Thank you, Google Reader!

This will be a quick post, and it will not be of interest to anyone who doesn't use google reader.

My biggest gripe with google reader (well, my biggest gripe since they've installed the search bar) is that the "mark all read" button is so close to the "refresh" button, and that there was no way to disable the button or undo a "mark all read." Many many many a time I've been sleepy and trying to refresh, when instead I've clicked mark all read and hundreds (in one case thousands) of posts I'd had marked as "unread" for one reason or another were gone.

As of today, a few minutes ago, when I accidentally clicked "mark all read" a popup window came up: "are you SURE you want to mark all 115 posts as read?" I told it nope, and went along my merry way.

Googlereader is the one webap I use more than any other, and it's become an important part of my day. This one little minor change by google has made the product infiniately more enjoyable for me, and much less stressful - never again will I be too afraid to use Reader at night! Or when I'm tired! Or when i'm forgetful! Thank you, google!

New Year, New Hat!

All right, so it's been a little longer than I anticipated...the good news is, I have even more to share with you! I'll start with my first FO of the year.

New Year's Urchin[R]:

Pattern: Urchin[R] by Cheryl Niamath
Materials: Del Sur by Aslan Trends [R]; 80m/100g; 100% Merino wool; color: 2979 (Scarlet) dyelot: 1200
Purchased at: Natural Stitches in Pittsburgh, PA
Amount: a little over 1 skein
Needles: 7mm (NOT US 7s, this is not a US needle size) Addi Turbos
Gauge: what's that? (aka, never checked)
Size: L
Cost: $16.80 but I still have a bunch leftover

Started: 1.02.08
Finished: 1.03.08
Total time: 1 day!

I wanted to knit this hat in the first place because Anna J's mother knit her an Urchin and I fell in love with it and ended up wearing it all New Year's Eve. I know trying to recreate someone else's finished product is a bad idea, but I loved the hat so much that as I was leaving Pittsburgh, I picked up some yarn to make myself a hat. I got the Del Sur after much deliberation. Anna J's hat was (I found out later) knit in Lamb's Pride bulky with size 11 needles. (Yeah, I got her to check with her mom.) AnnaJ is also a fellow knitter, and we both thought the hat might look nice in a thick/thin yarn, which is what led me to chose the Del Sur.

A few notes on the hat: I was a little disappointed in how small my final hat was. AnnaJ's hat was nice and floppy, a proper beret. My hat ended up much more tightly knit, and while it fits on my head, it's a pretty tight fit. I've been debating taking out the seam and adding another wedge (which makes sense if you've done the pattern) but the yarn would not be easy to undo, and I'm not eager to go back to working on this hat.

I've worn my hat quite regularly and it is warm, and it's received complements, but I'm still not thrilled. Hopefully one of these days I can bring myself to go back (I still haven't woven in the ends) and add another wedge or half wedge.

A few notes on the pattern: Before knitting, I checked Ravelry (of course) and saw most people considered this an easy fun knit. My first attempt at a wedge left me utterly perplexed. This is partly because, instead of knitting in relation to the last wrapped stitch, I attempted to do the math to count how many stitches I should leave. This did not work. I asked for help on the Rav boards, and people pointed out the directions were in relation to the last wrapped stitch. On my second attempt, I places a stitch marker every time I wrapped a stitch (yeah, you end up with TONS of them; I used the removable markers so I could reuse them) and just worked in relation to the marker. This made the knitting much more pleasant and much easier. Though it took me longer than few hours, it was still a quick knit.







And, here's a picture of the yarn, all wound up.



I do have more knits-in-progress, more sewing projects, and a 101 in 1001 post I owe you, so keep reading. =]

Hello

Hello my dear readers, I'm going to Pittsburgh for the end of '07, so I'll see you next year! (Aka, on the second or third. =P)

Past Crafting

So, in the rush that was trying to get things done in time, I've neglected to post about a few finished objects. Here's my catchup post!

Anna's Fetchings[R]:

Pattern: Fetching[R] by Cheryl Niamath
Materials: Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran [R]; 90m/50g; 55% Merino wool, 33% Microfibre, 12% Cashmere; color: 300008 (brown) dyelot: 44
Purchased at: Woolworks
Amount: 1 skein, just barely
Needles: size 6 clover DPNs
Gauge: what's that? (aka, never checked)
Cost: $8.28

Started: First glove started:12/19 -12/20; Secong glove: 12/20-12/21
Finished: 12/21
Total time: 3 days

Finished gloves:



Gloves with care sleeve:


Gloves with Artsy Clutch:


These were enjoyable to knit. I wish I'd read all the reviews on Cashmerino Aran before choosing to knit with it. It's a very soft yarn, and the resulting fabric is extremely soft, but everyone who says it pills is right. I will probably use this yarn again, but maybe not for such a high use object as gloves.

