Our Bags Are Packed

We're ready to go. And as Stephanie said, I packed the yarn first.

I certainly hope I have packed w-a-a-y too much yarn. I have yarn for a summer tee, a shawl and a second sock.

The 'Naurally' pattern - the tri-coloured cardigan - has been tossed aside. A friend and I are going to do a Top-Down, Pattern-Free, Raglan KAL when I return. The Ego Cotton will be saved for that project.

And Tam #3 - C'est fini. Doesn't it look great?

It is blocking here, stretched over a 10 inch dinner plate. The Noro shows off the pattern detail wonderfully. The only modification I made to the pattern was to change the double decreases to two separate decreases. The double decrease was thicker than I liked, so I switched to one right leaning - K2tog and right next to it a left-leaning - SSK. It will be dry by the time we get back from BC but by then it will be too warm - I hope - to wear it. Modeled shots will have to wait until next fall.

We leave for Toronto at noon, and I am taking my camera and hope to be able to figure out how to post from long-distance. If so, you will be able to track our fun and frolicking in BC.
If not, the adventures will have to wait until we return on the 12th.

A Wasted Day

Today, as a treat for our trip to BC, I got my nails done.

Hands - French no less!


and feet.

How can that be time wasted, you ask. Because it took 3 hours! I thought time was dragging, but without my watch and with no clock in sight, I couldn't be sure. It was only when I got back in the car I knew I had been gone 3 hours! A manicure or pedicure should be a relaxing experience, but that's beyond relaxing. That's comatose.

Back at home, I decided to print some photos from the computer to show friends in BC. I had never before printed my own photos, but why not? I have a good camera. I have a decent computer. I have a brand new printer and I had purchased photo paper. How hard can it be, right? Well, there went another 3 hours. Something to do with me having too many photo programs on my computer. And when I finally mastered it, I decided the results weren't worth the effort.

Better to order online from Wal Mart. In my frustrated, wasted-day state, I thought that would be easier. I had never done that before either, but why not? How hard can it be, right? Ha! I won't even tell you how much time that took. But by the time I was finished, the dinner hour was here and my frustration level was Everest-high.

But the fun/good news is, I decided on my trip knitting.

It's an out-of-print Naturally pattern of the era of 'lots of ease'. Which mine won't have. I love the monochromatic colour scheme - 3 shades of cream. The called-for yarn is Cotton Connection - long gone, of course, But at Purrsonally Yours in Meaford, I got some lovely Organic Cotton - Egoknit, from Peru. I can't wait to start.

In the mean time, Tam #3 is waiting patiently to be finished. Hope I'm not too frustrated/spaced out/tired/bug-eyed to knit.

To Strand or Not To Strand - That Is The Question

When I knit colour work of the Fairisle type - like this

Prairie Sunset -- Knits from the North Country


or this
My Own Design.

I strand. I do not weave. Gasps of horror. I hear them now. Anne and Eugene at Philosophers Wool have done much to promote the 'Two-Handed Fairisle" method. And they have a great following. But me, I like stranding better.

What's the difference, some of you may ask. Well, knitters who use weaving as their method of carrying the not-in-use colour , catch the unused colour on every stitch. With a little up and down movement, they wrap the working yarn around the unused yarn to hold it tight to the garment.

Stranders, like me, do as Elizabeth Zimmermann tells us to do in her book, Knitting Around "Avoid a carry greater than 5 stitches long." Yep, that's my style. A lot less work than weaving every stitch.

But laziness is only part of the reason I strand. I like the finished product better. When I catch every stitch , I end up with a much stiffer finished product. And sometimes, the colour behind pokes thru to the front. Of course, it could just be that I'm not good at it.

Definitely, the non-public side of the work looks better with the weaving method. But who would sacrifice the public side for a better inside? And really, the inside of these don't look too bad.


Those of the weaving persuasion say that stranded sweaters won't last as long. Things will get caught on, or in, the strands ,chancing a rip or pull. With wool, though, it doesn't take long for the strands to hook on to each other. And who would attempt these sweaters in any fibre but wool? And I'll be careful. Promise.

And so, Tam #3 from Knitty's Winter issue, is being stranded.

It's about half done. I hope to have it finished by the weekend, as Fred and I leave Monday for a trip to BC. I have new yarn for the trip. Can I knit on the plane these days?

