_the socks I promised when it was still foggy outside

Hmmm...where to begin.  First, let me say that the socks are done and have been for a few months now.  The delay in posting was a decision made to avoid a public rant online.   The Yarn..the yarn.  Oh, the frustration I wanted to rant on and on about.  But I waited and now here's the story a bit calmer and much re-edited than the original because I waited to hit "Publish". 

Hank vs. skein.  Which is better?  After this, I'm thinking hank.  Yarn that comes in hanks require extra work before you start.  It needs to be wound into a ball.  A skein comes ready to knit...just pull out the loose end and go.   So, when I saw that sock yarn in a skein, I thought quick knit socks.  But they weren't.  I spent just as much time piecing it together as it would have taken to wind a ball from a hank.  Maybe even more.   Hanks have another advantage over skeins.  You can check the yarn as you are winding it into a ball.

The skein had such promise.  I couldn't wait to have the socks knitted so I can wear them on my feet.  But, alas, the skein hid a secret that could only be seen after I had knitted halfway through sock number two.  Splice after splice.   Knots were used to tie two ends together throughout the skein.  Even a few that were no longer tied.  Ugh!  To add to the frustration, the ends didn't match up in the colorway.  I wasted a lot of yarn to match the colorway and in the end there wasn't enough yarn in the one skein to knit both socks.  A point for using this pattern design. 

If that wasn't enough, the yarn was hanging by one ply in many places so that I was forced to make my own splices!  I don't know if this was an issue with just this particular skein or a regular occurrence with all of the Deborah Norville Serenity yarn.  But, I'm so upset with it that the few skeins waiting in the wings to be knitted will most likely stay there for a lot longer.   I don't have the time to unravel an entire skein to check for the splices before I knit...what knitter does?  Understand that this yarn is labeled as a sock yarn and is for the most part used to knit socks.   So splices are NEVER a good thing especially if the yarn is a colorway and not a solid.  The company making the skeins should have realized this and not bothered trying to make a skein out of leftover bits and hide it inside the skein so that I wouldn't have to find out what they did after I was already into the project.  

So, NO.   I can't in good faith recommend this yarn to knit socks.  Too bad the yarn itself has promise but I  expect to knit socks from a colorway from start to finish with OUT having loose ends to worry about when done.   It's the point of colorway.   Stripes and multiple colors without having to piece it together from multiple skeins.  Yep, I'm going to leave the other skeins in the corner and buy a different yarn for the next pair.    Most likely the yarn will be wraped in a hank so that I can check for splices before I start. 


Inside the sock.



Cast iron pans: a pizza’s best friend | King Arthur Flour – Baking Banter

Cast iron pans: a pizza’s best friend King Arthur Flour – Baking Banter

I'm telling you this is probably my favorite blog posted by another. I'm obsessed with this pizza technique. I thought I had upgraded when I went to a pizza stone but this by far supersedes it. It's like having a pizza oven in your kitchen. I use an 8" cast-iron skillet I got at the grocery store for about $10. The same grocery store sells the pizza dough in 1-pound packages for $1.49. I divide the dough in half and follow the directions in the blog post. It comes out perfect every time. I mean EVERY time. Thick crust nice and crunchy on the bottom and tender in the middle. Perfect! The reason I had the 8" in the first place was that it fits in my KitchenAid Toaster/Convection oven. No more pizza out of the freezer for me. This is a perfect personal pizza and oh so good! Not to mention alot cheaper. $1.49 for the dough and leftovers from the fridge for TWO personal pizzas...hmmm..gotta head to Winco need more dough.

One of My cast-iron Pizzas! Yummy!

Honey Cracked Wheat Bread

Orowheat discontinued making their Cracked Wheat Bread.  At least that's what they told me when I could no longer find it on the shelves.  Bummer!  It was my favorite cracked wheat bread.  I've tried all the others to find a replacement but they are all too dry and no where near a replacement.  I bought one loaf of the Cascade Pride at Winco and threw the entire loaf away including the sandwich I had made.  Good thing it was cheap. (Tasted like it too.) 

The good news is that I do have a bread machine and love to make bread.  The bad news is finding good quality cracked wheat.  Finally, I ordered a bag from King Arthur Flour when the local markets couldn't provide it.  Winco does carry it in their bulk section but it was more a coarse ground flour than cracked wheat.

I hadn't ordered from King Arthur Flour before but I'm glad I did.  After making this loaf I'll be ordering my flours from them.  Who knew that the flour you use would make such a difference.  The bread rose so high you'd swear it wasn't made with whole wheat. 

This recipe makes one large loaf.  Yes, it rises very high due to the large amount of yeast so use a bread pan that holds a 2 pound loaf.

Honey Cracked Wheat Bread

  6 tbsp Cracked Wheat
  1 1/2 cups of water

Put cracked wheat and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil for 5 minutes.  Stirring to keep wheat from boiling over and sticking to the bottom.  Remove from heat and drain excess water.  Let cool for at least 15 minutes.

Put ingredients into bread pan in the following order:

6 tbsp softened butter, broken into pieces
3 tbsp of honey
7/8 cup of water
1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
cooled cracked wheat
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp of dried buttermilk powder

make a well in center of bread ingredients and add:
1 tbsp of yeast

Set bread machine for dough cycle.  When done, remove dough and lightly knead into shape of pan.  Put into oiled pan and let rise for at least an hour in a draft free warm place till double in size.  Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes or till bread sounds hollow when tapped.

_It's still Foggy outside

Got up today to another foggy and chilly morning.  I couldn't see the other side of the street through the fog.  A bit if a gloomy morning greeting me on my day off.   Bummer.  It was however, a perfect morning for waffles and a strong cup of coffee which I would've had if my Keurig hadn't broke.  So weak coffee had to do till my replacement Keurig arrives.  It still went great with my waffles.

It's also a perfect morning to put a new pair of socks on the needles.  I've got a list of those I want to do and wear for Valentine's and St. Patricks' but in the end I went for something Spring.  I've got two skeins of Deborah Norville's Serenity.  Perfect!  The color is 'Chili'.  Can't figure that one out.  It reminds me more of a bouquet of spring flowers.  The yarn is a mix of soft merino wool (50%), bamboo (25%) and nylon (25%)

As I said, I've got a list for Valentine's and St. Patricks' but those patterns are a bit more complicated and I really just want something simple and quick.  So, I'm just going to use my ol' standby easy and quick pattern.  No real thinking or concentration.   But still, a little texture to keep me interested enough to finish them.  And, let's face it.  After the holidays, we all could use a break from complicated.

When I'm done, I'll post the pattern here. 

_too much time spent

Because I'm already not spending enough time on my computer, I've started a blog.   So why now? At this point, who knows?  I don't. But it will be interesting to see where it goes.  I love to cook, so a recipe or two.  I love to knit, so a pattern every now and then.  A trip somewhere would make it interesting.  Especially, when I get around to posting the pictures.

My url is 'dopeyknit'.  Why? I love Disneyland and Dopey's my favorite Disney character.  The 'knit' is if you catch me at home, I'm knitting.  My home is a mess because I'd rather have knitting needles in my hands then a broom. 

So what's to come?  We'll just have to see as time goes.