Because you asked...

Sunfire asked what brand of pasta machine I bought. It's an Imperia brand; I picked it up at the Italian deli (Valoroso Foods) just up the street from us. It comes with the fettucine and tagliatelle cutters and the shop also carries the other cutters for it. I'm considering investing in one or two of them sometime down the road.

I saw the pasta maker that was on sale in London Drugs last month; I picked it up and felt how light it was and knew that it couldn't have been of reasonable quality. I was right. This one is heavy for it's size, comparatively. It certainly isn't the top of the pasta machine lines, but all the research I've done says it's a good brand, reasonably priced (I paid $60.00 cdn) and a good value. I'm really happy with it.

Roslyn, I've bookmarked the recipe you recommended and will be trying it soon. It sounds (looks) yummy. Thank you!

And Gail? Just for you...

And, for those of you who don't know me in person, those curls are natural. Don't hate me, k?

I have a new toy!

In addition to getting my hair cut yesterday (I love my hairdresser; I'm really happy with the cut), I picked up something I've had on my wish list for quite some time now.

Yes, a pasta machine! I love it! I've made noodles in the past and I've made crackers that would have been much easier to make with one of these. John and I have talked about getting one of these for a while now, but yesterday was the day and I'm thrilled!

The first thing I made was the Seedy Crisps, an Alton Brown recipe. I've made these before and wished I had the pasta machine. This time, they were done in no time! What a difference! These are a seedy cracker (hence the name, huh?), made with poppy seeds and sesame seeds. I didn't have sesame seeds, but I did have wheat germ, so I substituted. They're good with cheese or a spread of some kind. No, they're not like store bought crackers, but I know exactly what's in them and there's much to be said for that.

The next picture is a bit blurry, but I think you can see that it's a tray of fresh pasta. I've been wanting to do this for a seriously long time! Even though it was only 10:30ish (a.m.), I couldn't resist cooking up a bit of the pasta and tossing it with 2 cloves of garlic sauteed lightly in butter, with a couple slices of filatti salamme (sliced and sauteed, too) and a bit of freshly ground pepper. It was a quick, tasty snack/brunch; John loved it! I must admit, it did taste pretty good.

I've put the rest of the noodles into baggies and have them in the fridge. I'm thinking they'll make a real quick lunch: toss the noodles into boiling, salted water for about 4 minutes, saute some onions, garlic, fresh tomato, some basil... whatever else I might like and toss it all together for a quick lunch dish. When it's time for lunch, I'll throw it into the microwave until it's hot and I'll have a quick, fresh, homemade lunch. Sounds yummy and quick, yes?

If you have any suggestions or favourite fresh pasta recipes, pass them on. I love new to me recipes and I'm definitely open to suggestions.

All in all, a good investment! We'll be having some fun, John and I!

No, I Haven't Disappeared!

It feels like a long time since I blogged last. After putting the podcast together last week, I had nothing on my mind but World Wide Knit in Public day. Oh well, I'm back and I've been knitting. 

I've been working on the little sweater for the Armstrong Fair and it's coming along nicely. I'm really liking how this yarn knits up. The sweater has nice body to it, without feeling stiff; and it's quite soft, too. I think that whichever little boy ends up with this sweater will be quite comfortable in it. And whichever mom gets it will be quite happy with the fact that, though the yarn is 100% wool, it is washable! Always a good thing!

The other project that has been growing under my fingers is the Estonian Garden stole. I took it with me to WWKIP last week and I've worked on it almost every day this week. At this stage, it's too big for the little 'bag' I have the yarn in, as you can see.

The main section, the Little Flowers, is finished and I've started on the first of the two edging sections. As of a few minutes ago, I've completed one repeat of the Lily of the Valley section and am six rows into the second 16-row repeat. After that, there's one final repeat and then the final border chart to do. Then I'll be undoing the provisional cast on at the opposite end and completing that end. 

At this point, I have just over half a ball of yarn left and I'm hoping it's enough. It should be. If it isn't, though, I'll have to go through my entire stash to find the other skein, the one I know I have somewhere but have been unable to find. I'm beginning to second guess myself. I bought this yarn originally to make the Luna Moth shawl (remember that one?). I know I wound one skein into a ball and put the other two skeins into the stash closet and started knitting the shawl. I wasn't happy with how it was coming along and frogged it. When I started this stole, I couldn't find that ball, so I wound up the second skein. I'm now about halfway into the third skein, but do you think I can find that first ball? I've gone through a good portion of the stash and still haven't found it. Oh well, I digress.

This really is a nice pattern. It's well written, like all Evelyn Clark patterns are, the charts are easy to memorize and the result is lovely. And the nupps? Trust me when I tell you they really are not difficult. The secret is to keep them loose. If you've never done anything with nupps, allow me to explain them. In this case, you work a yarn over before and after the nupp. The nupp is made by working k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 into a single stitch. On the back side, those five stitches are purled together. I've found that if I let my working yarn go loose and pull it up slightly when I do the knit stitches, the nupp remains loose enough to allow the needle to slide quite easily into the five stitches on the purl side.

If you're looking for a reasonably simple lace pattern, I can heartily recommend this one. 

In other things, next weekend there won't be a podcast. We'll be out of town for the weekend, visiting family at the coast. Later today, I'll be putting together the special Father's Day podcast and I may just expand it a little to make up for the lack of a podcast next weekend. 

Before I forget, I should update you on Ethan. There really isn't much to report as yet. He did have the brain ultrasound, which showed no abnormalities and he did have an EEG. Now, Kristen is waiting to hear from the pediatrician's office. Once she knows anything, I'll let you know. 

