Hand Knit for a Baby

I don't do much baby knitting any more, but it is satisfying. The garments knit up quickly, and put it on a baby, and it's instant cute. This little layette is for a baby girl whose parents were really good to me last year when I hit a snag with my book project. The gift had another outfit of organic cotton, and this handmade number, which I think can be mixed and matched with other things. The hat and pants are knit with Baby Cashmerino, which feels so soft. The hat is my own design, nothing complicated, and the pants are a free pattern I found on Alison Hansel's blog. She's doing a ruffled number on an upcoming MagKnits that I'm going to be looking for.

The star of the package was the February baby sweater from Knitter's Almanac, using Socks that Rock heavyweight in Sun Stone. It's a fun little sweater to knit, and I'll make this again. It's classic and pretty. I found the kitty with attitude buttons at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. This child is going to have pets as a part of her life. There are dogs, cats and birdies at home.

At last, this month is coming to an end! My schedule is going to loosen up, including a much needed four day break next week, which is going to be longer with the weekend attached. I don't know if I'm going anywhere, because the Man is not capable of planning in advance. There are projects to be finished, and housework to be caught up.

More Pudding Thoughts

I sampled the rice pudding today after one night in the refrigerator. There's not much left, as the Man "nibbled" his way though the batch. I'm in search of something creamier. A lot of recipes that I found have raisins. I abhor them. Tonight I made a new batch using Arborio rice, the type that risotto is made from. I covered the uncooked rice with water and let it soak while I cooked dinner. On the stove, the rice as it cooked absorbed the entire cup of milk. I added one tablespoon of amaretto to the recipe. Other than the type of rice and the amaretto, the rest of it is the same. I think enhancements could be made with some vanilla sugar, which I should make a batch of for my cooking and baking, and some fresh or frozen berries. The new recipe is a winner, I think. It should inspire a marriage proposal.

The pudding that inspired this is at the S & G restaurant at the corners of Lincoln, Wellington, and Southport. It's across the street from St. Aphonsus Church, where a little Man went to grade school. I can just imagine him looking out the window a lot, causing mischief, and being cracked across the knuckles by nuns for bad penmanship.

Pretty Good Rice Pudding

The Man and I have gone to a diner on Lincoln Ave. a few times. The kind where the owners are probably Greek, and the specials are different every day. We split a dinner, which includes the salad, soup, and dessert. I must confess that the dessert is the best part. It's the best rice pudding I've ever had. The Man begged me to duplicate it tonight, but leave out the egg, butter, and sugar. So, I made some, and just didn't tell him some things he might not want to hear. Someday. This makes about four servings.

3/4 c. rice, uncooked (I used regular long grain white rice, but I want to try Arborio next time)

water to cover

1 c. milk (we only have skim in the house)

1/3 c. sugar

1 egg

1 T. butter (the Man wants SmartBalance, but I think it's vile! I didn't tell him about the butter)

1 t. vanilla

nutmeg and cinnamon to taste
whipped cream in a can

Cook the rice in water until tender. Add the sugar, and butter, and gradually add in milk until creamy (you may not use the entire cup). Beat the egg, and temper it with the hot liquid before adding to the rice. Stir in vanilla. Add nutmeg and cinnamon. Serve (the man wants it hot) at your desired temperature with whipped cream.

I think I had the scariest drive of my life coming home last night on I-294, just south of the Wisconsin border. One lane, with concrete walls on either side, with lights on top that seemed to get narrower as I drove forward!

The photo is of beauty amidst the chaos in the Lucky Penny studio. Bits of my Steiff toy and McCoy pottery collection.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I'm probably the last person in the knitosphere to be making these. The Monkey socks, from Knitty, look through the archives section for the pattern. So clever. An easy to remember pattern repeat. I don't know why, but this sock just seemed to knit up so quickly. Mods made so far are a k2 p2 ribbing at the cuff, using the double start cast on I learned at a Nancy Bush workshop, and the usual slip stitch heel flap. The spool you see in the photo is wooly nylon that I knit along with at heels and toes. I have a collection with many colors--which reminds me, I think I saw some Regia reinforcing yarn at Lakeside Fibers when I was there. I'm using Dream In Color Smooshy yarn in the color Strange Harvest. I've seen this yarn in pretty much every shop I've gone into these days. The next socks I want to make are the Embossed Leaves that everyone else has made. I have some minty green Lorna's Laces sport weight that I think would be perfect.

My Kind of Road Trip

It's been some kind of month. Work has been demanding, and not in a good way. The book is now very close to deadline where it moves forward again in the production process. Combine that with my usual demands of a high maintenance Man, and a needy pet, and there's the makings of a meltdown. And, the heat! I just want to hibernate all summer in a cool dark room with some icy cold liquids until it's safe to come out in wool again.

