yarn along: hamamelis

Joining Ginny et al. for this week's Yarn Along:

The lace pattern for Hamamelis finally clicked, and now it's coming along just swimmingly. I just started All the Light We Cannot See -- compelling and hard to put down!

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Erik visited his grandparents over the weekend, and Paul and I spent a glorious staycation weekend here in Chicago. Chocolate croissants on the front porch, burgers at the Bad Apple, the new Avengers movie (going out together after dark! such a luxury!).

I even fit in some uninterrupted crafting time both mornings -- a little bit of hand quilting (not my forte, but I'd like to finish this wee baby quilt that I started eons ago) and a handknits finishing frenzy. So many buttons to sew on! Here's the first: 

pattern: lottie cardigan, by carrie bostick hoge

yarn: frog tree ewetopia, #1245, 3 skeins

needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) bamboo circs and US 8 bamboo dpns

size: 6 months

my ravelry project page

notes:

A lovely little pattern. I like that there is plenty of overlap for the front button bands. So many baby sweater patterns don't bother, with the result that the fronts tends to pull when buttoned.

The yarn was an absolute delight. My first time knitting with Frog Tree yarn. Ewetopia is a 2-ply merino, with a special twist -- one ply is superwash, the other is not, so the two plies take the dye very differently. It's a marled yarn, and it's so springy and squooshy. I found the yarn at Knit One Purl Two in Rockford, a very nice shop (much nicer than I expected given its location in a strip mall). I found the wooden buttons at Yarn Con -- I wish I could find this woman's contact info, as she sells a wonderful selection of wooden buttons in a variety of shapes and sizes at affordable prices. A real treasure!

Now who ever said that crafting wouldn't pay off in the end?

Paul alerted me to this amazing quilt up for auction.
It's not often that baseball and quilting come together in such a fascinating way. This is a true treasure. The quilter, Clara Schmitt Rothmeier was truly a baseball enthusiast, as well as being a softball player herself. She collected all of these autographs and embroidered over them.

parting is such sweet sorrow

Good-bye, my sweet squirrelly friend:
Alas, my hands are too big. I'm going to frog and reknit. This was knit on 3s using KP Wool of the Andes (worsted weight), and I can just barely squeeze my hand into it. Should I go up to 4s or head straight to 5s? Any opinions?

Still no FOs, but here's a sneak preview:
F. Pea's Super-Natural Stripes baby cardigan, knit up in Mission Falls 1824 Cotton (in need of a button and a bath). The 4-patch quilt top just needs a border.

More baby knits underway:
Sandy's Diagonal Baby Blanket, a free pattern from Jimmy Beans Wool. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran on size 9 needles.

I couldn't find my mom's tried-and-true pumpkin bread recipe last night, so I tried something new to bring to knitting group. This is based on a recipe from the Land O Lakes website (one of my favorite baking resources), with a few tasty additions. It's not the dark, rich, super-moist version that Mom makes, but it received rave reviews from the knitters. The crystallized ginger gives it a nice spicy kick! I used Penzey's crystallized ginger. Penzey's is just fabulous -- high quality and low prices. Adding walnuts or pecans to the recipe would be great, too. You can substitute 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice for the individual spices.

Pumpkin Bread

1-3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 C. canned pumpkin puree (not the same as pie filling)
3/4 C. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 C. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
dash of cardamom (optional)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
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1 T. crystallized ginger, minced
1/2 C. dried cranberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except last 2 (crystallized ginger and cranberries) in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Gently mix in ginger and dried cranberries.

Spoon batter into greased 9"x5" loaf pan. Bake 45-55 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan.

orangey goodness

Despite my supposed dislike, the color orange's siren song is luring me in.

Exhibit A:
The Cable and Rib Sweater from the new Debbie Bliss book, Family Knits. Interesting neck and sleeve construction on this one. I really like this book. Check out a review here. The patterns are lovely, even though some are very similar to other Debbie Bliss patterns. The photography is gorgeous. The real upshot of this book is that DB has included schematics (yay!) and larger sizes (also yay!).

Exhibit B:
The Aran Bag from the same book. The pattern calls for DB alpaca silk aran. I've heard that this yarn pills a lot. Any yarn substitution suggestions?

Exhibit C:
A butterfly in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Not too many knitting developments, except for sock progress. I'm working on a 4-patch lap quilt. The colored 4-square blocks alternate with solid blue blocks.

Here's excellent news for those with small kitchens who like to find multiple uses for kitchen contraptions. A friend tipped me off to a fabulous use for the George Foreman Grill -- grilled sandwiches. Works like a charm.