A Bad Start

My day got off to a bad start. I had to get out of bed way earlier than normal. But worse than that, my morning coffee was delayed. A big mug of hot coffee is how I start every day. I'm addicted. Without it, my day is off to a bad start.

This morning, though, I had to go for blood work. Just routine. A follow-up to my physical last week. But blood work demands a fast. And the fast meant no early-morning coffee.

I wanted that coffee as soon as possible, so decided I would be first in line when the lab opened at 7. That meant I had to do another thing I dislike doing - set the alarm. One of the great things about retired life is not having to set the alarm. But in this case, the addiction won out, and the alarm was set.

I figured 15 minutes before opening would be early enough to secure the number-one spot. But at 6:45 when I rounded the corner in the hall to the lab, I saw 4 others already there. Wow! There must be a lot of serious caffeine addicts in my town.

The doors opened exactly at 7. Friendly, efficient staff greeted us. Of course, it would be silly to be other-than-friendly, with a room full of caffeine-starved patients carrying containers filled with their urine sample.

At 7:20, I was back in my car. At 7:25, I was drinking a 'Medium Black' at Timmy's.

Back home, I was able to have a second cup. Fred, lovingly, had made a full pot for my return. It was especially nice of him, considering that at 6:30 he had been wakened by a loud noise. Heart thumping, he raced to the kitchen, thinking an appliance was blowing up, only to realize it was the garage door closing as I drove out.

Now, time to knit.

Has Spring Sprung?

Mike's hat is done. It was not so much a '2 movie hat' as a couple of hours of poor TV and a car ride home for Easter Dinner. It looks great. Here, you see it on Fred.

Poor Fred. I asked him to model the hat for my blog. The preening started. The shoulders went back. The glasses came off. The posture straightened. The smile broadened. Then I told him that I didn't want to capture any of him, I just needed a head to fill out the hat. The winds of deflation cooled down the room, noticeably.

And here it is, with the store-bought scarf, ready to be packaged up and mailed off. I love the way the colours are not so much 'matchy-poo' but more a complement to each other.

After thinking about my post last week, where I showed all the projects waiting to be made, I began to think that they were all too wintry. That perhaps, since the equinox has past, I should start to knit for warmer weather.

In my summer queue, there are gorgeous things calling my name. Like Soleil. The great tank top from Knitty, Or this gorgeous cap- sleeved cardi. Or maybe Chanson - a great shrug from Ramwools.

But then look what that 'cute' meterologist did for us today.

My back yard looking through the window.

What ? Did you think I would open the door in this weather?

So I started the great Tam - Tam #3 - from Knitty's Winter/07 issue.

As unenlightened as I feel in revealing this, it is the first time I have ever used Noro. Yep, I am a Noro Newbie. The yarn feels great. Rustic and luxurious at the same time, if that is possible.

But, on the shelf, Noro gave me the impression it would provide far more depth of colour and contrast for my 'fairisle' Tam. I mean, really, what is the point of doing colour stranding if you can't see it? If only I had slid the wrapper from the yarn while still at the store. (Read yesterday's post) As I said. Swift learner, me.

Yarn? $88. Slippers? Pricey!

How do you like my new slippers? I love the colour. Rust. They are 100%wool, felted and very warm. I love them.

But in case you think - as my Mother would have said - that I have more money than brains, I didn't intend to spend $88 on slipper yarn. This yarn has a history.

A few years back, I went to the Kitchener Waterloo Knitters Fair with 'the list'. The list of all the projects in my 'queue', along with the yarn (colour, fibre, gauge, yardage) requirements. Number one on the list was the long-coveted Ribby Cardi, by Bonnie Marie Burns. I had purchased the pattern some time before and had been patiently waiting for the right colour, in the right yarn, to present itself. The colour, I had decided, must be rust. And the yarn, of course, wool.

I wasn't long at the Knitters Fair when I spotted rust-coloured yarn. The crowd was thick, and I had to thread my arm between shoulders to grab a skein. Ooooh, so soft. It was South American wool, and the wrapper confirmed the correct gauge. Great. Right colour, right fibre, right gauge. And at $11 per skein, right price. I grabbed 6 skeins, and over the heads of other shoppers, handed them to the clerk. Briefly, then, I panicked. Had I had read the gauge correctly?

