Sweet William

Here is my latest finished sweater and I love it!  I love making sweaters for the boy because small versions knit up so quickly!

The pattern is called Sweet William and was purchased on Ravelry.

Here is the finished yoke before I blocked it.  I was a little worried because the colorwork areas were a little puckered before blocking.

The side of the neck opening is closed with two buttons.  I chose these pewter colored metal buttons from my stash because they had an art nouveau vine look to them which went well with the stylized rabbits.

Most of the sweaters I've knit for Marek were with fingering weight yarn and this one was no exception.  This was hand dyed local yarn from Sin City Knits in Las Vegas that I purchased last year on Dave's bowling trip.  Adult sweaters knit from fingering weight take forEVER but I didn't mind this at all.  Also, most fingering skeins have 400+ yards in them so it doesn't take much.  I used a skein and a bit to complete this.  Now what to do with the remainder...

Taking a decent photo of the boy was a bit of a challenge.  The sun is out today and I'm not complaining about that, but I wanted some overcast for a nice photo.  We tried to confine him to the shaded portion of the deck which wasn't easy because he moves so fast!

He is wearing the second hand dressy pants I picked up at Saver's.  The pocket linings match the sweater perfectly.  I was trying to keep him busy with a foil wrapped chocolate bunny.

We still have snow in the middle of the deck and he was very interested in it.  I am so pleased with the fit of this sweater.  The sizing on this pattern goes up to age 10 if memory serves me.  I might have to make a few more of these!

Here is a quick photo of the sweater after I took it off him.  I was really pleased with how the yoke smoothed out once blocked.  The garment was knit from the collar down first back and forth to create the buttonband/neck opening and then joined in the round for the yoke.  Sleeve stitches are held and later picked up while the knitting continues down the body.  This was an absolute pleasure to knit!  It is almost as pretty as my son's eyes!

Child Life

Marek and I watch Sesame Street almost every day.  I loved it as a kid and it is PBS so it is good for you.  It's hard to believe this show is 50 years old and still wonderful.  On this particular episode, I immediately noticed Alan's shirt.

Does it look familiar?  I HAVE THIS FABRIC!!!!  Familiar fabric sightings always excite me.  Clearly the Children's Television Workshop shops at Joann Fabrics!

Speaking of fabric, I made a new pillowcase for the boy.  I am a sucker and get a new travel size MyPillow pillow every year at the State Fair because there is a deal in the coupon book year after year.  It is just the right size for a little boy in a crib.  I made a Miffy pillowcase with an open end based on the Magic Pillow Tutorial.  It was really cute but he pulled it off the pillow every time he was in the crib.  For Christmas, Mom had asked for some fold over style pillowcases for her State Fair MyPillow pillows so I made a few.  My measurements were a 15" x 20" piece for the front panel and two 15" x 15" panels for the back flaps. 

I realized Marek could use a fold over case and found the perfect little boy fabrics.  I picked up the rick rack style piece at Walmart of all places in their pre-cut fabric area.  The colors are so versatile and would look great as lining or backing or whatever.  The dinosaur fabric was a fat quarter found by accident at Hobby Lobby.  My fabric stash is all stuff I've collected over the years that I like and find appealing.  None of it is really frou-frou or girly, but it is decidedly lacking in "boy prints" so I was happy to put this together for M.

I have gotten out my copy of The Felt Book for some projects.  I've made several of these patterns for other peoples' kids over the years and now it is time to make some for my son!  His baptism booties were from this book and there is a hat I'm thinking about.  I want to make the one pictured in the book and of course I'm thinking of making another but as a Minnesota Gophers version!

Here is the monster puppet I finished for M this weekend.  There is nothing more satisfying than using up scraps and I am a sentimental fool.  I can't help but notice the red, orange and gold and think they are the leftovers of the felt campfire I made years ago.  The mottled pink is leftover from the Valentine candle mat.  I do the same thing with cotton prints.  As a kid, I remember mom showing me a scrap quilt her mother had made and describing the pajamas her brother had from a certain print, and play clothes they wore from another, etc.  We have several blankets I've made from scraps and I enjoy looking at the project remnants embedded in the quilt top.  I guess it is a way for me to have my fabric cake and eat it too!

