OhSewCrafty

Q1 Wrapup.... Stitchy Progress and Otherwise

The year is flying by! I've managed to stick to the plan, so far.  

88 / 90 days in the first quarter saw some stitchy progress.  Not necessarily a lot every day, but at least a thread or two.  Lord's Prayer is coming along... I got some extra time on it at the end of March, in my "bonus" rotation.  I'd say it's about half done now.

I started 6 projects and finished 4.4.  The finish number includes "mini" finishes (or parts) calculated proportionally.  Here is the March edition of the Mini Mandala SAL.

My "estimated time to complete" has worked out pretty well so far.  In most cases, I finished in less days than the "time target".  So I have more (estimated) free days now than I did at the beginning of the  year.  That means I have time to start a few things, like for Maynia.  And I'll need to start more than a few I want to rotate 15 projects in the 15 days.  Bright & Beautiful Spring Bird is on track for a finish very soon, which will be a few days less effort than the 14 I had estimated for 2018.

Perhaps most importantly I've continued on the journey towards physical wellness.  I've lost about 15 lbs, and gained lots of strength and endurance.  The body boss method is pretty amazing, in my opinion.  (I'm in week 7, of the 12 week program, after doing 4 weeks of the pre-training program)  I never realized you could get such a crazy workout at home, without a gym or class or any expensive equipment. Diet is another piece of it though (equally important if not more so).  I eat pretty clean, but I could do better.  Easter candy is a challenge!  For me health isn't about deprivation, but rather balance (or moderation).  That's a rather blurry line, sometimes.  Tuesday are for recovery/light cardio.  I love all variations of the warrior pose, they make me feel so strong.  When you're pushing hard with HIIT (high intensity interval training), recovery is key and yoga is part of that.  

 

January Snowflake Wreath + Baby Shower

My house felt so bare after taking down all the Christmas lights and decorations.  I felt inspired to make a snowflake wreath for the front door.  I needed something pretty and sparkly to brighten up the cold days and long nights during a "polar vortex" with record low temps; plus I wanted something decorative on the front door for my baby shower.

The base is a grapevine wreath, spray painted white.  The paint was delivered in 3 light coats on each side.   Complete coverage wasn't the goal, I only wanted a a cool tone.  I first went to Michaels and picked up the blue snowflake ornament, foliage, some foam snowflakes, and small wood snowflakes that I intended to paint white and silver, alternately.  Then I went to AC Moore and found a big pack of the sparkly white snowflakes that were ultimately the main ornament(s) on the wreath; I'm sure I'll find a use for the other stuff eventually. Some of the items were attached by winding their "stems" through the grapevines while others were attached with silver wire.  

On a somewhat related note (same color scheme), here are some pics of my baby shower decorations- the theme was "The Little Prince".  The gorgeous floral arrangement was a centerpiece.  My baby shower was so nice, and my family and friends did so much-beautiful decorations, delicous food, and fun games.  I am grateful and feel blessed.  

Bottle bunting.  Mantle decorations.   Sugar cookies with royal icing that I made as favors.  

My first time with royal icing and it was a success!  I used the recipe on the Wilton meringue powder jar.  It took a lot of water to thin it down- I used the 10 second rule and the same icing for both lining and flooding, waited about 30 minutes after lining to flood.  A number 2 tip was utilized for everything, because that is the only round tip I have.  A number 1 tip would have been preferable for the outlining and details however.  This was a fun project, and I look forward to making more of these in the future.  You could get seriously creative with the royal icing!  

Christmas Crafts 2013 Part 2 (Mostly Sewing)

On the 12th day of Christmas, here is the rest of my 2013 Christmas crafting!

I've always wanted to craft an advent calendar, but none of the patterns I ever saw quite fit the bill.  It had to be sewn for long term durability.  The numbered pockets had to be of sufficient size, and scattered throughout so you have to hunt for the appropriate number each day (that is part of the fun IMO).  It had to be sparkly and colorful, playful but not cutesy.  I finally saw this panel by Henley Studio for Makower UK at Fabric.com on sale for ~$5!  It has metallic gold accents throughout and a fun design.  Of course you still have to buy backing and batting, but the overall cost is quite reasonable and this is an easy project, completed in two evenings.  Pithy directions are printed on the panel, but you can find more detailed instructions online at Makoweruk.com. 

