Update ('cause I said I would)

Since knitting is still pretty much for gifts at this point, I'll talk about the other thing I did last weekend: Applesauce.

30 lbs. of mixed apples from my cousins' apple trees.  I wish I'd brought my camera while I was picking; their guard turkeys and chickens were amusing if annoying.  They were trying to eat all my apples, not just the bad ones I threw to them.  The chickens weren't a problem, but the turkeys were tall enough to reach into my picking box and peck at my shoes while I was on the ladder.

I washed the apples, cut them into chunks, and removed stems, bad spots and some of the blossom ends (though I think I'll do more of that next time.)  I chucked them into a pot as I cut, with about 1/2 cup of water, on medium heat.  I cooked them until softened, about 15-20 minutes.

 I processed the hot apples through a Victorio Strainer (a food mill)... apples go in the white hopper at the top, you turn the crank (just visible on the right side) and out comes mushed applesauce, without skins, seeds, or unpleasant crunchy bits.

The finished applesauce needed no extra sweetening or seasoning, so went back onto the stove to stay hot.  I prepared pint Mason jars by washing in the dishwasher, packing them with applesauce, and processing in a boiling water canner for 30 minutes.

30 lbs of apples = 15 canned + 3 frozen pints of applesauce.

(plus extra for tasting and dessert... hot applesauce on gingerbread!)

Meanwhile, my husband was installing insulation.

He did come down and help me when it got dark.

Holidays and FO's

Once again, I haven't updated in a while.  The main reason for this is most of what I'm currently working on is Christmas gifts for family members (some of whom actually read this blog; hi Mom!).

Current skills-in-progress: mitered squares, endurance.

I've got a few cute sweaters I want to knit for myself (in 2008) but I'm not sure how I'll get through them.  The first is Serrano, which people say can be tough to read but not so bad to execute, once you understand what the designer wants you to do.  I'm ordering color cards from KnitPicks and will probably work this in Essential or Gloss.  The other one I want to do is the Sugar Plum Wrap Sweater I found when I picked up a magazine on a whim.  Its suggested yarn is also from KnitPicks.

I've got 5 inches of a top (Mikado Ribbon Lacy Pullover) done, and the back and 3 inches of the front of a stockinette hoodie, but I keep getting bored.  In the case of the Pullover, it's because of the yarn; I'm using Lion Brand Incredible and it's a pain to work with since I'm trying to to twist it up too much.  In the case of the hoodie, I get sick of stockinette.

I'm going to try to do weekly updates here, let's see how well that works...

Blocking Results

DO block Berroco Ultra Alpaca.  It drapes better, gets softer and loses most of its (admittedly small to begin with) itchiness.

I'll be bringing my newly blocked red Hatmione out camping with me this weekend... 80s during the day but mid 40s to 50s at night... I'm sure I'll be happy to have it.

Blocking

Today I blocked my red Hatmione and the heart mittens.

Unfortunately, the cookie rack I set them on to dry is no longer fully enameled, and I managed to get rust stains on the mittens.  I'm sure the hat also has rust stains, but at least they're the same color as the yarn!

I tried Shout and cream of tartar to get the stains out, with partial success.  I'm letting them dry now and might try lemon juice and salt after the weekend.

Grr.

Progress Report

I don't know why, but I tend to have loads of projects going at once, switching back and forth, and I'll often finish a bunch at the same time.

Now is not a finishing time, but a starting time.

One new project I'm not going to talk much about yet, except that I'm knitting it using 6-strand cotton embroidery floss on size 1 needles.  Knitting is fine using this floss, but purling is a pain due to the tendency of the floss to separate.

I've also been working slowly on a set of the Hermione's Cable and Bobble mittens from Charmed Knits to match the hat I finished recently.

On Friday, a big thunderstorm came through my area, and it knocked out power to my house all evening.  I couldn't knit my small DPN projects by flashlight, so I started another Hermione hat:

 (Purple Hatmione and her older sister)

This one is in "Fantasy Yarns Cashmere Luxury Aran" I picked up on clearance at AC Moores.  I love working with this yarn; it's 45% merino, 49% microfiber and 6% cashmere, beautifully soft, very stretchy and forgiving, runs smoothly through the fingers, and it's not scratchy at all.  The Berroco Ultra Alpaca I used for the first hat felt fine in the skein at the store, but seems to be a little scratchy when knit up into the hat.  Maybe when I wash and block it that'll soften up a bit.

Harry Potter (and other) Knits

Yes, I've been busier than I look.  I've finished up a bunch of projects...

Ravenclaw bookscarf. (~8/8/07)

Project details:

Pattern: from Laura Miller's website; pattern can also be found in Charmed Knits.