Now, I'm off to the hairdresser for a much needed hair cut.

An Update on Ethan

Since yesterday, my daughter and Ethan are back at home, tired but okay. Ethan is scheduled for a brain ultrasound on Monday and they're waiting for an appointment at BC Children's Hospital for an EEG. The doctors have said that the "seizures" are not true seizures, more along the lines of tremors.

One pediatrician has taken Ethan's case and another (who has been a pediatrician in Abbotsford for a lot of years) has noted a link between these kinds of tremors and breast feeding (I wonder what THAT says!), intimating that once Ethan is no longer breast fed, the tremors may well disappear. We shall keep our fingers crossed.

All in all, I think he'll be fine and I thank you so much for your kind comments, concern and prayers. So does Kristen. If there are any developments, I will definitely let you know.

You are all so appreciated; you have no idea how much your support is felt... thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Knitting and News... not good news

I'm not sure where to start today. Maybe the knitting... it's not foremost on my mind at the moment, but it's a place to start. 

I HAVE worked on the Ropes & Picots cardi a little bit, but, while going through my stash looking for the already wound ball of Knitpicks Gloss laceweight yarn for the Estonian Garden Wrap, I came across a bag of Lerici Fein in a lovely orange sherbet shade of orange. There's enough for a garment for me. And, I had the perfect pattern in mind for it. It didn't go back into the stash closet. It will become this...

Yes, I know, I really should finish something before I start something else. But where's the fun in that? The yarn, incidentally, is a 55% cotton, 45% acrylic blend and is so soft and comfy and it will go beautifully with the fabric I picked up at the thrift store, with which I'll be making myself a summer shirt (yes, I sew, too... just not often). I never did find that ball of laceweight yarn.

Below is a progress shot of the Podcast sweater. By next week, I'll have it ready for the next step. If you're following along with the podcast, next week we'll be talking about the sleeves and getting ready for joining the whole thing together.

There's one more small project on the go, but I won't tell you anything about it just yet. It will be one of the clips in next week's podcast and I'll tell you more about it, with pictures, then. I will tell you that it is something that I intend to enter into the Armstrong Fair (Interior Provincial Exhibition) later this summer. At the moment, there isn't much to photograph, but it already has a story. You'll just have to tune in next week. :)

On to other things. Last night, and today, my grandson Ethan (4 months old) is very much in our thoughts. Yesterday, he was admitted to hospital with (as my daughter described it) "seizure-like episodes". Ethan and my daughter spent a stressful night in the hospital where he's had blood drawn, urinalysis and other tests done. Today, he's scheduled for an ultrasound on his brain, which they can do because the fontanelles haven't closed yet. If necessary, he may be sent to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver for a CT scan. 

So far, apparently, he's had a total of 4 of these episodes, each farther apart than the previous one (which I would think is a good thing). According to my daughter, the "seizures" are fairly mild, involving his head only... like tremors, shaking. They are, of course, worrying. 

I'll be calling my daughter again this afternoon and, hopefully, the news will be good. Whatever happens, I'll keep you informed. Do, please, keep Ethan, Kristen and Trinity in your thoughts, your prayers. I know they're in mine constantly.

I was going to write about something else as well, but it really isn't important and I think this is a good place to stop for now. Perhaps I'll put up another post tomorrow, hopefully a more upbeat post.

Every Other Saturday

If it's every other Saturday today, it must be podcast day. Episode #5 is up! As well, I've started a new podcast notes page. There's a link in my sidebar. There, you'll find pictures of some of the things I talk about, as well as links to books and patterns I mention in the show.

On the knitting front, for all intents and purposes, the baby dress is finished! I'll be taking it with me to Sit and Stitch this afternoon, where I'll try to finish the sewing up. Then, all that remains is to crochet the button band and buttonhole band; the bands are nothing more than a couple rows of single crochet around the entire back opening, with loops in the last row, for buttonholes. I'll be on the hunt for pink ribbon to match the pink yarn, and that will finish the dress off. Once I have everything together, I'll take pictures.

All I have to do now is wait until this little girl puts in her appearance, some time in August. 

So, what do you knit when the weather turns hot? It's been gorgeous, sunny and warm this week... lace? Cotton? How about alpaca? Yup, that's what I've been working on. In particular, I've picked up the Ropes & Picots cardigan again and am really enjoying working on it. I have the right front completely finished now; originally, I was going to get the fronts and back panel all to the armhole shaping, put them on a circular needle and work all the shaping at the same time. I've changed my mind. I'll just finish one piece at a time; it's a little less bulky and easier to handle, and it just feels like it's faster. I'll take pictures sometime this weekend.

In the meantime, I've got some tidying up to do here in the apartment. This afternoon is Sit and Stitch. If you're in the Kelowna area, feel free to join us at KVR Coffee in the Capri Center Mall, from 2-4 p.m.... every other Saturday.

Let Them Eat Cake!

The cake turned out fantastically well and John was absolutely thrilled with it!  As you can see from the pictures, I'm not lying. :)

Don't look too closely at the dirty oven; it just proves that we love cooking/baking. It does get cleaned regularly, just not recently. Normally, if I'm making the basic version of the chiffon cake, it will rise above the pan; I find that the variations don't usually come up quite as high. And the cake, cooled and ready for consumption...

Dessert is served! I made some chocolate whipped cream by adding about 1 teaspoon cocoa, about 1 tablespoon powdered (icing) sugar and 2 ounces of brandy and whipping it all up until thickened. Slice the cake and garnish with a good dollop of the chocolate whipped cream and decorate with a sprig of mint. Dust with powdered sugar. Eat!

