The Easy Art of Knitting.

I hope that last week you had an excellent time full with many joyful hours of knitting. In my case my usual time dedicated to knitting had to be posponed a bit due to some unexpected things, some that made me reflect on the way we live our lives nowadays. I am positive and hope that some of you have reflected on the same thing I concluded after to many events happening one after the other: our lives have become way to complicated and there is no stopping.
What happened to me was the damage of yet another laptop due to a software problem and then my iPod lost all of its data and was unable to restore it. As you can imagine I was both stressed and very sad. After these events I just kept thinking, "do I need this? Not at all!"
To many nip codes, to many passwords, to many actions asked in order to perform many of our daily life activities. It is all so ridiculous! Perhaps this is the reason why I literally threw myself into knitting some years ago.

Knitting, such an amazing art. Could it get more simple than just a pair of needles and/ or hook and some yarn? It is a friendly and an easy-coming activity that surpasses any level of consideration as it can be a hobbie, a healing experience and a professional activity, individually or all at the same time. Ironically, if being compared with what I wrote above: instead of asking for complicated tasks in order to do simple things (I mean, technology is supposed to make our lives easier, right?), knitting comes the other way: in its basic form it is so simple and it only depends on you to take it into much more complex arenas, only if you want so. I love this, in my book this is called FREEDOM.

I am currently exercizing my freedom while still knitting my first Fair Isle (Jacquard) pullover. It can look complex but it won't delete or crash anything. If you make a mistake, you unravel and start over, in your time, whenever you are ready.

Still posting on knitting, while I went out to a market to forget about passwords and nip codes I was introduced to a technique that absolutely absorbed me: a knitting board. Has any of you tried it?
The owner of a little yarn store at the market taught me the basics of it while listening to the merchants sell their produce. Here in Mexico it is named "telar", in english "loom"; a mistake as looms are a completely different thing, but still this little knitting board and the simplicity of it healed me too from technology. Wow, I love it.
Check out what I knitted in just a day:

On other things I am currently trying to make a knitting diary by using my file at Ravelry. I have been taking pictures of everything that I have knitted and will soon add them up at "my notebook" at Ravelry.com. They are all a reflection of so many things lived through in my life. One of them is the following, and it represents a lesson I had to learn because unfortunately I will only be able to show you a picture of the project at the magazine:

The photo belongs to a sweater that I knitted for someone who was special back then. I was starting up in knitting and inspite of the many long evening hours spent, the results were very good. I gave it then as a gift and never thought I would lose track of it forever because eventhough I asked for a picture of it I never got it and so back then I learned to value my time and effort better and get wiser when it comes to giving away projects that have so much of me in them. If anyone asks me if I have suffered from the "curse of the boyfriend sweater" I have to answer yes, twice. Now I just knit scarfs :) :)

Thanks for reading, I am still recovering from last week.

Hasta Pronto!

A Surprise from Down Under.

It is starting to feel like Autumn here in Mexico City. The sun shines in the first part of the day but soon in the afternoon the shadows start to get longer and the rays of light begin to take a soft orange color. I simply love it. It is definately my favourite season of the year.

This time the first signals of autumn started with a a very special parcel from beautiful Australia. My dear friend Patrizia sent me a very special gift that has brightened the whole season.

Isn't this lovely?:

A beautiful wool and angora lace scarf, 4 delicious Twix bars and the cutest stuffed bear to accompany my knitting bear. They look good together, don't you think?

Thank you very much Patrizia, my very best to you all the way to Australia!

Also to celebrate the coming season I designed, cut and sew myself a blouse. This is the first time I am posting here a piece of clothing made by me. I love its color -again green, right Patrizia? ;)
Fashion Design is something that is part of my personal and professional life so I'll be glad to start also sharing this part with you here.

See you soon!

Second Half of the Year.

It's been a while since I last posted but I decided not to do it until I finished a particular knitting project that I wanted so much to conclude.

July is almost over but this month represents an important period of the year for me. It means that the first half is over and whatever you planned for the year, if you still have not accomplished it then you still have some more time. It also means making final decisions about those "New Year Projects" because six months is also not such a long time, so it basically prompts you into getting "realistic" about them.

I do not like to make "New Year Projects" but I do like organizing my time, as much as this is possible in this very hectic life. One of the things I do love making projects about is knitting and sewing. This year has been a little slow regarding sewing due to logistic reasons (my studio is under construction), but regarding knitting things come fairly easy, and I just love it. You just need a comfortable space, yarn, needles and good mood.

