Ronan

Friday Roundup: Hey, It’s Still Friday for Two More Hours

What I’m Knitting

I’m deep in the throes of secret commissioned knit design, which means I don’t have anything I can show you this week. So to distract you from the lack of actual knitting content, please enjoy this cute picture of my son. He grabbed my ChiaoGoos from where I’d left them on the couch, ran up to where I was standing, and shouted, “Knitting!” while clicking the needle tips together delightedly.

Heart. Melted.

What I’m Cooking

I’ve made vegan quiches with chickpea flour before, but this week I decided to go traditional with a tofu base. This recipe also used hummus, though, which gave it an awesome savory flavor! I paired it with garlic/almond green beans and salad. Yummy!

What I’m Reading

As promised, I finally finished the Zahn Star Wars saga. I picked up The Infinite Sea at the bookstore today. I really liked The 5th Wave, the first book in the series, so I have high hopes for this one!

Friday Roundup: Yummmm

What I’m Knitting

I got another square of the baby blanket done and blocked this week—that’s four down, five more to go! But the yarn for the commissioned designs that I’ve been waiting for arrived today, so the blanket will have to go on hold for a little bit.

My son helped me knit the last few rounds of the square by shoving DPNs into the WIP:

I can’t tell you much about the designs, but trust me, this yarn is goooorrrgeous. It feels like kittens distilled into yarn. Here’s a teaser pic:

What I’m Cooking

Some extremely tasty banana muffins with chunks of apple this week:

And pure vegan comfort food, quesadillas with onions, peppers, roasted corn, and olives:

What I’m Reading

I’m just starting the last book in the Star Wars cycle I’m reading! I don’t want it to end… but at least I have the new Rogue One movie to look forward to in December. (Have you seen the trailer yet? It’s awesome!)

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick little post here as I get a breather between opening gifts and cooking food for Christmas dinner!

Yarny gifts were acquired.

Vegan cinnamon rolls and vegan mini-quiches were made and devoured.

And best of all, this little boy’s day was MADE.

Merry Christmas to everyone out there who celebrates, and a happy Friday to those who don’t!

Friday Roundup: Another FO and Tasty Soups

What I’m Knitting

I have another FO from the Indie Design Gift-A-Long this week!

These felted mittens are to match Ronan’s aviator hat I showed off last week. Here’s what they looked like pre-felting (along with the yarn I had left—that was some serious yarn chicken with a hand-dyed, irreplaceable yarn):

Here are the specs on the mittens:

Pattern: Snow Day Mittens by Melissa Metzbower

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted, hand-dyed by my husband!

Notes: This pattern was clear and easy to follow, and I love that it includes sizes from teeny baby to large adult! I made the 24 month size for Ronan. They’re too big even after I felted them to within an inch of their lives, but that’s okay—with luck, he should be able to wear them next year, too. And he doesn’t mind that they’re big:

A few days ago, I received the yarn for three(!) secret deadline projects, so I’m afraid that’s probably going to be all of my Gift-A-Long knitting for this year. But I really enjoyed knitting other people’s patterns for a change. I can’t wait for next year!

PSA: if you aren’t sure what the Gift-A-Long is, come check it out in the Ravelry group! It runs all the way through New Year’s Eve, so there’s plenty of time to get in on the fun.

What I’m Cooking

I knocked out two cookbook challenge recipes this week. First up was this chef’s salad, featuring baked tofu, breaded cauliflower, and eggplant bacon. The salad itself was good (if a little too labor-intensive and fiddly for a salad), but the vegan “ranch” dressing recipe that went with it—OMFG. It tastes virtually identical to dairy-filled ranch! My husband and I practically drank it out of the bowl. Definitely a new favorite!

For my weekly dinner for a crowd, I tried the smoky split pea soup from the cookbook. The smoked paprika that gives it the sort of ham-like flavor turned the soup brown rather than green, but it tasted great.

