It’s cold and windy outside. I’m bundled up in blankets and have no intention of getting up to get any exercise. But I finished this top in less than a month, taken from the free Frock Camisole pattern from Knitting Daily. Just little shock of clementine to remind me that all winters come to an end eventually and someday, someday it will be warm outside again.
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Pretzel Recipe for Breadmaker
My Breadman breadmaker came with a recipe book for various breads, doughs, butters, cakes and other desserts. It’s very handy and I love experimenting with the recipes.
The family favorite is homebaked Pretzels. I love making unique shapes for my pretzels. Here’s one that sings…
My husband photographed my process one day, so here are step-by-step photos of me making my homemade Pretzels.
Put ingredients in the breadmaker pan in the following order:
1. 1 1/4 cup water
2. egg yolk, room temperature (reserve egg white for glaze)
3. 1 tbsp oil
4. 2 tbsp sugar
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1/8 tsp pepper
7. 3 1/2 cups bread flour
8. 1 tbsp active dry yeast
Put the bread pan in the breadmaker and set to Dough Program.
After the breadmaker is done, get the dough out. On a lightly floured surface, cut dough into pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into thin rope.
Shape the rope-shaped dough into pretzels. Place pretzels on a greased baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart.
Whisk egg white and 1 tbsp water. Brush pretzels with glaze.
Sprinkle with kosher salt on top.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until done.
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Knit Socks
I met this lady at my local Stitch ‘n Bitch and she was knitting a pair of socks at once on a circular needle. My curiosity was peaked though it seemed a bit intimidating. The next time I was at a yarn store, I came upon this book, 2-at-a-Time Socks: Revealed Inside. . . The Secret of Knitting Two at Once on One Circular Needle Works for any Sock Pattern!
It seemed a bit complicated at first, and I had to frog my first few attempts, but after a few tries, I finally did it!
I finished it just in time for Christmas. We call it the Cindy Lou Who socks (from the original cartoon animation of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”) because of the pointed toe.
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Pumpkin Ice Cream
Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 15-oz can pumpkin
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1 tsp vanilla extractFollow manufacturer’s instructions on how to prepare your ice cream maker
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1. Heat whole milk in a medium saucepan until it bubbles around the edges.
2. Whisk sugar and pumpkin puree into the heated milk.
3. Transfer to a medium bowl and let it cool completely.
4. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla.
5. Chill for at least 30 minutes
6. Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker for at least 30 minutes or until thickened into a soft-serve consistency.
7. Freeze for at least 2 hours if a firmer consistency is desired. -
Cosmo’s Wool Sweater
I finally finished Cosmo’s Wool Sweater!!!
It took me about a month from when I cast on to when I bound off. I would have been done sooner had I not taken a few days off from the project.
Now here’s the fun part. Pictures!!!
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Knitted Baby Booties
I knitted these baby booties for my cousin, Lissa. I got the pattern from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation, “One-Hour Baby Booties,” page 217. I used a chunky alpaca yarn (I don’t remember anymore what brand) I’ve had left over from last winter. Less than a skein was just perfect. I had only about 6 inches left of the yarn after I was done.
The pattern called for loops at the ends of the straps and buttons for closure on the sides, but buttons pose such a safety risk for the little ones. I wouldn’t want the buttons to come loose from kicking and suddenly become a choking hazard for the little infant. So I just crocheted the straps to the booties on both sides and sewed flowers onto the straps for accents.
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Blueberry Ice Cream and Sorbet
There she is! My beautiful red Cuisinart ice cream maker
I made two desserts this weekend: Blueberry Ice Cream and Blueberry Sorbet.
Ingredients
Blueberry Sorbet
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 quart blueberries
4 tbsp fresh lemon juiceBlueberry Ice Cream
1 pint blueberries
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extractFollow manufacturer’s instructions on how to prepare your ice cream maker
Blueberry Sorbet
1. Boil sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer without stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely.
2. Macerate the blueberries with lemon juice.
3. Add blueberry mixture to the sugar/water bowl and let it chill for an hour.
4. Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker for at least 30 minutes or until thickened into a soft-serve consistency.
5. Freeze for at least 2 hours if a firmer sorbet is desired.Blueberry Ice Cream
1. Macerate the blueberries with lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar. Let it sit for 2 hours.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and remaining sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla.
3. Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker for at least 30 minutes or until thickened into a soft serve consistency.
