Sheetar

One Local Summer – Week 1

By Sheetar 10 May 2010 10 May 2010

I don’t think farmtophilly.com is doing the One Local Summer challenge again, so I figured I’d just do it on my own for the duration of the summer Phoenixville Farmer’s Market. This past weekend was the first market for the regular season and wow was it incredible. There were so many great vendors, and the market was PACKED! So nice to see. So, the meal!

Clockwise, starting with the pile of mushrooms..

Salad:
Portabella mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms. Always delicious.
Mixed Greens – Jack’s Farm. Crisp and clean. Perfect.
Blue Cheese – Birchrun Hills. This blue cheese is incredible and a household favorite.

Bread:
Bread – Sweetwater Bakery. The ingredients may not be entirely local, but the baking sure is. This is the first time we’ve tried their bread and we were definitely not disappointed.

Chicken Roulade:
Chicken – Mountain View Organics. Pounded out thin
Bacon – Countrytime Farm. Nitrate free, and if you’ve never had nitrate free bacon? This stuff is amazing.
Mushrooms – Oley Valley Mushrooms. Same Portabella’s as the salad, and they cooked up perfectly.
Blue Cheese – Birchrun Hills. Same as in the Salad.

Non-Local:
We marinated the chicken in homebrewed beer, garlic, and spices, then added some BBQ sauce (mixed with Tangerine juice, maple syrup, and Good Ole Jack) and some other spices on the outside (paprika, Montreal Chicken Seasoning) while it was cooking up in the smoker.

This was a pretty easy one. The bacon stayed soft inside the roulade and the fat also kept the chicken moist, not to mention the slow-cooking in the smoker aided as well. The Husband decided to not use mushrooms in his (blasphemy, I know), but did come up with an excellent BBQ sauce and spiced the outside just right.

I’m so excited for another Local Summer to get started, I’m already planning a whole bunch of meals in my head for the next few weeks until my backyard vegetable garden gets growing!

Shawls/Wraps

Ravelympics 2010

By Sheetar 12 April 2010 12 April 2010

Pattern: Trevi
Designer: Anne Hanson
Needles: US 4 (3.5mm)
Yarn: Twisted Fiber Art Kabam in, “Kismet”
–Ravelry Project Link–

Wow what a project! This was knit over the 17 days of the 2010 winter olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Ravelry hosts a knitting olympics of sorts – I entered this project in the Short Track Shawls event and finished just in time before the end of the closing ceremonies. It was a close one. I finished the border as written in the pattern, but ended up a few yards short on yarn. This isn’t exaclty a yarn that I could just go out and buy more, so I ripped out the whole border and started over, omitting one stitch from the border – instead of three stitches, I dropped down to two, and ended up with only a yard or so left over. It blocked up beautifully and I love the angular lace pattern. Pretty simple as far as lace goes, but enough to keep me interested and still be able to finish in two weeks. I’m super proud of it, and yet again, Meg, the dyer, did a fabulous job dyeing up the color evolution so it fit with the shawl progression just perfectly!

Domestic, Socks

Komet

By Sheetar 29 March 2010 7 February 2012

Komet tl;dr
Pattern: Komet
Designer: Stephanie van der Linden
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: Sheepy Time Yarns Yarn That Shall Not be Named in, “Teal Deer,” from the Sheepy Time Knits December 2009 Club
–Ravelry Project Link–
This is the second installation of the Sheepy Time Knits club for February 2010. I picked a different base this time, and managed to pick a pattern that worked perfectly with the yarn. These were knit over the span of a week-long vacation in New Hampshire at Attitash Mountain. We, the husband and I, went up for our somewhat annual ski trip, but what ended up happening was him skiing three days of the week, and me spending a lot of time getting to know all the inner workings of the lodge. I did one run down the mountain and decided that I was really out of shape and just not cut out for skiing this season. The pattern was a touch tricky – there’s a 4×5 cable cross in there and I actually needed to break out the cable needle for that one. This is the cable needle that I used only one before since I do all my cabling without a needle – so much faster that way. The result is worth it though – the design is super cute and I just love the brilliant teal color of the yarn. The base is similar to another yarn that shall not be named, but starts with a “W” in case you were wondering. Another fun club knit!

