November 2011 Archives

Tis the time of the year I start to think about next year – what I want to achieve, what I want to improve, and most importantly – how I can make them happen.

I’m in a great place with my knitting lately, largely in part because of my train commute. The 25 minutes I spend on the train twice a day has turned into the perfect amount of time to get knitting in every day. I haven’t felt so fulfilled and satisfied with my crafting life in a long time.

This satisfaction is in stark contrast to my food and cooking life though. I’ve hit a rut – an unhealthy and expensive rut. I buy lunch 3-5 times/week out of laziness and convenience, and I bring home take out at least 3 days each work week for dinner. I don’t get much enjoyment out of the kind of food I’ve been eating. It’s significantly less healthy and I certainly don’t enjoy the hit on our bank account either.

It’s time to get serious about addressing this. Now.

I spent the past few days browsing my recipe book stash and was reminded of a true gem - Robin Rescues Dinner by Robin Miller. Robin shares 52 weeks of meals - 3 main dishes and many, many sides – for a full year’s worth of options.

I've put together a mini training plan to get myself in weekday cooking shape by January 1st.

Step 1 – Prepare and organize: One of my favorite features of the book is that each week’s recipes build upon each other. For example, on day one you’ll cook twice as much chicken breast so you have it on hand for an even quicker meal #2 later in the week. She also points out make ahead and freezer options so you can prepare during the weekend.

Step 2 – Stock my pantry - I’m making a list of items I want to add to my pantry. We always have a full selection of pasta, rice, herbs and spices, but we tend to have very few vegetable choices on hand. I plan to stock up on some frozen, jarred and canned veggies. I also plan to look at prepared sauces, salsas and toppings like spicy red pepper relish and pineapple habanero salsa. Robin bakes chicken and pork chops with prepared sauces, uses them in tacos and enchilada bakes and tops quick pizzas with them as well.

Step 3 – Start small and expect bumps in the road - they say it takes 30 days to form a habit and I’m prepared for the next month to be a challenge. I’m starting out slowly and plan to work my way up to my final goal. I'm not looking for the quick fix - although it'd be welcome! - but rather a lasting, life long change. It's going to take time and I'm going to have some setbacks. I'm OK with that...for the most part ;)

Week 1 goals

• Make dinner twice
• Bring leftovers for lunch twice

I selected at least 20 recipes from Robin’s book that I want to try (see all those post it tabs sticking out the sides of the book?), including:

• Tandoori Chicken with Flash-Fried Chickpeas


• Baja Chicken Soft Tacos


• Chicken Burgers with Cheddar and Charred Tomatoes


• 5-Ingredient Spicy Apricot Chicken


• Spanish Sausage and Vegetable Kebabs


• 4-Ingredient Pork Chops in White Wine-Tarragon Broth

I also have a few quick-fix standbys that I’ll put on my list as well:

• Orecchiette with broccoli, garlic and bread crumbs - if I make a double batch I'll sometimes add other veggies on day 2 such as carrots and peas to make more of a primavera.
• Stuffed Peppers -Love this easy weekend meal! I make a double batch using ground chicken on Sunday for an awesome lunch during the week as well
• Taco salad – with ground chicken and all the fixings from the salad bar, although lately I’ve been curious to try ground pork as well
• Pepper and egg sandwiches – they won’t work for leftovers but they’re super quick and can use up leftover green peppers and onions

And because this is Thanksgiving weekend, I'll of course be making a Turkey Pot Pie tomorrow as well. That should be a great meal with at least a couple leftover lunches or dinners. Nice!

I bought enough Shibui baby alpaca for a scarf and mitten set. Since the Ambroso mittens don't include a matching scarf I had to come up with something that would work. When I bought the yarn I intended to make up a scarf pattern with the same Ambroso stitch pattern. I think using the two asymmetrical cables up each side of the scarf would be beautiful. But getting back to what I wrote about on Monday, this yarn is not the ideal match for this style of cables.

So then I went searching on Ravelry and found a few lovely options in my faves.:

from left to right: forbes forest, drifted pearls, unique melody

As I browsed around, I kept focusing on texture. Not necessarily any one kind of texture, but just something with a great tactile feel. Bobbles, columns of knits and purls, and yes - I was even taunted by the traditional cables that I knew wouldn't suit this yarn. In the end I went with Unique Melody because I loved the bias patterning and I thought the yarn would drape well - especially when knit up at the ball-band gauge (looser than the mittens). I've always had a thing for leaf and flame motifs - one day I will knit you Shetland Triangle - so Melody was an easy sell.

I've knit through the entire setup rows plus a couple repeats and I'm in love! If I keep going at this pace I should be done in a few weeks. I'm anxious to wear it though so don't be surprised if you see this pop up as an FO even sooner. It's been a long time since I've done a project that needed blocking as much as Unique Melody will need. It's taunting me to keep knitting just so I can actually block it and see it in all its drapey, glory. I can't wait.

ps - a big thank you to Andi who reminded me about Rose Beck (the Unique Melody designer) a couple weeks back in this blog post. I've known about Rose Beck for a while but it was Andi's post who brought her top of mind when it came to choosing this scarf pattern. Thanks, Andi!

