tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698164491562799902010-03-13T14:01:36.858-08:00sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-5423137207798853032010-03-13T14:01:00.001-08:002010-03-13T14:01:36.899-08:00

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sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-456686355312893002009-11-28T11:22:00.000-08:002009-11-28T11:32:26.890-08:00

Here is my other recent pattern. This one takes even less time to knit than Balalaika and is certainly more functional. The world probably did not need another cell phone cozy pattern. But when Matt burned his hand on a pot handle hot from the oven, it was clear that Something Must be Done.Download pattern from RavelryPhotographing Prophylaxis was more work than design and knitting combined, but

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-34165126070685126272009-11-27T19:11:00.000-08:002009-11-27T19:27:25.808-08:00

I’ve been designing knitting patterns feverishly for the last year, and have gone public with precious few of them because I’ve been so focused on getting published. This post and the next will feature a couple of bagatelles that were apparently not substantial enough for the big time. But who wants substantial when it’s knitting-to-a-deadline season?I’ll lead off with Balalaika, my homage to

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-37145476375526338682009-03-24T15:55:00.000-07:002009-03-24T16:11:57.279-07:00

EnvironmentPacific Northwest, close to sea level, city tap water known to be of fairly high qualityYarn100g KnitPicks Bare superwash fingering weight yarn (75% wool, 25%nylon) divided into three hanks (I wasn't impressed with how well the yarn itself emerged from the rigors of dyeing - seems a bit loosely spun)Scouring and MordantWashed yarn in grapefruit-scented Ajax dishwashing liquid and

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-48111538441425779102009-03-13T09:45:00.000-07:002009-03-13T09:57:40.864-07:00

As I've been looking around for ways to trim the grocery budget, yogurt stands out as an obvious choice. At $3 a quart for Nancy's yogurt, it seemed worth figuring out if I could do better.I hauled the yogurt maker out of Narnia,* and gave it a try. It worked reasonably well, but reminded me why it was consigned to Narnia in the first place -- it makes eight 4-ounce cups, which is way too much

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-54075250775244998512009-03-10T19:01:00.000-07:002009-03-10T19:28:18.377-07:00

I recently embarked on a project to reclaim laceweight cashmere from a commercial sweater. I quickly realized that I had no interest in skeining approximately 3500 yards of yarn onto my niddy-noddy. Matt to the rescue -- with plastic pipe of course (other plastic pipe projects to his credit include a woodwind instrument, a laundry airer, the niddy-noddy, a footstool, and a yarn rope maker).I used

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-80570715423710504792008-11-04T17:06:00.001-08:002009-03-16T15:40:44.293-07:00

Shortly before Halloween, we found instructions on how to sew eyes all over a t-shirt using reverse applique. Matt was entranced. Hmm, what kind of costumes could we make that would be covered with eyes? Cherubim, of course!Actually, during most of the design process we thought we were making seraphim, because we relied on the description of seraphim in To Say Nothing of the Dog as "full of

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-77460855562661513582008-04-23T07:42:00.000-07:002008-06-29T21:09:06.327-07:00

Matt recently won a poetry-writing contest on Bent Objects with a sonnet about underpants. If you are not familiar with Bent Objects, go visit - it's one of our favorites. (In general, it has nothing to do with underpants). I had two hours before Matt got home from work to create a cake to celebrate his achievement. This is what I came up with:Red devil cake from the Moosewood Restaurant Book of

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-85571761199712450582008-03-21T09:06:00.001-07:002008-03-21T09:47:35.358-07:00

After the previous questions, it turns out the answer was painfully obvious, and not one of the ones I'd thought of - crocheted edging.Still, I tested the idea of crocheted "boning" and it actually was somewhat helpful. It was also virtually invisble on the right side. The idea is that the tightly crocheted bones act to pull the edge back toward the wrong side. I had to pull the yarn fairly tight

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-28577864258611082972008-03-08T14:41:00.000-08:002008-03-08T15:23:27.065-08:00

The genesis of these projects was an invitation to a tie dye party. I don't much care to wear tie dye, but I'd been itching to try dying yarn. Tie dyes don't work on animal fibers, so I skeined up some Sugar 'n Cream cotton (making a 40-foot skein is non-trivial, by the way), and we came home with this.Well, that's not quite true. Actually, we came home with this:And this:Everyone has some small

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-17197081188048659792008-02-26T10:06:00.001-08:002008-02-26T17:16:46.939-08:00

When I started knitting again last year, I was resorting to 20-year old stash, and had the '80s colors to prove it. I decided to make my mom some felted slippers from Robin Smith's Felted Slippers pattern on Angel Hair Yarn. Fortunately, my feet are the same size as Mom's. She loves the slippers - says they fit well and are just the right warmth. I did induce her to add some dots of squishy

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-35476023373128563662008-02-21T09:11:00.000-08:002008-02-22T09:32:52.716-08:00