4. Add the blueberry mixture during the last 5 minutes of churning.
5. Freeze for at least 2 hours if a firmer consistency is desired.
My husband wanted to eat his sorbet before it was frozen so he used it as a topping on a slice of my fresh baked bread. It was kind of weird to me, a bit heartier than I like my desserts, but he liked it, so what the hey! I’m happy if he’s happy! 😀
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Dressmaking
My grandmother was a passionate dressmaker. She was constantly on her old treadle sewing machine, churning out clothing for herself and her family. Sometimes she’d admire a dress on TV, stay up all night making it and have the garment finished by morning.
As a young girl, I spent a lot of time with her, watching her work, listening to her stories. My initial attempts at sewing on her machine were disastrous, and caused my grandmother a lot of stress, so I just tried to learn from watching.
As an adult I participated in a lot of theatre productions. When I wasn’t acting, directing or stage managing, I was making or altering costumes. Now that I’m a mom, I’m having a great time making Halloween costumes and dresses for the little one.
At two years old, she was Max from her favorite book, Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are. I scoured the internet for photos of this costume. I found a pattern for a body suit for toddlers and added the feet, tail and headdress. I used an ivory colored fleece blanket to make this costume warm enough for Trick or Treating. My biggest peeve with commercially made costumes is that they are made with such thin, cheapo material, totally inconsiderate of the time of the year the costume is going to be worn outdoors. This gives me every reason to make our own costumes! I want to make a great costume that is also comfortable to wear.
At three years old, she was infatuated with Disney’s Cinderella movie. She loved the Fairy Godmother, so I thought that would make a magical costume for Halloween. I never got a picture of the whole ensemble. The cloak always manages to be whipped off before I can get a photo, but here is the inner gown, a classic bell-sleeve dress, lined of course, for added comfort and warmth.She wore this dress for days before Halloween. I always feel so richly rewarded by her appreciation of the work I do.
This pink dress on the right, for instance, I am so embarrassed by. It was the first dress I made that year, sort of a trial run before I attempted to make her Fairy Godmother costume. The stitches are messy, the zipper looks hideous, some seams are not well tucked resulting in frays, and worst of all, I sewed the sleeves on upside down. (See how the sleeves bell out like she belongs in a sci-fi movie? It’s not supposed to be that way.)
Regardless of all that, she wore that dress everyday since I made it. I would hide it under other clothes in her drawer, and she would dig it out. I love her. She is teaching me everyday to love myself too.For her third birthday, I asked her what she wanted. She replied, “Something orange.” Makes sense, considering she was born at dawn on November 1.
I made her this orange and cream dress to wear to her birthday party. It’s fully lined, and I’m really really proud of it. She still wears this dress a lot, and considering that she wore her two-year-old birthday dress until it looked like a blouse on her, I imagine she’ll be wearing this dress until she can’t squeeze in it anymore.
Recently I went on a marathon dressmaking spree getting some special springtime pieces in our wardrobes.
Skirts are the easiest clothing pieces to make. One barely needs a pattern as long as one has the correct measurements. I made this striped candy-colored skirt with a ruffled hem, and a pink and maroon Pink Panther polkadot skirt with two ruffled tiers and rickrack edges (amazing what a little rickrack can do!) all in one night.
I’m really proud of this golden yellow dress. I purchased a pattern for the dress, added the white lace edging on the bodice and on the hem, and the little daisy chain belt. It is fully lined with soft cotton suede, so that it’s wearable in the spring when the air is still cool.
I’m still perfecting zipper installation. It’s not bad, but it’s not super yet. I’ll be making more dresses to keep practising.
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Knitting Needles Roll-Up Case
I desperately needed a way to organize my growing collection of knitting needles. Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook
has a pattern for the Roll-Your-Own Needle Case on page 234. I knew I eventually had to have something similar before I go insane.
My husband was sewing bags and wallets with upholstery fabric at the time, so I asked him if he could make me something like the one in the book. He had me lay out my knitting needles in a row, and came up with this awesome case:
Unlike the SnB pattern, my knitting needles roll-up case has varying pocket lengths for varying lengths of needles. There is an accordion-style pocket with a flap for odds and ends like stitch markers and row counters and such. It also has a flap across the whole width of the case to keep the needles from coming out of the top when it’s rolled up. You never can tell in our household. Sometimes things just find a way of flipping and flopping all around when there’s a kid in the house.
