In the Vortex: yes we can!



















It's almost a month since I wrote here last, that long dark month between November and December. I've been humming and hah-ing, writing and re-writing and finally conclude that if knitters near the Arctic Circle Lene and Harpa can present a good face during the short days, then so can I.

Love is an old pair of black gloves; at least it has been for me this past week. I knit them a year or 2 ago for my husband and he only recently complained in his mild way that the fit on the baby finger wasn't right. Don't worry, I won't torture you with photos except for this one which shows the fingers after I cut them off.
















There's an article about gloves in the most recent issue of Cast On. It has now finally sunk into my brain that after you have knit the cuff and thumb and built up the hand, it's best to knit the baby finger first before building up the hand with a few more rounds and completing the other fingers. I don't like the way they tell you to close the finger tips like sacks of flour though. I prefer to kitchener them shut. Pigs will fly before I knit anyone else a pair of custom gloves.

Otherwise, all my knitting is plain socks and pleated tea cosies that I can't even show you because they're presents for familial lurkers on this blog, however I promised a link to the pattern to Debby and a few others at the LYS so here it is. And here's a photo of an old one. That's Aniko's sister making an appropriate face in the background.


















A few weeks ago, when I was coming back from a cold or something, I blurted out that I had made soup with chicken's feet in it. A few of those present recoiled in horror. Well, I'm not alone in adding the feet to chicken broth and here's the proof. It's a long established ingredient according to Simply Recipes. And there's a kosher recipe too, over here.

And that's all I'm saying.

Comments

Mary Lou said…
Where the heck does one purchase chicken feet? Perhaps they have them in the local grocery store, I have never looked. Were you inundated by the storm that hit upstate? We are just shoveling out from 23 inches here, and more predicted tomorrow. At least it was over the weekend, and I could knit and look out the window. It's only 6 below, this morning.
Barb said…
Good to read your post. I was getting worried about you! Lovely tea cozy, and thanks for the tip on gloves!
Happy Holidays!

bmac
Helen said…
We can buy chicken feet in the Chinese supermarket. I think all that cartilage would be very good for you, although I don't remember my mother using them and she was a butcher's daughter so she used pretty well everything.
Marjorie said…
Good to know about the pinky. I am working on my first pairs of tipless gloves, using the article in IK Winter 2003 as a guide for the gussets, and it implies that you should do the index finger first. I'll have to see if I can locate that Cast On issue.

My grandmother always put chicken feet in her soup, but she got chickens at a live market. I was also able to find them in NYC butcher shops, but in the 'burbs around here, you don't see them. I buy fish in a specialty market that has a butcher counter too--I think it is worth asking about them. I'd think they would make the soup thicker.
I have never seen chicken feet for sale - but here in Iceland we eat sheep's heads - and balls - so I'm not one to judge ;-)

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