today i picked a perfect little bunch of our first green beans. these would be fantastic in a salade niçoise, mmm.
or maybe just cooked lightly and served alone on a plate with a glass of crisp chardonnay . . . it’s WAY too hot today for anything more complex.
BTW, there is TONS of great information on the internet, at the library, or through the cooperative extension service about preserving vegetables from the garden. while i may talk about my cooking, freezing, and drying activities from time to time, i’m no expert and i don’t feel qualified to hand out advice or recipes. food preservation is a science, after all and many practitioners have made it their life’s work. when i get curious about keeping something by, i want to hear information from an expert (and you should too!).
researching how to preserve what you have is a good practice because A) you will find a variety of solutions that may work better for your needs and B) you may find information not included in advice from friends, such as which foods needs which processing to avoid bacterial growth that leads to food poisoning.
anyway, to get back to the main topic of this blog—knitting is happening and new knitting at that. yesterday i pulled together all the charts for the new firefly shawlette and when i went over to susie’s to knit last night, i got it started.
the penelope yarn is an absolute delight to work with; i’m already sad that it has to end (eventually) and i’ve just gotten started.
i LOVE how the falcon’s eye colorway is playing out across the triangle—the gold makes streaks of moonlight across the fabric and the shades of steel gray play along to make it all the more real. with a scattering of tiny eyelet stars as a field pattern, the effect is complete. the fireflies will eventually form the border around the hem. i’m excited.
i can see already that i’m going to have to discipline myself to make sure my other projects get some airtime while this is on the needles.
i find that if i give each project a certain time of day and work on it then, that allows each thing at least a minimum of knit time. i may work on one thing or another a little more some days, when i have unexpected knitting time, but if each one gets some attention every day or two, i can keep them all on the road to completion.
for instance, early evening is a good time for me to focus on developing pieces that i have to think about more intensely and for which i may have to run back and forth to the computer to rechart.
so my pink swatches are growing during that time.
late-night knitting in front of the TV is a good time to work on pieces that are almost complete, or are easy to knit without looking, like the rosebud baby blanket or a sock.
speaking of which, i’ve started the final section of the blanket and am heading into the home stretch. that said, it’ll be a long home stretch, since the rows are now very lengthy (but easy; they go pretty fast). and after that, there will be edging to do along all four sides.
i pick up the scarf to knit whenever i am heading out the door or having company or in a class—i’ve had the pattern memorized for some time and i can practically knit it in my sleep. i’m about two-thirds of the way done with it; i may even get it to the blocking stage over the weekend. yay.
i haven’t started the boy socks yet—what am i waiting for??
to pick out stitch patterns, i think. lucky for me, a new stitch dictionary arrived in the mail yesterday, so i may find something in there to inspire me.
this is a new release from lark books, a set of five little dictionaries by debbie o’neill (you can also find her on ravelry).
the handy format allows the knitter to use whichever of the five booklets is needed at the moment AND keep them safely together while not in use (great for traveling knitters).
each motif has its own page with photo, written instructions (some of us will love that) and a short descriptive introduction. unfortunately, no charts are included (some of us will not love this). debbie also includes a difficulty rating for each pattern as well and a rating for how the fabric drapes, which is an interesting and useful feature i haven’t seen before.
the photography varies a bit throughout the books—some photos show nice crisp stitch definition and some do not, but with hundreds of photos and several yarn colors to work with, i think this is unavoidable. and certainly, no pattern is indecipherable; they are all at least of medium quality.
many thanks to lark books for sending this sample volume to me; i’ll be sure to make good use of it during future trips when i can pack one or two along without adding much weight to my suitcase.
now it’s mid-afternoon and the worst heat of the day is setting in; i think it’s a good idea to take advantage of an unexpected block of knitting time to get ahead on those swatches and dream of dinner . . .
23 thoughts on “mr. green beans”
I picked up that new set from Lark too. I love the format.
I’m looking forward to seeing that pink blanket when it’s done~
green beans are lovely tossed in melting goats cheese!
Anne, my favorite reference for food preservation is the Rodale guide “Stocking Up.” If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth checking out—it covers everything! Be sure to get the latest edition, as they’re always updating it to reflect current food science wisdom.
Hi Anne–which stitch guides (particularly for lace) would you recommend to start out with? Green beans with toasted almonds…mmm.
