NeenerKnits

Turning Over a New Leaflet

2012-01-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

My matching leaflet necklace was made for me by my daughter :) My shirt is a bit scrunched up on the neck below, but take a look at this beautiful triple leaflet pattern! I can see that I have room to snug it up closer to my body and pull it in tighter across my front. It is very comfortable and just the right weight for wearing a layer underneath. I was able to eke it out in one skein. Barely! Final mods: Added two stitches extra at the underarm (as I mentioned below) than called for in my size in order that the K2P2 rib would come out even on the sleeves. I also ended the front and neck ribbing two rows prior to the pattern directions, since I was about to run out of yarn and wanted to make it with one skein. Whew! I had maybe 4 inches left and that was it. Talk about cutting it close.

Leaflet Sweater is coming along rather nicely, rather swiftly in the chunky yarn. Progress shown here. Knit down the back putting sleeve stitches on hold, and when reached the end of the 3rd leaflet, I knit on the lower ribbing. Then using dpn's for the sleeves, knit them downward in the round. Only mod is I added 2 more underarm stitches so my P2K2 rib would come out even. Getting ready to pick up stitches all around the front side and neck and then it will get blocked nice and smoothly!

This is the back side. The cute leaflet pattern is a fun detail that runs all the way down the mid back.

As the snow melts, I can see the green appear once again out from under the white. All the mess and debris from the wind is strewn all around. Ready for something new now. Ready for a routine and to get back to daily life, but it was good to be still for awhile and have non stop knitting days.

Changing Seasons

2012-01-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

If you were paying attention, one beautiful winters night in Seattle, you would've seen this amazing sunset right in your own backyard. You would've stood in awe as it changed and morphed into something spectacular. We called it "Jenny's sunset", in honor of my cousin who had surgery and was in our prayers at the time.

And if you blinked, you entered into a new season of magical snowfall, that closed down our city for nearly a week ... first with its heavy snowfall and subsequent ice storm, then followed by the threat of flooding. I think it is all mom's fault because she made this Christmas card....What do you think?

What's a Seattle knitter to do with all this snow and days home from school, which for me is work? Well that is obvious, don't you think? However, I never guessed we would be without power in 29 degree (below) weather and I'd be knitting with an REI headlamp on my head. So thankful for our gas fireplace! A sneak peak at the next sweater project. I am dreaming of spring...spring green and leaves.
Leaflet, on size 10 needles and using Eco Wool once again. It's inexpensive, it's chunky and it's wool. And it is helping keep me from going stir crazy being cooped up inside the house.

Snowy Chocolate Owls Sweater

2012-01-10T17:07:00.000-08:00

Given my recent liking for owls, this sweater seemed like the obvious next project to do, along with hundreds of other Ravelry folks who have gone before me...Mine is in Ecological Wool, two skeins of a very dark brown, on size 10 needles. I'm doing the body on circulars from the bottom up, as directed in the pattern. The sleeves are knit separately and I'm doing those on size 10 dpn's. They will be attached to sweater body and the yoke will be knit upward. The fun part is coming...knitting the cute owls! This is going to be a really cute sweater!

Owls, by Kate Davies:

Snow days can be very, very productive, indeed!!

Wooly Christmas!

2011-12-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

First, I need to show the mother/daughter project results of our Vitamin D sweater! My mom looks great in hers! She showed up in it Christmas morning so I ran and put mine on too. It was fun to do a project with my mom. She's a fantastic knitter! And a very fun momma!

My daughter has been busy making these little felt ornaments this year and this set belongs to her lucky sister:

This set belongs to lucky me!:

She also made me these little notecards, somewhat similar to last years'. They are new little critters playing with yarn again! If you are interested in her etsy shop, it is here:{ helloyellowbird}

My husband was sneaky and asked my friend about getting me a yarn swift and ball winder without me knowing about it! I am having such fun winding up my skeins!

I forgot to add this shot earlier... my sis in law gave me this sweet ornament which is a knitting bag filled with yarn and needles and says "Queen of Knitting". Cute! Hope you had a warm and Wooly Christmas!

Owl Gloves

2011-12-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

A little bit of Eco Wool and size 10 dpn's and a few cable rows,...voila! Owl gloves! These are based on the "Owl Study Gloves" pattern off of Ravelry.

"Idaho" Falls Cowl

2011-11-29T19:37:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine brought me alpaca from Alpaca Direct -Hayden Idaho, and it's beautiful 3 ply worsted weight, 200 yards. Using size 5 needles I did a little cowl pattern out of it: Origami Falls Cowl. My first try I thought I would run out of yarn so did it as above, however it was too narrrow, so I redid it to make it wider and hopefully will get enough pattern repeats out of it to make it nice!

The little scalloped edging is nicely designed using a series of yarnovers in a row, and then by folding a hem over at the YO row. This yarn is soft to work with! And the cowl kept me (almost) warm in the 37 degrees walking around the Bellevue Botanical Garden d'Lights this eve!

Back For More Coffee

2011-11-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Ta Da! My Coffee Bean is finished and fits me! Amazingly enough. Considering all I put it through. It's a very lovely sweater indeed. This yarn is a dream to knit with. (Elsebeth Lavold,Silky Wool)

Better pics to follow, I hope!

My Coffee Bean Vitamin D shown here blocking on a beach towel. Blocking does wonders, let me just say.

Fall is here, the sunny days are waning, but the leaves are beautiful. A few days left for walking outside...Time for the cozy days of knitting and for coffee bean Vitamin D sweater progress. Shown here, the front side with all stitches on the needle and done with the short rows and wraps.Wraps, wraps, wraps and more wraps, short rows and wraps....this sweater has more short rows and wraps than any on the planet. Well I'm sure I am only exaggerating. It is a lovely pattern of course. One must be careful when doing this sweater of keeping good track of your increases and then making sure to pick up wraps when you pass them as well as counting when to make the wraps carefully. I sure hope I picked up neatly all the short row wraps on the reverse side. I have a bit of trouble with the purly ones. Well it is coming along and actually seems to fit, which is great seeing as how I changed yarns and needle sizes from the original pattern and guessed on the size, M1. I was able to try it on briefly and it is coming along. Made it through the second set of short rows and wraps, with only one slight detour and me having to fudge a few rows. Next are the last sets of the front radials and then it's off to the "finishing" stage, then blocking. I love, love this yarn. I hope I love, love this sweater! I do love the feel of the yarn, the color, and the radials in the back. My mom is making progress on hers also and I hope to be able to show them both when we are finished.

I have now finished, and realized I used size 4 needles for the entire lower portion, by accident, as they were the needles that I used as "holders" at one point...and this sweater is so very forgiving. It might just still look dandy even with my dandy errors worked lovingly right into it. As a matter of fact, I think that it might be a blessing in disguise that I used smaller needles due to the overall room I have in the sweater. I may have been ok to do the size small even, given the amount this yarn "gives", however overall I am very pleased with the outcome of it. And have worn it out and about already. My daughter is making me just the necklace that will go perfectly with the browns and coppery tones in it.
And below....my mother and I in our matching sweaters! Hers is not blocked yet, but it came out more beautifully knit than my own!

Third Time, Definitely Charming

2011-10-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

What a group of Seattle knitters! I'm in that top picture about so many rows towards the back and I can see me, but you can't see me! But I'm there!

Hearing Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka, the Yarn Harlot speak for the third time, was a thrill again. As always it brought many laughs and is such a fun event to be shared with a roomful of knitting ladies and gents. I managed to bring along my neighbor, who loved it. And this is the best picture we could get with my new phone battery dying. So the picture taken after this, if had turned out, that is,.... was more happy :) I let a cute baby cut in line ahead of me, ...oh and a lady with a cute sock monkey too. Of course I am wearing my Freeport Shawl Collar vest proudly. The Yarn Harlot sounded like she was on the end of a long tour and had a coffee bag explosion in her suitcase, so that is probably why she doesn't have on a sweater!

Need Some Vitamin D? Settle for Coffee Beans

2011-10-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ta Da! Mom and I in our finished matching sweaters! Doesn't hers look so great on her? I love that we did this project together!

The back:

The front:

Well in Seattle, you can't wait around for the sun to come out,...you have to just take your Vitamin D where you can get it. In the coffee beans! This lovely little Vitamin D sweater is coming along well in the coffee bean shade of Elsebeth Lavold silky wool. The original version is a lovely golden color, however I fell in love with another Ravelry member, TwoKnitWit's version using the silky wool. If you go to her link, you can see why. I love brown, and cinnamon brown and just couldn't stop thinking of her sweater. I love knitting with this silky wool yarn, and had a great experience using it on another project prior to this one. The radial increases are interesting to work along the fronts and back. The sleeves are worked next and then the body will be knit downward, with more radial increases along the drapey front. I am making the M1, using size 6 needles on the sweater, with size 5 for the sleeve cuffs. I have tried it on and it fits over my shoulders and hopefully my guess on the sizing is correct. My Mom is also making this same sweater as a mother/daughter project. Hers is a beautiful blue, in the same yarn as I chose.

Penguin PJ's

2011-10-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

Penguin PJ’s -animaltracks.today.msnbc.msn.com is the story link that I saw on Facebook. It captured my attention!

I guess it already went viral and they have had a great response...and sadly for me, enough Penguin PJ's are already knit up. I just loved the story though:

As you may be aware the oil spill & potential disastrous effects to wildlife & environment off the coast of Tauranga is frightening. A small number of little blue penguins have already been caught in the oil spilled to date with growing fears that more will be effected. Skeinz has been asked to help with the penguin relief by knitting small Penguin PJ’s to help protect the birds & prevent them from preening their feather & ingesting the toxic oil. If you can help out by knitting a penguin jumper – send them to Skeinz at the address below.
Then they gave an address in New Zealand, however as I mentioned in a recent update they indicated they had overwhelming response and had enough "jumpers" to suit the poor penguins up. Aw, I wanted this to be my next project...They said any other sweaters they receive will be put in storage in the event of another need for them.
Here's the pattern:
Penguin Jumper in 8ply - Must be 100% Wool Yarn
1 pair 3.25mm , 1 pair of 3.75mm needles , 1 set of 3.25mm dpn’s or circular
Cast on 36 stitches using 3.25 needles.K1, P1 to end of row. Repeat this row 7 times. Change to 3.75mm needles and K2, P2 rib. Work 4 rows increasing at each end of every row. (44 sts)
Continue until work measures 15 cms.
Decrease 1 st at each end of every row until 28 sts remain.
Decrease 1 st. in middle of next row (27 sts.)
Leave on needle.
Make second side the same.
Transfer the 54 sts from both pieces to 3 of the set of 4 3.25mm needles.(18 sts on each.) and work a round neck in K1 P1 rib for 10 rows.
Cast off.
Stitch up sides to decreasing to 27sts (opening for flipper). Add elastic to the top and bottom to prevent the penguins getting out of them. Top: 15cm of elastic; bottom 17 cm (knots allowed). Flat elastic OK.

How about you? Have any penguins to knit for?

Fall Is Sprouting With Blankets, Gadgets and Coffee Beans

2011-10-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here is my second "Sprout" Blanket completed, but not blocked yet. Taken on my new fancy smart phone. I am getting alot of practice using it and learning how to focus and such.You can see with the larger needles and different yarn, it came out a bit bigger than the original Green Sprout. I had my eye on a lovely pattern, Vitamin D. I saw another Ravelry user who did the pattern with Elsebeth Lavold silky wool and I fell in love with hers: TwoKnitWit's turned out so spectacular in the Coffee Bean shade, 54, I just had to get some of my own and try my hand at it. Since we live in Seattle, it is appropriate that the Vitamin D sweater be knit with a yarn named "Coffee Bean" I think, since coffee is our Vitamin D almost year round here. This meant a trip to Weaving Works with my mom. I convinced her that it was a great pattern, and that she must also do it along with me. This is called "enabling." We took several hours to wind our skeins of yarn, and had an enjoyable afternoon doing so. This shade of brown has a lovely tinge of cinnamon in it. I adore it.

And of course, I got a chance to try my picture-taking skills out once again while there. Today I tried my skills out again before eating this lovely chocolate truffle cake at The Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive.

Even the butter was pretty.... I think those flowers were edible.

Counting My Cards and Blessings

2011-09-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Our anniversary and my daughter's and my Birthday stack up right next to each other in September. Here was today's Birthday blessings at my office by my wonderful co-worker and friend, Carol. She knows my weakness: PUMPKIN SCONES...

and she knows about the OTHER weakness,... well, that is obviously YARN. She found me some fantastic alpaca in Boise, Idaho. Squishy! And a cute handknit card that reads:

And on the inside it reads:"Me neither." Perfect.