Needles: size 0 dpns

Yarn: DMC Pearl Cotton size 5, blue 796 and bronze 436.

Ravenclaw Tote Bag.  (~8/10/07)

 

Project details:

Pattern: from HP House Fair Isle Pouch Bags.

Needles: size 6.5 mm circulars

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver colors 0387 (Soft Navy) and 0400 (Grey Heather) on size 6.5mm circular needles.

Notes: It's not quite done yet; I still have to line the bag with fabric and attach a shoulder strap.

Tips & Tricks: This was my first colorwork project.  I knit with one color in each hand (blue in right, my dominant hand, and silver in my left hand).  Despite what the pattern says, I found it very important to catch the stranded color every 3-4 stitches, or else the color blocks would pull apart at the edges.  This was especially true on the edges of the bag (where the pattern would repeat) since when the bag's sides were folded, there was nothing pulling the blocks into position.  I used this website to learn how to catch the floats.  I would catch the last stitch of every repeat, and this seemed to keep the edge blocks in shape.  I also caught the strands in the large areas of color in the shields, and every so often at the top or bottom edge of a block in the middle.

 Heart Mittens (not HP-inspired). (~8/13/07)

 

Project Details:

Pattern: a mishmash of several free online patterns.  The general shape of the mittens is from the Generic Norwegian Mitten pattern.  The chart on back and front is basically Corazon, although I modified it a little bit to fit on fewer stitches, and used three colors instead of two.  I also cast on fewer stitches (40) and increased to size right before starting the chart to make the ribbing more fitted.  I used a tubular cast-on.

Needles: 3.5mm dpns

Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Bellezza Tesoro (worsted) in Cream, Pink & Purple.  (on sale)

Finished Size: 9.5 inches long (from tip to bottom of cuff), 3.5 inches wide in the hand.  I'd say a child's large or women's extra small.  Unfortunately, a hair too small for me, which means much too small for either cousin I was thinking of giving them to.

Notes: I'm going to try blocking them larger but I don't have much faith in that (the colorwork is pretty tight).

Hermione's Cable & Bobble Hat. (8/19/07)

Project Details:

Pattern: from Charmed Knits.  I did 10 fewer ribbing rows than in the pattern.

Needles: 4.5 mm circular, 5 mm dpns to finish the crown.

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Redwood Mix colorway.  It's not quite the same color as the pics though I did tweak the pictures to get the color closer.

Finished Size: 9.5 in long, without turning up the ribbing.  15 in circumference, unstretched.  It fits my head well, and I guess I have an average to small head.

Notes: A fun knit, my first cables and bobbles.  I like the way the cables shrink at the top of the crown.  I'll try blocking the hat to "settle and even out the cables" as suggested in the pattern.  This will go on my list of patterns I can knit as gifts.

Long time, no sew...

I haven't been nearly as unproductive as my long absence would suggest.  I need to remember to post more often.

Here's a picture of my newest project:

This will be a book scarf, in Ravenclaw colors.  It is knit according to the pattern, on size 0 DPNs, in DMC size 5 pearl cotton, blue 796 and bronze 436.  The skeins in the top corner will be for another in Gryffindor colors, scarlet 321 and gold 742.  The actual color is not quite as orangey.

My other current projects are another crocheted fuzzy blue baby blanket and a tank top knit in the blue Lion Brand Incredible I bought several months ago.

Rethinking: Ribbon Yarn

Last week I wandered into the local big box craft store.  They were selling ribbon and novelty yarns for $2 a ball (normally priced $5.50-$6).

I figured this was too good a deal to pass up, so I picked out three patterns and bought some yarn.  All in all, I spent less than $50 on yarn.

Project 1: X-back tank

The Ribbon X-back tank.  Seemed so easy from the pattern...

I'm using Lion Brand Incredible, the Carnival colorway.  It's my first time working with ribbon yarn, which is more annoying that anything I've dealt with so far.

First, it has a tendency to fold in half, which when you're using large needles, means it's not covering very well.  This tendency also occurred when they wrapped the yarn into balls, which means trying to press creases out with my fingers.

Second, my normal method of wrapping the yarn around my working hand twists the yarn, so I have to hold the yarn in a different way than I'm used to.  I think this is making me knit more loosely than normal.

Third, between the ribbon yarn and the seed stitch, I have a hard time figuring out where I'm making mistakes in my knitting, and I can only estimate gauge since I can't count rows or columns very well.

