Well, there's only one at the moment but it won't be long now until the first glove is off the needles. Daniel wanted half-fingers that end below the first knuckle so the finger portion of these gloves knits up very quickly indeed.
Well, okay, not an X but a bookmark. This post over on Whipup inspired me to do some bookmarks of my own. I think this is a perfect way to use up fabric scraps and all those lone single buttons that are sitting around with nothing better to do. I used a paper bookmark as a template and cut two pieces of fabric for each one with one piece of interfacing slightly smaller. I sewed the three together, right sides of the fabric facing out, and then pinked around the edges. I stuck a piece of ribbon in a few and attatched it after on a third, sewing buttons on all of them. The button acts as a stop to keep the bookmark from slipping down into the pages of the book. Gabby wants you to know she approves. A bookmark is currently her favorite toy and she will follow me upstairs at bedtime for a few minutes of play before I'm allowed to read by book. Speaking of books, I kept forgetting to update my reading lists in the sidebar so I took them down. You can find my reading list over on Goodreads now.
Dan's art teacher has been admiring his fingerless gloves for awhile now. They've been bargaining back and forth until a few weeks ago Daniel came and asked how long would it take to knit a pair and would I do some for Ms. G. He said she wanted black but he insisted they be a different color from his but exactly like them in every other way since his fit her perfectly. I've pulled out a skein of purple Wildfoote from the stash and I'm writing up the pattern for these since it seems they'll be often in demand. Ms. G. certainly deserves a pair of fingerless gloves, she has Daniel in several of her art classes and seems to have really encouraged him.
My gums are gradually healing but still a bit sore so it's been mostly baked potatoes, soup and soft pasta around here. I did break out and eat some actual meat this week- steak from the CSA was delicious!
Pasta with butternut squash and mushrooms
1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
1 cup diced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound butternut squash cut into small dice
1 pound mini bow tie pasta
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup cream
1 bunch sage, chopped fine
zest and juice of a lemon
Cook the onions and mushrooms in a Dutch oven with olive oil and butter over medium heat until onions are softened, about 10 minutes. Add pasta, squash, and chicken broth, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat 20 minutes, stirring several times. Meanwhile, simmer the cream with the sage over low heat until reduced by half. When the pasta has absorbed all the chicken broth, stir the cream, lemon juice and zest into the pasta, cover and let stand about ten minutes before serving.
My secret socks are off the needles and onto the blocking forms. Now it's all waiting until time to gift them and then I can finally show you some decent pictures.
One of my nice finds this weekend was a cup plate for my little collection. This makes #15 in my little collection so it's quite easy to find things I don't yet have. Many of these are identified by a book called "American Glass Cup Plates" in which the authors give each unique style a corresponding number. Collectors refer to that as the Lee & Rose number. First I find a picture in the book that looks like the cup plate I've found but often there'll be more than one version that look nearly identical. I ID your cup plate you often have to get out the ruler for a precise measurement and count features, most often the little bumps along the edge of the plate. It's rare that I pay more than $10 for a cup plate so it's a very affordable hobby though if I wanted to get into the colored ones it would get a fair bit more pricey.
Yesterday when I left the house I took some mindless knitting with me as I was expecting some waiting about at my various appointment. This is the beginning of the ruffled and ruched scarf which was quite good company for allergy shot, a consult with the periodontist and the resulting surprise appointment later in the day when he pull the offending tooth. I'm knitting it with some Elsebeth Lavold angora that's been in the stash ever since my first visit to WEBS with Martini Knitter a few years back. The shop sample was amazingly soft and the ladies advised us to give it a wash after knitting for maximum fluffage. So the tooth is out and was indeed badly cracked but I was quite lucky in that it came out in one piece and took all of about 5 minutes once the novocaine did it's job. Now there's a 6 week wait period for the gum to heal before we begin the next step.
Last night I pulled out the chicken from our CSA share this month for a lovely chicken curry.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
zest of a lime
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 bay leaves
2 chicken breasts
3 chicken leg quarters
3 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 can light coconut milk
juice of a lime
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Saute the onion in butter and oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven until soft. Stir in the garlic, ginger and spices and cook two or three minutes longer or until fragrant. Add chicken broth and chicken pieces. Cover and cook 60 minutes or until chicken is very tender. Remove from heat, stir in coconut milk, lime juice, and cilantro. Serve over hot cooked rice.
