Helix reworked

FrontI’m liking this . . . a lot. I keep wanting to pet it which is a really good sign. Having the back and sleeve caps being different than the yoke is really pleasing.

From here success is what I do next. I’m going to try swapping out one of the variegateds I’m using for the yoke with BP Frosty Morning. It may not work but I won’t know until I try. It *might* be the perfect transition.

I’ve started a mosaic cloud on the back. I still don’t know if that’s going to work. So far I’m okay with it. I need to stop the Shoreline (gray) before it starts to get stripy. Once that happens I may split the Shoreline in half and use it just for the sleeves. Stripes would work there.

Back

New Helix Top

New startI’m trying something different for the top of helix. I’m still doing a sunset but . . . different. I’m not a fan of repeating stuff. I don’t learn new stuff that way other than been there, done that.
The edging is a mostly pink orange, like a pale sherbet. It blends pretty well with the yarns I’m using for the shoulder. The start of the shoulder is two rows of Bamboo Pop Blueberry Swirl and two rows of BP Khaki Girl. Instead of breaking the yarn I’m trapping them with the front edging yarn.
I don’t intend for this to go too far . . . to the end of the sleeve cap shaping, I think. I think I want to use a different (solid?) yarn for the sleeves. I haven’t tried this before so it should be interesting. Maybe a dark navy. BP Anchor maybe though I’ll have to get more. Or one of the grays I used for the body helix.

It’s another NO

AnotherNoYeah, this is not working. The helix bottom is brilliant and deserves a much better top than this. I realized that (or finally accepted that) when I got the helix bit done and couldn’t figure out what to do with the sleeves. So, time to innovate!

Rather than frog the whole thing I’ll separate it at the start of the helix or at the underarm (probably there as it gives me the most flexibility) and frog the top. I can use some of the Shoreline, maybe a bit of the dark blue, add more color, change out the gray I used for the edging and pattern the top after a shrug I made for my sister. Then it’s just Kitchener the two parts together and I’ve got a totally different sweater.

I thought about just separating them at the helix but I’m not happy enough with the top to try add a different bottom to it. And yes, I’ve Kitchenered a sweater together before. It’s only ever scary the first time.Sunset shrug

Sunset on the farm mosaic

Helix, the reknit

I frogged my first attempt all the way back. The test fit SUCKED. Totally. The shoulders were too pointy.

In the first round of knitting I got the neckline totally done and realized it would look SO much better if I used a solid color for the back neck and front facings. I sorted colors and picked the closest blue and the closest gray and started reknitting. I got about four rows into adding Shoreline and realized I was making a mistake. I should save the Shoreline so I can knit seamlessly from it into the helix . . . or as close as I can get. So, gray caston, blue shoulders transitioning into Shoreline as soon as the shoulders were built.

The reknitI’m questioning some of my yarn choices, one of which is the yarn I used for the neck facing but not to the point I’m willing to frog this. All in all I’m fairly happy. I’m using only short repeat variegateds for the scrappy line of the helix and I’m really liking the effect. I think I have enough variety to finish a shorty without repeating a variegated or using a solid. I think I have enough of the neck edging color for sleeve and body hems. One of the variegateds is the very very very last bit of BP On Parade, now discontinued. I wish I could find more of it. It’s SO useful.

The shoulder is conti-rag with a 12 stitch separation from the shoulder line and a 17 stitch drop for the front. Numbers-wise I’m extremely pleased. All the bits ended relatively together. The vee ends really close to the Point C horizontal line. I think the bust dart line is a little high but it doesn’t stand out much. It gives me the extra volume in front which is really all I need. Plus the difference between “I’m wearing a bra” versus au natural is ridiculous so it’s moot point.
If you’re wondering why there are beads at the center back I have a good reason. if I have to dress in the dark I can tell by feel which bit of the sweater is the back. All the sweaters I make for me have short row of beads,

Things I learned . . . the stitch pick up for the front facing has a new easy and intuitive technique. The other thing is just too complicated to explain outside a video.
I’ve been contemplating entering our local fair for the LAP award. I’m thinking something like this would be a worthy contender. I also have sweater’s worth of Great Barrier Reef’s Wine Bay, a really long repeat variegated (a blue based red version of Shoreline) and this is giving me ideas on how to use it without knitting a whole sweater out of it.