Also, another friend Sue knows one of my OTHER weaknesses (gee, I have alot of weaknesses...) and that is Fainting Goat GELATO. YUM. Oh, and JEWELRY. Another weakness. How many does that make?

When I look at the array of cards jamming up my kitchen window for our anniversary and my Birthday, I think to myself, each one represents someone special in my life, in our lives. How very blessed are we to have all these people in our lives.

George, the Sock Monkey Coffee Cozy

2011-09-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

With a little bit of Fisherman's Wool and some Paton's Classic Wool, George, the Sock Monkey Coffee Cozy has come to life tonight. After all, every coffee cup needs its own little sweater. Especially if it lives in Seattle where the weather is fickle.

This was the first version, but I added more red to the mouth and spaced the eyes farther apart.

The little cozy warmer is nice just on its own actually, before adding accessories such as ears and face:

This was a free pattern on Ravelry and it was finished in a matter of hours. Size 5 dpns were used. Fall is in the air and that means more lattes!

Sprouting Again

2011-08-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Back camping again at the Chewawa River....Such beauty in the bark of the trees and in the green moss, the sound of the river....

It's a great place to start working on my Sprout #2. This time using a less expensive yarn, Lion Brand Baby's First, a blend of cotton/acrylic. Much less expensive to use, and a different feel altogether than the first Sprout. I'm working on a size 10 needle this time. This picture wanted to present itself sideways:

I am using up alot more yarn with the bigger sized needles so I ran to get more in the same dyelot. Now on to the 3rd skein and about midway through the blanket. So I figured on a total of six skeins for this project. Since I got the first 4 skeins on sale for $2.99 ea, it was a great deal. It will cost me about 1/2 as much as the first Sprout blanket I made.This yarn is 10 ply and the ends are very hard to weave in as it is very loosely plied. It is more comfortable however, since it is cotton/acrylic, to knit with in the Seattle "heatwave" we are now finally experiencing! The second time through this pattern is going much more quickly. I don't like reading from charts, as some people prefer. I like reading the written word much better. So I translated the chart into written directions to follow the 2nd time around. Overall, it is cute, cute...and the end result with be a slightly larger blanket than my first.

Crochet Me a Parade

2011-08-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

I tried my hand at crochet for the first time. This is an easy headband that is free on Ravelry and the tutorial I followed on Crochet Geek, got me going on the crochet flower. This was my first attempt at a flower and it was not too bad, not too good either....But fun to try. I made the headband to match the little dress I made previously for a shower gift.

Modeled by the bear:

Shown with the dress.

Next I tried doing another one with some leftover cotton yarn and really watching the tutorial, pausing it when I got stuck trying to learn how to do a: half double crochet, or a double crochet or a triple crochet. That means I had to pause it ALOT!

Somewhat better that time. Still alot to learn. It was like making a long chain and then coming back and doing things to the chain and depending on how many things you do to the chain and how many repeats, this caused the flower to grow.

We ran up to see our local Brier Parade tonight. Now that the kids are grown, I miss going to it with them. We still enjoy going as "oldsters" and it is a full-fledged event; complete with fire trucks, police cars, noisy race cars, antique cars, marching bands, Boy Scouts, dancing horses, Mexican band, drill team, and bagpipes,basset hounds, pirates, vigilantes...You name it! This year I happened to be near the mascot for the "SeaScare" event. SCARY, huh?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!!!!

Green Sprout Goes Camping

2011-07-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to try the Spud & Chloe yarn for a long, long time. Just waiting to find the perfect project to use it on, as it tends to be bolder, brighter and more fun-loving. It is a bit on the pricey side at $15 a skein, ouch! Using 3 skeins of the "grass 7502" color to make this project, will cost about $50. However, it is highly rated from users and so I thought I should use the called for yarn for the first one I make. Apparently the cotton/wool blend gives great feel and definition. This is a worsted sweater yarn that is machine washable. Just right for making the Sprout Blanket by Hanna Breetz. You can click on my link to see it there.

Without giving away the details of the chart, this gives you an idea how it is constructed. Looks like the increases are made by purling into the front and back of stitches next to the leaves.

It's a cute little blankey for a little "sprout!"

It will make a great project to take with me on my camping trip to Eastern, WA where we will be catching some more sun next week. Summer has just barely arrived in Seattle and we have had only a few days over 80 so far, with mostly low 70's at best, and more rain than we ever imagined possible. However, we would gladly take this weather pattern over and against what the rest of the nation is facing with triple digit heat advisories. Yes,...70's sound just fine to us here.

Here we go! Camping while knitting the Sprout!

The beginnings of the Sprout...Hard to miss with this kind of scenery to knit by.

As Sprout grows upward, I am falling even more in love with it. This yarn was a dream to knit with.

I knit like a maniac and in three days it was finished. Had to do an outdoor photo shoot with my beloved Sprout.

The reverse side of the blanket is also pretty. My husband liked this side of the blanket:

I am very excited about my little Green Sprout! I will be saving this one for a future little "grandsprout". Until then, I guess I should try blocking it and see how it does. This yarn is to be machine washed gently and tumbled dry on low. I am nervous to try this, but this is what they say. And for now it might just have to make its home on my brown chair in the yarn room. Because the bright green goes SO well with it and my pillow. And because I simply adore it! I am smitten with it actually.

Knittin' With The Moose

2011-07-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

At the Stitch 'n Pitch Mariners Game at Safeco Field the other night, many knitters gathered to watch the game and knit simultaneously. I realize this sounds impossible, but some managed to do both. My first time attending, it was quite the spectacle. First, you got your free T-shirt...then you had to go look at all the yarn vendors stationed with their goods out by the food. You could smell the garlic fries while looking at yarn...that was odd. Ivar's was there, so I had to get some of the fish 'n chips of course. I got a snazzy ear piece that has a light on it so you can knit with directed light or read with it in the dark. Groovy. Here's the field and some of our players. Oops, those aren't our players. See how much I know about baseball? Our guys are in WHITE. We lost...but oh well. You couldn't really pay much attention to the game between yarn shopping, eating and stumbling over people knitting. I found it amusing when you got up to get out of your seat, the ladies would say "Just a minute, let me finish this one row." And then you stood there patiently while they did just that. Only a group of knitters would understand or do this!

I met a lady next to me who doesn't knit socks either. I gave her a "high five." We "non-sock knitters" have to stick together. Eventually, I'll make socks. Just not now...I'm still doing the fingerless gloves. I got maybe a few rows done, dropped my stitch marker in the bleachers and fumbled around for my camera and cell phone alot.

Especially when I saw the Mariners Moose show up. I always get super excited when he shows up.

He looks super excited too. I'm not sure about what, since we were losing pretty badly.

Megan knows how to show her true fan spirit. This was NOT a staged shot, I promise! Thankfully Megan had a good camera phone and got this one of our friend. Looks like he is about to get speared by that lady's knitting needles. What a dangerous group of women, eh?

Knitting Prank

2011-07-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU2juUJfwp4&feature=player_embedded

See, Julia Roberts knits too! Watch how her crew played a joke on her...and Tom Hanks trying to knit!
Awesome!

Beach Time Knitting-Iced Cardigan

2011-07-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

I will add that this sweater was completed in the 3rd week of July, which would normally be a hot time of year, except since I live in Seattle, it's been the coldest and wettest spring and summer I can ever remember. Perfect for knitting weather. So I am modeling it here in July. Wore it already in July. While the rest of the nation is on heat advisory, we're here wearing wool. Gotta love it! Shown after blocking, the Iced Cardigan has grown a bit in the arms and body.

Shown here, prior to blocking.

And here's the end result of "Iced" cardigan, of course not blocked yet. I can never wait to block. I made my version a cropped and chunky sweater. Mine has just one button for a closure,using a crocheted loop. I added garter stitch on the end of the sleeve cuffs and hem to prevent rolling. With my gauge and needle size, in order to make a size 38 or medium, I made the pattern's size 1X, believe it or not. I added one more increase set at waist, and stopped at a more cropped length for my height. And it fits me perfectly. Used two skeins of the Cascade Ecological wool. This is a nice neutral color and cozy warm for those chilly beach or Seattle nights!

Time for some beach knitting. This is the hugest skein of yarn I've ever seen. 478 yards all wrapped up in a big chunk. Cascade Ecological wool. For the making of Knitty's "Iced" cardigan, a free Knitty pattern.

Having to make it on size 10 needles and the size 1X in order for it to fit me due to the gauge. Good easy beach knitting. Great for the car trip home too...

Now for some views of the lovely Oregon coast for you to enjoy....Can you hear the sound of the waves?

Autumn Leaves Revisited

2011-06-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

We have had the wettest spring here and rain all the way through the end of June. It is as if we are having autumn revisited in Seattle. It is seasons like this that make you glad to be a knitter. Summer may finally appear this week. I did the Autumn Leaves baby sweater some time ago; here, and shipped it off to Missouri. It seemed rather mini and short, but cute nonetheless. I decided to try it out once again, but make it longer as well as add a repeat of the lace border to it. I am pretty pleased with the resulting length and overall appearance of this one. The true color is that shown below, not the bright blue as it seems above.

This one was worked with a bamboo/wool blend on size 7 needles. Topdown and in one piece.Shown blocking...I added some length to the overall design, calculting the rows so that I would end up with seven buttonholes. For the lace repeat on the border I began with row 6 on the yoke chart and ended on row 23, finishing off with a seed stitch hem.

Shown here as it appears on the needles with the sleeve stitches on holders. Doesn't look like much here, does it?

Time to Celebrate our Graduate!

2011-06-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Way to go, Nicole! We're proud!

SPU Graduate-Magna Cum Laude

Sweet Autumn Leaves

2011-05-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

It's not autumn here, but the breeze is blowing. And a tornado hit Missouri recently in a tragic way. Friends of ours have relatives there and I was made aware of a little newborn whose momma lost everything she had in the tornado. I cannot fathom this. My first thought was that I wanted to send her a little baby sweater. This is the result:

Autumn Leaves...

Smitten by the pattern, I must say. I eeked it out with one skein of Cascade Sierra. Just barely. Using size 7 needles. Could've made a tad longer, but wanted to make sure I finished off the sleeve cuffs.

Autumn Leaves, by Nikki Van De Car, a free pattern off Ravelry. Sending it soon with hugs, and prayers. I hope one day to see a picture of the sweet baby wearing it.... XXOO...(edited 1/5/2012 to add: My wish just came true... Here she is at 4 mos. old with lots of room to grow into it )

Ladybug Baby Sweater

2011-05-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ladybug is a topdown raglan baby sweater. This one was my design, a simple one, but sweet. I am working out the design details on paper. I was able to do it all with one skein of Unisono, a 100% extra fine merino superwash wool. I had the wool for a long time and wanted to do something special with it. The colors are intriguing. I don't have a baby around to model for me...I need to get one of those! So instead, Matilda the bear comes in handy again. She is about the right size. This sweater is approximately 12 mos. size. I have it posted up on Ravelry as well. Ladybug, ladybug...fly away home!

Baby Sophisticate

2011-05-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

And there you have it! The Matilda bear modeling the sophisticated sweater in the libary reading Shakespeare!

Just a few more buttons needed for this sophisticated baby sweater. The baby who wears this one should definitely be sipping tea in the library reading Shakespeare! Baby Sophisticate, by Linden Down. A free pattern on Ravelry. Knit from 3 skeins Mission Falls merino wool (sadly, discontinued) with size 8 needles. This one is knit from the top down, raglan style. The sleeves are put on holders, then the body is finished. Sleeves are knit downward in the round. I shortened the body and sleeve length a tad.

The shawl collar is picked up along with the button band. Short rows are added to shape the collar. The method of binding off was the "sewn bind off". I show this method on one of my previous posts. Very distinguished looking, eh? I like the look of it with the silvery buttons.

It's blocking now on a towel to help even out the stitches some. Blocking has a way of working its wonders. I imagine this baby will be very smart, whoever it will be.

Mother's Day Joy

2011-05-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Homemade card from my artist daughter...so cute! She is the one who makes the cute cards I have

on my side bar.

Chocolati truffles in mocha and salted caramel and gift card to go get coffee at same shop! Yum!

Beautiful handmade card from my mother-one of many she has done for all occasions!

This must be where we all get our creative talents. From my mom!

My own skein of soft alpaca from a cute farm on San Juan Island and sheared off of "Foxy Lady" for a warm little project, from my oldest daughter and son in law!

Thank you to the little alpaca with the great name for giving up her wool!

Beautifully handmade beaded necklace and earrings from my daughter. She made me this so I don't steal her necklace. She might sell on Etsy soon too. Talented kiddos!

