Reuben Sandwich

I've always loved Reuben Sandwich's.  I did not have corned beef and cabbage on the 17th since I was expecting my sister, the Sky Goddess to be here to cook, but she didn't come in until today.  I cooked the corned beef by it's lonesome and got some Bubbies Sauerkraut, and some Swiss cheese.  For the bread, I decided to use that bread flour I've had in stash for a while. Of course this lead to shopping for the other items needed like rye flour. 

I used the recipe from the Smitten Kitchen.  Some of the recipes have pickle juice in them so I picked this one because it did not have any.  This was a fussy recipe which created a sponge, and was kneaded about 4 times. The author warns 8 hours is needed to make this.   The only modification I made besides grinding my caraway seeds,  was to bake it in a bread pan on 375 degrees for 45 mininues, instead of a round loaf on a pan sprinkled with cornmeal, with slashes in the top.  If I must say so myself it was  a big success, even with the puka (hole) that formed.

The Sky Goddess whipped up some easy Russian dressing for the inside.  This was the first time I'd tried the Bubbies Sauerkraut, and it was delish!  Mom whipped up a salad some Admiral Guiler's Turtle Soup to top off the meal.  On a side note, the Bubbies site says the Chinese invented sauerkraut!  Learn something new every day.

Crochet Bucket Hats

A friend tasked me with crocheting a hat for her grand daughter.  She had a sample which was too small.  The first one came out large enough for an adult.  I didn't use a pattern.  For the other I used a cute Japanese pattern.

Pattern:  210-24 Summer Hat, by Pierrot (Gosyo Co., Ltd)  Free!
Yarn:  Plymouth Jeanne DK.  The red is aran.
Hook:  F and H
Half the fun is making different flowers.  I experimented with my Crazy Daisy Winder in the bottom left corner.  I'm not happy with the  centers.  There are some good you tubes that I will follow next time.  I ordered the new improved Han-ami flower loom made by clover, so some more hats are sure to follow.  These are so fast to make!  I just wish I had more colors of the Jeannee DK.  The aran is a bit thick.
Mods:  I wasn't sure how to the lace so I just winged it from the picture.

Totoro eyeglass holder filled out the mosaic :)

Ravellenic 2014 Team Aloha

 I didn't make the deadline, but at least I finished:)

Pattern:  Aidez
Yarn:  Cascade 128 Superwash, about 8 skeins.
Needles:  10.5

Mods:  I wanted to make this as seamlessly as possible.   I knit the sleeves first and found I had stitch gauge but not row gauge.  I also read that the sleeves run small.  konasf and SageYarn had some helpful notes.  I knit the largest size sleeves. I had a couple of glitches in the crossed cables in the back which mostly block out.  The sweater really grew in length with blocking and is a bit too long.  It is certainly cushy and snugly to wear.

I don't this was the best project for this yarn with the needle size I chose.  It's a bit fuzzy on the cable stitch definition and stretched too much with blocking.  A tighter gauge may have helped.  I did learn that I will have to be more careful next time when joining the sleeves as I ended up with some very loose stitches...okay they are holes:( at the joins.  I've tried other raglan styles before and have come to the conclusion it is not the best arm style for me. 

I do love knitting cables!  Perhaps it's time to think about St. Brigid again.  It has been in my queue forever!

Now with Downton Abbey over for the season, there is a void and I'm sad to say I will frog my Downton Abbey Mystery KAL shawl.  After hibernating it and seeing the finished shawls, I decided the project is not for me. I'm so looking forward to Game of Thrones!

Perhaps I can practice on my new toy.  It spins very well. 

Tasmanian Devil - support spindle in Rose Sheoak and Dymondwood by Malcom Fielding.  I'm hoping for a Moosie in the next herd from Jonathan Bosworth.  A girl can dream. 

Big Island Quilt Shop Hop 2014

This was a whirlwind shop hop with Melody and JoAnn.  What fun!  We flew out Tuesday morning, picked up our car and visit all nine shops to get our quilt blocks and shop. 

