Author Archives: pdxknitterati

Getting ahead of myself

Posted on February 22, 2010 | 19 comments

Spring has truly sprung here in the Pacific Northwest. Temperatures are in the 50’s; the crocuses and daffodils are glorious. And the first cherry trees are blooming, too.

lanaloft bag

What says spring better than a bag of cheery color from the yarn shop?

lanaloft

Twisted is now carrying Brown Sheep yarns. They carry three weights (bulky, worsted, sport) of Lanaloft, a single-spun 100% wool yarn, as well as an ultra-bulky known as Burly Spun. The price is great. I brought home some worsted weight to knit a shop sample of my felted slip stitch tote.

But wait, you say, what about the Heather Hoodie? I’m still plugging away at that, because I want to wear it before it gets too warm here! The back is done, and the left front is just past the armhole. Pictures next time.

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Vox knituli

Posted on February 17, 2010 | 14 comments

armholes

The knitters have spoken. Rip it! So I did. I frogged 7 inches (almost an entire skein) on the back of my Heather Hoodie so I could go back and bind off for armhole shaping for a modified drop shoulder instead of having a standard drop shoulder. There were 8 stockinette stitches on each edge, so I bound off 6 for each armhole, which is about an inch and a half. This was the most I could bind off and still be able to pick up between the last 2 stockinette stitches before the cable panels. I want to pick up stitches at the shoulder and knit down, rather than sew in the sleeve. Re-knitting the back is going well. I love the OXO cable on this.

armhole

Do you see the little ladder at the center of the X in the OXO cable? Those were bugging me. Then I finally opened a Knitting Daily email about blocking that had been sitting in my box for a week. What timing. It’s about this very cable in the Heather Hoodie pattern. No worries now; I know that blocking is going to fix those!

In other OXO news, I’m sending $265 from sales of my Hugs and Kisses OXO Cable Fingerless Mitts to Doctors Without Borders. Thank you for purchasing this pattern.

And it really does feel like spring here. Temperatures in the 50’s, and it got sunny today! I took advantage of the break in the rain, and walked down to the local library. Here’s a little taste of spring. Most of the pix are from my camera phone, so they’re not quite up to the usual standard. But they make me smile.

fuzz

Last year’s something or other.

snowdrops

Snowdrops.

daffy

crocus

Daffodils! and crocus! It must be spring.

whatsis

Do you know what these are? I think they’re gorgeous, and I saw a lot of them. I want to plant some…

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Auto-pilot knitting

Posted on February 14, 2010 | 17 comments

twenty

I ripped back my mistake on the Heather Hoodie, and re-knit back up to where I was, and then some. I’m at 20 out of 22 inches on the back. This morning I woke up and remembered that I had planned to modify the pattern and bind off a bit at the armholes to make this a modifed drop shoulder instead of a full on drop shoulder. Oops. Guess I was knitting on auto-pilot. The Olympic men’s short track skating was so thrilling, I lost track of what I was doing!

twenty detail

So I’m looking for opinions here. I’m 5’2″, not a big person. The fabric of this is pretty dense, and I have about an inch to 1.5 inches of ease all around on this cardi. Do I rip back 6 inches so that I have 8 inches of armhole for a modified drop sleeve, better shoulder fit), or just carry on as written and have sleeves that start further down from my shoulder? It’s pretty quick knitting, big yarn and big needles, so I don’t mind doing it. I just have to decide if it will make enough difference to be worth it. Here’s a picture from the pattern, if that helps. I’m planning on long sleeves instead of this vest look.

pattern

bias

For now this project is in time-out, awaiting your advice. But in the meantime, you can admire how the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky looks like it has a vertical stripe. It’s because it a singles yarn, not plied. Instead of V’s, the left leg of each knit stitch looks like a half a V, and the right leg looks like a vertical line. I like it.

neverendinggarter

I’m back at work on my sister’s Quincy hat. It’s never-ending garter stitch for quite a while. Still garter stitching…

garter close

I really like the knit-in i-cord edging. So tidy!

case

Thanks to all who helped celebrate Marie’s birthday. The blog party was fun! I took the names of all of you who were interested in the dpn case and put them in a Pippi hat. And the winner is…

Katy over at What Katy Did! Katy, please email me your snail mail addy, and I will send you the needle case. Congratulations!

And happy lunar new year and Valentine’s Day to you all, too. Are you celebrating? Gung hay fat choy!

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Franken-tar, redux

Posted on February 12, 2010 | 15 comments

Spring is coming, and that makes us a little bouncier around here. Off the wall dreams seem like good ideas. And perhaps they are. What if we take those ideas one step further? You may remember the Teen’s Franken-tar.

