About
Finished Objects
Patterns
Reading List
what better way
Posted on | February 5, 2010 | 13 Comments
to combat rainy skies than with cheerful flowers?
late-blooming amaryllis to brighten your Friday ~ have a great weekend!
LOST – my crackpot theory
Posted on | February 3, 2010 | 6 Comments
Yes, I’ve become one of those who blog about a TV show. If you don’t watch Lost, or if you haven’t seen last night’s season premiere, you might want to skip this post entirely.
For the most part, I watched last night’s episode thoroughly confused. I was confused when I went to bed and confused when I woke up. Just where are they going with this? Then when I was putting on my makeup, it came to me.
This entire season is going to be one of split universes/alternate realities. I’ll call them the Island and Reality. We’re going to follow the Losties throughout the season in both. The Island Losties will partake in the ultimate battle between good and evil (the Man in Black v. Jacob reincarnated as Sayid (maybe?) It seemed like they were going there). The Reality Losties will continue on as we saw them, but their lives (as we have already seen) will be different than what we might have anticipated. For one, Boone’s sister, Shannon, wasn’t on the plane with him. I didn’t see Walt or Michael either, but I’m betting they’ll show up later. I’m guessing this is because, in this universe, the Island was blown up in the 70s and that DID change the course of events in small, seemingly inconsequential, ways. The Losties in Reality are already showing signs of being drawn towards one another; I think their destinies are inextricably interwoven – no matter where they land.
Locke will contact Jack and Jack will operate on Locke. Sun and Jin will go about their “business” and unhappy marriage. Rose will die from cancer. Sawyer will continue his con game and Kate will always be on the run. Claire will give up her baby. I think the series will culminate with the Losties having to choose the universe in which they wish to exist – the Island where they’ve suffered greatly and lost many people they loved, but also where they discovered freedom, found love, struggled with and conquered their demons v. Reality, which also offers love (Sayid and Nadia will surely reunite) and untold possibilities, but the demons that haunt our Losties are still waiting to be dealt with.
I’m not sure how this choice will come about (Desmond surely has a role in there somewhere) but already Jack is showing signs of recognition and, as I said earlier, the Losties are being drawn together. I think they will have to make a conscious choice which universe to inhabit… and I think that’s where the series will end. I’m betting the producers will pull a Sopranos ending and leave the audience to guess which choice was made.
The Losties’ struggle is representative of the struggle we all face between doing what is easy and adequate (Reality) and doing what is right and should be done for the betterment of all (the Island).
As my husband says, I think too much.
And I could be completely wrong.
Thoughts?
Staghorn
Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 32 Comments
I have pictures!
We drove out to Cheaha State Park yesterday and I brought my sweater along in case the opportunity for pictures arose.
As we drove into the park, I noticed all this white stuff in the tops of the trees. My first thought was ‘who in the world toilet-papered these trees!’
IT WAS SNOW!!! I have definitely lived in the South too long – to not even recognize snow in the treetops!
With snow providing the perfect backdrop, I sent SB back to the car for my sweater and made him take a bazillion pictures.
I really, really love this sweater. I think it’s the finest thing I’ve made and the fact that it’s made from handspun makes it all the more special. And warm! I had a short-sleeved hiking shirt and a fleece pullover on before changing into the sweater and was warmer in the sweater! Wool beats synthetic every time.
The stats:
Yarn – Handspun polwarth, 3 ply, 1500 yards
Pattern – Staghorn from A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd. Unlike my February Sweater (the Amanda Jacket), I had absolutely no problems with this pattern. The cables are all based on four (cabling happens on the fourth row, or the eighth row, etc.), so it was very easy to keep track of where I was and what came next.
Inspiration – Tinks and Frogs lovely version here. I had not given this sweater a second look until I saw her finished pictures. As she says, the cabling gives this sweater a more fitted fit, instead of the square box that so many cabled patterns resemble.
Modifications – I didn’t make as many increases on the sleeves as the pattern specified, in an effort to avoid bulk and boxy. Since it’s basically a drop sleeve sweater with a saddle shoulder, making the sleeve a closer fit was easy to do.
Overall impression – I love this sweater! It is sooo soft, I mean, it’s Polwarth for heaven’s sake, and I love the subtle gradations of color in the natural brown/gray fiber. It was nice to finish 2009 with a knitting success!
emerging from the cocooon
Posted on | January 27, 2010 | 13 Comments
Winter hits me hardest in January. Some people get down over the holidays but I’m too busy to really wallow in it until January. It’s not so much that I get full blow depressed, I just withdraw.
