Intertwined Knits

Hello! We all have the cold at the moment, there seem to be a bug going around, although Jax is well enough to go to work. I just feel tired if I just move around the flat, so I'm lying on the sofa with my rascal watching Pingu. Hopefully, I'll be well enough to go to work tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

[I love the one with the knitting machine]

Over the last week, I've managed to upload some photos onto my Flickr account. I opened the account in 2008. I have to wait till next month to upload more photos, as my monthly limit has been exceeded. Hmmmm, I'm still working my way around Flickr. You can click on the link on this blog to have a browse if you have the time. :)

I've also taken the plunge and opened an Etsy shop, Intertwined Knits. It's taken me two years to decide to open the shop. Initially, I didn't know what to sell and finding the confidence and the time was another issue. I love knitting, so I've decided to sell small hand-knitted accessories. There is only one item at the moment, but I'll be adding more items over the next few days/weeks. I'm looking forward to my new hobby venture and I will be designing some new accessories over the next few weeks. :)

I'd better finish my Dad's fingerless mittens first:

Take care everyone, I'll go back to the sofa now. :)

Gifts from Japan - from Australia

I received a package from Australia last week and it was my giveaway prize from Lisa and Sarah (aka Spoon full of Sugar). I was so happy, look at all the goodies:

Cute paper bags, lovely origami paper, three fat quarters, two tapes, a plastic bubble to make a teddy bear head, tags, a note pad, a Japanese doll origami kit, fabric tape and a frame for purse making.

Thank you Lisa and Sarah for the lovely giveaway! They all look so pretty that I don't want to take them out of their packaging, but I've got some projects in mind which I will do with my daughter. I'll show you when they're done.

Mimi Update and Quick Udon Noodle Soup

I've been trying to get my act together and make some progress with Mimi (my cropped spring/summer jacket) which I started last September. I keep putting it down or procrastinate on the next knitting step. So far, I've knitting the two front sections and I'm currently knitting the back. It is knitted in one piece, so I'm knitting the sleeves as well as the back which is so time consuming (I'm a slow knitter), so I've set myself a target of knitting five rows of the back each evening, so by the end of this week I should have knitting the back sleeves and half the back. This will just leave me with the bottom section, pockets and collar. I'll hopefully have it ready by this spring or latest summer. :)

Front view
Back view

As it has been so cold lately, I've been eating a lot of hot soup noodles (inspired by Lisa's blog post). This is my favourite and it is really based on one of my Mum's recipe. I don't have a name for it, but I call it Quick Udon Noodle Soup . Here's the recipe:


Ingredients

• A pan of hot water for the stock (you can use the soup bowls to measure how many water you need depending on the number of bowls you need to make and an additional half a bow)
• Another pan of hot water to cook the udon noodles I have used diced pork but you could use chicken, ribs, beef, fish balls or mushrooms and carrots if you are vegetarian.
• Pak Choi
• Garlic
• A small amount of vegetable oil
• A pinch of soup
• Ready made Udon noodles (you can get packets of these in Chinese Super markets or you can use egg or rice noodles if you like)

Method

• Boil the pan of water for the stock and add the pork (chicken, beef, ribs, fish balls or mushrooms and carrots) and salt and leave to simmer.
  
• Mean while cook the udon in the other pan of hot water according to the packet, the one I buy says 3 minutes. Drain.
  
• Meanwhile heat the oil in a small frying pan or sauce pan and fry the garlic till it is golden brown. Then leave to cool.
  
• Add the pak choi to the stock and simmer for about 4-5 minutes, then add the udon noodles.
  
• Drain the garlic from the oil and add to the noodle soup.
  
• Serve

This noodle is not very salty, so you may want to add a bit of soy sauce/fish sauce, but I like it as it is, because if the meat is fresh, this should be enough for it to taste good. The vegetarian version will take about 5 minutes longer as we want to cook the carrot and mushrooms (you can use any mushrooms). I also like to add carrots to the non-vegetarian version, but from the photo, you can see that I didn't have any in the fridge.

Let me know if you have any questions, but happy cooking and knitting/Sewing. :)

A Happy end to January

Well, January is over now and we welcome February, the month of love and it is actually Chinese New Year's Day on the 14th too, so it will be a double celebration. I received some good news at the end of January. First of all I've won Lisa and Sarah's (A Spoon Full of Sugar) giveaway. Yay! I can't wait to see the lovely craft goodies, that they bought from Japan, with my Rascal. I'm so happy. They are such an inspirational mother and daughter team. I love all the crafts they make and the goodies that they bake. Check their blog here.

My thyroid condition is getting better too, the doctor has lower my medication (a little, but any progress is good).

I've also finished some small knitting projects.

A colourful pair of fingerless mitts. I bought the yarn from I-Knit, it is self patterning and I love the result. Cool huh. :)

I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino chunky to knit this slouchy cable hat. I'm not sure about the colour, I should really stop buying purple yarn. :) I'm so tempted to buy more yarn in cream, grey, pink or blue yarn this time. Hmmmm.......I can see a yarn shopping trip to the Stitch and Craft Show at London Olympia next month. :)