I had a lesson the other day with Jim Loewenherz. He’s a local musician and luthier. We worked on some strum patterns for Irish reels and jigs. Near the end of the lesson I asked him about bass runs and fills for a song I’m working on with the Day Old Pastries, but all of that was pretty much over my head because I’d have to learn where the notes actually live on the guitar neck first. I’m a pretty rudimentary guitar player; I love my open cowboy chords, strummed or picked!

So we discussed ensemble play, and he talked about each instrument having its own sonic space, each doing something a little different. The Day Old Pastries have five guitars and a mandolin. The mandolin has its own sonic space by default. But the guitars can each have their own space by having one of them strum, one pick, one capo up for a different voicing. And then Jim asked if we have a 12-string. Nope. an extra guitar? Sure! So he suggested high string Nashville tuning, just for something different. Basically, you string a six string guitar with the extra six strings that you’d find on a 12-string guitar. The lowest four strings are an octave higher than normal, and the top two strings are the same as usual.

I just had to try this to see what it sounds like. I decided to try it on the Teen’s Taylor Big Baby, because he doesn’t play acoustic guitars much, and it’s a comfortable size for me. I poked around on the web and found that D’Addario sells string sets for high string tuning.

high strung

What a cool sound! (Listen to the video on the link.) I’m going to take it to practice tomorrow, and we can play around with it.

oops

And now I’m about to go pick out some mis-crossed cables on my Heather Hoodie, ten rows back…ouch! That last “O” isn’t an O.

Here’s a sign of spring that I saw on my walk this morning.

fleur

Crocuses are blooming here! Is it winter or spring in your neighborhood?

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Posted in Day Old Pastries, Knit, music

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Single Skein Club 2010

Posted on February 11, 2010 | 8 comments

My family enrolled me in the 2010 Single Skein Club over at Twisted for Christmas. (Thanks, guys!) The club has a project every other month, six during the calendar year. It’s February, which means that it’s time for the first club offering. If you don’t have yours yet, and don’t want to know, look away now!

Have you averted your eyes? It’s almost too late!

Okay; it’s time.

ssc feb

This month’s offering is a sweet cowl and cuffs pattern by Star Athena. Star is the manager over at Twisted, and she’s also a brilliant designer with a primo sense of style, and a great teacher, too. I took her Sock Design class at Sock Summit last summer. Star’s Arctic Blast Mitts were the February kick off for the club last year. I made those…twice! Remember these?

duet

The yarn this month is Malabrigo Twist, a worsted weight plied baby merino wool yarn, in the Indiecita coloway. I love it. Blues and greens; it’s perfect. It feels wonderful.

indiecita

Look at the color…

indiecita close

And this month’s goodie? A project bag from Flower Pie Designs, also local to Portland. The bags are all different, so don’t be surprised to see someone else’s completely different Single Skein Club project bag! (Yes I know the characters are upside down. I can even read some of them. On the back of the bag, they’re right side up, because the bag is one piece of fabric, folded, not two pieced together.)

bag

I love this bag; it will be perfect for corralling my project inside my big Sock Summit tote.

There are a few spaces left in the Single Skein Club. You can pick up your club kits locally, or Twisted will ship to you if you’re far away. Contact Twisted if you want in on the fun!

And here’s a sweet opportunity for those of you who are local to PDX. Sweet Sound of Jazz, a fund-raiser for the Band programs at Grant High School. Enjoy music and a dessert buffet, Friday evening, February 12, 7 p.m.

ssoj10_emailflyer

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Blog party!

Posted on February 9, 2010 | 24 comments

Happy birthday to Marie! She’s having a birthday party over at PermissionToUnwind, and I’m helping her celebrate. Go on over there and wish her a happy birthday!

I’m fashionably late. I was up late last night baking for the party. We’re having Butterscotch Shortbread (recipe here).

scotch2

And we’re also having Butterscotch Brownies. This is completely Carrie’s fault, because I saw these on her blog the other day, and I knew I had to make them.

blondie2

And what’s a party without a present? I’m giving away this Wrap and Roll dpn needle case from Lantern Moon. It’s gorgeous silk.

case

It has silk taffeta pockets inside for your skinny dpns. You could also put bigger ones in there, but you’d have to spread them out over 2 pockets.

in case

If you’d like to be in the drawing for the needle case, please say so in your comment. If you just want to comment, do that, too! I’ll close the drawing at midnight between Saturday and Sunday (Valentine’s Day!). I’m a big believer in birthday *week*, not just a day.

Happy birthday, Marie!

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Posted in Blogging, Knit, recipe

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Cast on!

