knitting

Did I cut a steek or just steek?

/ one2travelfar / Leave a comment

One major barrier I was reluctant to tackle in knitting was the concept of steeking.  To steek is to knit an item, then take a sharp scissor and cut the knit fabric (which may have taken months to create).  I had some practice when I cut an old sweater sleeve  for Shirley to make a cat coat.  But there was no risk there.  The sweater was already rejected by all who came in contact with it.

Why would one want to steek?  There are lots of times in knitting when it is easier to knit something in the round – in one big circle.  Fair Isle garments, with their colorful patterns, are knit in the round, which is fine for a hat or a pullover, but if you want a cardigan, or even sleeves in the pullover, it has to be cut.  In my case, I wanted to knit a cardigan with a striped yarn.  So I added a few extra stitches in the middle, knit the whole sweater in the round and then stitched two protective seams just off the middle and cut between them.   I fiddled around with adding a button band and sewing down the cut edges and voila, a cardigan knit in the round.

I’m off to cut up all my knit items.  Or to learn how to knit backwards.

 

Mementos

/ one2travelfar / 2 Comments

Everything around me has meaning or memories.  That’s why I keep them.  China in the cabinet is from my aunts, grandparents and parents.  Although I don’t use the pieces often (mostly because I have inadvertently  juggled stemware while washing), I can remember using them when we were younger.  When I became single again as an adult, I chose to use my heirloom silver forks, knives etc., daily, and continue to do so.  Better than keeping them in a box stored away where they have to be polished before use on special occasions.

I have feathers and rocks, which used to be organized by where I collected them.  There were  Pacific and Atlantic collections.  Somehow over the years, and endless moves, they’ve become jumbled together into a couple of baskets but they still remind me of where I was when I found them.  I think I can still tell them apart if I had to.

Most of the handknit items I made for myself have distinct memories.  I have the Pi shawl,  started when I was near death in the Grand Canyon (well I felt like it anyway) and finished while we were living on our sailboat. I can still remember getting anchor mud on it when I went back to knitting it after I acted as a windlass and hauled the anchor off a muddy bottom.  I have at least two pair of socks, knit while caretaking Seguin Island in different seasons.  And a summer top and tee shirt as well.

Deal Island produced a cowl, headband, socks, vest, stuffed penguin and socks. Many of these items were knit from yarn I spun through the generosity of a fellow knitter I met in  Tasmania.

And now I have polished nails.  I traveled south to New York City last weekend for a reunion with some of my dearest friends from medical school.  We were celebrating a significant birthday for one of us and had a spa day.  I had a facial, where at least 20 creams were applied to my face in thirty minutes.  Or perhaps one cream was applied 20 times in thirty minutes.  Who could tell?  Once the first coat was applied, I had to keep my eyes closed.  I also had a manicure, which is a novelty for me.  Now I can look at my polished nails and remember good times with friends.

Small amusements

/ one2travelfar / 1 Comment

I continue to repurpose the old handknit sweater. The body is in the process of becoming a cat cushion. Shirley, my little old lady cat, always seems to be cold so I decided to try to make a cat coat out of one of the sleeves for her. It fit handsomely. Unfortunately, I was reminded of why we couldn’t use little harnesses when they lived aboard our sailboat with us. Pressure on their neck or shoulders, I am not sure which, causes them to slink and fall over. While she looks pretty cool lying here, she didn’t look so cool when she toppled over when she tried to stand up. i tried just snugging it around her waste and still no good. But it provided an afternoon’s entertainment. And she was warm.

Warm, cool, Shirley

I received a sweet tea set from my daughter and have been brewing all sorts of teas: apple, strawberry, pineapple and blueberry and drinking them hot or cold. They taste good, are already sweet and are pretty to look at.

Teavana

My little aran sweater is taking as long as a full size one. I decided to make a flap on one shoulder with a button to prevent the old head squeeze. One and a half sleeves to go. This is getting me in shape to try some serious cable knitting. I have a full size adult one in mind and a blanket. I may not have enough time on the couch to accomplish all this.

