Knit-Nerd-Rant

Hello all! I promise I haven't forgotten this blog, or making patterns for others to enjoy.  Part of the delay has been my being too busy, and part of it is that my now 7.5 year old laptop is really starting to show its age. So, the most recent one is designed because I needed to use this absolutely scrumptious yarn I found at Scrap DC's Labor Day weekend sale.  It's called Peru Chunky Luxury (out of production now). It's 70% Merino, 20% alpaca, and 10% silk, and entirely yummy.  The only problem is that all I had was a 73 yard (50 gram) skein, and this needed to be used for something worn near the face because of reasons. That or it would be kept as a pet. I also found at Scrap DC an unlabeled single twist wool yarn that is probably some sort of merino/lambswool and is lovely and soft as well, and a nice contrasting color.  All together, I knew it wasn't going to be able to create anything large. So, after finding some patterns online for similar short sc

So, with the process of learning to live with out gluten and dairy, I've also ruled out oats and soy. The fun of learning what an unpredictable body likes and doesn't like... So, one thing I found recently was a recipe for a pickled cabbage salad . Now, this gal loves cabbage, and especially pickled cabbage. I will eat it on so many things, and the idea of eating it as a salad by itself - I was drooling. When it came time to give it a try, I decided to make it a little differently.  I've been eating a lot of southeast Asian food lately (a new Laotian restaurant opened up and I am in love), so I felt like giving the salad a bit more of an Asian-style punch.  I didn't try a bite until it had at least a day to rest in the brine, and holy moly, it is one of the best things I've ever made.  It's spicy, sweet, savory, crunchy, and chilled.  No cooking, just a fair bit of chopping and peeling. Ingredients: Cabbage salad: 1 large head of cabbage chopped i