Night before last, without a thought (or even a nod) to Scarf Style, I started another scarf.

Yes, I know I have a bazillion unfinished projects.  I know I have a beautiful book full of absolutely lovely scarf patterns.  What can I tell you?  I was bored Tuesday evening and at this point, the hands sometimes pick up the needles with ideas of their own.  Besides, this scarf isn’t for me :)

I give you…

I’ve been thinking for a while now that it would be cool to create something just for the Dulann project (click the button on the sidebar for further information).  Not that the patterns that are being used (and which I have used myself) aren’t perfectly splendid - they are.  Only that I thought it would be nice if something had its inception here, as part of a project who’s sole aim is to help people stay warm.

I had only used Lionbrand’s Fisherman’s wool briefly once before and I’m rather surprised at how nice it is to work with - smooth, even, no knots (so far) that I didn’t put there.  I know it’s dyeable and I fully intend to give that a try before long.  It has to be the best wool value on the market.  I can get this at my local A. C. Moore for about $6.00 per 8oz. skein which is roughly equivalent to $1.31/50 grams.  Pretty decent price for wool!

The Dulann Scarf

Materials

Lionbrand Fisherman’s Wool
Size 7 (US) needles
Gauge:  4 sts and 8 rows/inch in seed stitch
Width: About 6”, unblocked
Length: As desired

C4R:  Slip 2 sts to cable needle and hold in back of work.  Knit 2 sts, then knit the 2 sts from the cable needle.

C4L:  Slip 2 sts to cable needle and hold in front of work.  Knit 2 sts, then knit the 2 sts from the cable needle.

MB (Make bobble):  Treating next two sts on left needle as 1 st, K, YO, K into this stitch.  Turn and P3.  Lift the second and third sts, one at a time, over the first st and off the needle.  One st remains.  Knit into the front and back of this st.

Cast on 39 sts

Row 1 (RS):  Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, K8, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 2 (and all wrong-side rows): Sl1 purlwise, P1, K1, P1, K3, P8, K3, P1, K1, P1, K3, P8, K3, (P1, K1) twice.

Row 3: Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, K8, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 5: S1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, C4R, C4L, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 7: Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, K8, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 9: Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, K3, MB, K3, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 11: Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, K8, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 13: Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, C4L, C4R, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 15: Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, P2, K2, C4L, K2, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice, P2, K2, C4R, K2, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice.

Row 17: Sl1 purlwise, (P1, K1) twice, *P2, C4R, C4L, P2, K1, (P1, K1) twice; repeat from * to end.

Row 18: Repeat Row 2.

Repeat Rows 7 - 18 for pattern.  When desired length has been reached, after row 18, work rows 1 and 2 again.  Bind off in pattern.

I would be very grateful if you would let me know if you have any problems with or find any mistakes in this pattern so that I can fix them :)

I don’t mean to turn Wednesdays into all cooking all the time, it’s just that I have been cooking lately.  Like the knitting, it’s something I have a lot of fun with and when something come out well, I want to share.  So I’m sharing :)

Sausage and Sauerkraut

I spent a while, earlier, trying to find out of this had a name other than sausage and sauerkraut.  I found lots of variety - sausage and sauerkraut with fennel, sausage and sauerkraut with bacon, sausage and sauerkraut with eye of newt - but it was all sausage and sauerkraut.

This is very simple.  You could dress it up any number of ways, but at base it’s just the four above ingredients combined in the crock pot and left to get acquainted for 8 or 9 hours.  You need:

1 lb smoked sausage
2 apples (something tart - Granny Smith or Macintosh)
2 medium onions (These are red because that’s what I had - use what you have or like)
1 (2 lb.) bag of sauerkraut
1 lb pasta

Slice the sausage into pieces and place in the bottom of the crock pot.  Peel and core the apples and cut into a medium dice; peel the onions and chop.

Add to the sausage and stir it around a little to mix together.

Drain the sauerkraut and layer that over the top of the sausage mixture.

Set the crock pot to low, put the lid on and leave it for 8 or 9 hours.  Don’t peek or pick the lid up during the course of the day - you want to keep the moisture inside the crock, not evaporating into your kitchen.

