Enter at your own risk...

Somehow I pulled myself away from making colorful dishcloths long enough to run some crochet thread through my fingers and start dreaming of making doilies or something filet crochet.  The earlier spell was broken, only to be replaced by another, I'm thinking.  I don't know what the pull is of thread crochet, but it seems to coincide with the temperatures rising and it being too warm to sit and crochet a heavy blanket (which I have waiting in a basket to be finished).  Pulling out some pretty colors of crochet thread, I began looking through some patterns and finally decided on making at least one spring-colored doily.  

It's nearly finished, so I imagine I'll have it (and possibly others) blocked and ready to show by next week.

The weather here is all over the place, and so it seems is my focus and attention.  Eighty degree days last week, and now we have a nice little stretch of cooler weather.  There's even a chance of a freeze tonight, Hub just told me.  A couple of weeks ago I planted some cool-weather vegetable seeds in the garden, but I suspect it's going to warm up to the point here quickly where those may not do so well.  A week ago, I planted some tomato and pepper seeds directly into the ground as an experiment.  Normally I would shop for these plants to transplant, but if I'm in no hurry, I don't see why those things shouldn't grow and produce before the end of summer.  We'll see.  If things don't look promising soon, I can always buy some small plants come May...

On another end of things, I've gotten myself into the predicament that too many crafty ideas are calling me.  It starts out as pleasurably thinking about such things until it becomes a nagging list of things to do.  Crochet, knitting, sewing, quilting, embroidery, paper crafts...

It doesn't help that the rest of the garden is calling, and I have visions of summer squash and green beans dancing in my head.  And weeds are proliferating everywhere.  And strawberries will surely be producing within a few weeks. Though, if it frosts tonight, the strawberry blossoms may get toasted.  That doesn't feel like an entirely bad thing.

And then there are things literally piling up.  In the office I'm sitting in, stacks of various themes are nagging me to deal with them.

And I'm remembering right at this moment I need to get my hair cut...

Sigh.

This will pass, I know.  I need to take one thing at a time, and it will all eventually get done.  Or not.  And if not, there'll be another season to tackle these things.

Except, I really should get my hair cut.

And, by the way... I turned a year older on Saturday.  That could also have something to do with feeling tugged in too many directions.  It was a good, slow day spent with family.  We celebrated three different April birthdays.  Oldest son's (37) mine (67), and Hub's (72).  We enjoyed lunch at a Peruvian sandwich spot, then back to two sons' apartment where we opened gifts, and learned a new game (which was one of my gifts).

And today I woke up feeling like the year is speeding by again. I want to slow things down so badly.  Then as I'm driving to church, hubs having left earlier, sends me a text that our dear elderly friend, Jack, had spent yesterday in the hospital, and would I be able to go and keep him company for a few hours? Of course!  

Turning the car around, I went back home first to get some food items to possibly coax Jack to eat something. He has not been eating much at all lately - even before this.

At Jack's house, I put the food items in the fridge and we sat and talked for a bit.  It probably helped that I could say I hadn't eaten when I asked if he was hungry, and would he like some food. I was happily surprised he said yes.  Minutes later we were eating ham and eggs, and then a jello and yogurt "treat" I'd made a couple of days ago - I think Jack ate more food in that one setting than he's eaten most days in months.  

Precious time spent with Jack, who's 95, soon to be 96 helps to put everything in perspective.  Having just had a birthday, I don't imagine I'll make to 90, let alone 95.  Our days on earth are short. Our relationships precious.  And I enjoy solitary hobbies. Meshing all of that can make for desperate feelings sometimes of getting everything in that I love.

Oddly, I think that's one of the benefits of crochet and knitting (actually all my hobbies).  When I give in to the pull, these handcrafts cause me to just sit and do a thing that can only be done so fast.  Thread crochet is particularly slow, and I think it helps somehow to settle my sense of desperation of time whizzing by.  Even though I'm aware of time disappearing as I'm doing something fairly frivolous.

And on it goes.  

Do you get into these uncomfortable states of mind - where the busy and good needs of life conflict with the pull of slowing creating things?  They feel like polar opposite values to me, and yet, they are both very much part of who I am.

Are you sorry you popped in here today to be taken on the roller coaster ride that is my mind at the moment?

I can't seem to stop...

