It's Been Gorgeous Knitting Weather

As a yarn shop owner, I hear all the excuses to not knit in the warm weather. Really! But when the weather is beautiful like it has been, I still knit as much as I always do. I need that time for relaxation as much in the summer as in the winter. What about you? Do you still knit, but only in the evenings? Or when it rains? Or on your deck while drinking your coffee in the morning?

What kinds of things do you like to knit when it's warm? These are the questions that I seem to always ask beginning in May. This year May has been exceptionally lovely. Even yesterday when it was 91 degrees, I had no clue it was that hot because it wasn't humid. It's rare in Iowa that you can say it was a perfect day and have the temperature that high! I still knitted ...

This past week I worked quite a bit on my Rowan Kidsilk Haze Stripe scarf, knowing that it will be perfect to wear this summer ... and anytime of the year. The yarn is so light, luxurious and beautiful to knit with. One of our customers is knitting a gorgeous cardigan out of the same yarn. It will be lightweight and nice to wear even in summer. You know if someone ever asks me what yarn I can't live without, my answer will be: Rowan's Kidsilk Haze! You can use any needle size from a US 3 to a US 8 depending on the pattern or the desired results. We will be placing our fall/winter Rowan order next week, and the one definite on our order is MORE KIDSILK HAZE! The rest of the order is never as easy to pick out, but with Rowan I always fall in love. What about you? Do you have a favorite yarn you don't want to live without?

I can hardly wait to wear my Kidsilk Haze Stripe scarf.

My other question: What do you like to eat when it is hot? We grill quite a bit, but we have been trying to eat at least one meal a week that doesn't include meat. Last week I picked up fresh vegetables to roast, and made a quick pasta dish using Penzey's spices. It's rare that Tim likes eating meals that don't include meat of some variety, but he has already asked me to make it again (and I have)! So I thought I would pass this "recipe" on to you.

Roasted Veggies

• 1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped (I used a Vidalia onion)
• 2 small green or red peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• Asparagus spears, cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces
• Baby Zucchini (Trader Joe's sells a package of them that are incredible), cut lengthwise and halved
• Olive oil
• Spices (I use sea salt, pepper, and Penzey's Mural of Flavor)
• Small tomatoes (whole grape, or slightly larger, diced) set aside

Preheat the over to 450 degrees. Toss chopped veggies with olive oil (not the tomatoes). Spray a large, shallow pan with oil. Then spread out veggies on the pan. Sprinkle with spices. Give a quick stir. Roast for about 20 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir again. Roast an additional 5 minutes. Serve with pasta.

Sicilian Pasta

• 2 to 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons Penzey's Sicilian Salad Seasoning
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Penzey's Shallots (they are dried)
• Olive oil
• Pasta (I used a Trader Joe's Organic pasta)
• Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cook pasta according to directions. While pasta is cooking heat butter in a small pan. Saute Sicilian Salad seasoning and shallots in butter. Drain pasta and put into large serving dish; drizzle with a little olive oil. Add the sauteed ingredients to the pasta and toss. Serve with a sprinkling of shredded Parmesan cheese and a lots of roasted veggies. Enjoy!

Keep on knitting!

Nancy

Eat Like It's Spring Already!

I don't mean to tempt fate or anything but it certainly seems to me as if spring has sprung.  Days in the upper 70's with crisp, clear nights make me think of crisp, crunchy, fresh salads.  So I raided my recipe box and pulled out one of my favorites.  I'm sure many of you have seen the recipe before and I don't have a name for it - I just call it Jan's Salad  - easy enough - I got the recipe from my friend Jan!  Anyway, I'd like to share and hope you enjoy.

Jan's Salad

• Mix together for dressing: 1 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, and 2 T soy sauce
• Brown in 2 T butter 'til toasty: 2 pkg Ramen noodles (discard seasoning packets), 1/2 cup pine nuts, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, and 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• I use the following greens: Red and green leaf lettuces, Chinese cabbage, and scallions 

I suppose you could add a grilled chicken breast and call it a meal.  That's what I do to my husband, anyway.

Happy Knitting!

