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Knitting New Scarves

I was in the library a few weeks ago and I came across a knitting book I hadn't seen or heard of before.  It is called Knitting New Scarves and it was written by Lynne Barr.  When I picked it up to page through it, I figured I'd see the same old rehash of the usual scarves, but I was really quite surprised and shocked by what I saw here.  Instead of knitting in the traditional way, Barr presents some interesting new techniques that push the boundary of knitting.  I brought the book home for a closer look and was further inspired after having time to really check these techniques out.

First of all, many of the scarves aren't knit using two needles and more than often are three dimensional as a result.  Variety and unusual forms are the norm in this book and some of the scarves look like they would be a lot of fun to make.

I especially like the technique section at the back of the book that illustrates the steps involved in many of the projects.  This is definitely a well illustrated book with many photos to help you work your way through these scarves. 

I haven't started any scarves from the book yet, but I think I'll be playing with some of the techniques and perhaps tweaking them for use in my own designs.  It's a pleasure to see something really new in knitting after all these years.  Take a look at these scarves and find a little inspiration of your own!

Piecing step by step

I mentioned that I was awaiting the arrival of Piecing the Piece O'Cake Way: 17 Skill-Building Projects a while back -- well, it's here and I really like the look of it.  In fact, I've chosen my fabric for the first of those 17 skill building projects -- the Chinese Coins quilt. 

This book starts off with a lot of useful information about choosing fabrics, sewing machine usage, seam allowances, bindings, etc., and I was able to sit down and read through it easily.  There are plenty of photos to help explain things and I did learn a thing or two -- like that you should never pull the thread back through your machine -- always cut it off at the spool and pull it down through the mechanism.  I did not know this!

After the info, they present the quilts which are all made up in a manageable size (although they do provide instructions for sizing up) and are presented in several colorways.  As you would expect, skill level advances as you continue through the book with things such as curved piecing and complex stars toward the end.

I'm looking forward to working on the Chinese Coins quilt because it should be well within my comfort level and allow me to really focus on the details.  Progress pictures as soon as I get started.  I'm still recovering from the lovely stomach flu that hit me on Monday, so I need to take it easy this week.

Flu!

I don't remember the last time I came down with the flu.  In fact, since I got out my tonsils a couple years ago, I really don't get seriously sick much at all.  So when I started to feel ill on Monday afternoon I was not prepared.  Whoa!  I'm feeling better now and my fever broke during the night, but I'm still weak and a bit queasy.  I suppose I'm lucky, a lot of people have been down for a week with this year's flu -- but let me tell you -- two days was enough for me. 

I just hope Maddie stays healthy -- Pete stayed home from work yesterday to take care of her, so I'm hoping she -- and he -- don't get it, yikes!

Craft Project List

As I race to the finish line (okay, more like crawl) on my two latest craft projects, I'm wondering what I should tackle next.  So I'm going to list some ideas here to give me a bit of focus.  I'm great when I have a goal, otherwise I flounder around (read play too much DS).

So, in no particular order, here are some craft projects I've been wanting to do:

• Make a biscornu -- if you have never heard of a biscornu, you are not alone.  I just discovered them in the last year or so, but they look quick & easy.  Basically it's a pincushion that's composed of two squares that are cross stitched and then sewn together at a 45 degree angle to one another and stuffed.  Here is a nice tutorial which gives you a good idea of what I'm talking about.
• Work through the quilts in Piecing the Piece O'Cake Way: 17 Skill-Building Projects which is on it's way to me from Amazon.  I think making these quilts will be good practice and will help sharpen my skills. 
• Play with the wool felt scraps that should be arriving from Betz's shop any day.  I have the book Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects already and I'd love to make a little book cover, pillow, brooch or some such thing.
• Make a bag or bags for general toting and shopping.  My pet peeve is plastic bags -- why do checkers and baggers always try to give you as many as possible?  (I had a grocery checker put a small carton of OJ in it's own bag this week when I wasn't loooking!)  Usually I shop at TJ's and can reuse the paper bags multiple times before recycling them, but everywhere else it's like me vs. them and sometimes I forget, or am not quick enough, and whoosh!  whatever I've purchased is thrown into it's own little bag.  Maybe if I have my own reusable bag I'll be ready to fend off those extra bags.  I've had the fabric for the "Pleated Beauty Handbag" from Bend-the-Rules Sewing in my stash for a while now, so maybe I should get going on that one sooner rather than later.
• Book binding --  I have this great book -- How to Make Books: Fold, Cut & Stitch Your Way to a One-of-a-Kind Book -- and I would like to work my way through the projects in it so that I get some practice with different bindings.  I should have just about all the supplies I need for the projects already, so there's really no excuse not to get going on this.

I don't think this is specific enough, but it's a start.  With a little more thought, I should be able to come up with a real list that I can work from.   Focus -- I need focus!

A couple books

I'm still reading a lot as the effects of the writers' strike lingers on (man is TV really bad, or is it just me?)  I am happy that one show is back on -- LOST!  Man, I love that show.  And in a effort to be the best fan possible, I have read a book from the list of literary works referenced in the show. (Whoa -- I've actually read about half of that list!) 

