This puts a damper on the startitis ...

I think I'm finally finished with my stash inventory.  I say I think because I found a bin that I didn't realize was there and more sock yarn than I remember buying so there might be more.  

Now, I know I don't have as much stash as some ... there is no yarn in the piano, for instance ... and I don't have stash that I hold on to because I can't bear to knit with it.  But I have realized that I have a good amount of stash.  And the inventory process has been getting my imagination going.  Until today when I decided to take stock of my projects in progress and realized that I'd better focus on the projects already in progress before I got too far ahead of myself.  

At the top, I have a market bag from Weekend Knits that I started using some of my Lopi collection on.  Up next, a cardigan I started making for my niece for last Christmas.  The selling feature of this cardi is the rather large collar that I had to frog after being mostly done because I had completely messed up when starting it, joining one side properly and the other side completely wrong.  Because I left starting it too late, I had no hope of getting it done for Christmas.  If not for stash inventory, I might not have had a hope of getting it done for this Christmas either.  I was very happy to discover that I had corrected the error and all I had to do was start knitting.  I'm about half way to finish.  Then the button band.

The third is a sweater that I started a while ago.  I actually don't mind the knit but find I'm currently more interested in accessory knits so have been slow to finish.  

The next item is a shawl made with left over sock yarn.  As I was sorting, I realized, despite having made two baby blankets and a scarf with the stuff, I have a great deal of leftover sock yarn.  So, I cast on to make this shawl.  

Then there is the pair of socks that I put the pedal down and finished this afternoon.  These are for my dad for Christmas.  Hey, I'm actually farther ahead for Christmas than I usually am.  One pair of socks and progress on my niece's sweater.  That's positive.

Onward ... next up, I started a pair of mittens from the Alana Dakos book, Botanical Knits, which I really like, especially the accessory patterns.  I'm not 100% certain about the sweaters but the accessories are very appealing to me and I'll likely knit most of them.

Then, there is the pair of mittens from the Debbie Bliss magazine that I started ages ago.  I really like the yarn but the pattern is taking me forever.  Mainly because I work on it in bursts and the bursts aren't all that regular.

 Finally, I cast on for a new sweater this week.  I bought this yarn a couple of weeks ago at Stix and Stones in North Bay and have switched projects about 10 times.  I was going to make a Norah Gaughan pattern but couldn't get 100% sure about it.  Then, when I went to Lettuce Knit last week, I saw this pattern and decided it was the right pattern for the yarn for me.

Phew.  I think that's it.  Bye bye startitis, at least for today!

I couldn't help myself

As mentioned, I'm working on an inventory of my stash, plotting things to make with said stash - which is bigger than I thought, mainly because I forgot about all of the Dream in Color Classy that I bought because I like it so much.  And I vowed that I did not need to buy anymore yarn (after I went to Stix and Stones in North Bay last weekend, that is.  I like to support my favourite businesses - I'm hoping that will sound good to my husband when he reads this post).  Of course, in going to get the link to the Stix and Stones website just now, I read Rae's post and she is going to be at Creativ this year which might push my "should I go, should I not go" debate in favour of "go" but we'll see.

Otherwise, I'm in a no-more-yarn-buying-make-things-with-what-I-have mood.  Really.  Honestly.

I think I've also mentioned before that on those rare occasions where I have time, I like to pop up from the office to Lettuce Knit to look around.  These trips don't always lead to purchases but are quite relaxing.  I bring a project, usually a sock, knit on the way there and the way back, get some fresh air and look at yarn.  The other day was one of those days.  A meeting cancelled and I decided to go.  That's where the yarn bundle in the picture comes in.  It was with a bunch of others labelled "Colour Affection bundles".  I thought, gee that's nice but I have already made a Colour Affection shawl and I really don't like making the same thing multiple times (other than the Noro Striped Scarf but that just has some sort of addictive properties that I just can't get away from) so I passed by.  Then on my return trip around the store (wouldn't want to miss anything), I picked this bundle up again.  And looked at the tags.  The yarns are Indigo Dragonfly (which I love) and the names are:

1.  If you really wanted to mess me up, you should have gotten to me sooner (High Fidelity)
2.  I've never been up with people before (Buffy)
3.  People are particularly stupid today.  I cannot speak to any more of them (Gilmore Girls)

Had to buy it.  As a child of the 80s, how could I not.  Now I just have to find another 3 colour scarf worthy of the yarn.

More Jars

Cleaning up the garden this morning, I noticed a bunch of tomatillos (which I was hoping would wait until next weekend) had fallen and several others had split their skins, a sure sign that they were ready to go.  So my best laid plans of continuing the yarn stash inventory were put aside to make tomatillo salsa.  I made this last year and thought I wouldn't be making it again this year because I didn't start any tomatillo seeds in the winter grow op.  Lucky for me, tomatillos seem to be quite happy self seeding and I had the 2 pounds needed for this yummy salsa.

And not to be outdone, the zucchini plants are still producing ... 2 more loaves of chocolate zucchini bread.  I'm sure glad it freezes!

Three More

I have been finishing projects lately.  Starting them too but I'll focus on finishing for the moment.  I have been trying to organize my yarn stash and using the Ravelry stash tracking function to get an inventory.  This has had a nice side effect - a lot of motivation to knit.

First up was the Poet Society tam which I bought yarn for at the now closed Stash in Campbellville.  I bought enough to make the Honey Cowl (which I made) and this hat.  Since I've been in a hat knitting mood lately and pretty much one of the first stash yarns I pulled out was the Madelinetosh Vintage that went with this pattern, I cast on.  I really love the finished project.  It is going to be a hat for me since tams aren't really my thing.  Some would say hats aren't my best look either but I live in Canada so don't have a heck of a lot of choice in the matter some mornings.

