novamade

things to do in northern cali when you're crafty

I spent last week in northern California and due to having limited internet access took an unintentional blog break.  My apologies, I am working to catch myself up on your lives, projects and what-not.  But I wanted to share some of my doings with you, as most of them are of a somewhat crafty nature that you may or may not be interested in.

So here is my list of things that I did and things that you can do as well if you find yourself in northern California and you are crafty (if you are celebrating your birthday, that sort of helps too).

Pebble Beach, California. Wollmeise Gloria Cowl.

Start and finish knitting a Gloria Cowl (details here) to give to a friend for her birthday.  My friend is named Kathy, your friend can be named something else.

Artfibers in San Francisco, California.

Have your friend (Kathy) take you to local-to-her yarn shops like ImagiKnit and ArtFibers.  Acquire pretty things that make you smile.

If you are bloggy, take the opportunity to meet up with a knit bloggy friend and her beau. Especially if said knit bloggy friend is a birthday twin and is like some sort of long lost crafty twin of sorts. Apologize profusely for exposing your knit bloggy friend to your tired tyrannical toddler.

Rangsiwan meets a very tired Little Sir.

Because you can, go to a fabric store, there are lots of them in San Francisco.  If for some reason you, like me, are planning some sort of novelty quilt requiring 21 shades of silk dupioni, you should go to Fabrix like I did.

And since there is a Kinokuniya in San Francisco, you should go there and buy some Japanese craft books, especially if you can not decipher Japanese.  It makes crafting interesting.

And because you neither speak nor read Japanese and you bought a bunch of books written in that particular language, you should probably get some written in English (or whatever your primary language is) just to balance things out.

Whether you are crafty or not, you should take time to smell the roses (or whatever flora is at your disposal).

Pacific Grove, California.

And don't forget to take time to experience wonder.

Jellyfish at Monterey Aquarium in Monterey, CA.

When you return home, get giddy about the books you received for your birthday from friends near and far.

Utilize the book about pies as soon as possible, you know, if you are so inclined. 

Pineapple pie, a very sweet sweety pie.

So yes, good trip, I have a few more trips to California scheduled for the summer, but I am thinking they will not be as acquisition-friendly as this one, a birthday celebration is a great way to justify stash enhancements of all sorts.  While I usually kick off my birthday celebration on Cinco de Mayo and count up to my birthday (are you not doing this as well?), Special K suggested that we start the celebration on my actual birthday this year and add 8 days to it, isn't he sweet?  So with that said, I am still celebrating.  Though right now, I am trying to get my back to stop hurting after incorrectly lifting heavy boxes of books and documents at work.  I am also going to think about happy things, like friends in Philly having lots of fun.  And knitting, because I can do that lying down.

Hey, happy knitting, quilting, sewing, or pie baking!

trains need homes too

So yesterday I shared what I thought was an fo photo session of the tomten that almost killed my knitting mojo.  I was feeling all puffed with pride, so much so that I didn't give a second thought to Little Sir's reading selection for bedtime last night.

After we read about Corduroy and his pocket, Little Sir began his strategic assault on why his tomten needed pockets (culminating in the statement that "trains need homes too").  Of course they do.

Rockstars don't need pockets, I mean seriously, did the Biscuit ask for pockets?  Probably not, because he, you see, is a rockstar.  Little Sir is really a prepster who was posing.  He got his haircut and gone were his rockstar delusions.  So here is my kid, with a sweater his mom knit for him.  With pockets.

Or rather, a home for trains.

I did a pair of afterthought pockets and now the prepster is willing to go folksy and wear his tomten with a smile.  It all came down to pockets, you see.  Honestly, it's a good thing we can't go to MDSW this year, because he would be sporting the tomten no matter what the thermometer might read (and there would be trains in the pockets, of course).  Our absence from said happy event is probably best for all parties concerned.

After all this, I needed pie.  Or rather, a quick french berry tart with red currant glaze.  All is now well with the world.

Dorie wanted to send me some baking from her home to mine.  Just FYI, Dorie Greenspan is my new baking hero.

If you are interested in the details behind the afterthought pockets that made me Little Sir's hero (for about 5 minutes) I wrote it up in a tutorial, see the post below.  I think I am all done talking about the tomten now (you are all probably sick of reading about it too).  Now it's time to move on.

the tomten session

So you know that kid in The Opinionated Knitter.  The rockstar modeling the tomten?  Yeah, that one.  My original intent was not to replicate the rockstar; but, who am I to argue with laundry day and my kid's rockstar tendencies?