This puppet is so cute and simple that I decided to make another one for my dear friend's granddaughter.  I made one of these for my 18 year old niece when she was a toddler.  I can't remember doing it on the machine though. 

Yesterday was relatively warm and overcast in the morning.  We were heading over to Dave's parents' to take his dad to Menards for potting soil.  I thought it would finally be a great opportunity for a 3 generation photo of the boys in their Gopher knitwear.  By the time we all got out on the stoop, the sun decided to come out so this is the best we could do.  That little boy loves his grandparents!

Poor Marek got his first official goose egg.  He thwacked his forehead on the oak buffet that serves as our living room TV stand.  I was sitting on the floor with him and I'm still not sure how he did it because he was standing about six inches away from it.  The meaty thud sounded terrible and he bawled as I cuddled him and the lump rose up on this forehead.  This is what it looked like the following morning and you can kind of see the faint bruise.  We had a physical therapist and teacher at the house shortly after this picture was taken and I pointed it out to them and swore we didn't beat our child.  Interestingly, the physical therapist said that is a good sign to them that he is walking more/better because toddlers fall and run into things as they are mastering walking.  M's feet don't seem to keep up with his torso when he is walking and I hold my breath a lot.  I always worry he will fall and hit his head on the toilet or the corners of tables or walls or whatever.  You have to let them go and let them learn but he's turning my hair gray.  I'm getting silver threads amongst the gold!

I saw this idea on Pinterest for a Boo Boo Bag for toddlers.  It is basically a rice filled fabric bean bag that you keep in the freezer and put on toddler owies and boo boo's as a comfort.  I put some dried lavender flowers inside too so they smell lovely and comforting.  These can also be nuked briefly in the microwave and used as a warm pack.

Prior to this, I have used my mother's technique of the all purpose healing washcloth.  If you're worked up and upset, a warm washcloth to the face and being held and rocked will cure what ails you.  If you're bleeding or swelling, a cold washcloth or a wet washcloth wrapped around an ice cube is the best thing in the world.  Marek has fallen and bitten his lip a few times and the cold washcloth has been deployed.  He is such a little goof and likes to suck on the washcloth after he has calmed down.

Dave's coworker just adopted a little boy from Korea.  He is a few months younger than Marek and is their first child.  We were late bloomers when it came to kids so we were really excited for them and I wanted to make a few gifts.  As long as I was making Boo Boo Bags, I made a set for them as well.  I also knitted them another one of these Eventyrlue hats. 

I can't post a link to her blog anymore, but this pattern is a free Ravelry download.  I made the flaps on this one a little longer and M was gracious enough to model it for me.  I just love the elf point at the top!

I also made them an upcycled towel bib.  Here is the boy not cooperating or looking at the camera.

I don't know why I'm on such a Valentine kick, but I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning making a Valentine candle mat.  I've made several of these over the years but I didn't have one for the upcoming holiday.  I'd had several packages of these tiny buttons in my findings box for EVER and made this whole thing in one sitting.  I don't like pink but I do like fuchsia and red.  That mottled pink felt was purchased at Treadle Yard Goods with the gift certificate I won at the Washington County Fair two years ago.  It's a ripping evening in the Anderson household when I spend it sewing hundreds of tiny buttons onto felt.  I really like how it turned out and I love busy things.

This is not related to anything but I thought it was so funny.  Here we are at Joann fabrics in the ladies' room!  I had my coffee before we left the house I can't let Marek down because he'll run all over the place so he came into the stall with me cart and all!

02-02-2020 Groundhog Day

Today was a warm and sunny day by Minnesota standards so I dressed the boy in his Aran sweater for some outdoor photos.  I knit this about a year ago and he has plenty of wiggle room in it.

He was very interested in the snow although it was a little too deep for him to walk in. 

He couldn't wait to get down in it but it was warm and melting and his knitwear was soaking wet in about 2 minutes!  Look at those beautiful eyes.

