Yarn in my Pocket

Soft batter

Cooking inspiration has been a bit thin on the ground around here of late - busy work schedules and a lack of energy have conspired to put us into a bit of a food-rut, with one high wall built of things that J doesn't like, and another built of things that I object to eating, usually on ethical or nutritional grounds. We have been experimenting a bit, though, with deep-frying (only a bit: see above statement on 'nutritional grounds). My parents visited a couple of months ago, and Dad gave us a masterclass on making chips his way (in lard!) Since then, we've tried Heston's chips (cooked three times!), an attempt at sweet and sour chicken that turned out more like chicken nuggets, and, last night, some fish (pollock) 'goujons'. I wanted to find a good soft batter recipe - not what you usually associate with goujons, perhaps - but pollock was what I had to cook, and I was thinking back to that sweet & sour attempt. I used the batter from this tempura shrimp recipe (be aware: website launches advertising video without asking), reproduced below:

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup corn starch

2 teaspoons double acting baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup water

Directions

• Combine the flour, corn starch baking powder,sugar and salt in a 2 quart bowl and mix to combine.
• In a separate small bowl, vigorously beat the egg for at least 30 seconds.
• Add it to the dry mix along with most of the water. Stir to incorporate all the ingredients. Add more water if necessary until you get the mixture to break into a liquid state, barely. Not too thin.
• Let the mixture [rest] for 15 minutes.

I coated the fish in flour, then dipped it in the batter, allowing the excess to drip off (ideally into the bowl!) I fried each batch for 2-3 minutes at 175C/350F, which barely coloured the batter. It was a messy procedure, with batter and lard spatters *everywhere*, and I found it was important to hold each strip in the oil for a couple of seconds before letting it go (use tongs!). This allows the outside of the batter to 'set' a bit before it comes in contact with the basket. If I didn't do this, each strip dropped quickly to the bottom, where the batter wrapped around the wires of the basket quite thoroughly before setting. Not ideal. I have to say, the batter didn't turn out very tempura-like. I realised just now that I forgot the baking powder (not that double-acting is very easily found in the UK), which would have made a *big* difference, and perhaps I should have beaten the egg more. I suppose it depends on what you use to beat the egg with: 30 seconds with a fork is very different to 30 seconds with an electric beater. Anyway, I'd use it again for sweet and sour! And I'd be interested to try it with baking powder, too. (But J thinks sweet and sour should have a crunchy batter. Bah!)

WIP Wednesday and a few announcements…

First off, a quick WIP tour. I did indeed fall for blue, and have my alpaca/silk batts on the wheel:

These are from the midwinter installment of the Yarnscape Wheel of the Year club - which is now accepting sign-ups for the next six months! I kept two batts back for myself, and I am enjoying the spin. They are 50% alpaca/50% silk, and I'm spinning worsted for a high-twist thickish lace weight. One batt is all spun up, and I'm about half done with the second one. Since my local spinning group meets this Saturday (not *last* Saturday, as I found out when I turned up with a car full of kit and a packed lunch!), I expect to have this one done and possibly even on the needles very soon - I have an Idea for it! I also got a weaving project up and going! This is on the rigid heddle loom, and I will admit to mixed feelings about it. I loved the warp as I was winding it:

but couldn't find a weft I really, really liked and which didn't alter the original warp colours. It would be easier if I was using my Klik loom, or hadn't accepted a one-heddle-only constraint for this project, but... well. I *do* like the way it's turning out - it's just different to how I envisaged it when warping! (both warp and weft are Yarnscape Footsie - warp is an experimental colourway, weft is Velvet)

As for knitting - I've been working on the same swatch for weeks now. Weeks.

Really, this is all variations on the same stitch pattern, which I want to use for a moebius cowl. It's amazing how different it can look, just by changing the scale (and one other teensy factor, which I would never have expected to be so significant). More on this later as I think it deserves a blog post all of its own. This yarn is my handspun from this post. I'm enjoying knitting it - which is just as well, as I've actually knit 65g out of 100 as a swatch, and will get to knit it all again! Right, onto the announcements!

