Easter Babies

 My nephew Trevor and his wife Courtney are expecting a baby in July and will be visiting this weekend so I have been rushing all week trying to get some baby crafting done for them.  I am a firm advocate for baby girls because I don't care for the color pink and there is no law that says you have to make pink things for them.  I got this cute teal flannel for 60% off at Joann's and edged it with fuchsia blanket binding.  Fuchsia in small amounts can be stunning.

I have had a tutorial for this diaper pouch for some time and have wanted to try it out.  I used linen purchased on sale and some whale total-impulse-buy cotton from Joann's.  I was standing at the cutting table getting something else and saw those whales in the pile to be put back and just had to get some because they were so cute!  This was the first time I'd ever sewn with real linen.  I love the look of it but it wasn't fun to work with.  Maybe that will get easier with experience.  I absolutely hate cutting out fabric because I am impatient and as long as I was taking the trouble to make one, I made three.  One will go to my nephew and his wife, another will go to my sister, and the third will go to my husband's niece Becky. 

Here is another knit dress for size 0-6 months knit with my stash of bargain Woodlands yarn from Micheals.  As much as I love this yarn, I think I'm going to start cutting and discarding the big stripes of salmon colored sections because I don't like them next to the other 'jewel tones'.  I'm knitting a matching pair of booties that I can work on tonight and finish up in the car/hotel tomorrow.

This weekend we are getting together for Easter, my nieces birthday and *sigh* my birthday so last night I baked a triple batch of the compulsory frosted sugar cookies.  My little nephew really likes these and when he says "cookie" it sounds more like "dookie".  :)  My big nephews like them too and I made extra to send home with them.  I made a container to take to work with me tonight and they just phoned and put me on call.  More cookies to share with family!  These are the last frosted sugar cookies until October because the frosting doesn't behave once there is any humidity in the air.  I made mostly eggs because they're easier and faster to frost but I made a bunny for each of the nieces and nephews.

Shop til you Drop!

My dear friends Melissa and Brenda came up from Iowa this weekend and we all stayed in a hotel near the Mall of America.   It was Girls' Weekend and we had a blast!  It officially started with dinner at Red Lobster followed by shopping at IKEA.  We gabbed in our hotel room til all hours Friday night and got up early Saturday morning.  By 10 AM we were cruising the mall and shopped our carefully planned list of stores until about 2 PM.  We lunched at Cracker Barrel and then hit the Burnsville Mall.  By that time we were just dead but revived ourselves in the hotel pool and had a quiet evening crafting in our room, painting our toenails and grazing for supper on all the great snacky foods we'd brought.  I hadn't seen those two since the wedding but this kind of weekend was long overdue!  We had such a great time and I am sure we'll do this again.  I just hope that in the coming years, I will be able to drive them to the different quirky stores and attractions in the city.

 I knit each of them a Wingspan scarf out of Loops and Threads Woodland yarn that I got on clearance at Michael's.  I just fell in love with this yarn because it was on clearance but also because it reminds me of Kauni yarn the way it slowly changes color.  It has a much softer hand that Kauni which feels coarser and itchier.  I literally bought bags and bags of the stuff.  This is a a jewel tones colorway that looked like Brenda.

 This is the more neutral palette I used for Melissa.  Years ago I knit a taupe ruffle scarf for her after she mentioned she'd had one years before and loved it but lost it somewhere.  This colorway reminded me of that scarf.  The pattern calls for 8 scallops but I made these a little longer with 11.  In all honesty, I think this would be better even longer and next time would do maybe 13 or 15 scallops.

