off the hook

I swear, this is going to be the warmest, coziest baby in North America. I haven't just been knitting -- I've also been crocheting for our little guy. I find crochet quite soothing and relaxing. I could work on this afghan even at the queasiest and most exhausted point of my first trimester.

pattern: swaddle me blankie, by crochet kitten

yarn: knit picks simply cotton worsted, wave heather and green tea heather

hook: clover soft touch g (4.0 mm)

my ravelry project page

notes:

Yes, yet another diagonal box-stitch afghan! Love that stitch pattern. I've said it once, but it's worth saying again: working corner-to-corner is amazing. No need for fiddling with a foundation chain -- mine always end up too tight. I did many more repeats of the stitch pattern and skipped the hood.

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in the kitchen

Have you seen this one-pot-wonder recipe making the rounds on Pinterest?

I was intrigued, so we gave it a try. It goes against everything I thought I knew about making pasta -- you throw in everything all together with very little liquid. The flavor permeates the linguine noodles themselves.

Absolutely delicious, especially considering how easy and quick it is to make! Next time I'd add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes to make the flavor a little richer. Topping it with some browned Italian chicken sausage or sauteed shrimp would kick it up a notch.

fo: bitty cabled cardigan

Thanks for all the kind words about our big news! Once I got over my morning sickness, I was bitten pretty hard by the baby knitting bug. This cabled cardigan is absolutely teensy, and I know that our little guy will fit into it for approximately three minutes, but I couldn't resist.

Plus it turns out that baby knitting is a great way to use up leftover yarns and those random single skeins I used to pick up at fiber festivals.

pattern: bitty cabled cardigan, by Heather Cabanas

yarn: knit picks swish worsted, dove heather, 1.5 skeins

needles: US 6

size: newborn

my ravelry project page

notes:
Easy-peasy wee cardigan! I love the top-down construction, and the cables were fun to knit. Next time I might reverse the cables on one side so that they're mirror images. A very fast little project. I picked out the inexpensive navy buttons at JoAnn. I've kind of given up on finding great buttons -- if you have any bright ideas or great sources, please share!

This is a pretty strong contender for what our little guy will wear home from the hospital this autumn. : )

P.S. There's now a bigger bitty cabled cardigan pattern with larger sizes.

letting the cat out of the bag

Some things have been happening behind the scenes chez A Caffeinated Yarn.

Paul and I are expecting a little one this fall. Our baby boy is due Oct. 2. : ) We are through the moon with excitement.

The cats are big fans of the nursery so far -- I keep finding them snuggled up in the crib. We'll see how they feel about the actual baby!

Oh Moxie, exploring every nook and cranny...

pop!

In a moment of idiocy last spring I purchased a skein of Malabrigo Arroyo for the contrast color on my Pop Spots shawlette -- this was to go with some ochre-colored Malabrigo Sock from my stash.

I *thought* I was buying Sock, and didn't discover my error until I ran out of blue yarn with seven inches of the lace edging to go. Arroyo comes in much shorter skeins than Sock (it's a thinnish sport weight rather than light fingering). Anyhoo, I finally made it back to Windy Knitty and luckily found another skein in the same dye lot, and now Pop Spots is complete!

Kind of a frustrating project. I initially wanted to make this in ochre and natural, but no yarn stores in the area stocked Malabrigo Sock in natural, so I (being the impatient sort) went out on a limb and bought blue. The combination just isn't what I had envisioned, though it's perfectly nice. Making the spots seemed magical the first few rows, but became a chore as the project wore on. Making the small version was a good choice.

pattern: Pop Spots, by Juju Vail

yarn: Malabrigo Sock, ochre, .75 skein

Malabrigo Arryo, azules, 1.4 skeins

needles: Clover US 5 bamboo circs

my ravelry project page

The cats, on the other hand, enjoyed many aspects of the Pop Spots process, from blocking...

 

to supervising the backyard photo shoot:

But it's done! And I love the contrast edging! All's well that ends well, I suppose.

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Paul recently presented me with a Sodastream machine, which I was hesitant to use at first (it emits an alarming loud buzz that scares the cats), but which I am now loving. Mostly I use it for sparkling water and add a slice of lemon or lime, but I've also added homemade ginger syrup and...

 

homemade rhubarb syrup. Rhubarb soda is pretty much the best thing ever. The rhubarb syrup gives it a beautiful rosy hue, and the taste... just delightful.

I made a double batch of rhubarb syrup on Saturday morning and used the "spent" rhubarb to top Swedish pancakes. Delicious! I followed Alicia's recipe for Swedish pancakes this time, and they're just perfect.