So IT is done.  And it is, in a word, HUGE.  It's really noticeable when all zippered up (zipper chosen by his hipness, himself).  I intended to make it big enough for wear next year, but it might be part of the fall and early winter wardrobe for the next two years.  Maybe.  Some would say it's dowdy...

As excited as Little Sir is about the zipper, I think even he recognizes that rockstars can not rock the casbah in dowdy duds.  The fact that I zipped it up in the first place was an afront to his coolness.

It's not so bad unzippered though, right?

I thought I could get away with leaving off the pockets.

This may not be the case.  And you know those rockers, they can by so demanding; and, they can also be challenging to photograph.  They never really listen, and they often insist on dancing (which may take the form of jumping).

And then they realize that it's hard to rock a jacket-y sweater when it's all spring-like.

Mostly I am including this shot so you can see that the "right side" has been made the inside; and the "wrong side" is now the right.  You know me, I am so edgy.

And so is Little Sir, when I said, "give me GQ" (like he would even know what that means...), it was clear that he was so over this photo shoot.  Because like a true rockstar, he stormed off the set.

Deets in the gallery.

on productivity

I have written many blog posts in my head, I just haven't actually typed and posted them.  We have all been there, right?  I have been too busy actually doing stuff to talk about it, I think every now and then we crafty folk need to do that; do the thing and not talk about it so much (or, if you are like me, obsess over other people's amazing craftiness to the point of inertia, or something like that).

Over the past weekend I went to New Hampshire to craft my little heart out, it has sort of re-energized the craft of crafting for me.  It was supposed to be a knitting weekend; but, I spent a goodly amount of time making buttons.  With clay.  And a toaster oven.

I just think it's funny that one can make buttons with a toaster oven.

 

But maybe that is just me.

These buttons are not assigned to any sort of project at the moment (none of them, and there are a lot of them).  Should you have any great contribution to make to spark my creativity, do share.  I am almost at the edge of being "all tapped out."  Almost.

 

I am particularly proud of my shawl pins.  I know the sticks look like carrots.  Try imagining them with some sort of earthy twig found while taking some walk down some path somewhere.  I know, it's hard to see past the carrots.

But I did also do some knitting; or rather, I did some weaving of ends on knitting.  You know that tomten with the 50 bajillion ends?  Ends woven, surplus cut.  The fact that there is now the zipper and pockets to contend with is something to think on later.  Let's focus on the positive, shall we?  Ends woven.  Surplus cut.

Such a feat deserves a fitting celebration, like pie.  Truly great and excellent pie.

Like carmelized orange tart with blackberry puree (go and print the recipe, I will wait).  Delicious.  Perfection in pie form, really.

Okay, back to the doing.

my new favorite socks

It's a shame that I didn't finish these socks sooner.  They are fabulous (if I do say so myself)!

I figured with the big goodbye to Magknits, it was time to put the Snickets to bed.  The fact that I started them last July was also a factor.

I knit the first one fairly quickly (for me).  But the second one lagged.  I have noticed that I procrastinate finishing projects when there is something about them that I dread.  Oh, have you noticed that too?  In any case, with these socks, I was not particularly excited about the short row heel.

This is my first (and probably last, if I can help it) short row heel.  Like Opal, I am a heel flap kind of girl.  But I figured that I would at least give it a try so I could say I did a short row heel and give myself ample justification for complaining about it.  That being said, these are still my newest favorite socks. 

The pattern is great (hopefully the designer will offer it through Ravelry or elsewhere); but, the yarn....well, it's out of this world, people.  They are nice and cozy...just in time for summer.  These socks will probably see the most action after summer (the season that hasn't quite arrived in my corner of the woods yet) wraps up.

So when fall rolls around again, I well be suitably prepared.

I will post details on the Rav (Ravelraiser, are you in the know?) and in the gallery for those who are not yet Ravel-ing.

new adventures in scarf production

I like scarves.  I think they are very useful, and sometimes they are even pretty.  And while I like the idea of making my own scarves, my laziness usually got the better of me in the endeavor of actually making them, particularly because I thought I was limited to knitting scarves.  I don't really enjoy knitting scarves, I have said it before.  But weaving a scarf?  Well, this is an entirely different matter.

