Vintage Skills and Style in the Modern World
But this one was really delightful, so I’ll share it.
Summer salads are lush and lovely, but winter invites minimalism. Lettuce forms the base of this one, but spinach, cooked greens, or massaged kale would be good, too. A crisp apple and crunchy broccoli stems co-star in an unlikely, but delicious, pairing.
Almost certainly due to a herd of little kids coughing in my face, high-fiving me with their germy hands, and general spreading their germs in my direction, I’ve been struck down with illness.
This has featured:
Magic Healing Soup is something my mom invented, and I continue to make, with additional tweaks. It may or may not be actually magic, or healing, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something for my health. Continue reading “Maker Monday: Magic Healing Soup”
All kinds of things. Food things. Crafty things. Story things. Here’s a little peek into what I’m working on lately.
The Green Cardigan
The project: I’m knitting a sweater. I’m farther along than I’ve ever been. There is still a sweater back and a box of yarn that I embarked on seven years ago waiting for me, but this time, I’m for real.
The details: It’s the “Essential Cardigan” from KnittingatKnoon, and it’s very no-frills. I don’t know how to knit frills, so that works out. I’m knitting it in Plymouth Yarn’s Encore in dark forest green. While green sweaters are not exactly a hole in my wardrobe, I don’t have a green cardigan, so I feel okay about it.
The schedule: Done before spring, I hope.
Fingerless Gloves: Great Weekend Mitts
The details: What do I love? Three quarter sleeves! What do I hate? Cold wrists! Thus, a pair of mitts. I’m knitting them in cheap-but-soft acrylic, in burgundy and navy stripe.
A word about the name of this pattern: While some humans could knit these up in a weekend, I have not. I have been picking at them since October, when I started knitting them so I’d have something to knit in a scene in my acting class. (The key to Chekhov is to add knitting, it turns out. You’re welcome, I solved acting for you).
The schedule: Done before spring, I hope.
In the past month I’ve completed Gertie’s “Portrait Blouse” and a pair of Wearing History’s “Smooth Sailing Trousers.” I’ve cut out an additional pair of trousers in black, and they’re just waiting for me to stitch them together. I need to fix the first pair’s zipper, as I have somewhat mucked it up, but otherwise it’s set. The Portrait Blouse is a dream, and a quick sew.
I found that cutting out a bunch of projects at once, and sewing them later seems to work out for me. It provides a jumping off point–it’s harder to make excuses about starting a project when it’s already cut out.
You can make seitan in a slow cooker. I’m not sure how I missed this. I was so skeptical. I gave that roast serious side-eye as it cooked, but holy cats! It works! Recipe here is equivalent to the one I used.
I’m writing a new play, and that feels deeply satisfying.
What are you making lately?
With a new year, and the cold, clear days, it’s easy to get introspective. And so I have. As I think about all the things that bring me joy, it’s easy to cast myself as scattered. I like so many different things, lots of them at least vaguely domestic. But as I look more deeply, I find my various interests all fall under one big umbrella: I really like to make stuff.
Writing a play, knitting a sweater, baking a loaf of bread–these are all essentially creative acts. It’s self-expression through concrete forms. It’s sculpture, but instead of clay, I use ideas, and words, and yarn, and flour. Continue reading “Maker Monday”