The Golden Iris

Everyday Socks

2012-01-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

As always, I've got a pair of socks going. I decided to sort my sock-yarn stash in Ravelry by "date added" and chose the oldest yarn ... which happened to be a beautiful deep green skein of Dragonfly Fibers Dragon Sock - the color is Rocky Top.

More than halfway there!

Mostly I wanted to show off the gorgeous color, so I chose a simple pattern. These are called Hermione's Everyday Socks and are a free pattern from Erica Lueder. The knitting is relaxing, just a simple knit-purl pattern, and they're going fast! [No, I'm not particularly a Harry Potter fan.]

I'm hoping to knit up a bunch of sock yarn this year, as it's a little silly how much I have. (Not outrageously ridiculous, but still, more yarn than I need). These are getting me off to a good start.

My Bread Shaping and Why It's Wrong

2012-01-25T11:10:00.000-08:00

So after I posted about my sourdough bread last week, Tim asked about how my loaves of bread look so tall in the oven. I took lots of photos and even some notes, and I'm going to try to explain how my bread comes out the way it does.

Incidentally, I've been reading more about artisan bread baking, and pretty much everything I am doing is considered "wrong". However! I am shaping bread this way with a goal in mind, so I am OK with it.

Let's start with the goal. I want a bread that I can make a grilled-cheese sandwich with. This means no giant gaping holes in the crumb, even though that is normally desirable.

This means that after the last rise, I deflate the dough ("wrong") when I shape the loaves. I do this by kneading the pieces a little bit ("wrong"), and shape them very tightly ("wrong"). You can see how much I've deflated the dough by comparing the shaped to the unshaped half.

1. Last rise. 2. Cutting dough. 3. Half shaped. 4. Both shaped.

Then I let the loaves proof. They are about 2" tall here.

After they're done proofing and the oven is hot, I slash them deeply ("wrong") with my bread knife ("wrong") and spray them generously with water. Both of these things helps the loaves open up and grow in the oven.

1. Proofed loaves. 2. Slashed. 3. Sprayed. 4. In the oven.

When the loaves hit the preheated stone in the oven, that's "oven spring" as the stone transfers lots of heat into the dough. They continue to rise until the crust hardens (which usually takes 10-15 minutes) and the moisture on the surface helps them expand. I have been opening the oven to spray again in the first 5 minutes or so of baking, but apparently this is also wrong because it lets too much heat out of the oven.

1. Growing. 2. Browning. 3. Cooling. 4. Look at the slice!

The bread comes out the way I want it - about 3" tall with a tight crumb - but as I said, this is considered "undesirable" in an artisan bread. Next time, I'll try to do it "right" and see how they come out.

This week I've been baking some very wet doughs - a ciabatta and a pizza - that must be kneaded by machine to develop the gluten and can't really be shaped much by hand. Those have turned out with a very different open structure and I am astonished things like this are coming out of my oven! But enough bread for now, I'll post photos of those later.

Sourdough Bread

2012-01-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

Right now I am blessed with time, and I have been able to whip up some truly delicious treats in the kitchen. My current obsession is sourdough bread - and other long-fermented breads.

Look into the oven - it's the bread show, starring bread!

Wheat has been getting a bad rap these days. More and more people are developing severe dietary intolerances to wheat and gluten. However, some other people are beginning to suggest that traditional bread making methods, which can include periods of fermentation over 8 hours, can make bread more digestible [for some people]. I don't feel comfortable adding to the argument one way or another - there are some nice stories and lots of scary commentary floating around online, but actual facts seem a bit hard to come by.

Seeing as we don't have trouble eating wheat, gluten, or yeast, though... bread we'll make. I love good bread and I am delighted to be able to make it at home. I am going to keep making sourdough and other long-fermented breads because of the simple fact that the flavor and texture is superior, in my opinion, to quick-fermented bread. [And hey, if there's a health benefit, great!]

I got started down this path when we received an old Le Creuset dutch oven and we could finally try the now-famous "No-Knead" bread recipe. [Okay, actually I used a very similar recipe from Cook's Illustrated.] It relies on high hydration, small amounts of yeast, a long fermentation, and baking in a covered container to keep steam in. It makes good bread. Crispy crust, open crumb, pretty tasty.

Almost no-knead bread

Then I begged sourdough starter from a friend who had some. I'd never made sourdough before. We tried one recipe from Cook's [our go-to resource these days], which came out OK.

The first sourdough loaf

The real success came from King Arthur's Extra-Tangy Sourdough recipe. Again, it relies on a long fermentation, but ditches the dutch oven for a good healthy spritz of water in the oven to keep humidity levels up. [The recipe suggests adding citric acid - sour salt - for very sour bread, but the flavor so far has been superb without it.]

Wow, just wow. This bread is deeply flavorful with a fine-grained crumb, perfect for sandwiches and - my guilty pleasure - slathering with ridiculous amounts of butter and eating it warm. We've also made some really wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches with it, and together with a homemade creamy tomato soup, it's a simple, satisfying meal. Now I'm perusing the recipes on the King Arthur website and I'm thinking about adding sourdough to all the breads I love... popovers, crumpets, English muffins, ciabatta... chocolate cake?! It makes pretty good waffles, too. [No, this blog isn't supposed to be an advertisement for King Arthur, even though it seems like it right now. I just like the recipes - and the fact that they're freely available online. The stuff pictured below I got as Christmas gifts.]

So last night, I took out the crock of starter from the fridge and fed it with flour and water.

The sourdough crock. It looks nicer than whatever Tupperware I had and is functional.

This morning, it was nice and bubbly.

The starter culture eats carbs and produces carbon dioxide and alcohol. Bubbly!

Then I added a cup of starter to flour and water to make the sponge. This will ferment most of the afternoon on the counter, and all night in the fridge.

Mmm, gloppy. That whisk thing looks crazy but does a great job mixing dough!

Tomorrow I will take it out, add bread flour, salt, and sugar, and let it continue to ferment; then I'll shape it into loaves, let them rise, slash them, spritz them, and bake them. Tomorrow's dinner will have delicious bread as an accompaniment.

Notice how I don't have any photos of finished sourdough loaves? Apparently I've been so excited to eat them that I can't be bothered to take a picture first. I'll have to remedy that tomorrow.

What's cooking in your kitchen these days?

Jaina

2012-01-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

Here in the Bay Area, we're starting to get excited for Stitches West, which is coming up at the end of February. Just like last year, I'll be working in Miss Babs' booth.

Part of what I'm doing to prepare is knitting up a sample of Jaina, a sleek flowing cardigan from the winter issue of Twist Collective. I'm knitting it in Miss Babs Tierno, an alpaca-silk blend that... is just like knitting with kittens. There's no other way to put it. Silky, soft, warm... and gorgeous! I hadn't knit with it before Babs asked me to make this sample, and I'm hoping to design something feminine and lacy with it.

Nearly to the armholes

It's mostly stockinette with a few cabled details here and there, so it's easy knitting. I've been knitting at night during movies and TV. We had a marathon this week of the Man With No Name trilogy - how I love old Clint Eastwood movies, even if the dubbing is terrible!

Pocket detail

I look forward to finishing this cardigan and getting to wear it. I really enjoy drapey sweaters, and having pockets to stick my hands in. Of course I don't get to keep it, but that's okay. Stitches is still over a month away, and I have other things to knit between now and then, but I'm still excited. What are you looking forward to?

Christine's Stay-on Baby Booties

2012-01-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

I'm at the age where it seems like everyone around me is having a baby. I won't go into how terrifying that is. We'll just stick to the knitting part - baby booties, the best quick and easy baby gift there is.

Whenever I have to make baby booties, I use one pattern. I don't try new things. I even violate my rule of 'never knit the same thing twice' [okay except maybe for plain socks] because this pattern just works.

Booties knit with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Bittersweet and something I can't remember

It's Christine's Stay-On Baby Booties (Ravelry link here). I know very little about babies, except that at a certain point they become very wiggly and it's a chore to keep socks on them - and it's important to keep those little toes warm. These booties thwart even the wiggliest baby (or so moms tell me).

Better yet for the knitter, they use up leftover sock yarn! The pattern calls for 50g of sock yarn, but measuring suggests you'll need closer to 20g for a pair.

Booties in two colors of Miss Babs Yummy 3-ply sport weight

They're constructed in such a way that it's easy to knit the soles in a contrast color, so that's what I do. First you knit a tiny garter-stitch rectangle for the sole, then pick up and knit around to form the foot. Some short rows shape the top of the toe, then you knit in the round again for the cuff. A little fiddly on small needles, but overall it's easy.

Contrast soles, yay!

I finish my booties off with twisted cord, which is easy to make if you have a sturdy hook or a friend with a good grip.

How to make twisted cord:

Cut two (or more, depending on how thick you want the cord) pieces of yarn three times as long as the desired finished length of the cord.
Have someone hold one set of ends (or knot and put over a hook).
Keeping the yarn pulled taut, twist until the yarn wants to knot up on itself. Twist a little more.
Being careful not to let go of the ends, fold the cord in half. It will twist up around itself.
Knot the loose ends together.
Smooth out any lumps in the cord.
Knot the folded end.

Rainbow booties from back in 2008

Do you have a go-to baby pattern? (My other one is Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket).

Moms are Wonderful

2012-01-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

...because moms always know what you want for Christmas. In my case, that includes knitting stuff!

My mom sewed me a one-of-a-kind dpn case [possibly because she had to wrestle with the ridiculous number of excess needles in my circular case when she came to visit]. Here it is partially filled - there's lots of needles in projects right now.

Lots of space for dpn sets - and I love the fabric prints

And my mum-in-law in the UK sent these nifty KnitPro square rosewood needles - can't find those in the US!

Now to find a good project

Thanks, moms! You're the best!

Socks for Christmas

2012-01-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, just a couple more things to wrap up last year and then I can keep moving forward.

For the Christmas knitting I did get done... it was all socks. I have a little too much sock yarn (it's not that out of hand, really, but more than I can reasonably knit up in a year or two) and I have a few people on my list who are definitely knitworthy, so socks it was.

[Feeling left out? I'm not gonna post progress photos or give too much away, but there just might be a few people due to get belated gifts.]

Plain socks for Simon in self-striping Berroco Sox...

Almost-plain socks for Mom in a one-of-a-kind hand dye from Miss Babs...

and some skull embellishment on a gorgeous Neighborhood Fiber Company burgundy for Kel.

These are all variations on a basic 64-stitch sock pattern that I've memorized... so no real "pattern" to share here.

Was there anybody knitworthy on your list this year?

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually a big "let's make major New Year's resolutions" kind of person, but I do have some goals for the coming year.

The knitting-related:

Create more designs.
Knit more sweaters.

And the non-knitting:

Find a new day job (alas, the last one evaporated, sadly).
Eat more veggies.
Say "yes" to more things (this is not the opposite of "saying no" - this is so that I get out of the house more).

Because when I say "yes" more often, I get to do cool stuff like hike in the hills above Half Moon Bay and see my first ever banana slugs! (This was on Christmas day... California continues to amaze me).

Banana slug!

Those things sound pretty doable, don't you think? Here's to a happy, healthy, prosperous, creative 2012.

New Christmas Stockings

2011-12-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

... kind of. Like [seemingly] every other knitter out there, I couldn't manage to finish my Christmas knitting on time. Simon's got finished... mine did not. Thankfully Santa understands knitters and filled my [half-knit, still on the needles] stocking anyway.

These stockings are from the pattern collection A NEW Family Portrait by Dorene Delaney Giordano. There are three different main patterns and lots of different border patterns to choose from. I am knitting them toe-up on 2 circs (not my favorite, but it works great for the colorwork) and the yarn is Miss Babs Yummy 3-ply Sport - the red is Vlads and the green is Nori.

Since it's past Christmas and I'm picky, I'm going to rip my stocking back to the toe and re-knit the body. I have been holding the wrong color in each hand so the color dominance looks wrong - there's too much white against the green pattern and it's drowning it out.

Simon got to help design his stocking - the border patterns were chosen because they look like the Triforce from Legend of Zelda. And he also got to design his name (the pattern comes with lettering charts, but I thought this would be more fun). I challenged him to fit "Simon" in 38x11 pixels, and he fired up an old Mac emulator to chart his name in Chicago. Very fitting. How I'm going to fit my 8-letter name in that space is kind of beyond me; I may have to embroider it on afterward.

I got a couple other gifts (all socks) done in time. Some are going to have to wait until I finish some more samples. Always busy knitting!

Did you fall behind on holiday/gift knitting? Or did you do the smart thing and not even try?

Another Vermont Shawl

2011-12-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

What else have I been knitting? Samples, samples, and more samples. I suppose it keeps me out of trouble.

Vermont Shawl and redwoods

The first Vermont Shawl that I knit for Miss Babs was apparently such a hit that she needed another one. This one is knit in Northumbria fingering weight, a 100% blue faced leicester wool. The color is called Vlad's and is one of my favorite reds. It made its debut at this year's Rhinebeck festival. I would have liked to join it in New York but... well, California is a long way away.

From the back (gee, really)

One of the wonderful things about this project that you couldn't really tell from my earlier post is that it's BIG. No skimpy little shawl here. Of course that means more knitting and more yarn (over 600 yards) but the effect is so lovely, it's worth it. Details on Ravelry here.

We shot these photos on my birthday during the several hour span of time where I was gently kicked out of the house so my birthday cake could be made in absolute secrecy.

My husband insists that nobody should make his own birthday cake, and furthermore that it ought to be a surprise. So off I went. It took a little longer than I expected, and I'll admit I did call him to be sure everything was okay. Thankfully there were no cake-related mishaps and later that evening we all enjoyed a magnificent Smith Island Cake. (Which our German guests delightedly identified as a Prinzregententorte - the Prince Regent's Cake!)

Yum!

