Sold!

I sold my first two pairs of koozies at the Husky game on Saturday! SUCCESS!!

I sold what I like to call the "Charlie Brown" koozies....

... and the striped koozies.

Now I've got the diamond ones...

.....the single stripe (which the menfolk seemed to like)....

...the solid color Ws.

I'm just finished a pair of black ones - one with a purple W and one with a gold W - at work yesterday, so that will leave my stock at 4 pairs for the next game (it's in two weeks, so I might be able to bang out a pair in the field next week) in addition to three hats and a pair of fingerless mitts.

I got a request for a pair of mittens, so I'll be designing those during my lunch breaks this week.  I'm thinking striped ribbing, then purple mittens with gold diamonds, but I may get crazy and change the diamonds to argyle.  Whoa there! 

I calculated that if I can sell three pairs of koozies per game, I can afford my football tickets with my knitting sales! I slacked this first week, so I apparently need to do some better marketing.

Octo-Husky

This spring there was a request for an adult-sized pair of kid's octopus mittens from a quick knitting book. I had him pick out the specific yarn  because I knew he was picky about his colors.  We ended up with 100% icelandic wool in what I would call eggplant purple and goldenrod yellow.  I tired to guide him to a softer wool with what I thought was more "true" husky colors, but there was no swaying him.  So eggplant octopuses it was to be.

I put off knitting them until recently because they needed my full attention due to the intricate pattern, and I had to sit down and calculate my gauge to determine any pattern adjustments needed to make them adult-sized.

Somehow, magic happened and the first needles I used got me a gauge that would fit width-wise, but was too short length-wise.  The easiest adjustment!! I was able to follow the pattern exactly until I got past the octopus' head, then I added about 5 rows of plain knitting before starting the decreases. 

He likes the end result, but we'll see what happens when it's actually cold outside.  I'm positive they will be SUPER warm, what with all the 100% wool and the extra thickness from the fair isle. Unfortunately, I'm also sure they are going to be very very itchy.  And shed.  I had a full layer of fibers on my lap after knitting each mitten (about 5 hours per mitten, which was one field day each).

I really didn't enjoy knitting with the yarn.  Aside from the crazy shedding, it also was VERY splitty. It's not plied, so it had a tendency to have stray loops. I'd like to say I will avoid using this stuff in the future, but unfortunately he bought two skeins of each color, and the mittens used a bit less than one skein each, so I'll have to use the Lopi for at least one more project to use it all up.

Project: Octopus Mittens, by Elli Stubenrauch, in 60 Quick Knits
Yarn: Reynolds Lopi, 100% icelandic wool, eggplant and goldenrod
Needles: US 10, DPNs

Work Knitting

A lot of knitting has been happening, and almost all of it during work.  I've been spending a lot of time sitting at either a boat ramp or a pull out on the side of a gravel road lately, and have knit up a storm.

I started this short sleeve sweater/shirt back in June and have been making slow progress on it, but progress nonetheless. If I pull it out during a shift I usually get in two stripes or more.  At this rate I might have it done in time for Thanksgiving. You know, just past the time you would want a short sleeved sweater.

A friend asked me to make a baby Yoda hat for a friend's baby shower. Yes, it's a baby hat.  It may be huge right now, but it will be felted and shrunk to 1/4 size.  Knit during about 4.5 hours of a survey one day. I had to buy the yarn, going against my Cold Sheep pact, but I used the entire skein, and she reimbursed me, so I'm calling it a wash and just adding it as a FO.

I've also been working on my stock pile of Husky beer koozies. I keep forgetting my W pattern at home, so I've had to freestyle. They're doing a great  slow job of eating all that purple and gold yarn I bought last winter. But this was the intended purpose, so another check mark for the "winning" column.

I think they have been turning out okay.  I plan to sell them in pairs.

I have approximately 8 field days left this summer during which I can get my knit on.  That means I can either double my sweater, or make about 16 more beer koozies. I also have an order for some purple and gold octopus mittens to get working on.  It's a good thing I get paid for this knitting time, or else the price of these babies would skyrocket!

Yummy yarns

I'd like to say that I decided to treat myself because I've been so good at knitting from stash and have finished a handful of projects using only "old" yarn.  That's not actually what happened. 

