Some lemons later... my blanket progress

Lemons! I see recipes with them everywhere these days. But I don't complain about it, they are a bit of sunshine in our long winter! Lemon and poppy seeds muffins, lemon meringue pie, lemon and ginger tea... but what about the salty side of lemons? I used to like lemon in savoury dish only on fish but I've discovered over the years, that they are fantastic with many other savoury food. I think about a whole roasted chicken with lemon slices and oregano or a couscous salad with a lot of parsley and lemon juice! So, while the lemons are in season, I made some salt preserved lemons and as it's crazy easy, I wanted to show you...

 

All you need is some lemons, a clean air-tight jar, and sea salt. First, you want to scrub your citruses (especially if they aren't organic) to get rid of the wax they put to make them last longer. Next, you need trim the ends and cut the fruits in quarters. You can either cut all the way through or if you have a big jar, you can only make deep slits in your lemons and  keep them whole. Then, pour a layer of sea salt in your jar and add a lemon. Pour some more salt on the lemon (taking time to fill the slits with salt) and add another lemon etc, squeezing as many lemons as possible in the jar. You want the jar as full as possible because it will help lemons to be covered in their juice later. Don't forget to add salt between each piece. When your jar is full, add some more salt on the last lemon and seal.

 

That's it, now you wait. I've left my little jars on the counter top for 3 days, shaking them a little every day, to give time to the lemons to render some juice. As they weren't totally covered at that point, I opened the jars and added a little juice from another lemon, re-closed the jars and put them in the fridge. I will wait at least 2 more weeks before tasting them, but I can't wait! I bet they will be delicious with barley or with roasted meat. Be warned though, they will be very salty, so you might want to give them a rinse before using them.

  

And while these macerate in the fridge, I'm working on the blanket I started in November (http://sweetteasoftskeins.blogspot.ca/2013/11/to-unravel-or-not-to-unravel.html). I'd like to finish it this winter... I'm at my 6th stripe, so probably half-way. As always, I'm super eager to start new projects but i've to many things lying around half done so I'll be trying to finish a couple before starting new any big project.

To unravel or not to unravel

Recently, I've notice that we don't have that many blankets in the apartment. It's getting colder and I'm feeling more and more like cocooning while listening to Christmas music. Knitting in a nest of blankets seems to me like a must of the season!

Most people have a legacy of blankets at home. You know, that quilt your grand'ma made you or the old throw that as always been around in your family... we mysteriously don't have any of these. Well, I have a blanket that my mom crocheted for me, maybe 15 years ago, but it only fits a single size bed. As for Le Barbu (aka my boyfriend) he does have a large velvet-like blanket but he often uses it in his office. That's why I came to the conclusion that we need more blankets. I searched through the massive amount of pattern on ravelry for a while and I finally chose this one: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boldly-colored-plaid-afghan

I started it, planning to make it larger than in the pattern. Instead of seven stripes of nine squares I'm probably going to knit ten stripes of thirteen squares. This way, I will obtain a blanket big enough to cover our queen size bed.

So far, I really like the pattern. It's fairly easy to knit and to memorize since the pattern is created by only four rows of knitted stitches. Normally, by knitting all the stitches, you would obtain garter stitch, but the secret of the alveolar texture you find on this blanket is that every other row is composed of "knit 1, knit 1 below" repeats. This means you knit one and then you knit the second one by inserting your needle through the centre of the stitch below the next stitch. I like this idea because it's nearly as easy as a normal knitted stitch but, because it gives a lot of texture to the afghan, I believe it will make it really hot and comfy.

Sadly, after I had nearly finished my first stripe, I realized my first square was longer then the others. After a look on the pattern, I understood that I was one pattern repeat short for every square except for the first one! That is when the ultimate question stuck me: To unravel or not to unravel?

This is where I was at when I unravel 80% of it. See the nice texture!

You see, projects without any mistakes are to me, the exception. Sometimes because I choose to leave the mistakes there, sometimes because I didn't even see it before the garment was blocked. The reality is, when I think my mistake won't affect the final look of the piece, or when I know that no one except me will see the difference, I might very well leave it there (especially if I notice it only a couple rows later). However, if my mistake is going to affect either the shape or the global look of the work, I will unravel the problematic part. That was the case of my first blanket stripe. That's why I decided to unravel it, because the squares were uneven and it would have shown against the other stripes. I'm always a little sad when I unravel something because I know how much time I've put in knitting it. But on the long run, I know I will be happier with the final result and so, it's worth the couple hours more to knit this stripe again especially considering the lifespan of a hand-knitted blanket.

My first baby shower

Yesterday, I went to my first baby shower. My older cousin is pregnant! She's having the first baby of the family and everyone is really happy and excited. Soooo, since a couple of weeks, I've been knitting little baby things here and there between my other projects to give her on that occasion. 

What I find fantastic about baby clothes and accessories is that they are small. Not only do they are quick-knits, they're also easy to carry with you in your purse or backpack. I find that they also are a great opportunity to learn the basics of a new garment. For example, if you've never knitted socks, a simple baby sock pattern is a good way to start. They are fast to complete, so if you miss something, it won't be that long before you notice the anomaly and you can start over or unravel a part of it without loosing days of work.

 Plus, baby things are so cute! Everyone loves them. I often knit at work, at lunch and on my breaks and I've notice that people want to see and touch them even more then my other projects. They're a perfect excuse to use super soft and colourful yarns too. 

So, if you don't have babies yourself, find some friends who do and start knitting cute clothes (especially with Christmas coming!!). Also, if you don't know where to start, here are the links to the awesome patterns that I used. They are all free, well written and relatively easy to complete. 

The blue  cardigan: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-sophisticate---free

The green vest: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hunters-vest

The little baby blanket:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/newborn-baby-blanket

The tiny socks: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mock-cable-baby-socks

And if you want to see my version of each more clearly they are all on my Ralverly projects page : http://www.ravelry.com/projects/sweetteasoftskein