Put a bead on it

Yukiko Cowls & Scarf - $5.95
Ravelry | Patternfish

Miyabi Collar - $5.95Ravelry | Patternfish

So, over the winter I got temporarily obsessed with this interesting stitch pattern out of a Japanese stitch dictionary. It has graceful leaf forms divided with seed stitch. It's versatile, too - as you can see on the left, it works well in rectangular form for cowls and a scarf, and on the right I adapted it for a circular collar.

In addition to its other merits, the leaf and diamond shapes also lend themselves to embellishment,which led to another obsession - knitting with beads. Large-hole beads (size 6/0) work wonderfully well. I also have a fairly large bead stash from my jewelry-crafting days, but most of them are seed-beads (10/0). They'd probably work well if they were pre-strung, but the beads on all of my designs so far have beads added with a crochet hook during knitting. With some trial and error, I found a way to get the seed beads on the stitches without too much effort using fishing line. Here's my little graphic and explanation:

Working with small beads: Are you using seed beads with very small holes? It can be very hard to get them over a stitch, even with a crochet hook. Try this: Cut a piece of fishing line or beading wire about 8" / 20 cm long. When you reach the stitch to be beaded, thread the fishing line through the stitch and hold the ends together. String the bead onto the fishing line. Holding the fishing line tightly, take the stitch off the left needle and push the bead down onto it with space at the top. Return the stitch to the needle and remove the fishing line. Knit or purl the stitch.

Carry A Tune - $6.95
Ravelry | Patternfish |
Sylvia Woods Harp Center

Once the beading was done, it was time for another type of stitch pattern: double-knitting. It's been awhile since I gave y'all a musical pattern. I asked myself, what does every musician need? I answered myself: a music bag. So here I present to you Carry A Tune. It's knit in mega-sturdy Cascade 220 with harps on the front and musical symbols creating a brocade-like design on the back and inside. It was fun to design and is absolutely HUGE inside. There are two large interior sections and one small pocket, and the layers of fabric make a cushy and protective carry-bag for anything, not just music.

Even though the cold weather is on its way out (yay!), that's no reason to stop having fun with yarn. Small projects aren't oppressive during the hot weather, and they'll come in handy again all too soon. Best get started now. :)

Happy knitting!
Caroline

Old Books and Warm Hands

My first pattern of 2013 has been ready for awhile and was just waiting for a name. Being January, it's now very cold outside and perfect weather for a set of armwarmers: Whisper Down the Lane. They're very quick to knit in worsted weight yarn with beaded edging. The yarn is Ella Rae Bamboo Silk in colorway "Sugar," and though the size medium calls for 2 skeins, that's just to be safe - I was able to complete them with just 1 skein.

Sometimes patterns name themselves. This one didn't; it's taken nearly 2 months to come up with one that fit. So where did the name finally come from? It’s my description of a story in Creative Chemistry, a 1919 textbook by Edwin E. Slosson. Its full name is The Century Books of Useful Science - Creative Chemistry, Descriptive of Recent Achievements in the Chemical Industries, by Edwin E. Slosson, M.S., Ph.D. Though the research is nearly 100 years old, the explanations are easy to understand, and they're just plain fun. If you never thought you’d be entertained by a textbook, you should definitely check this one out; it’s available free from Project Gutenberg. I LOL'd out loud - a lot. In the beginning of chapter 11, “Solidified Sunshine,” we find this gem:

Just as mankind is now divided into the two great classes, the wheat-eaters and the rice-eaters, so the ancient world was divided into the wool-wearers and the cotton-wearers. The people of India wore cotton; the Europeans wore wool. When the Greeks under Alexander fought their way to the Far East they were surprised to find wool growing on trees. Later travelers returning from Cathay told of the same marvel and travelers who stayed at home and wrote about what they had not seen, like Sir John Maundeville, misunderstood these reports and elaborated a legend of a tree that bore live lambs as fruit. Here, for instance, is how a French poetical botanist, Delacroix, described it in 1791, as translated from his Latin verse:

Upon a stalk is fixed a living brute,
A rooted plant bears quadruped for fruit;
It has a fleece, nor does it want for eyes,
And from its brows two wooly horns arise.
The rude and simple country people say
It is an animal that sleeps by day
And wakes at night, though rooted to the ground,
To feed on grass within its reach around.