   

I won't wax poetic about the process of weaving, other knitters have done so much better than I could hope to.  I will simply say that weaving a scarf takes much less time (at least in plain weave/tabby) than knitting a scarf would (unless that scarf was knitted in bulky yarn on size 17 needles, of course...well, no, probably not even then).

This scarf was simple to weave, I alternated colors in the warp (the vertical part of the weave structure) and then alternated the weft (the horizontal part).  I will put more details in the gallery of goods.

I could have just woven a test piece, but I don't like to waste  energy (some would call this efficiency--I will call it what it is, it's laziness).  Also, I figured I would either get it or I wouldn't, I think I got it.  And now Little Sir has a scarf (it's not without its imperfections; but, he is 2, he doesn't really care about the flaws, or rather, the design features).  So yes, now I am a weaver.  Much to Little Sir's chagrin.

Clearly, he is very excited about my new weaving skills. 

If you haven't figured it out yet, I tend to be the sort of person who goes "all in" on something.  I don't like to do things half way (because really, if I am going to exert the energy, I might as well make it count for something).  But with the weaving, I did test the waters with a used loom from ebay first...before I bought a Kromski Harp (Special K and I will be putting it together this weekend, one of us is very excited about it). I wanted a little more width for weaving (I am thinking wrap as opposed to blankets).  If you are interested in weaving and would like to "test the waters" on my Spear's Size 4 Rigid Heddle loom (16" width), e-mail me, we can discuss a trade of some sort.  I would love to "share the joy" as they say.

I think it's very likely that I will be weaving many more scarves.  I find weaving soothing; and, I really like scarves and I am so excited that I have found another way to make them...faster and more happily.

ketchup and caramel

Hey, Little Tomato, ketchup!  Actually, catch up.  I was going through some pictures and realized that I never posted pictures of a quilt I finished last month.

I made this quilt for a special little guy named Dru.  I was sending a quilt for his new little brother, Marley, and I didn't want him to be left out.

Also, the quilt that I originally started for Dru before he was born two years ago crawled under a rock in my basement (aka "craftland" or my "studio", you pick) and died.  Seriously. I lost it.  A whole quilt waiting for binding.   But that is okay, I like this one better (with the exception of the center strip that taunts me with its imperfections even now).  I'll put further information in the gallery, should you be so inclined to know it.

The perfect quilt for a lil' cowpoke (which just seems so much funnier to say--and type-- than cowboy).  Little Sir helped pick out the Robert Kauffman prints, which were floating around in a local Jo-Ann's for whatever reason.  I like the bright vibrant colors of this quilt.  They are fun.

You know what else is fun?  Caramel (I know, terrible segue).

Today/tonight (details), I made you a Carmelized Nut Tart.  This is a great tart/pie.  You probably have everything you need for this tasty treat in your cabinets.  You can sub in any sort of combination of nuts and it tastes amazing (probably because of the caramel).  I also made the crust called for in the recipe which provides the most unexpected and tantalizing dose of cinnamon to which compliments the earthiness of the nuts and the sweetness of the caramel perfectly.  Sublime.  And easy; actually, quite easy.

these are the sands of time

I am sure I have mentioned it before, I really don't like knitting scarves.  They seem to take forever to knit...they tend to get monotonous...etcetera, etcetera.  But when I asked for advice about what to do with the Mountain Mohair I got from Green Mountain Spinnery,

so many of you suggested a scarf, I felt like I couldn't do anything else...and really who would turn down an excuse to knit 30 bajillion cables?  Not me!

I have actually wanted to knit this scarf ever since Margaux's Malabrigo version (she knit two of them, I think;  the Sundara version is pretty spicy too).  So knit it I did.  And really, truth be told, it didn't take that long to knit (especially since I was using it to procrastinate, ahem).  Maybe the whole scarf thing isn't as bad as I thought?

The little guy kind of balks at the mohair content (and seriously, how Chuck Bass is my kid in this shot?), but that's okay, it not for him.  I actually knit if for myself.

