Fiber Fool

With the holidays quickly approaching it seems like a good time to share some things I have been really enjoying lately. Perhaps my list of recent favorite things might inspire your holiday gift list :-) I’d love to hear some of things you are enjoying right now as well.

1. I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers is an album I have been listening to nearly non-stop. Somehow I have not yet managed to overplay it. I am kind of amazed. I think the rich harmonies of these three guys is what captured me. It can be described as rock and pop with a mix of folk and bluegrass and occasionally even more diverse elements. The title track was what caught my attention, but I love several other tracks like Kick Drum Heart, Ill With Want, It Goes On and On and Incomplete and Insecure.

2. Earl’s Cocoa is a hot drink a friend of ours invented. Earl’s Cocoa is a blend of hot chocolate and Earl Grey tea. Our method of making Earl’s Cocoa is to put a small splash of hot water into the cocoa mix and stir to form a paste while some White Tip Earl Grey tea is steeping (I love this particular kind as it doesn’t easily oversteep and amount of bergamont is perfect for the cocoa). When the tea is complete we add that to the hot chocolate paste. Drew had made an Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse from Tea Cuisine by Pruess & Harney before so we were quite eager to try this hot beverage version when Simmon suggested it. It makes a great winter dessert that helps warm you up on a cold night.

3. One of my favorite sweet snacks this time of year is Anna’s Ginger Thins with a light spread of pumpkin butter (if you can’t or don’t wish to make your own try Dickinson’s Country Pumpkin Butter). The ginger thins are relatively low in calories and fat because they are so thin and they are only moderately sweet. Add a touch of the pumpkin butter and you’ve upped your beta carotene, vitamin A and fiber intake significantly!

4. Schoolhouse Press recently re-released what had been a volume of 3 books by Maria Erlbacher in one fantastic resource on twisted traveling stitch knitting. Twisted-Stitch Knitting is not to be missed!

5. When it is cold outside and I’m super busy there is nothing in my kitchen I love more than my Crockpot. With some prep in the morning I can have a warm dinner on the table for supper with minimal effort. One of our favorites things to make in it is chili, followed closely by spaghetti sauce. But a good friend of ours gave Drew Art of the Slow Cooker for his birthday last year that we are exploring currently.

6. For reading before bed I’ve been caught up in two different vampire series. The first one to draw me in was The Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Book 1-8 Boxed Set which are the books by Charlaine Harris which the HBO series, True Blood is based off of (love season 1 of that too and am eagerly awaiting the release of season 2).

7. The other paranormal romance/vampire series I’ve been enjoying is a bit racier (at least racier than the Stackhouse *books* but perhaps not racier than the HBO series) is Brotherhood of the Black Dagger Series by J.R. Ward. Chris turned me onto them so she is to blame! ;-)

8. The Jane Austen Movie Collection is a staple right now when productive knitting is paramount. I know the stories well and I’ve seen the movies at the very least once on Masterpiece Classics if not more times so they make for great company when knitting. I can pay them as much attention as a knitting project allows. Thankfully, DH got me the set (plus The Jane Austen Book Club) for my birthday two years ago so I’m all set for marathon holiday knitting entertainment!

9. As we near the holidays I’m always a little more in touch with my Swedish roots and the family customs that survived the generations. Doing so always makes me seek out some of the foods that are harder to source here in Colorado than they were in Minnesota. I’ve been buying and stocking the fridge and pantry with things like Lingonberry Jam to top my ostkaka (Swedish cheesecake made with homemade cheese curd which DH kindly makes to keep me from whining so much about not getting to spend the holidays with my family) and swedish pancakes with. I’ve also been scouting out lefse. Though my grandma gave me all the supplies needed to make it I’ve been a bit intimidated and haven’t tried it yet.

10. Deb shared her winnings from Maryland Sheep & Wool with me several months back and I’ve been enjoying a set of three Lexi Barnes pieces. I wasn’t sure about how they would suit me at first, but I’ve fallen in love. My favorite is the Large Mini. I didn’t think yarn cakes would fit in these ungusseted bags, but I was proven wrong. I don’t think a 100 g cake of sock yarn would fit, though I could be surprised. I’ve been working with skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk lately and they and their respective accessory projects have fit in it quite well. What I love best is the ability to just grab it from the Lady B bag and toss it into my purse or into my laptop bag. The fact that it is ungusseted makes it easier to slip into the non-knitting bags a bit easier than my box or sack project bags because it is a bit sleeker and slimmer.

What are some of things you are enjoying or finding useful in these busy holiday times? Leave a comment or write a blog post of your own and share the link in the comments here. I’m in need of gift ideas!

Today, I have a new pattern I have been working on for a while to show you - Evergreen Copse. It is the perfect pattern to gift to yourself and your home! With three graduated sizes made to fit standard Styrofoam cones found at craft and hobby stores, these trees make a great grouping for your winter home.

I’ve combined two different texture stitch patterns that remind me of the stars from holiday lights in a semi-random formation on the medium and large trees and kept the small tree a tad simpler with only one texture stitch. The trees are 8¾, 11¾ and 15¼ inches high. They can be used to form a centerpiece for your holiday table. I am also thinking I might use mine with my Dickens Village once some renovations are complete and I can set it up.

Due to the semi-random nature of the pattern, each tree is presented in charted format only, so you must be able to read knitting charts. The pattern is written for knitting in the round on 5 double pointed needles from the bottom up. If you are familiar with knitting on two circular needles or using the magic loop method for circular knitting the pattern is easily adaptable. The stitch patterns are directional and require bottom-up knitting.