Even with a late start, this was a welcome trip. We had made it through heavy traffic to the expressway only to find that I had forgotten my Illinois Tollway transponder in my usual car. Not having it would have made the drive a total nightmare, so we went back for it, and decided on a different route to avoid the Kennedy Expressway traffic. We ended up in Madison again for the night, in the same hotel that I like. Looking through the tourist information, I found a listing for a yarn shop that I had known about. I checked the hours for Sunday. The Man must have been in a really good mood, because he indulged me, and was perfectly agreeable for me to stop there on our way out of town. I had driven in Madison enough to know just how to get there, or maybe I have a homing device when it comes to finding yarn.

A view of one of the three large rooms that holds all sorts of wooly delights. In the back of the store is a cafe with its own entrance, where the Man was able to amuse himself for a short time while I browsed. After he got a little antsy, he went exploring a bit in the neighborhood, which is residential with well appointed, but modest homes that are next to a lake. Lakeside Fibers! When in a new store, I sometimes get so excited that I can't think of a project that I would like to knit. I ended up getting some more Blue Sky Alpacas worsted for another One Cable vest, which would make my fourth.

Little Piccolo waited, somewhat patiently, for me to finish. She's such a good travel companion. The time's coming soon that we're going to have to leave her behind at the animal hospital. It's getting a little too hot for her to travel safely. If you look close, you might see my reflection. That's about all I want to show of myself on this blog.

Piccolo Makes Some Friends

There's a Big Dog that lives upstairs. He's a Border Collie, older and very gentle. When he comes down the stairs, and my apartment door is a barrier, Piccolo behaves like a maniac. She growls, and throws her little body into the door. This morning, she was doing her "bidness" in the back yard. The gate opens, and the Big Dog slowly walks in. Piccolo stands underneath him, and wags her tail. Very gentle sniffing between the two of them, with no aggression from either party. I'm sure when he comes down the stairs tonight, it will be back to the usual.

Today I'm walking Piccolo on the street. A woman parks her car across the street from us, and gets out of her car. Piccolo stops walking. Won't move. She's looking at this woman who's holding a bag. Wagging her tail, like she wants to be friends. Piccolo normally doesn't want any people other than me and the Man. Then, I notice the bag. It's Popeye's chicken.

My Random Meltdown

Oh, how I wish for August, when this project will likely be completed. This is one of my favorite designs from the book. I'm not too fearful of posting what you can see of it here--if someone puts together a pattern and publishes it before the book is out, I will just have to hunt you down.

The sweaters I've designed are not for beginners, and this is one of the more complex ones. Also the most fun and satisfying. The pattern has written instructions about how to make the diamonds, and a chart illustrating how to put them together. Later, I added photography of the techniques for creating the diamonds. I'm trying to explain all this to someone who knits, but has never knit from a pattern.

Regarding all the colors, I used self striping yarn to create the color blocks. I also think that someone can put together something spectacular using just scraps, and I didn't get into where exactly to place the colors, because it is random.

I'm using self striping yarn, Noro Kureyon here, and the color of the diamonds are randomly placed as I progress in the knitting. Random.

What color do you put where? She wants to know.

Knitters, couldn't you also randomly place colors as you knit the piece with your worsted weight scrap yarn?

I've used a different color for each technique. Isn't that standard? Doesn't that make it a little easier to understand visually? Still, we go back to what color to use where on the pattern. Knitters--we understand random, don't we? Don't we understand that color placement can be left to the knitter's choice?

My head is now going to randomly explode.

Taking It on the Road

Hey, all you Midwest fiber addicts! It's a new show, in our very own back yard, July 20-22, 2007. The Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair, in the Legacy Arts Park, Crystal Lake, IL.

Crystal Lake is about a 50 mile drive, mostly highway, from Chicago. There will be music, delicious food, shopping, and lots of really good workshops. Check out the vendor and workshop lists--Lucky Penny Hand Made will be there, in very good company. I'll bring some extra chairs in case some of you want to sit a spell.

I'll remind again, but thought I would give you all a chance to save the dates!

Now I Want Some Onion Rings

Just as I got that Journey song out of my head, tonight driving home there's discussion about last night's Sopranos finale on my progressive radio station (850 AM), and they play that song again. Thanks.

The socks are a feather and fan variation from Knitting Sensational Socks, with my standard heel, using Crown Mountain Fibers Sock Hop yarn, in Satisfaction.

I'm just getting started on a busy week with book editing, and work kicking my hiney. Really conflicted about work. Would love to give it up.

Kinsey Report

This week was all about the book. Worked on editing a 96 page manuscript, sent to my editor, now 65 pages are coming back at me for another go around this weekend. I saw proofs for the photography, and some of my favorite dogs were left out. I really don't want to disappoint the dogs' people. So, I've gone through my files to find some to try to squeeze in. This is one. Robrex Kinsington, aka Kinsey, the "foundation bitch" (breeders' terms, not mine) for a Chinese Crested kennel. She's a beauty. This breed is a perfect candidate for a sweater wardrobe. I learned something about book printing--pages are in multiples of 16. So, from what I understand, the space is limited unless they can stretch the project out to 112.

