Pischi Days

The Compost Post

    Buying gifts for Father's Day becomes an ever increasing challenge them ore the years go by. Thanks to Woot, I've discovered new and inventive gift giving ideas. I check the site daily and, much to my delight found this gem just in time for June 20th. Don't worry, I was also intrigued and couldn't figure it out first glance. It looks like the Death Star with a twist. This is an ECOmposter and it promises to turn our stack of newspapers, piles of kitchen scraps, and bags of grass clippings into compost. It came in a very small box and took hours to assemble. 

 Not easily discourage, Erik and I tackled the job and soon added our dreck to the ball. So far, so good. I have my neighbor involved. She will be adding the carbon elements since we no longer subscribe to a newspaper. Our compost will be enriched with high class New York times and Wall Street Journal brown matter.

I couldn't resist including  a plug!

Father's Day breakfast featured our favorite pancakes. these are a little labor intensive, but so worth making. The blueberry syrup is well worth the effort, so much better than the bottled stuff! Enjoy!

Sour Cream Pancakes

1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C skim milk
2 large eggs, separated
3/4 unbleached flour
1 t baking powder
1 T sugar
salt
1/2 C butter, melted

Mix sour cream and milk, pour over egg yolks in a medium size bowl, whisk together.
Sift flour together with baking soda,  sugar, and salt and whisk into egg mixture by tablespoonfuls. Add butter and stir until smooth.
Whisk egg whites until stiff, not dry and fold into batter.
Over medium heat, heat griddle or frying pan. Brush lightly with oil and drop batter by the tablespoonful. Brown and turn.     

Blueberry Syrup

4 C blueberries
3 C water
2 strips lemon peel
3 C sugar

Put the blueberries in a saucepan, crush with a potato masher. Add 1 cup water, lemon peel, and simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes
Strain into a cheesecloth lined stainer and squeeze to extract all the juice. Discard pulled.
Combine remaining 2 cups water and sugar. Boil and stir until mixture is clear. Boil until mixture reaches 260 degrees
Add blueberry juice, boil for 1 minute. Cool syrup and add a few drops lemon if desired. Pour into 1 pint jars and refrigerate.

Purl Diving

My stash seems to grow much faster than I can process it. I have 154 items logged into Ravelry. That does not count the few miscellaneous balls of yarn that I can't seem to identify, nor the balls of remnants that I have housed in an old sweets container. A rough calculation, although ambitious, supposes that I knit a project per month. That has me knitting non stop for the next 13 years. By conservative calculation, stash now exceeds  life expectancy. I have to cull the heard, and put yarn acquisition on hiatus.
Cataloging my stash on Ravelry has allowed me to play around with the various methods of sorting my yarn. For example, I love sorting by color, so pretty. When I am looking to knit from the stash and have a specific pattern in mind, I will sort by weight and hope that I have the required yarn to meet the needs of the project. Since knit a lot of socks, this has not bee much of a problem. I have also managed to find patterns and place them into my Queue and then attach a stashed yarn to the project. This make me feel superior and organized. Unfortunately, I easily stray from that plan by casting on something that is not scheduled, or queued.
My latest method of working through the stash is to organize it by date added. This places all yarn in chronological order with the newest item at the top and the chestnuts at the bottom.
My plan is to knit up...from the bottom of the stash. I have some lovely chestnuts that are begging to become something, anything.
Having said that, I was able to turn some two year old yarn into a beautiful shawlette. I found Keiran Foleys shawls in the Ravelry database. My first purchase was Emily Dickinson. The light gossamer fabric and the beads really appealed to me. I also purchased Teardrop for its repeatable pattern, its simplicity and elegance. My choice of yarn was Knit Picks Shadow in Basalt that languished in the bottom of my lace bin. After many false starts, I was able to get the first few rows down pat. The beaded row tripped me up. I didn't have the correct crochet hook size to place the beads so I prestrung and knit away. That was a disaster because the knit fabric is so airy, the beads tended to wander, spoiling the symmetry. I tried using a dental floss threader to thread the beads and that, while successful in bead placement, was a huge chore. I finally had an excuse to make the 20 mile trip to our local LYS for a 1 mm crochet hook and what a difference that made. 
 
 
 
  Here is the finished product. I used every yard of yarn, knitting 14 repeats.  Blocking was a breeze and th shawl was dry within 15 minutes of laying in the morning sun. I love this shawl and took it out to dinner and a walk along the Indian River. It's neutral, light, and sized just right for pocket or purse.
Next up, a couple of sock skeins that date back several years. Socks That Rock Silkie and Yartini, shake of the dust, 'cause I'm going for a stash dive and you're up.

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy

 

        Summer is here and school is out! Thanks to the fabulously cold winter, spring was delayed and the garden has been bursting at the seams inspite of the winter freeze. June also heralds the start of what forecasters promise to be a busy hurricane season. So, watch out for signs of Alex.

As I'm sure all have heard our beautiful gulf coast is now an oil slick, the worst spill in history. Oil has reached the beaches of Louisiana and will soon make its way around the peninsula and onto our beaches. Tom and I were reminiscing of the early '80's when a trip to the beach always included a can of Zippo lighter fluid and a roll of paper towel to clean the tar balls off our feet, thanks to frequent tanker spills in the Atlantic. We'd blissfully put those days away.