After discovering the moss-stitch granny square pattern for making dishcloths, I've been a bit obsessed with making them.

Last week, I admitted to my perfectionistic tendency of going to the effort to make the colors go round and round in an attractive order, instead of just letting the colors land (and worse, pool) where they may when using variegated or striped yarn.  Which meant a lot of snipping and magic-knotting to make that happen.  

Why, I asked myself, am I not diving into all my colorful scraps of cotton yarn for this?  

So, I did!  

And I fell even more in love with making these crazy cloths.

So much so, that for the last two weeks, I've completely abandoned any other creative endeavor.  

I don't imagine my readers will be as endlessly amused with these cloths as long as I may be amused making them, so this might (maybe...  I don't know...) be the last post where I show these.

Okay, maybe not...

Here, again, is the tutorial I used for the first one:

After making one (maybe two) cloths, the tutorial will be unnecessary.  In fact, the stitch marker suggested at the beginning is unnecessary in my opinion, but someone may find it helpful.  The only thing I think she doesn't address is the magic knot.  I just magic knot right at the spot where one round ends and the other begins.  Perfection isn't required here.

Here are two short videos demonstrating the magic knot:

The way I do it:

If you, say... like to wear a belt with your suspenders, you may be more comfortable with this way:

I have found that in picking out my color combinations, starting with a variegated yarn that has some white in it, works well.  I think the pops of white keeps these lighthearted.  Then just pull together five or so colors that play well with each other. Crochet them up in any order, or be very deliberate in your color placement.  It doesn't seem to matter.

I suppose it's possible that one day I'll make one that I dislike, but so far...  not a single one is a loser.

Last week, and this, I am sure is just the beginning:

These can be made any size. I happen to like my dishcloths on the small size (6 1/2 - 7 inches square) because they stretch out when wet (though these stretch much less than knitted cloths).  I'll come back and edit this if my preference changes after washing some of these several times.

Hopefully soon, I'll be showing other crafty things again, but I'm pretty sure these cloths will remain a relaxing fun project that continues in the background.  

Yep.  I could be at this for a while...

Beef Stew...

For some reason, while soups and stews strike me as winter fare, I rarely make them in the winter, but often find myself making several different soups in the spring, and even summer.  And Beef Stew is no exception.  Having recently made it, I decided I needed to put the recipe here so I don't lose it.  

Last week I was taking a meal to someone recovering from hand surgery and stew seemed an obvious choice since she would be temporarily one-handed.  Then I found out that this person was on a no-added-salt diet.  Eeek.

I was a little worried about how to make this stew tasty without salt.  But the recipient was thrilled with the idea of beef stew, and since I was able to find no-salt beef broth (which was actually low-salt, but the recipient said it was okay) I figured Beef Stew was probably the easiest of recipes to adapt in this way.  I bravely plunged ahead.  

The written recipe below is made the way we enjoy it, but below the recipe, I've written any adaptations (both to the original recipe I have used as a template, and to my version). 

Truthfully, I don't measure much, but simply add things to taste.  I also tend to make my batches of soup larger by adding more of the ingredients, and for that reason, the measurements listed in the recipe seem pretty sparse to me.  So...  either follow the written recipe exactly, and you can always add more seasonings, or just consider the measurements below (that were pulled  from the original recipe) as suggestions.  Just know, if you cook like me, you may find yourself wanting more or less of anything.  If you cook like me, you're probably already planning how you will tweak the recipe.

Beef Stew

2 lbs stewing meat (I never measure, but these days I just put in as much meat as I can justify spending money on.  Truthfully, I'm sure I've always used at least 2 lbs of cut-up chuck steak, or stew meat.  Beef is the point, afterall.)

1-3 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I used freshly ground pepper)

3 Tbs olive oil (or avocado oil)

1 onion chopped

At least 6 cups beef broth (I usually use two complete containers of beef broth, so that's typically 8 cups.  Save back 1 cup for the thickening step.)

1 lb of potatoes, peeled and cut into largish chunks

4 carrots (I probably use 6) cut into chunky pieces

1 tsp dried rosemary  (if you're fancy, use a fresh sprig - I assume you fish it out later?)

2 Tbs cornstarch

3/4 cup peas (or half of a small frozen package)

Lastly, I tend to drop in a beef bouillon cube at some point.  (Taste before you do this, though.)

