Pischi Days

Three Month's Notice

Where did October, November, and December go? I blinked the the latter months of 2010 became a blur. It looks as though I have some catching up to do.Lets time travel back into last year and let me consult my Ravelry notebook, well, because I did try to keep some stuff current.
The end of the summer was time to finish up some sock knitting. I try to keep up without he gals at Sock Knitter Anonymous, but hard as I try, my knitting tools along in the right lane.
Ode to Eames was a colourwork pair that I started in 2009 and after having knit one sock just chocked on the second one. This behavior is not the norm.  These two yarns started out as another colorwork sock project that didn't materialize. These, however, while a bit tight, are pleasing and I am glad that I finished. I am trying very hard to knit up the stash from the bottom, that is yarn that I've had in bins and have been marinating the longest. This pattern was a freebie at one time but is now on hiatus and not available. So, if you have the pattern, keep it close!

Knee High to a Grasshopper is an older Rockin' Sock Club installment. At that time Blue Moon Fiber Arts just introduced the Silkie Sock Yarn. While yielding a pretty result, I much prefer their sturdy light or medium weight yarn. I think that these sock won't hold up over time.

 

I plan on returning this weekend with the next installment of the last quarter 2010. Stay tuned for a trip to Toronto and the Koigu Farm.

Life is Plum Good

I can only describe the last few weeks as turbulent. What with the start of a new job, a triple threat of hurricanes and more flooding, and sitting in class two nights a week, coupled with what seems endless homework assignments. Oh, and I have been knitting for sanity's sake.
As far as work goes, my feelings are have everyone should experience your customers instant gratification. I came from an industry that, once the clients needs have been captured on paper, colour and style finally settled on, cost and time line of the projects negotiated ad nauseam, and the contract signed, the rest is out of your control. You art can mean nothing and what happens next is often in the hands of contractors, tradespeople, fickle interior designers, or surly installers. Seldom is a job truly worry free and breezy.
Now lets chuck that career aside and make coffee for a living. Customer comes in bleary- eyed, just having rolled out of bed and into clothes. We are his first stop on the commute to the office. A 20 ounce triple mocha latte with 3 Splenda, caramel and whipped cream on their lips and they are putty in my hands. They leave with a spring in their step and foam on their lips. Three raspberry scones to go? No problem, the butter is on the antique buffet, help yourself. Chocolate, chocolate chunk muffins are still warm from the oven and they're huge, you'd like three? Sure, and a large Granita with white chocolate,  hazelnut syrup, don't forget the whipped creme. Coming right up. I come home with tired feet and smelling of warm milk, warm sugar cookies and freshly ground coffee. My mind is clear and I can take my noon shower and tackle the homework with aplomb.
Now, my homework consists of learning a new language, mostly Greek and Latin. Lots of memorization and learning names of obscure body parts. Incidentally the name of that little dent on the upper lip is called the philtrum from the Greek philtron meaning "to love; to kiss" and allows the lip a greater range of motion. Who knew? Anatomy and physiology are my greatest challenge but I will persevere.
On to what is on my needles. Now that the Olympics have ended, I have turn my attention to the Arwen. I am pleased with the outcome so far. I plan to make some major modifications to neck area, omitting the hood and mitring the cables resulting in a middy collar.
Knitting through my stash is always on my mind. I just finished sock one of the STR Club Summer of Lace  anklet in Flower Power. They are unashamedly size 10 and not for me. Erik was gracious enough to lend his foot for the camera. Here are some other stash yarns that I plan to knit up next. The top yarn is HandMaiden Sea Sock yarn and underneath another STR club installment called Monsoon. I should probably cast that one on first in anticipation of hurricane Ike.
Last but not least my end of summertime recipe for Pflaumenkuchen, my favourite cake and a taste of home. I make this with Italian prune plum that are available in early September but only for a few weeks. The recipe is translated from my German Dr. Oetker Baking Book and the ingredients are measured in grams.

Pflaumenkuchen, lovingly called Zwetschekuchen in Wiesbaden

Cake base

500 g unbleached flour
1 package yeast
75 grams sugar
vanilla
salt
250 ml lukewarm milk
75 g melted butter, cooled

I zap the butter and milk in the microwave for 1 minute. I dump all the ingredients into the trusty Kitchenaid mixer and knead the dough on low using the dough hook. After the ingredients are mixed, continue to knead for about five minutes. The dough should be soft, not sticky.
Cover with a damp towel to rise.
Meanwhile prepare plumbs by cutting in half and pitting, leaving the skin partially intact, cut again so that you are left with a pitless plum attached by the skin in three places.

Streusel

In bowl fitted with the dough hook blend the following:

300 g unbleached flour
150 g sugar
vanilla
150-200 g soften butter

Blend until combined.