Renee

Daybreak KAL

We had a fantastic time last night starting the Daybreak shawlette/scarf by Stephen West. Our first KAL of 2012!  It started off by most of us getting to KT just in time to see Suzanne E. finish up her very first knitting project.  It was the Noro Striped Scarf and she did an amazing job considering she just finished Nancy's Beginning Knitting Class on December 10th! Then everyone pulled their color choices out and we spent some time helping each other decide which color to start with.  We all cast on and were able to get our 'Make One's' under control by evening's end. 

I brought a couple bottles of wine and a new recipe called Robert's Corn Dip featured in Where Women Cook magazine.

Robert's Corn Dip (Makes about 6 cups)

• 3 (11-oz) cans sweet corn & diced peppers, drained
• 1 (7-oz) can chopped green chilies
• 1 (6-oz) can chopped jalapenos, drained & liquid added to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 (16 oz) pkg shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• Scoop-style corn chips

Mix all ingredients except corn chips together and refrigerate. Serve with corn chips.

It's not too late to join us for the Daybreak KAL  - Tuesdays in January from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  Most, but not all of us are using two skeins of tosh sock - many beautiful and vibrant colors are left to choose from.

Renee

Customer Profile: Irene Erker (Ravelry name: Knitting4Sweetie)

This month my eyes are on Irene who is a fantastic and talented lady I have gotten to know through open knit times here at Knitted Together.

Irene is a first generation American who learned to crochet from her Yugoslavian grandmother.  Thirty years later, Irene's mother taught her to knit with just a minor drawback - all the knitting terms Irene learned were in Hungarian because her mother didn't know the English terminology!  When Irene returned to Iowa she walked into Knitted Together, put her hand out to Nancy and said, "Hi, I'm Irene and I'm new to knitting."  Irene said that Nancy was so kind and helpful that first day that she was truly bitten by the knitting bug and hasn't put her needles down since.  Irene knits with the "Friday Afternoon Sparklers" - a wonderful group of gals who meet at open knit time at KT.  Irene is currently working on Embossed Leaves by Teva Durham and is using Artyarns Silk Rhapsody.  Check out more of her projects on Ravelry.

She is married to a wonderful man who loves it when she knits (he says it keeps her yelling to a minimum) and they have three children who also reap the benefits from more knitting and less yelling.  While living in San Diego, Irene was a formulation/method development chemist for a pharmaceutical company.  She has since replaced her lab career with cooking (Irene indicates she loves to cook, cook, cook!) and would like to share one of her favorite recipes with her KT friends.

Cherry Scones

•  2 cups flour 
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/3 cup chilled butter (cut into pieces) 
• 1 egg 
• 2/3 cup whipping cream (can sub low-fat milk) 
• 1 cup dried cherries (add chocolate chips, if desired) 
• 1 tsp almond or vanilla extract 
• egg wash (1 egg, 1 tsp water)

Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Combine dry ingredients in food processor.  Pulse.  Add butter pieces.  Pulse.  Add wet ingredients.  Pulse until dough is formed.  Spoon-drop dough onto greased baking sheet.  Brush top with egg wash.  Bake 15-18 minutes.  ENJOY!!

If you or someone you know would like to be in the Customer Profile, please contact Renee at Knitted Together (515-222-9276), by email:  reneepetrie@live.com or send me a pm on Ravelry (BobIsMyCat).  I would love to hear from you!  This could be one of those cases where it's better to volunteer before I volunteer you :)  Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!

Happy Knitting!
Renee 

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.

What inspires you to knit?

I'm taking a poll among readers. If you respond to this post and my poll question you will be entered in the drawing for one of the coffee cozy kits that I created for the last Friday Night Knit Club when our theme was coffee. (Starbucks came and took us on an amazing coffee tasting adventure.) The kit has yarn for two cozies included as well as two simple patterns.

My poll questions:
I'd like to know what inspires you to knit! What are you knitting, or what will you soon be knitting? Did the yarn, the pattern, or something else inspire you? Tell me what the pattern is and what yarn you're using. Also be sure to include your email address, so I know how to get in touch with you if you are the winner of the kit.

On Friday afternoons in the shop we have had the Wrap Group which has taken on a new life since Carol left us. Today the women that were here talked about getting more knitters to join them at the shop from 1-3 on Fridays. We are currently mulling over some names for this group and will post it on the calendar on our website. I'm inviting you to join us on Fridays from 1-3 pm for knitting, conversation, friendship, and FUN!