I asked the clerk to check the gauge, mentioning it was important.
"19 stitches over 4 inches" she said. Perfect.
A card-swipe later, and I had my prized, Ribby Cardi yarn.

The next day, anxious to get started, I slid the wrapper from the first skein. The wrappers on those skeins covered much of the yarn. Only an inch or so of yarn was exposed at each end. Removing that wrapper gave me my first real look at the yarn. Hmmmm. It looked quite fine. Finer than 19 stitches over 4 inches should look, I thought. Hmmmm. Better do a gauge swatch, I thought. Using the recommended needle size, I cast on.

Swatch number one told me, my gauge was w-a-a-a-y off. A change of needles, a second swatch, still off. 6 swatches later (swift learner, me) I knew that I was never going to get 19 stitches over 4 inches with this yarn.

Monday morning, I stuffed the yarn into my bag and took it to work with me at London Yarns. I knew a discussion with my co-working-friend and knitting mentor, Patti-Ann, would help.

P.A. and I decided the best solution was to re-calculate the pattern numbers. Actually, not as hard as it sounds, I had done it many times before. But to knit a sweater at a finer gauge requires more yarn. Could I get two more skeins of the same dye lot? And did I want to spend $88 for my sweater? That's a whole different price point! I dithered, but in the end decided to go ahead.

With the name and phone number of the store on my invoice, I called.
Clerk 'One' answered. I told her I had purchased yarn at the Knitters Fair and would like to buy two more skeins in the same dye lot. She said I should talk to Clerk 'Two' as 'Two' was the staffer who had gone to the Fair.

'Two' came on the phone and I asked about more yarn in my dye lot. She checked and yes, more was available. At that point, I told her that I needed the extra yarn because I was having great difficulty getting gauge. I explained that 22 stitches, not 19, was the best I could get.

"Yea. I know", commiserated 'Two'. "I find those South American yarns always knit to a finer gauge than what the wrapper states."

What?

Most likely, 'Two' had sold me my yarn. Most likely, 'Two' had double checked the gauge info for me when I briefly panicked.

Most likely - no - most definitely, I will not buy yarn from that store again.

The story goes on. The extra yarn arrived and the cardi got knit. Unfortunately, I didn't like it. What had felt 'oh- so- soft' in the skein, knit up to be picky and scratchy in the sweater. And those tight- fitting, ribbed arms did nothing to compliment my aging 'flex-a-flab' triceps. So the Ribby was ripped. And the yarn sat languishing on the shelf in the 'wool' room until this winter when I needed new slippers.

And I really like them. They' re wool, they're felted, they're warm. But at $88, they're pricey.

There's A New Man In My LIfe

Yep. Sorry Fred. I know. It's been almost 42 years, but this one does windows.

There he is, in my kitchen. 'Star window-worker' from Northern Glass in Collingwood. We had 5 new windows installed this week.

These guy wrote the book on 'how to do business right.'

They were referred to us by friends, so that helps. But when we called, they were polite and professional on the phone. They set a time to come and measure our windows that was convenient for us. And then, THEY CAME WHEN THEY SAID THEY WOULD!!!

They said the quote would take 48 hours and sure enough, 48 hours after they measured another nice man called to make an appointment to come talk to us. And, HE CAME WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD!!!!

The quote was reasonable. He said the windows would arrive in about a month. And, THE WINDOWS CAME WHEN HE SAID THEY WOULD!!!!

They called and set a convenient time for installation. And, THEY CAME WHEN THEY SAID THEY WOULD!!!! They brought with them, their little, hand-held, sweepy thing with a dust pan. Everywhere they went in the house, they swept up behind themselves. They were friendly, polite and respectful of our home. And the last thing they did before they left? THEY CLEANED THE WINDOWS!!
Yahoo!!! Can it get any better than that? Seriously folks. If you live in this area and need new windows, I would highly recommend these guys.
Oh - the other company we called to get a second quote? You know. Everyone says you should call more than one company. They haven't called back yet.

The "what's next" decision for my next knitting project? Mike's Hat.

Duty calls. Not to mention that 'cute' local meteorologist says the weather for the next month will be more winter-like than spring-like. But shall it be top-down or bottom-up? I think this one I will do bottom-up. Working in 4 x 2 ribbing might be a bit too much for the brain to start off making immediate increases, while keeping pattern in the top-down version. Besides bottom up I can start with a Professional Cast-On. Of course top-down I could finish with the Tubular Bind-Off, but I prefer working the PCO. So bottoms-up it is Mike. It won't take long. I consider a hat a 2 movie knit. Hmmmm. What shall I watch?

