to pom or not to pom?

I did go with the pom after all!

My new thing is to make custom cards to accompany handknit gifts. This one has a little image and a personal message on the front and care instructions on the back. The scalloped-edge cards are from Target, and I just print them out on my el cheapo HP color inkjet printer.

I enjoyed knitting Melissa Burt's baby sheep hat pattern so much that I cast on for a wee sheep yoke baby cardigan, too. 

Seriously fun to knit. This is definitely going to be a go-to baby shower gift.  I'm already dreaming up other color combinations. Stranded colorwork is one of my 2011 resolutions, and so far it's going swimmingly. Surprisingly enough the hard part is the duplicate stitching. Double ugh! If anyone has any suggestions, let me know, as I can use all the help I can get.

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in the kitchen

Mmmm... Dorie Greenspan's world peace (AKA Korova) cookies. Super delicious, with a sandy texture and lots of chocolately goodness. Especially great served warm with a very large glass of milk. I used fancy Sirius Icelandic bittersweet chocolate, which was a good move, and Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder (not the best choice -- I'd use better cocoa powder next time, but that's what was in the pantry). 

People are obsessed with these cookies.  They're yummy, but I wouldn't go that far...

best. cookies. ever.

 in the kitchen

The melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk chocolate cookies recipe from Baking Bites truly lives up to its name.  These are amazingly good.  Rich and chocolatey, chewy and just a little bit tangy.  The recipe doesn't call for any eggs, which is surprising and also very handy to have in your recipe arsenal.  Then again, it's quite rare that my fridge is stocked with buttermilk but no eggs.

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on & off the needles

The baby boom continues among my friends and relative (it must be an early-thirties thing), so I'm working on baby gifts!  This is my first foray into knitting wool soakers, a concept that's simultaneously awesome and kind of gross. 

Pattern: Adaptation, by Connie Stults (free!)

Yarn: Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool, "Lakeshore," ~ 2/3 skein

Needles: US 5 and 7 straights, US 7 DPNs

Size: medium (21" hips)

my ravelry project page

Notes:

An easy and quick pattern!  These are knit flat in one piece and then seamed up the sides.  You then pick up stitches for the legs.  I had a hard time figuring out how loosely to bind off the leg openings.  We'll see how they work!  Next time I'd try a pattern that's knit in the round, as the seams may be a bit annoying.  These are worn over bulky diapers, so the seams won't be next to the skin at least.

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on the tube

I'm totally hooked on The Fabulous Beekman Boys on the Green channel this summer.  Brent and Josh, a couple of "big city" guys, have renovated a beautiful farm in upstate New York and are building a business making goat cheese and goat milk soap, two of my favorite things in the world. These guys are a hoot, and I just love how Farmer John cares so much for his goats.  Brent's really something -- kind of a drama queen, and Josh manages to keep the couple tethered down to earth. Josh, of course, is a Wisconsin native. :-)

Aren't their goats adorable?  

On the subject of cheese and Wisconsin, check out this recent Lottie & Doof (foodie) blog post on visiting Madison, my alma mater. If you haven't made it to Madison yet, you should go now.  Like stat. But don't tell me about it, as I'll be very jealous.

dispatch from box island

Boxes, boxes everywhere. I listened to an NPR piece about hoarders yesterday while I was packing for our upcoming move, and it hit a little too close to home. Books! Yarn! Cookbooks! Tea! Yikes...

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What's keeping me sane right now:
- Nightingale Wood, by Stella Gibbons (who wrote Cold Comfort Farm, one of my all-time favorite books and movies). I'm enjoying it, though it's not nearly as witty as CCF. Perfect for the Anglophile, though.

- a new (enormous) crochet project, the so-called "stripy dog blanket" from The Cool Girl's Guide to Crochet (terrible title, dumb cover, but cute patterns). Perhaps a better name would be "stripy human blanket"? ;-)

I'm using six shades of Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton -- dusty sage, dusty blue, strawberry, blueberry, almond, walnut, and pistachio. Mmm... doesn't that sound delicious? I love when the strawberry, walnut, and almond colors coincide, as it looks just like Neapolitan ice cream. The yarn is soft and cushy, probably destined to pill, and it's going to be a very heavy blanket. I'm using a J hook, and it's just half double crochet, changing colors every row.