This is what you get:

I believe that potatoes are traditional with this kind of dish but we went with pasta which worked very well.  About a half hour before you want to serve, put a pot of water on to boil and cook a pound of your favorite pasta (not spaghetti and a larger shape works better than a smaller one)

I hadn’t known whether Myria had ever had sauerkraut before so I was concerned that this might be something she wouldn’t care for.  As it turned out, she liked it very well.  After dinner, she suggested that it might be interesting to try pineapple next time.  I thought about that for a minute - and I’ll bet she’s right.  It has a different flavor, but the same combination of sweet and tart that an apple does.  We agreed that should be served with rice :)

Note:  I have finally been able to unearth the Currant Scone and the Tomato Salad recipes from the so-called archive (don’t ask).  They have been added to the recipe section on the sidebar.  Enjoy!

I finished the little bag last night and, though it took quite a different path to completion than I had thought it would, it looks pretty good and will do the job handily.

I would have liked to give you the pattern for this but I didn’t think to write things down as I was going along and it’s a bit complicated - though not difficult - so I will instead, describe the process and if anyone is interested in making it (or something like it) perhaps that will be enough.

It began, as you know, with the Buttonhole Bag which I was thinking to emulate, substituting thick, closely knit cotton for the felted wool.  I had trouble from the very beginning though, as I couldn’t get the tapered ends of the BB’s bottom piece to look neat enough to suit me.  Eventually I wound up casting on 9 stitches (bulky cotton on size 8 [US] needles) and working in garter stitch for about 6.5 inches. 

Then stitches were picked up all around and the bag was worked in stockinette for about 3.25 inches.  At this point, a 5 stitch wide bit of ribbing was introduced on both sides and continued for about 8 rows.  After returning to plain stockinette, 2 stitches were decreased above each of the ribbing sections twice with a round knit plain between.  The bag then carried on in plain stockinette for another 1.5 inches or so.

At this point, half the stitches were bound off, leaving an odd number remaining, and the bag flap was commenced, knitting back and forth in the usual fashion.  5 stitches on each side were done in seed stitch and the flap was knit straight for 4 rows before the decreases began.  The decreases were done past the seed stitch border as:

Decrease row 1: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, SSK, Knit to within 7 stitches of end of row, K2tog, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1.

Decrease row 2: K1, P1, K1, P1, Knit to within 4 stitches of end of row, P1, K1, P1, K1.

These two rows were repeated until there were 15 stitches left on the needle.  Seed stitch was then worked across the entire row for a further 8 rows before binding off in pattern.

I picked a darker, compatible green cotton to do the edging in and worked around the front edge and flap of the bag in single crochet.  Loops were crocheted at the top side edges and the bottom center of the flap.

The strap was interesting.  In Friday’s comments, Charlotte had suggested double I-cord which I thought was a terrific idea.  But I couldn’t get to work for love nor money :(  I think I’m going to have to actually see someone do it before it makes sense to me.

So I wound up crocheting the strap thusly:

Chain 3, 1 hdc in third chain from hook.  Ch 1, turn
Hdc under the body of the last hdc made.  Ch 1, turn - in the same direction as the first turn.  It doesn’t matter if you turn the piece 180º clockwise or counter-clockwise, just be consistent.

Continue this until the strap reaches your desired length.  I embellished it with a line of chain stitch embroidery up the center, using the darker green yarn but it looks very nice unadorned too :).

Attach the straps by drawing the ends through the side loops and fastening the ends to the back side of the strap itself.  Sew on a button for the flap loop (I don’t have any buttons, so I just crocheted one), tidy up your ends and you’re good to go :)

This will be very convenient on board ship and may even make a decent summer carry-about afterwards.

Bags are so much fun!

I hope that those of you who celebrate had wonderful, joyous and festive holidays!

Well, okay :)  The sun’s out and there seem to be no lingering effects to yesterday’s unwelcome weather.  I’d love to believe that this was the “last hurrah”.