So, back to more pleasant things like knitting…

  I made a rare after Christmas pilgrimage to the mall earlier in the year and hit the evil Anthropologie empire. Home to overpriced stuff and more stuff. I couldn't resist opening up my thin wallet and snagging a couple of Frosta Design crochet basket kits slashed from $60.00 to $10.00. I just now cracked the first one and uncramped my knitting hands and begged them to take on the position, the crochet position. They had forgotten how. As persistence would have it, they remembered and soon I was hooking my way towards a great basket. Those clever and generous Swedes; much to my surprise, I still have a huge ball leftover so another basket is in the works.

     A leftover Ravelymics project has limped over the finish line. No excuses, it was napping in a bag, sleeping away spring. These are super cute and great on the feet. Mountain Form Slippers only take about 100 yards to make. I used the last of the pea green Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, getting yet more mileage out the yarn that won't go away.  Not to be forgotten, blueberry season was late this year and I totally expected few berries, what with the freeze. I was shocked at the abundance of blueberries. The bushes were loaded and I picked 25 pounds. In the spirit of sharing, here is a great breakfast recipe that showcases any berry, freshly picked.

 

Cheese Blintzes

Ingredients
    •    1  cup cottage cheese
    •    1/2 cup whipped light cream cheese
    •    1/4  cup  sugar
    •    1  cup flour
    •    1 1/2  cups  skim milk
    •    1 1/2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
    •    2 1/2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
    •    1/4  teaspoon  salt
    •    3  large eggs
    •    2  cups  blueberries or other fresh berries
    •    2  teaspoons  powdered sugar
    •   
Prep
Place cottage cheese in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add cream cheese, sugar,  vanilla; blend until smooth. Cover and chill.
Place flour in a medium bowl. Combine milk, oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, salt, and eggs, and add to flour, stirring with a whisk until almost smooth. Cover and chill.
Heat a 10-inch crepe pan or nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high. Pour 3 tablespoons batter into pan; quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers skillet with a thin film. Cook about 1 minute.
Carefully lift edge of crepe with a spatula to test for doneness. The crepe is ready to turn when it can be shaken loose from the pan and the underside is lightly browned. Turn crepe over; cook 30 seconds on other side. Place crepe on plate to cool. Repeat procedure with remaining batter.
Spoon 3 tablespoons cottage cheese mixture in center of each crepe; fold sides and ends of crepe over filling to form a rectangle. Place filled crepes, seam sides down, on a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap.  Place a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat until hot. Place 4 blintzes, seam sides down, in skillet; cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn blintzes over; cook for 2 minutes. Repeat procedure with remaining blintzes. Serve warm with blueberries, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Yum!

Macarones and Mother's Day

It was another beautiful week here in Florida with weather vacillating between 70-something and hotter than Hades. I celebrated Mother's Day by quietly graduating college, albeit, 30 years later than most.   
I have left the bakery job and am taking the summer off to reconnoitre and figure out what's next on the school and job front. I really loved school and see the appeal of returning in the fall, the perennial student.

My knitting has taken a turn towards the simple and practical. I have been an avid fan of the purl bee. The knitting projects are always simple, practical, and stylish. 

      
I particularly loved the Pom Pom Peds. I had several skeins of Spud & Chloë Fine in my stash leftover from a failed fair isle attempt. Casting yet another project was not a problem. I needed something whose pattern was easily memorized and portable. This did the trick. Spud & Chloë Fine is a blend of silk and wool and comes in a variety of summer colors with names like Snorkel, Lipstick, and Cricket. I couldn't resist the heavy ad campaign and my sock yarn tastes are running towards solids and semi-solid colors anyway. The socks only take about 125 - 150 yards with some left over. They knit up in a weekend and are on your feet in a flash.  I knit an arch support into the pink pair in hopes of relieving my sore arches.As usual Dorrit is up to his old antics and couldn't let me cross the threshold without a nip in the toes.

This Mother's Day had me standing in the kitchen over Boeuf Bourguignon a La Julia Child. I just watched Julie and Julia last week and ordered the Art of French Cooking from our local library. This is really a winter dish, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. This recipe is not one that can be thrown together at the last minute, but the taste is worth the labor. 

I bought a copy of I Love Macarons as Haslams in St. Pete. These colorful bites have been making the blog rounds here and in Europe where they are sold in lots of pastry shops. The most famous are those sold in Paris at Ladurée. Here is my first attempt, a simple vanilla macarone with vanilla butter creme. I did not achieve perfect macaronage but they were delicious anyway. I definitely will be making these again.

In the words of Julia Child, "The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude." 

Happy knitting and bon appétit!

May Day, May Day

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday week. I treated myself to a trip to Stitches South in Atlanta. It was a quick drive up I-95 with one of my knit sisters for a two night stay at the Hyatt. We baring slung the bags into the hotel door before we headed to the show. Then barely made it in the door when the WEBS booths hit us squarely in the pocketbooks. The show was filled with many exotic goods that we just don't get to fondle very often. I also loved the jaw dropping samples that were on display to try on. 
I succumb to the Berroco Kirri sweater, the same on the Yarn Harlot is knitting. I finally got my hands on some Habu Stainless yarn, tencil from Just Our Yarn, and my favorite purchase, a quirky kit from Coloratura. It's a simple garter knit scarf in silk merino aran, hand dyed with a generous silk scarf to match. The scarf is knit with several button holes through which the silk scarf is threaded. Then, its up to you to create a look. I wasn't allowed to take any photos at the show, but here is a peek at the scarf.   