Becky (one of the Friday afternoon gals) asked Tim for his salmon salad recipe. It was in our newsletter last year, but I decided that putting it into the blog makes it easier for everyone to get. This is really good and deserves to be here!

Tim's Grilled Salmon Salad
Ingredients

• Salmon, grilled (we usually buy ours fresh from Waterfront Seafood Market)
• Organic baby mixed greens
• Thinly sliced sweet red onion
• Thinly sliced sweet red or yellow bell peppers
• Feta or blue cheese crumbles
  
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Avocado slices
• Asparagus, grilled (optional)
• Shoestring potatoes
• Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette or Brasswell's Creamy Vidalia Onion dressing

Make a bed of the baby mixed greens. Add onion, peppers, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, and asparagus (if desired). Top with grilled salmon; then add a small pile of shoestring potatoes. Drizzle on dressing. Yum!

The Wrap Group -- July/August #4

Hi Wrappers!

I've been really busy working on the kit for tonight's Friday Night Knit Club (FKNC), so I'm going to tell you a little about it just in case you want to come get one. I think it would make a great closure for one of your wraps. I designed a flower pin that you can felt or not felt out of lovely Cascade Cloud 9 (50% merino, 50% angora).

Here's my short list of some of the uses for a felted or knitted flower: make it into a pin as I have, wear it on a knitted hat, attach it to a felted purse, wear it on your winter coat, attach it to a shawl or wrap as a closure, or tie it onto a gift bag for a friend.

Since we chose a "fiesta" theme for tonight's FNKC, I'm making a couple of Mexican dip recipes that use one of my favorite canned tomato products, Ro-Tel Original Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies. I use it in my homemade soups and chili all winter!

The recipe I'm sharing with you came on the back of the large box we picked up at Costco. It's delicious!

Black Bean Salsa

Makes 12 servings (1/4 cup each)

• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (10 oz.) Ro-Tel Original diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, drained
  
• 1/2 cup whole kernel corn, frozen or canned
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon lime
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve with tortilla chips, tacos or burritos, if desired.

Happy 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.

Knitted Together customers enjoy a good party!

Last Friday night we opened our shop up for a fun evening event. We had a wine tasting as well as what we called a "yarn tasting." Both were a big success with over 40 knitters present! The wine came from WineStyles of West Glen, a shop owned by some friends. For the yarn tasting, I created kits for a skinny scarf that used 16 different yarns that our customers may not have ever tried. The kits were sold out in 5 minutes and I've already seen some completed scarves. There are some truly creative people out there. For those of you that didn't make it to our first Friday Night Knit Club, we will have the next one Friday night, April 23rd from 6-9 PM.

We will have our first prize drawing for Followers this Saturday morning and announce it on the blog about noon (Iowa time). You have until Friday at midnight to become a follower for this prize if you haven't already joined us. The winner is getting one skein of Opal Hand Dyes in the Leafy Forest colorway. It would be beautiful for a gorgeous leaf patterned sock or shawlette.

Monday night I made a quick meal out of salad and Spaghetti a la Philly. I found the recipe online, but I'll type it in here. It was quick and a big hit at our house!

Spaghetti a la Philly

• 1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
• 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
• 1 jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce
• 4 ounces (1/2 of 8-oz. package) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
• 2 Tbsp. Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook spaghetti as directed on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet. Stir in sauce and cream cheese; cook on low heat 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce is well blended and heated through, stirring frequently. Drain spaghetti. Add to sauce; mix lightly. Place on platter (or plate) and top with Parmesan.

Happy knitting!
Nancy

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!

My Super Bowl knitting plans

As usual on Super Bowl Sunday, we're going to be open at the shop from noon to 4:00 PM. Being open could possibly cut into my knitting time that day, but I'm planning a knitting project anyway (I just might get a free moment or two). Since I'll probably be busy, I think I'll work on a new sock, that day. I've been wanting to start a toe-up sock since they have become really popular. I've got Wendy Johnson's current book, Socks from the Toe Up, so I'll probably choose one from there. Whichever pattern I choose, I'll be sure to get started before Sunday, so I'll be done with the toe and ready to just knit the foot! That will hopefully insure that I don't make any errors!