Baby aran

Celebrating the Epiphany

/ one2travelfar / Leave a comment

Today is the Three Kings Day (or the twelfth day of Christmas) and while I didn’t eat cake, I still received a gift. I am wearing my own sock! Due to a minor complication, my cute little candy cane cast was sawn off today and replaced with one that I can take off briefly ( I’ll be good, I’ll be good). This means I took a shower and put my own hand knit sock on my foot to cheer me up.

I had a lot of down time and managed to design a sweet little baby aran sweater. It’s coming along fine except the pointy circular needle I am using has poked a hole in my finger, which I manage to find time and time again. I found the cable patterns in Alice Starmore’s book of Aran knitting.

When life deals you lemons…

/ one2travelfar / 1 Comment

Make lemonade. Or in my case, when the sweater you made your son six years ago is too big, it’s been felted and is still too big, repurpose it. The body of the sweater has become a cat bed, it just awaits some sort of pillow stuffing. I cut off the sleeves and lo and behold they make nice legwarmers, especially since it was 3 degrees F this morning.

Repurposed sleeve

In the case of the CSA,when the farm deals you kale, make kale chips. It’s our new, favorite snack food thanks to a suggestion from a friend. Rip it into little pieces, spray it with oil, salt it and roast it in a 400 F oven until crisp. Delish!

Baby sweater

And I needed to make a few baby sweaters and found some baby yarn in my stash.

Different couch, same guards

/ one2travelfar / 2 Comments

Couch guardsI think they may be using me as an excuse to lay around on the couches. It works for me. Neither one has come close to my cast or foot. Very strange how they seem to know. Tim’s taking good care of me but also said he’s ready (after one day) to invest in  long term care insurance for me!

My knitting is progressing. I finished the lining for the Fiddlehead mittens in the hospital and the Pinstripe Slouch hat is well underway.

Fiddleheads

Pinstripe slouch hat

A trip to the other side and lots of knitting and cooking

/ one2travelfar / 2 Comments

Which means I don’t have a lot to say about quilting or weaving. I traveled to the other side of Lake Champlain along the eastern shore and saw a different view of the High Peaks.

High Peaks from the other side

My needles are busily clacking away. Well quietly tapping, in this case, on wooden double pointed needles working on a pair of double knit mittens. This is an old standby pattern, Reversible Twice as Warm mittens. You basically knit two layers at once, inner and outer, which traps a layer of air between them and creates great insulation for cold weather. My son found an old pair of his, which he initially thought were oven mitts when he unwrapped them. Sometimes I have a problem with gauge. Or maybe I never used to check it.

Double knit mittens

In between knitting, I’ve been stretching my cooking skills as I learn new recipes to work with the fresh ingredients we get from the local farm each week. We’re eating lots of cold weather crops: potatoes, kohlrabi, kale, beets, celeriac, cabbage and brussel sprouts to name a few. Time to shake them up a bit. A friend suggested colcannon, which is a dish comprised of mashed potatoes with other cooked veggies stirred in. I mixed it with kale and served it with venison sausage. Tasty!

Colcannon revised

Pignoli cookies are an enigma. This recipe has worked for me in the past but something changed and the cookies always fell flat. This time I added cream of tartar to stabilize the egg whites and they seemed to hold up to the test.

Pignoli cookies

I have wanted to knit these mittens for a couple of years and now my daughter and her friends (well actually my daughter, on behalf of her friends) has requested knitwear. Here’s one of two Fiddlehead mittens, knit but not blocked or lined. Great pattern. I’ve tried to design my own colorwork pieces before but didn’t pay enough attention to the details of what happened when the thumb grew or the mitten decreased. Plus I have a better idea of the right yarn for projects, DK or light worsted, my heavier handspun is homey but not as pretty. And now, I always check gauge.

Fiddlehead mittens

I cut up a whole bunch of veggies, sauteed them and made empanadas with them. It reminded me of the meat pies we ate in New Zealand and has given me lots of ideas for the long winter months ahead.