Tom whipped up my favorites for breakfast, Sour Cream Pancakes with blueberry syrup and fresh strawberries. My big present was a new bicycle basket for last years present a retro Trek Navigator. He also treated me to a much need set of Knit Picks Options, so I won't have to borrow Bonnie's anymore.
I headed out the door for the first of my four finals for the semester, a 6000 word history essay, chronicling America's political challenges in the 19th century. All to be whipped out in 90 minutes, notes allowed.
After that head splitting exercise, I headed over to Rene'es to play in her yarn. We spent a blissful afternoon logging her massive stash into the Ravelry database. It was fun to see what other knitters buy. She has envious collection of delectable yarn. My reward was a bottle of my favorite, Lindeman's Framboise Lambic and a Salmon on Naan sandwich.
Have to dash, my doorbell just rang and it's off to the Spanish River Grill with some of my favorite friends and knit models, Carolyn and Kathryn. Wish me luck, three more finals to go and graduation…phase one is over!

Spring has truly sprung and with the cool and unusual weather, we have poppies in our garden.

       

Isn't it rich? Are we a trio?

Ha, a little Stephen Sondheim/Judy Collins mischief!

It's been a cruel, cruel winter all over America, but down here in the sweet south, we are just not prepared for temperatures approaching zero. Tom and I managed to burn through two cords of firewood in our overly large fireplace. We also managed to wear everything in our sparse collection of sweaters and long pants. I was so glad to have had a drawer overflowing with socks. They were all put to good use. Up until this year, I really had no use for wool scarves or hats and I have only one hat to my name. This year, however I had the need for several neck warmers…PDQ.  

  So here we go, first in the lineup is a neat little knit that takes very little yarn and even less thought with smashing result. I had three tiny skeins of Laines du Nord Cashsilk bought at a Tuesday Morning. They were just too soft to pass up and were destined to be a scarf of sorts. I found the Darkside Cowl perfect for wear with my boiled wool coat and I loved the neat geometric pattern that ensued.  
With yards of Cashmerino Aran left over from my Wisteria and not want to waste a yard, I was able to squeak out yet another cowl, the Asymmetric One-Button Scarf, done in moss stitch. I have quite the collection of vintage buttons to choose from, so I put this one back into service after decades in the button stash. 
I have written about my obsession for knitting the Mobius Cowl by Cat Bhordi. this is my third cowl and I am proud to report that don't even have to watch the YouTube video to cast on any more. The yarn is Trendsetter Dune, a gift from a generous member of my Thursday morning knitting group. Thanks, Kate! 
 
Last of the neck warmer lineup is the Milkweed Shawl, a Laura Chau design. Laura, or Cosmic Pluto, knits up a winter storm in Toronto at Lettuce Knit. Our intrepid Jody has had the pleasure of her knitting company while at her summer home. The yarn is also a Canadian standby, Koigu KPPPM, dyed by our honorary Knead to Knit member Rhichard. I was lucky to benefit from Jody's frequent trip to Koigu HQ and land a couple of skeins that reminded me of geraniums. Unfortunately, this scarf is destined to grace the neck of another friend who has reached the half century mark. I hope she will enjoy it as much as I would! So, now I have a small arsenal of warm weather gear for the decolletage, that is if this winter was a sign of things to come. 

Ishbel, Wishbel

There is nothing knitterly that satisfies me more than a shawl. One can't have too many, they always fit, they're impressive in the eyes of non-knitters, they make great gifts in a pinch. What's more, they keep you warm and secure in their wool or silk embrace.
I was asked to knit for a local scholarship charity auction. This is my third year and an expectation on the event coordinators part. I always vacillate as to what to knit, how much should the yarn cost, what time investment should I make. Will the price paid justify my time and effort. Blah, blah, blah. I had purchased a couple of skein of Fleece Artist Noyoni for Simply Socks, 800+ yard at an incredible price, just under $20.00. Had I known what a bargain I was getting, I would have bought a dozen more. My fault for not paying closer attention. Although, hen the package arrived I gagged at my choice of Peridot. I just took a photo and tucked the huge skein away. I pulled it out to make Ishbel, my choice for this years auction. Once wound, wow, what a difference a second look makes, that coupled with a wound skein. Knitting it was even better. knit up like butter and feels great. It washed well and blocked like a dream. If you see this yarn, not easy to come by, run for your wallet and buy some. Believe me, you won't regret it. 

 

Ishbel is also a delight to knit. The pattern can be make in two sizes, mine is the larger of the two. After I completed the shawl, I had so much leftover that a matching pair of socks was in order. I simply took the lace pattern and transformed it into a pattern in the round for 64 stitches and, voila, Ishbel socks. Did I say I loved the yarn? I think I did! Here is a quick rundown of the process. I have never winged a pair of socks in my life and I must say, it's rather liberating.   

Pattern Notes, So I Don’t Forget What I Did

Cast on 64 stitches using long tail cast on, join being careful not to twist. Place marker to designate beginning of round. 
Knit ribbing, K1, P1 for 12 rounds. 
Begin the Ishbel pattern (designated on chart A or B by the red box) starting with row 1. Knit every other round. 
Regardless if using DPN’s or the magic loop method, one will have to move stitches back and forth to accommodate the S1, K2, PSSO’s. 
I used the Yarn Harlots sturdy heel method found in Knitting Rules. I also used her recipe to turn the heel, picked up gusset stitches (mine numbered 16 plus one between heel and instep), knitting them through the back loop. 
Continue knitting lace over the instep stitches. In order to keep in pattern using 32 stitches, S1, K1, PSSO on either end. 
Knit away until the sock reaches the beginning of toes. Begin your favorite method of toe decrease. I ended with 12 stitches and kitchenered the toe. 
Great pattern for a nice lacy pair of socks to match your Ishbel!
So, trawl the net or shop Ravelry for a skein or two of Noyoni and give Ishbel a whirl. You won't regret it. Maybe I'll bid on my own knitting…

Jumpers or Sweaters?

