Fruit alchemy

Fifteen pounds of local, we-picked-'em raspberries became fifteen jars of jam today.

We also set aside a good number of berries to freeze for the dark days of winter, plus a big pot of "ice cream topping"--as my husband called it--that I would just have soon have called "dinner, eaten standing at the stove."

Before we went on vacation last week, we had picked another 15 pounds of local strawberries and made no-sugar jam following the recipe that comes in the box of Pomona's Pectin.

I got this book as a belated birthday present and it was well worth the wait...I basically read it cover to cover (stopping to salivate) on our drive home from eastern Washington.  I am sad there aren't more low-sugar or no-sugar recipes--I see us using it to make a few boutique jars to give as gifts, but using our more utilitarian jams for every day.  This is the book equivalent of playing dressup with fruit.

I was thinking as I walked the rows this morning, picking the luscious giant raspberries--my county produces some insanely high percentage of the raspberries in the U.S.--how lucky we are to be able to drive a mere fifteen minutes to pick fifteen pounds that will become fifteen jars.

Have you gotten into preserving or jam-making or pickling or anything else?

Before.

after.

My sister made this for me.

Isn't it cool?

Cross my heart

This...

Winterwoods

Almost makes me want to take up cross-stitch again.

Almost.

Indecision 2012

Seems appropriate that the day after Super Tuesday (not that I'm paying attention to the primaries anyway, they never feel relevant in Washington state) I share with you some indecision I'm experiencing.

A couple of years ago I had bought the kit for KnitPicks' Corrie Vest in one of its original color selections, spiffily titled "Neutral." (I think it came in "Neutral" and "Bold" originally--they've since issued a couple of other options--and even a bright-color-loving person like me thought the selection of Palette in "Bold" should have been renamed "Garish.")

Although I've been interested in doing a larger scale fair isle / stranded colorwork garment for a while, I just never got off the ground with poor Corrie. As I've worked my way through my January resolutions (more on my Noro/Palette Ivy League vest in a subsequent entry) I realized that I needed to either fish or cut bait.

Let's go fishing!

I cast on. I worked my way through the bottom ribbing, practicing my combination knitting. I started the first chart and worked my way upwards. I remembered the two-handed method of stranding the yarns, and I remembered why colorwork is so absorbing and mathematical. But something still didn't seem right.

I loved all of the warm neutrals: Merlot Heather, Wallaby, Bark, Almond, Camel Heather, Cream, and Bittersweet Heather. These are lovely, soft, and luscious.

But I didn't love the greens: Verdant Heather and Celadon Heather. Slightly too cold for my taste, they will make me look washed out. And, let's face it, if you're going to knit an entire garment on size 2 needles, it should be 100% colors you love.

[knit in progress with Palette in bittersweet heather, verdant heather, and celadon heather pictured. This is the original color selection that came with the kit. See how grey and cool they are?]

I decided to audition some replacements for Verdant Heather and Celadon. Here are the options I came up with. In making my replacement choice, I'm considering a couple of criteria:
1. do the replacements have similar color values in comparison to each other and to the yarns as a whole?
2. are they colors I love and will wear?

Option 1: Opal Heather and Sagebrush.
Pros--keeps the original green palette but changes it to aqua. Cons--sagebrush is a bit light; Opal reads more blue, sagebrush more green--and are they too close in color value?

Option 2: Rooibos Heather and Conch.
Pros--I love reds, oranges, and pinks and wear them quite often. This combo would be warm and lovely--I've been infatuated with Rooibos since the color was released last year. Cons--Conch is a bit too too much, and the colors aren't as closely related to each other as the blue/blue or green/green combos. I think that's part of the nature of the beast with reds--since a light blue is still blue, but a light red reads as pink.

Option 3: Midnight heather and opal heather
Pros: both are blues with an aqua rather than a green tinge; this combo evokes the original kit while fitting my coloring and taste better. Cons: Is the midnight heather TOO dark? Would it read as black, not blue?