I also made my favorite beefless-beef stew recipe. This stew often gets “Whoa!” comments from carnivores who aren’t expecting something that tastes so much like the beef stew they’re used to. I used the wine called for in the recipe this time instead of my usual veggie broth substitution, which made it that much richer and better.

I’ve decided to make a huge amount of cookies for a holiday party I’m attending this weekend—so tune in for next week’s Friday Roundup for the results of that!

What I’m Reading

I picked up the first book in a long-running YA series, Margaret Peterson Haddix’s The Missing. It skews a little young, maybe, but it has a bunch of elements I like in my books—adventure, mystery, sci-fi, and good writing.

Friday Roundup: Beginnings, Sneak Peeks, and Comfort Food

What I’m Knitting

I finally got enough math done that I could cast on for the dolman-sleeve sweater I’m planning! I’m only a few rows through the ribbing, but look—photographic proof that I have an actual adult sweater on the needles:

We also went out yesterday into the chilly morning to attempt a photoshoot for the nautical-themed toddler sweater. My son did remarkably well, and I think we might have gotten the shots we needed! (Side note: wrangling a toddler on a lakefront path is extremely difficult, even for two people.)

Here’s a sneak peek:

What I’m Cooking

The weather turned chilly this week, which always makes me crave fatty comfort food! But I managed to stick to the low-fat vegan cookbook for three recipes.

This is tofu chimichurri (a herb marinade usually used on meat). It was yummy!

Broccoli potato chowder, in which I used parsnips for the first time ever (they’re pretty good!):

And Pasta de los Angeles, a Mexican-inspired pasta dish that was really tasty:

For my weekly meal for a crowd, I chucked low-fat out the window and whipped up a cashew-cream-laden potato corn chowder and homemade croutons to go on top. It was amazing. People couldn’t stop talking about it, even the non-vegans—I love it when that happens. :-)

What I’m Reading

Still making my way through Jane Austen’s catalog! I don’t know what it is about these books—I seem to be able to read them in half the time of other books of comparable size. This week I finished Northanger Abbey, started and finished Sense and Sensibility, and am most of the way through Mansfield Park. Just Emma and Pride & Prejudice to go (although I might skip P&P, having read it more often in the past…)

Friday Roundup: An FO and Spring Rolls!

What I’m Knitting

I finished all the knitting on the little nautical sweater (mark 2)! Here’s my son testing the fit. This is pre-blocking, so the white stripe won’t pull up as much in the center as it does here.

So I know I’m biased, but how freaking adorable is he???

I’m going to be blocking the sweater this weekend and then whipping the pattern into shape for testing next week. (PSA: If you’d be interested in testing one of the sizes, join my Ravelry group where I post all my tests! You can even sign up to be notified when I have a new test up so you get first dibs.)

What I’m Cooking

Thanks to a dreadful cold that knocked me out for several days, I didn’t get much cooking done this week. I did manage some rice, lentil, and kale soup:

And the second thing I cooked was actually really cool! I made spring rolls for the first time, using rice papers (so weird!), crispy tofu, rice noodles, and veggies:

My setup…

With vegetable fried rice and homemade peanut dipping sauce

What I’m Reading

I just started the third in the Tiffany Aching series, Wintersmith!

Friday Roundup: Busy Mom Edition

The baby started crawling this week! He’s been scooting backward for a month, but a few days ago moving forward just clicked… and now he’s shooting across rooms at top speed, exploring everything he couldn’t reach before. On the one hand, this is great, since he was getting very frustrated at not being able to move. On the other hand… well, let’s just say I didn’t get a lot done this week.

But it’s hard to be mad at this little face.

What I’m Knitting

I ripped out the failed half-mitt from last week and started again. Stupidly, I ripped out the whole thing, including the cuff ribbing that was totally fine… so with the limited time I had to knit this week, I only managed to get the cuff re-knit and a few rows of the colorwork done. Sigh.

If you look closely, you can see the tops of both the cat and the baby’s heads.