Pringles, you make my hands catch fire, and my heart sing. Thanks Olga, I'm in a sharing mood!

No, No Nanaimo!

Whoa, its already mid February and the year seems to be flying by. Valentine's Day sure came and went. Thank you, Thomas, for my sweet PajamaGram, chocolate dipped berries, and the beautiful orchid.  The jammies are a bit big, but I sew…so…no worries. The "kitties playing with yarn" motif are just the thing. I can wear while I wrangle Dorrit away from the yarn! 
Speaking of which, here is a very dirty Dorrit, black paws and contrition wanting in from the cold and wind. 
February also brings Ravelympics back into the limelight. As a true Canadian, I am knitting for Team Canada. 
My modest entry should be a breeze to knit, but I am hobbling along balancing two jobs, a full class load, and a wee bit of the household chores. Tom does the rest. I can only knit a few rows before I fatigue from garter and pick up Ishbel. I do love the Zauberball in the Cranberry colorway and the  JaWoll yarn has alway been a favorite. I just need to pick up the pace. Goooo Pischi.
In true Olympic spirit, the Nanaimo Bar gauntlet was thrown down. There was so much Canadian food chat in our Ravelry Knead to Knit forum, our Canuck wannabe, Jody, taunted me into making these BC delicacies for the group. She will be the official taster and on her trip back to Toronto expects to taste Nan's authentic Nanaimo bars. The winner get to pick two skeins of Koigu from her private stash. Right, Jody!? I think that's fair.
Nanaimo Squares were a childhood staple on visits to my Auntie Harriet's in Edmonton and are named after a town in neighboring British Columbia.
Because I am a giver, I am sharing this recipe with you. I have made a few modifications to the original from my Alberta Beet Growers Association junior high home-ec cookbook.

Here we go.

  Nanaimo Squares

Layer A
1/2 cup unsalted butter (I love Kerry Gold)
1/4 cup white sugar
4 T cocoa powder (I use Hershy's Special Dark)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 finely chopped walnuts (I used almonds)
1 cup coconut

Heat butter, cocoa, and sugar in the top of a double boiler and stir until smooth, add the beaten egg and vanilla and stir until it thickens. Process almonds, coconut, graham crackers in a food processor until fine. Remove from heat and add the crumb mixture from the food processor. Spread into an 8" x 8" pan and refrigerate.

Layer B
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
4 T heavy cream
2 T vanilla pudding mix ( I couldn't find custard powder)
2 cups confectioners sugar

Cream together sugar, cream, and butter until light and fluffy. Spread over layer A and refrigerate.

Layer C
1 4-ounce bar Ghirardelli semi sweet chocolate, or any good quality chocolate
2 T unsalted butter
 Melt over a double boiler until liquid. Spread over layer B. Refrigerate.

When cool, cut into 36 small squares. These are very rich and a little bite goes a long way! 
Although the original recipe calls for custard powder, I couldn't find any on my grocery store shelves. The ladies sampling these treats didn't complain too much. Next week I am taking up the butter tart gauntlet…for more Koigu?

The Big Sock Post

Golly, I checked the dates on the blog and realized that there has been no knitting posted since December and do Korknisse really count? This is the big sockknitting post, were I catch up on what I've made in the last few months. Socks, socks and more socks. September came and went and the Lacy Rib Socks were an SKA project that didn't quite make the deadline. These are pretty flashy in citrus colors. I had seen the EllieBelly Sea Wool online and couldn't resist the Florida colorway.   As I resolved to be more active in Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous and was semi-successful. There was an October reprieve where knitting a single sock, Christmas stocking, was acceptable. I jumped right in with Claire Kellogg's, My Christmas Stocking. I used Jo Sharp Classic DK and scraps of baby alpaca for the "kitten heel". 
A detour from the sock knitting to a quick little November project that I just loved knitting. Just Enough Ruffles was knit from Marks and Katten's Dream and matches my Sitcom Chic. The scarf gives just enough warmth on a cool day. Unfortunately the yarn is very soft, not enough sproing, and doesn't hold the ruffle as well as I would have liked.

December had me knitting a pair of socks for Tom's birthday. These were also SKA entries whose deadline I failed to meet, yet again. I didn't quite make the birthday deadline either, but it was close. They are Anne Hanson's Lighthouse Gansey Sock knit up in Regia Silk 4-ply. This is some of the finest commercial sock yarn that I've knit in a long time.  Onward to a January quickie, Leigh Radford's Cable Footies, from One Skein. I used some rustic marled wool from Germany. We've had a fairly cold winter and all our floors are tile. There may be more of these cranked out in favor of warm toes.I made this purchase over twenty years ago and have never quite figured out what to make with it. Its pretty course for sweaters and we're not vest people. I still have two skeins left and I'm sure I'll figure out something to make with the rest. 
A special request from one of Tom's colleagues, a handknit golf club cover for a new driver with a head as big as a beach ball (or so it seems). I hope its cozy and warm and not suffering from hyperthermia while riding in the trunk from course to course.
Here we are in February and it's Valentine's Day and in the early stages of the Winter Olympics, my favorite Olympics. I am knitting for Canada and have chosen Baktus, a Norwegian pattern, German Zauberball and JaWoll yarn, in Canadian colors of red and white covering three great Winter Olympic countries! So bring on the Lefse, Schnitzel mit Pommes, Nanaimo Bars and Butter Tarts. Stock up on firewood and hand me my Olympic knitting, a glass if wine, and transport me to the slopes.  

