Sunday, February 20, 2011

Salsa

I cooked!  It's a rare occurrence for me.  I typically only cook (or prepare) the simplest of recipes.  This recipe has four ingredients...yeah...that's it...so I figured I could handle it.  The ingredients are jalapeños, garlic, lime juice, and oil.  It actually turned out pretty darn good!  My birthday and two others (on my husband's side) are February birthdays and they were all celebrated today.  Fish tacos were on the menu for today's fête.  This recipe has been on my radar so I decided to give it a try.  I think I added too much lime juice because it was kind of watery.  Regardless, it turned out to be a huge hit and the bowl was empty at the end of the night.  Recipe can be found here.
Creamy Roasted Jalapeño Salsa

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Mandel

I'm so excited about my latest knit!  This was a test knit for a fellow Raveler in Germany, Anke (fallmasche).  Mine didn't turn out quite as refined as her's nor some of the other test knitters' but I'm still in love with it, none the less.  I love everything about this sweater.  The saddle shoulders and pleats on the side make for a really flattering fit...which is the case for every test knit I've seen thus far.  It did end up big under the arms and above the bust line and the sleeves were a bit too long.  Though not pictured here, I did remedy most of that by dampening the sweater with water and throwing it in the dryer on high heat.  Normally, I wouldn't recommend this but the yarn does say machine washable.  I know, typically, that doesn't equate  to mean really washable but in this case, it worked out just fine.  I'm definitely going to knit this again in a short sleeve version and/or at a tighter gauge.  I'm sorry the pattern is not yet published so I can't share a link with you but as soon as it is published, I will update this post. (eta 02.19.11 - pattern is published and links added)
Mandel_Collage
Color: Clay - 177

Friday, February 11, 2011

A few more...

Keeping up with a theme, today's post will show off a few hats that I knit recently.  And from these two knits, I've realized that adding cables to a hat provides added thickness and warmth making 'em that much cozier.

The most recent hat I finished was a test knit for Breean Elyse.  And since knitting it, I've fallen in love with cabled hats.  I can't stop looking at them or for them.  This one was a special treat because it was for me.  Zinc is one of my favorite Malabrigo colorways.  And the hint of taupe really helped make the cables pop!
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Obstacles Hat by Breean Elyse
Color: Zinc - 613

Now this hat was knit on a whim.  This was for a friend's mother that recently had brain surgery and as a result needed hats to help protect her from the cold Minnesota winter.  I wasn't even looking to knit a hat but when I saw the pattern and noticed it called for some yarn in my stash, I cast on!  I didn't do the best job paying attention to the plain knit rounds so it isn't as slouchy as the pattern called for but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.  Because of the chunky yarn and the cables, the hat ended up being fairly heavy so a slouchy hat may have resulted in a hat that wouldn't stay on the head (at least that's what I'm tellin' myself).  :-)  I hope this does the trick and helps keep her head warm!
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Color: Lilacs - 6183

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

I Don't Know Why

I don't know why I haven't blogged in awhile.  When I think maybe I will, my next thought is, "I could be knitting."  I always seem to place these self imposed deadlines on myself and then the thought of blogging instead of knitting gets me all stressed out.  Ach!  There could be worse things, huh?

Well, I have a lot to share since my last post.  I'll start with a few shawls that I finished up recently....

This first one is a (belated) test knit I did for Debbie O'Neill.  I am really please with the end result of this shawl.  I wasn't so sure about the color as I was knitting it, but after blocking, I'm in love.  The bamboo in this yarn resulted in such a light airy feel and the silk gives it such a nice sheen.  This will be perfect for those spring/summer evenings when a sweater would be just too much.  The stitch pattern transitions nicely from one section to the next without getting too long.  I enjoyed this knit, very much.
IMG_6551a
Yarn: Araucania Itata Solid
Color: 2009

My next knit flew off the needles.  Unlike the last shawl, this one has more of a crescent shape.  The colors of this shawl are absolutely gorgeous!  I just love pink and brown together.  For those of you heading out to Stitches West, stop by  Sunshine Yarns - booth 1139, as Dani will have this on display at the booth for all to touch.  :-)  When I finally received the much anticipated Malabrigo Book 3 booklet, I was (pleasantly) surprised to find that Stephen West has three patterns in the book!  He did not mention a peep about it.  Though the shawl is crescent shaped, per his usual style, it still has nice angles and symmetry.  
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Lakedale Shawl - Stephen West
Color: Badlands (pink) & Coal Creek (brown)