Once the dough has risen knead once more.Roll the dough out onto a buttered jelly roll pan. Build the side up slightly. Arrange the plums to cover the dough. Use your hands to crumble the streusel over the plums.
Bake in a 225 c oven for about 15-20 minutes.

This cake doesn't last long in my house. Please don't let the steps deter you from trying this recipe. I guarantee you will look forward to the last months of summer and the arrival of Italian prune plums.

Farewell STR 2006...Hello 2007

My last pair of socks sent courtesy of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club 2006 has finally been completed. Just in time to cast on the first pair of this year's club installment. I have loved every pair...so far.
"Winters Eve" was cast on with one of the lightweight, semisolid colors called Mustang Sally. I purchases the intensely colored raspberry beads from an online source, Earthefaire.
My guilt in not keeping up with the shipments was assuaged once I joined Revelry and a group called Socks The Rawk. The amount of clubbers that hadn't knit from their STR stash was huge. An entire thread is devoted to those giving up their spot as a coveted STR club members. I am in great company. For the amount of money two years exclusivity cost, there was no way I wasn't knitting these.

I regret that I rank among those not renewing. I can purchase more skeins of STR for the amount that it costs to be a third year member. There are no regrets. Every skein and pattern were a delightful surprise. The pattens, all by talented designers, stretched my skills and had me knitting socks with stitches and styles that I may not have chosen otherwise.

The latest installment is the lovely Lenore, a pattern written by the Yarn Harlot. The yarn is a coveted skein from the Raven series that is making a November debut. I already anticipate several purchases based on this months color. Those black muted tones are just my style.
Meanwhile I bid fond farewell to the club and make room for other rabid sock knitters who will be sure to enjoy a years worth of socks and surprises.

A quick "footnote", I found the perfect shoe to show off hand knit socks and worth every penny. My new Fluevogs are comfortable and allow me to show off knitted heels as well.

Hodge Podge Knitalong

A lot has happened at Chez Claybaugh over the past few weeks. I hadn't thought so until I sat down with my next door neighbor who had been on an adjacent trip to Boston and then jetted off to Europe. After listening to her adventures, I used all my fingers on both hands to give her a rundown of happenings in our atmosphere. I'll bore you only with the fiber portion of my life.
My knitting has revolved around WIPS these days. My goal is to only have about four things on the needles at a time. A garment, a scarf or shawl of some sort, a pair of socks, two at the most. Ravelry has helped me gain oversight in what I have in my stash and what's on my needles. This coupled with a newly discovered podcast "Stash and Burn", I hope to keep my knitting life more manageable.
Here is the latest rundown.
Recently completed,  Victorian Lace socks, the summer sock recipe from the SixSox KAL. The yarn I used was Lorna's Laces Baby Stripe. I liked the pattern, although if I never have to knit another melon stitch, I'll die happy. The yarn was from Olgajazzzy's stash that I had purchased last year. It was not my color either, but I found a friend who loves the socks and has the Ked's to wear with them.

On the needles, the Smidge Pidge in 100% Pure Angora, also bought from another bloggers stash. The stitch is hard to discern due to the heavy halo of bunny fur.

I am pleased to announce that I am at the halfway to completion of the last of the 2006 Socks That Rock yarns. This is by far the new favorite, Winters Eve, knit in the Mustang Sally colorway. It is with a heavy heart that I am declining the 2008 invitation of both Socks That Rock and the new Sundara Seasons yarn clubs. I have a veritable treasure trove of sock yarn that I want to use or destash.

My two languishing projects that have jumped back into the limelight are my never ending Lady Eleanor and the Hanne Falkenburg DaCapo jacket. Both are not portable any longer due to the size. This means that they are nearing completion. I'm ashamed to admit that the DaCapo has been in progress since November 2005 and Lady Eleanor was started a year later in November 2006. Hmm, I wonder what it is about November that prevents me from completing those projects. I have taken both to our little knitting group that meets upstairs at the bakery. I have the luxury of arriving at 7 AM, after dropping my son off at the pool, and knitting in solitude until 9 when the others begin to arrive. Total knitting time on Thursdays, five precious hours.

What up for 2008? This will be my year of destash. I loosely calculated, based on my Raverly inventory, that I have 7 sweaters, 5 scarves, and 20 pair of socks to work on. My latest addition to the list is Kraemers Silk and Silver. After reading  Clara Perkins review, I had to have it. So, enough already, I still have to make it through the SAFF weekend!

On a purely personal note, my son attended his first dance, Homecoming. Here he is in full regalia squeezing one of his swim teammates. Ah, to be young again.

In the Pink

I took Marble Arches, a Rockin' Sock Club 2006 shipment, on our May trip to Hawaii. My hopes were to finish the socks and post my holiday knitting much sooner than this. Instead, I cast on new items and worked on other things that were of more immediate interest.
I am pleased to say that I finished sock two this evening. I rushed onto the porch out to photograph my small accomplishment while there was still some light left.

