Not yet a jammy knitter

It is time to blog again. Although this is horribly late because this blog steadfastly refuses to become visible :(. Originally posted 21/7/9.

This past week I've been feeling vaguely grumpy and dissatisfied. I spent the long weekend knitting on the Scarf of Cool Temperatures and got it finished. Resulting in a sore back from sitting on that sofa. Meaning not only do I have a sore back but I am now missing a bus-time or whenever-I-feel-like-not-knitting-the-socks project. Hence the double satisfaction. Now I could have started another scarf the same. In the crushed berry pruple mixture for Linda but will I be bored and can I find the other ball of yarn? Both are uncertain because I've alreaded looked for the buggery thing and it is absent. Maybe the cat got it (psst we don't have a cat sadly ). Considered AWOL.

CGBF protests me knitting for someone else, I did buy yarn for a scarf for him (Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed, Aran weight in 22-Green. Behold a picture of it http://www.yarndex.com/yarn.cfm?yarn_id=3561 second from the bottom, right hand strip (my picture, their picture, all similar enough to merit me avoiding trying to get the bluetooth dongle working).

I've already picked out a cabled scarf for him form "Classic Knits for Men: 27 Plus Original Handknit Designs with Rowan Yarns" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Knits-Men-Original-Handknit/dp/1906007179/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248211561&sr=8-3(note there is no legal requirement to actually use Rowan yarns when knitting the patterns ). Word of warning about this book, its the same as Knitting for Him: 27 Classic Projects to Keep Him Warm. The buggers on Amazon just don't tell you this.
I am currently refuting his argument about how it'd be nice to make him a large project or finish a scarf for him, or even its time he had a large finished project. But I finished a sleeping mask for him 2 weekends ago, he should not neglect it or.....forget about it and its place in the turn system. He shall wait...

I did try and retrieve the ahem phallus to have another go of it but seems like the imaginary cat got in the basket and tied it to everything else. And its almost felted a wool hairball for itself with a wool fuzzy to another ball (maybe its trying to breed and that's the self generated wool cloud to hide what its up to?). How? How does it happen? You leave then nicely tied up and somehow, mysteriously they all unwind and jam themselves into a ball then mutually scramble themselves (I'm thinking eggs rather than anything else) into a ball of mad noodles and bondage fuzzies. Well what else can it be, my yarn loves each of the other balls of wool, otherwise they wouldn't tie themselves together as fast or with such all encompassing and all entangling enthusiasm. I am utterly positve that many of those balls of yarn were not used so how come they are so unravelled?? Some of them still have the ball bands on! Not the worst of offenders of tangles but they are still in there as if its an equal opportunity fest in there. Maybe these balls of yarn are into some strange bondage kinkiness that i would seriously not know about (or want to). In which case I can only conclude that the ball bands (hmmm, that sounds worse calling them that) aren't the ideal tying medium and its squid love. That makes the thought of my having reached in there err not so slightly towards the harrowing end of the memory scale. Silliness

Anyway, I, ahhh misread shall we say the wool within the fuzzy and inadvertently broke the yarn instead of the bondage fuzzy that I thought was pinning it in place. You can be reassured that the urge to shriek something 4 lettered beginning with Fe and potentially being substituted by the word arse before settling with crap. Which was hurled with a not insignificant degree of passion before the entire thing was flung back and I hared off in search of a bus. To just manage to get the second one after some unknown/unintentional/unwitting (which word sounds best?) assistance from an irritable person who was bugging the driver just long enough for me to make it. With much panting and slight hobbling.

Anyway I also have a scarf which as far as can be determined is over eight and a half feet tall. Or taller than me contemplating being on tippy toes with my arms stretched as far as possible upwards. Its quite impressive and as of Friday I have started a new one with pale purple, pink and peach colours so I now have something to work on.

Jam,
Did you know you can sing Jam to the theme tune of two and a half men and it'll work?
I did, try it and use Marmalade for the long Meeeennnn. Well now you do and I'm sure that your quality of life is much improved by it . You don't even have to do it in the shower like I did but it does affect the acoustics. And probably weird out the neighbours through the wall. But they've had to listen to worse. "i want to get clean" from "I want to be free" by Queen. Serenading (its almost always accidental unless I'm trying to cheer myself up) my version of Queen in the shower sounds alright to me, CGBF is definitely amused considering the number of times I've come out to an amused comment amidst laugher.
Here's my song (why am I sharing this?) Queen, I want to be free:-
'I want to get clean, I want to get clean in my shower oh yessss, I want to get clean, Hot water, soap oh I want to get clean. I want to get clean, I want to get clean, its so lovely and lemoneyyyyyy, I want to get clean' LLa la, la da da bla bla bla blaaaa, oh no, oh no don't skid on the soapppppp'

Anyway, Jam (the Prologue). I have inherited 3.5 pounds approx of strawberries in the freezer from CGBF's parents. They went to a pick your own place and I got some to make jam out of. Now my mum is fantastic at it, she's sold it in the past. But my experience is limited to wandering through the kitchen at the time and eating it when its finished.
So how did I get to being expected to make jam? Blueberries. I have a few plants and it looks like we will be able to get some (yay ). He wants jam and I want to preserve in it liqueur. I'm teetotal (what is the origins of that word? I really should google it) and always have been so preserving them in liqueur means I won't get any. Considering I am really partial to them as evidenced by the fact that I own 6 plants (I think hmmm, hang on, yep its 6, barely. Wretched slugs) this doesn't really makes sense til you consider I'm not sure if we'll get enough off them for jam . Anyway CGBF got told mum was really good at it (she used to sell it after she gave a friend of hers who owned the local butchers some and he asked could she make enough to sell. Then somehow it got round to me trying to make it. Ummm yea, great idea. So I have ordered some books the best of which has vanished somewhere . Arraggh

I got the jam making kit form these people http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/ . They are a rural store and they sell lots of garden stuff from high quality garden tools to seeds, plants including heritage species (potatoes mainly, including blue and burgundy ones, how cool is that?! How come we've manages to loose 98% of all the varieties of vegetables within the past few decades. Don't answer that I know the answer), ecological friendly things and pro wildlife stuff.