(FYI: We still have two spaces left in our Toe-Up Sock class that Jean is teaching. She's made many toe-up socks, so I'm sure everyone will learn lots and have fun at the same time. The class begins next Tuesday, February 9 (at 6-8 PM) and concludes the following Tuesday. We do require that you've made a cuff-down sock first.)

OK, back to the party ... I'm planning to make goodies for our customers to snack on. I'm not leaking any of that information though. It's Top Secret! You'll have to come in to taste the assortment of treats that Megan, Tim, and I come up with. If you decide to come in that day, we are collecting food for the Des Moines Area food Pantry and will be collecting canned goods that day. Think of it as we'll feed you and you can help feed the homeless right in our community.
Suggested Donation List:

• Baby Formula and Cereal
• Canned Fruits or Vegetables
• Canned Meals (stews, hash, chili, ravioli)
• Canned Meats or Fish
• Canned Spaghetti Sauce (no glass jars!)
• Cold/Hot Cereal
• Dry Pasta
• Hamburger or Tuna Helpers
• Juice (no glass jars!)
• Peanut Butter
• Plain White Rice
• Saltines

I wanted to give you one of my favorite recipes, and thought I might divulge an appetizer for Super Bowl Sunday, but then you might know what I'm making. Sorry! The recipe I chose is for a delicious, HEALTHY breakfast shake. I love this and have made it in my smoothie maker, but you can also make it in a blender.


YOGURT SHAKE

• 1 ripe banana, frozen ahead
• 2 T. wheat germ
• 1 T. orange juice concentrate
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Place all ingredients in blender or smoothie maker and blend until smooth and serve. Try adding other fresh fruits in season (berries, peaches, pineapples, etc.).


Happy knitting!
Nancy

New Year's Day Soup

Katie's having a friend over for New Year's Eve who will spend the night. On New Year's Day, Tim is going to paint our hallway on the main floor then will continue the color upstairs. I'm going to knit and watch movies most of the day. So I've decided to make some snacks and soup for us to eat that day.

My main dish is going to be Megan's Cream Cheese Potato Soup. She gave me the recipe today (after bringing it in today for us to have for lunch). It's so incredibly yummy! I will also have veggies and dip, crackers and cheese spread, and a few other snacks that I haven't decided on yet.

Megan told me I can share her soup recipe with you, so here goes! It sounds simple enough that you can still enjoy a day of relaxing knitting.

Cream Cheese Potato Soup

• 4 cups potatoes, peeled and cut up
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
• 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks

Put potatoes, broth, onions and spices in pot. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Smash some of the potatoes to thicken the broth. Reduce heat, add cream cheese, and stir until melted. If desired add shredded cheddar cheese to each bowl when you serve it.

See you all in 2010!
Nancy

Wrapping up your holiday gifts

If you haven't picked up a copy of Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts issue, you must! (We only have one issue left at our shop, but I'm sure you can still find a copy at Barnes & Noble, Borders, or from Interweave directly.) I found so many great projects that I'm putting on my Christmas To-Do list.

I already made a couple of the Little Entrelac Bags shown on page 103 of Holiday Gifts. They will be fun to use as a gift bag for something fairly small. They were so much fun to make and I learned a new technique; entrelac in the round. The instructions are easy to follow and I made each one in less than 2 hours (minus the felting process and the cord handle). We have a lot of great colors of Noro Kureyon in the shop should you want to add a few of those bags to your list of must-make projects. It takes less than a skein to make one bag and with the leftovers you can make the Kureyon Coffee Cozy. I've made many of them this year and they're a great "first" in-the-round project. Especially since you felt them (which hides the mistakes you might make...).

Holiday Gifts also has some great ideas for actually using yarn (think about some of the leftover yarns you might have from your projects) to make bows on packages and decorate gift tags. I think that sometimes I toss out yarn leftovers just because I can't think of anything to do with it. Wow! I'm going to stash my little leftovers (especially Rowan Kid Silk Haze) in a sealable baggie and use them each year for gift wrapping.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner I want to share one of my family's favorite recipes. I like to make this for Thanksgiving and Christmas for a side dish. I hope you enjoy it!

