Well, I’ve decided that I am going to use the Katia microfiber for the dressy scarf. I was kind of so-so about it until yesterday when I worked up a swatch of Fir Cone lace to see what that would look like. The label recommends size 3 or 4 needles for this yarn, so I used 6s to work the lace. (Side note: In Monday’s comments, Sheila - of Fiber Raven Soire fame - suggested that using larger needles for lace swatches might yield better results. She was absolutely right. Lace illiterate that I am, I never even thought of it!) The pattern worked up reasonably well but I learned a couple of things while I was trying to pull the swatch around to stretch the lace.
Working with this stuff is like working with satin; it’s very soft and very slippery. It makes a sumptuously drapey fabric but does not work well for loosely constructed things - like lace :) Perhaps a more experienced knitter than I could have made it work but to my eye, Fir Cone was always going to look raggedy and that’s not what I wanted for a gift.
Another thing I learned is that I love the way this yarn works up. That’s what decided me that whatever pattern I decided on, it was this yarn that was going to be used. I can’t describe how nice the hand of the fabric is. Sinfully luxurious? Soft as a baby’s tuchus? Slithery as a silk snake? You could compare the drape to silk or rayon but the microfiber is less “fragile” than either of those materials.
Anyway, this is what I came up with last night:
Stocking and Seed
I know it’s pretty simple, but it’s working up nicely and uses the yarn to good effect, I think. I’m using size 4 needles for this. I’ve got four balls of this yarn and I think that will be enough to make a pretty nice scarf with. Actually I’m hoping three will do the trick because I’d like to think about an edging for this - though I’m not sure I have the nerve for that just yet :)
You don’t want to make mistakes with this stuff though. When I frogged the lace swatch, I removed the needle and pulled on the working end of the yarn. About half the swatched frogged itself instantly. Did I tell you this stuff is slippery? You can tink without too much difficulty, but do it carefully; a dropped stitch is a disaster. It also has very little twist so you need to take a little care not to split stitches. That said, except for working the cast on row, splitting hasn’t been much of a problem.
Blocks Close-up
The slipper is coming along and I hope to be able to complete this second try tonight or tomorrow.
Slipper, redux
I’m usually a barefoot kinda gal around the house but the weather has been so cool here - despite the fact that we’re rapidly approaching June - that I wanted something to keep my toes warm. I suppose that even if it goes up to 90 tomorrow and stays there, I’ll get to use them come fall or winter.
We have been debating for a while about getting a bread machine. We’re both very fond of good bread but the bakery prices are getting into the unreasonable range. We reasoned that with a bread machine, even the cost of good bread flour and yeast wouldn’t come anywhere near to what bakery bread is costing these days. Yesterday we finally decided to go for it…
But we found that they seem to be a dying item. (Side note: I blame Atkins for this. Even our favorite Chinese restaurant now has “carb-conscious” dishes and I’m terrified that the Atkins diet is going to become law before long.) Target had an Oster and a Breadman model. Best Buy had the same Oster model. Wal-Mart had nothing at all. We got the Oster at Target (who had the best price).
Last night, I opened the box to get the manual so I could read through it and familiarize myself with what it does and how it works and so forth. Guess what? No Manual. No recipe leaflet. No warranty paperwork, no parts list, no survey card. No paper of any kind!
!@#$%^&* (fill in curses of choice).
So it’s going back. I may try to find another one, but I’m wondering if this isn’t an evil omen from the Atkins gods :)
Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone!
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I know they sell higher-end bread machines, but you might want to check out King Arthur Flour—they’re in Norwich, VT and their baker’s store is a thing of beauty. They also sell a variety of very good bread flours.
I taught myself to bake bread from their 200th anniversary cookbook. They’re also a good resource for baking questions. Any time I’ve dealt with them I’ve been impressed with how helpful and knowledgable they are.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com (I think). I’m not sure where in NE you are, but I know that from Peterborough, NH (where I am) it takes about an hour and a half to drive up to Norwich.
You probably got one that someone had returned :(
We have a bread machine, doesn’t get much use these days (half the family is on Atkins, as a matter of fact), but I don’t really like bread machine bread very much. I find I only like high-end bakery and real home-made… I tire of the texture of the machine stuff quite easily, and I like it about the same as crummy store-bought sliced loaves.
Melanie - Thanks for the advice. It was KA bread flour that I bought to try this beast out with. My mother wouldn’t use anything but King Arthur flour. I didn’t know they offered bread machines and I will check their site. I’m a little north of Boston so getting up to their store would be quite a long drive. Still, it might be worth a trip some lazy day this summer! Thanks so much for writing!
Krista Jo - Myria heard the same thing from her sister who had a bread machine and just got rid of it - she just didn’t like the texture of the bread :( I don’t know what to think now. Maybe I’ll just start baking regular old “handmade” bread again. I used to do it years ago and didn’t find it troublesome - and it always tasted wonderful!
Bread makers are okay for kneading dough, but I don’t care for the full baked product from them. It’s easy enough to do make from scratch. If you mix with milk rather than water, it keeps longer.
Hi Pam - I’ve been looking at recipes for bread over the last couple of days. I used to bake bread all the time, but not for about 20 years or so. I kind of doubt I’m going to replace the breadmaker. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to start baking bread again anyway :)
Well, the timer feature of a bread machine is great - you can mix everything the night before and wake up to bread (heh heh… when it starts up it really freaks out my dog). But I, too, love making bread by hand. It’s pretty time-consuming, though!
You’re right, of course, it does take time - from start to finish, it’s going to be a matter of hours. But you’re not involved with the bread all that while; most of that time is spent letting it rise. In between you can…knit? LOL - or do many other things. If you’re going to be home anyway, why not?
The nice side effect of the Atkins business is that thrift stores are lousy with donated, functioning bread machines, for dirt cheap. Like $5. Might be worth looking into. If you find you don’t like the texture of the bread, you can just donate the machine back where it came from.
Hi Alexandra :) Thanks for the tip - I’ll keep an eye out. Actually, my dad said something similar the other day. Great minds think alike! 