In a future episode, I'll include a clip that I recorded about this cake and the little misadventure I had during it's making. The recipe, incidentally, for those of you who love cake (and who doesn't?) can be found by clicking the following link (pdf file):

Basic Chiffon Cake (with variations)

I'll put it in the sidebar as well. Enjoy!

Knitting Updated

I thought I'd update the progress on the baby dress. I was hoping I'd have all the pieces knitted by now, but I really didn't get a lot of knitting done this week. 

I did, however, finish up the front and back and one sleeve is done. I'm not sure how much I'll be working on it this weekend as the weather has finally turned nice and we really want to get out at some point. Unfortunately, there are chores that need to get done, too. 

Hopefully, the second sleeve won't take more than another hour or so to finish. If I get it done this weekend, I'll steam block the stocking stitch part of the dress and put the whole thing together. Originally, I had thought I'd do a serious blocking, but, in this case, I want the lacy parts NOT to stretch out, so I think a light steam blocking of the skirt is all that will be needed. That will even out the knitting and make it easier to put together. Then, it's just the neck and button bands to finish. I think that, in my button tin, I have some buttons that will work, but if not, it will be easy enough to find some small white buttons. 

The next pictures of this little project will be of the finished dress, I promise!

Last night, while we played Scrabble (I won by a single point), John kept saying he wanted cake. This morning, I asked him if he still wants cake and his response was "yup". And so, today I'll bake him a cake. I think I'll bake a chocolate chiffon cake. I'll even ice it (hmm... maybe I'll whip up some chocolate whipped cream)... just cuz I love him. 

If it turns out well, I'll post the recipe; it's a recipe I've had since high school and it has never failed me yet.

It arrived today!! The Lanett in pink, that is. I picked it up on my way home from work this afternoon and, as of this evening, both front and back are complete and the first of the sleeves is almost half done.

This weekend, I anticipate that I'll be blocking the pieces and putting it all together. Baby things are so nice that way; they work up so quickly!

The other thing in the picture is my new iPod Shuffle. I love it!! I've downloaded a bunch of podcasts and listen to them on my walk to and from work. It's great! Tiny, but great! Right now, I'm catching up on Sticks & String and very much enjoying David Reidy's podcast. It will take a while to catch up with all 101 episodes, and then I'll move on to another podcast. Perhaps, all the other podcasters will be inspiring. :)

Note!

Just a quick post. Episode #4 is up, but not at the usual place. I've opened a Podbean account and was able to upload the podcast with no problem.

You can find Episode #4 here.

As well, you may notice something new in the sidebar. You can play the podcast from the blog page (at least, I'm hoping it will work the way it's supposed to). If it works, fantastic! If not, I'll remove that widget. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

The widget is a little on the small side, I know, but if you click on the button directly below the main "screen", on the far right, you will see a list of podcasts. Simply click on the episode and hit the "play" button (a little triangle at the left side of the little screen). I know it's all small, but it was the only size that fit in the widget bar.

Technology - Can't Live Without It, Can't Shoot It

Episode #4 of the podcast should be up; it isn't. It seems mypodcast.com is having problems. From some of the comments I've read in their forum, this is a weekend problem. As I said  to John, I can't get it up (the podcast, that is). I'll keep trying, but I may not be able to upload the podcast  until Monday. There's got to be a better way!

On the knitting front, I have been knitting! I've been working on the Estonian Garden wrap and making good progress. The pattern calls for 41 repeats of the Little Flowers chart; I have 15 completed. This section really is the perfect tv knitting. There's just enough pattern to keep it interesting, and it's an easily remembered stitch pattern. The back side is purl, which makes it completely mindless. The yarn (Knit Picks Gloss lace weight) is scrumptious and feels so nice to work with. All in all, this time around, it's working up just right! 

You may remember that a few weeks ago, I started the Gail/aka Nightsongs shawl (Ravelry link). Well, I frogged it. It just wasn't going to be big enough with the amount of yarn I had available. Yesterday was a slow day at work, and I got off early enough to stop by the yarn shop on my way home. I came home with this...

It's HandMaiden Yarn's Sea Silk in the peridot colourway; peridot just happens to be the birthstone for the month of August, and that just happens to be my birth month... meant to be? If you've never seen this yarn, it's truly lovely. It has a beautiful sheen to it, seeing that it's 70% silk (and 30% seacell). 

The colour in the picture is pretty close to the actual colour, but still doesn't do it justice. I bought one skein and had a second put aside for me, to be picked up in a couple of weeks. I've done a bit of swatching for the Gail shawl and I've decided to go down a bit in the needle size; the pattern calls for this yarn on a 4.5 mm needle but I found that a bit too loose for my liking, so I've gone down to 4.0 mm and am liking it much more. 

Knowing me, I'll probably start this shawl later today... or when I'm done here. 

The Aeolian shawl, #2, is still being worked on, but with so much hockey happening this past week, I haven't worked on it much. I picked it up again yesterday and did a few rows. It will be very pretty when it's finished. I anticipate that I'll get quite a bit done on it this weekend. It's a long weekend here in Canada (Monday is Victoria Day.. a statutory holiday), but John will be working. He had yesterday off and will be working with his boss, who's in from Edmonton, on Monday, which gives me the day to myself. Care to guess what I'll be doing???

Knit Happens!

There has been knitting! The baby dress is at a standstill, though. I could have had it finished this weekend, but the pink yarn I ordered for the bottom edge and the cast on edge of the sleeves didn't show up. Apparently, it's been backordered. Thankfully, this baby's not due until August. Hopefully, the yarn will show up before too long.