The socks are knit using Blue Moon Fiber Arts STR medium weight yarn in the Pink Granite colorway. I used the recommended 2.25 mm needles. The resulting fabric is dense with little give.  That's alright, the socks fit and are comfortable.

The pattern has you cast on 144 stitches and knit and purl them together to create the ruffled edge at the cuff. Three sets faux cables put me in mind of Cookie's Tatania sock that I finished earlier this year.
My progress on keeping up with the bi-monthly shipments has been abysmal. I have another pair socks, Winter's Eve, left to knit to finish out the year 2006. Then on to 2007.
I'm not sure that my feet smell that badly, Koko!

My new skein and pattern, a lacy design and loud colorway, has already arrived. I just keep on knitting...

Mail Call

Hey, guess what these are. Maybe I'm the last one in the know (again), but I'll share anyway. They're MOO mini cards. Mine happen to be calling cards with my contact info on the back. How to order, you ask? Easy. I used my flickr account, choose  images that I liked, cropped them to my liking and divested my PayPal account by $20.00. Cheap and cheerful. The cards arrived in less than a week in todays mail, from the UK, no less. They are small but oh, so cute. I can just hand them to anyone interested in finding me  or my blog...
Just a little knitting update so I can say that some knitting has taken place. Tom and I actually put the boat into the water for the first time this season. My sock went along for the ride. I am rotating between Victorian lace Sock 1 and Marble Arches Sock 2. Most of the weekend was spent cataloging yarn and projects in Ravelry.

Here is another item that I received in the last weeks mail. Firebird is the newest STR yarn installment. I am woefully behind knitting up the sock yarn. I also snuck two skeins of the new Handmaiden Fleece Artist Sea Wool into the stash. Now that I have the Vintage Velvet off the needles, I think that I will concentrate on the Stormwater shawl that I've let languish as a WIP for to long.
To end my missive, a bit of gratuitous kitty photography. Here's Kittywitz hanging out in the backyard hammock. Just don't put your hand beneath the hammock in the vicinity of her paws. You've been warned...

Better Damp Than Never

With Tropical Storm Barry situated southwest of Tampa, we greet June 1st with much needed rain.
On this, the first day of the hurricane season, my rendition of the "Springtime in Paris" sock has been cast off. I finished the last few stitches sitting and gazing out on a gray sky and much needed precipitation. I had the first sock knit and took sock two on a fabulous trip to Hawaii. Alas, had I read the instructions more closely I would have understood that only one sock was to be knit. My partner was to knit the mate.
Merveilleux, très bon!
The yarn is from the fabulous dyers at Blue Moon Fiber Arts. This is the Downpour color-way. These pair are heading to the press for blocking and then shipped off to Louisiana and onto the waiting feet of my Hurricane Swap partner, Jill. I hope that she enjoys them as much as I enjoyed knitting them.
The pattern , très intelligent, is one that can be worn inside out. The one side represents raindrops while the other resemble many little Eiffel Towers. Très chic
Here is a close up of the pattern. see the little Eiffel Towers? Where can you find this little pattern, you ask? Why, join my favorite KAL "Six-Sox Knitalong". The new pattern was posted today.
By the way, this was my first attempt at "toe-up." Très bon!
Eye Candy Friday
A little segue. I just want to share my favorite summer  slurp with you. Limoncello with a splash of cranberry juice. You can find this lemony delight on the cordial shelf of your favorite liquor vendor.
Cheers.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

My little corner of Florida has been experiencing robin’s egg blue skies, balmy breezes and lots of sunshine. Every plant has new growth and the azalea, camellia and bougainvillea are in full bloom. The weather is conducive to spending the day on the beach, in the garden, just anywhere but in the office. I took the opportunity to grab lunch at one of the last remaining drive-in restaurants, the Moonlite Drive-In. They have been in operation since the late 50’s and still a family business. When I get the urge for a burger, that’s where I go!

Yesterday I took my completed Tatiana socks, left sock blocked and the right sock fresh off the needles, along with a burger and a Coke to the pier and enjoyed the sun sparkling on the water.
Getting to the point, my socks are finally finished. They were a challenging knit and I had to buy a set of Susan Bates aluminum needles to avoid the constant breakage that occurred when I was using the Clover bamboo DPN’s. I managed to mangle all the aluminum needles after endless K3t’s.
Next up for completion will be the Lenten Rose sock, then on to the Marble Arches, another kit from Blue Moon. I have just one more Blue Moon kit to knit to complete the 2006 socks. I am looking forward to getting a grip on all these sock kits before I drown in yarn…what a pleasant way to go!
I am entertaining the thought of a little contest with the prize being a skein of Blue Moon Socks That Rock yarn from my growing stash. What do you think?