Thursday, March 28, 2013

pop!

I finally started Pop Spots! Holy smokes is this a fun-to-knit pattern. Seeing the blue spots emerge is pretty awesome. You're really only knitting with one color at a time -- you drop stitches and do some fancy maneuvering to turn contrast-color garter stripes into spots that truly do pop. There's a handy tutorial on the Loop website that clarifies how to make these cute little spots.

The only downside is that while I think of ochre and blue as Swedish colors, many other people think of them as University of Michigan colors. Sigh... perhaps not what a proud UW Badger should wear?
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pattern: puerperium cardigan, by Kelly Brooker
yarn: Hazel Knits DK Lively ~ laguna
needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm
size: newborn

notes:
Easy, free pattern! I love the construction. I might throw in a few decreases on the arms next time.

Not a huge fan of the yarn, as it has a very tight twist and isn’t terribly pleasant to knit. It does, however, have great sheen and beautiful colors, though, and it blocked quite nicely. The cardigan seems a little big for a newborn, but what do I know!

In my new quest to use more exciting buttons, I went with contrasting bright yellow ones this time. : )
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in the kitchen

Yeah, other people seem to be on the gluten-free bandwagon right now. We, however, are in the midst of carbohydrate fever!

homemade soft pretzels from a Cook's Illustrated recipe. I made these on a baking day with a friend. We ran out of honey, so substituted brown sugar (only 2 T., since we didn't want them too sweet). It worked perfectly and was lots of fun. Oh, one other modification! We did an egg wash (1 egg yolk + 1 T. water, beaten) before sprinkling the pretzels with coarse sea salt. Paul picked up a variety of fancy mustards from Gene's Sausage Shop. Next time I'd make a double batch, since four of us managed to eat pretty much the whole batch.

no-knead bread baked in a Dutch oven. The recipe is awesome and so easy -- I made it a couple of times a few years ago, but the recipe had fallen off my radar somehow.

7 comments:

Hilary said...

Awesome knits! I'm intrigued by Pop Spots -- it looks really fun and it's gorgeous! And I think of blue/gold as Swedish colors, too. :) Even after attending a high school AND college with those colors.

Aren't homemade soft pretzels THE BEST?? Mine are always wonky, but oh so delicious. (Oh, and I'm with you on the carbs. I don't have celiac disease, so why cut out something that doesn't hurt me in favor of gluten-free foods that are often SUPER processed??)

Tracy Altieri said...

So eager to see your completed Pop Spots - I hope that you will share it! I'm a carb kinda gal also~~~~~

peaknits said...

Jeez, that's it, you may ave tipped the scale for me to cast on a pop spots. I'm loving them and can't resist. I love your colors, even if they are so much Big Red, I think to allowed:) though wisconsin fans are a bit rabid. I love carbs, and need to try me some pretzels, thanks for sharing.

Caffeine Girl said...

That sweater is darling, but I'm intimidated by all those button holes!

Go Badgers!

Caroline said...

I love your colors and the pattern. I truly could survive in our Central California climate with just a heavy sweatshirt for most of the winter, BUT I always think how styling I would be if I would wear shawls instead. It's not that I don't have loads of unfinished projects already, but I'm thinking that I need a "Pop Spot" shawl!

Sharon said...

I'm not doing gluten free - I don't get it. Again, you rock another baby sweater. I paid for the book of Cascade 220 patterns and after knitting three for a special little girl, all patterns have deficiencies. Your sweater is adorable, dangit. I mean, I love it!

Rue said...

I can see why you're smitten with pop spots! It's all I can do to keep from rooting through the stash for yarn to cast on right now (despite the fact that I just started a new sweater today). I'm looking forward to seeing more!

And count me in on the pro carb bandwagon. Those pretzels sound delicious!