Talk about high pressure photography. Next total lunar eclipse isn't for three years. After a quick consult with dad the photographer and a wide array of exposures (1/25 to 10 seconds), we came up with something decent, although not until the eclipse was just going out of total. I think the white dot on the left is Saturn. Click the picture for a larger image.And yes, I know the moon isn't

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-71631218903288318892008-02-17T12:02:00.000-08:002008-03-21T09:48:05.078-07:00

A more mundane finished object than the Shetland Triangle, and less well executed (if you click on the picture, you can see I got a little creative in the upper right-hand corner), but pleasing nonetheless. It makes an excellent facecloth.Pattern: Criminy Jickets' Garterlac DischlothYarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream, Country Side Ombre (color 02235); nearly all of one skein; the color in the picture is

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-14646825379217664822008-02-14T16:15:00.000-08:002008-02-14T16:57:25.890-08:00

There has been lots of knitting since last July, but no blogging due to Adoption Related Trauma or ART (not the same as art). I hope to post more soon and yes, we're still looking. This is my first lace project of any size, after cutting my teeth on Branching Out. It makes an excellent beginner piece. I had to tink a lot until my hands got the rhythm, but after that it was smooth sailing

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-52284351965349072602007-07-12T08:03:00.000-07:002008-02-14T16:59:36.706-08:00

This recipe is in honor of the Yarn Harlot. I had dropped knitting for nearly 20 years, after making Lopi socks (ie slippers) for everyone in my gift circle, and never quite succeeding in getting a sweater the way I wanted it.Then last summer, during our morning walk, I noticed the path was littered with fruit gunk. Looking up in idle curiosity, I was stunned to discover that we had been walking

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-59815329845250283472007-06-08T18:29:00.000-07:002008-04-23T08:12:43.460-07:00

a riff by Matt on Mrs. Cebulski's Famous Carrot Cake(the riff parts are in red)CakeCream until fluffy:2 cups sugar1 1/2 cups oil4 eggsSift together and add:2 cups flour1 tsp baking soda1 tsp salt2 tsp cinnamon1/4 - 3/8 tsp black pepperMix well and add:3 cups grated carrots1 cup chopped nuts1 1/2 - 2 ounces grated ginger rootBake in a 13"x9" pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour (I usually spray the pan

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-12461314030248891862007-06-03T14:33:00.000-07:002008-02-14T17:01:20.335-08:00

This sweater is for a draft pick yet to be named. When I made it I wasn't planning that it would be for our baby, but the lovely ladies on the knittyboard gave me the great idea of making socks for the birthmother out of the remaining yarn, so I think it will be a keeper.Pattern: Pinwheel Sweater by Shelley Mackie. Matt picked the yarn and did the design (in AutoCad, of course - which is really

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-21198651189653609542007-05-28T13:48:00.000-07:002009-03-10T19:30:27.536-07:00

Isn't that a lovely phrase?A little while ago, Matt made me a PVC niddy noddy from instructions at www.doctordirt.com/blog/niddy.html. He says it took him 8 minutes. He is a showoff.I wanted to make a storage case for my new toy, so I whipped up this quiver. It took considerably longer than 8 minutes, but most of that was design. As you can see from the pictures, it turned out a tiny bit too

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-59100577150158458112007-05-28T13:43:00.000-07:002007-05-28T13:46:41.500-07:00

In response to turtlegirl's comment on the Monmouth Earwarmer, I asked Matt if we could explain about the pipe wrenches, and he said, "Heavens no! Cultivate an aura of mystique." Anyway, it's inordinately pleasing to have a comment. Somehow, I wasn't expecting that.

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-3987696067533147882007-05-23T14:28:00.000-07:002007-08-30T07:52:03.425-07:00

I suppose this comes under "don't advertise your man," but here goes anyway. For my birthday a couple of weeks ago, Matt gave me this. (The knitted object, not the pipe wrench.)Among its many perfections:It is exactly his second finished object and it's beautiful.It is entirely his own design, including the decorative bits.He neatly solved all the engineering problems I'd been struggling with in

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-44493731788351323932007-05-17T20:07:00.000-07:002008-02-14T17:03:17.889-08:00

Pattern: Monster Feet from the book Felting on the GoYarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky (85% wool, 15% mohair), color M68 pine tree (flash photos below are much better approximations of the color); used about half of one skein (125 yards) for the larger slipper sizeNeedles: US size 13Gauge: I made a swatch, but was too eager to start knitting the slippers to bother felting the swatch. I got a pre-felted

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269816449156279990.post-39977586076072256792007-05-14T17:29:00.000-07:002008-02-14T17:04:50.506-08:00

It seems fitting that the first entry should celebrate a first finished object. These two hats were made from the same pattern, same yarn, same needles. One new knitter (Matt) determined to strangle the yarn. One experienced knitter (Sharon) exploring Continental knitting for the very first time.Needles: Addi Turbo US size 10, 20" (a bit too short) or 24" (a bit too long); size 10 dpns; it also

sharonmattnadiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08256775363324313666noreply@blogger.com0