My finished calendar is 20" wide by 27.5" tall.  The pockets are just big enough for a Ghiradelli chocolate square.  If I wanted to put multiple items in each, I might try Dove promises. I used my walking foot to put it all together, successfully for the first time.  What do you know, reading the directions (or watching online tutorial) can help.  Slowing the machine speed down below medium is critical, at least for my machine.  It's a Brother CS 8072.  Great all purpose machine that can work for quilting- it accommodates a walking foot and the feed dogs can drop for free motion quilting- but quilting is not its forte.

The back has a sleeve, though which you can stick a narrow wood dowel; tie a cord or ribbon to each side of the dowel to create a hanger.  However, once I hung it up in my kitchen, the whole thing got a bit distorted.  It doesn't have enough body without some additional quilting/tying. So, next year I plan to quilt around the border and tie at inconspicuous places throughout; I don't want visible quiliting all over it.  

 I made three stuffed 9" tall, 6-sided trees as centerpiece / table decor, following this excellent tutorial by The Sewing Directory.  I only had one type of fabric so my trees are the same on all sides.  Each tree requires a lot of polyfill and my three trees required almost a yard of fabric.  Because of how the pattern is cut on the fold, you can't cut half the trees facing up and half facing down, and there is significant wastage.  Of course, you could mirror image the pattern and cut it flat, half up and half down.  That would save fabric, but require twice as much cutting.

Though it's not part of the tutorial, I embellished the points by sewing on beads and crystals, which I felt was needed to jazz up the trees.   A spot of hot glue was necessary to straighten the large bead at the top.    It's an easy project, but handsewing on 19 beads per tree takes some time. 

 

Here is my Christmas place setting.  The runner, placemats, and napkins are the "Joyous Holiday" pattern; I picked it up at Bed Bath and Beyond last year.  I beleive it's discontinued, but I called around and managed to pick up 4 more placemats and napkins this year.  With the baby on the way and my dining table which seats 8 or 10, I like to have 8 place settings.  The red beaded chargers are from BB&B; they are quite reasonable at $10 for a box of 6.  The dishes are the Pfaltzgraff Winterberry pattern, which I began collecting around 10 years ago.  I'm not a huge fan of stoneware (I prefer porcelein; my everyday dishes are Mikasa Antique White) but I've never seen another Christmas pattern I like as much as Winterberry.  

The napkin rings are crafted by moi.  I cut 1" sections off a paper towel core (gentle sawing with an exacto knife works well for this).   Then I cut 2 x 6.5" rectangles of ivory jacquard fabric.  I centered the fabric and secured around the cardboard ring with a spot of hot glue every 1/2 inch- folded the lenghtwise excess over the end for a narrow hem and glued over the beginning.  Then I folded the widthwise excess to the inside of the ring on both sides and secured with hot glue every 1/4 inch.  I hacked apart some fake fir and berries and hot glued at the base of each ring, over the ivory jaquard "seam".  Then I hot glued a narrow cranberry ribbon around the base of each ring, covering up the attachment point of the foliage.

