Domestic Thursday: Two Socks and Some Beer

I'm in another sock rut, knitting-wise. My last non-sock knitting project (matching Blue Jays sweaters for my friend's pugs) had ended in tragedy, when I had battled through the intarsia only to find out that it was too small for her smallest dog.
So I knit some Hermione socks instead:

And now I'm partway through a pair of Eternal Spring socks from Knitty's last issue.

I'll return to the dog sweaters again sometime, but not until a few more pairs of socks, or maybe hats, have rebuilt my shattered self-confidence.

Of course, drowning your sorrows about failed sweaters requires something for the drowning, and this week it was Henderson Brewing's Radicle Wheat. A friend had left it at my place and judging from the label, this beer likes Toronto almost as much as Drake does. It's a nice wheat, particularly when I was drinking it last night, and the coriander shone brightly in the heat. Unfortunately, it turns out that "opened bottle shoved into the fridge" is not an ideal cellaring condition, and so the last inch I just knocked back wasn't quite as tasty. But that's what I deserve for not respecting the beer.

Domestic Tuesday: Completed Socks and Cider

I'm beginning to think lifestyle blogs are all a giant scam to keep us buying chalkboard paint and succulents. Some of their authors maintain that they have full-time jobs and/or kids, but I don't trust them.

Why? Because it's taken me months to finish my Pomatomus socks. And I couldn't even take a decent picture of them. Real lifestyle blogs would have finished ten projects and also directed a photo shoot for each one. The yarn pooled in a major way on one sock, so this is the best you'll get. So far the yarn (Rowan Fine Art in Yew) is warm and fuzzy. I think they'll be perfect when the colder weather finally hits.

The cider I was making was actually ready before these socks were finished, sadly. And the first batch from the Under the Sink Cider Co. was... okay. Extremely dry. Probably not bringing home any awards any time soon. However, nobody has died from consuming the cider so far, which makes me confident about trying another batch. Should I mix in some pear juice, or just stick to apple for now and buy some profesh yeast? I'm not sure yet. Either way, I should probably make some labels so I can register our ciderworks's mascot, Squishy the Dirty Old Sponge, before someone steals the idea.

Domestic Wednesday: Socks and Suds

Because of the awkward placement of Canada Day right in the middle of last week, I was left with two awkward days on either side of the holiday. I knew that, come Thursday morning, I wasn't going to want to wake up and go back to work. So, I cashed in some vacation days and gave myself a five day weekend.

I also decided to give myself a vacation from social media at the same time. No refreshing my Facebook wall, no Twitter scrolling, no Instagram favouriting. The exception would be some Shenmue 3 tweets, but that was out of love for Dan, my Shenmue fanatic. It would be five days of productivity and writing.

Instead it was five days of finally watching Orange is the New Black and knitting.

Eh, you do what you can.

I was working on my second or third attempt at the Pomatomus socks, a pattern that is now ten (10!) years old. I've made it to the foot of the first sock, which was a stunning improvement over my last attempt, which ended with half a sock finished and the rest of the yarn in a massive tangle. I'm using Rowan Fine Art in Blue in this attempt. I don't like the way it's pooling, but I love the way it feels. Hopefully I can make it to the toe of the second sock without the ball turning into a Gordian knot.

And, of course, there was beer on my five day weekend. Phillips Brewery is one of the great lost loves from my time in Victoria, along with my growlers Rock 'Em and Sock 'Em, and the half-dozen unrequited crushes I nurtured while there. So, when I saw their Electric Unicorn White IPA at the LCBO, I had to buy two bottles. It's a brassy, hazy beer, reminding me of a pineapple spliced with an herbal tea bag, with a head like a marshmallow and a yeasty character. It's perfect for the summer, even if you can't spend that season on a deck in Fernwood Village.

Finally, the social media holiday was nice. Maybe a little too nice. I felt more disconnected from the world at large; Twitter had largely become my source of current news, and so I forgot the Greek referendum was even happening until hours after the result was certain. But I also felt less frantic. It was like I had been in a box full of people yelling, and suddenly they were all on mute. I'm half tempted to do it again (though I've checked Twitter nearly ten times while writing this post.)