I've been busy working on some tacky Valentine crafts.  I had fun getting out all my tools and stash for a great idea I had.  I snapped a cute photo of Marek playing with a pen and pad of paper in our hotel last month when we were up in Fargo for Grandma's funeral.  He just looked so serious writing on the paper. 

I played around editing the picture on my phone so it looks as if he is writing "Happy Valentine's Day" and made little craft foam picture frames.  That large bag of foam conversation hearts has been living in my seasonal craft box forever and they were used as well as some magnetic tape I had in my sewing room.  Each set of grandparents will get one of these as well as one of Dave's sisters (one of Marek's godmothers) who helps us a lot with babysitting.

I started  making these weeks ago.  We had a huge jar of applesauce that wasn't going to get eaten up and I had a bunch of cheap dollar store jars of cinnamon and made dough ornaments out of it.  I shaped and cut them and they've been drying and scenting in the sewing room for a few weeks.  I finished painting and glittering them this afternoon during nap time.  Now they just need hanging ribbons.  I also made some Christmas ones for our little family with our names on them.

I'm tooting my own horn when I tell you I was completely surprised at work this week when I was given The Daisy Award!  A patient's wife nominated me after I cared for them and spent a lot of time discharge teaching with them.  She even came in person when it was rendered.  At the time of the presentation, I was again in a patient's room working on discharge education and my manager called asking me to come to the desk when I was done.  Then a few minutes later my mid manager stuck her head around the door and said she needed to talk to me.  Honestly I thought I might be in trouble for something.  When I finally came out of the room and they were all standing in the hallway with balloons and flowers and the whole works!  I have never felt more honored and validated for what I do at work.

This is the second hospital I've ever worked at.  Prior to this job, I worked at a non union hospital in Iowa, I won't say which one, but I worked 12 hour night shifts from 7p - 7a.  Everyone knows that the night shift just sits around eating bonbons and looking pretty because all the patients sleep at night.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but every nursing job I've ever had has that opinion of the evening/night crew.  We work our tails off with half the staff.  We get so much accomplished with our limited resources and have a laid back roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-busy kind of attitude which is more than I can say about any day shift I've ever worked with.  I always felt looked down upon and not valued in Iowa.  My manager there used to point blank tell us that if we complained, they'd find a reason to get rid of us and they had people lined up to replace us.  I don't ever want to revisit those days or they way I was constantly made to feel at that facility.

That being said, it felt so good to be honored for what I do.  I pray every day on my way to work that my patients see God working through me as I care for them.  I am still deciding where I'm going to put my statuette so I can see and enjoy it.  What an honor.

Banket--aka Dutch Letters

I made a second (and fabulous) attempt at banket.  My dad used to organize bus trips all over the state and one of his most popular was to the Tulip Festival in Pella, IA which is a big Dutch community.  Pella is home to the Jaarsma bakery, famous for their S-shaped pastries called Dutch Letters - the S is for Sinterklaas aka Santa Clause.  Dad always brought back a couple to enjoy as a family.  It is one of my favorite food memories growing up. 

Last year a co-worker and I got to visiting about Christmas baking and she was describing an almond paste filled pastry called Banket (say Bahn-khett).  Halfway through I blurted out, "Those are Dutch letters!"  She had no idea what I was talking about.  She gave me the recipe from her family friend's blog.  I followed it to the letter and it was good, but it was not the same as my childhood memory.  It called for canned almond filling and the results were delicious but the filling was too loose in my opinion.  The Jaarsma pastry filling was more like putty.  In the meantime, I discovered the Jaarsma bakery had published it's Dutch Letter recipe online and it was almost identical to my friend's recipe other than the filling.  I amalgamated the two recipes and came up with a winner.

This is a rough puff pastry that requires chilling while making the dough.  This is my walk-out (as opposed to walk-IN) cooler--the deck!  I'm chilling both the dough and the almond filling in this picture.