As June ended and having realized that I had to many "cast ons" and unfinished projects I firmly decided to put a final point with them.....and so far it has been working. This obviously meant not starting any new projects until I was done with these six......difficult but doable!

So now comes my first accomplishment, the "Jacaranda Sweater" has been completed after many months of working on and putting it away after feeling tired.

I started it last May, yes last May of 2007! Oh my! this made me think why it is that I took so long and it is basically because although it was an easy project still it was also demanding: just a little distraction was enough to lose the way and find yourself having to face unraveling some rows........this happened frequently, I am afraid. But well, now it is time to celebrate! On the bright side I must say this project has excellent fit, something difficult to achieve sometimes. Check it out......

Going back to demanding projects I started recalling other similar projects that I had knitted in the past. The funny thing is that eventhough the knitted chart looks quite demanding......

....I do not recall ending so tired from it. The following is a picture of the second knitting project I ever did. It took me three months to finish it back in 1997 -talk about being excited with knitting!- and I still love wearing it. I am sure I will keep it forever. The fit is also great.

So now it is three more knitting projects and two crochet ones to go, July is still not over and I trust I will be posting here about another finished project soon!

To end this post with my traditional recipe I thought of sharing and experience I long looked forward to doing. No, I will not post the recipe because this one is a complex mexican dish (and after the Jacaranda Sweater I need a break!), I am talking about "Tamales", the ones from the state of Oaxaca, in the Pacific Coast of my colorful country. My friend Blani from Oaxaca took the trouble of teaching me how to do these delicacies that consist of maze dough with green and red tomato hot sauce that are wrapped around banana tree leaves. Deliciosos!

Hasta Pronto!

From May to June.

It's been a while since I have posted in this site, although it seems like it was yesterday when I was writing here about having taken a break, etc. I am glad now that I did take a break then because the second half of May was quite a busy time for me. Which I am glad about, I do not like to complain.

The second half of May arrived with some unexpected surprises. First of all a very old and not to special cacti plant in the garden started to grow three flower buds. It was amazing to see how quickly and big they grew in just a week and a half and of course I was very curious to see the type of flowers that were going to open up. The first one did in a very chilly evening, it was beautiful and when the next morning I went out to the garden to see it close it was already dead, this was dissapointing. Then a few days later the same happened to bud number two. By the third one I realized that these little miracles had only a few hours of life during the night. So this time, when it started to open up in the evening I waited until really dark and went out with my camera (just in case I need to wait for 8 more years to see this cacti bloom again) and click! (picture above) I captured the third and last flower at full bloom. Isn't this amazing? It was so beautiful and yes, such beauty faded quickly at dusk. This reminded me that many beautiful things in life last for brief periods.......I have one question though, how come a mexican cacti that is under the sun 24/ 7 blooms when there is no light what so ever?

So then came the next surprise: the weather changed drastically. After enjoying (and not so much anymore) really hot days, Mexico City became a very gray city. It has not stopped raining for the past two weeks, from morning to evening and so I started getting cold. I thought I needed asap something to carry on in case of another change of weather. I found at a webpage what seemed to be a very easy and fast shawl project. Because it was my first shawl I thought of giving it a try.

I named it "Tiger's Eye Shawl" and here is a picture of it:

The next surprise is that whilst knitting it, it became huge. This does not bother me because it is quite snug and comfy, it can be used also like a blanket, but it is not anymore something you can put inside your bag. Ooops!
Check out it's size, I love the color too.............the grass is huge thanks to the rain!

And then the last unexpected surprise: My annual flu, and I call it "annual" because I never get sick but when I do it is a nightmare. I am almost out of it but what a pain. Of course this was bound to happen because some stores have yet not realized that there is pouring rain out on the streets instead of scorching sun so they have not changed the air conditioning inside.
The good part of it is that when you ask yourself "What to do when in bed with a flu?" the answer comes right away: KNIT! so yes, because I was cold I tossed away my summer knitting and decided to knit myself a cap. This one, by the way, will be a perfect thing to carry on in case I feel to cold in a store. By the way, have you noticed how ridiculously cold some stores, particularly grocery stores can get? I mean, is anybody here worried about global warming?
My "Wavy Cap", knitted in "spring":


And that one was my last surprise, what comes next is me posting another recipe for you guys. It is easy, fast, includes easy to find ingredients and if you like spinach then I hope you like it:

"Spinach and Cheese Puff" /Food Everyday Magazine

Serves 8 / Prep Time: 10 mins / Total time: 40 mins.

