Knit a Quick Cowl!

I found a miniature leaf pattern in Barbara Walker's book A Treasury of Knitting Patterns and decided to use it to make a quick cowl/infinity scarf for my daughter Katie as well as for a shop sample. I made Katie's cowl in a couple of hours, so just in case you need a pattern for a last minute gift, here are the instructions. The finished cowl is 8 inches wide by 56 inches in circumference. If you would like to make it longer or shorter the pattern is a multiple of 6 stitches.

Leaf Lace Infinity Scarf

Materials 

• Size 13 circular needle (24- to 32-inch is just perfect) 

• 2 skeins of Cascade 128 Superwash.

Miniature Leaf Pattern 
Round 1: Knit.

Round 2: *Knit 3, yarn over, slip 1, knit 2 stitches together, pass slipped stitch over, yarn over; repeat from * around.
Round 3: Knit.
Round 4: *Yarn over, slip 1, knit 2 stitches together, pass slipped stitch over, yarn over, knit 3; repeat from * around. 

Instructions
Cast on 132 stitches.

Join carefully to avoid twisting your cast-on stitches. Purl one round. Knit one round. Purl one round.
Work Miniature Leaf Pattern for width desired.
Knit one round.  Purl one round. Knit one round. Purl one round. Bind off knit-wise. 

Enjoy!

Knitting Winter into Spring

The groundhog recently predicted an early Spring, and we've definitely seen weather changes here! I like to knit smaller projects when it gets really warm, but in the last days of Winter and the first days of Spring, I still love to knit socks (for my small-size projects) and shawlettes (for my medium-size projects). I just finished two pairs of socks, and I'm in the process of helping a couple of ladies learn to knit socks by the magic loop method, so I'll probably be knitting at least one or two more pairs before Spring is actually here by the calendar.

Yesterday we got a good-size shipment of Regia sock yarn at the shop, so I think I'll try one of them for my next pair. Regia is well known for it's easy care and sturdiness. We also got 6 colorways of Regia Lace (100 gram ball with approximately 659 yards). It's a beautiful yarn with long color changes (kind of like Noro only more subtle). It would be lovely for so many of the shawlette patterns that are so abundant on Ravelry. How about Annis from Knitty? Don't forget about our class for the Annis shawlette that starts tomorrow evening! We still have a couple of openings.

So if Spring is just around the corner, what are you planning to knit?

A rainy Fourth makes way for knitting!

We've had so much rain in June that we nearly flooded. Then we had one week of no rain. Of course that wasn't going to last, nor would we want it too! But, we had rain on July 4th and it was tropical for temps and moisture. Just plain gross out...

With all the rain and gross weather, I did a whole lot of knitting. I finished my Damson, but nearly wasn't able to. I could tell I would run out of the Ella Rae Lace Merino yarn I chose to use when I got to my bind-off, so I cut it and used some Malabrigo Sock (which is the same yardage) that looked similar in color to my shawl to bind off. I've heard that yarn companies are allowed a certain percentage for shrinkage in the amount of yarn on a skein, but I think that there was more shrinkage than should be allowed. That or designer Ysolda Teague used every yard of the skein of Malabrigo Sock that she used for her sample. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else has had trouble completing Damson with 440 yards. I think it could be an issue with Ella Rae Lace Merino ... someone else at our shop had to buy more yarn to finish the Damson she was making with ERLM yarn in a different color. She was even shorter than I was. We both got gauge, so that wasn't the issue.

I also worked hard on finishing my Simple Yet Effective Shawl for the Wrap Group. I will end up using about 2 1/2 skeins, so if I have enough I may add a simple edging.

Yesterday I pulled out my Swallowtail Lace Shawl from Evelyn Clark. I was happy to get back to it! Maybe I'll knock another WIP out.

We look forward to seeing you in the shop whenever you can make it. I know it's hard when everyone is so busy in the summer. Have a good one, and keep on knitting!

My Spring challenge!

Spring presents challenges for my hiberbnating knitting projects. I'm making an attempt to rectify my collection of unfinished knits.

