Autumn Leaves Coasters and more!

and the goose is getting fat...

Well, I am tired of looking at that chicken meal! So before Christmas, here are a few things I have knit lately.

I posted a pattern on Ravelry today for these Autumn Leaves Coasters.


I knit like 14 of 'em, for Deborah, for my office mate, for myself. I can't stop. They are addictive!

If you'd like to make your own coasters, the pattern is available here for $1.00:



I also finished a lovely shawl:


Live Oak Shawlette.


I wore it when I met up with Katie in Palm Springs.

And I have embarked upon an apparently endless afghan.

Knit. Cook. Eat.

For supper tonight, I adapted a recipe for a chicken bacon appetizer, to make it a main course.

My Version:

4 chicken skinless, boneless chicken breast filets
4 strips of bacon
1 container cream cheese with chives and onion
1 jalapeno pepper

Pound the chicken breasts to flatten them. Put cream cheese on top of each piece, along with a small strip of jalapeno. Roll up and hold with a toothpick. Then wrap bacon around, and use the toothpick to hold the whole thing together. Place in rack in pan and bake at 375 till bacon is crispy.



I also bought a stalk of brussel sprouts the other day, just because it looked awesome. Turns out you just pop the brussel sprouts off the stalk and cook them like any other brussel sprouts. It's a trick to get white people to do farm work. I fell for it.


So, brussel sprouts, off the stalk, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with a lot of salt. Put in the same oven with the chicken.

The rice is a package mix of Spanish rice. It's a trick to get white people to eat rice...no, I kid.




Anyhow, it all came together into a nice simple meal.

And then, there was some knitting that got its picture taken over the weekend.
The scarf is knit in laceweight cashmere, in a pattern called Barbara, for my Mom, who is also named Barbara.








The sweater is further pictures of Peasy, to show how cool it came out.


Isn't it cool? Some day I will get a photo of it on me. If I can find someone who knows how to do this. My poor husband holds the digital camera up to his eye, no matter how many times I tell him not to. Just not worth it.

Vogue Knitting

I have been busily at work on my Peasy cardigan, in the hopes of having it ready in time to wear to Vogue Knitting Live, and I actually made it. This is the first time I ever managed to finish a sweater at the appropriate season--just in time for what passes for fall and winter here in Southern California.


I made a few modifications--I added shaping over the hips, I did the bottom in 1 x 1 rib, and I tapered the sleeves and added lace at the cuffs. I also added buttons all the way down the front. I am quite pleased with the process and the end result.


I especially enjoyed wearing it on Saturday morning in Franklin Habit's class, since the classroom was quite chilly. Franklin is an amazing knitter and a great teacher, and a very funny guy. And he was wearing a Utilikilt. What's not to like?


I also took a class with Meg Swansen and Amy D. Meg is the daughter and heir of the most illustrious person in 20th century American knitting, Elizabeth Zimmermann. She showed us sweaters knit 30, 40, maybe 50 years ago that are still gorgeous.



My other classes, with Clara Parkes and Barry Klein were also very informative and worthwhile.

I also bought some fancy-dancy yarn that includes qiviut.

What I knit in Maine

Gloves for Kristen, made with yarn I bought in Maine in October. Alpaca and silk. My first gloves.



A sock, just because socks are so suited for travel knitting.


The beginning of a lace scarf, in cashmere.

Mom's Shrug

The Pittsfield, Maine Egg Festival

No eggs were seen at the Egg festival, because Pittsfield is no longer a major (or even minor) egg producing town. But any excuse for a festival during Maine's short but glorious summer, and so the name endures.

Karen and James, who live in Pittsfield



and mom and Dad.

Mom woke up this morning, after being in the hospital for a week and the house for the following week, and declared, "I am not an invalid!" So we drove over to Pittsfield.

In the morning there was a parade:

Antique fire engines are a big part of the parade.
As are antique cars
and tractors





And after the parade, this year the festival featured lobster dinners for $11. We carried them home and ate them in Karen's back yard.


My father demonstrates the technique for breaking down a lobster.
It was delicious!

One thing ends, another begins

I have lots of free time to knit these days, so I finished the shrug for Mummy quite quickly, and immediately got to work on a shawl I've been anticipating for a while.

The shrug seems like a pretty good success. I haven't blocked it at all yet, because I think it will grow when it hits the water, and I don't want it to be too big for my Mom.

The shawl is called Hilton Head, and it is quite simple. There lace edging is garter based, and then there's a growing section of stockinette, and the whole thing is knit as one piece.



I weighed out the yarn to find the center of the skein, and when I get to the center (or if it seems long enough before that) I will begin decreases.

And a few odds and ends

It turns out that given a three-day weekend by myself to do whatever I want, what I mostly want to do is dorky stuff. Go to Casa Arigato for breakfast. Go to Borders. Knit. Dye yarn. The most exotic thing I did was get a facial. At the cosmetology department at El Camino College. Whee!

Anyhow, here's what's done:


And here's what's newly started:


This is an anonymous pattern from Let's Knit for a clever little shrug that is knit as a rectangle, which is then folded and stitched to make sleeves and a back, and then has stitches picked up around the edge to make a ruffle that becomes the collar and bottom edge. Hard to visualize, but I tried on their sample, and I see that it works.

This will probably be a gift for my Mom, to wear as a sort of bed jacket while she recuperates from her hip surgery in July. And if that doesn't work out (Mom is opinionated, let's just say...) I will keep it for myself. Or something. Anyhow, it's a totally easy and relaxing knit, done in Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool, which is nice to knit with.

Le Livre, El Libro, the book!

We went out to Havana Mania to celebrate the publication of our textbook. We were not nearly as impaired as these pictures would seem to indicate!

(Also see shawl, from previous post, in actual use.)