Ingredients:

-butter, for baking dish.

- 3 packages (10 ounces each) of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry or 6 1/2 cups of washed fresh chopped and squeezed dry spinach.

- 1 1/2 cups of half and half cream.

- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten.

- 1 1/2 cups coarsley Gruyere cheese (6 ounces) or your favorite melting cheese.

- coarse salt and ground pepper.

- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

1.- Preheat oven to 350 oF, Butter a shallow 1-quart baking dish.

2.- In a large bowl, combine spinach, cream, eggs, 1 cup Gruyere, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1/8 teaspoons of pepper, nutmeg; stir to combine. Spread evenly in prepared baking dish, and top with remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere. Bake until set and top is golden brown, 30 to 35 mins.

Enjoy and see you soon!

Taking a break.

Just like my little Dolce here I decided to take a little from knitting and crocheting. It was not because of boredoom with my current projects but actually it was because I felt that my hands needed a real break. Although I did not entirely quit I would only work for bits, and the sacrifice has paid off. My hands are healed and now I am retaking my favourite hobbies!

One of the first ones was one of the two crochet projects that I am working on. After feeling pain in my right hand whenever I would crochet for sometime (scary!) I did a little research and found out that there was another way I could hold the hook: like a knife. Eureka! my right hand does not hurt anymore and now I am enjoying crochet again! I am happy as I always liked it so much but would always hurt......not anymore now! :)
Here is a little update on the crochet skirt I am doing:

On other projects, because I am so excited about crochet I decided to fix an old knitting project that has been sitting in my closet for to long. It was the second knitting project I ever did and I always liked it. The reason I stopped wearing it is that when pants became low rise I was showing to much of my belly! Mmm, I don't mind showing but not that much so I decided to add a crochet rib to it, let's see how it goes!

During my break I had a special surprise. A plant that has travelled from far away lands to reach aztec territory decided to give me its best gift: a flower, but not just one but 4 this time! I have only seen it bloom three times in all its life: one in Switzerland and two in Mexico. First in Mexico it took 2 years to bloom; this time it took a year and a half to bloom again.......after seeing the following pictures can you believe that once, while travelling, it was just a sad potato packed in a ziplock?

2 flowers opened first.....

....two days ago the other two, to make 4 in total. They are so big you can see their size in the picture.

So after having such a surprise I had two not very pleasant ones in the kitchen department. One with a carrot cake that I did not like, the other one last night with a banana bread that kept on growing in the oven 'till it made a burning mess inside!....the good thing is that the flavor is quite good and being cake lovers at home it is almost finished by now :)

I decided this time to post a soup recipe for a change. It is one of my favourites and what I like is that it is both easy and inexpensive. It is from Martha Stewart.

Cream of Celery Soup.

Serves 6 to 8

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

10 pale-green inner ribs celery, coarsley chopped (about 3 1/2 cups)

1/3 cup coarsley chopped shallots (or simple onion if you wish)

1 small russet potato, peeled and cut into cubes

Coarse salt

6 cups homemade or low-sodium chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon plus a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

very thin slices of toasted baguette

pale-green celery leaves for garnish

1) Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, shallots, potato and a pinch of salt. Partially cover; cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft but not browned. About 15 minutes.

2) Add stock; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low; cover, and cook 30 minutes. Stir in nutmeg. Let cool.

3) Purée soup in a blender or food processor in batches until completely smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into a large bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Return soup to a pan; stir and season with salt. Just before serving, heat soup over medium heat (do not boil). Serve topped with baguette slices; garnish with celery leaves. Soup can be refrigerated, covered, up to 2 days.

Enjoy!

A presto!!

My Teachers.

This time I would like to honor the very special teachers I have had in my life. Since a tender age they helped me become the woman I am now and they also taught me the joy and appreciation of handmade objects like knitting and crochet. The above picture shows the very first crochet piece I did at age 7. It is a little tea carpet I crocheted under the patient and loving guidance of my maternal grandmother. It was such fun to see how magically my tiny hands were able to make something out of a hook and a thread! I believe that since that moment an important part of my life was decided: working with fibers.


The above and below pictures show a bit of my maternal grandmother's ability with crochet. She did this pair of gloves that have such a romantic flair and they fit my hands.


The following is another example of her crochet. I think she loved crochet more than knitting!