Domestic Tuesday: Baby Sweater and a Yukon Beer

Remember that baby sweater I started a while ago? Well, I stalled out on the first sleeve, and I'm not really sure why. Baby sleeves are are barely the size of a washcloth if laid flat. It's like deciding that I don't have the energy to knit a gauge swatch. Oh well.

I finally picked it back up, and now I'm just hoping it will fit. It's not like babies grow quickly or anything, right? Eh. Love those buttons though.

Dulling the pain of knowing this sweater probably won't fit is Yukon Gold's English Pale Ale. I picked it up because I had never tried a beer from the Yukon before, much less seen one for sale at the LCBO. According to the shelf tag, this is the most popular draught beer in the Yukon, though I was a little concerned when the shelf tag then mentioned that the label art captures the spirit of the Yukon. It's definitely an attractive label, but I was worried this was the shelf's way of warning me, like saying "the movie sucks, but the poster sure looks amazing!" I shouldn't have been so worried. I was expecting something quite light, due to its popularity, but it was more robust than expected. Kind of sweet, with an emphasis on the malts, it reminded me of a digestive biscuit. I could drink a few of these in a night; not shocked it's so popular up North.

Domestic Wednesday: More Knitting, Some Hometown Brewing

With the baby blanket winging its way to Colorado, I decided to try some new baby knitting. I already had some yarn on hand, six balls of the now-discontinued Patons Baby Bamboo, so I just had to pick a pattern. Generally, I like to knit baby stuff in bright, gender-neutral colours. This is a matter of personal aesthetics and, to a lesser degree, personal politics. I'm ambivalent enough about the gender binary to find the choice between colour-blasting your baby pink or blue to be a little... stark.

BUT. I also didn't want my friend to have to field any sass from strangers who assumed her baby had to be a boy because of the colour of their wee cardigan. So I'm trying to find middle ground with the Baby Valentine sweater, though so far I've only managed to screw up the increase rounds. This makes me wary of the lace that's coming. We'll see.

I also went back to my hometown, Guelph, this past weekend. They have a new-ish craft brewery, Royal City Brewing, which warranted a field trip. I had tried some of their beers at previous Society of Beer Drinking Ladies events though, and had mixed results. But the brewery surprised me. I enjoyed everything they poured from the taps, even the one fermented with kombucha. Which, as an aside, I can't imagine a more Guelph-like beer than one with freaking kombucha in it, unless they also threw in some grass from Hillside and a loaf of With the Grain bread during the mash.

A particular standout was the Smoked Honey, which found the right balance between smokey and sweet, and was tasty both from the cask and from the keg. I bought a bottle of it, along with a bottle of the 100 Step Stout, which I poured for myself on St. Patrick's Day. I didn't like it as much as the honey beer--this one was a little too thin--but it was fine too. And now I have another reason to go back to Guelph, besides my dad's coffee and my mom's advice.

Domestic Monday: Big Bad Baby Blanket and Endless Cider

After endless rows of stockinette and seed stitch, the Big Bad Baby Blanket is done and ready for a trip to Colorado.

And the baby isn't even born yet! This almost never happens when I knit for a baby. Usually they're saying their first words just as I'm casting off.

In spite of the time crunch, I loved knitting this. I knew the Koigu would be soft and squishy knit with a single strand, but doubled? Its texture makes me want to knit an adult-sized version, then quit my job so I can spend all day rolling around on it. Fortunately, the cost of Koigu keeps that dream out of reach. My only frustration was realizing, after too many rows had gone by to easily fix it, that one strand of yarn had been dropped on at least two stitches. The mistakes are barely noticeable; they're tearing me up inside.

As for this week's local beverage selection, bottle after green plastic bottle of u-brew cider kept me hydrated while knitting. My Christmas gift to my brother was booking cider-making at Fermentations! (exclamation point theirs.) It was less hands-on than I expected, but I'm not going to complain when we were left with 44 half-litre bottles of the stuff, which we split equally. We chose a Normandy-style cider, and it is very dry and wine-like. It reminds me a bit of the Brickworks cider you can find around Toronto. Sadly, it looks like Dan and I have almost finished off our stash. We have one last bottle to drink. Then I should probably borrow that juicer, get my one gallon fermenter back, and try some experimental small batches of cider. If the experiments don't kill me, I'll report back to you.

