Sunday, December 21, 2008

Kill Da Wabbit




(and if you don't get that reference,
you didn't spend Saturday mornings in the 60's watching Bugs Bunny)

I have finished one Valkyrie sock (worked with the Aunt Helen Variation texture). It's totally gorgeous, and I finally got a scan that showcases the little ridges properly. I love this pattern, and of course, I love this yarn (Twisted Fiber Arts, Playful, Valkyrie colorway with coordinating heel and toe yarn).


The Merlot went into the carboy this morning, for secondary (anaerobic) fermentation. We won't start another wine until after everyone goes home (we're having a wonderful housefull next week). One of the bad (or is it good?) things about making wine again, is that it reminds us that we really enjoy drinking our homemade wine. We cracked open a bottle of Cherry Almond Melomel (Melomel is a mead- a honey based wine- made with fruit) and were blown away by it. I only made a 1-gallon test batch in '05, and it's been ageing ever since. Unfortunately, I can't just produce a 3 (or 5) gallon batch of 3 year old Mead. And I can't even make a brand new Cherry Almond Melomel right away because I am going to start a batch of Blackberry first (our absolute favorite). Meads take longer to ferment and clear than sugar-based wines, but oh... they're worth the wait.


On the weather front- trust me, it's better to stay inside. The wind chill is something like -35(F), and Driftzilla is taking over our front yard. BRRRRRRR

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That yarn and the sock are LOVELY!!! I love those colors. It is COLD here to!! -5, -32 with the wind chill.
South Dakota winters are COLD!!! Perfect knitting weather!

Emily said...

We have our first batch of mead fermenting now. It's been bubbling away for over a month now. This is making the barley wine we made recently seem like a fast fermentation!

I'd love your recipe for the blackberry melomel.

Kathleen Taylor said...

Yep Mona- good days to hunker down with wool.

Emily- I've never made barley wine. It sounds interesting. I'll post the Blackberry Melomel recipe soon. It's fantastic!

Di said...

Kathleen, those socks are beautiful!!! And, I feel your SD cold! It's only 2 here (-15 wc) in Indiana and my heinie is very close to the woodstove!!