All in a Week

Hi Knitters,

First and quickly, there are a few spots open in the retreat I'm teaching at next month. It is going to be fantastic and I'm super excited about it. Maybe you could join us?

Here is the information: 

• April 11-12th, 2015 Stitch 'n Bitch Retreat for the DC area, in Solomons, MD on the Chesapeake Bay

If you are interested in finding out more please email Marie at: nofrogging@gmail.com

On to today's topic at hand. As we all know a lot can happen in one week. Here is a snippet of what has been going on around here over the past few days. 

I washed yet another stack of handknit socks, folded them and neatly tucked them into my sock drawer ready to wear again. These socks I washed on gentle with warm water in the machine. I dried them in the dryer on low until almost dry or slightly damp. I pulled them out and laid them flat to shape to complete the drying process. 

From top to bottom: Cakewalk yarns (discontinued), Kristin Nicholas Design Line Regia, Trekking XXL (discontinued), Opal Vincent Van Gogh (discontinued). 

As you can tell by all of the discontinued markings in the list sock yarn comes and goes so if you see any you like you should snatch it up before it's gone! 

I finished knitting the latest version in the Yowza Weigh It Shawl series. I'm pretty excited about this one. Yowza Weigh It 3 will be available very soon and I'll most likely run a discount code at the time of release. I bound off Yowza 3 and ended with 4 grams of yarn leftover from an 8 oz. skein of yarn. That's a pretty good use of ALL of the yarn.

Yowza is a giant 8 oz., 560 yard skein of 100% super wash wool, hand-dyed by Miss Babs. The skein in the photo is in the Berlin colorway.

Click here for Miss Babs!

This one is the same theory, you cast on and never count the stitches or rows again. You simply keep track by weighing your yarn in two key places. Garter stitch away and end up with a new shawl shape to love!

Click here for Yowza Weigh It Shawl 1, and Yowza Weigh It Shawl 2!

We are feeling a lot of excitement around here about the slight warming up after experiencing the coldest February on record since 1936. We didn't get much snow this year, only 30 inches for the entire season, but it has been a long stretch of bitter cold temperatures. As soon as it gets over 30 degrees in Wisconsin people are wearing shorts and everyone is outside. It's pretty fun to see.

So we hiked through slushy snow-covered trails on the first warm (over 30 degrees) day and we had a ball. Today it is supposed to get in the 50s and the snow has already taken a major beating. You can bet the sidewalks and trails will be full of happy Madisonians today including me.

The always adorable Miss Molly (my future daughter-in-law) finished her first sweater! It is the Louise cardigan by Carrie Bostick Hoge. Molly used the colors called for in the pattern but opted for Peacock as the blue color in the Quince & Co. Osprey yarn. I love the buttons Molly picked out, too. She purchased the buttons at the Wisconsin Craft Market and while she was there she picked up Cascade 220 for her next sweater.

I highly suggest Louise as a first cardigan. The pattern is clear and simple and well-written. 

And here she is! The cardigan fits Miss Molly perfectly and she is so proud. I have to tell a quick, funny story. Molly was at a meeting and her dad happened to be attending the same meeting. She was wearing her new handknit cardigan for the first time and her dad announced it to the people at the meeting. Everyone clapped for Molly! I love that so much. It's not everyone who gets a round of applause for finishing their first cardigan. 

Here's to Miss Molly! Good job. She has already cast on her next sweater, the Hiro pullover.

photo by carrie bostick hoge

Click here for the pattern information or to purchase the Louise Cardigan! 

Click here for Carrie Bostick Hoge's website!

And one last fun thing that happened last week was that I went out for lunch on the square which means downtown on the Capitol Square where the state capitol building sits. My sister picked me up, with her newly purchased 1950s accordion in the back seat (yes, it's true), and we met our sister-in-law at Graze. The food was delicious. Graze is a farm-to-table restaurant with delicious and innovative twists on food. For example, my sister's burger, upper left, is a beet and walnut burger with a homemade bun sprinkled with sunflower seeds. She loved it.

Click here to find out more about Graze!

Anyway, I loved my lunch and I've been to Graze for dinner before and loved that, too. If you are in Madison or visiting you should give it a go.

Thanks for joining me today. I am working hard on pattern writing for two shawls and editing my latest book manuscript for the second time. I have a couple of additional samples I need to knit up for the book project, too. It's always something. 