Option 4: Rainforest Heather and Sagebrush
Pros: More green than blue. The sagebrush is the clearest substitute for the celadon in color value. Cons: Rainforest has a cool, purply undertone, not always flattering on me.

I know which way I'm leaning...what do you all think?

Yarn Hubris

So: my eggplant scarf was sheer bliss to knit and sheer excitement to mail off. It received rave reviews from its recipient.

I started the Orchid Thief Shawlette with the same high hopes. A beautiful design from one of my favorite designers...a springy sparkly yarn...size 6 needles (one of my top three sizes to knit with) and LOTS of charts. (I love charts.)

All was going well and, because I get a tad obsessy, I was on pace to finish the whole thing in less than a week.

Hubris.

Yarn hubris, to be more specific.

The pattern calls for a 440-yard skein of Malabrigo sock. My skein of Dream in Color Starry had 450 yards. The pattern did say that the sample shawl was finished with only yards to spare, and that the careful knitter might buy an extra skein to be safe.

Balderdash!

First: I didn't decide to make the shawlette until after I'd bought the yarn.
Second: my LYS only HAD one skein.
Third: I am on a limited yarn budget. I could not justify buying a second skein of $28-a-skein yarn Just In Case.
Fourth: my yarn already had 10 extra yards compared to the Malabrigo sock.

I think you know how this story ends.

OH yes.

I'm knitting happily along...each row getting subsequently and seemingly exponentially longer...pulling the yarn out of its huge yarn cake in my project bag...humming a merry tune and mentally devising fictional formal events at which to wear my sparkly midnight blue shawlette...and then...

Boom baby. On row 112 of 114, I pulled the yarn out to check on it and, poof, where had it gone? I did the trick where you tie a slip knot at the halfway point to see how you're doing and...I barely made it one more row. Yes, two yards from the finish line (114 is also the bindoff row) I was Out Of Yarn.

And the yarn is discontinued.

And one person has it for sale or trade in his Ravelry stash. One Person in all the world. He's willing to sell it...but only the whole skein.

March 1, when the fun money budget resets, that skein is coming my way. And I Will Finish.

And then I will have 90+ percent of a skein of Dream in Color Starry left over.

At least I'll know one project it's NOT enough yarn for.

Knitting Book Review: Textured Stitches

Knitting Book Review: Textured Stitches: Knitted sweaters & accessories with smart details
(2011, Interweave Press, 144 pages, 19 projects. Source: personal purchase.)
By: Connie Chang Chinchio
Nutshell: 75% classic, 25% detail-work in a well-worth-purchasing collection of women’s garments.

Background: Connie Chang Chinchio is a name you likely recognize, either from her blog or from the numerous patterns she’s recently published in venues like Interweave Knits, Knitscene, and Twist Collective. I have always been drawn to her patterns, which combine classic lines with intriguing details.

I rediscovered some of her previous patterns as I browsed Ravelry doing research for this review, and remembered how much I love the Henley Perfected and Far Afield Vest. (And, of course, I wrote recently about my plans for a Geodesic Cardigan, assuming I can get up da noive to knit a me-sized sweater in lace-weight yarn.)

Synopsis: A collection of ten sweaters and nine accessories (ten, if you count the hat and mittens set as two patterns), Chang Chinchio integrates her love of stitch patterns and motifs with (mostly) fine-gauge yarns and classic, feminine silhouettes.

Each pattern contains an unexpected element or delightful surprise; lace, cables, smocking, and twisted stitches all make an appearance. All patterns are within the reach of an intermediate knitter, or even a determined beginner. Colorwork is nowhere to be found, not even stripes; like the title says, it’s all about texture.

Additionally, Chang Chinchio provides four sidebars with detail-filled explanations of a variety of techniques she loves and uses: tubular cast-on & sewn bindoff, glove-knitting, reading charts, and working sleeves from the top down using short rows. The book also includes several pages of Interweave’s always-quality knitting instructions and diagrams at the end.