All that needs doing at this point is one row and the cast off in pink, on both the front and back. Then, the sleeves, which are cast on with pink and patterned in the chevron lace all the way up. Seeing as I'm doing the smallest size, the sleeves will knit up very quickly... once the yarn gets here.

Having gotten to this point means that I have no tv knitting right now. You know what's coming, don't you? Uh huh, I've cast on another project. And, surprise, surprise, it's lace. This is the beginning of Evelyn A. Clark's Estonian Garden Wrap. I'm using Knit Picks Gloss Lace, in celery, on 3.75 mm needles. I had originally ordered this yarn to make the Luna Moth shawl, but just wasn't happy with the way it was knitting up. 

I've started this pattern before, once in an almost-cobweb weight red yarn (didn't like it) and once in Drops Alpaca (too folk-shawlish-looking.. is that a word?... wrong yarn and needle for this pattern). Both, obviously, were frogged. This, though, is a good match. I like how it's knitting up; it just feels right. This part of the pattern is almost mindless; it's an 8-row pattern repeat that's easy to remember, and the wrong side is purled. So far, I've completed 4 repeats and the pattern calls for 41. Then, there's a lily of the valley edging (complete with nupps) and a final edge that looks similar to the edging of the Swallowtail shawl.

Seeing that hockey will be coming on soon, this wrap should show good progress over the next few days. Go, Canucks, go!!

Out and About

After doing some grocery shopping yesterday, John and I went for a drive. We wanted to see the Arrowleaf Balsamroot in bloom. It's one of our favourite Okanagan flowers. Now, before anyone says anything, I realize it's not just an Okanagan flower; thing is, I'd never seen them before we moved here. 

They are, in fact, indigenous to the western part of the continent and were widely used by the aboriginal peoples for food and medicine. And they're beautiful. We saw one property that was almost completely yellow with these cheerful plants.

If you look carefully at the picture below, just above the flowers, you can see something that John was surprised to find... wild asparagus! There wasn't a lot, but we each had a couple of stalks of freshly picked wild asparagus. How does it compare? Well, the stalks were lovely, with a slightly stronger flavour than cultivated asparagus; the heads I found to be a little bitter. That could be because they were already beginning to open up. Nonetheless, it's the first time I've eaten wild asparagus.

The second picture was 180 degrees from where John was picking the asparagus. This is a view of the lake, looking toward the city of Kelowna. If you look carefully, you may be able to see the new bridge (look towards the left side). Kelowna is on the right hand side of the picture.

Incidentally, the picture in the header of the blog shows the old bridge and the new bridge, side by side. The old bridge, in the foreground, is no longer there from what I understand. (We don't get out that way much).

Knitting... oh yeah, I've been doing some of that, too. Mainly, I've been working on the baby dress. It's coming along nicely, a little further along than the picture in my previous post shows.

The front is now at about 4" and the back at about 3"; it's my tv knitting, or when I don't feel like concentrating on what I'm doing. I'm not rushing this little dress; the baby's not due until August.

The periwinkle Aeolian is coming along nicely. I've just started the Final Agave chart. Again, I'm not rushing this one; I have one done and the second one is just for fun (like most of my knitting, really). It doesn't photograph well at this stage, so I won't show it to you until it is off the needles.

Episode #3 is up!

Go! Check it out; episode #3 of the podcast is up.

John and I are taking the day off. I'm not sure what we'll be doing, but we're getting out into the glorious sunshine! 

We're having a baby!

At work, that is... not John and me, not my kids, no new grandbabies! 

Last week, my boss and his wife drove to Vernon for an ultrasound. They're expecting their second child and wanted to know whether they'll be welcoming their first son or their second daughter. Apparently, our local hospital/ultrasound clinic will not tell prospective parents until after the 25th week, but the clinic in Vernon will. (I make no judgements; they have their reasons.)

When he came back to work, I asked my boss if I'd be knitting with pink yarn or blue yarn. He told me... pink. They're having another little girl! Well, if that isn't just the perfect opportunity to knit something pretty, I don't know what is!

So, I started going through my pattern stash. After whittling my choice down to two or three items, I decided on one that I've made before. No, you haven't seen it on the blog... ever. I made this little dress 25 years ago, once for my own daughter and once for a neice. I love the pattern; it's cute, it's simple, it's classic. It doesn't get much better than that.

The pattern is from an old Scheepjeswol magazine, Journal 45. The first two times I made this dress, I used Paton's Beehive Baby crystal, the one with the shiny thread spun into it. I don't think they even make it anymore, but even if they do, I didn't want to make it in an acrylic yarn. I'm using Sandnesgarn Lanett, a lovely, soft, washable wool, perfect for baby clothes. The dress is knit on 3.0 mm needles; it's started at the waist and worked up to the shoulders, then stitches are picked up (and instantly doubled) and worked down for the skirt. Later, a ribbon will be threaded through the small holes made by the increases. At this stage, you can see I'm working on the skirt; this part is perfect for tv knitting as it's 5" of stocking stitch. 

The bottom edge of the skirt will be finished with a pretty pale pink, which I have on order. The yarn store didn't have a pretty pastel pink in stock, so they've ordered some for me. The pattern is written for three sizes, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year; I'm making the 6 month size. I figure that she'll be able to wear it right around Christmas. Perfect or what?

Of Bobbles and Butterflies

As some of you may know, I've posted a bunch of my patterns on Ravelry. One pattern, the Butterfly Garden Hat, has elicited a few requests for better pictures of the actual "butterflies". Well, I would have been more than happy to oblige, if I was able.