Heat oil in a pan or pot and cook beef and onions until browned (I add onions and minced garlic toward the end of browning the beef - you don't want these to burn). That said, be sure to get some browning on the beef and pan/pot - this will add flavor.  And if you burn some onions, I'm sure it will be okay.  I have, and it is.

If transferring beef to a large pot, add beef, and all but 1 cup of beef broth.  If using a pan to cook the beef, onions and garlic, use some broth at this point to deglaze the browned bits in the pan and add this to larger pot.  This is tasty stuff.

To the larger pot, add the salt, pepper and rosemary. 

Reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and simmer for at least an hour - until the beef begins to be tender.  Stir often.

When close to an hour of simmering, I sauté the carrots in some butter or olive oil.  I'm convinced this adds to their flavor.  

When I figure I have 20-30 minutes more of simmering time, I add the potatoes and carrots to the pot and continue simmering until the vegetables are soft-ish.  Not too soft.

After the carrots and potatoes are suitably soft, it's time to thicken the stew.  Turn up the heat to a low boil. Working with 1/4-1/2 cup of the saved-back beef broth, add 1 Tbs of cornstarch to broth, stir until smooth, then add to the slightly boiling pot.   If this doesn't thicken the stew enough, do this again with the remainder of the beef broth, otherwise, simply add the remainder of the beef broth to the pot.

Shortly before serving, add the frozen peas.  I didn't have peas the last time I made this, and found it was fine without them.

Serve with a salad (if you like) and a warm roll or some crusty bread (a must - unless poor you is going bread-less). Actually, I've cut way back on bread, and all kinds of refined carbs, but I make exceptions for something like this.  You do you.

~~~~

This section is a combination of adaptations to the original recipe, and adaptations for making this a low-salt stew:

First of all, I skip the traditional dredging of beef cubes with flour before browning.  While this can add to the flavor and thickness of the stew, I first left it out when making this for someone who is gluten-free. It was then I happily realized this is an unnecessary step for creating a perfectly good beef stew.

Skip the salt

If skipping salt, try adding more rosemary for more depth of flavor.  I added quite a bit more on the no-salt version.  Taste test, though.  Rosemary isn't a shy herb.  

I prefer using fresh minced garlic, but will sprinkle in some dried ground garlic later if the stew needs more.  Because I don't measure much, and I often use more broth than called for (because I typically use more of all the solid ingredients than called for), I often end up adding seasonings at some point and taste-testing it.  And as mentioned in the ingredient list, I'm also not above dropping in a beef bouillon cube to boost the flavor.

Other things I do not use in this recipe:

celery

wine

tomato paste 

and rarely, do I add water.  If more liquid is needed, I typically use more beef broth.  That said, if it just needs a cup of liquid, and I don't want to open a new container of broth, I'd use water.

If making this for someone who is on a low-salt diet, there are some low salt beef broths available.  I will not kid you...  they are expensive, but they are available, and will make this stew edible by pretty much anyone.  If anyone knows of other no-salt flavorings that would go with beef stew, I'm open to hearing about them. Especially, if they aren't expensive.  While I was okay with the flavor of the no-salt version I made, I much prefer this with salt.  The gal I made it for, said it was good, her taste buds being trained to less salt.

While it's an easy recipe, Beef Stew isn't exactly a quick meal.  When I plan to make it, I almost always do some prep the day before cooking it.  This last time, I actually browned the beef and froze it in a large baggy almost a week before.  But typically, I will brown the beef, and/or cut up the carrots and onions the day before assembling this recipe. 

I think I've exhausted my tips, suggestions, additions and subtractions.

If you make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

A fairly productive week...

Last week went fast!  Busy with productive things and socializing, but still plenty of time to craft. That's a pretty perfect week in my estimation.

The strawberry plants finally got uncovered, and the garlic I planted amongst the strawberries last fall appears to be thriving.  

I'm thinking some garlic cloves must have not sprouted, though, as I only have about 50 plants (between the strawberry bed and another small spot in which I planted about half as many as above).  For some reason, I thought I planted around 90 cloves.  Or maybe I'm dreaming that.  To be completely honest, I don't get great sleep, and I've been having a lot a weird dreams lately...

I've dreamt weirder things than planting 90 cloves of garlic, that's for sure!