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As many of you know, Google Reader is dead, alas. I've been trying out Feedly, Reeder, Bloglovin, and Flipboard, and I just signed up for The Old Reader. None has won my heart yet, but I'm giving it time. I'd like something that keeps track of what I've already read across multiple platforms (the various computers I use as well as my iPad). Let me know if you have any favorites or suggestions, please!

follow a caffeinated yarn on Bloglovin'
or
follow a caffeinated yarn on Feedly

sunny summery days

A wet spring led to lush, green summery days here in Chicago. My university is like a garden -- I sometimes eat my lunch beside this pond as I watch the turtles frolic.

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Tonight I'm having a block party. Well, more like a blocking party. Many handknits fresh off the needles are getting baths. Once they're dry and be-buttonned, there will be plenty of knitting to post. For now, how about a delicious chewy oatmeal cherry chocolate chip cookie? Yum!

chewy oatmeal cherry chocolate chip cookies

1/2 C. butter, softened
2/3 C. light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I like Penzey's Ceylon cinnamon)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C. old-fashioned, rolled oats (not instant!)
2/3 C. dried cherries (I use Trader Joe's dried pitted tart Montmorency cherries)

2/3 C. chocolate chips
1/3 C. pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon. and salt. Stir this into the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, dried cherries, and nuts.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour (or even overnight). The secret to keeping them chewy and preventing them from spreading is chilling the dough and putting the cookies in the oven while they're still cold!

When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F before you take the cookie dough out of the fridge. Scoop tablespoons of the dough and place two inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for approx. 12 minutes. Cookies are done when golden at the edges but still a little doughy-looking on top. Let cookies rest on the hot baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

hazy

Memorial Day weekend was grey and rainy, which meant plenty of knitting time. I made this little cardigan as a baptism gift. I'm not really sure what to give as baptism gifts (esp. when you don't have the same religious leanings as the parents), but I figure handknits are always safe. Made with love, right?

pattern: ribbed baby jacket, by Debbie Bliss (Special Knits)

yarn: knit picks simply cotton worsted, haze, 2 skeins

needles: US 6 and US 7

my ravelry project page

notes:
This is a great little pattern! I actually used it for the very first baby sweater I ever knit, way back in 2006. I love that you knit the sleeves as you go, and the seaming at the end is easy. If you don't like picking up stitches, this may not be the pattern for you, as you have to pick up quite a few for the ribbed collar. Adding some short-row shaping to the shawl collar would be a good idea. As is, you need to shape it while it's wet-blocking to get it to keep the shawl-collar look. I made a little crochet button loop, attached to the back side of the shawl collar.

And my little helper strikes again...

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in the kitchen

Lots of successes in the kitchen lately! A few highlights:

- ginger pineapple sparkling punch
- chicken souvlaki
- gnocchi with squash and sweet corn (next time I'd cut back on the butter)
- homemade bagels (perfect texture! cut way back on the salt, though)

Decadent Berry Streusel Muffins

makes 12-18 muffins (12 muffins with large "muffin tops"; 18 small muffins)

muffin ingredients
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/4 C. butter, melted
1/2 C. almond milk or milk (skim is fine)
1/2 C. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 - 2 C. fresh or frozen berries -- I like a mix of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries

streusel ingredients
1/2 C. sugar
1/3 C. all-purpose flour
dash of nutmeg
dash of cinnamon
1/4 C. butter, softened, cut up into small chunks

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin tins or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I use a whisk to keep it light and fluffy since I don't bother to sift my flour.

In a medium-size bowl, beat the egg, then add the melted butter, milk, sour cream, and vanilla, and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir with a spoon until just combined and the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in the raspberries.

In a small bow, combine the sugar, flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Work in the butter with a fork until the mixture is crumbly.

Fill the muffin cups with batter -- to make 12 muffins, fill them just about to the brim; to make 18 muffins, fill about 3/4 full. Top with the streusel mixture. Bake for 18-20 minutes (for the large muffins -- a little less for the smaller ones), or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean. Serve warm.

adapted from Cindi Flahive-Sobel's Daily Bread

my little helpers

This is what it's like around here. Try to take a photo of a handknit baby blanket?

You end up with a sweet little feline model helping you out.

pattern: zig and zag sock yarn pram baby blanket, by Debbie Orr

yarn: knit picks felici sport self-striping, "too cool," 4 skeins

needles: US 6 Clover bamboo circs (4.0 mm)

my Ravelry project page

notes:
Easy pattern that doesn't involve too much concentration. It knit up quickly (mainly on the plane and while waiting in airports), but the end result is a pretty tiny blanket. Definitely a pram or carseat blanket.

Try working at the computer? (Or in this case, take a break and catch up on my Google Reader feed.)

