Yarn & Food

Last week, I wrote about the yarn that I was given and the swatch I’d made with the Condon’s 1 ply wool. It has, obviously, been released from the pins and ready for a review. My first reaction was that this is not a yarn you want next to your skin. I had hoped it would lose some of it’s scratchiness, but it really didn’t. It did, however, block beautifully. Now, I’m not really sure what to do with this yarn. I posted about it on Ravelry and someone there suggested it might be considered a weaving yarn as Condon’s did make yarns for weaving with and that, perhaps, I might be able to trade it for something I could and would use. One thing I don’t do is weaving and I’m not about to start.

I might consider that, or I might make a shawl or two, but something to be worn over a jacket or coat, not something worn next to the skin. Someone else suggested that it might be a great yarn for felting. I think that will be the next test.

I also wrote last weekend that I would be making apple jelly and some bread sticks. I did both, but didn’t make any dinner buns. Both turned out very well, if I do say so myself. John thinks the jelly is a bit too thick, but I don’t mind it being a little on the firm side. It tastes marvellous on a piece of toast and the colour is gorgeous, so clear and jewel-like. This batch is just plain apple jelly; yesterday I made a small batch (about 1.5 cups of jelly) of lightly spiced apple jelly. It’s spiced with a cinnamon stick and a couple of cloves and tastes like apple pie.

The breadsticks, too, turned out really well! The recipe came from someone on the Breads forum on Ravelry and sounded so good that I just had to try them. They did not disappoint! They’re filled with a mixture of minced garlic, olive oil and grated parmesan cheese. The only thing I would do differently next time is to sprinkle them with a bit of coarse salt before sealing the filling between the two layers. The majority of these are in the freezer; they’ll be perfect with a pasta or soup dinner, warmed in the oven. I will definitely be making these again, perhaps adding some herbs to the filling as well. I’ll post the recipe to the food blog (In Ev’s Kitchen).

In the knitting department, one of my slippers is finished! Completely! And the second slipper has been started. As John said last night, I could have a new pair of slippers by Monday night, knitted, felted and dry. Yup, that’s doable!

I very much like the combination of these two yarns, both Cascade 220. The picture doesn’t really do the green any justice. It’s a much nicer green “in person”, not as washed out as it appears to be in the picture. Even the brown is more golden than the picture shows. Seeing as my nightgown is green and my robe is white, these should work quite well. When John saw that I was making 2-colour slippers for myself, he was a little envious, commenting that he only got ONE colour and how come he didn’t rate two colours? I laughed.

Ok, this post is getting a little windy now. I’ll leave you with one of the pictures I took yesterday. One of the places I had to go to take pictures was a local school. At either side of the main entrance were large pots of flowers, mostly chrysanthemums and dusty miller. The flowers are beginning to fade but the contrast between the mums and the dusty miller was just too much not to photograph.

For those of you in Canada, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.