Twice as Good

I'm sharing an older project today where you have seen the more current version already. It is rare that I will knit the same pattern twice. There are just so many different patterns and yarns that I want to try that I never seem to go back to one I've knit before. But the Sursa shawl is different. I've knit it twice now and I wouldn't be surprised if I knit it a third time.

I like the Sursa shawl particularly well because it combines a rustic style wrap with a more modern look that is achieved by the use of a constrasting ruffle trim. It is also unlike anything I have ever seen in the stores and I like to knit things that I could not otherwise buy. It also doesn't hurt that the yarn is Noro silk garden and a pleasure to knit with.


I also love the Sursa shawl because it is a quick knit and I think a superior use for the Noro silk garden yarn. You use US 15 needles with the yarn doubled so it moves along very quickly and before you can say lickety split you are done! Using the yarn doubled also gives the yarn a complexity of color and strength that shows off the fiber to it's best advantage in my opinion.

I can remember when I first saw the Sursa shawl. I was in a LYS and the knitting instructor was wearing it. I thought it was the most beautiful yarn and pattern I had ever seen. This was, of course, well before I had discovered knitting blogs and all the wonder of the infinite variety of yarns and patterns available on-line. Yet, to this day, for the reasons given above it remains a favorite combination of yarn and pattern.

Project specs: Sursa Shawl from Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton's Book Number Two; US 15 Needles; 5 skeins Noro Silk Garden; 3 skeins Debbie Bliss Cashmerino; finished dimensions: 23" wide and 75" long.


We would now like to take just a minute to thank Vicki from Knitting Dragonflies for specifically awarding Mr Puffy the You Make My Day Award. Mr Puffy would like to say a few words in thanks.

I am incredibly thrilled by the honor of receiving this Award. I can't believe that my contributions to this blog should be so recognized by one of the knitting community. I would like to thank those that supported me and encouraged me throughout this process. I would also like to thank my mommy and daddy; my grandparents who live in Santa Barbara and have always encouraged me in whatever I've wanted to do and feed me lots of treats; my friends who live on my street, Mia and Ralph, who always want to play with me; and mostly I would like to thank Uno who recently won the first major Award for beagles ever and made it possible for other beagles to succeed in this highly competitive world! Now all I want to do is go to Disneyland and celebrate! Ah-Roo! Ah-Roo!

Sorry about that. He's just a little beagle and doesn't have a well developed sense of proportionality. We won't be going to Disneyland but I think we can manage a trip to our local Three Dog Bakery for a special treat. Thank you Vicki - you make our day too - along with all those other bloggers who have enriched our lives with your shared experiences, humor, and creativity!

Why I Knit ~

This post should really be titled "Why I knit as Much as I Do."  Because I was a knitter for many years before I morphed into the somewhat prolific knitter that I've become.  There is a reason behind this. What happened about 10 years ago was I hit a really rough patch and for reasons that were unfathomable to me I was swamped with bad news on top of bad news.  Nothing life threatening but, upsetting nonetheless.  At the time I shopped for yarn in a traditional LYS using mass produced commercial yarns, but decided to treat myself to a splurge purchase and bought some gorgeous Noro silk garden yarn along with the pattern book to knit the Sursa shawl that I had seen made up as a store sample.  As I sat down and began to knit that shawl the beauty of the yarn and the soothing simple pattern was a healing balm to my soul.  It was the first time I had ever knit with a yarn like Noro that was handcrafted in beautiful colors and in a luxury fiber.  To this day I can remember how thrilled I was to see the gorgeous fabric the yarn created and I was happy when knitting despite everything else going on.  And that made that period of my life easier to bear.

To this day I rely on knitting to help me through stressful times.  I'll go back to the basics which is a simple garter stitch shawl paired with a wonderful yarn and that's exactly what the shawl I am wearing is.  It's the Stripe Study Shawl and I knit the majority of it over Christmas when I (along with my dad, sister and Steve) spent many days in the hospital with my Mom as she was recovering from an emergency surgery and during the weeks of ups and downs inevitable when someone is recovering from a serious operation such as she had.  Of course my mother who knit herself when she was young enjoyed seeing my progress.  There's no one who quite gives you the enthusiastic encouragement as a parent, bless her heart.  And I'm extremely happy to report that she's home now and recovering well and I feel once again able to tackle more challenging knitting.  But I'll always turn to a particular type of knitting as an escape during difficult times and I think in a way this also explains why I knit as much as I do even in the best of times.

Particulars:  Stripe Study Shawl designed by Veera Valimaki (Rain Knitwear Designs); US 6 needles; 2 skeins Plucky Knitter Snug (70% merino 20% cashmere 10% alpaca).  Yarn was purchased as part of a 3 skein "mystery kit."  I had less yarn than the pattern called for and only had enough of the Hudson (pink) to knit 10 instead of 12 repeats.  I had a fair about of the grey leftover and could have knit a longer border but felt the overall balance of the shawl worked best stopping when I did.  This yarn knits up beautifully and creates a beautiful shawl.

The Staff of Life  ~

I was happy to hear that Oprah Winfrey eats bread everyday.  I do too so I'm hoping this will help dispel the negative image it's gotten these past few years.  I think the key to eating bread, as with so much in life, is to eat it in moderation and as part of a well balanced diet.  Although as a caveat I am not eating brioche every morning.  Instead I have a slice of my homemade country sourdough loaf that has no butter or fat whatsoever as the wild yeast and long rising process gives it flavor and texture.  I also have along with my bread a bowl of steel cut oatmeal and fruit and a pot of tea.   But every once in a while I splurge and enjoy a treat such as freshly baked brioche on a Sunday morning as pictured above.  I made this petite brioche using the recipe from the Le Pain Quotidien cookbook (Amazon link) and I like them better than those they sell in the bakery.  Just wonderful and pairs perfectly with a tart cherry jam.