Tulips, card and surprise necklace from my honey!

The "reasons" I'm a proud momma!

Hope your Mother's Day was blessed!

Things That Make Me Smile

2011-04-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

And with the news headlines these days, we all need a little lift. Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants..I have heard about them. Now it's my turn to try them out. They start out small, you place them on a pan overnight to proof. In the morning they are HUGE. You bake them and eat them. Yum! They are flakey and good, and did I mention HUGE (?) and probably fattening, but I didn't look at the fat grams on purpose. They are something to make you smile in between knitting projects. Not while you knit, because your hands would of course be greasy.

I met an artist who does these great beaded necklaces and you can see her stuff at NOt June's Jewelry on Facebook. You can build your own like I did here. Many color combinations will work. This is just a sampling. This line is called "Urban Tribal." Love it!

A happy green vase filled with Gerbera daisies from a co-worker friend...that later adorned my Easter

table.

A little stuffed monkey named Stephanie makes me happy because she still accessorizes with a scarf I made for her a few years ago. She is the treasured friend of a disabled resident where my husband volunteers. Stephanie gets washed on "spa day" and I presume her scarf then gets washed along with her. She has also acquired a necklace,hat and a diaper apparently! It warms my heart to see she is still wearing this little scarf.

A happy beginning to another baby jacket in bright spring colors of merino wool. And the discovery of the "exact called- for yarn" for my Baby Sophisticate sweater. You hardly ever can find the "exact called-for yarn" it seems. It makes for another smile.

And three lovely wound balls of goodness ready for me to design something out of them. I think I'll have another T.J.'s croissant while I ponder what they will become...Something without sleeves, no doubt. Hope your day brings you lots to smile over!

It's Baby Shower Time

2011-04-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Finished the modified Baby Surprise Jacket in time for the baby shower this weekend of my dear neighbor's daughter. This is my third time making this one and it sure is a cute pattern.

Also made the modified Springtime Cardigan shown up close with the cute bear buttons. I made this into a vest version rather than long sleeved as in the pattern.

And finally had to try these Saartje's Bootees that I have seen and had in the queue for awhile from Ravelry. Everyone has done them it seems, but me! I just need some cute buttons for these now.

They were very fast to make and quite easy, however on the pattern instructions it fails to tell you to slip markers and make all your increases between the two markers. Otherwise, they are a breeze to make. Finished in no time flat!

Freeport Shawl Collar Vest

2011-04-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

Freeport Shawl Collar Vest...I have worn this each day since I completed it and have received many compliments. Some are saying it is their favorite of my knits so far. You've gotta try this pattern! There could be endless possibilities with the color combos really.....I had fun with my garnet red stripes against the backdrop of the brown. I am honored to have my photo up on The Brown Stitch's blog, as she is showing samples of what projects people have knit using her patterns. You can check it out and see her other cool patterns over there.

...and look at the texture...

Definitely love it even more after blocking. Blocking just makes every stitch fall into place and lay smoothly and I got a bit of length out of it too. Photo shoot outside today by my wonderful husband.

Shown before blocking.

Shown blocking.

Here's my version of Freeport Shawl Collar Vest by Elizabeth Smith. View her blog, The Brown Stitch and you can get her pattern there too! Or off Ravelry. She's on my sidebar link to the right! Mine was done with less than 3 skeins of Cascade Soft Spun, and less than one skein Malabrigo, both non-plied. I used a size 10 needle throughout. Of course I can never wait to model and wear my finished items before blocking, so I am wearing it here prior to blocking.

Shown before finishing armholes and blocking...I tried it on and it fits! I am always so happy when this happens. You do a project and make modifications and hope that you got the gauge right and that it all works out fine. Usually it does! In this case, I think I got the correct needle size, gauge and so far it looks like this one will be a winner. Cute pattern!

After a few more rows I will bind off the collar and start on the armhole stitches.

Working on the short rows to shape the shawl collar here....

The Freeport Shawl Collar Vest... a lovely pattern. I liked the stripes in garter stitch and in contrast to the main stockinette body. Since my yarn is a Cascade Soft Spun with brown and flecks of a red in it, I chose a Malabrigo in burgundy as my accent color for the stripes. Both yarns are soft and not plied. I am doing the medium size on size 10 circular needles. This pattern is seamless from the bottom up. Then you work the front pieces upward separately, putting one side on hold while knitting the other. The back is also knit upward. The stripes are made by alternating to the contrast color every two rows, and done in garter stitch. The shoulders will be sewn using a 3 needle bind off and the shawl collar will be picked up and short rows used to shape it.

Here is the piece layed out flat. You can see where you bind off stitches at the underarm. Modifications: I am omitting the waist shaping called for in the pattern, as well as omitting the "fake seam" called for down the armhole to the hem.I could have probably done the waist shaping, but thought it might be snug on me. It probably would've been just fine if I'd done it.

I think it's coming along well and soon I'll be ready to put the back stitches on hold while I finish knitting up the other "front" side.

I am working on the picking up of the collar stitches now and getting ready to do the short row wraps for the shawl collar. It's a cute pattern and vests are my new favorite thing so I look forward to finishing this one.

I am very happy with this pattern and recommend it. Note: I would not recommend the Cascade Soft Spun necessarily as it seems to "crease" a little bit. Odd, never had a yarn do that. But it then shakes out. Maybe since it is so soft.

Springtime Baby Vest

2011-03-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

I got this cute card and it is showing up sideways. Why? I can't rotate it in this post. My daughter gave it to me. Isn't it cute?

Other Springtime friends recently discovered and eaten...Bunny with buck teeth..eaten by me.

Chocolate with chocolate ganache.

And sleepy Chickie eaten by hubby... with.lemon curd inside.

I have "borrowed" permanently these photos from Sheila at Knit Night, since my phone was of inferior quality compared to that of hers. I like her blog: Material Thoughts. And the way she tells the story of Shaun the sheep is clever. It's all true...I do look happy and I did eat this...the whole thing.

Spring has definitely sprung, by the looks of the cherry blossom trees outside. When I saw this cute springy cupcake, I just had to get it for the "cute factor." He looks a bit worried doesn't he? He was rather tasty...poor guy. Speaking of cute things, what could be cuter than a new baby? Getting going on a little baby cardigan for my neighbor's first grandson using a baby bamboo yarn. It has seed stitch for the hem and button band. I may make it into a vest if I run out of yarn for the sleeves.

So far I have knit upwards on the back, then shoulder stitches on one side were held. Next I am proceeding to knit downward on one of the fronts, increasing at the neckline to make the V-neck.

Here's hoping I have plenty for the buttonband and to finish the armholes.

This has now become a vest!

This is a great and easy little pattern:

Springtime Baby Cardi by Kaity Von Rader. A free pattern on Ravelry. I made my vest version with less than 2 skeins of Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo on size 6 needles.

Need some buttons!

Here we go!

As seen recently on the baby, about 5 weeks old. I think he's a good sized guy! And quite adorable too!

Prayers for Japan

2011-03-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

Imagine my joy upon receiving this photo showing Hiroko, Izumi and Midori wearing the gloves I sent them across the miles. And they each chose the pair I had imagined they would choose! Hiroko chose the longer ones with the thumb, Izumi chose the chunky aqua, and Midori chose the darker blue variegated.

It brought tears to my eyes. Apparently it is still cold there too and so they will still get use out of them this spring. And along my walk yesterday ...

I spotted this little cherry blossom bundle laying on the ground and rescued it to enjoy for a day.

Modified "Welted Fingerless" gloves. While cute in the pattern, with little buttons on the "welts", mine resemble some kind of Star Wars space gloves, maybe done on too large sized needles. I ripped out and began again using size 5's. Instead I did a k2, p2 rib at the wrist and then 8 rows of k2, p2 rib at the top. Done on size 5 dpn's in Manos del Uruguay (silk /wool),1 skein. I especially like the design of the gusset for the thumb. And if you knit the M1R and M1L the correct way, as in if the bar you lift up is twisted the right direction, you end up with no holes at the increases. And the second try resulted in the version below, which I like much better. A set of fingerless mitts for Hiroko, and another simplified version without a thumb for Midori and Izumi. They are our friends in Japan who we know through an exchange program we were involved with about 11 years ago through school. We've kept in touch all these years, and emailed messages back and forth so the father may practice his English. Thankfully, they are safe. Our prayers are with them, and with the people of Japan as they experience their time of turmoil, and sadness following the earthquake. I will, as soon as I feel it is reasonable and that the airplanes are making such flights, send these gloves across the miles to let them know how much I am thinking of them and praying for them. I knit these for them, because it is my way of giving them something that is tangible, something heartfelt, and personal, that comes from my own creativity from my hands to theirs. I knit them because I know the mother also appreciates handmade items of beauty. I hope they will be comforted wearing these somehow and in knowing someone on the other side of the world cares for them. I like to imagine that they will choose which pair suits them, and which color they like the best. I can imagine them wearing them about town, on the train, to and from school or work. It is one way I can send part of myself to be there with them. The cherry blossoms on my library book remind me of them also. May springtime arrive soon for them all.

Eternalism "Earth" Vest

2011-02-25T11:28:00.001-08:00

I am on a vest kick it seems and on mid-winter break so I am like a knitting machine! Another vest caught my eye recently out of Winter/Spring Knitscene 2011. The Eternalism Vest by Talitha Kuomi: The construction of the vest was intriguing. Done up in the most beautifully hued wooly yarn. I happened upon a completed sample vest at Serial Knitters in Kirkland and was able to try on the store sample and chat with the lady who knit it in this exact yarn. This was helpful to correctly assess my yardage.

Here is the scrumptious, yet expensive yarn, Schoppel Wolle PUR. Made in Germany and every gram is yummy. I loved this yarn at first sight in the magazine and was delighted to see it in person. It appears felted and is so soft that I want to walk barefoot in it. I love it so much! My husband took one look at it and said it looked cool. Indeed, it is very amazing yarn. It plumps up when you knit with it and then further after blocking. As I said, rather pricey. So I ended up returning to get just one more skein as my size is the 37 and would require about 2.5 skeins of goodness. I knit mine on size 10 needles. The pattern calls for 4 skeins in my size, however, as I mentioned mine is only taking 2.5. Each skein is 150 m. or about 165 yards. These are the same colorway, called "Earth", just different colors showing in my balls below:

The hemline is genius. After casting on and knitting a few rows, you make a purl ridge and then continue stockinette a few rows, then you turn the hem on the purl ridge and...

You pick up stitches on the cast on edge using a spare needle to coincide with the same number of cast on stitches. This is so you can then knit the folded hem, wrong sides together, right to your piece. Makes sense once you do it.

This produces the most substantial and cushy hemline. It gives it some weight and is neat, tidy and finished looking.

Here's the reverse side of my hemline.

Once you reach the top of the back piece, the stitches at back neck are placed on a holder.

Then you cast on for your right front of the vest, knitting upward to the armhole and then across the back of the neck...

You use a slip 2 purlwise, k1 at this portion and that is making these little ridges you see. Markers are placed at this back neck portion where you will later seam this to the back.

You continue merrily knitting along, now knitting down the left front of the vest and do a little reverse shaping as you reach the armhole and a bit of casting on and increases to do so.

As it appears this snowy and cold Seattle morning...Almost nearing the finishing stages.

I love this knitting weather and the results of this beautiful pattern and yarn! I love knitting with it SO much I don't want to be done with the last few rows. That's how much I LOVE this yarn. I love it so much I think I want to marry it! I don't want this project to end. I ended up with a half skein leftover, as you recall I omitted the patch pockets on the pattern. I may do a cute pair of fingerless gloves to match. Or just snuggle up with the yarn and sleep next to it!

Ubernatural Cardigan

2011-02-21T22:53:00.001-08:00

Stefanie Japel's Ubernatural Cardigan: size 15 needles, size 13 for ribbing. 1 and 1/2 skeins Alpine chunky wool.

With a few more buttons "on order", I can still try it on with 6 sewn on!

My daughters says she likes it this way with just the top ones on and besides, I don't know if I will be able to button the lower ones anyway. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! It's cold out today for a photo shoot! Great knitting weather!

It is sweater weather and I'm loving being a knitter this time of year! This one, once I finally got going, went so fast due to the bulky yarn and needles. The concept behind this sweater is that it is topdown, raglan, knit with chunky yarn, with deep ribbing, and the contrast of the many buttons plays against the minimal neckline detail.

