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Friday Roundup: Swatch City

What I’m Knitting

I finished the cable/lace hat from last week, but it needs a good blocking before it’s fit to see. So instead, I’ll show you the design swatches I’ve been working on! Here was my original swatch concept (this is for a dolman-sleeved Aran pullover):

I liked this swatch, but the more I looked at it, the more I realized I didn’t love it. The central motif is too small and a bit too plain for my liking (this is the cable on the left, which will be in the center of the pullover with the V cables arranged on either side). I also decided I wasn’t a huge fan of this yarn for this design—it’s on the thin side for a worsted weight, and the swatch had more drape than I wanted even with a needle size that gave a good fabric.

So I went stash digging… and made a decision. Remember this in-progress cardigan?

My Ravelry project page tells me I started it two years ago almost to the day—just a few days before I found out I was pregnant and went down the rabbit hole of baby knits! I tried to pick the cardigan up again, but I’m just not feeling it. Plus, I’m (ahem) a larger bust size now than I was, so it isn’t even going to fit me well when it’s finished.

Luckily, this yarn (Stonehedge Shepherd’s Worsted) turns out to be PERFECT for the new design I have in mind. It’s soft, tweedy, and has the body that the first yarn I tried was lacking.

After three swatches with this yarn and different cable patterns, I think I finally have a winner!

(You can see a bit of my design process in that pic—the second V is a little larger than the first, and I decided at the top I might like a slightly less tight rope cable to separate motifs.)

So now I just need to knit a few more inches of swatch, block it, and take some measurements. Then it’s designing time!

Oh, and since I’m lazy, I’m just knitting the swatch right off the sleeve:

What I’m Cooking

I knocked out two recipes from my personal cookbook challenge this week. First up, potato-spinach curry. It was pretty good, but my husband and I both agreed that we really missed the richness that some fat would have brought to this one. With some coconut milk in the sauce, I think it would have been awesome.

And then a less-guilty taco salad, which was delicious! The recipe used “guacamame” made with half avocado, half edamame to cut fat and calories. It tasted fine, and I liked that it also upped the protein content. The recipe said to layer the ingredients prettily and top with cilantro… but sometimes you just gotta throw everything together.

What I’m Reading

To my husband’s chagrin, I’m still working on The Shepherd’s Crown. A couple of early mornings with the little guy means I’ve been too tired to read before bed. But I should finish it within the next few days!

Friday Roundup: On the Road Edition

What I’m Knitting

By the time this gets posted, I’ll be on the road (yay for post scheduling!). We’re going on a weekend trip to the Washington, DC area—we’re planning to go to the National Zoo, spend some quality time with family, and lots of other fun stuff. And the 9+ hour drive means lots and lots of uninterrupted knitting time, hooray!

This is the current project on my needles:

This pic shows the strong wavy lines better—love!

It’s a hat (hopefully that’s obvious) that features a heavily modified version of a cable and lace pattern I found in one of my stitch dictionaries. I’m having fun knitting it, but it should only take me a few more hours to work out and knit the crown decreases… which means I need much more knitting for the trip!

I’m in mini-panic mode already, trying to figure out what to take with me. I might end up defaulting to a whole bunch of trial swatches… but then I have to take a whole load of stitch dictionaries. Hrm. Maybe I’ll figure out a quick toddler hat. My son’s hats from last year are all too small now, so he needs some new accessories before the serious cold weather hits. (Side note: am I the only one who would be completely mortified to let my son wander around in store-bought winter accessories? I mean, little hats only take like two hours!)

What I’m Cooking

This is actually from last week, but it turned out really well and I forgot to post a picture. Baked falafel in a pita with hummus and grain-free tabbouleh on the side. The tabbouleh recipe I found used bits of cauliflower instead of the traditional bulgur wheat, which I thought was pretty clever!

This red Thai tofu and pineapple rice was my lone entry for my cookbook challenge this week:

And for my meal-for-a-crowd yesterday, I made a Mexican lasagna (also known as an enchilada casserole) with homemade guacamole on the side. I used my husband’s killer guac recipe—people were very impressed!

