the final countdown

We're busy getting ready for baby these days. The countdown to our little guy's due date is under two weeks. I'm alternately torn between being ready for him to arrive RIGHT NOW and wanting a few more days to finish decorating the nursery and to square things away at the office.

My mother's friends and family appliqued and embroidered these sweet teddy bear quilt blocks at a baby shower for me way back in 1978. Each teddy bear is different and bears the initials of its maker. Grandma (who was very crafty!) did all the finishing work, truly a labor of love for her since she enjoyed making garments, slipcovers, and curtains, not quilts. I love that my mom kept this all these years, and I feel so lucky to incorporate it into our little guy's nursery. Sugar is quite fond of it, too, as you can tell.

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More cardigans to keep wee "Ragnar" warm are off the needles...

pattern: Baby Sophisticate, by Linden Down (the free version)

yarn: Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted, green tea heather, 2 skeins

needles: US 7 and 8

size: 6-12 months

my Ravelry project page

notes:

This is the project where I finally mastered short rows! Huzzah! Cute little sweater -- I like the shawl collar shaping. I used US 7 needles for the body, but had to switch to US 8 DPNs for the sleeves to get gauge. I used US 8 for the bind-off, too.

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pattern: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan, by Elizabeth Smith (free!)

yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, 1 skein each of Lake and Almond

needles: US 6 and 7

size: 3 months (?)

my Ravelry project page

notes:

Yipes, stripes! I love them! The color combination is one of my favorites. Used up the very last of my Cotton-Ease stash, acquired many years ago.  I accidentally knit the collar with size 7 needles instead of 6, but remembered to use size 6 for the cuffs, bottom hem, and button bands. I didn't think through my button placement very wisely.

The sizing seems... well, quite generous, which is better than the alternative. The sleeves also seem pretty large in comparison to the body, but I'll evaluate the fit once it's actually in use.

fo: summer flies

Mid-August already?!? Summer truly is flying by.

pattern: Summer Flies, by Donna Griffin

yarn: Orange Flower 50/50 merino/silk fingering weight, .7 skeins

needles: US 6 Clover bamboo circs

my Ravelry project page

notes:

I love this pattern! It knits up quickly, and you don’t get bored, since you switch stitch patterns fairly often. I especially enjoyed the knotted openwork near the end.

This looked tiny when I finished knitting it, but blocking really opened it up. It’s a useful scarf size. You could definitely add some rows of knotted openwork if you wanted to use up more yarn.

This yarn was originally used for a Gaenor shawlette, which I loved, but I didn’t pay close enough attention and ran out of yarn. : ( For a blend of merino and silk it help up to frogging and reknitting quite well. Orange Flower yarns are always gorgeous, and this is no exception.

I knit this as a thank-you gift for my Aunt Patrice who hosted just the loveliest baby shower for us last weekend.

No, we're not really naming our little guy Ragnar -- it's a family joke (though it does have a nice Nordic ring, doesn't it?).

fo: pear drop shawlette

We are in the midst of reshuffling our library to make room in the nursery, and Moxie has discovered a new favorite hidey-hole. Such a funny kitty!

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Another handknit is not only off the needles, but it has already been delivered to its recipient while we were in Minnesota last weekend.

pattern: Pear Drop, by Ysolda Teague

source: Afternoon Treat

yarn: The Plucky Knitter 80.10.10 MCN, Tracy Lord Haven, 1.2 skeins

needles: US 6 Clover bamboo circs
size: small

notes:

The construction of this shawlette intrigued me! You begin by knitting the edging. I actually looked forward to picking up stitches from the edging (I’ve never said that before!) and then working inward, decreasing the semicircle. I wasn't happy with the bind-off -- you end up just cinching the last few stitches, which seems like a sloppy end to an elegantly constructed project.

The yarn from The Plucky Knitter is gorgeous, as usual -- a very rich, deep red. It bled a lot in the wash. The pattern specified laceweight yarn, but I wanted something more substantial, so I went with fingering weight. If I were to knit this pattern again, I'd try a DK yarn like this beautiful example. 

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More Moxie goodness:

Happy weekend!

preppy

Our little guy will be rocking a wee sweater vest this autumn:

pattern: tiny trees baby vest, by Kylie Bates

yarn: Valley Yarns Superwash DK, 1 skein (137 yds.)

needles: Clover US 7 bamboo 16" circs

size: 0-3 months

my Ravelry project page

notes:
The yarn came from a giveaway on Suze's blog, Mad Knitting, a while ago. I used the first two skeins to knit Babe in the Woods (which still needs buttons but is otherwise complete), and the lone last skein was just enough for this tiny vest. It's very soft and cozy, but has a tendency to stretch (as superwash is wont to do). That doesn't bother me with baby knits, but I'm not sure I'd use it for a sweater for me. I might actually prefer it to Knit Picks Swish, the superwash I use for baby shower knits all the time. Hey, if it's a gift and I'm not sure that the recipients are used to washing wool, I'm not breaking out the Madelinetosh -- that's all I'm saying.

The pattern is easy and would be good for a newbie knitter, though it does call for you to kitchener stitch the shoulder straps together (though honestly you'd be fine just binding off and seaming, and it would probably give the straps a little more structure).

Hmmm... I'm also working on a new crochet afghan using Cherry Heart's free Rosie Posie Granny Square tutorial. I love the look of the round centers, but magic rings make me a little nuts. This pattern is reminiscent of Posie Gets Cozy's Sunshine Day afghan. I broke my yarn-buying embargo to acquire enough yarn for the afghan, and I'm loving the colors so far! This was a go-big-or-go-home Knit Picks order, so I also picked up yarn for these adorable moc-a-soc booties and aranami.

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Chicago's heat wave broke last week, and I've been so thankful. My Nordic blood can't handle heat and humidity, and I turn into a total sloth when the mercury hits 90. A crabby sloth, at that.

Now that it has cooled off our garden is perking up again (as am I, despite being seven months pregnant and feeling ungainly). I picked some basil tonight and tried Nicole's new recipe for mozzarella and basil bread. Mine doesn't look nearly as pretty as hers (note to self: thoroughly flour both the board and your hands before kneading so that you can shape a nice ball), but it is delicious. That said, it doesn't hold a candle to my mom's dilly bread (a yeast bread made with dill and cottage cheese -- I'll have to post the recipe sometime soon, esp. since there's a bumper crop of dill in my herb garden).

fo: easy baby cardigan

We're back in the city after a relaxing long weekend in the north woods of Wisconsin. Swimming, boating, and plenty of reading and knitting -- just the prescription for what has been a rather hectic summer so far.

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The latest in the parade of baby knits! I have been stockpiling baby knits for months, but am just now sewing on buttons and the like.

pattern: easy baby cardigan, by joelle hoverson

source: more last-minute knitted gifts

yarn: patons classic wool merino, denim marl, 1 skein

needles: clover US 7 bamboo circs

size: 6-9 months

my ravelry project page

notes:

My gauge was a little off, but I was happy with the fabric, so I followed the measurements for the next size smaller.

Not my favorite pattern -- the increases on the neck are awkward and result in puckering. It really is easy, though. The yarn is also not anything to write home about, but it had been marinating in my stash for years, and I was very happy to use it! Still two more skeins left, however.

The buttons are basic navy blue plastic ones from JoAnn (yes, I used them for the bitty cabled cardigan, too). As usual, I delved into my embroidery floss stash to sew them on.

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'
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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.