“Norwegian color pattern knitting and the making of Scottish Argylls have a watery waste between them as deep and wide as the North Sea or German Ocean.”

Last night at about 1:30 a.m. I finished a . . . → Read More: EZ Quote of the day…]]> I’ve been flipping through old knitting books looking for inspiration about round yokes, and stumbled upon this gem in Knitting Without Tears:

“Norwegian color pattern knitting and the making of Scottish Argylls have a watery waste between them as deep and wide as the North Sea or German Ocean.”

Last night at about 1:30 a.m. I finished a pair of crocheted socks just under the wire for an upcoming summer magazine release. My hands were tired and so was I, and I thought, I’ll give myself a couple of days break before jumping back into my other deadlines. But for some reason, today, I woke up itching to start another project. It must be that time of year, I have a bit of startitis. Luckily, I have a lot of projects waiting in the wings as well as some great contract knitters and crocheters helping me out.

The next sweater that I’m creating–a crocheted cropped jacket for Lana Knits–has been brewing for some time. I’ve designed it in my head several times, swatched a bit and finally come up with a plan, in theory that I like. Now it’s time to dig out hook and yarn again and give it a try. I’d like it to have a round yoke and I want to try and work out. Time to experiment!

Have you ever crocheted a round yoke sweater? I’d love to hear about it.

This picture is not me getting my first taste of yarn as a child . It’s the lucky daughter of The Sanguine Gryphon who’s first exposure to yarn is much more sophisticated than . . . → Read More: Blog Interview]]>

Hi All–a while back Kiba the Diva invited me to be interviewed for her blog, and today she posted the results. Thanks, Kiba!

This picture is not me getting my first taste of yarn as a child . It’s the lucky daughter of The Sanguine Gryphon who’s first exposure to yarn is much more sophisticated than my trips down the K-mart isles! She was helping her mom this weekend at the Takoma Park Yarn Party which was a rousing success. Thanks to all who came!

If you are in the DC Metro area this weekend, consider stopping by the Takoma Park Community Center on SUNDAY Saturday (Thanks, Cici!) afternoon for the Homespun Yarn Party:

What: Yarn Party! Check out local yarn vendors, sit and knit, meet new people!

Who: All your favorite local yarn dyers and spinners, plus some extra crafty goodness! . . . → Read More: Yarn Party and Podcast!]]>

If you are in the DC Metro area this weekend, consider stopping by the Takoma Park Community Center on SUNDAY Saturday (Thanks, Cici!) afternoon for the Homespun Yarn Party:

What: Yarn Party! Check out local yarn vendors, sit and knit, meet new people!

Who: All your favorite local yarn dyers and spinners, plus some extra crafty goodness! And all our knitting/crocheting/spinning friends (you!) of course!!

Where: 7500 Maple Avenue | Takoma Park, MD | 20912 — Metro accessible, plenty of parking!

When: March 30, 2008 – 2 PM to 6 PM

Why: Who needs an excuse to get together and craft?! We wanted to get together and spread some fiber love!

—
I’ll be there selling real-live-paper (recycled, of course) versions of the patterns you can normally only get via PDF, and you’ll be able to touch and try on many of the sample garments, including the Half Crazy Sweater, and many others. I’m even debuting two new patterns at the Party: the Men’s Raglan and the Antique Triangle Lace Shawl. If you bring hook and yarn (or buy it there), and want to learn to crochet, I’ll get you started.

Hope to see you there!

In other fiber-y news, the irrepressible Marly over at Yarn Thing interviewed me last week for her Podcast! (This despite being in a car accident the day of our originally scheduled interview–she’s fine). Marly also just got her first design accepted at Interweave Crochet–woohoo! Listen Tomorrow for the podcast. If you haven’t ever listened to Yarn Thing before, you should check out some of the archived episodes with fun interviews with Robyn Chachula, Kim Werker and more. Marly is so personable and fun, and gets us all giggling.