By any name, it was delicious. And didn't last long.

Here's another gratuitous cake photo.

Lintilla

2011-12-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

Hooray, it's a scarf thing. Because we all need another scarf thing or three.

Yep, from the same photo shoot as earlier.

Okay, no really, I like it. It's called Lintilla, by Martina Behm, and it's fun and easy and made out of garter stitch and short rows and the infamous Wollmeise. (Colors look weird in these photos, for you WM junkies the color is Spice Market WD 100%). I knit it on a US #3. Not that that really matters. It's a scarf!

I saw my first one of these when I was working with Miss Babs at a show and we pulled a brand new one fresh from the sample knitter out of its mailing box. It was big. It fluttered. It had life in it! I knew I had to have one and grabbed the pattern right away.

Then I spent quite some time agonizing over what to knit it out of (the original is made in Wollmeise, which has 575 yards and is tons bigger than almost any other sock yarn). I thought I could make it out of one yarn I had, but I wasn't sure I liked the colors. It wasn't until I dug through ALL the yarn that I realized I actually HAD Wollmeise and didn't have to agonize at all. Whoops. There I go, trying too hard.

Apparently I'm confused about how to wear a scarf.

And then I knit and knit and knit some more. Garter stitch can be very therapeutic - and easier to take to social knitting events than just about anything else. I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn at the very end... but then I didn't. How's that for a happy ending?

Introducing Escargot

2011-12-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

Escargot

It was June 2010 and Kel, Danielle, and I were flying down the highway coming back to Alexandria from TNNA (the yarn industry trade show) in Columbus, Ohio. Danielle may or may not have been pushing the speed limit just a smidgen, and Kel may or may not have been clinging to the Mini's door in abject terror. There was a lot of chatter and planning, interspersed with laughter and highway-induced exasperation. I was taking notes as we planned the next year in yarn for fibre space... and I was doodling.

One of the doodles turned into the Hatskarfenmitten.

The other doodle became Escargot. But it took a while. Things changed and we moved to California, but I couldn't get the idea of a funky, asymmetrical, spiral-enhanced cloche out of my head. This summer, I bumped into Amy Singer, the editor of Knitty, at a couple of yarn festivals, and told her I had a really cool hat idea. She said, "send it in."

Pretending we are waiting for the train. With real genuine 1920s women's magazine.

Sure, I had an idea, but the real challenge lay in making it all in one piece and getting the spiral to work the way I wanted. I knit and ripped out the cast-on section of the pattern a half-dozen times before the spiral would lay flat and be the right size. (And be happy, knitters, because the original cast-on was four hundred stitches. Not fun to rip out and re-knit once, let alone a bunch of times.) I threw it across the room in disgust more than once.

By the time I finally figured it out, I was sick of it. I called up fibre space and ordered some beautiful BFL yarn from Dragonfly Fibers and got it in the mail. My mom knit the first two hats (one of which was for testing only and doesn't show up in any of the photos). I got more yarn - again, a beautiful BFL - from Miss Babs, and knit two more hats. I cajoled a bunch of friends from my local knitting group into an early morning photo shoot (it's really hard to make California in August feel like winter anywhere), triple-checked everything, and sent it off to Knitty, fingers crossed.

I heard back a while later, and have been waiting to be able to tell you about it ever since.

Now it's here and you can knit one! I couldn't be more excited. The pattern is here, and you can queue it up on Ravelry here. Happy knitting!

Featherweight Cardigan, Take Two

2011-12-06T05:17:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I finished my first Featherweight Cardigan as a sample for Miss Babs. I swore at the time that even though it was boring, I'd make my own - it's very wearable and simple and has the potential to go with a lot of different outfits. There's a reason there are over 3,500 of these on Ravelry.

Rarely does a sweater take me six months to finish anymore, but I'll blame all the sample knitting in between. Those deadlines really do it. Oh, and endless miles of stockinette stitch, that helps too. Oh! And alternating skeins of a hand-dyed yarn. Even better.

I never quite know what to do when I'm having my picture taken.

I knit this in 3 skeins of Madelinetosh tosh merino light on #5s. The colorway is called Mare. I cast on 6 fewer stitches for each sleeve, as the sleeves on my first Featherweight were too baggy. I made the sleeves and body longer, and did 3x1 rib at the bottom for reduced ugliness. And I did a daisy stitch on the collar and bands for texture and interest and no rolling (but ugh, lots of work on the purl side).

I am really hoping that being a superwash will help the yarn hold up a little - the single ply means it's soft and lustrous and beautiful, but I'm sure it's going to pill before long. Hopefully it won't felt in the armpits.

How about I try to smile and awkwardly stick my hands in my pockets.

I wore it to work today with my grown-up clothes and it was warm and soft and snuggly. Have you finished anything you really liked lately?

I'm back, again

2011-11-30T06:35:00.000-08:00

Well gee. Look who went and fell off the face of the ~~earth~~ blog again. It's me! How many times have I come back to the blog and dusted it off? Let's not count.

As some of you know and some of you may have guessed, the stoppage in blogging was caused by me getting a job. It's taken a little while to adjust back to being on a regular schedule (ya know, getting my butt out of bed in the morning), but it's a good thing and I'm happy.

Enough for now about the job. We're here for the yarn.

As always, I'm knitting away like crazy, maybe a little slower than before, but that's OK. Most of it is even knitting I can share - for the moment, I'm between sample knitting projects.

Those chartreuse socks in the post below are long gone. I never got further than the photo shows... I keep trying and trying, but toe-up socks aren't for me. Rrrrrip! Currently I think I have 4 other pair on the needles, so I'm not depriving myself of socky goodness.

Another thing I don't like knitting is stuffed animals - too fiddly for me. But I did knit up a stuffed rocket for fibre space's holiday window display and sent it off. Kind of fun. I like the little ducky feet on the bottom.

If I would just get off the computer and go knit, I would be very nearly done with another sweater. Which I could take photos of and show off. Off I go.

Chartreuse Socks

2011-09-12T19:15:00.001-07:00

Time to share some meagre progress. I've knit a toe.
I don't always knit the mystery sock for Sock Knitters Anonymous. I wait and make sure that I like the concept (allover 1x1 twisted ribbing? No thank you) and that, in the case of it being a toe-up sock, I can handle the construction (I haven't made as many toe-up socks and getting the heel to fit properly continues to be a challenge). This one, called Watercress, has lace (yay) and modifications built into the pattern for high insteps (double yay).

I took the additional step of overdyeing the chartreuse yarn I showed off the other day with a bit of yellow, in the hopes of making it even more chartreuse. It's a little more saturated than I would really like, but I'm generally happy with the color. I also like the way the pattern wiggles back and forth.

Right now it's nothing too complex to knit, but it's interesting. Certainly more interesting than the seemingly never-ending topdown stockinette raglans I've been plugging away on!

Pollen and Pollinators

2011-09-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Some ideas seem to take a while to come to fruition. Sometimes it's about the math, or a stitch pattern that just won't behave itself. This time it was about color. With all the colors out there in the world, I was having trouble finding just the right one. I know, it's silly. But it had to be just the right shade of yellow.It's Malabrigo Merino Worsted. The color is - very appropriately - called Pollen. Between that and the books I'll bet you can see where I'm headed next... but I'm still working on it.My days are getting a little busier and most of my knitting remains a secret, but I'm going to try to keep up with the blog as best I can.

Rosa Parks' Pancakes

2011-08-21T12:38:00.002-07:00

After the death of Rosa Parks in 2005, a great deal of memorabilia from her life was collected to be auctioned as a single lot by Guernsey's Auctioneers. Among the items - virtually anything you can think of - are ephemera from Mrs. Parks herself. There is, of course, a great deal of serious material, but something more lighthearted has floated its way onto the internet. It is a recipe, handwritten on the back of an envelope from the 1st National Bank of Detroit, for "Featherlite Pancakes". It reads:

Featherlite pancakes

sift together
1 C flour
2 T B. Powder
1/2 t salt
2 T sugar

mix
1 egg - 1 1/4 C milk
1/3 C peanut butter melted
1 T shortening or oil

combine with dry ingredients
cook at 275
on griddle

Anyone who cooks will instantly be alarmed at the amount of baking powder. But it works. Perhaps a little too well. Approximately this amount of flour and milk goes into my ordinary pancake recipe (with much less leavening), and the batter fits in a 2-cup measuring cup.

Once the dry and wet ingredients are mixed, the featherlite batter grows rapidly and nearly overflowed the top of my 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup - so it makes at least 5 cups of batter if not more. It's foamy.

The pancakes are true to name, light as can be and over half an inch tall in the middle. They do taste peanutty but this is probably a good thing - otherwise they might taste a little too much like baking powder.

These are definitely worth a try but be prepared for lots of batter and more pancakes than two people should reasonably be eating.

Chartreuse

2011-08-19T11:05:00.002-07:00

So, if somehow you haven't noticed by now, I like knitting socks. I also like the color green (gee, really?).

I like knitting socks so much that I am a member of Sock Knitters Anonymous, a huge Ravelry group whose members have a monthly themed sock knit along with raffle prizes. I've even won a prize a couple times.

September's theme (like other Septembers past) is "All knit in one color" and that color is Chartreuse. Imagine my delight! Of course, there is much discussion as to what color "chartreuse" actually is. I'm pretty sure it's not fluorescent, screaming highlighter green. I'm pretty sure the color is named after the liqueur... the only liqueur so good, they named a color after it!

Even though I had to procure new yarn (shhh!)... I got to take this photo.

(Oh, and if you're the type that just needs to know, it's Socks that Rock Lightweight in Jade. Thanks, Carol!)

I am immensely amused. Now to wait until September to cast on - hopefully I can finish a bunch of other stuff before then.

Vermont Shawl

2011-08-17T17:38:00.002-07:00

The latest in my series of sample knitting and/or Miss Babs projects was the Vermont Shawl by Hanna Breetz.

It's leafy. And green. Two of my favorite things!

I don't always enjoy deadline projects, but this one was lovely. Great yarn and a well written pattern (even though I did have to knit with my row counter close by, something I almost never do) all added up to a really nice FO. The yarn is Miss Babs Yet, a wool and silk blend that is not quite fingering weight. The color is called Verdigris. It's great for knitting lace - it's not super tiny. (All the rest of the relevant stats are on my Ravelry page here.)

Now it is on its way to live with Miss Babs. You can see it in a booth near you soon at the Michigan Fiber Fest and Stitches Midwest!

Not Meant to Be

2011-08-11T14:09:00.002-07:00

Or, the sweater that wasn't.

I haven't worked on my Sophia cardigan since last March. I'm struggling to find a nice way to say this, but I think about the only version of this sweater that looks good is the one on the cover of French Girl Knits. And between the cotton content of the yarn (ouch my wrists!) and the annoying stitch pattern, there was no way I was going back and working on it any more. It's looked like this since March, forlorn at the bottom of a knitting basket, taking up space and occupying a nice project bag.

So now it looks like this instead!

Much better. Freed up needles and a project bag, and if for some reason you want this yarn... look here. Back to super secret socks and hats.

Finished Leaflet

2011-08-09T15:27:00.002-07:00

I've been back from Sock Summit for a while now, but haven't gotten myself together enough to blog.

First of all, I was able to finish my Kira sweater - with enough time left over to wet-block it before I left for Portland. It was a hit in the booth. (I'll have photos soon).

And because I had a day to spare... what else to do but finish my Leaflet? That one wasn't dry before I left and I didn't get photos until today. It's super cute and was such a fast knit.

I think I added a couple extra rows of ribbing everywhere, but made no other real modifications to the pattern. Knit in the new Berroco Voyage on US #10 needles. I mostly liked knitting with the Voyage - it's a very springy tube of alpaca and polyester. I'm not sure if there was extra spinning oil or dye in the yarn, but I could feel some kind of residue when I knit it. It took three washes for the water to rinse clear when I blocked it - and it's soft and lovely now.

It's still a little warm out to wear this sweater, but I'm glad to have a little brown cardigan for fall.

Faster!

2011-07-21T17:54:00.009-07:00

This week is all about knitting at top speed. Super-duper deadline time.

This was Tuesday...

Yarn

Wound

Swatched (pocket linings make excellent swatches)

And yesterday

And today. I think I will actually be done in time.

Oh, and it's called Kira, by Cecily Glowik MacDonald, and the yarn is Miss Babs Yowza. For those of you keeping score at home, this all means that I'm trying to knit a 37" seamless raglan cardigan on US#6 needles and dk-weight yarn in about a week. I wish I had a cheering section or something.

Now back to knitting.

P.S. Word to the wise: writing a blog post with photos, using the iPhone, is kind of hard. The good news behind this is that I have sold my old MacBook and a new MacBook Air will be winging it's way to me very soon. Lucky me!

Hiking the Appalachian Trail

2011-07-20T10:57:00.002-07:00

And no, that's not some euphemism for "visiting Argentina with questionable company". Over the weekend we flew out to New Jersey to attend a big family reunion and surprise birthday party with my husband's big extended family.

We stayed in a lodge near the Delaware Water Gap. There was hiking, and swimming, and lots of food and good company. I met lots of new people, all of whom were universally welcoming and generous. I also got to meet my new nephew, who is my favorite age at 10 months (meaning they can laugh and play, but can't talk back or run away).

The hiking was a bit more vigorous than I'd imagined it would be. The trails were hilly and liberally littered with rocks, forcing me to watch my feet with every step so I didn't twist an ankle. But we saw big snakes and a deer - other people saw a bear - and climbed up to the top of an observation tower to see the ridges and valleys, climbed down to the Delaware River, passing a waterfall and going for a pleasant swim. There were wild blueberries and raspberries to eat along the way. Some of the rhododendrons were still blooming and ferns were everywhere. I had no phone service and didn't want any. I wish I'd gotten to talk with some people doing the whole hike of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, but we didn't meet any.

