[gardening] More microgreens

More microgreens:

Sunflower seeds in the front and peas in the back. 

I did harvest some of the small radish microgreens that I started after the workshop and used them for dinner last week. 

My popcorn seeds are growing in the dark pantry closet but they don't seem to have a stellar germination rate.

I didn't take any pictures but I did have some alfalfa seeds spouting in a jar on the counter- I used those sprouts on salads and in egg salad sandwiches.

It's nice to be growing things inside (esp since we're having another cold snap around here- we had a frost yesterday morning and the heat has kicked back on in the house), the only hard part is remembering to water/spritz/spray everything.

[dyeing] Yarn Dyeing Workshop

On Sunday I went to a yarn dyeing workshop at Scratch in Lebanon, NH. There were maybe 10 other people there (mostly from the Green Mountain Knitting Guild, I think) and it was really fun.

First of all, the shop is really nice. Lots of fun yarn from independent dyers. Love the fun samples and projects here and there:

We received two skeins of superwash worsted-weight merino/silk and dyed with acid dyes. A sampling of different colors:

I went with blue/gold. I poured them in lines because I don't know what I'm doing.  

I did add some sprinkles of fuchsia to try for a specked effect but it was mostly lost in the final yarn.

The finished yarn:

I do really like it. When it first came out of the dye bath, I was like, "Meh, I don't know what to think." But I think it will be good knit up and I hope there won't be any color pooling because of the haphazardness of the dye application.

Oh and I did get a skein of Cat Sandwich yarn:

Because... "CAT SANDWICH". How can I not buy yarn with that name?

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I've been sick, off and on, since the last week of March. It's a little demoralizing. I'm overworked during the teaching weeks, I take some sick leave here and there, I feel like I'm getting better but I had chills last week and a hacking cough which seems to have peaked over the weekend. I'm stressing about it constantly, thinking, "I need to get better by such-and-such date because I'm teaching." But I'm not sleeping through the night (I haven't in weeeeeeks) and my body's tired and my mind is paranoid (is the water at work making me sick? is Rocky's cage in the house making me sick?). 

Now I'm currently stressing out about this coming weekend. "I gotta get better. I'm going to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I can't be sick. I bought a plane ticket. I have to go." I'm taking all kinds of medications (I'm paranoid that that's only prolonging things) and drinking tea nonstop. 

I haven't been doing much cooking because I haven't been hungry but I've still been crafting. I've made a bunch of small doilies that I finally blocked this weekend. I started some play crochet food for my niece's upcoming birthday. Lots of fun pictures to come...

We did go see Avenger's Endgame on Friday. I had to leave the theater about 8 times to go to the bathroom to cough (lovely) without disrupting other people's viewing experience. Because of that, I think we'll probably go see the movie again some time this week. Which is fine by me- it was epic and awesome and sad and happy and the greatest ending to the greatest movie saga of all time. Love x 3000.

[spinning] Chartreuse and Blue Tunis

I'm spinning up some fiber that I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last year (from Wellspring Farm):

I have 10 oz of tunis fiber total and I just finished spinning 5 oz onto one bobbin (above). I'm using my Ashford Joy wheel and keep it right in front of a chair in the craft room. I try to sit and spin a bit whenever I walk by it.

Trying to put a dent in the fiber stash because I know I'm going to bring home lots of goodies from MDSW next weekend!

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I've been crocheting small doilies in the evenings. I have lots of finishing to do on misc things (weaving in ends on a couple brioche cowls, blocking the buffalo plaid hat and new doilies).

I'm distracted by outdoor chores that I can do now- I'm cleaning up flowerbeds for an hour when I get home from work. I've got lots of primrose coming up now. Mini daffodils and hyacinths are blooming... There's evidence of deer bothering the gardens (young shoots nibbled at... piles of POO everywhere) so I've been going around spraying deer repellent.

The microgreens are growing. What I thought was mold at the bottom of the sprouting radish seeds is actually not mold but part of the germination process (which I only learned after I searched YouTube for how to get rid of mold on microgreens)... whew. I've started some black oil sunflower seeds, peas and popcorn. The popcorn is staying in the pantry closet, totally dark (to keep it yellow). The sunflower and peas have been moved to a table in the house entryway. It isn't the sunniest- the radish I started last week is rather leggy- but it's working. I'd leave everything on the windowsill but I fear the cats would dig around in the soil and then chomp on the greens once they started showing leaves.