Have a great rest of your week.

xo ~ susan

p.s. Next time I am sharing a smattering of the finished shawls from our recent shawl knitalong. I am organizing that now. Can't wait.

Winter Wonderland

Hi, Knitters,
This morning we woke to a true winter wonderland. Overnight, a crystal frost formed covering every limb and tiny branch on all of the trees. The sun was shining and the snow was blindingly bright. The best part of it was that the gentle wind was blowing the snow off the trees in our front yard and it seriously looked like a real-life snow globe out there. My husband and I just sat and watched out the front window for few minutes. It was fantastic and dreamy.

I snapped the pine tree above on my run later in the morning. The pines are so beautiful right now as they are coated with heavy snow and it is simply breathtaking. On the down side of this picturesque snowfall there are broken tree branches littering yards and entire trees uprooted from the weight of the heavy snow. In our neighborhood I've seen a couple of huge pine trees that uprooted and tipped right over. That is sad. The snowstorm was the second biggest 1-day snowfall total (around 18-inches) in Madison's history.

I can't get over the beauty of it all even with the tree issues.

One good thing with the cold temperatures and snow is that the outdoor skating season has arrived. Last year we didn't get to skate at all due to the warm temperatures and that was disappointing. Madison has many gorgeous maintained outdoor skating venues. We have a few favorites. Today we hit Tenney Park with its brand new warming house. This is actually a frozen lake area, well maybe it's more of a lagoon. There are bridges and windy areas to explore.

Here is my husband skating away. He is surprisingly good considering he hasn't skated all that much in his lifetime. He is just coordinated that way. He just had a birthday, too. We have lots of birthdays at this time of year in my family, the celebrations don't end on Christmas. My dad's birthday was right on Christmas but I don't ever remember a big to-do about it. We usually gave him a card and said happy birthday but then went on with Christmas. He never seemed to care much about it or was used to it anyway. My niece was born on the 26th of December and my husband on the 29th. My sister's anniversary is on the 27th and my parents' anniversary was on the 18th. It has always been a big month for lots of reasons.

TC has gotten to be a good little skater. She can jump and spin and do foot work. Those lessons have really paid off for her. My son bought her those pants for Christmas. They are her new favorite. They are like a waffle shirt fabric with snowflakes. She is so cute.

I love looking at everyone's knitwear at the rink, hats, scarves, cowls, mittens, sweaters. It is a feast for the knitter's eyes. I even got a couple of inspirations for a new hat pattern.

Here is my son and his girlfriend, Miss Molly. She has been knitting up a storm lately. She is almost finished with some new socks for her sister and she knit a bunch of my tree ornaments and tiny sweater ornaments for the season. She is enjoying the time off from college at semester break.

Tenny Park is such a great place to skate. It is lined by adorable old houses, some quite colorful. I love to skate here.

Now for a bit of knitting, I picked up a mere 384 stitches for the button bands on my Belfast Hoodie. I have worked 3 long rows in rib and now I am on the buttonhole row. I think I am going to add a fourth button, it is written for three. Then I have two pockets to work and it is finito! I'm so close.... it's exciting.

I got my son a new bread baking cookbook for Christmas. Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day was recommended to me by a neighbor who is an expert bread maker so I took his advice. My son has been making bread ever since. It smells like heaven in our house, and tastes like it, too. I gave my sister, who is an excellent cook and baker, this same book. I think she will enjoy it.

It has been so busy in our house but we even snuck in a Badger basketball game yesterday to boot. We were gifted 6 tickets to the game so we couldn't resist gathering everyone up to head to the game. We had fun even though it wasn't an exciting game. I think the Badgers won by 30 points or something like that.

Well, happy new year to you all! I will be back with a review and giveaway on January 2nd, 2013. And then I'm considering doing a year in review-type post later in the week (we'll see if I can get that together or not) and then the Waiting for Winter Mitt-along ends on January 5th. Prize drawings for that will come shortly after. There are over 120 finished pairs of mittens and mitts already posted for the knitalong. I can't believe that number considering we did the knitalong right over the holiday season.

There is much to look forward to in the upcoming year and I thank you, as always, for sharing your time and knitting with me on this blog year after year. It is such a place of comfort for me and that's mainly because of all of you! I love it here.