The original hat, however, was sold to a woman from Alaska. It was on display in the yarn store I used to work in and she wanted it... badly! Eventually, I gave in and sold her the hat. Because of that, though, I was unable to take any more pictures of the hat; and it was the only hat I'd made in this design.

That is now being remedied. A couple of months ago, I ordered some of the original yarn I'd used, Fleece Artist Blue-Faced Leicester DK. It came last week and the hat is now on the needles. This isn't the same colour as the original hat, but that's not a big deal. The black yarn is Pingouin 3.5 (50-50 wool and acrylic), and I'm using 4.0 mm needles. 

Bobbles, slip stitch ribbing, butterflies and beads - this is the perfect hat for someone who loves something different. It's colourful, it's different, it's just plain FUN! I know, there are no butterflies and beads yet; that's the next section. I'll take more pictures when the hat is complete. As well, I'll try to put together a tutorial about the butterfly stitch. It's simple, really; it's a slip stitch pattern that just looks so pretty, especially in a variegated yarn like this one. 

The pattern is available as a free Ravelry download; if you're not on Ravelry and would like the pattern, email me and I'd be more than happy to send you the pdf. (If you're a knitter and you're not on Ravelry, why not???)

Don't forget about the contest on the podcast. Tell your friends, tell other knitters, spread the word. Listen to the podcast, leave a comment, win lace yarn. What could be easier? The deadline for entries is Friday, May 1/09; the winners  name will be chosen on Saturday and announced in the next podcast (the address is in my sidebar).

It's More Lace!

Are you getting tired of seeing my lace? I sure hope not, because I just can't seem to stop knitting it!

Aeolian #2, aka the Periwinkle Aeolian, is coming along nicely. This one won't have nearly the amount of beads as the first one, and will be smaller, more scarf-sized than shawl-sized. I really like this yarn. It's so soft and cushy; it is, after all, baby alpaca lace-weight. 

And I've cast on ANOTHER shawl... are you surprised? Finish one, cast on two; isn't that how it works? This one is Gail aka Nightsongs. I found the pattern for this shawl through Ravelry; it's a free download. That's always a good thing! I have no idea what the yarn is. I do know it's a fingering weight sock yarn, 100% wool, but that's about all I know. It's been in my stash for quite some time, but has been wound into cakes and has no tags. It is very nice to work with and I love the colours in it; does anything else matter?

Without giving anything away, I have a recipient in mind for this shawl. I do not often give my shawls away; to date, I've only given away two of them and it almost feels like giving away a child. But, in this case, I think it will be the right thing. It just feels right. 

This pattern is "different". If you've listened to the podcast, you'll have heard about this shawl. Most of the shawls I've knit to date have been, more or less, "built" the same way. There are two or three edge stitches, with a yarn over, knit one, yarn over at the center to separate the two halves. (You can sort of see that in the Aeolian picture.) If you look closely at the picture of the Gail shawl, you won't see a center line. You will see a double yarn over, and that is it. (The tail at the top is the center of the shawl.) It took me a while to wrap my head around that, but once I did, well... the rest is easy! It isn't a difficult pattern, but I do find that I have to pay attention. 

As far as my health goes, this cold has really knocked the spit out of me. I woke up this morning with a terrific sinus headache, but drugs have helped. Drugs are good. I'm finally feeling a little better now; I did go to work the last two days even though I probably should have stayed home. There were, however, jobs that needed to be done, and in the doing, I kept busy. I wasn't working directly with anyone else, so I did what needed doing, but did leave early. I'm pretty sure I'm over the worst now, thankfully!

Now, there's a man who wants to get on to the computer for research purposes. I suppose I should let him; it means he'll leave me in peace while I knit. Does it get any better than that??

Episode #2 is up

Just a quick note to let you know that Episode #2 of the podcast is up. You can find it at:

http://stringsnthings.mypodcast.com

Oh, and Sandie, you don't have to download it to listen. Just hit the "play" button and you can listen to it. :)

More blogging later. Right now, I want coffee and a hot shower!

What's next?

Now that the Aeolian shawl is off the needles, blocked and draped over my favourite chair, I'm a little at loose ends. I know, I could be working on Aeolian #2, and I have been. Today, though, the charts and my brain just did not play well together.

I was craving some plain, knit-without-thinking kind of knitting. I had started a pair of socks for John at last week's Sit & Stitch, intending to work on them only during S&S. However, today they came out of the bag and I spent a couple of hours on the first sock. Here's how it's looking so far...

John actually requested a pair of blue socks, so who am I to say no? The yarn, as you can see, is Lana Grossa Meilenweit, Mega Boots Stretch in colour #721. It has some variegation in, but not too much colour because heaven forbid he should have "wild" socks! :)

These will be very basic socks, 72 stitches on 2.5 mm needles, 1x1 ribbing for about 1", then k3 p1 rib for the rest of the sock. I'll probably carry the ribbing over the foot as well.

It's nice to be knitting something mindless again.

Nicola's Right!

Nicola commented yesterday that I love my lace; she's so right! 

I went to Michael's yesterday and found beads very close to the beads I used. They're slightly lighter in colour, but not enough to be noticeable. I decided to take my time finishing the last few rows; it didn't help that I had a kink in my neck, but a nap and some pain killers took care of that long enough for me to finish this project. The shawl came off the needles at about 7:00 last night, with much fanfare on my part. 