It's been a long time since I've knitted something for the first time. I've been relishing this first time experience on the Ambroso mittens - it's fun to do some knitting that makes you think, something a bit more than autopilot. This first mitten taught me several things:

• Thumbs need to be longer than I expected. When you think you're done with the thumb, knit a few more rows. You'll thank me later. I had to reknit the end of the thumb to add a few more rows.
• A little negative ease is a good thing for the cuff.
• And a little positive ease in the hand so I can move my fingers, grasp things, and curl my fingers up if it's really cold.

• Top decreases: just like the toe of a sock, I need to do more experimentation to learn my preferred style with the top decreases. I think I'm going to try a spiral with 6 spokes next time. The 4-spoke version fits fine but I don't like the aesthetic.
• In retrospect, I should have selected a sturdier yarn. 100% alpaca will certainly be soft and warm but I'm concerned about fulling/felting. I bought enough yarn for a scarf too and I can't wait to wear it around my neck (more on that next time).
• Similarly I'm out of cable practice and if I made these mittens again I'd use one with more cable definition. This is especially due to the fact that the cables are worked on a stockinette background. You lose that pop cables get when they sit atop a purl background.

Having said all the above, I'm in love with these mittens. They're soft, warm, and a bright pop of color with beautiful hand dyed striations. I'm sure I'll get a lot of wear out of them.

I'm as far along on the second mitten as I was on the first last week and I'm hopeful I'll have a finished pair later today. Yes, mittens do still seem to be fast! It's supposed to be in the low-mid 50s on Monday and down into the 40s by Thursday so it'll be just in time.

I’ve been merrily working on Lintilla and I’m still in love with the pattern. It’s clever and perfect commuting knitting. I can stop at just about any point and pick it up without issue. Of course, this assumes I actually look at where I left off. Otherwise, I might spend an entire train ride knitting long rows that need to be frogged because I should have started another ruffle.

Just sayin.

It’s starting to get cold in the Philly area. Even on the warmer days, the mornings are in the low to mid 30s. I have plenty of scarves but I’ve never made myself a pair of mittens. Until this year mittens just weren’t practical. I spent so much time commuting in the car that I’d just use fingerless mitts to run from car to building. But this year I need full on mittens.

I haven’t knit many cables recently and I had a bug to knit them. There’s no shortage of cabled mittens. At writing Ravelry has 262 women’s or unisex cabled mittens – and those are just the ones with photos.

After a morning of Ravelry trolling and yarn shopping yesterday I picked up three skeins of Shibui Baby Alpaca DK in a strong red color 430 – three skeins because I plan to adapt a scarf out of the pattern as well. Baby alpaca because I couldn’t resist its softness. BTW the Shibui skeins come in 225 yard 100 gram put ups and were only $20 USD – that’s a good deal for hand dyed baby alpaca!

I chose Ambroso mittens by Carol Feller in Knitty Deep Fall 2011. I love the asymmetrical cables and the look of cables on a stockinette background. I’ve knit the entire cuff and half the thumb gusset increases already – I think mittens will be fast? Since the Shibui is 100% alpaca I’m knitting the yarn more tightly and I’m sizing them slightly small. Alpaca is notorious for not keeping its shape so I’m hoping this will work out *fingers crossed*. Oh, and I did make one design mod – I skipped the twisted cable cuff. I like the cleaner lines of the 2x2 rib.

I also made a last minute sizing mod and increased from the smaller size to the larger size after knitting the cuff. I think mitten cuffs should fit closely to keep the wind out but I want to ensure my fingers have enough room to move around in the mitten itself. Since I’ve never made mittens I have a bit of anxiety until I have enough done to try them on.

I may also make one more mod and change the top to use spiral decreases. I always find myself mildly obsessed with the look of spiral decreases but I don’t like the way they fit me for socks. When I read that Carol Fuller had posted a mod for a spiral decrease top I knew it’d be for me.

I feel an accessory period coming on for my knitting. The portability for commuting is fantastic, it allows me to buy just a few skeins to get that yarn shopping high and they’re quicker to knit. That may be why you haven’t heard about Audrey in Unst lately ;)

Random info of the day – I learned about “Try-It-On Tubing” on the Knitmore Girls Facebook page yesterday. It’s plastic tubing that slips over your knitting needles to make a continuous ring so you can easily try on your knitting with minimum effort. I can’t believe I’d never heard of this. It’s genius (and inexpensive at only $2.95 USD for a yard). Of course, I learn about this right after I decide I’m going to focus on accessory knitting and have no need for it (hmm, maybe that's not true - I bet it would be great to spread out large lace shawls as well). But I’m sure some of you will. Enjoy!