Oh, Teal Deer or, tl;dr for short, is internet speak for, “Too Long; Didn’t Read” (or Too Long; Don’t Read) for posts on message boards that ramble on and on and on. ie:
tl;dr – socks are awesome, yarn is lovely, vacation was great, but I’m not built for skiing.

More on that vacation though, because I really did spend a few days outside the lodge. Tuesday, we went up to Great Glen Trails to take the Snow Coach halfway up Mount Washington. The road up the mountain isn’t plowed through the winter and cars are only allowed to drive up in the warmer months. During the winter, a specially built van (van + tractor treads = Snow Coach) takes visitors to a halfway point up the mountain, weather permitting. We were having some really fantastic weather which was maybe not the best for skiing, but great for playing tourist. It was about 45 and sunny at the base, and about -20, sunny, but the winds were blowing at around 40mph. We decided to go for the snowshoe rental at the base and bring them with us in the coach. Nixxed the idea of getting out at the midway point (4300 ft approximately), but jumped out somewhere around the 4 mile mark on the auto road (3500ft elevation). We strapped in for our first time snowshoeing and headed off. The Snow Coach driver mentioned a trail that would take us up to Lowe’s Bald Spot. We took the trail only to find that it went nearly straight up and was pretty battered from some knucklehead who tried to hike it in plain boots (and sunk in a good foot with each step). We managed it anyway and came up to a bald spot with some spectacular views. Hiked back down, and made it back to base after nearly 6 miles of snowshoeing. It was exhausting, but well worth it for the experience! We did end up coming home with snowshoes since we loved it so much – here’s hoping we get snow again in Philadelphia (maybe not *quite* as much) next winter too.
We also took a side trip up to the LL Bean flagship store in Maine. On the way back, we stopped off at Cold River Vodka to have some samples. Their vodka is made from potatoes and is sweeter than most other vodkas I’ve had. The Blueberry vodka is really something special – the aftertaste is as if you’ve just squished a big, juicy blueberry in your mouth. Perfect. Needless to say, we took some home.
On the way home, we stopped at a winery we love – Flag Hill. Last time we were in New Hampshire, I didn’t knit, and clearly didn’t notice the farm selling yarn and roving right down the road. So, we stopped at Riverslea Farm too. 🙂 Found some great roving and yarn.
Overall, a really great trip! It was nice to get away from our snow and see someone else’s snow.

For more photos, click on to this Flickr photo set.

Midway up Mount Washington

The Snow Coach

Husband in his snowshoes

Cold River Vodka

Gloves/Mittens

Boscage Mitts

By Sheetar 25 March 2010 7 February 2012

I was fortuante enough to participate in another test knit – I’m really getting to love doing these! It’s taken me a while to write up (I know, I know, bad blogger!), but here’s what I’ve got. Expect more updates in the near future – I’ve got a lot of things to tell you about.

Boscage Mitts
Pattern: Boscage Mitts
Designer: Ritsuka Nashi
Needles: US 11 (8mm)
Yarn: Handspun silk/wool blend, approx 10wpi
–Ravelry Project Link–
What an absolutely fabulous pair of mitts! I happened to have this skein of handspun merino/tussah blend that I bought as roving from Cloverleaf Farms at Rhinebeck. It had been spun up for a while, just waiting for the right project to come along. Well, the right project did come along and how right it was. The stitch pattern makes the mitts light and airy while still being warm, and get this, reversible! Ritsuka’s pattern is well thought out, using a tubular cast on which makes the finished mitts look clean and neat. I know it’s not really the season to knit mitts anymore, but you can never be too prepared for another snowpocalypse, now can you? Plus, they knit up quickly – I finished these in one afternoon.

dyeing

Dyeing Roving with Kool Aid

By Sheetar 31 January 2010 7 February 2012

I’ve put together a little step-by-step with photos of how I do this at home with as little mess as possible.

