A little of this, a little of that…

I love the warmer weather. It’s warm enough to enjoy my back deck, and I don’t need layers and layers when walking my dog around the neighbourhood. Warmer weather means back yard time, and back yard time means knitting and reading more.

I don’t know what has led to my lack of reading motivation. Maybe I just can’t get comfy inside to read. But give me my back deck, a book, a blanket for the still-cool wind, and a simple knitting project, and I’m as happy as can be. On Easter Sunday, I spent the afternoon outside, Dash happily sprawled out beside me, and I read chapters and chapters of a book I’ve been idling on for months.

I love the warmer weather.

So, what have I been knitting away at? I just finished my replacement Michelle Mittens, the pair I was able to graft in the round for and thereby saved a bunch of yarn and time! I also begrudgingly settled in to fix a pair of socks that sprung a hole. The yarn was seemingly spliced together by the dyer, and I didn’t do a great job at securing it all when I was knitting them. So, I ripped back where the hole was and am using the yarn I have left to try and save this pair.

Needing a good, mindless project for the next little while, I’ve been knitting rounds on my Bright Axis (RAV LINK) by Stephanie Lotven. Rounds and rounds of stockinette for the body of this sweater. Meanwhile, the sleeves of my
Icefall, also rounds and rounds of stockinette, I’m sure must be feeling a little put out as I’m really dragging my feet working on them…

Meanwhile, over in my baking realm… Let’s just say, I’m a little cross at Hot Cross Buns. The recipe I used was an older one, so perhaps the chemistry was a little off, but four batches, all of which turned out a little on the toasty side…

But, to go along with the (disappointing) hot cross buns, I did successfully make Lemon Curd. I mean, just look at this presentation.

It could have been a little more on the tart side, but, in summary, YUM.

I also remade the Brown Sugar Shortbread cookies, this time using toffee chips rather than chocolate chips. The experiment was a success. I want to try this one again, playing with the baking temps and time, aiming to soften them up, if possible.

So. A little of this, a little of that.

A sweet goal

I’ve set a new goal for myself, and it has been met with delight by most people – I want to bake more this year.

I love being creative. I mean, you’re reading my knitting blog. I write, I knit, I love creating in the kitchen.

That said, I really have embraced the ‘Work smarter, not harder’ philosophy. For example, I adore my bread machine. You put all your ingredients in, you press start, and BOOM. Bread. Or pizza dough. Those are my two go-to staples. It’s not that I don’t know how to make dough from scratch. I do. But in my mind, why go through all the steps of proofing, combining, kneading (oh the kneading), etc etc etc, when I can just push start.

I tend to stick to the same recipes or the same hacks (my go to cupcakes/cakes start with a box mix – work smarter, remember), so I want to try new recipes, try new techniques, and challenge myself.

The first new recipe I tried was a Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookie recipe from practicallyhomemade.com. All in all, it was a simple recipe to follow, although I did deviate from their instructions when it came to baking.

I’m already twitchy to make it again, although this time, I’d sub the chocolate chips for toffee chips, and perhaps finish with a chocolate drizzle.

So, there we are. New goal that I’ll be documenting here along with all of my knits. Hope you enjoy!