 This isn't exactly a craft, but it's artistic I suppose.  I made a Buche de Noel using recipes from several different sources.  The icing and meringue mushrooms were from Saveur- the meringues were baked a day in advance and the icing creates a ton, but it is nice to have excess.  The cake was from Real Simple (steps 1-4).  My first attempt was tasty, but it did not roll... it stuck to the buttered parchment when I did the inititial roll up around a kitchen towel, and later when I unrolled it off the towel, the cake broke into sections.  The second time, I melted down 1 tbs of butter and brushed it thoroughly all over the parchment pre-baking, and skipped the kitchen towel.  I decided on a mocha cream filling- here's the recipe: Chill your mixing bowl and wire whisk.  Sprinkle 1 tsp gelatin over 1/4 c cold water, let sit 5 minutes.  Microwave 3 min, stirring after each minute, then let stand at room temp for 10 minutes until it is still liquid but no longer hot.  Meanwhile, in your cold mixing bowl, whisk together 3 tbs sugar, 2 tbs cocoa, 1 tsp instant espresso powder, 2 tbs cold heavy cream, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.  Add another 14 TBS cold heavy cream (the remainder of 1 c total heavy cream) and whip until mixer marks start to show.   With mixer running, add the liquid gelatin in a slow, steady cream and continue whipping until you get stiff peaks.  So, then spread the mocha cream over the cake, leaving a few inches uncovered at one short end.  Start rolling up from the opposite short end, letting the parchment fall away.  Slice a few inches off at one end, diagonally, to make a "stump".  Transfer the log to a serving platter and secure the stump on top of the log with some icing.  Melt 1/4 c of the icing and let it cool so it's still liquid but not hot.  Spoon the liquid icing over the vertical stump, covering it completely.  Apply the icing to the rest of the log using  an offset spatula and run the tines of the fork all along the log to create texture.  Decorate with the mushrooms.  Overall, this project requires a lot of time, but it's fun.  It turned out cute and tasted divine!   

 

 

2011 Wrapup

Well, I knitted over 27,000 yards in 2011.  Some of this yardage represents projects where the knitting is finished, but it's not yet in the wardrobe due to lack of seaming, etc.  Subtracting those, I am left with 36 projects.  And now for some fun statistics.... I knit more accessories this year, with the pie almost evenly split between garments and accessories.  Hats accounted for most of the accessories, for some reason I was really inspired to knit up toppers; a few were gifts.  Lots of lightweight yarn was used, with 37% of my projects made with sport, fingering, or laceweight.

The highlights of my crafting experience(s) in 2011 were all knitting and/or kitchen related, since I hardly got around to my other hobbies.  Sewing was limited to a box bag in January, which was novel and fun, and frantic men's shirt-making for Christmas, while cross stitching was only an old project, a tree skirt, which only got a bit of attention in December before I set it aside in favor of gift-crafting.  I started using my ice cream maker this year, and churned out some truly delightful treats.  In fact, I've pretty much spoiled myself for the commercial stuff.  My favorite was the mint chocolate chip made with fresh mint leaves, yum!  I also made a ton of candy and treats as Christmas gifts: caramels, truffles, sugared cranberries, marshmallows, hot chocolate mix, and cinnamon bread.  Lastly I also made an apple pie and sweet potato casserole for Christmas dinner.  Whew, that was a lot of work, but everything was well received and delicious if I do say so myself.

Knitting wise, a few of the highlights were knitting with a lovely pure silk yarn, Louisa Harding Mulberry, for my Samba top (left).  I loved working up my vintage-style short sleeve red sweater; the lace up front is a nice detail (center).  Alice was an interesting challenge, true knitted lace for the most part worked in a deep midnight blue for some cool gothic charm (right).

Other faves include Lizette (right), basically a feat of pattern modification.  The pattern as written would have looked terrible on me, but I measured, sketched, calculated, and made it work!  Skelf (center) was really fun to knit, almost like magic as you work on the WS while the pattern emerges on the RS.  I picked out the buttons at Webs, and finished it the night before Rhinebeck, that was a super fun weekend!  Salina (right) was not so much fun to knit (not a fan of the yarn), but the FO is just so wearable.  I really do love Kim Hargreaves' aesthetic.

Lastly, I'll share a few special accessories.  The Glorious Cabled Mitts (right) were my first project on size zero needles, and I actually knit them twice (second time was a gift for my sister).   The Orchid Thief shawl (center) was fun and challenging in a way, as the pattern is a bit cryptic, plus the yarn, Stricken Smitten Shimmer Glimmer, is truly lovely.  The Gwynedd hat (right) is fun to wear, a bright punch of green with whimsical style.  It kept me on the edge of my seat, as it used all but a few inches of one skein.