Until next time be well and love well and happy knitting.  May it help you through the difficulties you encounter in this life as it has me.

Crockern Tor and Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe

Crockern Tor is the 3rd installment of Ysolda's 2015 shawl club and embodies exactly why I joined her club.  It's a rustic British wool blend in a neutral color that will go with anything. Further, true to classic British style it is wardrobe piece that is beautiful and timeless.  Knit in a heavy lace weight yarn it has wonderful loft that will make it a cozy piece to wear this winter whether riding to the hounds or sipping afternoon tea.  Only one of which I do with any regularity.  And it's not riding to the hounds. Although I do have a hound.  Of sorts.  

As a brief segue, looking at this picture of Simcha snuggled with yarn from this shawl it reminds me of one of the reasons that I knit as much as I do. It brings me comfort when my life is stressful and hectic.  In fact I can recall certain projects that have gotten me through particularly difficult times in my life. My Sursa shawl in particular helped me through one of those times when I had a neighbor who ran a jackhammer for years doing extensive landscaping without regard to the impact on the surrounding neighbors who listened daily to this jarring onslaught of sound.  Knitting has always enabled me to turn my thoughts away from what is troubling me and instead focus on the beautiful yarn, the tactile sensations and the pleasure of seeing a pattern unfold.  It is both an escape and calming.  I suppose I could have turned to yoga but then I wouldn't have had all these beautiful shawls to enjoy.  Whereas in actuality I enjoy both yoga and knitting and believe it is important for everyone to have ways to slow down and de-stress and hope that knitting is able to provide that for you as well.

Back to this beautiful shawl.  In Ysolda's own words the June 2015 installment of her shawl club (and her design inspiration) is described as follows:

A perfectly blended cloud from one of my favorite mills worked into a simple crescent with a scattering of random eyelets - breezy summer knitting whether you're shaking sand out of your project bag or sneaking in a few stitches at your desk.  Enjoy!

Particulars:  Crockern Tor design by Ysolda (2015 Shawl club); 1 skein John Arbon Textiles Crockern Lace (colorway: a perfectly blended cloud); 150gm lace weight; US 5 needles.  Modifications:  At the start of Section 4 skipped pattern rows 1-3.  I particularly love the unique bind off using a crocheted chain which gives this shawl the prefect finishing touch. Previous projects blogged from Ysolda's 2015 shawl are: Stac Stoaigh and Caer Idris 


Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe ~

Steve's absolutely favorite cookie bar none is oatmeal raisin.  However I found it hard to find the perfect recipe with just the right amount of crunch to fluffiness factor.  You see he wanted them just like his grandma made (the pinnacle of baking perfection an impression formed at the tender age of 5). So I persevered.  It is after all the only cookie Steve really likes. After trying many recipes that were close but still not right, I blended a few recipes together and added a twist of my own and achieved what he and I both agree is the best oatmeal cookie recipe ever.  Dare I hope maybe even as good as his grandma's?  He says even better.  Our home is never without them and I hope you will enjoy them as much as he does.

Ingredients:

1 C. shortening
1 1/4 C. + 2 Tbs. light brown sugar (or if it's easier for you to weigh 300 grams)
2 eggs
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 C. whole milk
1 3/4 C. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (scant)
1 tsp. nutmeg (scant)
1 tsp. cinnamon (scant)
3 C. whole Oats -  the "Quick" versus "old fashioned" works best
1 C. dark raisins

Steps:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  In an electric mixer combine: shortening, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Beat for several minutes until batter is ultra smooth.  I often leave the mixer running while I combine the dry ingredients.
3.  Remove bowl from mixer and by hand whisk in milk until just incorporated.
4.  Measure and combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon) in a bowl and combine using a fork.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients using a wooden spoon.
5.  Stir in oats (with wooden spoon) 1 cup at a time.  Lastly stir in raisins.
6.  Line a baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.  Add 1 TBS heaping batter and flatten slightly with back of spoon.  Yields approximately 2.5 dozen cookies.
7.  Bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly browned.  Let sit on tray for half a minute then remove to a wire rack to cool.  Freezes well.


Until next time be well and love well and may your home always be filled with love, cookies, and yarn.

A Spring Fling

My love affair with Noro continues, but it never hurts to remember that it is tricky business working with colored yarns. For instance, I really thought when I purchased these skeins of yarn that they would make a perfect Spring shawl. All that pink and green - how could it not say Spring? However, early in the knitting stage, I began to consider that perhaps this would be the perfect shawl for the Fall! Just as well, really, because while I purchased this yarn in March I'm only now finishing it here late in August. Serendipity.

This is the Sursa shawl knit with Noro Silk Garden and Cash Iroha yarn. It's a fun and quick pattern and I particularly like the way the edging is attached (as you can see in the close up).

It's nice to have finished the shawl this weekend because I'm here in Santa Barbara with Mr. Puffy where I purchased the yarn. There's symmetry to that. We are here visiting Grandma and Grandpa which is always a welcome respite from our busy lives. Mr Puffy is particularly happy both because he loves to sit in my Mother's garden and because my Mother usually cooks a roast while we are visiting (as she did this weekend). Nothing puts a smile on Mr. Puffy's face quite like the prospect of roasted meat for dinner!