Still Knitting… and More

Yesterday, I ended by writing that, yes, there has been knitting. I wish I could say that John’s cardigan is finished but that just wouldn’t be true. I’ll be picking it up again soon, though, now that sweater weather is really here; it just isn’t the kind of project I can work on in the summer (at least, that’s what I keep telling myself).

However, I did come across an interesting shawl pattern that I just couldn’t resist. The pattern is called “Loop” by Casapinka. It’s a simple shawl with an interesting stitch, almost mindless knitting. It is constructed mainly of stocking stitch with a textured stitch row every 8 rows.

I’m using KnitPicks’ Chroma Fingering weight yarn in two colourways; the main yarn is Fogbank, shades of grey and a little bit of brown and the coloured one is Carnival. I’m loving the yarn (70% superwash wool, 30% nylon); it’s soft and squishy and will, I’m sure, make a shawl that will be an instant favourite.

Right now, I’m just over half way and I’ve only been working on it for about a week and a half. As I said, the body of the shawl is almost mindless knitting. I can work on it while watching tv. The coloured rows take a little more concentration, especially on the wrong side but, if you’re looking for a relatively simple knitting project, this would definitely fit the bill. One bonus about the pattern? The designer has included a row and stitch chart to help you keep your place, including a column to check off completed rows.

Knitting isn’t all I’ve been doing, obviously. A few months ago, I decided that it’s time to start replacing some of my aging baking and cooking supplies…. baking tins, kitchen implements…. that kind of thing. As you may remember, I now have new muffin tins, cake pans and a few other things. There are still a few things I’ll be replacing (as I come across things that have passed their best before date… so to speak).

Over the past couple of weeks, there have been two things that I’ve wanted to have back in my kitchen or have in my kitchen… period. One thing I’ve never had but have wanted is a cookie press. As you know if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, I love to bake. A cookie press has never been in my kitchen but my mother had one years and years ago; I’ve been looking for one but I’m being picky. Yesterday, I went to my favourite kitchen store and looked at their (very meagre) selection. They had two; both looked and felt rather flimsy. If I’m going to get one, I want a good one. I’m keeping my eyes open.

Years ago, I had a krumkake iron, a Nordicware product that would be heated over an element on the stove. Krumkake is a Norwegian waffle cookie, very delicate but very tasty cookie. They can be served flat, rolled into a cigar shape, or formed into a cone and filled with cream. In Holland, they’re called “kniepertjes” (translated? Clothes pegs) (pronounced knee-pert-yes) and were a favourite of everyone in my family. When I left, I didn’t take it with me for some reason. I’ve always wanted another one.

I now have one.

This is a Chef’s Choice Krumkake Express iron and I love it! It’s so much easier to use than the old, manual iron I had before.

These are, believe it or not, gluten free. I tried two recipes and decided my first try would be gluten free because, of course, Kristen is gluten intolerant. It worked very well and, honestly, you cannot tell that there’s anything different about these.

The kids loved these, especially when filled with vanilla whipped cream! For that matter, so did the adults. I also made a batch with white flour, following a Sons of Norway recipe; I was told to bring them to work because there are enough baked goods in this house already and we don’t need the added weight. The people at work thank you, John.

And The Winner Is…

First… to keep everything completely open… a screen shot of the names of all those who commented on this blog to date.

As you can see, there are twenty-three names. Then, I went to the website Random.org in order to choose the winner of the Metalouse Shawl.

I input the numbers and asked John to hit the “Generate” button.

And the winner is…

Joyce, the Metalouse Shawl is yours!

All I need from you is your address so I can send it off to you.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Wishing all my old friends (from the original Strings ‘n Things blog) and new friends (from this blog) a very happy Valentine’s Day. May your day be filled with love and good things.

I just wanted to let you know that today is the final day for posting a comment that would get your name included in the draw for the Metalouse (aka Hamburger) shawl.