I made it almost to the end of my first ball: (click to enlarge)

Isn't it pretty!  Unfortunately, I knew that if this was as long as my shirt was so far, I didn't have enough yarn to make the it long enough to wear comfortably.  So I pulled it off the needles to frog it and tried it on for size...

Um.  A little too big... (I'm not stretching it very much in this picture)

I'm going to take the pattern size down a notch, and use needles that are two sizes smaller.  Then I'll do a real swatch and check gauge before I get this far again...

Project 2: Bolero Jacket

The Four Seasons Bolero.

I worked up a swatch (see... I can learn!). (click to enlarge)

Pretty pretty pretty.  Unfortunately, this yarn is a railroad/ladder yarn, with two parallel threads connected by wider ribbony ties/rungs.  This means that it's quite easy to stick your crochet hook through the ribbon, which doesn't make for great stitches.

It's also pretty hard to figure out what threads belong to which strand, and where the tops of my stitches are.

Current plan is to purchase some black fingering weight yarn and work with a strand of each so I can see what I'm doing.

Project 3: Lace Leaf Top

The Lace Leaf Top.

I can't start this until I finish up the project that's currently on my 6.5 mm circulars.  I'll be using the Lion Brand Incredible in a variagated blue.  Hopefully, this pattern will adapt more easily as it's written for a 100% nylon ribbon yarn, like Incredible is.  I'll also be less worried about holes and gaps, so if I end up working with the ribbon folded it should look fine.

In Progress: Grey Shawl

Started: April 2007

Knit Elann.com's "Adara Rainbow Shawl"

Yarn: Lion Brand Jiffy, 100% acrylic mohair

Size 6.5 mm needles

I found the yarn at the dollar store and couldn't pass it up.  It's not the most exciting color (a dove grey), so I wanted a pattern that had some strong texture to it, that would stand out through the mohair fuzz.

Although the pattern was designed for multiple colors of a finer yarn, I like the way it's working up.  I increased the needle size, and I'll have to do an edging since the stepped increases tend to curl.

Detail of the pattern: (click to enlarge)

I think it looks like feathers on wings.

I figure I'm about 2/3 done.  I'll be plugging away at this since I want to use these needles to start another project.  I'll have extra yarn as well, so I'll be planning a cabled vest to finish up the yarn.

Finished: Turkish String Bags

Finished: April/May 2007

Knit Turkish Stitch String bags for my trip to Hawaii.

 

White bag: knit in Bernat Handicrafter Cotton yarn, size 11 needles, using the round bottom and double-knit shoulder strap from a free knit hobo bag pattern off the web, and the turkish stich body from the above pattern.

 

Blue & Green bag: knit in Lily Sugar & Cream (3 balls) cotton yarn, size 11 needles, to the exact Turkish Stitch pattern with square bottom & garter stitch strap.  (Please excuse my not-yet-worked-in ends.)

Turkish stitch is very easy and quick to work, but when I made mistakes I found it very difficult to un-knit what I had done previously.  Thus, the white bag has a few strange-looking areas, although the blue and green bag is pretty much exactly to pattern.

I figure I spent less than $10 for the yarn for all three string bags (hobo bag yet to be posted).

Finished: Frog Bath Mitt

Finished: April 2007

Crochet baby bath mitt from Lily booklet.

Yarn: Lily Sugar & Cream (100% cotton)

My local big-box craft store was having a sale on their Sugar & Cream cotton yarn, so I stocked up for projects.

I haven't washed it yet, but from past experience, this yarn tends to get nice and soft and absorbant after washing...

This will go into my stash of baby gifts, as it seems that many of my friends are hitting that stage of their lives... 

Finished: Blue Baby Blanket

Finished: March 2007

Crochet baby blanket, "Shells & Clusters" pattern.  Finished with a 5-DC shell edging.

Yarn: JoAnn Sensations "Rainbow Classic" acrylic mohair, Lion Brand "Jiffy" acrylic mohair

Size E crochet hook

Blanket given as a belated baby present to Art's friends Tim and Megan.

Detail of the stitch pattern:

The pattern was very easy to work, although the few times I had to rip out some stitches it was difficult because of the stickiness of the mohair fuzz.

I'd crocheted about a foot when I realized I wasn't going to have enough yarn to make a decent looking blanket.  I reread the pattern and realized that it was written for a sport weight yarn, and I had a worsted or heavier weight.  I went back to the store and found one more large ball, still on sale, so the blanket is almost square, but still a little shorter than it is wide.

I didn't have enough blue for the edging, so I went back again and found a skein of white "Jiffy" for the shell border.

This blanket is on the large side, but the baby was several months old by the time we got it to her, and I figure it'll make a good "sit-on" blanket, since it's washable.