What I’m Reading

I’m still working on The Shepherd’s Crown. I’m dragging my feet a bit on finishing this one, to be honest. The author, Terry Pratchett, passed away earlier this year. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that this will be the last new book I’ll ever read from him, sniff.

Friday Roundup: A Finished Vest and a Ridiculously Cute Model

What I’m Knitting

I finished the vest, woohoo! I conscripted my son for a photoshoot and actually had a really hard time choosing which of these photos to use to show it off. Sometimes I can’t believe this adorable guy is actually my son and not a retouched Gerber baby, seriously.

I’m really pleased with the way the vest came out! Sizing it will be a little bit of a challenge, since the cable pattern I used on the chest has about a 3.5″ vertical repeat, but I should still be able to offer it in at least 4-5 different baby/child sizes.

Here are the specs on the FO:

Pattern: My own, to be released in the (hopefully) near future!

Yarn: Good for Ewe Claddagh in Leprechaun Green, about 1.5 skeins. I was worried about running out of yarn, because most of the sport-weight vests I found on Ravelry called for 350 yds and up and I only had 328 yds. But somehow I still have a half-skein left. No idea how that happened.

Notes: I’m really in love with this construction. Knitting the cable strip is fun and easy, and it was so portable at this stage that I could just throw it in my purse and go. And since a third of the knitting had been finished, knitting down from the strip and then up for the top felt like they went ridiculously quickly.

What I’m Cooking

I started with some yummy oatmeal raisin muffins for Saturday morning breakfast:

And then some banana french toast, made vegan by using a flaxseed mixture instead of eggs since we don’t usually have eggs in the house. It was delicious! I used this recipe. Totally making this again—I really like that it didn’t have any added sugar but was still nice and sweet from the bananas. We didn’t even need syrup.

On the cookbook challenge, I knocked out another two recipes this week. First up, lentil chipotle burgers! I had never made my own veggie burgers before, so this was kind of a challenge for me. But beyond them being a little crumbly, I did a pretty good job. And even the crumbly ones tasted delicious.

And finally, pasta with mushrooms, red onions, and edamame pesto. Very tasty. The addition of the edamame to the pesto means you don’t have to use much oil at all. Brilliant!

What I’m Reading

I’m on to the last book in the Tiffany Aching series, The Shepherd’s Crown. I have to hurry, because my husband is reading the series too and he’s only one book behind me!

Friday Roundup: Mystery and Tempeh

What I’m Knitting

After finishing the nautical baby sweater (still working on the pattern—and a good name that isn’t already taken!), I wanted to cast on for another baby/child garment. I have enough of this lovely yarn from a local Indiana company (Good for Ewe Yarns) for a vest if I’m frugal with the yarn. After several swatches, I finally hit upon something I like:

This is actually part of the garment itself, not a swatch! You’ll have to guess how this will turn into a vest. I just might spoil it next week, depending on how much progress I make.

What I’m Cooking

The next few recipes up on deck in my cookbook challenge were, again, ones I probably wouldn’t have made without this challenge. First up, blackened tofu (served with cauliflower/potato mash ):

It was really good! I’m not generally a fan of tofu unless it’s chopped up small or doused in savory sauce, but the Cajun spices worked so well here. Definitely making this one again.

The next recipe was Isa’s veganized, healthified version of her childhood favorite, Hamburger Helper. I think I only had it once or twice at friends’ houses, but I have to say, this tempeh helper did sort of remind me of it!

I also made a fabulous Arabian lentil soup from the cookbook this week, but I forgot to get a picture. Gotta get better about that.

What I’m Reading

Due to an unpleasant lack of time to read (grrr…), I’m still working on Wintersmith. But I should be done by the end of the weekend!

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: Uh oh…

What I’m Knitting

So I was pretty happy with the progress I made on the nautical-themed toddler sweater this week… until I took a good look at my WIP after binding off the cuff on the first sleeve.

It looks cute, but also out of proportion to me—that’s a long sleeve for such a short body! I went pattern diving on Ravelry last night and came up with every number imaginable for toddler sweater body and sleeve lengths. There’s clearly no standard. So what I’m planning to do is try it on my son when he wakes up from his nap and adjust accordingly. I’m thinking I’ll need to add some rows to the body (which will work out okay since I think I’d like more blue before the ribbing anyway).

