Introducing Logan Boulevard

It's been ages since I've released a pattern, but I hope you haven't forgotten about me!  This one's one of my favorites, and I'm now knitting my fifth one.  (Not pictured because I'm still knitting it.)

 Here's one I knit in Rios, Malabrigo's super-wash worsted-weight yarn.  I am wearing it as I type this!

 Here are a couple hats I knit for my brother and his wife.  I told them to frolic, and boy did they deliver!  Liz's hat is in Malabrigo Rasta, and Galen's is in Malabrigo Chunky.

And here is a Malabrigo Worsted hat for my Mom, looking classy as ever.

If the spirit moves you, please !  It's a pretty fun pattern, keeps you interested, and it's easier than you think!

Mother's Day

For the third Mother's Day in a row I've designed a shawl to give my mom, had a photo-shoot with her, and released the pattern.  It started with Wicker Park, a bottom-edge cast-on, sideways-knit shawl, with which I was very lucky, being incredibly inexperienced and pretty much flying by the seat of my pants as I knit it.  I had to purchase a second, then a third skein of Malabrigo Sock before I finished it, and thank goodness I took some notes (but not enough--trust me!) so I could write the pattern.

Last year's pattern, Sheridan, benefited from an additional year of experience with reading and writing patterns; also my realization that I could write the pattern on my iPhone, if I was on the go.  I got some pretty great pictures of this one with my mom!  Below is my favorite action shot:

This year I had a new benefit; I had made not one, not two, but three prototypes before making one for Mothers' Day.  The first was fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants and didn't warrant notes.  I tried again, months later, making a simple change, and found it to be so much easier.  In fact, this is the Mothers' Day shawl that gave the testers the least grief, which I take as a good sign.  Another change--this year I'm offering it for free!  Here we are, on my parents' roof, enjoying our (not exactly) matching shawls:

Yep!  Year 3 of this tradition brings you Martinmas Shawl, a free Ravelry download--enjoy!

Fat Elvis Chocolate Chip Cookies

We all know the famous sandwich: The Fat Elvis. Peanut butter, banana, and bacon, fried between two generously butter-slathered pieces of bread. They are so sinful, but also quite messy, and not conducive to packing them up in a lunch. Also, there is not enough chocolate. Naturally, I have solved this problem: I have made it into a cookie recipe that is better than the other Fat Elvis cookie recipes out there. Namely because I don't forget the bacon, but also because each of the three main ingredients--bacon, banana, and peanut butter--are used as both a crunchy and a wet ingredient.

These are the ingredients, the bold writing indicates necessary preparation:

1 cup each of brown sugar and white sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup each of butter and bacon fat (whenever you make bacon, save the fat in a bowl or a jar)

1 very ripe banana (if frozen, leave in a bowl on the counter in the morning with the stick of butter to soften)

enough creamy peanut butter to fill one cup, with the ripe banana occupying space in that cup

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda

4 slices bacon

a large handful each of salted peanuts and banana chips

First, chop the bacon into small pieces.

Place them evenly in a skillet, over medium-low heat to ensure even cooking.

While the bacon is sizzling, chop up the peanuts and banana chips: these and the bacon pieces will be the crunchy bits in your cookies.

Make sure to check on your bacon!

Place the bacon, when done, over a paper towel on a plate. Put the stick of butter in a measuring cup and pour the hot bacon fat over it.

As that will not be enough fat to fill up to one cup, take out your trusty jar of bacon fat, the one that's been waiting just for today, and fill it the rest of the way up to one cup. Bacon fat in a pyrex cup is not very pretty, but I'm showing it to you anyway. It's for your own good.

Stir this in with the sugar, and mix with your trusty mixer for a few minutes, until creamy.

The only thing prettier than bacon fat and butter in a pyrex cup is a very very ripe banana, sitting inside, coiled and juicy just like something very special man's best friend made:

Now scoop some peanut butter in there until it reaches one cup. The plop it into your mixing bowl and blend until smooth.

When it's smooth, add both eggs and keep mixing. After they are incorporated, add the vanilla extract. Yum! Now for the dry ingredients! Add them and mix at a low power; not too much, just enough to get it velvety.

Now add the crunchy ingredients! Stir this time with a wooden or bamboo spoon.

Make your hand look tiny compared with your large satchel of chocolate chips.

You may think I said a lot of chocolate chips. I said, throw in all the chocolate chips you have.

Mix it up and cover it with plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge. Preheat the oven.

Use this time to do the dishes, you slob!

That wasn't so hard! What were we doing again?

Oh yes! Cookies! Spoon lovely balls of dough on a greased cookie sheet.

And you know what they say about spooning...it leads to forking.

(Seriously, this is important as it helps distribute the heat while baking.)

Bake for eight minutes. They will not look done, but take them out anyway!

Leave them on the sheets for five minutes, which will let them to continue cooking, just a little. Then transfer them to a wire rack and restrain yourself from eating them until you die on top of a toilet. That's how the King went down.

Oh, you've been warned...

New Apartment!

I moved in with Doug, my amazing super-duper awesome boyfriend, at the beginning of August. I finally found my camera charger, so I finally got to take advantage of this wild orange wall in our living room as a backdrop. It was a little late in the day when Doug and I took pictures, so they came out a little blurry, but check out the color!

Sheridan

Finally, it's up! I've been so busy lately with Montessori teacher training, and then moving, that it's great to have some time to sit and edit...and then publish! Here are some photos:

My mom is lovely, isn't she? She's holding the DK-weight shawl that's knit with Noro Silk Garden Lite.
And here's the one I made for my grandmother, and boy was it hard to let go of. This is the DK-weight scarf, knit with Malabrigo Silky Merino.
And last, but not least, the fingering-weight shawl in Araucania Ranco Multi and Dream In Color Smooshy Starry Sock. So please, !