Take care, dear Knitters.

best, susie

Eat Local, Knit Local

Hi, Knitters,
The Madison Farmers' Market, which is officially called the Dane County Farmers' Market, is an amazing treat during the spring, summer and early fall seasons around here. It takes place every Saturday morning and the vendors circle the capitol square. The beauty and vastness of the market takes my breath away every time I go. Usually we have swim meets on Saturday mornings in the summer so we don't get a chance to go too often until the summer swim season is over.

Last Saturday we went to the gigantic market and I think the end of the season is the best time to go. Everything is rich and robust and the colors just knock you out. This particular Saturday was especially energized because another event, The Taste of Madison, was set to start immediately following the market. The Taste of Madison is an enormous food market where foodies get to sample small portions of every kind of food you could think of for $1-4 from 84 restaurants and caterers from the area. There are three live music stages going at different offshoot streets from the square as well. This is another hugely popular event on the square. Both my brother and sister attended this one later that afternoon. On top of all of that action, the University of Wisconsin students were just back to campus life and there was the first Badger football game of the season. Badger red was the color of choice that day.

Click here for the Dane County Farmers' Market website!

Click here for the Taste of Madison website!

As we were walking around the colorful market, taking in the fun atmosphere and beautiful fresh produce, my husband turned to me and said, "Why would we live anywhere else?" I agreed. Madison is definitely our city.

 Radishes are so incredibly beautiful to look at.  They get me every time.

 I didn't know that rhubarb came in different colors. Rhubarb reminds me so much of my mom and her seasonal rhubarb pie. That was an annual treat at our house when I was growing up. Added later: I've been told this is not rhubarb but Swiss Chard. Still looks like colorful rhubarb to me, I can dream there is such a thing. Does Swiss Chard taste like rhubarb?

 Eggplants? I am pretty sure these are some type of eggplant, pretty no matter what.

 Heirloom tomatoes and colorful cherry tomatoes. The. Best.

 Ahhhhh, the glorious sunflowers. I wait every year for the sunflower season.

 Someone had the perfect eye-catching display idea here. Powerful carrot impact on the eyes!

 We found the queen bee and watched for a moment. Hard workers those bees.

Then suddenly I ran across a small booth with a tiny shelf display of yarn. There was a young man in the booth and I asked him about the wool. The farm is called, Shady Blue Acres, located in southwest Wisconsin. They sell organic meats, vegetables and wool from their heritage sheep. They have Romney, Rambouillet and Tunis breeds. Their wool is milled at the Blackberry Ridge mills in Mt. Horeb, which is about a half hour away from me.

Shady Blue Acres has an interesting story behind it. Click here for their website.  The Tunis sheep breed isn't mentioned in their Heritage Sheep text section but there are photos of this breed in the slide show of sheep.

Click here to find out about the Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill. I have visited this mill before and had a tour and it was really interesting and fun.

I came away with a beautifully twisted skein of 226 yards of a medium weight yarn of Tunis wool. The skein cost me $10. It is the bounciest and squishiest skein you could imagine. I am in love with this skein for some reason, slightly obsessed. I have held it and squished and smelled it many times since it came home with me. I am thinking of dyeing it but I have no idea how to do that. 

Any suggestions in the dyeing area are very welcome! Anyone? 

Also, I am thinking I might have to go to the market next Saturday and get more. I asked if he did mail orders online and he said I could email him and they would charge me through Paypal but he seemed hesitant. I am thinking I would love a sweater in the Shady Blue Acres Tunis wool though.

 TC rested her toes for a moment.

 I literally held my Tunis wool like a baby while we walked around the rest of the square. TC bought me a maple sugar sucker which I promptly stuck in my yarn. It was a pretty sweet combination.

And then I ran into this booth! Again, the Wisconsin Highlands Farms offered fresh off the sheep wool and roving milled at the same Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill. I had to get a couple of balls of the fluffy white roving on the top shelf. I got 6.5oz for about $12. I might have to dye this, too. Any ideas in  simple dyeing techniques for a novice are again welcome here.

Click here for a fantastic little article in the Isthmus about the Wisconsin Highlands Farms wools! It's a pretty interesting read for anyone interested in the sheep and wool business.

 Next we happened to run into my niece and nephew on State Street. They were on their way to a tailgate and then to attend the Badger game. 

I admired my woolly purchases on the quick car ride home. I can't believe my good luck. What a great way to start the long weekend.

