The Cast On Itch

Yarn has arrived and, despite my best efforts to the contrary, I have cast on a new project. We also made dumplings and I discovered just how hard rust stains are to get out of concrete. It's been a very adult week.

Proud Chicken-Mum moment: they finally agreed to put themselves to bed on the roost at night. Finally.

When new yarn arrives it does something to all other yarn in the house. Something about the newness of the new stuff makes the old stuff seem bland and unappealing - and the projects you were making? I mean they're still good, but not as good as what you could now start making! And I did try to resist. I told myself I already had a lot of entirely reasonable projects on the needles, things that I really should work on (and finish) before I cast anything else on.

Let me introduce you to my new sweater project, Luggala.

"New" as in "past waist shaping and increasing for bust". Also pictured: fluff.

I first saw this pattern in a post from the Twist Collective blog, which showcases all sorts of neat patterns (including some old ones, which is kinda nice because I haven't been around long enough to already know those!). I looked at the pictures and thought hey, that's kinda cool. I closed the tab... and then reopened it, because actually it was really kinda cool. The lace cowl neck was cool. The lace pocket on the front was really cool. The fact that it would clearly look best in a bright colour and not my usual darker clothing tones was cool (but scary). The fact that it was mostly stockinette was especially cool. I queued it up in Ravelry and when my tax return came in I knew that it was time to treat myself to some yarn. Like maybe sweater-quantities of yarn. Three days later I'd placed an order and was eagerly awaiting a shipment from Knit Picks of twenty skeins of Wool of the Andes worsted in the 'Columbine' colourway (and, okay, also a dozen skeins of Dishie and six of Capretta an Alpaca Cloud because I'm only human).

So far I'm really enjoying working on my Luggala - stockinette is perfect for multitasking - I've been working on it while I watch tv and while I play Tropico 5 (a city-builder where I spend a lot of time waiting for changes to take effect). The twisted rib is so crisp and beautiful and the yarn is a real pleasure to use. It isn't the softest thing in the world (I mean, come on, Capretta) but it isn't scratchy either and I'm looking forward to blocking and wearing it. The colour does seem to change a little depending on the light - in the picture you can see a lighter spot in the middle (thanks, camera?) and between that and the "darker" edges you can see how it seems to shift between natural and indoor lighting.

The Dishie will be a cardigan - Que Sera - but I should be able to resist casting on another lace project for now!

I wasn't totally bad, though. I did finish off my Siren Song before I cast on the Luggala. It was a great pattern and I really enjoyed it, though it was quite stressful towards the end. I totally overestimated how much yarn I had left and had to cut the edging short. I finished the bind off with literally a few inches to spare - I really thought for a minute there that I wasn't going to make it! I have come up with a final hurdle though: my sister loves it. Or, at least, she loves it if it was exactly the same but also a cowl.

You may not know it, but the pattern I just finished it the shawl/scarf version of the original cowl pattern.

Normally this would just be grounds for me to make a cowl next time, but she loves the colour (which is currently not in stock in any stores I know of that ship to Australia) and in just a few weeks she is moving interstate. If I join up the scarf's edges it will be the perfect length for her to wear as a cowl and it would be a lovely going away gift to send with her, wouldn't it?

It will be even prettier once it's blocked.

Have you ever noticed how the best plans - such as, hypothetically, let's make our own dumplings! - never go that smoothly? After watching the Kung Fu Panda dumpling episode of Nerdy Nummies (a youtube cooking channel where the treats are themed for various games, shows and movies) and mentioning it to my sister we knew that we had to give it a go for ourselves. She had been looking for an excuse to buy a bamboo steamer and I've been looking for excuses to hang out with her before she moves, so we decided to give it a go. The recipe was fairly straightforward and not an especially high difficulty level, either, though the steamer is a little specialised if it isn't something you already own.

The biggest problem we faced was the quantities in the recipe: specifically, of the flour. The recipe calls for a cup of water to two cups of flour but we found that this ratio made a ridiculously sticky mixture, closer to paste than anything we could have called dough. I would guess we added possibly as much as another cup of flour before we ended up with a workable dough that didn't immediately stick to anything it touched, and its elasticity made it difficult to roll it out thin enough (the dough just kept bouncing back in). However, after allowing for a longer cooking time, this really wasn't a problem. They were delicious!

Nerdy Nummies Dumplings: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Up the flour and these are an easy, fun and delicious treat - oh and they're even better the next day. You'll wish you made double! 

If you've ever considered making dumplings I say give it a go. Once we got the dough sorted out it was really simple, there's only half a dozen ingredients, and the results were great.

If you get someone to help you out, it's even more fun - and then you get to eat dumplings. Win/win!