• Firstly, I did mention that the Wheel of the Year club is open again, right? Sign-ups for the next six months are open until May 1, or until spaces run out! A six month subscription includes four shipments, spaced about 6 weeks apart, and you can choose to sign up for sock yarn, lace yarn or spinning fibre. You can choose to pay for everything up front (which gets you a nice little discount), or you can pay by installments through PayPal.
• There's an awesome project up on Kickstarter (and Kickstarter is pretty awesome in its own right). These guys are looking to make spindles by 3D printing! They're concentrating on Turkish style spindles right now, with a few very cool design elements. For instance, their base model is actually just the arms of the spindle - because it's designed to work with a standard chopstick as the shaft! Their reasoning is that the shaft is the part most likely to get broken - so why not make it easy to replace? Another model uses holes in the arms of the spindle to take stacks of US nickels, allowing you to change the weight of your spindle as desired. (They're producing adapter inserts for other currency options, too). They've actually reached their funding goal, but there's a few more hours to go - a great opportunity to be in at the beginning and to get one of the very first off the print bed.
• Thirdly, today marks the start of the Sweet Shawlettes blog tour. This awesome book by Jean Moss is officially released today (though those on Amazon may have been able to buy it already - lucky you, bad amazon!) and Jean and Philip have put together a really fun looking line-up of bloggers running interviews, previews and giveaways to promote the book. I'm there, on the roster, but we start today with Jen! The full lineup is as follows - do have fun following along, and be sure to come here on the 12th for my contribution to the tour...

Wed 7 Mar Jen_Arnall-Culliford Knitwear Jen Arnall-Culliford

Thurs 8 Mar Needled Kate Davies

Fri 9 Mar Rock and Purl Ruth Garcia-Alcantud

Sat 10 Mar Woolly Wormhead Woolly Wormhead

Mon 12 Mar Yarnscape Alison Barker

Tues 13 Mar Confessions of a Yarn Addict Anniken Allis

Wed 14 Mar Joli House Amanda France

Thurs 15 Mar This Is Knit Lisa & Siobhan

Fri 16 Mar The Knitting Institute Knitting Magazine

Sat 17 Mar Life’n Knitting Carla Meijsen

Sun 18 Mar ConnieLene Connie

Mon 19 Mar Just Call Me Ruby Susan Crawford Tues 20 Mar Tiny Owl Knits Stephanie Dosen

Wed 21 Mar Ulla-Bella Anita Tørmoen

Thurs 22 Mar Heike Knits Heike Gittins

Winner!

Congratulations to Rhian of The Crafty Geek - the winner of my surprise leap day draw! Rhian is another UK-based knitter and blogger (go check out her latest post - I think I might need some of those socks!) and although I've never met her - to the best of my knowledge, anyway - I can't have been too far away, as she was at Knit Nation last year. Kind of strange to think we might have sat next to each other in the cafe, and not known it! This week's competition took a bit longer to sort out than most: tracking down Facebook, Twitter and blog activity, putting it all into one place and then picking a random winner... I really wish I had a few honourable mention prizes to give out this time; some people (Janet, I'm looking at you!) went to great lengths to take every single entry advantage they could, giving me great amusement in the process. Better luck next time, eh?   This week's competition took a bit longer to sort out than most: tracking down Facebook, Twitter and blog activity, putting it all into one place and then picking a random winner...

Leap Day Flash Competiton!

Hey guys, it's leap day! The day that, every four years, makes my birthday arrive a day late... (Well, when your birthday is March 1, you tend to feel that way) Let's have a flash competition! I have here almost 13 skeins of Ecoknit organic cotton, which I bought as a kit to knit the Ginko leaves tunic from Fiddlesticks knitting. It's been taking up a lot of room in my stash for several years, and I think it's time for it to live somewhere else.

The yarn is gorgeous (and discontinued!). This is organic cotton, and the colour is natural (grown-in), not dyed. The pattern is rather lovely. But I haven't knit it yet, and I don't know when I will. I did swatch - which is why one skein is wound and not quite complete. Do you want it? Comment on this post by noon UK time tomorrow! (I'll also include the pattern, if I can find it. No guarantees on this one, though!) Want an extra chance?

• If you don't already, start following Yarnscape on Facebook!
• Share the announcement on Facebook, or
• mention it on Twitter! (Be sure to include @yarnscape in your tweets so I can count it!)

You get an extra entry in the draw for each new page like/follow share, each retweet/mention.

Spinning catch-up

Back in January, I was still spinning the singles for my Shipwreck Shawl. Those got finished, plied and washed - and turned out quite a bit bluer than part 1:

I think that'll be OK because this is a circular shawl, worked centre out, and I'm fine with a blue centre and a greyer border. I've even swatched! The fabric is amazing: the yarn is very lofty and softly spun, and it knits into this wonderful, soft, cushy, almost spongy fabric. Though I think it'll take some time before I can cast on; there's a lot of knitting in the queue so far...

