…you know, the kind of day when EVERYTHING I do turns into a treatise?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 By Rick Levine
Virgo
(Aug 23 – Sep 22)Your ruling planet Mercury conjuncts grandiose Jupiter, mischievously turning every little thought into a long treatise. It may not be easy to keep your ideas in perspective or your words to a minimum.
Unintentionally, you can turn the simplest task into a complicated project that becomes very inefficient. Your day doesn’t have to run out of control if you remember to keep bringing your message back down to earth.
Okay, to keep myself sane I’ll eat my oatmeal and get back to work!
SHELTER
Work today involves swatching up a magnificent new project (not for a mag, just for me!) with some of the loveliest yarn I’ve EVERY touched. It’s Jared Flood’s Shelter and I didn’t want to love it as much as I do. Why? Because the boy is a friggin’ GENIUS and I am feeling very jealous.
Or maybe I mean envious? I’m usually not a jealous type,
but everything JF does is so beautiful and I would love to be so gifted!
But, jealousy aside, this yarn is a revelation and a dream.
The color, the feel, the weight – it’s all there, kids, and if you are able to work with wool you NEED to touch this. If you visit your LYS, mention this to them because it needs to be where folks can fondle it. If you trust me, go ahead and order some online. It’s magnificent.
GARTER
For years I had eschewed the humble garter stitch. I prefer stockinette stitch, and I am afraid that I looked down on garter.
This was wrong of me, and to make up for it I’m doing an entire KIMONO in garter for Interweave Knits. It’s a modular piece, worked so that it is put together like a puzzle (but with – hopefully – no seams)
The yarn is lovely (BSA alpaca silk), but thinner than I’d hoped so the knitting is going on forever. And the deadline is short. But I am tall, so I can do it. With my Signature Needles, it really is flying by.
I can’t show you much about the piece since it’s for a magazine, but here’s a process photo showing the first step of the garment – the collar/placket piece upon which the entire garment is built.
I’m hoping to make it a universal pattern, meaning it can be made in ANY size by adjusting the number of rows in this first step. That may be wishful thinking…
OATMEAL
My favorite breakfast of all time is oatmeal. Almost a year ago our family trip to Ireland (the best vacation decision we ever made!) introduced us to good, honest steel cut oatmeal, and I’ve been a convert ever since.
Rolled oats, I love you for baking – but for eating I am loving Irish or Scottish cut oats.
I am becoming an oatmeal connoisseur, and have dreams of attending the Golden Spurtle someday.
But who has time to cook oatmeal each morning.
Well, actually, I do – I work at home – but I don’t do it daily.
I make a HUGE batch on Sundays, then pour it into a loaf pan and when it sets up I cut it into slices, wrap each in press n’ seal (it doesn’t stick to the oats) and freeze it.
It takes about 5 minutes to warm up each morning, and it’s the best use of 5 minutes I can think of!
This, and a cup of Lady Grey tea, and I’m ready to take on the world (or a multi directional kimono on size 5 needles…)
Oh, Annie, Thanks so much for the info about the oatmeal. I NEVER like oatmeal as a kid or even as an adult UNTIL I found Irish/Scotch oatmeal. And then when I developed celiac and found out that oats are iffy I was crushed. But I’ve found some gluten-free steel cut oats and am going to try your trick for it as I’ve not cooked them often since it takes 30 minutes. What a great idea!! And I’m definitely going to order some of Jared’s yarn. And have I said before that I love your blog and that you need to come back to Oklahoma?????? Roz
My LYS (Loop in Philly) carries Shelter and they are giving away 3 skeins in a blog contest. I plan to get some win or lose. Have you tried any of the Quince and Co yarns?Hmm, I must try your approach to oatmeal.
Hi, Annie…. I bought a rice cooker with a porridge cycle a few years ago I set it every night with 2 and 1/2 cups water, 2/3 cups steel cups oats and 1/3 cups regular rolled old fashioned oats. (Plus a little salt, and stirred.) I set the timer. it sings “Twinkle twinkle little star, then at 7 am it is ready. We love it!
I did the rice cooker / crock pot thing, but the clean up made it more labor intensive (yes, I’m lazy…) than I wanted on a daily basis.
Oh, no….. not the fuzzy logic rice cooker with the non-stick bowl….. it just wipes out with a sponge and cool water. I’ve used one (bought for $5 at a garage sale) for 4 years, almost everyday. The second it wears out, I’ll be on-line to find another one!
I’ve got to try that with my oatmeal!
I just keep a pot of leftover oatmeal in the fridge–it keeps fine for several days–and we scoop into a bowl and zap in the microwave for faster-(and much better)-than-instant oatmeal on school/work mornings. I’ve got to try the steel cut oats!
Last year I designed and made myself a garter stitch kimono bathrobe out of Koigu PPPM; unusual construction but I think much simpler than yours. (You can see it on my project page on Ravelry; I’m indiart.) I love the neck/shawl collar piece you have and look forward to seeing the whole garment (and making it, too, no doubt!).
This is a smaller batch of oatmeal, but I have a small (1.5 quart) crockpot that I use mainly for steel-cut oatmeal.
3/4 cups of steel-cut oats
3 cups water
Cook for 8 hours (overnight, for me). It’s lovely. A little sticks to the sides, but it usually comes right off with a little wiggling from a spoon. It makes 3 servings for me, but I am a major oatmeal hog. I eat it with just a little butter and salt, but it’s good with sugar, too.
Couple of things……
Jared Flood is one of the reasons I have a love/hate relationship with male knitters. I envy his talent and love his patterns. (I suspect I am not alone in this opinion about male knitters).
And Steel Cut Oats…..YUM. Another alternative to the make ahead trick is the crockpot trick. My youngest likes this one especially: http://www.food.com/recipe/no-mess-crock-pot-steel-cut-oats-322107
I also LOVE plumped raisins, currants, and cranberries (and walnuts) in my oatmeal.
Annie,
I cook up a pot of steel cut oats, eat one portion and put the rest in the refrigerator. It generally lasts for about five days – and will keep even longer. Every day I take out one portion, pop it into the microwave for two or three minutes and it’s great. No need to freeze it; no five minutes for it to thaw. I learned this from my wonderful Aunt Lib, who I wish was still alive to share lots more wonderful things with me.
It’s a great idea, but I usually don’t eat it so quickly. I have it every other day, or every third day, so freezing it makes it possible for me to make my breakfast decision in the morning.
Annie,
Doesn’t oatmeal have gluten? I’m trying to limit my gluten and a friend informed me oatmeal had gluten.
Oatmeal does not contain gluten, but is often cross-contaminated if milled in plants that work with gluten-laden products.
Here’s a good link to an article about it. I’ve noticed that when I use Bob’s Red Mill, Trader Joes or McCanns oatmeal I’ve felt NO joint soreness or flu symptoms (the way my fibro manifests itself)
It’s a good question, though!
Yes! We love steel-cut oatmeal. Our friends introduced us to it. That’s the usual breakfast now on those days I work from home.
Did you know that in the olden days in the Highlands of Scotland, porridge was made in a big batch, and then poured into a wooden drawer in the dresser to set. It was cut into slices, and put between slices of bread to eat as a “piece” or sandwich for lunch for the men out working all day.