Things you will need:

Kool-Aid or other sugar-free drink mix. Store brand will work just fine! More packets mean more color, so you want to have more on hand than you think you’ll need, just in case.
Clear glass, microwave safe bowl
Gloves (unless you want tye dye hands!)
Old clothes or an apron
Vinegar (optional – most drink mixes have citric acid in them which sets the dye without needing vinegar)
Colander or strainer
White plastic utensil
Roving of your choice – cream, brown, grey, any color! 4 ounces is a pretty standard amount.
Old rag or towel
Microwave

	1. Gather all of the items you’ll be needing. Fill the clear glass bowl about 3/4 of the way with lukewarm water.
	2. Squish the roving gently into the bowl of water. Completely submerge the roving (this may take a little time) and leave it in the bowl for about an hour. You want to make sure that the roving is thoroughly wet so that it doesn’t singe in the microwave later. My roving is a grey/brown blend of BFL.
	3. After the hour is up, gently pour out the bowl of water into your colander over the sink. Give it a few good shakes to get most of the water out, but make sure the roving is still very damp.
	4. Prepare your Kool Aid! I usually cut the tops off and set them upright in a dry cup or bowl so that they’re within reach and don’t spill all over the table.
	5. In the glass bowl you used before, lay out the roving so that there is one level of roving in the bottom of the bowl. Here, I’ve gone in a spiral pattern, making sure not to overlap the roving. Start sprinkling on the Kool Aid – I did half/half here, but you could do one color per layer or any sort of pattern you can dream up! I’ve used Cherry and Grape Kool Aid and Raspberry Ice store brand (Great Value) drink mix.
	6. Squish the dye in with your fingers. This will help ensure a more even distribution of dye if that’s what you’re looking for, otherwise, hands off! The dye will only take where you’ve laid it. Repeat Step 5 and 6 until you’ve used up all of your roving.
	7. Gently pour in water to cover the roving. Again, we want to make sure that the roving is thoroughly wet so that it doesn’t singe in the microwave. If you pour too quickly, the top layer of dye may wash off a little – don’t worry, there’s still enough dye in the water to take, but you can re-layer dye on top after the water has been added. If the roving isn’t completely covered on the top, that’s okay, as long as it’s good and wet, it’s fine.
	8. Carefully place the bowl into the microwave and set it on high for two minutes. Check after the two minute cycle with your white utensil in the bowl to see if there is still a lot of dye in the bowl or if it’s mostly clear. Wait a few minutes and run the cycle again. Depending on the type of wool and color of dye, this can take a few cycles, just keep going!
	9. Here you can see that the water in the bowl is mostly clear. Allow the glass to cool until it’s cool enough to touch and remove from microwave.
	10. Gently dump the bowl into your colander over the sink again. Give the colander a few good shakes to get most of the water out. Fill the glass bowl about 3/4 of the way with water that is about the same temperature as the roving and place the roving gently in the bowl. Give the roving a few squishes to make sure all the dye is out, and pour the whole thing back into the colander. Shake to remove excess water and gently squeeze as much water out as you can.
	11. Hang your roving up to dry! Here I’ve got a cookie cooling rack placed over a plain white dish tub and spread the roving over the top. The colors came out great and I can’t wait for it to be dry!

2010 Knitting

2010 Knitting Resolutions

By Sheetar 15 January 2010 15 January 2010

Oh dear 2010, where to start with you? How about with a few knitting resolutions.

The American Aran Afghan. This is the beast that I will tackle and finish this year.
Knit /spin any club yarn/fiber in the month it is received.
Knit two sweaters.
Knit one double-knitted item.

Here we notice that there is no sock goal. As much as I enjoyed the sock-knitting last year, it’s really time to branch out a little, don’t you think? I’m going to re-try for the sweater goal, and we’re going to try something double-knitted. The list may seem shorter, but that number one resolution is a BIGGIE. I’ve oogled over the afghan on Ravelry for a while and finally decided that it’s my turn to work on an epic afghan project. Plus I need something to drape beautifully over this new antique chair I just acquired. 🙂

2009 Knitting, Socks, Spinning

2009 Knitting Resolutions – Wrap up

By Sheetar 9 January 2010 9 January 2010

2009 is over and gone, and I’m going to check through my list and see how I’ve done.

