Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Knit wraps, a new brownie recipe and some bale talk!


There has been a fair amount of knitting accomplished the past 6 weeks as I have had a considerable amount of down time fighting some nasty virus or viruses. Hopefully it is all behind me now as it's becoming more springlike here and there are so many things to do. It can be quite an exciting time of year!


I recently finished knitting a Guernsey Wrap, a terrific Brooklyn Tweed pattern designed by Mr. Flood himself. I think this wrap is my current fav, and will be especially handy this time of year. One minute it is warm and sunny, the next a cold wind is blowing and there is fresh snow on the mountains. Typical March weather! It is constructed using knits and purls designed to create raised patterns that are typical of knit jerseys and ganseys. The wrap has lovely patterning and it is totally reversible. That to me is a super plus as the private/wrong/back side of some knit designs can look kinda crummy.


The finished size is approximately 17x74". It is a great size to wrap around your shoulders and it doesn't easily slip off. I have lots of really nice shawl pins I can use to secure it, if needs be.


I just love all this texture. I knit it with Debbie Bliss Luxury Aran.It is a lovely woolen spun yarn with a nice hand. It is light to wear and as it is a worsted weight, it knits up very quickly.


I also knit Authenticity, a beautiful lacy wrap designed by Sivia Bo Bilvia
She is a young talented designer from B.C., our province!



This is a beautiful wrap to knit. The pattern is easy to follow and the charted lace pattern is not too difficult to follow. I knit it with Tosh Silk Merino in Smokestack. It is a very luxuriant yarn to wear and a dream to knit with. I will definitely knit this pattern again.


Lastly, I finally finished my knit poncho. It is basically two rectangles sewn together with a picked up rib border. Easy Peasy. Too bad it took me 3-4 months to spend an afternoon putting it together!



I knit it with Cascade Eco plus.

BROWNIES!!

I found a new brownie recipe and they are quite a hit!

Remains of the day

Sadly, I was too slow to take a photo. The recipe is Irish Whiskey Brownies.
There are no veggies or lentils in this recipe but there is a shot or two of Irish Whiskey and loads of chocolatey goodness. Since St Patrick's Day is this week, they seemed very apropos!! I have both Rosie Daykin's cook books and the recipes are all soo good!

Straw Bale Talk

Now the days are warming up and the days are starting to get longer, we have been out in the garden planning our veggie garden. Since last year was our first year using bales, we really didn't know what to expect this spring. As the bales age, they begin composting down and start producing the most beautiful rich matter.


Black Gold!!!

        I like the way ya compost
        No diggity
        Gotta spread it out ......

You know it,,,you can sing along

    I like the way ya compost
    No diggity
    Gotta bag it up......
 
Garden on, garden on, garden on......
Hey ya hey ya hey ya

This link should work-I don't know how to get the actual video up
No diggity 

Moving on.......





 Some of the sagging bales have been re-twined and given addition support with chicken wire, hmm I'll resist on this one! Above we have some up cycled hot caps on some broccoli transplants,




Performing supervisory duties

have a great week friends

keep smiling!

Chris

7 comments:

  1. Your wraps and poncho are all wonderful, but I especially love that Jared Flood Guernsey pattern. Did it take very long to knit? I have some souvenir yarn from Scotland that might work for it and am tempted to cast on. Of course, I'm always tempted to cast on. :-)

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    Replies
    1. You would live knitting the Guernsey Kristie, it's an easy pattern to follow and it's only 58 stitches!! By the end of it it was getting a bit boring, but well worth it!

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  2. Your knits are lovely, I'm drawn to that wrap. I'm a new knitter and always on the lookout for a pretty pattern in a heavier weight yarn. Everything I usually pick out is made with fingering weight and knit with toothpicks, which I'm not experienced enough to navigate.
    The hay bales are looking good. Just started my garden clean up yesterday and ran to the nursery for a few plants(had to restrain myself from buying everything in sight)
    Thanks for the sing-a-long :)

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    Replies
    1. You might really enjoy this pattern Lynne. It's charted but its an easy chart to follow. It knits up quick, on 5 mm needles.Nurseries in springtime are very dangerous...,glad you liked the song!!

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  3. I am in awe of your knitting, it everything is so beautiful. You are amazing in all that you do.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  4. Those wraps are beautiful!! There are several wraps/shawls on my list - I have the yarn, all I need now is the time!

    Looks like you are already up and going with your bales - how awesome! It's still too cold to do much of anything in the garden, our highs being only around 4 or 5C and some days not even that high. Will you be adding more bales to your garden this year? I'll be trying to re-use the old ones (after giving them a bit of added support, just like you did), but I'll also be adding a bunch of new ones. As you know, I'll be using them mainly for squash and I have a few new varieties to try out - can't wait to get started!

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  5. All your knitted items look amazing and I need to try those brownies! :o) Happy bale gardening! Those soda bottles should make excellent greenhouses.

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