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Over the past couple of weeks I have been working hard on developing a new pattern layout. This included developing a new logo as well since I have been limping along without a scalable logo file since my first hard drive crash about 4 years ago or so. I have solicited lots of feedback from a variety of people and really appreciate the comments and suggestions that helped me put together an improved pattern template system.

With Black Friday sort of kicking off the holiday season I decided I wanted to give a holiday gift that could become a holiday gift for you to give as well. Plus, with a new logo and new pattern template it seemed like triple the reason to offer this fun leg warmer pattern, Collegiate Flare, for free! Since it is free, anyone who has taken a pledge to not spend money on Black Friday can still enjoy something new and remain faithful to their promise!

Leg warmers are popping up all over. I don’t know about you, but I have gotten sucked into a few dance-related reality series thanks to my sister and you are definitely seeing many of the dancers wearing them. I’ve also noticed them for sale at several stores around town from big box discount stores to smaller, one-of-a-kind boutiques. As I have occasionally mentioned I have some serious muscle issues when I get cold so they are quite practical for me as well, allowing me to stay warm while saving a bit of energy and keeping my thermostat a couple degrees cooler.

I wanted to keep the design relatively simple, using a simple ribbed-based pattern that requires no calf shaping, yet fits a wide range of sizes. Though I appreciate simplicity I am a bit of a sucker for unique details. I decided to have a full-fashioned flared gusset at the bottom of the leg warmers. It not only is a nice finishing touch, but quite practical for all those ballet flats and other low-cut shoes that have been invading my shoe collection over the last year or so.

For today (11/27/2009, MST) only you can download the Collegiate Flare pattern for free. It’s a relatively quick to knit pattern that you could work up for holiday gifting and you get a chance to check out the new pattern layout and new logo in action.

I will be slowly working my way backwards through my patterns and updating them to the new format. I’ll be squeezing the conversions in between other designing so it will be a drawn out process. As I update patterns, notifications will be sent out via Ravlery letting you know of the change. In most cases I expect the changes to be strictly cosmetic, but please read through the notification to double check. I will make note of any non-cosmetic changes that were made. I will also be noting version number equivalencies on the pattern pages on Ravelry (and here on the web site when I get a chance to update it). In addition, some of my older patterns will be retired from wholesale and will only be available in their current (original) format online. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

The free period has expired, but the pattern is still available!

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This week I had another pattern go live - Moxie. It is a fun fingering weight colorwork hat and mitten set appearing in Twist Collective Winter 2009. It was knit using Ivy Brambles SockScene Sock Yarn from The Yarn and Fiber Company in the Wild Blueberries and Holly colorways. When the colors were chosen I swear there was a spy in my coat closet — Holly is nearly a dead ringer for my down ski jacket (which I wore outside in late July just to take these photos for you)!

My original “swatch” did not use colors quite so similar or kettle dyed, but the bold geometrics of the stitch pattern can stand up to higher contrast color combos as well. In my original swatch I used Louet Gems Sport in Terracotta and Aqua. I was inspired to create this stitch pattern by art deco designs and I had wanted to use that same influence in the color selection. I would have preferred my “swatch” had a lighter aqua, perhaps closer to a robins egg blue, but when I got struck with this pattern idea I couldn’t find the shades I wanted in the same yarn line locally.

I am kind of anxious to reknit this one. Despite the fingering weight yarn it goes quite fast. There is just something about colorwork that makes you keep saying “one more row.” I’d like to see it in a more neutral palette like brown and cream. But I think it could also be quite striking in red and white too! Then or course there are all the other art deco influenced color combos to try too! I’m really anxious to see what everyone decides to knit their Moxies in.

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Wow, thanks to everyone who noted the mention of my upcoming pattern in today’s Knitting Daily! I have a triple play set of paper lantern covers in the soon to be available Winter 2009 issue of Knits. I thought perhaps you’d be interested in the inspiration for those covers…

In our house we have one of those half walls that runs along the stairs to the basement. It is a fantastic place to set plants, but it gets virtually no natural light. It is also in our living room so traditional grow lights were not an option. We ended up buying three cord kits for paper lanterns and were on the look out for something to use as a shade on the bare, full-spectrum compact flourescents but Drew and I were a bit at odds on what the proper solution was. Our budget dictated that paper lanterns would work. I was a little hesitant thinking it might take our living room back to college dorm days.

So, one day we were wandering around Old Town Fort Collins and seeing a few paper lanterns in boutique shops that did not previous carry them. Drew was arguing that they did not look at all dorm like and I was suddenly hit in the head with a brick and decided if I knit covers for them I could live with paper lanterns in my living room. Before I even got home I knew what stitch patterns I wanted on each shape of lantern. I think I walked straight from the front door to my idea notebook and sketched before I greeted Emma or even took off my coat, LOL!

Now, it is probably a good year since I was struck with the idea and I don’t have knit covers for my paper lanterns. But, they are definitely on the list. Our lanterns are the cylinder ones in cream. I want to knit our covers in Willow Euruflax Sport. I’m uncertain if I want to stick to the pattern on mine or play off of another idea or two I’ve had since I knit these for Interweave. They are deceptively quick to progress (yeah drop stitches for all the length you add in so few rows worked!) so perhaps I will get that done over the holidays…