Here is a list of my knitting needles (US sizes):
- #15 Takumi straight needles (made of bamboo)
- #13 Susan Bates straight needles (acrylic)
- #10 Takumi straight needles
- #8 Takumi straight needles
- #8 Brittany double pointed needles (made of birch) 7″ long
- #7 Brittany double pointed needles 7″ long
- #6 Takumi straight needles
- #6 Brittany straight needles
- #6 Brittany double pointed needles 5″ long
- #5 Brittany straight needles
- #5 Takumi double pointed needles 7″ long
- #3 Brittany double pointed needles 5″ long
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Winter Knitting Projects
As soon as we moved in to Camden, Maine for the winter, I found a little knitting and needlepoint shop in the village called Stitchery Square. I bought several skeins of Debbie Bliss alpaca silk double knit yarn (80% baby alpaca and 20% silk) in bright pink and made matching Mama and Baby scarves.
The scarves are knit in a 2×2 rib with US size #6 straight needles. For Baby’s, cast on 32 stitches, then knit 2, purl 2 till the end of the row. Repeat for each row until one skein of yarn is used up. Bind off. Easy does it!
Mama’s is similar, except I cast on 44 stitches. Knit 2, purl 2 till the end of the row and repeat. When one skein is used up, add a second skein of the same yarn, and bind off at the end of the second skein. The rib makes the scarf so soft and thick, very snugglicious!
I used the same yarn and 2×2 rib pattern, this time knitting in the round with double pointed needles, for making legwarmers for the little one, which actually wound up being pulled over snow boots to keep the snow from getting into the boots.
I also made myself a pair of arm warmers using the same Debbie Bliss alpaca silk yarn, the same 2×2 rib pattern with double-pointed needles.For both my arm warmers and my little one’s legwarmers, I cast on 48 stitches, divided among three double pointed needles. With a fourth double pointed needle, I knit into the first stitch I cast on, forming a triangle. Knit 2, purl 2 around and around until the end of the skein. Bind off.
For Christmas, I made my mother-in-law a pair of these luxuriously soft armwarmers using Debbie Bliss cashmerino aran. Cashmerino Aran is thicker than Alpaca Silk, containing 55% merino wool, 33% microfiber and 12% cashmere. Knitting them in 2×2 rib pattern thickens the fabric even more, but the vertical lines are slimming.For my mother-in-law’s arm warmers, I cast on 60 stitches, divided among three US size #8 double pointed needles. Knit 2, purl 2 all around till the skein is used up. Add the white Cashmerino Aran, knit 2, purl 2 for 3 rows, then bind off. The white cuffs give it that winter snow edge to finish the look.
I still had a lot of leftover Cashmerino Aran in white, so I made
matching earwarmers for the little one and me. I based mine on the Head Huggers pattern in Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation, page 59, but left out the decorative flowers and leaves. I just wanted a simple and classic look, not too many floral frills. For the smaller earwarmer, I started out using the neckwarmer pattern, then just carried on as it made sense to fit my little girl.
These earwarmers are really warm. Sometimes I forget and leave them on while indoors, to keep my hair out of my face like a hairband. Before long I get a headache from being too warm.
One more project using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran is my 3-year-old’s mittens. I originally tried making up my own pattern, but failed miserably. Look at this pathetic-looking mitten on the right. At first I thought I’d make arm-warmers-cum-mittens, thin in the arm part, tapering off in the wrist, ribbed for elasticity. It was really a bad idea, but I just had to see it come to fruition before I realized I needed to humble myself and look to the master knitters for complicated projects like mittens.Junior Knits
has a pattern for mittens for 3-year-olds. In fact, you can see the pattern in its entirety in the “Search Inside” function for this book on Amazon. The pattern is called Nell mittens.
I modified it slightly by changing it from a button wrist to one that’s ribbed. I also decided to knit it in the round instead of using straight needles.
Using double pointed needles US size #7, I cast on 30 stitches, divided among 3 double pointed needles, and knit 3, purl 2 in the round for 15 rows. On rows 16 to 20, I knit all 30 stitches around.
From here, refer to the Nell mittens pattern, starting at “Shape thumb.” Instead of doing the purl rows, do knit rows since we are knitting in the round, except on the 7th row where one must follow the pattern exactly.
Happy knitting! Stay warm!!!
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has a pattern for the Roll-Your-Own Needle Case on page 234. I knew I eventually had to have something similar before I go insane.
, page 59, but left out the decorative flowers and leaves. I just wanted a simple and classic look, not too many floral frills. For the smaller earwarmer, I started out using the neckwarmer pattern, then just carried on as it made sense to fit my little girl.
has a pattern for mittens for 3-year-olds. In fact, you can see the pattern in its entirety in the “Search Inside” function for this book on Amazon. The pattern is called Nell mittens.