News from Brooklyn

A little cross-stitching in case you were wondering...Started work on a hat that's been in my queue. It's called the Brangelina Hat and it's at Crazy Aunt Purl's site. I was given the yarn from leftovers, so I've no idea if there will be enough. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Some people say, "Oh, this hat took me just a couple of hours." Hah! I can beat that. I've already spent a couple of hours and I'm still in the ribbing. I'm such an overacheiver.Yeah, knitting mostly these days. I've been wanting to start new things. I finally got into the patterned part of the Viper Pilot socks. (To keep in the spirit of Battlestar Galactica fighter jocks, my project is called "Callsign Required".) Not that the ribbing was slowing me down. It was the chart. It clearly wanted to be printed on a color printer and that was not a reality that I could be in sync with. So I had to sit down with the black and white printout and the computer and fill in the minor details that were getting lost--like lines in the chart! While I was at it, I scrounged up some highlighters and color-coded the cables. (Cables are those criss-crossy things in fancy sweaters--people tend to get 'em crossed backwards and funny twists and stuff.) In her Brass Needles podcast, dear Miss Kalendar mentioned that Jasmin had done that with a pattern she was borrowing and it made all the difference in her knitting the Tangled Yoke Sweater.

Good news!

I just called the Brooklyn General Store and it seems that Stashy the Squirrel has made the trip without incident. Here's the note I sent along with him:

My name is Stashy. My name comes from the fact that I was made entirely from my creator's stashed materials.
I understand a yarn tree grew in Brooklyn. As a knitter myself, I would like to examine it and perhaps spend some time there. Please don't feel uncomfortable because I am a dude. Many very masculine guys, such as myself, knit and pursue all kinds of endeavors. I am considered quite the chef--my dill and acorn stew is very popular in San Diego--and I write a mean sonnet. I enjoy long romps through cashmere and the company of females. But I'm still enjoying my bachelor status; I'm not looking to settle down just yet.
Following this little jaunt, please return me in my box. Desi has assured me she will include the appropriate shipping and I am looking forward to a day trip to Balboa Park, where I am assured there are some rockin' trees!

He's apparantly already got a new admirer--the girl who answered the phone said he was cute!

Ears? Sounds... Delicious.

Today I made my very first hamentashen. They're triangular cookies with filling, in this case apricot preserves. They're supposed to look like this bad guy--Haman's--hat or his ear. Yeah, you'd think there would be two different cookies.I won't say they're the ugliest cookies ever, but they might be the ugliest made in kitchens today. However, all the ingredients are nice: whole wheat flour, butter, sugar, egg, baking powder, vanilla... ooh, maybe there should have been salt. Huh. Too late now. The recipe itself had a typo: they never said when to add the vanilla and baking powder. Luckily, I've made cookies before, so I didn't wait until after the cookies were baked to add it in.
Tiny says they're delish. What do you think?

Recent Acquisitions

Got about a month ago: can't remember the name and can't even google it. Phooey.Got in the mail this week. Knitting bag and fancy sock yarn (whee.) Gasp of Spring socks in progress after our estrangement and subsequent reunion. And a duck.

Stashy the Squirrel

Something's happening at Brooklyn General Store. Seems they've knitted a tree, but it's empty. They want squirrels. The squirrels will be in a contest and the winners will receive gift certificates for their creators. Let's examine this.

1. Make something silly.
2. Be part of a game.
3. Have a time element--deadline May 15.
4. Chance of prize. (Not saying a huge chance--I once got a third place award in a contest for which I had the only entry. True story.)

Yeah, I'm in! Stashy will be hitting the road tomorrow morning on his way across the country. (I guess he'll be a flying squirrel!) Photo of Stashy helping with the tail part of the knitting, while he still had temporary eyes. That's right, he's got skilz! I'm calling him Stashy 'cause he's made entirely from stuff I already had... except the pipecleaner I boosted from church. Yeah, real illicit. I had three members of the staff poking through cupboards for me. Seems nobody wanted to see Stashy with a limp tail.

How I Wind Yarn

Okay, there are some fancy tools out there for winding your yarn from a skein into a ball. (And even fancier ones for reversing the process. No, it's real.) The most popular set-up is a swift and a ball winder. A swift looks like a half-open umbrella on a carousel and a ball winder looks like those old-fashioned manual pencil sharpeners. To buy this stuff new costs about $100 and don't even think about buying a used swift as they break if you breathe funny. Do you know how much yarn you can buy with $100? Admittedly, not that much if it's cashmere, but still...

Now, I wouldn't spit on a swift and ball winder should someone gift me a set but I would way rather spend my money on yarn so I use a manual ball winder. Super manual.

Manual (adj) of or relating to the hands

Here's my manual ball winding technique.

1. Drape your yarn around an open drawer. Yep, those are my scrap bins. Ignore them.


2. Butterfly-wrap a few times back and forth between two fingers.


3. Slip it off those fingers.


4. Fold one "wing" of the butterfly over the other.


5. Wrap a few wraps around the middle. This is the core of your ball.


6. Wind, sloppily. Stick a finger in there and let it get wrapped over. One of the biggest mistakes newbies make is winding the yarn too tight and stretching it. Just be a little sloppy. It's okay. You have permission. Like you need it.


