Knitting Today: The Use-Up-Sock-Yarn-From-Two-Previous-Pairs-Toe-Up-With-First-Fish-Lips-Kiss-Heels-Toe-At-A-Time Socks!

 Just now I finished these socks.  I intended to use up all the leftover yarn from the prior two pairs of test knit socks BUT...I was also knitting them for The Woolly Thistle Sock Spring 2022 which ended today so I only knit a regular length cuff and not a longer cuff.  There is still some of the cuff yarn left.

About The Woolly Thistle: when I learned they were in West Lebanon, New Hampshire I was thrilled. I thought I could be able to invite our angel daughter-in-law and granddaughter to visit the shop and help me with yarn selection choices since I like to feel and smell yarn before purchasing. Especially when it is costly yarn. WELL...it turns out The Woolly Thistle is an online shop only.  A big disappointment for me. Still, I do listen to their shopcasts from time to time PLUS...I "met" Emma Barnaby there and LOVE her channel!  Love it love it LOVE IT!

Fish Lips Kiss Heel in process.

Fish Lips Kiss Heels finished.  I love the way they look with not holes and I love the way they fit.  There is more about this project on The Country Wife page on Ravelry.com.

Another new thing to me besides the heel was the cuff and bind off.

This was the cuff:

For the bind off I used a stretchy bind off that I found but did not find a creator of the pattern.  This is the bind off which works really well for toe up socks.

Knit 2 then return the 2 stitches to the left needle and K2 together through the back loop.  K1 then put the two stitches back onto the left needle and knit 2 together through the back loop.  Continue on with knitting one additional stitch, putting both stitches on left needle and knitting two together through the back loop.  Nice looking and nice and stretchy.  Fits my large legs very well.

To see the cuff, go to my Ravelry page mentioned above.  It is lights out time and fingers are used up for the night...!

Emma Woodhouse Socks Test Knit Completed

 Probably six weeks ago I happened to see a podcast called The Woolly Thistle on YouTube.  They had a guest named Emma Barnaby talking about her Jane Austen sock design project.  Emma said if anyone wanted to test knit for her, she would welcome knitters.  As you might imagine, I signed up!

Emma is easy to knit for as far as test knitting.  

This is the lace work pattern on the front of the socks. I particularly liked this because it was pretty easy to memorize.  Emma gives you a chart to follow.

The yarn I used was Patons Kroy Sock yarn which is a wool yarn which I found at Hobby Lobby on a deep sale ($2.24 per ball rather than the usually $7.99.  I am sure they were getting rid of the colors. I purchased three balls each of three different colors!  My aim is to use the yarn on the flatbed knitting machine at some point...)

Vis-a-vis The Woolly Thistle--I was delighted to find that they are in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, a town I used to frequent often when we lived in Vermont. I asked them where they had their shop thinking perhaps I could ask our daughter-in-law to go check out some yarn for me.  You can imagine my disappointment when I found they are only an online store!  I really only like to buy yarn that I have touched and smelled before purchase.

If you would like more particulars about the Emma Woodhouse Socks, I have put up a page on Ravelry.com that you can check out.  

One thing you might be interested to know--they only took 8 days to knit. even with changing needle sizes several times AND they fit me pretty well.  These were knit cuff down with a heel flap and gusset.

Next project will be toe up socks with Fish Lips Kiss Heels.  They are on the needles now...!

Knitting Today: Arne and Carlos Advent Mini Nordic Sweaters

 Last year Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrison who are Norwegian (well, Carlos is formerly Swedish) knitting designers put up a wonderful project:  Mini Nordic Sweaters for an Advent calendar.  I knew I could not do that for an Advent calendar but wanted to knit them nevertheless.

What they actually turn out to be are little sweater bags!  The bottom of the sweater is cast on with a Turkish cast on so the ribbing is closed, thereby making a darling little bag to fill with treats.

When I was thinking about making these little guys it occurred to me that there are 24 people in our "immediate" family. SO...I knit one of these for each of them.  Every person will receive one of these mini sweaters with the number of their place in the family. Dear One is number one, I am number two and so forth down to our great grandson who is number 24.  This makes me smile.

It took me six months to get them completed.

Here is a look at the little sweaters in a storage drawer unit in the workroom.  Now comes the part of identifying the recipient and putting them in their Christmas packaging.  As I have said, this makes me so happy with these.  

No, they are definitely not perfect and things have changed since the beginning.  Arne and Carlos had a design on the sleeves as well as front and back of each body.  I thought they looked clutter-y so after the first seven I knit the sleeves plain as you can see in the picture. 

Arne and Carlos designed some yarn called Norwegian Yarn, I think by Rowan but it was prohibitively expensive. At least for us.  I found some similar weight yarn on Knit Picks and matched the colors as closely as I could.  Most of them came out pretty nicely colored but some are less pleasing.  Also, there are multiple errors but I am comfortable with the ones in the finished product.  The mistakes I could not abide I tore out and re-knitted.

So, on to the next project.  Since completing these sweaters I have finished a couple pairs of socks. I STILL have not gotten the workroom together but today did manage to clear off a portion of the desk. Again....

Well, Hello! It has been a while!

 Life has gotten in the way of this blog but perhaps I can do better now.

Today I want to talk about something I learned over the weekend: cooking rice in the Instant Pot.  If you are immediately turning off your ears, please re-think.  I heard Mike from ProHomeCooks.com on YouTube say you could cook rice in 4 minutes.  Four!!  I gave it a try this morning and IT WORKS!!

You do not have to do what I did but the principle works.  

What I did:  we had a two-quart jar of kale, onion, celery, and broccoli salad in the refrigerator that I was thinking might go by if I did not do something about it immediately SO...I made a two layer dish in the Instant Pot.

Put 2 cups water in bottom of Instant Pot liner.  Stir in a little beef base...maybe two teaspoons worth.  When it was well stirred in added two cups long grain white rice and stir well.  Dump all the kale salad on top and start the Instant Pot cooking for 4 minutes on HIGH.

When the timer went off, let naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then released remaining pressure instantly.  Removed the kale salad which was cooked and happily sitting on top of nicely cooked rice.  Stirred in a little soy sauce to our taste into the rice and enjoyed it.  Including Dear One, though he did NOT want to add a little of the delicious tofu from last night's supper.  He did say, however, that he likes crispy tofu.  Last night's tofu was supposed to be crispy but I let it marinate before pan frying. I should have known better. Now I do.  Pan fry FIRST then add the sauce.

It is so nice that we really do NOT need to cook for 22 minutes as other recipes say.  Thanks, Mike!