The results are similar. Silly cats. They are such sweethearts, though.

what a difference a few days make

Sunshine, 80+ degrees, a light breeze... the whole city of Chicago looks so much happier now. Our backyard now truly is showing signs of spring:

The flowering tree outside our back porch just burst into full bloom:

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I started packing away my winter sweaters, and realized that there were no photos of my finished Aidez cardigan yet. Time to remedy that!

pattern: Aidez, by Cirilia Rose

yarn: Cascade Eco +, summer sky heather (9452), 2.4 skeins

needles: US 8 (5.0 mm) bamboo circs

my ravelry project page

notes:
I love this cardigan! It's so cozy, and I like the open front and mix of different textures. When I linked to the pattern just now, I noticed that Berroco has drastically re-formatted it, probably for the better. It's one of those patterns where you need to take lots of notes/counts to keep up with the different cable patterns, etc. It might be frustrating for a new knitter.

After perusing hundreds of Aidezes on Ravelry, I decided to make larger sleeves. Tight sleeves seemed to be a common complaint, as well as having a hard time seaming the raglan sleeves into the body. I took careful notes so that the second sleeve turned out pretty much the same as the first, but I think knitting the sleeves for the next size up would have a similar result. Otherwise I pretty much just followed the pattern.

I'm happy with my yarn choice, though it is pilling a bit already. I can't imagine using a much bulkier yarn (like the Peruvia Quick that the pattern specifies) -- the cardigan wouldn't have enough drape for my taste. I had to use much smaller needles, too.

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Pop Spots was in time-out for a bit, but is now back in the rotation -- perfect for knitting on the back porch. 

One of my favorite treats these days is a homemade iced sweet matcha latte -- I use Rishi's Sweet Matcha powder, which is quite sweet and probably not for the matcha purist. It is, however, great for those of us who care to indulge in a Starbucks' green tea latte or frappucino once in a while.

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We said good-bye to my old Jeep last weekend (sniff, sniff). She served us well, and actually was still running great (not to mention looking pretty awesome inside and out for being a 1998), but it was time. I loved that thing, and it's awfully weird to go from a two-Jeep household to a zero-Jeep household in the brief span of four months. My "new" (i.e., gently used) Subaru Outback is nice enough, but just doesn't have the same rugged charm.

the calm after the storm

Some spring we're having here in Chicago. In the last three days we've seen torrential downpours, thunderstorms, flooding, hail, sleet, and a nice dusting of snow, not to mention a sinkhole that ate three cars. Our neighborhood was lucky enough to have dramatic street geysers, as sewer water surged upward in plumes from manhole covers. Of course, Mother Nature's wrath is nothing compared to the madness and tragedy in Boston this past week.

Today the sun is out, and there are a few signs of spring in the garden (thank goodness).

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My second Wandering the Moor shawl finally received a good blocking.

pattern: Wandering the Moor, by Celeste Glassel

yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, verdigris, 2.85 skeins

needles: Clover US 7 bamboo circs (4.5 mm)

size: large

notes:
The yarn is wonderful, and I love the pattern, but the combination of the two is not my favorite. The yarn has a dry hand, feels very natural, has a nice mixture of rustic and elegant, and the color is simply gorgeous. That said, it feels a little limp knit at this gauge. It may be better suited for sweaters. I also made the large size this time, which was a mistake. Wearing shawlettes as jaunty little scarves is right up my alley; large shawls are sort of lost on me in terms of my wardrobe, even though I love knitting them. So, overall a project that was fun to knit, but not great to wear.

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 I love this photo of Moxie. Doesn't she look feisty? Also, you can see my new antique trestle table in the background. It could use a good refinishing!

birthday, sheep, etc.

Busy, busy around here these days. I celebrated my birthday last week with a lovely afternoon tea with friends. I made Joy the Baker's simple vegan chocolate cake, which was delicious and very easy.

A knitting friend gave me these Lantern Moon sheep stitch markers for my birthday. Super cute!

My latest sheepie find? Cotton poplin PJ pants from Old Navy.

They come in a lovely bright spring green, too, though you may have to hunt them down in stores, since the supply online is woefully depleted (I blame/credit knitters).

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We've been on the road a lot lately -- Milwaukee for Easter and Minneapolis for my mom's birthday have meant plenty of knitting time (though no photography time), but otherwise it has been a whirlwind. I promise knitting photos soon. I just blocked a shawlette, a baby sweater needs some buttons, and I should really take photos of my two latest cardigans, which I've been wearing nonstop.

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We did see a great band at Space in Evanston last week! Hey Marseilles was back in town, and they put on a good show. Very different from last fall at Lincoln Hall, since they've put out a new album since then. Highly recommend! I think they'll be at Lollapalooza this summer.