Doctor Slosson certainly had a way with words. I laughed so hard picturing those trees full of sheep! Happily for us, though, sheep don’t have to grow on trees for a knitter to keep herself warm. When the weather turns cold, stay toasty with these feminine lace armwarmers. Columns of easy lace travel up the arm, while increases are incorporated into a leaf accent. Optional beads add extra shine at the wrist. Soft worsted-weight yarn makes the armwarmers both luxurious and quick to knit.

Whisper Down the Lane Armwarmers - $5.95 Ravelry |  Patternfish

A taste of the tropics

Well my dears, I'll be in flight between today and tomorrow. I've been in the tropics for a few weeks and will be going home to cold weather. It's true that heat leaves the body through the head, so a hat is an essential; fingerless gloves don't hurt, either. So here's a new set: Campanulata. It's made from sockweight yarn, so the whole set fits into a quart-size baggie for easy transport in a purse or carry-on

It's named for Spathodia campanulata, also known as African Tulip Tree, Fireball, and Flame of the Forest. There was one blooming next door; you can see a photo of it in the background. The tree can be found in warm climates from India to South America. It was such a treat to see the hummingbirds, mockingbirds and parakeets that came to feed at the flowers each morning! The orange splashes in the yarn are the exact color of the flowers.

The yarn, if you were wondering, is Regia Galaxy Color in colorway 1559 “Jupiter Red.” I've had it for awhile, and it's been the start of several projects. I always frogged them, though; they just never worked out. Apparently this set is what the yarn wanted to be, and I'm thoroughly pleased with it. :) The hat is knit partly flat and partly in the round; the gloves are knit entirely in the round. All stitch patterns are provided in both charted and written form.

Campanulata Cloche and Fingerless Gloves, $6.95 at Ravelry & Patternfish

Wistaria and Sunshine

“To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine.” So begins the advertisement that sets in motion Elizabeth von Arnim’ s lovely 1922 novel “The Enchanted April.” On reading it, two Englishwomen are motivated to rent a mediaeval Italian castle for the month of April, during which time they rediscover love and happiness.

This is one of my favorite novels ever ever ever. I reread it periodically (most recently a couple weeks ago) and I highly recommend it. You can buy a printed copy or download the ebook for free from Project Gutenberg. The 1991 movie wasn't bad either, but like any movie it can't capture the full depth and essence of the book.

I originally thought Wistaria was a misspelling of Wisteria, but as it turns out, they're both legitimate spellings for the beautiful purple flowers.

So of course when there's something inspiring to me, I have to turn it into a knitted object. I give you: The Wistaria and Sunshine fichu / shawlette. It's knit from the top down and combines two leaf-centric Japanese stitch patterns for a botanical effect. It grows on each right-side row to create a wide crescent shape, and the hem scallops form automatically at bind-off. That natural curve sits comfortably on the shoulders for a little bit of extra warmth and glamour when ever you want it. The lace pattern is provided in both charted and written form.

Wistaria and Sunshine
$6.95 from Ravelry or Patternfish.

I Love Yarn

There aren't too many holidays I can get behind. The origins are important to me, and when you find out where most holiday traditions come from, their origins can be surprising, to say the least. (It's worth investigating, if you haven't.) But one day I fully enjoy is I Love Yarn Day. That, as you may have guessed, is today, October 12, 2012. Though I must admit that I seem to celebrate it every day of the year without even trying.

