[knitting] Bulky Sweater Pieces

Since the shawl is slow-going, I whipped up some sweater pieces for my niece:

The pattern is 2721 Child's Aran Sweater by Plymouth. I'm using Berroco Vintage Chunky yarn (less than three skeins for the 4-year-old size).

So it's knit in pieces and you have to seam. I don't mind- it's tedious but when done correctly and with the right tension, it's invisible. I understand the appeal of seamed sweaters- the seams give it better structure and it's more... tailored?

But I would not want to do this for an adult fingering-weight sweater. It took a couple hours to seam this toddler sweater- and I had to do the sleeves a few times because it was tricky with the increases at the edges.

Santana was helping:

This is a plush and sqwooshy sweater- and she was determined to lay down on the pieces. 

The sweater is actually done done. I just have to wash/block. I think it will take a few days to dry because of how thick the yarn is. Then it's ready for the faaaaiiiiirrrr.

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TGIF AND I'M ON VACATION. I'm taking next week off. The next time I post here, I'll probably have a lot to show. Items that went into the fair and how they did. I'm also going on a knitting retreat next weekend for a couple nights, so that should be fun. If you follow me on Instagram, I knot I'll be posting a lot every day.

[baking] Rose Bundt

Testing out a bundt cake I want to enter in the fair:

Baked in the rose pan- it's a vanilla cake with dragonfruit icing. I used a freeze-dried dragonfruit power that makes things so nice and pink/purple. I actually put a couple tablespoons in the batter, which looked as pink as the frosting before baking. After baking:

Totally yellow. So disappointed. But the taste of the cake was great. The icing is perfect- powdered sugar, dragonfruit powder and milk, mixed up to be runny and then painted on with a pastry brush. The icing hardens a bit and gets a matte luster, which is nice. I just have to work on the superficial imperfections of cake- air bubbles in the creases of the pan that create pock marks after baking. I really don't want to bake this again before the fair, so maybe I'll spackle any holes in the next, final rose... cake.

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Weekend Penny:

[quilting] Crazy quilt

Last week I brought my small finished quilt top to Barnyard Quilting in Fairlee. I wanted it finished in time to enter it in the fair and it was done in only a couple days. They're the best.

It's very small, maybe only to be used as a blanket when my niece is in her car seat. I picked out a geometric quilt pattern to bind everything together:

I really like this design with the crazy squares. 

The backing fabric is pretty crazy, too:

I love it. It's good motivation to finished the two (large) size quilts that I'm still puttering away on.

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Had a nice, long weekend. The weather was nice Sat and Sun. I went to watch Dollar play on the Lebanon green on Saturday afternoon, for a fundraiser. 

Did a lot of knitting- some on the shawl (the rows are getting so long- I only just started the 2nd ball of colorful yarn) but mostly a child's sweater in bulky yarn. All four pieces are done- I just have to sit down and seam everything. The shawl is taking forever, I wanted to work on something that could be completed quickly.

We've been watching the Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. O. M. G. This is def not a kid's series. Last night after seeing a very young creature with a mind control parasite on it's face, wheeze out a raspy "It... feels... like... dyyyyiiinnnggggg", I asked Dollar, "Can you imagine seeing this series when you were 6-years-old? You'd be f'd up for the rest of your life." I've been loving this series, though- it's funny and gross and scary and surprising and fantastic. And sooooooooooo many talented voice actors. It's pretty awesome.

[embroidering] Butterfly Bundt Bag

Embroidery for the butterfly pan bundt bag:

For these designs, I just print off some black and white clip-art that I find online:

Slide it into the muslin bag:

Trace:

Then put it on a frame and stitch:

It's fun picking out colors. I tried to do a gradient of yellow, orange, magenta for the wings. I had a little bit of leftover light blue from doing the pirate ship water, so I used some of that for the spots on the wings.

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TGIFFFFFF. Looking forward to a three day weekend. Going to get lots of knitting done. Maybe even start that Steotch project I keep meaning to start. I haven't baked anything in a while- I need to practice a bundt cake (I'm going to enter one into the fair). Maybe do some gardening- fall divisions and stuff...

