Frozen Treats Cool Our Winding Skeins

Don't you just love summertime?
Even if you're shaking your head no, I'm sure you wouldn't refuse that tasty drink to the right.

And I'm equally sure your head would be nodding yes, if this layered watermelon and coconut treat with salted lime landed in your hands after a few hours of heavy knitting/crocheting.  Uh-huh, that's what I thought.

One of the challenges of knitting in the summer months is the humidity that often wreak havoc on our bamboo needles.  (If that's your needle of choice.)  Even with metal and plastic needles, the heat does something weird to both them and the yarn.  One summer, I literally had to place my yarn and needles in the refrigerator so I could finish a baby afghan.  Refrigerating them did the trick. (Crochet Popsicle)

What about air conditioning, you may ask?  That year, my air was on the blink.  I had to finish my afghan before I could shell out money for a new air conditioner. 

Summer Craft Love

Hey, it's summertime.  If you're like me, your needles and yarn go wherever you go. You may be at the beach or at a park at any given 90 degree day when the knitting/crocheting urge strikes you.   Yes, you understand.

So as you craft your heart out during the dog days of summer, why not cool off with these delicious and eye-appealing frozen treats.  Just for fun, I'll connect a favorite stitch or yarn to the frozen treat.  Did I just confuse you?  That's okay, you'll see what I mean in a sec.

And away we go! 

Alice's Baby Afghan

 

Yummy for the Tummy 
1. Layered Watermelon Coconut Frozen Drink with Salty Lime.  This tasty treat would go down well as you Entrelac. It also reminds me of the Entrelac stitch style.  It combines the unexpected with a sweet design.  

You have the unexpected coconut with the watermelon and topped off with another surprise ...salty lime.  So you have the bitter with the sweet.  

Knit/Crochet Stitch
Entrelac - Since the Entrelac is so precise and challenging, it can be a bittersweet journey.

Buy extra coconut to make this next treat.

2.  Mango Cardamon and Sweet Coconut Popsicles - from a cozy kitchen
You start with a mango puree mixed with sugar and fresh orange juice.  Add coconut milk spiked with cardamon and a little more sugar for more sweetness and that's it.  You can get A Cozy Kitchen's diagonal design by tilting the plastic popsicle molds on their side.  A few Ramekins can help position it. 

Knit Stitch
Knitting on the Diagonal
It's food and fashion forward, since retro is the New Millennium's cool.  They both revisit the sixties when homemade popsicles and diagonal designs made the "in" crowd.  
(Handbag - Classic Elite Yarns)





 


3. Sherbet or Ice Cream in Lemon Bowls
Hollow out lemons and fill them with your favorite sherbet or ice cream.  They're colorful and pleasing to the tastebuds!

Knit/Crochet Stitch
I'm seeing the Tunisian Strawberry Stitch and sherbet colored yarn in these sherbet lemon cups.  (below - moogly)

 (Dearest Debi)

Like the sherbet cups, these stitches are unique and playful, and also give you a yearning for something sweet.  

You can't tell me this yarn doesn't remind you of sherbet.

4. Frozen Fruit Cups
I don't know about you, but I'm craving a frozen treat right now.  The above frozen fruit cup photos are pretty self-explanatory.  Cut up the fruit of your choice, fill a plastic cup, then add Simply Orange Juice, insert a popsicle stick and freeze.  Voila!  You've got a delicious, healthy frozen fruit cup that's easy on the waistline.

With this treat, I think of the cable stitch.  At first you have nothing but yarn and needles or cut up fruit in a cup.  Then you twist the yarn so they connect to a specific pattern, like the fruit floating in the orange juice.  When it comes together, you have a beautiful design that you can wear or eat.
(Knitting Daily) 



 Our "Little Girl's Summer Vest" below is the frozen fruit's colorful counterpart.    (Little Girl's Summer Vest)

5. Yogurt-Covered Strawberries

I'm sure you've enjoyed your share of chocolate-covered strawberries.  Just dip plump strawberries into yogurt and freeze, and once again, you'll treat yourself to a tasty, healthy snack.

With these, cabbage roses come to mind.  I can see lighter pink yarn making up the outside rose petals.  What stitch comes to your mind?

You deserve these frozen treats!  Your fingers still enjoy winding yarn over your needle/needles, even through soaring temperatures.  Why not finish off a long crocheting/knitting session with a cool summer treat that's healthy and easy to make?  Bon Appetite!

(Elkins Park Free Library)

First Tuesday-Third Wednesday Knitting & Crocheting Club

Can you believe July 4th is almost here?  We had a great June 18th knitting session at our Third Wednesday Knitting & Crocheting Club on June 18 at Elkins Park Free Library.  

We welcomed Tamar Granor,  Karen Leslie-Henry and  14-year-old Samir Arrington, our second 14-year-old boy to join our group.  This impressive young man came prepared with a circle needle in a wooden box.  (Toni's afghan - left)

Thank you, Mary for bringing us those delicious mini cupcakes.  We especially appreciated that they were minis.  We're looking into our next Chat & Chew in the Fall.  Cherie showed us a menu for Da Bistro on County Line Road in the Huntingon Valley Justa Farm Shopping Center.  It's a major contender.  They have a nice $6 lunch special and offer soups, salads, paninis, kabobs, Italian dishes -- stromboli, pizza, parmigiana and chicken entrees, Mediterranean and vegetarian.  We'll keep you posted. 

Our next First Tuesday Knitting & Crocheting Club is on Tuesday, July 1.   Well, that's it for now.  Don't forget to enjoy a frozen treat.