Back Again

I'm back after a few months absence while I accustomed myself to a new computer format and took several lessons at the Apple Store on building my own website which you can check out here.

I have several projects to catch you up on but some of my knitting projects have given way lately to many batches of Easter and Spring cookies.  Here are a few pictures of them:

I bought the hive and bee cutters online from Sur La Table last year and have been waiting patiently for Spring to spring so I could use them.  I used Mrs. Field's sugar cookie recipe (which you can find here) and add my own flavorings and they seem to get gobbled up.

 I use CK Royal Icing mix for the frosting and AmeriGel food coloring to tint the icing.  I decided the bees needed a few flowers and made some six petal cookies with a cutter that I bought several years ago, I think from Michaels.

I took this plate to my Monday night ladies' group last week and not one came home with me.

Then I was on to Easter cookies.  One of my favorite sources for cutters is www.coppergifts.com.  This year they had a new sheep and a bunny that I couldn't resist.  Their cutters are a little pricey so I consider them a special treat.  They are also very heavy duty and never rust so they are the kind you will have forever.  Coppergifts gives you the opportunity to submit a review with each purchase you make and then receive 10% off your next purchase, and I always take advantage of that.  I also ordered some of the CK sanding sugar from them which is very good quality and comes in a wide array of lovely colors.

I had quite an assembly line going this year as I wanted to send some cookies to my sister for her Easter family dinner as well as share with friends and neighbors.

I bagged several sheep with the treat bags you can buy at Michaels or Hobby Lobby and put one on each plate at our Easter table and then my husband and I delivered the rest to friends' doorsteps the night before Easter.

I made two giant-sized bunnies for the children at the table this year and they seemed very happy.  I am sure their parents appreciated the massive dose of sugar.

 I had another burst of inspiration the Wednesday before Easter and decided to make a couple cookie bouquets -- one for the kitchen table where we put the buffet and one for the dining room table where we ate.  I found the little metal daisy basket in a closet while cleaning recently.  To bake the cookies on sticks I roll out the dough a little thicker than usual and make sure it is very cold before pushing bamboo skewers in for about 2 1/2 inches.  I usually put the cookie sheet with the cut dough back in the fridge to chill for ten minutes before I skewer them.  I handle them very carefully after removing them from the oven because they are very fragile until the dough cools.  Even after the cookies are completely cooled I handle them with care.  I would love to send cookie bouquets to friends and family members for special occasions but I have never figured out a way to mail them and have them arrive with skewers intact.

 Isn't it fun after a holiday to sit down with a cup of tea and some leftovers?

Next up, some of the knitting projects I have been working on.

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter.  Oklahoma City had rain most of the day, and I know that it interfered with many of the planned festivities but Oklahoma has been so desperate for rain we were just happy and grateful for the moisture and everything looks lovely and green outside today.  Josey

A precious baby and a life-sized knitted whale

Hi Knitters,

I have been working on the design of my new website and will also be upgrading my blog to correspond with it.  I'm experimenting with organizing the website and blog myself.  I realize it looks a little wonky at the moment but I'm learning.  I hope to have something that looks respectable and is ready to go by the end of the month.  My in-house graphic designer -- and daughter -- is working on a logo and gadgets and widgets and all the other stuff that websites need and I am taking classes in how to manage it all.  Which is very fun.  But also a little daunting.  I have a lot to learn.

Meanwhile the knitting -- and mostly crocheting these days -- goes on.  Today I had a wonderful visit from my daughter's good friend and recent bridesmaid, Kali...

......and her precious thirteen-month-old baby girl.

It was so fun to see her cute little booted feet next to my husband's shoes.

I was thrilled to see that she had on the Flower Cardigan from Susan Anderson's Itty Bitty Nursery that I had knit her for her one-year birthday in January.  It was one of those projects that I was finishing up in the car on the way to her party (no, I was not driving as well) so I didn't get a chance to take any photos for beforehand.  Which is just fine because baby clothes are always so much cuter with a baby in them.

What a sweet, sweet baby girl!

 

I am hoping that she might be able to wear the set for another season.  There is room to grow in the sweater and once a baby's head gets to the 12-month size it stays pretty much the same until 24 months or so.  At least the hat should make it another year.  She's a petite little baby.

Her momma is just as sweet and pretty as she is and they agreed to pose for a few pictures for my latest patterns for Ravelry.  I finally finished up the crochet patterns I have been working on for my upcoming classes as GYC.  I spent the afternoon adding the pics, proofing them one last time (fingers crossed) and posting them.  I always take a deep, deep breath and say a prayer as I click "Activate Pattern."  I hope my proofreading skills are improving but I am especially nervous this time as I am a real newby to writing crochet patterns.  Thank goodness Ravelry makes it so easy to post corrections and send them to all the customers.  Ravelry really is one amazing website.  They seem to think of everything.

