Mandatory Rest Period

On Earth Day the two of us stayed up late watching a post apocalyptic movie because quote "That's how we roll". LOL The accompanying movie knitting was the next sweater project, Chic Knit's Twist done up in some chocolate brown Cascade 220. I'm late to the party discovering the merits of 220, but now I see why knitters through out the net are always raving about it. It just knits up so nice that you never want to stop knitting. Which is exactly what happened.... so it should be no surprise that the next day there was a major neck cramp in my neck.



All knitting is banned until my neck muscles settle down, which is totally infuriating but necessary. Yesterday I did allow myself to seam up some of the pieces of the Climbing Vines pullover and pick up the stitches for the neckband. It's looking like I may be able to squeeze this sweater out of 3 skeins of Classy instead of 4. Bonus! Then there will be plenty of yarn left over to make one of the many beret patterns lurking in my queue.



Now all I need is a masseuse to fix my neck and some cooler weather to be able to wear climbing vines outside before summer comes for good. Cross your fingers for me. :)

Heavy Blog Avoidance

The blog has been lonely and the blog has been sad. I must apologize to the blog... but April is a busy month. First the frogs and I got caught up in a little festive celebration.




Then there were surprise Easter socks that couldn't be outed until the recipient received her Easter box.


Embossed Leaves out of Hazel Knits Euphorbia. A few repeats were removed since part of the skein had been used to make mittens.

Other knitting also had to remain a secret until all blog readers were notified that a new baby is on the way.
Baby Chalice Blanket knit in Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted

And lastly knitting the Climbing Vines Pullover became a painful slog that I didn't want write about. That's almost over now that all the pieces are blocking. There is just the painful finishing process to look forward too. On the plus side the blue is much prettier in person. The final product maybe worth the countless boring hours put into knitting it.

Whoops Forgot Cherry

As I pulled on my Cherry cardigan this morning the thought passed through my mind, "Hey did I flash a finished pic of this on the blog?" Ummm noooo. So this blog post is for all my lovely relatives with out Ravelry access.


Yes my eyes were closed in every picture, argh!

Cherry cardigan knit in Sublime extra fine merino because I'm a little leery about knitting an adult sweater in cotton. The one cotton baby hat I've completed was enough to make my hands cranky.
Most of the sweater is a size 36 except for the bottom. As usual I cast on a the number of stitches for a size bigger and then decreased extra out while knitting to the waist. To do this I usually check my row gauge against the number of stitches that need to be decreased and try to come up with an even number.



Even though the waist detail was started at the right depth according to the pattern it still looks a bit low to me. However that is the only minor issue I have with this sweater. The rest of the fit very flattering and I'm very pleased with how the button bands and neck band knit up on number 2 needles.

Knitting on the Climbing Leaves Pullover didn't happen at all last week. Socks still have held sway when the sewing machine gets put away. I did manage to get a semi good modeled shot of the one finished Majestic sock.


Mmmmm golden cabled goodness.

More Cookies

This week I've had no luck playing around with fabric and the sewing machine. The result is that my knitting is no further and the sewing is in the trash can. So let's talk about cookies instead.

Both of today's cookies come from the "Martha Steward's Baking Handbook." I have warm and fuzzy feelings about this cook book because it gave me the perfect fudgy brownie recipe. It also has a kick ass cinnamon bread recipe and delightful blueberry muffins. The one thing I have noticed is that Martha's baking times are usually way too long. So if you read the cooking time and think hmm that sounds weird then trust your gut and check earlier.

As I mentioned on the 15th the Baking Handbook has my favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. It seems wrong to not share that delightful yummy goodness so here you go...

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Sweetened, shredded coconut
2 sticks (1 cup) Unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed Light brown sugar
1/3 cup Pure maple syrup
1 Large Egg
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
3 cups Rolled oats
1 cup Raisins

Oven is preheated to 325 - Martha suggest lining the cookie sheets with parchment paper but this isn't necessary.
In one bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt. Then stir in coconut to this mixture. Set aside.

In the mixer bowl beat the butter and the brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the maple syrup and mix to combine. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined, about a minute.

With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two batches; mix until jut combined. Add oats and raisins and mix until combined. Martha recommends making 1 1/2 balls of batter on the cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 min or until golden brown.



Last weekend I decided to try a new recipe from this book "Double-Chocolate Brownie cookies." My husband liked these more than world peace cookies from the 15th. They were as brownie as a cookie can get, being kind of chewy with a good chocolate taste. I left the walnuts pretty chunky which seemed to work well with the cookies texture. My husband who usually likes nuts in his cookies ground up didn't complain either. These go in the too yummy not to make again list.