Using 1 1/2 skeins of chunky 14 ply Alpine wool, my Ubernatural Cardigan is based on the Stefanie Japel pattern. My color choice is about as icy tealy blue as a cold snap in Seattle. Which we are having right about now. Mine was made on size 15 needles for body, and 13 for ribbing. It has a million buttonholes. I changed mine to a K2, YO, K2tog. I also lengthened my sleeves a bit. I finished the bottom body ribbing after the 10th button. I just could not bring myself to knit yet another buttonhole so I knit a few more rows and bound off!

I made a few more increases rows than called for at the shoulders until I reached the underarms. That is the beauty of a topdown sweater that you can try on as you go.

Since my needles were chunky I had to resort to wine markers for stitch markers.

This yarn had alot of knots and puffy places in it, but knit up fast. There were a few errors in the pattern so I relied on Ravelry members to set me straight on the

corrections. Mainly that you knit 1 in between the two YO's that make the increases on the shoulders. That was a biggie... I only did one decrease row at the waistline,though did not like the slip1, knit1, pass slipped stitch over and how it looked in this chunky of a yarn. It shows up too much on the finished product. I would just do a ssk instead on one side and a k2tog on the other. And now to hunt for 10 buttons????

Mythos

2011-02-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

Completed Mythos! The sweater is knit in two halves and grafted at the back seam. Showing grafted back here-not sure if I did it correctly, but I followed a tutorial online.I grafted the seam as follows:

Step 1: Insert needle into first stitch on front needle from back to front, as if to purl.

Step 2: Insert needle into first stitch on back needle from front to back, as if to knit. Drop first stitch from back needle.

Step 3: Insert needle into first stitch on back needle from back to front, as if to purl.

Step 4: Insert needle into first stitch on front needle from front to back, as if to knit. Drop first stitch from front needle.

Repeat steps 1-4 until all sts. have been grafted.

This came out a bit more stripey than I imagined, but the colors are pleasing. It can be pinned with a shawl pin as shown or hang loose and open.

Mythos here, blocking on a towel after turning garter edge under and tacking on wrong side. I finished off the front "flaps" with 3 rows stockinette:RS row, decrease one each end, purl row, repeat RS row decreases, then bound off on WS row. I turned the flap edge under also when I tacked down the garter edge along the rest of the sweater. The turning under of the "hem" gives a little stability to the edges of this cardigan.

The "making of Mythos":

My sockweight Mythos cardigan is coming along now. Mythos is worked flat on circular needles from the sleeve cuff over to the front/back, in a total of two identical sides or pieces. It is grafted together at the center back when completed. Shown here with left front and 1/2 back completed and on holders, and the beginnings of the right sleeve.

I'm using these lovely yarns on a size 7 circular. Used less than three skeins total.

Inspired by Busy Bea Knits (see my sidebar to go to her blog), and her very lovely rendition of the Mythos Cardigan, I decided I must try making one of my own. I love the look of sock yarn, but don't (as of yet) knit socks. I had wanted to try making a sweater out of beautiful sockweight yarn. Mythos is the perfect pattern to do just that.This time I had the yarn shop wind my yarn so that I would not end up with a tangled mess like last time when I bought this nice "lightweight" yarn! I am no fool! I still haven't untangled this mess yet, and it looks far worse now than this picture indicates. This was going to be a Whisper Cardigan....but it will wait:Instead I started Mythos. You begin with the right sleeve. I am alternating the two yarn colorways whenever I feel like changing colors. After the right sleeve you continue on same needles, and cast on for the right front and back sections and then do some short row shaping on the front and then decreases at the neckline. The back you knit 1/2 way across and end up putting on a holder for later, when you graft it together with the other side once completed.This shows the right sleeve, the right front and the very front of the flap that you put on a holder as well. The 1/2 back is laying behind and is also on a holder.

You then begin all over again, repeating this process creating the left sleeve, left front and back.

After these two sides are created, then the grafting of the back pieces, the sleeve and side seams will commence. While the stockinette can be rather tedious in this tiny yarn, and at times can feel boring, the variation in colors as I go and the changing back and forth of colorways is keeping me interested enough to plug along for the final outcome. And I can only hope it turns out as beautiful as my friend, Bea's beautiful Mythos...Go check hers out!

What I learned on this project: It allowed me to get better at doing "short rows and wraps". While it was somewhat alot of stockinette stitch, knitting a sweater with sockweight yarn requires patience, and patience pays off. This was a great project for doing during the Super Bowl and to take to knit night, and can be done while holding a decent coversation. And I learned how to "graft" the back seam. Though when I looked up a tutorial and actually did it, it seemed to be not as invisible as it should've been. But it worked, nonetheless.

I think my dyelots were a bit off on one of my skeins, therefore producing a bit of a defined "stripe" rather than a blended alternating of colors on one half of the cardigan. So it is a little whimsical in that regard.

All in all, a fun experience using sock yarn for a sweater!

Americano Vest

2011-01-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

Here's the completed Americano Vest from the Berroco Chunky & Vintage Chunky Booklet #302. Completed using size 10 needles and Cascade 128 Chunky. It took less than 3 skeins.

Showing my back yoke seam that I kept visible for a "design element!" I am hunching over sort of, don't know why. I thought maybe I was making it look "flatter" that way.

Trying out buttons...after finishing off the edging and blocking.

This image is a photo I took of the project page of "Americano" out of the Berroco Vintage & Vintage Chunky Booklet #302, a lovely vest pattern I fell in love with. All the projects are named after locations in my Seattle area and vicinity. This booklet was my final purchase when my local yarn shop closed this past year. I was unable to find the called for yarn on a recent trip to another yarn shop, so chose a Cascade 128 chunky yarn for this project. It is very soft and felt great working up on a size 10 needle.

This vest is worked in pieces and has some great textures and angles that make it intriguing to work and to seam up. Shown below in pieces being held down by some random objects!

I love the front pieces and the K3tog that makes a nice faux seam up the front, then angles off as you continue in a K2tog.

I chose to do the back yoke seam as a visible seam, because I felt it would be fun to do so, considering all the other texture and seams that are visible in this project.

The edges do curl so blocking is imperative. An edging will be placed around the neckline and buttons will get added. This is turning out to be an adorable vest! I have done the size 38.

A quick and gratifying knit!

With alot of visual interest and angles. I learned that M1K doesn't mean make one, then knit one! I knit this with the memory that some of the time I was working on it was spent as my friend was going through a very hard time in which she lost her husband. I knit some of it while sitting with her mother. I knit some of it after hearing that her mother in law was blessed by my teaching her to knit, so she could knit at the hospital by his bedside and felt as if I were right there with her. In these times I feel knitting is my gift from God. To me, and to others.

Green Day Vest

2011-01-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

And here's the finished Green Day Vest -The pattern was free on Ravelry.
Of course I haven't really blocked it yet. I can never wait for that! This vest fit the bill for using my Irish wool. I had been saving this wool since my trip to Dublin Bay Knitting Company a few years ago. Wanting something with cables, just waiting for the right pattern. I thought maybe a vest without sleeves so I wouldn't get too warm. This vest will always remind me of our trip down to Portland, where we discovered the culinary delights of eating out there. And our little trolley trip to the Pearl District with my patient friends, who browsed in a card shop while I bought this yarn. The neckline is deeper than some vests. That could be adjusted by starting later on the neckline decreases. Used size 8 needles for body, size 6 needles for ribbing and my beloved stash of Aran Wool from Kerry Woollen Mills. Modified by adding a nice buttonband to front. I learned the 3- needle bind off method (a link below in my text), and had fun with slipping stitches and passing them over. I do like the one-row button hole for a tidy buttonhole method. (link below in text)

Stages of the Green Day Vest:
Interesting hemline with a twisted knit stitch every third row.

Ribbing across the back is a P2K6. I omitted the called-for side cables from armhole to hem.Working the cable pattern up the front. It's popping out nicely.Showing the piece layed out with the back in the "middle". Stitches are put on hold on the fronts while you work up the back and bind off the armholes and neckline.Neckline stitches are decreased after completing the cable and then fronts are knit upward to "meet" the back. Shoulder seams are made using the 3 needle bind off method. Very easy and very clean way to seam the shoulders.Stitches are picked up around the neckline using size 6 needles. I picked up 120 stitches total. Then worked 8 rows of K2P2 rib, and bound off on WS. Next I picked up 48 stitches for each front buttonband and did 8 rows of K2P2 rib. I made six one row buttonholes 4 stitches apart. These are the nicest finished buttonholes I have ever done. The U-Tube tutorial is easy to follow. Lastly, I will pick up some stitches around the armholes for another little ribbed edge, then get some buttons on and try to block this one a bit! Then it will be time to wear!

A Tweedy New Year

2010-12-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

I've had this Aran wool from Kerry Woollen Mills that I got at Dublin Bay Knitting Co. in Portland, OR awhile back. I have been saving it up to do an Irish tweedy vest of some sort. Here is my first try at doing one. The pattern: Bramblewood. I found the yarn to be very scritchy and stiff. I tried spraying with water and blocking out a bit to see if it would change and "bloom" a bit, and I think it would. Then as I went along, it just didn't seem the cables were "popping" out as they should so I am not sure I want to continue this vest,as the cables are on both back and front sides.
Though I do love this pattern...

They show up a bit more on the top section, as that is what I sprayed and tried to block, poke and prod the cables to come out a bit. I have set this one aside for now.

Instead I found an easy Green Day vest pattern that I am trying since I have plenty of the yarn to begin again. And maybe it will be easier to work with this new pattern.

It has a twisted knit row every third row on the hemline. It calls for other cables to run from underarm to hem on the sides, however I am omitting those cables.

I'm liking it so far...It's very cold out here and nice to be working with tweedy wool.

Happy Knit Year!

Merry Christmas Knitting and hello, yellow bird artwork!

2010-12-26T12:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all! I was blessed by handmade cards by my "artist" daughter. She will be very likely to sell her artwork on etsy, and also has her portfolio and contact information up online. She is a graphic designer/illustrator/sudio artist. You can find her work here: http://www.wix.com/berg21/portfolio#! And her blog here: http://nicoleberger-helloyellowbird.tumblr.com/

...and sheep stitch markers given to me by my son in law and other daughter. Shown here working on my next project, with "happy" sheep adorning my needles!

Push the Reset Button

2010-12-17T19:48:00.001-08:00

Shortbread #4 is the same version as below, except using only 6 Tbl. corn starch and about 1/2 c. (?) or more ground almond meal, adding 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. vanilla. I pulled out of oven when it started to get golden. Cut while warm. Then dusted with powdered sugar while warm. This tastes very much like our family favorite, Almond Crescents, but easier to make in a 9 x13 pan!

Shortbread Try #3: This time I used the whole cup of cornstarch. Not even a "scant". Felt weird putting that much cornstarch in. I also added 1/2 tsp. salt since I used unsalted butter and we decided shortbread has to have salt to taste right.

It came out like this, but I put back in the oven to see if I could get it to cook a bit more after I cut it.

The edge pieces looked like this. The center ones were poofier.

I would have to say the flavor was good. I dusted with granulated sugar prior to baking. Recipe calls for powdered sugar dusting after it comes out of the oven, which tastes great too, we found upon our last test trial.

The cornstarch seems to make it taste a bit lighter and a bit crispier on the edge pieces, but seems to add a puffiness to the center pieces that is also nice.

Knitting along on the 1 x 1 rib scarf in between batches of Scottish Shortbread. Using O-Wool...easy knit, easy going...vacation pace!

Trying Scottish Shortbread Recipe #2: This one called for scant 1 c. cornstarch. I only had but a few tablespoons, so I threw that in, then added about a few shakes-maybe 1/2 c.- of ground almond meal for good measure. I also added in 1/2 tsp. salt this time, since I used unsalted butter. Kind of like a combination of our family favorite recipe for "almond crescents" mixed with the shortbread recipe below-minus, as I mentioned, most the corn starch!:

Baked as directed and here are the results, after shaking on the powdered sugar:

Mighty good, mighty good. Yes, indeed. I gained a pound just looking at them! I might try this one again after purchasing more corn starch and see how that turns out doing them again with the 1 c. cornstarch. The ground almonds are a great addition, by the way!

Pushing the reset button on life and going into Christmas baking mode around here....Recipe attempt #1 yielded a thin cookie. I used unsalted butter and therefore, it was not quite as salty as it probably should've been. I sprinkled granulated sugar over the top before baking. Here is how they appeared after being cut. Not too poofy. Might need to use an 8x8 pan to make double the poofiness.

The recipe I used was from here:

My husband was happy to test them out. We decided it needed the salt and maybe I would try another recipe until I hit it right.

And a bit of mindless easy knitting on a scarf using alternating colors of O-Wool. In a knit 1, purl 1 rib. I am slipping the first and last stitch of every 2nd row purlwise to have the edges look cleaner.