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

my ravelry project page

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.

Oh the bitter winds are coming in

Oh the bitter winds are coming in

And I'm already missing the summer 

Stockholm's cold but I've been told

I was born to endure this kind of weather

A snowy day here in Chicago, and I'm listening to First Aid Kit's "Emmylou," whose lyrics seem awfully appropriate.

Have you heard this song yet? One of my favorites of 2012 -- a Swedish take on Americana, with lyrics like "I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June / If you'll be my Gram and my Johnny, too."

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Remember my grousing that the buttons for my Drops cardigan were taking their sweet time getting here? Yeah... I somehow failed to note that they were coming from Slovenia! Considering their origin, they made excellent time, and the Wooden Artist did a beautiful job. The set on the right is destined for this cardigan.

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I'm jonesing to make this adorable bobble sheep pillow from the Purl Bee! (P.S. free pattern here.) I just may have fallen down on my yarn diet and ordered the yarn kit. 

the usual -- cats + knitting

two cats, one heated cat bed in the study

an uneasy alliance

Never mind that there's another heated cat bed in the living room, plus a regular cat bed just a few feet away. Such funny little ladies.

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Remember how I ran out of yarn (one of my usual tricks) while working on Burnett? I actually found a smidge more yarn squirreled away in the storage ottoman by my knitting chair! Just enough to finish it up.

 

pattern: Burnett, by Amanda Keep

yarn: Knit Picks Bare Superwash Merino (worsted weight), 2 skeins

needles: Clover US 6 bamboo circs

size: 9 months

notes:
The directions get a bit confusing once you get to the left front neck, and the pattern requires careful reading. I moved the buttonholes closer to the edge, since I wanted to work a single crochet border around the whole shebang to make it look neater and more finished. I should have worked one more buttonhole at the top. Doh! Also, the sleeves are extremely long -- you are supposed to roll them up, but I think it's a little overboard.

I'm trying to make bolder button choices -- often I use very boring, neutral buttons, when a pop of color really would be a nice finishing touch. I'm so glad I found these cute red buttons -- 5/8” “Colors Favorite Findings” in color no. 2. Very affordable! $.99 for a pkg of 20 at JoAnn.

fo: leafy little buds cardi

I was hoping that my next FO post would be my textured yoke cardi or Aidez, but the buttons for the former haven't arrived in the mail yet (oh, etsy), and the last Aidez sleeve still has four inches to go.

So another wee knit it is! I first spotted this pattern on Posie Gets Cozy.

pattern: little buds, by Karen Borrel

size: 18 months

yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK, 3.3 skeins

needles: Clover US 7 bamboo circs

on ravelry

notes:

Love how soft and cozy the yarn is! Cashmerino makes knitting oodles of garter stitch a delight.
Only one real modification -- I knit the sleeves flat and seamed them. Garter stitch in the round isn’t my favorite, and my gauge changes significantly moving from knitting flat to knitting in the round.

going green

I'm not generally a big fan of change. We had grown pretty attached to our two rugged old Jeeps, zipping across the Upper Midwest for camping trips, Madison farmers' markets, Packers games, and family visits. OK, one doesn't exactly zip around in a Jeep -- they're built for durability and toughing out bad weather, not speed, but we loved them. Plus they're awfully cute.

Gas mileage? Terrible, but we lived with it for a long time, thinking that at least we were re-using an existing car rather than creating more waste. But the Cherokee's repair bills were adding up, and the rusty patches were growing, so it was finally time to bite the bullet.

It was time for something green.

OK, maybe not quite that green -- this is a retrofitted classic car turned EV parked at one of the charging stations at Paul's office. Ours is the cute little blue Nissan Leaf in the background.

I wasn't planning to blog about this, but the recent New York Times article on electric cars in the Netherlands, its review of the Tesla S road trip and subsequent controversy, and President Obama's touting of green energy initiatives in the State of the Union speech made me think it was worth a mention. We love it. Fun to drive, lots of torque so it's peppy, zero emissions, and no trips to the gas station.

There are some downsides, though -- it really helps to have a garage and somewhere to plug in at home. Relying on public charging stations is risky, because the infrastructure just isn't there yet. Cold weather dramatically reduces the battery range -- much more than Nissan admits -- as does driving at freeway speeds. Even in average weather the range is at best around 70 miles. Recharge times are long. This is not a car for road trips. For many people in urban areas, though, this is an excellent second car. Work commutes, errands, and nights out on the town are easy and require no extra planning.

Anyway, I just want to say that there are people in this country who are willing to take a risk on new, green technology and put their money where their mouth is, and we are two of them.