PDXKnitterati

Party on, knitters

Posted on January 10, 2010 | 20 comments

We had our knitting party at Twisted this weekend. The party was a fund-raiser for our local high school. We had 16 participants. Most, but not all, had knit before.

Our projects? The As You Like It cowls. Lantern Moon blondewood needles. Malabrigo Chunky yarn. It’s like knitting with chewy linguine, so luscious.

Oh, and desserts. Lots of desserts. A stellar cheesecake served with chocolate truffle sauce and/or blueberry compote (recipe below), lime bars, fruit, chocolate…

Lots of knitting going on!

That’s Carole in the apron. She’s my party kitchen wench. We do projects together and have a lot of fun. And she makes the world’s best cheesecake. She doesn’t knit, though.

Carole’s DH Scott, the PTA president, knits! I taught him many years ago.

Don’t you love Amy’s shirt?

There was only one knitting faux pas of the evening.

Join, being careful not to twist…oops.

Thanks to Twisted for having this party with us!

I made blueberry compote with berries from last summer’s crop. This one turned out particularly well; it thickened enough by itself that I didn’t have to add any cornstarch.

Blueberry Compote

2.5 cups frozen blueberries, unthawed
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C water
1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice

Combine 1.5 C berries with the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat, stirring often, until berries burst, about 10 minutes. Add remaining berries and lemon juice. Continue stirring; cook until compote thickens, about 8 minutes. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Serve warm when you’re ready!

How was *your* weekend?

20 Comments

Posted in Knit, recipe

Tagged cowl, Knit, malabrigo, yarn

A perfect fit

Posted on January 6, 2010 | 30 comments

You’d think that these were molded onto my feet, the fit is so perfect.

Oh, wait a minute; they were! Please excuse the wrinkly sock marks on my feet; I was wearing my Shur’tugal socks with clogs, and racing for daylight. I didn’t have time for the sock marks to go away. If I had waited, you’d only get this picture:

I love how these turned out. I forgot to note which was left and which was right, so I just decided. Aren’t these just the cutest things you’ve ever seen?

French Press Slippers by Melynda Bernardi
Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Raspberry
Size 15 (!) needle
Mods: I followed katec4b’s no-sew mods (Rav link). If I were to make them again, I’d modify them further to not come up quite so high in front. And I’d knit the strap a little longer, so I wouldn’t have to worry that it felts faster than the slipper itself.

I’m teaching a Pippi Hat class tomorrow (Thursday) at Twisted. There’s still a little room. If you’re looking for a fun project, call the shop, register, and come on down!

It’s a busy knitting week. Our high school fund-raiser knitting party is at Twisted on Saturday. We’ll have a project, yarn, Lantern Moon needles, and dessert. Lots of dessert.

Happy knitting!

30 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged felting, french press slippers, Knit

New year, new project

Posted on January 3, 2010 | 22 comments

Just a small one. Or a big one, depending on how you look at it.

I’m making myself some slippers. I love this color; it’s been living in my stash as leftovers from some long ago project. Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted, the color is called Raspberry. I finished knitting these last night.

A perfect fit, wouldn’t you say?

Maybe not. But that’s okay. These are the French Press Felted Slippers from Melynda Bernardi; they’re just not felted yet. I saw these on the Yarn Harlot’s blog, and then on Tami’s blog, and then on Cristi’s blog. Each time was more enticing. Until I realized that these were knit in pieces, and seamed. That wasn’t so enticing.

I mentioned this deal-breaker to Cristi, and she kindly forwarded me a link to katec4b’s Ravelry project page, which gives instructions for adapting this to be knit seamlessly. Perfect. I bought the pattern, downloaded the mods, and knit away. And now the fun begins. On to the washing machine!

I’ve been doing a lot of red knitting lately. There are my sister’s mitts, and these slippers, and I’m working on the red Quincy hat that my my sister requested. This is it so far; it’s Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Red Hot Passion.

Unfortunately, I’m going to frog this bit, and start over. The color is perfect with the mitts, but the Lamb’s Pride Bulky is a lot heavier than the Classic Elite Ariosa. The Lamb’s Pride Worsted is a lot lighter. So I’ll refigure the gauge and use this Bulky, and see how it turns out.

I’ve also ordered some Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Black Cherry for a cardigan for me. More red. A deep, dark red. Is red my new blue? My new purple? No, it’s just red. And I like it.

Happy new year! What’s new on your needles?