Then I found an almost finished pair of French Press slippers.  All of the knitting had been done.  All that was left was sewing up and felting.  I bought yarn for these intending to make four pairs for Christmas one year.  I realized pretty quickly that I find these an irritating little project.  I made one pair which I gave as a gift before I reminded myself that I don't like the seaming and I don't like felting so these languished in the cupboard for at least two years.  But now they are done.  I think they need one more trip through the washing machine - they are a very little bit too big.  So I'll do that this weekend and will hopefully be totally finished.  They are quite comfortable despite the fact that they weren't my favourite project.

My last project was a flannel quilt I made for my nephew for his high school graduation/going to college gift.  I've had the fabric forever and decided to make the quilt for my nephew in April or May but it took forever due to lack of excitement for the project.  Lucky for me, this one had a deadline.  I needed to get it done for his graduation party so made it work.  He is a blanket kid and seemed to really like it - as his mother said he would.

Now I'm going to go finish some fingerless mitts. I think I have enough of that Madelinetosh left to make them.  Fingers crossed.

We went on our seemingly semi-annual tour of the Beamsville Bench today.  The original plan was to go yesterday but the pouring rain made us re-think our plans.  And we're glad we did.  It was beautiful out there today.  Lots of clear skies with little to no smog.  The vines were full of grapes and the wine tasting was great.  This picture is from the patio outside the Flat Rock Cellars boutique.  I love how the straight lines lead all the way to the lake.  

We went for lunch at Vineland Estates.  I would have to say that I wouldn't rave about it but it was good.  I had a mixed green salad with peaches and other fruit to start with a lobster risotto as the main.  Again, good but I found both a bit on the acidic side.  The dressing in the salad could have been a little bit mellower to offset the fruit and I'm not sure what the acidic punch was in the risotto.  

During the drive I managed to finish another hat for the Warm Hands Network.  That makes five adult hats and one baby hat and a bit less stash.  I've spent some time this weekend organizing some of my stash and would have to say that the sense of accomplishment from using stash to make these hats is somewhat dampened by the fact that I've barely made a dent.  The good news is that I have tons of partial balls so will not run out of yarn to make more hats for the next shipment.

I'm also using Ravelry to try to inventory what I have.  Hopefully this will come in particularly handy for hat making (and other projects) to come.

More of the same

Just had to say that the zucchini tomato galette from Smitten Kitchen was awesome.  No more on zucchini for now.

And in summary

As I've blogged about again and again, I have been overwhelmed with zucchini.  So, for those in a similar situation and as a record for next year, the top 20 zucchini strategies in my kitchen this year.  Some I've blogged about already but wanted these all in one place.  I should also note when the recipe calls for grated zucchini, I use the grating attachment on my food processor.  In no universe am I hand grating the pounds and pounds of zucchini that I've processed in my kitchen this year.  So here goes ...

1.  Food 52 zucchini bread - a nice change from the traditional chocolate zucchini bread
2.  Lesley Stowe's chocolate zucchini bread - I think I've made about 10 loaves this summer.  I've taken some to the office and the rest has been sliced and tossed in the freezer - easy to pull out for lunch bags.
3.  Zucchini fritters - made up this recipe myself.  Into some grated zucchini, add one egg, a handful of breadcrumbs, some grated parmesan, thyme, pepper and salt.  Mix and add more breadcrumbs until the mix holds together.  Heat a pan with enough olive oil to cover the bottom and drop the zucchini cakes in the pan.  Cook for about 2 minutes a side (until nice and brown and heated through) and transfer to a plate.  Sprinkle with chopped tomatoes and serve.

From the book Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi - so far every recipe I've tried from this man's cookbooks has been delicious and these two recipes are no exception:
4.  Mixed Grill with Parsley Oil
5.  Zucchini and Hazelnut salad

From Bon Appetit magazine, who recently changed their webiste and it is horrible ... slow, my nicely organized recipe box is no longer organized, features don't work ... ugh:
6.  Curried Squash Soup
7.  Squash and Tomato Gratin

From Fine Cooking magazine:
8.  Roasted Ratatouille

From Canadian Living:
9.  Zucchini Pickles - these are really, really good
10.  Zucchini Relish

Quick uses:
11.  Give to friends
12.  Slice and toss in a salad
13.  Slice, brush with olive oil, salt and pepper and grill
14.  Saute with some herbs, maybe a few nuts
15.  Throw into a pasta sauce - ribbons of zucchini with olive oil or mix with tomatoes or other veggies
16.  Add to other veggies in a stir fry
17.  Add slices to a sandwich - really good on a grilled sandwich

Tried but didn't make myself:
18.  Chocolate zucchini cupcakes - pretty much #2, above, in a cupcake form with icing

Haven't tried this year but there's still time
19.  Stuffed zucchini - lots of recipes out there.  I think I like the idea of sausage meat although Ottolenghi has a recipe in Plenty that would likely be a good choice.
20.  Smitten Kitchen's burst tomato galette with corn and zucchini - I think I'm making this for dinner tonight.  Without the corn.  I bought some at the farmer's market on Saturday and we gobbled it down that day for lunch.  Oh well, I think without the corn it should still be tasty.

So there you have it.  My top 20.  Other than the parts of the year with no local produce unless it is from a greenhouse, I am pretty keen on eating food that is in season.  And in a way it is really easy ... I'm pretty sure after eating my body weight and more in zucchini this summer, I will have no interest in eating it out of season.  Although, I really should grate some and throw it in the freezer.  By February, I might be hungry for it again.