~~~~

And look at what bloomed this weekend!

The amaryllis my neighbor gave me last Easter, I brought out of the garage into the sunroom in February to bring it out of dormancy.  It was so top-heavy, I scrambled to find something to hold it up before it toppled right over.

We crafty folks are resourceful.  

To the non yarn-crafty reading this, that is a 

knitting needle serving as a stake.

~~~~

A friend and I got together for a couple of hours one afternoon and mod-podged spring/Easter eggs - using flower designs cut from pretty tissue paper. 

It was messy, and I'm not sure I ever want to do it again, but  the finished eggs are kind of cute:

The eggs were inexpensive ones from Hobby Lobby, and are probably even more deeply discounted this week - in case anyone reading is inspired to do this. The eggs I bought are made of a ping-pong-ball material, packaged in a half-an-egg crate.  

If my friend wants to get together one more time to finish the job, I'll decorate the last three of my dozen...  Otherwise, those will be donated to a thrift shop and I'll be happy to call this done.  I've concluded I'm better at mod-podging flatter objects.

~~~~

At some point, these Tunisian-stitched hotpads were finished.  Made with a sturdy cotton yarn, they are a decent thickness for hotpads:

The one below (crocheted with a softer cotton yarn) is a little flimsier, so it will likely become a washcloth:

I like these a lot.  And they are not the least bit hard to make, but my arthritic thumbs grew pretty weary holding the long Tunisian hook in one hand, and the cloth in the other.  I think I'm done doing Tunisian crochet with cotton yarn.  

~~~~

And lastly, having recently enjoyed making some dishcloths using the moss stitch (aka linen stitch), I gave making moss stitch granny square cloths a go, and I am a little bit in love.  These fast projects made with colorful yarns are fun to make, and hopefully will be fun to use:

The orange one on the left was made with a sturdy kitchen cotton (like Sugar n' Cream or Peaches & Cream). The others are made using Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton Yarn in various prints.  This soft cotton yarn makes super drapey cloths, and the cotton "prints" work well in this stitch pattern.  

Though, the perfectionist in me did finagle a bit to get the colors to go 'round and 'round in a pleasing way, instead of congregating on one side, as they tend to do if you change directions each round.  Changing directions with each round keeps the squares from skewing.  To overcome the colors' tendency to pool when doing this, I did a lot of snipping and magic-knotting. In fact, I'm something of a pro at this now.  I've never before trusted the magic knot, but I figured dishcloths that will get abused and washed many times will be a great test of its reliability.

The video tutorial below is, by far, the best one I have found for making these:

I hope those of you who observe and celebrate have had a meaningful Lent and Easter!

In the pink...

Recently, I pulled out a bunch of pinkish fabric scraps to make some patchwork, and I was both tickled at what I came up with...

... and confused by how I managed to turn what was supposed to be one-inch squares into rectangles.  I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that it took me quite a while to figure out what I had done.  But the important thing is that I did eventually figure it out, and (while I'll spare you the tedious explanation) in the end, I learned from the experience.  And was still able to create some cute stuffed hearts in spite of my absent-minded cutting and piecing:

And no one but me will ever notice that the corners don't match up, and I completely missed sewing one quilting line, right?  

Having seen some fun creations that use improv piecing, I think I need to give that a go. Precise measuring isn't required, but a good eye and understanding of how to piece this way is.  We'll see if I pursue that.  At the moment, I'm still in the enjoying-watching-others-do-it stage...

Then I turned my hand to making some Tunisian stitched potholders.  I got one done, but am still tackling the second one:

I made some years ago, but I had forgotten about the curling.  I had to steam it to get it to lay as nicely as it does above.  And I don't remember that this was hard on my thumbs years ago, but it is now.  Maybe I need to try tunisian crochet with something less stiff than cotton...

While giving my thumbs a rest, I crocheted a moss-stitched dishcloth.

A bit mishappen, but maybe that's user error.  I do like this change from knitting dishcloths, and this stitch produces a drapey cloth, much like knitting does.  

It's nice to have another pattern at the ready for when I need (or want) a mindless little project to work on. I followed this tutorial: 

Though, I think I might prefer this one:

I think I'm going to try making some other moss-stitch cloths - maybe one that looks granny square-ish next.