[cooking] Easter Baking

My contributions to Easter dinner...

Rolls:

I used this recipe but didn't add any of the pumpkin pie spice. I had defrosted the last of my pumpkin puree and wanted to use it up in these dinner rolls. I'm trying to make room in my freezer.

And I brought dessert- a carrot cake:

I followed this recipe but also added a little ground ginger and cloves, as well as finely chopped crystallized ginger.

I didn't do the cream cheese frosting because I ran out of time. So now I have a package of cream cheese in the fridge- what to do, what to do...

[knitting] Buffalo Plaid Hat

Working on a buffalo plaid (or hunter's plaid) hat:

I caught the floats midway through each square but now I'm wondering if I should have left them long. The squares are kind of puckered- hopefully blocking will even things out. 

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Had a good weekend. Got my snow tires off. Missed the book sale (Doh! I forgot on Saturday and Sunday I was busy baking stuff for Easter dinner). Started some alfalfa sprouts and new microgreens. Made a quick little doily. Got a little spinning in. Did some pulled pork on the slow cooker.

Didn't really do any of the stuff I needed to (laundry... vacuuming... recycling...). I'll do that stuff this coming weekend. I swear.

Four more days until Marvel's Avengers Endgame. I am so excite!

[cooking] Granola

Made a tray of granola on Sunday:

This is the recipe I used in terms of ratios and cooking time/temp. But I used what I had in the pantry: rolled oats, toasted sesame seeds, flax seeds, millet, shaved coconut. I used peanut butter, maple syrup, veg oil as a binder but after cooking for an hour (I definitely didn't need an hour and a half) and after stirring every 15 min, it's not a clumpy granola. 

It's very tasty, though. The millet (which I generally have a hard time finding uses for) gets a nice toasty flavor and pleasant crunch. I've divvied out the granola out into individual portions to add to yogurt. If I kept it all in one big container, all the small stuff would sift to the bottom.

My breakfasts are all homemade now: yogurt made in the instant pot, homemade granola, blueberry compote (blueberries picked at a local farm last summer and kept in the freezer- I boil the berries down with maple syrup and cinnamon to a thick consistency).

[knitting] Next brioche project

Yarn for my next brioche project:

It's another basic cowl but will be using a couple different bundles of Caron Pantone yarn. There will be lots of ends to weave in but it'll be worth it for all the colors. (I hope.)

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For local people, the 5 Colleges Book Sale is this weekend at the Lebanon, NH High School. I have a car appointment on Sat morning and will probably swing by after. 

Sunday is Easter- I think I'll try some (plain) hot cross buns to bring to dinner. Not sure what a good dessert would be. Maybe carrot cake. 

Should be nice and sunny (and not too windy) this afternoon. Maybe I'll do some more gardening...

[gardening] Microgreens

I mentioned yesterday that I took a microgreens workshop with my sister on Sunday. D Acres Farm in Dorchester was pretty cool with a lot of different things going on:

Makes me want to do some kind of fingerpost at my house. This farm offers a lot of workshops and events. I've love to come back in the summertime to see the gardens when everything's green and growing.

We learned a lot of good info on growing for ourselves at home. Out in the farm's greenhouse/patio, several trays of microgreens were growing:

And we all went home with a little kit to grow a small tray at home:

I started mine last night. Maybe they'll be ready by Easter?

This also makes me want to get back into sprouting. I should start a jar of lentils after work today.

[misc] Penny Monday

Penny gets into bed at night and either snuggles in behind my knees or between my legs (depending if I'm laying on my side or back). Then she stares at me, telepathically telling me to put my phone away and turn off the light.

Had a good weekend. Saturday was sunny and warm- nearly 70 degrees. I cleaning up a lot of the two front flowerbeds. I tried to bring Penny out on her leash but she was too scared. Santana did come out but started to get a little wiley (like she might bolt), so we brought her back in. Murderface stayed in the window inside where he's content. Lots of good little spots of catnip starting to grow.

Sunday I went to a microgreens workshop with my sister at D Acres Farm in Dorchester, NH. It was informative and we went home with a little container to grow at home. 

