Christmas photos and an update

 Lots of photos to show today! I've not been knitting as much the last week, but have still made a little progress and have posted a photo somewhere in here.

I took last Thursday off so that I could get a bit of cleaning/organizing done in preparation for getting our Christmas tree at the weekend. Since I was home all day that day I decided to make a big pot of pozole, a Mexican soup that is also my daughter's favorite meal in the winter. I took a photo of it finished and posted it below. The recipe that I followed is here, the alterations I made were adding sage, as well as using pigs feet while making the broth.

 

While we're on the subject of food, I also made a chicken pot pie the other day. As you can see in the photo, I didn't make the puff pastry into a circle. It was delicious regardless, and I used this recipe from the NY Times. I highly recommend it, however, unless one has a subscription to the Times, I don't think it's accessible. The nice thing about the recipe (other than the taste) is that it's made in one pot and baked in it as well.

Dan and my dad went out and bought one Saturday morning and it is just perfect. Saturday and Sunday we decorated the house and the tree. 

I've also been working on some new knitting stitch marker designs using this really nice hemp yarn. I love the more rustic look of them. Often stitch markers look a lot like a pair of metal earrings, but these are more reminiscent of hemp macramé or hemp beaded jewelry that was in back when I was in high school.

Here's a photo that I took last night on our walk down Christmas Tree Lane not to far from our home. I took a lot more, but I'm sure most people know what a festive road at the holidays looks like. It was a really nice walk though.

These are photos of my husband in a hat I knitted him. I made it in Fresno High colors at his request, so that he would look the part when we go to the cheer competitions for our daughter. I used Malabrigo Rios for the gold color that doesn't have a dye lot, and the purple is called Asana Bulky and is part alpaca, but I don't remember the specifics of it. I also think it's a company that doesn't exist any longer. Either way, the hat is lovely. (I included the blurry photo of him because I think it captures his laugh really well and it brings me joy)

I realize this is pretty much a photo of b00ba, but this is how far I am on the Evermore Sweater. It'll block out quite a bit more roomy and get slightly longer, but I'm at the length where I will start the lace portion of the body. I love how it's coming out so far and am excited to finish the body and start the sleeves.

Weekender FO and Evermore update - and a question about frogging.

The Weekender is done! I finished it in time to wear to my family's Thanksgiving dinner. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the fabric draped after being blocked since I used Lion Brand's Wool Ease which is 80% acrylic and 20% wool, instead of a blend more known for good drape, but as you can see in the photos, it looks great. I scanned in my notes page and uploaded it here, as well as to my Ravelry project page, as I do for all my makes. I keep it in my pattern binder to help me if I decide to make a pattern more than once and it is a lifesaver since my memory isn't the best.

I've made progress on the Evermore sweater by Caidree and have a few photos of that as well. I've made progress since the last photo, but haven't taken photos of it in the last few days. I think the next time I need to add a new skein of yarn I'll try it on again and take a photo. It's working up quickly and I'm really loving this yarn, both in texture and color. I'm hoping that I'll be done with this one by Christmas.

I have a sweater, the Nasrin by Isabell Kraemer, that I started close to a year ago. It's a stunning pattern featuring a colorwork yoke and I just love it, however, I don't love making it. I haven't touched it for months, and think I want to frog it. I just can't see myself finishing it. I think my main issue is that it's a fingering weight project and it takes so long to make any progress. I guess I'll think on it for a bit, but other than how beautiful the pattern is, it's not something I think will be worth it for me. I don't know, but I'll remember to update when I've decided.

Holiday gift knitting is (almost) done

 All my holiday knitting and crocheting is done! Here is my latest FO, it's the Hat and Peak Hat designed by Maxim Cyr. The yarn I used was Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport in 4 colors, one of which I used almost the entire 50g skein, the others of which I used less. The pom I added is a faux fur one, brand K+C, that I bought at JoAnns for like $2. I made it removeable by looping the elastic through the crown tip of the hat stitches and then back around the pom itself. I haven't taken a photo of it with the pom on it, but have this one of it after blocking:

I have one tea towel left to embroider for my mother in law to finish off the holiday crafting I've been doing for my husband's family. I have finished two towels already, I thought a small set of three would be a great (and useful) gift. The patterns are Aunt Martha's Iron Transfers and I sell them over on Etsy. As someone who has been embroidering for over 20 years I also have a large stash of them that have been opened or used in part, so I tend to not need to buy a pattern when I have the urge to start a project. Actually, next on my list of embroidery projects is adding embellishments onto my favorite cooking apron. I'll post a photo of the three tea towels when I finish the third one, hopefully by the end of the Thanksgiving break.

I should be finishing the Weekender today sometime. I want to block it tomorrow and be able to wear it for our family Thanksgiving get-together. I've got about 10 inches left to knit of the second sleeve, and tonight is my irl fiber arts group, so I'm pretty sure it's a reachable goal.

I've also cast on my next sweater, The Evermore by Caidree. I bought the pattern on their Etsy site about a year ago, and the yarn I've had since last Christmas when my husband and his mother both gave me yarn money. I'm making it in Cascade Superwash Aran 220 in a beautiful deep brown color that I bought through Jimmy Beans online. I'll try and update the progress on that with a photo soon. 