Chaos Inspiration

Helix from ChaosIn knitting Chaos I did a three yarn helix sleeve incorporating two of the grays in the body and my bag of scrap yarn, a result I found truly fascinating. This is something I want to run with . . . and so it begins.

I’ve got some leftover Great Barrier Reef Shoreline(?, questioning the name not the brand), about half a cake, that would make a lovely start, so gray for one helix yarn, blue for another and my scrap bag bits for the third. (Before I start the helix bit I think I need to organize my scrappies and know the sequence ahead of time so the scrappy choices truly transition into each other.)

The seedSo here’s the plan. Start with Shoreline (off white, gray, blue). Once I’m working in the round, start the helix using with light gray, scrappy, light blue. Next transition switch to slightly darker gray and slightly darker blue, continue the scrappy. Repeat two more times, should be at hem of sweater. That’s the plan.

The progress

This is where I am (back of the sweater). If you can’t tell at a glance it’s conti-rag with sleeve cap short rows. See how the short rows level out the sleeve stripes! It’s so pretty I couldn’t resist sharing. I need to get to the bottom of the vee neck before starting the helix (working in the round) and I’m about 12 rows from there . . . uh . . . maybe. I’m out of the Great Barrier Reef Shoreline(?) and will have to switch to a starter blue or a starter gray (lightest colors) to push on into the round. I may do a series of three row stripe of light blue/light gray to finish up the yoke and transition into the helix, a pure knit-from-the-hip decision.
Regardless, I love this yarn and I’m delighted to be using up the last bit of the sweater lot of Shoreline I purchased.

Better Banner Update

Bamboo Pop Better BannerAll the reknitting is done and I’m past the sleeve separation. All in all I’m really pleased. The photo reads gray and the brights are subdued. The actual sweater is a gorgeous ink navy. Once I get a sunny day I’ll get a better pic.

The intarsia is ~2/3 done. I’ve separated the sleeves. Since taking the progress pic I’ve done the underarm caston. Next is test fit.

Once past the test fit I’ll work in the ends of the finished bits which will tidy things up before continuing to knit.

Frogged!

Better Banner’s been frogged back to the collar. Tomorrow I’ll start the reconstruction using conti-raglan instead of conti-something. I’ve got a couple balls of the frogged yarn that need to be unkinked as well as all the short pieces of brights used for the banner. I’ll spritz and bag them tonight. They’ll have a chance to relax sitting on a rack by the wood stove when Wadly starts a fire in the morning.

The period of chaos has ended

Est finiIt’s done, I’m happy. There are a few things I would do differently if I did a repeat.

  • Move the decrease line for the sleeve wedge two stitches farther away from the colored bit.
  • Decrease the body wedge width to one third of the current width.
  • Start the sleeve wedge sooner.
  • Change the straight line of the sleeve wedge to match the decrease line of the sleeve.

Overall I’m really happy with the stuff I learned.

The streamlined conti-something shoulder came out really nicely. I’ve embraced Åsa Tricosa’s Ziggurat philosophy and am no longer breaking my yarn between elements. I’ve also eliminated the closing row which tightens up my conti-something shoulder.

The helixed sleeve rocks. Two solids (dark and light gray) and a variety of solid and variegated scraps makes a really interesting sleeve. Each of the scraps circles the sleeve three times. It’s a striped sleeve without screaming “STRIPED SLEEVE”. I’m really tempted to use this technique with some ombre yarn I’ve had hanging around for quite a while.

The sleeve wedge took ~9 starts before I had something I was happy with. I cycled between messy and ugly before it finally settled out. I’m going to use this single stitch color column technique for a different banner sweater idea. Someday. Maybe.

From Palette Cleanser to Chaos

With Better Banner awaiting a significant frog, I needed a break. With lots of left over bits, balls and skeins it was time for something scrappy. I love from the hip scrappy. It’s my favorite style of sweater to knit. I can grab yarn and do whatever feels happy.

This project is exceeding expectations. For a scrappy palette cleanser it’s come out better than I ever imagined it would. I love projects where I learn something. On this one, so far, the count is at two with (hopefully) another to follow. One, I made a significant improvement to my conti-something shoulder and two, the three-yarn helix will now forever be the base I use for gradients.

I started this project with no plan. I had a sweater’s worth of partial balls in various shades of gray (Hobbii’s Rainbow Bamboo) and a gallon ziplock full of DK weight bamboo/cotton thumb skeins from a variety of manufacturers.

