Socks From All Angles

My friend Doris tells me there are some FANTASTIC new MadelineTosh sock yarn colors. I may have to dive into that pool, though I have Opel and some Trekker to work on first. 

And she says madtosh Light is better for shawls than the sock yarn; doesn't stretch as much.

Anyway. The Robin's Nest Socks are complete. And modeled here for your pleasure. 

Head-on

Not bad for having photographed them myself. I give myself credit for being a yogi - I'm flexible! I wanted to show various looks at the swirls. And yeah, the decreases on the toes is slightly "elfin." I think I'd like to try a swirled decrease for my next pair. Or maybe just any other decrease. This is a Kitchener grafting, too. Maybe 3-needle bind-off next time? I know a knitter who uses 3-needle bind-offs on all her sweaters. She says it's more comfortable. I'll have to give it a shot on a sock. Not as much to bind off if I don't like it. 

And yeah, my feet are shaped funny; so the elfin thing kinda works! One foot is a full size smaller than the other, which makes shoes interesting. Oh well. None of us are perfectly even on both sides. I can live with it! 

Swirls

This is lovely yarn that was a treat to work with. I think that I didn't need to match the start exactly; it really is close enough. They're definitely clog socks, though. I'm not sure it's as sturdy as the hiking socks. Which reminds me, I don't think I actually took a set of pics with those socks. Will have to add that to my list.

Side view

Like I said, I'd do a "Doris Heel" or maybe the Strong Heel next time. Just because (a) I really like the Doris, which is her version of the Eye of the Partridge Heel with a set of K3 on each end. And (b) I want to have some alternate skills when I'm on this Sock Journey. Helps to learn new stuff. Not that you'd always tell which pattern or whatever I'm using because the yarns are so vastly different. With the Opel, I'm sticking to a fairly straightforward leg; the yarn patterns itself and there's no sense fighting it. After all, you're buying it because of its self-patterning colorway. Why would you put a complex pattern of stitches in there? Kind of over-kill, in my opinion. 

In the midst of the knit-fest, I have to confess that I screwed up a yarn-over on the Chandelier Lace. I have nothing to show you because I frogged it. I was 1" in and I tried to backtrack. That didn't work, and I figured it would be easier on my blood pressure if I just took it all out and started over.

Other side view

And I found something at Hobby Lobby for my student workers. I was going to knit them a scarf each (they're both girls) but I wasn't interested in spending a ton of money. Not because they're  not gems. They are. But because they're students. If the scarf doesn't get left somewhere, it'll be washed and perhaps turned into Barbie clothes. I just want easy, simple yarn that nobody has to think about. I was going for a ribbon/DK kind of match, but then I stumbled upon Paton's Lace with Sequins. 

Heels

They didn't have many colors left. I didn't like the navy or the peach. I don't like knitting with dark colors if I can help it, and the peach was blah. So I ended up with one white and one red. There was a free cowl pattern. One ball each. Done. The cowl is knit in the round on size 4 or 6 needles; I can't remember. But it should go fairly quickly; the yarn does the work and I'm hoping the little bit of mohair won't make me insane. 

Also bought some half-pint canning jars. The ones I have are pints, and that's cool, but the 1/2-pints are good sizes when you have small batches. My friend Sue usually gives me peaches for a French-style soft jam, but never enough for say 3 or 4 pints. I find that the 1/2-pint jars for this type of soft jam are actually better anyway. 

Speaking of jam, I finished the Rosemary (see picture) and yeah, it does have food coloring in it. I was going to leave it plain but it reminded me of the medium you find in petri dishes. Ick. It's worth 3 drops of green. And there's a small sprig of Rosemary in there. 

Rosemary Jelly

I had to re-do the Basil because it didn't jell after 24 hours. It did this time. And I also re-did some Cranberry-Pineapple Jam. That's cooling now. Good thing; it's a sticky one today! 

I'm hoping to maybe do some other savory jellies. I'd love to do a Shallot relish or something like that. I love jams and preserves. Don't like the sugar. 

I have a fairly robust Rosemary plant, so there will be more of that in the future. It's a skimpy recipe (note the head space?) so I could double it and use those nice 1/2-pint jars. There's also a nice garlic and rosemary preserve. Yummmmmmmmm - as a spread on some crunchy bread?? 

Independence Day...

It's Independence Day here in the US. 

So people are practicing their independence by driving the rest of us nuts with fireworks!! 

I found this article, and it brings to mind the current divisiveness in our country as we struggle with a Congress that won't do anything because they're afraid of their corporate overlords, and a religious right that insists upon beating the rest of us over the head with "how the Founders conceived this Christian Nation."

Well. History has a weird way of biting you in the rear end if you spout facts that, patently, are not true. 

Here's what the Founders really said, and  this one is my favorite: 

35. “The legislature of the United States shall pass no law on the subject of religion.”
~Charles Pinckney, Constitutional Convention, 1787

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/04/35-founding-father-quotes-conservative-christians-will-hate/#ixzz2Y6utfCK0

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  Makes you kind of want to whomp your head, doesn't it?

We are not now, nor have we EVER been a Christian nation. To assume otherwise is to show your own profound ignorance of your own country. Or bigotry to the "other" among us, forgetting that there's probably oh, maybe a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the actual US population who can really trace their ancestors back.

And you know who they trace them back to? British colonists. Who aren't even the true citizens of this country. 

I could go into the whole rant about the First Nations. But I won't. You can research it yourself. If you really want to educate yourself. I would hope that you do want to educate yourself.

In a fit of productivity, after getting groceries, I noticed my basil plant was going to seed. So I gave it a haircut and made some basil jelly. Also made some rosemary jelly, and I'm waiting to see if that sets up. Frankly, I'm not too sure the BASIL will set up properly, which will annoy me. The proportion of water/sugar/pectin was ok. I can't figure it out. The rosemary was a tad skimpy, so we shall see.

So, the uses? Basil jelly can be put on top of a cream cheese or a soft farmer's cheese and used with crackers. It can also be used in BBQ sauce for a different taste to those "crock pot meatballs" you see at parties everywhere.

As far as the rosemary, use it like mint jelly: with lamb or perhaps pork. Either way, savory jellies are kind of cool. And I have the herbs sprouting like crazy.

Maybe next week, it'll be dill jelly - that's coming along faster than the pickling cucumbers are!

Basil Jelly 2013

Here's the basil. Sitting on the bench on my porch. The bench that my great-grandpa, an immigrant from Poland, made. It's gotta be at least 100 years old. And it's still in very good shape. My mom handed it over to me, since she doesn't have a porch. I did buy some cushions for it, but I didn't want them in the picture. 

I will see how the rosemary is settling. I did tip the jars over because I put sprigs of rosemary into the jars and I wanted the sprigs to kind of be in the middle. It's not really working out that way, but that's ok. 

Note to self: need 1/2 pint jars!! And I have to do a better job of taking off the old labels. I had purchased some that were supposed to be "water soluble" but they haven't proven to be so. 

I hope to get some pickle relish made this year. I have the pickling cukes coming along nicely in the garden. And the tomatoes are s-l-o-w-l-y coming around. 

We're about to plant our second run of lettuce soon. And the carrots are very beautiful. I may do a carrot jelly this year. That could be fun. 

Chugging away on the Chandelier Lace scarf. I'm taking it easy, resting my hands, because I'm kind of fighting with the yarn and the needles. But that's ok. It's starting to look like something, and I'm really thinking I'm going to like it. 

Off to make another cup of tea, finish the repeat and check on my rosemary jelly.