Fit to be Tied

 

Remember this? It's the project that took me months to get to this place. Everything from warping to threading went wrong.

Now it looks like this. This is me trying real hard not to stomp all over it. Silly me thought I could adjust the heddle count after it had all been tied on in order to even out the tension and......it didn't go well. It all slipped off in a tangle of metal and yarn. I pulled it all out and cut it off.  Sometimes things are just not meant to be. I should have gotten the message sooner. 

I had a momentary fit of pique and then went and pulled out some scraps and started over. 

This time I'm going back to familiar territory using materials and techniques I like and have had success with. I never liked anything about that last project. It felt good to stuff it into the trash.

I do confess that it wasn't all that project's fault. I should have done a better job at counting off these things instead of just leaving the ones I had from the last project on the loom. I will next time.

Wednesday WIPs

 

Sitting and Knitting time was hard to find this week but I did get an inch or two on the socks.

I've been working on my first "innie" block of the Hue Shift Afghan and it's not going so well. I had to send my first try to the frog pond because the place where all three blocks meet looked terrible. I had managed to get a big bump there so I'm starting over and being more careful this time. 

I've got the March quota of the Doodle Cowl finished. Now I have to decide where to go next for April.

And I'm sad to report that my powdered buttermilk didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped with the soda bread. I usually get a big rise out of the real stuff but yesterday I ended up with two scones. Ah, well. Flat or not, they were good. 

TNT: Slainte!

As a stitcher, is this or is this not the scariest thing you could ever see? I've been working both ends hoping to meet in the middle. Remains to be seen. If the worst happens, it's getting a pattern adjustment. I won't be ripping that all out. 

Since we are all Irish today, let me wish you a Happy St Patrick's Day! I've got corned beef and plenty of cabbage and potatoes for dinner. 

After scouring the town for some buttermilk, I had to resort to a delivery from the evil corporation that shall not be named. A dear little man braved yesterday's storms to get this to me and I am grateful. I know I could use the vinegar or lemon trick but I can't. Soda bread just isn't right without the buttermilk. 

And....I had a question about the recipe I'm using for my discard crackers so here it is:

I take whatever discard I have and weigh it. For every 100 grams I add 1 TBL of olive oil and a dash of fine sea salt. 

I spread it as thin as I can get it on a silicone mat lined cookie sheet and sprinkle it with a bit of Parmesan, rosemary and a bit of coarse sea salt. 

It goes in the oven at 350 for 5-6 minutes, then I take it out and score it with a pizza cutter. Then back in the oven until very brown. 

I like them almost burnt but it's up to you how dark you want them. The trick to getting them really crisp is to leave them in the oven after you turn it off and just let them sit until you get the amount of crunch you're looking for. I hope this helps.

Dogwoods and Ginkos and Maples. Oh, my..

 

Meet #15. This little thing was the last one to be planted this weekend. Those little pines are so darn cute. I wanted to just keep them in the house as pets. 

The bigger trees are just sticks right now. I'll be anxiously watching for signs of life. 

While we were digging I could feel someone or something watching us. It was Louise, nestled in the tree debris. She is our remaining inside/outside cat from the big litter we rescued years ago. She hardly goes out anymore since she lost her hearing but she was apparently interested in what we were doing out in the yard. I don't think she was impressed. 

In sad news, I killed Betty White. I had used part of her to get this last loaf started and somehow when I moved her remains to what I thought was a clean jar, I put her in one that contained some dirty old onion skins. I had been making soup on the counter earlier and somehow some skins must have ended up in the bottom of the jar. Ick. Thank goodness Brown Betty is still going strong. 

I've been using her to make Rosemary/Parmesan crackers. If I never make another loaf of bread I would be fine as long as I can make these. They are addicting. 

Oscar Sunday

 

What I have been doing at night after days of yard work and tree planting is trying to catch up on all the movies that are nominated this year. I hadn't seen a single one. I've seen six of them now.  I'm going to play critic here with a mini review of what I've seen because honestly, I'm a bit flummoxed at what is considered a great movie these days. Feel free to add your thoughts:

Sinners: I was expecting vampires but I wasn't expecting singing vampires in a movie that made valid points about race relations in the Jim Crow era.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't the intended audience but I did like the dance scene that transcended time.

One Battle After Another:  I liked seeing Leonardo DiCaprio as a clueless, middle aged dad. Seeing him try to dive out of a car window was worth the whole rest of the chaos. They could have cut half of the main characters out and no one would have missed them-except Benicio del Toro. It needed more Benicio less Sean Penn. 

Bugonia: The weirdest movie I have EVER seen and I've seen Poor Things. The acting is fabulous but I want to smack the screenwriters and whoever the set and costume designers were for that last bit. 

Train Dreams: The most "normal" of all the movies I've seen so far but it gave me nightmares. Actual nightmares. Too much death by trees for someone who's been terrified of death by trees. That being me. 

Frankenstein: I'm not sure how anyone managed to make Frankenstein such a boring movie but they did. I fell asleep three times trying to get through it. When I thought it was over and then Part 2 showed up on the screen, I wanted to throw one of my Crocs at it but I toughed it out hoping for a redemption arc that never happened. 

Hamnet: No. Just no. I'm never entertained by other people's grief especially when they are trying too hard to get an emotional response. The gentle scene at the bird's grave was the only one that felt genuine. The audiobook was a rare DNF for me so no surprise that I wasn't a fan.

Thank you for letting me indulge in this film babble. The Mister won't watch artsy fartsy movie so I've got no one to bounce my thoughts off of. I sure wish he had watched Bugonia with me though. I would have loved to have seen the expression on his face as the credits rolled.

Can You Dig It?

 

The newest additions to the yard are here. 

Ta da....six baby Eastern White Pines, a Kousa Dogwood, an October Glory Red Maple and a Ginko. It's back to digging holes today. These particular trees are from the Deer Resistant collection so I'm hoping I won't have any surprises come Sunday morning.   

Rink Nannies

 

How it started. 

How it ended. Our day at the rink with the Grands was supposed to be a picnic and a walk on the trails around the rink but the weather didn't cooperate. It poured and then snowed all day. 

It might have ruined our plans but it was awfully pretty and it kept the kids entertained. There was a lot of snowball making. I'm so glad I hadn't packed away my Lopi mittens. They were still in the car. If you need to clean snow off a car in a hurry, you can't beat them. Your hands stay warm and dry no matter what kind of snow you're dealing with. There's magic in that wool. 

We did a 11:30 to 3:30 sitting gig while Daughter met with some special students who travel here to work with her. The big Grand had an hour lesson with his own coach so between the skating and the snow we had plenty to keep us busy.

Baby Grand had no problem spending most of his day in the stroller but I let him roam while his brother was getting his lesson. This guy loves the ice. He would run right out there if I had let him. He was practicing jumping in the lobby after watching some skaters go through their off ice exercises. 

We were about an hour north so I wondered if we had gotten any snow down where we live. We did. It's back to a winter wonderland outside. It won't last but it sure is pretty.