i like cake!

This past Christmas, my family decided to do an all hand-made Christmas. For me, naturally, this meant knitting gifts for everyone. I also decided to design each of the gifts I made. Joo-Yun is the first of these designs, named after my sister-in-law, for whom the hat was designed and knit.

I have never been much of a hat wearer, but I love the look of the slouchy kind of hat that has been in style lately. Combined with a simple lace pattern and a luxurious sport-weight yarn, this hat combines easy styling with effortless elegance. I’ll be making one for myself very soon!

Yarn: 1 skein Madelinetosh Pashmina, pictured in Hollyhock

Needles: Size 5 and size 6 circular (for magic loop) or DPNs

Gauge: 5.5 st / 8 rows per inch in stockinette with smaller needle

Sizes: Child (Medium, Large) / 15 1/4 (17 1/2, 19 1/2)” circumference unstreched

Available for purchase through Ravelry here:

Many thanks to Tricia for the photography and Carrie for the styling assistance and supplemental modeling!

I’ve had the good fortune to enjoy a number of truly epic meals this autumn, though I have, as usual, been remiss in not blogging about them. Or anything really. I actually have some baking/knitting/designing updates to post soon too. But first, I thought I would start with my most recent meal, while it’s still fresh in my mind.

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of experiencing Next Restaurant’s “Childhood” menu–dishes inspired by those enjoyed by chefs Grant Achatz and Dave Beran’s childhood in Michigan. Because the chefs are about the same age as I am, and I’m also from the midwest, this fortuitously pretty much amounted to dishes inspired by those from my childhood as well.

We start the meal with a word from the chefs:

And first on the menu–a present! Who doesn’t like getting presents? So many of the dishes on the menu were meant to inspire a type of child-like whimsy through the flavours or the presentation, and getting to unwrap a gift certainly set that tone right from the start!

And inside the present–”PB&J”! This was sort of like a small peanut butter beignet, filled with warm liquid jelly and resting in a bed of crushed peanuts and gelled fruit. It was one of my favorite things on the menu.

Next up–what’s this? Doesn’t look like anything from my childhood?

But then a broth is poured in…

Et Voilà, chicken noodle soup! Except the one thick noodle IS the chicken (that’s what it’s made from) and the big lump of white stuff in the middle there is chicken infused butter. Yum! (sorry for the blurry photo)

Next on the menu–fish ‘n’ chips! This was another of my favorites. Kinda looks like me, right? lol

Obviously the fish n chips are somewhat deconstructed–there’s a small piece of perfectly cooked fish, with a crispy potato crisp, sliced cucumbers, and the little pile of stuff in the corner is a herbed breading. The drawing is made from sauce (malt vinegar maybe?), and the sun is some type of lemon purée. We weren’t sure what flavour the foam was. They also made a boy version for dad! (though obviously didn’t get his hair quite right…)

What could this next dish be…

The waiter removes the glass tube to reveal…

Mac ‘n’ cheese! Yum! I cannot possibly count the ways I love mac ‘n’ cheese, from its purest to most impure (read: kraft) form. Note the little orange noodles there on the side which were made to mimic that most delicious of blue boxed treats. Colored using the same type of seed that gets powdered to make the original!

This dish was made to resemble a walk through the woods. Served in a log filled with fragrant smoldering coals and grasses. Up top is some crispy kale, a variety of mushrooms and leafy greens.

A brief interlude from the description to show what Lesley’s place settling looked like at this point–they had been bringing drink pairings with each course and she now had 3 different glasses of red wine to enjoy

This course, believe it or not, is a hamburger! There’s a nice little chunk of very tender short rib in there, surrounded by all the fixings. The dish also played with texture by including two elements of the bun–some crispy breadcrumbs as well as the sesame seed-dotted paste, which I initially mistook for crackers.

Next came one of the things I was most excited for–a course served in vintage 80’s lunchboxes! I was hoping for he-man, but no dice. I did, however, get the Muppets’ Pigs in Space, which was also kinda cool. And a Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers thermos.