22 Comments

Posted in Knit, ravelry

Tagged felted slippers, french press slippers, Knit, quincy hat

Unexpected snow, and 2009 knitting wrap-up

Posted on December 31, 2009 | 24 comments

We had a little surprise snowfall on Tuesday. It wasn’t in the forecast. Traffic got snarly (PDX isn’t used to snow), but I whisked DH out to Edgefield for the night, as planned. This was my Christmas gift to him.

Edgefield used to be the Multnomah County Poor Farm, a long time ago. Now it’s a property owned by the McMenamins, who take old places and make them into fun and funky pubs, restaurants and resorts. There’s a lot of art on the doors and walls. I love the knitter in this painting. I also saw her in another painting, in which she was knitting the chess board as the players played.

My friend’s mom, Sharon Nesbit, is a local historian, and she wrote a history of Edgefield. Here’s her door on room 3.

And portrait, too! I love her title, Queen of Troutdale.

I have another connection here. My friend Dawn Phelps McConnell used to paint for McMenamins. She passed away two years ago, from cancer. There’s a portrait of her in one of the hallways. (excuse the flash; it was dark)

We had a lovely stay. Snow makes everything a bit magical.

We enjoyed music down in the Winery. The walls are glass, and there are barrels behind one set of windows, and stainless steel vats behind the opposite windows. A really cool space.

My favorite amenity? The soaking pool at Ruby’s Spa. We had to don our snow boots to go down the driveway to get there. But it was worth it! I loved how the steam rose off the hot water.

There are a lot of great nooks and crannies in which to hang out, read, knit, whatever. I did do some knitting. I’ll show you next time. But here’s the obligatory 2009 FO mosaic, to tide you over. Whoops! I see that my log cabin blanket made it in there twice. Sorry. But it was a big project! I was surprised to see that I finished it in January; I thought it was a 2008 FO.

I see a lot of repeat items here, and a lot of small items. Time for a big project! I want to knit a sweater, soon. I’ve ordered yarn, and can’t wait to cast on. Soon.

Happy New Year!

24 Comments

Posted in Knit, travel

Post-Christmas Post

Posted on December 27, 2009 | 15 comments

Ahhh, symmetry. Love that.

Christmas was grand. Christmas eve found the boys still scrambling to find a gift for me. They had lots of ideas, but nothing was panning out. They drove all over town for days. At 3:45 p.m. on Christmas eve (with us due at a friend’s for dinner at 4), DH bailed them out by suggesting that they sign me up for next year’s Single Skein Club at Twisted. Everybody wins! I’m looking forward to it.

Gift knit update

Let’s see. I gave the broken garter stitch cowl to my friend Carole; I chose the color with her in mind. I designed the cowl for next month’s knit party at Twisted. She’ll be helping with the party. The cowl comes full circle!

I gave the red cashmerino cowl to my pastor. I hope she likes it. Christmas eve is a busy night, with two services; I’ll catch up with her next week. (The Day Old Pastries sang at the family pageant service and led the congregational music. Fun! Then I went to the late service, too, to just…be.)

I gave the blue Quincy hat to my niece; I thought it would be cute on her. My sister says that it frames her face perfectly, and now she wants one, too. For her birthday. In red. To match these fingerless mitts that I made for her.

As soon as I saw this yarn I knew that it had to be fingerless mitts for her. It’s Mirasol Tupa, 50% merino, 50% silk. The color just glows. These pictures don’t quite capture the depth of color, though.

At first I thought I’d do a heart design, because she loves hearts. But then I decided to go with an OXO cable for a hugs and kisses theme, because it suited the yarn better. I’m really pleased with how they turned out. And she loves them. I’ll be writing up the pattern soon.

During the design process (and fine tuning), I also made a pair in white, and I gave them to my mom for Christmas. I wanted her to have some new mitts to replace the Fetchings that have gone AWOL. I can nearly make these in my sleep now! And I’ve become a master at cabling without a cable needle. I have a photo tutorial in my tutorials section on the sidebar, and if I get to it, I’ll make a video one, too.

So now my needles are pretty empty! I’m looking for the perfect red yarn for my sister’s Quincy, but haven’t found it yet. And I want to cast on something for me, but I can’t quite commit to the Heather Hoodie yet. Don’t know why not. I went to the yarn store to order the yarn, and didn’t. Hmmmm.

Oh, there is one little thing on my needles. I’ll tell you about it next time…

15 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged christmas knitting, Knit

Happy Christmas eve to you…

Posted on December 24, 2009 | 17 comments

Ready or not, Christmas is coming. I’m as ready as I’m going to get. Tonight is a whirlwind of activity, and then we’ll have a quiet Christmas morning. Bliss.