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in the kitchen:
Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! You couldn't squeeze too many more good things into those, could you? I found the recipe on someone's blog, but for the life of me I can't find it now. It's adapted from this recipe, with a few variations:

- skip the eggs and substitute 2 T. flax seeds + 6 T. water, stirred together
- add 1 C. chocolate chips at the end

I used all butter rather than 1/2 shortening, as shortening kind of skeeves me out.

A couple more cookie recipes calling out to me:
- white chocolate and pistachio sugar cookies
- hazelnut chocolate chip cookies

PSAs

1)Liberty of London's new line is out at Target now! Much excitement is in the air, although this isn't quite as thrilling as last year's Orla Kiely collaboration. Now if only Target would team up with Cath Kidston, all would be right in the world.

2) Jimmy Beans Wool has a marvelous sale on Amy Butler bags right now. In theory they're knitting bags, but in reality, they look great for a wide array of uses everyday.
Word on the street is that Amy Butler has a line of organic yarn and a knitting book due out sometime in the near future.

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in the kitchen

Inspired by Leslie (as ever), I baked these delicious vanilla sugar cookies last week. For part of the regular powdered sugar, I substituted Swedish vanilla sugar, which is essentially powdered sugar with flecks of vanilla beans. It's available at Scandinavian specialty shops as well as IKEA.
I sprinkled half of the cookies with pearl sugar and half with regular granulated sugar. Both were delicious, and it didn't seem to make too big a difference, except for the appearance!

When my ship comes in, I'd like to get a full set of the Spode Greek dishes. So cheerful and blue, plus who wouldn't enjoy eating their dinner off an image of Zeus wielding a thunderbolt?

more on actual knitting soon, I promise...

sunshine

Finally, a sunny day when I'm at home and can take pictures! I'm puttering around the house in my PJs when I should be reading books and articles on literary theory. Ah well, it's nearly Christmas.
I knit these slippers using Mission Falls 1824 wool last year, and they're holding up marvelously! The seaming's a bit of a pain, but they're cozy and snug. Plus I feel rather elven as I wear them. Not as elven as Pam's cute new Elf Shoes, though. ;-) Anyway, if you're looking to knit up a quick holiday gift, I do recommend the pattern.

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I'm using Knit Picks Palette for my wee mittens, and I'm quite taken by the color combination:

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The scent of fresh-baked cookies was in the air chez Caffeinated Yarn over the weekend.
I tried something new as well as an old favorite. The little circles are a variation on Sarah's peppermint cookies on the blog Handmade Homeschool (which I found via Mary Catharine's post). I substituted 1/4 C. Penzey's natural cocoa powder for 1/4 C. of the flour. Yum! I used my usual powdered sugar icing, adding a dash of mint flavoring.

A few years ago I tested many recipes in a quest for the perfect sugar cookie. The winner is from one of my mother's old church cookbooks -- Peaceful Pantry, from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minnesota.

Grandma's Sugar Cookies
~ Ilah Robbins

1 C. butter
1.5 C. sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3.5 C. flour (sifted if you're feeling fancy)
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream butter; add sugar gradually, creaming until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Sit in vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together; add gradually to creamed mixture. Chill thoroughly (at least 3 hours). Roll out on well-floured surface to 1/4" thickness. Cut in desired shapes. Bake on cookie sheet covered in baking parchment 6-8 minutes at 375 degrees.

Tip: fill each pan with the same shape so that the cookies bake evenly

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Frost with a basic powdered sugar/butter/milk/vanilla icing.

spots of cheer

Another dismal, grey, rainy day here in Chicago. A few spots of cheer, though:My Windy City Hat and Irish Hiking Wristwarmers finally saw their trial run, and Ysolda's new book arrived in today's post. My handknits kept me warm and cozy but didn't succeed fully in cheering me up. When I met one of my university friends outside the (dreadful) library today, I told her she was witnessing me at my most cantankerous. She laughed and laughed...

Oh well, not every day can be full of rainbows and unicorns, I suppose.