Writing Sample: Charts are a convenient way to communicate complex stitch patterns accurately and succinctly. Whereas it’s easy to make a typo or skip a stitch when writing out stitch patterns row by row, missing or erroneous stitches tend to be obvious when plotted on a chart. (from “Reading a Chart,” the sidebar on page 103.)

Woot: My favorite aspect of Textured Stitches was the way it looked and felt like a unified collection. From repeated design elements like short-row shaping on collars to its meticulous instructions and level of detail (the Gems Hoodie gets 12 pages of instructions and detailed photos and charts) the book is accessible, careful, and beautiful. Not one time did I think, as I sometimes do, “This is the pattern that got slapped together at the last minute.” The texture is often botanical or geometrically inspired, and she never repeated a motif.

Next: nobody designs a sport- or DK-weight sweater like Ms. Chang Chinchio. I have to admit to being a worsted fan, myself, but seeing the lovely sweaters in this book makes me want to break out the size 5s and settle in for a while. That said, there are three patterns written for worsted-weight (a scarf, a pullover, and a jacket) and each uses the heavier gauge to its best advantage.

I also appreciated the variety of yarns used. Everything from affordable Cascade Heritage to spendy Road to China Light shows up.

Meh: Beware, endowed women, of the sweater patterns. Those of us with a bit of junk in the trunk or "huge tracts of land" in the front: we may be disappointed by these patterns’s fit, which tends toward the subtly-shaped-but-not-shapely. I’m a C cup (funny how the internet encourages such odd revelations) and I would definitely need to add bust darts to nearly every sweater to keep their body-skimming silhouettes from becoming too va-va-voom.

(Bust dart side note: the hands-down best tutorial I’ve seen on this topic is in Ysolda Teague’s Little Red in the City. Run, don’t walk, to get a copy of this book.)

I also must say that I wasn’t a huge fan of the accessories patterns.

Both hats were kind of odd looking, and – I know I should never say never – I don’t see myself EVER knitting gloves, especially in fingering weight. However, the ten sweaters were worth the price of admission. My favorites: the relaxed and fun Gems Hoodie, the sophisticated Honeycomb Tunic, and the delicate Tulip Henley.

Boo: zero.point.zero patterns for men. I’d love to see what Chang Chinchio would do with fine-gauge yarn and a man’s sweater. Men like texture, too!

Also: the tutorials are text-heavy and could have benefited from diagrams. The description of magic loop was particularly mind-boggling, and I already know how to do it.

Audience? Knitters who love classic lines and finer gauges, plus patterns with surprising detail and texture that elevate the garment to an heirloom, or at least a favorite.

Sequel-worthy? Certainly. I’d love to see more vests, men’s and/or children’s patterns, and some attention to adapting patterns for different body shapes.

I hope this review is helpful. I plan to continue to go through my shelves and highlight books—some new, some not—of interest to other knitters. Let me know in comments if there are any unanswered questions, or features you’d like me to consider adding. As with any review, my comments are intended to educate, illuminate, and entertain; your mileage may vary.
Have you read this book? What did you think?

Annnnnnd--blocked, beautiful (if I do say so myself) and ready to go...here she is....the lovely Loreli. Her stitch pattern is beautiful, like waving seagrass on the ocean floor. It's also the rare lace pattern that is reversible without a sooooper obvious wrong side. The sides are different, but the back looks good, too. I personally think this is a good quality in a scarf.

See? Back pretty.

Also, you can pretend you're French:
Ooh la la. (On me, this method is a bit too short. But for my 5'2" friend I think it'll hit at a good spot.)

Or drape it like a stole:


Or--my personal favorite scarf-wearing technique--the once-around-falling-forward.


Everything about this project tickles me, from the stitch pattern, to the yarn, to the invisible kitchenered seam, to the way I will always think of Downton Abbey when I see it. Yay for happy gifty projects.