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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
I promised to post when I had kits made up for my Baby Duck Birds and Bear Hug baby patterns. The yarn I found for Baby Duck Birds is a nice blend of cotton and acrylic, in just the perfect little duckie colors. This is such an easy set…with buttons for eyes, a simple knitted bill, and a loopy tuft of “feathers”…and the ties for the chin are braided “legs”. Easy to make plain, if so desired, but oh, so cute as ducks. The kits do not contain buttons, but there’s enough yarn to make the set of both hat and booties for all sizes. (Pattern is sized up to 18 months.) 
The yarn for Bear Hug was even harder to find. I’ve been searching for a suitable replacement for this ever since Sirdar’s Evita was discontinued a few years ago. The pattern looks fine in a smooth yarn, but is best done in a very-small-looped boucle yarn. I finally found one, a nice blend of cotton with acrylic and nylon. I wasn’t able to snag a darkish brown for the main color, but I did get a beige, with a “sand” shade for contrast. There are two sizes of kits available (0-9 months and 9-18 months), with the appropriate amount of yarn in each. You will need oddments of a black yarn for “claws”, and this is not included. I think a bear hat with mitts and boots is one of the next projects I need to knit…I haven’t had a sample in the shop for AGES (not really having a good yarn to pair with the pattern), but this set sells in seconds when it’s seen in real life! Very fun. 
Yes, I finally have time to knit something like a bear hat, having posted off my magazine crocheted project to New York yesterday. I have nothing else on my plate…at least as far as magazine deadlines…and I’m looking forward to working on Christmas projects and new Woollen Earth leaflets this year instead of madly cramming in one mag deadline after another right before the holidays. Don’t get me wrong…I like designing for magazines…but I’ve done it SO much over the past couple of years that I’ve just moved blindly from one deadline to the next, without hardly realizing what month or season it is, and I just haven’t had time to work on my own leaflet line or knit the fun stuff for my family. But actually, speaking of magazine gigs, the preview for the Winter issue of Interweave Knits is up, and there you’ll see photos of my “El Sol Pullover” . 
The sweater is knit in the round with seed stitch bands and some interesting “cutouts” at neck and wrists. Seeing the photos now, I think (for myself, anyway) I would lose the ties at the cutouts and simply chain across to the other side for a straight edge to the shapes. I used a knitting worsted yarn with linen for that “rustic edge”, and it really knits up quickly, with little finishing. There are lots of other yummy knits in the issue, too…go have a look! |
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Thursday, October 11, 2007 Thanksgiving weekend was very relaxing…we had a dinner that was very reflective of a local harvest: a roast beef from a farm near here, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage from my dad’s garden, hot mixed pickles and dill pickles made by us, herbed batter buns (well, the flour n’ stuff couldn’t possibly have come from here, but the herbs did), and a chocolate zucchini cake with zucchini from (again) Dad’s garden. Delish and not as many pots and pans as a turkey dinner usually entails. We do have a couple of local turkeys (big ‘uns) in the freezer, but we’re saving them for a little further into the season. I thought I would share the recipe for the buns…I always get compliments when I serve them, and they truly are easy to make while giving the impression you slaved for hours (they taste great)! Feel free to play around with your herbs, but use plenty so you can really taste them! NO-KNEAD HERB BUNS 1c. whole wheat flour 1-3/4 c. all purpose flour, divided 1 pkg active dry yeast (2.25 tsp) 2 T sugar 3 T. minced fresh herbs (whatever mix), or about 1 T. or so dried ½ tsp. salt 1 c. warm water 1 egg 2 T. oil (I use olive oil) In a mixing bowl, soften yeast: place water in bowl and sprinkle sugar over. Then sprinkle over yeast and wait about 15 minutes for it to “grow”. Add salt, oil, egg, 1 c. whole wheat flour and ½ c. all purpose flour, and herbs. Beat on low speed with electric mixer for 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat on high for one minute. Stir in remaining flour. Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes to one hour. Stir dough and spoon into greased muffin tins. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20-30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 1 doz. These freeze well! Enjoy. On the fibre front…I’ve got a little baby jacket. (Actually, the only thing not done is the sewing-on of the buttons…I can’t quite decide which ones, but I took this picture with the little purple hearts sitting on the top of it. I’m torn between these and some more Norwegian-looking pewter ones.) 
The Garnstudio Alpaca was beautiful to knit and feels fabulous in jacket form. The pattern amused me to no end…I’ve never actually knit a sideways sweater before, and I thought it was lots of fun. I love how the finished look really resembles an Elizabeth Zimmerman design…can you feel the February sweater vibes? I think she would have liked the construction, too. I did alter the neck just a titch by keeping it a little wider than it called for and extending it by a couple of rows. I also added edging to the sleeves and base of the sweater…it was very cute without, but I didn’t like my stranding at the edges, so I covered it up with a garter stitch border. This jacket took 2 skeins of the main color (purple), with lots left of the second one, and I didn’t get into the second skein of lime until I started the neckband. So, there’s lots left for a hat, or socks, or whatever to go with the jacket. A super-soft, warm gift for your favorite little one. (The pattern goes up to 3-4 years, so it’s very versatile!) Oh, and in case I didn’t mention it, the pattern is free on Garnstudio’s website! Lots of other stuff worked on (and even finished), but not as exciting as the long-awaited jacket, so I’ll leave it for another day. I do have a new load of patterns in, so I’ll be busy drooling. Friday, October 05, 2007 Well, I guess the title of this post explains it all. Finally got a new mohair in stock. It’s been a few years since I’ve had ANY mohair in the shop; not for any particular reason, but it just seems that by the time I get around to looking for one, I either can’t find one I’d like to have (bad price point or color selection, etc.), or I’ve spent my wad for new yarn at the time on something else. This fall, it was definitely time. There are so many nice uses for mohair, that I just couldn’t be without it any longer. Fluffy shawls or sweaters, little kitty embellishments on kids’ garments, or trim on any number of things…mohair is just the ticket. And so I present a nice, light mohair; Garnstudio “Vivaldi”: GARNSTUDIO “VIVALDI” MOHAIR 43% Mohair, 27% Acrylic, 30% Polyester Tension: 19 sts and 26 rows = 4” on 4.0 mm needles 50 g / 280 metres Price: $10.99/skein 
Note the fabulous yardage on each skein…they are really as light as air, so you can pack a wallop of metres onto each one. Mohair is a funny fibre; you can knit it on fairly small needles or on huge ones, and it pretty much works for a variety of tensions/gauges. The central solid strand is always quite thin, but the “hair” fluffing out from that central strand expands to take up the space between stitches, so it really can be knit on much bigger needles and make a more “solid” fabric than you would imagine by looking at the yarn itself. Very versatile stuff! I also have a red on backorder, so it should be here pretty soon. Here are a couple of patterns you might try with the Vivaldi from one of the Garnstudio books I have in stock: From Book #74 
Coming soon are loads of patterns from independent designers, such as Fiddlesticks Knitting, Knitting Pure and Simple, Fiber Trends, Cabin Fever, Catherine Vardy…oh, and Evelyn A. Clark’s new book “Knitting Lace Triangles”! Should be here very soon. Tons of knitting progress made, but not much to show. A little poncho is hidden away until after a birthday, an Alpaca baby sweater just needs some finishing (so hopefully I’ll get it blocked and finished and in the shop on display by next week), and dolly clothes, a new slipper pattern, and swatching for a crochet magazine gig are all on the go. Closed here tomorrow (Saturday) for the Thanksgiving weekend...to all my fellow Canadians, Happy Turkey! (Open again on Tuesday.) |
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