Knitterly Update

Hi… so… I know it’s been a while… but I promise… I’m still knitting.

Witness:

The February/October/November? Lady Sweater now has a sleeve. I’m really languishing on the second one (ain’t that the way?) but I’m hoping that scoring some buttons soon will inspire me. Goal is to have this done for the boy’s performance, which approaches quickly.

Also, making things up:

A cowl in this BEAUTIFUL silver yarn I found, inspired by Cat Bordhi’s musings on the current state of our political/social climate. I’m hoping this will be something I wear frequently under my favorite purple pea coat, as a kind of reminder to see things fully.

And in the slowly-but-surely-things-for-other-people category:

I’m really digging how the colors work together. Yarn is Berroco Jasper something or other — more info next time I post on this, which will hopefully be a victory “It’s Done!!!” post. Anyway. Super fun yarn to work with, as the stripes don’t follow a regular pattern.

While I’m at it, here’s how I’ve been getting stitchy lately:

The embroidered tea towel love fest continues, this time with a whole slew of fruits and vegetables from Sublime Stitching. All that’s left to do is the black!

I’m also working on acquiring more scarves, in an effort to work on a “personal style.” I guess this is a sign I’ve been watching too much What Not to Wear. But in all seriousness, I love scarves, because they are frequently inexpensive and can take an outfit from blah to hooray. I’m proud of this last find, which is blue and white, but has sparkles (OMG!!) in it:

Yum. Sparkles.

I’ve also been working at keeping two adorable dogs out of trouble. And this is my parting gift to you:

Dogs like hats made out of pillows. It’s true. Especially when said hats accentuate a condition known as Cute Wrinkle Face.

Over and out.

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How to Crochet a Cheezburger: Part II

So, we’ve already seen How to Crochet a Hamburger Bun. Now, I take you to Part II of this endeavor: How to Crochet Lettuce, and How to Crochet a Slice of Cheese. One is significantly easier than the other.

How to Crochet a Piece of Lettuce

– Begin crocheting a circle, as in How to Crochet a Hamburger Bun.
– Perform increase rows until there are 4 sc between each increase st.
– Begin hyperbolic plane crochet: 2 sc into each st around
– Your circle will quickly begin to fold on itself. I wish I could tell you how many of these crazy increase rounds I worked, but I can’t — just keep on a-doin’ them until your lettuce is of sufficient size. 2sc in each st, around and around.
– For fun lettuce-y edging, you will do a crab stitch. To do this: everything is as in normal sc, EXCEPT that you will be moving left to right. So, you know how when you normally crochet you insert your hook into the st to the left of what you just completed? Instead, insert it into the st to the right of the one you just completed, and perform the st as normal. It’s funny and backwards (hence “crab st”), but will give you a little more texture on the outside of your lettuce. Work this all the way around.
– Fasten off. Admire your synthetic photosynthetic creation.

How to Crochet a Slice of Cheese

– Ch 17, plus one for turning st.
– Sc across. Perform turning ch if you wish. I rarely do.
– Sc back and forth until you have a square. Fasten off.
– This will curl at the edges, as sc is wont to do. That’s cool. It makes the cheese look melty.

Tomorrow, the cheezburger saga will conclude with Part III: How to Crochet a Cheezburger Patty and How to Crochet a Slice of Tomato. Some assembly required.

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How to Crochet a Cheezburger: Part 1

Being a Lolcat for Halloween was really fun. Some people had no idea what I was, to which I replied, “Well, it’s this internet phenomenon… pictures of weird cats with silly captions… cats like cheezburgers…” and received questioning stares. But! Those who recognized my costume were really stoked.

Regardless, everyone loved the crochet cheezburger. That’s right. I crocheted a cheezburger for my Halloween costume.

Needless to say, this was a test of my crochet skills. Also of my stamina, as I was up until 2 in the morning the night before Halloween. I chose to crochet my cheezburger instead of knitting it because crochet offers more possibilities as a structural element — while knitting offers better drape for garments, I think, crochet is great for constructing an object because each stitch is a little bit like a Lego. Crocheted fabric is also stiffer, which means it holds up well in a toy.

All the yarn used for this was Cascade 220, my absolute favorite yarn. The yarn’s cheap, comes in a wide variety of colors, and is an all-around great yarn to work with. Also, I always have many colors of it in my stash.

So, today, I’ll post on how to crochet the top and bottom hamburger buns for the cheezburger (the correct kitteh spelling of “cheeseburger”). Tomorrow, I’ll fill you in on how to crochet the lettuce, cheez/cheese, patty, and tomatoes.

Here goes!

Top Hamburger (or Cheeseburger or Cheezburger) Bun

Piece 1 of Top Bun:
– Ch 3.
– Sl st to first chain to create a small circle.
– 8 sc into 3-ch circle. 8 st.
– Increase: 2 sc in each sc around – 16 st.
– *2 sc in one sc, sc* around (you are increasing every other st) – 24 st.
– *2 sc in one sc, sc, sc* around (you are increasing every third st) – 32 st.
– Continue in set pattern, increasing 8 stitches every round, increasing the number of sc between each inc st until there are 6 st between each of your inc stitches – 64 st.
— To clarify, the last inc round you do will be *2 sc in one sc, sc 6x* around
– Work 4 round even
– Fasten off.
Piece 2 of Top Bun:
– Same as for Piece 1, but do not work even rounds. Fasten off after last inc round.
Finishing the Top Bun:
– Embroider sesame seeds on larger part of bun using broken chain st (AKA lazy daisy st).
– Whipstitch top and bottom pieces of top bun together, leaving a small hole at the end through which to stuff — I used cotton balls!
– Pretend to eat your new bun.

