WIP roundup aka do I have the right to knit a sweater

Actual WIPs
Noro Linen Bits (see above) - Most successful socks ever, finished one in ten days, going well on the second.

Nightwatch Lily - Not being sure if it will get much wear by my daughter has put me off knitting it. I hope to finish it before the end of the year but its not a priority in my knitting mind.

Hibernating
4 pairs of Socks - Vinnland are too hard, Hungry Bees pattern is stupid, Twin Rib is boring, Jays are tedious and tricky

Red Twisty Turvy - Will try to get it done before Autumn

Gotland Driftwood - Need to prepare and spin fibre to finish, not on the cards right now

Rock Island - This pattern kills, don't have the time for fancy lace.

Finally a dragon Gail!

I've finally finished my Gail aka Nightsong shawl in the lovely Grrrl Shape Yarn Silk Merino Sock in Wyrmberg a variegated yarn with silver, green and purple to look like a dragon from Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic.

Here's a closeup of the tip which I messed up slightly due to the confusing double yarn over instructions, more details on its Ravelry Page.

It took me two years and its kind of too big for what I find easy to wrap around me but I'm glad I did it. It also encouraged me to do another shawl which I'm soaring through.

Here's a preview: yes that's handpun rainbow pastel yarn! And my daughter is 'knitting'.

Pear Jam

I almost had a fail on this jam but I saved it just in time.

Ingredients
550g Pear, peeled and chopped
100g Apple, peeled and chopped
6 cups of water
1 cup of sugar
30 mL of lemon juice (one small)
Bit of zest

Added fruit and 2 cups of water, heated for 45min, adding further 4 cups as it dried out. Mouled and added sugar. Heated for about 15min, didn't check quick enough and almost burned. However succeeded and ended up with one jar of sweet thick fruit spread.

I really enjoyed the hints of lemon I got, next time I will add more.

Grape jam journey in Autumn

Jam
So far I've done five batches of grape jam:

1) 1.5kg of fruit to 4 cups water, strained everything and then added 4 cups of sugar, heated for ages till it jelled, ended up with four jars of soft jelly.

2) 1kg of fruit with no water, separated innards from skins, heated innards and put through moulee and food processed skins. Used 500g of sugar, jelled very quickly after 15 min, resulted in one jar and one tiny jar of very strong jam. Followed the method of The Waitakere Redneck's Kitchen: Grape Jam

3) 1kg of fruit with 1 cup of water, strained everything and then added 2 cups of sugar, set after 15 min and produced one jar and three little jars of nice standard sweet jam.

4) 1kg of fruit with 4 cups of water, strained everything and then added 2 cups of sugar. I added some of the skins in too and it set after 30 min but stuck to the bottom of the pan and got very dark. Made one jar of slightly overcooked, slightly chunky jam.

5) 1kg of fruit, separated innards from skins, heated innards and at the same time softened skins in a cup of water over low heat.  Used 2 cups of sugar, jelled after 15 min. I put half of the skins in the jam and then topped up the jars with the remaining skins. Resulted in two jams of chunky jam. Adapted the method of The Waitakere Redneck's Kitchen: Grape Jam

I'd say that method three was my favourite method, quick, great result and good yield.

Knitting
I've just finished an Autumnal cardigan for my daughter and I'm planning a new cardigan for myself in purple Perendale wool from Skeinz.

Am I creative?

in threes: a baby cardigan size 6m, knit with Malabrigo Worsted in Applewood with Buttons for Benji buttons, Ravelry link
Knit with no creativity!

I've recentlty joined a creative Mum's group which I really enjoying attending. However I feel like a bit of a pretender as I don't really consider knitting to a pattern creative. The other Mums are painters, quilters and card makers. They choose what they are going to make, put the bits together in the colours that are pleasing and make it. In knitting I choose the yarn, choose the pattern and follow it. I do a bit of adapting but not in a creative way, just for practicality or to work around problems like gauge.

Whenever I have done psychometrics I end up testing analytical rather than creative. When I think about it something I love about knitting is doing the math for adapting gauge, where to place the decreases and how to use a completely different weight yarn than that intended for a pattern.

But surely doing a craft is creative? It just doesn't feel like it yet. If I was designing new patterns, colour work or stitch patterns I'd feel differently. I don't think I'm a pretender to do attend a creative Mum's group its just that I don't specifically have the creative urge in general. I love to knit but I'm not sure I'm creative in knitting or the other hand based hobbies I do. Analytical Mum, that's more me.

Monday Muffin: Pineapple, Orange & Ginger Muffins

Pineapple, Orange and Ginger Muffins for morning tea with a cup of Twinings Christmas Tea with milk. The tea is in Paragon Bride's Choice china and the muffin is also on a Paragon saucer, pattern name unknown but mark indicates it’s from 1921 to 1933.

The Muffins

I made Pineapple, Orange & Ginger Muffin from Simon and Alison Holst's More Marvellous Muffins, avialable from their website for NZ $13.50 as I had 1/3 can of 425g crushed pineapple leftover after making pizzas on the weekend. I didn't have quite enough for the recipe and had drained the juice so increased the amount of orange juice and crystallised ginger.

I like the flavour, not too sweet and reasonably fruity. Next time I would up the crystallised ginger and put in some ground ginger too. Perhaps it would have tasted more fruity if I'd had the right amount of pineapple but at this amount I can't really taste it.

Experimenting

I wanted to try using the muffin liners which make transportation easier, here's a side shot of unlined (left) and lined (right).

One of the results of using the liners was that the muffins became soggy, as you can see the bottom four and half in the middle on the right had liquid come through while baking. I thought it would be orange juice but its actually butter as its now hardened up. I think this is a normal thing but I do think the unlined muffins taste better due to the crust.

Make again?

Yes I would but with the right amount of pineapple, more crystallised ginger and some ground ginger. Perhaps even some ground cloves would be nice with the orange.

Granny G Podcast

One thing as a New Zealand crafter that I've always wanted was a New Zealand craft podcast. There are lots of great podcasts and blogs out there and I love many of them but just as I especially love reading blogs from New Zealanders I really wanted to listen to a podcast by a New Zealander.

I would have been happy with someone just having a 20min chat about their knitting but wow we got so much with than that thanks to the wonderful GrannyG's podcast: Crafternoon Tea with GrannyG.

Not only does GrannyG talk about her knittings she talks about her sewing, spinning, weaving, baking, crocheting (is that all of them, think so). She also does wonderful interviews of New Zealanders who are involved in the fibre arts, everyone from the very famous like Margaret Stove through to Gottland sheep farmer Hamish.

I salute GrannyG for her fantastic podcast and encourage you all to go listen.