Free Pattern! Southport

This is a very simple, top-down ribbed hat that can be made as slouchy or as un-slouchy as you want. Fold up the edge, and you have a cozy beanie. Fold only the bottom, and you have a luxurious slouchy cap.

For this hat I used Noro Aya, a lovely combination of silk, cotton, and wool. I may try a second with Malabrigo merino worsted in Tortoise, which will be a much more masculine hat, and give it to Mr. Doug. (This hat was originally for him, but although he likes working with these colors in art, they really aren't colors he would normally wear. That's the kind of error one makes when one knits someone a hat after a single date...)

Fortunately for all of us, I wrote the pattern down as I knit it, and came up with a very simple design.

Materials: about 130 yards of any light worsted or dk yarn. For more memory, go with a wool yarn, but when tightly knit, cotton and silk work as well.

Set of 5 US4 double-pointed needles (or size needed to obtain gauge)

US4 16" circular needle (or size needed to obtain gauge)

1 stitch marker

yarn needle

Gauge: 17 stitches by 32 rows = 4" x 4" in stockinette

Important: Check your gauge because I personally have a very loose one. Aya recommends needle sizes between 5 and 7.

Special instructions:

m1R: Insert your left needle, from the front, under the yarn between the needles, making a new stitch. Knit that stitch through the back loop.

m1L: Insert your left needle, from the back, under the yarn between the needles, making a new stitch. Knit that stitch.

With your dpns, cast on 8 stitches. Divide between 4 needles and join in the round. Knit the first round.

Round 2: knit the front and the back of every stitch (kfb).

Round 3: knit.

Round 4: *kfb, k, kfb, k, repeat from *

Round 5: *k, p, k2, p, k, repeat from *

Round 6: *kfb, p, k2, pfb, k, repeat from *

Round 7: k1, (p2, k2) till last 3 stitches, p2, k1

Round 8: *k1, m1L, p2, k2, p2, m1r, k1, repeat from *

Round 9: *k2, p2, k2, p2, k2, repeat from *

Round 10: *k1, m1L, k1, p2, k2, p2, k1, m1r, k1, repeat from *

Round 11: *k3, p2, k2, p2, k3, repeat from *

Round 13: *kfb, k2, p2, k2, p2, k1, kfb, k1, repeat from *

Round 14: *k1, p1, (k2, p2) twice, k2, p1, k1, repeat from *

Round 15: *kfb, p1, (k2, p2) twice, k2, pfb, k1, repeat from *

Round 16: k1, (p2, k2) till last 3 stitches, p2, k1

Round 17: *k1, m1L, (p2, k2) 3 times, p2, m1r, k1, repeat from *

Round 18: *(k2, p2) 4 times, k2, repeat from *

Round 19: *k1, m1L, (p2, k2) 3 times, p2, k1, m1r, k1, repeat from *

Round 20: *k3, (p2, k2) 4 times, k1, repeat from *

Round 21: *kfb, (k2, p2) 4 times, k1, kfb, k1, repeat from *

Round 22: *k1, p1, (k2, p2) 4 times, k2, p1, k1, repeat from *

Round 23: *kfb, p1, (k2, p2) 4 times, k2, pfb, k1, repeat from *

When necessary, switch to 16" circulars, marking the start of the round with a marker. When finished with the increases, feel free to remove the marker and simply work in a 2x2 rib. Continue until your hat measures 9" from the top, or until desired length. Trust me that if your hat is much longer, it may look kind of silly.

Block very lightly, and weave in ends.

Free Pattern! Infinoro Scarf

Wow. It's been ages since I've updated, and I'm sorry. I can give all sorts of excuses: Christmas knitting, visiting my adorable baby cousin Aster, breaking up with Steve, meeting and falling in love with Doug, and procrastinating. Despite all these excuses, I want to make it up to you guys with this free pattern--it's very simple and quick, and should take not much more than 6 hours. So get a skein of your favorite chunky yarn (variegated or self-striping is best!) and a good book on tape (or NPR, or Netflix On-Demand) and get crackin'!

Gauge is not important, neither is number of stitches. For a longer loop, either cast on fewer stitches or provide yourself with more yarn. I simply knit until I had barely enough to graft it with the kitchener stitch.

Here's what I did and used:

1 skein Noro Transitions (Check this out: 55% wool, 10% silk, 7% angora, 7% camel, 7% kid mohair, 7% alpaca, and 7% cashmere...make up your mind, already!)

Size US 11 needles

1 audio file of Lolita by Nabokov

First, provisionally cast on 23 stitches (fewer for a longer, narrower scarf). Here's a good video by LunaKnits that taught me how to do it.

Odd rows: Knit.

Even rows: Knit one stitch, knit the next two stitches together, and then knit until one stitch remains. Lift the yarn between the needles with your left needle from the back of the yarn and knit that as a stitch. Knit the last stitch.

Continue these steps until you are nail-bitingly close to the end of your yarn. Finish with an even row.

Next, put the live provisional stitches on another needle. Put the end of your working yarn through a yarn needle, and graft the stitches together with the kitchener stitch. If you don't know how to do this, here's a tutorial from Stitch Diva Studios.

When you're finished, you may think, "Wow...this is not nearly long enough." It's time to block it! I soaked it in my bathroom sink and stretched it around my towel bar--that seemed to be a good size to make it stretch. In the morning I took it off, pulled the sides apart so it was flat, and laid it on my bed to finish drying. Later that day it was finished, and I happily wore it doubled as so:

Enjoy! I hope you like this super-simple scarf!