Pease Porridge Hot

It's been a pretty nippy winter in these here parts and I've put away my beloved Stoneyfield Whole Milk Vanilla Yogurt over fruit and muesli for something warm in my breakfast bowl.

We've always been fans of Cream of Wheat. My favorite way to eat this stuff is to make it with milk and dish it up, add a bit of butter and a generous helping of finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano. One bite - ecstasy. My son loves this throwback to his childhood with a few chocolate chips sprinkled into the bottom of his bowl, let it sit a minute and stir up the chocolate swirls. Recently I have become an oatmeal convert although I have always hated the stuff. I suffer from bad memories of my mother cooking oats the night before and leaving the stuff on the stove overnight for my fathers breakfast. The sight of the coagulated mush, giant cracks across the top, turned my stomach. All this changed when I discovered a nifty looking can on my grocer's shelf. I had never had steel cut oats before and so I thought, nothing ventured, nothing gained. McCann's Oatmeal is still made in County Kildare and I will venture to say that the can hasn't changed one bit since then. The cooking instructions are pretty spartan and there are no "back-of-the-can" recipes either. Once home, I read those spartan cooking instructions and realized that it would take at least a half hour for this stuff to fill my tummy. The can sat in my pantry, forgotten, for several weeks before I hauled it out for a cold weekend morning meal. We were out of the ubiquitous Quaker Oats that Tom loves to eat. He's not picky. The instant pouch is good enough for him.  So, I set 4 cups of water on to boil, added a dash of salt and 1 cup of steel cut oats and sat down to read the paper. I got up to wipe the boiling mess off the stove and stirred it a bit and let it simmer some more. After half an hour we had a pot of creamy goodness. I tucked a handful of raisins in each bowl and topped it off with a generous pour of grade A maple syrup. If this is what oatmeal is supposed to taste like, bring it on. No rolled oats for me, make mine steely cut!

Happy Holidays

Christmas came and went quietly on little cats paws. We lost our beloved Kittiwitz on December 22nd. She was an adoptee who came to live with us exactly ten years and a month from her departing. She was a loyal companion and will be sorely missed. The season has been hectic and the calendar full. There was a yarn ball exchange, a cookie exchange, a soup party, a wedding, and a host of other events that filled the weekends.
I baked Dresdner Stollen this year. The recipe comes from an German cookbook that was published in the 50’s. I think it was the school cookbook of choice, This bread is the most delicious when made a week or two ahead. It necessitates a metric scale as the measurements are metric. A Kitchenaid mixer is very helpful. This year I candied my own fruit using homegrown Valencia oranges and Ponderosa lemons. This produced a clean crystallized citrus peel that is delicious and tart, tangly, and sweet. You cam speed up the rum raisin process by placing the bowl in a microwave for 3 minutes. The bread is not cloying and is a wonderful breakfast treat. I bake them in large batches and wrap them in parchment and give them for Christmas.
Und nun das Rezept:

Dresdner Stollen

1kg Flour
2-3 packages yeast
1/2 liter whole milk
200 g Sugar
the scraped interior of a vanilla bean
dash of ground cloves
a dash of ground nutmeg
a drop or two of almond extract
400 g butter, melted and cooled
100 g slivered or sliced almonds
400 g raisins soaked in rum overnight
200 g currents (use extra raisins if currents not at hand)
150 g candied lemon peel, chopped
100 g candied orange peel, chopped
500 g almond paste
melted butter to brush exterior of baked cake
confectioners sugar to dust

Sift the flour into the mixing bowl. Warm the milk, not too hot, add a tbsp of sugar and the yeast. Let the yeast proof. make a dent in the flour and slowly add the milk mixture and the sugar. Add the cloves, nutmeg, vanilla bean, almond extract, and the melted butter. Mix well. This results in a soft, glossy bread dough. Knead well for at least 5 minutes. Add the raisins, currents, orange and Lemon peels. Knead well.
Cover dough and let it rise for about 30 minutes or until it has visibly doubled in size. 

Punch down and let rise for another 45 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and at this point divide it into either 2 or 3 even portions. Roll the dough into rectangles, about 12 x 10. Divide the almond pastes into 2 or 3 portions and roll into long sausage shapes. Fold the dough in half lengthwise and place the almond paste along the edge, about 1/3 ways in. Fold the dough over to cover the paste. Place this loaf onto a parchment covered baking sheet and use your hands to form it into a long oval shape. Let the loaves rise for another 20 minutes. Bake at 325 degrees for about 45-60 minutes, depending on how large your loaves are. Once they have been removed from the oven, brush the hot loaves with the melted butter and generously coat with powdered sugar. These loaves can sit in a cool place for for a few days before wrapping them as gifts.

I leave you with some of my favorite images. The Korknisse have all found new homes and I am busy making more in preparation for next year. They have also evolved and gained bells on braided tassels and I also ended the hats in a three stitch i-cord, which can be shaped into a jaunty curve.

I wish all a happy and warm Holiday Season.

Wonderful Wisteria

Our temperatures dropped below 60 for about two days last week. We scrambled for the firewood and enjoyed a fire in the fireplace for abut two nights total. Our Dorrit has been acting very frisky and enjoys playing hide and seek in the pillows. 