[embroidering] Rose Bundt Pan

Another bundt bag:

This was a rose image I traced from an adult coloring book of tattoo designs. There were some shaded areas inside the petals that I tried to do with a darker thread:

But the shading was looking like little mouse turds to me. I picked it all out and this is the final rose:

It's fine. I need to not be too fussy with these designs and also not spend an exorbitant amount of time on them- they're just to show what's inside the bag.

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Didn't do that much knitting last night. Filled out my forms for the Tunbridge Fair (I'm entering 13 things... a few of which aren't even made yet, gulp) and the Green Mountain Knitting Guild retreat (oooo, sleep-away camp). Going to stop by the quilt shop after work to drop off a small quilt that will hopefully (!!!!) be finished in time for the fair.

Started pulling out orange and green yarns from the stash- leftovers and random balls of yarn- to make pumpkins with. I have no idea why- I probably wouldn't be able to knit any until after the fair. This always happens- once I start trying to tidy up the craft room, I end up pulling more stuff out and I'm sitting on the floor, surrounded by yarn, trying to think of things to make with misc amounts of cotton.

[embroidering] Skull Cakelette Pan

I embroidered the Punisher logo for this skull cakelette pan. I bought this pan after Halloween last year (all the seasonal pans are practically half price right after their holiday is over) so I'm looking forward to using it for the first time this year!

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Well, I'm making rapid progress on the shawl since I've been so devoted and focused on the project. Hoping to finish it during the three-day weekend. 

We watched The Dark Crystal last night, to refresh our memories before the Netflix series is released on Friday. I've seen the movie a couple times but it wasn't a childhood favorite and I didn't remember a lot. Oh shit, it's dark, man. The Skeksis emperor dying and disintegrating? That one Skeksis that was humiliated and de-robed? The Dark Crystal sucking the soul essence out of creatures? How is this a kid's movie? Can't wait to see the series...

[embroidering] Pirate Ship Bundt Bag

One of the latest bundt bags:

Pirate ship image for the pirate ship cake pan.

I used a blend of light and dark blue for the water- which I think gives it extra depth.

I love embroidering these bundt bags- they turn out so cute and are relatively quick and simple. They are addictive!

Unfortunately, I have to set embroidering aside and focus on fair projects. My shawl isn't particularly photogenic at the moment- it's just a slowly growing blob. But I've just finished the second section and have the third, final, largest section left.

And I still have a couple new things I want to make- a hat of some sort and an item made with handspun yarn. 

[misc] Webs Road Trip

Took a short road trip with my sister on Saturday to go to Webs in Northampton, MA. It was a beautiful day for a drive.

I checked out all the new stuff in the front of the store.

All my purchases came from the warehouse because I'm frugal like that. I lots of sport- and dk-weight yarns. A couple random orange balls to knit pumpkins. And some fuzzy stuff to make teddy bears. I think I have enough yarn now to keep me occupied for a while. At least until the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival the first weekend of October.

On the way back home, we stopped by Whetstone Station in Brattleboro for lunch!

Everything was good- the beers, the smoked trout board, Korean short ribs, poutine, kettle chips, the weather, the view. 

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I've finished embroidering a couple more bundt bags. They only take a couple nights to do but I've got to set them aside- they're way too fun and distracting. I've got to work on the papillon shawl more (the rows are getting longer so it feels like progress is slowing down) and the Steotch 7 design. In fact, the shawl takes priority because I have to finish it for the fair.

[cross-stitching] Steotchalong 7

I've decided to do this year's Steotchalong:

I've participated twice:

I've taken several years off but couldn't resist giving it a go this year.

The first pattern was released last Saturday and I'm already behind. I'll try to grid my aida cloth this weekend and start the actual stitching. I only just managed to wind and label all my bobbins:

And now I have bobbin-elbow.

I've seen some pictures of cute magnetic needle-minders that a lot of people are using. I have some spare magnets somewhere in my craft room- I want to try making my own DIY needle minder this weekend.

[misc] Murderface Thursday

Chilling in bed with Murderface this past weekend:

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Going to make a trip to Webs this weekend with my sister. Man, I think it's been years since I've been there. I'm in dire need of superwash sport and DK-weight yarns. AND, I'm going to be GOOD and search my Ravelry library for queued projects and only buy yarn just for specific projects. I swear. Probably.