Posted on February 7, 2010 | 11 comments

My yarn order came in at Close Knit. It’s Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Bing Cherry. Isn’t it luscious? The red is so deep and rich. Just like, well, a bing cherry!

LPB

I’m knitting a Heather Hoodie Vest. It has OXO cables similar to the ones on my fingerless mitts, but they’re much wider. I’m planning to make this vest into a sweater with long sleeves, and to make the hood smaller. I’ll never wear the hood; I just need it for style points. I never wear the hood on my Central Park Hoodie, either.

cast on

Here’s where I am so far after 2 hours or so. I’m enjoying the fat yarn on my size 10 Lantern Moon ebony circulars. The needles are smooth, and the yarn is chunky and quick to knit. We’ll see how long this takes. I’d like to wear it before it gets too warm!

detail

And while I’m thinking of my Hugs and Kisses OXO Cable Fingerless Mitts, I should remind you that all proceeds from online sales until Valentine’s Day are going to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti Earthquake Relief. I’m up to $245; can we make it up to $300? let’s do it!

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Buttermilk Sky, and Pippi, redux

Posted on February 6, 2010 | 16 comments

It feels like I haven’t been knitting much lately. I’ve been impatiently waiting for some yarn I ordered, and kind of at loose ends while waiting. I guess I must have done some knitting, though, because I have two FO’s to show you.

buttermilk sky

This sweet little cowl is called Buttermilk Sky. It’s a design by Bonnie Sinnott over at Blue Peninsula. I was the lucky winner of her pattern and this sumptuous Blue Sky Alpaca Silk last November.

alpaca silk

This was a quick and easy knit, and the yarn was so nice to knit with.

buttermilk texture

Haven’t you seen clouds like this?

Thank you, Bonnie!

pippi redux

My other FO is a variation on my Pippi hat. I taught a Pippi hat class last month at Twisted, and started a hat as a demonstration model. Since I was nearly done with it by the time classes were over, I went ahead and finished. I love these colors together. One of the colors in the stripe sequence on top isn’t the same as in the previous blue/green/white Pippi, but I was working from stash, so this is what I have. I also got distracted and didn’t follow the chart for the last colorwork pattern; oops. Class was fun; everyone learned to carry two colors in their knitting, and also how to make i-cord and half double crochet. A success!

My special order yarn came in this week. More on that in another post…

Knit on!

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Darn it!

Posted on January 31, 2010 | 19 comments

And I did. I went from this:

holey

To this:

darn

I just duplicate stitched over the existing bits of yarn, and it came out great. The only way I can tell is that the new yarn is whiter than the old yarn, because the red hasn’t run on it yet. Good as new!

sock

And here’s the repaired cuff of my sweater sleeve:

cuff2

The color is a pretty good match. I couldn’t quite get the new stitches to look exactly like the bound off edge, but I think this is good enough. Here’s the detail on the yoke. I really love this old sweater.

yoke

Back to your regularly scheduled knitting! Have you ever repaired your knits?

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Oh, noes!

Posted on January 28, 2010 | 10 comments

Things are wearing a little thin, here.

cuff

This is the cuff of my favorite sweater, Sky Lights. I knit it in 1993, right after the Teen was born. It was a kit from North Island Designs; I don’t think they exist under that name any more. I made it big and oversized, to wear over leggings (yes, we really did that back then). I’ve worn it a lot. The yarn is either BartlettYarns or Harrisville Tweed; I can’t remember. I’ve gotten a lot of wear from it. But this is what I saw when I last went to put it on.

cuff close

Oh, dear. I have a little job to do. And while I’m doing that, I have another, too.

holey

I made these socks last winter, when it looked like it would never stop snowing. It’s not really sock yarn; it’s KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted that I had lying around. Every time I wash these, they shrink and felt a little bit more. But they’re still comfortable. My clogs must rub right here, though. There’s barely a thread holding it together.

I have more of this yarn, so I’m going to try darning it after dinner. Wish me luck!

Here’s what I made for dinner. I was quite happy with it, and so was the family. Perfect winter night supper!

Sausage/potato/kale soup
SERVES 6

Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb turkey hot Italian sausage (if you can only find mild, add 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes while browning)
3 large russet potatoes, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
3 14 ounce cans chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup half and half
1 bunch kale (stems below leaf removed), cut in 1/2 inch ribbons crosswise

Directions
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot (soup pot). Slit sausage casings, remove sausage. Brown sausage (and red pepper flakes, if desired) in oil. Remove sausage from pot. Add the other Tbsp olive oil to pot. Saute onions and garlic until onion is soft. Add chicken broth, water, sliced potatoes and smoked paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes. Add sausage , half and half, and kale; simmer for another 10 minutes. Enjoy!

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