These photos were taken on the bed of our hotel room because I raced all week to finish them in time for the weekend and literally wove the ends in that evening in the room.  Here is a close up of the color changes.  I've already started another one with a different colorway just to see what it is going to look like!

i like sprinkles

I mean I REALLY like sprinkles.  Dave and I didn't really get a chance to do anything for Valentine's Day because I was back and forth to my sister's and parents' homes following Mom's surgery.  I baked the compulsory frosted sugar cookies for the holiday and discovered I had (count them) 5 varieties of Valentine sprinkles in my baking cupboard.  I never formally brought any to work because I didn't have time to bake more, but I stored them in the backseat of my car as we don't own a chest freezer.  We'd had a particular hairy night at work and we all ended up staying a little late, so I did go and get some from the car to share with my co-workers.  As far as Valentines go, I bought Dave a 2 bushel plastic clothes basket because he carries the laundry back from the laundry room for me and he hates my woven rush basket.  Am I romantic or what?  Happy Late Valentines Day.

Alpaca Socks

I tell ya, if you want to get a lot of knitting done, get yourself a nasty sinus cold.  I can't believe how  much knitting I got done this week.  The only trouble is, that is about ALL I did.  These are some alpaca blend socks I started knitting last year after we had just moved in and while I was still in orientation for my job.  I wasn't driving here yet so I would bring this to work on while I waited for Dave to come and collect me at the end of the day.  Those were exhausting stressful days in a new state and city and new job and knitting helped to calm my nerves.  I was glad to finish these and get them off the needles.  I bought this yarn at Prairie Yarns in Fargo but the label is long gone.  These were knit on size 1 needles with 76 stitches per row.

 My new niece Becky asked if I would do some knitting for her and I was only too happy to oblige.  She sent me a picture of a baby hat she wanted to give to her sister in law and baby niece.  Normally I would find some suitable yarn in my stash for small projects but I hate pink and have no pink yarn in this house.  She was going to shop online for yarn and send it to me.  I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure what she was going to send me, but when the package arrived, I was thrilled and relieved to find 2 skeins of Cascade 220!  I used a basic hat pattern from 60 Quick Baby Knits and improvised the bow.

There was so much yarn left over that I also knit a pair of Leaf Lace Booties from the same pattern book.  I cranked these things out while sick on the couch the last 2 days.  That background fabric is my cut of linen that I got on sale at Joann's.  I have a few things in mind I'd like to sew if I ever get the machine set up again.

Dress for Leah

 Last week I went to Michael's to see what I could see.  I much prefer Joann's when it comes to craft supplies because they have fabric and Michael's does not.  Both stores have basically the same assortment of yarns and knitting tools but Joann's has a far superior selection of knitting books.  Anyhoo, I was in Michael's and stumbled across a store exclusive line of fingering weight wool yarn that was on clearance...so I bought a few bags full of it.  It is a soft slowly self-striping yarn that reminded me of Kauni.

 I had been looking for something to knit this baby dress and got started right away.  I tweaked the pattern just a little by using size 4 needles and fingering weight yarn instead of worsted but I wonder if there were issues with translation that led to those errors.  I just loved that this was knit in one piece and there was no seaming!

The dress is begun knitting flat back and forth to create the neck opening and then joined in the round for the yoke and body.  The shoulders and sleeves are created with mitered increases to form angles.  The upper edges of the arms are bound off and the underarms cast back on to shape the body.  What a wonderful pattern.  I wanted to use some of Maynerd's buttons but I didn't have 2 matching in a coordinating color.  I was very happy with these gray vintage-looking buttons from my stash.

I finished the dress on Saturday and worked on a different project yesterday during the Super bowl.  I'm doing some knitting for my new niece and I'll post those pictures later.  I DID have to share pictures of (some) of our Super Bowl food!  We are just terrible when we are home together--almost like alcoholics encouraging each other.  So long story short, we majorly cheated on our diet while the game was on.  We'd picked up a jar of Cheez Whiz on Saturday expressly for soft pretzels.  Here are the pretzels rolled out and shaped and brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with coarse salt.

Here they are fresh out of the oven brushed with butter.  I hadn't made these in a while and for good reason.  They are so good but not so good for you.  I used to bring these as treats on my Sunday to work when I used to work at the nursing home years ago.  Now it is time to get back on that dieting horse. 

