Another Haiku Portrait Scarf

I'm so happy with the maroon and the orange versions, I've cast on a green. With my addi lace needles, this makes quick, waiting-at-the-DMV knitting!

Haiku portrait scarf

I've really fallen out of the habit of blogging my projects. I've given up waiting for a sunny moment to photograph my Veronik Avery Portrait Scarf. My first version is in 2 balls of Kidsilk Haze - sometimes I wear it tucked into my coat, but mostly I wear it like a cowl. This mini version uses just one ball of Haiku and I wear it constantly. I have some more Haiku in my stash - all destined for mini portrait cowls. I'm wondering if I can wear two at a time?

Short order naan

I'm back on the 5 minute bread bandwagon with a tupperware of light whole wheat dough in the fridge. I followed the directions in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for making naan to go with my chicken curry. I poured a little vegetable oil in a cast iron frying pan, tossed in a flattened disc of dough and covered it with a cookie sheet. It took 7-8 minutes. I should look up pita bread next.

Semi-solid sock waves

This bandless ball of yarn is a little more than a semi-solid blue. I love it in this feather and fan stitch. I've been paging through Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn and finding patterns for stashed sock yarn. 

Candied orange peel

This is a spoonful of orange syrup - it tasted like heaven. The smell of simmering orange peels filled the house with an incredible smell while I did some kitchen chores, read the paper. I had 5 degrees to go on the candy thermometer when I left the kitchen.

When I smelled the burning orange peel I knew my giant cough drop was done. 

Audrey in Shetland

I'm slowly coming out of my Christmas cookie coma. A few weeks ago I finished the Audrey in Unst sweater from Twist Collective. I made it a little small, so I'm going to add some hooks and eyes to the front bands. I ordered this Jamieson shetland from Schoolhouse Press (179 colors). They also carry Jamison & Smith shetland - that's hundreds of heathered colors to choose from. I love this sweater. 

Nuts for the holidays

David Lebovitz's Holiday Snack Mix is so good I just kept burning my tongue eating it straight from the pan. I used some back-of-the-cabinet leftovers for this batch, but I am planning one with pecans.  This is a great snack to whip up when you are doing some hard holiday crafting and need protein coated in butter and syrup and salt. Playing Keep the Car Running on repeat is also helpful. I don't know if our little parakeet is ringing his bell like crazy because he likes to play along or if he is screaming mercy. 

Mohair Portrait Scarf

You may recall Veronik Avery's scarf from Knitting Classic Style. I am working on it in a deep red Kidsilk Haze. 

Audrey in Shetland jumperweight

I went with the original design for Audrey. I would love to make this in a bunch of colors. I am haunted by the inside-out sweater. J Crew for kids has an inside-out sweater. I want to make one for myself - a little magpie-ish with a sparkly strand and a tweedy strand.

Coffee with Sherlock Holmes

Imagine coffee with Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson every morning. One year I put my knitted teacher gifts in jars like preserves. I love the hot coco mixes and cookie mixes in jars that look like a geological strata sample. This year I want to paste a scan of a favorite character or author into the lid and seal it with that fancy clear acrylic stuff. 

Felted Autumn leaf

This is the dish rag pattern in Frappe Merino and felted to death. I love the way these colors felt. I'm going to knit a bunch for coasters - coffee, tea, wine blends right in.

Reversible shetlands

I like this. I'm going to make a series of shetland cardigans using the funky patterns from Reversible Knitting. I'm also intrigued by Kate Gilbert's Kirigami pattern in Twist's Winter issue. I'm thinking about Christmas and games. I'm still seeing a game of tiny pieces of porcelain inside an unfired sphere of clay which you break open. You break open the egg of clay and the pieces tumble out and the dice is rolled.

