my transit time for reading because I’m almost never able to get a seat. (That being said, I once brought my knitting with me because I knew I’d finish my book and found I loved knitting on the subway.)

(This is not me)

Anyhow. The other day I was on a bus and and this woman (above) was knitting a lovely pink sock across the aisle from me, so I sneakily took her photo (do you know her?). I realized, while I was watching her, that I rarely get to just sit and observe someone else knitting – it’s kind of mesmerizing. L watches me knit all the time (even if we’re supposed to be watching a movie or something), but he’s an engineer, so perhaps he’s interested in it as a method of construction or something. Naively, I assumed that watching someone knit would be most interesting if you weren’t a knitter; how wrong I was.

For example, this woman was knitting in the continental style (that is, throwing the yarn with her left hand). This looked like magic to me, an English knitter, and I found myself unable to tear my eyes away as I tried to figure out just how it all worked. She made it all look so easy, but when I tried it at home later on, I found my own hands were too clumsy to make it work. Nonetheless, seeing someone at work on her own project inspired me to try something new, and I wonder if it has this affect on others – non-knitters included.

This thought makes me want to knit in public more often. I very much like the idea of taking a craft/skill that is often so identified with the private and domestic and bringing it out into the public. I get a lot of stares when I bring my knitting to the bar where L and his friends are watching soccer, but I am constantly surprised and pleased to find they are looks of curiosity, not disapproval. So, as the weather improves, I think I will make more of an effort to get outdoors with my knitting – because why not, right?

What do you think of this? Do you watch public knitters? Are you a public knitter who feels watched?

(Also, I would like to point out that I’m not the only one taking secret pictures of public knitters. My friend Gustavo tweeted this photo the other day – don’t you wish you could ask her what she’s making and for whom? It looks so lovely and soft!)

Category: Knitting Tags: public knitting, transit