Something very fun and very interesting to see...........

I admire to no end those knitters who are also true artists.  I consider myself a crafter/ knitter/crocheter but not an artist.  When I see someone who takes knitting to a whole new never-before-done kind of level that goes way beyond crafting I stand in awe.   Hannah Haworth is such an artist.  At the 2011 Vogue Knitting Live event in NYC last January she exhibited a life-sized hand knit whale high above the heads of convention goers.   I can't even imagine the time and work it took to knit "White Noise."  Let alone how!  Then to transport it, install it, photograph it, etc.  I have so many questions: "What yarn did you use?" "How many yards?"  "What gauge?" Also, "What size needles and how did you hold them?"   Be sure you check out all her other intriguing exhibits.  Her foxes are charming, and a little spooky too.  Seeing her life-sized creatures has given me a whole new perspective on a lace-weight project that I am currently knitting for Schaefer and about which I have lamented over how slowly the inches unfold.   It's all a matter of perspective isn't it?  I'm glad I'm not knitting a life-sized whale.  But I am sure glad that Hannah Haworth did!    

Crochet and Away

Hi Knitters,

I didn't realize when I spontaneously crocheted a couple of washcloths for the holidays, both Christmas and Valentine's Day, that I would be starting on a new trail, or at least a little detour off of my usual Knitting Only route.  I learned a few basic crochet stitches a few years ago mainly as a means to finish some of my knit projects.  Sometimes a crochet edging is the only thing that will do to add the finishing touch to a handknit.

I was really happy when Margaret asked me to teach a couple of beginning crochet classes at GYC.  I was also quite nervous.  I certainly don't have the same confidence in my ability to crochet as to knit.  I could picture the ladies who paid good money to learn from a skilled instructor stumping me in the first few minutes and after two verrrry long hours demanding their money back.

My fears turned out to be groundless.  Possibly because most of GYC's  customers are extremely nice but also because I could sense how happy they were to be learning a new skill.  We had only just enough time to cover the basics -- chain stitch, single crochet, turning, weaving in ends, and a simple picot edging.  The two hours flew by and I was more than tickled when they asked if I would be teaching more classes because they wanted to learn more.  I also realized that I had better learn more if I was going to teach more.  

What I now know about crochet has been self-taught from library books and trial and error.  I decided I better check my techniques with others more skilled than I.  Thank goodness for Youtube.  I love Youtube!  I have yet to type in a single stitch or skill in either knitting or crochet that has not yielded several helpful videos.

I also searched the stacks of Amazon reading dozens of book reviews.  After much research I ordered these two books:

The one in back is called The Complete Photo Guide to CROCHET.  I think it is going to be my go-to book for all things crochet for years to come.  It seems to be very thorough and the photos are wonderful.  After a large instructional section, there are pages and pages of stitches.  I think if I could only choose one book this would be it.  There are A LOT of books to choose from.

The other book is Beyond the Square: Crochet Motifs.  I love granny squares.  This book goes way beyond squares and has patterns for 144 different shapes of motifs.  I especially loved the several hand-illustrated pages showing all kinds of creative uses for the motifs.  I am picturing a scarf of dozens and dozens of hexagons in every color of the rainbow.  Another project to add to the list........

Here's just a couple of the motifs that caught my eye.  I am envisioning a Christmas tree loaded with one of each of the 144 motifs in gorgeous shiny jewel colors starched to hang as ornaments.

The ladies in the last class asked if I would teach a class on how to crochet a hat.  Margaret gave the go-ahead so I am in how to crochet a hat mode right now.  Nothing in my stash jumped out so I stopped in at GYC yesterday to pick up some inspiration yarn.  As usual, after much wandering, I ended up back at the Spud and Chloe cubbies.  I bought these two skeins of "Sweater" in Firefly and Splash.  Love the color names.  I think Spud and Chloe would probably be the most fun place in the entire world to work.  I dream of a visit there.  I dream of a wall of bins in my studio filled with every weight and color of Spud and Chloe....................

Firefly is beautiful don't you think?  The theme for Martha Stewart's show today was happiness.  Everyone is the audience wore yellow.  They looked beautiful.  Sunny and warm and.........well, happy!  Apparently wearing yellow, seeing yellow, being around yellow lifts one spirits.  Not surprising.  

 Happy Knitting (and crocheting), Josey

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy V-Day Everyone,

Finished my crocheted washcloths just in time.  Since Margaret asked me to teach the class on beginning crochet I am wanting to learn more and more and found myself this weekend on Ravelry faving lots of crochet patterns.

Bought some of the most wonderful soaps from Route 66, the kind that come in loaves and the salesperson slices off an inch from the one you pick and wraps it in recycled paper.  I found out that when you add a bar of soap to a washcloth it is called a "spa set".  That sounds so much more special than a washcloth and a bar of soap.

Here are two "spa sets" for a couple of my Valentines.