The man-friend declared he wanted octopus mittens.  In purple and gold.  They had to be warm, but not get "fuzzy" (like the alpaca hat I knit him).  Very demanding, eh?  So I took him to a yarn store where he bumbled around trying to find true husky colors in a bulky yarn that wouldn't get a 'fro after wearing them. Not a small task.  Finding the right shade of purple was difficult, then finding the right gold in the same kind of yarn was even harder.  But we ended up with something that I think will work.  Reynolds Lopi, 100% wool, in deep purple and gold.

And I made him buy it.  So while it's in my stash, I didn't use any money.  That doesn't count, right?

What does certainly count is the sweaters worth of yarn I just bought for myself.  But oh how wonderful the yarn is.  

I'm making this.  I want it.  From the first time I saw it, I thought "mine".  So I will try my hand again at knitting a sweater. This time with teeny tiny yarn and teeny tiny needles, and a pattern that doesn't really have any interest to it.   How very unlike the sweater that is sitting in my knitting basket that only has one sleeve left to go.  Wonder which one I'll finish first....

I'm going to use Canopy Fingering in Aloe and River Dolphin. What tasty yarn.  50% baby alpaca, 30% merino wool, and 20% bamboo.  So squishy!

With any luck (and lots of time sitting in my car doing creel surveys this summer) I'll be able to wear it before the temp plummets back to the frigid 35 degree F of Seattle in winter.

knitting round up

It hasn't been stealth knitting, because I did most of the work for these projects in public.  But they have been sitting at home, stashed away, waiting to have the ends sewn in and to be blocked. 

I finished these in March, that's how far behind I am.

Pattern: Fetching, by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Vanna's Choice, Dusty Purple
Needles: US 6 DPN

Stash busting: 119 yds, 70 g, 0.7 skeins.

This one was sitting in the stash waiting to be blocked. While I enjoy the pattern and the way it turned out, I had to block the crap out of it.  It just wasn't deep enough to be the slouch I wanted it to be.  Sure, I could have just added an extra stripe in there.... if I'd had enough purple left.  But I didn't. So there.

Pattern: East Fall Hat, by Kate Gagnon Osborn, in Knitscene Spring 2012
Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool, lilac and charcoal
Needles: US Size 6, 16" circular
Stash busting: 210 yds, 100 g, 0.6 skeins charcoal, 0.4 skeins lilac

_______________________
Cold Sheep Totals:
Yards: 15,424.4
Grams: 10,084.7
Skeins: 114.5
Finished Objects from Stash: 23
FOs in 2012: 5

Mushroom Bliss

Another successful mushroom hunt!  My parents were in town a couple weeks ago and we took part in two of my favorite fall pastimes: football and chanterelle picking! The Huskies dominated Cal 31-23 on Saturday, then on Sunday we headed to the fungus fields.  We hit the "secret spot" early in the morning so they could make it back home at a decent hour.  After searching fruitlessly in one spot for 20 minutes, I decided someone else must have been there first and we moved on.  Then we hit pay dirt.  After finding their first "spore hole," both parents caught the bug and tromped around excitedly until our bags were full.

I made it home with about 8 lbs of chanterelles! I think Mom and Dad had about 6 lbs on top of that. 

I knew we wouldn't be able to use that many before they got all mushy, so about 5 of my 8 lbs were frozen.  I wanted to try drying them, but my coworker had mentioned that he had heard they don't reconstitute very well.  Dad tried it though, so we'll have to wait for a report from him. 

To freeze chanterelles, clean them by running under a steady stream of water until all loose dirt is off.  Set on paper towels to dry for 5 minutes.  Roughly chop while heating a saute pan over medium heat.  Cook mushrooms over medium heat until they release a lot of water, and it evaporates.  Add a small amount of butter and salt and cook for a few more minutes.  Freeze in tupperware in individual portions so they are easy to grab at a moments notice.

I have been slowly adding the rest of my horde to meals.  The best one yet was a full on cooking even we had two weeks ago.

Oven Roasted Chicken (from this post), bacon mashed potatoes, Parmesan chard, and pear and chanterelle stuffing. It. Was. GLORIOUS.

We really have that whole roast a chicken in less than an hour thing down pat.  We went from this:

(Note the baguette and goat cheese brie appetizer.  A must when you don't eat until 8:30pm.)
To this:

With barely even a thought.  Yeah, we're good.

But the star of this meal was really the stuffing. We poached the recipe from the Times, but it made such a big batch, and used so much butter, that we had to halve it.  Ten tablespoons butter?  Yikes.

