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Resting and Reading with a Little Knitting


I have been resting and reading about what I want to do when I'm back in shape. It is easier laying here seeing how it's winding and in the 40's today. So with a fire in the stove, something to drink and a comfy sofa I'm reading about vegetable gardening and apple trees. There is no better reading than seed catalogs. You can learn so much about what to plant, when to plant and tips of the trade. There are beautiful photos and very informative charts.
If you are looking for some good catalogs yourself I have a list that I received from Allan Storjohan. It is a lengthily list and has quite a few wonderful seed companies.
Besides the veggie I'm looking for a couple of new apple trees. Come to find out my apple tree is a Lady Apple which is mainly a decorate small apple, very small used in table decoration and floral arrangements. Not what I what to have, so I'm thinking the Liberty apple. It is resistant to scabs, fire blight and cedar apple rust. Seeing how this part of the country has been invaded by Eastern Red Cedar and measures are being used to help in the removal of these tree. But because of them cedar apple rust is common on the apple trees. I have been affected by this and fire blight on my pear tree and I plan on taking all precautions not to have this problem in the future, mainly because I do not want to have to use chemicals on my fruit if possible.
The Apple Lover's Cookbook is a beautiful, informative book which has wonderful apple recipes. I'm very pleased with my copy.
Here is Amazon's 

Book Description

September 26, 2011
The most complete cookbook for enjoying and cooking with apples. Winner of an IACP "Best Cookbook" award in 2012!

The Apple Lover's Cookbook celebrates the beauty of apples in all their delicious variety, taking you from the orchard to the kitchen with recipes both sweet (like Apple-Stuffed Biscuit Buns and Blue Ribbon Deep-Dish Apple Pie) and savory (like Cider-Brined Turkey and Apple Squash Gratin). It offers a full-color guide to fifty-nine apple varieties, with descriptions of their flavor, history, and, most important, how to use them in the kitchen. Amy Traverso also takes you around the country to meet farmers, cider makers, and apple enthusiasts.

The one hundred recipes run the spectrum from cozy crisps and cobblers to adventurous fare like Cider-Braised Brisket or Apple-Gingersnap Ice Cream. In addition, Amy organizes apple varieties into cooking categories so that it's easy to choose the right fruit for any recipe. You'll know to use tart Northern Spy in your pies and Fuji in delicate cakes. The Apple Lover's Cookbook is the ultimate apple companion. 110 four-color illustrations

Now to what I am knitting on;

I was looking for a easy pattern for socks on Ravelry and came across the term Magic Loop in some patterns and so I decided I was going to try it out. I've made socks with dp needles and using 2 circular needles but not just one circular needle. I using a worsted weight acrylic yarn that I had purchase a while back and thought it would a good choice to use on a learning pair of socks. So far it's easy and if it continues to be I'll try another pattern I found using this method.
Till later,
 


I'm  going to link up with Yarn along and Patchwork Times

Comments

  1. The knitting sounds interesting! I have really only used dpns for socks. And the seed catalogs, they are so much fun to browse through!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your sock looks wonderful! the yarn is really pretty.
    Isn't it fun to look at seed catalogs during the winter. It's a hopeful sign of spring.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I put in prariefire apple trees..not much of a fruit producer, but beautiful as an ornament and resistant to most yucks..I'm just learning to use DPN's and haven't tackled the magic loop method..it is supposed to be a bit easier and less work..

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