So. Close.

When you’re trying to use up all the yarn in your stash, the potential for playing yarn chicken is high. Note the nine unbound stitches remaining. NINE. Ugh! I do not want one pattern repeat of yarn left over AGAIN in the stash. 

By some miracle, I had leftover yarn from my Shalom Cardigan (2009) that was a precise match, though not quite the right thickness.

The yarn substitution worked out perfectly, and after a nice wash, I have a cozy, squishy new lap blanket. 

And I can’t tell which corner has the substitute yarn for the last 9 stitches!!

Yarn is hand-spun by Anne Cohee for the 1990 Maryland Wool Show. The sheep was a brown Romney named Helga. I had 10.5 skeins of yarn, which was held double for this project.

So, the sixth Done by Monday blanket, the “Basketweave,” is ready for someone’s lap. Finally cut the ends off today, but the knitting has been complete for a month… 

These blankets have a true and recorded legacy. So fun!

And finally, a few baking projects. These sourdough rolls are wonderful, and I keep losing the recipe. So here is the LINK. I reduce the sugar to 1-2 Tablespoons. 

And for Easter I finally baked the gluten free Hungarian Hazelnut Cake. Prepare to drool and fantasize eating a slice every day! I took some suggestions from the comments and wrapped/refrigerated the baked cake over night. The apricot jam in the middle and whipped cream (with a little added powdered sugar) on top is also very good. I decided to freeze a few slices, and there was not harm done to taste or texture when I ate them a week later. I do think that I will split the layers next time and try the cake with whipped cream in the middle. Other suggestions were to add vanilla to the cake batter and some flavored liquor such as Frangelico to the whipped cream. 

Two More Egg Hats

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Turns out I wanted some egg hats as well. Purple and orange to represent our current favorite colors around here.

Some bonus Mayapple and Trillium coming up in the woods. So happy to see native plants out there after spending several hours yesterday cutting down invasive honeysuckle and autumn olive. There is a pair of barred owls hooting in the woods. Awesome!

Happy Spring!

Eggsy Hats

What does one give to a generous friend who has everything and eats a specific diet that includes no special “fun” foods? Especially since she delivered a few dozen cascarones for good times?

Well, turns out she also likes to eat eggs, and it is Easter, so egg hats it is!

Here’s to green eggs and fake ham! It looks like I don’t have egg cups, a big oversight… But that cute cordial glass is a pretty good stand in.

The pattern is Eggsy Hats by Rosemary Hill. I used the electric kettle to steam the fabric to block the knitting. I used some left over Malabrigo yarn from the Multnomah shawl I made about 10 years ago.

I packaged the hats in an old egg carton, covering some plastic eggs with the hats and adding some clementine treats.

 Happy Easter and Happy Spring holidays to you!

Weekend of Treats

It was a weekend to write home about: three days, holiday celebration, beautiful weather, delicious food. I started my weekend out with a hike at Westwood Park. There is a nine mile hiking/biking trail around a pretty little lake. Many funny signs warn you about "no exit" so you can plan your turn-around in case you don't think you will make it. It was a great trail with lots of variety and just a little up and down to keep the blood pumping. 

Lots of wildlife was out and about. Besides these nesting Bald Eagles, I saw several varieties of woodpecker, a King Fisher, snapping turtles on a log, and your more common cardinals, jays, sparrows, and robins. Also importantly, there was a team of trail workers removing the invasive honeysuckle.

At school I've been teaching a legion of elementary children how to play Hot Cross Buns on the violin. The Farmer claimed he had never heard of the song (I blame his formative years spent in Panama) and found this classic polka version of the song. Students, teacher, and Farmer all delighted! 

I also got curious as to the history of the song and took a wikipedia deep-dive. And then I had to learn about the pastry, and then I had to make some on the appropriate day. There were plenty of leftovers... I used this recipe  as a base (omitting cranberries), adding cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and candied citron. They were delicious!

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For Easter dessert, I found this delicious recipe for strawberry cream. It was super easy and delicious.

The previous week I made the Smitten Kitchen chocolate buckwheat cake, which the cat definitely would have eaten a slice of. It had a very earthy flavor, and almost seemed healthy, haha! And maybe Covid baking is here to stay. 

This is a not-so-funny version of the Easter Bunny who showed up on the deck Easter morning and sent me to the internet for removal strategies. Groundhogs eat 1.5 pounds of fresh food every day, and since I'm unwilling to say good-bye to gardening, this one has to be relocated. I'll keep you posted... 

Wishing everyone a great spring!

Easter Bonnet

Happy Easter, friends! The day dawned beautiful and very frosty, so I had no choice but to press my newly finished Wurm hat into action as my Easter bonnet. I hope I can retire it until fall after today, because I am excited to start gardening. I had to cover my blooming gooseberries and currants last night to protect them from the frost. This afternoon is gloriously warm and spring-like.

Knitting details -
*Pattern: Wurm (free pattern)
*Yarn: 1.7 skeins of Savage Hart Farm DK weight yarn from Vermont (purchased at the Whipple Tree Yarn store in Woodstock, VT)
*Needles: 6 (brim) and 8 (body)
*Start: March 6, 2019, plane knitting to New Mexico for ASTA conference and back
*Finish: April 15, 2019 - took a little longer as I had to re-order yarn...
*Ravelry link: HERE

A few other knit decorations for the day that I made a few years ago. The Cadbury robins eggs in the candy dish are DARK chocolate, a delightful find!

Somehow I have another five unfinished knitted items in my Ravelry queue, so hopefully I'll be able to show off something else before too long. And share a few early gardening endeavors!

I the meantime, China Cat Sunflower is not really helping my knitting productivity with his naps on my projects! I'll wake him up when he gets less cute... haha!