9 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate chopped into 1 inch chunks
3 ounces Unsweetened Chocolate coarsely chopped
6 Tablespoons Unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1/2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup (about 3 ounces) chopped Walnuts

Oven is preheated to 375. To begin set 4 ounces of the chopped Semi Sweet chocolate aside.

Melt the remaining semi sweet, all the unsweetened chocolate and the butter together in a double boiler until smooth. Allow mixture to cool for 5 mins.
Once cooler pour chocolate/butter mixture into the mixer bowl and add the sugar. Beat with the paddle attachment for 3 mins. Add in eggs, mix until completely combined. Beat in Vanilla. Add flour and salt and beat until just incorporated. Stir in the 4 ounces of semi sweet that was set aside and the walnuts.

Make 1 1/2 balls of batter on the cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 min or until edges are set but middle is a bit soft. Then eat quickly before anyone else can get their greasy mitts on them.

This, That and the Other

Spring does seem to be affecting my creative endeavors, as I am flitting between projects and crafts.
Tried the Smitten Kitchen's Light Wheat Bread recipe which was very tasty. Good toasted with peanut butter on top for a light breakfast.

Worked a little on nakniswemodo sweater number 6, the Climbing Vines pullover from Interweave Winter 08. I'm blaming the reading of other people's blogs for this project choice. Like everyone else I'm using Dream in Color Classy, my personal color choice... Loopy Ewe's exclusive "Don't be Blue." Two sleeves down and the rest of the body to go. This one might take a little while since socks are distracting me.

Then there was the completely addictive time suck of the Woolgirl sock club pattern Majestic. Knitting this with LOST season two in the back ground is pretty much all I did Monday through Wednesday.



After releasing myself for sock craziness I got out the sewing machine and tried to make one of those puzzle balls from "Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts." Yeah, that reminded me why sewing pisses me off. Stupid ball grrrrr.

To make myself feel better about sewing I had to cast on a new sock from left over Hazel Knits Euphorbia. Hopefully this will become something leafy fitting for spring. Grow happy sock grow!

Twisted-V Pullover... the sweater that was meant to be

Take ten balls of yarn bought on a whim. Add a randomly free download from Interweave's Knitting Daily newsletter. What you get is the happy accident of my Twisted-V Pullover.



I was stalking...umm noo... checking out... yes.. book previews on Interweave site and took a liking to the Twisted-V Pullover in Simple Style. Then wonder of wonders Knitting Daily offered the pattern as a free download. But wait there's more... the yarn suggestion "Zara" was already in my stash. Score!



Construction was straight forward or should I say simple? :) Cast on in the round and knit that twisted rib until your eyes start to cross. Listening to a good audio book during this part will make all that knitting go much faster.

The length of the sweater can be easily modified here by adding or subtracting twisted ribbing before working the body chart. I tried on the partially completed body, measured the length and compared it to the flat length. It looked like I was losing about 1 1/2 inches due to negative ease, so I added an extra inch of twisted rib.

After finishing the chart you split for the armholes and start working the front and back separately. I also made a mod here, using short rows for the shoulder so a three needle bind-off could be used to join the pieces. Worked like a charm.

My last mod was to drastically increase the number of stitches that were picked up and purled around the V-neck. I picked up 60 for each side of the front on a size 34 because there seemed to have extra length there too. As long as you follow the guideline to pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rows then the finished edge looks great. (If you are using the free download the text says to check the back of the book for how to pick up and purl. Thankfully the internet will clear this technique up for you, hooray internet!)



If I was to do this sweater over again there would be only one change, to work a little more length into the body. Other than that it's perfect. I like the V-neck depth, the thin sleeves and the squooshiness of the yarn. It's flattering and people will never believe you knitted it. :)

This sweater can also be an awesome looking vest if you do a little finishing on the arm holes.

Sock Club Loot

It's mid March and once again I am part of the legion of unemployed. The last economic downturn taught me that small companies will lay off most of their QA department and this time I was ready. Emergency money fund... check, Emergency yarn stash... check, Resume updated... check, .... On husband's health care plan... check. Ahhhh I'm about as stress free as an unemployed person can be.

There won't be many yarn purchases now, but there are the two (already paid for) sock clubs to fill my mail box with new goodies. In fact I'm still enjoying just staring at the yarn from the February shipments.

We are so pretty all together.

On the outsides Hazel Knits in Deep Peacock and Grape Harvest. Wendee also generously sent along some bamboo DPNs, a stitch marker, and nice laminated kitchener card. (Maybe some other stuff that I've already ingested. See what happens when you wait to long to blog)

In the middle from Woolgirl is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity sock with "the cashmere" in it baby! And booty lots of booty.


Barring any nasty weather there will be new sweater pics this weekend.