Cold Snap

It has been a bit cold here in Minnesota of late.  Dave picked me up from work this morning and the bank sign said -11.  Our efficiency apartment has heated pipe radiator-type heating and we use 2 small space heaters to zone heat the living room and bedroom.  Our balcony door has been frozen for days and here is a skanky up close picture of the frosted/iced over door frame.  COLD.

We took a small break from our diet to enjoy some cold weather comfort food.  It had warmed up to -2 this afternoon (heat wave!) while we were out and about and we picked up two 28 oz. cans of whole canned tomatoes for roasted tomato soup.  I first saw this recipe years ago on America's Test Kitchen and took detailed notes to make it again.  It is the most velvety tomato soup you've ever tasted and I now add 1/4 tsp or so of red pepper flakes when cooking the onions to add a little more heat to the dish.  Nothing comforts you on a butt cold day like a piping hot bowl of soup.  We made Jarlsberg grilled cheese sandwiches to go with them.  The best thing about this soup is that you roast the tomatoes in a 450 degree oven so the kitchen and house is warmed up while you cook.  Bring it on Mother Nature.

Amy's Blankie

Dave drew Amy's name for our family Christmas gift exchange and I made this blanket for part of her gift.  10 more yards of fabric and a package of batting out of this apartment!  Yes!!!!  I am a little sad to see this one go though because it is such a beautiful batik.  This one was a bit of a challenge because normally I move all the living room furniture to the very edges of the room to have a space large enough to lay out blanket fabric.  We still have our Christmas tree up in the corner so space was a little tight!  I can't wait to go home to Iowa and my family this weekend for Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas Eve and I hope everyone is home or safely traveling home to be with family.  Dave and I will be home together for the week.  I am working all through the holiday but we will get to be together in the mornings before I leave in the afternoon.  We will go home to Iowa for my family Christmas in mid January.  I can't wait!  This is a wonderful vintage tray I picked up at the Angels Attic Sale this year that was so fitting for the day!

I wanted to post a picture of my secret Christmas gift for my sister.  She bought me a candle pyramid carousel and I knit her these.  I am so thrilled with how they turned out.  This is a pattern I purchased off Etsy and knit from Cascade 220.  I have another pattern from the same designer that is a blue colorway.  You can never have too many mittens!

 Here is a lovely footed macaron shell that I baked yesterday.  Macarons are a classic flourless French cookie and I have wanted to master them ever since I first tasted them.  They consist of eggs whites stiffly beaten with sugar and then combined with powdered sugar and ground almonds.  They are then piped, baked and the shells sandwiched together with fillings.  I colored these with lavender powdered food coloring and filled them with black cherry jam.  I was so pleased because they released from the parchment and developed the lacy "foot" as they baked. 

Bob's Red Mill makes a very good almond meal for almost $15/pound.  It is always worth the price of good ingredients and I was quite pleased with these.  I am getting very comfortable with the technique for these so next I want to start exploring different fillings instead of just jam.  Chocolate ganache, buttercream and salted caramel are the 3 I am interested in right now.  I used Martha's recipe but I baked them for 8-10 minutes at 310 degrees.  This tutorial was very helpful too.

Baby Mittens

 I worked on Thanksgiving and Dave went to his sister's house for dinner.  When he came home, he said his niece had requested a pair of thumb-less baby mittens.  I started work that night and finished them on Saturday.  I used this pattern and some left over worsted thick and thin 100% wool from Joann's.  They were quick work but I have yet to find out if they fit.

And of course I had to post a picture of our tree.  This is a $12 Walmart tree that I got quite a few years ago.  It is pretty spartan and see through in places but I counteract that by COVERING it with ornaments!  It is so nice to have the holiday decorations up!

New Ornaments

 I put our tree up yesterday (FINALLY!) and had to share pictures of the new ornaments acquired this year.  Most new ones this year are from London.  This one commemorates the Queen's Jubilee celebration.  Over the years I have gotten quite a few of these couched gold work ornaments while in London.  They were kind of spendy as far as ornaments go, but they are beautiful and I admire them and reminisce every year when I hang them up.