Scalloped Corn Casserole

• 1 16-ounce bag of baby sweet corn, thawed in the refrigerator
• 1 15-ounce can creamed corn
• 1 8-ounce container of chive sour cream dip
• 1 cup finely shredded cheddar jack cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sweet yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick butter or margarine, melted
• 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

Mix all ingredients together, except cheese. Pour into a greased 9x13-inch pan or a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-60 minutes, until the mixture no longer wiggles when you shake the pan.

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving, taking time give thanks, to enjoy family, delicious food, and fun.

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!

Sock Maniac

I'm doing a guest blog for Nancy so she can continue to knit. Sometimes it's hard for her to stop knitting long enough to write a blog entry. This is my first time blogging!

Who am I? I'm known by many names. I'm most frequently known as Rose, Rosie by my family, or Grandma Rose by my granddaughters.

I'm RosieL on Ravelry. And, for anyone who has made my basic sock pattern, I am RosieL of RosieL’s Socks, the basic sock pattern that I wrote. There are now three versions of my pattern (56-stitch, 64-stitch and 72-stitch), plus Nancy has adapted my pattern for Magic-Loop instruction. It's a good basic pattern, and you can always do your own thing on the cuff as long as the pattern you use is a 4- or 8-stitch repeat. To get my sock pattern, you either need to buy some sock yarn at Knitted Together or take my beginner sock class. So I guess another name for me is “sock teacher.” I've been teaching the beginning sock class on a monthly basis at Knitted Together ever since the store opened. To take the sock class, you need to be experienced enough to be able to knit and purl (as in ribbing), increase, and decrease. I teach the basics with my mini-sock pattern on double-point needles (which I prefer). After you learn the basics, you can try other methods of making socks. Magic loop is very popular, and Nancy can teach you how to move on to that method. I personally prefer working on double-point needles.

I just got back from Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg, IL where I purchased my very first pair of Signature Needles. I haven’t yet, but I’ll soon be casting on my first pair of socks with my new needles and can give you a full report. They're on the pricey side but I have heard rave reviews and really wanted to give them a try. Due to the high price, my husband thought they were possibly battery operated or even knit the project for you, but what would the fun be in that?!

I'm also known as “chief volunteer” at Knitted Together. Nancy and I met through knitting at our church in late 2000 and we have been great friends ever since. I was so excited when Nancy and Tim decided to open Knitted Together. I live less than a mile from the shop and I'm frequently at the shop knitting. When Nancy gets busy with customers, I’ll pitch in to wind yarn and help customers. I eventually learned how to work the cash register so if you're in the shop and someone is checking you out that's not the most proficient on the register, it’s probably me (hey, a little grace, please!).

I most recently became known as “sock maniac” when I attended Stitches Midwest with five of my knitting friends. My friend, Marsha's fancy phone actually announces the caller, so while at Stitches, Marsha changed my name in her phone so it would say “sock maniac” when I called. This was my tenth time to attend Stitches, and as usual I loved it. It's the most fabulous get away for a knitter. This year almost all of my "market" purchases were sock related. I think it's my duty to try new sock yarns, especially since I have also been called the “sock maven”. I love socks for their portability, and of course, all the fabulous sock yarns that are on the market. I have a sock bag that I always take with me wherever I go that contains a basic sock in progress. I knit other things than socks though. I'm currently working on a man’s sweater for a friend, a baby blanket for my niece, a bag, three other sweaters for myself, and more WIPs than I dare mention.

This year we started the “KT-Socker Club” at Knitted Together where we are knitting patterned socks. If you're curious, ask Nancy about it or check the Knitted Together Events Page (listed as K-tog #2 on Tuesdays each month). Maybe I’ll save details for that in another guest blog spot if Nancy invites me to blog again.

Nancy frequently closes her blog with a recipe. I’m going to share my favorite cookie recipe. I have made this recipe for years. They are simply delicious cookies as the name implies and the recipe makes more than enough to share! I make them for my boss (of 30 years) for his birthday ever year.

Delicious Cookies (Note: recipe was corrected at 1:05 PM on 9/19/09)

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup margarine
• 1 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cream of tarter
• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup Rice Krispies
• 16 ounces chocolate chips

Cream sugars and shortening. Add egg, vanilla, salt, soda and cream of tarter. Mix well. Add flour. Blend in oats, Rice Krispies, and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Enjoy!
Rose, RosieL, etc.