My friend's recipe produced 8 fat logs which were delightful, but not how I remembered the Jaarsma version.  I got several 7 oz. tubes of almond PASTE (vs canned) on clearance last year and threw them in the freezer for a rainy day.  I used 2 tubes of paste and followed the Jaarsma's assembly instructions which makes 20 much skinnier logs.  This was more how I remembered them and they were a big hit at my family Christmas.  I've made similar rough puff pastry for raspberry hand pies that can be assembled, frozen and then later taken straight from the freezer and baked.  My next experiment is to make, shape, and freeze them to test bake them from frozen.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

I baked these as straight logs.  If we're going to call them Dutch Letters, they're lowercase L's!

Dough:
4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. cold butter (2 sticks)
1 c. ice water

Combine all dry ingredients and then cut butter in using a pastry blender to make a rough mixture.  Add ice water 1/4 c at a time and mix until it just comes together.  Shape dough into a 15" x 20" rectangle.  Fold in thirds as you would a business letter.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.  Roll into a 15" x 20" rectangle and again fold in thirds like a business letter.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill again for 20 minutes.  Repeat rolling/folding procedure one more time.  Keep wrapped and chilled until ready to shape pastry.  Make filling.

Filling:
Two 7-oz. tubes of Odense Almond Paste
7/8 c. white sugar
7/8 c. brown sugar
1 egg

Combine all ingredients and mash/knead til putty-like consistency.  Shape into a log and wrap in waxed paper.  Chill until ready to use.

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 egg whites with 2 Tbsp. water.  Set aside.

Remove dough from fridge and cut it into 4 equal pieces.  Work with one portion at a time and keep the rest wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge until ready to use.  Roll each cut piece into a 12.5" x 10" rectangle.  Cut each rectangle into five 2.5" x 10" rectangles.

Cut the filling log into 20 equal slices--this is only a rough guide.  Use one slice per Dutch letter.  Roll into a rope thicker than a pencil but skinnier than a magic marker.

Place a filling rope on one edge of each dough rectangle.  Brush opposite long edge with egg white mixture and starting with filling side, roll up lengthwise as tightly as possible.  Pinch and seal ends and seam as best you can.  Place seam side down on a baking sheet.  Repeat this with the remaining 4 dough rectangles.  Brush shaped Dutch letters with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Bake.

Repeat this entire measuring/cutting/shaping/baking with the remaining 3 pieces of dough for a total of 20 Dutch letters.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Watch very carefully after 10 minutes because they can burn quickly.

These were kind of fiddly, but I've baked things far fiddlier and they were worth every morsel!

Yuletide 2019

What a busy holiday season we've had!  We attended the St. Paul European Christmas Market for the first time and it was lovely!  I was googling knitting patterns and went down an interweb wormhole (like you do) and learned about this event that takes place every year.  Then I had to endure the agony of waiting for December so we could actually go!

The market is held outdoors at the Union Station on the roof and was a delightful winter activity.  There was ample opportunity to slip indoors to warm up and enjoy indoor family friendly activities when we needed a break from the cold.  Outdoors were stands selling knitwear, ornaments, trinkets and crafts as well as hot food like pierogies, bratwurst, freshly baked pretzels, spaetzle, mulled wine, etc.  Indoors were craft activities and a swanky upscale bake sale. 

This was a real curly horned goat hitched up to a small sled for pictures.  He was so patient and well behaved!  My niece Laina sat in the sleigh with Marek for a picture.

My mom traveled up with my sister and her kids to join us for a 14 degree outdoor afternoon.  At least there was no wind so we were fine bundled up in our winter-wear.  We're Minnesotans after all!  I brought thermoses of coffee and cocoa and the St. Lucia buns I'd baked in honor of Grandma Helen.  One thing I love about Marek in a stroller is we can effortlessly haul a lot of crap with us! 

We saw the Grinch as we were leaving!  He was lounging in a golf cart as the North Pole Express pulled out of the station.  We learned all about this while we were warming up and availing ourselves of the indoor restrooms.  It is a round trip old-timey train ride for kids.  They had a uniformed conductor shouting, "All aboard!" and ringing a bell while leading the passengers onto the train.  The trip is about 90 minutes round trip and sells out in October!  When Marek is older we'll have to look into this.  I've said it before, we Americans miss out on the romanticism of trains and what a great experience this is for little kids.