Next up: the merino/silk blend I bought in December at Rampton spinners' Christmas party. Yum!

I decided I wanted to spin this short-draw, as my long draw has been getting a lot of practice over the last year or so. I went for a thicker than average single, and two plied it into a thick DK/lighter Aran weight yarn:

I'm completely delighted with the way this has spun up: the yarn is soft, squishy, shiny and very, very pettable. I'm also amazed and quite delighted that the white silk streaks so very evident in the top have almost completely dissipated in the finished yarn. I've been swatching this extensively - I think it'll make an amazing cowl - but I haven't settled on a stitch pattern yet. Next! Naomi sent me two beautiful, hand-carded batts: merino, silk, corriedale, superwash merino/nylon/bamboo viscose. 40g of beautiful, hand-carded, wonderful, fluff:

This was a *totally* effortless spin. Seriously. I split it into fingers, and spun then from the end, into a smooth 2-ply yarn for the Fair Isle stash. I've ended up with about 165m of yarn from 40g of fibre, which is a pretty awesome match to Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply, which would have 176m to 40g. (Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply is my reference yarn for the Fair Isle stash). Right now, it looks a bit thinner, but we'll see how it blooms after washing.

Looking back over this post, I notice I've been on a decided blue/purple kick in my recent spinning projects. I *was* planning to spin another batt project next, since I enjoyed Naomi's so much - but the next two projects I pulled out are, well, purple:

or blue:

Hmm.

The return of Sustainability Sundays!

Does anyone else remember Sustainability Sundays, here on my blog? I haven't done these posts for about a year and a half; the garden ended up pretty much fallow (that's a nice word for 'neglected and messy') last year, and the only sustainability post I wrote, at all, was on making pizza. By this time last year, I knew I was packing in the day job to run Yarnscape full time. (In case you're wondering, that takes up most of my brain.) In addition, my most local partner-in-sustainability, Geodyne, had recently moved to the other side of teh world, and then (ugh!) we had a long, cold winter. Spring arrived late, and suddenly, and threw all my usual planting strategies into a tailspin. We did plant garlic, onions, potatoes and jerusalem artichokes (see below!), and a few other things, but really, not much gardening took place at all. Anyway: these posts are inspired by Sharon Astyk's "Independence Days" challenge, over at The Chatelaine's Keys. Her focus, in this challenge, is to help people break their reliance on agribusiness and supermarkets for their food needs. My interest is similar, but different: I am interested in the sustainability of my lifestyle, concentrating (in these posts, at least) on food. That's enough intro! The rest of the post is broken down into categories. The idea is to do something - anything! - in each one, each week.

1. Plant Something

• I've started a new mushroom growing kit! I didn't have much (any!) success with the last one; if I can't get to grips with this one, I'll throw out the kits, and just try again with spores...
• Not so much planting as transplanting: volunteer garlics and shallots are being moved to better beds for the summer. they might not survive, but in their current position, they certainly won't, so it's this or nothing.
• Also in the transplanting category, I've moved my rosemary, thyme, chives and sage into a large, decorative planter. They were due a 'potting on', and this way, they will look better (and take up less total space) on the patio, compared with their earlier cheap, plastic pots.

2. Harvest something

• Jerusalem artichokes! The four weedy little tubers I planted last year have made a bucketful of harvested veg. It feels amazing to be harvesting anything from the garden in February!
• Chillies from some of the plants that have been overwintering indoors.
• Basil from an indoor pot plant.
• Rosemary (pruning and repotting)

3. Preserve something

• I'm drying the rosemary that was pruned off the plant. Not a big contribution - but it's something!
• The Jerusalem Artichokes will be stored cool and dry for future consumption (by me. J doesn't seem keen...)

4. Waste Not (reducing wastage in all areas)

• Composting kitchen scraps
• I split a couple of the jerusalem artichokes with my fork when I dug them up - so I cooked 'em and ate them for lunch.
• Freezing dinner leftovers for future meals

5. Want Not (preparing for shortage situations) Nothing this week!

 

6. Build/support Community Food Systems Nothing this week - apart from this here blog post!

 

7. Eat the Food

• Jerusalem artichokes!
• The garlic and potatoes from last year's harvest that are still with us.
• A chilli or two from our plants..

8.What I bought

• Pretty much all our food is bought in right now. As I said above, I didn't grow much last year - and this is not a good time of year to be living off your own reserves, anyway. I'm actually quite pleased to realise that there are a few small things - herbs and spices - and at least one staple - potatoes - that we are still providing for ourselves, despite 'not really doing anything' in the garden last year.