Sale yarn ... stash enhancers

There's nothing wrong with a little stash yarn, is there?! Long before I opened my shop I had accumulated quite a bit of stash (I filled 4, well maybe 5 or 6 of those JUMBO Rubbermaid containers). Since then I've continued to add stash to my stash. Sometimes it's just my need to own a particular yarn, other times I have plans (possibly distant plans...) for a specific project and NEED that particular yarn. I've also bought sale yarn and stashed it. Sale yarn is one of those things that can be good, but can also present problems. It's hard to know how much you'll need unless you know exactly what you're going to knit. You can always guess, but what if your guess is SHORT!? I always say, buy an extra ball when you buy discontinued yarn!

What turns a yarn into a SALE YARN? Sale yarn can be a discontinued yarn style or color from the manufacturer, which is when it's really important to know you've purchased enough! Sometimes sale yarn is just on sale because shop owners (like me for one) have decided certain yarns need to move on, since there's always new yarn that needs a home on the shelves! Be sure to check out our Sale section for special buys. We'd love to enhance your stash with discontinued yarns that need a good home! Occasionally we'll offer yarns that are ONLINE ONLY sales. You'll find the special deals on the online store when you click the "SALE" button. Remember, the Online Only Sales yarns are full price in the shop.

With Labor Day coming, I decided I needed to post another one of my favorite recipes. I got this one from the Lutheran Church of Hope cookbook. (I think church cookbooks are my favorite kind of cookbooks!) If you head to the Farmer's Market, pick up your sweet red bell peppers there!

Zesty Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

• 2 (2 cup) bags boil-in-bag rice (Uncle Ben's brand is what I've found)
• 4 large red bell peppers
• 1 lb. Italian sausage (if you live in or around Des Moines you must use Graziano's sausage!)
• 1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes & green chilies
• 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• Jar marinara sauce (this is my addition as it adds a little more sauce, *especially if I'm baking it low and slow)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare rice according to package directions. Remove the tops and seeds from the peppers; slice in half. Blanch the peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Brown sausage and drain fat. Fold in tomatoes and rice. Heat through. Add cheese; heat until melted. Remove from heat; divide mixture into prepared peppers. Place peppers in baking dish, and if desired, spoon a little marinara over the peppers. Bake for 15 minutes. (*Sometimes I've covered the pan with foil and baked this dish at 325 degrees for an hour or more if I'm not in a big hurry.)

New yarns gets me excited!

We've been getting loads (and I mean loads) of yarn in for this fall. Every box I open provides me with an adrenalin rush, creating more excitement to add just one more project to my WIPs!

This week we put the new Ella Rae Lace Merino into our inventory. It's not a lace-weight, it's more of a fingering/sock weight. Need I say more? I probably don't since I've already clued you into my addiction for fingering/sock yarn, but I have to tell you this 100% merino yarn is so soft and the colors are so intense that you just have to see and feel it.

We have Ella Rae Book 13 which has three or four patterns for sweater designs in it. But if you don't have the desire to knit an entire sweater on U.S. Size 4 needles, one scrumptious 100-gram skein (460 yards) will make a pair of socks or a beautiful lacey scarf. When I was searching patterns on Ravelry, I found Brooke's Column of Leaves Scarf, http://brookenelson.com/leafscarfpattern.html which I've decided to try. I'm going to work the center leaf section twice so it will make the scarf wider than it would have been (I'll give you dimensions later). (The designer used Mountain Colors 4/8s which is a worsted-weight for her sample scarf, so she cast-on only 39 sts.) I've upped my cast-on to 60 sts and I'll knit my scarf on U.S. Size 6 Addi Lace Needles. I'm hoping to post some photos after this weekend, so check back for an update on my scarf.

Last night at our Thursday night Knit Together one of our regulars brought in Caramel Rice Krispie Treats to share (thanks to my friend Kelly P, a.k.a crochetkelly on http://www.ravelry.com). That really made me think that knitting and cooking or baking are similar in many ways. They are creative and they are comforting!