 Tomorrow (Friday), we will draw a name using a random number generator. I haven’t quite decided how to to it in such a way as to make it totally and completely impartial. I’m thinking of asking one of my co-workers (or John) to go to a random number generator website and have her (or him) fill in the numbers without her (or him) seeing my database of names. To keep everything open and above board, I think I’ll take a screen shot of the database so that nothing can change. Sound fair?

Remember, if you’d like in on a chance to win this shawl, just leave a comment anywhere on this blog. You’re automatically entered. But you only have today to enter!

Blocked!

The Metalouse shawl has now been blocked and is off the needles! It had it’s photo shoot this morning; I must admit that, after blocking, I’m liking it much more than I did while knitting it. That is not to say I’m entering my name into the mix; I’m not. It will find it’s way, I hope, to someone who will love it and appreciate it more than I would.

Kristie made a suggestion in the comments on my last post – a sweater for John. Yes, it’s time, isn’t it? I’ve repaired his blue sweater and the green one I knit him ages ago desperately needs replacing (the holes at the elbow are getting larger by the day); I’m not even going to think about repairing it.

I asked him this morning what colour he would like his next sweater to be; his immediate response (he was still half asleep, incidentally) was “brown”. He has a green one, he has a blue one but he doesn’t have a brown sweater. So, I brought up the KnitPicks web site, the City Tweed Aran page, to be precise, and showed him one colour. He nixxed it immediately and pointed to another swatch. This one…

City Tweed Aran – Habanero

I will be ordering the yarn later this week, along with a couple of books, and will be measuring John, drawing out design ideas and drafting a pattern for his soon-to-be new sweater. In the meantime, I’ll be weaving in the ends on the Monster pants and working on the 10-stitch blanket while listening to an audiobook (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – I’m working my way through the series).

Ends, ends, ends!

For those of you wondering, yesterday was enjoyable; I think we’ll do it again in the not too distant future. I first had him drive me to the fabric store to pick up a couple of zippers and some fusible interfacing (I’ll show you why tomorrow). We had a few groceries to pick up but before we did that, I gave him directions on where to go. He caught on fairly quickly. I think he had a mild panic attack when he saw Mama Panda (an Oriental buffet restaurant; we won’t eat there!) but I had my heart set on fish and chips. I’d tried to get him there before but he wouldn’t believe me that the fish was actually pretty good. Not as good as his but pretty good.

He was impressed. He was impressed enough that he agreed we could eat there again the next time the craving for fish and chips hit us.

The best part of the day, though, was when he told me that this is what he needed – to get out of the house, do something we don’t normally do – together.

Sneak Peek

Well, the Hamburger…. um… Metalouse Shawl is off the needles. I finished it around 11:00 p.m. last night so I’ve decided to give you a sneak peek.

It has not been blocked yet (that will happen this weekend) and I must tell you that I’m liking it a whole lot more now that it’s off the needles and draped over my favourite chair. Once it’s all blocked and looking pretty (and had it’s official portrait taken), I’ll post all the details. For now, though…

The contest closes in exactly one week. February 14 is the last day to enter the giveaway. And, to refresh your memory, all you need to do for your chance to win this shawl is to leave a comment on the blog. Your comment can be on any post, but it must be a comment. That’s it.

I will choose the winner on Friday, Feb. 15; all names are being entered into an Excel spreadsheet and I will use an online number generator to choose the winning entry.

Care to share your opinion?

Blogging is Fun!

I wish I could tell you there’s been knitting happening around here but, honestly, there hasn’t been much. Oh, a couple more rows have been added to the Metalouse shawl today but, other than that, nothing. Absolutely nothing. I haven’t even been looking at knitting patterns!

So, what have I been doing? Blogging.

Seriously, I’ve been blogging. Just not here. I’ve started two blogs this week, one of which is mine. The other is for a customer at work who really wants a web presence but hasn’t a clue where or how to start. So, I offered to help her. I’ve set up a blog as her business website. Now, I’ll have to teach her how to post, or at least maintain the blog. That shouldn’t be too difficult, I hope.

