AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

I really do finish things

Like this:

I finished a pair of socks last week, and it took me forever to block them and weave in the last end. Sometimes I start projects with dedication and focus and then something happens and I fall off the train into la la land. That's what happened with these. They should have been done more than a month ago easily, but I just lost my focus.

Of course, I'm working on a sweater now for the Loopy Ewe mini-challenge, and I'm keeping my nose to the grindstone much better on this one. I'm making the shirred top from Garnstudio. I'm almost to the divide for the armholes in 11 days (according to my project notes in Ravelry), but every time I work on it I notice my very red tipped knitting needles.

The yarn I'm using - Dream in Color Smooshy/Starry in the Poma-Grenade color - is definitely leaking dye all over my hands and needles. It isn't bad, but I can see why it could be irritating. I have some Soak and a jug of vinegar. One way or another I will set the dye a bit more in the blocking process. Heck, I think I could finish this sweater this weekend if I didn't have the half marathon on Sunday and a Victor-training class more than a mile away from home (on foot) on Saturday. Maybe Monday will be free enough for me to finish to the blocking stage. It would be a wonderful feeling not having a project lingering forever!

matcha matcha man!

I normally make American style ice cream. The idea of cracking a half dozen eggs just for the yolks to make a custard based ice cream makes my thrifty side just curl into a corner and cry. Of course, you can save the egg whites and make meringues, pavlova, marshmallows, omelettes, etc. It's just so easy to leave them in the fridge and then have them go bad.

Instead, I put them in the freezer. I'll make macaron or marshmallows with them in a week or so.

 

Green tea. Liquid Jade matcha, egg yolks, milk, sugar, cream. A little whisking, a quick tempering of the yolks, and my first custard based ice cream from Perfect Scoop. I can't really remember why I thought it was going to be hard, but tempering the eggs was just a little bit of time, a fast whisk and a bit of care. In Perfect Scoop, David suggests that if you don't have an extra set of hands when tempering the eggs, you can use a ladle to scoop the hot milk mixture into the eggs as you whisk. It definitely works. Using the ladle helps you control the speed you add the milk, making it easier to prevent the scrambling you can get if you heat the eggs too fast.

Now I have a smooth creamy batch of ice cream with an intense, fresh taste of green tea. What should my next one be?

I'm not dead

But I have been tired enough that I've been going to work, walking the dog, and almost nothing else. Just enough knitting that I can see progress being made.

I'm doing the Loopy Ewe's mini-challenge to make a short sleeve or sleeveless sweater by the beginning of July. They had a sale if you were buying yarn for the project, so I bought enough Dream in Color sock yarn to make this cute little shirred top. It's obviously pretty slow going if you are used to making sweaters with worsted weight. I'm working with the size 2 needles like my life depended on it, and getting an inch or so each day.

I read a lot of web comics, though it used to be a lot higher. Most of the artists have twitter feeds (and some of them are definitely not safe for work). However, this video came up on one of them and it is safe for work provided your work doesn't mind parrots.

Enjoy!

for the birds

Last Friday I walked to a friend's house after work along the Harbor Walk (for those who wanted to know, it was almost 4 miles). It was a gorgeous day with beautiful blue skies and warm air. The park near Gilette was full of small children and puppies.

And birds.

Canada Geese. Two large ones were along my path, and I tend to be a little more wary of the larger birds. They are wild after all and I imagine a wack of a wing or a snap of a beak would put a damper on my day. But large birds weren't the only kind I saw.

A little gosling (I assume it belonged to the two geese, but I'm not that good with birds) was walking away from the park and under cars in the parking lot. It was so cute I just had to follow it for a bit to see if I could get a good shot.

Not bad for a cell phone camera, eh?

Those aren't the only birds I've experienced lately. This week has been duck week in my little neighborhood. The driveway is in need of repair, and so it collects a large puddle when it rains. Each morning when I've gone out to walk Victor there have been two mallards dipping their toes in our impromptu lake.

This morning the birds were a little late, and so Victor missed the excitement, but my hubby got to see them for the first time. When they deemed that we were getting too close, they waddled into the grass and then flew off. I wonder if the ducks will be there again tomorrow. The puddle has shrunk quite a bit, but theoretically we are supposed to get rain today. Give the ducks some fresh water to laze about in. 

月曜ばか

Getsuyoubaka. Idiot Monday.

Today hasn't even broken 9 a.m. and already I want to go back home and hide under the covers until any day that isn't today arrives.

It started with just being close to bone dead tired from all of the walking and running I did yesterday. The water ban for the greater Boston area is still in effect, so I didn't pack anything that involved cleaning utensils (though honestly, my hubby packed for me, which was a great thing).

I waited for the bus and then realized that I had forgotten to put my T pass back in my wallet after yesterday's run on the Minuteman Bike Path. I went home, got my pass and went back where I ran to catch the bus. Huzzah!

I got on the T at Quincy Center and reached into my bag to get out something to read. Inside my bag, the magazine and catalogs apparently cut open the yogurt and I had blueberry yogurt all over my bag, and by association my hands and some of my clothing. I pretty much stood on the train trying not to move, so I wouldn't make it worse.

I had to throw away the magazine. My latest IK was so saturated with yogurt that I couldn't do anything about it. The book I was borrowing from my husband was fine. My sock books? Well, one of them needed blueberry yogurt wiped from the cover. The other one has it on some of the pages and might need to be replaced as well. The bag that had my knitting project was completely soiled (it was just a plastic bag) and needed to be thrown away, though the project itself was fine. Thankfully my workout clothing and electronics were in exterior pockets and were fine.

I still have some yogurt on my hands even though I've washed them twice, and I'm just hoping that the rest of the day goes better. It's just a horrible way to start a Monday.