As you can see in the photos, we were bundled up on the day.  I'd recently finished a larger sized gopher bonnet for Marek and this was the most decent photo I got of him in it.  I've started calling  him "Flash" because he is always moving!

Speaking of Christmas projects, here are my two most favorite finished items.  I made colored pencil rolls for my younger nieces.  One loves foxes and one loves squirrels and they were in luck because I hoard critter fabric prints!

I'm happy to report that all the materials for these were already in my stash.  I got the colored pencils brand new at Joann's with coupons.  They were a big hit with my nieces which made my day.

Getting back to the European Market, we didn't buy any food because frankly it was too cold to take our gloves off.  I was inspired to bake some fresh pretzels though.  I was interested in the spaetzle with mushroom sauce, but by the time I was willing to buy them, Marek was ready for a nap.  Next year.  I did shell out $10 for this lovely Ukranian cross stitched egg ornament.  My favorite part is the ribbon tag that is the Ukranian flag!  I love Ukranian eggs!  This was a welcome addition to my tree ornament collection.

I bought this soft air-dry clay ornament kit at the Target Bullseye's Playground to make Marek hand print ornaments.  In fact I bought 3 of them:  one for us and one for each of our parents.  He is growing like a weed and I'm kicking myself that I didn't make a hand print ornament of him last Christmas.

I finally got a photo in this ornament I bought at Homegoods last year and I can't believe what a little squirt he was.  How time flies!

We informally had Christmas with Dave's parents the week before the holiday and spent the day baking Houska bread with them.  We traveled down to Iowa to have "Christmas"with my parents in January.  I assumed the task of making the lefse for the gathering and here is a close up shot of the speckled treat.  I don't like to let my lefse spots get too brown because it reminds me of moles and it has a burnt taste to it.  I realize there are some who would say it is not technically correct.

I have a recycled Ikea box that is designated as the lefse box to safely store and transport the flatbread.  I used a large scoop to portion out the dough and made 42 ginormous pieces of lefse with a 10 lbs potato batch.

This boy loves lefse!  My dear friend Nancy recently told me that lefse has long been a favorite Christmas treat that her grandmother used to make.  The next time I  make it, she wants to come and learn how!  Weeeeeeee!  I'll admit I'm kind of a snob because I love lefse still warm from the griddle.  If made well, it doesn't need butter or sugar, it just tastes like fresh potato bread. 

Marek is now able to climb up onto the couch which means we had to rearrange!  Our couch was butted up against the railing of our split level entry and it was just a matter of time before he went over the back of the couch to fall down the cliff of stairs.  The living room is now basically a mirror image of what it was.

It didn't take him long to realize how much fun it is to throw things over the ledge.

I think the room looks larger set up like this and I love that you can see in as you come up the stairs.  Here is Marek and Lopi greeting Dave as he comes home.

My little Norsk boy sat at the children's table for Christmas dinner at my parents' home.  That high chair was rosemal painted by a dear family friend years ago.

While M was napping, Dave and I put on winter boots and tramped around in the grove next to their house.  The area had received 8 inches of snow the night before we arrived and my nieces and nephew were eager to get out into it.  I can't remember the last time I was out enjoying the snow like that.

Two thirds of my siblings' kids are represented in this photo as they conquered a gnarly tree.

We walked Lopi around town and the nativity at my childhood church was still up!  Growing up, I loved this so much and wanted to play in there.  At night it was floodlit and looked magical.

This is the second year our tree has been downstairs and I feel like I don't get to enjoy it nearly as much because I spend most of my time upstairs.  M is interested in it but is being held back by the playpen in this photo.  Once he is able to admire but not touch it, we can spend more time around it. 

More than anything, I love coming home at night and seeing the lights through the window.  Even when I take the decorations down, I'll leave the electric candelabras in the window and some plain white lights in our front door window.  We have a lot of winter left and any extra light is so comforting.

And finally, here is Lopi relaxing in front of a "roaring fire" while we opened gifts during our Little Christmas.  I am so thankful for family and warm houses and hearts during this season!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!