Fast Fingerless Gloves

2010-12-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

These lovely gloves "winged" their way all the way to my knitter friend in the UK, where I hope they will keep her toasty warm while they are experiencing quite a snow storm over the holidays.

This link here:

How to Knit Fingerless Gloves
is a video I found with a super easy "recipe" for fast fingerless gloves. I know you thought I'd never make any more after last year when I made like 10 pairs of Fetching. I have made alot of these easy pairs in the past few days. Easy because no cabling is required. And they don't have thumbs. But you could add them.Use bulky worsted weight yarn. Size 9 needles. Or 10. Cast on 24. K2 P2 in rib for 15 rows for cuff, then knit in stockinette for 12 rows (or more for longer gloves), K2 P2 rib for 4 more rows and cast off in rib. Sew the side seams leaving room for your thumb. Voila! A bit of leftover stash used up.

Two -toned gloves using a smaller gauge yarn, casting on 34 instead, and using a lighter grey on the trim.

And a few gifts are made!

Yarn and coffee in Mt. Vernon, WA

2010-12-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

A sneak preview of my upcoming project: Mythos. It's a sweater using fingering weight yarn on size 7 needles. Slow going with the stockinette stitch, but I am alternating between two colorways of yarn that keeps me "paying attention." If you want to see a fabulous version of Mythos, you should check out my side bar and go to Busy Bea Knits. Hers is fantastic!

I got to visit the Wild Fibers yarn shop in Mt. Vernon, WA on our way up north today. They had a fantastic selection. I really loved all they carried. All the great "names" in yarn: Cascade, Noro, and Debbie Bliss, Spud and Chloe, Berroco, Rowan, Manos del Uruguay, etc... and some pretty hand painted sock yarns. They also had some really cute buttons. Plus, they were open on a Sunday. Cute sign in the bathroom that reads: This bathroom is very old- it used to be the jail! The toilet will not flush properly unless it has stopped running from the previous flush....

Ristretto coffee had a nice latte made for me, not too hot... and festive straws for the season. Ahhh...

Shalom Revisited, Peace Again!

2010-11-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

Shalom Two or: "Peace" Again! Here it is with a long-sleeved shirt underneath. It's like a sweater vest coat, really. The coat of many colors. It does attract the attention of those holiday shoppers who are aware enough to notice it is a handmade and distinctive garment. I found this out the other day at Target, when a random lady stopped me to comment about it.It took a few fancy "seams" in the back of the yoke to get it to fit better. In hindsight, I cast on too many for the yoke...

The Shalom Two sweater keeps developing! I decided to add on a hem and a little bit of a sleeve. So I picked up and knit several garter stitch rows for the hem. Picked up too many stitches the first try which made it flare out and ruffle. Second try, picked up every other stitch which was a bit snug. Trying to block it out a bit here:For the sleeve: I picked up about 7 stitches in quadrants around the sleeve and 14 under the arm, (about 42 total) knitting in the round for 5 rows in stockinette, then 3 rows: purl, knit, purl to finish off before casting off on the wrong side row.

This particular project has been in hibernation for a year now. What better time to get the wool out than when we are having a nice cold snap here in Seattle. Lows of 15 degrees at night, snow on the ground and it's 25 degrees out now. School's closed and I can hunker down in my snow jammies all day with my coffee and my yarn. I made the pattern, Shalom awhile back and loved it so. You may find the pattern on Involving the Senses blog. I used a combination of that pattern for the yoke, as well as the Poppy sweater pattern idea for the lower portion of the sweater. You can see my original Shalom and Poppy sweaters on the sidebar to the right, as well as the blogsite mentioned above (I hyperlinked it). This was a creative endeavor combining two pattern concepts into one. I first made the yoke according to Shalom's instructions on size 10 needles with the Noro yarn, casting on 109. In hindsight this was probably too many stitches...Then I added on the body using sideways knitting of stripes of alternating yarns adding in purl rows for interest, until it made a long enough strip to attach to the yoke. I added on a button band to the body, however only added buttonholes to the yoke. I used some Cascade 220 Heathers and some Berroco Palace and more Noro for my striping on the body.

It ends up being very roomy in the yoke in the back, however I am not brave enough to try steeking on such a complicated yoke. So I tried to tumble it a bit in the dryer to see if I could snug the sweater up a bit. I don't recommend doing this on your wool, but I did this on this particular sweater knowing I had a lot of "give" in it and checked it every several minutes. I did this after soaking, spinning it and blocking it almost dry. After this, I sewed on buttons. Voila! My husband says it looks somewhat like a poncho! Thanks, honey! I had thought of adding on sleeves...then again, may not. I might just wear a long sleeved shirt under it.

It kind of does look like Joseph's technicolor dreamcoat or a coat of many colors.
It was a fun and artsy way of using up Noro yarns and my first attempt at doing something of the sort!

An Ending and a Beginning

2010-11-19T21:21:00.001-08:00

A sadness is over the knitting community due to the closing of our local yarn shop.

Knitting there one last time was sad, but...

I had the joy of teaching one special Grandma and her granddaughter to knit today. And that helped make up for one sad ending. And made it a day of new beginnings.

And they caught on very quickly. I hope it brings them great joy! I know it did for me!

Trying On Slinky Ribs and Blocking!

2010-11-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Voila! My new "favorite" sweater: Slinky Ribs, by Wendy Bernard from her book, "Custom Knits".
Used 5 skeins of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, on size 6 needles, 6 dpns, and size 4 needles. LOVE! It is so comfortable and I will really wear this one alot!Modifications: I raised the neckline by an inch and made the sleeves 3/4 length, added in a purl row before casting off the sleeves as well as the hem to help it avoid curling. I also made buttonholes for the six buttons.
I learned about: provisional cast-on, short-row shaping on a sleeve cap, did alot of ribbing and made a few mistakes along the way!

Here's what it looked like all dried and blocked in the morning. I soaked it in Eucalan and then rolled in a towel, put both the towel with the sweater (still inside it), in the "spin" cycle of my washer just to get excess water out, and then layed it flat to dry overnight. Can't wait to get a photo shoot outside in this one!

A sleeve:

Blocking makes ALL the difference:

Found that extra button! I took out and redid the hem to include a purl row to match the ends of the sleeves. Finished picking up the neckline stitches and knit an extra row there than called for. The neckline curls a bit -it is meant to do that. Trying it on before blocking, I am pleased. Before blocking:

During blocking:

I can get a bit of extra length out of it through blocking and get the hem to lie flatter, especially with the purl row added in. This sweater feels super soft and comfy. I can see getting use out of this one! I knit most of the ribbing while down in Bend, OR and will always have the memory that I had started it on a hot September afternoon, poolside at the hotel, just as was pictured in the pattern book! Well...almost! I will remember this was knit just before attending a lovely couple's wedding on our trip there, and alot of time spent knitting it on the LONG car ride home.

Slinky Rib is Coming Along

2010-11-08T19:29:00.000-08:00

Edited to add: After adding the buttons...looks like I am one button short! I actually found the buttons at Wal-Mart! Perhaps the greatest discovery ever...they were only 67 cents! Here's hoping they still have them. The pattern calls for you to pick up and knit 2 stitches for every 3 rows along each front buttonband edge, so I picked up 28 along the bands. Remember I raised my neckline up, so this may differ for each individual. On the left front band, on the 3rd (knit) row, I made buttonholes like so: K3, (YO, K4, repeat), K last 3 stitches (with one yarnover, spaced every 4 stitches). On the the following row, purled into the yarnovers and purled 2 together after the holes. I also knit one extra row than called for and cast off on the wrong side (purl side) of the band. I had read in the pattern you are to just sew on the buttons and not make holes, but I thought buttonholes would look nicer, even if I sewed them down secure to the other flap.

I think I can smooth out the ruffles during blocking stage, but here's a close up. Next I will do the picking up of stitches around the neckline and knit stitches off the back neck where stitches have been patiently holding on for a long, long, time.

Sleeves done, and up next: Picking up stitches on the front for the buttonband and the neckline. Every sweater I learn something new. On this one I have learned about shaping a sleeve cap with short rows and doing some rib detail, raising a neckline and doing a provisional cast on. In every sweater are little mistakes. Some I can correct, and others remain there, as a reminder that it is handmade! This sweater has its share of boo boos, however, all in all I am liking it so far.

Slinky Rib Sleeves, Alpaca Visit

2010-10-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

Finished with the first sleeve. Made it 3/4 length instead of short like the pattern. I did decreases about every seven rows. Did stockinette for a few inches, then one purl row, a few more stockinette and then cast off. At the end I had 66 stitches on the needle. I may do this purl row finish to the bottom of the sweater to match, which would mean redoing the last bit of the sweater hem over. I don't like how much it rolls. It's supposed to roll and may block out a bit, but it's rolling alot. So the extra purl row should help the rolling a bit. The photo in the book pictures this "purl" addition on the modified version as well.

A parent at our school has an alpaca farm and these are some samples he brought in to show us today of the different fibers off three of the alpacas. (Bad cell phone picture) Undyed, these are the natural colors. Nice... Showing the sleeve progress on Slinky Rib, knitting downward on dpns:

I am getting a bit tired of ribbing, but I want the sleeves longer than in the pattern. So onward I go. Or downward I go.

Slinky Ribs Sweater Progress

2010-10-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

It's coming along here, as you can see. It is meant to curl at the bottom and I will block this one definitely after I am through, as I have heard it will "grow." So I made it 22 " from top of shoulder down to hem. Next, the sleeves, which I have now begun. You pick up the sleeve stitches and shape the sleeve cap using "short rows". A bit awkward, but I am using dpns to do the sleeves. Once the shaping with the short rows is done, then you knit downward in the round.Edited to add more pictures today of my progress knitting downward in the round. After doing the plain rib, you join your left front, back, and right front and begin to knit in the round. You then do the rib detail as instructed. I am using a 29" circular size 6 needle. You then knit in stockinette downward to the desired length. More will be done later to the front with adding bands and buttons, as well as finishing off the neck (which is still on a stitch holder). And of course sleeves will come after that. I put 1/2 my stitches on another pair of circular needles so that I could try this on for size. It fits really well. The front will be closed together with buttonband:

Continuing knititing downward, from the shoulders, using two balls of yarn. One for each "front". You do this after the point where you pluck out the provisional cast on... after much gnashing of teeth. Don't ever ever make your provisional cast on out of the same yarn as your project, my dears....just saying. I didn't have any other yarn with me or I would have. See the neck held by the stitch holder? See the stitch markers marking the shoulders? I knit downward, one side at a time, and raised up the neckline curve 1 inch higher than the pattern. If you do this, you must pay attention then as to where to begin your armhole increases and then after you are chugging along well with both fronts, pay attention to when to put your stitches on the needle in order of : left front, back (from "waste yarn"), and right front. Then you knit downward still, but side-to-side across these pieces leaving the fronts separated for now. Is that clear as mud? Great! It really makes more sense than that when you read the pattern.

Since I am doing the size 36 1/2, I am knitting now until my fronts measure 11 inches from the shoulder. Then it will be time for connecting the fronts and knitting entirely in the round I believe. Hey, looking at this, it could make a cute tank top, couldn't it? But I want the whole yummy sweater with sleeves. I am sort of sick of ribbing actually about now. I must press on!

Slinky Ribs Sweater in Bend

2010-09-26T20:22:00.001-07:00

Yum, lookie! I got some yarn for my Birthday in this lovely brown-with- flecks color. I had heard this Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool yarn is lovely to knit with and I am finding that to be so true. I happened to have the pattern book with a sweater that called for this yarn in it. Which was a great relief as I was pressed for time packing, so I took it all with me on our weekend to Bend, OR. Wound a few skeins in the car and studied my pattern on the way down, and did a swatch. I hate swatching, but I did it anyway. A few pretty shots of Bend, OR at Drake Park and of the Deschutes River.

We had great hot weather, a nice change of pace from the Seattle fall rains. I am at the Old Mill District here having a nice organic iced tea.

Me and the hubby here...married now 27 wonderful years. Enjoying a nice flatbread appetizer and some shade.

One cool morning, in downtown Bend, they were setting up for a Weiner Dog Race and we were walking around town quickly to get out before the crowds arrived. I got a latte at my favorite spot, Thump Coffee. Down the street we stumbled upon some real yarn graffiti!

It had some pretty nice pieces on it too. Some good colorwork. Some unidentifiable objects as well.

Not every day you run across yarn grafitti...It was fun to know there are knitters in Bend. I actually knew that from my last trip down there. Still comforting to see their handiwork on display.