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien is a strange, sometimes confusing, sometimes funny book.  I don't want to give away the ending for anyone who wants to read it, but suffice it to say, this book felt like Monty Python meets Jean-Paul Sartre.  At times it was engaging and funny, and at times I was lost and had to muddle through.

The book does appear to have similar themes to LOST and I guess that's one reason to read it, but I mostly picked it up on Pete's recommendation since he mentioned that he wanted to read it during March -- when he traditionally reads literature by Irish writers.

Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman is a little side story set in the Dark Materials universe.  In other words -- yeah!  More time with Lyra!  I absolutely loved Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy and am glad to have a little more time with it's sympathetic and charismatic protagonist.  The book is lovely, with wonderful woodblock illustrations throughout as well as a fold out map and additional ephemera at the back of the book.  I love this fun aspect and am looking forward to the next little trip back to this universe -- Once Upon a Time in the North -- which is due out April 8th. 

I'm also in the middle of reading The Republican War on Science which is a bit drier, but quite interesting.  More on that soon.

I've been crafting, really I have. . .

But I haven't taken any photos since nothing has been completed. I'm still working away on the Strawberry Garden cross stitch and I actually started hand sewing the binding on Maddie's quilt. So instead, I bring you pizza. . .

This is homemade pizza that we had for dinner last Friday -- somewhat of a tradition in our family. If I'm in a pinch, I'll bake up a frozen pizza, but more often than not I make it up from scratch. In an effort to test out a theory and save a bit of time, I decided to use the dough in the fridge -- yes, I'm talking about the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day dough. Can you say versatile? It performed beautifully as pizza dough (this is the basic boule dough -- the first recipe in the book). In fact, it was easier to work with and slid right off the peel onto the baking stone without catching or folding and the crust crisped up nicely. Yeah!

Sick of hearing about my love for this dough yet :)

Soup by Trader Joe's, bread by me

I know there has been a lot of talk about Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and I have to say that it is totally worth it!  I've posted before about my success with the basic recipe, but I had to post again since I am finding out just how awesome this concept is.

First of all, this time I didn't bring out my stand mixer -- instead I just put all the ingredients in a bowl and gave it a good stir with a wooden spoon.  This is the same bowl I'm using to store the dough in my fridge, so there is really nothing (except a wooden spoon!) to clean up.  Easy, right?

So I made a loaf of bread to have with dinner on Tuesday, and I wanted something different for Thursday.  I had some yummy cremini mushrooms -- I am *so* on a mushroom kick -- and cooked them up with some tomatoes to have over pasta, so I decided to make an Italian style herbed bread.  Sounds fancy?  Well, really all I did was take a hunk of the dough out of the bowl, roll it out, smear on a little olive oil, sprinkle on parmesan cheese and Italian herbs and rolled it up.  I left it to rise a bit on the radiator and popped it in the oven.  Fresh bread for dinner and it literally took me 5 minutes!

Once thing I love about all of this is there is usually a little bit of bread left over from dinner which I can stick in the toaster oven and have with lunch the next day.  Yeah!

Reading some great (and not so great) books. . .

I'm on a bit of a Nemirovsky kick I suppose as this is the third "book" I've read by her in less than a year.  I put book in quotes because the first one I read -- Suite Francaise -- was really two novellas, then there was Fire in the Blood which was actually a stand alone novel, and I just finished David Golder, The Ball, Snow in Autumn, The Courilof Affair  which consists of 4 separate works. 

What can I say?  I find her work mesmerizing -- her characters are so realistic and engaging that you can hardly escape their pull.  This current book was no different. Take the main character of David Golder -- I'm not sure if I disliked him or pitied him, but I know he was human and couldn't stop reading about his struggle.    I found these works to be quite dark as they explored the issues of money, war, society and class -- the four worked remarkable well together and I had no problem reading them one right after another.

I strongly urge you to give Nemirovsky a try -- I don't think you'll regret it.

Next up was J.M. Coetzee's Diary of a Bad Year and I have to say that I might rename it "Diary of a Bad Book".  Ugh!  I really tried to get through this one and waded through 90 pages before I gave up and returned it to the library.  I had high hopes because I read Coetzee's Disgrace back in 2005 and thought it was stunning.  So read that and forget the strangely structured political rant that is Diary of a Bad Year.

And since I'm serially reading certain authors, I decided to pick up Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke which is the first of the Sally Lockhart mysteries.  I have to say that it appears Pullman can do no wrong in my book because I loved this little gem and tore through it in just a couple days.  I'm very much looking forward to reading the other books in this series -- I'd call it a trilogy, but it appears there is a side book as he is want to do.  Speaking of Pullman's side books, I have Lyra's Oxford on my shelf waiting to be read and he has another Dark Materials side book -- Once Upon a Time in the North -- coming out soon!

Right now I'm in the middle of Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman and I'm really into it so far.  More on that soon, I'm sure.

Pincushion Challenge --New Theme!

Have you checked out the Pincushion Challenge lately?  The January/February theme -- Try Something New -- just wrapped up and the new theme for Maarch/April is. . .

The Sea.  You can see all the awesome pincushions over at the Pincushion Challenge Flickr Group.  Please join in, we'd love to have you!