John has been following it's progress from the beginning and suggested that it might be easiest to block this one on the bed; the bed is also the largest piece of "floor (blocking) space" in this apartment. When he got up this morning (I was already up), he stripped the bed and let me know that it was ready to use. I do love him! (He has since taken the sheets to the laundry room and has two loads running... gotta love a man who does the laundry!) It took me over an hour to block it and I'm not sure just how many pins I used; suffice it to say, there are a lot of pins holding this shawl in place!

I probably could have blocked it more severely, but I don't think it needs it. It's quite a large shawl already (approximately 42" long and 56" across). As much as the bed is the perfect place to block this shawl, I'm not sure I like using it. The height is not the easiest on the back, if you know what I mean. An hour hunched over, putting pins into a piece of lace is pretty hard on the back. But it's done and I love it even more!

Now, I'll let the pictures do the talking...

So Close, and Yet So Far

The Aeolian Shawl could have been finished, should have been finished, would have been finished but for one thing... I ran out of beads. I'm on the second to last pattern row, about halfway through the second half and I have no more beads. 

That means a trip to Michael's to see if I can find something similar. I'm pretty confident I'll find something there, but if not, Kristen, you'll be getting a phone call. :)

In the meantime, because I can't be doing nothing, I started another one. Aeolian, that is. This one will be a smaller one, a shawlette. I have two skeins of this yarn, 400 metres/50 gram skein; it's from the Diamond Luxury Collection, Baby Alpaca laceweight, in a lovely periwinkle. This stuff is lovely! It's soft, it's cushy, it's just... mmmmmm! And, on my monitor, the colour in the picture is very close to the actual colour of the yarn.

This shawlette will have beads, instead of nupps, but not nearly as many as the shawl. I have the beads, more than enough of them, at the ready. They're kind of a purply bead with a blue lining, very interesting, and will go quite nicely with the yarn; no contrasting beads this time. Right now, I have one more repeat of the yucca pattern to go before I start the transition chart into the agave pattern. Because I'm not doing as much beading on this one, I have a feeling it will go very quickly and will be very pretty.

About the podcast... thank you to all of you who've given me feedback. It is so appreciated and has been very much taken to heart. I'm planning the next podcast for next weekend, so be on the lookout for it (probably sometime on Saturday afternoon/evening). I had some opportunity to work on it this week and I'm hoping you will enjoy listening to it as much as I've enjoyed working on it so far.

As a teaser, I'll be announcing a contest, there will be a Trinity story, and a book review among other things. I hope you'll tune in.

For now though, I wish you all a Happy Easter.

Knitting and Talking To Myself...

There hasn't been much time spent with the Aeolian shawl this week, for some reason. I'm still loving it, but this week just hasn't been a knitting week. I'm not sure why. Well, no, that's not exactly true. 

I think there has been a little bit of resentment happening around here. Perhaps I've been spending too much time on the knitting and not enough time on the man??? He's probably right; I've been a little obsessive about this project. The shawl will get done and it won't take forever. That I know. 

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again... I really love this shawl. I was a little concerned at one point that the beads might be too much of  a contrast, but I 'm liking the contrast more and more now. I was concerned, too, that I might not have enough beads, but it's looking like I'll probably be alright in that department. Phew!

On the podcast front.... thank you so much to those of you who have given me feedback. Your comments have been read, studied, seriously thought about and I've decided that I WILL jump into the podcasting pool. It may take away from knitting time, it will surely take away from John time, it will be a lot of work. All that is true. If, however, I let that stop me from doing this, I've been defeated before I even get started. I know that I'll probably never interview anyone famous; that's alright. They've all been interviewed ad nauseum, I'm sure (but if anyone famous reads this blog and would be willing to be interviewed by me... feel free to contact me); I have some ideas floating around in my little brain and I've taken to keeping a notebook handy for jotting them down. As well, I'm open to ideas from you. You've already given me a few ideas and I thank you!

In the interim, a website has been designed for the podcast the software is waiting for my input. Now, it's just a matter of getting John out of the apartment so I can talk to myself for half an hour or so. Then, I'll put the whole thing together and present it to you, neatly packaged, with a bow on the top. 

Soon.

...............................................

Well, colour me embarassed! I had this post published... I thought. It seems I saved it as a draft this morning, rather than hitting the "publish post" button. I guess I wasn't as awake as I thought I was.

It's been a few hours since I wrote the above and things have changed. I now have a podcast up and ready for download!! I'm excited! You can find my podcast at:

Strings'n Things... the Podcast

Check it out and let me know what you think. Keep in mind, this is the very first installment and it wasn't easy to sit in a room, talking to yourself. *grin*

Tell Me What You Think

I have been mulling over an idea this week and I'd like to run it by you. 

Since we got this new computer, I've been thrilled at having up to date technology at my finger tips (well, okay, as up to date as any computer technology can be two months after you've brought it home). As well, I've been listening to several podcasts. One of them mentioned a friend who used Garage Band as her pocasting "equipment". It just so happens that iMac comes with Garage Band.

And so, my little brain has put two and two together and I've been contemplating jumping into the podcasting pool, as an adjunct to the blog. What do you think?

Do you think I have what it takes to be a podcaster? If I do this, what kinds of things do you like in a podcast? What don't you like in a podcast? What's the best length for a podcast? (The ones I listen to are anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes.) Should I put together a test cast first?

Give me some feedback; let me know what you think.

Aeolian Update

This shawl is addictive! It's really difficult to tear myself away from it. As of this morning, I've completed the Agave charts and have started on the edging. According to the designer, the edge of the larger size (which I'm making) takes 45% of the total amount of yarn. That means, I'll have to wind up another skein.

Each row now takes about 1/2 hour to complete (over 500 stitches). I can't wait to see it off the needles and blocked!

