Category: everyday

  • spinning, spinning

    Wow, it’s late already. It’s been a busy day – out to Caynes by transit (which ain’t that easy), a 15 km bike ride (not that long I know, but I’m terribly out of shape), canning up some of those lovely cherries from the other day, knitting, and spinning! Ahhh.

    The canning – this was my first experience, mainly instructed by the Joy of Cooking. I did the whole cherries, pit and all, in a medium syrup. Boiling water bath (in just a really big pot on the stove), four half liter jars. One of them seems to not be sealed properly – the lid popped while it sits cooling. Ah well, that just means I’ll have to eat them soon. The others seem to be sealed. It took a long time to get the pot to a boil, but other than that it was actually pretty fun. And the pretty, pretty jars of fruit are worth it! Tomorrow: adventures in jam making…oh, and I made some mint chocolate chip ice cream that turned out super yummy. I loves me some new foody experiments!

    Spinning – I’ve been working on some new yarns for the shop; it’s all going a bit slow because I haven’t had much time to sit at the wheel. Seems it’s easier to find the time when I’m actually in classes! Nowadays I’m just busy doing other stuff out and about!

    Which leads me to the knitting…it’s not that I haven’t been doing it, because I have. But not anything terribly exciting, really. Lots of titbits. Stockinette socks. I did finally do the button band of VBC and need to sew the shoulders together so I can do the neckband, then sew everything else together. The supermerino sweater is almost almost done, but again – just needs that time where I can sit and finish it. I’ve been carrying around a ball of Lana Gatto VIP (merino/cashmere) and a set of dpns to start a set of legwarmers, but I just can’t seem to get around to doing it!

    I did manage to knit a piece of a sweater – the back of the Sand Dollar pullover from Knitting Nature, for LK’s Megan I. We’re getting in some Posh Yarns cotton/cashmere, and working on a sample out of it – it’s soooo yummy.

    Hmmmm. Perhaps it’s time to go do a few rows on the supermerino cardi. Night!

  • two pair

    Whew, time sure flies by when you’re out of the house nearly the entire week! Monday, Megan H. and Stacey came by to pick cherries!

    Megan, being the tallest one, was atop the ladder while Stacey kept an eye out. I was in charge of getting bowls and picking gooseberries. It sure goes a lot faster (and more fun) when you’ve got people to pick with!

    Lots and lots of cherries, plus a good amount of gooseberries (going to try my hand at jam).

    Talk about a big bowl of cherries. Megan and Stacey each took some, and I took a big tupperware-full to the party yesterday, where they got eaten (and I gave gave the extras to Megan I.). I’ve still got a whole bunch left though!

    Back to the knitting – I haven’t been doing that much lately, just a bit here and there. I did manage to finish the Lorna’s Laces socks, though.

    I’m digging the slightly longer than my usual ribbing. I did these toe up, short row toe and heel. Maybe 3/4 of a skein each? I was using leftovers.

    What else…oh, the boy and I cooked up a solution to the plying head problem:

    A couple of wooden blocks drilled out by yours truly, plus some metal washers (which had to be drilled out a bit in the middle as well – I left that to him to do). Very secure, and seems to work well, but I’ll have to put it to the test soon!

  • on vacay

    Ahhh, now that’s the stuff. Wake up late, stay inside in the coolness watching Sabrina (the newer version) on tv and spinning some gift yarn, going outside to pick fruit and take photos when the fancy strikes. Lots of photos ahead!

    This is my big sweet cherry tree. Photo taken from the deck, so it’s like a mid-height view. It is *covered* in cherries. Lots of clumps, so it’s hard to show them all, but –

    It’s one of them grafted-together trees, so it’s got different kinds of cherries growing on it – the ones at the top that are looking lovely and dark (and are too high for me to currently get at with an 8-ft ladder) while the ones near the bottom right are the light yellowy kind.

    I think megan h. is coming over tomorrow to pick cherries – and I’ll probably be giving them away to just everyone! Perhaps getting into some cherry preserves making…it’s really too horrible that my boyfriend is allergic to cherries. I’m thinking cherry ice cream (I made dark chocolate ice cream today, with a custard and everything, and it turned out very, very yummy). And then there’s the sour cherry tree as well – pie!

    Raspberry ‘patch’: this is the biggest clump of raspberry bushes, but they’re all around the house – they just keep spreading! Raspberry sorbet, here I come…

    One last garden shot – my container veggie garden, growing quite well. The three in the back are all different kinds of tomatoes. Left to right in the front, eggplant, burgandy beans, carrots, and squash – I know those last ones are little right now, but I know the squash and beans are pretty fast growing. We’ll see.

    In the theme of green and red, some yarn and knitting!

    Wool/silk two ply. Love those greens!

    The start of a handspun sock. Thick-ish (2.5 mm needles) but hey, they’ll be out of my handspun!