Tea with milk and sugar ice cream

Cooler weather calls for new flavors. I substituted Earl Grey for the black currant tea in David Lebovitz's recipe in The Perfect Scoop. This was wonderful on hot apple crisp. Splendid Table had a repeat show this week interviewing Paul Roberts about his book The End of Food. It makes you want to cook dinner.

Reversible Audrey

When I saw Gudrun Johnston's Audrey in Unst I wanted to knit it in a heathered gold shetland yarn. Then I got Reversible Knitting (Barr) and decided my little gold shetland cardigan should be reversible too. The patterns in this book are wonderful. The lacey patterns are very macrame-looking. I am trying to substitute one of them for the lace pattern on Audrey.

Bird and leaf cookies

When I saw these cookies in the new issue of Marie Claire Idees, I thought, why not carry my bird and leaf obsession into the holidays? I like the look of the seeds and pignolli, and I want to add minced candied orange peel and ginger, and almond slices.

Gold Toy lamp

Ryan McElhinney's Gold Toy lamp (another from Remake It Home) would be a great yard sale project.

Chiquita chandelier

Anneke Jakobs's Chiquita Chandelier is just one of the dozens of amazing ideas in Remake It Home - The Essential Guide to Resourceful Living. There are chapters and chapters of inspiration.

Electric mittens

I finally got my conductive thread and LEDs. A couple weeks ago I was inspired by Fio's electric mitts and reminded of Eleanor Kent's electro-luminescence pieces.  I want the mittens to light up the constellations when they touch, but I also want the batteries to run a hand warmer or a little radio or something. 

In other "projects with wires" news, ceramic gramophone 1.0 was bisqued and does not work. As soon as I dig up a styrofoam cone I'll roll out 2.0 thinner and more Georgia O'Keefe-ish.

Pantries

Many thanks to Mary S who suggested I look at The Pantry - Its History and Modern Uses (Pond). It is a wonderful illustrated history of how we store our food. I love the modern DIY pantry a woman built by hacking open the wallboard to store canning jars between the wall studs. 
I have read that designating a place for things (Julia Child's pegboard kitchen walls) is akin to scheduling time for things (Twyla Tharp's Creative Habit). Making a pantry and taking the time to stock it creates order in place and time, and it creates confidence in a future place and time. Pantry-making is going to be my act of confidence in the future, both in earthquake country and shaky times.

Paul Taylor's home

I love this series in the NYTimes about peoples' homes. Can you see the basket turned lampshade in the photo? the Jaws/Moby Dick/Jonah's leviathan portrait above the mantle? Mostly I love his cardigan against the bright turquoise wall. 

Sport weight swatches

I have a one pound cone of Bartlett Yarns sport weight still in my stash. I think it is the beginning of many light weight heathered wool cardigans with something going on along the edges - something like beads or crochet. I keep looking at the cardigans in Rowan's A Season's Tale and looking at crochet edgings. I've been thinking of a sweater the color of old bricks with a faded advertisement knitted in - something like this. 

Ice-O-Mat

Nothing says October in Berkeley like Ice-O-Mat! For a mere $2 I have a lovely ice crusher and all my icey drinks look so professional: lemonade, ice coffee, Clara's back porch fizz. 

Electronic books and knits

All this talk of ebook screens and digital content makes me think of Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age and William Blakes' graphic novels if he printed them today. Would Thoureau have a blog? (One of his friends wrote that he would have starved in Walden if his mother and sister hadn't brought food out for him every few days! Where did I read that?) I love steampunk - that spot where handmade/DIY and hacked technology meet because of the need for customization, for the love of an inexpensive solution, or all that and a desire to knit with electrical cord and conductive thread and fashion ceramic squash blossom gramophones.

Leaf plate

I've been making leaf plates. I like the idea of a table covered in black or very dark navy linen and filled with ceramic leaf plates of food. I need to make these much larger - leaf platters.

Ceramic gramophone

Look at these beauties! Caption reads: Jason Marks' Euphorn channels the sound from an iPod, £230 or £990 to order.