Doesn't mean we didn't use any butter though...

I'm pretty sure that's the second butter addition to those onions...

We used a basic fresh bread loaf, which was fresh and way too soft, so it got ripped up and toasted in the oven for about 20 minutes on 250F.

And can I just say how hard it is to gauge how much half a pound of chopped mushrooms is? I'm pretty good at estimating a lot of kitchen goods, but mushrooms are apparently not one of those things. 

All I can say is that I hope I get the chance to go on a mushroom hunt again in November, because I don't want to pay $20/lb for chanterelles and this might just have to be the new Thanksgiving stuffing.

Chanterelle and Pear Bread Stuffing
Modified slightly from The New York Times

1 loaf french bread, cut or ripped into piece
1/2 lb chanterelle mushrooms
1/4 lb pancetta, diced
5 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 minced shallot
Salt and pepper
2 pears, diced
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 cup chicken broth

1. Allow chopped bread to sit out overnight, covered with paper towels, or lightly toast in oven.

2.  Clean mushrooms and chop.  Set aside.  Place pancetta in large skillet over medium heat.  Cook slowly until fat is rendered, about 7 minutes.  Remove to a large plate.

3.  Ad 1 tablespoon butter to fat in pan and turn heat to medium high.  Add onion and shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until just soft.  Remove to plate holding pancetta.

4.  Add 1 1/2 tablespoon butter to pan.  Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and quickly sate until starting to brown.  Remove and add to plate.

5.  Add remaining butter to pan.  Add pears and sugar and season with salt and pepper.  Sate pears over medium high heat until they begin to brown slightly.

6.  In a large bowl, add sauteed ingredients to bread.  Toss lightly to combine.  Add herbs and toss again.  Slowly pour broth over mixture and toss.  Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.

7.  Bake in 375 oven for 20-30 minutes, until a golden crust forms on bottom of pan. 

At It Again

Back in the saddle. If that saddle comes with 50 grams of yarn and a pair of knitting needles.

I just started a new scarf pattern for myself in a light blue/teal color.  The yarn is angora bamboo and so far I enjoy working with it. That doesn't say much as I've only completed seven rows. Not enough to take a picture of, but hopefully it will be soon.

Also picked up the Ripened Scarf that has been hibernating in my craft closet* since maybe March. Now I don't remember why I stopped. It wasn't a difficult pattern. I was close to running out of yarn, so instead of knitting as far as I thought I could, I stopped at a point I knew I would have enough to finish. It's pretty short, so after blocking I think I'll stitch the top and bottom together to make it into an infinity scarf. 

*Yes, the craft closet. In it I keep my sewing machine, fabric, scrapbooking supplies, beading equipment and baskets and baskets of yarn. It may share some space with hiking boots, scuba gear, and an extra set of sheets, but that space is minimal in comparison.

Speaking of beading, I have been negligent in posting my stitch markers. I finished them eons ago, but never put them up.  I finally signed up as a seller on Etsy and they're the only thing on in my shop. We'll see if there is any interest.  Maybe I can scrap up enough money to buy season tickets to the Huskies next year (Did you see the Holiday Bowl?? Let's go Dawgs!). It's a circle - they entertain me while knitting during away games, knitting funds my tickets to home games! Yahoo! Maybe someday I'll actually have knitting to post there, too.

Right now I only have two styles of markers due to limited bead selection.  The first is metal markers, with one purple glass bead to mark the end of your row (above), and the second consists of different purple glass beads (below).

I like them.  The wire is really thin, so you don't get bars in your knitting like you occasionally do with the store-bought plastic markers.

I plan on blocking my Ripened Scarf tonight while taking down the Christmas decorations.  Fingers crossed it works out.

Koozied!

Two months ago I had the brilliant idea to knit myself a koozie to take to Husky tailgates. I used yarn I had laying around from a hat project for my brother several Christmases back and made myself a striped beverage cooler/hand warmer. Voila! A thing of beauty!

I used it at a tailgate and had about ten requests for the same, and several people mentioned that if I could work in a big ol' Washington W, they'd even pay for them, so it was back to the drawing board. After an attempt with different yarn that turned out more like a stein koozie, I got it down and wrote up a pattern. Husky fans everywhere rejoice.



It can be downloaded here. (Thanks, LP, for all the help!)

Go Dawgs!