At this point I have one sleeve left to knit. I’m planning a wedge to match the side wedge starting from the elbow in vertical stripes (intarsia) in a twisted echo of the first sleeve. Joy!

Weird but tasty

Instead of an omelet this morning I did a weird no-idea-what-to-call-it thing with all the same ingredients. It was good, dare I say better than my normal omelet.

I mixed uncooked shrimp, an egg and a couple handfuls of mozzarella cheese in my little food processor then I spread it over sauteed peppers, onions and mushroom. I covered it and cooked it on low until it was done. Diced tomato on top and it was awesome!

Next time I’ll stir the sauteed veges into the mix before cooking. It was fast, easy and little effort.

Deep fried fish

I haven’t had battered fish in . . . well . . . it feels like forever. Once I understood I’m a celiac a lot of things vanished off my menu. When Wadly was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic even more things vanished off our menu. The result is way better health but it’s a change that takes time to incorporate. We started out feeling we couldn’t eat anything and found out we can eat really awesome stuff.

So . . . fried fish. I have always loved deep fried fish. Everything I’ve tried since switching to celiac/keto has been a huge disappointment . . . until . . .

The world of keto advocates is awesome. People are trying things and sharing and it benefits us all. One of the outstanding contributions is a recipe for battered fried fish. It. Is. AWESOME.

  • 2/3 cup almond flour. Don’t substitute with anything else. I was low on almond flour and tried to substitute something else to fill out the recipe . . . just don’t.
  • 1/4 cup protein powder. The recipe I followed recommended whey protein powder. I don’t have it so I used egg protein powder instead. It worked just fine.
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all that together . . . add

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 to 1/3 cup of one of the following – sparking mineral water or club soda. The original recipe says sparking mineral water. Don’t have that, used club soda and it works fine. Anything carbonated is apparently the thing, sparking water, club soda, tonic water . . . Although the original recipe said 1/2 to 1/3 I’ve never needed anything beyond 1/2 cup. YMMV

Mix all the dry stuff, add the wet stuff, mix well and let it rest for 10 minutes so the almond flour can soak up all the moisture it can.

Fish – I used Pacific cod (my favorite white fish) but any white fish will do. Pacific cod or orange roughy will be the tastiest. Walmart has a nice frozen pacific cod. If you’re using frozen fish defrost and remove all the extra moisture before dipping in the batter. I pressed it between paper towels to remove the excess moisture.

Deep fry (I use home made garlic oil, original recipe says avocado oil) at 355º until golden brown. Cool to edible on a layer of paper towels. Save the oil for the next time you deep fry fish.

Not kidding, this is awesome! I’ve had it three times so far and it rocks! I’m eating battered fried fish again! Woot!

 

Clearing the decks

Heart StringsHeartstrings. Bamboo Pop in Denim and Pink Joy

I gave away Heartstrings this weekend. Our son brought an old girlfriend to visit. She has one of my sweaters (now two) which she loves and wears. That takes me down to . . . seven? Maybe six? The more I can find homes for the more room I have to make more for me. I’ve been knitting shorties to wear over sleeveless dresses (my normal wear) when the mornings are cool. I like shorties. I don’t have to get up to get them off as they don’t go below my waist. All my other sweaters are long enough to get caught under my hips when sitting. Plus . . . more chances to do freelance design.

Better Banner

Bamboo Pop Banner

I made an awesome sweater I couldn’t wear. It broke my lil ole heart. I have a neck issue. Nothing touches the neck. This sweater broke that rule. The weight of the beads on the front of the sweater tipped the balance and caused the weight of the front of the sweater to pull the sweater toward the front causing the back neck to touch the part of my neck that’s damaged. Ugh. So I gifted it to my niece who loves it.

Sinfonia Better Banner

I still want a banner sweater so as time passed I did a reboot. Using Omega Sinfonia (mercerized cotton) I knit an awesome intarsia collar, worked a conti-rag shoulder and started a new banner. It had an irreparable error AND the yarn proved to be heavier than I could comfortably wear, something closer to worsted than light DK. Still, it’s GORGEOUS . . . just not workable/wearable because of the error and due to the weight of the yarn.

