Lattice-Work

I finished it! Yay! I love it and it's already gotten a lot of use this summer! Somehow it was almost a month ago when I shared my bottom rib progress and I'm just now sharing the finished project. Better late than never, right?

I made several modifications to knit in the round to avoid seaming and to try it on as I knitted - I'm happy with these mods. Very. Happy. This was a seriously fun knit, even if I was griping about missing the elasticity of wool during knit night/morning. It was really nice to knit something for myself and have the freedom to veer from the pattern, and veer I did!

Pattern: Cap Sleeve Lattice Top by Purl Bee – MODIFIED

Yarn: Skinny Cotton by Blue Sky Alpacas (30 Birch & 314 Gravel)

Raveled:  Cap Sleeve Lattice Top – modifications are noted

I love knitting with wool, but as far as cottons go, Blue Sky has hit this one out of the ballpark! With the multiple plies, the lace was a little slow going, but the stitch definition on the lattice and the twisted rib bottom is stunning. And then there's the drape, oh my! I'm already dreaming of knitting another Skinny Cotton garment next spring!

Cheers! Alisa

Time to Slow Down

Last week I had some much needed time off - 9 whole days to be exact. We didn't make plans, so I spent a good portion of the time knitting (mostly shop projects - more on that later) and cleaning to prepare for my cousin's upcoming visit this weekend (more to come on that, too).

I did spend some time in the kitchen and you can see from the photo of last week's Good Earth Farm CSA delivery, it was a glorious week for the veggies!

I made a breakfast for hubby and I using a fritatta recipe from the CSA's July 3rd newsletter omitting the egg yolks and used feta instead of goat cheese since that's what was in the fridge and we had green salad on the side - it was delicious and the perfect way to start a summer day!

We made a trip up north and celebrated the 4th of July at hubby's grandma's house in Gresham, WI. It was a beautiful day with wonderful company and some great food!

But, by far my favorite moment of the week was this...

A trip to Kirschbaum's Strawberry Acres. I got strawberries from our CSA and they're prepped in the freezer for this year's batch (or batches) of Jeni's Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream, but since they're only in season a short while, I wanted to stock up.

They're lovely, aren't they? The berries themselves were pretty amazing, but the best part was...

This guy, my fabulous co-pilot! Joey is bonkers for fresh fruit and veggies and he can hardly contain himself each week when the CSA arrives, but this was a whole new level of awesome for him.

At 12+ years old, he has a bum knee, a liver that needs supplements and other signs of wear so I like doing special things for & with him. I decided 'the dude' was worthy of a special trip with mama for some delicious berries - even though I knew I was risking his head potentially exploding from the excitement. When I came back to the car with 10+ lbs of berries and 5 lbs of peas, his cute head did in fact almost explode. The first berry was promptly plucked out of the box and devoured a mere millisecond after I snapped the photo.

I tried to 'disconnect' as much as I could this last week and I can't wait to catch you up on what I've been knitting and some of the amazing things I unearthed during my cleaning. For today, I hope my happy Joey moment has made you smile!

Cheers! Alisa

CSA & Hummus Recipe

I was lucky enough to be introduced to the wonder of the CSA a few years back and now each year as the weather warms, my family anxiously waits for the vegetable deliveries to begin. This year we joined Good Earth Farm and we received our 3rd delivery last night and it was a whole bunch of awesome, again! Our new CSA has several additional options like bread and mushrooms, so we're also splitting a fruit share with a friend. This week was the strawberry delivery and I am relieved to be sharing, because we received 7 quarts of delicious strawberries. I'm thinking of making a strawberry pico de gallo this weekend and maybe some jam and freezing the rest. Yum!

I made another a batch of hummus this week and wrote the recipe down since there were requests after my last batch, so here it is! I make a big batch, feel free to cut it in half if you want less.

Alisa The Yarnista’s Hummus

• 4 cups chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 2-4 garlic cloves (base on how much you love garlic)
• 1/2 cup Tahnini
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbs water or juice from beans

Add all ingredients EXCEPT chickpeas and water/bean juice to food processor and mix until coarsely pureed. Add chickpeas and blend to desired consistency - add water/bean juice as necessary. Enjoy with veggies, pretzels, on bread and spread on sandwiches!

I'm freezing some of this batch to see how it holds up. I think it will be okay since the beans hold up in the freezer after I cook them in the crock pot, but we'll see. Have you frozen hummus or do you have a hummus recipe to share?

Cheers!