Bottom Hamburger (Cheeseburger, Cheezburger) Bun

– Proceed as though making Piece 2 of Top Bun.
– After finishing last inc round, do not fasten off; instead, work one round even but through the back loop only. This will give you a little bit of a turning row.
– Work 3 rounds even.
– At this point, cut out a circle of cardboard that is slightly smaller than the base of your cheezburger bun. This wil stabilize the bottom.
– Begin working decrease rows; on the first row, again work through back loops only.
– Decrease: *(Insert needle into next st and pull through a loop that stays on your hook, repeat into following st giving you three loops on your hook; finish sc by pulling a loop through all three loops on hook, thereby decreasing one st but not leaving a hole in your work), sc 6x* around
– Continue to decease with one less sc b/t dec sts. When you are getting smaller, put cardboard in bottom. Continue to decrease until you have a very small hole — stuff the bottom bun at this point. Do final decreases until you are down to as few sts as comfortable.
– Note: Pull yarn tight during these steps, as it will be a little bit of a struggle to decrease the circumference this quickly.
– Use crochet hook to close up final hole — this does not need to be neat, as it will be hidden inside your cheezburger.

Success!

Weave in all ends and pat yourself on the back. Begin to get excited about cheezburger fixin’s.

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A Good Day in Autumn

I woke up this morning. It’s October. It’s been October for a week now. And what was the thing that got me out of bed?

Pumpkin! It’s pumpkin-flavored-coffee-drink season!!

Decaf pumpkin soy latte. Seasonal flavored goodness.

And, of course, the (October) February Lady Sweater continues apace. I’ve got a few more inches left on the body and then it’s on to the arms. I may be a convert to top-down knitting for sweaters. Call me an instant gratification fiend. Go on, do it!

Decided to commit a little time tonight to a more epic dinner, since the boy’s been a little stressed. How very domestic of me. Enter: vegan “chicken” Caesar salad from Veganomicon, complete with home-made dressing, home-made croutons, plus some of the delicious tofu I keep making that I just can’t get over.

I loved the tanginess of the dressing, plus the fact that, hello, my salad dressing is made of to-freakin-fu so I can eat as much of it as I want. The croutons were a little tedious, but a good adventure. And this tofu keeps performing! It was the perfect complement to the lemon of the dressing, and cut the intensity of the garlic nicely.

He and I both reek to high heaven right now, but it was worth it.

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Hedgehogs in Love

I finished another tea towel yesterday, and I’m really, really excited about it:

I’ve been wanting to put this idea into stitches ever since I bought Sublime Stitching’s Forest Friends pattern. Two hedgehogs. In love. A reference to me and my boy: I love purple and he loves blue (and was once Sonic for Halloween). I’m not sure it gets cuter or mushier than that.

Taking the time to make this has also been an act of home-making, in the most complete sense of the word, for me: settling down and deciding I live here, making a new space my own.

Speaking of making things for the home, some pictures of my Log Cabin blanket (a Mason Dixon must-knit).

This blanket began very much as a comfort item for me. I was living in an unfamiliar place, with few friends and a lot of time to feel lonely. I started knitting a log cabin blanket on a whim, out of all the cool- and neutral-colored Cascade 220 I could muster. It’s become a long-term project that I’ve carried with me through all my moves.

The blanket’s a good lap size right now, and I’d like to make it big enough for two people to snuggle under. The rows keep getting longer and longer… and yet I still enjoy knitting it.

That’s the funny thing about knitting. What can seem really tedious when you’re looking forward to part of a garment will seem soothing in another piece. For instance: right now I’m working on a February Lady Sweater, and I’m so happy to have moved past the garter yoke. Yet every time I pick up my log cabin blanket to knit, I’m ready for nothing but garter stitch.

I think the explanation lies in the comfort of coming back to something familiar, letting a piece of knitting provide a sense of home for me when I’m not quite sure where I’m going next (and have had at least five spaces I called home over the past year). It’s this feeling of “I’m here and I’m going to make something pretty happen” as I knit knit knit away. The repetitive motion of just knitting, stitch after stitch, allows me to breathe and relax, reminding me that I really can take things only one step at a time… whether or not I know what my next step will be.

I guess it’s all about creating a home wherever you land: making your mark with something handmade, curling up with someone you love, coming back to what’s familiar, noticing the beauty of simple details.

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Beans + Tomatoes + Yarn = Burgundy

Today’s blog post is brought to you by the color burgundy.

These are some cranberry shelling beans I bought at the farmers’ market. Check out the pods! I think they were referred to as “tongues of fire” beans, and I couldn’t resist. The beans have beautiful cranberry speckles when shelled. Unfortunately, the speckles disappear when cooked.

Pretty pretty. I cooked these for 20-30 minutes in boiling water. I mixed them with some cooked green beans, lemon juice, parmesan, and salt and pepper.

We had a fabulous vegetarian dinner last night, totally veggielicious:

Sorry for the picture quality! The beans are in the lower left-hand corner there. In the lower right is some spaghetti squash and yellow squash, with a little bit of Parmesan. The upper right-hand is the tomato salad I love to make, and the upper left is some red fruit: Flavor King pluots, raspberries, and strawberries. Nothing added!

Seems like burgundy is a serious color theme in my life lately. I made some “sun-dried” tomatoes in my oven — sliced up about 1/2″ thick, on aluminum foil, for 8+ hours. I’m looking forward to using them in the winter:

And hey! I’ve started knitting a February Lady Sweater, just like everyone else it seems. I was inspired by brainylady’s post about it, and could no longer resist. I’m not one for knitting sweaters usually, but I think this one might just turn out super cute! I was really drawn to the shape of it, which seems incredibly flattering, and the prospect of picking out really cute wood buttons for it. I’m using Cascade 220 wool:

I guess Autumn truly is here. I can’t wait for leaf-crunching season to really set in.

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