Collar test knits

Using Bamboo Pop Anchor (an incredible color) and a variety of brights in Bamboo Pop and Hobbii Rainbow Bamboo I reknit the collar . . . six (?) times. Yup, not kidding. Too big, too small, too big, too small . . . I even had a conversation with a friend on the issues I was having getting the right collar for the project. Ugh times six. Then I shared the repeat issue. With a repeat of 20 stitches (five colors with five separating background colors) I had a choice of 100 stitches (too small) or 120 stitches (too big). Don’t ask me why I kept repeating the knit big, knit small thing. I love intarsia and I just kept repeating the same things to no avail.
BP Conti-something

At some point I got a clue and realized I needed to change the repeat. I’m pleading FIH at this point. It was a rough week!

I did the math for six (no, just no), seven (ugh), eight (yeah, not gonna work) and finally did the math for nine. GOLDEN! 108 stitches. Perfect! I dug through my stash and picked additional brights and I was off and running.

You can see where this is going right? Yup.

And then I hit the next snag. I’ve been fighting the spring-off from a standing crew-shaped collar to my conti-something shoulder for YEARS. Not religiously, mind you, just occasional attempts whenever the wild hare came racing through. This time I nailed it. I’m in absolutely in alt. After reknitting until I got a result I was happy with (for posterity, the solution was add a stitch between each background color column to get me closer to a workable starting stitch count adding a total of 9×3 then knit the restraining row of herringbone stitch and work k2tog/gsrt for the drop stitches [if this totally baffles you let me know and I’ll explain]) I then hit the shoulder issue. Mind you, I hadn’t frogged the Sinfonia start. I *could* have looked at it to see what had gone before. Did I? Oh hell no.

Conti-something detail

I LOVE my conti-something shoulder so in total mindless bliss that’s what I knit from the collar out. Uh . . . yeah. Not gonna work. The conti-something technique requires adding a stitch every other row to increase the width of the sleeve and that breaks the integrity of the 2-stitch intarsia columsn. <crying> Yeah, totally ruins the plot.

This unforced error resulted in two choices, (1) frog back the start of the banner and delay it to where it starts passed the sleeve increases (a totally workable solution) or (2) frog the beautiful and flawless conti-something shoulder and restart using the modified conti-rag.

Because everything up to this point on the sweater is literally flawless, I’m going with door number 2.

Shattered Plaid

I’m been working on Shattered Plaid, a vneck shortie sweater. Overall I love how it’s looking, it just needs a couple tweaks. I’m going to frog back the plaid bit and restart the graphic. I’ve hit the three mistakes thing. I’m going to switch to intarsia in the round with the change of direction in the background color under the arm. I’m not going to carry the background color behind the red. I’ll add an additional ball of yarn. I’ve made enough mistakes and I’ve learned enough new stuff to make the next attempt go more smoothly. I think I’m also going to either double the two thinner yarns or swap them out for thicker yarns of the same color to even out the impact. Letting the thumb skeins dangle was messing with the color tension so I’m pinning them to the work with dpns. It’s a nifty solution to the problem. Overall I love how it’s looking, it just needs a couple tweaks in how it’s done.

Working through my stash

My current “this makes me happy” project is a long sleeved shortie sweater I can wear over my day-wear in the morning when it’s too cool to go without sleeves. I like shorties for a couple of reasons . . .

  • They knit up quickly
  • They’re a wonderful canvas for whatever idea is currently tickling my mind
  • They’re perfect stash busters
  • They’re perfect for using up bits of yarn, mismatched yarn, yarn from different manufacturers

This latest shortie is currently on hold. I ran out of yarn 5″ from completion of the last sleeve. Yup, total fail at yarn chicken. I’m taking the gamble and have ordered another ball of the necessary color despite something close to a zero chance for a dye lot match. If it’s close and will blend in using Helix I’ll frog back 3″ of the WIP sleeve and helix the rest. If the dye lot is too far off I’ll replicate the existing body hem in miniature making the sweater just that bit more couture.

A quick note about the accent yarn. I got this linen blend yarn off ebay about a decade ago. I love the colors but had a problem figuring out what to do with it. It wasn’t really sport and it wasn’t quite DK. However much I love Bamboo Pop, when it took a $3 jump in price I totally balked at restocking it. I switched to Hobbii’s Rainbow Bamboo (on sale), a comparable weight and composition for fewer dollars and much more reasonable (and faster) shipping. One of the colors that enchanted me was Deep Teal. It just so happens it’s a perfect match for the teal in the variegated linen blend. Score!

Intarsia in the round on crack

I’ve started a new project, a sweater with vertical stripes. I’ve been pondering this project for a while and just happened to hit a sweet spot in yarn for the project.

I’ve had some chained bamboo with colors I love (instead of strands of thread spun into a yarn, it’s a strand of thread chained into yarn) . . . a solid and a variegated that has been in my stash forever, but I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. I had one cake of each, not enough to do anything truly productive but way too nice to dump. It sat in my stash occasionally played with but never a star.

Then I started knitting with Hobbii’s Rainbow Bamboo (a lovely cotton/bamboo yarn). I bought sweater quantities of colors I really like, a graphite, a navy and a dark teal that perfectly matched the teal in the variegated chained bamboo. Trust me, this was not a deliberate choice but . . . score! Then I had some left over Universal Yarn’s Bamboo Pop “Sand” from another project (a shortie fade to wear over my day dress in the morning when it’s chilly). Like I said, kismet. The stars had aligned.

From there it was just a matter of figuring out what pattern would work with the quantities of yarn I had available. I’ve finally got a plan and it’s in the works. Woot! 16 stitches of background color (teal), four stitches of BP Sand, six stitches of the chained bamboo variegated, six stitches of the chained bamboo tan, repeat x 10).

I posted a brief sketch of my project on FB and alarmed/impressed/confused/wowed a bunch of knitters. Apparently this way of doing is a weird thing. I love sharing new stuff so it’s all good. Embrace the weird.

 

Pork Stir Fry

Tonight’s dinner was fabulous! Does anyone else open the spice cupboard and throw in whatever looks like it will work? That was tonight’s dinner. I marinated the cubed pork in sesame oil, chili sauce, fish sauce, Italian seasoning, aged balsamic vinegar, merlot, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke. The veges where red, yellow and green bell peppers, carrot, yellow onion and cabbage. It was REALLY good.

The computer story

I build my own computer. I’ve done it since Lorr (48 this year) was a 2 year old. My first computer was a Heath/Zenith Z71, a kit where the parts came in little bags and had to be soldered onto the boards. I had a bad component which was replaced by the tech at H/Z and it booted right up. That’s back when floppy disks were 8″ across. Ancient times, right?
The case I’ve got now is a really awesome powder coated aluminum desktop (oriented flat=desktop instead of tall=tower) and I’ve had it for . . . 20 years? I keep it updated by swapping out parts at the beginning of each year. Last major update (<$800) was a bit of a squeeze but everything fits! This year I bought a new video card. I REALLY need a new vid card so I spent the $300 bucks and bought a good one with 12g of memory and 2 fans. Not top end (>$700) but it’ll work nicely for my purpose, a good middle ground between economy and function.
The video card came. Woot! Daisy (one of a pair of Goldens) LOVES tearing up plastic bags and cardboard anything. I look out the window and there she is, decimating the cardboard box. She hasn’t hurt the shrink wrapped box around the card but has completely decimated the outer cardboard box and the plastic bag the delivery guy put the package in . . . little bits all over the yard. NICE doggy (grr).
I unpack and admire my new board and read the quick installation guide. I get out my screw driver and flash light, open my case, uninstall my GTX 750 TI (old vid card) and . . . new card WILL NOT fit, the card is too long to fit in my legacy case.
So . . . I’ve spent two days researching new cases. They are all so BIG!! ENORMOUS. And they all have glass windows (gag) and lights (double-gag). I don’t need that! I really don’t! I don’t need to admire daily, I just need the thing to work. So I finally choose a case from the manufacturer of the case I’ve had for 20 years and love. It’s a mini-atx not really a tower but not a desktop thing with great air flow. It gets rave reviews from builders. And it’ll be here in five days.

Refining the fit

First pairI’ve made one pair of socks and they’re comfortable but a bit loose with wrinkles over the top of my instep. So . . . adjustments.

Because they’re a bit too big around I decreased the number of rows knitted before starting the short rows. From the original calculation of 18 rows I dropped to 17 which reduced the total rows by at least two, possibly as many as four. Fewer rows means fewer stitches which means fewer short row turns which means fewer total rows (SRTs + original rows). The original pattern doesn’t have short rows so if you’re embarking on this project and don’t understand what I did with short rows to level the ankle and toe opening, message me and I’ll draw you a picture.

