Episode 310 Shakerag, Making Yogurt

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Beautiful Tennessee

This episode is sponsored by Quince & Co and Knitcircus Yarns.

Knitting Pipeline is a Craftsy Affiliate. Craftsy offers affordable online classes and supplies. When you use the link in the sidebar before purchasing I receive a small percentage of your purchase at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

Show notes are found at www.knittingpipeline.com. You can find me on Ravelry as PrairiePiper and on Instagram and YouTube as KnittingPipeline. There are two groups on Ravelry, Knitting Pipeline and Knitting Pipeline Retreats. Come join us there!

You can also find me here:

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Twitter: knittingline

Pinterest: Paula Emons-Fuessle

Ravelry Group

Knitting Pipeline Retreats Group.

Note: We had audio issues when my husband and I were recording so you will have to turn the volume up. There is no music at the end or anything else that will disturb your ears.

Pipeliner Notes

Welcome to our newest Pipeliners who have said hello to us on the Welcome thread or to me in a personal message. Lin from Alabama, coffiv, AdiTurbo who is Adi in Israel, yarnsmithdori who is Dori in OH, and WeeSewnSew who is Caz from the Highlands of Scotland. She is the host of the Wee Sew and Sew Podcast on YouTube that I shared with all of you in an earlier episode. Remember to introduce yourself in the Welcome thread if you are new so I can recognize you on the show.

Thank you for your star ratings and reviews on iTunes. New review from TheFibersmith”.

Events

Links to retreats and registration materials are in the Knitting Pipeline Retreats Group on Ravelry. There is also a sticky thread with all upcoming retreat dates.

Eagle Crest Retreat Registration is open. 

Mittens for Maine (and Eagle Crest) idea from Mary of The Knitting Dish podcast.

Needle Notes

Tchaikovsky Hat by Helen Stewart/CuriousHandmade

Malabrigo Silky Merino (purchased at Klose Knit in Urbana IL) in Ravelry Red

The twisted rib and simple stitch pattern make this classic hat a cut above the rest. I did not do a test swatch and the adult large size turned out to be an adult medium, or maybe small. It will fit someone. Delightful design, as expected.

Close to you by Justyna Lorkowska

·        Inspired by Martha Knitcrit

·        Asymmetrical triangle

·        Simple lace. Remember after the first time. Not too picky on stitch counts. Use garter ridges to count rows.

·        Great retreat, travel, or tv knitting.

·        Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stealer Cherry Blossoms colorway.

Finished two projects and needed something to knit on the way home. Started another Close to You with a sock blank. A sock blank, for those who may be unfamiliar, is a knitted piece of fabric that has been dyed. Usually there is a pattern or gradient…I have never used a sock blank so I bought this one from Gale’s Art at the Knitting Pipeline Georgia Retreat in 2017. Beautiful rainbow sock blank and it seemed perfect for another Close to You. This was my travel home knitting. The only other project I brought with me was mittens for Maine and it seemed too hot to knit mittens. So, I found out that I don’t really enjoy knitting from a sock blank. The kinkiness of the yarn isn’t too bad but I didn’t like the looks of the knitting. This will of course, no be so wrinkly when it is washed and blocked but it just wasn’t pleasing to me.

The flight from Nashville to Chicago is only an hour and then a short layover and a very short trip to Peoria; however, if you follow me on Instagram you might have seen that the trip was a lot longer than planned, as in 20 hours delayed. We made it to Chicago via Kansas City so a one hour flight was 2 hours and then we sat on the tarmac for an hour waiting to deplane. Then the Peoria flight was postponed multiple times and eventually cancelled around midnight. Back to the sock blank. Cot area had fluorescent lights at full blast so I tried using the sock blank as an eye mask. So I wasn’t only stranded but I was stranded without good knitting! Usually I take more than one project with me on the plane “just in case” and the one time I needed it, I did not!

Comfort Fade Cardi by Andrea Mowry. Uses DK weight. Double Finch. Top down cardigan. 

Blethering Room

Missy, Angie, Paula, Dianne

Mason-Dixon Knitting  Ann Shayne, Kaye Gardiner. Loads of amazing contributors.

Mason-Dixon Shakerag.

Farm to table healthful food choices. Happy hour 5 pm. Historic dining hall looked like Hogwarts. Food inspired me to put more thought and time into food preparation.

4 classes and some activities to choose from. I took Photography with Gale Zucker.  Dr. Fix-it with Julia Farwell-Clay. Crochet with Liz Kaplan, Natural Dyeing with Catharine Ellis.

Sat outside in the shade. Knitterati were attending too! Kirsten Kapur, Ann Budd.

Enjoyed spending time with long time listeners, Jan and Jean.

Dining Hall with yummy food!

Making Yogurt

Our original recipe from 1975 in my sister's handwriting. You do not need much to make this version. If you don't want to use instant powdered milk (which we believe was simply to save money) use regular milk for all the liquid, which looks like a total of 6 cups.

1975 recipe for yogurt

back of recipe card.

I used several recipes to come up with our version. This one is most like what we do.

Here's our version. (Also available in Pages in right side bar)

Easy Creamy Yogurt in Instant Pot 

By Paula Emons-Fuessle, Knitting Pipeline 

In our experience, making yogurt is a lot like baking bread. It is fairly forgiving and although it takes a while, the hands-on time is not that great. You simply have to attend to it periodically. We made yogurt for the first time 43 years ago. We first made it in a big jar on top of a radiator and also made it in a warm oven. Later we had a yogurt maker that made 5 cups. All of these methods worked fine. We've never had a batch fail completely although we've had some that weren't as good as others. All the Instant-Pot (electric pressure cooker) batches have been excellent. The basic process is to mix milk with a small amount of yogurt and keep it warm for at least 8 hours in a dark place. Don’t move or shake it. 

This recipe is for a half gallon of yogurt which is right for us. You can easily double. 

Ingredients: 

• Half Gallon of high quality milk. We use whole milk, but you choose. 
• 1/4 cup high quality plain Greek Yogurt. Must have active culture. 

Utensils: 

Electric Pressure Cooker, 1/4 cup measure, thermometer (we use digital instant read probe), whisk, spoon. We use all stainless steel or glass utensils. 

1. Put 2 cups water in pot. Lock lid and valve. Push "Steam" button. Set for 2 min. When finished, drain water from pot. Meanwhile, boil water to sterilize thermometer, whisk, and measuring cup. 
2. Pour milk into pot and press "Yogurt". Adjust until it says "boil". Turn valve so there is no pressure. Takes about 15 min. Take pot out of pressure cooker for the cool down process. Cool to 110° F/43.33 C. We set our probe for 110° and it beeps when it reaches that temperature. Usually 25 min for us. (See note below.) 
3. If there is a skin on the milk, lift it off with the sterilized spoon. 
4. Add 1/4 C starter yogurt. Mix in with spoon. 
5. Return pot to pressure cooker. Push "Adjust". Set for 8 to 24 hours for fermentation. We like 8 hours. Longer fermentation will make the yogurt acidic and more lactose will be digested by the culture.  Pot will beep when time is up.
6. Whisk the yogurt. We like ours just the way it is with no straining out of the whey. We pour it into a glass container and refrigerate. 

Note: If you don't have a thermometer, cool the milk until it is a little warmer than body temperature. Test on your wrist as you would for a baby bottle or bath. Recently I was in a hurry and forgot to cool down the yogurt to 110° F. I put the culture into much hotter milk. The yogurt turned out fine. While this is not recommended, it shows that the process is fairly forgiving.