I'll post Kelly's recipe soon, but for today I'm including one of my favorite Blue-Ribbon winning (as in the Iowa State Fair) recipes. I made Chinese Chewies to enter into the fair when I was in grade school, and won a blue ribbon. These bars are somewhat similar to pecan pie because of the brown sugar in the filling. The coconut and the pecans are good together and I've found that even people that don't normally like coconut seem to like them. I hope you'll bake a pan of them to share with your favorite knitting friends and family.

Chinese Chewies

Ingredients

• 2 Tbl. sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 Tbl. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut, flaked
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  

Mix together the first three ingredients. Flatten into bottom of an 8"x 8" x 2" pan. Bake 15 minutes at 375 degrees. If using a glass pan reduce cooking time for the crust by about 5 minutes.

Mix remaining ingredients and pour over the crust. Bake for 45 minutes (reduce by 5 to 10 minutes if using a glass pan). Let cool and cut into bars.

A New Chapter...

Hi everyone!

I’m really, really excited to be blogging for the very first time. It coincides with the launch of our new website. The blog and website will allow us to reach our customers more easily and allow our customers to reach us much easier as well. At Knitted Together we like to consider our customers as our friends. So our hope is that any new web-only customers will also feel our friendship as they enjoy a bit of the Knitted Together experience online. Be sure to check out www.knittedtogether.com for everything we have to offer: class info, monthly newsletter, shopping, everything you want to know about the Wyatt family and what led us to creating our shop, our customer projects, and more!

Well, for those of you who don’t know me, I’d like to start my first blog by telling you some of my knitting history.

I learned to knit with my mother when we took a “mommy & me” class at a small shop in West Des Moines, Iowa sometime in the early 1960s, somewhere around 1962 to 1964. One of the first projects I remember knitting was slippers. The pattern was a simple flat piece that was garter stitch with a knit 2, purl 2 ribbed toe and you seamed from the toe to the cuff. I also played couture to my Barbies, knitting all sorts of rectangular things for my dolls to wear. I certainly wasn’t going to give Nicky Epstein any future competition when it came to my doll clothes designs! By junior high I put my knitting on hold and picked it back up sometime during my college years.

By my late 20s I was working in Alice Brown’s yarn store (Macra-Weave Plus which was located in Windsor Heights on University Avenue and 73rd Street). Alice helped me to refine my knitting skills and I became obsessed with knitting, and started making sweaters. Yarn had become really exciting with lots of textures and brilliant colors. It was the early to mid 1980s and knitting had become popular again. Besides knitting, Alice also taught me how to treat customers with kindness and friendship. Every day we had a group of women come into the shop to sit, knit, and talk -- it was the beginning of what everyone calls a knit-along! I’ve been blessed by a few of the customers from Alice’s shop wandering into Knitted Together, and I’ve really enjoyed catching up!

About a year after Alice retired and closed her shop I turned my knitting interests into a job at Meredith Corporation (Better Home and Gardens). Eventually I got to do a knitting magazine called Knit It! and a crochet magazine called Simply Creative Crochet. I think doing those magazines may possibly be the best thing I could have done in my journey to becoming a shop owner. My knitting friendships with lots of incredible designers, my knitting skills and pattern editing, all have helped me to become a better knitting shop owner.

I can’t wait to tell you what I’m knitting these days. I’m planning to keep you posted weekly on my current favorites in patterns, books, tools and yarns. I’m also going to give you a weekly recipe that we like at our house plus lots more.

I hope you enjoy our first recipe. It’s one that we eat frequently for lunch and is pretty healthy.

Tim’s Chicken and Veggie Salad

Ingredients

• One grilled chicken breast (we actually slice one breast into thin halves … they cook more even and quicker … then use one half per salad … you may want the whole breast)
• Dice veggies to the size of your liking (medium size works best … remember this isn’t a lettuce salad). The following list is what we use:
• Red peppers
• Yellow peppers
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Sweet red onion
• Tomatoe chunks or cherry tomatoe halves
• Avocado
• Green olives and Kalamata olives
• Cheese: (we use) Gorganzola crumbles, (you may like) feta crumbles, blue cheese crumbles, etc.
• Brasswell’s Creamy Vidalia Onion dressing

We put the ingredients into a bowl that the salad would be served in as we cut and mix everything … then add the dressing and toss it together.