Holiday gift crafting has begun

I keep wanting to trim down my WIP list, but it's getting closer to Christmas so I keep finding myself working on gifts for others. Let's start with a BIG finish, then I'll get into my current WIP progress.

I finished the Mermaid Tail Blanket! We spent the week before Halloween at a wonderful cabin in North Fork, CA with my parents and I was determined to get this finished. It's going to be sent to my husband's family in Scotland with a bunch of other things we've been collecting for them. His 7 year old niece will be getting this blanket, and he assures me she will love it. I have details on my Ravelry page for the make, I weighed the yarn for accurate amounts used, and altered the pattern a bit to make the stitches a bit denser, so also altered it for added stitches to that the size would stay closer to the measurements for the size I was making. It's a four-row repeat throughout using shell stitches, and I didn't find the decreases tricky at all (there's a LOT going on color-wise, so sometimes that makes it more difficult for me to pay attention to stitch patterns easily). Here are some photos of it finished:

The newest cast-on is the Hat and Peak beanie by Maxim Cyr. I'm making it in similar colors to the one on the pattern page, but am using Wool of the Andes Sport by Knit Picks. The light pink/salmon color is the only noticeable change, as it wasn't an available color in the yarn I chose to use, so I've replaced it with a beige. It will be a gift for my brother-in-law. I want to have it done in another week so that we can send the Scotland gifts before Thanksgiving here in the states. I have about another inch of brim ribbing to do before starting on the body.

I also finished off the test knit I was doing for Gritty Knits. The slipper pattern will be called "Heckin' Quick Slippers" and I'll link to it when the pattern is released. Gritty Knits is a wonderful yarn dyer out of Texas and is my one splurge every month, as I'm part of their worsted weight hand-dyed skein of the month club. I have yet to be disappointed with the colorway each time I open my package. I'll try to remember to post my monthly surprise colorway from them. Here's a photo of the finished slipper from the test. The yarn is Chonk by Gritty Knits, a bulky to super-bulky merino roving that is just magnificent. 

In the meantime, I've been designing some knitting/crocheting wall art for my craft space. I'll update on that when I feel like I have a bit of progress to share.

A couple WIPs and a recipe

 Here's a little update!

I am SO CLOSE on The Weekender sweater. I've finished one sleeve and have about 2/3 left on the second sleeve. We are heading up to a cabin tomorrow for a week so I spend a good portion of the weekend getting the house tidied up and making lists of what we need to bring. My mom and dad are heading up there today, so they'll let me know if they forgot anything and we can pick it up on the way. We're keeping it pretty simple and just doing deli sandwiches for lunches, but have a few good recipes to cook for dinner. I plan to finish the Weekender in the first day or two, along with a pair of slippers I'm test knitting for Gritty Knits. I'll talk more about those in another post. I'll try and update while I'm at the cabin, but I don't know what the internet will be like, I have a feeling that it's a poor connection. I also don't have a laptop so that might limit me as well. I've actually been thinking about researching one to buy in the future, as I really think it would be useful.

I've also thought a bit about doing dome vlogging on YouTube, but I haven't researched that idea at all. Feel free to give an opinion on that, or really anything here, lol.

I keep meaning to post this recipe, as it's one of our family's favorites. We have it about once a week, lol.

https://www.thedinnerbite.com/one-pot-chicken-and-rice/

we use boneless skinless chicken thighs and I use 1/2 smoked paprika and 1/2 regular paprika, and otherwise stick to the recipe. Also, for the herb mixture, I put it in the container with the raw chicken and shake it around, then dump it in the pan, it's less messy and I hate handling raw meat with a fierceness.

Here's a photo of the Cheating at Checkers cowl I'm making along with Kim4theDay on Twitch, as well as others. It's going to be a gift for my mother-in-law. I'm using a purple-pink worsted merino by Malabrigo, and a fingering held double, mixed colorway from Moonglow Yarn Co. that I don't seem to have the label for any longer. It's coming out great, imo.

The Weekender progress

 I'm getting pretty close to finishing up my Weekender sweater. Here's where I am now (well, maybe a couple inches more on the sleeve, but you get the idea.

FO - Isabel Fingerless Gloves

I finished the fingerless gloves for my sister and they turned out great. They took a total of two days and were knitted on-the-go, as I just took them with me in my bag and pulled them out when I had a few minutes to spare. The lace panel is a four row repeat, with every other row being a plain knit across, so it was quick to both learn and knit. The thumb gusset was made with increases in the round throughout the pattern, with just a few finishing rounds of picking up stitches and finishing off at the end. It was my first time doing a cabled cast-on (which looks LOVELY) as well as my first time doing a Russian bind-off. The bind-off ended up to be my only future change to the pattern, as it wasn't nearly as stretchy as I would like for something worn on the hands. There's enough movement that I'm not going to re-do these ones, but it's restrictive enough that I would be annoyed by the feeling of it while moving in certain ways.

Now I'm on to finishing my Weekender sweater and the Mermaid Tail Blanket for my niece. Those will be this weekend's goals, although I don't plan to finish them. I tend to take forever on sleeves, and the blanket might still be a bit warm to work on here for extended periods of time, as it's still in the mid to high 30s (Celsius) in the daytime. Fingers crossed though!