Purlewe

forwards and backwards plus jam

I started 2 baby sweaters last week. I completed one and had to stop on the 2nd. The completed one cannot be shown. I want to surprise the person receiving the gift. The other had to be stopped b'c of pesky values. The color value on 2 of the colors was too close. And instead of making a crappy sweater I am waiting for the next batch of yarn to make a different color choice. *sigh.

So no photos this week.

Instead, let's talk jam. What are your favorite flavors? Do you make your own? I love making my own jam. Perhaps I should do some soon. I have a great strawberry marm recipe that I love. And also this one that I made up.

RASPBERRY POMEGRANATE JELLY

1 pint raspberries (almost 12 oz)
24 oz pomegranate juice (just juice. nothing added. I used POM b'c of the no sugar, no other juices thing)
1.5 cups sugar
pectin (I use pomona, YMMV)

I put all ingredients in the pot and brought to the gel stage. I then went the extra mile of straining the seeds. Water bath in 1/2 pints for 10 minutes. yield: four 1/2 pints.

This has a bright garnet color and looks absolutely divine.

glamour shots

Went to visit my friend Lisa at Hidden River Yarns today for some knitting glamour shots.

Clarabell Mittens. 90% done. Calling this one for now until I want to do thumbs. I don't need thumbs right now.. as I won't be using these until next yr. But I think these sheepies are so cute.

My stepped ribbed shawl is BLOCKED and HUGE. It is now 20" wide and 6'6" tall. I love it. It was chilly today and kept me warm on my walk home.

A testknit for YellowCosmo. A gingko shawl. US4s with 4 skeins of Claudia Handpaint fingering yarn. Knit for HRY store in Lisa's favorite NFL colors. *cough*Steelers*cough* This was a fun pattern to testknit. Lisa was thrilled. I love how it curls ever so gracefully on or off your shoulders.

Blocking

Getting to the end of knitting a project is delicious. A feeling that is unparalleled. But with lace, you get that feeling twice. Once when you bind-off, once when you block.

199 and...

So I cast on my 199th project on Ravelry. A testknit shawl for Yellowcosmo. I happen to like her designs, and I feel like we have a good working relationship. It also nicely segued into a project for Lisa at Hidden River Yarn, showcasing their new Claudia Handpaint.

Isn't that nice? Lovely ink and mustard colors. Reminds me of my alma mater (black and old gold). Lisa likes it b'c she is a Steelers fan.

And I picked my next project (yup, Project #200!) and got the yarn out last nite. *drumroll* a fair isle baby sweater I've been wanting to make out of Quince & Co yarn!!! I loved working on those squirrel mittens out of Quince, and I just couldn't wait any longer to make this adorable BEE SWEATER!

Here are the colors I bought for it.

Gingerbread, bird's egg, carrie's yellow, and snap pea.

This means Jenn won the guessing game. I will get a prize to her this week.

long & tall

So I finished something I've been working on since October. I started the Step Ribbed Stole as something that I could work on without thinking too much. I guess I must have had a bunch of projects then that took up too much mental space. Projects that were not "just knitting". There is something to be said about having something to do without paying too much attention to it.

I love the yarn! It is Brooks Farm Mas Acero. I have always swooned over Brooks Farm at S&W shows, but I never can choose what to buy. I get overwhelmed and I leave. This was a gift from a friend. And I am ever so grateful that she did. About 1000 yds of Mas Acero to make myself something luscious.

The pattern is from Knitter's Book of Yarn. I've been steadily making almost everything from that book. There are 40 patterns and I think I've made about half of them.

What was fun tho, was just knitting until the yarn ran out. We are talking knitting and knitting and knitting. A man on the bus asked me when I would know I was done. I told him when the yarn ran out. He looked at me in disbelief- yarn runs out? but when will that be? How long will it be? I didn't care.. just until the yarn runs out was good enough for me.

I finished it Monday and I was shocked. This stole is (unblocked) about 6'6" tall.

I still have to block it, and I suspect that blocking it hard and wide will make it a little shorter.. but I am still thinking it will be about as long as I am tall.

squirrelly

Finished these up this weekend. Need to block them before I line them.

Quince & Co Finch, 2.0mm.