Have a good Tuesday!

best, susie

Progress Inside and Out

Hi Knitters,

Progress is being made on the second baby cardigan for the Vogue Knitting Live Class I am teaching on October 28th in Chicago. I am using these tiny cardigans as my class samples and also for my project for the Itty-Bitty Knits Ravellenic Team for my Ravelry Group. The green stripes are fresh and fun. This little version is going to have short sleeves  and maybe a hood or a matching hat. This class is all about options and making the cardigan you want.

Click here to see the classes at VK Live in Chicago! 

Click here for the Itty-Bitty Knits Ravelry group!

We are loving our garden this summer. Everyday we are bringing in fresh vegetables that quickly vanish. Cucumbers are winning the production rate so far this summer. I can't believe how fast cucumbers grow. When we bring them inside, they get sliced up and thrown in salads or dipped in Trader Joe's Cilantro Dressing (click here for the link to this dressing) for a speedy snack. This dressing is delicious and by far my favorite. I like it on everything.

The kids started snacking like crazy on peppers last spring and haven't quit. They love them. I was even slicing them up and putting them in baggies to bring to school for a snack. We have been buying large numbers of red, green and yellow peppers. We'll see if that continues this school year. I love them, too, they are so crunchy.

One of my favorite things in the summer is to slice up a garden tomato and sprinkle it with a little bit of sea salt and ground pepper. That's it. It's the best snack around. Our tomato plants are bursting with tomatoes this summer. I am so excited for them to all start turning red. I check a couple times a day and usually come in with a handful or two.

I have had two huge zucchinis a couple of weeks ago but the plants haven't produced any more yet. In case I get asked, the chicken platter was a gift from my sister a few years back and it is in constant use. I just leave it out on the kitchen counter and something always ends up on it.

Yesterday I cooked up some corn on the cob. I cut the corn off and made this yummy salad, Corn and Blueberry Salad, click here for the recipe link. It seems like a strange combination but it is fantastic. I think the texture of the blueberries and the corn together really works well. And throw in that lime juice? It's incredibly fresh tasting. I used a cucumber from our garden in here, too. It was so delicious. This is a summery salad and the kids loved it. I am going to make it again very soon.

How are your gardens growing this summer and what are your favorite summer recipes? I'd love to hear.

I'll be back soon with a giveaway and review!
best, susie

Pretzel-Making at Home

Hi Knitters,
My son has been cooking up a storm lately. He suddenly told me he wanted to work on his bread-making skills. Who can say no to that?

For his first project he decided on pretzels, the big, chewy kind you get at the mall, or frozen at Costco which are never as good. The recipe he used is simply called, Mall Pretzels. Click here for the recipe. I couldn't believe how easy it is to make warm, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, pretzels.

Here is a pictorial view of our pretzel-making adventure (I helped roll some of the pretzels but that's all I contributed). Check at the bottom of the post for a few links I want to share.

Oh, they were good, and let me tell you, the entire plate of pretzels was gone in a flash. Can't you just taste those? The pretzels melted in your mouth. We're definitely making these again. I love it when my son tries new recipes. He loves to cook and is always ambitious and creative in his choices. He also made a tasty and cheesy focaccia bread the other night that was delicious.

I want to share with you a new knitting videocast I am enjoying called, Snappy Stitches. Click here for the show information!  It's short and sweet and Chrissy (formerly of the Manic Purl audio podcast), the host, is a fantastic and talented knitter. This is a fun one to watch, she turns out sweaters and shawls and socks like it is nothing.

I just ordered the pattern and yarn to make Paula, of the Knitting Pipeline's, new shawl design. It is called, Hyla Brook, and is from the always wonderful, Quince & Co. It is a charming little shawl and I can't wait to dig in.

Click here for the pattern information for Hyla Brook!

Click here for the Quince & Co. yarn I ordered! You need only 2 skeins of Tern to make the shawl. It is a good deal.

I'll keep you posted on my progress when I get the yarn.

Take care, Knitters, and have a lovely weekend.
best, susie

Dill Pickled

Hi Knitters,

My 17 year-old son loves a good challenge and this one involves our garden cucumber harvest and his love of dill pickles. He studied how-tos and recipes, drove to the grocery shop and bought the jars and seasoning and went to town. Below is a pictorial post so you can see his pickling work in progress. He cut slices and spears. Why not live it up?

The finished and sealed jars are now sitting on a shelf in our pantry for at least two weeks before we can crack one open to try our first homegrown dill pickles.

Enjoy!

best, susie

p.s. I am pulling together a fun giveaway that I will post in a couple of days. There will be multiple prizes so be sure to check back to enter.







Yum!