 This is another couched/gold work ornament of a Christmas pudding!  This one might be my favorite!  I have tried my hand at making steamed puddings a time or two.  A Christmas pud is a truly British symbol of the holidays.

 Here is another plush ornament--this one from Westminster Abbey in one of my favorite shades of blue.

 This is a small metal palace guard ornament.  He kind of reminds me of the story of The Steadfast Tin Soldier.

Here is a small metal double decker bus ornament.  No explanation needed here.

 This is a small terra cotta house blessing medallion that I will use as an ornament.  I got it at Baltic Imports which is a beautiful gift shop specializing in Eastern European/Baltic pieces which happens to be right next door to the fabulous Ukrainian deli Kramarczuk's in Minneapolis.

My other favorite ornament is this holly one given to me by my sister Lisa.  She found this pewter piece which is absolutely beautiful and had our names and wedding date stamped into it.  Lovely.

Hat Trick

 I knit 2 hats this month and none too soon because winter showed up this week.  We'd had a few previews of winter already this month.  Dave and I went fishing the first week in November.  Actually Dave went fishing and I went knitting.  We didn't catch a thing the entire time we were out there.

 Here is Dave's finished Minnesota Gophers hat.  I used this pattern but I made it quite a few rows longer because the first one I'd knit just barely covered his ears.  Can you see our new dusting of snow on the ground behind me?

I knit one more Le Slouch hat from the same variegated worsted I bought in Finland.  I knit Dave a winter hat out of the same yarn so now we match.  We might have to take a dorky picture together in our hats.  I looked and this pattern has since been removed but there is a similar one by the same author over on Knit and Tonic.

Jitrnice

I got my first taste of jitrnice (say eether-neetza) which is a traditional Czech sausage.  At first glance I thought this was a word that could use a few more vowels.  Dave's parents described a dish that sounded like haggis because it is a casing stuffed with ground meat, spices and barley.  It is basically a hash that you eat with potatoes and I have to say it was delicious.  Dave's brother procured this for us.  I'm not sure if it came from a locker or maybe an ethnic deli of some sort or maybe he just knows a guy.

This is what it looks like frozen and unwrapped.  You bake it at 350 for about an hour or until the casing starts to burst.  A lot of fat comes out as it bakes.  Dave's dad was telling us about how his dad worked at a meat packing plant and would on occasion bring home pig heads that he was given or that would normally have been discarded.  He described how they'd trim the cheeks and the snout etc. and make large batches of jitrnice and store it out in the shed in the winter months.  Today we would call it waste meat but of course in by-gone days, nothing went to waste.

Here it is baked and bursting.  You don't eat the casing but it was so good that I scraped mine clean.  We have one more in our freezer.  This is a new Czech tradition that I happily embrace!

Happy Halloween!

 We  have our Jack-O-Lantern lit, our festive balcony lights on, Ghostbusters on the tube and our trick or treat notice hung on the door.  It is officially Halloween.  It is also 2238 at night and we've only had 4 kids stop by but we were happy to see each and every one of them.  I am just thrilled to be home after working 7 out of 9 evenings/nights.  We are having a quiet and relaxing evening together at home.

Since we had so few trick or treaters, it means we now have THIS to contend with.  It beckons me.

Baby Soma Sweater

This is the sweater I knit for Britt's soon to be arriving baby girl.  The pattern is Sprinkle from the book Juju's Loops purchased at the yarn shop Loop in London this summer.  It is knit from variegated Koigu yarn and some kettle dyed Madelinetosh.  Britt said she wanted baby items that were peach vs. pink and this was the best I could find.  And of course when I was halfway through the sweater, it occurred to me that I could knit this out of Kroy sock yarn which would be machine washable.  Note to self for next Sprinkle sweater.  We saw this little thing hanging up in the store when we were in Loop and I just had to have the pattern.  I'm so glad I got the book because it is absolutely FULL of gorgeous patterns.  This chevron pattern was easily memorized and I worked on much of it when I was watching Dave bowl. 

