Knitting - starting on Haruni, lace knitting

I have started a new shawl, Haruni. I have the yarn since March..... I am using Knitpicks'  Shimmer hand dyed lace yarn. (The shimmer is like the Caribbean seaside, the green of the sea and the light brown reminds me of the pristine sand.) It is very delicate looking. I had a hard time looking at the knitting, and figuring out if I can see the pattern or not. After a few repeats it is visible now. Most people who use this yarn are doubling up on the yarn, since it is delicate. I am using 1.5 US needle. The yarn is 70% alpaca and 30% silk. (It's a dream, soft.) I am using two skeins and they are 880 yards long.

Elkezdtem egy ujabb kendot kotni. Haruni a neve. Ez az elso csipke kendom, a fonalat a Knitpicks-nel vettem, meg Marciusban .... Shimmer a neve ( a zold es a homok szinu vilagos barna valtakozik, pont mint a Karib tengerparton)  kezzel festett fonal. Nagyon finom, emiatt eleinte nem is tudtam kivenni a mintat, es nem tudtam, hogy mennyire fog latszani ezzel a vekony fonallal... de lassan kialakul, es szep. Masok is valasztottak mar ezt a fonalat ehhez a mintahoz, de duplan fogtak a szalat. 2.5 mm-eres tut hasznalok. A fonal 70% alpaka es 30% selyem. (Nagyon kellemes, puha.) Ket gombolyagot hasznalok, 804 meterre jon ki.

Knitting - Gail shawl

kilatas az erkelyrol- view from the balcony

I finished my shawl just in time for our vacation in Mexico. It was keeping me warm on the plane, and some nights I could even wear it out for dinner. Here are a few pics of the unblocked and blocked piece.
The shawl measures 80 inches in width and 42 in height. I had no idea what the measurements would be, but it is perfect. I have 11 repeats of the pattern.

2 more rows and I am done, but I managed to run out of yarn - meg ket sor, de sajna a kis gomboc fonal nem volt eleg

an idea of the pattern before blocking - egy kis izelito a mintabol blokkolas elott

beforeblocking, just off the needle - blokkolas elott szarazon

my first attempt in blocking - az elso blokkolasom

the sides are a bit uneven, need to practice more - a szele nem egyforma, meg gyakorolnom kell

Pont ugy alakult, hogy a mexikoi utra epp befejeztem a kendomet. A repcsin nagyon kellemes volt, es parszor este is fel tudtam huzni. Par kep a blokkolasrol, es amikor meg a kototun volt. A kendo szelessege 203cm, es a magassaga 106cm. Fogalmam sem volt mi lesz a vegso meret, de ez igy pont tokeletes. A minta sort 11x ismeteltem meg.

eco hotels in Tulum Mexico Quintana Roo county - eko tulumi hotel sor, Mexiko Quintana megyeben

Lecso - pepper stew (in this case with smoked sausage)

We had lecso the other day. I was a bit worried how it will come out, since we do not have the classic Hungarian paprika. But it was a success. Ok, so because of the bellpeppers it was a bit sweet, but it was still delicious. We found two smoked sausages at an old German butcher in Whitestone. One of them was called "Hungarian smoked sausage". (It does not remind me of anything I know) We bought both kinds they offered.

csumazas - taking the seeds out

majdnem ennyi az osszetetel - this is almost all of the indogredients

saute some onions - hagymat dunsztolunk

let the liquid dissapte - hadd foje el a levet

use a few tomatoes, half way in - par paradicsom ugy amikor mar felig keszen van

the German and Hungarian smoked sausage - a nemet es magyar fustolt kolbasz

almost done - majdnem kesz

Nemregen lecsot csinaltam vacsorara. Egy kicsit izgultam, mert itt nem aruljak a klasszikus magyar paprikat. Igy holland paprikat hasznaltunk, es nagyon finom lett. Edesbb volt mint az otthoni klasszikus.
Elmentunk Whitestone-ba, egy regi nemet henteshez, es ott talaltunk fustolt kolbaszt. Ket fajta volt, az egyikuk magyar fustolt kolbasz cimkevel kinalgatta magat. Nem emlekeztetett semmilyen magyar kolbaszra, de azert megvettuk, meg a masikat is.

Are you a morning person?