1.  Quilt Passions, Kona
2.  Fabric and Quilting Delights, Kona
3.  H.Kimura, Kealakekua
4.  Topstitch, Waimea
5.  Fabric Impressions. Hilo
6.  Kilauea Kreations II, Hilo
7.  Fabric Workshop, Hilo
8.  Pahala Quilting, Pahala
9.  Kilauea Kreations, Volcano

Each shop had it's own charm, sales and supplies.  We were met with Aloha spirit and had fun sharing ideas with lovely, crafty quilters.    We all got our quilt blocks and some ideas on how to put them together.  Our names were entered into the drawing...one can dream... 

Kona was socked in with vog when we arrived, and I couldn't even see Mauna Kea.  By the time we got to Waimea it started to clear out and we were treated to the cherry blossoms blooming.  We had wonderful weather in Hilo, Pahala and Volcano.   Outside our hotel room we were serenaded at dawn and dusk by the mynah birds nesting in the banyan trees and at night by the coqui frogs which have invaded Hilo.   We did the Hilo Farmer's Market and and ran in to an old friend. After a great lunch at Hilo Bay Cafe, which has moved to a new location, we checked out of the hotel and went on to Pahala and Volcano.  We flew back to Honolulu with our treasures.  I would go back in a heartbeat!

I made some pillow cases from my sale fabric.  Christmas fabric but who cares:)  I used the Missouri Quil Company video again, only I cut the cuff 12 inches instead of 9 since the handout the shop lady gave us used 12 inches.  Nine would have been enough, but oh well.  I still love them.

Scrappy Blue Something, Weaving project number 3

This is project number 3 on my 15 inch Cricket Loom, following the Craftsy Class by Angela Tong.  I used up more of my cotton stash in blues, white and off-white.  The marled yarn really made the sections interesting.  I love the way the mercerized, double-stranded DK weight Bernat Cassino created the illusion of crosses.  I went for random lengths of weft and warped half the loom with white and half with Cascade Sierra Quattro.
I wanted to make placemats, but the final width was only 10.5 inches so for now it's yardage.  It's a little wide for a scarf, imo. 

I made a small dent in the stash.  My weave is more uniform, and the selveges are okay, but the ends with the fat yarn really showed up with the contrast. 

I signed up for Ravellenics, Team Aloha Knitters, but my project, Aidez with Cascade 128 had a little stall.  I took the chart with me to work on my Nook, and misread it.  Darn this old eyes!!  It's started again on dpns.  I'm going with a sleeve and plan to knit this in the round.

I'm enjoying this season's Downton Abbey  (spoiler alert)..
 What is that sneaky butler up to, and I still hate that horrid visiting butler for what he did to Anna.  I hope Anna gets some justice but not at the expense of Bates.  I'm not sure I like Rose.  Lady Edith needs a break, waah.  It seems inevitable that Tom Branson is not renewing his contract, sigh.  Drama drama....I love this series!

Just Like Sisyphus

The more I clean, the messier my house looks...a never ending tale.

I live in a giant craft box. It's a constant battle to organize and tidy up the stuff.  I'm just not ready to give up the stuff...there are more spinning, sewing, weaving and knitting projects to do!  

The perennial cleaning organizing project has resulted in finding a few treasures, but also lead to Internet time finding new ways to declutter and organize.  Let's not talk about buttons, because I have yet to find a good way to organize those.  Yes I have tackle boxes and such, but the collection has outgrown them all.  I can't see myself sewing all the buttons on a card.  I envy those who can. 

I previously researched different ways to keep the thread from coming off the bobbins and none really worked real well.  I finally found some of those fat tiny hair ties and they seem the best so far.  However, the number of bobbins I have has been multiplying.  Yeeks!   My MIL used to unwind the thread and put it back on the spool. I just buy more bobbins.  My bobbins will take over the world!

I've been obsessing on ink pad storage.  Every brand is a different shape and size.  There ought to be a law... and it should include cell phone cables which should all be interchangeable! But then, I digress. There were some nice storage ideas, like the the foam board shelf.  These are also sold on Etsy in foam board or up-cycled wood.  Very nice!  After obsessing about cost AND shipping to Hawaii which can be a real expense, I talked the Landcaster into making me one from the redwood in the garage and got some mini-sorters from Off'dePot.  I'll have to make labels for the colors and get me a couple more sorters. Now to just keep that ink pad stash from growing!! (there are more in a drawer, yet)

 

I had fun making these hats.  There are both the same yarn but photographed in different light. 
Pattern:  Goblin Hat, free pattern by Elizabeth Murphy from Rhythm of the Home !!!
Yarn:  Darker brown, Vanna's choice, Barley.  I used the entire skein and ran out on the second one.  Lighter beige is Plymouth Encore, colorway 240
Needles:  Size 6 and 8
Mods:  I knit the top one in size Adult, but miscounted and had 4 extra stitches when I started the decreases.  I added one stripe as notes on Rav suggested the hat would be too short to button.  The second one is the child size.  I ran out of yarn so finished the hat with the lighter color except for the last few rows and i-cord. 
Comments:  Very fun pattern and a good way to use a very special button!  And did I mention free?  Thank you Elizabeth Murphy.

After the pour down...

Goodnight, sun.

Today

Blogless Sandy knit the cutest Minion!  It was a fun day starting off with a great massage, followed by Korean food, bon bons at Aloha yarns while knitting and chatting.  After hitting the Farmer's Market, its home!  Not bad for a rainy day in the islands. 

Terrestrial Ribba

Pattern:  Ribba, by Wooly Wormhead
Yarn:  Knotty Naomi Twisters.  Bond wool, from Southern Cross Fibers.  Colorway Terrestrial. 
Needles:  size 9
Mods:  I did not get gauge, so knit the large and knit 12 rows in rib sections and started my crown decreases 4 rows into the second rib section. 
Comments:  This wool is wonderfully squishy and soft.  The colors make me very happy, especially the way the blue glows. 

Now for a whine.  I decided to join the Downton Abbey Mystery KAL.  The second clue was not knit-able as initially written and I went a bit bonkers.  I had to hibernate the project to "get over it".  I am going to wait until the series is over to insure the bugs are out of the pattern, but it still nags and beckons.  I thought the project was karma as it called for 550 yds of DK weight and I had an luxury skein in my stash.  The yarn did not appreciated being frogged numerous times! But at least the pattern is free.

A Cotton Day

Blogless Linda, a weaver, has cotton growing in her yard. She is very generous in sharing.   It loves the hot, dryness of Ewa Beach. This particular day followed some strange weather, more rain then usual, and the bolls are plump, but very few had burst open.  We spent some great time chatting, eating bon bons, checking out her really cool paper weavings and trying to get Tiger(the cat) to approve of us.  I'm tempted to plant a few seeds.  According to Cotton Acres, it is very easy to grow indoors or out.

Jan. 29, 2014 update:  Blogless Sandy has updated me on the type of cotton, South Island cotton.
 

Lanikai, FO

Pattern:  Summer Flies by Donna Griffin.
Needles:  size 8
Yarn:  Hand spun cotton grown in Ewa Beach  by Linda Sjögren,  Spun on my Majacraft Rose, two ply.  Hand dyed in Procion dye, turquoise.    Held together with Lontue by Araucania, colorway greens.
Comments:  I ran out of hand spun just before starting the ruffle, so I held two strands of Lontue together.  The variegated Lontue made the turquoise more interesting.  I'm happy to say this first attempt at spinning cotton worked pretty well and did not fall apart!
I am calling this Lanikai for the the beach on east Oahu.  On a sunny day it is incredibly blue and green!

Really there are two of these socks.  I had fun using up some sock yarn stash.  This is a plain vanilla toe down  64 stitch sock  on size 1 needles. 

Pattern:  Endless Saturday Socks

by Kristen Johnson

from Cozy Things

I'm calling them Melody for the recipient, who is a very colorful, multi-talented person that comes together nicely.  She loves crazy socks and they fit her fine.  She does have two feet. 

I keep little balls of sock yarn.  I bet I'm not the only one.  I have the Bee Keepers Quilt pattern to knit, but after knitting half a puff I could see a future of sewing in ends.  If there is one complaint I have about the crazy sock, it that there are two ends to weave in every color change, I do not like sewing in ends! 

More hats.  Two more Noro Hats and one more Graham. 

I used the Earflap Hat Pattern Generator bu Lucia for the Earflap hat in Cascade 220.  The Earflaps have a very unusual construction, as another knitter described, like knitting toes.  The flaps and band are double layers.  My count was off so I wasn't able to find a color-work pattern to fit, but the stripes worked fine.  The final hat has a short braid of all 3 colors coming off the top.  I am hoping to get a picture of the hat in action.

As the end of the year rolls a long, I plan to take a break from knitting until Downton Abbey starts.  I'll see how that goes.  The plan is to organize the stash and put away Christmas before then.

***update 1/31/2013 I've wound the Blue Heron Rayon Metallic for the Downton Abbey Mystery KAL 2014 which starts Jan.5.  So there will be knitting in January!

I wish you all a Happy Holiday and Happy New Year!

Hats, Hats, Hats

1.  Classic World War II Watch Cap by Helen Waittes from Cocoa Beach Yarn Company. 
Cascade Superwash 220
2.  Skull Hat, by Gina Davidson from Knit Two Together (Blog).  Cascade Sierra
3.  Combination Summer Hat, by Amanda Muscha from StrangeKnits.
Cascade Sierra
4.  Urban Jungle Crocheted Slouchy Beanie,by Vickie Howell from Vickie Howell For Caron.
Cascade Sierra Quatro
5.   Urban Jungle Crocheted Slouchy Beanie,by Vickie Howell from Vickie Howell For Caron.
Cascade Sierra
6.  Chaos Cap,by Amy Duncan from Two Sticks and a Sheep
Cascade 220
7.  Graham,by Jennifer Adams from Nutty Irishman Knits
Cascade Pacific
8.  Meret (Mystery Beret), by Woolly Wormhead from Woolly Wormhead
Cascade 220
9.   Graham,by Jennifer Adams from Nutty Irishman Knits
Cascade220
10.  Chroma Stocking Cap, by Aimée Chapman from 52 Weeks, 52 Hats
Lionsbrand Amazing
11.  Grey Gardens, by Kate Burge and Rachel Price from Knitty, Spring + Summer 2013
Noro Taiyo
12.   Graham,by Jennifer Adams from Nutty Irishman Knits 
Vanna's Choice

Forest Gnome join Teeny Gnome

Pattern: Alan Dart Yuletide Gnomes (Jultomtar & Teeny Tomte)
Yarn:  Cascade 220 for face, Queensland Kathmandu Aran for rest.  Sirdar Foxy for beard.
Needles:  Size 5.  Size 10 for beard.
 Mods:  Knit most of this in the round.  Stuffed with wool and polyester beads for the okole.  

October

All 3 of my sisters visited in the last month.  No. 1 had not been home for almost 2 years.  No.4 visits about once a month and No. 2 come 2-3 times a year.  Dad turned 94 this month.  Mom will be 90 next month.  Living is getting more challenging for them.  No. 2 is still here and cooking up a storm!  She made the best corned beef.  Her secret is to glaze the corned beef after it has cooked with mustard, brown sugar and ground cloves and bake in the oven  @ 375 deg while the vegies are cooking. Yummy!  She also made brown stew and swears by the whole slow browning, caramelizing of the meat and vegies before the actually stewing.

For dad's birthday she had me make a Chocolate Zucchini Cake .  If you are like me you will say, well why zucchini?  I'm not sure what it added but the cake was very yummy and moist!  The mods are to use buttermilk in place of the sour milk and bake at 350 deg.  I would also increase the amount of chocolate chips to sprinkle on top so each piece had at least 3. 

Top with ice cream:)

On the knitting scene, I'm on sock number 5 of the new, improved sock knitting mojo.  Number 4 was another Finnish Sock.  Zeska, was nice enough to provide the pattern for free (in Finnish) but translate the pattern stitch to sl. 1, K1, YO.  Pass slip stitch over K1 and YO.  I'm calling this Furlough Sock, as much of this was knit on time made available by our country's budget issue.

Pattern:  Petäjä-sukat by Eeva SavirantaYarn:  Tosh Sock, Madeleinetosh
Needles:  size one Chiaogoo needles.  I'm on a roll with these nice pointy needles, using the the magic loop method.
Mods:  There is no English translation for this pattern so I adapted the pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, 6 stitch pattern CO 66 stitches.  I added a purl stitch to match the beginning purl stitch to the patterned portion of the foot, working 34 stitches for the foot and 32 for the sole. 
Comments:  The varigated yarn did not show up the pattern as well as the solid color of my first one, but made for a nice snug fit.  The yarn was a bit splitty with these pointy needles, but not excessively so. They feel wonderful on.

No. 5 sock is Kellswater Sock in Tosh Sock, colorway Stormy.  It is knit toe-up.  So far I've knit one toe.

Another project was Red Hat.  Such a clever name, lol.

(oops, have to trim the tail after blocking)

Yarn:  Malabrigo Rios, color Ravelry Red
Needles:  size 7,8 short circs, and size 9 dpns
Pattern:  I'm sure this has been done before, but I didn't use a pattern except for the decreases.
CO 90, twisted CO. K2P2 5 inches.  I wanted this ribbing to fold up and cover the ears. 
Change to size 8 needle. Fisherman knit in the round. for another 5 inches or so. (I have a 22 inch head)
Decrease according to Fisherman’s Hat by Christina. The number aren't the same but easy to fudge. I changed to size 9 needles as recommended.
I've using the twisted CO for socks over two needles lately as it is stretchier and easy to do.
Warning:  Try not to drop any stitches in the Fisherman Knit portion.  It is a very challenging to fix!  I found tinking back as soon as a mistake was made the the best way for me. 

Seattle/Camano Getaway

I had a wonderful little getaway to Seattle and Camano Island while Big Sister and the General were visiting the folks.  I knew they would be in good hands!

I finished Caamaño Socks
Pattern:  Katniss Socks by Rose Hiver, free on Ravelry.
Yarn:  Koigu, a light blue
Needles:  ChiaGoo size one.

 

I knit my flap 2.25 inch and had 17 end stitches. After picking up the 17 gusset stitches plus the additional two that are knitted together, I had a total of 59 stitches before doing the math for the clever ribbed gusset.  

There was some stash enhancement, but everyone knows sock yarn doesn't count, so I have no guilt and did not hold back.  

The first shop I visited was Bad Woman Yarns in Wallingford.  Free parking!  Yay!  They had a nice selection of Skacel yarns and others. I went for the good stuff.  

Barely seen in the photo is the Madeleine Tosh Sock in Tart.  It was love at first sight.  The second has sparkles and is 88% rayon but sparkles:)  Rayon Metallic by Blue Heron. 

The second yarn shop I visited was Pinchknitter Yarns in Stanwood, Washington.  Sirkku Bingham – Owner and operator, was very friendly and helpful.  I actually went twice since the Katniss sock required stitch markers and I did not bring any with me.  She had some neat HiyaHiya ones that work like safety pins.  They will work for crochet as well.  There were some wonderful samples in the shop.  I got the yarn to make the hexagon sock from Think Outside the Sox. 

Best Foot Forward, by Nashua Handknit will make wild and crazy sox!  When I went back there were some ladies gathered knitting.  Such a warm, bright place.  I loved it!

I'm thinking of Wave, by Skein Designs, for the sparkly stuff and Paraphernalia, by Taina Anttila

for the Tart.  

I stayed a few days with my snowbird friend and family on Camano Island.  Her Halloween/Fall decorations inspired me to come home and make a couple of pillow cases.  Well it started off with table runner, then Halloween dog kerchiefs and then pillow cases.  The pillow cases are a little habit forming to make!

I made mine 24 inches long since my pillows are a little short.

Jeck in a Sox

Pattern:  Jeck, a freebie on Ravelry, by Regina Satta,
Needles: size one brand new ChiaoGoo,  32 inch, magic loop.  They are nice pointy needles.
Yarn:  one of kind colorway Tosh Sock, 100% superwash merino.  The colors were quite surprising and I really loved knitting them.  The picture does not do it justice.  There are bits of pink, baby blue, mauve and white.  Tosh merino is a very nice yarn to work with. 
According to the designer, a jeck is a crazy person so the crazy colorway was perfect.  The pattern was well written and easy to follow.  I had a little problem with the toes as I missed a couple decreases, but all was good in the end. 

So what next?  I wish I had some red sock yarn to do the Katniss Socks by Rose Hiver.  It's another Ravelry freebie with cool pattern and cables.  I'll have to check out the stash.

Watch out for the Tiny Gnomes

Totoro's had an intervention to get the gnome off O'Totoro's back.

Pattern by Alan Dart.

A Sock Occurrence

A small miracle has occurred. I finished a pair of socks.  This project was plod for me, but I persevered!  Maple Toffee Socks
Pattern:  Sugar Maple by Melissa Morgan-Oakes from 2-at-a-time Socks
Needle:  size 1
Yarn:  Orange Toffee yarn, wool, alpaca, nylon, hand dyed by Hungry for Handspun.  She doesn't dye anymore, but makes wonderful soap!
Perhaps it will be chilly enough on Camano Island when I go up the end of the month.  I'm looking forward to Harvest Jubilee!


The second weaving on my Schacht Cricket loom came out more even.  There were a couple of missed threads on the back side, but none on the front.  My left selvage was nicer then the right, but after discovering a little tug helped on that side, it looked much better.

I watched the second Craftsy video on Rigid Heddle weaving and learned a few new tricks. Deborah Jarchow recommends making samples.   Umm, since I'm not even a swatch knitter I can see that will be a challenge. I would have learned from a sample that the two colors I chose for the warp would not contrast enough.  After washing, though and in the sun I can see that second stripe better.  The project stripes more horizontally then I had envisioned.
Yarn:  Lousa Harding Ondine.  This is a wonderful cotton, on sale at Webs right now.  I'm tempted, but the whole point of weaving at all is to use up stash, so I'm holding back.
I packed the weaving tightly and I'm thinking next time a little looser may give a little more drape.  I'm not sure about the fringe at this point.

One of my walking buddies got me hooked The Killing, the American version.  It stars a very gloomy Seattle and I loved the great aerial views.  The female protagonist, a flawed (is there any other kind?) detective sports some really cool sweaters...the kind I would love to knit, but alas would have no where to wear.  The show is more of a miniseries then free standing episodes and has finished it's third season.

She also got me hooked on Breaking Bad.   This AMC series is in it's 5th season, so I have a lot of catch up to watch on my computer since I'm still holding out on the TV replacement.

The 5-0 Halloween edition filmed down the road.  I had a huge cherry picker outside by house for 3 days, and one night a guy with stadium lights hovered over my garage.  I wonder if can charge for airspace, lol.

It's seems a bit like Fall today as we have some drizzle going on.  I'm grateful I don't need to water my azaleas:) The stores are full of Halloween already.   Can the new year be far behind? I'll be happy to bid 2013 Aloooooha!

First Weaving

Cricket Loom, Table Runner

Mostly hand spun with Lionbrand woolease for warp. 

Another Bangle

Pattern:  Bangle Video from The Bead Gallery
Sterling silver bangle, acornbud tag, and fresh water pearl acorn made by me.  Silver plated Totoro charm from Solistar on Etsy.  Silver umbrella charm from CrazyCoolStuff on Etsy. 

 The search goes on for sterling silver Totoro charms.