The First Day Of Spring

Today, the local meteorologist said
"There is a difference between the first day of spring and the first spring-like day." Ha Ha. Isn't he cute?
Well, some of you, I know, look to the calendar to know when it is spring. Some of you look to the weather. But me? This is how I tell if spring is near.

The larder is more empty than full.

And empty too are my knitting needles. The Leftovers Vest is done Here it is on the 'block'.

Soon to be on me. Luckily our first 'spring-like' day isn't here yet. I get to wear my new wool vest. The 'deets' of this vest are probably not of much help to other knitters. But here are a few. Pattern - My own. Body, knit on the machine at 6.5 on the stitch dial. The ribbing, knit by hand with 4.5 mm needles. The yarn was a variety from my stash. Mostly KW weight, but the gold is a bit finer. The olive green is Paton Classic Wool. Not a yarn I particularly like. It pills w - a- a-a- y too much. But in these small quantities, it should be OK. The orange/rust and purple are from Manitoulin. Wooly Harvest Yarns. Not sure if they are still in business.

So what's next? Well, it could be Mike's Hat.

Friend Mike received this lovely scarf as a Christmas gift and has requested a hat to match. That's a 4 x 2 rib in the scarf, so the hat will be the same. Do you like the yarn Mike?

Or maybe, Mike can wait. This is for me.

A great combo for Tam # 3 from www.knitty.com Winter 2007 issue. These yarns were purchased last week with Grandaughter Abi's help at Pursonally Yours Wool Shop in Meaford. Isabel has great stock for a small store.

Or maybe this. Loden Mist from Knitters Spring 2007 issue

I've had the yarn for this since the KW Knitters Fair last September.

But this is also calling.

The Diagonal Rib Cardigan from Reynolds. Made with Alaphoss Lopi. Which I don't have. So that would mean a shopping trip. Gosh!
Ah. Choices, Choices.

Kim's Birthday

Today is my darling, daughter-in-law's birthday. Her name is Kim and I would love to give you a picture of her. But since I haven't cleared it with her, perhaps I shouldn't.

Here are 10 reasons you bring joy to my life, Kim

You have a playful spirit which is a good foil to our son's serious nature.
You have no airs. You are who you are. I like that.
You like to watch and talk about movies with me.
You have a lip-smacking enjoyment of food. It's fun to cook for you.
You have a child-like sense of fun. Don't ever lose that.
You speak your mind. I really like that.
You speak French and make sure the Grand Kids do too.
You let me have the Grand Kids whenever I ask.
You like to play cards and board games.
You have an adventurous spirit and are willing to try new things - even those way outside your comfort zone.
You call me 'Mommy'.

Oops. That's 11. Well there you go. She's a pretty special person. More than a 10.
I am a lucky woman.

Happy Happy Birthday Kim.

It's Deja Vu - All Over Again

Deja vu all over again. Who said that? Casey Stengel? Whoever said it, must have been at my house this morning.

Remember that Leftovers Vest? The one I thought I would 'sit&knit' while the Grand kids were here? Well, only after THEY LEFT, did I have time to knit.

The ribbing around the neck and armholes is done. And with a 'Tubular Bind Off' no less. Nice, but very time consuming. Then this morning I tried it on. I bet you can hear the doom & gloom music, can't you?

There it is one me. So far so good. The Tubular Bind Off looks great around the neck doesn't it? But what the picture doesn't show is that the vest is too long.

To-o-o-o Long.

The vest was this long. Which meant that it hit me at the widest point of my hips. With those horizontal stripes, it was not a pretty sight.

After a bit of trial and error, I decided it needed to be this long. Count 'em. That's 6 stripes shorter. Fortunately, I am known as the fearless knitter. I will cut and knit down. Need help with that? Leave me a comment and I will tell you how to do it.

So a few minutes later it looked like this.

That's where the deja vu part comes in. I remember backwards progress with little balls and tangles of yarn a couple of weeks ago. Am I having fun yet? Process or product? Isn't it possible to get a little bit of both?

Wasn't That A Party?