So, finally, a sweater finished and the experience was a positive one. Although I droned on about how difficult and disappointing Arwen was, the Wisteria sweater made up for all my complaints. This pattern, also by Kate Gilbert, was a joy to knit. There is nothing like a top down raglan in my book anyway. Through in a bunch of cables and I am a happy knitter. 

 

My yarn choice was Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I think I used about 13 skeins. After frogging the Arwen and rewinding the yarn, it was hard to tell. I used Bonnie's size 9 Harmony needles to knit in the round. The sleeves were knit in the round using the magic loop method.  The only modifications I made were in the sleeve length. I knew that I wanted the sleeves to hit at the wrist so I just decreased more often and ended up with just the right length. I also made the body a bit shorter. Although I got gauge, I wish that I would have dropped a needle size to achieve a tighter knit. On the whole, I'm pleased. Now could the temperature just drop below 70, please?

Here is my Magic Ball offering for our knitting groups swap in December. I was thrilled with how he turned out. What is a Magic Ball, you ask? It's a lot of knitting and non-knitting goodies wrapped up into a couple of balls of yarn. My treats came from places far and wide and are very unusual. I hope that the recipient think so too. The ribbon says it all!

Hamina, Hamina

First I fell in love with the yarn and then I waited for the perfect pattern. The yarn, Neighborhood Fiber Company's Penthouse Silk, was featured on Mimknits, Miriam Felton's blog. I just took a sneak peek at what she's knitting with it. No  photos yet but it's called the Anthemion Wrap and the pattern will be published in December. I can't wait.   
Anyway, run, don't walk to a shop or a site that carries Penthouse Silk. You won't regret the splurge. My choice of pattern was Pink Lemon Twist's Hanami Shawl. I love the contemporary look and the story behind it. There is a tiny error as to how many beads to use that I made notes on my Ravelry project page. 

Originally I cast on using #5 circulars and quickly frogged the too loose lace. My new needle size, a #3 was so much more pleasing. I won't say that this shawl was a walk in the park. The yarn is very fine and the basket weave pattern demands a bit of attention. Once in the groove, it was smooth knitting all the way. I chose silver lined beads to resemble water droplets. Instead of using a crochet hook I threaded the correct number of beads for the edge. 

 

 

  

  

 

I really wanted to showcase my shawl with water as a background. Unfortunately the weather was so windy and when we walked out onto the pier over the Indian River, the sky opened up. I think the pictures in the backyard came out very well.

A small modification on the ruffle was that I added an additional knit 1 through the front and back loops to give the ruffle…well, more ruffle. I also made the ruffle wider, wider, wider.
This was a great project with well written instruction. The scarf is very versatile. Dress her up or down. I will be wearing this a lot next year!
On a side note, Kathleen (entrepreneur extraordinaire) is opening up a new yarn shop in Daytona Beach called She Sells Yarn. Its smack dab in the center of Beach Street and across from the headquarters of the Chicago Cubs affiliate, the Daytona Cubs. Daytona is the yearly host to Biketober Fest and Bike Week in March. Don't forget the Daytona Speedway. Now there is a fabulous new yarn and fiber shop as well. So, if you're in Daytona Beach, stop by and say hi to Kathleen. Check out her fabulous stock of sock yarns, spinning fibers, and more Maybe I can talk her into carrying some fabulous Penthouse Silk. 

Bring on Fall!

October is here and but the weather here in Florida is still sweltering. We had a few "cold snaps" in the high 60's, but that only lasted a few days and now we're back to running the air conditioner. The days are getting painfully short. At this point the sun rises and sets at 7.
I am back in school and taking 12 credit hours. So far so good, I seem to be keeping up with the work. I love having my trusty companion at my side.

I have plenty on the needles. The Hanami Shawl from Pink Lemon Twist is humming along. The yarn, it's really silk thread, is from the Neighborhood Fiber Company. I was turned onto this stuff by Miriam Felton of MimKnits. Although its thin, it behaves and turns out a great fabric.

I won't bore you with Wisteria. I'm still steamed at all the work on the Arwen wasted that talking about this sweater is still a sensitive subject. It is getting some attention.

My latest finish is Kansas Harvest Sock. I found this pattern on the Townsend Sock Yahoo Group. If you aren't aware of this group you should race to the site and join. The patterns are brilliant. Another great group is Stephanie van der Linden's Socken-Kreativ-Liste Yahoo Group.

   

   

Back to the sock. If you've read the blog for a while perhaps you'll remember this item. It was the Lacy Scarf, an otherwise fabulous project except that superwash wool has an incredible memory and this yarn was no exception. It curled despite hours of blocking. I finally came to grips, frogged the thing, reskeined, washed, and rewound. Presto, two weeks later I had knit a pair of bright yellow socks, ready to enter into the Ravelry SKA monthly contest. I am also working on these Lacy Ribs by Wendy Johnson from her new sock book with a second sock to cast on.
There is too much stash acquisition going on. I have discovered the Dizzy Sheep site. A deal a day and the prices are great with shipping only $1.00, no matter how much you order or where they ship to. I have also discovered a nifty way to search through the Ravelry stashes for treasures. I chronicled my techniques here, post 28. I hope that it doesn't get everyone into too much trouble.

Meanwhile, I would like to cast on something heavier than socks and a shawl! Bring on the fall!

