Hiya Hiya now makes interchangeable cables with lifelines!

Aynaria 2 Comments

A few days ago, I was on Ravelry, and learned that Hiya Hiya is now making cables with lifelines!

I sure do enjoy having a lifeline with my interchangeable cables. Interchangeable cables that include lifelines the only thing I miss about my Knit Picks Options. I haven’t touched my Knit Picks needles since purchasing my Hiya Hiya’s. That should tell you how much I love my Hiya Hiya’s!  Of course, I’m thrilled that Hiya Hiya has listened to its customers and will be offering these cables for those who want them.

These were only available with the Hiya Hiya Ultimate Knitting Gift set. Since these were recently released…

Include HiyaHiya’s new lifeline cables (currently only available in these sets) in each size, NEW interchangeable straights, a pair of cable connectors and needle gauges and Yarn Ball Stitch markers in an Interchangeable case (small/medium) or circular needle case (large)

I thought I might have to wait before I was able to by the interchangeable cable separately.
I left a comment for Qianer, on Facebook, and she responded with this message…

Qianer Huang

Hello, Opal, www.HiyaHiya-UK.com and www.HiyaHiyaNorthAmerica.com began to distribute HiyaHiya lifeline cables. Depend on where you are living, please check the websites! HiyaHiya UK hiyahiya-uk.com Quality Needles – Affordable Price

Qianer Huang, one of the Hiya Hiya owners/knitting designer, mentioned on Facebook that they were available, but currently I’m not seeing the new Hiya Hiya cables with lifelines. Hopefully, they’ll be available soon so I could purchase a few.

Knitting & cooking update

I haven’t made too much progress on the knitted autumn ribbed hat. Perhaps I added about an inch since I posted the picture? The reason is simple, I’ve been doing other things besides knitting. Today was a lazy day spent with my daughter, playing games, having tea parties with her dolls and planning outfits to sew tomorrow… after church!

This afternoon, my daughter requested another chowder.  Because of the freshness of the ingredients, this chowder was exceptionally good. Most of the ingredients came from our garden.  This time I did manage to freeze a large portion of the chowder (about eight cups.) That will be served on a day when I don’t feel like preparing a meal. That’s rare, but it can happen!

Loving my Epson WorkForce WF-3540

Aynaria 6 Comments

My new printer is here… It’s an Epson WorkForce WR-3540.

Epson Workforce WF-3540_1

It arrived in a pretty box that boasted some of it’s many of it’s features…

Epson Workforce WF-3540_2

When I opened the box, I noticed the printer was covered with a lot of blue tape. There are a lot of moveable parts on the Epson WorkForce WR-3540. The tape is a precaution to make sure nothing moves during transport.

While I haven’t taken it on a full test drive, I have checked out the double-sided feature and I must say that I’m really impressed since this feature is done automatically. Of course, my first thought was, why didn’t I purchase a printer with this feature before? It definitely will save on the amount of paper I use and I won’t need to do this manually. I used to do this with my old HP printer, but only if there were a small amount of pages.

Knitting adventures: Autumn ribbed hat

Aynaria 4 Comments

Knitting ribbed hats is one of my favorite “no brainer” knitting projects. I really don’t have to think about what I’m doing, after all the rib stitch is just a combination of knits and purls, until you reach the desired knitted hat length. I have fun playing with a variety of ribbed stitch length, but my standard is usually k2, p2….

Knitting a orange ribbed hat_1

This hat is a fun project, love the orange color. It makes me think of autumn! Cool nights, soups and chunky chowders to warm the tummy as we sit near a warm fire.

Hiya Hiya cables

 

 

Of course, I’m using my Hiya Hiya Steel Sharp circular needles. Once I went Hiya Hiya… I never looked back. 🙂 A few days ago, I ordered two more 16″ HiyaHiya Interchangeable Cable (small.) It seems, I’m always running out of 16″ cables so I felt it was high time I added more to my collection. The 16″ cables are great for small projects. For some reason, during the cooler months, I find myself knitting a lot more items using my 16″ interchangeable cables.

It’s been a very busy week but I’m hoping that I can finish knitting this hat sometime this weekend. Hopefully, I’ll be able to squeeze in some time while my daughter is drawing, writing or reading.