I was totally planning on getting so much stuff done last night but... I don't even know where the evenings go. I finished embroidering a bundt bag, traced a design for another, started embroidering yet another... but started feeling guilty about falling behind in Steotchalong. I haven't even gridded my fabric yet or wound my threads onto bobbins. I wound about five bobbins and then it was 9pm. WTF. I didn't even cook supper last night- just cut up some melon. 

Tonight will have to be lots of cooking. Gotta use up some tomatoes and I think I'm just going to make some fresh salsa. And refried beans.

[foraging] Wild Blackberries

This past Sunday I was out in the yard looking at some flowers and saw lots of perfectly ripe blackberries hanging over the flowerbed:

I was immediately suspicious, because last year I was hardly able to gather more than one cup's worth. Birds and animals would always get them before me. But I ran inside to get a container and picked them all. Then I walked out along a fourth class road that leads to my great-uncle's hunting cabin, along which I saw many unripe bushes earlier in the summer.

More ripe blackberries!

I picked about three quarts in total- and it was all freeeeeeee.

I washed and froze most. I saved some out to make blackberry and peach bars:

These bars are my favorite way of using local, seasonal fruit. I made rhubarb bars in the spring, wild black raspberry bars in mid-summer and now wild blackberry bars in late summer. They are so easy to bring together and are sooooooo good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

[knitting] Papillon Shawl Progress

Progress on the Papillon/Butterfly shawl:

It requires lots of stitch markers to keep track of things. It's not an easy/mindless knit but it is straightforward and the directions are clear. It's also the type of pattern that sucks you into thinking, "Just one more section... just one more section..." Which is good- I want to finish this in time for the fair.

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Went to the local farm to pick up this week's CSA share. Normally we have it delivered but this week I had to pick it up and it makes such a difference. I realized I prefer to choose the produce (potatoes of consistent size, largest tomatoes, picking herbs in the field, smallest zucchini/squash). When we have them delivered, herbs are missing and the potatoes range in size from a grape to normal potato-size.

No time for much crafting last night. I visited my grandmother on the way to the farm so I didn't get home until after 6pm, then I had to wash vegetables and make some supper (a shrimp, veg, pesto saute that came out much butter than I thought it was going to). We finished watching Season 2 of Mindhunters. Was interesting to watch after listening to the Atlanta Monster podcast last year.

Didn't get to start the cross-stitching last night. Maybe tonight...?

[embroidering] Corps Castle Bundt Bag

All those bundt bags I sewed over the Memorial Day holiday have remained untouched since. I finally started the embroidering...



A Corps castle for the castle bundt pan. Things get a little wonky on the right side of the castle embroidery (like the windows), but I never claimed to be a structural engineer. It's cute and definitely recognizable as the Corps of Engineers castle logo.

The bags are going a little faster now. I'm trying not to be too fussy about the pattern and details. The image is JUST to help be identify the design of the pan inside.

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Nice, long weekend. Last Weds was a complete disaster at work and I went straight home to drink fruity beer and watch Bachelor in Paradise. #noregrets.

I went to some of the Royalton Old Home Days and 250th Birthday events. Live music on the green, raffle, food, games, tours, etc.

The rest of the weekend I worked on my papillon shawl, went picking some wild blackberries, baked a treat with some of the blackberries.

I watched the series Years and Years on HBO. Very good over all; I'm not terribly pleased with how it ended.

Also saw the 1st season of the What We Do In The Shadows series on Hulu. Loved it. I loved the movie and the series is set in America and so funny.

The first pattern for Steotchalong came out on Saturday. I've got to print out the instructions and start in on it tonight... Back to cross-stitching...

[knitting] Purple and Yellow Striped Sweater

Finished the sweater for my niece:

I used pewter buttons that I got at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival:

Llamas!

I basically did Granny's Favorite pattern but kept the yoke stockinette rather than doing the lace. It makes the increases more apparent though, especially since I did knit-front-and-back increases.

I'm tempted to do some kind of embroidery around the yoke to hide the increases and add more color.