I spent most of yesterday working on the bag, starting and ripping and starting again.  I finally abandoned all pretense of working on the Buttonhole as it’s presented and just went with my own inclinations.  I like the tapered ends that the pattern uses for the base but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get it to look even.  So I wound up casting on 9 sts and just working straight garter stitch for about 6 inches.  Then I picked up the edges and began working up from there.

I think I’m going to incorporate some ribbing on the sides - a patch of about 9 or 10 rows - halfway up, just for a bit of shaping.  I’m also thinking I’ll taper the sides from there to the top and then knit back and forth for a hang-over flap.  I’m not yet sure how I’ll handle the strap except that the buttonhole convention, cute as it is, isn’t going to work for me.  I’d have known this earlier if I’d stopped to think about it because I hate having a hand tied up with having to carry something.  So I’ll likely knit or crochet a long strap so that the bag can be carried on the shoulder.  I need to think about some kind of design for the flap too - just something to spruce the thing up a bit :)  It’s not going to be very big though that shouldn’t be a problem.  There isn’t a great deal you need to carry around with you onboard a ship except your room key and that just doesn’t take up a lot of room :)

The stole also got a bit of attention yesterday.  This is a great TV-watching project as once you get your tiers established, it’s very nearly mindless knitting - just plain old stockinette.

Entrelac needn’t just be stockinette though, it can’t be done in garter stitch, or with a cable or a bobble or even a wee intarsia motif.  I’m going to try several of those variations at some point just because I think they’re so cool!

Finally, this arrived yesterday afternoon:

This is from Lisa at blogdogblog who had asked for captions for the photo in the above picture, winner to be awarded something from her stash.  No, I’m not that clever :)  Lisa, kind and generous person that she is, decided that all of us who submitted entries were winners and sent everyone sock yarn.  This is Socka in a lovely, muted colorway.  I’m excited to be able to try this yarn and I know it will make something very special indeed.  Thank you so much, Lisa!

I wish you all wonderful and relaxing weekends.  See you Monday :)

Yesterday we spent some time with a friend of Myria’s.  I have often brought my knitting along on visits and she has often commented on it, mentioning that she used to knit, but hadn’t for many years now.  Well, yesterday, she couldn’t wait for me to sit down so she could show me what she’d been up to.

She had dug out her needles and bought a pattern and some yarn and was making a cardigan!  The yarn is a lovely spring variegate of dusty blue and green with some pale yellow and light salmon.  The Melissa Leapman pattern was a simple cardigan done in a basket-weave stitch.  She had finished the back and was a little better than halfway up one of the front pieces.  Her tension was good and the edges were as neat as a pin - my edges always look like someone stuck a size fifteen needle into each stitch :)

She had done this, she said, because I inspired her to pick up her knitting again.  Well, I don’t really think of myself as an inspiration - Elizabeth Zimmerman, I’m not! - but it was nice to hear and, seeing what lovely work she can do, wonderful to see.  I can’t wait to see what her finished sweater looks like on her!

Between that and various other errands that needed to be run, I didn’t knit a stitch yesterday.  By the time we got home I was so tired, I was afraid to pick the needles up lest, in my funk, I start doing entrelac on the chenille and garter stitch on the stole.

So we had pizza (the place on the corner down the street makes superb pizza and also fantastic spinach pie and baklava!) and watched:

This is a really fun movie!  The graphics and animation are superb, the writing is witty and the voice acting excellent.  I especially enjoyed the lecture by costume-designer “E” (and who does she remind you of?) on why capes are not a good thing to consider when putting together a super-hero “look”.

It is snowing.

Again.

So, I guess, it’s nice we got everything seen to yesterday.  That means that today we can stay in and, with luck, I’ll get some knitting done.  At least that’s my plan at the moment :)

The ubiquitous little Buttonhole Bag (link opens .pdf file) has been knocking around in the back of my head for a few days.  I have stated here before that I have no desire to get into felting and that hasn’t changed.  It’s just that the bag has such a cute shape and…

Oh all right!  I just like bags - especially ones I’ve knit or crocheted.  Nothing wrong with that, is there? But no felting, nope.  I had the idea that worked densely in cotton the effect would be similar and still provide the sturdiness that the felting does.