I’ve knit several gifts this year, although I didn’t set out to do so. Knit just happens! My favorite one is a new design, and I can’t show it until after Christmas. But here’s another version of one of my cowls. This one is knit with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky, and it’s lusciously soft. A gift for a non-blog reading friend.

The Cashmerino Chunky is a lot lighter than the Malabrigo Chunky, so this was knit on a US 9, as opposed to the 10.5, and on fewer stitches. It took about 1.5 balls of yarn (50 gram balls). I loved knitting with this yarn.

Mookie wishes you a very happy holiday. We’ve celebrated Hanukkah, and are about to celebrate Christmas. Which reminds me, I still have to go get her a new catnip slug to put in her stocking. She loves them.

Almost as much as she loves this Log Cabin blanket that she’s claimed for her very own.

Did you finish all your gift knitting? Is it time to start something for you? I’m still toying with the idea of a Heather Hoodie (ravelry link), but I want it to have sleeves. I have a skein of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky to swatch, and if I still like the idea after swatching, I’ll order a sweater’s worth of it. What do you want to knit next?

Merry Christmas!

17 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged cowl, Knit

Almost…

Posted on December 21, 2009 | 13 comments

So close, and yet so far…

I can see that I’m not going to get 56 more stitches out of the remaining yarn. I bought another 50 gram skein, and I’ll figure out what to do with the 48 grams I’ll have left!

In the meantime, I made these.

They’re just those gingersnap cookies that show up this time of year. I used our mini ice cream scoop and filled them with peppermint ice cream. Then I drizzled them with chocolate truffle sauce (recipe here). They’re back in the freezer, firming up.

And the Day Old Pastries sang Mary, Mary in church yesterday. I love singing with my Pastry friends. We’re not perfect, but we have a lot of fun.

Busy, busy, busy! Knitting and shopping not done. But I’m off to a party…

13 Comments

Posted in Day Old Pastries, Knit, music, recipe

Tagged Knit

As You Like It, aka Knitter’s Choice

Posted on December 19, 2009 | 14 comments

I’m having a knit party at Twisted next month as a fund-raiser for our high school booster club. I did this last year, too, and wrote the Checkerboard Scarflet pattern for that party. This year’s party will feature a pattern for even quicker neckwear. These cowls are designed to be knit with Malabrigo Chunky. What’s not to like?

The pattern is called “As You Like It.” There are two cowls worn three ways. This one is my favorite. I love the fabric and the texture. Knitting this was heavenly.

Here is the other one/two. Knit it once, you can wear it either way.

They’re fairly simple projects, since the party is for knitters of any skill level. I hope they like them! We’ll also have needles donated by Lantern Moon to work with. Again, what’s not to like? The patterns will be for sale as a set.

And now, back to my Christmas knitting! I need to finish the stealth project, and then write up the pattern. I’m really pleased with it, It’s turning out just the way I wanted…after three tries.

Do you have knitting to finish before Christmas?

14 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, ravelry

Tagged cowl, Knit, malabrigo

Faith, Hope, Love, Knitting

Posted on December 15, 2009 | 7 comments

This book by Lorna Miser, the founder of Lorna’s Laces (a yarn company), is sweet.

I received this book from Peggy McMullen at the Oregonlive knit blog in exchange for sharing a free pattern for a single skein project. Peggy had a long list of books, and this is the one I chose.

The patterns are nice enough. (I previewed them on Ravelry before choosing my book. What a great tool!) I can see myself knitting several of them. But what I really like are the personal stories that accompany each of the 24 patterns. Many of the designs were originally knit for special people in Lorna’s life, and I enjoy seeing the thoughtful care that went into making these designs reflect something about those people.

Knit on!

7 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Knit, ravelry

Tagged Knit

Pippi goes to Multnomah Falls

Posted on December 13, 2009 | 20 comments

It’s been really cold here lately, with temperatures down in the teens. That’s pretty chilly for our mild climate. But Jack Frost is an artful decorator. check out my windshield.

Laurie and I took a quick trip out to Multnomah Falls on Friday morning. It’s one of my favorite places; I’ve posted about it in other seasons, too. Laurie was wearing her Pippi hat.

The falls were stunningly gorgeous.

Some people made the short trek up to the bridge, but I was short on time and not dressed for more than a quick photo op.

The lower falls:

We had a quick stop at Rooster Rock on the way back, and saw the ice in the Columbia. Do you see Beacon Rock way up the river?

I’m knitting away at a new design project. I took it with me in the car, but I can’t show it to you yet, so here’s another picture of someone else’s knitting. One of my students from my Christmas stocking class sent me a picture of her nearly finished project. Congratulations, Courtney; it looks great!