I used two entire balls of Cascade 220 Superwash, alternating every two rows. The sweater fits my three year old niece perfectly- I'll wait until Christmas to give it to her. And that will give me plenty of time to procrastinate doing the actual embroidery.

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TGIF. Omg, I know it's only Wednesday but this week has been... work has been... trying. I don't really get stressed out about things at work but yesterday I seriously pondered what kind of trouble I would get into if I threw a chair out a window. It probably wouldn't go over well on my performance evaluation. But just thinking about the sound of glass shattering was so relaxing to me...

ANYway. This long weekend is going to be all knitting and crafting and baking and doing many of the Royalton Old Home Day / 250th Birthday Party events.

[knitting] Foxy Mittens - Duplicate Stitch

I did the duplicate stitching over the eyes and nose of my Foxy Mittens:

I used a small amount of Knit Picks Palette in black and some leftover orange sock yarn. In fact, it's a small amount of yarn from these 2008 socks. Those bands of darker orange are mottled light and dark orange- I used some of that for the irises:

Because this sock yarn is superwash and tonal and has a bit of a sheen, I think it makes the irises stand out from the orange yarn used for the body of the mittens. It's subtle but I can see the distinction.

These mittens are ready for the fair!

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Not much crafting last night. I started embroidering the bundt bags that I sewed during the Memorial Day vacation (finally).

I walked around the woods for a bit, looking for mushrooms. I don't know what I was thinking- I probably saw a dozen mushrooms, total. I'm just going to wait until puffballs and shaggy manes appear on the lawn. That's my kind of foraging.

I need to pick a hat pattern to knit. I don't have a hat to enter into the fair yet and I want something smaller and easier than the papillon shawl to bring to the Old Home Day events. Maybe a stranded hat... maybe a solid color cabled hat... maybe a brioche hat?

[knitting] Glamour Socks

The glamour socks finished and blocked:

It looks like the pattern is no longer available on Ravelry. The designer is Stephanie van der Linden and she has so many sock patterns available. I own the book Op-Art Socks and didn't realize that she's the author until I looked up her other designs.

This was the first project that I used my new Ravelry Soak wash for:

I bought this wash from the Ravelry mini-mart a week or so ago. It smells great. It has a picture of Bob on it, which is so sweet. It's called Unleash. And it has small text under "Unleash" that says "creative juices." Unleash... creative juices. I find this mildly off-putting, probably the same way some people don't like the word 'moist'. 

Anyway, after I rinsed off the creative juices (see? it's gross, right?) and let the socks dry on blockers, the lace opened up nicely.

I love the beaded cuffs:

These have been set aside for the fair.

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Had a good, busy weekend. All the stars aligned and I finished many current and hibernating projects. Blocking the above socks, winding new yarn, starting the papillon shawl, finishing some embroidery, sewing buttons onto a sweater, duplicate stitching the foxy mittens... More pics to come this week.

It's going to be a short work week for me! I'm taking Thurs and Fri off for South Royalton Old Home Days and the 250th Birthday events. Food trucks and music on the green and fireworks and historic tours- I'm going to do it all! Also- the band Wool is playing at Crossroads Saturday night! 

What else? Oh, Saturday I went to the Cabot store in the Quechee Gorge Village antiques mall because I was looking for Cabot's 5-year-old Centennial Cheddar. I rarely go there because it's totally a touristy place but... it's the bomb. I found the centennial cheese AND some triple cream vanilla yogurt. I told the cashier that I've never seen that kind in the grocery stores and she said, "You can only get it at the Cabot stores." (That's the easiest way to get me hooked on something- "So you're saying I can ONLY get this at 4 places in the entire state? And one of them is kind of on my way to and from work? Well, this will be the only yogurt I'll ever eat again.")

Also, there was an outdoor flea market and I found a woman selling some vintage 1970's Onion River Pottery. It's Vermont made and very distinct looking. She was selling two batter bowls, a sugar and creamer set, one mug. I told her I would take everything and she let me have it all for $17. What a freaking steal. As I was paying, I almost said, "Listen, just keep the $20. This is... I feel bad you're letting me have this for so cheap." I almost said that.