The pattern was exactly what I hoped for. It was interesting enough to keep me going and fast enough I was able to finish it in a few days. If I'd knitted more on a given day, I could probably even finish this sooner. The one thing I didn't love about the pattern was the picot bind off, and if I do these again, I will probably change the bind off. To me, it makes the bound off edge looser than I'd want it, though it does look pretty. Also, as you can tell if you look closely, I forgot to reverse the cables on the second glove. I hadn't realized it until I was in the main body ribbing part, and I decided I didn't want to frog it back. Next time I knit this, I plan on reversing the cables. All in all, a satisfying knit. Hopefully, the recipient will like it too! As you can see in the bottom picture, this will also be given with an Artsy Clutch. That's my second FO of this post....

Anna's Artsy Clutch:

Pattern: Artsy Clutch from Bend the Rules Sewing
Materials: 3 fat quarters; could be made with two
Purchased at: Dragon fabric and lining butterfly fabric were purchased at an open market in Hilo, Hawaii years ago. The black fabric for the front and the black button are from JoAnn's Fabric.
Cost: $3 for black fat quarter (still have a lot left); $2 for button (still have one left) other fabric (both prints as well as lining flannel) from stash; 3$ for elastic (still have a lot left) total: $8

Started: 12/23
Finished: 12/23
Total time: 2 hours, maybe less

A closer look:

A look at the lining (with a glove inside):


I loved this project. Loved it. I see why it's as popular as it is! When I finished sewing, I was amazed and incredibly pleased by how polished it looked. I made my pouch slightly smaller than the pattern in the book, partly because of the size of some of my scrapps. It's just big enough to be a pencil or pen case, or as a small purse. I decided to have a 'cuff' of the dragon fabric instead of having the entire bag in that fabric for a few reasons. First off, I thought the pattern would be overwhelming if it was the entire bag. The way it is now, you have the two dragons looking down on the 'front' (aka, folded over) piece, and the rest of the black sets them off. One thing I did do, thanks to the suggestion of someone on the blogosphere (though I forget who) is reverse the pattern of the dragon on the folded over flap so that it looks right side up when it's upside down. Other than that and the size adjustment, I followed the pattern. I will make many more of these, I'm sure.

Branching Out into Lace

Okay, so all you knitterly people know the title's a pun. But, it's true!
Yesterday I started my first 'real' lace project, Branching Out[R] from Knitty, Spring 05. I'm using my Fibre Company Organik which I'd bought for just this project.

The color of the yarn is hard to see fully in the picture - it's a duo tone with a base of green and an overlay of brown. The colorway is 'Jungle' and it reminds me of forsythia shoots in the spring. It's a single ply, and it's amazingly soft and pleasant to work with. I'm very glad I got this yarn for this project - it's perfect, to me. It's a thick enough yarn that I suspect it makes the pattern easier than if I Douceur et Soie. but it has just enough life and variation to make it more interesting than the Silky Wool versions I've seen and not loved. The stitch definition is is nice, but not overdone.

As of right now, I have five pattern repeats done. The pattern is harder than I hoped it would be, but, easier than I feared it would be after reading some horror story forum posts on Ravelry. I had to frog my first row and a half and start over. After that, I put in a lifeline. In theory I wanted to move the lifeline every pattern repeat, but I haven't been doing that lately. I have been undoing all mistakes, which is somewhat new for me. I think that the final product will be much nicer this way, plus it's a useful talent to be able to unknit as well as knit! Other than the first time when I frogged everything, all of my mistakes have been fixable by unknitting a row or two. For some reason I keep having a problem leaving out one of the yarn overs in the first row, but I've lately been overly cautious, and that helps.

This scarf does not yet have a place in my imagination. Some projects, like La Vie de La Boheme, I have an image in my mind of either the kind of person wearing it could make me or an outfit I could wear it with or some other vision of the object in use. Branching out has no such associations - all I imagine is the finished scarf, hovering magically in mid air. I'm not too worried about the wearability; once it's done I'm sure I'll think of some excuse. Until then I just have to keep knitting! I think getting better at lace is going to be one of my knitterly resolutions for 2008. That, along with the standard of knitting from ones stash. (Don't worry, this isn't my resolutions post quite yet...that'll have a little more thought put into it. =] ) My stash hasn't grown out of control by any means, but there are enough planned projects that have yet to be actualized that I could afford to fix some of them before starting ALL that many more. Of course, I'll have to knit the hats for my step brothers, but, the story of that gift to to them will come later. For now, it's approaching past my bedtime. I just wanted to express my excitement over my new branching out. =]

Christmas Wishes with a recipe

Well, it's Christmas! Merry Christmas, and secular happiness to all! I have more making things excitement for you, but, in honor of the holiday season, that will wait a bit.

