New Pattern Progression

Things are progressing on my new knitting designs. 

I am test knitting "ALEXANDRIA", which is a tunic length, double-breasted cardigan with elbow length dolman sleeves.  Is it knit in a mixed ribbed pattern, to add some body shaping.  Things are progressing nicely.  I should have it ready for blocking this weekend, and the publishing of the pattern on Ravelry.com should follow in the next few weeks.

My daughter, Carissa is test knitting "NOLA", a toddler size, cabled, round yoke jacket with a hood.  Carissa is new knitter, but she is progressing nicely with my pattern, and has even found a few errors.  Thanks Carissa for your willingness to take-on this project.  I can't wait to take pictures of your completed "Nola", which will be modeled on her two-year-old daughter and my #2 grand-daughter, Nola (named after my Mother-in-law).

My good friend Cheryl and my Mother are test knitting "JOAN".  This pattern is presenting some challenges.  Cheryl has been great to work through the math and catch all of my errors.  Somehow, I managed to write the cable panel for in-the-round knitting.  I did not do this intentionally, as the pattern starts out with flat knitting, and I was amazed to realize that my brain was working backwards.  Anyway, thanks to Cheryl, we have that fixed now.  "JOAN" is a raglan sleeved pullover, with long sleeves, a deep V-neck, lace and mock-cable patterning, with waste shaping.  It is knit with a fine gauge yarn and small needles, so it takes a little longer to knit than the average sweater.  I'm so excited to see the finished product.  No pictures yet, but I hope to have some of the progression soon.

I am test knitting "CARISSA".  It is a furry short vest with a grommet and ribbon closure.  I have run out of yarn, so the progress on this one has come to a halt, while I order more yarn. 

"CAROLYN" is still on the drawing board.  It will be a raglan sleeved, open cardigan, with a lace edging.  I still need to swatch the yarn, which will be my first project knit from my very own alpaca yarn.  I can't wait to find the time to get started on this one.  However, Easter is just around the corner, and I think my grandsons need some new church clothes.  I'm planning to knit each of them a little sweater vest, to match the Easter dress I'm planning to sew for my grand-daughter, Emery.  I think this will be the next project to jump on my needles.

I spent last weekend in Idaho, with my daughter.  She was expecting twins, and recently lost one of them.  I went to help her with some of her household chores.  Her husband's suits needed some mending, so we set up her sewing machine, so I could help her with it.  We were unable to find the extension rod for using cone thread on her machine.  I thought it was funny . . . we ended up using a long sucker on a wooden stick.  It worked perfectly, but Nola kept trying to runoff with it.  She thought it was the perfect "going to the potty reward".  Carissa is doing well, we've gotten her iron levels stabelized and the other baby girl is growing stronger every day.

Carissa wanted me to make rolls, which she could put, unbaked in the freezer, while I was there.  We made several batches, using the recipe from my last post.  We also made cinnamon rolls out of some, and these orange rolls.  When the rolls were rolled out for cutting, we brushed on melted butter and sprinkled them with sugar and orange zest.  We thought they would be prettier if baked in muffin tins, and I think it was a good result. 

After the rolls cooled, we glazed them with a mixture of powdered sugar and orange juice (I just used the oranges from the zesting to get the juice).  They were yummy, and if you have tried out my favorite roll recipe from the last post, give this a try.  I tried to get Carissa to take some of the baked rolls to her babysitter, Camille, but Carissa was sure they would need to eat them all.  Sorry Camille, I'll make you some the next time I come up.

Remember . . . I'll be drawing a WINNER from my "followers" on February 29, for a hank of my 100% Alpaca Yarn.  It is Fingering Weight and contain 350 yards.  Get signed up, for a chance to win.  Happy Knitting!

Designing, Knitting and Baking

If there is anything I love to do as much as knitting, it is baking.  This past weekend, I backed 7 dozen rolls for a special meeting at our church.

This is my favorite recipe, and I've made them so many times, I could probably make them in my sleep.  The great thing about this recipe, is that you can mix up the dough in the evening and throw them in the refrigerator overnight.

They bake up perfect everytime.  With all of the bread I've made over the years, I've found "SAFINSTANT" is the best possible type of dry yeast to use.  It is fail-proof.  Also . . . you'll want to be sure and tuck the points of your rolls to the underside before baking.  You can see that one of the rolls pictured here, has come untucked and will come out of the oven sticking straight up.  This is not a good look!  . . . and I think it may be time to clean the oven.  Sorry you had to look at this mess.

Fresh and hot out of the oven is the way we like them best.  Brushed with a little butter . . . mmm there is nothing better.

Here they cooled on a kitchen towel, until they could be place in the bread basket for transport to the church.

 





Everyone loved eating the rolls with fresh honey-butter at the meeting.  There is nothing like home-made bread on a cold-rainy night.  Here you see Alex, Ashley & her parents, and Cali & her parents, all eating up these yummy rolls.