Well, I finished my Truly Tasha's Shawl right after I started the Travel Shawl. It's fabulous and I will

probably make another one someday! As for the Travel Shawl, I really love the texture of it (shown above right). I'm moving along with it, but since I know myself really well, I knew that I needed to do some spring clean-up with my hibernating knitting projects or else! For me it only takes a moment to start a knitting project, but it can take forever to finish it. Since finishing Truly Tasha, I decided I would use that simple lace pattern to finish off the Pinwheel Baby Blanket that I started months and months ago!

That reminds me of a conversation I had with my daughter, Katie, last weekend. We were talking about her working at the shop so she could possibly make some money this summer. She told me that knitting is "sooo borrring" and you "can't ever finish anything!" I told her that a project doesn't knit itself, you actually have to spend time working on it.

I may search out a few more of my hibernating projects and get them done this spring/summer. If I can do that I'll feel so accomplished ... and I'll feel like I can start something new!

I haven't added any new recipes here lately, mainly since Tim's been doing most of the cooking (YES!). So this morning when I was looking through my knitting bag I found a recipe for really good cookies that my friend Kelly brought into the shop. Kelly is a fantastic baker by the way! If I remember correctly, this recipe is from an Amish cookbook. You may want to half this recipe (especially when you see the quantities that are called for). I think as written this recipe makes about 12 dozen cookies or more!

Honey Sugar Snaps

• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 6 tsp. soda
• 9 cups flour
• 2 cups softened margarine
• 1 cup pre-creamed shortening (you can find them in the baking aisle)
• 1 cup honey
• 2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup sugar *
• 2 tsp. cinnamon *

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine sugars and shortenings. Add eggs and beat well. Add honey and dry ingredients. *In a small bowl combine the 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Shape dough into balls and roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake until golden brown (Kelly bakes them 8.5 minutes to be exact!). When done cookie will be a deep golden brown and crinkly on top.

My Truly Tasha's Shawl Update

I got the body of my Truly Tasha's Shawl (TTS) done this weekend and have completed nearly half of the lace that encircles the body. The instructions for the first corner were difficult to understand, but I finished it. The rest is downhill from here!

Tomorrow night I can get everyone started at the Knit Together, knowing they will be able to do the lace when they come to it. I certainly didn't want to lead anyone down the wrong path ... anyway the end is in sight for my TTS.

It's a good thing I'm almost done, since I found the Travel Shawl in Veronik Avery's new book Knitting 24/7. I'm going to actually start it tonight. (I know I'm not done with my TTS yet, but I think I work better when there's something I'm really excited to work on calling out to me.) I decided I'm going to use Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds DK for the Travel Shawl. It's a scrumptious undyed blend of Suffolk, Jacob, and Bluefaced Leicester.

Remember to print off your Truly Tasha's Shawl pattern for the Knit Together tomorrow night. I hope to see some of you here for some mindless knitting that we can chatter to!

Calling all followers and followers-to-be!

I would love to have everyone that reads or occasionally reads my blog to become a "follower." We will be having prize drawings and they will be for followers only. The more followers we get the more often we will be able to give prizes away. Sign up to follow me soon if not today!

I'm really close to finishing my first toe-up sock. It was a stretch for me since I have always done cuff down. The heel was my biggest issue, because I like a slip-stitch heel flap and a lot of patterns that I looked at had short-row heels. Anyway, thanks to Jean who works for me and also teaches our Toe-Up Sock Class, I got through the heel and I'm nearly done with the cuff.

I've picked out a couple of WIPs in my collection to work on, too. I've made it halfway through on my Stork's Nest Scarf and it's looking really nice. I also am working on my Revontuli out of Zauberball Crazy. I think It's going to be really beautiful, too. I put it away about 5 months ago and basically forgot about it... The other day someone reminded me about it, so I got it out today and will dive in and try to finish the remaining 20 rows!

My friend, Kelly recently had surgery and has been off of work. She's been getting out more and more and everytime she comes into the shop she has baked something delicious. I told her she's going to kill me! Last week she brought in Dutch Letter Bars. They are wonderful! I asked Kelly for the recipe, and if I could share it. She gave me the recipe and I made them this weekend and now I'm going to share the recipe with all of you. I hope you enjoy them as much as we all did.

Dutch Letter Bars

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 stick margarine, softened (do not substitute either of them, you need one of each)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 can Solo Almond Paste
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Cream the butter, margarine and sugar together. Add eggs to mixture, then *almond paste, and finally flour, mixing well after each addition. Spread the mixture into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle with white sugar. Bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Cut into bars and share with your knitting friends!

