Boxing Day Brew

Beer, ,

Today was seeming quiet enough, so decided to brew a batch of beer.  This time around I wanted to make my new favorite type: a Scotch ale (also called “Wee Heavy”, strong and malty).  We have a mini-mash recipe that’s supposed to be like Pike’s Kilt Lifter, though I’ve never had it, so I’ll have to take their word for it.

The mash went fine, but I was using dry extract which gunked up because I couldn’t open four bags and stir at the same time.  If only I had three hands…  By the time I had that mostly sorted out, it nearly boiled over.  After that was taken care of and the last chunks of malt goo broken up, it was clear sailing.  Well, filtering out the hops was a pain, but it’s always a pain and I’m going to do a secondary fermentation anyway so what’s a little extra muck in the primary?

My wort chiller (which is worth it’s weight in, well, copper) brought the wort temp down pretty quickly, but I misjudged and stopped at 80° instead of 70°.  Luckily, it’s unusually cold today, so our walk-out freezer (the garage) got it cool enough to pitch the yeast in about an hour.

So assuming everything goes according to plan, it’ll be ready to bottle by the end of January and I can bring a few bottles with me to a conference in February to share.

Epic Beer Tasting

Beer, ,

Epic Beer Tasting posterI’m not much help with the knitting, so I’ll have to help keep the beer quotient up around here.

Luckily my boss took me out to an epic beer tasting, appropriately titled “Epic Beer Tasting”, with 67 bottles to pick from.  The list was dominated by porters and stouts (which I have to be in the mood for), but I found a dozen or so that looked good.  They ranged from pretty good (like Cigar City‘s Sea Bass) to basically undrinkable (Drake‘s Jolly Rodger).

Most of them were more “interesting” than enjoyable, but at least they got me motivated to start another batch of homebrew.  We’re going to make a strong Scotch Ale this time around, and I just stopped by our local homebrew shop for supplies this afternoon.

The tale of two scarves

knitting,

I’ve been working on two scarves. One is a secret, which is why I haven’t posted anything about it. Well, it was secret until my youngest child told Redbeard yesterday “You’ve got a grey scarf, Daddy! But, it’s a secret.” So, no pictures of it yet, but I will now acknowledge its existence.

Anyway, I made that scarf with a heavier (yes, grey) yarn and it was so easy. All my stitches were just right – it looks great, if I say so myself. I used size 10 needles, for what that’s worth.

So, my youngest wants a red scarf and so I’ve started knitting one for him. It’s worsted-weight, on the same needles. I’m not finished yet, but let’s just say that I’m banking on the undiscriminating tastes of 3-year-olds when it comes to fine fashion. (So far so good, he ran up a little while ago while I was knitting and rubbed his cheek against it, happily exclaimed that it was soft and ran on).

I’m not sure what’s going on with this scarf, but everything that can go wrong has. I pulled out a couple rows, but what I redid was worse. So, now I’m just plowing ahead. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

It’s not totally clear from the picture, but it’s like my stitches reversed themselves briefly. And then left a big hole. I’m trying to decide if I can claim it is a button hole…

It’s a square!

knitting

I think I figured out how to turn the corner to the next row:

And I know what I did – at the end of the row (at least my rows) there is always a big loop that can’t be tightened. Unless, you loop the yarn over the needle. I just assumed that anything that made that big loop go away was the right thing to do!

First attempt

knitting

After watching some really helpful videos at Knittinghelp, I decided to give a few rows a try.

But first, what style of stitch, English or Continental? Knitting help says to pick whichever, but clearly seems to be pulling for Continental. I also think that’s what my Mom tried to teach me. So, I go with that. I cast on, which is surprisingly easy (and eerily familiar), then knit back and forth a few times. Whee! It feels a little magical to take yarn and turn it into something. Filled with confidence, I watch the video for purling. I watch it again. Then I continue knitting.

Because I’m not counting stitches, it takes me awhile to notice it is getting harder and harder to squeeze my little project onto the needles. But, even when I do notice (why won’t this stitch go on the needle?), I’m not sure what’s going wrong. But, I flail with the needles in a way that seems to stem the tide of extra stitches. I learn to cast off and survey the damage:

Hmmm… I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to have fewer corners.

And whatever I am doing at the ends is not pretty.

I’m going to try again with a narrower “scarf” and count the stitches this time.

Learning to knit, 25 years later

Beer, knitting

When I was a kid, my mom tried valiantly to teach me how to knit. Repeatedly. Then, when I was a college student we tried again. First grandchild? Again. Second grandchild? Once more into the breach.

Still nothing.

But, this time is going to be different.*

My friend and I are going to learn together… So here is the chronicle of our attempts and trying this one more time.

Oh, and my husband Redbeard and I brew beer. We certainly find it entertaining (especially when drinking beer is also involved) and so thought, what are two good things that go good together? Knitting. And beer. So, here we go.

*No, really.