Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Well,

I buckled down and zoomed through several inches on mom's vest. I now have everything from the bottom to the split for the underarms in one fuzzy, variegated rectangle. Like I said before, I've been following a diagram she gave me, measured from an existing vest. But at the armholes, the math goes funny. It's much wider around at the bottom, and then it suddenly loses about ten inches, right where the armholes come in. And armholes aren't normally five inches wide, right? Anyway, progress has stopped until we can re-measure.

Meanwhile, because that knitting energy has to go somewhere, I picked up butterfly again. I was farther along when I stopped than I thought I was, so it really wasn't much work. I finished the body today, and now all I have left is the trim around the top edges and the straps. And blocking, of course. Of course. Pictures soon.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Recently, admiring things on Smitten Kitchen

has turned to making things on Smitten Kitchen. That started on Sunday, when the boy accompanied me to a restaurant supply store, or the only place I could find high gluten flour. I started making bagels that night and had them finished Monday. I was a little anxious about the whole thing, mostly because it was my first experience with yeast and kneading, but the bagels turned out rather well. The skins weren't as tough as I like, though, so I think I'll boil for two minutes if I make them again. Pictures soon.

And last night, I used the last of the high gluten flour to surprise the boy with homemade pizza for dinner. I had to start making dinner three hours early so the dough could rise, though the total work involved was probably a little over an hour. Impractical, but a nice little treat. Plus the boy was thrilled and it was delicious.

Also, I generally don't worry too much about what I eat. I know that's bad, and sometimes I feel guilty about what I'm putting into my body, but really, paying attention to all that stuff would be exhausting. All the same, making my pizza and bagels meant I know there was nothing funny in them. And they tasted so fresh! (Um...duh.)

In case you were wondering, and you probably weren't, I haven't knit much lately. I stopped work on everything but my mom's birthday vest so it wouldn't be terribly late, and then work tapered off on that out of ennui. Perhaps after the cooking fun dies down.