Second pair topBecause the finished sock had wrinkles across the instep I stopped doing increases for the instep wedge at the start of the short rows. This was marvelously successful. It produced a shorter (from ankle to toe) instep which resulted in a better fit.

Second pair sideThe result of fewer rows produced fewer short rows which produced fewer ankle and toe stitches and shorter instep run giving a better fit.

Update on hot cocoa

Update on the keto hot cocoa thing. I’ve streamlined the process and wanted to share.

Put 3/4 cup of your favorite granulated keto-safe sweetener into the bottom of your blender jar. Put 3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s Special Dark) on top the sweetener.

Cut open a Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk box. I use this brand because it has two ingredients, coconut and water. No sweeteners, no fillers . . . of course that makes it a little more difficult to deal with . . . you can’t shake it and mix it up. It just doesn’t work. When you look at the customer rating for this brand you’ll see it’s rated at ~3.5 stars. It can’t be because of the quality of the product, it has to be because you can’t mix the settled out solids into the liquids by shaking. I solve the problem by dumping it in a blender. Open the box by folding out the ears and flattening the ends. Hold it bottom end up and cut off a corner and pour some of it into a blender carafe, then cut the entire end off and dump liquid and solids into the carafe. Tilt the carafe and carefully dump the solids to avoid splashing the liquidy bits everywhere.
Stick the lid on and blend until fully mixed.

Pour into a quart jar, put a lid on and refrigerate. Don’t try and scrape the carafe clean. Add 2/3 of a cup of almond milk (JMPO, Walmart’s Great Value brand is the best I’ve tried). Scrape the sides down into the cocoa, put the lid on and blend.

Pour into a cup and microwave. Enjoy.

You now have cocoa mix that can be used hot or cold. 1/4 cup mix, 2/3-3/4 cup almond milk according to your taste. Fast, easy, hot or cold.

Don’t forget the MaxMallow Marshmallows if you need the extra oomph.

Cream of broccoli soup

OMGosh I had the most FABULOUS soup last night. First, a bit of history. Wadly and I don’t always eat the same things. We may have the main part of the meal the same (fried chicken for example) but we have different veges. He has spinach. I love spinach but I also love broccoli. He will eat it but he really prefers spinach. So when I cook broccoli I usually cook a bit more for using in soup or stir fry or chicken alfredo or . . . you get the idea.
To make GOOD steamed broccoli I have to pull it out of the instant pot the instant it’s done or it’s overdone. Nobody likes overdone broccoli, nobody.
Well, it was inevitable. That happened. I got distracted, stopped watching the instant pot and the broccoli got left in for natural release. Not quite mush but . . . nobody’s gonna eat it.
I got on the internet and found a recipe for keto cream of broccoli soup. I couldn’t follow the recipe exactly because it used raw broccoli, something I patently didn’t have, and regular paprika, so I improvised. If you’ve already got the broccoli overcooked and you have the necessary ingredients, this stuff comes together in under 15 minutes.
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika (I’ve got some fabulous smoked paprika so that’s what I used)
1 tbsp butter
4 oz cream cheese (half a block of cream cheese)
Put that in a pan and heat it up while stirring until it’s well combined and hot. And 2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup heavy cream and bring it to a good healthy simmer for 5-8 minutes
Add 8 ounces of chopped broccoli. Bring it back up to a simmer.
The original recipe calls for garnishing with sharp cheddar. I didn’t. IT. WAS. FABULOUS.

Here’s the 411 on the chicken broth. Mine was left over from making chicken to use in chicken alfredo (also fabulous). I always keep the broth because I can use it in chowder or soup and because it’s well seasoned it enhances the flavor of the dish it’s used in.

Using my big instant pot I put two chicken hindquarters in flat on the bottom, not stacked. Add 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp poultry seasoning, 4 cardamom pods, a dash of salt and 4″ worth of the tough leaves at the top of a leek (the ones you normally throw away) or two slices of onion.

Once everything’s in the pot add about half an inch of water (don’t cover the chicken – add water to halfway up the sides of the pieces of chicken, no more). Cook for ~27 minutes on full pressure. Pull out the chicken, strain the liquid and throw anything else away (leek leaves, onion, cardamom pods). The broth should pretty much fill a pint jar all things being equal. Use it wherever broth is required in a recipe.

Planning the new plant wall

I’ve been working on plans for my plant wall; sourcing materials, working through ideas, thinking through what will work and what won’t.