Back at the hotel, we were the only "out of town" patrons who felt the sun was indeed warm enough to sit by the pool. How appropriate that we donned our sunscreen and did so.

How appropriate also, that my newest pattern is photographed in the book with a "pool boy" shown behind her. I did not have a "pool boy" on this trip, just my handome hub! However I did begin knitting this pattern by the poolside.

It was lovely to be in 80's weather ....after being in rainy Seattle.

My pattern comes from this book, which I happened to already own: Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. I am doing the Slinky Ribs Sweater.

My color is #67 and is a darker brown. Here is one photo from the book.

And here's another photo from the book. I plan to raise the neckline up and make long sleeves on mine. This is a seamless sweater that is begun with a provisional cast on at the top of the back, then it is knit downward. Later on, taking back up the provisional cast on stitches and knitting down the front. This eliminates any seam at the top of the shoulder. Only problem was I didn't have any contrasting yarn with which to do the provisional cast on. Note to self: Listen when they say use a contrasting yarn for provisional cast on. They mean it for a good reason! I should've heeded the advice. And I am not having a wonderful time when it comes to picking out the "waste" yarn. I just couldn't bring myself to drive into town on such a hot day to find some cheap skein of contrasting yarn. I am very sorry indeed! The sleeves are knit in the round. I am using size 6 needles and trying for the size medium, 36 1/2 bust, as I have heard this yarn can "grow" with blocking.

All in all, I am excited to have gotten the yarn that was recommended, and to discover I already had the pattern in my book!

So far it is a dream to knit with this yarn and it seems like it will be comfortable to wear this blend of wool/silk/nylon. Lots and lots of ribbing was done on the long drive home.

Second Best Friend

2010-09-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the chill in the air that means fall is here...I can almost taste a pumpkin spice latte, can't you?

Edited to add a few photos of the finished Best Friend Cardigan. Pattern by: Wenlan Chia
Size 19 needles. 3 skeins Thick and Chunky Wool Ease in "Spice". This one's very warm and soft. The large actually ended up fitting me. Still haven't blocked it, but that's typical of me! I can never wait to wear things when I finish them. Arm seams a bit bulky. All in all, it came out cute!

What's better than a Best Friend? A Second Best Friend! OK, so the lilac was a trial run, remember? Besides, I am waiting for buttons and can't wear that one yet. I am a fickle friend and am already on to the next chunky bulky one. This one is the real deal weight called for in the pattern. Using big needles, size 19. Talk about fast knitting. This thing could knit itself in a day. I am not even kidding! FAST!

It's sort of a spicy pumpkiny fall color. Whadya know? It's called "Spice". I got 4 skeins of Thick and Quick Wool Ease. A blend of lamb's wool and (gasp!) acrylic. I know, I know. I have used the blends in the last two boleros which didn't turn out half bad. There is not alot of stretch to acrylic, but it was bulky and so there you have it.

It crunches up rather smallish right now and I hope it is going to S-T-R-E-T-C-H on me with those big stitches when I put it on! Or when I block it. I did not do the bobbles. Didn't want to. I did not do buttonholes. Others said they were not needed due to the big stitches. I did not do the waist decreases as others recommended not to. I added a few rows of the ribbing on the waist. Other than all that, I don't think I modified anything. I know, amazing the "Mod Squad" did not do too many more "mods" this time. I made the large. It doesn't look very large yet.

Mod Squad

2010-08-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

Edited to add: Pic after Best Friend Cardigan is drying and shaping up a bit. Still waiting on my buttons...

Arm seams are a bit funky... A pic with the first two buttons on the Best Friend Cardigan. And a pic of it as I am beginning to shape it and do the blocking. In the blocking process, I am able to even out the cables a bit.

Cleaning out our storage unit, I discovered my childhood craft creation of a paper mache pig....I see that at one point I did love lilac. Indeed I did love this pig. Lilac isn't so very bad after all. The cat seems to really like this color. She has never tried to play with my yarn until now, believe it or not. She wanted to lay on my bag of it.

Ok, here's the preview after many "mods." I am part of the "Mod Squad". I torture myself with "mods." I did the called for neckline, it was floppy. So I ripped it out and put in a K2 P2 neckline with fewer picked up stitches.

Due to my smaller gauge and guesswork on the sleeves, I had too many stitches at the shoulder and will need to rip this out and reduce the amout of stitches for the sleeve cap.

Here's the "changed" neckline in the K2 P2 ribbing.

And again a "mod": I knit the called for K2 P2 on the hem, but it pulled in weirdly with my gauge yarn, so I took out and knit on a garter stitch band on instead. Definitely needs some TLC and some blocking help.

Lots of mods for the "Mod Squad". Why must I torture myself when I could've done the pattern on bulkier weight to start with? Just to use the stash and take on the challenge I guess. Either I am nuts, or I am a fearless knitter!

Friends Can Be Fickle

2010-08-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

So I started the Best Friend Cardigan out of Wenlan Chia's book. It is a free pattern on Ravelry. I just got the book from the library for fun...and then I went off with another project for awhile. And now I'm back again. Just like a fickle friend I guess. Now it isn't so hot outside, so it's back to knitting with wool. I am not really sure about this project yet, ....not sure about the color. The color lilac is so...lilac. But the pattern is sort of funky and fun. So it deserves a fun color. I am considering this my "test knit". I have gotten some other chunky yarn to use to make another one if I like how this turns out. So I figure this is my practice run. I have heavily modified this pattern to fit my yarn gauge and my needle size was dropped down from pattern recommended size. So now it doesn't resemble the original pattern a whole lot. As in, the original only has maybe 4 cable repeats up the front and is on way chunkier yarn and huge needles, but this is good practice! Upside down -not sure why?-photo (above) of one side or front of the sweater. Lower photo shows how this pattern was written. It is knit from the bottom up and side to side, then you leave the sides on holders, knit the back upwards, and then put the neck on a holder. Then you go back to put the front pieces on the needles and knit upward, keeping the pattern going, as well as buttonholes. I did mine so I'll end up with six buttonholes up the front. I have many more cable pattern repeats than the pattern, again, due to my yarn, gauge and needle size.

See how it looks all opened up? (above) Now I will fold it in so you can see what it might look like for real. (below)

I am now knitting up the other front side, then I will bind off at the neck. Then I think it will be time to do the sleeves. Some other people who have knit this pattern have done the sleeves in the round. They are written in the pattern to have a cap and be knit in with seams. I'll see what I feel like doing when I get to it. This is an experiment for me in gauge and stitch count and fudging.

After the sleeves will be time to finish off the neck and do some buttons and blocking. I could buy buttons or make them by doing a crochet-covered button, depending on what I want to do at the time. Hm...not sure if I can commit to this Best Friend yet. My daughter said, "It's very PURPLE." Thank you, honey. I know. It is. Maybe purple is the season's "new black". I have nothing against purple. I look good in purple. Many friends of mine love purple. (Julie or perhaps Christine?) It's just not my all-time favorite, not my very bestest friend color. Not yet, not this week. Maybe next week.

Ocean Knitting

2010-08-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Edited to add pics: Another ribbed bolero is born at the ocean. Ribbed Lace Bolero, by Kelly Maher. It's a great, free pattern on Ravelry. Knit on size 8 and 10 needles with Cotton Ease, 2 skeins in "stone".

Since I was taking these by myself with a timer, I see I had it on a bit crooked, but you get the idea.

When you see all this sandy beauty and the colors of nature....
it just makes you want to knit something with the name "stone" or "sand" in it.

Knitting on the beach is the ultimate!

It was a lovely getaway in the RV with my folks staying nearby at a Bed 'n Breakfast at Pacific Beach, WA.

Best Friend Cardigan

2010-08-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

I am going to make this Best Friend Cardigan for fun! I liked the funky, chunky look of it.
It's by Wenlan Chia from her book: Twinkle's Big City Knits. I was trying to import the photo of the actual sweater up there, but it is a link to Ravelry instead. (Tiny picture of it below)
The pattern calls for size 19 needles and a super chunky yarn made by Classic Elite, which I cannot find. Also some reviewers' comments made me want to substitute a different yarn. I am using Louet -Riverstone bulky/chunky weight in lilac with size 15 circs, and am trying for a size 38/40. So I have had to calculate my gauge and adjust accordingly. My yarn is not as chunky, and the pattern is written for very small sizes.

The pattern calls for bobbles, which I am omitting. All the while laughing at other's comments about how they thought the bobbles were similar to bovine body parts! It is started from the bottom up, has a cable pattern repeat running up the front, which I will be repeating more times due to my gauge. There are buttonholes every 8th row. It has reverse stockinette showing on the right side. Many Ravelry users have commented on the pattern so I am getting some tips there. The sleeves are meant to be knit separately and flat, then attached with a sleeve cap, however many have done them in the round and seamlessly. Why lilac? No particular reason, other than I got it on sale, and it was bulky. And I thought I would have enough yardage to give it a whirl. We shall see if it is indeed my Best Friend when I am through!

Ribbed Bolero!

2010-08-03T10:26:00.001-07:00

Ribbed Lace Bolero by Kelly Maher. A free pattern on Ravelry. Used two skeins of Cotton Ease in taupe. Size needles: 8 and 10.

It is done! Not blocked, but done! A few glitches -a boo boo in the lace, I am hoping to be able to tweak on it and then block. And shown hanging on a hanger. Not quite the same as on a real body...

I learned a new technique. The Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off. This is to mirror the cast on edge and to provide a stretchy bind off. I watched a good U-Tube tutorial to get the hang of it. Here is my version. After last row of ribbing, leave 4 x the width of your piece in a tail of yarn and then thread it through a tapestry needle. Insert into the front of first two stitches purlwise and pull your yarn through.

Then insert needle knitwise into first stitch and pull through to the back.

Then slip that first stitch off the left needle.

Voila! You have cast off one. Now continue to do this all the way to the end.

Once you have gotten to the end, you are left with one loop. Just thread through it and weave in the end into your side seam. Your finished piece before seaming:

Mattress stitch the top and bottom ribbed edges together on the side edge for 3 1/4" to make your armholes.

After seaming it looks sort of like this:

Weave in your ends and try on. You can decide which ribbed edge you like the best for your collar. You can wear it either way. Instructions say you may sew down your collar to keep in place. It is cute! I wore it up to Lake Samish and it was nice for the cool evening air.

Blueberry Cake

2010-07-29T20:13:00.001-07:00

The blueberries in my yard have just exploded and it was time to pick a bunch today. I got about 10 cups off of the 3 bushes just today. There will be more on the way. We have given away some and now we must use them while they are fresh. We still have some in the freezer from last year! They are really good over ice cream, just simple and sweet. I thought I would continue the adventures of cooking with xylitol and make a blueberry cake.

We have a family recipe that involves butter and the main ingredients seen below, for the most part. Keeping that in mind, I modified a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen for blueberry boy bait, a wonderful cake. I used the milk we had on hand, instead of whole. I added 1 tsp. vanilla to the recipe. I used xylitol everywhere the recipe called for granulated sugar. I did use the brown sugar where called for.

So I cut out about 3/4 of the granulated sugar. Where it lacks in grams of sugar, it makes up for it in butter!

I baked it at 350 for 40 min. instead of 45-50 min. Voila!

You could just dig in and eat it plain like this. Yum.

Or you could squirt some whipping cream on and a few more blueberries for good measure.

Or you could squirt on a TON of whipping cream, like my husband did here:

Either way....it was good. Time for a walk to burn off some of those calories!

Bad Women Get Yarn and Fainting Goat Gelato

2010-07-26T18:38:00.001-07:00

It was a full day out with my mom exploring the sites of Queen Anne, Ballard and Wallingford. The places we went were many. Here are but a few. The Wallingford Center which houses many awesome shops... Including a Trophy Cupcakes, which we resisted, since we knew we were headed later for something even more amazing.

One of the planned stops was Bad Woman Yarn, which was having a sale on practically the entire store. It was a great shop and had lots to choose from. Very friendly staff who told us the story of how they came to have the store name, and how they originated in Manzanita, OR.

All those were sale tags, yep. They have a big sale on the entire month of July.

I came away with this 100% merino that I fell in love with just due to the colorway.

After that, we braved going out in the heat in search for our final destination: The Fainting Goat Gelato. I'd read about it in the paper and had wanted to try it out. We got there after a late lunch so it wasn't too crowded. Definitely a line, but not out the door. They allow you 3 taste samples. I tried the Espresso. It was good. I wanted to try the Mango, the Mint, and a million others. But we had figured out that one of us would get the Salted Caramel and the other would get the Tiramisu. The paper had pointed out the Salted Caramel was a favorite and the lady in line ahead of us said so too. So we knew it was going to be good....