Speaking of podcasts, when I got asked to be on Marly’s show, I started listening to podcasts again after a long hiatus. I really have only had one that I consistently loved, and that was Cast On. In the past few months some new ones of note have sprouted up. I discovered (late, I know), Stash and Burn, and I enjoy it, but not as much as the new YKnit–a podcast by two men knitters in San Francisco. YKnit is extremely well produced and funny. They just interviewed Jess and Casey from Ravelry last week. Jess and Casey–congratulations–you sounded so eloquent and thoughtful about Ravelry, it was really nice to listen to.

–Don’t forget–you still have a few hours to comment on and win the Apron Kit!–

Beyond April 1, I have a vest and another . . . → Read More: A little bit of crocheting to do…]]>
A little bit of crocheting to do…
Originally uploaded by plainsight

So, the pile you see here is only the yarn that needs to be crocheted before the end of the month… And maybe that’s not all of it.

Beyond April 1, I have a vest and another sweater with yarn already waiting in the wings. The upside is, that big pile of wool in the center of the photo is Lorna’s Laces new Green Line–100% organic merino in the gorgeous hand-dyed color “Dusk.” I can’t wait to dig my hook into it… So, I’ll probably be crocheting more than blogging over the next few weeks, but I’ll try and update with some preview shots as I can.

My friend Corrine is visiting next week. A few years ago, she taught me to knit and I taught her to crochet, and the last time she was here, I taught her to crochet socks. She’s told me that she has created a fun knit-crochet sock I’m looking forward to photographing for your viewing pleasure, and she’s also working on hairpin lace jewelry, so stay tuned!

From the company’s press release: Plushform is ready to go right out of the box. The stuffed and sewn DIY plush has a water-based primed surface making . . . → Read More: PlushForm…]]>
As soon as I saw the PlushForm, I was already collecting ideas about how to use this new fun craft material–a “plushie blank,” ready for any kind of make-your-own-toy project.

From the company’s press release:

Plushform is ready to go right out of the box. The stuffed and sewn DIY plush has a water-based primed surface making it extremely smooth and suitable for practically any medium. Acrylic, oil and spray paint, pencils, pens, markers, watercolor – whatever you want. The Plushform shape is stuffed just right, making it soft enough to feel like a plush toy, but firm enough to make drawing and painting comfortable.
It’s the balance of Plushform’s materials and shape that offers everyone the best of both worlds. The unique canvas-like skin is an ideal surface on which 2D artists can illustrate, while its 3-D shape and manipulability via sewing, applique and numerous other additive methods encourages alteration and sculptural creation. Sew on extra limbs as needed. Deconstruct and reconstruct parts. Glue on shapes and other objects wherever you want. You can even buy multiple Plushforms and sew them together to make something entirely new. The possibilities
are truly limitless with Plushform.

The form is set to retail for $20 and other shapes, may follow this first one.

So I started again from the same inspiration . . . → Read More: Emily’s Birthday Brownies]]>
Emily’s Birthday Brownies
Originally uploaded by plainsight

Last Thursday, we had a little crafty get together in honor of Emily’s birthday. I tried to find the brownie recipe I had come up with last summer, but it may have gotten recycled…

So I started again from the same inspiration recipe, and came up with the following:

Emily’s Fudgy Vegan Brownies

1/2 c. firm tofu
1/2 c. soy milk
1/2 c. applesauce
1 T. vegetable oil
1/4 c. peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 T vanilla
1 3/4 c sugar
2/3 c. cocoa powder
1 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 c. chocolate chips

Purée the tofu and soymilk in a blender or food processor.

Add applesauce, oil, vanilla and peanut butter. Mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, flour, and salt. Whisk to combine.

Mix wet and dry, just until combined. Add chocolate chips.

line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper, and pour the batter into the pan (it will be thick). I use a big piece of parchment to make a “sling” in the pan, that way, I can just lift the whole pan of brownies out of the dish to cool.

These make a very “tall” brownie–you could make these in a 9×13 pan for a thinner brownie if you wanted.

Bake at 350 for abut 25 minutes, or until batter is set, and top of brownie springs back when pressed gently. (You don’t want to overcook them–they’ll be too dry).

Enjoy!