Hat for a friend

Project Details:

Yarn: Lion Brand Heartland

Pattern: very loosely based on Aesderina. I followed the pattern until after I got past the horizontal ribbing (knit 4 rows, purl 3 rows). The decreases start after that and I didn’t like how they looked so ripped it back and just winged it.

Needles: size 7

The hat is for a friend undergoing chemo for esophageal cancer. I don’t mind knitting hats, but my friends really just need to stop getting cancer.

I started this with a nice wooly wool but decided I needed something softer for a newly bald head. This actually is quite nice for an inexpensive acrylic yarn.

Those of you who follow me on FB know that we’re in Italy at the moment. Today is our last day in Rome, we head to Florence tomorrow. We’re having a wonderful trip, I’ll report back on that later. Ciao!

Baby Sweater

This one has been finished and gifted, so it’s time for a blog post.

And here’s a better shot of the sweater. It’s hard to take pictures of babies if they don’t want their picture taken.

Project Details:

Pattern: Buttoned up Cardi

Yarn: Cotton Ease, in Cherry Red

Needles: 5.00 mm

Started and Finished within the past two weeks

For: a coworker’s grandson

What I learned: I still love Cotton Ease for baby things. The bonus is that it’s machine washable.

Pattern Rating: This is a really easy pattern, all garter stitch. I made a few modifications. The pattern calls for picking up stitches and knitting the sleeves, I just cast on the right amount of stitches and then sewed them in. I remembered to put in the buttonholes on this one. And I made it just a bit longer than the pattern called for.

Millions of Tomatoes

It is that time of year again. Our patio tomato plants have finally started to get their act together.

That means we are putting tomatoes in pretty much everything we are eating right now.

Last night I made a French tomato tarte for dinner.

Here is what it looked like before it was baked.

And after:

We ate the leftovers for breakfast with a fried egg alongside this morning.

Here is the recipe I used. I modified it a bit. I partially baked the tarte crust, for about 10 minutes, so the filling wouldn’t make it soggy. I also thinly sliced a yellow onion, and caramelized it, then tossed in some chopped garlic for a few seconds. I layered that between two layers of sliced tomatoes. I used a mixture of fresh herbs from our garden, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, oregano. And I topped it with shredded Comte cheese instead of goat cheese since that is what I had. This is one of those recipes that is sort of endlessly modifiable. You could add other sautéed veggies (zucchini, red peppers, etc.), or use different kinds of cheese. You could vary the herbs, or make it spicy with either hot peppers or pepper flakes. You could add various meats as well, although this with crusty bread and a salad was plenty hearty for supper. Unlike a quiche, it doesn’t have a custard base, so it keeps better, though it certainly didn’t last long here.

What are you all doing with your fall harvest?

Amaranth Rogue

Project Details

Pattern: Rogue, by Jenna Wilson
Yarn: Peace Fleece worsted, color Amaranth
Needles: 4.0 mm
For: Me
Started/Finished: Started 10/4/15, Finished 9/8/18
Modifications: None
What I Learned: I still adore Peace Fleece wool. I knit this same pattern many years ago in a heavier Aran weight, it was too baggy, though I’ve worn it a million times. This one fits much better. I also love the cables on this.
Pattern Rating: ***** Well written, cable charts clear. No major errors. This is perhaps not a “first sweater” kind of pattern, but her directions make it easy to follow.

Here are a few more photos, since it’s not every day that there is a finished sweater around Chez Knitting Doctor!

Holy Sock Holes, Batman!

I posted some time back about always getting a gap at one of the gussets when knitting sock heels. I was roaming around on the internet this morning and found this video. Why on God’s green earth did it take me nearly 25 years of sock knitting to discover this?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=UMWRP26WlOE&feature=youtu.be

I’ll let you know how it works out!

Well I’ll Be Damned

It’s finally a sweater! At least it will be once I get the sleeves sewn in. I finished the hood today and couldn’t wait for the sleeves to take a photo or two.