What I’m Cooking

Home-cooked meals also took a hit this week, but I managed a few. I forgot to take pics of the Wednesday potato-chickpea-veggie curry (yum!), but I did get one of our tasty weekend breakfast. Although we eat mostly vegan at home, we make an exception for eggs every once in a while, and I love a good veggie scramble on an english muffin. This includes chives from our garden–fun for us because we’re horrible gardeners and they are the only plant that keeps coming back year after year:

You know how sometimes you end up with things in your fridge or pantry that have to be used up right away or they’ll go bad? That happened to us yesterday… so our dinner consisted mostly of guacamole and brussels sprouts. Some days I wonder if I’m really qualified to be an adult.

What I’m Reading

I finished my friend’s manuscript and started DEVINE INTERVENTION. It’s great so far–light and funny, despite the subject matter of dead kids and angelic oversight. The author, Martha Brockenbrough, is teaching a class at the writer’s workshop I’m attending in July, so I thought it would be nice to read a few of her books.

Friday Roundup #3

What I’m Knitting

I finished the secret bulky vest, yay! Now I just need to block it and sew on buttons, and then it’s time to schedule a photo shoot with my little model. We may have to sponge him off first.

I also took a few hours today to do my biannual needles, leftover yarn, WIPs, and notions roundup. This is the haul from the three different locations in my house where I usually knit (note kitty helper):

What I’m Cooking:

Pad Thai with tofu: I’ve made this dish several times now and it gets more delicious every time. One of my favorites.

Chickpea curry: This one was just okay. Not a huge fan, so I probably won’t make it again. I’m still on the hunt for a good vegan curry recipe.

Vegan mini omelets: This is the second time I’ve made these, and they were just as good this time. This recipe uses garbanzo flour and tofu with some carefully chosen spices to stand in for the eggs. I added a bunch of veggies (which I’m going to incorporate better next time). I want to try one of these in a breakfast sandwich, mmmm….

Lentil-A-Roni: This recipe uses lentils, pasta, and creamy sauce to mimic junky Chef Boyardee canned food, and it does a pretty good job! I added spinach because I’m apparently incapable of cooking anything without adding some extra greens.

What I’m Reading:

I finished The Winter of the Robots last night and am currently between books. But I just placed an order with Barnes and Noble and should have a couple more winging their way to me in the next few days (free express member shipping, baby!).

A Very Special FO Friday

You’ve probably figured this out from the month of radio silence…

Our baby boy arrived on July 1, four days before his due date! We named him Ronan, a good Irish name like his mom’s and dad’s. He’s absolutely perfect and we’re completely smitten with him.

We’re still adjusting to the new schedule, but Ronan and I are doing very well. He is generally very sweet-tempered. He does get grumpy sometimes, like when he’s waiting in the car with Daddy and Mom is taking too long in the post office:

He likes to be held most of the time, so figuring out how to get knitting done has been a bit of a challenge. I did have a breakthrough about a week ago when I figured out I could knit with him snuggled up in my Moby wrap:

I’d love to show off pictures of him modeling the baby knits I’ve been working on for the last few months, but unfortunately they’re all too big for him! He wasn’t a small baby (about 8 lbs and 20 inches long), so I think I’m going to have to revisit my sizing on those patterns. He’s growing at a rapid rate (he should be, with the amount he eats!), so hopefully it won’t be too long.

I did get a picture of him modeling my knit FO for the week, a baby hat for a friend who had her baby boy just a few days before I did. I think he sensed that this wasn’t for him:

Here are the specs on the FO:

Pattern: Garter Earflap Hat from Purl Soho (Ravelry link).

Yarn: Plymouth Superwash Worsted. I’ve had this yarn sitting in my stash for years and finally found something to do with it. It’s soft and squishy, very reminiscent of Cascade 220 Superwash.

Notes: This was a quick, fun, easy knit! Highly recommended. And the little tassel and earflaps, which are a little hard to see in the modeled photo of my wiggly son, are so cute:

More baby photos to come!