Inside the lunch box–a homemade “funyun”, some beef jerky, an oreo made with truffles incorporated into the cookies, a homemade fruit roll-up, a pudding cup, and then the thermos was filled with some sort of combination of wine and fruit juice. There was also an inspirational note from “dad”!

The pudding cup–chocolate pudding on top with banana pudding underneath and some carmelized nuts (I think) on top:

This course was another of my favorites, for 2 obvious reasons–foie gras and puns. These are apple cider donuts, along with a beater dipped in “Foiesting”–i.e., foie gras frosting. Mmmm, very tasty!

Finally, what childhood would be complete without playing with fire? The campfire for our final course was placed and set ablaze:

Only to be revealed that the “logs” were actually part of our dessert–they were bits of sweet potato, now nicely carmelized, to be combined with the other elements on the plate and a toffee sauce to create sweet potato pie. Yum again!

After we’d cleaned our plates, we were given a cup of hot cocoa to send us on our way to bed, and a copy of the menu to take with us (sorry again for the blur).

All in all, it was an incredibly satisfying meal that tantalized all of the senses at various points, with a good dash of nostalgia to boot. While we dined, soundtracks from movies such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones played in the background, just to make it that much more immersive.

I think I actually liked this menu even more than the Thailand menu (which I’ll also blog about one of these days), although sadly we didn’t have the chef’s table this time, which was incredibly awesome. We visited the kitchen after dinner, but Chef Beran looked pretty busy so I didn’t get to say hi, much to my disappointment (while at the chef’s table, he would come and chat with us, which was very cool).

I definitely plan on trying to visit Next for every new menu they launch!

This weekend, I and thousands of my knitting peers converged on Portland for the 2nd bi-annual Sock Summit. The trip was off to an auspicious start when I was greeted at the airport by this advertisement for the Oregon lottery:

Now that’s a show I would have a shot at winning!

There was certainly a lot of knitting going on this weekend, as I hung out with some of my Internet besties–Sarie, Ceylan, Jen, and Christin, as well as cool chicks from home like Carrie and Terry (between Carrie, Terry, and Sarie, my tongue was twisted the whole weekend, as evidenced by when I mortally offended Sarie by turning to her and saying “Hairy”).

Aside from the knitting and friends though, the weekend was all about food! (as is pretty much any trip I take. Well, every day in general actually). We started the party by having dinner at the Deschutes brewery. I’m not a big beer drinker, but the food was excellent. Here are several of our beverages, in all the colors of the beer rainbow–light tan to….well, dark tan.

Later that evening was a stop that should surprise no one–the infamous Voodoo Doughnuts, home of the maple bacon bar, which was my first donut of the evening (but not my last!) Behold, the unveiling–

Drooling again already.

We didn’t spend much time at the actual Summit itself–we were turned away from the Opening ceremony for arriving late (Sock Summit Rejects!), then got too distracted by our epic dinner at 50 plates and missed the Sock Hop (seriously people, eat at 50 Plates if you’re in Portland–it was excellent).

One event that I couldn’t miss, was my own pattern signing! Woot! Kollage Yarns offered a limited edition pattern booklet at Sock Summit featuring 5 designs, including my new Adora Scarf, which is now available through Patternfish as a stand-alone pattern, featuring both scarf and shawl width directions. I’ll add the link to the sidebar soon.

Here’s a less professional-looking picture of my shawl version as it was blocking:

I really love this shawl, and already have plans to make one for myself. Possibly in orange again, so I can wear it to Giants and/or Bears games!

The signing was together with all the designers from the booklet, including Carrie Sullivan (irishgirlieknits), Jen Hansen, Sandi Rosner, and Anne Hanson. It was great hanging out with such accomplished designers for the afternoon!

We may not have spent much time at the Summit, but we did spend probably too much time at the Marketplace there, particularly in the Plucky Knitter booth, where Sarah had brought tons of ridiculously gorgeous yarn. Her yarns are kind of difficult to get online, so it was amazing to see so much of it all in one place in person! I started off responsibly, only buying a couple of skeins. But by the end of the weekend, I’d made a couple more purchases from the booth, of ever-increasing size, oops.