Of course now I am covered in bug bites and my legs are still a little tired. But it was well worth it.

Did you do anything unusual this weekend?

Apron Happiness

2011-07-13T15:40:00.003-07:00

Let's start off by saying I don't sew often. Yes, I sewed my prom dresses and I've made a couple of quilts, but I don't think of myself as a sewer or a seamstress - or now apparently the word is "sewist" which, irritatingly, isn't a word but does solve the homograph problem with "sewer".

Linguistic complaints aside, I have been doing a little sewing. I decided it was time for a craft apron, because in a little less than two weeks, I'm headed to Sock Summit in Portland to join Miss Babs and her crew in a vendor booth. I'm excited!

Back when I worked at fibre space, craft aprons were part of our uniform. The lovely Kel (sorry Kel, I forgot and thought Becky had made the first ones because Becky does so much sewing! Oops!) made them for us out of funky Ikea fabric (yes, Ikea carries fabric!) and each one was different and fun. They're great to stash a calculator, measuring tape, notepad, pen, phone, or whatever else you need, keeping your hands free and setting you apart from customers. Check out the new aprons Becky has made for the yarnista crew here. She's a pro.

I asked Becky if she had a rough pattern for them, but she said it was just drawing and math. So I drafted my own measurements, measured twice, cut once, ironed a lot, and sewed the whole thing together. I don't spend a lot of time on my sewing, so it's never going to be the most precise thing you've ever seen... but it's surprisingly functional. The fabric I used is shown here and I got it because it was so obnoxiously bright and cheery.

Anybody reading headed to Sock Summit? Sound off in the comments, and drop by Miss Babs' booth - 822 and 824 - and say hi to me and my funky apron in person! You can't miss me!

Leaflet

2011-07-12T13:50:00.003-07:00

Let me start by saying I love Knitty. Funky free patterns from big name designers AND people like you and me - what's not to love? Imagine my surprise, then, when I was in a yarn shop the other day and I overheard that the new girl there had never heard of it. Thankfully it sounded like she was excited to discover it.

Knitty's First Fall issue went live a few weeks ago. I fell in love with Cecily Glowik MacDonald's Leaflet, which is a sweet little sleeveless cardigan with a fresh leaf detail right down the back. Bonus: it's knit in big yarn on US #10 needles!

So I made a phone call to my good friends at fibre space, and soon thereafter there was a nice package of yarn on my doorstep. I'm trying out the new-for-fall Berroco Voyage, which is a knitted tube of alpaca and polyester. It's soft, lofty, warm, and knits up so fast.

It's been nice to zip along on a little something for me. And seeing as I went up to San Francisco over the weekend and froze my butt off... and went out last night and had to wear a hat and a jacket... yes, I can use a little alpaca cardigan in California, even in July.

And why did I go out last night? There just might have been a midnight launch party at the friendly local bookstore that I felt compelled to attend. Yes, I feel a little dorky, but I didn't stay up all night reading it. I'm looking forward to it, though.

Tiny Tomatoes

2011-07-11T15:42:00.002-07:00

Finally.

For what seemed like the longest time, my tomato plants were flowering but not setting fruit. Today I went out to visit them and discovered that tiny tomatoes have finally started to grow.

A vendor at the farmer's market had many unusual types of tomato seedlings, so this year I am trying new (old) varieties. I love Green Zebras, with their beautiful green and yellow stripes and good flavor - so I chose a Green Zebra hybrid called Copia (which will be yellow and red striped). I also got a Rose de Berne, which is another medium-sized tomato that should be pink and very productive - or so the tomato websites tell me.

Now for more waiting, but I know that delicious tomatoes will be well worth it.

All I can show you are giant thistles

2011-06-30T14:52:00.002-07:00

Like this.

Not sure how giant it really is? Don't believe me? Also that sucker bit me, which wasn't very nice.

Taken this weekend during a lovely bike ride on the bay trail. The thistle had a little path worn out to it from the bike path - clearly I was not the first person to visit it. I am not sure exactly what it is. I don't think it's a cardoon, as it was quite spiky.

All I can show you are giant thistles because all of my knitting is samples, or secret, or "look I knit three more inches of stockinette on this shapeless top-down raglan thing" which isn't particularly interesting. So there you are.

Leaving

2011-06-24T18:18:00.002-07:00

It's hard to simply title a blog post "Leaving", even though it's the name of this sweater; it makes a bad impression. But don't worry.

I'm not going anywhere, but this sweater is! Soon it will be winging its way to fibre space and you can see it there in person. It's called Leaving, designed by Anne Hanson, and was published in the Winter 2010 Twist Collective. The instructions have a pullover and a cardigan version.

I knit the 40" pullover. As usual my gauge is a little funny so it came out closer to 38" which fits me perfectly. I think the yardage estimates on the pattern were a little generous - the pattern said that this size would take at least 1500 yards, but I used less than 1200. My other notes are on Ravelry here.

It's knit in Miss Babs' newest yarn, Northumbria DK. The color is called Luna Granite. The Northumbria has been great to work with. It’s 100% Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) wool. BFL is smooth and fine with great stitch definition. BFL also has a lustrous silky drape after it’s blocked, which you can see in the photo above. Because of the sheen, it takes color beautifully. Luna Granite doesn’t have a ton of variegation, but it works up in subtle shades of dove grey with hints of lavender (I had to correct the color on the first photo, so it isn't very good).

Here's another glamour shot...

I will miss this sweater! I love sample knitting... but I also love to keep my projects once in a while. For a few short days (of course, another deadline looms not too far into the future, but that one's a secret) I get to knit something for myself. I am going to enjoy each and every stitch.

The babies are coming! The babies are coming!

2011-06-23T10:09:00.004-07:00

No, not babies for me! Two good knitting friends of mine just had baby boys.

I don't know what it is about the news of impending babies that compels us to knit, but I knew I just had to make adorable Baby Surprise Jackets for both of them. Booties, too.

These are probably my two favorite baby patterns. The classic all-garter stitch BSJ is perfect for TV knitting, and the booties match fairly well and are quick to knit. They're also a great way to use up leftover sock yarn if you just want to make booties.

The top set is knit in Miss Babs Yummy 3-ply Sport in Spring Lettuce and Bruin; the bottom set is knit in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in... uh... two shades of sage green. I embellished my BSJ's with a little applied I-cord edging on the bind off and around the neckline; I did some crab stitch (reverse single crochet) on the sleeves.

The booties are Christine's Stay-On Baby Booties, and from what I hear from parents they actually do stay on - important for wiggly babies. They are a little fiddly, but well worth it. The soles are knit in a separate piece, so it's easy to make them a contrasting color. I finished them off with some twisted cord - faster than i-cord, better looking than a crochet chain.

Because I can't find any instructions I like online for how to make twisted cord, here's what I do:

1. Determine the length you want your finished cord to be. [For example, two feet.]
2. Cut pieces of yarn (in this case, two) to a length THREE TIMES the length of your desired finished length. [For example, six feet each.]
3. Grab a friend or a secure hook or something else that won't move - put one end with your friend, and take the other.
4. Twist! Be very careful not to let go, and twist and twist and twist until you can't put any more twist into the yarn. You have to keep tension on the yarn as you're twisting, so hold on tight.
5. Without letting go... grab the halfway point and bring the two ends of the cord together. Let go of the center and the cord will twist up on itself like crazy.
6. Smooth out the twisty lumpy bits, and knot both ends. Ta-da, cord! If you need to shorten it, just tie another knot and cut off the excess.

Win-Win Situation

2011-06-21T10:48:00.008-07:00

So a while ago, when I was visiting Alexandria, I was knitting a pair of socks in the rocket lounge at fibre space. After I got past the heel turn and most of the gusset, I was finally able to try them on.

And they wouldn't go over my heel. Argh! I have wide feet and high arches, and really it shouldn't have been a surprise that a sock covered in cables wouldn't stretch to fit.

It's an otherwise lovely pattern, called Bouton d'or, by Nicole Masson. I knit these in Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, which I got at Bobbin's Nest and have discovered I like very much indeed. The color is called Equinox and is somewhere between the two photos shown here.

I took the needles out and got ready to rip them out when Cindy, who was sitting nearby, had the brilliant idea to try them on. Luckily they fit her, and we worked out a swap. And lucky for me, Cindy has wee tiny feet so the knitting was speedy!

Cindy might be generous to a fault, and the other day this scrumptious package showed up in the mail.

And I'll bet you can't guess what was inside....

Yes, that's a big lovely hank of Wollmeise Lace. (The color is Madame Souris WD, if you're a Wollmeise junkie and you have to know these things). I haven't the foggiest idea what to do with it, but that's okay. It is purple and grey and gigantic and wonderful and I'm sure something lovely will come of it.

Finally I got the socks done and they have been washed and blocked and they are winging their way back to Virginia. I can't imagine Cindy is going to get much wear out of them for a little while, what with the heat, but I hope she loves them all the same.

Homemade Nutella

2011-06-16T11:07:00.004-07:00

Who can resist Nutella? The chocolate-hazelnut spread seems to be as ubiquitous in Europe as peanut butter is here, and for good reason. It's delicious! But Nutella is kind of pricey, and here in the US it's distributed by Nestlé, a company which we try to avoid.

Thank goodness for David Lebovitz, who is a pastry chef, blogger, and creator and compiler of delicious recipes. We've made some of his recommendations before. Can't remember what at the moment, but I'm positive it was delicious. Ooh, wait, no, here it is: Strawberry Frozen Yogurt. Will be making that the very moment I get the mixer out of the shop and get the ice-cream maker frozen again.

David's recipe for Nutella came out of a French cookbook, the Encyclopédie du Chocolat. It wasn't hard, but like any good kitchen project, it required a shopping trip, used lots of pans AND the food processor (which I hate washing), and kind of made a mess.

So. Let's do it.

Melt chocolate. Warm milk and honey.

Toast hazelnuts; remove skins. (We used all hazelnuts, omitting the almonds called for in the original recipe - because we'd bought too many hazelnuts).

Blend hazelnuts into oblivion (I didn't have any issues with texture or not having the hazelnuts be chunky; then again my food processor is kind of a behemoth).

Add chocolate. Add milk. Blend like crazy (this step probably would have been better in the blender, but who wants to wash another appliance?)

Pour into jars. Make crepes. Eat all the Nutella that didn't fit into jars on crepes.

And now, the hard part. Try to forget the jar of nutella in the refrigerator, coupled with the fact that you own spoons and could just eat it out of the jar any time you want. Oops. Already failed on that one today.

New Bicycle!

2011-06-13T14:10:00.002-07:00

I'm so excited.

I haven't had a bicycle since high school, and now I am the proud owner of this little green (what a surprise, green) Schwinn. Nothing fancy here, just a cute little bike for pedaling around town. It needs some kind of basket.

This must have been bicycle-buying weekend, as every shop we visited was having a sale. Simon had to order the one he wanted, and it should be here by the end of the week. Then we can go riding together. So much fun!

Hummingbirds

2011-06-10T11:19:00.002-07:00

The hummingbirds who live near me continue to delight and fascinate me, probably to the annoyance of all my houseguests. I can only hope they are at least momentarily amused by the tiny birds. I can sit by my back window and watch them all day, as they feed every 10 minutes or so. They never seem to go too far.

Here in Northern California, Anna's Hummingbirds are the only hummers that stay the winter. There are enough flowers and insects year-round to keep them from going hungry. In my yard, they visit my feeder as well as my fuchsias, red-hot poker (Kniphophia), coral bells, and other flowers. Hummingbirds are picky and I have to be careful to keep the feeder very clean - no dirty sugar water for these guys!

They are really hard to photograph. This is the female:

And this is a sadly unfocused photo of the male:

Check out a google image search for Anna's Hummingbirds to see much better photos of their amazing iridescent hot pink head feathers.

They make a surprising amount of noise for tiny birds, a dry, high pitched chirping noise. And of course they sound like giant bumblebees while flying - if you are near enough to hear it. They fight over the feeder, chasing away other birds. I think I only have two right now, but earlier this spring I did find a tiny hummingbird nest in my giant bamboo:

The nests are made out of cobwebs and grass and tiny twigs. Yes, cobwebs: I watched mama hummingbird collect them. I'm not sure what happened - whether there were babies or not. Still, I will keep watching.

Work in Progress

2011-06-06T15:05:00.003-07:00

I feel ever more like a work in progress these days. Some of it's big stuff, like trying to find a new job - or little stuff, like growing my hair out. And a lot of it is knitting stuff.

I love to wind yarn. I love to start things. So here's what's new in my knitting.

Top-down raglans. Hello, easy knitting! After discovering how much I loved my first Featherweight Cardigan, I've started one for myself in madelinetosh tosh merino light (the color is Mare). I'm almost to the point where I can take the sleeves off and just knit the body.

And, because I hear that summer will one day come to northern California, I started a Buttercup. (We had rain this weekend! rain in June! Apparently this is so unheard of it made the national news.) Anyway, that's Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in Blue Pine Green. Not much knitting yet, but that's OK.

Socks, because I can't not be knitting a sock.
These ones are going to be for the mister. Round and round.

Last but not least, it's time for a new sample for Miss Babs. This is Anne Hanson's Leaving from Twist Collective. I'm making the pullover version. The yarn is Northumbria DK in Luna Granite... it's got tones you can't see in this photo, and it's lovely.

Maybe soon I'll even finish something. What's new with you?

Bagels

2011-05-31T11:40:00.002-07:00

We're always on the hunt for a fun new food project. Somehow all food experimentation becomes a project, complete with research, shopping expeditions for unusual ingredients, and full-fledged destruction of the kitchen.

So. Bagels.

Why bagels? Well, why not bagels? They have great potential for yumminess. Onward.