I heart my new scarf, and I am not afraid to dork it up to prove it.  Deets in the gallery and on ravelry.

quixotic celebrator

Quixotic, is quite possibly, my favorite word in the English language.  It has a "Q," and an "X" and ever since I was able to assemble it on a Scrabble board with someone else's "C" I have been a fan.  Aside from all that,  it is the word that best describes my way of celebrating birthdays.  You (and I) never really know what kind of fun I will come up with.  Special K thinks it's a little crazy, the lengths I go to to celebrate a birthday, but I disagree.  I think birthdays should be celebrated with great fervor.  Sometimes it takes a little work to celebrate just the way you want.  But who says work can't be fun?

After seeing this great birthday banner that Rae put together, I knew I had to make one for Little Sir and the celebration of his second birthday. 

I saw all sorts of potential for the banner and using the distribution of letters from Scrabble as my guide, I made a whole bunch of letters (see first photo).  Should I ever have the opportunity to meet and throw a party for a Quincy, Xavier or Zarathustra (you never know), I totally can.  And I can do it in a very colorful way.

It was easy (albeit a bit time consuming, because I did 64 letters--plus one exclamationa point-- you don't have to do that many, but you totally could) but it was fun, and really I will take advantage of any excuse to whip out the hot glue gun (but with this project, I found cutting the letters out by free-hand to be kind of the best part).  I cut out sets of felt circles in 3.5" and 3.75" glued them together with a folded ribbon in the middle.  And, like Rae, I used ric rac for suspension.  And because I wanted to go crazy with color, I used 14 colors of felt (I left a lot of colors at the store, so I think I showed some restraint here).  That's a ton of fun for very little moolah.  You should make a banner too, you will be glad you did.

 

And I do have to apologize, if you came here looking for pie today.  I gave myself on out this week, or rather, it was a bye week for pie.  Because for birthdays, most people (especially if I am involved in the equation) get cake.  Little Sir is sort of a minimalist when it comes to desserts (sadly).  He usually opts for plain fresh fruit but he knows how to celebrate right and asked for a "banilla" cake with "banilla" frosting. 

And how fabulous is my new cake stand?!

For me this meant a classic white cake (best white cake recipe I have made to date) with buttercream frosting (the kid and I just made the frosting up as we went along).

Because he was helping me make the frosting I have no idea how much confectioner's sugar he scooped into the bowl, so I added butter, heavy cream and vanilla until it tasted good and looked spreadable. 

His enthusiasm for fire is not just a little concerning.

A little imprecise, but it was fun and tasty, so whatever.

I also wanted to make a quilt for the kid's birthday, but sometimes you have to cut your losses (so much for quixoticism). 

It became apparent to me that I would not finish this quilt in time, so I am saving it for the weekend (because it's just an excuse to drag the celebration out even more, in my opinion--yay for being quixotic!). 

So yes, it was a lot of work, but really when your kid thanks you with kisses, it's totally worth it.

making things for others

It's what I do.  It brings me joy, yadda yadda... I am back from vacation... Hey, look at this!

I made this apron a while ago, but since I am trotting out all of my productivity for this wee parade of sorts (to divert your attention from other projects, ahem), I thought I'd share it. 

Little Sir impressed me by saying "ceviche" while watching the Food Network (in our house, this is considered "educational television viewing") and asked why the cook wasn't wearing an apron.  "Because he's Rocco DiSpirito," wasn't really an acceptable answer, in hindsight, I realize this.  And since my kid isn't Rocco (yet), I figured he needed an apron.  So I made one. 

I have already mentioned that my sewing is pretty mediocre.  I am also one who tends to like guidance (i.e. directions, patterns, templates, something); but, I figured it was an apron, how hard could it be?  DIY-time! I took a look at my apron and cut some upholstery fabric samples I picked up 5 years ago for no reason other than they were in the sale bin (I was less discriminating back then).  It's not perfect, but it's an apron, the point is to keep the kid's pajamas clean.

Because Little Sir is totally my sous chef.  I mean really, have you ever seen anyone handle an egg so chef-tastically?  I think not.

He helped me make today's pie, a Fresh Orange Tart with Hazlenut Crust a la Greenspan via epicurious.com. 

I We made today's Piehole Wednesday contribution for my friend M whose husband is going to Iraq on a photojournalism assignment.  She needed cheering.  The pies, they bring cheer, especially this one.  It's a good one...but it's a little, shall we say, involved.

Luckily, I had help.

There is no heat involved here, don't get your panties in a twist.

And that is how I get all the baking done.  Secret's out.