Knitting & Crocheting

Last fall Tim and I were sitting side-by-side at our computers just surfin'. It was a leisurely Saturday evening, we were staying in, and we were playing a little game we often do where we take turns sharing songs, usually songs that have meaning to us, or songs that we grew up listening to. One of the marvelous things about marrying a man your own age... we both graduated from high school in 1972... you sang the same songs, watched the same movies, and experienced the same social and cultural phenomena. All-and-all, it makes for many delightful conversations... but I digress! Shocker, right?

Anyway... songs like You're So Vain, Super Freak, Knights in White Satin and Dreams by the Cranberries were filling the air (btw... totally extraneous info for the true story, but I'm setting the mood ;) So, in my surfin' the net, I stumble upon these a.dor.able egg cozies. I have never owned an egg cozy, as a matter of fact, I've never owned an egg cup BUT I now NEED to, if only to own these cute cozies. While reading about the cozies, the writer spoke of "soldiers". Now, I know she's not talking about people in uniforms, it has something to do with soft-boiled eggs. I ask Tim about it. He knows EVERYTHING. Truly, this man is amazing... the amount of trivial info bouncing around in his cute head. But, shockingly, he comes up empty.

I forbid him from Googling soldiers. Instead, I hop on Wee Folk Art's Facebook page and ask our readers about "soldiers". As I expected, lots of people knew about "soldiers" and I was delighted to learn about them from "friends" rather than just off a search. (For those of you that have no idea about what I'm talking about, you'll find out soon :)

So, Tim and I spent the rest of the evening looking at egg cups and egg cozies, egg spoons and egg cutters. By the time the evening drew to a close, I felt like a bit of an authority on soft-boiled eggs, and gave sufficient hints, knowing full-well I'd be receiving egg paraphernalia as a Christmas gift. Although my Christmas stocking... actually, my Christmas shopping bag... was filled with many "squealable" delights, I was rather surprised that there were no egg cups, cozies or cutters amongst the gifts. It wasn't like Tim. He ALWAYS picks up on those kind of things. But, we shared a perfect Christmas together, so it was soon forgotten.

HOWEVER, Michelle had not forgotten about my continued intrigue with the whole soft-boiled egg experience. And, this Mother's Day, I received 4 adorable chicken egg cups and spoons, a handy-dandy egg snipper AND (drum roll please) 4 felted GNOME HATS that she knit to keep my eggs cozy while waiting to be ate! How exciting!

So, this morning, I set out to make my very first soft-boiled egg. As I said before, I had read all about them, so I was ready. I decided to steam my eggs. It was simple:

Bring water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer. Add eggs directly from the fridge. Steam for 6 1/2 minutes.

When you remove the eggs from the steamer, run directly under cold water to stop the cooking process.

While the eggs are cooking, make your "soldiers". (Told you I'd get back to them!) Soldiers are simply a piece of buttered toast, cut into long strips, so you can easily dip them in your egg. Brilliant!

Now, the fun part... place your egg in an egg cup, and cover with an egg cozy to keep it warm until you are ready to eat. 

Use your spoon or an egg cutter to remove the top of the egg, removing any little pieces of clingy shell. If you like, you can salt and pepper your egg. (I found the buttered toast added enough flavor without condiments.) If all went well, you have a perfect soft-boiled egg. The white should be thoroughly cooked, but the yolk should still be runny.

Now, dip your soldiers in and eat up! Note to self: when using the wide toast, make sure to cut into 5 pieces instead of 4 so they fit in the egg better!)

Yum! For a first go at making soft-boiled eggs, I'd say it was a major success. 

Note: Make sure you check your eggs before you steam them. If there are any little cracks, the steaming process with cause them to crack open while cooking, and you have an egg that develops this globby thing that looks like a goiter! BTW... the dogs said it tasted just fine :)

If you are interested in knitting some gnome hats for your eggs... and if you are a regular reader at Wee Folk Art, I'm going to assume you've got your yarn and needles out already... Michelle found the pattern for the hats over at  Silver Lining Knits. You can visit them to get the complete directions. 

Thank you so much, Mich. I love them AND you :)

Photos 5-14-13

Here is our latest applique block. I love doing hand sewing, so all these lines were right up my alley! As always, they were designed to fit a 6" x 6" block, but you can enlarge or reduce the pattern to meet your needs.

I'm often asked what to do with the completed blocks. First off... I only sew them to blocks because it makes them all uniform. I haven't used the blocks for anything other than display purposes. But, you can use our appliques in any way you'd use any appliques. I designed this block to use in a panel of a quilted knitting project bag I was making for a friend. I forgot to take a photo, but this is basically what it looked like:

It turned out lovely! How will you use this applique?