The Mr. did the research - I don't have the patience for it. He came up with what was described as a recipe for the genuine article, which is apparently more genuine in Montreal than it is in New York these days. Whatever. Go read the writeup about it; I'm not going to get into an argument. At the end of this long article of discovery and experimentation is a recipe, which we followed almost to the letter. I substituted bread flour for all-purpose. The weird ingredient requiring a shopping expedition was barley malt syrup, which we found at Whole Foods in the baking aisle, next to things like molasses.

Here's a note for technologically advanced cooks: if you have an iPad 2 with the smart cover, you can use the magnets in the smart cover to stick it to your fridge and use the iPad to read recipes off of. Magic!

The dough was pretty easy to make and nice to work with. It rose nicely. We had a little trouble making it into nice-looking rings, but that can come with practice. The boiling wasn't as bad as I'd feared - what if the rings fell apart into some kind of mush? Nope, no problems there either.

A little glaze and some toppings later, and they went into the oven.

I have approximately the world's crappiest oven, so to counteract everything burning, I have to double all my baking sheets for an air cushion.

All the prep was well rewarded. We ended up with a dozen small bagels (about the size of your average donut), and they will be all gone in 24 hours. I'd make them again. They were chewy and soft and fluffy and crunchy on the bottom. The only thing I'd change in the future is maybe the salt/sugar ratios - these were a little sweet for my taste.

Thanks to mom for the home-grown poppy seeds.

Featherweight Cardigan

2011-05-26T14:36:00.002-07:00

Now that I have a little more time on my hands, I've been partnering with Miss Babs to knit samples, work shows, and hopefully come up with new ideas. Here's one of the samples I've knit for her booth.

We were looking for a simple, straightforward garment to show off the qualities of the yarn and ended up with Hannah Fettig's Featherweight Cardigan. The original sweater was knit in Malabrigo Lace, which is oh-so-soft but frankly not very durable.

I was the first person to get to knit a sweater with her new Northumbria fingering weight yarn. It's 100% Blue-faced Leicester wool, which means it's smooth and strong while still being soft and a little silky. Let me just say I love this yarn for garments! It's lightweight and I'm sure it will wear really well. The colors are also incredibly vibrant (this color is called Aubergine, if you like it).

Here I am. I knit the 40" size, even though I'm closer to a 36" bust, for two reasons. My gauge was off - the pattern calls for a size 6, but I liked the fabric I got better on a 5. Since I was using a smaller needle, the 36" sweater would have come out too small, and I like a little positive ease in my sweaters. I don't think anyone looks good in a skin-tight sweater! So the finished sweater ended up being about 38" - perfect for me. I also lengthened it by a lot, because I don't care for cropped sweaters. It's a top-down knit, so this is a very easy modification. Just keep knitting.

I visit the sweater and wear it any time I work a show with Babs... but I think it's time for me to make one that I'll get to keep. It's a lot of mindless knitting, so here's hoping we don't run out of James Bond movies and soccer matches to watch.

The continued bamboo saga

2011-05-25T15:11:00.005-07:00

The bamboo that had invaded my lawn was removed. It took the work of strong men with axes, but it was removed.

However, bamboo is tenacious. Bamboo can only really be stopped by several feet of concrete, and then only sometimes.

This bamboo hit the foundation of the house, couldn't go any further, and shot up from there. When people say bamboo grows fast, they aren't joking around. Compare the bamboo to the window frame. The left photo was taken on Monday. The right photo was taken today. That's a good 18" of growth in two days.

It can see in the windows now. I think it's watching me.

Spinning Beginner Yarn

2011-05-24T13:59:00.005-07:00

Visiting fibre space and Alexandria was good. I got to knit a lot, work the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival with Miss Babs, and hang out with people I hadn't seen in six months.

The other thing I did while I was there was to try some wheel spinning. I’ve done some spindle spinning before, but just like knitting I like to go FAST. I love spinning with a wheel. On the other hand, I don’t need another hobby, another expense, or another piece of furniture in the living room, so I don’t own one.

Thankfully this is where Lesley comes in. Lesley just got a beautiful Kromski Symphony and agreed to let me spin on it. I am still very much a beginner, so I tried out some mixed light & dark BFL from Miss Babs. She always says it’s good for new spinners – not as slippery as merino or other silky fibers.

So here I am spinning. Please remember I have no clue what I’m doing, so I’m sure I have atrocious posture and there are probably seventeen other things wrong with this photo.

My yarn is a little uneven, but that’s ok – it’s beginner yarn! I don’t know all the smart words about spinning, whether I should talk about plies or twist or drafting or whatever. I’m just excited to have made yarn that looks mostly like yarn. It averages out to be worsted weight or so. I hope there is enough for a hat.

Lesley is also awesome and agreed to spin some yarn just for me! She has a lot more practice than I do, so her yarn looks a lot nicer. (Just like real yarn!) This is from Polwarth fiber from Squoosh Fiberarts, in a color called Fathom. It’s over 500 yards and probably sportweight. I have no idea what I’m going to do to show it off. Maybe a shawlette? Anybody have any suggestions?

Happy Monday

2011-05-23T15:16:00.003-07:00

How was your weekend?

Our weekend was busy. We went to a book sale at the public library and brought home two big stacks for less than a dollar a book. I have been able to fit the non-fiction into the bookcase. The fiction is another story.

Oops, that wasn't intended to be punny. No really, where are all the books supposed to go?

Also going on this weekend was the Mountain View A La Carte and Art festival. The main street was closed down and filled with art, craft, and food vendors. As usual, not much of it was to my taste, but I did have to go back the second day for a great t-shirt from Limey T's. Her booth was packed with goodies, and she has an etsy shop here where you can see it all. There's a whole line for kids, too.

I love the barn owls. She had some shirts with peacock feathers and lilies of the valley that I also wanted... but one thing at a time.

Of course there was knitting, but it was mostly the secret kind. How was your weekend?

Sock Roundup

2011-05-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Since leaving for California, I've finished eight pair of socks. Some of them were for me. Some of them were for other people. That's the nice thing about socks - most people seem to think they're a really cool gift. Anyways, nobody needs to read individual things about eight pair of socks, particularly the ones that were knit plain.

So I used the mosaic maker over at fd's flickr toys to make you a pretty photo of all the socks. If you're really curious, you can look at all the details over at my Ravelry project page dedicated to socks.

Okay wait, I'll write about one pair. For a Sock Knitters Anonymous challenge, I knit Skew (top row center in the above photo). Eighty-six zillion people have knit these socks. Some people love the way they fit - and some don't. I have high arches and wide feet, so I was a little afraid they wouldn't fit. Miraculously, with virtually no modification, they did. I was so excited. I'd never knit a pair of socks so quickly (the plain stockinette helped). They probably won't wear well - I had to knit them on 2's to get something approaching a size that would fit me - but they were a lot of fun.

What next? I now have 30 pair of socks. I have actually reached a saturation point. It's more than I can fit in the sock box. Even with wearing hand knit socks every day (and for probably 9 months of the year here in Northern California), it's more than I can reasonably wear between washings. They don't seem in danger of wearing out any time soon.

And yet - this should come as no surprise - I have lots of sock yarn in my stash just waiting to be knit up. Yep, I could knit socks for other people. I could knit more shawlettes. But darn it, I like knitting socks for me! I like wearing them! Maybe someday the old ones will wear out and I'll have a good excuse to make lots more.

I suppose I should take this as a sign to knit more sweaters. I actually need more sweaters. Hm.

Something new on the needles

2011-05-19T15:51:00.002-07:00

I can't stop knitting. It's PINK. SO PINK. I am not a "pink person" but it is so HAPPY. I sat in the sunshine for hours to be with this yarn today.

It's Miss Babs Yowza in a one-of-a-kind spectacularly unrepeatable shade called Scarlet Ibis. The camera can never pick up the colors right. It's every shade of pink imaginable, plus a little red, berry, and coral. I am in love.

Of course, it's not for me. Someone I love dearly has had a little girl, and this is going to be perfect for her. For both of them. But when I'm all done, there will be a pattern for you. Soon!

Actual Knitting Content

2011-05-18T17:30:00.004-07:00

Note I didn't say new knitting content.

As usual, all my current knitting is super-secret in one way or another. I have some designer samples, some gifts, and some really terrible swatches for new designs (that aren't working properly) on the needles. However, since I haven't blogged in approximately forever, I have an immense backlog of old finished knitting to share. Aren't you just beside yourself with excitement?

Before I moved to California, I started some wonderful Citrus mittens. After over a year (sock yarn on US #0, anyone?) they were finally done back in December. They have snuggly double cuffs to keep out the cold. I have worn them exactly zero times. I guess they are nice to look at.

I made plans for making SpillyJane's super-cute Carrots & Beets Mittens as a gift for my mom, who is an ardent gardener, for Christmas. A week after Christmas (I know, I’m a terrible daughter), they were finished. Let’s not talk about how long it took to weave in all the ends, okay? At least in Chicago they are useful. And I hear they were admired by all of my Mom's knitting group, which is pretty awesome.

I knit these up in Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool Fingering, which is a lovely thing. I think there's nothing else like it on the market right now, a 2-ply fingering-weight non-superwash merino in tons of colors.

Between all the socks I've knit (those can have a post all their own) and projects like these, I'm starting to amass quite a lot of fingering weight leftovers. I love love love to knit colorwork, so perhaps building up a stash of many colors can only be a good thing. No more full mittens, though - not in California anyway. I am however lusting over the Härkeberga Guldmantel mitts. They might become my next stranded knitting project. I have the yarn - just have to buy the pattern and find the time.

Sometimes, I'm organized

2011-05-17T12:41:00.005-07:00

Even though I had unpacked all the books immediately, it took me four months after we moved in to alphabetize the bookshelves.

Now, madness has set in and I'm organizing the fruit.

Aliens have emerged

2011-05-16T17:50:00.003-07:00

In the almost three weeks I was gone from California, my front lawn has been invaded by malicious alien life-forms.

Bamboo shoots, to be precise.

Aside from the fact that you can almost watch them grow - which, admittedly, is pretty cool - these things are terrifying. The biggest ones are nearly a foot tall, bigger around than my wrist, and pointy. It's like the bottom of a tiger pit out there.

Dear Blog,

2011-04-21T13:54:00.003-07:00

Dear Blog,

It's been too long. (I hope you won't notice that I accidentally first typed "Dear Blob", too.) So much has changed!

Now we live in California, in the strange and wonderful Silicon Valley. Sadly I had to give up my yarn store gig to move away, but it's been for the best: the Mr. has a job he loves, the area is great, and I'm beginning to find new friends and routines. Hopefully a new job will come along soon.

After living in temporary housing for almost two months, we found a little house to live in. For the first time, we bought a car (it's a Prius). I see hummingbirds every day and I get to knit a lot, so I suppose that's good. Most of the knitting is still of the super-secret variety, but after a hiatus this long I seem to have developed a backlog of things I can share.

It's probably best if we keep this short and sweet for a while. So, with hopes of writing again soon, I'll sign off.

Clapotis, again

2010-08-13T06:50:00.002-07:00

I'm not sure what else you do with nearly a sweater quantity of variegated yarn, except make a Clapotis. This is perfectly okay with me, even though it violates my rule of "never knit anything twice". My other two Clapotises are made from sock yarn and are just plain too small. This one may verge on too big but I love the luxurious feel of a big drapey wrap.

Yarn: Mirasol Hacho in Sapphire Jade (304).
#8 needles and the full width of the original pattern - and extra length.

I did the thing you're supposed to do and alternated skeins. I'm glad I did because I think it came out very even.

If it can't keep me warm this winter, I doubt anything can.

Jellyfish

2010-08-01T16:34:00.002-07:00

The shop has been participating in the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project. This weekend, all the corals that have been collected were installed in the shop's front window display. They are awesome.

Read about the math part. It is very cool and still a little mind-bending.

The coral reef project won't take animals, but I made a jellyfish anyway. It adds some height to the window display and was fun to make.

I made my jellyfish by knitting a doily pattern, then starching it with commercial fabric stiffener over the biggest bowl I had. The tentacles are crocheted by chaining, then working single crochet into one side of the chain - they curl naturally. This is approximately the most artistic thing I've done in years and it makes me laugh!

Busybusy!

2010-07-26T10:16:00.003-07:00

I think this has been the busiest year of my life so far. New job, engaged, married, knitting a lot... which is why the blog has been dead. Let's give it another try with one of my favorite shots of me from the wedding photos from Brandy of Modern Toile Photography.

Hello, Internet

2010-01-26T09:18:00.002-08:00

Long time no see! Miss me? Yeah, that's what I thought. Not really.

But that's OK. I miss blogging, so I am going to try (in my copious spare time) to keep up with it again. Besides, why else am I paying for flickr pro?

Lots of people have commented that Ravelry is killing the knitting blogs, and that blogs really are a strange, one-sided form of communication. Yes, and yes. Who cares!

Anyway, I am doing the crazy thing where I am trying to knit 12 sweaters in 12 months. 12 sweaters in 2010. Thankfully vests count, or I'd be sunk.

I just finished Ms. Marigold from Zephyr Style, out of Miss Babs Yowza in the color Timberline. Awesome top, with spectacular giant boob-framing detail! I normally hate vests but the deep V neck and the funky crocheted ruffles put me over the edge - and seeing Miss Babs' sample in real life really sealed the deal.

Now to decide which sweater I'm going to finish by the end of February. I hope that sample knitting sweaters get to count, even though I won't be able to show them off.

Big Update Time!

2009-07-30T10:05:00.002-07:00

Hi all -
I realize it's been quite some time since I updated, again - and no, I haven't really fallen off the internets. But lots has been happening that's been keeping me from blogging, so I hope you can forgive me.

As usual, I have no knitting to show you because I have more super secret sample knitting than I can really keep up with.