Not much knitting done. Even less sewing. It's approaching the point where gardening/outdoor time is substantially replacing crafty/indoor time. Which is fine with me. I'll reserve indoor chores/tasks for when it's raining.

[quilting] More squares

Working on more quilt blocks.

And another. Before:

After:

Down to the last couple piles of pre-cut blocks. Hopefully I'll sew them this weekend.

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TGIF 1000%. Had a loooooooong week of teaching but now there's a three week gap until the next class. Which doesn't mean I have three weeks off- I just get to do my regular work for three weeks before the next class. This week was particularly rough because I was still getting over being sick from a couple weeks ago and lecturing all day did no favors for my voice, throat, cough. But I'm going to relax this weekend.

The maple swirl bread I made on Sunday has lasted all week. It's smells heavenly when toasted. I think I'll try making some homemade granola next.

I'm ready to cast off my brioche cowl and start in on the next one. Although the weather tomorrow is meant to be in the 60's and I'm itching to start cleaning up the flower beds.

[knitting] My First Brioche

Decided to jump into brioche knitting with my first cowl:

Using my finest discount squeaky acrylic- because I'm new at this and I'm not gonna use my good stuff yet.

So far, it's easy. I haven't tried increasing/decreasing yet but this is fun- and the resulting fabric is oh so sqooshy. I just need to find a faster way- I'm doing one-color per round and I know there has to be a two-handed way to knit both colors at the same time. I'll give it a try when I start the next cowl.

[cooking] Maple Walnut Swirl Bread

This month's bakealong challenge in the Cooking from Scratch Ravelry group is specialty yeasted bread. I chose to make this Vermont Maple Swirl Bread from King Arthur Flour:

I used ground walnuts instead of almond or pecan meal. It's kind of like making a rich cinnamon bun log or king cake but baking it in a bundt pan. The only downside is that I placed the log seam side down into the bundt pan, so when I turned it out:

The seam is very apparent. Doh- next time I'll remember to put it in seam side UP.

It's a great bread- I think slices will toast nicely. I opted not to do the maple glaze but I definitely would if I were to make this again for a party. It feels like it's needs a frosting, like cinnamon buns.

It's so pretty baked in a decorative bundt shape and would be impressive to cut into- guests will oooo and aaahh when they see the swirl.

[knitting] Quick Pink Fuzzy Hat

Got distracted with some pink novelty yarn:

After the slow shawl and socks and tea cozy projects, I wanted to make something quick in just a couple weeknight evenings. This is an ultra soft and fuzzy hat. The yarn is bulky Skacel Luxor- given to me by a former coworker. This was a breeze to whip up on US 10 (6 mm) needles. Cast on 72, k2p2 long enough for a fold-over brim, continue on in stockinette, decrease, close, weave in ends, sip some wine, put on the finished hat, sip some more wine.

But now I should get back to stash diving for what I was really looking for: yarn for a simple, two-color brioche cowl...

[knitting] Vanilla Rainbow Socks

Finished up a plain vanilla pair of socks:

The yarn is Fiber Stash Dyeworks Twinkle Toes. I can't remember the name of the colorway but they're very colorful and sparkly under artificial light. This is the last skein of Fiber Stash yarn in my stash (I used blue for the Lissajous Figures socks and brown for the Flaco socks) and I'm ready to get more. I think I'll have to wait for VT Sheep and Wool in the fall- I'm still trying to stash down. (But Fiber Stash will be vending at NH Sheep and Wool May 11-12!)

I started working on these socks right after Santana's stroke. I wanted something simple to work on while I followed her around the house and watched her movement. But she's practically back to normal now. She's eating, taking her medicine and moving around/jumping easily. 

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Made a nice potato/leek soup last night. And started some no-knead dough. Tonight will either be sloppy joes (if I can motivate to turn some of the no-knead dough into buns) or roasted chicken.

I'm trying to find yarn in the stash for my first brioche knitting project. I have several Caron Pantone bundles that I got on sale at Michaels for multi-colored cowls but I want to try a simple two-color brioche cowl first.

I also have three colors of Cascade 220 Superwash to make a buffalo plaid hat. (Black, burgundy, red.)

Quilting is still moving along. I'm down to two stacks of pre-cut pieces. And I've been secretly working on another quilt.