Domestic Monday: Double Beers, One Blanket

Sorry for the delay. It's so cold I forgot how to type.

Though I didn't forget how to knit. I finished the socks and, as expected, they fit fine. No repeats of Clifford the Big Red Hat. Unfortunately, my Mom spirited away her new pair of socks before I could take a picture. So you can use your imagination and imagine a finished pair here (suggestion: add lots of stray cat hair):

The next project is a baby blanket for my best friend. She's also due in April, so I should probably speed this up a little. It's the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch 'n Bitch, knit in two strands of Koigu KPPM. This amuses me, because I spent a good half hour reviewing baby blanket patterns on Ravelry, searching for one that was NEW and DIFFERENT, yet SOPHISTICATED and PERFECT... and yet somehow I am knitting a pattern that's 12 years old, in yarn that looks like lovebirds in a blender. I hope you can believe me when I say that it somehow suits my best friend better than a delicate lacy blanket ever would, even one knit in a tasteful shade of jade or puce.

I've also been drinking some beer.

Febrewary continued at Victory Cafe with the Farm Table Mild Ale(L) and the Strong Patrick(R). The Mild was very mild. Beau's version wasn't as gentle as a mild from another brewery I just tried that tasted just like wort to me, but it was definitely a sudden shift from the Gruit. I preferred the Strong Patrick, which reminded me a bit of sweet oatcakes, a complexity probably owing to its barrel-aged background. Unfortunately, I struck out the third week with the Coeur Noir Black IPA. Victory had either sold out or hadn't yet tapped their delivery of Coeur Noir, and so I'll never know what it tasted like. Instead, I had to drown my sadness at missing out in four other beers. And a single victory at Star Trek Catan.

Domestic Monday: Comfort Socks and Gruited Beer

Let's burn a U-ie from my last post, and get back to lighter, happier topics. Like socks that will definitely fit. Or beer that's really quite good.

After Clifford the Big Red Hat, I needed something simple to get my knitting mojo back. Simple and quick--I have a pile of baby knitting to do, and those things (babies) come with a deadline. Socks were the obvious pick. I didn't start new ones though. There were so many lonely socks in my knitting basket, left single when I was too bored to knit them a mate, that I had to finish off at least one pair.

So here's Charade sock #2 for my mom. I've had the yarn for so long that I've forgotten the brand, much less the colourway. It knits up in a delightfully squishy way though, and that's all that matters.

I'm also feeling pretty positive about this week's beer. It's February, which means that Beau's has started to roll out their FeBREWary lineup. First up: the O.G. Original Gruit. As discussed last year, I love gruits, probably because I love herbal teas, Brio, and anything else that tastes like witch's brew. This one is particularly refreshing (so much carbonation!), with an aroma that reminded me of herbed grapefruit. I would definitely recommend getting a pint, particularly if it's going to be your first gruit. Just remember to do it before the next FeBREWary beer is tapped.

Domestic Tuesday: Bad Hat, Okay Beer

Remember the last time I checked in on my handiwork, and worried that my big red hat was turning into a big red bag? Well, I was right to worry:

This blurry photo is the only evidence I could bring myself to keep of Clifford the Big Red Hat. He's the perfect thing for those "Bad Face Days" we all have.

It doesn't matter how many times I knit a myself a muumuu instead of a pullover, or an oven mitt instead of a mitten. I'll never learn my lesson: KNIT A FRICKING GAUGE SWATCH!

Clifford-sized failures require high-ABV beers to forget, which is why I was probably doomed to be disappointed in this week's beer pick, Duggan's Sorachi Lager (no picture, unfortunately.) It's only 4%, and the package tells me it's a light beer, so I shouldn't shock anyone with the revelation that it's hardly a taste explosion. I had bought a six pack after going to Duggan's new brewpub with some friends. Both their Parkdale Bomber and Hefeweizen were quite good, but this one was just fine. Not bad, just alright, a light beer with a little bit of lemon thanks to the namesake hops. I think that I would enjoy it far more on a patio than in the depths of winter, and wearing a sundress instead of an alpaca face cozy.