I'm currently typing this at work on my break between swiping the hair out of my eyes every few minutes as the fan rotates around to merrily fill my face with it. Anyway. They have lots of stuff, I've got from them before and I can definitely recommend them. I've got gifts for other people from them and the recipients have likewise been delighted (except my dad and it takes a lot to get him excited, sorry dad. He was impressed, thought they'd be useful but excited, no). Anyway, their customer services are good and their selection is fantastic. It hasn't arrived yet but when it does I'll post what I think of it. Usually they are really prompt for delivery but there is postal strikes down south in 2 places so thats held things up. I like the way the recommend books and items to go with it too.
I hope it arrives soon, I got a bit pre-emptive and got 2kg of plums with the thoughts of plum jam (I'm not a great lover of jam. Why am I so excited when I have no intentions of trying it myself- I have a test subject, its CGBF). I've managed to find the books and since we've got a few handfuls of ripe fruit I plan on preserving them in the little sealable swing top lids in either Convassier brandy or syrup and testing it on CGBF which tastes nice. We have a gooseberry (lone drinker as its going into the brandy), white currents, black currents and blueberries.

I've since typing this done something but I'll cover it (and the slightly frantic phone calls) in the next blog.

For those of you who are wondering how to tell how White currents are ripe there are two methods. Taste and colour/clarity. Taste is for the individual, try it and consider do you still have a smile? Can you manage one? Are your eyes squinting and glazed? Is so then the answer is no, its not ripe. I hope you remembered how it looked so you don't repeat it. Colour and clarity, here you look for a high clarity clear berry with a nice shine, much like red currents but a different colour. You can actually see . The fruit will be sweet and may have peck marks from birds. I actually told CGBF what to look for and he really gingerly tried it and looked rather pleased and surprised when it was nice. He remembers my face when I tried a cranberry. Their juice may be lovely (possibly, because they are loaded in sugar), but the fruit is horrible. Things must have been desperate when they were put on the edible list and wierd that they haven't been taken off of it. I pity the American sailors who had to eat them to ward off scurvy. another anecdote, British sailors ate limes which is why they were called limeys. Actually that's a point, he can check them too . Sugar and or brandy can only improve them. Can hardly harm.

So at the minute what I plan to do is make some up and use them as gifts for my family. The parents love the preserved fruit and since stashing it in brandy with some spices seems easy enough. So I think if I see some fruit reduced I'll try it out and see what works. The main conundrum seems to be buying the bottles. I got The River Cottage Handbook about preserves and it suggests some private companies that sell them. I love to support the smaller company, but when high street company is selling them for over a £5 less and I can get them in Aberdeen (instant satisfaction) then its hard to justify doing that. Arragggh, horrible horrible choice. I got the jam kit from a private company which makes me feel a bit better .

I wonder can you do a cranberry version of sloe gin? Both have the commonality of being really excruciatingly bitter and subsequently requiring a monsterous quantity of sugar to make them even remotely palatable. Why am I wondering about this? Its not as if I know anyone who drinks it. Almost as bad a quinces (judging from my youngest brother's face, took him oooh, about 3 days to be able to smile again). I plan on buying some of them soon, some red currants, crab apples and if I thought it'd survive, a Medlar. Which is a relativly unknown species from what I can tell with some rude connotations (the french call them dog-bottoms and the English called them "Open Arses"). My grandparents or someone known to them so I've seen them before, even if I've never tried them. Or maybe they were growing somewhere. Hmmm, anyway I digress. Medlars apparently taste really nice, but they need to used after the've been allowed to Blett (soften). Commonly by frost which causes the inside to become like apple sauce apparently (got to love Wikipedia ). They are eaten raw or used for jam and to make wine with! I'm more interested inthe jam. Did I mention I don't eat jam? I like making things tho. No wonder my uncle called me terribly domesticated to CGBF .

I do kind of need to get them soon so they have a chance to acclimatise to Aberdonia's temperatures. Which is a problem considering most places want to post in November. Hmmm, that maybe a problem.

Anyway I need to go get some spinning done, I have knitted too much and my elbow hurts . I also have 2 adults volume worth of wool decorating several spaces in the house and almost the entire spare room. Ahem .
I have decided to spin and sell some stuff to pay for my driving lessons. The busses are striking here and that compounded with the fact its time for me to have another go (de car, I got scareded me) with it is good motivation. I have already picked my car, a Volkswagon Golf. I have yet to decide how many doors to get or what colour. I'd like purple, but CGBF is refusing to get into it when I get it. i haven't seen any and since I'm buying a "pre-loved" (or loved in which is a really nasty thought)

Anyway I have some blissfully delightful Merino which I shall rave about when next I blog along with my bottled fruit fun (ah hahahahaha ).