This is one of those times when I’m soooo happy I knit this sweater top down!

What I’m Cooking

Still going strong on my cookbook challenge, but I only managed two recipes from it this week. First, a spicy blue potato and corn salad. Something I’d never make normally (blue potatoes were not exactly on my regular shopping list), but it was really good! I also used canned chipotles for the spicy part—another first!

The second one from the cookbook was a vegetable korma. It called for garam masala, which I couldn’t find pre-made at my grocery store, so I made my own with cumin, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, and a few other spices. Indian food purists would scoff, I’m sure, but I thought it was pretty good!

I liked the korma, but I’m a little spoiled by full-fat curries, so it did feel like it was lacking something. Next time I make it, I think I’ll use full-fat coconut milk instead of light.

I went off cookbook for my Wednesday meal for a crowd. Sometimes I absolutely crave comfort food, so I tried a new-to-me green chile mac and “cheese” recipe from Minimalist Baker. It was amazing (maybe because I’ve been eating all this low-fat stuff, haha). I served it up with some simple roasted broccoli and some toasted crumbled tortilla chips on top for crunch:

What I’m Reading

I’m well into my friend’s manuscript and loving it so far! It’s fun to read things well ahead of publication, but it’s tough when you want to share it with everyone you know and can’t….

Friday Roundup: Birthday Edition

What I’m Knitting:

I still need to block the colorwork mitt from last week, but I started another project! Remember the little nautical sweater that I blogged about last month? I was really unhappy with the way the topmost white stripe on the body was pulling up, and there were a few other things I didn’t like about it, like the way the bottom flared out a bit and the bordering-on-too-tight neck opening.

Here’s the pic—see what I mean?

So when I heard Knit Picks had a new easy-care yarn out, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone—try out the yarn and reknit the sample with some changes. I’m through the yoke and rolling along on the stripes for the body:

It’s the same general concept, as you can see, but there will be some other changes (more stripes on the sleeves, for one). Hopefully I’ll have some decent progress to show off next week.

What I’m Cooking

My birthday was this week, and a good friend had a birthday a few days later. I made a dinner of shepherd’s pie (with lentils standing in for the meat) for our little party and baked a chocolate cake for afterwards! It was delicious. I actually think vegan cakes taste better. You don’t get that eggy taste, and they’re not so rich that you can’t finish a piece. Even the omni guests said it was one of the better cakes they’d had.

We were low on birthday candles, so there’s one for each of us!

I’m still working on my Appetite for Reduction cookbook challenge! This week, the recipes on deck were fusilli with roasted veggies:

Lentil soup with lots of veggies (so good!):

And two things I never would have made without this challenge, shaved Brussels sprouts and oven-baked onion rings! The onion rings in particular were an experience, what with the battering and breading. But they were really good! Not greasy like fried ones, just crunchy and salty. I’ll definitely be making them again. We had them with some pre-marinated tofu:

What I’m Reading:

Although I managed to get a decent amount of cooking and knitting in this week, my reading time suffered. So I’m still working on A Hat Full of Sky, although I’m hurrying to get through so I can read a writer friend’s manuscript!

Friday Roundup: Why You Should Block Colorwork, and Challenge Accepted!

What I’m Knitting

The second colorwork mitt is alllmost done—just the thumb ribbing and weaving in ends to go!

I sometimes get comments about how even my colorwork is on my FOs… to which I always respond, “Nope, it’s just blocking.” Here’s an illustration of what I mean: the unblocked mitt next to the blocked one (they are, of course, the exact same stitch count, needle size, etc.).

I think the difference is even more obvious on the reverse side:

So anyway, there’s my PSA for the day: block your colorwork!

What I’m Cooking

Remember I said I was considering cooking every single recipe in my new Appetite for Reduction cookbook in order? Well, I accepted my own challenge and started in on it this week! I’m aiming for 2-3 recipes a week, since most of them make enough for leftovers for another meal the next day.

I’ve already cooked several things I wouldn’t have otherwise, and they were all delicious! I missed getting a picture of the baked falafel, which was a bit time-consuming, but amazing. I love falafel, but it’s usually fried in oil—not exactly health food. The baked ones came out moist and delicious. Next time I’ll double the recipe.