Don't you just love their logos? The Fainting Goat. The owners are Armenian and I think that is where the fainting goats originate. They had T-shirts too. I wanted one. OK, back to the choices. Here are a few of them...they were so smooth looking. Like pulled taffy, kind of shiny.

Ok, so for one scoop it was $3.30. So we only did one each. I wanted the cute goat cup, but that was only if you bought a pint. And in this heat that would melt before we got to the car.

Hey, look it had organic dairy and sugar. So even though I totally BLEW my "no sugar diet" thing on it, at least it was organic. I can feel good about that. Can't I? Yes, I can...
The one on the left is the Salted Caramel and the one on the right, the Tiramisu. Can't see the difference here. The taste, was well....divine...Almost too good to be true. We laughed so hard because it was so good. We shared them and practically licked the bowls. We wanted to try this other flavor we couldn't pronounce...but would've been too embarrassed to go back in line!

So we'll just have to go back to try more flavors again....

On the sidewalk as we left the block. My sentiments exactly!

Summer Ribbed Bolero

2010-07-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

Starting out with size 8's for the ribbing using Cotton Ease in taupe. Moving on to size 10.5 needles for the lace pattern, however they were "sticky plastic" and I had to run get some metal circulars to keep from going crazy.

Continuing on with metal circs, that work much better, but happen to be size 10. Size 10.5 is hard to find. I think they will be ok since I am knitting more loosely now that the yarn can move freely.

It's time for some lemonade and working a few more rows on the deck today. I am trying to hold it up here so you can see through it.

A bit scrunched up on the needles, so looks kind of uneven, but you get the idea of the lace. It requires rows of: K2tog, yo, yo, ssk on one row, alternating rows of purling, and purling into the yarnover from front, purling into the yarnover from the back.

Once you get the hang of that it is mostly about knitting the lace pattern for a long stretch until you get to the length you want, and then the next step in the pattern...Time for more lemonade!

On a Lighter Side

2010-07-21T21:44:00.001-07:00

I love summer eves when it stays light out later and we do after dinner walks, pick blueberries in the yard...and tonight I could stay out until 9:00 pm knitting on the deck. Heavenly!
Oh, here is my precious homegrown tomato before I ate him! Ahhh, so DELISH! Since it's hot out, I decided to lighten up and knit with some Cotton Ease again. I had one skein of it leftover from another project in Taupe. I went and got another skein for this Ribbed Bolero pattern I found for free. I saw it here on Andipants' Untangling Knots blogsite first. It sounded great! I cast on a few extra for a bigger size as hers was a small. She gives great directions on her blog on what she did.

And another lightening up story: I tried baking with xylitol this week to see if we could make a reduced sugar cookie worth eating, without using Splenda. We have been using Truvia packets alot for sweetener lately (stevia). I tweaked a recipe around and used xylitol for most the sugar called for, only using 1/4 c. of brown sugar. So my smart husband calculated everything out to be 2.5 grams of sugar per cookie instead of a bazillion.

They didn't come out half bad! I ate 7 of them. oops....

"Lucille" Goes Camping

2010-07-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a lovely sunny time out by the Cooper River... Our resident chipmunk who lived inside our campsite stone fireplace. (photo taken by my Dad)

Evening Grosbeak, also photographed by my Dad.

Our peaceful hammock by the river.

"Lucille" had a great view of all this!

Actually, the next two pics I think show it flipped wrong side up, but you get the idea so far of the yoke:

I think "Lucille" really enjoyed camping this week at Salmon La Sac. It was so peaceful and relaxing by the Cooper River. I am done now with the easy part of the yoke and ready to begin the more complicated lace pattern. Too bad we had to come back home to reality! Vacations are like that though, aren't they?

Signs of Summer

2010-07-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Roses from the garden...

Blueberries ready to pick!

Coleus plants on our porch. I love them!

Leaves from my favorite smoke bush in the neighborhood. They are the dark plum color now. In the fall they turn the above colors!

First tomatoes! That means we have sun in Seattle! 75 degrees today!

Lovely Lucille

2010-07-12T17:06:00.001-07:00

Oh, it does appear I like green here, doesn't it? My "new" blog template is green, the new yarn is green! Such a pretty shade too. Do you like it? In the local yarn shop window, a lovely green baby sweater caught my eye. My sister and mom also loved it-great minds think alike! It was "Lucille", a free pattern. The sample was a size 0-3 mos. using 2 skeins. I will hopefully have plenty of yarn, using my size 2 needles. The Fibre Co.'s "Canopy" Fingering weight in "paw paw" green alpaca/merino/bamboo. It is SOFT!
A treat to have in your hands. The yoke is fairly easy. It will get down to some serious lace pattern pretty soon here. And then sleeves...stay tuned. For now, I am glad it cooled off some to give us a break from the heat.

Time for Gelato!

2010-07-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Baby "Gelato" Garter Stitch Jacket is complete and being modeled by Matilda, our bear who was a wedding gift 27 years ago and traveled the coast with us on our honeymoon. Since no babies live here, I had to find a suitable "stand-in."

(Edited to add these pics in the daylight! Poor little sweater is not quite dry and the wind was twirling it around a bit, but hub caught it finally. I know it looks big here hanging in the air. It is the 6/9 mos. size)

Well it was time for a trip to Trader Joes to get some lemonade, avocadoes and their fantastic tiny sugar plum tomatoes. They taste like candy, seriously. We are in the middle of a regular Seattle heat wave, breaking records today. No AC in our house means it's a toasty 82 degrees inside right now. Whew! So, what better time to try out some gelato flavors. On the left we have Villa Dulce Mint and Chip. Very delish! And then there's the local folks of Snoqualmie Gourmet ice cream who put out this snazzy gelato flavor, Raspberry Honey. You can really taste the honey on the "finish". Very refreshing!

Now, my Drops Garter Stitch Baby Jacket is complete with buttons and is ready to be blocked. I think I shall name it "Gelato", in honor of the occasion. There is a hint of pink and sort of a dark mauve so I went with little flower buttons that looked whimsical and funky.

Shown before blocking, below:

And shown here, blocking. Should dry quickly in this weather. Better pic to follow, I'm sure, when we are back to daylight.

Again, this was knit from side to side, on size 2 needles, using fingering weight yarn. (like you would use for socks) The pattern was a free Drops pattern.

I did the 2nd size and used 4 skeins Aslan Trends, Sante Fe -merino wool/polyamide. I have enough of the 4th leftover probably for some little item. I chose to do only 3 buttons at the top. Machine washable, cold water, dry flat. How about that? I still can't believe that. So I hand washed it and then spun out the excess water a bit in the washer. Funky...whimsical!

Just Hangin' Out Eating Cherries

2010-07-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

While we endure a little Seattle "heat wave" here, I'll pour myself a nice glass of lemonade and show you this little photo my hub took of a squirrel in the neighbor's tree this eve.

Drops Jacket Sees Mt. Rainier

2010-07-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Coming upon the home stretch of the Drops Baby Jacket. One side left to finish with buttonholes. Then seams only from armpit to cuff! Today the fortunate Drops Jacket got to visit Mt. Rainier on a trip to my sister's in Edgewood, WA.

Drops Garter Stitch Baby Jacket Goes Camping

2010-06-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Part 2: The Drops Baby Jacket gets to go camping in the RV this week in search of sun! It got to ride many miles east to get to our campground...It got to see lovely views, a deer and wildflowers... And these pretty pink tipped leaves...

I got lots of knitting time out in front of the RV... while intermittently swatting at huge ants! And then I moved into the RV away from them, though some found their way inside. EW.

Taking a break for a walk over the creek...

Knit sideways and finished one sleeve, now on to knitting the back. (Which is unseen because it is under the front of course!) Sleeve is "folded" for picture, and will have a seam from armpit to wrist.

Yes, the b16-3 Drops Jacket (which should be called something more exciting than that, seriously. We need to rename this thing) has seen all these things and more. And I have seen miles and miles of garter stitch that never ends. But it is turning out very cute! And I will excuse the big ants from crawling on my arm while knitting just this once.

Part 1: Beginning the jacket. Once, twice....

Shown here with no flash. Top of the jacket is tapered,while body flares out. Side of the body is on a stitch holder while I work the first sleeve (out to the left) Once left sleeve is knit, then I will continue on knitting the body and across the back. Actually this is the left front and right sleeve, I found out later. After reading the pattern again.

Using a fingering weight Santa Fe merino wool/polyamide blend, on size 2 needles. This baby jacket is knit in garter stitch sideways all the way around, making vertical stripes as it goes. It uses "short rows" both on the body and the sleeves to make it flare out. I "oopsed" a few times on the short rows. Ripped out once. It's really a very easy pattern. You just have to watch the short row sequence carefully. I apparently wasn't. Easy, really!

A free pattern found on Ravelry, the "b16-3 Drops Jacket", is a cute one (with a rather boring name) Though the garter stitch goes on and on forever. And one bonus of this yarn, it is machine washable in cold water. So maybe I won't feel so badly handing it to a new mother and saying "hand wash, dry flat". Maybe I can say, "Machine wash cold, gently, dry flat". Sounds a bit easier, eh?

Making Fabric-Covered Homasote Tack Board

2010-06-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

And now, the moment I've been waiting for: My fabric-covered Homasote board is going up in the craft room! I think this gives you a good idea of what it will look like above the desk. This board will allow me to use tacks, push pins and hang up memos or photos in style! It just needs to air out a bit in the garage and get screwed to the wall, but here is where it is going:

And here is how we made it. Step One: Order the Homasote board from a reputable lumber place that will special order it in for you. You should be able to get a good sized piece for $40 or under. Ours cost $35 for a 4 x 8' sheet. They may do special size cuts for you, or it may be a standard size when it arrives and you may have to cut it down to fit your particular wall area. In our case, they helped cut it roughly to size. Both my husband and I are making boards for our separate rooms and he did do some cutting to finish them off, as he had the special saw blade he needed to do so. It is messy to cut, as well as thick. It's made out of compressed recycled paper type material. It cannot get wet or it will swell up. (Edited to add: I believe I am partially wrong on this. Thanks to Ellen's comment, and after googling around, I see alot of knitters actually use the Homasote as a blocking board! So the slight dampness during blocking is OK. Maybe it is only not supposed to get super doused. I surely would like to use our extra piece as a blocking board. That makes me even happier!)

My husband softened the edges a bit with another tool.

Step Two: We practiced laying out my fabric and decided how we wanted it centered. I found my fabric at IKEA and payed $8.99 for it. It is a very heavy cotton. Make sure yours is ironed and fairly wrinkle free. I did not have to iron mine. It was substantial enough and wrinkle free at purchase. You might want to avoid any fabrics that might snag easily with your push pins.

Step Three: Next, my husband sprayed a good layer of this adhesive on the bare board and gave it a minute or two to start getting tacky.

Step Four: Then we each stood at either end of the table and held the fabric very taut as we eased it down into place at the top of the board, holding it down tightly at the top two corners. Then making our way slowly, easing the fabric down gradually onto the board as we headed in the direction of the bottom of the board. Then we made sure it was flat, smoothed out and had no wrinkles.

Step Five: We carefully flipped the board upside down onto a clean large piece of cardboard on the garage floor to begin the stapling process. With a staple gun and pulling the fabric tauht as we went, staples were placed on all sides.

Corners of the fabric were folded in and made as flat as possible before stapling.

Now the board needs to air out a bit from the adhesive fumes so we will give it a rest.

Step Six: Then we will install on the wall using these (shown below) along with screws.

And when it's done, it will look like this (with the wall screws). And I can start tacking and pinning to my heart's content!

And voila! My room feels even more complete. You can really have fun with the fabric choices out there!

And the unexpected bonus is: I can use the leftover piece as a blocking board, apparently!

Adding the Accents to the Room

2010-05-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Edited to add: How about this interesting ficus plant which I hope does not want to become a tree?

Up goes "Billy" the shelf above the desk!

So I'm thinking about accents now. What do you think of this pillow? I like that it has some of the green that I am wanting to use to liven things up. It also has some of the salmony that is in the rug and the chocolate brown...It's a lumbar pillow from Pier One. I am also thinking of adding in some green things as accents like this...

Maybe some fake bamboo in the other vase also with rocks on the bottom...hmm..Fun to think about.

A Room Just for Me...

2010-05-29T20:23:00.001-07:00

Here's what our living room has looked like for several weeks during our remodel of a lower bath, office and an upper bedroom. Lots and lots of boxes from Ikea. This is my husband hunched over one of the many items we got from Ikea. Everything comes in a flat box and has to be assembled. He has been assembling non-stop for a few weeks now. He can drill these in his sleep! We have logged 4 trips so far down there and back and been in the return line about that many times as well to exchange damaged items, overcharged items, etc. Our car knows the way there automatically now.