In 2012, I will repeat one of my goals from last year: sew and cross stitch more.  I really want to finish the tree skirt, which I began a long time ago (2002, maybe?) and have it under the tree for Christmas 2012.  As for sewing, I'd like to make some more clothes.  I've rediscovered the fun of wearing dresses and I'd love to have more in my closet.  Also, I'd like to sew knits.  From what I've heard, this is easy, but I learned to sew on wovens, so that is my comfort zone.  As far as knitting, I am truly committed to stashdown.  I'll just state it publicly: I have over 200,000 yards of yarn, which is kind of ridiculous.  I need to use what I have and stop buying so much.  My offical goal is to stashdown 10,000 yards but 20,000 would be nice.  On a physical wellness front, I want to stay active.  I discovered yoga in 2011; its myriad physical and mental/spiritual benefits.  One of my resolutions is to keep and develop my practice.

Things Purple: Recipe & New WIP

Blueberry ice cream: Isn't this pretty?  Delicious, and not too fattening, either.  The recipe is adapted from Cooking Light- see below.  

The lacy thing is Ysolda's Orchid Thief shawl in progress (okay, blocking), from "Brave New Knits". The yarn is Stricken Smitten Shimmer Glimmer fingering in Blackberry Diamond, absolutely lovely and pure pleasure to knit.  It's a pretty quick pattern, entirely charted so you must be comfortable with charts and the dynamics of adding repeats as the stitch count grows.  The charts in the book have some errata; Ysolda's website has the corrections.

Blueberry Ice Cream: Ingredients: 2 cups blueberres (fresh or frozen; I used some of each), 1/4 cup blueberry jam, 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 tsp salt, 3 large egg yolks, 2 cups 2% reduced fat milk, 2 tbs lemon juice, 1 tsp vodka. 

Directions: Combine the first four ingredients in a medium sized non-reactive saucepan (ie, not aluminum); cook over med-high heat to boiling, then decrease heat to med-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let the blueberry mixture cool, then puree in a blender.  Meanwhile, whisk egg yoks & sugar together in a metal bowl for about about 5 minutes, until thick and pale.  Heat the milk in a small saucepan on the stove until steaming and almost boiling (small bubbles around edge), but not a full boil.  Take 2/3 cup of hot milk and drizzle slowly into egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Slowly return the tempered egg mixture to the pot on the stove, and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes (until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and not drip if you run your finger across it).  Stir in pureed blueberry mix and then cool completely in the fridge.  I like to throw a tray of ice cubes in a large metal bowl, add a few cups of water, then fill a medium metal bowl with the ice cream mixture and let the medium bowl float inside the larger bowl- stick the whole thing in the fridge for at least one hour.  When cool, stir in the lemon juice and vodka.  Freeze/churn according to the instructions for your ice cream maker.  Let it firm up in the freezer for a few hours for a good scooping consistency.

Recipe: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Mint Chocolate Chip is my favorite ice cream flavor and I consider myself somewhat of an afficiando.  Well, this version is the best I ever had, it packs a vivid mint flavor, is wonderfully rich and creamy, and has good slightly chunky texture from the chocolate bits.  Not bad for my first foray into ice cream making; the inspiration was to use several egg yolks left over from C's birthday cake, which used whites only.  The ice cream maker was a wedding gift and I can't say why I waited so long to use it, but I've already put it to use again for a different flavor.

The recipe is (slightly) adapted from Simply Recipes.  Makes 1 quart.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup fresh mint leaves, torn from stems, rinsed, drained, packed (this is what I got from one bunch of fresh mint at Whole Foods)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream (divided)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Pinch salt
• 6 eggs (divided, yolks only)
• 6 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 2 tsp creme de menthe

1.  Cook the mint leaves along with the milk and 1 cup of the heavy cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat just until steaming; don't let it boil.  Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 30 minutes.

2.  While the mint is infusing, chop the chocolate finely and then store in the freezer.  Sseparate the eggs if not already done.

3.  Reheat the mint mixture again over medium heat until steaming.  Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes.

4.  While the mint is infusing for the second time, pour the remaining cup of heavy cream into a medium sized metal bowl.  Take a larger metal bowl, dump lots of ice in there and enough cold water to make the ice float.  Let the medium bowl float atop the ice water and set a mesh strainer over top. 