Here’s a pic I got of me and Sarah, who is one of the loveliest, sweetest people you will ever meet:

I’m wearing a tiny little sweater that I knit up in yarn she dyed–hopefully I’ll get my act together soon and get the pattern drafted and released. My idea for it was to make a barely-there sweater that I could put on over dresses where the top of the dress is maybe a bit too scandalous to wear on its own. It worked perfectly!

I’m working on another secret sweater design, to be released this Winter, which I am SUPER stoked about, and can’t wait to show you. But I must! Until next time!

Wow, I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I updated my site! I would promise to be more diligent in the future, but we all know that that’s probably a promise I can’t keep.

Anyway, what’s been going on since February? Sounds like time for another knitting round-up! Well, highlights at least. And some of these were done prior to February, oops. If you’d like to see everything I’ve knit since then, check out my Ravelry projects page!

In January, Kollage Yarns published a new shawl pattern that I designed, called Ysabell (when I’m stuck on names for things I have a tendency to turn to my favorite books–in this case Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series). Knit here in Kollage’s Creamy yarn (a milk fiber and cotton blend), the pattern comes in two sizes, a shawlette and a full sized shawl, and can be downloaded here.

Here’s a better view of the pattern:

Next up, I finished some socks as a gift for my friend Erin. One of these days, I will get around to writing up the pattern, I hope:

They’re knit with Madelinetosh sock yarn in the Shell colorway.

Not the greatest picture, but these socks are pretty awesome! This is yarn that I spun myself, from wool dyed by Hello Yarn. I love the happy colors!

Another not-so-great photo, thanks to forgetting to turn the flash off outside. This was my own copy of the Blair sweater mentioned a few posts ago. I really love this sweater, and I’ve worn it a bunch of times! Knit in Madelinetosh DK in Norway Spruce.

I really love these socks. I designed and knit these for my friend Jen, who’s some type of science-y chick (that’s the technical name for her job, I’m sure). I called them “Jen’s Genetic Abomination” for when she finally goes rogue and creates a new dinosaur-like life form that terrorizes the city.

All dinosaur-y business in the front, DNA party in the back! Knit in The Plucky Knitter fingering MCN in ‘Momentum’.

This one, Josefin, was a test knit for my friend Elin’s new pattern, knit in Madelinetosh Pashmina in ‘Iris’. It’s a super classy sweater that’s totally work appropriate! (as though almost anything isn’t work appropriate in my book)

I took a trip to my friend Ceylan’s lakehouse last month, and finished up a couple of projects–first up is a new sweater design that I need to write up one of these days:

Simple and flattering, knit in The Plucky Knitter MCN worsted in ‘Early Light’. Sadly, I finished it just as it was getting far too warm to wear.

And last but not least, another pair of socks knit from my handspun, this time spun from fiber that Ceylan dyed. They’re super warm and cozy!

That’s it on the knitting front for the moment. For anyone who’s heading up to Sock Summit at the end of July, I’ll have another pattern in a booklet that Kollage will be offering at the show. I’ll also be bumming around Portland, eating bacon donuts, so feel free to say hello if you’re there!

My sweetie always knows how to pick something beautiful =) Yay love!

Recently I’ve seen Valentine’s Day referred to as VD all over, and it amuses me to no end, so I thought I’d continue that trend here =P However, I wish you all a Valentine’s with no VD, preferably!

I was incredibly honored and excited when my cardigan pattern was accepted into the Winter 2010 issue of Twist Collective. Diving head-first into the world of sweater design has been quite an adventure!

Blair is a top-down raglan cardigan, knit all in one piece. The eyelet details give it some visual interest, but still maintain the simple quality of the garment, so that it’s suitable for everyday wear–perfect for throwing on over a t-shirt and pair of jeans. The simple construction makes it a good choice for all levels of knitters, and the simple shape makes it appropriate for a wide range of body types.