Keeping it simple: Two chowders; potato and fish

Aynaria 5 Comments

Cool weather and a thick and chunky chowder seem to go nicely together. Earlier this week, I made two varieties; potato and fish.

 

Ground spices.10.07.13

My granite mortar and pestle was used to grind up the spices. I love the smell that permeates the air from a good old fashioned mortar and pestle grinding.

Shiitake mushrooms.10.07.13

Remembering that Kenny had given me some Shiitake mushrooms, I added that to both chowders and I must say the delicate flavoring of the mushrooms was perfect for this chowder.

 

Potato Chowder_1

“You added celery!” my daughter squealed before she dug in… she loves celery! Regarding the chowders, I made plenty so that we could have leftovers and although I had intentions of freezing some of the chowder, that wasn’t about to happen since my daughter and father gobbled up both varieties. I sampled the potato chowder and I must admit it was quite good. With the fish chowder, It wasn’t swimming with fish, but I added enough to the dish that you weren’t hunting around for it. My daughter and father said that was delicious.

My daughter and I took our time to eat our chowder, savoring each bite while we read books in front of the wood stove.

Lutheran Church: Blessing of the animals

Aynaria 1 Comment

One of the many things I love about my Lutheran church is how they seem to include so many things into their church home.

We have ministries that deal with the elderly, hospitalized, those suffering from addictions, homeless, people not having enough to eat, groups for children, teens, women, men, couples, ect., You name it, my Lutheran church seems to have that covered. This Sunday, there will be a special feature in our church services (we have three of them; one on Saturday and two on Sunday.) It’s time to Bless the Animals. In years prior, the animals were physically brought to the location but this year church members will submit their pets and the animals will be presented in a Power Point presentation. Naturally, I’m submitting pictures of Angel, Mr. Bentley, Gracie, Oreo… and my honeybees!

Printer upgrade: Epson WorkForce WF-3540

Aynaria 3 Comments

Well… our HP Photosmart printer has finally stopped working. It’s been acting odd for the past several weeks, but I just ignored that since there was no urgent need to replace the printer. Besides, if I really needed something printed, I could always use my Epson Photo Stylus R2400 Inkjet Printer, but that would be a last resort since that printer is used exclusively for printing high quality photos and that ink can get costly.
Epson WorkForce EF-3540

Fast forward until today…. pulling up my daughter’s homework online, it appears she has several projects within the next few weeks that will require a functioning printer. Armed with that knowledge, I knew it was high time that I got my “rear in gear” and purchase a suitable replacement.

I did a bit of research, and I do believe I have a winner… the  Epson WorkForce WF-3540. And saw these features listed on its page.

  • World’s Fastest 2-sided printing
  • 500-sheet paper capacity
  • 40% lower printing costs vs color laser
  • Mobile device printing
  • 3.5-Inch touchscreen with gesture navigation

Besides that it also scans and faxes. Since I’m an Amazon Prime member, the shipping is free and it should arrive this Thursday.

I’ll be sure to write a review after I’ve had it for a few months. When this arrives, one of the first things I’ll be printing, is a cable knit hat pattern.

Juicing adventures: Juicing dark leafy greens and beets

Aynaria 5 Comments

This morning, I made a lovely vegetable juice with dark leafy greens and beets. I’m drinking it now…  it’s so good!

It’s not sweet and I imagine many would turn there nose up at this drink, but I’m not most people. I must say, that I’ve been enjoying my non-sweet drinks for years.

Vegetable Juice: Greens & Beets

  • 4 cups of kale
  • 5 beets
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 lime
  • 1/2 medium sized yellow onion
  • 1 habanero pepper

 

This is not a sweet drink, in fact when I gave some to my father he drank it and let out a “WHOO!” just like a train whistle, but I told him if he slowly incorporated juices like this into his routine, he’d get to the point where he could drink them straight… just like me!

Some of the produce came from the garden, but the bulk of it came from a local farm. Saturday, my daughter and I went to  the farm and I purchased a three dozen sweet corn, several beets, celery and a large amount of greens; collards and kale. The cart was overflowing and my bill was less than $23.  I thought that was a great deal with the amount I purchased. Since it’s at a local farm, I know the freshness is much better than what I get from the local grocery store.

For your information…

Remember, if you consume beet juice your urine and/or bowel movements might turn red in color.