I am not a morning person... I wish I were. I can imagine my life as such. Getting up in the morning, not feeling upset or groggy and going for a walk in the meadow, feeling the dewy mist on my skin as I look at the rich colors of wild flowers. Okay, okay so I don't have the meadow in the close vicinity :) But I do have poppies in the garden.
So how about making a pot of coffee, while listening to Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, U2 and the soundtrack of Amelie.  With coffee in hand,  grabbing my recent New Yorker to read two of my favorite contemporary authors (Jhumpa Lahiri, Jeffrey Eugenides) in the summer reading issue. I sit outside in the garden, and marvel at the plants as they stretch from the early rain...  and sip my coffee and read. And it is just the perfect morning.

So how did this happen to me? I have noticed that if  I wake at an early hour, I feel fine. Yet I don't get up. There is something magical about fluffy pillows and my husband's warmth next to me. At a later hour, when I go back to sleep for another round of memory infested dreams and someone wants to wake me up.... well I am not in a great mood. So today I got up, almost like an experiment, to see how this would go. And it is a gift I could give more often to myself.

Nem vagyok egy reggeli ember.... Persze szeretnem, ha az lennek.  El tudom kepzelni, ahogy felkelek, es nem vagyok lelassult es almos es felig meg az alomvilagomban. Szeretnem ha a hajnali harmat csiklandozna, ahogy a reten setalok es gyonyorkodom a vadviragok szepsegeben. Jo jo, hat nincs ret a kozelben :) de van pipacs a kertben.
Mi lenne ha felkelnek, es foznek egy jo nap adag kavet mig Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, U2 es Amelie filmzeneje zummog a fulemben?  Es amikor elkeszult a kave, felkapnam a heten kapott nyari irodalmi szamat a New Yorker-nek, es megkeresnem a ket kedvenc Jhumpa Lahiri es Jeffrey Eugenides irasait. Utana kiulok a kertbe es nezem ahogy a novenyek orultek a hajnali esonek, es nyujtozkodnak... Olvasok es iszom a kavet. Jol hangzott, pont ezt tettem. Es ez a reggel csodalatos. 

Meglepo, hogy ezt magamrol irom, hogy tortent velem mindez? Rajottem, hogy amikor koran reggel magamtol felebredek, nem vagyok fasult faradt. De mert koran van nem kelek fel, a parnaknak a puhasaga es a ferjem olelese az agyban tart. Es kesobb, amikor amikor valaki epp akkor ebreszt fel, amikor probalom az almomban az emlekek es almok utcait vegig jarni, hat nem orulok. Igy ma felkeltem kora reggel, majdenm mint egy kiserlet, hogy lassam, milyen reggelem lesz, ha magamtol kelek. Es ez a reggel egy olyan ajandek, amit adhatnek tobbszor is magamnak.

My husband is cooking today - traditional Italian Sunday sauce (with meatballas and sausage)

We had a friend over for lunch, and my husband cooked traditional Italian Sunday sauce.This is a custom among Italians, when the family gets together on Sundays. There are meatballs, sweet sausage and spicy sausage in the sauce. We served the sauce with cheese ravioli, which I don't have a picture of. When our guest arrived, I forgot to continue to take pictures.
For appetizers we served home made roasted sweet peppers, artichoke hearts, stuffed pickled peppers with prosciutto and cheese, salami with fennel seed and mozzarella with tomatoes, olive oil and basil.

If this menu makes you hungry, here are the pictures to give an idea how to cook this meal.

 

Atjott egy baratunk hozzank ebedre. A ferjem hagyomanyos olasz vasarnapi ebeddel varta. Az olaszoknal nagy tradicioja van a vasarnapi ebednek, a ferjem csaladja minden vasarnap ezt ette, mikor osszegyultek gyerekkoraban. Van a paradicsom szoszban husgomboc, edes szalami es csipos szalami. Sajtos raviolival talaltuk, de nincs errol kepem, mert amikor megerkezett a vendeg, elfelejtettem folytatni a fotozast.

Tobb eloetelunk volt, itthon keszult roston sult edes paprika, articsoka, toltott savanyu cseresznyepaprika, sajtallal es prochuttioval, edeskomenymagos kolbasz es mozzarella sajt paradicsommal es bazsalikommal.
Ha kedvet kaptal a felsoroltak alapjan ... itt vannak a kepek, hogy keszult az ebed !