07 September 2007

Is Baking Crafting?

I'm frustrated with knitting. My hands are so clumsy. I keep dropping stitches and having to start over and making a purl instead of a knit. When I do either of those things I have a hard time figuring out how to fix my mistake. With crochet you just pull it out and start where ever you want to. It doesn't seem like you can do that with knitting. The stitch confuses me; I can't tell how it's made and where the yarn is going. That silly little scarf I was making for Ella's rabbit is taking forever. I'm about halfway through it or a little less. There is a mistake down toward the beginning but there is no way I'm going to frog all that and start over for some silly stuffed rabbit's clothing. My problem now is that I started to knit instead of purl and when I tried to go back I dropped the stitch and now I don't know how to put it back on the needle. If I can't figure out how to put it back on the needle then that means I'm going to have to frog the whole thing and start over AGAIN. I'm frustrated with knitting.

On a different note, I dig the kitchen again. Being pregnant is bad for my kitchen affection but now I'm there all the time. Tonight for dinner we were supposed to have leftovers but I gave them all to Del for his lunches so my menu was thrown off a bit. What did I do you ask? I made sausage and cheese frittatas. They were so yummy; just a bit crunchy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. I would like to have had better cheese but I guess white American will have to do. It was still quite delicious. Aren't they pretty? I also made another loaf of Challah. The neighbors kitty-corner to us are Jewish and eat kosher and they gave gifts to the girls so I need to give them a thank you note. I want to have a perfect loaf of challah to give them with the thank you note so I'm practicing. I like this loaf better than the first. It's a bit heavy but seems more like the challah we used to eat at Baruch ha Shem. I hope you're not annoyed by hearing about baking and cooking instead of crafting.

9 comments:

M said...

Ahh, but cooking is but a craft whose end product is edible. The most useful of crafts.

You made my mouth water just looking at it.

That is why I will not be a very good cook in this lifetime. I don't crave food till I see it or smell it. I just do the regulars cause I am not very creative. Hmm. I am very plain.

M said...

Oh yeah, and I tried knitting once too. My mom in law used to knit and crochet and I asked her once to teach them to me. All I ever made was like a two inch square while we were there and then I gave up.

Joanna said...

marie told me she likes to knit because it uses your brain and i agree with her. when i'm done knitting i feel just like i used to feel after i had taken a major test in school or something. i like to think, so you'd think i'd latch on to knitting pretty darn well, but it's just not coming to me. and i think it mainly has to do with how i hold the yarn. i can't get the tension correct unless i twist the yarn in weird ways all around my fingers and that makes me clumsy. i think maybe knitting is something that i need a person there encouraging me for because i'm just not getting by myself.

Anonymous said...

Yeah I can see that. The other issue that I had was that the space in which a knitter works is so small and tight that I would do the same thing you were talking about... I would drop a stitch and then couldn't get it back up cause the tension was so tight for lack of a better way to say it.

Johanna said...

Aahhh, the joys of knitting. This is why I still crochet most of the time. I am completely unable to pick up dropped stitches, and if I notice a mistake, I have to decide to live with it or completely start over. Crochet is so much nicer in that way. Marie, you have proven yourself more tallented than us all in this regard!

Your fritatas are beautiful. That is absolutely crafting. Meagan had it right, it is a craft whose end product is edible. Wish I could have tasted it!

Marie said...

i like seeing pictures of what you cook. it motivates me to branch out. i feel like i cook the same things over and over. i finally have a gas stove and the only thing i've done on it was warm up a can of green beans. you should mention where you got the recipes or if you made it up yourself.

as for the knitting, don't give up! my first project was a scarf, but it was normal sized. you are trying to knit something really tiny and that is always more difficult because it's hard to see what you are doing. but are you doing 1 x 1 rib or 2 x 2? since it does have to be so skinny, maybe you should just try stockinette (that's when it is all knit on the front side). you should also try holding the yarn in as many different ways as you can. it shouldn't feel uncomfortable, so i think you just haven't figured out which way is for you. that is a difficult thing with knitting in the beginning, that there are so many different ways to do the same thing. but just keep thinking about all the cool things you will be able to make if you stick with it. what you are going through is normal, so don't feel like it just isn't for you. and don't compare yourself with me because knitting is just my thing. not to be snobby, but you know, it's like raising kids is your thing, so i try not to compare myself with you in that regard:)

Anonymous said...

Love to hear about the cooking! That is the hobby that I absolutely LOVE and take great pleasure in. Great idea with the sausage and cheese things...where did you get your recipe?

Anonymous said...

Want a great website with pictures and reviews for normal people like you and I...check out recipezaar.com. It's the best I can spend hours getting lost.

Joanna said...

why didn't i think of that? i'll put the recipes up.