 

The Frog Princess Knits

The languid days of summer have quickly turned in to the action packed days approaching fall. Halcyon days spent at the beach, playing Boggle, and knitting while Seasons 1 and 2 of Mad Men have ended. The end of August heralds school, homework and for Erik, many appointments with doctors. Erik, who I had hoped would be a Navy enlistee, returned from his physical with a mysterious heart ailment. After a few tests and visits with a cardiologist it was determined that  the tachy heart was not the problem at all. Instead he has an overactive thyroid which supplies him with lavish quantities of tyrosine and triiodothronine. Treatment for this may involve killing the thyroid with radioactive iodine. Erik can take his secret identity, Glow Boy, into the night. Hopefully the cats will be able to keep their fur and the appliances won't begin to spark. Should the Navy take him, his added value could be in the reactor room of a sub.
My days at the beach were spent knitting and swimming or swimming in knitting. Lisa and I would leave early, coolers packed with cold drinks and fresh fruit, we would swing by the bagel shop, and have our butts in the deck chairs by 9 AM. Lisa caught up on her reading. I would listen to podcasts and knit. In between, we would catch a few waves or walk along the shore.

These were the fruits of my labor. Socks whose colors compliment the railroad vine that crawl along the dunes. The pattern, Wollmeise Poppies was knit using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Lightweight in Lemon Grass and Rhododendrite. Fair Isle is not my forte. I was happy to practice on a pair of socks in preparation for knitting a Damask Kauni. My initial attempt resulted in a three repeat cuff which just didn't fit. Fair Isle has very little give, no matter how springy the yarn.  Luckily for me, my trusty friends in the Thursday morning knitting circle frogged back the foot, heel, and a pattern repeat before I could change my mind. It was the right thing to do. A handy tip from another knit groupie is to knit the project while its turned inside out and keep the threads in the back loose. This results in less pull on the front side. I entered these socks in Ravelry's SKA contest. Hopefully, my lucky number comes up as the prizes are terrific.
My original Fair Isle project was an expensive mistake. I fell in love with the cute Spud and Cloe marketing blitz and purchased four skeins of Fine in various colors. The sock pattern was a Mystery Sock and upon knitting a few clues, the love affair quickly ended. Not only were the colors all wrong, the yarn is too thin, splitty, and limp for colorwork. Frogged again!

Next months SKA theme is to knit using yellow yarn. I only had one skein of yellow in my arsenal, knit into a scarf that would not remain flat. I couldn't let this yarn languish in a drawer so it was frogged and reskeined ready to be knit into a pair of socks. The pattern currently settled on is the Kansas Harvest sock from the Townsend Knitalong group.
Hopefully my frog days of summer are quickly coming to an end. I am looking to fall, new socks and a couple of great sweater in my future.

Dear Kate Gilbert!

Dear Kate,

I have been lurking your blog since 2004 and while you were living in France. I journeyed with you through marriage, moves and children. You are the high priestess of the Clapotis, Sunrise Circle Jacket, Union Square Market, Peapod, Marina Piccola (I've knit this one), and my nemesis, Arwen. Clapotis has 5000+ hearts om Rav. Your patterns are known far and wide and come in such a wide variety; socks, tops, shawls, mittens, baby togs. The list goes on and on. Your patterns were some of the first that I fell in love with when I discovered knitting in the blogosphere.

All I ever wanted was to knit Arwen. I remember buying and downloading the pattern, searching for just the right color of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and investing in Addi Turbos, to allow the stitches to fly off the needles.


I swatched for the first time in my life! I colorcoded all the appropriate stitch numbers on the pattern with a yellow highlighter. My only concession was that I wanted to modify the hoodie and  change it to a middy collar. This fifty year old woman wasn't going to wear a hoodie, not in Florida anyway. I had scoured the library for books on how to miter a cabled corner and found just the perfect instructions in a book of Viking Knitting. I remember the day that I cast on my first stitch, a sultry July Saturday morning, after having chosen just the right size and I let the knitting begin. I have a love affair with cables and the sweater was progressing well. I was even memorizing the cable pattern. I knit both sides and plodded through the garter stitch square that was the back.

I seamed and all came to an abrupt halt when I realized the sides were uneven. I frogged both sides to beyond the sleeves and reknit. Again, failure. The jacket bits landed in a dark corner while I knit other things. Months later the bag was retrieved from its dusty corner. I revisited my Arwen but I just couldn't get thing to line up. After much trepidation, I took the plunge and ripped the whole thing out. Thats right, I enlisted the help of my son and ripped while he wound the many yards of Cashmerino into semi-fresh cakes. So, there I sat with hours and hours of knitting wasted. I read the Ravelry forums and notes in the completed Arwens, those successful and not. This sweater was just not to be.

I got over my sorrow and was determined to move on! I had the Ravelry search engine smoking with every variation of cardigan and sweater in Cashmerino Aran, searching, searching for the dream sweater that I knew this yarn could become.
After what seemed like hours and hundreds of sweater patterns later, despondency set in. Was there no sweater suited to my yarn, figure, climate and knitting talents? One more search. I can't remember what combination of words or tags I used or if I searched by yarn type...but there it was the sweater of my dreams staring at me on the body of a model leaning against a barren tree, sleeves that were much to long for her arms. Wisteria! Just the name was magic and those cables, wild and unpredictable. Sure, the sleeves could be shortened. This was it, the sweater that would be my knitting destiny. Then I glanced the designers name, it was you, Kate. I hesitated, just for a moment. I broke down, giving a sweater design of yours a second chance and bought the pattern that will consume me for the next few months. I cast on and have (hopefully) successfully completed the yoke. Did I mentioned that I love the cables? Please, wish me luck. While I will never knit a Clapotis, your other sweaters are in my queue-. Should I fail, I going over to Nora Gaughan!
All is fair in love and knitting.

