Oolong knits

Raspberry Field by Jana Markova. A asymmetrical triangle scarf pattern. Original, it is not. But, it is free and it saves you from buying one of many almost identical patterns that are so popular right now. I know what you are thinking, shouldn't we support designers and creative people by buying their work? We should indeed, and if I knew who first invented this design I would whole-heartedly recommend you to buy his pattern. But, the way I see it, there is no need to pay for the many copycats you will find, when you can get it for free. I know, I know, I am a miser.

A hearty, comforting soup, that is also healthy and nourishing enough to eat as a quick, light lunch. When it comes to soup, I always cook a big batch and either eat it as a starter at every meal (it will keep for about a week in the refrigerator) or freeze it in separate portions for eating later. I am not sure how many people my recipe serves, it depends if you eat it in big portions or small ones, but I do not really care either. Just be warned it makes a lot of soup. And because vegetables come in many sizes, I will write 2-3 potatoes, meaning, 2 if big, 3 if average, 4 or more if small. Like always in life, you must use common sense to decide. Ingredients: 1-2 spring greens, washed and chopped thinly; 2-3 potatoes, washed, peeled and chopped in big chunks; 250g of dried beans, soaked overnight; 2-3 onions, washed, peeled and chopped in big chunks; 1-2 carrots, washed, peeled and halved along their length; lots of garlic; olive oil; optional: herbs (ex.: sage, oregano, ...

Badlands Mitts by Kathryn Folkerth. Very simple design, very beautiful result. I believe that is linen stitch, but I am probably wrong...

Usually, beef brisket takes about 3 and a half hours to cook properly. This is the kind of food that makes having a pressure cooker such a treat. Follow this recipe and you should be done in only a little longer than one hour. And you will not believe the flavour! 1 portion of beef brisket; 4 potatoes, peeled and cut in large cubes; 2 onions, peeled and slice; 5 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced; 1 bunch of coriander leaves, chopped; Salt, pepper and chilli powder; Olive oil; 1 cup of red wine. Add enough olive oil to the pressure cooker to cover the bottom. Heat it and brown the brisket. Add 1 cup of water and all the ingredients, except the potatoes. Close the lid and bring the pressure to high. Cook for 1 hour. During that time, regularly check the pressure remains on high. You may need to turn the heat up or down. Release the steam and add the potatoes. Close the lid and bring the pressure to high again. Cook for 10 min more. Reduce the pressure slowly. Done. Final note...

Ombre Tank by Espace Tricot uses a technique for getting a nice colour gradient that is quite standard, but I think not used nearly as much as it deserves. This pattern uses only 3 colours to obtain 5 and shows the power of this technique quite well. It is also free.

Another pressure cooker soup recipe. This one is quick, easy and delicious. Great if you have guests. For about 6 portions: 1 cauliflower, cut in chunks; 1 large potato, peeled and cut in chunks; 1 large onion, peeled and sliced; 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced; 3 cm of chorizo, sliced; Salt, pepper and nutmeg; Butter and olive oil; 1 cup of milk; 50g cheddar cheese, or more if you prefer, grated; In the pressure cooker, add enough butter and olive oil to cover the bottom. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 min, stirring often. Add two cups of water and all other ingredients, except the milk and the cheese. Cook on high for 10min. Remove from the heat and reduce the pressure slowly. Use a hand blender to thoroughly mash all the ingredients. Add the milk and the grated cheddar and mix well. If necessary, add more milk to thin the soup. Vegetarian? Ignore the chorizo. Vegan? Ignore the milk and cheese too. It is still delicious without them. Final note: follow ...

Not a very nice name and the dark colour makes it hard to show off the beauty of the cables in photograph. I chose this pattern today, because, apart from the obvious, I really like the buttons (and I know they are not technically called buttons, but I cannot remember their correct name). Oops! I almost forgot: this is 225-15 Lang Yarns Yak by Lang Yarns.

I have always wanted to have a pressure cooker, but, living in a small apartment, I did not have enough storage space to keep the big monster (see note on size below). Now that I have moved to a nice biggish house, I took the plunge and bought one. And I could not be happier with it! I highly recommend anyone who likes good food to have one. There are three great advantages of cooking with one of these: Time : food takes about one third of the time to cook. Pressure cookers are particularly useful to cook food that needs a lot of time to cook. For example, beans, beef brisket, lamb and any other meat stew. I could had another advantage here: money . Cooking for one third of the time also uses less energy, saving you money. And, now that I think about it, there is a third advantage: if it saves energy, it is good for the environment. That's tree advantages in one. Health : you could in principle use your cooker to fry, just do not put the lid on, please! But that is not what you...

Copenhagen calling , a beautiful cowl by Isabell Kraemer. She is one of my favourite sweater designers (and I know I am not alone), but today I chose to show one of her accessory's patterns instead.