1. Clear the WIP queue from last year by the end of the month.
There’s still one outstanding WIP from 2008 in my queue, but otherwise, I did pretty well on the clean-up! We’ll consider this one not complete, but close, right?

2. Knit two sweaters this year.
I got one! I blogged about that one here, and got a good start on the second one, but haven’t yet finished it. Hopefully soon.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month.
Oh boy did I EVER do this one. And I think I deserve a HUGE GOLD STAR. Because I’m awesome.

I knitted a few socks this year. Here are my official 12 per the year, but the total count is 19 pairs *finished* this year (some were started in 2008). The links below are to flickr and the original post on my blog.

1. January flickr – blog	2. February flickr– blog	3. March flickr– blog
4. April flickr– blog	5. May flickr– blog	6. June flickr– blog
7. July flickr– blog	8. August flickr– blog	9. September flickr– blog
10. October flickr– blog	11. November flickr– blog	12. December flickr– blog

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
I might not have gotten them all in on the right month, but here we have it! Some of those are 8 ounces, so I don’t have 12 photos, but there are more than enough ounces to count at least four for every month of the year. Yes, I realize October is missing, but there are two entries for March, so the math works out in the end, yes? Yes.

1. Jan/Feb blog	2. Jan/Feb blog	3. March Flickr
4. June/July blog	5. June/July blog	6. August blog
7. September blog	8. May blog	9. March blog
10. November blog	11. December blog

5. Dye more yarn and roving.
Oh yeah. Did that. Hosted a dye-day at my house with the local Stitch n’ Bitch and it was super fun.

6. Knit at least one pair of stranded socks.
Nope. Not even a little. I really over-extended myself this past year.

7. Finish holiday gift knitting throughout the year instead of all at once in December!
I guess I got this one? Sorta cheated since I only did one item for one person. It’s so hard knitting gifts when there are five sisters-in-law to knit for. I’ve opened up next year for requests, so we’ll see what happens.

8. Participate in another test knit.
Yep. A few of them. I think three total?

9. Work on an original pattern.
*buzzer* Not even a little bit. It was a nice idea though?

The tally comes to five out of nine. I think the list for 2010 is going to be more conservative. More on that later, while I think up some goals to set.

2009 Knitting, Socks, Spinning

December Knitting Wrap-up

By Sheetar 6 January 2010 7 February 2012

December (and all of 2009) is gone and it’s time to update on the knitting resolutions.

3. Knit one pair of socks per month

Hanging Vines of Envy
Pattern: Hanging Vines
Designer: Kelly Porpiglia
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
Yarn: Sheepy Time Yarns Sheepy Feet in, “Green Eyed Monster,” from the Sheepy Time Knits December 2009 Club
–Ravelry Project Link–
There was just no excuse for this one to be anything than what it is. It’s the December colorway since I’m a speshul snowflake, and thus, these socks had to be knitted. They’d been in my queue for a while and when this yarn popped out of the mailbox, I KNEW, just knew what the yarn was destined to be. Not a super-easy knit, challenging enough that I wasn’t bored, but I definitely needed the chart the whole way through. The results are very much worth it and I’m totally jazzed about how they came out.

4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
I made up for last month and covered this month too.

This is 8 ounces of Handspun alpaca. The roving comes from Black Diamond Alpacas, a local gal who sends the fiber from her animals to be processed together. The names of the alpacas used in this blend were even on the label which is just too cute. Unfortunately, the fiber was REALLY dirty and I think it’s probably from an oil or grease used during the process that draws out the roving to keep the fuzz from flying. It washed out (after four rinses), and I’m rather happy with the results. I ended up with about a worsted weight, approximately 350 yards. This wasn’t so much a spin for a specific project, but I’m thinking a pair of thrummed mittens may be in order.

And that’s all I’ve got. I have to get a few posts together this month for a resolutions wrap up as well as a 2010 resolutions (*gasp* 2010?! DID I JUST SAY THAT?!).