Stuck in Scarf Mode

I love to wear scarves but I absolutely hate to knit them. They take SO. LONG. At first they're fun. You get to try a new stitch pattern and the thought of the final product is so exciting. But then after 3 feet it starts to get monotonous. After 4 feet you wonder how short you can really get away with making it. But really, for me I like my scarves to be about 6 feet long in order to get a good wrap and have some extra to dangle. But 6 feet of scarf knitting? The most tedious thing ever.

I think the worst part is that you always expect it to be a breeze. It's just a scarf. Not like it's a sweater or afghan. But that's what gets you - when you start a sweater or blanket you anticipate knitting on it for months and month. Or years. With a scarf you know it will take longer than a hat, which I can normally pump out in anywhere from 3-10 hours depending on gauge, but once you get to 30 hours of knitting.... it's time to give up. I can't be monogamous with a project after 30 hours of knitting, no matter how warm it's starting to get outside.

So sorry, friend, you won't be getting that scarf by February. You'll be lucky if you get that last foot of scarf by Presidents Day. That last foot and a half is killing me. And you might have to find your own damn buttons.





PS. Speaking of wash clothes, I finished this one at work this week. Lunchtime knitting only.

2012 knitting roundup

In 2011 I finished 18 projects.  In 2012 - a whopping 32. And that's not counting the dolman sweater that I'm two thirds of the way through or the blanket that I have a foot done on, or the project I just started last weekend. It's a tad skewed because most of the projects were Husky Beer Koozies, but hey, technically I completed two projects for every set of koozies, so I don't feel bad about them upping my completed number.

Totals completed in 2012:
 
- Baby Hats - 2
- Adult Hats - 9

 

- Koozies (pairs) - 7
- Mitts (pairs) - 6

 - Shawl/Scarf - 2
- Dish Rags - 2
- Baby Sweaters - 2
- Adult Sweaters - 2 (one worked almost entirely in 2011, but completed in 2012)

I knit a total of 40 skeins of yarn. Approximately 4,313 yards of yarn.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies and an education

This weekend we have to make 300 cookies to hand out as holiday packages. They are going in a box with peanut brittle and something else, so they have to be non-peanuty, travel well, and be able to handle a few days of shipping time and still taste good.

After much consideration and a nixing of peanut butter blossoms as being too fragile (they like to lose their kisses), we decided on Chocolate Crackle Cookies.  You know, those delicious chocolate morsels covered in powdered sugar?

We got the recipe from Alan's mom and made a test batch last week.  They were super tasty, but Alan frumped about the house for a while because they weren't exactly like his mom's. Ours were chewy and a little brownie-like, but flat and the powdered sugar wasn't evenly dispersed. His mom's are fluffy and look like what you expect from chocolate crackle cookies, a la Martha Stewart, even though they use different recipes.

Where did we go wrong? We followed the recipe, so we knew that wasn't it. Maybe my baking powder was bad? ....No, I just bought a new container. So I did a little research.

I found some things that I didn't instictually know, like....
* more baking soda = thinner cookies.
*Eggs = puff, so replacing eggs with milk = flatter cookie.
*Butter batters are more likely to spread because butter converts from fat to liquid at a low temperature.
*Crisco, or shortening, melts at a higher temp, so they will stay fluffier with more loft before setting.
*More white sugar in the white-to-brown ratio means a crispier cookie. (I always thought of it as more brown sugar means more chewy)
*Baking powder instead of baking soda adds acid and makes a fluffier cookie.
*Cold dough spreads slowly.
*The smaller the scoop, the more fluff to the cookies.
*Parchment paper absorbs more fat, so use paper instead of a Silpat if you want crispier cookies.
* Silpats retain heat and are not so good if cooking chilled doughs.


So what was a our problem? Oh, a myriad of things. Most notably, I think, are that we chilled the dough for only one hour. It appeared thick and solid, but other recipes I've found have said to chill for at least two hours. Also, I'm thinking the Silpat was partly to blame for the same reason - not cool enough.

I have read in a blog post or two, including the earlier link to Bakerella, that cookies rolled in powdered sugar should be rolled in granulated sugar first because the powdered sugar just melts into the dough when it gets hit with the heat. So if when we make 6 batches of them this weekend we'll try it both ways, sugar and no sugar, and report back. Hopefully somewhere we'll find success!

Chocolate Crackle Cookies
From Alan's Mom (potentially from Taste of Home?)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
powdered sugar for rolling

Melt chocolate chips in double boiler.  Allow to cool but not solidify. Add sugar and oil; mix.  Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well. Add vanilla.  In separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to chocolate mixture in three installments, scraping bowl between additions. Chill dough at least 2 hours.  Roll about 1 tsp dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar to coat.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Monster Cookies

I made these in high school for some event and they were affectionately nicknamed the "Patriotic Turd Cookies" due to the red white and blue M&Ms and the fact that they're gloopy and kind look like... well, no, they really don't.  That's just Sarah for you.

