Spring Sweater

Tomato

Originally uploaded by PaperDollyGirl.

Since it seems like the hot summer weather is just not happening this year, it’s perfect timing for a spring sweater. (Rav project page). The pattern is the often-modified Tomato by Wendy Bernard. It’s free from Interweave Press, and published in No Sheep For You. I moved the colorwork to under the bust, raised the neckline, added contrast color to the ribbing, and reduced the width of the ribbing overall to make it a little more elegant. I also used needles two sizes smaller than recommended, and reduced the ease for a more fitted look. I barely touched the fourth skein of yarn, so I have plenty of fabulous Blue Sky leftovers.

Planning for Jam

Wild Black Raspberries

Originally uploaded by PaperDollyGirl.

Canning is all over the blogworld right now. I’ve definitely noticed a huge upswing in canning in interest during the past 7 years. My interest in jamming stems directly from a 2002 GetCrafty article by Kirsten Hudson. When I saw the headline of the article – Make Yer Own Damn Jam – a lightbulb went off. And I haven’t looked back. I’ve come so far in the process but really just explored the tip of the canning universe.

Every now and then it occurs to me how far ahead of its time GetCrafty was – the articles from 2000, 2001, 2002 – how could anyone have predicted that a few years later major magazines would have cover features on some of the same topics.

Today it’s been raining off and on. I’ve got a CSA pick up in two hours. I already made the pesto from the basil my sister brought on Saturday. Perfect time to count out my jars, lids, and see what I’m left with for this summer. I usually give away so much jam that every year I need to buy new jars. This year, I have about 2 cases of 8 ounce jars, and one case of 4 ounce jars ready to be filled. I still have a case of 4 ounce jars of apple butter, 1 four ounce jar of peach jam, and 1 eight ounce jar of blueberry jam.

I visited the library and picked up The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. WOW! There are some really amazing recipes in there. The one thing I didn’t care for was that an entire third of the book is meant for freezer recipes. I am really not into freezing that much food. It takes so much energy to run the freezer, especially crammed with food, and the risk of a power failure could destroy everything.

My plans are shaping up. Definitely a blueberry honey jam with Pomona pectin, and likely both a raspberry-peach jam and a raspberry-nectarine jam. The book has a recipe for canning a hazelnut blueberry mango sauce that sounds fabulous. I’d also love to try a strawberry fig jam, if anyone knows someplace in Northern or Central NJ or the Phily area that still has pick your own strawberries for a decent price. When NJ tomatoes are really going, I am hoping to try at least two salsas and two tomato sauces. My sister makes a wonderful cranberry sauce – we are hoping to find something similar that I will be able to can.

My number one jam tip: Be prepared. Have more jars, more sugar, more lemons, more of everything prepared that you think you might need. I can’t tell you how many times I nearly cooked a batch of jam beyond recognition because I needed more time to get out more sugar, squeeze lemons, sterilize additional lids to make up for the ones I dropped on the floor. I would love to hear about the canning plans of anyone else out there!

Which Buttons?

I’m following up with my yarn too nice dilemma. I used half of it to make this cabled neckwarmer (Ravelry project page). The pattern is freely offered by Lindsay at Storm Moon Knits. It took less than five hours, and I was able to do it all without a cable needle, which make it perfect for a public transit project. Now it’s button time – I liked these two possibilities. First up are the soapstone buttons, heavy and beautiful. Or the abalone buttons – more delicate, shiny, and also beautiful. Both are the right size and will work perfectly. And then the next question – I’m down to about 110 yards of this yarn. Should I try for a matching hat or mittens? I am turning into a crazy lady with the sheer volume of mismatching knit accessories, and it might be nice to have something that matched. Or should I go for the French press coffee cozy? I love this yarn so much, it might be time to share the joy and try make lots of cozy, thick, baby socks for the little ones soon to come into my life through my several friends who are expectant moms.

New from Blue Sky Alpaca!

New from Blue Sky Alpaca!

Originally uploaded by PaperDollyGirl.

If you care about this sort of thing, you have definitely heard of the new luxury line from Blue Sky Alpacas called Spud and Chloe. All superwash yarns for real life use. This one is superwash merino and organic cotton. It is so soft and the colors are brilliant, just like in their Organic Dyed Cottons line. I went to Purl in Soho on Monday, and could not resist picking some up. This color is called Popsicle, and it is going to be a sweet lacy sweater for a little girl. The label indicates it knits up at more of an aran weight, so I am interested to start knitting and see how it goes. There is also a sock yarn and a bulky weight. Expensive, but perhaps worth it for special garments?

They are promoting it with a new line of patterns. I am loving this cropped cabled jacket. There’s also a blog and a couple free patterns with a promise of more to follow. If anyone else out there is working with this yarn, I’d love to hear how it goes! It caused me to break my rule of never spending more than $20 on yarn for a baby’s sweater. Hmm… perhaps this will lead me back to my post of a few days ago when I decide that the yarn is too nice for baby things and I have to do something else with it. I’d better start that sweater right away.

Stashbusting Kimono

Stashbusting Kimono

Originally uploaded by PaperDollyGirl.

Wow, do I have a lot to show you all this week. Lots of knitting, cooking/baking/jam prep, some gorgeous Liberty fabric, and the brand-spanking-new Spud & Chloe line from Blue Sky Alpaca. Let’s get the not-so-great stuff over with then, shall we?

Pattern: Harvey Kimono from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Prima
Ravelry Project Page

So this stashbusting kimono was intended to use up the extra Debbie Bliss Prima I had from the bolero and knee high stockings. The Prima has not been good to me, and I fear it was again not a good match for this project. This was supposed to be a smart, trim knit and because of the drape of the Prima, it looks sloppy. The width also looks really off to me. If I make this pattern again, which I hope to, I will probably recalculate the width. Frankly, I don’t even consider this FO to be gift quality because of the broken threads and other issues. I do love the color scheme, the functionality of the wrap style, and the softness of the yarn.

The contrast yarn is Fiesta Baby Boom. I made a cute set of babylegs with them, but they look to me like they will fit a 4 year old. And since the kimono is for a 6 month old, it looks doubtful that the set will ever be worn together. I used size 2 needles for these, and while I loved how the colors worked, I am disappointed in the end.

Ravelry Project Page