Near biennial check in

Yup still here. Still knitting.

Ravelry Killed the Knit Blogging

I’m sure everyone has blogged about the fact. Or would have but they are no longer blogging and instead posting on Ravelry. Don’t get me wrong. I love Ravelry and was a very early adopter. I just stopped by here to do a quick count on who is left of my blogroll. It got to0 sad after randomly checking 4-5. Two hadn’t posted since 2011, one was dead (the blog, hopefully not the person), one posted last in 2013.  Rachel Herron??  Still blogging!!!

Hogs and Dogs

This photo doesn't do the gas tank justice. Up close the wood grain is detailed and has lots of depth. After viewing the first 2-300 motorcycles, a non-skull airbrushed design was a breath of fresh air! Saw one older Moto Guzzi. Not sure what model. Plus a couple Aprilla. Nice to see Italian bikes represented. I didn't ride my Vespa to Hogs and Dogs this year. It was too hot to stay long so we left after about an hour but not before we finally bought a raffle ticket for the Victory motorcycle.

It's 1.5 miles to Hogs and Dogs from our house and I can hear the bass from the live band, while I'm on our front porch!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

View from the top!

 

May 8, 2014. View from the top of Rattlesnake looking east. A hazy day, not uncommon.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Sourdough Success!

Finally, finally, found a sourdough recipe that is successful and working with both my starter and my proofing method. It's the rustic sour dough recipe from King Arthur Flour that uses addition yeast as a booster. I've upped the water amount from 1.5 cups to 2 cups and the crumb is velvety rather than a gooey chew. Makes for great sandwich bread so I bought some ham slices to go with it for lunches this week.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Walking walking

In preparation of my 2014 Camino I’ve set the short term goal to walking at least 10km 3 days a week. So far I’ve met that goal. I’m very comfortable as long as I am walking at my pace, unloaded. When we go to Seattle we put in 15-16km a day with nary a thought. By February – yes that’s a few days away, I’d like to be walking 12-17 km  3 days a week and start adding a load. I’m planning an early May camino, something like Roncesvalles (or Zubiri, a bit larger village) to Burgos on the Camino Francis. Long term of course is to add mileage and add weight to my pack.

Near daily I have been wearing my Keen Verdi boots with SuperFeet inserts. I don’t know how many miles you can get out of a pair of SuperFeet before they need to be replaced. I bought the boots mid-summer. I supinate but not bad, the boots do show the wear pattern. And the inside heel is starting to wear. I usually wear a pair of either thin SmartWool socks or a WigWam brand CoolMax (or REI equivalent).

I am nearly completely kitted. I have two backpacks. A Mammut Crea Light and a Lowe Alpine Centro. Both women’s packs. The Mammut is the best fit, the lightest but has less cushioning in the shoulder pads and the fabric is lighter. The Lowe is about 1/2″ to long and weighs an additional pound due to heavier fabric and cushier shoulder pads. Same colors (as if that is important) Kind of dark raspberry colored with grey highlights. I wanted something that stood out from the rest of the packs out there. I think (but don’t know if) this fits the bill. I have not weighed my kit, though I do have a rough estimate in a spreadsheet.

 

 

Done

Washed, dried, hemmed.

Easy kitchen towels

I don’t know why I am weaving these towels so slow!!! Started April 15th and to date I am only on towel #3. In tabby weave. 8 epi… No fringe planned. They will be hemmed instead.

2012 Inventory of finished projects

Just in case anyone is keeping score.  In 2012 I knitted 6 shawl type things (TGV, Shinkan-Zen, Faraway So Close, Happy Half Moon, Stash Hippy, and Lzy Daisy), 2 pairs of mittens and 6 hats.

Still fiber arting with a little bread baking mixed in!!!

Like I need to be baking and eating bread….I’ve been wanting to get back into bread baking for quite a while. GB gave me a copy of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes for Christmas! It took me three batches of the master recipe, with helpful hints from GB before I was happy with the outcome. Not 100% happy, but at least the loaves weren’t hockey pucks.

My goal was to “master” the master recipe and then find a recipe for Poulsbo bread that I could tweak till it satisfied me. Poulsbo quickly became my favorite store bought bread when I moved back to Washington state (ahem, many years ago). The old recipe that the Sluys’ developed. Not the gunky garbage tasting Poulsbo that Franz sells now. The recipe I tried last week was to tweek the Gaye Levy recipe. Here’s what I did:

Baked for 1 hour in a well greased non-stick bread pan. Preheated oven to 475°F, used the sudden steam addition trick, decreased heat to 450°F after 10 min of baking, final center/internal temp 205°F.

Makes 2-2-ish pound loaves.

2 1/2 C 105°F water
1 1/2 C 7 grain mix (Stone Buhr or Red Mill, I used our local Health Food store’s bulk)
4 1/4 C bread flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C flax meal
4 TBS sugar
2 TBS molasses
2 TBS honey
2 tsp salt
2 TBS yeast (rapid rise)
3 TBS powdered buttermilk
3 TBS margarine (I used Golden Soft)