It's Confession Time!

I told Tim last night that I'm in love. Of course I love him to pieces, but I am having a "yarn love affair" with Madelinetosh Pashmina! It's the most beautiful, softest, bounciest yarn I've ever used. I'm making the Imogen Cowl and the pattern just screams fantastic in Pashmina. What do you think? I've got a bit left to knit, but here's a peek prior to finishing and blocking. 

My Imogen Cowl in the Thicket colorway

A few of the other lovely colors of Pashmina

I've got more Madelinetosh yarns slated to come in very soon, so I'm sure a little more Pashmina will wander home with me. I just hope that Tim won't mind! :) 

As you prepare your New Year's Resolutions, be sure to add "knitting with Madelinetosh Pashmina" to your list. You won't be sorry ... except for maybe when you get hooked like I am. I hope you have a Happy New Knitting Year!

I'm still knitting gifts...

I was very fortunate to get the gifts on my gifting list knitted in time for Christmas. Well, all but Tim's sweater, and that's a totally different story!

Tim's "Hiker" sweater has a wide ribbing ("k5-p3" pattern repeat) for the entire back. And when I got to the top of the back it seemed like the gauge changed dramatically. When I got to the decreases for the armhole, the instructions read that I should knit 31 rows and the armhole should measure almost 9 1/2 inches. When I measured the completed opening, it was a little over 7 1/2 inches. I was afraid that even if I blocked the back like crazy, the sleeves, the front and the back wouldn't fit together well when I seamed them. I'm going to ravel and knit the back again with a 7-mm needle instead of the 6.5-mm that I'd previously used. I'm also going to TRY to work at an even tension. The reason I snugged up on the back was because of the loose knit stitches that sometimes occurred on the last stitch of the knit 5 section when I went from knit to purl.

Tim's sweater will have to wait a bit while I knit a scarf for our nephew Zach and a baby blanket for another nephew's baby boy that will be born sometime this March.

I'm using the "Noro Striped Scarf" pattern for Zach's scarf, but I'm knitting it with my favorite yarn, Cascade 220 Superwash (machine-wash and tumble dry low). He picked his own colors (Jet and Christmas Green) for the scarf so I know he'll be really happy and a whole lot warmer walking across campus. Now if he can only keep from losing it!

As for the baby blanket, I'm knitting the "All Purpose Knitted Afghan" from Project Linus. Again, I'm knitting it with Cascade 220 Superwash in a blue-green hand paint color called Celtic. Hopefully I can ship it off to Ben and Karie in Southern California by the end of March...

Keep on knitting!

My Husband Really is a Knitter!

Tim has finally become a real knitter. He gets it! He really does! At least four years ago a woman that worked for us at the shop, taught him how to knit. Tension was his problem from the beginning. I remember that on New Year's Eve of that same year, we actually sat around and watched movies and knitted together (hmmm ... that's a great name for a yarn store). That is until he started sweating in our really cold family room and took off his sweatshirt. I noticed he had a white knuckle grip on his knitting needles. I helped him relax his grip and soon he was ready to put his sweatshirt on again. Well, that part of his knitting career didn't last. As soon as spring came, he was back on the golf course. End of story (at least at that time).

Two weeks ago Tim decided he wanted to try to knit again. He pulled out his old sample which was still on the needles and he picked it back up right away. Within minutes he committed to knitting a seed stitch scarf and a hat. We picked out Cascade 128 Superwash in a beautiful nearly-black color called Jet. That night after we went home and finished dinner, he cast on 21 stitches and started knitting a seed stitch scarf. He made a few mistakes that night and because our big-boy cat, Louie was on his lap, I kept having to get up and fix his mistakes. For about a week he knitted on his scarf before he went to bed. Rarely did he have a problem, but every time I looked at it I could tell his tension was becoming very regular. Then this past Sunday he spent 5 hours knitting. The next morning he woke up and told me his left elbow had a knitting injury! The injury is related to an old golf injury... sort of a tendinitis issue. He's taken this week off, so hopefully it will heal soon. Half a scarf won't keep him too warm this winter! With his knowledge of the yarns we carry and his new knitting knowledge, Tim has become a great salesperson in our shop!

Last Friday when we had the Friday Night Knit Club, one of our customers brought in the most addictive snack mix. She sent me the recipe and her changes. I'm passing them on to you now. Watch out though, you might need to make a double batch, just because you can't stop snacking!

Addictive Crunch

• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 6 Tablespoons corn syrup

In a sauce pan, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Pour over the following and mix gently, stirring until the mix is well covered:

• 1 large box of Rice Chex cereal
• 4 cups small pretzels

Spread mix out on a large cookie sheet and bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on wax paper. Gently break into small pieces. Store in a cool airtight container.

Here are the variations that Jo made for us: She used a gluten-free rice chex cereal, gluten free pretzels, and coconut. She also added 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the coating mixture. You can also add nuts of any kind. Jo said she has also added 1-2 cups of miniature marshmallows to the cooked mixture.