That being said, can I claim that knitting in public was part of my ILY Day, since I would have been doing it anyway? Well, it is I Love Yarn Day, and I was knitting in public. Here's what happened this morning.

Right now I'm working on a pair of toe-up socks in skinny yarn (Trekking XXL, color 310 - wide self-stripes in lovely shades of green) on size 00 dpns. So I'm knitting away on them in a waiting room for about 45 minutes when the guard, Francisco, happens to walk by. It's a small waiting room; there are only two people there; this cannot be the first time he noticed the knitting. The sock foot is about 5" long. He asks, "Is that hat for me?" with a laugh. I laugh too. "It's a sock," I say. "What is it?" he asks. "A sock," I repeat. "Oh," he says. "That's nice."

Happy I Love Yarn Day!

Pattern Photos and the Recipe

So today was pattern photo day. Nothing is quite ready for you yet, but rest assured that in the near future you'll have three new patterns to enjoy - two accessories and a garment. Watch this space!

Meanwhile, I dug out that snickerdoodle recipe I mentioned in my previous post. It came, believe it or not, in a bouquet of flowers. Feel free to give it a try. I'll be baking some this afternoon.

Grandma's Snickerdoodle Cookies

1 ½ c sugar

½ c butter, softened

½ c shortening

2 ¾ c flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ c sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400° F

2. Mix 1 ½ c sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

3. Shape dough into 1 ¼ inch balls. Mix ¼ c sugar and cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

5. Let cookies cool 5 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!

When the weather gets cold, I like to BAKE

So autumn is here, and in a big way. Yesterday was in the 80's, but today is in the 40's and rainy. (For my metric friends, that's a change from the upper 20's down to single digits Celsius.) When the weather gets cold, do you know what I like to do? I knit! (Yes, how did you guess?) And I like to wear things that I've knit! (They're warm and cozy.) But you know what else I like to do? I like to BAKE.

Last week, I learned why so many people like Snickerdoodles. They're relatively quick and easy, and do they ever taste good! Since they're rolled by hand into balls, the heat of the oven flattens them out into gorgeous, professional-looking circles of deliciousness. I was leery when I saw that the recipe said to use an ungreased cookie sheet, but due to a combination of the shortening in the cookies and the even coating of cinnamon-sugar, they don't stick at all. Once they come out of the oven, the cookies cool on a wire rack. We have some leftover closet shelving which I use for this purpose. It's long and thin and fits well on the kitchen table. The cookies were a little crispier than I expected - next time, they won't need to stay in the oven as long. They're great dipped in coffee or tea.

The recipe yielded about 5 dozen Snickerdoodles, and we ate them all in less than a week.

With all the Snickerdoodles gone, we were completely surrounded by no cookies. This was unacceptable to baker-me, so the other day when I came across a recipe for the intriguingly-named "Mud Hen Bars," I had to give it a try. (Click here for the recipe at the Cookies and Cups blog.) The resultant dessert is rich and messy, but tastes good. The Mud Hen Bars have a layer of cake on the bottom, a chocolate-marshmallow layer in the middle, and a crispy coating of meringue on top. I learned two things. First, if you're out of mini-marshmallows, the full-size ones can be chopped up very easily and without sticking if you spray your chopping knife with cooking spray. (Blade only, obviously!) Second, I really need to work on my meringue-making skills. The two egg whites should have yielded enough to cover the top, but they didn't quite. Either they weren't beaten enough, or the brown sugar should have been folded in more gently. Whatever; they tasted fine! The marshmallow makes them a little messy, so they're better eaten with a fork than with fingers.

In case you also like to cook when the weather gets cold, here are a couple websites you might enjoy:

Laylita's Recipes, where you'll find lots of yummy Ecuadorian recipes
Cookies and Cups, home of the recipe for Mud Hen Bars
Betty Crocker, while it's not the one I used, they do have a recipe for snickerdoodles that you can try if you're so inclined.

Happy baking!