Simple knits for complicated lives
I bet even the kids will like these baked parmesean spinach balls since they can eat them with their fingers. I'm also thinking that if I get really lazy, I could probably bake the ingredients in a baking dish rather than taking the time to make the balls. But spinach balls would be much more fun to eat than spinach casserole.
Enjoy!
Why am I talking about Winterfest on the day we break a February heat record? I'd planned to show off/laugh at the completed pumpkin sweater this week but I never got around to taking photos. The weather has just been so spring-like and beautiful on my days off, I haven't been able to force myself into a worsted weight sweater. So...
Instead of modeling the pumpkin sweater, I've been knitting on my Winterfest sweater. If you don't remember (and why would you??,) I started the Winterfest sweater in November, 2021. I was a vendor at Kings Dominion's Winterfest that year and decided to knit a sweater with the help of the kids who came through the booth. I'd ask them their age and pull that many yards off the skein of their choice and then I did my very best to knit them in the order they were chosen. It was a fun way of entertaining and including the kids while the parents shopped and it made for a, let's call it, exciting sweater.
It's definitely colorful!
The sweater is a simple ragland, knit with a zillion different colors of Palette on US 1 (2.50) needles. The sweater was pretty loose on me in 2021 and I pray it still is. I haven't tried it on since pulling it out of the UFO pile. At this point, the goal is to finish it, not necessarily wear it. Part of me thinks the sweater is too colorful and hideous while another part of me is hopeful that the asphalt gray waist ribbing and sleeves will calm down the wild colors. Winterfest ended and I ran out of kids to choose the next color so I decided to go wih a neutral dark gray, again, hoping the gray will calm the sweater down a bit. The third part of me just wants this beast finished. off the needles and off my To Knit list.
Whether the sweater fits or not, I just want it done. I've knit on it too much to quit now. I can't fathom how many stitches this giant, beast of a sweater already has in it nor do I even want to think about how many more stitches I still have to go. Once that waist hem is completed, I still have the sleeves to knit. I'll probably still be knitting this thing in 2024.
Good grief!
I hope that wherever you are, you are also experiencing beautiful spring weather, although maybe not as warm as it is here today. We hit 81 degrees, beating the previos record by six degrees! Of course tomorrow will bring normal temperatures and it will be back down below freezing by tomorrow night. Nothing like spring in Virginia!
Anyway, hope you are having nice weather and your knitting is going faster than mine.
Today's my son's birthday and since he loves chicken alfredo I thought it would be fun to try this chicken alfredo lasagna recipe. Actually, he loves shrimp alfredo and likes chicken alfredo, but I'm allergic to seafood so.... But hmmm, I wonder if I could make two lasagnas - one with chicken and one with shrimp. And, since I know nothing about cooking seafood (it's a Bad allergy!) perhaps I could talk my girl child into doing the baking. Now, that sounds like a plan!
Enjoy!
Yes! We've had a few warm, spring-like days recently and one of them happened to be on my day off. You know I spent the entire day outside, sitting on my butt and knitting. It was glorious! Okay, I did get up a few times to do about 40 loads of laundry, but otherwise, I spent the day sitting and knitting outside. It was awesome!
I finished the pumpkin sweater and started a shawl. I'll show you the sweater next week. The fit is... well, let's just say, the sweater has a few problems. (My problems, not the designers.) I'll explain more when I show you a photo. Before I model it, I need to gain about 20 pounds in the bust area and loose about 20 pounds in my arms. I had a slight issue with my dpn vs my interchangeable needle gauge. It's a good thing the pumpkin sweater is for Halloween becuase its fit is frightful.
But this shawl....
Oh my! I'm using Capretta from Knit Picks and it's Heaven! Pure Heaven! The yarn is a merino, cashmere and nylon blend and, I just noticed it's also a superwash. And now that I've noticed that, I'm headed straight to Knit Picks to buy more. I desperately need to knit a few more pairs of socks for myself. Cashmere socks. How decadent!
Oh, and the yarn is currently on sale! Woo-hoo!
But back to the shawl.... I'm not following a pattern, just making it up as I go. I knit a while, get bored with a color, add a thin light gray stripe, change colors and repeat. My plan is to do some kind of lacy edge with the light gray and to knit each color until I run out of yarn. Each skein has 230 yards so it should be a fairly large shawl.
The yarn is so nice to knit with and feels so good in my hand, knitting a large, garter stitch shawl shouldn't be a problem. It's quite meditative.
Today's recipe is a little different and only for the adults.
Forget Valentine's! I think I could happily drink one of these cocktails every day! The recipe sounds delicious and refreshing. And hey, there's fruit in there so it's healthy and good for you too!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Thank you all for the get well wishes. They worked! The z-pack from the doctor helped too. Man, that z-pack antiobiotic is some serious stuff! It knocked the mucus part of the respitory infection right out. Now I'm feeling 1,000 times better and only cough when I talk. The doctor promises the cough will go away in two to three weeks, once my airways are no longer inflamed.
Anyway, thank you for all the good health wishes. I much appreciated them. And, while I'm saying thanks, thank you for sticking with me and this blog. I realize it has not been exactly titalating reading lately.
Since I've been feeling better, I've been able to get some knitting done.
The hat has a hemmed brim and I guess you could consider it reversible, except I'm not sure I like the way the sewing line looks. I used a regular cast on and picked those cast on stitches up and knit them together with the stitches already on the needle when I hemmed it. It's a super simple process but it does leave that line. How do you handle hemmed hats/items?
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and what better way to say I love you than with a homemade, made from scratch, molten chocolate lava cake? The recipe, from aheadofthyme.com, looks simple enough and uses ingredients you probably already have in the pantry. Yum!
Enjoy!
It's been a slow week knitting wise. Everything wise, really.
The most knitting I've done this week was while I was at the doctor's waiting for my Covid, Flu and Strep tests to come back. Mostly, I've spent the week staring blankly at the wall, blowing my nose and coughing up a lung.
Thankfully, all the tests came back negative. It's just a simple respirtory infection and I'm now the proud owner of a z-pack and some prescription cough syrup. I haven't been able to sleep all week because of the coughing and choking on mucus (TMI??) so I'm really looking forward to the cough medicine tonight. It promises to make me sleepy and it must be pretty strong stuff. Instead of coming with a tiny dosage cup like most liquid medicines, it comes with a baby syringe becuase the dosage is so small. I can't wait for bedtime!
