FORE!

Golf club covers, people! One of the secret gifts I've been working on recently.


I first had the notion to make these last year, when I stumbled across some patterns on Ravelry, but somehow never got around to actually wrapping the yarn around the needle. That is, until last week, when panic struck. They're a birthday present for a dear friend, and although her birthday isn't for another 4 weeks, I started to feel the pressure of time (as in not enough to do all I plan) bearing down on me. I stress out A LOT about things like gifts and packing, so I decided that unless I favored sleepless nights in my future, I'd better get in gear and start working on a present.

Since I'd had the club covers in my mind for a while, the main issue was picking colors. This sporty friend is rather preppy and owns more than one Lily Pulitzer garment, so I decided to go with uber-preppy country club colors: pink, green and bright blue. I had the pink and blue already, so only had to buy the green and white. Then, I decided on a couple of patterns, and we were off, as it were.

Details:
Pattern: Striped Golf Club Cover, by Lauren Nell Roy
Holey Hexagon Golf Club Covers, by Sarah Wilson
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Solids (pink)
Caron Simply Soft Brites (blue and green)
Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby (white)
Needles: US7s/4.5mm
Started: September 9
Finished: September 16

I knit the pink cover in the round with bamboo DPNs, and that was a mistake. The Red Heart yarn is sticky and the saddle joint of my thumb was really sore by the time I'd bound off, so despite my ambivalence towards seaming, I knit the other two covers flat. For those, I used my Denise interchangeable needles, which are plastic and glide much more smoothly through the yarn. Also, the Vanna's Choice and Caron are both much softer yarns, and so were easier on my hands. Knitting the second two covers was such a breeze, I didn't mind seaming them a bit. In fact, it was kind of fun. What I did mind, however, was the duplicate stitch I used to faux-argyle the green cover. It came out kind of messy and amateurish, but there really wasn't much I could do. Lesson learned: duplicate stitch = not for me.

These covers are kind of a continuation on a birthday theme for this friend; several years I needlepointed a case for her golf tees. I'm nothing if not consistent.

Side note: Michael Kors and some other designers showed a lot of neon bright accent pieces in their Fall '09 collections (see this, and this and this), and I'm thinking that Caron Brites might be the perfect yarn out of which to craft a cozy and shocking cowl (yarn held doubled or tripled, of course).

She's a dance, dance, dance, dance dancing machine!

I like routine, sometimes a bit too much.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy the past couple of months with knitting and canning. Like I'd said in an earlier post, canning has become an obsession, and it's a time consuming one: recipe research, trips to farmers' markets, schlepping to the hardware store for jars, sterilizing said jars, cooking up the goods and cleaning up the resultant mess. The more I do it, the easier and more routine it becomes; I know what to do and learn what to expect, get my timing down. It's been super fun, but looking back, I see how much of my free time it's taken. I like that; I like being productive. But I think I've also really quieted my social life quite a bit. Which is also OK; I like concentrating and concentration requires other things to take a back seat. But sometimes, enough is enough. The other night I felt like Diana Ross, singing: I'm coming out!



Really, who has more style than her? Too bad about those DUIs a few years back. Back to me:

I got to change things up the other Friday at a super fun party. The older my friends and I get, the fewer parties crop up, but this one made up for the dearth. What's better than a house party with a DJ playing funk and soul music? Stayed out past 4, so my a** was dragging the next day. But it felt good; even waking up this morning looking like road kill felt good. It was a reminder that I'm not just this canning, knitting shut-in.

That being said, I do love to knit.

Pattern: Viking Hat
Needles: US8s/5mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Solid
Started: September 12
Finished: September 14

So cute! And fun. Intended for a duo of babies to be, the sexes of which are still unknown. When they reveal themselves, I will add either little braids (for girls) or ear-flaps (for boys) to the hats. The yarn is 100% acrylic, but soft and washable, which I consider to be of paramount importance when knitting for children. I made two hats, each of which knit up in about 4 hours, including making, stuffing and sewing on the horns. The horns are a bit wonky, because I'm not the best seamstress, but I don't think the recipients will mind.

I've also finished Sylvi, save for sewing on the flower petals. Pictures of that next time!

Ja, but she never tells you how much she spent!

My Grandma Ditsch was one of the most straight-talking people you'd ever meet. Whenever she'd try to mince words, it was a disaster, so it was for the best that it didn't often occur to her to try. At the same time, she could take a hint like no one I've ever known. I take that back; my mother (her daughter) was a champ at taking a hint.