This is how the instructions look in the manual. No words, just little men and symbols. This man looks confused to me.

The cat is even more confused.

Here's a nice wide angle shot showing the room upstairs coming together and the new closet doors.

Another nice shot of my work space and the cubicles I will start filling up with my things. Now the fun begins!

First we must add some yarn to the cubbies! And the little cabinets and baskets too. Lots and lots of room for yarn! Yay, my dream has come true!

Next we add some books and photo album supplies.

And we add a nice dark brown leather chair in the corner just right for reading and armrests at the right height for...you guessed it...knitting!

Then a bookshelf (not pictured) will go in soon above the work surface. And below that...

I will have a pretty cool tackboard made out of homasote board that we will get cut at a lumber place, and cover tightly with this lovely fabric, also found at Ikea:

I must not leave out the lovely two-drawer filing cabinet which holds all my files well and in style.

It's enough to make this girl one happy camper....Time to settle in with a cup of coffee and sit back and enjoy the hard work we put in to making it a special room!

P.S. Because he's so nice, I will let my husband sit in my chair :)...

The Joy of Gifting

2010-05-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

This week I had the joy of seeing one happy little 3 mos. old baby girl wearing my first ever "gifted" Baby Surprise jacket and her first smiles at the same time. It choked me up! I will post the pic of me holding her as soon as I receive it from her mom's camera.
I also got to give a beautiful, expectant mommy the first Baby Surprise jacket I ever knit which will be for her soon to be born first son... How rewarding it was to give something handknit away and to know it will be worn by a cute little person soon!

Helleborus...Finally!

2010-05-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Edited to add photos after deciding to put on the collar and fix the buttonband. End result, the collar is a challenge and I can see why many mentioned this in their project notes. I decided that (as you can see in photo below of me wearing it with the collar up)...that it just didn't fit right. My wonderful idea was to taper the buttonband by decreasing one stitch at the top every other row, an idea I got from another knitter. I picked up only 60 stitches this second time around for the buttonband. Much better! My other great idea was instead of fighting the collar and it's floppiness around the neck and its unwillingness to lay down the right way: FOLD it over ! Voila! Problem solved. It is now a shawl collar sweater! Ta Da!

I think it's finally done! The only part I didn't do was add the collar. And I am thinking about holding off on it, or maybe not even adding it at all and leaving as is. Shown before any blocking in a photo shoot by my husband this afternoon:

Did a few mods. This is my second time around knitting the sweater and this fits much better than the first which was done on 10 1/2 circs. This was done more like the size 38 in the pattern. Modified by using another sweater as my "model," so my row counts differ a bit from pattern. Knit on size 9 circulars for right, left front, and back pieces. Yoke was knit separately and other pieces seamed to the yoke. (Pattern calls for it to be knit as one piece side to side) Then picked up stitches at the bottom using size 8's to do 12 rws. garter stitch. Then seamed the sides. Finished sleeves using size 8 circ's by picking up stitches and knitting in the round the rest of the way down. Buttonholes moved slightly over so not so close to edge, otherwise followed pattern for picking up 78 sts. using size 8's for buttonbands. So many people seem to have had probs doing the collar and I am not sure I want one yet...so for now, I will let it rest!

I learned alot about knitting a garment "sideways" and about "correct gauge" and about "winging" it, alot about "tenacity" and "stick-to-it-ness" with this project. I surprised myself with the determination with which I pursued the very yarn pictured in the book, and was blessed to find the yarn in two separate states in the same dyelot! And I learned that if at first you don't succeed, please do try, and try again! The end result will be worth it!

Nearing the Finish on Helleborus

2010-05-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of those cases where perseverance will pay off! On to the finishing stages of Helleborus Yoke Sweater. Shown here after seaming sides, and picking up along bottom edge to do 12 rows of garter stitch, before finishing sleeves. A close up of one sleeve:

Next will be the picking up of stitches along the fronts for the button bands. And then the big decision about the collar. Whether to add one or not. This 2nd version of Helleborus fits much better than the first, and the alpaca makes it stretchy and forgiving as well. I will press on to the finish!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-07T11:57:00.001-07:00

And So We Begin Again

2010-04-29T17:46:00.001-07:00

Shown after finishing yoke and upper sleeves, laying on a current sweater that fits me well.

Beginning the right front section:

So... beginning again on Helleborus Yoke sweater, I have decided to go down to a size 9 needle and do the yoke separately. Here is a side by side view of the OLD yoke front (right) next to the NEW yoke front (left). See the difference?: Here shown with beginnings of sleeve and the yoke on a stitch holder.

The plan is, to use a current sweater that fits me, as a "model" to plan this sweater's dimensions. I think it will work out much better on the smaller needle size. And I am also doing the size 38 this time, instead of the 43.5. That combined with a smaller needle size should help me out to get a closer fit. Looks like I will knit the fronts and backs and attach to the yoke. Was going to pick up and knit "down" but decided not to. I may be able to do it seamless on the sides, however. Haven't decided yet. It's a work in progress...

Huge Helleborus Character Test

2010-04-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Oh such a shame, a crying shame! I don't know how I got so off gauge on this! I measured and measured my gauge, I made two swatches and yet...still it eludes me how I made this gargantuan of a Helleborus! I went for the size 43.5" and used the right size needles and followed the pattern to the letter.... It would almost make me laugh-except for the fact that I am just sick over it- because I was so excited to do this and get the right yarn and begin...and yet I have had more troubles with this one than any other sweater I've done. I think my husband is wondering: "Will she give up this time? What will it take for her to crack?" as he has watched me stumble my way through this supposedly easy- for- everyone- else -on -Raverly pattern! Ok, so the question is...either I totally rip it out and begin again or get really good at steeking and get creative and try to make seams where there should not be. I tried a gauge on a smaller needle last night as well. Believe me, this is not the fault of the designer. No, indeed. The pattern is clearly written. This is just a fluke of nature, just in time for Earth Day tomorrow! This is just a test of my true knitterly character. Am I going to give up and give in and throw it in the UFO or Ugh pile? No!

Do I have the get up and go to pick myself back up and keep going on this project? Even if it means ripping out hours upon hours upon hours of work? I have never had to "frog" a whole sweater before. It is a sad thought. I want to say "yes! I will begin again in a big way"...ZZZZzzz If I can just muster up the gusto to do those miles of moss stitch and cables once again. Oh, but the yarn is so pretty. It deserves to be knit up into this sweater.

To The Left Side of Helleborus

2010-04-14T21:10:00.001-07:00

Made it to the left arm pit/sleeve of Helleborus, then will knit around the left front. Shown here with right front side, and part of a dangling sleeve and a dark view of the "back" in the mirror. Of course the side seams aren't seamed, the sleeves aren't finished, nor are the collar and buttonbands. All still yet to come.

But there is progress...bit by bit! If I can keep from making more mistakes. It is hard to rip out cabling and then get it back on the needle which I have had to do several times. More so than any other sweater, for some reason. It's not that it's so hard, you just have to be so careful what pattern row you are on and watch your increases/decreases/wraps and moss stitch all at the same time. I feel I am crawling along on this project compared to those who have done it in record time. Trying it on myself by draping over me, it seems very huge in the yoke. But again, the collar's not on and the sleeves aren't pulled in and seams aren't in. I hope that it fits me after all this work! If so, it will be so worth it. This yarn is sooo soft! The pattern is so pretty!

New Knitter Joins The Ranks

2010-04-12T20:53:00.001-07:00

Nothing could be finer than teaching someone to knit and seeing them catching on to it the VERY FIRST try! Not that it's bad if someone doesn't catch on right away. It was just so quick and rewarding this way. You are a natural, Jean! It will be a great looking scarf very soon!

Celtic Coffee Break

2010-04-06T13:28:00.001-07:00

We did another coffee exploration field trip today to the city of Redmond, WA. A friend of mine had recommended Victor's Celtic Coffee Co. After attempting to find another recommended roaster, Lusso Coffee Roasters, and discovering it apparently was not a walk in coffee shop, we put in our GPS coordinates for Victor's and after driving a bit, we found it! The coffee was very smooth and not bitter at all. We really enjoyed it. Though no "latte art" on top...and for that I was disappointed. They offered many Irish sounding coffee flavors as well as breakfast sandwiches and soup of the day. We had an egg/ham/cheese sandwich. Very nice!

The best part of all was when my husband discovered a wall of handknit sweaters, I kid you not!, right in the middle of the store near the restroom! I about knocked him over getting up to go look. Sure enough, a fellow knitter has her lovely handknit sweaters on the wall and posted next to them is her name, her email and her etsy shop site for all to see and order custom sweaters! I have always believed that knitting and coffee go hand in hand. This is proof for all to see!:

Sorry I don't have her name to include here, you will have to go see for yourself! :)
It was truly a great adventure getting a great latte, AND seeing handknit sweaters all in one fell swoop!
To top off our coffee "snob" experience for the day, my husband had his glass Chemex brewer arrive in the mail from Sweet Maria's Coffee Roasters. He ordered this along with the filters. It provides an "old style" purist form of brewing. Similar to the french press method, however different in a few ways. Allow me to demonstrate, for all you coffee lovers out there. First, you take the Chemex filter and fold it so one side has 3 layers and that is the side toward the spout:

Next you grind your coffee, which we are going to experiment with. You don't want it so fine that the coffee just sludges through too slowly, nor do you want it so coarse it runs too quickly.
We are going to try it out on a pretty coarse "french press" grind. About 1 rounded Tablespoon scoop per 5 oz. of water.

While that is getting ground, heat your water to boiling.

Important: You want to "wet" your filter with hot water, prior to brewing, which you can do over the sink and pour the water back into the sink. Your filter sticks to the glass and will not come back off when you pour off the water.

Here's our grind in the wet filter, ready to brew:

Once your water boils, take it off the heat for 30 sec. to let the temp. arrive at the recommended heat. Somewhere between 195-205 degrees F, the perfect brewing temperature.

Pour a small amount of coffee over the grinds, to let them swell or "bloom".

Fill the filter about 1/2 way, getting all the grinds wet in the process. After the first "wetting", pour slowly in a circular motion, keeping the coffee inward as compact as possible.

You can see how the coffee has "bloomed" in this photo:

Keep pouring in coffee at intervals until the desired amount of water has passed through the grounds. This took about 4 minutes, same amount of time as a french press method.

Dispose of the spent grounds by lifting the filter out of the coffeemaker (use for compost if desired).

We poured our brewed coffee into a stainless steel carafe so that it was kept hot, but not kept in the glass carafe. Keeping your coffee warm, but not on a burner will avoid the burned flavor.

And voila! A perfect cup of brewed coffee without the residue of old coffee oils, and cleaner than an auto-brewed cup. Apparently auto drip makers will brew at lower and lower temperatures over time, not being capable of brewing at the desired temperature consistently. Best of all, with this method, there is no "off" or bitter taste.

Aaahhhhhhhhh....Just makes you want to have a cup and knit, doesn't it?

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T18:05:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!I wondered about my "in progress" sweater's name, Helleborus. At a family gathering today, I saw a beautiful Helleborus plant. After googling, I discovered that the "Helleborus Orientalis" is known for its early blooming quality, around early spring. Generally around the time of the Christian season of Lent. Described as: plants that inject color into the otherwise dreary landscape and usher in spring, bestowing on it their stamp of approval. That makes me happy to know my sweater is named after such a gracious flowering plant. How timely that I am making it during Easter season and I hope to be finished with it in time to wear for spring.

Turning the Corner on Helleborus

2010-04-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

For all the great instructions, I have made more mistakes (my own doing) on this sweater than any other I have attempted! Shown here a bit upside down, with the sleeve now attached to the yoke. I failed to catch on to how that sleeve attached the first time. I read "continue on 49 yoke cable rows" and then "finish sleeve" as "leave the sleeve alone". Apparently I wasn't supposed to leave the sleeve alone, I was supposed to keep working it with the 49 cable rows (which now seems in hindsight like a big DUH!) I got around the bend and then saw I had made a mistake on the yoke cabling...so my biggest fear is ripping out cabling. But Rrrripppp it went and I was able to redo that also. I am usually really good at reading patterns, but I think the cabling and sideways construction and moss stitch and wraps all combine for a bit of a medium size challenge to my brain. It's good to be challenged with every new knit project you do. You learn something new. I am determined to do this beautiful little sweater! I will cherish it all the more after the work put into it.