Then again, almost everything would be better that way.

Domestic Tuesday: Bright Socks Meet Festive Lager

Greetings from 2015! I dusted off an abandoned knitting project in December, because you should greet the new year with bright socks and a full heart.

Or, in my case, bright socks and a surly disposition. Now I'm on to a hat, from the first St. Denis pamphlet. I bought the booklet back when the yarn was released, and forgot to knit anything from it until two years after that yarn was discontinued. Fortunately, a friend returned from Ecuador with some alpaca yarn during that time. Yarn crisis averted thanks to international trade. It will be a Snow Star Hat in red.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion it's tending towards goofiness, and I'll just wind up looking like Toad from Mario when it's finished though.

Will I be able to drown my sorrows in beer? My fridge has been a little bare when it comes to Ontario beer, but here's Railway City's Festive Cranberry Lager, unseasonably enjoyed after the holidays. I apologize for the fruity lager. Throw a whole kitchen's worth of spices, fruit and herbs into my ale; whatever, that seems reasonable. But I've always assumed that lagers would be pure and golden (in spite of historical and personal evidence to the contrary.)  So I was initially suspicious of this beer. I figured it would be like drinking cranberry juice that had started to ferment a little in the fridge. Not that I've ever experienced that directly, I swear. It wasn't that obnoxious, though--more like a shot of cranberry after a standard lager. Perhaps better suited to the summer than a more festive season though.

I will not, however, apologize for the glass. My grandmother was giving away my grandfather's barware collection. Since my Mom banned her 27-year-old daughter from taking home the "Bottom's Up" mug, complete with swinging ceramic butt ("That's gross!")m or the one with straight-up seventies peen on the side ("You're a LADY!") I settled for the Playboy goblets. And I'll always say a silent "bottoms up" to my grandpa when I use them. 

Domestic Thursday: A Baby Hat and Beer

Knitting for babies is great - small garments take less time to make. Knitting for babies is terrible - there's a non-negotiable deadline, since the babies insist on eventually being born. 

Here's my recent experience with the paradox. With two people pregnant at work, I had bought enough yarn to make two matching baby hats, and even cast on for one, before ignoring the whole enterprise to move. 

Then, suddenly, it was Friday, the last day of work for one co-worker. And I had maybe an inch of their future kid's hat finished. Well, that's no problem that a looooong working lunch can't solve, at least if I can fuel myself with a massive burger. Here's how the hat looked when my burger arrived:

And here's how it looked about an hour later. 

I handed it off just as my co-worker was heading out the door, and felt like Indiana Jones sliding out out of the temple just before the gate slams shut on the booby-trapped boulder. The pattern is the Golden Pear Hat by Melissa Thomson, in three shades of Cascade 220 Superwash. Here's hoping it still fits when winter rolls around. 

The liquid fuel? Left Field Brewery's Sunlight Park Saison. A great, tasty well-rounded beer. Drink it watching a baseball game, or while knitting a baby hat, though I think the second actually moves faster.

March Resolution, Week 1: Are we ready to be RESPONSIBLE?

First, let's check in on my February resolution reset. Was I able to knit a sweater in two weeks?

OH HELL NO.
But there's been progress. I've made it to the part where the sweater transforms from being a tube of enjoyable mindless knitting, suitable for subway or lunch hour distraction, into a collection of stitch holders that feels like wrestling a sea urchin.

I'm sure it will be finished by the end of the month, if I don't run out of the decades-old and impossible to trace yarn, at which point the sweater will become a vest. And I will cry.

So, onwards to March. I've successfully completed one (1) week of frugality. Lunch was brought from home four out of the five days of the week, carousing was kept to a minimum, I ignored the cute skirts and dresses in expensive boutiques, and bought two (2) pairs of pants from Old Navy. They were already on clearance, and a sale meant I received a further 50% off, so I spent a whopping $8.40 for two pairs of pants. I have spent more on one (1) cocktail at a bar.

