Menehune

Mel got around to naming her little knit-a-long shawl Menehune = little people.

I decided to knit the shawl body with the handspun yarn and ended up with 182 stitches.

I debated back and forth and looked through all my leftovers and decided to use the remains from the dark pearl sweater for the border.

Halibut with Soy Fig Sauce

I adapted this Ming recipe for halibut and used another one of my cast iron pans.

I only had two filets.

And some spring onions from the farm box with a chopped tomato.

After removing the fish after roasting, I added some rum, soy sauce, and chopped dried figs plus some green onions for the sauce.

Since I have never made Ming's recipe, I can't compare my end result with his, but the fish was very good and a bit spicy.

Dark Pearl Clue 4 Finished

I was a bit behind the pack, but I finally finished clue 4 of the Dark Pearl sweater.

I did a soak bath for the sweater and the dye bled quite a bit.  After 4 rinses, there didn't seem to be any cessation to the dye exhausting and I finally just blocked after the 5th rinse.  My hands actually got a black tinge.  It might be due to the blend of fiber between animal and plant, but it also explains the strong vinegar smell when I got the yarn.  I will have to remember not to wear this sweater over light color clothes.

I had a warm sunny day so the sweater blocked outside on the patio table.

Here is the sweater without the buttons.

Now I'm on the hunt for 4 buttons that will work on this sweater.

Bathroom Rug

After staring at the loom for a bit, I finally came to the conclusion that I can't measure nor count.

The remaining warp cannot possible yield another rug and I don't have enough weft yarn to even start another one.

So I decided to cut the rug off the loom and it is way longer than it should be.

I need to hem the ends and then send it through the wash to see what the shrinkage will be.

It doesn't look quite like the picture though as I discussed here.

Pepper Poses

I caught Pepper in some very strange positions.

This looked way uncomfortable and then she gave me the "look."

Then here she seems to be in prayer mode.

Again with the "look."

She had a bath and I was in the process of furminating her and she tolerates that quite well.

Test Sewist

I happened upon a request on Ravelry to test sew a bag pattern.

I like the look of the bag very much and replied stating I was a new sewer and to see if I would be eligible.

I got the pattern in the mail.

I gathered my supplies which were difficult to find as I went to multiple stores looking for the handle findings.

For a beginner, I think I bit off more than I can chew.  I had a hard to conceptualizing the end result and took all weekend to work on the pieces.  I was successful for a majority of it but had to unsew parts that I messed up.  The zippers were definitely an adventure.

I will need to ask for help on the rest of the assembly and had to put it down for the next free weekend.

Oxtail Stew

I happened upon this recipe for oxtail stew and decided to try it out and see if it is anything like what my Dad makes.

I didn't have everything so I substituted jalapeño for the thai chili and I didn't quite have enough of the sherry so I added a bit of marsala.

I also used my new Lodge cast iron dutch oven and the browning of the oxtails went really well.

After a few rounds, I ended up with this platter.

I then added the rest of the ingredients to the dutch oven after draining almost all of the fat and brought it to a boil.

I added the oxtails back in the pot.

And once covered, it went into the oven at 300 degrees.  After 90 minutes, this is what it looked like.

Once the oxtails were flipped, it went back in covered for another 90 minutes.

The house smells divine.

The mushrooms were added after and coated with the "juice" and then heated for 10 minutes.

Oxtail stew over rice.  It had just the right amount of caramelization.

High Desert Field Trip

Went on a trip through the high desert and it was hot!  Got some work done and saw some interesting things.

There was this dome house which was very cool looking.

Next door to one of the places we went, there was a menagerie of animals.

A pig.

Some chickens.

And a turtle checking out the pig.

Most of the scenery was brown and nice views of the mountains.

Stopped by TGI Fridays for dinner on the last night and had salmon for dinner.

Cranberry Hootycreeks

My last "jar" gift made cranberry hootycreeks by just adding a half a cup of butter and an egg.

After mixing the batter, I placed the dough on parchment paper.

After 10 minutes of baking, the warm cookies were out of the oven and into my mouth.

It won't take long to eat these up.

Shawl Knit-a-long With Mel

Mel of the Singlehanded Knits podcast is single handed no more.  She has started a new podcast/blog With Mel.

The premier episode has a novel idea of a knit-a-long while watching the segments and she offered instructions as she chats.  I decided to use the handspun yarn from the Just Batty challenge since it is a shawl from the top down.

The instructions are fairly simple to start with a tab cast on and garter stitch knitting with increases each row.  Here is the progress after the first episode.

I have just a bit more yarn left so I will have to stash dive for a complementary skein to finish the shawl.  Until I see the next episode, it will have to hang out for a while.

Space Cadet Starving Musician

I joined a yarn club mid-year and received my first shipment from Space Cadet Creations.  It is the Space Monster Mega Yarn Club and consists of bi-monthly deliveries of bulky yarn.

The first colourway is Arbor with its inspiration being a grape vine arbor.

I searched on Ravelry for a pattern and came up with the Starving Musician hat that I think will pair well.

The yarn is a bit different for other people as they got more solid purples.  However, the blue tones and the other colors did a cool swirl pattern on the hat.

Supper Club Reunited and it Tastes so Good

Kim made a pit stop in San Diego on her way to Guam and we were able to get together at Monellos.  Janet and I visited here in the past and the food was delicious.

We had dinner as well as dessert while catching up with Kim and her new upcoming adventure in Guam.  

We started with the fried zucchini which was super hot right out of the fryer with mint aioli.

Lasagna, pizza, and spaghetti were all good with the ragu.

We rounded out the meal with pannacotta al cioccolato; tiramisu al nocino; and the chocolate gelati e sorbetti.

Great to see Kim but sad to see her go on such short notice.  Maybe we will try a foodie trip to Guam for a visit soon.