Crafts and Cooking

New Knitty! New Knitty! Curl up with a cup of coffee and plan your projects for the next couple of months! (That’s what I’m doing!) Ivy is a gorgeous wrap sweater with amazing cable details at the waist and cuffs. On the sock front, Red Herring have a nice herringbone pattern and is the pattern from this collection I’m most likely to actually make. Little slip of a thing is a great-looking felted bag that – very cool – only uses one strand of yarn throughout but supposedly still has fairly robust structure. Intolerable cruelty is also drawing my attention, … Continue reading New Knitty!

It just came to my attention that the summer issue of Knitty is out; they’re calling it “the extremities issue”, as it is focusing on gloves and socks and the like. This is very sensible for a summer issue – small projects are way more tolerable in this weather than big sweaters and afghans that lay across your lap. (I, of couse, am quite intelligently spending my summer making a beaded mohair shawl….) Looking at their new pattern offerings, there’s a pretty toe-up sock design, Widdershins that I might try, or maybe the longer, lacy Baudelaire pair. The Sock Monkey … Continue reading Extremity Knitting

The latest issue of Knitty featured an adorable pattern for stuffed nautiloids, and I couldn’t resist. It’s a suitable pattern for using up scrap yarn, and it is very easy. I liked that you stuff the shell as you go along, because it leaves very little finishing to do at the end. You can even get away with just shoving your loose ends inside after you knot them off. I had a bit of a struggle deciding on the placement for the tentacles, but in the end I’m pleased with how this little guy turned out. For this particular nautiloid, … Continue reading Prehistoric Crafting

Feeding America is a collection of historic American cookbooks, a section of the Michigan State University’s wider collection of historic cookbooks. Their website includes images of the page scans as well as text versions and downloadable pdf reproductions of the cookbooks. While the collection is of cookbooks, the content of these books is more than just recipes. There is also content about the knowledge of that time about how to prevent or treat illnesses, and on homemaking topics in general. For an example, check out The Frugal Housewife published in 1830. Also interesting is Hotel Keepers, Head Waiters, and Housekeepers’ … Continue reading Recipe History

In my opinion, the internet is all about patterns forknited digestive systems. Don’t miss the close up of the cute little green gall bladder.

I think I am going to try out this Baked Egg Roll recipe this weekend; I am sure it is not authentic, but I like the lack of frying and the large quantity of cabbage, and it will hopefully make yummy, portable lunches for next week for me. I will not be making All American Eggrolls, even if it is going to be Constitution Day. Polish sausage slathered with mustard, mayonnaise, and cream cheese fried in a wrapper is not an eggroll, and I’m rather disturbed that anyone thinks such a concoction is “all American”. Some Americans actually like vegetables!

Friday, March fourth, a CNN article opens with the line “Wearing blue jeans and a knitted poncho, U.S. domestic icon Martha Stewart smiled and waved early Friday as she boarded a private plane following her release from federal prison.” and the photo we’ve all seen of her boarding the plane. Thursday, March tenth, I get a special announcement in my inbox for Martha’s Poncho Pack, allowing you to create your own copy of the “free-flowing poncho” that was “featured when Martha Stewart left prison”. On sale now!

From Knitty.com, a special mini-issue to support breast cancer awareness, published under a Creative Commons license and packed with wonderful patterns. If you’re into knitting, the rest of the site is worth a browse as well. [via not martha]

I like to cook. By some definitions, I’m an engineer. So no surprise I enjoyed browsing Cooking For Engineers. Some recipes, some kitchen experiments – plus a yummy looking Chocolate Pecan Pie. I love the chart-based recipe formats; I haven’t seen them before and they seem to be a nice shorthand for what to do in simple or familiar recipes. [via not martha]