Month: May 2018

Ambitious Packing

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We are heading out-of-town tomorrow for a graduation party. My lovely niece is graduating from high school. I’m excited we will be able to help her celebrate. I’m also excited about the three hours I will spend in the car knitting on the way home on Sunday (John called dibs as the passenger tomorrow).

When I travel I tend to pack knitting projects like I’m going to a silent retreat alone for a week. I pack way too many projects.

For this trip I’m trying to stick to only bringing one pair of socks. Realistically I know I won’t have that much time to knit. That isn’t stopping me from thinking about throwing the yarn for the scrap yarn shawl knockoff and fingerless mitts. Or maybe some extra sock yarn, just in case.

I have a problem. An overly ambitious knitter packing problem. Please tell me I’m not the only one with this affliction.

Thursday

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I am so happy it’s nap time. We’ve had a big morning. I’m ready for a nap myself, but before I sleep I thought I would share our morning with you.

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My mom found an electric griddle for me at her church garage sale. Pancakes have never been so easy to make. I can also see a grilled cheese party in my future.

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Audrey now fits into one of the cutest outfits my niece ever wore. She will be in her strawberry outfit most of the summer.

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I put my blanket on my bed to continue drying. It is so pretty I had to share it again. It is probably the last time I will make you look at it. Unless you are at my house, and then you are for sure looking at it.

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I took the kids out to lunch with friends to celebrate my friends daughter finishing her year of preschool. The good news is both kids enjoy Indian food. The bad news is they were horrible. It’s like we never let them out of the house. On my to do list for this summer is to get them out more so they learn to behave. That or we aren’t going out to eat again until they are in high school.

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In addition to the rest of our morning I finished my socks. They are currently blocking. If Audrey ever falls asleep I’ll be casting on Vanilla Latte Socks this afternoon (thanks for the tip, Karen!).

Now if you will excuse me, I’m off to cast on some socks or nap. I’m not entire sure which I will choose.

WIP Wednesday: 20/52

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I’ve made great progress on my Felici socks. I am worried they are a smidge small. I think I’ve had that scare with Felici on a 3×2 rib before and they blocked out fine. I’m hoping that happens again. If it doesn’t I’ll give them to my Aunt who loves hand knit socks. It will all work out in the end.

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I’m so close to being finished I have already pulled out the yarn for my next pair of socks. I’m using La Jolla in Tequila Sunset. I’ve never used their yarn before and I’m excited to try it. I’m not sure which pattern I’ll be using. I would like something like the Simple SKYP sock pattern, but not that one as I’ve made it a lot in the past year. If you have any suggestions please send them my way.

I hope to have more than one project on the needles by next week. I think two projects at once is a comfortable place to be.

Blanket Blocking

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I finished my big blanket this week. The applied i cord was a breeze to put on, and it gives the blanket a great finished look. I’m so happy I decided to take that extra step. It only took about half of one of the two hanks of yarn I bought for it. I’m thinking I’ll try out some skimmer socks soon, as I love wearing tiny socks in my Chucks.

I brought the blanket with me to Cedar Falls, as my mom has a clothesline I could dry it on. I thought about just leaving it on my patio to dry, but then I remembered I have a large dog and two kids that run all over the patio and thought better of it.

Have you ever blocked a blanket before? I had not. The largest thing I’ve ever blocked, or even washed by hand, is a sweater (granted, that includes the cocoon sweater, which was basically a blanket). I was nervous. It felt like a large undertaking. I considered not doing it, but some of the yarn was given to me by friends with cats, so I knew I needed to wash it if I ever wanted to use it without sneezing.

Here’s how I blocked it.

Step 1: Let it soak. 20180522_134134597907800.jpg

I put it in the tub with cool water and two packets of soak and let it sit while I fed the kids lunch and put them down for a nap. Then I made bars (milk chocolate and caramel for the middle layer this time). I took the trash out. I got the mail. I was really looking for any excuse to avoid the next part, so it probably soaked for an hour.

Step 2: Roll it up

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I put the blanket on top of two cotton blankets to soak up the water. Then I rolled it up.

Step 3: Hang it up

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I hung it out on the line to dry. I draped it over three lines, which I hope will help it dry more quickly. I then spent about 20 minutes just staring at it and thinking about how pretty it is.

Have you ever blocked a huge project? How did you tackle it?

Scrap Yarn Shawl Knockoff

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A month or two ago my sister Mary-Claire sent me a message on Instagram about a scrap yarn shawl she thought was really cool. She didn’t say cool though, she said “While I think this is too much work for a Christmas present, please look at this and marvel at how awesome it is.”

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I looked at it, and thought it was awesome. I also thought it looked really simple. I offered to make one for her for Christmas. I thought I could find a pattern, but a search on Ravelry came up empty. Luckily it looks pretty simple. I think it is just a rectangle knit on fairly large needles. I’m thinking I will go with size 12 or 14, whichever ones I find first.

I sent her a few pictures to make sure we were on the same page. First I made a sample piece with paper. Then I used safety pins and an afghan, so she could get a better idea of the drape. I may have gone over board with illustrating it. I just wanted to make sure we were thinking the same thing.

I offered to do it all in one color. She is the sister that has requested something other than gray once. I assumed she would want gray. To my amazement she wanted color. I suggested I knit it as a fade. I sent her a few examples of a fade, as she is not a knitter and wouldn’t know that term. I was quick to offer fade as a way to introduce color, as I have wanted to try the technique for a while, and because they are so popular I’m worried I’ll be the last knitter to work on a fade.

She sent me her color selections and I ordered them right away. They have been sitting in my closet for a month. That changes today. I’m going to be casting on a gauge swatch as soon as I find my needles. I’m going to be keeping you updated on Mondays on my progress on the design and knitting of this piece. Mary-Claire gave the OK to keep you updated. I didn’t want her to see her Christmas present before she opened it.20180427_192904864481651.jpg

Have you knit a fade? Have you ever created a pattern when you couldn’t find one you were looking for?

 

Butterscotch Revel Bars

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I have a problem. A baking problem. I can’t get enough of it. It is a problem because most recipes make 12-24 servings and there are only 4 of us in our home. That means we are stuck eating all of whatever I make. I suppose I could freeze some of the treats, but the truth is neither John nor I are good at moderation when it comes to sweets.

After weeks of looking at a recipe for Chocolate Revel Bars I had pulled out of my latest issue of Cooks Country I decided it was time to make them. I opted for the butterscotch version, as we are big butterscotch fans in our house.

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Oh my wow. These suckers are delicious. Imagine using the topping for apple crisp (oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, almonds, and a shameful amount of butter)  as a cookie bottom layer. Now imagine that is topped with a mixture of butter, butterscotch chips, and sweetened condensed milk. The top layer is even more of the crumb topping.

Are you drooling yet? You should be. These heavenly bars are almost gone. I brought some to my book club this afternoon to help us get through them. John is in charge of eating the rest. They are amazing but incredibly unhealthy (337 calories each!).

These are now my go to pot luck dessert recipe. I can only be trusted to make them when I can get them out of my house. I really want to make them again, so please invite me to a party at your house. I promise to bring delicious treats.

These are from Cooks Country magazine. The website is a subscription, so it doesn’t work for me to post a link to it. I am able to e-mail the recipe from the site however, so if you are interested in the recipe leave me a comment with your e mail address and I’ll get it to you. If you don’t feel like leaving your e mail address out in a public space, you could send me a message on Instagram (I’m mildly_granola over there).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to eat the crumbs John has left behind. I said I was done with the bars, but I didn’t say I was done with bar remnants.