5.  Strain the mint mixture into a separate bowl, pressing against the mint leaves with a spoon to extract as much liquid as you can.  Discard leaves.  Return the milk mixture to the saucepan, add the sugar and salt, stir until sugar dissolves and heat over medium heat until steaming.  Remove from heat.

6.  Whisk the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl.  Pour the warm milk mixture in narrow stream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper them.  Return the warmed egg yolks to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.  Scrape the bottom as you go.  Cook just until the mixture has thickened, and coats the back of the spoon without running if you run your finger across it, about 5-10 minutes. 

7.  Immediately remove the mixture from heat and pour through the strainer from Step 4 into the cold cream to stop the cooking.  Stir in the peppermint extract and creme de menthe.  Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for a few hours, until thoroughly chilled.

8.  Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  I let mine go for 25 minutes, and it was still pretty soft at the end.  Then gently fold in the frozen, chopped chocolate.  Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours if you want a good consistency for scooping. 

The ice cream will last one week in the freezer, perhaps longer, but ours was was fully consumed by then!  This recipe is pretty involved, and does require quite a few bowls, but it's absolutely worth it! 

FO: Kernel Scarf + Christmas Baking

• Pattern: by Bonnie Sennott, from Knitty Fall 2009
• Yarn: Handmaiden Silk Twist, Stardust, almost 1 entire skein (437 yds)
• Needles/Size: 9.5" wide x 61.5" long, on US 4 needles
• Time to knit: 12 days in October/November 2009

 

This is a great pattern; I love the diamond lace and the bead detail on each end.  The chart is clear, though I had trouble memorizing the stitch pattern.  I think that was due to the fact that my home was in major upheaval at the time due to unexpected repairs and renovation.  In fact this project helped preserve my sanity.  As for the yarn, it's possibly the nicest yarn I've ever knit with.  Supremely soft, wonderful drape, subtle shimmer, and it also feels sturdy, unlike many fancy fingering weight yarns.  Silk Twist is ideal for anything worn next to the skin.  The hand-dyed colorway, Stardust, is a subtle meld of blues and grays.  Next time I need a luxurious hand dyed, I'll definitely take a look at the Handmaiden line.  

 

For the finishing, I used the blocking wires that my parents gave me for Christmas.  I soaked the scarf in warm soapy water, rinsed, then spun it out in a salad spinner.  I threaded the wires through the edges but by the time I got it all laid out and pinned down under tension, the scarf was pretty much dry.  So I spritzed it and steamed it.  A day later, it was dry, I removed the wires and the size remained static, the lace open and flat.  Probably not a surprise to those who knit a lot of lace, but for me it seemed like a miracle as I've only knit a few large lace pieces in the past, and none of those projects really blocked successfully, perhaps due to yarn choice (why oh why did I knit my diamond fantasy scarf in cotton?).  It was a chilly twilight when these photos were taken, but here's one more to show that the scarf is indeed long enough to wear folded.

 And now for something completely different, the Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart I made for Christmas dinner.  The recipe is by Barefoot Contessa and it's just fabulous, part of my winter holiday repertoire.  I've never been a big fan of pumpkin pie, but this dessert has a much lighter texture and brighter taste due to a few notes of citrus.  It was delicious, as usual.  Merry Christmas!  

 

Knitting FO (+ Cake!)

• Pattern: #17 Gilet from Phildar Tendances Printemps 2003
• Yarn: Phildar Plaisance (cotton/acrylic), ~ 7 balls
• Gauge/needles: 5.75 spi on US 4 (maybe, can't remember)
• Time to knit: Well, the finishing took years

 

I started this project in 2004, probably finished the bulk of the work within a few months, but the finishing took years.  I just didn't feel like knitting a 1x1 ribbed narrow band for 135 cm, and then seaming it all around the fronts and around the neck.  I also had grave reservations about the style... let's face it, who over the age of 21 or so needs extra fabric around the stomach?  Last summer, I finished it off, decided I could wear it with a cute sundress, but never did.

Enter my gorgeous little sister, whose chest is about the same size as mine, but she's shorter, has a smaller frame, and most importantly, not quite 15 years old.  She liked the sweater, and she can rock the style, so it's hers.  I hope she gets some use of it, but even if the sweater only gets worn once, that would be better than aging quietly in a drawer, I suppose.

