And the gooseberry saga continues...

From berries...

...to juice...

...to jelly!

And it tastes so good. Much better than the jelly you buy and there is nothing in there but berries, water and sugar. I'm already dreaming of all the hearty dishes I'll cook this winter to serve it with. The glasses are all different shapes and sizes as they are reused, they have held everything from mustard to fake caviar.

Jellicious!

Being home means that I get to spend time with friends and family and it gives me the opportunity to learn from my parents. You see, the jelly making season just started here and my parents have gooseberries in their garden. One has to get around to making the jelly before they ripen, because when they are ripe, they contain too little pectin and yes, I know you can add that, but why would you, when nature provides all you need? So I asked my mum if we could do it, while I'm home and her answer was: "Do it yourself!". So I am. With the comfort of having my mum around to guide me, I'm DIY'ing the jelly.
I got 1,3 kg fruit and added 8 dl water, it is now gently simmering away and I know that by the end of tomorrow (it needs to drip overnight) I will be confident in how to make jelly.

Rainy day knitting

It has been raining cats and dogs    all    day   long   here.  I had planned to go into the capital and then to another city, but not in this kind of weather I'm not.

I'm staying indoors and cooking whatever I can find for dinner, because there is no way I'm going out in this weather. I guess Mother Nature still hasn't got the memo, that it's supposed to be summer here, not cold, rugged autumn-esque.

But I'm not complaining too much, because this is the perfect weather to sit on the couch, with some nice tea and some knitting.

These are my man's Christmas socks. The first is somewhere on the foot. I ran out of yarn and decided to start the second sock with the new skein. That way I'll only have 2 ends to weave in on the second sock. It's also a great way to avoid second sock syndrome. So this second sock is on the heel flab.
This is happy knitting for me. First of all because I love the pattern, it's madder ribbed socks by Nancy Bush. Secondly, these are his christmas gift and my dad's christmas socks are already done and I'm working on my mum's. BUT then the yarn broke... buhh for yarn with knots. Yay for being well on the way with christmas knitting.


Are you planning on knitting for christmas and have you started yet?

Crocheting cotton pads

I usually stick to knitting, but that doesn't mean I can't crochet or don't appreciate it. It has its place and one of the things it's supposed to be good at is making cotton pads. 

I use 2 cotton pads every day. That turns out to be a lot of pads in a year and a lot of trash. They are not expensive to buy, but reusable pads would be way better both for the wallet and the environment. And let's face it, nice handmade cotton pads will look much better in the bathroom, than those store ones in plastic wrapping. 

Just because I'm nerdy

via

I stumbled upon Nerd Quirks on pinterest today and let me tell what amazing fun it is. I am such a nerd and so many of these are spot on. Like the one above. Clearly, Ross is the best 'friend' ever!

Are you a nerd?

Stash

Do you have a hobby that takes supplies? If so you'll know what I talk about in this post.

I knit a lot, which means I have a lot of supplies for that craft, yarn, needles, books... You name it. Then I took up spinning and with that came a stash of wool, a giant wheel and different tools. Then I got hooked on embroidery...

When I stopped working at a yarn store, I decided not to buy any more yarn before all my stash is gone. Likewise I won't get any more fibre, before I have spun up what I have and embroidery thread is a no go as well.

From Ravelry and my time in the yarn store, I have found that it is very normal to have a stash and that my giant stash would be considered minimal by most. But I have come to the realize that this stash of mine is hindering me. When I find a new pattern on Ravelry, that I really want to make, I can't. I can't justify buying new yarn, while having yarn in the basement. I feel guilty and your hobbies should make you feel all positive feelings or else you are doing something wrong in my opinion.

Every time I knit up some stash yarn, it feels like a burden off my shoulders. I have found a great support system in the Stash and Burn group, where a whole bunch of us are cold sheeping. Yes, that is a verb. Most want to shrink their stash a bit, only a few of us want to have no stash, but we have a common goal of not buying any yarn until we reach our individual goals.

Ravelry is a great tool and community, but it can suck you in and take away precious crafting time if you aren't carefull.


How do you feel about stashes?