I figured out this useful bit of information about Grandma when I was in college in Minnesota. Since Grandma also lived in Minnesota, I would often spend long-weekends on the farm with her. On one such weekend, she and I were visiting after a breakfast of grapefruit, Sanka and toast with cottage cheese (her) and Cheerios (me), when I mentioned that I hadn't had her spare ribs and sauerkraut in a long time. Flash forward three hours and a half hours and what are we having for dinner (the noon-time meal; supper was served in the evening) just as Y&R was ending and the WCCO newscast was beginning? You guessed it: spareribs and sauerkraut, with mashed potatoes on the side. Oh, I was so happy!

I tested my powers of suggestion again that summer while reminiscing with her one day: "I remember watching you peel peaches for canning when I was little. And the peach pie you would make? With the custard? I'd never had anything like it before! So delicious." BAM! We had peach pie that day for dinner. And again, I was so happy.

But this is supposed to be about her straight talking, so . . . Katie was Grandma's younger sister and one of her best friends. Never married, Katie was the kind of woman who, when asked "How ya doin'?", would respond "Oh, I'm fat and sassy!" And she was. Katie liked her beer, and the Waconia American Legion was her favorite watering hole. It being a small town, Katie knew everyone in the Legion, and so there she spent many an evening with her pal Verna, shooting the shit and playing the pull tabs. She liked winning, and would always tell Grandma how much she won. "Ja, but she never tells you how much she spent," Grandma would say to me, meaning Katie was telling only of her wins, and not her losses (also, Grandma didn't think much of gambling, and truth be told, neither do I).

I think a lot of us are like Katie, happy to share our successes, but considerably less eager to share our failures with others, myself included. you see, not everything that I make turns out as I'd hoped. My first batch of blackberry jam was a $20, 2 hour fiasco. I couldn't get it to the "sheeting" stage, and so cooked and cooked and cooked it. Cooked it right into hard candy, is what I did. I was so sad and disappointed. Then there's this:

Details:

Pattern: Sedum, by Jane Richmond

Yarn: Noro Kochoron

Needles: US11s/8 mm

Started: July 29

Finished: August 13

I didn't know it when I started, but this project was doomed from the beginning. The pattern has instructions for only one size, S/M. As I am an M/L, I tried to modify and wound up making it way too big. Add to that the fact that seed stitch really grows when blocked (I wet block everything) and you end up with one ginormous and ill-fitting sweater. Since I love both the yarn and the pattern, there's nothing to do but rip it out and start again. This time, I'll follow the pattern more closely.

So there you have it: the knitting equivalent of how much I spent in all of its embarrassing glory.

Beware the Chinese Food

Usually I try to focus on the positive and expect good outcomes. My generally sunny and hopeful outlook aside, sometimes it pays to be prepared for the negative or uncomfortable. To wit: the break-up. Relationships begin, everything's rosey and exciting, then sometimes, as we get in more deeply, we realize it's not a good fit, that we're not entirely happy. Now, what to do? It's a drag.

Last week, a friend found himself needing to end a new romantic entanglement. They had already made plans for a date when he realized he needed bring things to an end. Neither wanting to cancel the date and break-up via telephone (so unkind) nor sit through a long meal knowing that an awkward conversation was imminent, he decided: Chinese food. Its delicious, usually fairly casual and, most importantly FAST. The entire meal lasted about 40 minutes and by the end, the conversation had been had. Clean, civil, and fast. Later, in recounting the event to me, he realized that this was the third break-up that he'd had over Chinese food.

Who wants to think about how to break up with someone? Not I. However, we sometimes find ourselves in these, and other, uncomfortable situations, and it's good to know what to do. To be all Pollyana for a sec, it's kind of like making lemonade out of lemons. However, if that's not your style, you can follow the advice of Bill MacNeil (poor video quality for which I apologize):



I really miss Phil Hartman.

