Tag: Shrug

Posted in Cooking, Current Projects

Mmmm, Tamales (Oh and knitting, too!)

Posted on by mslindz

Tamales last night turned out to be a success! I think next time I need to use just a bit more liquid in the dough because they stuck to the husks a bit. I noticed that when I added more liquid about halfway through, the dough was easier to spread on the husks and didn’t stick nearly as much. Another thing I would do a bit differently, is to roll them within the husk before sealing up. I didn’t realize I should have been doing that until after. Oops! The recipe I used was Grandma Salazar’s Tamales from Delicious Days blog. Even only making a half of a batch, I ended up with enough leftovers to freeze for three more meals. They are a bit labor intensive if you’re doing it by yourself like I was, but totally worth it, I think! There’s some more pictures of the whole process here.

All Cooked
Tamales. Yum!

I was worried Matt wouldn’t like the tamales because they weren’t flavorful enough or something (a common complaint with him and Mexican food), but much to my surprise, he really enjoyed them! 🙂

AND ENJOY!
Matt Approves

I took a picture of my Brandywine Shawl last night to share. It hasn’t seen much progress since I started it this past weekend, but I think I can get it done by the end of the SAL/KAL. The Camber Cardigan has been my #1 priority, so I’ve put things aside to work on that for the most part. I do break it up and knit a few rows here and there on other projects, though. Gotta have a little knitting variety. 😉

Brandywine Shawl
Brandywine Shawl

I may have fibbed that I put aside the Textured Circle Shrug yesterday. I ended up going home and working a few more rows of it. Knitting with bigger needles after so long of using US size 4 and below was strange! My hands seemed a bit more tense when I started on it, but loosened up a bit after a few rows. Still, they felt better when I put it aside to work on the Camber Cardigan on US 4’s.

Textured Circle Shrug
Textured Circle Shrug

Nothing interesting for dinner. Thinking the last two brats and pasta salad are on the menu. Nice and easy for the lovely weather we’re having today. Tonight is knit night! Yay 😀

Posted in Completed Projects, Cooking, Current Projects, Gardening

Project Updates, Garden Updates, and Tamales

Posted on by mslindz

After saying I felt like I haven’t been working on much in my last post, I now feel like I’ve got a lot I’m working on! Funny how that ends up working. 🙂

Sunday I finished up a little case for my phone. I was tired of the one I was using because it was difficult to dock my iPhone, so I stopped using it. Then I was worried it would get scratched up in my purse and decided it needed a pretty case.

iPhone Cozy
bHive iPhone Cozy

Pattern: bHive (My Ravelry project page. <– Non-Ravelry users can see this now!!)
Started: March 20, 2010
Completed: March 29, 2010
Yarn: Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in Lowenzahn and Malabrigo Sock in Violeta Africana (small amounts of each)
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm), Knit Picks Nickel DPNs
Notes: This was a easy knit, but was one that I started and put aside for a week, then finished. It could have been knit in one day… I’m just easily distracted! I changed the bottom to be garter stitch instead of stockinette and I did 2×2 ribbing instead of 1×1 (personal preference, I’m not a fan of 1×1 ribbing). If I were to do this again, I would do a total of 5 repeats of the color pattern, which would leave very little garter stitch to do at the bottom to finish it off. I think I might add a flap or button to it. I keep thinking it’s going to fall out because the yarn is rather slick!

iPhone Cozy
bHive iPhone Cozy

iPhone Cozy
bHive iPhone Cozy

I’m still busy working on Camber. I’m up to the waist increases and I’m betting by this weekend I’ll be on the sleeves! Here’s an updated progress shot (though the color is a bit off).

Camber Cardigan
Camber Cardigan

I started the Brandywine Shawl with my handspun from my last post. I think I really need to make my niddy noddy smaller. The skein was too big for my swift and it ended up in a horrible tangled mess that took me THREE HOURS to untangle. No progress photo of the shawl yet, but I’ve done the first chart and 2 repeats of the second chart. So far I really like how it’s working up. I’m glad I ended up changing my mind on the pattern. I think this one suits the yarn much better.

I’ve been feeling the cast-on itch lately and yesterday Karen (who now BLOGS! hehe) queued the Textured Circle Shrug. I mention that I wasn’t really feeling Rogue anymore (Rogue #2 in green Cascade 220), but I really liked that shrug and was thinking of frogging it to make the shrug instead. Being the evil enabler that she is, she talked me into a mini KAL. I swatched last night and cast on. I’m only about two rows in right now and I’ll be putting it aside so that I can get Camber done. Sometimes you just need to cast something new on!

Textured Circle Shrug
Textured Circle Shrug Beginnings

We’ve been busy working on the yard recently. Two weekends ago Matt’s dad and brother came over and the three of them pulled out all the bushes in the front yard. There were 11 of them!

No more bushes
Here they are hard at work.

With those gone, the front of the house has looked a bit empty. Over the weekend, I purchased two pots of flowers for the porch. Still a lot I want to do, but it’s a start!

Plants on porch
Front Porch Flowers

Flowers
Tulips, Lilies and Hyacinths

Tonight I’m going to attempt to make tamales. I cooked up the beef for them yesterday.

Tamales!
Beef, Onions, Garlic, and Water for TAMALES!

Wish me luck – I’ve never made them before! I’ll report back with how they turned out. 🙂

Posted in Completed Projects

Minisweater

Posted on by mslindz

For the second FO of the week, we have a minisweater.

I completed all the knitting for this one on July 4th as well, but didn’t get to sew on the button until yesterday. I actually stitched the front together because I couldn’t get it to stay the way I wanted otherwise. I have to pull it over my head, but it’s really stretchy, so I don’t mind. I used Plymouth Yarn, Baby Alpaca Grande in color 567. It took just under 4 skeins of yarn. I did modify it a bit by knitting 3/4 length sleeves (complete with decreases), but other than that, I followed the pattern.

Here it is lying flat:

Here’s a close up of the button:

And here’s me wearing it:

Posted in Current Projects

Project Updates

Posted on by mslindz

I Since it’s been a while, I figure it’s time to update about my current projects. I’ve decided that I love sock knitting and after some initial trouble, I’m moving right along with my Pomatomus socks. I’m nearly done with the second repeat. Here they are:

And a close up of the pattern:

I’ve been knitting like crazy on my minisweater. So far I’ve used up 2 skeins of the Baby Alpaca Grande. I’m going to be making this one with longer sleeves – probably 3/4 length. I have two skeins left and I’m pretty sure I should have no problems completing it with what I have left. The yarn is incredibly soft and just a joy to work with! Here’s my progress:

Liesel hasn’t got much love from me in a long time. I know I need to complete it, but it just hasn’t been calling to me. I’ve had it sitting out for a few days now and it’s starting to call to me a little louder each day. Soon I’m sure I’ll be knitting on it once again. Here’s where I am so far:

Alright, that’s all I’ve got for this post. TTFN!