The extreme cold snap has inspired me to spend a lot of time checking the pipes to make sure they aren’t frozen. Only one tiny problem with the pipes – the not-so-brilliant renovators ran the cold water line to the kitchen right next to the dryer vent outlet. If it gets too cold I need to pull the dryer out from the wall and put a heater in the laundry room. I insulated heavily, but -15F is a bit much.
The frigid temperatures also inspired me to want to make warm cozy things from wool. One finished knitting project resulted: a pair of Fetching mitts from Knitty. I had a single skein of Katia Irish Tweed, a door prize from last summer’s Worldwide Knit in Public Day. I’d been looking for a project to do with this heavy wool-silk-nylon yarn. I didn’t have quite enough, so the tops were done with a unlabeled wool (blend?) that I’d acquired somewhere.
These were a very quick knit. I started Thursday after work, and finished midday Saturday. For me, that’s phenomenal. Cold is apparently very motivating.
The picot bindoff in the pattern curled out, so I did the second mitt (in the photos) with a regular bindoff.
Giant thistles are lovely in cross-section, and they are rather tasty when baked too. I’d never baked artichokes before, always steaming them instead. I wwashed them and cut them in half, put them in a baking pan with a couple of chopped up cloves of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. I covered the pan with foil and baked at 350F for 35-40 minutes, until the artichokes were soft. Oh, yum! I will definitely be doing that again.
I spend the day Monday dyeing test skeins of silk.
Doesn’t look like a full day’s work, does it? But somehow I didn’t manage to get anything else done, so it must have.