Then again, I do live in Boystown, where every street corner is bedecked with giant rainbow-striped pylons:

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Last night I baked chocolate chip maple walnut cookies (recipe here) before scurrying off to my guitar lesson.
Not the best looking cookies, but they taste pretty great even though I substituted vanilla extract for maple extract. My kitchen is well-stocked, but not that well-stocked. The maple extract would definitely kick up the flavor another couple notches.

OK, off to fix another cup of tea (Candy Cane Lane, best holiday tea ever), down a couple Aleve, and bust out the heating pad. Have you ever read the warning label on a heating pad? Apparently you're not supposed to use it in any way that would actually benefit you at all. I blame the lawyers. Hear that, Paul? ;-)

unoriginal fun

My Juliet scarf project is in time-out for now, as my yarn cake somehow turned into this disaster:
Instead of turning to my long list of WIPs, I (quite naturally) cast on for something else entirely last night:
An "Unoriginal Hat," as devised by the Yarn Harlot herself. This was incredibly fun and quick to knit. Marvelous yarn, very clear chart, lots of cable-y goodness...

Pattern: An Unoriginal Hat, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Zen String, Bliss Bulky, in "Naiad," less than 1 skein
Needles: Clover US 10.5 bamboo DPNs

Would I knit it again? Most definitely! The yarn is very soft and squooshy BFL. It doesn't hurt that "naiad" is Greek for "fresh-water nymph." Yep, I'm a sucker for anything classical.

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In a similarly unoriginal vein, I'm copying Leslie from A Friend to Knit with today. I cast on for her latest pattern, a pair of Toasty fingerless mitts.
Armed with Frog Tree merino and a mug of Darjeeling, what else could a girl want on a cool, crisp autumn afternoon?

Oh yes, pumpkin cookies, fresh from the oven.
I used the Pumpkin Drop Cookie recipe (also from A Friend to Knit with). Despite having oodles of butter, they're light and fluffy, almost cake-like. I added chopped pecans, as well as a sprinkling of cardamom (that's my Nordic blood coming through) and nutmeg (the German side, this time). I can never add just cinnamon to a recipe! The last pan also has chocolate chips.

OK, time to get back to doing actual work...

Thursday Rainy Thursday

Today was a good day to bust out the pink striped Wellies. The campus walkways were alternately dotted with puddles and completely deluged. Winter quarter is drawing to a close, and I feel like everywhere I go, my students keep popping up with questions about the exam, the text, sight reading practice, office hours, and Latin grammar. It's a little disconcerting, but I'm glad they're taking it seriously.

My teaching observation/evaluation yesterday went VERY well (sigh of relief), so I'm taking an afternoon off at home to celebrate by baking cookies, knitting, listening to music, reading, and blogging. If I could just convince myself that now's the time to find out just how rusty my guitar playing skills are...

Cider Moon "Winter Twilight" sock in progress

Cherry Pecan Cookies

Sheri posted this recipe from her friend Dynna. It's easy, yummy, and actually has some elements of health in it (dried cherries, pecans, oats). Just so that we wouldn't be overwhelmed by all that "healthiness" I threw in some chocolate chips, too.

Five things that are tickling my fancy today, in no particular order

1. Beautiful sportweight merino yarn handspun by Kristin I have 432 yds. Any ideas what I should do with it?

Mmmm... fiber goodness

2. Alicia's fabulous crochet projects. And Jane's. And Posy's. And Brainylady's. I need to learn to crochet. I taught myself to do a foundation chain yesterday, but that's it so far.

3. My home state ROCKS.

4. Mia sent me a lovely and thoughtful package of goodies. She's trying to convert me from Aida to linen and evenweave for needlework. I have a feeling that this is a little like trying to get a newbie knitter to buy real wool rather than Red Heart acrylic. I'm not a newbie needleworker, though, just one who fears change. Pics tomorrow, provided that the sun comes out.

5. Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips. Have you heard/read Wayne's essay on NPR's "This I believe" yet? Here's a link. Also check out what Leah has to say about it. The Flaming Lips were awesome at Lollapalooza last summer, by the way. Those guys put on a great, high-energy show with plenty of enthusiasm and rocking out. Here's a funny thing. As I was sitting in my dining room while working on this post, I heard someone outside walking by outside while singing, quite loudly, "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)." He had his headphones, and he looked to be having quite a fine time out walking about in the rain.