A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That
It’s been a funny sort of week. I’ve been knitting but have nothing to show for it as both my projects (socks and doomed chunky blue cardigan) are at the dull acres-of-stocking-stitch stage with no end in sight. With the exception of the blue yarn, which is running out at an alarming rate, this is likely to be a very cropped cardigan. But, like a car crash in slow motion, you can see it coming, you can feel the fear, but you just can’t stop…
I have been sewing though. An activity I generally save for the summer months when it is too sweaty to hold yarn for long. I was driven to it by the absence of skirts in my size and a suitable style. I could generally be described as plump. Very plump. And long A-line skirts suit me. Could I find one ANYWHERE? Being the proud owner of a new Bernina I bought some fabric (cotton twill/denim with a hint of stretch) and looked for a pattern. Same problem. Clearly I am too fat and too unfashionable. So, I made my own pattern by drawing around my favourite skirt and cutting out the silhouette. I folded it in half, placed that on the fold of the fabric and cut two panels – one for front and one for the back. I added a couple of little darts to make the waist fit, added a zip at the side seam and Presto! Two skirts exactly my size, my favourite shape and they go with the rest of my wardrobe. All for under $60.00. I’m feeling a little smug. I’ll show off with some photos once they have emerged again from the laundry mountain.
There was also some of this:
Meet Clarence, my sourdough starter, posing proudly in the bowl. I’ve been baking a lot lately but keep running out of yeast (because I keep losing my shopping lists – one day I will empty my handbag and find hundreds of scraps of paper and old envelopes with all my lists on the back) so I looked sourdough up on the Internet and began my starter. I lack the patience or faith to catch my own wild yeast (which brings to mind images of running around in the undergrowth swiping wildly with a butterfly net) so I used a teaspoon of dried yeast I had left in the cupboard. I let it sit overnight and it frothed up wonderfully (note to self: next time do not put lid on small jar filled with hyper-active starter unless you want an incentive to clean the kitchen…) According to the many sites I read, you should throw away a cupful of goop each day and replace it with an equal quantity of flour and water for four to five days. I didn’t follow that instruction exactly, I used the cupful of goop that I took out, this is one of the loaves that resulted.
One week later Clarence is producing bubbles and hooch and is the proud parent of eight loaves of bread. I’m feeling awfully pleased with myself and am starting to feel brave enough to don pith helmet and butterfly net and go yeast stalking in the Great Outdoors.