Uncomfortable questions were raised by this purchase. I was proud of my frugality, but also ashamed. When pants cost $45, it's easy to ignore the chain of supply, demand, cheap labour and pesticide-grown cotton that brought them there - more difficult to do so when two pairs cost the same as a combo meal at McDonald's. I saved money by buying my pants this way, but I wondered if I was being cheap instead of wise.

Domestic Thursday: Plowman's Progress

My sweater knitting continues. I'm still behind, but catching up. As you can see, I have a few repeats of the body pattern finished already. I'm attempting Laura Chau's Thermal from Knitty Winter 2006, with a fuzzier yarn and looser gauge. We'll see how it goes.

I also have another slouchy beret ready to be mashed upon my head (and rained and snowed and slushed on.) The yarn was a gift - one skein of Manos del Uruguay, in a delicious blue-green shade. Only one skein though, so it had to become a hat. After poking around on Ravelry, I decided on the Star Crossed Beret, and it turned out just fine. It's a little poofier than I had hoped, but not too ridiculous.

And, as always, I've been drinking while knitting, because something has to dull the pain of this weather. (Update on my previous drinking story: the bill was no fake!) Here's the Plowman's Ale from Grand River. It's a good beer to drink in large quantities or with big meals. More malty than not, there's no real bitterness until the end, and then it's very manageable. It's just beer. Simple, delicious beer when the weather is awful, and you just want to sit and knit.

February Resolution, Week 1 Version 2.0

So, the frugality thing didn't exactly happen this week, nor will it happen this month.

This is my gentle way of saying that my attempts to save instead of spend experienced a hiccup on Monday, thanks to trivia night, with a bit of a stutter following on Tuesday, before the whole enterprise finally descended into a full-on Hindenberg fireball on Thursday, when I charged a ridiculous lingerie purchase and realized there was no salvaging the resolution for this month.

But, in a way, it was a wake-up call. I didn't spend a ridiculous amount on fancy bras because I wanted to. Instead, I fell in love with the 3 for 2 deal, didn't check the prices of the individual bras, and felt awkward about saying anything at the till. Oh well, I needed bras, and the stiff, backhanded reality check the whole experience provided.

I have learned that I need to become a smarter consumer, and I'm giving myself two weeks to practice before attempting the resolution again in March.

Instead, I'll be attempting to knit a whole sweater in the next two weeks. And since the great failure and shameful reorientation, I have... a bit of a hem:

Crap. February is a cruel month.

Cold Hands, Warm Wool

This year, summer didn't slowly fade to fall. Instead, one night somebody went in and switched the heat off. I went to bed wearing shorts, and woke up searching for my wool socks and flannel pyjamas. 

Productivity has plummeted. The only place I can stand to be in the house is in my bed, as the bean filling in a blanket burrito. I want to keep my hands under the covers at all times, so typing is hard. Saying I'm worried about frostbite is hyperbole, but Christ- you can tell it's cold when the cats huddle with me for warmth, instead of howling outside of my door like the fuzzy little monsters they are. 

And so there hasn't been that much writing happening at my house lately. However, I've finally picked up the knitting needles after a long, long hiatus. What made me put them down for months remains a mystery, but I know what's prompting me to pick them back up: my ice block feet.

Domestic Thursday: Future Past Edition

It's the 100% Instagram Edition, celebrating my glorious arrival into the present!

First, the beer:

Black Creek has a new beer available in liquor stores - Dray Horse Ale. It's supposed to represent the brewing traditions of Canada in the 1820's, and comes with a history lesson on the side of the bottle. The taste is very malty - with a chocolate flavour that might even be a little peaty. Like all of their beers, it's low on carbonation. 

Then, the knitting:

This orange blob has been keeping me company on all of my recent bus trips. It's Knitty's Que Sera pattern, worked in some vintage yarn I found at a liquidation centre years ago. It's nice, simple knitting now that I have the lace pattern memorized - except for the time I realized I put the button hole in the wrong place, and had to rip back two inches of lace worked in grabby mohair yarn. I survived though, and I am a stronger woman for it.

And here's my completed Summer Flies shawl. Finished just in time for... November. Oh well, there's always summer 2013!