In the first bit of good news, I got a job at the new yarn store in town, fibre space. We worked furiously for weeks to prep to get it open, and now we have lots of great yarn and cool classes lined up for the fall (not to mention parties and spinning fiber!). The website isn't finished, but you can see a bit of the progress on the owner's blog here. I am super happy to be around fiber and yarn and bright colors all the time, and I have wonderful opportunities for teaching and pattern designing and just generally kicking butt.

And now for the second bit of good news. On Tuesday, the anniversary of our very first kiss many, many years ago, Simon said the one thing I've always wanted to hear him say... and asked me to marry him.

(I may not be able to knit from the distraction!)

M is for...

2009-06-29T09:24:00.002-07:00

Monday, and marshmallows!

There's something sad about the ordinary supermarket marshmallow, laying lumpily in its undignified plastic bag on a grocery store shelf, small or large, perhaps cut into odd shapes or colors. Light, sweet, and very nearly tasteless, all the bag can advertise is 'A Fat Free Candy!' as if that was going to be your main motivation to buy it in the first place. S'mores, rice krispy treats, and rocky road ice cream all depend on the marshmallow, but how many of us just eat marshmallows plain? I think most of us, with the experience of adulthood, have moved on to more sophisticated pleasures.

But recent experience at The Dairy Godmother has suggested that there's a bit more to marshmallows than sugar-flavored air. With the aid of last July's Bon Appetit magazine, I whipped up my own batch. (You'll find that searching for more recipes online brings up very similar, or identical, formulae). Some recipes include egg white, but this one works just fine without.

Homemade Marshmallows

nonstick cooking spray
1 C cold water, divided
3 1/4-oz envelopes unflavored gelatin
2 C sugar
2/3 C light corn syrup
1/4 t salt
2 t vanilla extract
1/2 C potato starch
1/2 C powdered sugar

Line 13x9 pan with foil. Coat foil evenly with cooking spray.

Pour 1/2 C cold water into bowl of mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand until gelatin softens and absorbs water, at least 15 minutes.

Mmm, squishy.

Combine 2 cups sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 C water in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush.

At this point, the syrup is still a little cloudy.

Attach candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat and bring syrup to a boil. Boil, without stirring, until syrup reaches 240dF, about 8 minutes.

(This is where precision comes in. My candy thermometer apparently was made for use with bigger batches of syrup, and didn't read accurately in this small amount. Get out a real cookbook and read their description of old-fashioned candy making, where you test the readiness of sugar syrup by dropping a small amount into a glass of ice water. 240dF is the 'soft ball' stage. Don't do what I did the first time and rely only on the thermometer! I burned the syrup, making a horrible mess.)

With mixer running at low speed, slowly pour hot syrup into gelatin in a thin stream down the side of the bowl (avoid pouring onto the whisk, as it might splash).

The syrup is still boiling - be careful!

Gradually increase speed to high and beat until mixture is very thick and stiff, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla and beat to blend, about 30 seconds longer.

At first the mixture doesn't look like much....

But soon it is brilliant white and fills the whole bowl! With the power of a KitchenAid on its highest setting, it probably needed less than 10 minutes, but we wanted to be very sure.

Scrape into foil-lined pan and smooth top. Let stand uncovered at room temperature until firm, about 4 hours.

(Obviously this isn't a 13x9 pan. The other half immediately went into rice krispy treats.)

Sift together potato starch and powdered sugar. Sift generous amount onto work surface, making a slightly larger than 13x9 rectangle. Turn marshmallow slab onto powder. Peel off foil. Sift more powder onto the slab. Coat large sharp knife (or cookie cutters) with nonstick cooking spray. Cut marshmallows into squares or other desired shapes. Toss with more starch-sugar mix to coat. Transfer marshmallows to a rack, shaking off excess powder.

Supposedly they'll keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. I don't think they'll last that long.

Homemade marshmallows have a lot more flavor and character than the sad lumps in the supermarket. I'm looking forward to some s'mores... maybe coating these in a bit of dark chocolate... maybe even rocky road ice cream (oh wait, we just made 3 flavors of ice cream this weekend, oops). And next time - there will be a next time! How about lemon or orange?

Shhhhh...

2009-06-26T13:42:00.002-07:00

I have to whisper.

Or is that I have to Whisper?

I've seen a few too many of these gorgeous little laceweight cardigans going around to resist making my own.

I received some gorgeous Misti International Hand Paint Lace last year and this is going to be a great use of it. 100g of alpaca is going to make the lightest warmest little sweater, I think.

And just like everybody else, I realized #7 needles weren't going to work for the body. I should have just paid attention to my mom and went straight to #5s, but no, I had to knit 4" on #6s before I realized my error. Now I've ripped the whole thing out and re-started. On #5s. Has ANYBODY out there made this silly thing on #7s?

Unfortunately now that I've recovered my lost ground, Whisper is going to have to stay at the bottom of the stack while I slog through my sample knitting.

In lieu of knitting

2009-06-24T08:14:00.002-07:00

And when you can't post photos of knitting... post photos of flowers!

I've been doing some work on my patio, putting in some more flowers and herbs and veggies for the summer.

I already have one tiny tomato!

While I'm not a big fan of petunias (the smell, the stickyness, the ubiquity) I fed these little guys lots of Osmocote and they are really taking off. I'm starting to love them, and they're going to be ginormous.

(My camera can't figure out magenta for any reason! Terrible.)

I wish I knew the name of my one daylily. It amazes me that it overwinters in my container, and I'm so happy to see these huge 6" blossoms.

Last but not least, I found a castor bean. Someone was selling seedlings at the Farmer's Market, and I just couldn't resist. So I potted him up and he is growing like a weed! This is the sort of thing that wants a time-lapse video taken, but I'm a bit too lazy for that. Any bets on how big he'll get this summer and whether I'll need to repot him? (When I started seeds myself, the packet said 4-15' height...)

It's going to be my very own little jungle out back. Excellent.

When in doubt...

2009-06-22T12:00:00.003-07:00

...post photos of yarn.

I got the yarn for my next set of commissions, and while I can't say more about what all these different yarns will become, I can still show them off.

Two heathered shades of Cascade Lana d'Oro:

This is another well-made yarn from Cascade, which is 50% superfine alpaca and 50% wool. Nice and soft and WARM!

Three full bags of Cascade 220:

Yes, the workhorse, but in gorgeous saturated colors.

and last but not least a whole collection of Koigu KPPPM and KPM:

I've never had this much Koigu to pretend to call my own at any one time! Please forgive me, I'm going to go give it a squeeze again.

I guess it's back to work - I'm on deadline now!

What I did on my summer vacation

2009-06-19T08:34:00.002-07:00

Unwittingly followed Elizabeth Zimmermann's directive and knit a lace shawl, of course!

After unsuccessfully trying to knit socks out of some lovely Jojoland Melody superwash (a little too thin, not quite bouncy enough), I decided it would be better suited for lace. Enter the popular Aeolian Shawl.

Begun on the plane, June 8; finished before I had to get back on the plane, June 16. This of course is the small version - the big one is even more spectacular but I have no idea where I'd wear a big shawl these days. A little one makes a great scarf.

I was overconfident that I had enough yarn and began to knit looser and looser through the edging section. Of course I ran out of yarn on the bindoff but was able to make a last minute substitution. It's not perfect, but it'll do.

I decided against adding beads to this design; I don't think I'm much of a fan of beads in knitting generally. The nupps were pretty straightforward after I figured out exactly how to work them, but I did miss a loop on one and had to sew it back down (not so much fun).

The 'on-the-lamp' shot:

And some close-ups:

The edging is what really makes this design shine - the strong geometric zig-zag and the exuberance of the floral ruffle design together have a big, big impact.

I may need more little triangles in my life - the Swallowtail Shawl (from IK) has been on my list for a while too. But I think Whisper is next. I've seen too many nice ones not to follow suit, and I have just the thing for it.

My new favorite sweater

2009-06-05T12:48:00.002-07:00

The February Lady Sweater sat for weeks in my knitting basket, pathetic and sleeveless, as I struggled to finish sample knitting work (you know, the kind with deadlines that come all too soon). And then one day I decided I'd had enough. No more waiting. How long could a couple of sleeves - shortish ones in worsted weight and lace, at that - really take? And just like that, it was done.

(Talk about struggling. Next time I'm recruiting some help for the photos.)

Potential

2009-06-03T12:30:00.003-07:00

Sometimes, when the sweater you're knitting is ugly, or doesn't fit, or is somehow full of mistakes... sometimes you just have to rip the whole damn thing out, toss the yarn in a box, and wait for a while to start over. What was once a failed endeavor becomes an opportunity. Disappointment gets turned back into potential.

Suffice to say I've been gone for a while, doing a lot of metaphorical ripping and re-potentializing (is that a word? Probably not. Who cares.) I've been enjoying the hospitality and company of family and old friends. I've been knitting and gardening up a storm. And now I'm back to a point where I want to blog again.

So here I am! Enough with the serious business and let's talk about knitting.

See what I mean about ripping and re-doing? That used to be the bedjacket. Now it will become something new, of my own invention.

Soon I'll be hoping to show off more of what I've been doing the past few months. Although much of it has been super-secret sample knitting, some of those things (from a year or more ago!) have finally become public and I'm excited to share them with you.

Free Pattern: King Street Beret

2009-01-26T13:40:00.003-08:00

I knit up this cute floppy hat in the fall and it's been my winter go-to ever since. It's fast, easy, and keeps your ears warm. What's not to like?

While the world maybe doesn't need more patterns for hats like this, I made my own. And now I'm sharing it with you.

King Street Beret

Finished Size: to fit a woman; adjustable
Yarn: Bulky-weight wool or blend, 140 yards. I used Pingouin Guernesey, which I doubt is still available. Any bulky-weight yarn that knits to the appropriate gauge will work - pick something wooly and marled if you want to duplicate the look.
Needles: US #9 16" circular and set of US #9 DPs, or whatever size you need to get gauge. I only used dps, but there are a lot of stitches and they may fall off and drive you crazy!
Gauge: 18st/4" over double moss stitch pattern.
Notions: tapestry needle, 3 yds thread-covered elastic in color to match your yarn.

Double moss stitch (worked in the round):
Round 1: *K2, P2; rep from *
Round 2: as Round 1
Round 3: *P2, K2; rep from *
Round 4: as Round 3
These 4 rounds make up the pattern.

Directions:
Cast on 76 stitches. Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist. Mark beginning of the round if you need to.
Work in K1, P1 ribbing for 1".
Next round: Switch to double moss stitch, and AT THE SAME TIME increase 36 stitches in pattern evenly around: 112 stitches total.
Continue to work in pattern until piece measures 5" from cast on edge.

Decreases:
Round 1: *work 12, k2tog, rep from * (replace k2tog with p2tog if that fits better with the double moss stitch; use your judgement)
Round 2: work even in pattern as best you can (the marl will help hide pattern irregularities due to decreasing).
Round 3: *work 11, k2tog, rep from *
Round 4: as Round 2.
Continue to decrease every other round until 30 sts remain, keeping double moss stitch pattern and switching to DPs as necessary.
When 30 sts remain, decrease every round until 4 sts remain.
On these 4 sts, work 3" of i-cord.
Bind off.

Finishing:
Weave in all ends.
Tie i-cord in an overhand knot.
Block.
With needle, thread elastic through ribbing on the WS, catching elastic under knit sts. Adjust length of elastic as desired and knot ends.
Enjoy!
(And if you make one, let me know!)

Broadripple

2009-01-23T13:28:00.003-08:00

I was going to write you a blog post earlier... but I went to Ikea instead. Assembling all that flat-packed furniture eats up crazy amounts of time, even though I love it, love it, love it.

But in the meantime, between wielding my screwdriver and knitting up samples, I've been cooking up another pair of socks.

[Broadripple, by Rob Matyska, from knitty a long time ago]

I'm trying to work through my seemingly never-ending stash of sock yarns, trying to get through some of the oldest ones first. I'm fairly certain this is Opal, in "Flamingo" - with all the socks I've knit I've never used Opal before! I'm enjoying it, it seems like it will wear well, even though the color is, um, a little intense.

[Now with second sock!]

I've modified these a little to work with a thinner yarn - just added a few stitches into each repeat and went down to #2 needles. They're not quite as interesting as the Spring Forward socks, so they aren't getting as much attention. But I want to finish them soon - so I can start something else!

Now with buttons

2009-01-16T12:32:00.002-08:00

In between all the socks (is it crazy that I'm thinking of casting on two more pair, with two already on the needles?) I've still found time to work on my February Lady Sweater. I'm well into the lace part of the body, so the whole thing is growing fairly quickly.

Over the holidays I had the good fortune to find some cute buttons for this sweater. What is it with buttons? How are there so many ugly buttons out there, and so few interesting and good-quality ones? In any case I'm happy with these. They're wood and have some nice detail for interest.

[Hooray, a close-up!]

[And from further away - see, I've got some lace done.]

I found these at a cute little shop in Greenville, SC called The Needle Tree.

Luck of the Draw, part 2

2009-01-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

I recently received my latest raffle prize for participating in Sockdown! on Ravelry.

This time, it was a lovely skein of hand-dyed sock yarn and stitch markers from Sheila Rovelstad Designs.

[I am really loving tonal or nearly-solid hand-dyes! Yum.]

I don't frequently find a need for stitch markers, but these are gorgeous. They're one of those things I'd never spend the money on for myself, but they sure do dress up the knitting!

[And the stones are my favorite color green, too.]

You should check out her shop, not just for the great tonal colors, but for the colorway names. I was singing to myself the whole time I was trying to choose a color!

Third time's the charm

2009-01-12T09:17:00.002-08:00

Sometimes there's a yarn that seems to hold so much potential, so much positive energy... and yet continually disappoints.

[Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck, in the "Watercolor" colorway - the "Potluck" part means every skein is different, and you just end up with a random selection.]