March Break is over for another year. What fun we had with the grandkids!
From Saturday until Tuesday, there were 10 of us for every meal. Nothing by pioneer standards of course, but a lot for this Grandma. Tuesday, some went home, leaving us with 2 Grandkids for the rest of the week.

Here they are, wearing their hats, in the hot tub on the Saturday of the big snow storm. See those snow flakes? It was snowing too hard to not have a hat on. 'Toques & Towels' for the hot tub. The kids like to gather up snow balls from the railing and put them down the front of their bathing suits. Then they squeal with delight, of course.

About 2 days later it was so warm, we had a picnic at the ski hills. Some of us even had our coats off, as you can see.

A great week.

Is there anything more wonderful than having a 7 year old crawl into bed with you in the morning? James did that every morning of his vacation. The first morning he told me a story
about getting caught in a mouse trap. He apparently spied a mouse trap at the babysitter's house, all set up with cheese. He didn't know what the trap was, but the cheese was irresistible. Of course when he reached for the cheese, he was 'caught.' He said the babysitter told him he was the biggest mouse she ever caught. He laughed and laughed as he told me this story. He laughed so hard his little belly shook. Then mine shook too.

Did I get any knitting done? Ha! How naive!

Walking Is My Worst - est Enemy

Well, the grandkids have arrived. They missed the bulk of Saturday's storm, arriving about an hour before it hit in full vengeance.

They brought their skates as we live 2 blocks from the arena and there is lots of free skating this week. They brought their swimsuits for the hot tub. And they brought their skis.

Sunday we decided to go skating. James, who is 7 asked if we would be driving to the arena. When he was reminded that it was only 2 blocks and we would walk, he said "Oh no! Walking is my worst -est enemy."
Art Linklaeter would be laughing.

What Do Conrad Black and I Have In Common?

What Do Conrad Black And I Have In Common?
Like Conrad Black- I lost my title. Yesterday's blog posting was title-less. I lost mine to cyber space (or maybe a spaced-out state of mind) and Conrad lost his to - what was that again? Oh yea. Greed and avarice.

And what do you think this is? Beyond Brenda's messy kitchen, I mean. This is
"The Grandkids Are Coming... The Grandkids Are Coming".
And Grandma is making cookies. Ginger Sparklers. A known favourite.

As well as Charlie and the Grandkids, friends from London are coming too. I think it will be the first time that those from the south, travelling north are likely to have worse weather than those from the north travelling south. Either way, I am always anxious until they walk - well, actually, hop, skip, jump, run, holler, dance etc - through the door.

So if I don't post too much next week, it is because I will be busy doing this.

This was taken at Christmas time. That's me with my mouth open. You see the 3 beauteous grandkids - Sarah and Abi beside me. Toothless James in front. And their two London friends.

Or this.

This was taken last year, during March Break. Fred, Peter, James and Abi.
Happy March Break,

There you have it. Front and Back of the Leftovers Vest. See all those ends? That is my next job. I got some of them done at knit group this afternoon. Then I came home and read Patti-Ann's comment from yesterday. I had forgotten all about Patrick's (see him at villageyarns) little tip for weaving in ends, as you go, on the machine. Dang. I've got my work cut out for me.

And this is what Fred faced yesterday in yet another winter storm. I can't remember a winter when the most frequently used phrase on the radio has been 'winter storm warning'.

This winter, some of our ski friends could not get here because of the weather and some could not get home for the same reason. A few weeks ago, my friend Tina and her family arrived on a Friday for a ski weekend. Sunday morning at 8 am, they left for home. At 3:30 pm they were back, having gone about 25 K.

One of the town's snow plow operators was quoted in the local paper, saying that in his 40 years of snow plowing, there has never been a year when every road in the county was closed. Until this year, when that happened twice.

But it is drawing to a close soon. I always get wistful when winter ends. No more skiing. No more brisk sunny days. Only that oppressive heat and humidity to look forward to. And who wears hand knit sweaters in the summer? That's the worse part.

Elation Despair Elation

12:00 Noon Wednesday

Back as far as armholes - Leftovers Vest

This amount of knitting was actually done yesterday. Today, before getting too far into the project, I decided to take it off the needles and check on that old curmudgeon 'gauge'.

12:02 Dang!!!

Gauge still off. I hesitated and considered Stephanie's (www.yarnharlot.ca)'knitterly denial', but then thought better of it.