My mom also made them for our trip to Oregon a few weeks ago and they were gone in a flash.  YUM!!

In case you ever need to make cookies to feed an army, this is the recipe for you. 

Monster Cookies

2 2/3 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
1/2 lb butter
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp karo syrup
1 1/2 lb jar chunky peanut butter (use the "good" stuff, i.e., Jiff or Skippy. None of that Natural crap.)
4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
9 cups quick cooking oatmeal

1 package chocolate chips
1 package plain M&Ms
1 package peanut M&Ms

In very large bowl, cream butter and white and brown sugars.  Add eggs and karo syrup. Mix in peanut butter, baking soda, and vanilla.  Stir until combined. Add oats, chocolate chips and M&Ms. Stir just until combined.

Bake at 350F for approximately 12 minutes.  Do not overbake.

Makes LOTS of cookies.

Finished Knits

I've been slowly chipping away at this yarn that's been sitting in my stash for a couple of years.  It's big. It's bulky.  Some of the colors are ugly. And I had no idea what to do with it.

Enter the need for instant gratification knitting.  I haven't been working on my striped dolman since the summer, mainly because it's for me and it's now too cold for it anyway, but also because after knitting for two hours it doesn't feel like you've accomplished anything. This crappy yarn that I have is the perfect solution to my dolman problem.

I found a pattern that called for super bulky yarn on really big needles that required.  It's a big loose thing that you call "finished" when you run out of yarn. I finished in about an hour and 15 minutes.  It's that fast. Seriously.

Then I started looking for a hat pattern to go with it since I still had two skeins left. And then I found the pseudo-jester hat.

It's knit in the round, but when you get to the top you don't do any decreasing, then just three-needle bind off the top so it's flat on top with two points.  And you know those points need pom poms. The had used less than one skein.  And you know what eats up a TON of yarn? POM POMS!

BOOM! Hat in about 2 hours of knitting.

For some yarn that I used to call crappy, I think they both turned out really cute. As I was photographing the scarf on the couch it was mentioned that it was reminiscent of the flying carpet from Aladdin.  Totally! Love it.

I have one skein in this colorway left.  Now that I've done a hat and a scarf, I'm not sure how to use it.  I don't think they're enough left for mittens, but since it works up so fast there's no harm in trying.

Mummies for Halloween

My mums are blooming, just in time for the spooky holiday.

The mum on the south end of the fence isn't blooming, but it's working to come back from the multiple mowings. The greenery is starting to come back, though.

The cosmos are still blooming.  They've really benefited from some dead heading I did while trying to save seeds.

I planted a bunch of seeds several weeks ago in hopes that they would do something before they got rained out.  I've had to uncover them from under leaves a couple times, but they're sprouting.

I planted radishes and carrots, which are both coming up. I also planted some leaf lettuce.  Either I forgot which row is which or it hasn't sprouted yet.

I also planted a few more kale seeds, but I'm almost positive it's too late to get them to grow into anything edible.  These guys are still kicking along. I just pulled the broccoli from this bed the other day.  Don't know if I'll be trying to grow that again!

The little zucchini that could. This plant got the bushiest leaves of all my summer squash, but didn't start producing flowers until a couple of weeks ago.  I'm fully prepared to pull the rest, but this one might get a few week reprieve, just to see if it will do anything.

I may not have had luck growing squash this year, but someone certainly did! I got my pumpkins from a small farm in Olympia and they were overflowing.  Soon these guys will be carved and lit, waiting for some trick-or-treaters!

Castaway

Came back from a long weekend away to rain.  It's pretty soggy in Seattle. I squished my way through a pumpkin patch yesterday and came home to a garden that was mostly brown and gray, with a bit of green leftover.  It's now past time to pull the spent plants in the garden. I should have done it last week before the fall rains started, but I got distracted by the upcoming trip. And, some part of me thinks that maybe I can get in one last harvest before I pull everything... Looking at the garden after a week of rain... probably not.  It's time.  Don't let the blooming flowers on the zucchini fool you....

The best thing about the rainy season? It's a dang good excuse to hang out inside and knit!! And when you go outside? You can wrap yourself in all the handknits! Yes!


Finally got some pictures of the hat and mittens I knit for my mom's birthday back in June.  Luckily, there was a bit of sunshine during our weekend at the coast and I was able to get some shots.

Project: Leafy Mitts, by Ruth Stewart
Yarn: Filatura Lanarota Chunky Wool, teal
Needles: US 6, DPN

Project: Seedling, by Alana Dakos
Yarn: Filatura Lanarota Chunky Wool, teal
Needles: US 6, 16" circulars

Last week I needed some instant gratification, and wanted to make some space in the stash, so I made a scarf with some really old, really fluffy yarn, then started a hat.  I had high hopes of finishing the hat this weekend on the trip and taking some pictures, but there was a lot of other stuff going on.

It's a full time job keeping an eye on this little guy.