Friday, May 27, 2011

More little sweaters

Have a gander at two more sweaters for my baby stash. 

This is the Annabel Babe Cardigan knit in Quince & Co. Chickadee (the color is Bird's Egg). Knitting garter stitch can be really comforting sometimes. The Peter Rabbit buttons came from Joann's. 


And this one is the Sock Yarn Sweater from KnitBot knit in Spinning Colors sock yarn and edged with leftover Lettuce Malabrigo Sock. Thanks to Christiana for teaching me how to add a crochet edge to the neckline, even though I don't think I did it right. 


Another sweet baby cardigan just came off my needles too, but it needs some finishing before it can be photographed. I also knit this Upside-Down Daisy hat with Madtosh DK leftovers for my knitting friend Stephanie's baby girl. It's just a little late getting to her.

 

I'm still working on my Featherweight Cardigan. I just got kind of bored with it so I set it aside.

I'm also working on a couple of secret projects that need to be done in the next two weeks! Luckily they're for tiny people : ) 

Aaaand I just couldn't help but cast on the Sugared Violets shawl in Madelinetosh TML in Briar. So pretty! Rose Beck has the best shawl patterns, I want to knit them all.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Strawberry Jam Attempt #1

Making jam is scary! Seriously, I thought there might be an explosion/burns/spills on either me or one of the cats running around underfoot. Luckily no one got hurt!

My strawberry jam making adventure at the downtown farmer's market, where I got berries from Jones Orchard. It seems like it took forever to clean and hull them but once that was done I started working on the jam part. I started out using this recipe from Food in Jars as a guideline. Instead of macerating overnight with a vanilla bean, I used a generous scoop of vanilla bean paste. Making the jam wasn't not the hard part, I did let it cook a little longer than I should have giving it a slightly more 'caramelized' flavor.


The scary part came once it was time to can the jars. I used my Ball canning set, which comes with a rack to set the jars in, but I also added a dish towel underneath because everything was rattling so loud I worried something would break. The jars boiling was the scary part, it made so much noise that I was sure the whole thing would explode. After the allotted time I turned off the heat and pulling the jars out with the tongs. The lids started popping right away so I knew I had gotten a good seal. My problem arose later that day when the jars had cooled and I realized the jam was more like a sauce. I assume I didn't use enough Sure-Jell to make it jammy enough. So I Google-d and found instructions for re-making jam. I used this site and re-made it using more Sure-Jell and this time it turned out just right, the perfect jam consistency.

It took time and patience and frustration but I finally made jam! I plan on making more in the next week or so before the heat takes all the strawberries away. The jam was particularly good on homemade sweet cream biscuits.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Tuesdays with Dorie: Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones, Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp & Basic Marbled Loaf Cake

Playing major catch-up here....

Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp - Excellent, would have probably been better with fresh rhubarb but not really available around these parts. Delicious though! Thanks to Sarah of Teapots & Cakestands (also a knitter!) for this selection. I'm planning on making it again soon with farm fresh strawberries now that the season is on.


Basic Marbled Loaf Cake - For this I did the chocolate/orange variation. It was easy to mix and the orange smelled sooo good. The cake was really good right out of the oven but by the next day I felt like it had really dried out. Maybe a glaze on top would have helped? Thanks to Carol of The Bake More for that selection!


And yesterday's recipe - Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones, chosen by Patricia of Life with a Whisk. Super simple to mix up and serve for brunch/breakfast or anytime. I made 1/2 of the batch and froze the other half for future use. Especially good with homemade strawberry jam!