Please, feel free to check out Electrolysis by Cynthia (if for no other reason than to check out what I set up for her). If you feel so inclined, leave Cynthia a quick hello, a welcome to the world wide interwebs.

The second blog I started, the one for myself, is for prose. I’ve always had the urge to write but I really didn’t feel that this blog was the place to do it. This week, that urge to write was completely unavoidable and I finally did it. Started writing, that is. The blog is there to “put it out there”. I’m not sure how often I’ll write something but when I do, I’ll have a place to put it. Care to check it out? You can find out what’s Blowing Through My Mind.

I’ve also reincarnated my photo blog, Clicks ‘n Things, again switching over to WordPress and giving it an entirely new look. I’m hoping that by doing this, it will kick start the creative juices again. So far, I’ve been having a lot of fun going through my archives and finding some great pictures, some I’d completely forgotten about.

The important thing, I suppose, is that I’m having fun, enjoying myself immensely.

By the way, don’t forget to leave a comment on any of the posts on this blog to be entered to win the Metalouse shawl. Only 19 days left till the draw!

What? No Cooking??

It’s Saturday again. This week has absolutely flown by! All of a sudden, we’ve passed the middle of January and February is coming fast! I wish I could say I’ve made good progress on John’s recycled socks, but some evenings were spent watching TV shows on the computer with John rather than knitting. I did spend a couple of evenings in the recliner, though, listening to an audio book (One Second After by William R. Forstchen… scary stuff, but sure makes you think!) and knitting the heel on the second sock while John did research on the computer.

As you can see, there’s definitely been progress. I will probably have these finished this weekend. That’s my goal. I have a shawl to finish, after all.

Speaking of the shawl, I think I will change the original “rules” of the giveaway just slightly. Until February 14, anyone that comments on any blog post will be entered into the draw unless you specifically tell me that you really don’t want to be included. So, if you would like an opportunity to receive the shawl, be sure to comment.

Enough about the draw.

This week, I also made the trek across the road from where I work to visit the quilt shop situated there. I picked up a little more fabric for my growing stash of craft fabric. I refuse to call it quilt fabric as I don’t, and won’t, quilt. I do, however, like making the little snappy bags (as seen in this post); they’re cute and fun to make. I’d like to make one with a zippered pocket on one side and another one to use as a case for my glasses. Wow, do they ever have some gorgeous fabrics! It’s always a difficult decision and I have to stop myself from buying more than I can use.

Here’s what I came home with…

Aren’t they gorgeous? All but the orange fabric also have metallic gold accents. I’m so looking forward to creating something interesting with these fabrics. All I need now is some thread (I seem to be a little short on thread for some reason) and a couple of zippers. That means an outing today!

Finally Some Progress

Wow! There has been knitting going on around here! I can honestly say that my knitting mojo has returned. Friday night saw one of John’s recycled socks completed, as you can see in the gallery below. On Thursday night, I had him try on the ninja sock of death (his description of a sock in progress) to see if it was going to fit him properly. As you can see, it does!

The second sock is now on the needles and ready for the foot, too. Once the heel is finished, it becomes TV knitting, or listen-to-an-audiobook knitting; we don’t have cable, nor do we have a TV anymore so we watch the occasional TV show over the internet on the iMac.

It fits! (The sexy foot pose)

One down, one to go!

Ready to knit!

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before but the socks above were given to John by my mother. They were knitted for my father by one of my aunts in the Netherlands. When my father was hospitalized, he could no longer wear handknit socks as his ankles were so swollen the socks would no longer fit. Seeing as John loves his handknit socks, Mom gave them to John. When they wore out, and did they ever, he held them up with a wry look on his face and asked if they were destined for the garbage. Normally, I would have said yes but, in this case, the leg of each sock where it met the heel was still in very good condition and I thought I could recover the stitches easily so I decided to re-knit the foot, a first for me. John commented that he wasn’t fussy about the colour; he would even have been happy with red. Fortunately, I do not happen to have red sock yarn in my stash.