Oh Anne, the firefly shawlette sounds, and looks thus far, truly wonder-full! I can hardly wait to see it finished. Maybe it will be ready for release when les abeilles comes off my needles? This equally wonderful shawlette is well underway….and I have become one expert bracket-reader in the process!
Hi! I have such garden envy of you you would not believe it- but not only do I love live in a big city I am very pale and hope to be the first in my father’s family to avoid even mild skin cancer. But I love those pictures, keep ’em coming. Green beans are very photogenic. Good point about the dangers of improperly preserved put-up vegetables.
Do you ever have joint pain from knitting? I am working on two gift projects with deadlines and couldn’t stop now if I wanted to. I find that push ups help but there must be something easier
Hi! I have such garden envy of you you would not believe it- but not only do I love living in a big city I am very pale and hope to be the first in my father’s family to avoid even mild skin cancer. But I love those pictures, keep ’em coming. Green beans are very photogenic. Good point about the dangers of improperly preserved put-up vegetables.
Do you ever have joint pain from knitting? I am working on two gift projects with deadlines and couldn’t stop now if I wanted to. I find that push ups help but there must be something easier
Debbie did a great job with that collection, didn’t she? What a handy reference tool!!
OH ho hoho! You should see my tomatoes. If I had only known about pruning before. Sniffle. It’s like The Little Shop of Horrors out there. I’m grabbing my pruners and heading out the door. At this late stage, I may have to make some cruel sacrifices. (My tomats look like yours from last year!!)
Thanks for the link. Yummy lookin’ beans. We had a bunny family take over the peas and beans this year. Cute little #@%$ing bunnies.
I absolutely love looking at all of your knits. so inspiring!
Mmmm.. I picked my first green beans recently as well!
Oh, I love green beans! And salad nicoise. My favorite way to eat them is steamed with a tiny bit of butter and some nutmeg….. yum!
Your beans look delicious! We’d planned on planting green beans again this year, but the “GB” area of the garden was where we found the bunny nest. So…no beans.
I like designating specific times of day for my knitting projects, too. Makes everything to faster – as long as I don’t have too many things going at once (like right now…).
We’re disappointed with the late start we got in the garden this year, but you’ve got me excited about planting green leafies in the fall. I’m on my third repeat on the Cradle Me blanket and am loving the elegant simplicity in the pattern. Thank you!
Looking forward to seeing the firefly design! When you’re excited about something, it’s usually a good sign 🙂
Oh my, those beans are perfect (and perfectly gorgeous)! I love them simply blanched, maybe with a shallot vinaigrette or a gloss of roasted sesame oil…
Can’t wait for the firefly shawlette.
man, i don’t know if i can come back to this site anymore…with you flaunting your beans like that. lol 😉 our plants are just barely making it up to the twine. stupid winter like spring…
I am eager to see the firefly shawl finished. You are inspiring me to design more complex lace motifs!
No charts in the stitch guide? That just seems odd.
And I probably shouldn’t mention this, but I don’t like green beans (I know! Crazy!) but they just taste too…. green…. or something.
Those are the best-looking green beans I have ever seen! And your knitting is just gorgeous 🙂 Happy to have stumbled across your blog. Thanks Google.
So looking forward to the firefly shawlette. I got my skein of Penelope today in colour ‘Forest Pools’ and it is beautiful. It is a softer lighter and shinier version of my Briar Rose yarn used for a terrific zip up jacket last fall. The shawl will be a wonderful addition.
My favorite green bean recipe comes from the Moosewood cookbook – roasting them with garlic and balsamic vinegar. Though, my boyfriend’s father sautees them briefly in peanut oil, which is also delicious.
Et la salade Liegoise , tu connais?
Du lard grilliez a la poile
Faire cuire les haricots dans de l’eau salée
Faire cuire des pommme de terre dans de l’eau salée
Puis, dans le jus de cuissons du lard salée, faire revenir des oignons dans un peu de beurre, puis déglacer avec du vinaigre d’alcool. Verser le jus dans un saladier sur les pommes de terre et haricots et mélanger. Miamm…. Tu m’en dira des nouvelles.
A plus bise ( le jardin du tricot) Esther
You’re a fan, you’re not famous. Get over yourself. Kthanks.
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