Yarn tales

I have decided to pick one craft, crocheting, and stick with it.  That way I can get really good at one thing.  As a scientist, I have decided to approach it like I would anything else.  I am doing research, getting opinions, getting to know experts (ie.: one of my good friends, initials E.F-M from the U.S.A.), writing notes and of course, my favourite: experimenting (this is why I am a scientist in real life).

You can't crochet without knowing a bit about yarn.  It all started because I bought some yarn from an artisan hand spinner on the Isle of Skye.  The yarn wasn't labelled, and the spinner just said, use big needles and drop lots of stitches.  To someone that doesn't know how to knit and could barely crochet, I didn't know what that meant.  So, I brought it home, picked an easy scarf pattern that I thought would work for me, and then proceeded to crochet it.  I used the wrong hook size and needless to say the project didn't work out.  This was three years ago.  I had always intended to unravel and start over.  Three years later, I decided to unravel and start over. But, as I unraveled the yarn, it started unwinding too.  This made re-crocheting like re-crocheting a bunch of hair.  Not to mention, it had lots of kinks and twists in it.

The yarn

Fortuitously, my good friend (EFM) recently sent me some cotton yarn that she had unraveled and reworked.  She said she washed it, dried it, and wound it into a ball.  So I wondered whether I could do the same with the Alpaca yarn?  Since it was alpaca and not cotton, I wondered whether this technique worked for any type of yarn.  So, I went on the internet, as you do, and found some additional resources that suggest the same technique for lots of different yarns.  Unwind, wrap, soak in hot water (with hair shampoo or wool wash if washing), spin cycle, dry, wind.  Most of these are from people that unravel old sweaters and recycle/upcycle the yarn by making it into new project, selling it, or donating it to charity.  I also found a great way of estimating yarn weight, using the WPI or weight per inch technique.  Basically you wrap your yarn around a ruler and measure how many wraps you get per inch. Then you use a chart that estimates yarn weight by the number of wraps per inch.  So now I know my yarn is bulky or chunky and requires a hook between 6.5-9 mm.  I will update this post with the washing results.

My attempt at an easy dinner to use up leftover white wine

Weekday dinners can sometimes be a dilemma.  I need to make something easy, healthy, tasty, toddler friendly and quick.  I also wanted to use up some left over white wine that was now past the point of drinking.  I had some fresh haddock fillets, so I thought I would try making up a cream-free and butter-free garlic and white wine sauce....a small experiment.  I think it turned out quite nice....everyone ate it anyway :)

This is more of a "work in progress" recipe:

Ingredients:

2 large Haddock fillets
1 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of dried dill (will try fresh dill next time)
1 cup of white wine (this was a nice Greek wine)
1/2 cup of water
2 teaspoons of gluten-free flour (can use regular flour too)
Rapeseed oil
Salt, to taste
Black pepper--freshly ground, to taste

Heat the oil in an oven-proof dish and sweat the onions until they are soft.  Turn the heat down to medium.  At the same time, heat the oven to about 170 degrees C.  Add the garlic and saute till fragrant.  Add the flour and stir till it coats the onions and garlic. Then add the wine and let it simmer.  Add the dill and continue to let it simmer.  Add enough water to make a thick sauce.  Add the salt and pepper according to taste.  Place the fish in the sauce so that they are completely covered and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are cooked.  I served this with steamed carrots, stir-fried pak-choy and baby new potatoes.

Unfortunately, there are no photos. I will definitely try this again using fresh dill, which always works well with fish.  

First Finished Crochet Project

Having a daughter has motivated me to look for appropriate baby hair accessories.  I was looking for a casual/wear any where headband. As I couldn't really find what I was looking for, I decided to experiment and make my own.  I also made one for my 7 year old niece.

For my niece

For my daughter

More Crochet Inspirations

How cool is this: A math professor called Diana Taimina uses crochet to make models of hyperbolic planes: Cornell Link.  She even wrote a book about it called "Crocheting adventures with hyperbolic planes".

Poached Eggs with Malaysian Rice

A good way to use up left over rice and extra veggies from the fridge.  The Malaysian spice was a Laksa paste called 'Malay Taste'.

Poached Eggs with Malaysian Rice

Recipe

serves 2-4

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of cooked white rice
1 green pepper, diced
1 orange pepper, diced
2-3 generous handfuls of spinach
3 shallots, finely chopped
4 spring onions, sliced
2 medium sized carrots roughly grated
Laksa paste (1 tablespoon, unless using the same brand as I did**)
Eggs (1-2 per person)
Olive oil

Heat the oil in a wok till hot, add the spring onions and shallots and fry till the onions are softened.  Add the diced peppers and continue to stir fry.  Once the peppers soften, add the spinach and continue to stir fry.  If using 'Malay Taste', add roughly 1/2 the jar to the veg and heat through.  Then add the rice and stir fry till everything is well combined.  Add the grated carrots and fry for 1 minute.  Take off the heat.

Poach the eggs and serve on top of the rice.

Copyright © Jillian Phoenix 2013-07-14 (http://brwngrlintherain.blogspot.co.uk/)

Crochet Inspirations

I love crochet, but I am not very good at it.  I also like looking through crochet books and recently found a hidden gem:  

AUSTENtatious Crochet by Melisssa Horozweski; Running Press, 2011

 

At first I thought it was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but as I read through the book, I loved the concept.  The book is a mix of crochet patterns and a tribute to all things Austen and the Regency era.  There are also awesome pattern names like the "Dreaming of Mr. Knightley Pajama Set" and the "Confessions Chemise".    I also got the impression that the author genuinely wants the reader to understand and get better at crochet.  This is in contrast to some books that are almost condescending at times.  Each of the patterns has a reference video on her website http://www.stitchscene.com/.  

So, what has this inspired? Well, I have never really had a successful crochet project.  Everything I have made thus far has been a bit misshapen. Reading this book has really reinforced the importance of gauge.  I feel like this is one of the key skills to master, before I can actually turn out some decent projects.  In the coming weeks, I will learn more gauge and pay more attention to this as I try out some simple crochet patterns.   

How does your garden grow?

This summer I've tried growing tomatoes, strawberries, courgette (zucchini), carrots, and beetroots.  All grown in containers, some outside and some in my porch.

Indoor containers: 

Newly planted tomatoes 12/05/2013

Tomatoes, strawberries (blue vase), courgette (beside blue vase) 05/06/2013

Porch tomatoes 06/28/2013 

Courgette 06/28/2013

The indoor containers seem to be doing really well.  The insert with the tomato plants recommends pinching off the side shoots....will have to figure out what exactly that means and then do it.  The strawberry plant is flowering well and the Courgette has been re planted in a large pot and appears well.

Outdoor containers: 

Outdoor plants in 02/06/2013

28/06/2013 Tomatoes are attached to the sticks

28/06/2013 strawberries (with flours), tomatoes, carrots and beetroots

The outdoor containers contain a variety of different veg.  I wanted to know whether these plants would be less likely to be attacked by bugs.  They are relatively bug-free for the moment but run the risk of being over-crowded.