7. Begin your project!

This is a pattern called Rocky Butte. It's by Miss Violet and the yarn is TVYarn, the colorway is The French Lieutenant's Woman. Combining rocky buttes and France makes me think of the Grand Canyon of France, Les Gorges du Verdun. Beautiful! So I think I'll name these socks Gorgeous Butt(e). Pronounce it in a way that makes you smile.

Low(er) Carb Nut Loaf

Okay, I made four of these, so it's gonna look like a lot in the bowl.
2-3 eggs
1-1/4 cups ground nuts (a salad shooter is amazing for this)
1 cup cheese (again, good in the salad shooter)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
3/4 cup minced onion
1/2 tsp salt (adjust based on how salty your nuts are)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp smoked paprika (hardly neccessary, I just like the stuff)
1/2 c bread crumbs (mine was part canned, part wheat germ, and part bread run through the salad shooter)
Remove rings and moosh up good between fingers. Add anything you like in meatloaf. Subract the stuff you don't like. Shape into loafy-ness. Cook at 375 about 45 minutes. Clean underneath your nails. Replace rings.

Ooh, I'd so like to relearn knitting backwards. I figured it out probably twenty years ago. I'll bet there's an online vid for it. Just a sec. Found it!
Doncha just lurv the interwebs?!

Paper or Plastic?

Guess what this is? Now it's finished. Now it's in use. Yes, it's a furry grocery bag. I was given a length of this cheetah fur (fake, of course) and... well, what would YOU do with it? I didn't wanna stuff it in the stash and forget about it. And can you just imagine handing THAT over to the clerk?

"Paper or plastic?"

"Fur, please."

Here's instructions for making your own. Well, really, they're for making bags to use AND give away. As I've made a grand total of one, I think I'll use mine.

Just a few people that make my computer/world a better place

A knitter/blogger/everythinger that inspires me: Jane Brocket

A knitter that just makes me laugh: Yarn Harlot

A crafter that's making something cool that I'm buying: Black Belt Knitter. If you want the possible bonus, jump on it soon!

Aspirations

When asked if I can draw, well, duh. Of course I can draw! I could draw when I was in kindergarten. I can at least draw at that level. Sometimes better. Same goes for dancing. And playing the piano. Especially playing the piano. Sorry, Mom.
I don't like the idea of hanging back because I don't think my skill level isn't there. I can do most things. It's... other considerations.

1. Materials If I want to make a big beautiful sweater coat straight out of Vogue, it's gonna take a lot of yarn. Even if I was as tiny as Hottie, it'd still take a lot. And it would be expected to match. Well, at least the washing instructions would have to be compatible.
2. Attention Span Those sweater coats and bedspreads that take an average knitter six months of knitting would be long forgotten because, in case you haven't noticed, I like to work on more than one project at once. Short attention span is good for forgetting grudges, not so good for afghans.
3. Portability Possibly the most important aspect of knitting for me. I think of knitting as a purse project and it's kinda hard to just drop a sweater into my purse. Unless it's a really big purse... But a big knitted purse would be a big project too...

So I guess I aspire to having knitted a sweater coat, but not to the actual knitting.

Ooh! I figured out something to aspire to: using up everything. That's right. Every inch of yarn, every scrap of fabric, every spool of thread. What do you mean, it's impossible? That's what aspirations are for!

Okay, okay. As this is a crafting blog, I can hear you asking, "Where are the pictures?"Right here, Sweetie.

Here is a simple quilt. Sometimes I just like grabbing the box of batiks and throwing a few very large squares together. These are cut 9.5". This is for border numero uno...and border numero due. (That's Italian for dos.) This is on my "Goals by Friday" list. Wish me luck.

History Best When Edited

This is the first in a series of questions answered by various bloggers this week. Today asks me to evaluate the origins of my own knitting. Seems to me this would work best as a list.

1. Girl meets boy.


2. Girl meets boy's mom.


3. Boy's mom teaches girl to knit. (Also gives her giant bag of romance novels. In hindsight, maybe boy's mom was hoping girl would be making booties.)


4. Girl begins long narrow strip of knitting, ostensibly a headband.


5. Romance ends.


6. Girl continues knitting, making the world's longest headband, as she does not know how to bind off.


7. Girl meets new boy, resumes knitting, and begins scarf for new boy.


8. Romance ends.


9. Girl meets new new boy. Finishes scarf and gives it to new new boy.


10. Romance ends.


11. Girl meets man.


12. Girl marries man and has baby.


13. Girl is charmed by amazing fibers and makes scarf for self.


14. Repeat step 12 until need for scarf is exceeded by a factor of ten.


15. Girl knits sompin' else.


16. Repeat step 15. A lot.

Important information: when knitting booties in three colors, you will have six ends per bootie to weave in. I'm just sayin'.

Gooey/ Groovy

The poison oak medicine is gooey. Scary gooey. So much so that I'm afraid to cross-stitch. Quilts I can wash, socks I can definitely wash, cross-stitch not so much. So I may occasionally stitch when the medicine has been washed off and not reapplied, but... Well, let's just say that the attention to stitching is mostly limited to longing gazes. (Very Romeo & Juliet: it could end in tragedy.)

So on to quilting! Today at PQM, I finished the Have a Nice Frog top. I used more of the groovalicious tie-dye style fabric and I really like the result. (Click on the pic for a closer-up view) It's one of those things that look so different when you step away from it. I'm happy with how it came out. Oh, and today Transporter Malfunction got designated, so send up a prayer for Anita if you're so inclined.