Still spinning away on 1.25 pounds of a blue and chartreuse mix of wool.

This weekend I think I'll make a Maple Swirl Bread.

[crochet] Scallop Tea Cosy

Tea pot cosy in action:

Yarn: Cascade Casablanca - 1.25 skeins

The density of the crocodile stitch makes a thick cosy that retains heat well. I left this pot for an hour and a half to go out and run some errands. The tea was still warm when I got back. I mean, it was lukewarm but that's technically still 'warm'.

I sewed both sides together, leaving an opening for the handle and spout. I didn't do anything fancy for the top; just knit a cotton i-cord to draw through the top scallops and cinch it closed:

I used cotton to make the cord more durable- there will be a lot of cinching/tying/cinching/tying in the future.

Love this cosy- it's bright and colorful. It's making me drink more tea, which is good. I'm already thinking about the next cosy to make...

[knitting] Rumpelstiltskin Shawl

My finished Rumpelstiltskin Shawl:

Pattern: Rumpelstiltskin by Christin Kimsey (rav link)

Yarn: Universal Yarn Renew Wool (discontinued) for the main body; Plymouth Galway for the border.

Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm)

I did 9 complete pattern repeats with 3 balls of the green Renew Wool. And I feel very lucky I was able to do that with only a few yards of yarn leftover... but what to do about the border? I have lots of misc worsted weight wool in my stash but should I do a solid color border? Stripes? What kind of stripes? I pulled some colors that I liked with the green:

I had a full ball of navy blue, most of a ball of brick red and about a quarter of a ball of gold. My border would be garter stitch in the following sequence:

2 garter rows- navy blue 

1 garter row - gold 

2 garter rows- navy blue 

3 garter rows - brick 

2 garter rows- navy blue 

1 garter row - gold 

2 garter rows - navy blue

Here's the immense shawl blocking- and I still wasn't sure how I liked the border:

But it has grown on me- I do like it very much now. 

The only drawback is that the border is a bit heavy. The main body is light and lacy; the 24 rows of worsted knitting at the bottom may pull down the shawl over time. If I were to do this again, I might not make the border as wide or use a lighter weight yarn.

It's huge and cosy- just right for snuggling into when the house is cold. Now that the weather is warming, though, I think this will be tucked away until next fall. It will be a nice surprise when I remember and pull it out.

[misc] Penny Monday

Penny, keeping watch:

For woodchucks. They are up and out of hibernation- I saw a couple through this window yesterday at dusk. Two have already moved into the deluxe Rock Wall Apartments. 

Last week I was teaching at work and on Monday I came down with the sneezes and sniffles. I said, "Tis but allergies- I'm sure it's just the snow melting and exposing the ground." I tried to convince myself it was still allergies on Tuesday. Wednesday I was feeling really bad and had to leave work early. Same on Thursday and I had to line someone up to close out the class for me on Friday so I could take the day as sick leave.

Throughout last week, Santana wasn't eating. She was getting skinny again. We'd put wet food down, she'd take two bites, then run away and hide. She did consume more when it was just liquids (half and half, water from canned tuna fish, etc) but I took her to the vet on Friday to see what's up. Clearly, it was a problem with her mouth... probably her teeth. The vet took a look and saw bad teeth and an infection. Santana got an antibiotic shot and more medicine to take at home. After a few days, she's back to eating normally and not looking so skinny. (The vet did say that Santana's doing extremely well recovering from her stoke- which occurred only three weeks ago.)

The rest of the weekend was devoted to crafty things. I had a lingering cough but was feeling better overall. I sewed a couple quilt blocks, ironed some denim patches onto a couple pairs of Dollar's jeans, finished my knit shawl, tea pot cosy, plain vanilla socks, started a new spinning project... Lots of different stuff.

I'm still working on the knit sweater and crocheted afghan but had to started a quick, bulky, pink hat last night- just to have something small and easy to work on. Not sure what I'll start up next... but I have ideas...

For any local people- there is an upcoming yarn dyeing workshop at Scratch Supple Co. in Lebanon, NH on Sunday, April 28 (12pm). I heard about it via a Green Mountain Knitting Guild newsletter. It's $35 and you can learn more from the Ravelry event page.