Various and Sundry

 My cousin Michael's wife Britt is having a baby next month and I won't be able to go to the baby shower.  In the meantime, I've been working on some little baby things to send to her.  I have had this pattern for some time but never attempted it.  We went to that charity garage sale last weekend and I picked up some awesome vintage trims and this one coordinated perfectly with some felt I already had.  Britt has said that for their new baby girl, she wanted peach colored things and not PINK.  I was glad to hear that because I've never cared for the color pink.  This is the smaller size from the pattern.

 Here is the rest of the trim I purchased.  I was kind of disappointed in the sale this year but it IS a different group of organizers than in the past.  I was very pleased with the items I did find.

 I also got an aebleskiver pan at the sale.  These are sometimes called a munk pan or munkejern.  My mother made these when I was a kid and we called them munk and Alitza's mom made these but she called them aebleskivers.  You brush the pan with melted butter and fill each dimple with 1 tablespoon of batter and turn them with a wooden skewer.  You can fill them with apples, applesauce, sliced apples, bacon or sausage, etc.  They are almost like pancake doughnut holes. 

I filled these with apple butter and snacked on them throughout the day.

I'd forgotten about this SD card and found a few pictures of the kransekake construction.  Here are the rings I shaped with the pans and baked on a silpat.

The rings are then stacked and cemented with royal icing.  Royal icing is powdered sugar and water but made stronger with egg white.  I used meringue powder in place of real egg white since little kids and older adults would be eating it.

Incidentally, the bowl pictured is one of my Pyrex rooster pattern bowls.  I didn't take a picture of them, but I got a set of 3 lipped rooster Pyrex bowls in the same color and pattern at the sale!

My family met us here in town to go to the Angel's Attic sale today.  I'd been knitting like crazy to get these pumpkin hats done to send home with my sister for her kids.  Now they can both be "punkins" which is what my mother used to call us when we were little.  I used Cascade 220 superwash yarn and this pattern.

I'd also finished 2 blankies to send with her.  I'd bought this John Deere fabric panel for my 2 1/2 year old nephew because he is crazy about tractors.  Lisa asked for a twin size blanket so I pieced it with fabric she'd gotten at the Rochester Mill End Textiles.  I had never made anything with a fabric panel before so I guess I learned the hard way that panels are seldom square.  I washed and dried the piece, pressed it and discovered it was almost a bias cut/shape.  To square it up, I had to shave a little of the border off on each side but I think it will be OK.  I can't wait to see him with it.  I picked up a farm implement book at Joann Fabrics for $1 to go with it.

Lisa's dear friend Hazel is a wonderful girl and I wasn't able to attend her wedding years ago and I never sent her a gift.  She couldn't make it to our wedding but she still sent us a gift card with her apologies.  I have been so pleased with the queen size blankets I've been making that I wanted to make one for her.  Lisa told me Hazel loves fleur de lis and helped me pick out fabric when we were at Mill End Textiles together.  I sent this blanket home with Lisa and just in time too because Hazel will be coming to stay with them in a week or two.

I have show you my new favorite sewing tool.  I don't use a pattern for my blankets but I do mark/chalk quilting lines the length of the blanket at 6 inch intervals.  If using a dark fabric, I'd use up entire chalk pencils marking them, and pictured on the left is the PILE of fabric markers I've recently exhausted.  The purple item on the right is my new Dritz chalk wheel and it is wonderful!  It effortlessly rolls and marks fine white lines on my fabric and lasts forever.  This wheel came as it is and also has 2 refill cartridges but I have yet to make a dent in the current cartridge.  I love how it is even shaped like tailor's chalk. 

All this cool weather crafting put me in the mood to put up my fall decorations!  It feels so cozy lighting candles in the evening and curling up with a blankie on the couch!