On the other hand my paternal grandmother was very good at knitting and eventhough she did not teach me how to knit she inherited me the first ever knitted baby sweater she did for my dear father when he was just born. Isn't it lovely?


Now comes my mother who happens to be an excellent crocheter, knitter and was amazing at needle point. I say was because now her eyesight prefers knitting. Here is a little example of what she used to do as a young girl. It is a crocheted carpet (1 of 4) with incredibly tiny cross-stitching.

I hope I will be able to carry on this tradition as sometimes unfortunately it seems to be escaping from the attention of the newer generations. Now it seems there is less time to dedicate oneself into working with a needle or a hook and a thread. This makes me feel even more compromised into making sure that what was inherited to me will pass on and will not stay as "things our grandmothers used to do".

Now to finish honoring the women in my family I baked a very easy and homely cake, one of my mom's favourite: Maple Cake.

Ingredients:

- 16 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature plus more for pan.
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for pan.
- 2 teaspoons baking powder.
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup.
- 1/2 cup sugar.

- 2 large eggs.

- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.

- 3/4 cup sour cream.

Preheat oven at 350oF. Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat butter, maple syrup, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; mix in vanilla.

With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture and sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean, 30 to 45 minutes. Cool ten minutes in pan. Turn out of pan, and cool completely on a rack, right side up.

From Food Everyday/ Holiday Baking 2007.

Enjoy!

Full Bloom!

Yes, it is oficially spring and it is wonderful to see everything in full bloom in Mexico City. Together with the warm weather and ocassional showers it is time to finally finish the winter projects and start the spring ones, especially since winter in my city is almost non-existant.

For this difficult task it is always good to have the help of dear friends like my little "Dolce" :)

He is a good sport and always likes to test proof yarns, finished knitted objects and everything with fiber......the fuzzier the better! We are now trying to decide which new crochet project to start since it has been a while since I have done any. I was thinking of perhaps an easy scarf or shawl.....any suggestions?

So here is a picture of my black foulard that I renamed "Blackwidow" :)........oh, it took ages to be finished and I have already worn it. Actually while ending the ribs of this project I remembered how enjoyable crochet can be, so now I am hooked again!

Also, I have finished the body of the "Jacaranda" sweater. Yes! I am glad and now I will start the sleeves. Did you know that the name "Jacaranda" comes from a tree native from Brasil? It was brought in the XIX century to Mexico by the Matsumoto family, the best florists in my country. The tree adapted perfectly to the weather in Mexico City and it only blooms once every year, in march, by replacing all of its green leaves with lavender color flowers. Many parts of Mexico City are at this moment colored by these "Jacaranda" trees just like the sweater below.

And now to the recipes part! No desserts or cakes this time, actually a favourite recipe of mine. The classic "Pomodori Ripieni". I know two recipes but have found that this one in particular is quite good and non complicated, just in case you do not want to spend hours in the kitchen because you prefer to knit more! :)

Note: For each tomato use two tablespoons of raw arborio rice. This way you will not end up with a ton of unused rice.

Ingredients:

8 large ripe but firm tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup minced parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup raw arborio rice
1 teaspoon saffron (optional)
2 cups hot chicken consomme
salt
pepper

Cut a slice from the top of each tomato, under the stem and scoop out the pulp carefully without breaking the shells. Reserve the tops. Strain the pulp through a sieve and reserve (you will use very little of this in the recipe). Place tomatoes side by side in a shallow baking dish with olive oil. Sprinkle each tomato with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper in the inside.
Heat the 1/2 cup of olive oil in a pan and cook parsley and garlic for a few minutes and add raw rice -without previously soaking it in water- and cook stirring constantly 3 to five minutes. The garlic should not burn. Stir saffron into the consomme that should be hot. Add hot consomme to the rice, and lower the heat. Cover and cook for ten minutes stirring frequently to avoid the rice to stick in the pan. When the rice is "al dente" remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
Fill 3/4 of the tomatoes with the rice and with a spoon pour just a bit of the strained pulp and cover with the cut slices. Sprinkle on top with a bit of olive oil and season with a bit more salt and pepper.
Bake in a preheated moderate oven (350oF) for no more than 30 minutes without covering. Check that the tomatoes do not break. If necessary cut down the time in the oven.
A plus: if possible use the "roast" in your oven to give the tomatoes a nice color on top. Allow them to cool down prior to serving.
Enjoy!

Hasta Pronto.