My big 'family' celebration was last night. My older stepbrother had returned home from a multi-month-long trip around South America early (as in, 1am), so our happily blended family was all present for, I believe, our first Christmas together. Since my stepfather is ethnically Jewish and my mother and I aren't really all that Christian, our Christmas celebration was much more about family than Jesus. Personally, that's just fine with me. We had a very large, wonderful meal, a wonderful desert, and opened presents. I made half of the desert, and as a holiday treat, I'm going to include my (mostly made up, partly adapted from a bajillian sources) recipe for you.

Our menu:
Wilted spinach salad with canadian bacon, shallots, and a reduced balsamic vinaigrette
Roast beef tenderloin
Tomato Maidera Coulis
Roasted fingerling potatoes
Broiled tomatoes stuffed with breadcrumbs and herbs

And, for desert:
Chocolate soufflé and chai poached pairs with cream sauce

Now, for the recipe!

Chai Poached Pears with Cream Sauce
serves 6 (or as many as you please)

For the pears:

• 6 pears, preferably Bosc
• either 1 teabag or 1.5 tsp looseleaf Chai per pear (so, in this case, 6 teabags, or 3Tbsps chai)
• 1/4 cup sugar or less per pear (so, in this case, 1 1/2 cups sugar)
• 1 cup water per pear (so, in this case, 6 cups water)

The pears are very easy to make.

1. Peel the pears. You may core them if you really want, but the desert is most attractive when you do not core them and when you leave the stem in.
   
2. Bring water to a boil.
3. Once water is boiling, steep teabags for 5 minutes. If using looseleaf tea, use a paper tea filter or some other contraption to allow you to remove the leaves once done steeping. After 5 minutes, remove tea.
   
4. Add sugar and bring to a low boil.
   
5. Once mixture is boiling, add pears. Reduce temperature to 'low' or such that pears can simmer.
6. Let pears cook at least 20 minutes. Check occasionally to make sure liquid does not completely boil down, and when checking, roll pears over on their sides.
7. Remove 2 cups of poaching liquid, and, in a separate saucepan, reduce. You may use this, reduced, as a sauce if you do not want to make the cream sauce. It will still be delicious.
   

For the cream sauce:

• 1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream
• 1 or 2 oranges worth of zest, reserve some
  
• 5 slices of candied ginger
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 cups reserved poaching liquid

1. Mince candied ginger.
2. Combine ginger, honey, first portion of zest, and cream. Heat on the stove until honey is melted. Do not let cream boil.
3. Simultaneously, cook poaching liquid to a boil and let it reduce.
4. Once poaching liquid is reduced enough for your taste, lower the heat, and pour the poaching liquid into the cream mixture, stirring constantly.

To plate: In a bowl, place 1 pear per person. Pour cream sauce into dish. Finish with a pinch of the reserved orange zest, and, if you'd like, a drizzle of honey and a sprig of mint.

That's it! The pears are a very delicious and simple desert by themselves, but the cream sauce makes them a little more fancy for special occasions. As a big chai drinker I tend to have many different kinds lying around, and if you are able to choose, I'd recommend a chai with a hearty dose of cardamom and pepper. (If your family is adventurous, or loves heat the way mine does, the pears also are delicious with a grinding of black pepper.) Enjoy!

Giftmas

Unlike many other bloggers out there, I have no fear in blogging my holiday gifts. It's much easier when the intended recipients don't know about the blog. =]

I'm glad I've learned to sew, because there are some projects that are much easier to complete, time wise, sewing than knitting. Purses, for example. I wish I knew good gifts for guys! It's so much easier for me to figure out good personalized (hand made) gifts for the females in my life.


Here's a list of gifts, by friend name, with photos attached when the item is complete. Family gifts are different and will come later:

Anna J:
icecream pint cozy
beer bottle cozy


Anna B:
1 set fetching; artsy clutch


Emma:
pink polka no cash wallet

Erika:
pleated beauty in green fabric & sparkly tweed



Hannah:
InStitches clutch.




Maeve:
actually reads this blog, but knows one of her gifts is going to be a mini sweater ornament. If only I had size 5 dpns!

Rachel:
teacozy with removable flower pin