*pinch off small pieces of almond paste and add in to the batter or it is hard to mix well! Using a stand mixer works really well!

FYI: You can find the Solo Almond Paste in the baking aisle near the pie fillings.

My Olympic knitting efforts!

No, my efforts haven't been that Herculean! But I have enjoyed knitting Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket for my Ravelympics K2-Tog Team project. It's a small project, but with working in the shop I thought that was the best I could commit to. I cast on last Friday evening during Opening Ceremonies and I'm afraid I'll be looking for another project to do by tomorrow!

I think I might work on the Stork's Nest Scarf that I started a year or so ago and found this weekend in one of my many bags of WIPs (remember how we are cleaning and organizing at our house?). I've often thought that scarf would make a wonderful "first" lace project. The pattern originally appeared in a Piecework knitting issue a couple years ago, and just reappeared in a new magazine called Knitting Traditions from Interweave Press (a compilation of previously published material). We have a stock of those magazines in the shop if you're interested. Anyway when I peeked into that bag of WIPs, the scarf just spoke to me. Really it nearly reached out and grabbed me, since it's so beautiful! I'm making mine out of cashmere, so what's not to like?

FYI, we are offering a class at the shop in March for the Baby Surprise Jacket. I think it's the perfect project for a new knitter, since there's very little finishing. If anyone is interested in taking the class you can find out more about it here.

Well, it's time to share a recipe. I have been trying to think of a good one and remembered this Spanish rice recipe that I got from a friend I worked with in Los Angeles. It tastes fairly authentic like "real" Spanish rice thus the name!

Real Spanish Rice

• 1 cup raw white rice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 T. finely chopped onion
• Ground cumin to taste
  

Pour oil into pot (with a lid) and add onion. Cook onion for about a minute, then add rice and brown lightly. Stir in liquids and ground cumin to taste (I usually add a heaping teaspoon). Bring to a boil, stir once. Turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Stir and serve with your favorite Mexican dish.

Keep on knitting!

I've got this shawl thing going on!

Lately I've been intrigued with shawls and shawl patterns. I'm not sure if I'll wear any of them, but they're so much fun to knit.

This weekend I was super busy and for the most part that didn't seem to include knitting. You might have heard me groaning about that! Finally on Monday (and instead of blogging) I dug out a skein of Schaefer Anne that I had intended to make socks with. I grabbed an Addi Lace Size 6 needle and started a triangle shawl using the Gull Lace pattern that Elizabeth Zimmermann used for her baby sweater for the February project in her book, Knitter's Almanac. I haven't made the baby sweater, but I made the February Lady Sweater this past February for one of our Knit Togethers. I liked that simple 4-row lace pattern and had an idea that it would be fun to use again. Carol, who works at the shop, used the Gull Lace pattern on a pair of socks, so I got to thinking it might be fun for a shawl.

I'm also working on Ysolda Teague's Damson with the Ella Rae Lace Merino that I was going to use to make the leaf scarf I blogged about awhile back. Another shawl I'm close to finishing is the Revontuli, using 2 balls of Zauberball Crazy. I think there's at least one or two more shawls in my WIP pile!

Here's the Gull Lace pattern just in case you would like to play with it. If you want to make a shawl with it, you can easily make a rectangular one by casting on multiples of 7 stitches (plus you may want to add on a garter stitch border of 5 to 8 stitches on each side and a garter stitch edge at the bottom and top). If you want to try to make a triangular shawl, talk to me about how to work your 7-stitch pattern repeats into the triangle.

Gull Lace pattern (multiple of 7 stitches)
Row 1: *K1, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k1; rep from * across.
Rows 2 & 4: Purl across.
Row 3: *K2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk; rep from * across.

Now if you get hooked on shawls and lace like I have, you won't have a lot of time to cook! I thought that with cooler fall nights you might like to try my sloppy joe recipe. It's simple and would make quite a few sandwiches. Of course you could always double the amounts if you need to feed an extra hungry crowd!

Nancy's Sloppy Joes

• 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
• 2 T. cider vinegar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Brown ground beef and onion; drain off fat. Add other ingredients; let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
Enjoy!