Posts from — December 2008

Hope you are all enjoying a nice day with knitting, family and friends!

Loki with Erica's Card

I made up a new cocktail last night for the holiday festivities last night that I want to share.  It’s quite tasty…enjoy!

* Exported from MasterCook *

Holiday Cocktail

Recipe By     :Cheryl Kemp
Serving Size  : 8     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
1             bottle  sparkling wine — cooks or other inexpensive
12            ounces  mango nectar — Hispanic foods isle
4             ounces  guava nectar — Hispanic foods isle
frozen raspberries — optional
fresh mint leaves — optional
raspberry liqueur — such as Chambord, optional

In a large pitcher combine the sparkling wine and juices.

Place in freezer, stirring every hour or so until liquid has a nice slushy
consistency.

Add about 20-30 frozen raspberries to the wine mixture (optional).

Lightly crush a mint leaf for each glass and place at the bottom
(optional).

Add a small quantity of Chambord to the bottom of the glass (optional).

Pour wine mixture into glasses and garnish with a small quantity of
Chambord on the top and/or a mint leaf if desired.

Toast and enjoy!

Source:
“www.divaknitting.com”
Copyright:
“Cheryl Kemp, Diva Knitting 2008″

I found what I thought would be the perfect hat pattern for my trip, Gretel by Ysolsa Teague.   At first glance, it seems perfect, beautiful and resplendent in MMMMmmMMalabrigo Cypress.  That is, until I put it on my head.  Let me start from the beginning.  After searching the 845 projects for this hat in Ravelry a single skein of Malabrigo seemed like a great choice.1  I knew it would be close on the yardage since I wanted to do the slouchy version, but several of the 84 knitters who make it said they used only one skein.  After finishing the repeat for the “regular” version, putting it on my head and weighing to see that I still had 40 grams of the skein left I thought I was in good shape.  Knowing it would be close, I did omit two rows on rounds that repeated.  At the end, I had to use the scraps of yarn that had attached the label to the skein to make it.

I tried it on again.  It was a little loose the first time I had done this but I guess I thought maybe the weight of the slouch would somehow make it work.  It didn’t…anyway it didn’t slouch as much as I’d hoped so despite it already being too loose I decided to wet block it.  Ok, now it’s huge.  I knew that would happened before I blocked it, but I guess I thought somehow magic Christmas elves would intervene.  Now what?  Hmmmm, maybe if I put it in the dryer for a bit it will shrink up just enough?  Oh yeah, it shrank, but NOT in a good way.  The hat shortened which meant most of the slouch was gone but the brim was still too loose!  Finally, I ripped out the still wet yarn from the cast on edge to reknit the brim.2  In the end, I did wear the hat and it of course was comfortable and warm but I’m really not happy with it.  I may have to knit it again and alter the cast on number to work better with my head and malabrigo.

The parental clogs are finished too!  Can I just say how much I LOVE knitting the smallest size.  From now on, I’m looking for friends with small feet.

Lastly, some holiday fun for you from the Kemp family!

P.S. Update on the NYC fun with Erica soon

1. 84 others that chose Malabrigo thought it a good idea as well. [↩]
2. Don’t try this at home.  Wet frogging is nearly impossible.  I was impatient…you’re shocked right? [↩]

I finished a hat for my brother in law and a scarf for my sister in law in Berkshire Bulky. They are huge Kent State University fans and I think I captured the colors pretty well. The wind really whips through that campus so I think they might acually use these for the basketball games this year.

No Christmas knitting season is complete without Fiber Trends Clogs. I didn’t think I was going to make any this year, but when you’re having a hard time thinking of the right thing…well clogs are always the answer! I got to make the smallest size for the first time every and boy did it go FAST! I spent 7 hours working on them Sunday during which time I also made and ate dinner. If you know someone with small feet this is an especially great gift! I’ve just about got one clog of the second pair complete (men’s size) so it’s taking just a bit longer.

Finally, I REALLY need to knit myself a hat because I just booked a trip to New Jersey to see Erica before Christmas! I’ve wanted one forever and I thinking a cabley, beret-ish/tam-ish sort of hat is just the thing I need to look stylish and keep warm as we play around NYC. Yes, there are likely to be yarn stores involved but I probably won’t do much purchasing (AHEM). If you know of a great NYC store we should visit, let me know! So far School Products and Habu Textiles and on the short list. If you know of a cute hat pattern let me know about that too…off to Ravelry so search for one now.

I knew they were going to arrive today but my heart still skipped a beat when I returned home today to a package on the front porch.  The Addi Click Turbo interchangeable set went up for pre-order on Webs a couple of months ago.  Since I don’t have a wholesale account with Skacel, I immediately ordered them.  They were supposed to be shipped October/early November but on November 5th I received an email informing me that they would be delayed to manufacturing issues.  No problem there…I’d rather have them arrive with Addi Turbo quality a little later than have defective ones right away.

Right out of the shipping box I was surprised.  The kit is much bigger than I expected (ie not easily portable).  All of the needles are spread out in the box lengthwise while the three cords are housed in top pockets; not the most efficient or usable packaging but it does make a nice display.  They are advertised in US sizes 4-15 which is a bit of a misnomer.  The set actually goes from US 4, skips 5, 6-10, 10.75, 11, 13, 15, so if you are expecting US sizes you won’t be getting them exactly as you expected.  I’ve always thought the needles should be in millimeters anyway so this isn’t a huge issue to me.  For the rest of the world already familiar with metric needles the sizes are pairs of 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 except for my set which actually has only one 9mm and 3 8mm needles (apparently this got past quality control in their rush to get them out).  My initial answer from Webs customer service is that I have to send back the whole set since they only received 10 of them and no extra parts and they’re not sure when the next shipment will arrive.  At my suggestion they are contacting Skacel to see if they are willing to ship one size 9mm needle.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.

As for the needle design, they look and feel like Addi Turbo needles should; smooth and very light weight.  The cords are light blue and sublimely flexible with the cord lengths printed right on them.  The needles also have the metric and US sizes printed on them which is a nice feature as compared to other interchangeable sets.  The join is unique.  While holding the cord one matches the dots on the needle with the slot on the metal part of the cord.  Then, the needle is pushed in to depress a spring while twisting the needle into place.  This wasn’t easy to accomplish the first time ( or the 2nd-5th for that matter) but once it’s in place the join seems very smooth and sturdy (will need to check this out further when actually knitting which I can’t do yet since I don’t know if I have to send them back or not).

I have posted a picture of the tips for comparison.  The only Knit Picks needles I have are the small circulars for socks so the tip of that one is smaller than the rest.  The rest are size 5 and you can get a good idea about how each of the popular interchangeable sets on the market compare in that respect.  (For more comparisons you can see my 2005 review of Denise vs Boye here.)

Pros:  They’re Addi for gosh sake(!), lightweight needles, flexible, thin cords, strong join.

Cons:  Price, poor packaging, and the join (while it seems like the most sturdy join of the interchangeable sets) it may be difficult for someone with arthritis or poor eye sight to use them easily.