The pattern for the Yarn Ball Applique Block can be found HERE.

The tutorial on How to Enlarge and Reduce can be found HERE.

The tutorial on How to Cut Out Felt can be found HERE.

The Stitching Glossary can be found HERE.

DIRECTIONS - Refer to pattern and photo for applique placements and cutting instructions.

Make a copy of the pattern.

Cut out felt using the photo and pattern as a guide. Transfer any embroidery markings.

For this applique, stitch pieces to the block following the lines on the pattern. Use a running stitch and 3 strands of floss.

Make sure when piecing together the yarn ball, you do it in the following manner, making sure to cover the overlap lines:

Piece "A"
Piece "B" 
Piece "C"
Piece "D"
Piece "E"

PHOTOS: 6-26-11
 

January 2. The house is unbelievably quite. The children are all gone, the hubby is back to work, and after a VERY quick glimpse at CNN, I find myself back at the computer, after a 2 week hiatus. I scan Pinterest, looking for my daily dose of inspiration, and find myself strangely apathetic. Of course, as always, there is talent galore out there, but I guess I'm simply not in the mood for anything "New". How strange is that? It's the New Year. Aren't we suppose to embrace transformations and resolve to change? Yet, this year, I find I don't want to change or to forge ahead. Rather, I feel the strange pull to backtrack a bit. I want to hit my shelves that are ladened with unfinished projects, and, well, finish a few. I don't want to consider our next business adventure, but rather reassess the validity of those with which we are currently involved. Frankly, I simply want to wallow in the here and now, content, satisfied and, yes, even gratified. Life is good. I don't feel the need to change.

Of course, later in the day, or the week, my soul will begin to crave the onslaught of creative input. But for now, finishing what I've started, works for me. Top on my list? Work on an afghan I began for Michelle, oh, 5... maybe 8 years ago! Pictured above is a Fishermen's Afghan I knitted for myself some 30 years ago. It is still a family favorite that gets used almost everyday. If someone is very close to me, chances are I have knitted this same afghan for them over the years. Michelle's house is all denim and khaki. Very cozy and comfortable. She chose a yarn that is reminiscent of a well worn pair of jeans. Today, with snow piled up outside, I plan to put a log on the fire, watch a couple of my favorite Christmas movies that I didn't have time to view over the holidays, and gently, quietly, usher in the New Year.

Wishing everyone the same joy and contentment I feel as we begin 2013! Much love!

The other day I saw the most adorable wee stockings at Little Cotton Rabbits. If you've never been to Little Cotton Rabbits, you are in for a real treat. Julie Williams is a gifted designer and knitter. She makes the most a.dor.able little creatures that she sells. The demand for her work far exceeds her ability to keep up, so periodically, she announces that she has a new gaggle of lovelies to sell, and you can place a comment, hoping that her random drawings will give you the privilege to purchase one of her creations. When you look around here blog, you will understand why her work is so highly sought after!  To learn more about Little Cotton Rabbits, visit her SHOP and her BLOG.

Now, onto my Gnome Christmas Stockings. I saw no reason to reinvent the wheel, and decide to use the pattern for Mini Christmas Stockings Julie graciously shared. The pattern is available HERE. These are the only changes I made:

I used a single ply yarn instead of a worsted yarn. I had some beautiful Mini Mochi Rainbow yarn (it is Crystal Palace - Mini Mochi, #101 - Intense Rainbow) that I had left over from a pair of Rainbow Mittens I knit last year.

Then, I used size 1US (2.25mm) dpn needles, instead of the size 2US (2.75mm) called for in the pattern.  Finally, instead of adding a pattern to the stockings (Fairisle, zig-zag or trees are available), I simple continued the stockinette stitch through the patterned section, and let Mini Mochi's natural striping do the work for me!

And, there you have it!

Although Mini Mochi is a washable wool, using warm water, dish soap, agitation, and a tumble through the dryer, I was able to felt the stockings to make them even smaller. The only thing left to do was to add a loop for hanging the stockings.

I really wish to thank Julie Williams for sharing this adorable pattern. Because she knits the stockings flat instead of in the round, even beginners should be able to work this pattern, although using the small needles can be a little more awkward.

You have a little over 1 week to until the gnomes will need stockings. Collect up some scrap yarn, and get knitting :)

Photos - 12-5-12

Last week was Michelle's birthday. For her gift this year I got her the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders: A world of possibilities inspired by just one skein.