I've held on to this yarn for years now after receiving it as a gift.

I made a really disappointing sock with it.

[Rib and Cable socks, which didn't fit and pooled badly.]

I tried another pattern, hoping that would help.

[Crusoe might have been a good choice, but was still awfully ugly. This was as far as I ever got.]

I even tried to overdye the yarn with tea, but I think it only made the colors uglier.

[The right swatch is black tea; the left is green tea, both set with vinegar. What a terrible orange!]

But I've taken inspiration from the original project photos of the Spring Forward socks from Knitty, and I'm hoping that the third time is the charm with this yarn and a new pattern.

[On my new KnitPicks needles!]

If not... I may just have to give up entirely! But I am really enjoying knitting this pattern, the knitting is going pretty quickly, and the yarn hasn't pooled in too bad of a fashion. I think I'll tough it out.

Mail Call!

2009-01-09T09:57:00.003-08:00

Sample knitting continues... this time with a 5-lb. box showing up on my doorstep!

What does five pounds of Cascade 220 look like, you might ask?

[Pretty excellent if you ask me!]

Happy Christmas, part II

2009-01-09T09:29:00.003-08:00

While 'tis better to give than to receive... I did get some excellent knitting-related gifts for Christmas this year that I have to show off.

First, some new dp's for the never-ending parade of socks:

[I'm interested to see how the Knitpicks needles hold up.]

Then, a complete surprise from a friend, this lovely hand-made project bag:

[It's got pockets and everything, and is big enough to hold a whole sweater in progress!]

But the pièce de résistance was this gorgeous and carefully-engineered birch swift, made by my dad (and happily coupled with a ball-winder from my sister!) It also breaks down into all its component parts for easy storage - my mom made it a nifty carrying case.

[That's a skein of Cascade 220 on there, with lots of room for more!]

I've already been giving it a workout.

[Incidentally I've discovered this REALLY pushes the cat's buttons. Hysterical.]

At my age I feel a bit silly asking for things for gifts, but the amount of knitting I'm doing keeps going up and up. With a greater proportion of it being time-sensitive sample knitting, it's great to be able to wind balls efficiently! Some of you may remember that I've gone on the record before complaining about "cakes" ... I am happily relaxing my position!

I feel fortunate to be surrounded by so many carefully hand-made things.

Happy Christmas

2009-01-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

Now that all the gifts have been given and I'm no longer in danger of giving away any surprises, I can show them to you!

What looked like quite a bit of yarn in that photo worked up very quickly, most of it into three hats.

First, a simple and warm Seaman's Cap for my dad:

[Patons Classic Wool, #7 needles, and an afternoon]

Then, two wonderful Jared Flood designs, Koolhaas and Turn a Square, for someone very special:

[Patons Classic Wool again, although the color is a bit much and I may adopt it!]

[Cascade 220 and Noro Silk Garden, yum! Looks like I need to get a photo on the recipient, though....]

Finally, a lovely Lace Ribbon scarf in my sister's signature purple:

[And yes, that's me at the edge of the frame with a silly toy!]

This was from a lovely ball of BMFA Socks That Rock in a club-only colorway. No, I'm not in the club, but it was another fortuitous raffle win! Look at those gorgeous colors.

Yum! Thankfully the holiday knitting was pretty low-key and simple this year, just the way I like it. And I think everyone was pretty happy with what they'd received, which is of course the point. I also got some truly nifty things for Christmas this year, but I think they warrant their own post.

What was your favorite thing you gave this year?

Another month, another pair of socks

2009-01-05T08:50:00.003-08:00

I feel like the only thing I really ended up finishing in 2008 (for myself, anyway) was socks. Lots and lots of socks. I now have over 20 pair in my little display box [scroll down], and now that I live someplace cold enough for them, they're actually getting some wear. It doesn't hurt that the socks also serve as a raffle ticket and I have yarn for another 15 pair or so before I have to buy more!

Here are the latest:

I call these my Brown Seaweed Socks... and here's the stats:
Pattern: Seaweed Socks [PDF] by Wendy Johnson of WendyKnits
Yarn: KPPPM, color 613 (I like to think of it as 'butter pecan')
Needles: #1 dps
Notes: This is one of the only toe-up sock patterns I've liked. I'm fortunate that Wendy and I have feet exactly the same size, so what works for her seems to work for me. I had to learn a new cast-on, and a new heel construction, which was kind of a treat. Unfortunately the pattern works better on 2 circular needles, which I'm not hip to, so I struggled along on dps anyway.
Ravelry page here.

Here they are again, blending into the floor.

The other plus about these is that they look cabled, but they aren't, and don't have the bulk of cables. And they fit perfectly!

Do I have another pair of socks going? You bet. Hopefully soon I can break out of the sock rut and into some sweaters.

It's that time again

2009-01-02T11:13:00.002-08:00

...for a new year. As if you didn't already know that already! So it's time for my 2008 in review, slightly delayed because I've been sicker than sick with a cold that just won't quit.

My 2008 ended much like it began: I was sick and unemployed.

In between...
The very first thing that happened in 2008 was being laid off from my office job as a writer. I promptly got strep, and it took me a month to find another job, this time in retail. In February, my parents came to visit me in Virginia, and I began knitting samples.

I worked on my garden,escorted baby ducklings to the Potomac River, and dealt with some health issues. By the summer, I'd been promoted, but my personal life was going to hell.

In August, I went to visit Chicago. I finally got to meet Madam [who needs to post more] and Lynn in person (so wonderful) and discover some delightful things about having old friends.

Later in the fall, my parents came to visit again, I had another birthday, and participated in what will likely turn out to be one of the most important elections of my life. I decided to quit my job. And then suddenly, all my life got boxed up again and I had to say goodbye to lots of new friends before driving halfway across the country.

I got to spend the holidays with my family and I've been slowly getting to know my new neighborhood. I don't have a formal job as of yet, but at least this time it was my choice to make. I've found some more sample knitting to do, which will help fill in the gaps.

I now get to share my space with this predator - his name is Boots. Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge!

I miss lots of things about Virginia - I miss things about my house, things about the town I lived in, people. But at the same time I think I'm going to be very happy where I am now.

I've started 2009 thinking much the same things as when I started 2008: I hope this year will be better.

And oh yes, there's knitting - there was knitting, there will be knitting!

Here's to a happy (happier?) New Year.

Colors have been changed to protect the innocent

2008-12-12T10:02:00.002-08:00

Yes, with less than two weeks to go, it's suddenly Christmas knitting time. Thankfully this is pretty much the extent of what has to be knit up...

... and washed, and blocked, and wrapped... guess I'd better get started already!

It's sweater season

2008-12-08T13:32:00.002-08:00

Well, maybe I'm a bit late to sweater season, and I know I'm surely late to the game for this sweater, but I'm making one anyway.

Here is the beginning of the really lovely February Lady Sweater. Apparently everybody is making this - Ravelry currently lists over 3,000 projects, making it the most popular adult-size sweater on the site. The designer adapted a baby sweater pattern by Elizabeth Zimmermann to adult size. I'm excited about the effect - and who couldn't use another cardigan?

I'm about at the point where I can quit knitting endless garter stitch and switch to the lace pattern - I just have to double-check the raglan length against another sweater. Even with two needles in the bottom it's hard to gauge accurately how big it is when I try it on.

I have a feeling that once I get going, this is going to be a very, very quick sweater to finish. Which is good - it's already more than cold enough out!

Luck of the Draw, part 1

2008-12-05T13:32:00.002-08:00

I've fallen into some good knitting luck lately and won some very nice yarn that I have to show off.

Part of the reason you're seeing all these socks on the blog is that they're not just socks. They're also raffle drawing entries. And the raffle prizes are usually yarn - I've now won a prize three months in a row!

This is a gorgeous skein of Schaefer Anne - and it was custom-dyed just for me.

Each way you turn it, it's a little different. I asked for a warm brown, and autumn colors to complement it. I think they did a lovely job.

Now I simply have to decide what to make with it!

Another sock

2008-12-03T09:31:00.003-08:00

Another sock - because I'm just that exciting. I know, I know, how many more socks am I going to show you? (It could be worse, right? I could do nothing but take photos of the cat!)

One down, one to go. Finally, a toe-up construction that doesn't drive me crazy! No waste yarn, no short-row heel, just a very well-fitting sock. The heel and toe are arguably a little fiddly, being written for circular needles, but I can persevere. These are called Seaweed Socks [warning: PDF] by Wendy Johnson of WendyKnits. The yarn is Koigu (yum!).

And here's a close-up, because I can.

I think it's time to start the second one... and maybe scheme about some argyle socks.

All Moved In...

2008-12-01T14:09:00.002-08:00

...and knitting again.

I am happy to report that moving couldn't have gone better. Out of the old apartment and into the truck in half an hour - two easy days on the road with clear weather - out of the truck and into the new apartment in half an hour. I'm mostly unpacked and soon I get to really start learning my way around Chicago. Once I get all my housekeys, that is - the hardware store didn't cut them all properly so it's a little hard to leave! (Well, I can leave just fine... getting back in is another story.) Not that I want to leave, it's snowing outside, yuck.

I have a delightfully long list of things to knit before the New Year, including:

a sooper sekrit hat
at least 2, maybe 3 pair of socks
another Lace Ribbon Scarf
some more sooper sekrit sample knitting (hooray!)
Bits and pieces of an afghan
and the February Lady Sweater for yours truly.

It seems all I've been knitting is socks this year and I really want to get back to knitting larger pieces for myself. I have enough yarn laying around for four or five whole entire sweaters!

...but all I have to show you is socks. These made for some nice moving-van knitting (thankfully I had someone to split the driving with).

This pattern is called Komet and it was written by the very ingenious Stephanie van der Linden for a German sock-knitting list. I am in love with the German patterns - they actually assume you know what you're doing, and have wonderful notes such as "substitute your favorite heel", which is great if you have a go-to heel that you know works for your feet. The yarn is Artyarns Ultramerino 4, and I am in love with it. It's round and squishy and has great definition. The colors were a little odd (the photo doesn't do it justice, bad light at night) but at least they're different than everything else out there.

In other news, happily I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in ages. Since I've been back I've had lots of good company, good food, and a warm and happy place to live. So much to be thankful for!

Unraveling

2008-11-09T19:34:00.002-08:00

Tonight, I sat down to knit on a sock - it doesn't matter which one - only to discover that several inches back, I'd made a mistake serious enough to warrant ripping it out. I like my pairs of socks to match one another as precisely as possible, so out it went. Two steps forward, one step back, and suddenly I'm in a place where I can start moving forward again, more perfectly.

That is kind of how life is these days, both with knitting and, well, life. I think I've gotten myself somewhere only to stop, take a step back, and start again. Things aren't working out and I'm moving. In two weeks I'll be in another city, with other people. Closer to my family, closer to old friends for the holidays - but back to bad weather and, inevitably, unemployment. It's a gamble, but how can I not make the choice for happiness? For [astronomically] lower rent? For getting to see my parents and everyone else at Christmas?

So I'm packing. Chicago or bust!

The time is now!

2008-11-04T07:21:00.000-08:00

I voted, did you?

The lines were short when I went to vote here in Northern Virginia (a.k.a. "Communist Country" or "Fake Virginia"). If you're in the USA and haven't yet voted, make sure you get to the polls today!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled knitting....

It's the little things

2008-10-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's the littlest things that matter most.

Waiting for flowers is a wonderful kind of waiting.

Oh look, more socks

2008-10-26T16:33:00.002-07:00

Seems like everything I start these days has to be torn out and begun again. For Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous October Sockdown, I started some toe-up Honeybee Socks, which were cute...

... but impractical. Toe-up socks drive me crazy and I should know better by now than to try them. They never seem to fit me right in the instep and heel.

So now they've been ripped out and turned into something entirely different by the same designer, these Komet socks.

Much nicer!

I've also decided that the rib and cable sock I made was also no good...

Ugly ribbed heel...

Ugly wonky toe...

Disappointing everywhere...

I don't know what to do with these. Certainly I'll have to rip them out. But will I have to go so far as to overdye the yarn? I don't know if I want to go through that. Ugh.

Crawling back

2008-10-19T09:46:00.002-07:00

Looks like it happened again... I fell off the Internet.

Never fear, I'm still knitting. It's simply that many of the projects that I was knitting in the interim were samples that I was unable to show off.

At least I have something to show for my time away: yet another pair of socks! Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous and their monthly Sockdown knit-along has inspired me yet again to actually complete a project.

I had wanted to knit Cookie A.'s Hedera Socks ever since the pattern was first published in Knitty. While admittedly the pattern is a bit boring, the effect is lovely.

I picked up the yarn, some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Lucky Stripe, on my last trip to Chicago. It seemed a fitting souvenir (as Lorna's is Chicago-based). Not usually a fan of their "Stripe" colorways but the two colors were close enough in tone in this colorway that they blended well in the body of the sock and made nice stripes at heel and toe.

I love the way the color pops against the incredible blue autumn sky today. The laciness of these is of course starting to make them a bit impractical as the temperature drops, but they're ready for warm days ahead.

Diagonal Rib Socks

2008-08-24T07:29:00.003-07:00

My vacation last week included some not insignificant travel time on buses and trains, so I was finally able to finish a project for myself!

These are the Diagonal Rib Socks by Ann Budd, available via Knitting Daily.
I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Cool and US 1.5 needles.

I'm really pleased with the way these turned out, even if the knitting was a bit tedious. I'm thinking I should knit up more socks at a slightly looser gauge instead of as tight as possible - they feel a little finer and less clunky.

These were also my project for this year's Ravelympics, in the WIP Wrestling event. I have too many languishing projects that I need to see through to completion, and I was hoping to get more done, but one finished project is better than none.

Back soon with more sample knitting news!

Yarn Party!