Just before 3:00 pm

Done by 3 - in time for tea. - It's a retired thing. Tea at 3. There was as ton of prep work with this project - remembering how to use the machine, getting gauge, etc. But basically, I am pretty proud of myself. I remembered how to cast off. I remembered how to do a decrease. After a quick check in the manual, I even remembered how to decrease in the middle of the row. However, that must have been a bit too stressful for me because what I forgot to do after figuring out the mid-row decrease was to put yarn in the machine. Know what happens when you forget to put yarn in the machine? The entire piece drops off and lands in your lap. Accompanied by an anguished cry. And a few less-than-polite words.

But luckily, I was able to re-hang the piece and continue on. And right now - 5:30 pm, the front is also almost done. One shoulder to go. I am trying - before March Break -to get it done to the point where all that is left to do is to hand knit the trim around the armholes and neck .

The grandkids and some of their friends are coming for a ski holiday. I can get away with a sit & knit. But I sure wouldn't want them to know there is a 'machine' in that room. That would be just way too tempting.

Professional Cast On

Professional Cast On

Doesn't that edge look nice? I used the Professional Cast On as taught to me by Linda - a co-worker when I worked at London Yarns. It most closely resembles the cast-on edge of a commercially-made garment.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to make this vest on the knitting machine. And I am. But the ribbing, I decided to do by hand. I have an LK 150 machine - a basic machine. Purl stitches each have to be manipulated by hand. Every other stitch in a K1 P1 ribbing! That allows for lots of opportunity for dropped stitches on the machine. So I decided to knit the ribbing by hand and then transfer the piece to the machine.

I have used my machine only once since our move. Coming close to a year and a half now. So it was back to square one. I had to get out the manual to remember how to get started. This is when I really miss my friend Patti-Ann. She and I worked together one day a week at London Yarns and she was my mentor on the machine - not to mention a million other things.

Gauge, as the knitters amongst you know, is a most important bit of info before starting the actual knitting. Without correct gauge information, the garment will either fit an elephant or an ant, but not the intended recipient. My goal yesterday then was to make a gauge swatch.

Simple eh? Well, I started early in the morning - no skiing as it was raining - and finished just before supper. How many gauge swatches can one make in a day. MANY! Believe me. But only the last one was accurate and correct.

Hopefully the actual knitting will go faster. After all that is the idea of using a machine. Cranking out the finished product in less time. I'll keep you posted.

How I Spent My Saturday

Saturday was bread day.

Last fall, I decided to learn to make my own bread. Partly because I had always been stymied by bread-making , and partly because I had been increasingly PO'd by paying almost $3 for a loaf of half-decent - and only half-decent - bread. But yeast and I have a very bad history. We had never been good friends.
Here in Thornbury, though, there are many makers of homemade bread. One friend lent me her book of bread-making tips. Another told me of her favourite recipe. Turns out I had the same cookbook - Food That Really Schmecks by Edna Staebler.
And so, in a state somewhere between eagerness and trepidation, I began.
The 'book of tips' described kneading as "relaxing and therapeutic", and now after several months of making all the bread we eat, I would say - " Yea. Kinda." But that first day, I certainly never reached the relaxing and therapeutic state. Far from it.
More like taxing, tiring and a real workout. The day was one of the hottest and most humid of late summer. As I kneaded, the sweat rolled down my face,dripping off my nose and chin. I had to keep jumping back from the table to keep the drops from landing in the dough. ( I had already added the salt) It was exhausting. I couldn't imagine how our ancestors did it, working beside a hot wood stove and wearing a floor length dress.
But the bread was delicious. And to date, I have not had a failure. I'm expecting one any time though as I am now quite cocky about my bread-making skills. I am so presumptuous as to think I have the whole process down pat and refer to the recipe and 'book-of-tips' less and less often. Failure awaits, I'm sure.
And what did I serve on Saturday, with this fresh bread, you ask? Well, a delicious, new-to-me recipe. A hot spicy Indian dish called Mattar Paneer. A recipe found at this site - cosmicpluto.com.blog This recipe starts with making your own cheese. (Yea Yea, I know -beginning to sound like "Little House In The Village".) But it was really quite easy and tasted delicious. You do have to get past the 'baby spit-up' smell that occurs as the milk curdles though.
And what about my knitting?
Well, I have decided to knit the Leftovers Vest on the Knitting Machine. And I will tell you all about it tomorrow.