I did up a knit version of the toilet paper roll cover.



Pattern available at http://www.irishlace.net/knitting/toiletpaperroll.html

Ravelry page: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/toilet-paper-roll-cover-and-swatchy-doily

My lesson for this pattern is that I'm not good with random. I tried to stagger the decreases so they wouldn't form lines, but the end result was just lumpy and bumpy, with lines. So I ripped back, and did wedges. Much better.

This one is going to my mother.

A ceux qui m'ont trouvée par le lien à http://crochodile.canalblog.com/archives/2009/02/26/12365924.html ... welcome.

Si vous avez des questions sur la construction des couvertures ou des grannys ou de mes autres modèles, je serais heureuse d'essayer de vous assister.

(Was this even remotely grammatical? It's horrifying to realize how much my command of French has atrophied.)

For those whose French is even worse than mine... I have some pages on my website about granny square blankets. Crochodile (love that name!) posted about them, and I've seen an increase in visitors.

And this reminded me quite clearly that I need to update the website. It's not very user-friendly at this point.

I have patterns there that are only accessible through links elsewhere (no easy-to-find-and-follow links on the home page), and some of the image files are just horrendous. I'm not sure what compression I was using, but they're huge for no good reason.

So I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

I've finished it, written up a pattern of sorts, and posted it to Ravelry.

A little kitsch is good for the soul, right?

Crocheted, of course.

Full-on acrylic kitsch.

More than that, I've frogged and reworked one section several times, so it would look better.

There are times I wonder about myself.

Before braiding:


After braiding:


Pattern: http://www.irishlace.net/knitting/braidedgarterscarf.html
Ravelry page for pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/braided-garter-scarf
( Details )

( Or, forgetfulness can be a good thing. )

In the meantime, I have some pretty yarn and 16"/40cm circs. I'm feeling the strongest urge to make a hat. Perhaps I'll even use short rows.

Boring. But good.

Especially on plane rides.

I went to Houston recently, and I decided to knit on the plane. I had blunt suitable-for-children scissors and bamboo straights (US8/5mm). And Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton.



( details, because I'm not putting these on Ravelry )

So, that's what I did on my vacation!

My mother bought a Santa Claus doll that was supposed to hold a bell in one hand, but the bell was missing, and my mother didn't realize this until later. When she showed me the doll, she pointed out the missing bell. And really, it looked odd; the hand was definitely in a I'm-holding-something position. So, I figured I would make a pair of mittens for that Santa to hold instead of the bell. Blue, the same as the mittens I made for my mother.

Made with Knitpicks Swish worsted weight on US2/2.75mm needles. (When I weighed this, the scale flipflopped between 1 and 2 grams, so perhaps 4 yards/4 meters total.)

Cast on 8 stitches, join (without twisting) to knit in the round, knit 9 rounds, decrease to 4 stitches, run yarn through stitches to do a purse-string closure, pick up two stitches on the side for a 2 stitch i-cord thumb, work one round, bind off.

Repeat for the other mitten.

Cut a piece of yarn about 8"/20cm, tie it to one mitten, string the other mitten on it, and twist the yarn until it folds back on itself. Tie the ends together, and that's it!

The recipe as I got it from my mother, who got it from a woman named Pat Rushton in 1974 or so. (No idea where Pat got it.)

1 large egg
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat all these together.

Add:
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp soda
dash salt

Stir well.

Slowly add:
2 cups cortland apples
1/2 cup nuts

Bake at 350°F, 45 minutes shallow, 60 minutes deep.

Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

This recipe can be doubled.
--------------------------------------------
A few notes:
"Shallow" = 8" by 8" cake pan. "Deep" = 8" by 4" loaf pan.

The oil-based tea bread recipes from the 1970s seem to call for too much oil. I'm not saying this from a dietary standpoint, but from the standpoint that when the bottom 1/2" of a slice is grease-soaked, there's something weird going on. I'm not sure what happened, since I know these recipes worked in the 1970s, and I can only assume that something about the ingredients changed. Does canola behave differently from corn oil? Is flour milled differently now? I tend to use egg white products; does the lack of yolk (and the yolk's emulsifying abilities) make that much difference? No idea, but whenever I see a recipe calling for more than 1/4 cup oil to 1 cup flour, I change it.

In addition, I tend to use whole wheat where I can, and to use turbinado sugar if possible. (If you use white sugar, put in perhaps a tablespoon of brown sugar before measuring out the white sugar. It'll give a similar effect.)

With that in mind, here is the recipe as I made it (it's a double batch):
1/2 cup egg white product (not Egg Beaters, but a similar product)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup organic sugar
1 tsp vanilla (Penzey's double strength - yum!)

Beat all these together.

Sift together:
1/2 tsp nutmeg (Okay, I winged this. I just grated nutmeg until it looked about right.)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves (can't resist the cloves!)
2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp (baking) soda
1/4 tsp salt

(When I sift these ingredients together, I typically end up with some bran (a tablespoon or so) in the sifter. I just dump that in too. My main concern is making sure that nothing is clumping.)