2008-08-22T15:33:00.002-07:00

There is nothing like coming home after a day at work to three big boxes at the top of the stairs, each one filled with lovely, lovely yarn.

Of course, one box I had to send to myself because I bought too much yarn on my vacation - but the other two....

I have lovely yarn for socks and a top as payment for some sample knitting a while back, and more yarn for more sample knitting! So exciting.

Excuse me, I'm going to go play with my yarn now.

It's a Jungle out there

2008-08-04T05:54:00.002-07:00

Somehow it's August, and I'm not sure how that happened! As the years go by they seem to go faster and faster.

All the heat has really pumped up my tropical plants.

I woke up this morning to find that my "Pretoria" canna had its first flower. You just can't ignore that glowing orange.

It's even more spectacular considering the leaves, which are green and yellow striped, offering its other name of Bengal Tiger. I also have a "Tropicanna" plant, but that one is not quite ready to bloom yet.

Next year, come hell or high water, I'm buying "Cleopatra" cannas. I just love the broken color.

In other tropical news, my elephant ear is unstoppable. It usually wilts by the afternoon, but I keep it watered and hot and it just gets bigger and bigger.

And of course it wouldn't be a jungle without hot things. Jalapenos!

Yum...

Soon I'll be done with sample knitting, and it will be time for the Ravelympics and whipping up some baby sweaters for all the soon-to-be mamas in my life. More knitting for me, more knitting for you. Until next time!

Stationery

2008-07-21T12:50:00.002-07:00

Working at a paper store, just like working at any other store, has its pros and cons. For the creative person, it's fabulous - great ideas, great products, and a discount! Of course this means that you end up buying more stuff than you really need at any given time. Take me, for instance.

I think personalized stationery is a fabulous idea. It's, well, personal. Of course, to get the real thing is prohibitively expensive for most of us, and who really writes that many letters or notes anymore anyway?

Perhaps we should write more. It would get us out from the pale glow of our computer screens and bring back some of that fine motor control we've adapted to pushing virtual iPhone buttons. But I digress. Regardless of how much we really do use it, I found out that personalized stationery is not all that hard to get, and lots of the materials you use to make it can be reused for the next time (you know, after you write a bunch of letters).

Ingredients:
8.5x11 paper
A2 envelopes
Fancy Italian paper for linings, one sheet
Envelope liner template
Stamp
Ink
Double-sided tape
One evening of perfectionism

After cutting all the paper in half with an x-acto and straight edge, I stamped each sheet in the upper corner. I suppose that really, one ought only to stamp half the sheets so that when you write a two-paged letter, only the first sheet has a monogram, but who cares! (Of course, this opens the door to more and more rubber stamping, a danger in its own right). Then each sheet folds in half to fit nicely inside an A2 envelope.

That's the paper, which is easy. The envelopes are easy, too. From the sheet of fancy paper (your choice) carefully trace and cut ten linings. Insert them into the envelopes and tape the point down with double-sided tape. Repeat!

And let's have a little close-up. This Italian paper is gorgeous, not to mention sparkly.

And don't worry, I'm still knitting, and papercrafts haven't taken over my life. They've just been added in. And it helps to have something to show you when I can't show you my secret purple knitting! But now with my fancypants personalized stationery, I can pretend that I, too, have what it takes to be all high society. Or maybe I'll just write fun letters. Who cares! Pen pals, anybody?

Garage Sale Haul

2008-07-20T11:18:00.002-07:00

What was supposed to be a quick trip to the drugstore this morning turned into a much longer trip with several detours. The best detour was a garage sale.

8 books, 2 nearly brand new pair of shoes (to fit my crazy sized feet), and 2 star cookie cutters. $15. What a deal! And even my haul at the drugstore was cheap. Most excellent.

Naaaaa....

2008-07-14T07:22:00.002-07:00

Na na na na na na naaa....

Yes, it's a real Katamari! I don't have any photos of stuff sticking to it, but with its magnets you can roll it through the junk drawer and pick up all kinds of stuff. And, you know, rebuild the universe.

I realized I never wrote about this, even though it was a Christmas gift. Sadly this is a dangerous object in our home - all those strong magnets are dangerous for our various electronics. So it sits in the windowsill, generally being awesome, but kind of lonely.

I made mine from Amy Shimel's Magnetic Katamari Pattern, with scraps of acrylic from my mom. And lots and lots of strong magnets and more stuffing than you think would fit into such a small ball. This is usually about as much crocheting as I can stand, so it was a good small project.

Happy Friday!

2008-07-11T07:33:00.002-07:00

This week has brought some lovely things from the garden.

Sweet peas...

A lovely apricot daylily...

And what's this? Yarn? Yarn in the garden?

Yes, you guessed it, it's secret stealth knitting time. I received some lovely Schaefer Yarns Judith in an incredible purple (called Betty Friedan). Impossible to photograph, even with a contrast color in the full sun, but still gorgeous. It's a lovely 100% alpaca that looks like it's going to be a joy to work with. I can't tell you much more until the pattern is published, so, until next time, happy knitting. (Don't worry, I won't totally disappear!)

The new Clapotis

2008-07-09T07:16:00.002-07:00

It's done!

I'm amazed I've finished something else. Maybe I'm getting some knitting mojo back. Here, modelled by my lovely lamp, is the new Clapotis.

The stats:
Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Trekking XXL, color 105
Needles: #4
Modifications: Less width, more length, a looser gauge for a scarf/wrap that's more suited to the spring and fall (and probably the not-so-intense winter) here!

I love this, I love the way the colors gently blend and don't repeat. It blocked up nicely and I think I'm going to be much happier with this one than my old one. Not that I really enjoy retiring old knits, but there is always room for new ones.

Especially when they're as delightful as this.

What's next? I'm still telling myself I need to finish the bedjacket, but I've also got another top-secret sample knitting gig coming down the pipe, so you may not see much knitting from me for a while. All in all I'm already doing better on my summer goals than I did on my spring ones, so that is a bonus.

Out with the old...

2008-06-30T10:48:00.002-07:00

In with the new.

The Logan River Wrap is no more, and it has been totally frogged and balled back up.

Anybody want 5 balls of Noro Cash Iroha?

Because it is hotter than hot here, even my winter knitting needs to lighten up. So no more worsted weight wraps. Fingering weight is the only way to go!

I'm working on a skinnier fingering weight Clapotis in Trekking, color 105. I hope a good wash will soften it up, but right now I don't mind because I'm totally in love with the color. I also can't believe I'm making another Clapotis, but I love the one I have and don't want to make another Lace Ribbon scarf so soon.

I keep telling myself I should try to break away from knitting everything in purple, blue, and green. It makes all my knitting look and feel the same.

I have also started the Shetland Shorty sweater with the yarn that I dyed. Casting on and working garter stitch on over 250 stitches is a little tedious, but that's OK as it's the whole sweater. Last night, of course, I realized that 5 rows into the actual pattern I'd already botched it, so I have to rip out a few rows before I can go on. Here it is in a tangle, because my circular needle is too short.

Incidentally this was precisely the color of my cup of coffee this morning. Yum.

Finally Finished!

2008-06-25T07:10:00.002-07:00

It's time for my first finished object since January (well, one that I can actually talk about).

What's this, you say? Hooray for the lovely Lace Ribbon Scarf designed by Veronik Avery. Incidentally I think I want to be Veronik Avery when I grow up. I wouldn't even have to change my name very much! In any case, I'm so glad this scarf is done, mostly because this is the third incarnation of this yarn.

Poor Spunky Eclectic Super Socks... I loved this yarn (now, sadly, unavailable). It was beautifully dyed, the colors were unique, it was nice and soft and squishy... and just didn't want to be anything I wanted it to be.

Here is the yarn, so innocently awaiting a project, months and months ago.

First I tried to make it into a pair of socks. Yuck! They didn't fit and the colors pooled oddly, which was a shame for this yarn.

Then I tried to make it into the Lace Diamond Scarf, and got all the way to the end before the edging got screwed up. It looked nice for a while, though.

Finally it found its true calling in this beautiful pattern.

Super speedy, easy to memorize and modify, and a gorgeous result. This is an excellent pattern. Yes, it might be a little tedious in the long stretch, but it gives fabulous results and you can work on it anywhere. Make one!

The stats:
Lace Ribbon Scarf, by Veronik Avery, published in Knitty.
Spunky Eclectic Super Socks in Berry Pickin'
#4 nylon circular needles
My Ravelry page for it is here.

And then I promptly gave it away. A friend of mine is moving away to take a new job, and I wanted to give her something to take with her. I loved this scarf, but I've found the things I love best come to be the most lovely gifts.

Hats

2008-06-23T15:28:00.002-07:00

Today I finally sent off four hats to the 300 Hat Project started by Kristy. Kristy is going to the Ukraine in September and is planning to donate the hats to an orphanage. I had hats that I didn't need and figured they could get better use. So off they go!

Of course I forgot to take a photo before I sent them, but that's OK.

Want to make some hats for this good cause? Check the links above for more details. You have until early September, and there's prizes involved!

Foodie Friday: The Icebox Cake

2008-06-20T06:42:00.002-07:00

A year ago, I had never heard of something called icebox cake, which is apparently a classic, made with Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers and large amounts of whipped cream. In my house we always made Chocolate Eclair Cake in the summers, another no-bake dessert made with graham crackers, vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, and chocolate frosting. In any case, with company coming, someone insisted that we make it - partially so we didn't have to eat it all!

While the recipe and photo on the Famous Wafers box isn't particularly inspiring, a quick search brought us to this fabulous entry at Smitten Kitchen. That, my friends, is a cake to be proud of, baking or no baking.

There is nothing difficult about this cake, except getting over the idea of three cups of whipping cream, and perhaps finding a way to protect it in the refrigerator overnight, which I'll get to in a bit. You have to use real cream, none of this stuff in a spray can.

But first, the super-simple recipe. This version comes from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, and evidently via Oprah before I found it on Smitten Kitchen.

Icebox Cake

3 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 (9-ounce) packages chocolate wafer cookies
Unsweetened cocoa (or chocolate shavings)

In a large bowl, beat cream, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Make sure it's not runny, as you'll need it to hold its structure as you build the cake.

On a flat serving plate, arrange 7 cookies side by side in a circle, keeping 1 cookie in the center.

Spread with 1/2 cup whipped cream, making a 7-inch circle. Repeat with remaining cookies and cream, making 11 layers of cookies and ending with a layer of cream (there may be a few cookies left over). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, dust top lightly with cocoa powder or chocolate shavings.

For ease of refrigerating and serving, we ignored the serving plate and constructed an armature of cardboard and aluminum foil instead. This is not a large cake, so we laid the seven wafers in a circle, traced around them, and discovered that the resulting support would fit in one of our large pans with a lid. As we don't have a cake safe, this was the best way to get the whole thing in and out of the refrigerator safely. We covered the cardboard disc with foil and made two long foil strips attached to the bottom to lift the cake out of the pot.

Here it is, safely ensconced.

Thankfully we had a big crowd visiting and all but a quarter of the cake vanished instantly. This thing is rich! Eating it in tiny slices is about the only way to do it, but it is well worth making. If we do it again, it may be with a liqueur flavor added to the whipped cream. I'm thinking orange. And what to do with the last cup of whipping cream? I'm thinking we made ice cream with it, but I also had the luxury of pouring it in my coffee on at least one occasion. Yum!

Summer Goals

2008-06-17T21:12:00.002-07:00

You may recall that I listed a few knitting goals for spring just a short while ago. Seems that summer is upon us and it is time for some new goals! It was hotter than hot here last week, but thankfully it has cooled down again a bit and we can once again venture outside without collapsing under the humidity.

As last time, the goal project and giveaway is being kindly hosted by Ali at Skeins Her Way and I was notified of it by my good knitting friend Dove.

Considering the fact that I did so poorly on my springtime goals (I only succeeded on 3 of 16 of them), I think it may be best to cut the list down a little bit for the summertime.

1. Finish the bedjacket - I'm probably half done with the edging, so this shouldn't take long. The body of the garment has been washed and blocked, so there are very few steps remaining.

2. Finish the lavender lace blouse to go over summer dresses.

3. Start and finish the aforementioned Shetland Shorty, again for summer dresses.

4. Find more sample knitting - getting yarn in the mail as payment has been quite exciting. (More on this soon!)

5. Knit up a baby sweater for someone I know who's expecting.

6. Blog more often.

7. Knit through some sock yarn stash - not that I have to make socks!

That's enough for now. Time to go knit more edging.

Dyeing, not dying

2008-06-16T12:14:00.003-07:00

As you probably saw, the new Knitty came out a few days ago. While there were a lot of gems in this season's issue (my Ravelry queue is growing!) I was immediately struck by the little sweater on the front cover, Shetland Shorty. Summer here is pretty miserable by my estimation, so I've been expanding my summer wardrobe to include lots and lots of dresses. Of course not all of them are really appropriate for all occasions, or sometimes I get chilly in the evening. I knew right away this was the perfect little sweater to go over a dress.

Of course, the last thing I need right now is to buy more yarn. But I do have a big bag of Knit Picks "Bare" or "Color Your Own" - whatever they're calling it now. And I didn't really want the white color, so it was time for a kitchen experiment.

I don't keep Kool-Aid around, but I did have a couple boxes of cheap or old tea. It was time to brew up a whole lot of it!

It was kind of amusing, standing there and ripping apart all the little tea packages. I dumped in a whole box of Earl Grey as well as three or four big scoops of loose tea and set it to boil for a while. I was reading about tea dyeing online and some sources said to let it simmer overnight, but I'm impatient and that seemed like a waste of energy.

After the house smelled pretty strongly of it, out came the tea bags...

And in went the yarn to simmer for a while. In the meanwhile, I had dinner and did some other things around the house, and shut off the heat and went to bed.