You are an obsession, You're my obsession*

When I get into something, I really get into it. I know in my heart of hearts that it's a good idea, a good plan, a worthwhile use of my time. I want to know it, understand it, really experience it. The obsession may not last forever, but while it does, it is glorious. It's how I was with knitting, how I was with cake baking and how I've become with canning. Witness:

The product of my first week of putting up food. So far I've canned cherries and plums, made dill pickles, dilly beans, apricot jam, bourbon cherries and sour cherry preserves, and enjoyed every sweaty (it is August, after all) minute of it. I have to say that this has made me feel incredibly productive. What I mean is that I'm not a lazy person, but the projects I usually work on are small and discrete: knitting a child's sweater, sewing a set of napkins, crocheting a lapghan, baking scones. With canning, the volume of the end product seems so much more significant and takes so much less time to produce, that it's rather gratifying. I'm a little late to the game this season, so I may be doing more pickling than fruit canning this year, but I'm excited about it nonetheless. The Ball Blue Book has lots of intriguing recipes that will keep me busy for the next few weeks at least.

Last week I did manage to do a bit more than simply go to work and preserve foods. I also watched Season 5 of Entourage in it's entirety, met up with the Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill Kitting & Crocheting peeps for some crafting and bingo:

and went to the Flea with Alex and Matt.





Fun! They just moved to Brooklyn from the UWS and have done a commendable job of integrating themselves into the 'hood.

That's the lobster roll they bought for me. It was delicious! Not too much mayo, toasted bread and some green onions, rather than the celery more typically found in a lobster roll. I could not have asked for a better summer lunch.

Details:
Pattern: Springtime Bandit, by Kate Gagnon Osborn, from Kelbourn Woolens
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed
Needles: US7s/4.5mm
Started: July 6
Finished: July 16

It's a gift, but for a non-blog reader, so I think it's safe to show. I started this on the plane to Stockholm and had grand plans of finishing it on my return flight. Those plans were disrupted by my viewing of 17 Again, Duplicity and something else the title of which escapes my just now. This yarn is incredibly soft and cozy, requisite qualities for something that's to be scrunched up against one's neck. I've wet blocked it once, and it did open up quite a bit, but not quite enough for my liking. I'm considering another go-around, as I'd like the pattern to be a bit more visible.



Overall, I'm quite happy with this project, and look forward to presenting it to it's future owner.

*Don't tell me you've forgotten about Animotion!

At long last, summer!

This has been kind of a sad summer, not because of anything that's happened, but because of circumstance. Weather circumstance. We've had a lot of rain here in New York, rain that has prevented trips to the beach, bike rides, walks in the park. In short, the opportunities for outdoor living have been severely curtailed this summer, which is sad. Last summer was glorious! I spent so much time in Prospect Park, running, riding my bike. I wandered about new (to me) neighborhoods, ate lots of frozen yogurt, walked home from work at least three days a week. So lovely. So it was with great excitement and gratitude that I greeted this past Saturday, a bright, dry and sunshiny day!

When I woke up on Saturday, I was was bursting with energy and plans, both novel and mundane. Run? Check. Laundry? Check. CSA? Farmer's market? Check and check. Obligations taken care of, I dove into some fun stuff: Kool-Aid dying:



Wet wool smells so much better when stewing in a vat of grape Kool Aid. I worked on some yarn that was given to me by Oiyi during a destash. I wanted to darken it up a bit, make it a little more autumnal. The yarn is a wool-acrylic blend, and acrylic won't pick up the dye from Kool Aid, so I knew I wouldn't get an incredibly vibrant effect, but I was pleased with how well it worked. The original yarn color was heathered lavender, and I dyed three skeins with grape Kool Aid and one skein with cherry. In the pot above you can see the grape doing it's work (no finished picture, yet), and below is the skein dyed with cherry, drying in my sunny backyard. It's a weird color, but I like it. I haven't settled on a plan for the newly dyed yarn, yet, but I'm thinking striped, cropped v-neck cardigan. Most of all, I'm happy to have picked up a new skill.

While the skeins were a-dryin', I loped off to my neighborhood park with my knitting and a book to enjoy a bit of the blessed weather. The park was as nice as expected, and I found myself a sweet spot on a small slope in the sun. I spent most of the time reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (so good!) and watching my neighbors. New Yorkers crack me up with their compulsive tanning. I'm of the camp that swimsuits should be worn when near water, otherwise one looks at best out of place and at worst like an exhibitionist skeezer, so it still (after 14 years of living here) surprises me to see people in the middle of a city wearing swim trunks and bikinis without a swimming pool, fountain, river, lake or sprinkler in sight. If seeking Vit. D while in a city, there's nothing wrong with shorts and a tank top, but I kind of feel (and it's not a super strong feeling, more of a preference) that if you want to do some serious tanning, tanning that requires a bikini or the like, you ought to get thee too a beach.