YUMMY CRESCENT ROLLS

¼ C warm water

1 T dry yeast

½ C butter, melted

1 C milk

3 eggs

½ C granulated sugar

¾ t salt

5 C all purpose flour, sifted

Combine water and yeast, and allow to proof for 5 minutes.  Wisk eggs and sugar together.  Melt butter and add cold milk.  Wisk into egg mixture.  Add yeast mixture, sifted flour and salt, and mix into a soft dough.  Cover and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.  Cover bowl with lid or plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator over night (up to 2 days).  Remove dough from refrigerator and divide cold dough in half.  Roll ½ dough into a large circle on a floured surface.  Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 12 pizza-type slices.  Starting at larger end, roll slices into crescents, and place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.  Repeat process with second half of dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.  Butter tops of hot rolls and eat.  Recipe makes 24 rolls.

The other thing I did this past weekend, was knit, knit, knit . . . on my new design "Alexandria".  It is a tunic length, double-breasted sweater, which is planned for a turtleneck, leggings and boots, that is if I get it finished before the Winter season has ended.

This is the back.  It is shapped with varied ribbing patterns, and the sleeves are knit right to the body, all in one piece. 

These are the front panels, which are knit up to the waist shaping.  This has been a fun, quick knit, as heavy worsted yarn and size US7 and US9 needles are used.  I'm using KnitPicks yarn, and I want to give them a plug for their incredible customer service.  I purchased the original skeins for this project in early December, but wasn't able to start it until mid-January.  I had to re-purchase additional skeins, and would you believe, KnitPicks was able to send them in the same dye-lot.  Thank you KnitPicks!  I'll be devoted to you for life. 

Oh, and I guess you can see that I spent my knitting time watching my new favorite TV show, on the "Food Network".  It is "Pioneer Woman".  She also has a "world famous blog":  pioneerwoman.blogspot.com.  Check out her blog and her show.  She has some fabulous recipes for down-home cooking.  Her life seems to have taken the route I'm destined for.  She lives on a ranch, and has certainly made it the best part of her life.  I hope I'll be able to follow suit, when the time comes.

Remember . . . I'll be drawing a "winner" from my list of "Followers" to win a hank (350 yards dk weight) of our newly-milled 100% Alpaca Yarn on Leap Day (February 29).  Be sure to get signed-up for a chance to win!  Happy knitting . . .

WE HAVE A WINNER!

GIVE-AWAY WINNER!

A drawing from my "Followers" was conducted on January 31, and KIM THOMPSON was the winner selected.  She will receive this hot water bottle and its cozy hand-knit cover.  Congratulations Kim, and thank you for following along.  The prize will be delivered to Kim on February 7.

Also, thank you to all of you "New Followers".  Its good to have you along for the ride.

This is Camille and her darling son.  Camille was the winner of my last "give-away", a backzip baby sweater.  Doesn't he look so hansom in it?  I stole this photo off her Facebook page, and couldn't resist showing you how cute her baby is.  Camille is Home Ec teacher, who has taken a sabbatical to raise a family.  She has many great money-saving ideas and recipes on her blog:  camillescasa.blogspot.com.  Luckily, she is also the daycare provider for my more-than-a-handful granddaughter Nola.  Thanks Camille for all you do for her and her Mom. 

A 350 yard hank of my newly milled alpaca yarn will be my next "giveaway".  A drawing will be held on Leap Day (February 29).  It is a soft heathered taupe color, in a fingering weight, and will be enough yarn for a good sized project, such as a shawl, hat and scarf, vest, cropped sweater, etc.  It is a soft, beautiful yarn in its natural fleece color. 

I am planning to knit a shawl out of my yarn like this.  It is a lacy pattern, and as soon as I finish up the patterns I am currently writing, I plan to get started.  It is going to be nice to knit from someone elses pattern for a change.  This always provides me with some relaxing knitting time, where I don't care if I discover a few mistakes in the pattern, as I restfully knit along.

There are 4 new knitting design patterns currently "in the works".  Each is being test knit, to find any errors or concepts, which are hard to understand.  Thank you to my "Test Knitters" (Joan, Cheryl, Carissa & Lacy).  They are all diligently working through my designs, and they are all doing a great job, catching all those little glitches in my writing.  Let me know if you are interested in becoming a "Test Knitter" for my designs.  Each "Test Knitter" will receive a draft copy of a pattern, and all the yarn to knit the item.  The "Test Knitter" chooses the size to be knit, and keeps the finished project for their own use.  Upon completion, a photo-shoot is scheduled and photos are taken for the final pattern.  The "Test Knitter" will also received a revised copy of the final pattern, before it is published for sale. 

Patterns for the following items are expected to be published soon:  JOAN (a fine-gauge lace pullover, with body shaping, a V neck and long sleeves); ALEXANDRIA (an elbow sleeved tunic, with double-breasted buttons and knit in ribbed variations to create body shaping); CARISSA (a cropped vest, which is furry in the front, ribbed for body shaping in the back, and fastened with a ribbon and grommets at the bustline); CAROLYN (a fine-gauge, open-front cardigan, with long raglan sleeves and a fan lace pattern border); NOLA (a cabled, round-yoke, hooded jacket for a Toddler).  These are the designs that have been swimming around in my head, during the time I was doing all of that Christmas knitting.  Watch for the release of these patterns over the next 6 months.  Of course I will be blogging about each, as I have pictures to show.

This is my sketch of ALEXANDRIA.  I didn't think I would be able to sketch my designs, as this has never been my talent.  However, I am giving it a try.  Happy Knitting . . .