This January I’ve had the opposite of King Midas’ touch – every project I began after completing Staghorn was doomed. Started a pair of Mitered Mittens but the yarn was too thin, an unpardonable sin when it comes to mittens. Cast on for a Pfeiffer scarf but decided in my infinite wisdom that the stitch count was too high and cut it by 1/3 – completely forgetting that drastic cables pull in drastically. It looked like a wool tie. I began a Francis Revisited only to realize that unless the yarn stretches in blocking, it will be entirely too small for me.
So I put all these projects aside. To be honest, they’re sitting on top of my mantle – lined up one by one in an homage to failure. I decided to give knitting a rest and clear off my bobbins.
L to R- (1) squishy BFL dyed by Pigeonroofstudios; (2) Norway, BFL chain plyed and the last of my stashed fiber from Adrian, whose club I’m hoping to get back into (I never should’ve let that membership lapse!); (3) 50/50 blend of wool and mohair I bought at SAFF specifically to spin for socks, spun very thin and chain plyed; and lastly, 4 oz. of Jacob wool, plied and plied again for cabled yarn.
Clearing off my bobbins must have cleared out the bad knitting juju as well, because the next project I decided to knit simply flew off my needles.
All the pieces for a 1824 Blouson from the 2007 Summer IK. I’ve liked this slouchy, sweatshirt-style sweater from the first time I saw it and got perfect gauge with Queensland Kathmandu DK. I’m going to block it tonight and then the real work begins – the finishing is daunting.
I also have a little box of yarn from Knit Picks sitting on my desk, waiting for the start of the Knitting Olympics. I’ll share the contents soon, I need to knit a training swatch and determine the level of insanity I’m considering. On the one hand, the only knitting resolution I made this year was No Pressure Knitting…but on the other hand, I do so enjoy a challenge!
Are you competing?
a tale of two blankets
Posted on | January 4, 2010 | 41 Comments
This tale begins with a man who loves kitties. This man happens to be my husband, who also happens to be rather silly.
When we started dating, my silly husband spoke to me of his love for kitties and his dream of having a blanket of kitties, all soft and warm, as kitties are known to be.
One day I was out shopping and lo and behold – I saw a pattern for a crocheted blanket of KITTIES! I bought the pattern and the (acrylic) yarn to make it and promptly forgot about it until two weeks before Christmas (some things never change).
Behold – the husband’s kitty blanket, circa 2003. I made the fringe early Christmas morning before he came over.
At this time in my crafting life, however, I had never heard of intarsia. Or weaving in ends. When it came time to change colors, I cut the yarn and tied a knot. Even for the two stitch eyes.
SB still loved it, and once my son saw it, he wanted one too. But by that time, I’d moved on to knitting and spinning and using good yarn and my days of crocheting an acrylic afghan were long over, thankyouverymuch. I offered up other blankets, handspun log cabins, Noro geometrics – anything to keep me from having to recreate this monster from my past.
Nothing doing. The boy kept asking where was HIS kitty blanket? I thought ‘he’ll outgrow it.’ ‘He’ll forget about it.’ No such luck. He asked, and he asked, and he asked again. My pleas that I didn’t crochet anymore, that I didn’t like working with acrylic, that I didn’t WANT to make another kitty blanket fell on deaf ears.
For his 14th birthday this year, I made the boy a kitty blanket. He hasn’t mentioned the lack of eyes, and since there are no knots in this blanket (crochet intarsia is not that difficult afterall), I’m having a difficult time figuring out how to add eyes. I used a variety of yarns. The main yarn is Cascade Eco Wool (lt. blue, gold, white, maroon and black) with some handspun and leftover bits for the smaller kitties. It came out a lot bigger than the first one – it’s definitely more of a blanket than a throw.
I don’t think he’s taken it off since he unwrapped it.
Happy Birthday kiddo!
breaking news bulletin
Posted on | December 29, 2009 | 10 Comments
I have finished my Staghorn pullover.
Stop.
Ends need woven and blocking done, but I consider it finished.
Stop.
I couldn’t let the year end without adding one more to the list.
Stop.
Avoidance of crochet intarsia project must.
Stop.
my house this weekend
Posted on | December 22, 2009 | 11 Comments
When I wasn’t busy keeping Mack out of my cookies,
I made homemade granola. It’s really easy and even though it calls for a lot of ingredients at first, once you buy the stuff, it makes a ton of granola. The best part is that if you don’t have an ingredient, you can substitute something else! Don’t have any soy nuts? Throw in an extra cup of oatmeal! I do it all the time.
Here’s my general list of ingredients:
3 cups oats (I prefer old fashioned, if I win the lottery, I’ll try steel cut)
1 cup soy nuts
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds (which I didn’t have, so I doubled the flax seeds)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup coconut
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup broken cashews
Then you add:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
And mix it all together.
I firmly believe that using your hands is the only way to get a good mix.
Spread it onto two cookie sheets and bake at 300 for 15 minutes, stir, then bake another 10 minutes.
