Back, better than before!

The February Fitted Pullover is back on track, further along than when I frogged it. I finished the first skein of yarn today and finished the waist decreases. And I took it off the needles and tried it on, so I am confident that it fits. So, full steam ahead!

1/19/11 ETA: In the one week since I frogged this and started over, I have 8" done, in the round. That seems like a pretty fast pace.

That sweater in the post below?

Gone.

I showed the 5 inches or so I had done to folks at the Woolgatherers lunch yesterday and mentioned my concern that 2.5 inches of horizontal-looking garter stitch around my butt might not be the most flattering. Everyone agreed. Christine noted that the lace is very vertical and that a more vertical edging would flow better. So true.

So I let 'er rip. And I cast back on immediately. It helped to do the ripping and re-starting in public, so that I was somewhat distracted from it all. I am doing 1 x 1 rib, which I hope won't grab as much as 2 x 2 rib would.

I think I will be much happier with the revised sweater.

And so another year of knitting begins

One of my goals for my spare time on sabbatical was to change my Greenleaf Baby Hat from free to paid and to improve upon the pattern a bit. When Cathy of Twist: Yarn of Intrigue came up with a charity knitting project that involves baby hats, I knew it was time!

So I knit 2 new Greenleaf Hats, in finer yarn on smaller needles, and used 2 x 2 ribbing on one. Then I revised the pattern to include these options, made it into a pdf, and re-listed the pattern on Ravelry. Already several people have bought it at $1 a pop. If I had gotten $1 each for the 600+ people who have already knit it, I would be rich! Of course, they might not all have knit it if it hadn't been free, but still.

Also on my list of things to do is to start a new sweater for myself. Sweaters are so much more challenging and intimidating than other knits, because they not only have to end up a specific size, they have to look good on a body that offers some challenges. Mittens are never going to make my butt look big! But a sweater? It's months of work, and in the end it might look horrible, ya know?

So I've started one, in Cascade 220 heather yarn in a purple sort of color, but I still have some severe mental reservations. The designer claimed it would be flattering to all sorts of figures, but I am still wondering whether a band of garter stitch 2" wide, with its horizontal look, will look like a flashing red light around my tummy and butt. I tried it on and it seems to fit ok, but will I regret this? I think the vertical look of 2 x 2 rib would have been better. I am dabating whether to press on or start over. Sigh. What to do, what to do?

Happy New Year!

I am pleased to have all my knitting projects finished and off the needles, giving me a blank slate as I start the new year.

This is the second one of these that I completed in December. Cashmere and silk dyed by Red Fish Dye Works, in the pattern Feather Duster, but I am calling them Gold Dust. (the stitch pattern is based on Ostrich Plumes.) One for me, one for Kristen.


And this small lace scarf has been on the needles since September, for no good reason, since it's quite a simple stitch pattern and not even lace weight yarn but dk alpaca-silk. But it was closer to black before I soaked it, and it was hard to knit after dark. The pattern is called Road Not Taken, and I knit it (and in a road-like color) for that very reason.

So what's next? I swatched for a sweater today, but it's such a commitment to start a sweater and I'm stalling.

Images of Christmas

A very happy day for one and all. There was also good food, but we were too exhausted from cooking to take any pictures!

Seafood Chowder for Christmas Eve

When I was in Maine in October, I had delicious Seafood Stew at the Red Barn in Augusta, and I've been thinking about it ever since. Would it be possible to re-create something like it at home? Then I saw a tv show about the custom of the Feast of Seven Fishes in Italy as Christmas Eve food, and I decided to give it a try.

I found a frozen cooked lobster at Marukai Pacific, and the game was on! I added a package of sea scallops and some Pacific Red Snapper fish.

I adapted a recipe I found online for Lobster Stew, and the results were wonderful! Papa loved it, and we all enjoyed it with some Spoon House French bread and more butter!

The Recipe

1 cooked lobster

6 large sea scallops

1/2 lb. white fish

4 Tbsp. butter

3 cups whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp. white wine

white pepper

salt

Hungarian paprika

Melt butter gently in pan. Slowly cook scallops and fish, add cooked lobster. Slowly add milk and cream. Season to taste with wine, salt, pepper and paprika. (I also simmered the lobster shell in the stew for a while to impart more lobster flavor, then removed it before eating of course! The lobster had roe in it, so that added a nice touch to the stew.) Serve with good bread and butter. Yum!

Feeling Festive

Yesterday I came across a blog called GingerCake, and this pattern, and right away, I got to work. I used 2 felted sweaters and an old skirt for their bodies. Instead of muslin and interfacing, I used a piece of felt for the faces. When I made the first one (the hot pink) I completed and stuffed the doll first and then stitched on the face and buttons, but for the other two, I embroidered the face and sewed on the buttons before stitching them together.




What charmed and amazed me most about these dolls is that the body consists of three identical pieces, shaped like the front of the doll. I imagine that you could also make something like the old topsy-turvy dolls, with a different face on each side. I think they look a lot like Japanese kokeshi dolls and Russian matryoshka dolls. It would be cute to make a series of smaller and smaller ones, and to embroider fancy designs on each.



Thanks to Virginia Lindsay of Gingercake for this great free pattern!

I am also working on my Gold Dust shawl. The pattern is actually called Feather Duster, since it uses the Ostrich Feather stitch pattern.


It's a very simple lace pattern, with not only purl resting rows but also alternate rows on the front side are all stockinette as well. The yarn is gorgeous cashmere and silk that I bought at the Weaving and Fiber Festival in Torrance in November. It is produced by Red Fish Dye Works, and it is a total pleasure to work with.


Today, I mail out my Christmas cards and put up the Christmas tree. After that, Christmas can come!