I’ve got the room reorganized with crafts and knitting shelves moved, my desk and sewing/craft table resituated to maximize wall space for new plant wall. I’m ready. My plans, however, aren’t. There are pesky little things outstanding.

  • I’ve sourced the expanded PVC sheet needed for the back of the plant wall. The manufacturer has a plant mere minutes away from our son’s home. The snag . . . they don’t do will call. They *must* ship. We’re going to have to work through this issue.
  • How are we going to hang the plant wall so the supports don’t provide a potential path to the wall for water wicking.
  • How am I going to get an accurate enough cut of the 6″ pvc pipe to glue the 1/3 circumference pipe frame to the expanded pvc and get an absolutely perfect water tight seal with perfect mitered corners.
  • I still haven’t sourced the variety of stainless steel screws to fasten the pvc sheet to the plywood back and the felt to the expanded pvc back. This is probably the most minor issue we have.

Wadly came up with a brilliant idea for hanging the plant wall. For those of you who haven’t been in my living/bedroom, I’ve got two places where I spend my time, at my desk and in my knitting nest. The knitting nest is a hammock chair suspended from a heavy logging chain which runs from one side of the room to the other. It swivels, it swings, it’s just what I need for extended stretches of knitting. The chain is held up by big eye bolts which go through the wall. It’s plenty heavy duty. In one of the moves it was easier to install a new eye bolt than move one from the previous location. So, I have this beautiful shiny eyebolt sticking out of the wall just to the left of where my plant wall will live. Wadly suggested installing a second eye bolt and run a rod through the pair to hang the plant wall. THIS IS BRILLIANT! It keeps the plant wall off the wall, gives us the ability to move/remove/maintain the wall without having to undo/unscrew anything! Absolutely brilliant! All that’s needed is two standoff legs at the bottom to keep it off the wall. Plan!

Good times!

Tomorrow my desk gets rotated. That’s one more step toward a new and bigger plant wall. The crafting shelving unit with table has been moved, the bookshelf with all the magazines and WIP quilt projects and equipment has been moved, the new area rug is down . . . I’m getting closer!

Good news, despite fears to the contrary the aquarium does not leak. That’s $200 I don’t need to spend which gives me more money to spend on plants . . . and that’s going to be the largest cost of the build. I’m still researching what plants I want to add. I want another ricinifolia immense (Hawaiian begonia), some smaller varieties of philodendrons, ficus, smaller varieties of fern, strawberry and angel wing begonias, a few different antherium . . . The goal is to not have anything that protrudes more than 30″ from the wall. I’m going to try to pin on some of the more vibrant moss growing on the maples beside the deck. I’ve already got a 50L bag of leka (expanded clay pellets) to use for putting the plants into the wall. As I get plants I’ll bare root them and get them going in the leka substrate so they’re ready when I finally get the wall built. That will help ensure I don’t get anything added to the wall that isn’t perfectly healthy.

The area below our property has been logged. While I dislike the fact we’ve lost that buffer of trees, we can now see Mt. St. Helens from our house, assuming the weather is clear. At our request they also logged the trees on our easement (as opposed to them being taken down by the wind as happened with our neighbor last night . . . ouch). With the pulp wood being stacked for firewood and the better logs held to be processed for lumber, that will provide a very little bit of income Lorr can use toward property stuff.

Good times.

Shrimp Frittata

I had a frittata for breakfast. SO good! Plus I have half left over for another meal!

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup cream cheese
  • 2/3 cup cheese (I used Colby/Jack)
  • 6 large shrimp cut into thirds
  • 3-4 green onions
  • handful of shiitake mushrooms halved and sliced
  • 2/3 cup chopped cooked broccoli (I cook it in my instant pot and put it in the fridge for adding to soups, stews, omelettes, etc.)

Sautee the mushrooms and green onions in butter. Add more butter if the pan starts to look dry. Mushrooms absorb oil while cooking and stuffing them with butter makes them extra delicious. Add the shrimp and broccoli. Cook until the shrimp is opaque.

While the veges are cooking mix the eggs and cream cheese until smooth. I use the whisk on my immersion blender. It’s fast and cleanup is pretty easy. Add the cheese.

Once all the cooked stuff is ready add it to the egg mix and stir until combined.

Pour it in a buttered dish/pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Serve it with diced tomato.