And the nupps? No problem! As long as they're done loose enough, they're really not a big deal at all. Only one thing is worrying me. I'm not sure I'll have enough beads to finish the shawl. I bought the beads in Abbotsford, while visiting my daughter, so it's not like I can go back to Woolaroo for more. I'm hoping Michael's will carry something close enough that no one will notice any difference... IF I don't have enough, that is. (keeping my fingers crossed) And if Michael's doesn't carry anything acceptable, I may have to get Kristen to make a trip to Woolaroo on my behalf, and then mail the beads to me. That, however, would mean putting the shawl on hold until the beads arrive. Ack, I can't bear to think of it!  ;-)

On another note, yesterday I washed and re-blocked my Flower Basket shawl. I made that one a couple of years ago now and after my trip to the coast, I decided it needed a wash. I was really surprised at how much colour bled out into the water, even though it's been washed and blocked before. The water was a really pretty shade of green. It did worry me a little, though. Is it going to bleed each time it's washed? If so, what will that do to the original colour, which is sooooo pretty?

I must stop worrying!

All That and A Bag of Chips

This Aeolian shawl is addictive! 

I've done the first section, the Yucca section. On the wrong side, it DOES look like an egg carton! This part worked up quickly; it's easy and rhythmic to work, very intuitive. Now, I'm on to the second section, the Agave section. This takes a little more concentration. This is also where the beads come in, which slows things down even more. 

So far, it's a fun, fun project that I'm really looking forward to finishing. I want to see what it looks like blocked!

Potato chip, anyone?

Still Here

It feels like forever since I've posted. I have, of course, been away; last weekend was spent with my daughter, granddaughter and grandson. I got back home on Monday afternoon (the bus ride was uneventful and even pleasant... both ways) and have been busy with work since. Today, though, I have time to sit down and post.

First off, I have knitting to share with you. I confess I've been charmed into starting another project. Every now and then, a pattern comes along that you just HAVE GOT TO start, and it usually gets finished quickly. This project is like that. I want desperately to see what the next section will look like, so I'm working exclusively on it. So, what is it??

Well, the spring Knitty is up (you know the address... knitty.com) and there's a beautiful shawl by Elizabeth Freeman, Aeolian. It really is gorgeous and I couldn't resist casting on.

The yarn I'm using is, once again, the Jarbo Garn Gastrike 1 ply in the natural colour. I'll be using the copper coloured glass beads you see in the plastic bag. The pattern actually calls for beads throughout, but I think it would be too heavy, and I'm not sure there are enough beads for that. I'll just be placing the beads in the lower half of the shawl, where they'll give drape and elegance. 

I'm a little farther along now than I was when I took the picture; I have six repeats completed and need 12 for this first section. As I said, I'm really eager to see how the next section comes out.

So, I went to visit my daughter (thanks again for the ticket, Kristen!) and had a wonderfully busy weekend. I got to see all the kids and grandkids and we also visited my mother on Sunday. Here are a few of the pictures I took; I didn't take all that many pictures, by the way, only 40 or so.

My mother, with Ethan, six weeks old...

A very loving and precious big sister, Trinity with her baby brother, who just happens to be wearing a sweater his grandmother made for him. As an aside, when she got up on Saturday morning, the first words out of her mouth were, "Grandma Evelyn, could you teach me to knit?". Does this kid know her way into a grandmother's heart, or what? So, I did. I had a ball of Malabrigo and some 4.5 mm needles with me for just that purpose. She got the principal of it very quickly. If we lived closer by, I'd have her knitting in no time!

Finally, my favourite picture... mother and son. And yes, he IS that cute!

Second post of the day

Since we’ve upgraded the computer, I’ve made some discoveries. Now, these are not new things. Others of you have discovered these things a long time ago. So, what have I discovered? Podcasts and You Tube.

Don’t laugh. Our old computer couldn’t handle all that technology. This one can. So far, thanks to You Tube, I’ve discovered that I’ve been doing Cat Bordhi’s moebius cast on wrong. I’ve since used one ball of yarn from the stash to do an experimental moebius… correctly. It’s nothing fancy, nothing worth even a picture.

And then there are podcasts. There’s a part of me that doesn’t like having “noise” happening while I’m doing something else, but podcasts are definitely a diversion. So far, I’ve subscribed to four podcasts, three of which are knitting related. The fourth is from CBC, The Vinyl Café, with Stuart Maclean.

One of the three knitting podcasts is Cast On with Brenda Dayne, who, in the last one, had a conversation with Tara Jon Manning, author of Men in Knits and Mindful Knitting. I listened to that podcast while I was in the process of knitting the Inga hat. It did inspire me to slow down and really pay attention to my knitting. You know what? The second half of that hat looks much better than the first half. I tend to rush things; slowing down a bit really made a difference.

I must admit I wasn’t doing any kind of meditation, but I was definitely more aware of the needle and yarn creating each stitch… more mindful knitting. Try it sometime!

In other things, the eyes are feeling better, but still a bit itchy. I must learn not to rub my eyes when they’re dry and itchy, especially not if I’m at work. I know that it’s a reaction to something environmental this time. It happens occasionally; I just don’t know what triggers it, apart from one of the drops my optometrist uses.  I should be back at work tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep.

Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favourites? Any you recommend over any others? What about You Tube? Any recommendations? So far, I’ve only been checking the knitting stuff, but I’m open to other recommendations, too. 

FO and... Where are my sunglasses?