After you take the granola out of the oven, sprinkle liberally with dried fruit. I usually use currants and golden raisins, cranberries or apricots if I have them.
The above recipe makes four quarts, which I store in ziploc bags in the freezer and use one at a time. I can’t have too much of it around because I’ll eat it like candy. This weekend I made a double batch – some for us and some for gifts – and baked 200+ of Mack’s favorite cookies.
I also spent a good part of the weekend tethered. Yes, that is a hook, not needles. Crochet intarsia hell. This is truly a labor of love, and it deserves its own post – soon!
something nice
Posted on | December 14, 2009 | 15 Comments
This weekend I made Christmas cookies.
There are three kinds of cookies I make – Fruit Drop (above), Hartshorn, and Brazil Nut. My grandmother made TONS of these cookies each Christmas and gave them as her presents to her six children and their families. It wouldn’t feel like Christmas to me without them.
Both the Fruit Drop and Hartshorn cookies require an ingredient called, well, Hartshorn. Hartshorn is derived from the antlers of red deer and is a leavening agent. It has been used since the 17th century and is a forerunner of baking soda, but produces a cookie that is thin and dry. It’s also used as an ingredient in smelling salts – so you don’t want to take a big whiff!
We used to buy little bottles of Hartshorn from Danhauer’s Drug Store in Owensboro, Kentucky. Going there is like stepping back in time; it’s a quaint little store on a picturesque street in a small town, yet it’s modern enough to have a large selection of Vera Bradley and a website. My daughter informed me yesterday that they’re no longer selling bottles of Hartshorn, apparently we were the only ones buying it. I can buy it on Amazon, but it won’t be the same.
The Fruit Drop cookies are cooling next to two of the crocheted potholders I got in this summer’s swap. I think I’ll put hooks on my cabinets so I can display my potholders – I love them all and they say “home” to me.
Here the Hartshorn cookies are about to go into the oven. Some I decorate, some I leave plain. This recipe calls for anise flavoring, which gives the cookies a nice licorice flavor (and I do not like licorice as a rule, but I love these and also ouzo). Baking Hartshorn cookies requires stamina. The first few batches are fun – roll out the dough! cut out the shapes! but by the tenth batch, you’re ready to be done already.
And how about some knitting?
These are the handspun socks I knit on US3s from this yarn, which might be my new favorite way to knit socks, as well as my favorite way to spin multi-colored top. So fast! Only 48 stitches! Seriously, you can knit a pair in a weekend. I made two pair of these, the other will be a present for my daughter. Of course, these are mineminemine! I have enough yarn leftover for another pair with contrasting toes, heels and cuffs.
Actually, I did complete another pair over the weekend. One more gift down!
What did you do this weekend?
I know it’s Friday
Posted on | December 11, 2009 | 5 Comments
and I’ve been trying not to get too political here, but this article is so fantastic that I had to share it.
It’s long. It’s involved. I had to read many sentences twice and I’m quite sure I don’t understand half of the agencies and connections referenced.
What’s worse is I don’t know what to do about it. Like many Americans, I am disillusioned and disgusted, but I don’t know where to turn, how to channel my angst and anger into something positive.
Suggestions are welcome.
Contrary to the blog silence, I have been knitting.
Posted on | December 9, 2009 | 10 Comments
I knit two pair of handspun socks on US3s, but the picture didn’t come close to doing them justice, so I’ll have to post that later. These pictures aren’t great either, but you know how it is this time of year – I leave the house as it’s getting light and get home in the dark.
I finally finished my mom’s socks, after procuring another ball of yarn from Meg. You may remember that I started these back in June, knit one sock and then lost the second sock-in-progress, needles and all. I’m always surprised when I hear of people losing their knitting, how could that possibly happen? I still don’t know.
I have finished the back, front and almost one sleeve on my Staghorn pullover. I worked on this exclusively over the Thanksgiving holiday, but haven’t touched it since because I’m concentrating on that other holiday. The one that’s fast approaching and causing hyperventilation. Breathe, breathe…
This is my current holiday present sock-in-progress, just a simple 3×3 rib for 9 rows, then one purl row. I have the worst problem with knitting under a deadline. I start off strong, but then I get contrary. I refuse to knit on the project. I’ll cast on for anything else – a bulky cowl, a striped hat – anything to avoid working on the project that actually has a deadline and a recipient waiting. I guess this is my rebel attitude coming through in my knitting, since I rebel against so little in real life (populist uprising, anyone? I’m game!). During the entire weekend I only knit the heel flap (just 32 rows!), I kicked it in gear, finished the heel and knit the entire foot yesterday. I am determined to finish the toe and knit the second sock before Monday.
Something else I have to do before Monday – plant these bulbs! They’re not in any soil whatsoever now, and they are ready to bloom. They’re not waiting on me. They must be rebels too.
keep looking »