 

The cable grafting on the hood was also fun. When I knit this before, I just grafted it straight across like they were all knit stitches. It looked OK, but up close you could tell the difference. I got out my knitting references and figured out how to graft garter stitch. Once you can do that, you just graft stockinette for the knit stitches as they face you, and garter for the purl stitches as they face you.

In progress–

And done!

 

The sewing needle is just below the grafted seam.

And here is my grafting cheat sheet.

 

Winter is Coming

It’s still very much summer during the day here, but there are signs that it’s nearly over. Some of the leaves are starting to turn, and it was only 52 degrees here early this morning.

I am almost done with the knitting on Rogue. I have 19 rows of the hood left, then I can sew in the sleeves and call it done.

And Miss Ripley helping me this morning.

And Another New Project

There really isn’t any limit, is there? Knitters seem to fall into two camps, those who have numerous things going at once, and those that just work on a few things at a time. I know knitters who have thirty or forty projects going at once, and I know a very few that only do one at a time, finishing it before starting something new. There are even a few rare ones who only BUY YARN for one project at a time. What’s up with that? What if you finished and the stores were closed? That’s the stuff of nightmares right there.

I sort of fall in between. I like to have a simple sock going, maybe a sweater, a lace project, and at least one simple thing that’s not a sock. But I’m not opposed to having more than one of each of those categories if I’m getting bored.

Here’s the new thing. This is in the category of “simple but not a sock”.

It’s another Hitchhiker, one of the most popular patterns out there. There are nearly 30,000 projects listed for this on Ravelry. The yarn is from deep stash, a skein of Wollmeise Pure that I bought before Wollmeise was as popular as it is now. The yardage with these skeins is huge, 525 meters, so it’s great for a little “shawlette”.

And yes, I should be working on that CME and not starting new knitting projects. I can only answer so many multiple choice questions before I’m ready to stab myself to death with my knitting needles.

Onward.

Home Again

And back to healthy eating. I think we ate enough meat at the beach to feed a small village. I’ve been trying to eat a more plant based diet, which is challenging when you live with a confirmed carnivore.

I’ve lost about twenty pounds over the last few months, but need to kick things up a notch to get the rest of the extra pounds off. Steak and cheese don’t help. Neither do vodka martinis (sob).

Here’s my breakfast today.

It’s a healthy version of migas.

Migas

4 scallions, chopped

Handful of baby kale, sliced

Small tomato, chopped

2 eggs

Ground chile, about a teaspoon

Small handful of tortilla chips, broken into pieces

Salt*

Salsa

I sautéed the scallion in a tiny bit of olive oil, then added the tomato and kale and cooked for a half a minute. I scrambled the eggs with the chile and salt and added to the pan. As soon as the eggs start to set, add the chips and continue stirring until the eggs are done. Serve with salsa.

Usually migas are full of cheese and things like refried beans, so aren’t all that healthy. The veggies bulk this up quite a bit so you don’t need as many chips. I couldn’t eat all of it, John finished it off and pronounced it good. Next time I’ll add more veggies. Spinach and bell peppers would be good as well. If you made this with three eggs it should be enough for two people.

* if your chips are pretty salty, don’t add extra to the eggs

Mind the Gap

Another finished project!

Project Details

 

Pattern: My own jerry-rigged pattern. 72 stitches, flap heel and gusset

Yarn: Trailing Clouds Nimbus sock yarn, color Mind the Gap. It has all the colors on the London Tube map. You can also get this in the Etsy shop.

Needles: 2.00 mm

For: Me

Started/Finished: Started 1/17/18, finished 7/18/18

Modifications: none

What I Learned: This isn’t really new, I guess, but I still love knitting socks, and I love self striping yarn. “Oh look! Another red stripe!”

And I have already started the next pair.

And Done

I’m not doing a whole “finished project” post here. This is a big rectangle with ribbing on either end, then the sides are sewn. I used Cotton Ease in Bubble Gum pink, and 4.5 mm needles. I started this two days ago, and finished today.

It will be a good chemo hat, the yarn doesn’t have a lot of springiness, but it is soft. I think I’m going to do another one a little smaller.

And that’s that.