I’m spending my New Year’s Eve with a Lord of the Rings marathon and knitting the second Lotus Mitten.
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(Oops, yesterday’s post went out with out a title. Flu was really cramping my brain at that point.) |
Goodreads        ![Barefoot in the Park: A Comedy [UNABRIDGED]](
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"Barefoot in the Park: A Comedy [UNABRIDGED]") 
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Another Christmas present was a nonstick saucepan for yogurt making. I whipped out a batch yesterday using Stonyfield plain as my starter. I took half a gallon of milk and heated it to 180F then cooled it to 116F, divided it into 2 containers and added about 2 tablespoons plain yogurt to each one. A quick shake and I stowed them in a portable cooler with a towel and a third container filled with boiling water. I left that closed up all day and by evening I had some gorgeous creamy yogurt. The pot cleaned up very nicely so I’m back in business with the yogurt again!
Or at least one bobbin. Here’s the first half of the Foxfire singles now awaiting a mate for plying. This has a very nice sheen and should be lovely knit.
I took two projects with me to work on for the drive to New Jersey and back and for something to do during down time at the house. I made some nice progress on the second Lotus mitten and the second mirror sock.
We spent the last few days down in New Jersey with my sister, my niece, my nephew and both my boys. The guys played lots of video games, my niece learned to make sweet potato rolls and we had a fabulous dinner. I think it’s fair to say a good time was had by all.
Some really nice gifts came my way this year including this holy grail of pots- a large oval copper roaster and a beautiful new watch to replace my old Timex. The new pot will replace the Le Creuset that’s become rusty around the top edge. This pot is also much lighter so it’ll be easier on my shoulder to lift in and out of the oven.
I’m taking a detour from rovings bought at SPA to work on this bag o’ fluff from Foxfire bought at Rhinebeck. Every year I admire her lovely stuff and this year I caved and bought some. It seems to want to be laceweight so that’s what I’m spinning. Not frog hair thin but definitely a nice laceweight yarn. I have two bags so I imagine I’ll get enough for a shawl out of this.
I’ve wanted to replace our old range from the day we moved in so I was over the moon when Jason said he thought we should get one at the same time as the new fridge. The starter elements for the stove top or the oven had to be replaced every couple years and it wasn’t cheap so it had been a constant money sink. At some point the control back came loose so it was also a bit of an eyesore. The replacement arrived yesterday and it feels like a Cadillac after the old Amana (which collapsed upon removal). It has a much higher BTU output and I love the long central burner which means I can finally effectively use the cast iron griddle for pancakes and things. The oven is a dream and has all sorts of settings. It can be convection or gas. There’ll definitely be a learning period with the new oven but I’m beyond excited that it’s here.
The second lotus mitten is cast on and I’ve made it past the cuff. It’s slow going with all the other crazy stuff going on around here but I’ll take it with me when we drive down to Jersey to visit my sister for Christmas. I’m sure to make good progress with all that car knitting time there and back.
The big excitement around here was the arrival of our new fridge. It’s an Energy Star Kenmore side by side, slightly bigger than the old one. We could live without an ice-maker/water dispenser but with a height restriction there were only a few models to choose from. The great thing about getting a new fridge delivered in December is that it comes already cold so it gets to temp really fast.