Dances With Dorrit

I know, I know, radio silence for eons at a time and then suddenly three posts in less than a month. I have been knitting because I know that when school is back in session, needles and yarn will have to take a holiday.


These are my Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous entry for the month of June. We had a choice to design our own or use any Nancy Bush creation. I chose a sock from her Vintage Socks book. It has some crazy long name, Silk Socks for a Five or Six-year Old Child. I liked the lace pattern. It shines using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Medium Weight Spirits yarn. All yarn in this collection are lightly tinted, this one being blue. The more I look at it, the more green it seems to be. The results are pleasing, to me anyway.

I took too many pictures and Dorrit became weary and wanted a play mate. He decided to chew on my ankles mid shoot. He is a hellion and snatches yarn out of my stash basket every chance he gets. These sock have a few joins thanks to Dorrit chewing the unguarded sock in progress.

Summer Socks and Summer Squash

It is indeed a mystery, that after so many years of knitting , why I don't take more care and count my rows. The knitting trinket box certainly holds every type of row counter imaginable. I have stacks of notes and paper and there is always the option of looking at the first sock that I knit to make sure that they match.
Here is Kiila, Ravelry's SKA group Mystery Sock for May. I was only days short of completing the pair to qualify for fabulous prizes. After I had cast off and donned them for their photo shoot, I noticed one sock was shorter than the other.  Well, I couldn't leave them looking like the odd couple, so off to the frog pond they went. Luckily they were knit toe up and the tear out was not so painful. Out came the leg and after a careful pattern count, presto, they're a matching pair. 
Down to stats. Kiila was knit toe up using the Magic Loop method using 32" long, #2 circular needles. The sock yarn came from a long ago purchase on a trip to St. Petersburg a couple of years ago. It's ShiBui Sock yarn in a semi solid color way called Midnight.

I have moved onto the June Sockdown for Sock Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry. This month's theme was a Nancy Bush sock or Design Your Own. Since I feel that there are far too many great designers out there  and that my efforts would be superfluous, I have chosen a pattern from the Nancy Bush Vintage Socks book. Here is the first sock with one to go. Hopefully I will qualify for some of those wonderful prizes this time around. I'll post stats next installment.  

Since we are in the midst of the summer season, dinners are usually cold meals consisting of salads or soups. Anything hot will usually be cooked outside on the grill.
Due to a bumper crop of yellow summer squash and mint leaves, I found an easy soup recipe that I will share. The only substitution is olive oil for butter to keep it heart healthy. This soup tastes great cold as well. For any of these puree type soups I find that my Braun stick blender is the best appliance. It blends hot liquids right in the pot. I can't imagine life in the kitchen without one. So, without further ado, run don't walk to the store and try out...

Squash Soup with Mint Pistou
courtesy of Bon Appetit

For squash soup
    •    3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
    •    1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
    •    1/2 teaspoon salt
    •    2 lb yellow summer squash, halved and thinly sliced
    •    2 carrots, thinly sliced
    •    1 yellow-fleshed potato (1/2 lb), peeled, halved,
    •    4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth

for pistou
    •    3/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
    •    1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
    •    1 large scallion, chopped (1/2 cup)
    •    1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    •    2 tablespoons water
    •    1/4 teaspoon salt
Melt butter in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.
Puree soup in a blender until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Return puree to cleaned pot and thin with water if desired; simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.
Make pistou while vegetables simmer. 
Pulse mint, parsley, and scallion in a food processor until finely chopped. With motor running, add oil in a stream, then add water and salt, blending until incorporated.
Swirl 1 tablespoon pistou into each bowl of soup.

Dream of a Cardi

Just when I thought that I couldn't produce a proper sweater, I find that its best to get back to basics. With one of my oldest friends coming to visit, I had to clean out the craft closet and the guest room. Among my 4 boxes of yarn were several skeins of Marks and Kattens Dream in a light shade of blue. With Arwen in tatters and my sweater mojo along with it, high time to shake off the bad karma and cast on a "no fail" project. I chose Bonni Marie Burns Sitcom Chic.

I shlepped this sweater everywhere and, yes, I had my set backs. After attaching the sleeves and merrily knitting along, I stopped to count front, sleeve, and back stitches.  I missed several decreases somewhere and was forced to rip out a days worth of knitting. Here I actually captured a stitch way down in the center some where.
Not to be deterred I used my new found math skills and paid closer attention to my count in round two. Success. I added an invisible hook and eye closure to the front. It’s a  little sweater in a nice basic color. It looks as though this sweater is available on the ChicKnits site as a top down version called Eyelet Cardi.

The skirt is a quickie from deep in the fabric stash. The pattern is from Favorite Things Cute Skirts and will also be a nice wardrobe staple.

I want to share my newly discovered summer drink. Framboise Lambic from Belguim. Easy to drink, just pop the top and uncork.  Pour into a frosted Pilsner glass and enjoy. It is like drinking a basket of the sweetest raspberries. Sip slowly, though. It's pricey and, oh, so easy to drink. Savor with a good bar of the darkest chocolate.… I have been buying mine at our newly opened ALDI. The Moser-Roth brand tastes wonderful and the $1.89 price tag offsets the lambic.
Now, back to my regularly scheduled sock knitfest!