Celeriac, squash, kohlrabi medley

We had a dusting of snow the other day and carved our own celtic cross pattern on the driveway.

Driveway celtic cross

Transformations

/ one2travelfar / 1 Comment

I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s still better than sitting while my back slowly heals. I’ve spent the time causing many transformations from a vertical position. Most of the work is based upon the raw ingredients we pick up from the farm each week with a little wool thrown in.

This kohlrabi is huge, bigger than a grapefruit, smaller than a breadbox. Apparently you just carve a little off as needed. i’ve made a slaw with apples and craisins two nights and have hardly made a dent in it.

Giant winter kohlrabi

I finished knitting the second clog, felted them and gave them to their recipient, who proceeded to wear them while wet to form them to her feet. What a trooper.

Clogs before and after

Felted

For a bread variation, I made rolls to go with pulled pork. Yummmmm. I just made my basic bread recipe, formed half of it into one inch round balls and threw three in each compartment of the muffin tin. Bread flour from the farm.

Hard rolls

Rye flour became rye bread in the bread machine with both yeast and beer as the leavening. It’s a coarse bread, great with lots of butter and probably a beer. So much for the diet. It was fun while it lasted.

Rye bread

My standing knitting project and a trip to the farm

/ one2travelfar / Leave a comment

Not “standing” like it’s the same every week or a standing order. I literally knit the entire clog while standing because I strained my back yesterday and don’t like sitting, putting on pants, putting on socks, picking things up from the floor or bending in any way. So I knit, ate breakfast, read the paper and putzed around on the computer while standing. I love this felted clog pattern. They felt and shrink down to a cozy slipper clog.

Unfelted clog

While standing before the window all day, I got to observe the sky changing over Jay and sometimes clouds obscuring the mountain. Right now it’s almost obscured by the power lines but that’s why I strained my back and am standing in the first place.

Say goodbye to wires

Tim had a rehearsal so I had to make the trip to the farm share on my own today. There were big clouds in them there hills.

Something brewing on the way to the farm

There are a variety of hay storage systems: covered or uncovered, randomly strewn around the field, stacked in a pile or lined up like ducks in a row. Esthetically, I prefer the random, uncovered bales.

Hay

We are not alone here

/ one2travelfar / 2 Comments

Well of course not. We have the cats with us. But even during the storm last night, a boat was tucked in behind the lee of the island. They must have been waiting for the tide to change because the weather didn’t really get better until later today and they were gone by early morning. We had several hours of sun today, which was very nice and brightened our moods. Even the cats were a little stir crazy. We were all happy to be out for a while today. Lobsterman were back out and a tanker went by about 3 miles south of the island this afternoon. There’s a hawk, which circles the east and south sides of the island and a few seagulls about. There’s an assortment of migrating birds passing by and attracted to the light.

Enterprise

I accomplished a lot of knitting yesterday and now find I like to have several projects going at once. I used to be almost exclusively a serial, monogamous knitter but there are so many projects. Some I have to focus on and others are more mindless. I’m knitting a “one stitch lace scarf” for patients who receive chemotherapy at the hospital, in a teal, machine washable blend. It’s simple garter stitch, with a dropped stitch lace pattern, and great to knit while we catch up on old episodes of Dexter.

Knitting trio

The gray and pink lace scarf was a mistake but now I’m so far along, there’s no stopping me. The stripes, combined with the lace, are too busy but I’m six feet into it so there you are. The pattern is Traveling roses, a pretty pattern but 43 stitches by 43 stitches for one repeat and this old mind just hasn’t been able to memorize it. I have it on my Kindle and insert a note to remind of the last row knit.

Monkey socks

The third project is a pair of socks for me with knitpicks stroll in a heather. Very pretty yarn and I have made myself a pair of socks each time we have been here (I’m wearing my pair from 2008 now). So I want to keep up the tradition. It’s a nice reminder all year of the wonderful time we have on Seguin.

One stitch lace scarf

Traveling roses scarf

Seguin 2011