Here’s what I did manage to photograph. First, a quinoa-chickpea dinner salad with homemade balsamic dressing. We don’t usually eat dinner salads (hence the need for reduction, ahem), but this one was really filling and just enough with a few pieces of crusty bread. This was my first time making my own salad dressing—it was yummy!

Next up is a chickpea piccata, served over spinach and what Isa (the cookbook author) calls “caulipots”: a steamed potatoes/cauliflower mix mashed with a little olive oil. The whole thing was amazing! We gobbled it up and didn’t have any leftovers that day.

And finally, another dinner salad, this one from another cookbook (we had leftover quinoa that I wanted to use up, so I went looking for a recipe). This is a mock Caesar with homemade dressing and tempeh “croutons.” Another winner (especially the croutons! I usually find tempeh pretty bitter, but this method of cooking them was great).

Stay tuned for next week’s challenge recipes!

What I’m Reading

I finished The Wee Free Men and started in on book #2 in the series, A Hat Full of Sky. I love these books so much!

Friday Roundup: New Recipes and Half a Mitt

What I’m Knitting

The colorwork mitt is chugging along! Gone are the days when I could have finished something like this in a few days of knitting, sigh, but at least I’m nearly done with the thumb gusset now:

I’m using my Knit Picks Harmony interchangeables to work the Magic Loop technique for these mitts. Normally I prefer DPNs for hand stuff, but getting the colorwork floats the right tension at the edges of all those needles is a nightmare. The cord on these needles is so flexible that they’re really nice for Magic Loop.

What I’m Cooking

Lots of stuff from the new cookbook I got (Appetite for Reduction). I love this cookbook so much that I’m actually contemplating working my way through the entire thing, Julia & Julia style. My husband’s on board—it’ll mean we try a bunch of new-to-us ingredients and tastes, so it should be fun!

This is a low-fat wine sauce over pasta, with (delicious) vegan eggplant “bacon” on top:

And these are sweet potato biscuits, a clever recipe that replaces nearly all of the butter/shortening usually found in biscuits with mashed sweet potato:

They were perfect with this kale, quinoa, potato, and white bean stew:

And last but not least, this AMAZING tortilla soup. Holy cow, was this yummy.

I did have a little mishap with this one. It called for a couple of jalapeños, which I’ve cooked with before without any problems. But somehow I got some of the juice underneath a couple of my fingernails… and they were on FIRE for the whole rest of the day. I cut the nails short, scrubbed them with an old toothbrush, soaked them in soapy water, used rubbing alcohol—nothing helped. It finally wore off on its own overnight, but yikes. Think I’ll wear some gloves next time I cut hot peppers.

What I’m Reading

I just finished a re-read of one of my favorite books, by my favorite author: The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. The last book in the series is coming out in a few months (very bittersweet for me, because the author passed away a few months ago and this is the last new book of his I’ll ever read). I decided to re-read the previous four books before the new one.

Friday Roundup: Chugging Along

What I’m Knitting:

Despite a terrible lack of knitting time, I managed to start the second colorwork fingerless mitt of the yarn dominance experiment. This Stitch Sprouts Yellowstone (wool/silk blend) is just luscious.

It doesn’t look like much yet, but I have some longer car trips coming up, so hopefully I’ll have some major progress by next week!

What I’m Cooking:

A trip to a semi-local farmers’ market yielded a bunch of kale and carrots, so I whipped up a potato-kale-quinoa stew:

And I got a new vegan cookbook from the library (Appetite for Reduction)! I’m excited to try lots of recipes, but the first one had to be creamed corn, which I love but haven’t had since I stopped eating nearly all dairy more than fifteen years ago. It came out delicious!

My mom just got back from a business trip to Louisiana and brought me some local brown rice, so I made black-eyed peas, collard greens, and cornbread to go with it. My first time cooking with black-eyed peas (and ever eating collard greens, I think), but it came out really good! The recipe uses liquid smoke in place of the usual pork, so it had a bacon-y flavor.

What I’m Reading:

I’m beta-reading an excellent young adult manuscript for a friend of mine before she sends it to her literary agent! Fun stuff. Hopefully you can find this one on the shelves before too long. :-)