9. Looking forwards

• My dwarf nectarine has been flowering abundantly, and it was absolutely mobbed with bees earlier today. Will we have fertilisation?
• I need to start tomato seeds this week or next.
• I could put a first round of broad bean seeds in now, too...
• ...and it's time to start chitting (some) potatoes.

Bad Blogger Award goes to…. me!

Oh, I have been such a bad blogger. Not just an absent blogger (second post in February? Really?!), but a lax and lazy one, too. I did not take a single photograph at Textiles in Focus. I have been knitting on super-secret projects which I cannot share. There has been nothing on my looms all year. My latest spinning project has reached the plying stage, but I don't think I've blogged about it at all - or even the previous one. So it's a good job someone else has been producing pretty pictures for me to show off, hmm? Jen was the winner of the very first (yarny) Saturday Giveaway (there were a couple of bookish ones first) - and just look what she's made with her winnings!

Isn't that glorious?? (I love this photograph: the smile, the snow, the red-turquoise contrast, the yummmy shawl!) I'm sure I'll bore everyone to tears by repeating this all the time, but: I *never* get bored of seeing what everyone makes with my yarn and fibre. (This was a one-off skein; a colourway very similar to 'Kingfisher' on a Bluefaced Leicester laceweight that I decided not to carry as a regular line! Jen seems to have enjoyed knitting with it, though... so perhaps I should change my mind?) The pattern is Flukra, by Gudrun Johnston, and Jen's own blog post about this project is here. (If you don't already read Jen's blog, you probably should! Jen is a knitter and designer par excellence, and she writes beautifully. If that's not enough to tempt you over, there's also food, quilting and gardening to leaven the mix. As a bonus, the wonderfully cheery header of her blog never fails to make me smile!) Thank you, Jen, for allowing me to share your photo here; everyone else, the Saturday Giveaways will be starting up more regularly again very soon now - perhaps even as soon as this week! And, errm, I'll try to keep you posted on my own projects, too. This is supposed to be a blog, after all, right?

This week’s lucky winner is…

Melanie! Who said, "A skein of laceweight would make me feel less sad on this grey January day…" Err... Well, I hope it does - but I warn you, it's dyed in 'seasonally inspired' colours, so grey might be appropriate, hmm?? I also couldn't resist including Melanie's rabbitavar in this post. Firstly, it's just plain cute, and secondly, it's perfectly appropriate. You see, the yarn in question is... Bunnylace! (not in the same colour as that link, though). Congratulations, Melanie; I'll email you for your postal address, and send it off to you asap. Everyone else: thanks for playing! I loved reading all your comments, as always.

Saturday Giveaway: February’s Club installment!

This is your chance to win a taste of the Wheel of the Year club fun! The shipments for the Candlemas instalment of the Wheel of the Year yarn and fibre club have been dispatched, and... I have a spare skein of lace weight yarn! So I'm giving it to one lucky commentor. I can't give out the details of the yarn or the colourway at this point - that would spoil the surprise for club members - but I can tell you that this is not a 'prototype' skein; it is from the same dye run as the shipped colourway, so will match exactly. And I will tell you that it's on one of my favourite yarn bases, too! All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is comment on this blog post by noon on Monday (UK time). The winner will be selected by random draw and announced on Tuesday. Anyone can enter, including existing club members, from anywhere in the world. I think this is my first giveaway of the year, so let's pile up the comments for this one! Have fun!

FO Friday: Hand spun, hand knit gloves

OK, I love these things. I really do.

For the first time ever, or so it seems, I have gloves that actually fit my hands. Each of my fingers reaches the end of each glove-finger, and between the fingers reaches right down to the base of my actual fingers. (This never happens). The right glove is pretty much perfect, even if I do say so myself. Even in full use, the glove moves with my hand: it doesn't work loose, or shift around. The left hand glove isn't quite so perfectly behaved. I think this is because my hands are not made quite the same, rather than the fact that my gloves don't match! My left hand has a few quirks, including a hypermobile thumb. My right thumb is less unusual, and I think the upshot is that the glove can't quite keep up with the range of motion in my left hand, although it is fine with the right. I'm particularly pleased with the thumb shaping - gusset and use of decreases to accommodate the wide thumb web - and the use of short rows to make the palm of the hand longer on the index finger edge than the little finger edge - though I can think of a worthwhole refinement here. I've been wearing these out and about (though not for dog walking!) for the last week or so, and, I'm still delighted with them. Fine and non-bulky. Hand dyed, hand spun and hand knit - for my hands. Yum!