A Perfect Loaf

 

The last weekend of November my bread machine broke.  It was a Zojirushi, and was seventeen years old.   It was my second bread machine.  My first was also a Zojirushi.  That one was cool, it had a vertical pan, so it made a tall loaf, and it had a finish pan that I could swap out with the mixing pan so there would be no hole in the bottom of my loaf.  The top of the loaf was a wonderful pillow top that I would cut off while the loaf was still warm and spread with butter and eat.  I used that one regularly and it didn’t last too many years.  My second bread machine did not see such regular use, but lately I had been using it weekly, and it finally broke.  I had put my ingredients in as usual on the 29th of November, but when I went to check on my bread it hadn’t mixed.  I quickly scooped everything into my Kitchen Aide mixer and finished mixing, then put it into two loaf pans to rise and then baked it in the oven.  The bread came out great.

I immediately went online and started searching for a new bread machine.  Things have changed some since the last time I shopped for one.  I ended up with a Cuisinart CBK-200 Convection Bread Maker.  The picture above is the third loaf I made in it.  The pan is not as long as the one in my Zojirushi, so the bread comes out taller.  The first loaf I made was a 1.5 pound loaf and it was too tall.  The second loaf I made was a 1 pound loaf and it was too short, so I tweaked the recipe to make a 1.25 pound loaf and used the 1 pound cycle.  It came out just right.  I had seen some complaints about the Cuisinart browning the bread too much, and I agree that it does tend to brown a little more than I prefer, but this one came out perfectly. And the bread is the best bread I have ever eaten.  The texture is perfect, soft without being mushy, and it keeps well.  I cut the loaf in half right down the middle and store it in the fridge in plastic bags (it is too big to fit into a single bag).  Even after a week, the bread is not stale or dry.  I cannot say the same about the bread from my Zojirushi.

I think the secret is that this bread machine does a better job of mixing.  It only has a single paddle, but the paddle has a nice design and it beats with a solid mechanical sound and action.  I always supervise the initial mix to make sure that there is enough moisture in the dough and that everything is getting picked up.  Once it makes a nice ball I walk away until the machine beeps to let me know it is time to take out the paddle.  On my Zojirushi I had to listen for the second stir down and then go take out the paddles, then once the bread was finished baking I would let the whole pan sit on a cooling rack for twenty minutes before taking the bread out or else there would still be big holes where the bread stuck to the paddle posts.  With my new machine I can pop the loaf out right away and there is barely a hole where the post was.

I started making bread again when I noticed that store bought bread, even the high end stuff, was bothering my stomach and just making me feel off.  I got worried that maybe I was developing a gluten allergy.  So I decided to start making my own bread again, and the problems disappeared.  I figured it was probably the other stuff they add to the bread.  Now we rarely buy bread products.

Pardalote Shawl - Cast On

Once I had finished up my Kentia Wrap I cast on my Pardalote Shawl.  This shawl was just recently published by Ambah and I had already picked out my colors from some recent acquisitions from The Loopy Ewe.  The pattern is easy and repetitive (most of her patterns are), but they really showcase the yarn, and they let you play with color.

Both of these skeins are Loopy Ewe exclusive colors from Dream in Color.  I love their yarns and their colors.  The top one is Haunted, and came out last month.  The bottom one is Exploration Station and came out this past summer during Camp Loopy, which was science themed this year.  Both are Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere.  I keep an eye on that page and tend to buy at least one skein of the color on Smooshy because I know that I can use it in a shawl.  Sometimes I will buy a couple of skeins on City as well.

Pattern:  Pardalote Shawl by Ambah O’Brien

Yarn:  Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

 

Kentia Wrap - Finished!

 

I finished up my Kentia Wrap this past Friday evening and blocked it Saturday morning.  I used a Paintbox set, plus one skein from a Paintcan set so I begin and end on a Mosaic section.  I enjoyed knitting this.  The colors are fun and it makes a nice squishy fabric.

Pattern:  Kentia Wrap by Ambah O’Brien

Yarn:  Koigu KPM and KPPPM

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Kentia Wrap - Eight Contrast Colors Done (almost)

 

I have also been making progress on my Kentia Shawl in bursts.  I’m almost done with the eighth contrast color and I have the ninth caked up and ready to go.  I really like the texture and the color play.

Here is a close up of the top.

Pattern:  Kentia Wrap by Ambah O’Brien

Yarn:  Koigu KPM and KPPPM

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Woodsman Shawl II - Body Done!

 

I’ve been working on this one lately and managed to finish up the body last night while watching the latest season of The Last Kingdom.  I ordered a skein of basic black sock yarn for the border.  Now I need another mindless project.

Pattern:  Improvised (Boomerang shawl)

Yarn:  SpaceCadet Yarns Oriana in Woodsman

Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Crochet Basket

I’ve been trying to use up some of my deeper stash, especially the heavier weight yarns.  I tend to prefer knitting with lighter weight yarns.  These yarns are from clubs and they have been in my stash for a while.  I’ve been wanting to make a simple crochet basket for a while now, and I finally got started the last weekend in October.  I’ll keep working the increases in the bottom until it gets to a size I like and then I’ll work the sides until I run out of yarn.

Pattern:  based on Stash Basket by Emily Bolduan

Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Back to Basics

Hook:  4 mm (G)

Claude the Octopus

 

When I first started knitting, way back at the turn of this millennium I became obsessed with Adrienne Vittadini patterns.  I loved the sophistication of their style and I bought pattern books and yarn.  Back then I always bought yarn for patterns that I wanted to knit right away, on the theory that the yarn could be discontinued later when I finally got around to knitting the pattern.  It is a habit that has contributed to my rather large stash, but it has paid off.  One of the Adrienne Vittadini yarns that I have in my stash is Dianna.  This yarn is 51% cotton, 49% acrylic, and comes in 50 gram/87 yard balls, and I have 27 balls in my stash in 5 colors.  I did knit a top out of it, and didn’t really like how it knit up, so I left it in deep stash and moved on.

Lately I’ve been going through my deep stash and deciding what to do with it.  I’ve given some away to friends and I almost gave this away to a friend of mine that crochets and can’t work with wool, but then I saw Claude the Octopus on Ravelry and I fell in love.  I looked at the colors in my stash of Dianna and realized that I had colors that would work in the quantities that I need.  This baby is taking 13 skeins, almost half of what I have in my stash.  So last weekend I grabbed a hook and started crocheting, and I am loving it.  I’ve been eyeing Amigurumi for awhile now, but this is the first one I’ve attempted, and I am hooked - pun intended.  The picture above is the head/body (upside down).  I’ve almost finished the top side of the tentacles.

This is the very start.

And this is the head/body before I started really decreasing and had to start stuffing it.

And these are the colors I’m using.  The off white will be the underside, and the rose will be the suckers.  The dark blue is the edging color that you use to join the top and the bottom together.

Pattern:  Claude the Octopus by Kate E. Hancock

Yarn:  Adrienne Vittadini Dianna

Hook:  4 mm (G)