Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Slippers





There has been slipper knitting going on at IrishKnits. After wearing huge holes in my last pair of Fuzzy Feet, I decided it was time for some new slippers. I made another pair of Fuzzy Feet. I let them go too many cycles. They came out big enough for a child. The plus side ....the neighbor boy has new slippers. Then I decided to make Mama Bear's "Tropical Punch" slippers. It is a great pattern using two strands of worsted weight yarn. These came out too big. The plus side.... Mom has new slippers. So, I decided to make another pair of Fuzzy Feet using up my grey scraps of Galway. I closely watched these during the felting and they fit fine. So, finally I have some warm and toasty feet. I think I could knit the Fuzzy Feet pattern in my sleep. I have made about fifteen pairs of these since Knitty published the pattern. I just cast a cable hat on the needle. I have not bought yarn since starting the "Yarn Focus Challenge. It is nice to be using up some of my stash. I am off to catch up on some blogs. I love to see what everyone is working on for projects.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Soup and surprises







Look what arrived in the mail this weekend!It was a wonderful package from my "Yarn Focus Challenge Secret Pal". There is a gorgeous skein of red sock yarn called "Candy Stripes". I am not sure if she dyed the yarn. It has a "Kettle dyed" look to it. Then there is a Clover thread cutter. I have always looked at these in the catalog. I am anxious to try it out. There was the cutest little notepad and card. Thank you so much Secret pal....it was an unexpected surprise. In my last post, I posted about the "Blanket of Hope" that Rebekah is working on. Here are my squares for the project. The purple square is a pattern from page 8 of the "Second treasury of Knitting patterns". It is called the "Ripple Stripe" pattern. The wine color square is called "Square Lattice" from page 7 of the same book. I mentioned in another post....this book is well worth the money. It is a valuable resource. In other knitting....I am working on a pair of slipper socks. from a great little pattern. I will share those with you in the next post. they are just about finished. Julie was making chicken soup the other week. I have been craving some ever since. I just finished making a huge pot for our lunches this week. The recipe is from Paula Deen and available on the Food Network .It is my very favorite recipe for chicken soup. It has a wonderful combination of seasonings. Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it.

The Lady's Chicken Noodle Soup
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen


Stock: 1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) fryer chicken, cut up
3 1/2 quarts water
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soup:
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup cooking sherry 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan,
3/4 cup heavy cream, optional
Seasoning salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crusty French bread, for serving

For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin, and cartilage. Set chicken aside.
For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.
I am off to get a piping hot bowl right now.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Blanket of hope

I have been meaning to post about this project.
Rebekah is asking for squares for a "Blanket of Hope". This is being knit for a fellow knitbloggers husband. She is asking for any sizes on the squares. This is great , because it means no gauge issues. They also can be made with any color yarn. She is asking to use 100 % wool. It should be a beautiful blanket. She is going to use filler pieces here and there. If you are interested check out her blog for more information. I have been working on some using my Second Treasury of knitting patterns . I bought this book at The Mannings over the holidays. It is well worth the price and a valuable tool. We are waiting to hear on a Noreaster for Wednesday. I would not mind the snow day.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Project Compassion


I have been working on some squares for Project Compassion . I love the way the lacy one looks. They asked for machine washable wool for these squares. I never seem to buy machine washable wool. The pink square is some leftover sock yarn from my stash. I just double stranded to make a worsted weight. The cream is some soft yarn I bought for a chemo cap awhile back. I have such a time getting gauge with squares. I knew they would "grow" when I blocked them. The pink square was ripped out a total of four times. I was about ready to scream after the fourth attempt. The cream square I made seven inches square. I blocked the heck out of it to make the required eight inches. There has been other knitting too. I made another pair of Cornflower Mitts . Of course I forgot to take a picture of them. They are off in the mail to my daughter in Pennsylvania. I also just finished a pair of mittens for my neighbor. He loved his son's mittens and asked could I make him a pair. His wife picked up some Paton's Classic Wool. I'll post a picture of them later. The weather has been so cold here the last week or two. But, at least we are not battling snow like upstate New York. I think they already have 70 inches and are expecting another 30 by the weekend. YIKES!!!!!! That is all the news from this neck of the woods. I am off to knit some slippers for me. I have worn a huge hole in my Fuzzy Feet.