So the occasion for the family meetup was Father's Day.  My dad is possibly even more crazy about chocolate than I am, and I was dying for an excuse to try this cake I found on Smitten Kitchen.  The recipe was easy, if time consuming (requires a lot of time cooling/chilling, otherwise, it would be near impossible to work with).  The cake is perfectly moist and quite light for a chocolate cake- there's no butter in it, the primary liquids/oils were water, canola oil, and sour cream.  Then there's a cream cheese-peanut butter frosting.  I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese icing, but you couldn't even distinguish the flavor, really, it was only salty-sweet, fluffy, and peanut-buttery!  I went pretty light on the frosting and had some leftover- did a crumb coat, which worked great and allowed me to use less overall.  On top is the peanut butter chocolate ganache- that was the most fun, dumping warm ganache on a cool cake.... Well, the cake was a success, judging by the complete silence from my dad's end of the table as he devoured his slice in short order.  Honestly, if you like the chocolate/peanut butter combo you have to try this recipe.  Follow it to the letter and you will not be disappointed.

Happy Birthday my dear! + Sewing (his and hers!)

Today is C's birthday but we celebrated last night as it was a holiday.  My parents graciously provided a fabulous meal, while I baked the Strawberry Chiffon Cake.  Though I typically bake a red velvet cake, this year he wanted to mix it up.  He loves strawberry shortcake, and when I saw Smitten Kitchen's cake, the tall height said "celebration" to me.  And I love to celebrate birthdays in high style!  The cake was pretty and C thought it tasted better than it looked.  The layers even held together well while cutting and serving; it was light and delicious.  My only mod was adding less than half an envelope of gelatin to the whipped cream, to stabilize it as I wanted it to hold together overnight.  I don't have a layer cutter, nor a knife long enough for the purpose, so I used dental floss to cut the layers crosswise.  It wasn't the easiest method, but it worked.  

We both happened to be wearing linen shirts that I sewed up, eh, let's say years ago.  I'm thinking 2003-ish.  C's shirt is Mccalls 8409, in brick red lightweight linen.  I used flat fell seams throughout, for comfort and durability.  It's an easy, straight forward men's shirt pattern, TNT for me.  Only the collar and cuffs require much skill, and of course the short sleeved version doesn't include cuffs.  

Mine is Vogue 2677 View B (OOP), made from navy handkerchief linen.  As I recall, I obtained the fabric crazy cheap from fabric.com.  I cut the 12, lots of pieces but the sewing was fun.  No mods, quick project.  Vogue rates this pattern "average"; challenging elements include the fact that every piece is cut on the bias, and the patience required to sew MANY narrow hems, but an adventurous beginner could handle it.  I love this shirt for its featherweight, perfect for hot summer nights, the deep vneck and flirty ruffles.  It requires a thorough pressing before each wear, as the ruffles tend to go awry, but no big deal.   This would be less of issue if I'd used a fabric with less "body", like chiffon.  The dark linen has the advantage of being opaque, a good thing when it's beastly hot and muggy outside and I do not feel like layering. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

For this year, our 7th Valentine's day together (egads, where has the time gone?!?) I baked my DH some cupcakes.  I used the recipe from Georgetown Cupcakes, found here.  Georgetown Cupcakes won the "Cupcake Wars" in the Washington Post, and IMHO has the best cupcakes available locally.  The recipe did not disappoint and I'll definitely use it again.  The only thing is, they must be watched carefully.... they took a bit longer than 20 minutes to bake, but you have to be careful not to bake them too long, or they'll dry out.  I tinted the icing pink and cut a heart-shaped stencil from some heavy paper, through which I sprinkled red sugar crystals.  The stencil worked out great, I think these cupcakes are really cute!  C consumed 2 cupcakes with almost alarming speed, so I suppose they got his approval.  I've been informed my Valentine's gift is still in the mail... C ordered a Namaste Newport bag for me!  

I have a few knitting FOs that need blogging, hopefully I can get some photos soon.