I especially love working the edging on the washcloths.  The stitches line up so neatly and give it such a finished look.  I taught my class on Tuesday the techniques for making picot edges.  They loved it and have requested another class to learn more.  I'm still fairly nervous about teaching and worry about whether I am doing an okay job so when the students ask for another class it makes me very, very happy.

Started my cookie baking way to late.  I never get as many made as I would like and I didn't get them done in time to mail off to anyone, but I did finish enough to deliver to some friends and neighbors who I want to appreciate today.

I bought two new cookie cutter from CopperGifts.  They have over 2000 cutters and if you buy something from them and review it you get 10% off your next purchase.  Customers also submit photos of their finished cookies so when you click on the photo of each cutter you can see several samples.  I love that.

I use lots of pearl dust.  It makes the cookie just a little more festive and special and it also has the added benefit of concealing some of the little unavoidable little imperfections. 

More goodies from Copper Gifts.

 This is what happens when the icing is too thin:

 This is what happens when it is just right:

Love the new stencils I bought from Culinery Stencils.  They worked really well but Tim had to help me hold the stencil still while I wiped the icing across with a little spatula.  The first few times were a little messy but we got it.

 

Happy Valentines!

And Happy Knitting, Josey

Snowed In

Hi Knitters,

Are you snowed in today?  This is what it looks like outside my front door:

See our Big Blues still sitting there?  Even the garbage trucks didn't make it into our neighborhood.  However, I did see our neighbor's Smart Car go tooling right by this morning.  I was impressed.  Who thought a Smart Car could tread where our garbage trucks dare not? Hmmmm.

Here's the view out my back door:

But a big heartfelt thanks to my friend Melissa for brightening my view indoors:

Missy knows I adore hot chocolate.  She also knows that Williams Sonoma is my favorite store and that I can't go to the mall without wandering through every aisle at WS marveling over their wondrous array of everything gourmet and kitcheny.  I've seen their peppermint hot chocolate and vanilla marshmallows for several holiday seasons and I've even bought some of the pretty canisters as a gift before but never for me.  That's the sweet and wonderful thing about friendship, isn't it?  We gladly buy something special -- something we would never buy for ourselves -- if we know that it will bring our loved one a little happiness.  Thank you Missy.  You've always had a gift for giftgiving and I thank you.

Kind of rings a bell, right knitters?  We'll splurge on that special yarn and spend hours happily knitting away on some project, and gladly part with it thinking about the joy it will bring to its recipient and yet have hardly a single handknit item in our own closet.  Today I realized I didn't even own a knitted hat!

Back to the chocolate.  It didn't disappoint.  The mix is not a powder, it's actually little flakes of smooth as silk chocolate (I know because I ate a spoonful).  It leaves no dark residue at the bottom of your mug.  Every bit of the chocolatey goodness goes right to your tummy.  The peppermint flavor is light and not overbearing.  The marshmallows are each wrapped in their own cute little packet (Not very environmental I am afraid but keeps them remarkably fresh tasting).

The marshmallow has enough substance to melt very slowly leaving a smooshy little lump of sugary goodness for a finale.  So..... if you have ever wondered whether or not that pricey WS hot chocolate is really all that, or if you have bought it for a friend but never treated yourself, I can tell you it rates five stars on the yummy scale.  But I would still probably never buy it for myself.  Thank you Missy!

By the way, if you are wondering about the Christmas dishes still on my counter on Feb 2nd don't judge me too harshly.  I love the warmth and cheer the bright red adds to our kitchen and I put them up with reluctance.  Tim says "Why don't you just leave them out all year?"  But then I would miss the specialness of getting them out the day after Thanksgiving each year -- they mean the Christmas season is here in our house.  Just like everything, it's the not having something for a good while that makes the having it so special.  

Oh, yeah.......I just remembered this blog is about knitting...

Finished the crocheted Valentine washcloth with the chain stitch heart and picot edge.  

I spent my snowed-in day yesterday making videos -- one to demonstrate getting started in crochet and two others to show how to make the chain stitch heart and the picot edge.  I am headed to the Mac Store tomorrow (roads allowing, that is) for my lesson on I-Movie to learn to edit and add titles.  We'll see how it goes.  You'll know it went well if I post the videos this week.

Tim just headed outside to shovel.  The chances of making it to my Mac class just went up.  He's wearing the hat I made him for Christmas.

I used Susan Anderson's pattern "Modern Rib Hat."  I made the same hat for my son-in-law last year out of Cascade's Eco yarn and it came out larger and sloucher.  Tim's hat is more form-fitting.  It's made with Cascade's newish yarn Cash Vero.  It's a wool/cashmere blend, similar to Debbie Bliss Cashmerino -- very soft and pleasant knitting.   Tim says it is very warm and not picky at all.

Hope you all enjoy your snow days.  

Happy Knitting, Josey