Simple Knits | Simply September

September 6, 2015

Whew! I'm finally on the mend and feeling much better after my horrid summer cold. I shudder to think of the time I spent sleeping, when I could have been knitting - really, I know I needed to sleep, but this is just how my mind works. lol!

Now that I'm feeling better, it's time for the September Simple Knits Knitalong project - drum roll please...

This month I couldn't resist going back to one of my all-time faves, Very Shannon. After looking back at our projects over the last 8 months, I think it's the perfect time to do another cowl and Shannon's Downton Cowl is perfect!

A romantic yet modern lace cowl that’s perfect for showing off that gorgeous hand dyed yarn you’ve been coveting.

The Downton Cowl is a chevron lace cowl inspired by the castle in the tv show Downton Abbey that has a structural & garter like border that mimics & symbolizes the stability of a home - the foundation and the roof. Don’t we all know how up and down life is in between :) After all…where do you think downton abbey get’s all it’s story lines from…lol.

The Downton Cowl uses only (1) skein of yarn, is knit in the round and can easily be made in one evening. It’s a quick project that is both satisfying in it’s design but also fast in it’s execution.

I usually contemplate yarn for awhile, but I've already made up my mind on this one. Shannon uses Madelinetosh Tosh DK (which we do have in stock at Firefly Fibers in the Glazed Pecan colorway shown in the sample and I may decide to knit a second in Tosh DK) and there are several project on Ravelry using Tosh Vintage so that's pretty tempting as well, but... I've been dying for a chance to use The Fibre Company's Acadia and that is what I've selected in the Kelp colorway (I'll need 2 skeins since Acadia is a wee bit smaller skein than Tosh DK).

Pretty, eh? I hope you'll join the fun this month and knit along with us! Really, we're a pretty casual group and you can join anytime. Also, there will be a giveaway coming up in the near future, so this is a great time to join in the Knitalong fun or just keep knitting along! All of the Knitalong details can be found here.

I'm off to wind some yarn and spend some time with Mr. Yarnista, who is also on the mend. After getting outside early today before the hot and humid weather moved in - Rollo and I for a walk and the Mr. tended to some yardwork - and recording Episode 5 of the Alisa the Yarnista podcast, we'll be hiding in the comfort of air conditioning and relaxing for the remainder of the day.

Cheers!

On the needles | Sweaters, hats and more...

September 1, 2015

So, I'm a wee bit under the weather. This last weekend was Mr. Yarnista's birthday and I was lucky enough to come down with a dreadful cold 2 days before his big party and then give it to him. Happy birthday, my love!

The September Simple Knits project will be coming your way later this week, along with a new podcast since the hubby thought it would be best for me to go to bed and sleep this last weekend instead of chatting with you. In the meantime, the August project will extend through Sunday, September 6th, so you can finish up any WIPs (or maybe even cast on a second hat).

Today, I thought I would share what I've been working on (between naps, that is)...

There's this beauty - Unicorn Stripes.

I've made a little more progress since this picture... I'm 4 colors further down the line (of the total 30) and I'm knitting my way through that bright Edison Bulb - it's totally crazy but a super fun color to knit with! I have the next 5 colors ready to wind into balls and I'm excited show off the next series of colors! Tomorrow morning over coffee, perhaps?

There's also a new sweater - Wolf River by Dandiliongirl Designs. This photo is from *gulp* February when I wound the yarn.

I decided to belatedly join Very Shannon's SSKAL15 with just a little over 2 weeks to go, so I better kick it into gear. LOL! I cast on last weekend (finally) and have about 1/3 of the back done. I'll share my progress with you soon on Instagram and Facebook.

I finished up my August Simple Knits project, Go! and it's drying now. Since this is technically an "on" the needles post, here it is as a WIP on my crazy weekend night with Sam Seaborn, a box of Puffs and cough drops.

This was my view all weekend and will be again as soon as my boss let's me go home for the day. Wait a second...

Cheers!

In the Kitchen | I'm Inspiralized

August 23, 2015

Last spring I got a new kitchen toy, the Inspiralizer - I love it! If you're wondering what the heck this is... it's basically a vertical mandolin with a crank that turns veggies into noodles and it's AWESOME. Why do I love it? Well, as you know, I cook a lot and this little gadget makes my life so much easier - especially on late nights.

I posted this picture a little over a week ago and I got a lot of questions. Want the details?

So, (as I like to say) here's the deal... This supper was after a late night when I got home after our Open Knitting on Wednesday night at Firefly Fibers. At knitting, some of us are hungry and, as a foodie, the conversation usually goes to food at some point when I get to sit and knit. As the night goes on, the conversation goes to how delicious Culver's would be and then I realize how tired I am and it's hard to resist. But, when I do resist, my belly is much happier and this meal took me a total of 15-20 minutes to put together. Seriously, that's how long it would take me to get fast food.

Here's the recipe... first, I always have fresh parsley, sweet potatoes, frozen shrimp, and jarred sauce on hand - really, we all should. For this meal I selected the super-fancy Vodka Sauce from Aldi (it's really delicious), got 8 shrimp from the freezer to quick-thaw and got to peeling and spiralizing the sweet potato while the pan was heating up. Sautee the swoodles (we'll get to that term in a second) with a bit of coconut oil for about 8 minutes, sautee the shrimp in another pan and heat the sauce in the microwave (remember, we're late-nighting it). When the swoodles are done (again, we'll get to that in a moment), plate the swoodles and top with sauce, shrimp and a healthy amount of parsley. E. A. S. Y.

So... tonight we recorded our 4th episode of the Alisa the Yarnista podcast *gulp* and due to a technical difficulty (thanks Windows) we had an intermission and I got these lovelies ready for our French Dip sandwiches.

The peppers and onions (with no tears) are sliced super fast with the Inspiralizer. But wait... there's more... tee hee... so, Mr. Yarnista and I are trying to decide - really, we're not arguing, although both of us want to win - on the correct term for the sweet potato noodles and we are letting you choose. It's all in fun and we've got a little voting going on over on our Episode 4 post and we hope you'll give us your input - click over here to tell us what you think (but do it before this coming Friday)...

So, there ya go. I love veggies (no surprise) and I love the Inspiralizer so much that I'm now an affiliate for this super-fantabulous product - it's such a great way to get some amazing food into your belly. So, if you want to get one, pop on over via this link or the awesome photo to the right - Rollo and Logan will thank you.

Cheers!

Alisa

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