Hopefully this works. I'm back to using Photobucket, but it's taking a bit of time to get used to it again. We've had to upgrade our computer and now that everything goes nice and fast, I'm trying to get used to using some of the software again.

Anyway, this won't be a long post. I'm home 

from work today because of this...

Yes, they're tender and sensitive. I'll be putting on my sunglasses very soon because it is a lovely, sunny (but cold!) day. I'm not sure what I reacted to this time, but it happens occasionally. Right now, my eyes are even redder than they were when I took the picture. It hasn't stopped me from knitting, though.

Here's the finished Inga Hat. When making the decision to make this hat, I read a lot of comments in Ravelry. A number of them stated that the hat came out big. Maybe they were using a heavier yarn, larger needles? If anything, this hat is a little on the tight side. It's long enough to cover my ears nicely, but it certainly isn't big.

The details, in case you've forgotten.. Sandnes Garn Alpakka, 3.5 mm needles, Inga Hat, available as a free download through Ravelry.

Now, back to vegging. Where did I leave my sunglasses?

Inga - A Learning Experience

I love projects that teach me something.  This little hat is one of those things. Meet Inga. I've seen the braided edging on numerous glove/mitten and hat patterns, but had no idea how it was done. That's why I wanted to make this hat.

And you know what? It isn't difficult at all! As a matter of fact, it's really quite simple and ingenious. It is, however, a somewhat slow and tangled technique. Basically, what you're doing is twisting the yarns above or below each other, while knitting reverse stocking stitch (purling all the stitches). 

The details? The Inga Hat, available here (it's free). The yarn is Sandnes Garn Alpakka, a lovely, smooshy dk weight alpaca yarn from Norway. I'm using a 3.5 mm circular needle. What you see so far is one evening's worth of knitting. So far, the only downside I can see is that I used the 3.5 mm needle on the braided edging, where I should have gone down to a 3.0 mm. However, I couldn't find a 16" 3.0 mm circ, so I used what I COULD find. It does curl up, but I think that, once on the head, that should fix itself. As well, I'm not that far into the hat yet; it may well straighten itself out as I go along. We'll see. If not, I can always tack it down slightly to keep it from curling.

Ruba'iyat Mittens Update

They're done! I finished up the thumb last night and immediately washed and blocked the mittens. They're still not completely dry but, let me tell you, they are warm, even damp! I love how they turned out. I love the colours, I love the warmth. There is just nothing I don't love about these mittens.

As a recap, the pattern is Heather Desserud's Ruba'iyat Mittens, available as a free Ravelry download. The yarns are Louet Gems Pearl (the brown yarn) and Fleece Artist sock (the coloured yarn, obviously), both fingering weight yarns. The mittens were worked on 2.5 mm circular, using the magic loop method. The only modification I made was to start with a picot edging rather than the ribbed edge that Heather used. 

Now, I have plans on making a stranded hat. It probably won't be in these colours, even though I still have plenty of this yarn at my disposal. Hmm... I probably could design a hat using the same motifs, couldn't I? At least that way, for once, my hat and mittens (or gloves, as the case might be) would match! I'll have to think about that a little more. In the meantime, I have a pattern in mind, and yarn to work with. It will be a project that includes something I've not done before, a challenge. More another day.

Right now, though, it sounds like John's moving furniture again. I'd better go and check up on him... and the status of dinner.

Sorry, but I've just got to rave!

If you like granola.... if you've ever... or never... made your own granola... check out this recipe. I downloaded it last weekend and had the opportunity to make it today and I'm ecstatic! This is, by far, the best granola I've ever tasted. (And right now, it's still warm!)

Here's the link... make some!  Granola (Food Network.com... Alton Brown's recipe) I may never buy granola again! No, I WON'T buy granola ever again! :)

I did modify the recipe somewhat; we had no maple syrup, so I used honey; I used sunflower oil and I added pecans, sunflower seeds in addition to the cashews and almonds; instead of just raisins, I used a mixed dried fruit blend that includes raisins (3 kinds), cranberries, papaya, apple, mango, apricot and pear. There is a lot of room for doing your own thing with this recipe. Do try it and let me know what you think.

Would it be greedy of me to refill my "bowl"???

Small solutions for small problems

I have a small problem, so I've come up with a small solution. The first thing I do in the mornings, after pouring a cup of coffee for myself, is log on to my computer. That's when the problem manifests itself; my right wrist gets really cold. Not just chilly, but bone-chillingly cold. 

I've been wanting to make myself a cuff for a long time now, but have taken to wearing a fingerless glove without putting my hand in the hand part. Know what I mean? Well, I've been wearing it like a cuff. I don't like my palm covered while I'm on the computer because it interferes with mouse/trackball use. And we can't have that, can we?

Yesterday, I stopped by my LYS and picked up a couple of balls of  Sandnes Alpakka, dk weight 100% alpaca. It's lovely stuff; couldn't stop fondling it in the store, so I knew it was coming home with me. It's a very simple pattern: cast on 48 stitches on 3 mm dpns, work k2, p2 rib for about 4", then about 1/2" in 1x1 rib and cast off. I've made one; I'm not sure I'll make a second, but it's probably a good idea, don't you think? My left wrist might get jealous. 

And, you ask, does it keep my wrist warm? Oh yeah! As I'm typing, I can feel the warmth radiating inward and my entire body is getting warmer... oh wait, maybe that's just a hot flash. 

On another note, I've been gifted with a ticket to the coast! On the 13th, I'll be getting on a bus and going to Abbotsford to visit my daughter. It's her way of ensuring that I get to meet Ethan (my newest grandson) before he's no longer a baby. I'll be there just for the weekend, but I'm excited!