Domestic Thursday Returns

The yarn for this scarf - Elsbeth Lavold's Hempathy - cycled through two failed tank tops, before I realized it was never meant to be a garment. Now I'm churning out a version of Summer Flies. The hemp yarn, combined with the open pattern, should make the scarf light enough to wear three seasons of this year. Sadly, the beer I'm drinking right now will last only one - it's Beau's seasonal "Festivale" beer, which I bought at the end of its summer run. The style is altbier, and it is delicious, or at least almost as delicious as beginning to knit again, after a long absence from the needles.

Domestic Thursday: Blind Owls

When it comes to knitting sweaters, I have a pattern. No matter how energetically I start, two years later I'll only have the back, front, and lonely sleeve of a painfully dated sweater. Kate Davies' Owls Sweater is the exception. The more I knit, the more I liked knitting it, until I gave myself a wrist injury cabling the owls on the yoke. But now I have to sew on 40+ wee button eyes to a stubbornly fluid piece of fabric, all so my decorative owls can see. This seems like the kind of tedious work in the service of twee that should be contracted. Who would be an appropriate party? The missing third Deschanel sister?

Domestic Monday: Striped Socks and a Spring Bock

Well, looks like you guys will get a two-fer (but not a two-four) of these domestic posts this week. The lateness of this one comes from the bad case of knitting blahs I've been battling for the past few weeks. I thought it was just post-holiday malaise, but I think I've discovered the true root: TOO MANY DAMN SOCKS.

I discovered my half-finished Broadripples after one completed sock and its matching ball of yarn spent no less than FIVE YEARS buried under my stash. I thought I would be able to finish these in days. They're knit at a relatively large gauge for socks, the pattern is more exciting than plain stockinette, and my shame would drive me forward. But not so much. Two weeks later, they're finally finished. I did start the second sock from the wrong end of the ball, so the colours don't match up. Oh well. After five years, asking for perfection would be asking for a little much. But finishing this long-abandoned pair has made me realize that I'm bored with socks. I've knit too many of them, and not enough sweaters. And that is why I came back from Guelph with a suitcase full of yarn.

I haven't had any trouble finding good beer though, and this week I'm here to tell you about Amsterdam's Spring Bock. Bocks are malty, lightly hopped lagers that are usually dark in colour and high in alcohol. Amsterdam releases this one every spring, and you can cellar your bottle for another year, or just drink it right now. It goes down smoothly and ends by tasting a little like burnt marshmallow, so watch out - or else that 7% ABV will get you.

Domestic Lateday: Mustard Hat, Rousse Beer

Yes, many days have passed since my last post, and it's only now that I've managed to get the crochet hook out and finish putting on my Thorpe's border. I have no excuse. Oh wait, I gave blood, which would only really explain about an hour and a half of yesterday's procrastination, but never mind. I'm going to ride that excuse for months. "Oh, you're mad that I'm late? Well, I was too busy saving people with the GIFT OF LIFE." And then that person will probably be a paramedic, and I will feel like an asshole. The hat keeps my head warm, but it also makes my face look particularly moony. As with my Habs toque, I have to make sure to have a curl of my hair out for show, so that everybody knows I'm a lady. It's the tonsorial equivalent of putting a bow on the head of a girl baby.

This week's beer came down from Baysville, ON - cottage country - to spend its last days in the far-less scenic Toronto country of my fridge. It's Lake of Bays Brewing's Rousse Red Ale. I had a vague recollection of drinking Boréale Rousse by the pitcher at McGill, but at those quantities, I could have been drinking Colt .45 and still only remembered that it tasted like drunk. So I'm not entirely sure how this compares to the so-called "Québec classic" rousse. As far as I can gather, anyway, that's a style based more or less on an Irish red ale, perhaps even popularized by that same Boréale which caused me so many regrets throughout my undergrad. This one is a fine outing in its class, I suppose, a good choice to buy for any friends you're trying to wean off their 50. Kind of malty, a little spicy, but less hoppy than the packaging had lead me to expect. I hate to sound so equivocal about this beer, but maybe I'm spoiled for subtler flavours. Or perhaps I'm just disappointed because I liked their Mocha Porter so very much.