Tag: Phloem

Knitting

Hit and Run, FOF 02/01/13

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OFF THE NEEDLES

They’re finished!  The Phloem Socks are finished, with ends woven in, tried on, pictures taken and finally, shown off for this week’s FO Friday.

This one shows a little more detail.  Turned out well, I think.

ALMOST ON THE NEEDLES

OK, let’s see –

Towels in dryer – check

Beds made – check

Banana bread in oven – check

Fire started – check

Fancy coffee in cup – check

Dishwasher loaded and running – check

I swatched my newest project last night, Etched Rio Wrap in Metalico Gold Dust, got close enough to gauge, wound the six skeins and I’m good to go.  I love the excitement of a new project, this must be what opening night on Broadway feels like!  Oooh, there’s my cue!

Sorry about the hit and run blog style this week, I know you understand, it being a new project and all.

What lights a fire under you?  Shopping for yarn?  Looking at patterns?  Winding?  Admiring someone else’s project?  I’d love to know!

Head on over to Tamis Amis for lots more FOF love.

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.  Demosthenes

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 1/30/13

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ON THE NEEDLES

I’m still plugging along on the Phloem Socks but on the home stretch for the second of the pair.  I really love this pattern and so it will probably show up again on the needles at some point.  Hopefully I’ll have it completed tonight, I so want to start the Etched Rio Wrap, I can hardly contain myself.  Jeez Louise!  I ran out to get a quick pic in natural light and it’s windy and cold.  I bet the neighbors across the back think I’m nuts.  This is what I imagine is going through their heads, “She takes pictures of YARN, for heaven’s sake.  WHO does THAT?”

Phloem Socks from Knitty, Spring 2012

IN AND OUT OF THE OVEN

I made Snickerdoodle bread Monday evening as a special request from Mr. Iknead.  My recipe makes two loaves, a good thing since one gets eaten up pretty much as soon as it comes out of the oven.  It’s addictive, this stuff.  Here’s how it goes:

SNICKERDOODLE BREAD

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. butter, softened

2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. sour cream

1 pkg. Hershey’s cinnamon chips

TOPPING

3 tbsp. sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Cream butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon until fluffy.  Add eggs and mix well.

2.  Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.

3.  Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.

4.  Add cinnamon chips and stir into batter.

5.  Spoon batter into two regular sized loaf pans (about 2/3 full)

6.  Mix 3 tbsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle over the batter in each loaf pan.

7.  Bake at 350 until cake tester comes out clean.  Let cool before removing from pan.

Recipe from Kristyn (Lil’ Luna) on Pinterest – Thanks

NOTE:  If you have trouble finding the cinnamon chips, (like me) in the store, there are several recipes online to make them at

home.

Go to Tamis Amis for more great WIPs.

ANSWER TO WHO DOES THAT QUESTION:  Fiber fiends, that’s who! ; )

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.  Mark Twain

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Knitting

My Winter Tonic

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TRENDING NOW (what’s that mean anyway?)

Any time one of us had the droops or doldrums, especially in winter,  my grandmother always said we needed a tonic.  She never gave us a tonic, just said one was needed, which was probably a good thing since when I hear the word tonic, I think of cod liver or castor oil, both of which are off the scale on the official Disgust-O-Meter.  My own personal winter tonic is this:

Take one cold and cloudy day

Add a nice fire and some knitting

Mix in a couple of grands, chocolate milk and cookies

Monitor closely as not to miss anything

and

Watch your contentment rise

Repeat as often as necessary

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

The Papoose Gives the Sprout a Clean Bill of Health

ON THE NEEDLES

I’ve done very little knitting the last day or so, still working on the second Phloem Sock; I did remember that I promised a quick show and tell of the Metalico yarn that The Yarn Mart ordered for me and it’s more beautiful than I remembered –

 

Here are the stats:

Metalico

Blue Sky Alpaca

50% baby Alpaca and 50% raw silk

All natural/No dyes

Gold Dust

This is going to transform into Sarah Smuland’s Etched Rio Wrap and I can’t wait to get started.  The softness and shimmer of this yarn is amazing.  Check out the Blue Sky Alpaca website for a look at the pattern.

POP THE QUESTION

What’s your favorite winter tonic?

The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment.  Tony Robbins

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Knitting

WIP Wednesday 01/16/13 and Home Again

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ON THE NEEDLES

Here’s my current WIP for this week. This sock actually started out a really fiddly Celtic cable, but after about five rounds, I knew it was way over the top too fiddly to work on while visiting the Stuttgart grands, sent it to the frog pond and restarted, this time on Rachel Coopey’s Phloem, from Knitty Spring/Summer 2012. It’s also fairly fiddly but doesn’t require a cable needle, a definite plus when keeping company with a very curious and busy two year old.

The yarn is one I ran across while stash diving looking for a good take-along project for my Stuttgart visit.  It’s Shibui 100% superwash merino, color 6001 and since I believe everything should have a real name, not just a number, I’m calling it Sand and Sky.  Nice, I think.

BACK IN THE NEST

Bigmommy brought me back home this morning and as much fun as I had with the babies over the past few days, it sure is good to be back.  Back where my chair is dented in all the right places, my pillow is always perfect and I know where the toilet paper is kept.  Funny what things make homes homey, isn’t it?

THE CRISIS CONTINUES

The great washing machine crisis is now in its fifth day and I don’t mind telling you that the laundry has somehow learned to multiply and seems to be doubling itself by the hour.  Really though, the new kid on the block is to be delivered and hooked up between three and five o’clock this afternoon.  I’m thinking positive and have already separated darks from lights, delicates from heavy duty and hand knits get to solo.  No unintentional felting allowed, zero, zip, zilch, none, not on my watch, nope.

Don’t forget to check out Tami Ami’s blog for more awesome WIPs.

It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it wrong.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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