Time Again

It's been over a year since my last blog post - it's easy to fall out of the habit of updating, and the more time that passes, the harder it is to pick it up again.  I hope this is a fresh start to blogging again, because it's nice to be able to look back and see what I got up to!

It's also been just over a year since I knitted this:

My first knitted clock!  It was a huge amount of fun to make, and it hangs in my living room and continues to make me smile every time I glance at the time.  I've wanted to knit another one for a while, although with other projects vying for my attention, I just haven't got around to it until now.  

But with a commission request for a housewarming Strawberry Clock, I could ignore the urge no longer!  I present clock the second:

Again, it's a knitted cover for a vintage style clock.  I'm not quite so keen on the deco-style numbers on the face, but this was the only clock I was able to find in this style and it's growing on me.  This time, I've used a grey woollen moss stitch base, double knitting weight, with eyelets again for ribbon.  

The flowers and leaves are slightly different on this one.  The leaves are cotton 4ply, knitted rather than crocheted and double thickness.  They have more structure, and I love their petite neatness.  The flowers are also in cotton 4 ply, and are the same pattern as the original, but these have little knitted button middles and I've added some pale green embroidery threads to the petals.

There are 7 strawberries dangling from one side.  As these are knitted in 4ply rather than DK, they're more compact than my original.  Plus I actually thought about where to put the french knot seeds on them so they're less haphazard than the first!  It feels as though it's evolved - a little more conservative than its big sister, but still a lot of fun.  I hope the recipient loves it too.

The other recently finished commission is a bunny.  A lucky chimney sweep bunny!  A colleague had a knitted chimney sweep given to her when she got married, and wants to gift her daughter with one for her wedding day this August.  Patterns for knitted chimney sweeps are a little thin on the ground, but I really fell in love with this Alan Dart pattern, despite having a few gripes with it!

Isn't he cute?  Her colour theme is purple, hence the waistcoat :)  I made a gift box for him to go in, from sheets of posterboard and brown Kraft paper.  It's something I enjoy doing, but I need more practise in to iron out some of my own design flaws!

I have a blissful couple of weeks off work, and plan on catching up with plenty of crafting.  Sewing, crochet and knitting awaits - and perhaps a bit of box practise too!  And who knows - maybe I'll even blog about it ;)

P.S.  I've bought another clock to knit - should I stick to strawberries or try something different?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Sweet Potato Chili Fries

I stole this recipe from PaleOMG, although I suppose since I'm telling you this it's sharing, not stealing? Anyway, I made these tonight and they are delicious. What they lack in the crispiness of real fries they make up for in flavour.

EDIT: did you know there are sweet potatos that aren't bright orange?? I got some various brands of sweet potato from the farmers market this week, and some were purple, while some were red on the outside and white inside! These non orange sorts seemed to crisp much better (sometimes the orange ones are a bit soggy).

They don't even have any gluten in them which, since it's Wheat Month, is actually a problem right now. Which brings me to the real reason Wheat Month is going to make me fat, aside from the wheat. It's because my thought process, when I'm allowed to run about consuming wheat products at my leisure, goes like this: "Hm....what shall I have for dinner? I know, paleOMG's chili fries. Oh shoot, there's no gluten in those...." at which point I wandered around the grocery store looking for a gluten product worth consuming and left with a box of President's Choice Decadent Peanut Butter Icecream Sandwiches. I won't tell you how delicious they were because that would be mean.

NOTE: Nick points out I did not have to buy junk food to get my gluten, I could have thickened my chili with flour like a normal person. Touche. I'll remember that.....once the cookies are gone....

paleOMG's Sweet Potato Chili Fries

I did mine slightly differently than Juli (i.e., I did less work because I'm lazy). Also she somehow has sweet potatoes that aren't bright orange....dunno where to get those.

Ingredients

• One large sweet potato. Pick one that's stout and round not long and warped for optimum fry size
• Ground beef or sausage
• 2-3 tomatoes, diced
• seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic/onion powder, a dash of cayenne pepper)
• half a sliced avacado

1.  Start browning your ground beef or sausage
2. Slice your potato into fries (cut in half and quarters lengthwise, etc, until you have somewhat even fry sized strips.
3. Dust the fries lightly with olive oil. If you put too much they won't crisp.
4. Salt the fries and bake on ~400 until squishy (cooked) and then broil for a few minutes (to crisp) until your smoke detector tells you they're done.
5. Meanwhile, add diced tomatoes to the meat and season. Simmer until the tomatoes are all juiced and the chili starts to thicken again.
6. Make a nest with your fries and plop the chili in the middle. Serve with a sliced avocado to cut the heat of the cayenne and get some tasty fats.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad