A little nosh

Taking some time off from downloading videos to indulge in a new food interest -- fermenting.

I've started out with giardiniera, an Italian vegetable pickle.  I think the original may be a vinegar based pickle, but I'm using the lacto-fermentation method that develops food rich in probiotics. I've followed the guidelines from Fermenting for Foodies as far as salt/water ratio, but used an assortment of veggies on hand instead of their exact recipe.

The red color of the brine is due to red onion and purple cauliflower -- eat the rainbow! I make it in small batches, as Mr. Mingling Yarn is the primary pickled food eater. That's a one quart, wide-mouthed canning jar with a fermentation lid. I invested in a fermentation kit from Year of Plenty  This is the third batch, and it has been well received.

Also being made is yogurt, along with cultured buttermilk. We've been trying various strains of cultures for the yogurt (from New England Cheese Making Supply Co. mostly) and so far Bulgarian seems to be the Mr.'s favorite and Creamy is mine. Actually, it's all delicious! Being able to make buttermilk as needed has been a great help. I really like using it in various bread recipes and it isn't always readily available in the full-fat version that we prefer.

I use a simple non-electric yogurt maker, which is basically a mason jar in a vacuum container.  Years ago I tried various electric yogurt makers (with little individual jars) and results were varied. So far results making one large batch (1 quart in our case) has been overwhelmingly successful -- coincidence, or are big batches somehow better?? One of my daughters uses a similar system but with a styrofoam container for the jar to keep things insulated -- mine is a stainless steel insulated container.  

It's not all healthy food though -- 

Easy Sugar Cookies from the Dessert For Two website of Christina Lane.  Plenty of tasty recipes (not just dessert) in small quantities. Yum!

Clubbing

Yarn clubbing, that is.  Every once in a while I get the urge to try something new, and I'll join a yarn club.  I'm generally very particular about what I like to knit, and what yarn I use, but it's fun to mix it up at times. My latest venture into the yarn unknown was the Knit Spot Bare Naked Wools Club 2020. Three installments -- from the website -- "Each one includes a 4 0z. skein of natural, undyed yarn and exclusive patterns by Ann Hanson..."

What I also enjoy about yarn clubs is that the projects are usually interesting, but small enough to provide entertainment without a lifetime commitment.  The first mailing was a skein of Friesian DK -- which is a sheep fiber I have never run across before, and the pattern was for either a hat or scarf.  That one still awaits the needles. The second project was cast on fairly quickly though, and I am proud to say was finished before the final yarn mailing arrived. I don't think I've ever managed that trick before -- OK, it was finished in the morning and the new yarn arrived that afternoon, but still!

The yarn used was Bare Naked Wools Shetlandia, which is a 100% Shetland wool, listed as fingering weight on the yarn label, but as a "light fingering" on its Ravelry listing, and is a 2-ply woolen spun yarn.  The pattern was Highland Spring by Ann Hanson.

I would quibble with listing the yarn as a fingering weight, and the particular skein I knit from ranged from maybe a light fingering (whatever that might be) to laceweight and even a cobweb weight in small runs. Still, it was pleasant to knit with and still had a nice, sheepy fragrance. The pattern was both charted and written out, and was clear and accurate.  The end result? A lovely, small shawl (or large scarf) that I will enjoy wearing in cooler weather.

And a slightly closer shot -- 

The pattern for the final club project hasn't been released yet, but will probably wait for a while to be started, as I have moved on to a crochet experiment. I call it that because it entails both machine knitting and crochet, and will need to successfully hit the dye bath in order to fit into my current color scheme. So far I have worked out ideas for the front, sleeves and back, but am still thinking about trim. Here's a sneak peek to what may turn into a garment, or may just be an attractive swatch!

Homeschooling - Machine Knitting Edition

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Martin Luther King, Jr.


While still resting in place, it seemed a good time to brush up on machine knitting skills (or lack thereof). Knit It Now (which I have a subscription to) was offering a lesson on shawl shaping, so I decided to try it out.  I have some yarn in quantities of small shawl/large scarf amounts so why not use some?

I decided on the "quick 'n easy" variation (there are three others) and quickly got to work. The yarn I used was from deep stash - a now discontinued Elann Limited Edition blend of 60% wool/25% cashmere/15% acrylic called Kashair. No idea on how long I've had it, but it was from the days before Elann sold out to Amazon -- so, old. Despite being predominately wool/cashmere it was not a pleasant feeling yarn to hand knit, which is why it was so long in stash, despite its pleasant color. Some comments on Ravelry mentioned it was nicer after washing, so it was a good candidate for machine knitting. 

I used my mid-gauge LK 150 to knit it. This is a plastic bed, very basic machine that requires hand manipulation for anything other than stockinette stitch. Nonetheless, it is very easy to use and fun to work with and my shawl body would be entirely stockinette, so the choice of machine was easy.

I cast on 144 needles (as you might guess, the machine has a total of 150) which was as many needles as I felt comfortable working. The simple pattern was, in fact, "quick 'n easy" and after about a half an hour I had a plain stockinette triangle. In order to finish it off, I worked a crochet edging around the two side edges. The (warning - math word ahead)  hypotenuse of the triangle, which would drape around the neck and shoulders, was left plain. It has a very slight roll - as you would expect from plain stockinette fabric - but because it was a bias edge (I suspect) it was just enough to look pleasant when worn.

I chose a simple pattern for the edging - from Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman (pattern 69). There are 150 different designs in the book, charted and written instructions, and best of all -- the corner shaping is worked out for you.  Excellent resource for anyone who likes to do crocheted edgings.

All in all, I was happy with how it turned out, and look forward to trying a different variation. Because this one is done - in effect - sideways, I was scratching my head as to how to add some patterning if I made another with this technique. 

My next attempted lesson - learning to use a garter bar - did not proceed as smoothly, but that is a story for another day.