One last time I will try this pattern but will cut down the number of stitches to see if I can make a coaster.
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| "Coasters" knit on US 6, 5, and 4 needles. Way too big. |
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Knitting: Third Shaker Cloth
Well, the third Shaker coaster cloth is done. I moved to the size 4 needles. Everything else was the same. As you can see, this is still not small enough for a coaster.
One last time I will try this pattern but will cut down the number of stitches to see if I can make a coaster.
One last time I will try this pattern but will cut down the number of stitches to see if I can make a coaster.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Knitting Toys: Hammerhead Shark
Recently I received another toy request from young B. He wanted a hammerhead shark. A hammerhead shark?!!! That had never crossed my mind as a possible toy. Fortunately someone else had thought of it. "They are gray, Grammie," he told me, "and they can look in both directions."
Mary Kate Long posted this pattern for a hammerhead shark on Ravelry.com, a fabulous place to find free and for purchase patterns for absolutely anything you want to knit or crochet.
Because I had a few other projects going, I told B it would probably be after Christmas when I could work on the shark. He said that was okay since his birthday was after Christmas. Very philosophical little creature....!
However, on vacation I found some gray yarn, purchased it, and knit up the shark. Very cute. When home, I closed in the eyes, knit the fins and sewed them on and stuffed the shark.
Yesterday I took the shark to B. He was home sick from school. He immediately smiled when he saw what was in my hand and reached out for it. He inspected it thoroughly then said, "This isn't really a hammerhead shark. The mouth is supposed to be here! (pointing to a place closer to the front. I must have misunderstood the directions...)... But I like this fish, whatever it is." He is four years old.
He particularly liked the top fin. "That is a dorsal fin, you know." Well, I had heard of dorsal fins but do not know if I would have picked that name out of a basket of names...
Anyway, he was happy. I was happy to make it for him. I expect his siblings will also be happy when they see it. And it got finished before Christmas.
Mary Kate Long posted this pattern for a hammerhead shark on Ravelry.com, a fabulous place to find free and for purchase patterns for absolutely anything you want to knit or crochet.
Because I had a few other projects going, I told B it would probably be after Christmas when I could work on the shark. He said that was okay since his birthday was after Christmas. Very philosophical little creature....!
 |
| Hammerhead shark (or some other fish) with floppy dorsal fin, side fins, and tail fins. Eyes on each side of the hammers. |
However, on vacation I found some gray yarn, purchased it, and knit up the shark. Very cute. When home, I closed in the eyes, knit the fins and sewed them on and stuffed the shark.
Yesterday I took the shark to B. He was home sick from school. He immediately smiled when he saw what was in my hand and reached out for it. He inspected it thoroughly then said, "This isn't really a hammerhead shark. The mouth is supposed to be here! (pointing to a place closer to the front. I must have misunderstood the directions...)... But I like this fish, whatever it is." He is four years old.
 |
| Wrong mouth on hammerhead shark |
He particularly liked the top fin. "That is a dorsal fin, you know." Well, I had heard of dorsal fins but do not know if I would have picked that name out of a basket of names...
Anyway, he was happy. I was happy to make it for him. I expect his siblings will also be happy when they see it. And it got finished before Christmas.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Traveling on Friday in “Leaf Peeper” Season
Dear One and I were at the end of our vacation weeks. We had traveled to Virginia Beach for a week
with my sister and her husband. We had a
wonderful restful time with them. On
Friday of that week we headed north to Galloway, New Jersey for another
week. A week where we expected to visit
a cemetery and do family history work. That did not work out.
At the end of that week, another restful one, even though
disappointing on the family history front, we headed towards home. I was going to make a presentation at a
family history conference an hour and a half from home on the Saturday so we
stayed overnight in the area of the conference rather than traveling three more
hours on the day of the conference.
We expected to spend four to five hours (we did need some
comfort stops, after all!) on the trip.
WELL…we left New Jersey at 10:19 AM. We arrived in Brattleboro, Vermont just
before 7:00 PM! NOT four or five
hours. The travel was very heavy and
very slow in several sections of the road.
In fact, I looked down during one of the slow spells near Hartford,
Connecticut and noticed that rather than driving along at the 5 miles an hour
we had previously been driving, we were actually flying along at 14 miles an
hour! Making real progress then…
When we crossed the line into Vermont we REALLY needed a
comfort stop, so we pulled into the Vermont Welcome Center. We were FLABBERGASTED at the number of cars
that were in the parking lot. I wondered if there would be any spots available
in the comfort station. (Fortunately, there were, because the need was critical
by then.)
The trees at the Welcome Center were really beautiful so I
resolved to take a few photos on my way back to the car. This is one of them:
Monday, October 17, 2016
Munchie Monday: Vacation Apple Pie
On vacation away from home, food is always an issue.
You can eat out. (Expensive...)
You can eat in. (You need to bring equipment, food, spices.)
You can fast. (For a weekend, possibly...but probably not if you are going to be gone for a week.)
We always take food and kitchen stuff with us. Too much stuff. This vacation we took way more than we ever had before, including at least a peck of fresh utility Macoun apples. They were good apples but we were not going to eat that many fresh apples. What to do, what to do?
We chose to make an apple pie. This is how:
Went to the store for a frozen pie shell.
Preheated the oven to 350 degrees F.
Peeled, cored, sliced 6 apples and put in large bowl with about 1/2 cup granulated sugar (from vacation supply bin) then added 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (purchased at The Dollar Tree store). Put the prepared apples into the pie shell.
Took 1 1/1 cups of Rip's Big Bowl cereal, sans the spoon sized Shredded Wheat, and crumbled it with 2 tablespoons butter (brought from home) and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (same vacation supply bin). Mixed these ingredients until well combined and sprinkled over the apples.
Put pie in oven on top of cookie sheet that was in the unit. If there had been no cookie sheet in the unit, we would have found a disposable one at The Dollar Tree. Pies ALWAYS spew over the top. It is unconscionable to make a terrible mess in the oven that the service staff will have to clean up. Seriously.
Bake for 45 minutes or so. Insert a fork or knife into the apples to see if they are tender. If not, let it cook another ten minutes or so. Our oven did the job in just over 45.
It was not a perfect pie , but it was better than nothing, and a sweet treat to have for dinner a couple of nights.
You can eat out. (Expensive...)
You can eat in. (You need to bring equipment, food, spices.)
You can fast. (For a weekend, possibly...but probably not if you are going to be gone for a week.)
We always take food and kitchen stuff with us. Too much stuff. This vacation we took way more than we ever had before, including at least a peck of fresh utility Macoun apples. They were good apples but we were not going to eat that many fresh apples. What to do, what to do?
We chose to make an apple pie. This is how:
Went to the store for a frozen pie shell.
Preheated the oven to 350 degrees F.
Peeled, cored, sliced 6 apples and put in large bowl with about 1/2 cup granulated sugar (from vacation supply bin) then added 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (purchased at The Dollar Tree store). Put the prepared apples into the pie shell.
Took 1 1/1 cups of Rip's Big Bowl cereal, sans the spoon sized Shredded Wheat, and crumbled it with 2 tablespoons butter (brought from home) and 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (same vacation supply bin). Mixed these ingredients until well combined and sprinkled over the apples.
Put pie in oven on top of cookie sheet that was in the unit. If there had been no cookie sheet in the unit, we would have found a disposable one at The Dollar Tree. Pies ALWAYS spew over the top. It is unconscionable to make a terrible mess in the oven that the service staff will have to clean up. Seriously.
Bake for 45 minutes or so. Insert a fork or knife into the apples to see if they are tender. If not, let it cook another ten minutes or so. Our oven did the job in just over 45.
It was not a perfect pie , but it was better than nothing, and a sweet treat to have for dinner a couple of nights.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Food Friday: Sort of Quick, Sort of Braised, Carrots on Vacation
Deep colored vegetables and fruits are supposed to be very good for our bodies. I eat the darker colored vegetables whenever I can.
On vacation last week my sister and I went to a thrift store and found several really good things, including a folding steamer basket. When we left on vacation this time, I had thrown most of the vegetables and fruits in our refrigerator into a cooler bag to take with us to eat up. (NOTE TO SELF: Do NOT do this again!!! It is too much bother. Instead {new note to self!} save money all year so we can eat out on vacation most meals.)
We did not use the steamer last week, but this week, I put the steamer basket in a wonderful heavy pot that was here in the unit with two cups of water in the bottom and started the pot on medium high heat. (I discovered the reason the steamer basket had been donated to the Salvation Army:the third leg had broken off. Nevertheless it was still very usable, though it listed a little towards Sawyers'...)
In the meantime I had peeled and cut into sticks about 3 inches long nearly a pound of carrots. I put them into the steamer, covered the pot, and let them steam for about 6 minutes, until the carrots were tender crisp.
When the carrots were cooked enough to suit me, I put about two teaspoons of butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet and melted it over medium heat. After adding the cooked carrots I put them into the melted butter and stirred gently. When they all were shiny with butter, I sprinkled on one teaspoon of granulated sugar and stirred again. I turned off the heat and stirred and tossed the carrots for a couple of minutes then served. They were really yummy.
There are more carrots in the refrigerator so I will make this again. Maybe next time Dear One will eat one or two sticks...but I am not counting on it.
On vacation last week my sister and I went to a thrift store and found several really good things, including a folding steamer basket. When we left on vacation this time, I had thrown most of the vegetables and fruits in our refrigerator into a cooler bag to take with us to eat up. (NOTE TO SELF: Do NOT do this again!!! It is too much bother. Instead {new note to self!} save money all year so we can eat out on vacation most meals.)
We did not use the steamer last week, but this week, I put the steamer basket in a wonderful heavy pot that was here in the unit with two cups of water in the bottom and started the pot on medium high heat. (I discovered the reason the steamer basket had been donated to the Salvation Army:the third leg had broken off. Nevertheless it was still very usable, though it listed a little towards Sawyers'...)
 |
| More or less braised carrots. Really delicious! |
In the meantime I had peeled and cut into sticks about 3 inches long nearly a pound of carrots. I put them into the steamer, covered the pot, and let them steam for about 6 minutes, until the carrots were tender crisp.
When the carrots were cooked enough to suit me, I put about two teaspoons of butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet and melted it over medium heat. After adding the cooked carrots I put them into the melted butter and stirred gently. When they all were shiny with butter, I sprinkled on one teaspoon of granulated sugar and stirred again. I turned off the heat and stirred and tossed the carrots for a couple of minutes then served. They were really yummy.
There are more carrots in the refrigerator so I will make this again. Maybe next time Dear One will eat one or two sticks...but I am not counting on it.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Harvest 2016: Sweet Potatoes
As we were driving south for our vacation last week we saw three different signs beside the road (Route 13) advertising sweet potatoes. I LOVE sweet potatoes. Dear One tolerates them. Occasionally. Every time we saw a sign, we did NOT see any sweet potatoes. As we left to drive back north we agreed that if we saw sweet potatoes we would stop.
WELL! We did see a sign but the stand was RIGHT THERE, way too quick to turn off the highway without danger to life and limb, so we drove on. Eventually, in Bridgeville, Delaware, we saw another sign, then a large field of cornstalks, then a pickup truck parted beside the road. Dear One pulled over!
On the open tailgate of the truck were three big baskets of the largest sweet potatoes I had ever seen. Dear One had given me three bills when I got out of the car: a ten, a five, and a one. I asked the man at the truck about the big baskets of giant sweet potatoes. They were $16!!! Exactly the amount of money I had in my hand.
Rushing back to the car I cleared a spot in the back seat for the basket of potatoes then went back to the truck. More cars were stopping behind us. It turns out the small baskets were $9, which is what the woman behind me bought while I was arranging the car to store the potatoes.
It turned out the basket did not come with the potatoes. Too bad. Either way, I just wanted those potatoes. A very large sturdy paper bag of sweet potatoes later, I was ready for some information on how to take care of the potatoes. (Each potato will serve two hungry people, so it will take a while to eat them all.
This nice man said to store these potatoes in a dark, dry, warm place in their unwashed condition. He said we needed to put a newspaper over the top so any moisture in the air would be caught by the newspaper and not settle on the potatoes. He told me that if we stored them this way, the potatoes would last for a year. Well, I can tell you right now, they WILL NOT last for a year. I doubt if they will last until Thanksgiving! Unless I practice extreme restraint. I have already consumed one that I cooked in the microwave.
WELL! We did see a sign but the stand was RIGHT THERE, way too quick to turn off the highway without danger to life and limb, so we drove on. Eventually, in Bridgeville, Delaware, we saw another sign, then a large field of cornstalks, then a pickup truck parted beside the road. Dear One pulled over!
On the open tailgate of the truck were three big baskets of the largest sweet potatoes I had ever seen. Dear One had given me three bills when I got out of the car: a ten, a five, and a one. I asked the man at the truck about the big baskets of giant sweet potatoes. They were $16!!! Exactly the amount of money I had in my hand.
Rushing back to the car I cleared a spot in the back seat for the basket of potatoes then went back to the truck. More cars were stopping behind us. It turns out the small baskets were $9, which is what the woman behind me bought while I was arranging the car to store the potatoes.
It turned out the basket did not come with the potatoes. Too bad. Either way, I just wanted those potatoes. A very large sturdy paper bag of sweet potatoes later, I was ready for some information on how to take care of the potatoes. (Each potato will serve two hungry people, so it will take a while to eat them all.
This nice man said to store these potatoes in a dark, dry, warm place in their unwashed condition. He said we needed to put a newspaper over the top so any moisture in the air would be caught by the newspaper and not settle on the potatoes. He told me that if we stored them this way, the potatoes would last for a year. Well, I can tell you right now, they WILL NOT last for a year. I doubt if they will last until Thanksgiving! Unless I practice extreme restraint. I have already consumed one that I cooked in the microwave.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Knitting Project: Toddler Hoodie
During our vacation I was able to finish the toddler hoodie I was knitting for the Yarn Hound in Dennis, Massachusetts. I do not have the pattern in front of me but I am pretty sure this is the one here.
This sweater was really an easy knitting project. The only thing that I had trouble with was the button band. A specific number of stitches needed to be picked up. I did the exact number. I followed the directions but still got the little funny bit at the bottom of the band. Of course, I still have not blocked the sweater. Perhaps that will fix the appearance of the bottom of that button band.
This sweater is the 12-month size. Because I did not find a 12-month old child to try it on, I cannot saw if the pattern is true to size. Perhaps by the time I get the packaging together to send the sweater, I will have had time to block it and find a small model to check the sizing....
 |
| This hoodie is in a mostly-cotton yarn. It knits up very well. |
This sweater was really an easy knitting project. The only thing that I had trouble with was the button band. A specific number of stitches needed to be picked up. I did the exact number. I followed the directions but still got the little funny bit at the bottom of the band. Of course, I still have not blocked the sweater. Perhaps that will fix the appearance of the bottom of that button band.
This sweater is the 12-month size. Because I did not find a 12-month old child to try it on, I cannot saw if the pattern is true to size. Perhaps by the time I get the packaging together to send the sweater, I will have had time to block it and find a small model to check the sizing....
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