A few days ago I was mad at the Man. So mad, I was searching out jobs in California. Mad enough to inspire him to clean out the many years of newspapers accumulated under the bed. He brought in the shop vac to suck up the dust. No wonder we were sneezing. All is forgiven after yesterday. I'm at home, and he calls from the alley. He has the dog that the neighbors with the baby lost last week. I ran out with a leash, and took him back to his house. The people answered the door, and almost appeared disappointed that he was back. He was left in the yard, unsupervised. "I don't know how he got out," the neighbor said. I was about to get all judgemental on her, because regarding pets, I am. But I held back. These people wouldn't get it any way. The Man and I agree that this situation will repeat until the little dog is either stolen or killed. This is what I love--the Man didn't always get it about dogs. Now he does. Before me, he would have just let the dog run free, and maybe mentioned that he saw him days later. He's really come around. The next time the little dog is out, I'm going to take him, and help him find a loving home.

Tomorrow is worldwide KIP day. I'm not that much of a crowd person, even though lots of people I really like will be there, and I had already made plans for my Saturday afternoon. My hair stylist is moving back to Vermont, so tomorrow would be my last opportunity to have her cut and color my hair. I'm thinking it's going to be shorter. There's a lot of hair, and it gets hot under all of it.

She's Been MIA on the Blog

I know there are some regular readers who like seeing her, so here she is, with her new short ears. I'm going to keep them this way, I think. So little yeasty beasties don't grow in there.

Piccolo has some goofy nicknames, mostly from the Man: Pics, Pickles, Pickles McGee, Pickle McDickle, and my favorite, heard recently, Pickles Magoo.

My Knitted History

In the absence of anything finished to show you, let's go back into my knitted archives. About 27 years back. This is a jacket I knit for my Mom, fiber unknown, but it feels like some kind of blend. The pattern came from a Mon Tricot magazine, which I probably still have in a box somewhere. This was knitting beyond my skill set at the time, with the combination of pattern stitch, shaping, and double knitting. I would let my Mom pick out designs for me to knit, and she chose them without regard to the difficulty level.

The belt feature is double knitting. I don't think that I've ever done it since.

For some reason, I got the big idea to machine sew the sweater together. I had recently gotten my Bernina, which is still in use today, and it has a stitch that is somewhat like a serger.

My mom gave the sweater back to me, as it doesn't fit any more. A little too tight in the hips, now. Let's face it, who has the same body after two decades? I still think the sweater looks modern, maybe just a change of button to freshen it up. It won't fit me either, unfortunately.

Pictures to follow, but the linen Rosebud is complete and will make her debut today. I love it.

Home Spinning the Wheels

My cabled vest progresses along. I haven't knit past where it was when I took the picture last week, so here's something in somewhat real time. With all the other stuff I'm working on, it's actually going pretty fast. Have I said this before? For some reason, cables seem to knit faster for me.

I'm thinking about the next round of shows. Country Living is now going to be on some property in mid Ohio in October. They dropped the price, but when you tack on the travel expenses, it would work out to more. I paid a lot of money last year to be in a mud puddle for four days, with only a hint of editorial attention, which I ended up never getting. So, as of today, I'm ruling it out. I'm not doing the One of a Kind, because the price to be in it is three times what I paid last year as an Emerging Artist, and I just covered my expenses at that one. I'm thinking about the Renegade again. I must admit, it did open a lot of doors for me in regards to other big shows. It's going to be a part of a street fair on Division street instead of in Wicker Park. Logistics may be a problem here. I'm going to drive by the neighborhood to check out the parking situation. I've ruled out the Rockwell Crossing Art Walk. It's on the street with no sun protection, and I got pretty sick after the last one I was in. I am applying to one in July, details to follow if I get accepted. I'll be in good company if I get in, even though it somewhat breaks my new rule about trying to sell a wool sweater in summer. There must be someone out there that plans ahead.

I think the Man is disappointed that we're home this weekend. I needed the rest.

Oh, Yes I Am

I can't leave something this good alone. It started with an attempt to knit another design, Eileen from No Sheep for You. It's really cute, all bidness in front, and a party in back. It's worked in Louet worsted weight linen, which was a total pain to knit on a size 2 needle. Way too stiff to endure working it to completion, even for that much style. So, I took it down. Then I swatched to see what the linen would be like worked double on a size 11 needle. So, I could do a summer Rosebud. A Linen Rosebud. It looks a little misshapen now, but the washing machine will make everything good. It's close to completion.

I checked in with my neighbor, and the dog and owner have been reunited. His home is three doors east of me, in a new house on the street. The Man was inside the house, and saw evidence of a baby, but didn't recall evidence of a dog. The owner confessed to my neighbor that the dog has been neglected since the baby's arrival. Can you imagine how crazy that makes me? I didn't see them rushing around the street like nuts looking for him, either. I would be a total maniac if Piccolo went missing. So, a not so happy ending for the dog, whose name I think is Titi. I'll keep an eye out for him. I'm pretty sure this situation will repeat.