Add to the wet ingredients, and mix well.

Measure:
4 cups of sliced/chopped cortland apples (Honestly, this is a really unfussy recipe. Slice, chop, whatever works. As a guideline... If you have something that looks like it would work on breakfast cereal (roughly the size/shape of banana slices or raisins), you're good.)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Add slowly to batter.

Grease and flour two loaf pans (mine are 8.5" by 4.5"), divide the batter into them, and bake at 350°F for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick (or skewer) comes out clean.

Basically, it's a two round granny square with a partial third round of two triple crochet shells.

Chain 4, join to form circle.

Round 1. Chain 3 (counts as first dc), 2 dc in circle, *chain 2, 3 dc in circle, repeat from * twice more, chain 2, join with slip stitch in top of starting ch-3. (This gives you four 3-dc shells, separated by ch-2 spaces)

Round 2. Slip stitch to next ch-2 space, chain 3 (counts as first dc), 2dc in same space, ch 2, 3 dc in same space, *ch 1, 3 dc in next space, ch 2, 3 dc in same space, repeat from * twice more, ch 1, join with a slip stitch in top of starting ch-3. (This gives you 8 3-dc shells in a more-or-less square shape. There are ch-2 spaces in the corners, and ch-1 spaces in the middle of the sides.)

Round 3. Slip stitch to next ch-2 space (this is one of the corners), *ch 1, 12 trc in next ch-1 space, join with a slip stitch in next ch-2 space, repeat from * once more. (Basically, you are making two 12-triple-crochet shells on two of the sides.)

Break yarn, weave in ends.

In (unkeyed) chart format, it looks something like this:


This sample was made with Caron One Pound worsted weight acrylic in peach, and a US H8/5mm hook. It measures 4"/10cm from side to side and 3.5"/9cm from top to bottom.

I have a headset phone at work. It's served me well for a number of years, but the foam coverings for the earpiece and mouthpiece were showing their age.

( So I decided to make replacements. )

Well, I finally got something done.

On the first weekend of the summer (temperature is 85F/20C), I finished a pair of mittens:


( Boring details )

Well, I don't have any new fiber projects done. Working on a blanket, but that's going really slowly, and I seem to be stalled on everything else.

Except singing.

Someone posted a poetry writing contest on knitting. And ordinarily, I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but she included "song" as one of the required words, and that made me think and before I knew it...

Listen as I sing my song,
Like a bird all a-twitter.
Days are short and nights are long,
In these cold days of winter.
I am glad my hands are full,
As I sit and dream,
Of bright and soft and squishy wool,
In red and green.

Apparently, they still use them. In fact, the woman in the voluntary services office who accepted the blankets said that the nursing home had been looking for blankets within the past week.

And now they have these two!


( Text behind here. )

A while ago, I started hanging around with a Bad Crowd. (Admittedly, I hang around with several Bad Crowds. And I'm usually pretty happy with this state of affairs.)

Anyway, I phoned one of the members of this particular Bad Crowd several weeks ago. (It's the ringy dingy. I can't stay away from it. It's even more addictive than that screen and the board with all the lettered buttons on it.) The Border Collie blanket was nearly done at that point, and I mentioned it.

As luck would have it, she is also involved in a nonprofit that holds a fundraising silent auction, and she mentioned to me that her group would gladly accept any blankets I cared to donate.

No. No. Absolutely not. I don't have time, I don't have energy. Nice try, but it's less than two months until the auction, and do you realize how long these things take?

Unfortunately, the damage had been done. My traitorous brain latched onto the idea, and within a week, I had the concept, half the yarn, and a new nickname for this so-called friend: The Eeeeeeeeevil One.

This is why:


( Some details )

The Border Collie blanket:


( a few more photos lurk behind this link )

Well, that's it for the moment!

The yellow and green blanket is done, and nearly ready to be dropped off at the nursing home. (Still needs a laundry label.) I think this is a stealth blanket, since I can't recall posting any photos of it.

I have 29 squares done for the blue-and-blue blanket: 7 light blue, 22 medium blue. (Yes, this means that in one month, I have done about 10 squares for this blanket.)

The squares for the cream and black blanket are done and are parked on my coffee table, awaiting assembly. (This is why I've made so little progress on the blue blanket. I was seduced by beige and black.) I figure it'll take me about 6 hours to assemble this and put the borders on.

The border collie blanket has been picked up by my cousin.

( She's asked me to write a description, so here goes! )

I'll take (and upload) some photos soon.

Because it means that when certain people (who shall remain nameless, but whose website is visible at http://3girls.us - yes, I'm looking at you, Ms Crocicrocuses!) phone me in the evening, I can hit pause on my FOTR DVD, and spend two and a half hours assembling a blanket.

And NO HEADACHE - whee!

The blanket currently looks something like this:


It's the Border Collie blanket, and it is done.

( A few comments, and a brief update. )