Participating in Ginny's Yarn Along.....
I promised this week there would be no more zombies, but I'm afraid to some that my current book might seem just as strange. My "Making Artisan Cheese" by Tim Smith took forever to arrive in the mail but it finally came after nearly ten days of me obsessively tracking the package's progress.
The descriptions and instructions for making all sorts of cheeses--from fresh cheese that takes one day to make to cheeses that need to be aged for at least one year--are clear and conscise and I'm excited to try a good many of the recipes once I gather a few supplies. The basic items needed like rennet, cheesecloth, thermometer, and cheese molds are easy to obtain. It's the convincing Rick that I need a cheese cave (second refrigerator!) to ripen cheeses in that's going to be more difficult. I think my best route will be starting with the fresh cheeses as I have a little bit of experience--emphasis on little bit!-- already with them and scouring the county for a clean, second hand refrigertor.
Last week's 'lacy' knitted socks turned out to be quite a success and I was inspired to try a bit more lacework this week. This pattern is called 'Branching Out' by Susan Lawrence and was recommended as a good beginner lace project which is exactly the type of lace projects I need. You can follow my progress here on Ravelry and hopefully in a few days you'll see the completed project.
The yarn is Australian Alpaca Centre 100% Baby Alpaca yarn brought to me direct from Australia from my friend Cathy. She spent a half of a year living in Australia not too long ago and brought me a couple of these deliciously smooshy soft skeins of yarn in the exact shade of blue that I love so dearly. Cathy is a jewelry artist and can appreciate one's dedication to a certain color or material.
It's difficult to see the pattern in the scarf before blocking but it is supposed to be a series of leaves 'branching out' which is a very apt name for a beginner at lace knitting even if it isn't exactly the right time of year for knitting scarves. I'm a little slow at knitting lace but I've done three pattern repeats already and I'm starting to get the rhythm behind it.
Tristyn wants me to make the cheddar right away but it's one of the cheeses that needs to be aged in a cheese cave. I want to make Romano.
And Parmesan. Guess we are both going to need a little patience.
