Stellar Finds

A quick little knit

March 12, 2012 by suburbanapple

I have long owned Joelle Hoverson’s Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I have knit quite a few items from that book, including some baby booties and a sweater (twice, actually, because the first time I wasn’t happy with the fit, so I ripped it all apart and began again). Not only are the patterns in this book great, but the photography is excellent as well. Sometimes with knitting and quilting books, its not so much about the patterns as the eye candy. Great knitting books are like great cookbooks — treasures to be collected.

So imagine my delight when I received More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts last Christmas. I recently undertook one of the projects from this book — a linen-stitch bookmark. I don’t normally knit things for others, but this was intended as a small token of gratitude. It’s kind of a tough call — while I like making things for people, I don’t think everyone understands the amount of time and effort that goes into making a gift. Something small and quick like this though is a perfect compromise. I liked the pattern so much, that I made another for a friend and am about to embark on knitting a third. Each takes less than evening to make (the pattern is in the “less than 2-hour gifts” section of the book).

I don’t have any idea of the yarn that I used for this bookmark, because it was some leftover yarn from a scarf I knit a while back. For that project I mixed another yarn with this yarn to knit and the scarf was a larger scale, so I didn’t notice the color variations in the yarn and wasn’t expecting stripes. I was undecided about the effect at first, but it has since grown on me. I’ll definitely be keeping this pattern on hand for quick gift in the future.

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Where do brussel sprouts come from?

February 8, 2012 by suburbanapple

Stalks!! Who knew? Maybe everyone but me, but then, I’m fairly certain I’ve never even had a brussel sprout. Perhaps something to try soon … I know my grandfather loved them. Does anyone have any great recipes? Their reputation suggests they may need a little finessing …

Posted in Food | 6 Comments »

Something profound from my iced tea …

February 1, 2012 by suburbanapple

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New stripey knitting project

January 18, 2012 by suburbanapple

I started knitting a new scarf/shawl this weekend. I haven’t really knit very much in a while, so it’s nice to be back into it. The scarf is scarf/shawl style because it’s wider than a normal scarf; however, since it’s made with lace-weight wool, it will ultimately be a little less bulky than one might expect. It’s a simple stockinette stitch in alternating stripes of dark purple and berry (the colors I used for my wedding — it’s a color combo I’m really drawn to), so it’s curling in a nice way on the edges. When I say “nice way,” you’ll have to understand that I hate the curling from stockinette (seems like a mistake to me most of the time), so I rarely do it, but since this is so wide, it works out nicely.

The yarn I’m using is Loðband wool that I bought in Iceland. I want to go back, because Iceland was an amazing country and it’s so close (Europe in a five hour flight? Yes, please!) … but also because they love knitting! Their beautiful sweaters are pricey, but their yarn is really inexpensive for the high quality. If I don’t make it back before I use up the stash I already bought (yarn was crammed in every nook of available space in both of our suitcases), I’m looking forward to purchasing from the Handknitting Association of Iceland. It seems like they just sell sweaters, but in the store, way in the back beyond the piles of handknit everything, is an amazing, bright little yarn section. So without further ado, here are the yarns I’m using:

Notice the fleck of a light fiber on the purple skein. One of my life's greatest joys is finding debris in my yarn. A reminder it came from something natural and alive. Something that's still a little dirty like it ought to be.

The next picture was my progress as of this weekend before I tore it all out and started over. Turns out that 120 stitches was looking like too many, so I began again, this time with 90. Perfection. Still like this photo a lot since the circular needles make a little spiraling cascade of this project in it’s earliest stages:

Finally, what would a post about Icelandic yarn and knitting be without a gratuitous photo I took of Reykjavik from across a pond …

With that, back to knitting. I’ll post about it again — either as I go or when it’s all finished. Hoping to keep my blog updated with at least my works-in-progress this year!

Posted in Handmade, Trips, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

French fry Friday

January 2, 2012 by suburbanapple

Matt and I have been trying to save more money. Again. We’re often puzzled about where the money goes, but the one thing that seems to be the biggest roadblock to saving is going out to dinner. We don’t go out every night — we’re both good cooks. But we’re also dining out enthusiasts … and we’re in the mood for sushi way too often.

Fries -- pre-bake

Friday night represented a victory because even though we didn’t have plans (which usually leads to heading out) we were going food shopping and picked up steaks to make at home. Not the cheapest stay-at-home meal, but still a ton less than going out would have been. We also had russet potatoes in the fridge so we made Garlic, Salted Beer Baked French Fries as a side.

These no-fry fries are one of our favorites and we found the recipe through one of the regular emails we get from the Brewer’s Association. The best part about these fries is that they’re soaked in beer. I don’t know what it does to the final product, but there is fun to be had in soaking food in beer. The beer gets all frothy when you pour it over the potatoes and it makes it look like something must be happening. For these fries, post-soak, you drain the beer, add garlic, spices, and oil; and bake. We used Sierra Nevada celebration ale for the recipe on Friday as its one of our seasonal favorites. Also, a note on the oil: you could probably use a little less. I have found that there is quite a bit extra left in the bottom of the bowl at the end.

Fries -- ready to eat!

As an aside (this information is on the Brewer’s Association site as well), this recipe is credited to The Edible Perspective, a blog I’ve been following since we first tried these fries. This blog has a lot of good recipes … all vegetarian or vegan … and a lot of gluten-free options. Not always relevant for me from the gluten-free aspect, but I can always enjoy a vegetarian dish!

Posted in Blog Love, Eating Out, Food | Leave a Comment »

New things in the new year

January 2, 2012 by suburbanapple

I haven’t hammered out a list of resolutions for this year. It would probably be basically the same as any other: self-improvement, weight loss, finding out where the money fairy lives, going to her home, and demanding my cut … certainly no promises on blogging (because we see what my track record has been like over the past few months).

With that said, I’m already on track to trying new things in 2012. On Friday, during what turned out to be a marathon food and supplies shopping trip across parts of two counties, we stopped at Produce Junction to get some discounted veggies. They always have rarities that strike my fancy, but that day, I decided to spend the $2 and take a chance on something I’ve never seen …

It’s celery root! I have no idea what to do with it, but it’s great looking AND smells like celery (a vegetable that I happen to love). After a very small amount of Internet research I am still at a loss, so if anyone has any ideas, definitely let me know. For now, it’s hanging out on the kitchen counter. By the looks of it (it’s just a big root after all), I think I’ll have at least a month or two to make a final decision as to its culinary fate.

Posted in Food, My Life, Shopping | 4 Comments »

Earth shake

August 23, 2011 by suburbanapple

That was clearly that most exciting thing that has happened or will take place in my month of August! I felt my desk shaking and dismissed it, but as it continued and others around me felt it, I realized it was an earthquake.

In the same vein of wanting to see a tornado sometime when I’m on vacation and far away from my house, I’m glad I got to feel an earthquake at least once in my life. And extra glad it was just a little one.

More than anything else, the earthquake left me feeling powerless and out of control. In the moment your options are to ride it out where you are or ride it out under something sturdy. Those are really the only choices you get. Comforting and upsetting at the same time; so simple yet so jarring.