The next morning, I had some nice brown yarn to rinse. It took four or five rinses to get the extra tea out.

And then I hung it to dry over the sink and left it alone for the rest of the day.

The finished project is a nice, even caramel tan color. I could have handled it being a little darker, but this is not bad and in my opinion a pretty successful dye job (seeing as I didn't know what shade it was going to be). Thankfully once the yarn was dry all the loose tea came out with a few shakes.

Now all I have to do is finish some other projects so I can start a new one! While summer here seems neverending and unbearable, I know in knitting time it will be over all too soon.

Neverending Knitting

2008-06-05T09:57:00.002-07:00

I haven't finished a knitting project (commissions and samples excepted) since January. The only knitting I've actually finished for myself this year has been two pair of socks. I'm serious. This was my last finished object.

I've discovered it's really hard to finish anything when all your knitting looks like this:

And this:

I'm not knitting from balls of yarn anymore, just nearly-completed projects I've decided I no longer want. The sweater? Too small, too boring. The scarf? I couldn't get the final edging on right. Maybe I'll like the new projects more.

A Day of Epic Proportions

2008-05-15T10:46:00.002-07:00

Today is already officially a Day of Epic Proportions and I haven't even made it through much of the afternoon yet.

First, I have this giant 150g ball of yarn (glasses for scale). This could be the yarn that ate my week! Yikes!

As you guessed, I have another knitting commission to work on.

I've also been doing some gardening, as it was a lovely day out. I was puttering around, ripping out my broccoli raab that bolted, trimming some things back, and planting some herbs, when I chanced to look up and see this:

I was watching my bamboo happily re-leaf itself from the winter, but I did not expect to see a giant 8-foot shoot coming out of nowhere. Where did it come from? How quickly did it grow (we got 6" of rain or more over the last week)? And finally, why the hell didn't I notice it sooner?! It is really 8 feet tall, and flexible, as I discovered when I reached up to grab it.

Looking around all my bamboo is doing it.

I guess it's some kind of crazy bamboo monster attack thing. All the pointy bits in this photo are brand new. I'm so glad this stuff is in containers, or I'd be in serious trouble. I may go out later and see if this is the kind you can actually watch grow.

Unfortunately I also have cleaning and laundry in epic proportions around here, so I'd better get to it.

Further Adventures in Pizza

2008-05-04T13:47:00.002-07:00

As a displaced Chicago native, one of the things I miss is Chicago-style food. This means hot dogs loaded with toppings, Italian beef sandwiches, and, yes, deep-dish pizza. Transporting a frozen stuffed spinach pizza in my luggage has become a fixture of flying home. But now, with some of the research that resulted in the development of an improved Neapolitan-style pizza, we've begun to develop a proper Chicago-style pie. It's a very different animal indeed.

While my favorite was my hometown hangout, Leonardo's (sadly no longer in business), the other household favorite was a Chicago classic, Lou Malnati's. This pizza was intended to replicate a Lou's pizza.

We started with a heavy, oily, very elastic dough.

Unlike the looser, wetter Neapolitan dough, this could be rolled out with a rolling pin.

We built the pizza directly into a 9" cake pan. Next time I think we should put some foil strips into the pan to help lift it out.

And if you've never had a Chicago pizza this next bit may seem strange. No sauce on the bottom - just lots of mozzarella cheese.

And if you order a sausage pizza, let me tell you, you get a sausage pizza. Forming two Italian sausages into one large patty assures 100% sausage coverage.

Finally the sauce comes last, with a dusting of powdered Parmesan. Lots of rich chunky tomatoes, but ours should have been drained more thoroughly.

After baking for about 25 minutes the pizza looked done, but was actually a bit underdone.

The very last slice, after it all had a chance to solidify.

We had a good, but not excellent result. The crust was not too bready, and the overall taste was very good, but the tomatoes were a bit too soupy. But it was well worth the effort and much, much easier and cheaper than having one flown in! We'll try again soon, next time with a stuffed spinach pizza - the true classic.

A Dilemma

2008-05-01T12:15:00.001-07:00

My new copy of the Summer Interweave Knits arrived today.

However, I have to knit up all this yarn in about a week's time. Knit, or read?

I think you'll know which one I'll be doing.

(By the way... anybody local got a ball winder?)

Baby Ducklings

2008-04-29T17:52:00.004-07:00

I woke up this morning to loud peeping and went outside to see this:

Meet mama duck. See all those fuzzy butts crowded under mama duck's wings? Those belong to eleven fuzzy ducklings. Yes, eleven. The time had come to herd baby ducklings.

Some backstory: when we moved into our apartment, which is two floors above a restaurant with a second-floor deck that opens on to the alley, both the landlord and the previous tenant told us that every year a duck made a nest on the deck and would require our assistance getting the ducklings to the river. Of course, the river is not only seven blocks away, but down a flight of stairs and across several streets. (Nobody ever said ducks were really smart). I found a nest with six eggs in it on Easter morning and had been watching and waiting ever since.

The first trick was to get the babies down the flight of stairs without any of them getting hurt.

This is me trying to placate mama duck with a bit of homegrown lettuce while I take her babies away. As you can imagine, she's not too pleased. But as you can see the ducklings are in a corner and I was able to gather them all into a box. I wore leather gloves in case of biting, but instead she flew at my head. Thankfully that didn't really hurt.

So cute!

The hardest part was getting them across the street and reunited with their mama. There was a bit of confusion but thankfully she heard their peeping and waddled across the street and onto the sidewalk, where I let them out of their box and they were all reunited. From then on, it was merely a question of keeping them out of the busiest streets and stopping the little traffic there was as they all walked down to the river.

The little ones just followed along, their funny feet flap-flap-flapping on the bricks and asphalt.

Some interested parties observed from nearby windows. (Other parties also took photos in the street!)

And after a few more blocks and a carefully controlled encounter with a dog (whose owner was nice enough to keep him well away) they all went plop-plop-plop into the Potomac. Just like ducks to water.

Amazing. And adorable. I'm glad we were able to take on the duty of chaperoning ducklings, and getting to see them up close, if only for a minute, is so nice. This absolutely made my day, possibly my week.

(And now I won't have ducks in my containers, so I can do some gardening!) I can't say how happy I am for Spring and positive changes all around. We'll be back to regularly scheduled blogging soon.

First Harvest

2008-04-27T15:30:00.002-07:00

Springtime has already produced some of its bounty in big enough quantities for me to eat! Last night I harvested some lovely leaf lettuce and baby spinach with a little broccoli raab and parsley on the side.

I had them with cold spaghetti and a lemony vinaigrette, and it was lovely. It felt very celebratory.

So here are some photos of my containers. I have several long, narrow, built in planters, many of which contain bamboo. The open ones all have stuff growing in them now.

Here is some mint on the left, and jumbled in the right are parsley, broccoli raab, and spinach. And of course a tomato. It's a Supersweet 100, not my biggest favorite, but I figured I couldn't grow anything much more substantial than a cherry tomato in a container like this.

On the left there are two kinds of lettuce, and over on the right are potatoes I planted on a whim. The potatoes have sticks sticking up from them because they are interplanted with some sweet peas that I hope will soon rise above them!

And then there was that pointy thing in the middle. I didn't plant it, I didn't plan for it, but it excites me because I hope it is a canna. I got and planted three more cannas and an elephant ear today, so hopefully by the time it heats up around here I'll have a properly tropical patio!

Food Experiment: Neapolitan Pizza

2008-04-24T07:10:00.002-07:00

Okay, I admit it: I'm turning into a foodie. As if you couldn't tell, we love food, we always have, and we love to cook. One of the things I love is Neapolitan-style pizza, and my favorite pizzeria is 2 Amy's. There is something really lovely about a real margherita pizza: hot, crisp, chewy, the bright tomatoes and basil balanced by creamy fresh mozzarella. 2 Amy's does a real bang-up job of it, and their pizza is certified D.O.C. authentic Neapolitan. If it's certified authentic, it must be good, right? I can't even begin to tell you.

Because 2 Amy's is far away - it's a serious ride on the subway plus about a mile's walk - and because we like to experiment, we decided to try our own version. Without a proper wood-burning oven, our pizza is never going to come out exactly the same as a restaurant's. But we got some good tips from a pizza-making forum.

There were two aspects of our past pizza-making that had to be improved: the crust and the cooking surface. We found a good pizza dough recipe on 101 Cookbooks. This recipe is very sticky and uses overnight fermentation to develop a smooth dough that cooks up with big beautiful bubbles. Some ingenious forum members suggested stacking unglazed quarry tiles instead of a pizza stone in the oven, and making side walls with the tiles to help hold in the heat.

So with the oven cranking along at 550 we made margheritas. It's so simple: pat the dough balls out a little bit, add a little plain tomato sauce, a few bits of mozzarella, and slide the whole thing onto the tiles. (Put the basil on after it comes out of the oven to keep from burning it.) The first pizza slipped onto the hot tiles with a gratifying sizzle.

While the crust turned up a bit and got stuck on this one, it was almost perfect otherwise: good browning, good balance of ingredients, and the crust was crisp in the middle and soft and bubbly at the edges.

This is the bottom of the pizza - while it's a bad, blurry photo, it's the best bottom of a pizza crust I've ever seen come out of a home oven. Browned and crisp without the top burning! Victory!

We stood in the kitchen and slipped pizzas into the oven one by one, eating them as they came out, drinking beer and taking photos. It almost felt a bit decadent, so much fresh food and lovely smells.

Look at those bubbles! That's an amazing texture for homemade pizza.

We considered this a pretty significant triumph, to produce a vastly improved pizza (from previous attempts using a different dough recipe and a metal pan) on our first try. However, there were some things that I want to record for future reference. First of all, we needed a better peel for getting the pizzas into the oven. Getting them back out again was pretty simple, but the sticky dough clung to our parchment paper-covered cardboard. A better dusting of semolina would have helped, and only placing the dough on the peel immediately before dressing it and baking it would have cut down on the sticking. Secondly, the dough that the recipe makes is very wet and sticky - good for pizzas, bad for shaping. The dough has to rest on the counter in thick discs for about 2 hours to warm up before baking. I made the significant mistake of trying to shape the crusts too early - when I went to pick them up again later, they just stretched and stretched until I had a mess of holes and had to roll up the whole thing and start over, which ruined the texture. So the key seems to be leave it alone until it's almost ready to go in the oven, shape the dough, put it on the peel, dress it, slide it.

As with the margherita, simple seems to be best in the end. Tune in next week for another food experiment!

Spring Sprang Sprung

2008-04-21T18:12:00.002-07:00

Spring is here in Virginia, which we've discovered means 48 hours of more or less continuous rain followed by minor flooding. Hooray!

We've been keeping busy, and between work, planting my garden, cooking, and cleaning, there hasn't been a lot of knitting time left over. I still have about 8 projects left on the needles, some of which would probably take only a few hours to finish. But I'm slow, and I want to start more projects instead of finishing the ones I have. Knitting samples up is also taking time away from my own knitting, but that's okay.

In any case, this is the only knitting I have to show lately:

These are still the Diagonal Rib socks. By now I've turned the heel and am decreasing in the gusset, but there is no way I'll finish these for the March Sockdown deadline of April 31. Oh well! They will still be lovely socks.

I am fascinated by the abundance of flowering things here. Spring seems so early, and so quickly followed by summer - everything is just leaping out of the ground as fast as it can go! I'm surprised to see dogwoods and lilacs and hydrangeas in the middle of April... they always were May flowers before I moved.

I've seen some lovely striped azaleas... sorry for the crappy camera phone photo:

And this tiny flower came from a small tree. Anybody know what it is?

Back to the grind.

I've been doing a lot of cooking that I will be sharing here. I hope you're in the mood for lots of delicious photos coming your way in the future.

Butterflies

2008-04-15T21:19:00.002-07:00

First of all, has it really been a week? Argh, not posting makes me feel so incompetent.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I want to share some nifty butterfly photos with you. I can't show you much knitting these days due to it being a secret again, so you'll have to bear with me for a bit. Or, you know, just ignore this post.

A friend and I went to see the Butterflies and Plants: Partners in Evolution exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History last week. While ostensibly the message is encapsulated in the title, my guess is that most visitors went to see the live butterfly greenhouse and didn't bother looking at the rest of the displays. It seemed like half the kids in the greenhouse were screaming with excitement while the other half were screaming with fear. Regardless, it was fun and worth the $6 and the early-morning trek across town to be the first ones in to the exhibition.

The focal point of the exhibition is an enclosed greenhouse with tropical plants, an enclosed cabinet for protecting butterfly cocoons, and dozens if not hundreds of live butterflies flying around at will. The butterflies had sugar water and citrus fruits to eat and lots of plants to hide in. It was probably 85 degrees and 90% humidity in the greenhouse, which wasn't the most pleasant, but obviously better for the critters.

We saw many different kinds of butterflies, including Monarchs, different kinds of swallowtails, butterflies that looked like leaves, and the lovely blue Morpho. Many of them I was not sure of their names.

Sadly I couldn't get a photo of any of those iridescent Morphos - if they're flying, they are moving too fast to take a good photo, and if they're sitting, their wings are folded to show the brown underside. This is probably a Morpho, but it doesn't look so impressive this way!

This one did have a name we knew - the Atlas moth. This giant is one of the largest lepidopterans known, with a wingspan of up to 10-12 inches. We didn't see it until the very end of our time in the greenhouse, and it was worth seeing. Fiber enthusiasts (are you still reading along?) will note that these are also cultivated for their silk production.

There was also a very friendly butterfly that, when resting, resembles a leaf. This one hung out on us, clinging tightly to clothing until it was removed.

After the butterflies, we went to see the Hope Diamond (it has a whole room almost all to itself) and the dinosaurs in the museum. The great value of a free museum is that you don't feel obligated to see it all at once, and so there is always something waiting for you when you return.