Short Story Long

Wow, I did not even post once a month, last year.  At the close of 2015, I was trying to wrap up some Christmas knitting - didn't happen, some commissioned knitting - didn't happen.  I usually have the Christmas tree down before New Year's...  Took two weeks before that happened.  I feel like I am just getting back on my feet after the holidays.  Those few days between New Year's and school starting up again leave me feeling like I am standing in a queue, waiting for Routine to kick in again.  So finally, I feel like we've pushed past the beginning of the year!  One thing I did manage to finish is the 115 in 2015 photo challenge on Flickr.  Finally.  Only took me four years to get one of those lists done!  You can check out my whole set here .  I do not love them all; I struggled with Addiction - ha, that's funny.  I had something specific in mind, but it seemed kind of weird to find someone that I could photograph with an...

Continuing on with our baking spree , my middle kid and I made some nutty granola.   We used this recipe from Heather Ballard's blog.  It was a huge hit with everyone.  I feel lucky that in these times, my kids prefer to snack on nuts and fruits, and we have no allergies.  This is also a kid-friendly recipe, measuring out the nuts and oats was right up his alley.   We made a half batch, which was mostly easy except when it came to the canola oil, which we sort of eyeballed.  The two major changes we made were using just two kinds of nuts - what we had on hand, pecans and almonds.  We also used steel cut oats instead of rolled oats.  Again, what we hand on hand, and we didn't know the difference .  We do now, and luckily it worked out alright.  Everyone liked the steel cut, so we will use that again, actually!  As I said, the granola went over well.  It was requested for lunches and breakfast and after school ...

I don't know if it's the fall weather, or the episodes of The Great British Baking Show that I've been watching, but I've been on a baking streak.  I may start saying "that's lovely" with sincerity, and "proved" instead of "proofed." On Wednesday, I made a challah loaf, my first!  Not my first bread.  I was afraid I would have a problem with the yeast; I believe that happened last time I made bread (not recent.)  It was fine though; I think I'm more patient than I used to be.  Maybe?  I'm working on that.  The loaf turned out very well, although I was stumped a bit on rolling the ropes - fat in the middle, skinny ends, I now know.  I used a recipe from the Kitchn, here .  Easy as pie. Er, bread. the dough is "proved," in my grandmother's bowl four-strand braid not quite enough egg wash, but a lovely brown nonetheless It was a huge hit!  It was asked for until it was gone - two days.  We will b...

In case you've ever wondered what drives me...   Almost from the time I began knitting, I've been putting my own twist on projects.  I was reading knitting blogs and joined Ravelry before I was a knitter, so I was already seeing that knitters modified patterns to suit them before I could do it myself.  In fact, this is one of the things that drew me most to knitting - being able to make the sweater I want in the color I want.  In my observation over the past seven years, I see that many knitters make small modifications to patterns based on their own needs - making the sleeves longer or shorter; adding or omitting pockets; using a cast on, decrease or buttonhole that they prefer.  I came into this thinking that was part of the fun - being able to make it my own.  The first pattern I ever wrote and published was a cabled hat, Glacier .  I may go back and edit that pattern, now that I've learned a few more tricks!  But at the beginning, I just ...

I have been busy... canning knitting photographing reading hiking

What a beautiful time of year: not too hot, in fact perfect for a sweater, especially in the morning!  And yet, there is still plenty of garden goodness to be had.  My boys are in school, and everyone has a little space and independence, including me.  I am always happy to discover another rose, a neighbor out walking dogs, a few leaves turning, a good book with just enough time to crack it open, and new yarn in my local yarn shop.  BFJ and I drove up to Boulder yesterday for some pictures, and I discovered a tin of my favorite tea - which I'd just recently run out of, in one of the culinary shops on Pearl Street.  Perfect timing. Today, I'm making some  Peach Preserves . It seems like everything is so readily available these days, at the store, on the internet.  Almost takes the fun out of finding things.  However, local, organic peaches - that are hopefully ripe, are not easy to come by.  I'm settling for local, ripe peaches this year. ...