In other knitting, and yes, there has been other knitting, I’ve finished the pair of Malabrigo wristwarmers for myself. I’m thinking of leaving them at work because that’s where I’ll be using them primarily.

 

They could use a bit of blocking, I know (see the loose stitch on the castoff edge?) but once on my wrist, it isn’t noticeable at all. I’m always surprised at just how much this little bit of fabric around the wrist can make a huge difference in the comfort level of the body. I’ve met people who scoff at that but once they try on a pair of wrist warmers, they’re converted.

I’ve also started another pair of wristwarmers for myself. You can never have too many, as far as I’m concerned, especially when your favourite ones are become a little threadbare.

 

I’m using a Fair Isle pattern, this one from Alice Starmore’s book, “Charts for Coloured Knitting”. As you can see in the Excel printout, I’m planning on reversing the colours in bands. There are 13 rows to the pattern; I’m not sure how long I’ll make these; it will be a minimum of three repeats and a maximum of five (for the sake of pattern balance). I’m using sock yarn (4 ply fingering) on 3.0 mm double-pointed needles. Don’t ask me about the yarn; the ball bands have long since disappeared. If I remember correctly, the yarn on the right is a Fleece Artist yarn; my memory, though, when it comes to things like this, is shaky. It’s knitting up quickly and these should be a nice warm pair of wristwarmers.

Finally, the Metalouse shawl has been relaxing in my knitting basket this past week; it’s resting beside my chair but will be finished in time for next month’s giveaway. If you haven’t read about it yet, you can read about it here, on the old blog. If you’re interested in owning this shawl (and perhaps a Valentines surprise or two), leave a comment on the first post of this blog (yesterday’s post, found here). Details of the draw are in the same post. The winner will be drawn using a random number generator on February 14 and will be announced on February 15. Make sure you leave your comment to be automatically entered.

Now, it’s time to get this day moving. There’s knitting to be done!

Welcome to My New Web Home

Welcome to Strings ‘n Things, Two. The title, obviously, comes from my original blog, Strings ‘n Things. This is Strings ‘n Things, too… or Two. This is my new home on the web. If you arrived here through SnT, you will know that I have nothing against Blogger, but I’m happier with the WordPress interface.

It’s taken me a while to make this decision; it was not a snap decision. In the last few months, I’ve been trying to make some changes to my Blogger account and I’ve been having a terrible time finding what I’ve been looking for. In pretty much all cases, I gave up. And now, I’m here.

As announced on the “other” blog, to celebrate the new blog and the new look, let’s have a contest. Here’s the scoop.

If you’ve been reading the original blog, you’ll know about this little project…

If you’re new to the blog, you may wonder why I’ve been calling it the “Hamburger shawl”; well, simply put, it’s all about the colours… red, yellow, green, and brown… they, of course, correspond to all of the hamburger fixings… ketchup, mustard, relish (or pickles), and the patty. Those of you who read my blog will know that I’m of two minds with this shawl. I love it. But. I doubt I’ll ever wear it now that all I see is a hamburger.

And so, to the contest. For the next month, anyone who leaves a comment on this post will be entered into a draw to receive this very shawl. Call it what you will… Metalouse (which is its official name) or the Hamburger shawl… it’s up for grabs.

At the moment, it’s not quite finished but is nearing completion. It will be done, blocked, and ready for mailing well before the draw date. Today is January 12… Let’s have the draw on Valentine’s Day, February 14. I’ll put a countdown in the sidebar (you can do that with WordPress!) and the winner will be announced the next morning, February 15 (I do have to work, after all, and it IS Valentine’s Day; John and I might actually decide to DO something this year!)

So… leave a comment. Tell me what you think of my new home. Congratulate me. Chide me. Introduce yourself if you’re a first time commenter. Fill my inbox!

Let’s have some fun!