I’ve had some yarn in the stash for a while that I’ve been curious about so last night, I dragged it out and began the bag.

This yarn is Classic Elite Isabella.  It’s a bulky cotton (70%)/acrylic (30%) blend.  My guess would be, from the drawing of the little girl riding her bicycle past the Tower of Pisa, that it is intended for children’s clothes.  It does have a nice hand and works up more easily than I had expected (I had kind of boggled at the idea of bulky cotton).  Perhaps that small percentage of acrylic makes the difference.  I also love the beautiful mottling of the blues and greens in this particular color - looks just like the ocean! 

In any case, I was torturing it into a very dense fabric by working it on smaller than recommended needles.  However, I don’t have DPNs in this size (the needles in the above photo are not the size I want, they’re just what I happened to have) and the circular I have isn’t short enough to be practical, nor long enough to use the magic loop method with.  Dratski!  So I don’t know how far this is going to go, exactly.  The needles are only part of the problem; the other part is that it’s coming out a lot smaller than I had imagined.  The solution here would be to rip it, make the bottom strip at least twice as long and then go on from there.

However, the construction of this yarn is interesting :)

It is made up of three strands of what seem to me to be about fingering weight yarn, each of which seems to be dyed differently.  It occurs to me (entering mad scientist mode: MUWAHAHAHAHA) that the yarn could be un-plied (is that a word?) and used to make something lovely and lacey?  I may not be able to resist the temptation to find out :)

I have begun getting things ready for my trip and, I kid you not, this is the first thing to get set aside for packing:

The “Anne” is a hand paint and it’s hard to photograph but the colors range from a deep cobalt to a medium spruce with some teal in between.  The colors are all in the same intensity range which is why they’re so camera shy.  This yarn will make the most gorgeouspair of socks.  “Anne” (if you’re curious) is 60% merino wool, 25% mohair and 15% nylon.  It comes in a 4 oz. Hank and is machine washable.

Sine the pattern is from Nancy Bush’s Knitting on the Road (many thanks again to Barbara for sending me the book), it just seems incredibly appropriate that I start these on the ship.  I am so looking forward to it! :)

I spent a lot of the weekend reading and so didn’t get as much knitting done as I might have otherwise.  You may have noticed I have this thing about books?  Heheh…

I’m on the 6th tier now and moving along nicely.  It’s hard not to think of this progressing in rows as any standard form of knitting does but, of course, a tier is composed of many, many rows.  Knitting backwards (that is, purling from the front of the work) is a great time-saver with entrelac.  I find, however, that for the side triangles on each alternate row, it is easier for me to do them by turning the work.  Everything else, though, can be worked from one side.

The color changes make nice progress points.  I find that I need to work the ends in as I go along or they drive me nuts (more like a putt than a drive, eh?) making things look raggedy and unkempt.

It’s about 22” wide as worked and will probably stretch a bit wider after it’s completed.  As this is acrylic, and as I have no wish to “kill” the yarn by steaming or ironing it, it will go unblocked.  Right now I don’t see that as being much of an issue, though I am pondering the possibility of an edging of some sort.  I’m also thinking about adding tassels to the ends rather than the knotted fringe used in the book.  Somehow I don’t think that would work with the stole as it’s currently being worked.

In contrast to the periwinkle and the turquoise, the coral has a bit more orange than I would prefer, but it looks fine.  All in all, I’m very happy with the colors.  This will be quite a cheerful piece and that works for me :)

I’m keeping my eye open for a hand-paint or a variegate that will show of the entrelac pattern nicely as I think the stole in the book is absolutely gorgeous.  My mind keeps going back to Bron’s Guinevere yarn and musing on how splendid that would be, worked up into this pattern :)  As Easter’s coming, and as there will be (hopefully) lots of Egg dying kits marked down after next Sunday, I’m hoping to be able to nab a bunch and maybe try my hand at it (the yarn dying, that is) with those dyes and some Lionbrand Fisherman’s wool.

Happy Monday, all!