Before I sent the sample sweater in to Twist, I couldn’t resist taking a picture for myself, even though it was much too small for me. I’m working on my own size now, and can’t wait to wear it! Though it’s shown in my picture below with negative ease, I would advise aiming for as close to zero ease as possible, or slight positive ease, depending on what you plan to wear under the sweater.

I got the inspiration for this sweater while watching the Olympics last Winter. During the ice skating competition, I saw a girl wearing a sweater backstage with an eyelet detail running down the sleeves. After some swatching and brainstorming, I came up with the design you see above. When I saw the mood board for the Winter issue of Twist, and that it featured a segment inspired by ice skaters, I knew I had to submit it, even though I was pretty nervous about heading right into the big leagues with my first sweater pattern! The sketch I submitted is shown below:

When naming the sweater, I finally settled on Blair as an homage to Bonnie Blair, the 5-time Olympic gold medalist speed skater, who grew up in my hometown of Champaign, IL. Growing up, I took skating lessons on the same ice where she learned to skate, looking up at banners congratulating her on her wins.

I hope you enjoy this pattern, and I can’t wait to see what you create with it!

Blair can be purchased and downloaded from the Twist Collective, here.

The Ravelry page for the pattern is here.

Rob changed things up this time around by getting a different color of roses. I think they’re so cool looking! =) They’re apparently called “Pink Passion” roses.

My guy spoils me =)

Yes, I know, it’s been a long time since I’ve updated! Rob sent me some lovely flowers today, so I used that as motivation to get off my butt and do it =)

I don’t have as much to report in this knitting round-up. I’ve been working on a number of designs, and I can’t really show them until they’re ready for release. One thing I will say is, keep your eyes open for the next issue of Twist Collective!

Here is another new sweater I’ve designed. I haven’t written up the pattern yet, but because it’s light weight, I probably will wait until Spring to release it. It’s called Twoflower (after the errant tourist of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books), and it’s knit in Sundara Sock, the Cerulean Seas colorway.

I also did a very quick project, which was a pair of legwarmers knit with handspun from my friend Sarie.

I’ve also got a couple of new baking recipes to post, but I don’t have them in front of me, so that will have to wait until next time! =)

Greetings faithful blog readers!  I’ve been getting bad about updating again, so sorry!  My initial plan, begun in my last post, was to post my smoothie recipe from every morning.  That lasted about two days until I realized that my smoothie recipe is always 1 tub of yogurt, a couple pieces of whatever fruit I have on hand, some honey, and a bit of juice.  Voila, smoothie!  My fave so far is probably mango strawberry.  Yum!

At any rate, I’ve got a couple of new knits to show off.  I’ve been focused more on designing lately, so my output has slowed down a bit.  But I do have some exciting news on that front–this Winter I’m going to have a sweater design featured in a major publication.  More on that after I get my contract and find out what exactly I’m allowed to disclose.

First up:

Pattern: Cecilia, designed by my friend Elin Berglund.
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% sockenwolle in Neptun

Perfect little cropped sweater for summer dress weather!

I’ve been big on little Summer sweaters that I can layer over dresses lately, which was the inspiration for my next sweater as well:

Pattern: Wispy, by Hannah Fettig
Yarn: Sundara sock in Flaming Flamingo

Loved how quick of a knit this one was!

And the spinning has continued as well:

Pigeonroof SW Merino in Emperor:

Pigeonroof SW Merino/Silk in Blueberry Tart:

Freckle Face Fibers SW Merino in “Lady of the Lake” (or as I call it, “Watery Tart”)

Freckle Face Fibers Merino in Gold Leaf:

FLUFF South African Fine Merino in “Cape Town”:

And then I finished up the second half of a couple of older braids of fiber–this first one, FLUFF South African Fine in Amandla, shows how far my n-plying has come since my first attempt:

And then this is the second half of my Hello Yarn Finn in “Winter Storage”, which I think is probably the most perfect yarn I’ve ever spun: