Late to The Party …
Firstly, my apologies for the lengthy gap between this and my last Blog post. You know how it goes, Life presents you with a series of Events that have you lurching from one crisis to the next – when you come out the other side you take stock and realise that you have let so many important things fall by the wayside. Never fear, all is restored to good order and I’m back in the fold.
Now, you may recall back in January that I announced this was The Year I was going to be true to myself, yes? I have done much work on myself to achieve a very pleasing result. The Knitters Attic has undergone a new working model and is proving to reap the benefits of all the hard work. I make time to spend with family & friends too, it’s no longer all work and no play.
Which leads me to my ‘down time’ – I’m an avid cook, crafter, homemaker etc but the one bandwagon I was too busy to jump on during Covid lockdown was that of…. Sourdough !! So, 3 years late to party I maybe but I finally decided to join in the trend (that and I really LOVE bread!!).
But wow – so much choice, so much advice, so much consternation, where to begin? In the absence of having a useful Sister (ahem, you know who you are) with a starter to share I accepted that I would have to start from scratch. Now, apparently the very 1st decision to be made is to name your Starter – trust me this is as difficult as trying to name a child or pet, gulp ! I veered, for a while, between Mabel and Margot but ultimately decided Margot would probably laze around in the jar and spoil, whilst Mabel would work extra hard and I would end up with nothing but air bubbles. Finally I decided on Gertie as a name. A name which I later recollected I had previously chosen for my starter when I toyed with the idea 30 years ago.
Anyway, as of this morning Gertie is now the latest addition to the household. She will be petted, fussed over and mollycoddled and then most likely hissed at and thrown in the fridge to be ignored. Where she will flourish and bloom no doubt !! That’s the standard behaviour I gleaned from the 342 blogs I have read on the subject. I’ve also discovered that sourdough can be painted, with gel food colouring. Sadly I am not going to give Picasso a run for his money in the artistic department but as the dough bakes it does soften/blend the drawn lines so I’m optimistic. I will post my efforts, fail or success. That’s someway off though, feeding the starter for at least a week and then producing the loaf leaves my knees trembling in trepidation. I have read so many times that the starter is ‘Live’ hence carrying a name – please sourdough-starter-guardians look kindly on me !!
Not much yarn news this time, unless you count the quiet reflection time I’m achieving by sitting knitting and observing my starter dough on the shelf. It is astounding how much knitting I get done now I no longer worry about knitting anywhere. My father had a further recent hospital admission, from the hours spent in the ambulance, a&e, then the admission ward (plus all the further visiting times on another ward) I almost achieved an entire sweater. I cannot praise everyone enough, from the paramedics to the nurses, for their commitment to getting dad back up on his feet and back home, so very grateful to all our NHS.
Unsurprisingly I have nothing to report with regards to the starter dough yet, will keep you up to date soon.
Much Love Sharon xx