Year of the Dumpling

Happy 2019! Chinese New Years is this week, and it happens to fall in line with my newest obsession: dumplings and baos! When I was a kid, I helped fold endless wontons and potstickers, but we always used the prepackaged wrappers. I got it in my head late last year to start making dumpling wrappers and baos. And once I start something... Well, you know how that goes.

The boy made me some Asian-style rolling pins, because my tapered bread pin from India wasn't made for the task at hand. Dumpling rolling pins are straight, so conveniently, you can buy a dowel rod between 3/4"-1" in diameter and cut it into 12" chunks. I wanted a fancy walnut rolling pin, not quite traditional, but they're sooo pretty!

Rolling out dumplings reminds me of first learning how to knit. I was all thumbs when I started to learn, and my garter stitch scarves would mysteriously increase and decrease in width. My dumpling wrappers are doing the same thing! But, I'll get my 10,000 hours in and rock this with time. I just have to push through the apprentice stage and realize that even ugly dumplings are good to eat. Two particularly ugly batches of dumplings are pictured below.

Now that I have the hang of the dumpling dough, I've been experimenting by replacing some of the flour and water with sourdough starter discard. For any of you making sourdough breads, you know that the hungry little starters need to be periodically fed by dumping out half of the old starter, and refreshing with new flour and water. But what to do with that old starter? I was making pancakes with it, but I'm not really a pancake person. However, I can confidently call myself a dumpling person now, so into my dumpling mix it goes! I still don't have the perfect proportions yet, but I can share if I ever get there and if you're interested and make another post.

I've neglected this blog in favor of Instagram, but I find myself constantly coming back to this blog to look up recipes and methodologies because I have a hard time keeping track of what I do and when. It's handy! I need to remember to post more often.

And since this blog started off as a knitting blog, here are some of my favorite FOs for 2018.

Laurie

POP!

Faceted Yolk Pullover

I linked my project pages to the captions if you would like more deets. Until next time, have a happy 2019!

It Takes a Village to Knit a Blanket

Last year on September 11th, a good friend of mine suffered a stroke. She couldn't talk, she couldn't move half of her body, she couldn't eat without a feeding tube... But that was then, and now she is kicking some serious ass by working her ass off in therapy! A group of us wanted to knit her something to show that we are so proud of the progress she has made, and to keep up all the hard work.

We decided to knit blanket squares in blue. The only requirements were that the yarn be mercerized cotton (so it is easy to wash and dry), and the finished squares measure 8x8-inches. The squares were delivered to me, and the boy helped me come up with a suitable layout. I seamed the suckers together and knit an i-cord border on it.

Behold! The Kick More Ass blanket!





This blanket took up the majority of my knitting time for the past couple of months. It was worth every stitch!

Finito!

It measures a whopping 56" x 56", just a few inches shy of my height. I'm spending some quality time with the finished Curve of Pursuit blanket today, because tonight it is going to its new owner.

I decided to do an applied i-cord border for the blanket to prolong the torture. (Actually, I decided to do it because I like how finished, how polished, it looks.)

Woo hoo! I can finally cast on for a new project!