knitty.com

For the last two issues, ouou knit themed cards have appeared in knitty.com's "cool stuff" feature. Let me share my thanks with a little story of where my knit-love comes from.

I took up knitting breifly, after leaving the city that was home to me for almost 10 years. Knitting to me lives in the world of my older sister's aesthetic. Fabric, pattern, textile, and the differing properties of fibers, wool, cotton, clothing... this is just next door to the art I know. My world is paper, that's pretty clear to me. I love the world of cloth, fabric, fiber, embroidery, but there is so much to learn! Celeste has an instinct for it, and I stand happily by as the awe-inspired little sister, peeking into the knitted world.

Knitting hasn't lasted as a hobby or skill of mine, but I remember my breif sojurn there with heartfelt sentimentality. The comforts of making something wearable with my own hands, the tick-tick of counting rows, the exciting anticipation of selecting yarn, trying something new at such a turning point in my life. Maybe someday soon I'll try again, I could use that comfort in the wet Oregonian winter we're facing. For right now I'm fine with showing my adoration on paper, and that my little drawings have made other knitters out there smile their knowing smiles.

knitting notes in hand-mixed Gocco ink

all bundled up watercolor kitty

knit journal - otter -

Expecto Patronum!

Harry Potter weekend on ABC? Bring it.
Totally geeked out blog entry? It been brought.

Alright, it happened. There's no turning back. I've got this yarn that Celeste gave me for knitting and I adore it so much I just want to roll around in it! Last night was lovely, just knitting and learning to purl and watching Jaws 2.
Not. Going. To. Bed.
Knit, knit, yum! Ah, ha! Now I get it!
... so many years in darkness (shakes head) ...so many things to cozy in the future...

In other news of making things other than drawings, lookit that big old scone! Mmmmmm, tasty. When you've been nose-to-the--drawing-table, it is super fun to get your cook on. (Jamie Hills, we are in the scone zone!) These came out of the oven yesterday and were surprisingly easy!

This recipe calls for several things I need to avoid like sugar, sour cream, butter.... but it was the ice cream I ate while cooking that really did me in, less the buttery goodness of these scones. Anyway, I always was much better at baking than cooking and it feels great to put together something from scratch! The major impetus of rolling out of bed this morning was the thought of these scones sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and a hot cup of coffee. Oh my goodness, it was sooooo worth it. :)

And for anyone who hasn't tried spelt flour, it is simply a deeper flavor than white refined flour. Still light, not over-powering, it is a very good compliment to the almond flavor. If you like almonds, you'll like spelt.

Thanks to Celeste's friend Kelly for this delicious scone recipe, try it out! It is very quick and truly yummy!

SPELT ALMOND SCONES
you will need:
parchment paper & 1 cookie sheet
2 C SPELT FLOUR
1/2 c + 1 TEASPOON SUGAR
1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER
1/4 TEASPOON BAKING SODA
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
8 TABLESPOONS (1 STICK) UNSALTED BUTTER, FROZEN
(I USED SALTED, ALL WE HAD)
1/2 C SLIVERED ALMONDS
1/2 C SOUR CREAM
1/2 TEASPOON ALMOND EXTRACT
1 LARGE EGG

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a med. bowl, mix flour, 1/2 C sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the lg. holes of a box grater . Careful! Butter will get melty as you go, use the flour on your grater.
Use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble course meal), then stir in almonds.
(I left almonds -but not extract- out. worked just fine)
In a small bowl, wisk sour cream, almond oil & egg until smooth.

Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until lg. dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (This I found rough-going at first, it is very sticky at first, but you will feel as the dough comes together)
Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7 to 8" circle about 3/4" thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut 8 triangles (ours came out very large, I think I could have halfed them); place on cookie sheet (prelined with parchment paper) about 1" apart.
Bake until golden about 15 - 17 min. Cool 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Ah, Samvega

Yesterday there was a strange luminosity in the apartment, one of those days when the weather kept doing unpredictable things. It feels as though it has been raining for a week, but I was lucky enough to get some quick photos.

Because I'm totally ahead of the curve (Massachusetts obligatory eye roll here) I decided to learn how to knit this year. The theme? Mindfulness. Drawing at the end of the night has always been a struggle for me... if I hit upon something I like my night-owl senses kick in, and staying up until 3 or 4 a.m. is not always (ever) practical. Knitting, for me, is much more relaxing. It has been a long time since I learned something new (printmaking excluded: a linear art) and I'm delighting in it.

I am sorry to say I'm a hardcore picky eater. So much so that a couple years ago my exclusions were getting so out of hand I was pretty worried. But recently there has been a lot of new (probably common to most) yummy foods I've been able to try, and work into meals with vigor! Any kind of real travel or international flexibility just seemed impossible before. What a relief! Having a goal really does change your perspective! This was added to some other fresh veggies for a delicious stir-fry lunch... just looking at those bean sprouts again makes my mouth water...

Even the fine detail with the Gocco finally showed up in photos. Sheesh. Then the clouds rolled in again.
Oh well.
At least lunch was good. :)