The sunny, summery weather had me thinking about canning, something my mother and grandmother used to do in July and August. I'd never canned myself, but decided that given my background, it was high time that I learned. I've been following a blog about canning called Food in Jars for a bit now, and the author's practical posts had me feeling that it was something entirely within my abilities. So . . . I headed off to Target to purchase my supplies, including this, the bible of canning:

There are so many exciting recipes in there, I can hardly stand it! Instructions read and supplies purchased, several hours later, I had these:


Four pints of sweet cherries in a light syrup. I think they're beautiful! And I'm hooked, hooked I say! I've a feeling that friends and loved ones will be receiving canned gifts from me this holiday season, in addition to knitted ones. The only thing that may get in my way is the blasted rain we've been having. It's really limited some of the local crops, and fruit (including tomatoes, which have been hit by late blight), in particular, has not been as abundant as in other, drier years. Rest assured, though, that this is not the last of my adventures in canning.

After four back-to-back gift projects, which I cannot yet share here, I have started a project for myself. Its Seedum, by Canadian knitter/designer Jane Richmond.

After all of my yearning for summer, I go and start a heavy fall sweater, and in seed stitch, no less. Go figure.

Things I learned in Sweden

So, as I was saying, I had a fabulous and delightful time in Sweden. While we did lots of sightseeing, our pace was more relaxed than frenzied. That's how I like to travel: plan in advance and then take it slow. Why? Well, when I'm relaxed, I'm better able to take in my surroundings and to get a sense of what the people around me are like and are doing. While I was in Sweden for only a week, and Stockholm for much of that time, I did make some observations.

1. Swedes really like ice cream.

It's all over the place! People roamed the streets of Stockholm eating ice cream like New Yorkers eat street meat, which suited me just fine, as I am very, very pro-ice cream.

2. They also have quite an affinity for candy, gummy and otherwise.

Case in point: the candy aisle at Maxi, a combo Wal-Mart/Target type store just outside of Karlstad. I arrived in Karlstad the day before the wedding, and it poured HARD all day long. Since sightseeing and swimming in Lake Ahlstern were out of the question, we ran errands, one of which took us to Maxi, where my friend the Bride wanted to pick up candy for the reception. And ice cream, for us. This was an amazing pick-a-mix setup by KaramellKungen, a la Brach's from the 70's, only on 'roids.

3. Lodging in Sweden is quite reasonable.

4. Food, however, is not.

5. When talking to a Swedish man, it is easy to get the impression that he is hitting on you. He may be, but this sense may come the fact that Swedish men look at you, like at your face, when they're talking to you. Not over your shoulder, or at their feet, but right at you. It's hot.

6. If you have big feet, Sweden is a great place to shop for cute shoes.

I wear a European 41 or 42, and that didn't seem to give pause to any of the shop owners! And so many of the shoes I saw were sensibly cute: low pumps with cone heels and open toes, funky ankle boots (lots with open toes), Frye-type pull-on boots (boots in summer, yes, because the climate is rather temperate). And, of course, clogs. Given my suitcase and budgetary constraints, I feel lucky to have returned with two lovely new pair of clogs, but had I more space and kroner, I really would have gone to town!

7. There are an insane number of hair salons in Stockholm. This seemed weird to me, as the typical Stockholmer does not have fussy hair.

8. Swedish men are, on the whole, better coiffed than American men.

9. Leggings are alive and kicking in Sweden, and I don't think it's a recent trend.

The weather in Sweden is, on the whole, rather mild. We were there in July, and the highs were in the mid- to low 70s, with the lows reaching into the low 50s. This combined with the not infrequent rain makes for a climate which is perfectly suited to the wearing of leggings (the male equivalent being the manpri, but that's another story). Leggings were ubiquitous, on everyone from elderly women to wee little girls. The perfect way to wear your skirt and ward off that Baltic chill.

10. Sweden is a more diverse country that one might think. Although I most certainly do not look stereotypically Swedish, people spoke to me in Swedish wherever I went (starting with the man in the immigration line at the airport, which I thought was weird considering I was in the line for non-EU passport holders, but I didn't mind as he was kind of foxy and it gave me a chance to practice my Swedish).

11. If you are invited to a wedding in Sweden, sell a kidney if you have to, but go! The country is as beautiful and you have heard and the people warm and lovely and they know how to put on a celebration.

12. Snaps and herring are a delicious combination. Mark my words.