Category Archives: Learning

Knitting an Estonian Garden

This afternoon I am off to Kiwi Cove Lodge for Mad About Ewe’s Annual Retreat.  This is our 18th Retreat and I will be teaching Rooistud or Inlay, an embellishment technique common to Estonian Knitting.

Inlay is the dominant technique that I will be teaching, but there are other techniques as well, other small embellishments that compliment the project.  The other Estonian techniques that are included in the retreat handout come with names like peas, peppercorns, roses and most involve colour – lots of colour and lots of play!  My favourite types of knitting.

Click here for a downloadable photo tutorial on inlay.

Our projects are fingerless mittens.  From a simple ribbed cuff to wildly adorned options – the idea is to pick and choose – personalize and play!

I have been trying to improve my media skills – with varying success.  Check out my facebook page for a video of the Travelling or Horizontal braid that I use in one of the mittens.

I hope that you have a great weekend!

Happy Knitting

Lynette

 

Pretty

My new stove - stainless and black - classic pretty!
My new stove – stainless and black – classic pretty!

My new stove arrived yesterday – be still my pounding heart!  A new stove is not generally what makes my heart pound – but this is the second new stove I have ever purchases and that is pretty exciting!

About 3 weeks ago my oven died.  It had been acting up for a while and it owes me nothing.  I had replaced a burner or two over the years and the convection heating element as well.  That stove had seen a lot of cooking in its lifetime!  But it was time for a new stove.

I learned a lot of things about stoves when shopping for this one;

a) convection ovens – a must, not an option – no longer come with coil tops stoves – they only come with smooth tops or gas tops!  The oven had to be a “true” convection oven – heat + fan – nothing else would do!  Gas was not an option, smooth top it would be.  This could be a bit of a learning curve – the timing will be different!  Smooth tops are a little slower to heat (and cool) than coil elements.

b) decent stoves are not cheap – even if not looking at a really high-end brand.

More pies, cookies and tarts in the my future - Strawberry pie from last years stove!
More pies, cookies and tarts in the my future – Strawberry pie from last years stove!

We bought a Kenmore.  From Sears.  I feel like my mother!  It does what I want and has a few extras; self-cleaning cycles – including steam clean, porcelain racks, a warming oven, lots of settings and a griddle for the bridge elements!

What it does not have – and what stove doesn’t have these! – is a plug-in – I didn’t check for that option – I have never used, or owned a stove that didn’t come with a plug-in option!

I see lots of baking/roasting and all out cooking in my future!

Have a great day!

Lynette