Crafty Kim

October Daring Bakers Challenge: Bostini Cream Pie

I kept seeing blogs where people would talk about Daring Baker challenges and I finally decided to join the group at the end of September. If you haven't heard of the Daring Bakers, you can read more about it (and see links to all the bloggers who are participating) here. Basically, everyone bakes the same item using the same recipe (with just a few allowed modifications) and then everyone in the group posts about it on their blog on the same day (October 29th, this month).

October is my first challenge, and I managed to finish it just under the wire. Well, actually... I said that I finished it just under the wire, but it's more fair to say that Tim and I finished it, because we decided to go the team baking route (at least for this challenge). We really enjoy cooking together, so when I started pulling out ingredients to whip up this month's challenge, Tim joined in as well.

This month's host is Mary of alpineberry and she chose Bostini Cream Pie. You can see the complete recipe on her blog. This dessert has the tasty combo of vanilla cream, orange chiffon cake, and chocolate - like a Boston Cream Pie, but with a tasty orange twist.

Here's what my version looks like...

My version is the same as the original recipe, but with just a couple of modifications (allowed per the challenge rules). My modifications: baked the cake in larger cake pans and then cut the circles out, tinkered with the number of eggs slightly because my eggs (from Bugtussle) were slightly smaller than standard eggs, and I picked bittersweet chocolate for the glaze (choice of bittersweet or semi-sweet). The recipe was actually enough to make two complete 9" cakes and I managed to cut 8 circles out of the two cakes. It took slightly longer then the recommended 25 minutes to bake the cakes due to the larger size (probably around 28 minutes).

Tim and I have already eaten our model cake :) This is one tasty recipe, although not exactly something you'd want to have all the time because of the amount of cream and egg yolks in the custard. The combo of bittersweet chocolate and a light orange flavor is one of my favorites and adding the vanilla cream in makes it even better. If I were to make this again, I'd try to go the individual molds route rather than cutting pieces out of the cakes - just for aesthetic reasons (takes great regardless!).

October 2007 Daring Bakers Challenge: COMPLETED

ps I also want to say a big THANK YOU to this month's host for a fun challange, as well as to the Daring Bakers founders at Cream Puffs in Venice and La Mia Cucina for starting this whole great group. As you can see on Mary's post with the recipe, membership in the group jumped from ~150 bloggers to almost 250 this month and the original group have had to make some changes to handle the growing size. Thanks for all your work!

Seaming (aka I would rather knit everything in one piece from now on)

Sweater assembly is coming along swimmingly, see the updated list below.

Steps left to a finished cardigan:

1. Finish sleeves


2. Block sleeves (back and both fronts are already blocked)


3. Seam front pieces onto back piece


4. ADDED: (Done, too) Frantically try cardigan body on vest-style (using stitch markers to hold the top together) to see if the cardigan at least semi-fits


5. Seam sleeves and attach to body


6. Pick up stitches along front to add bands for zipper


7. Pick up stitches along collar (why didn't I just leave these stitches live?!?) and knit collar - maybe just a roll collar?


8. Go to local fabric store and beg nice fabric cutting ladies (who really aren't that fond of knitting, from my past discussions with them) to help me find an appropriate zipper.


9. Install zipper

I'm happy to report that at this moment it looks like the cardigan might fit. I'll know for sure by the end of tonight, unless I get even slower at seaming than I was last night. All that's really left (knitting wise) is seaming the sleeves onto the body and knitting whatever collar I decide on. I've got plenty of yarn left for whichever collar style I decide on, it's just a matter of making a choice.

Pictures tomorrow? Perhaps.

Nervous (aka Is this thing gonna fit?)

I've been working on my ribby cardi sleeves for the past couple of days, interspersed with more interesting knitting. I decided that the whole sweater has been so boring to knit that if I didn't knit both sleeves at the same time, I'd fall prey to second sleeve syndrome, a lesser known variant of second sock syndrome. One sleeved cardigan? Not all that useful. I cast both sleeves onto the same circular needle using two balls of yarn and it's been working out fairly well. I'm finally into the sleeve decreases, so the major knitting for the project is done.

Steps left to a finished cardigan:

1. Finish sleeves


2. Block sleeves (back and both fronts are already blocked)


3. Seam front pieces onto back piece


4. Seam sleeves and attach to body


5. Pick up stitches along front to add bands for zipper


6. Pick up stitches along collar (why didn't I just leave these stitches live?!?) and knit collar - leaning towards a collar like the one in this cute pink and red cardi


7. Go to local fabric store and beg nice fabric cutting ladies (who really aren't that fond of knitting, from my past discussions with them) to help me find an appropriate zipper.


8. Install zipper

True confession time: I started this sweater so long ago that it was before I really had developed an understanding about sizing and how to make a sweater fit nicely. I'm a wee bit concerned that this sweater is going to be too small. This is really the downside to putting a sweater together like this - if I were knitting it in one piece (and seriously, there's no reason I couldn't have done big parts of this sweater in one piece), I'd have a lot more confidence at this point. I don't mind seaming a sweater together - in fact I like it. I just wish I had fewer doubts about fit right now.

I finally got my hands on Knitting from the Top by Barbara Walker last week from our local library to try to get a handle on addressing some of my concerns with my next project. The only thing is that the version the library had is from 1969 and features some intensely scary project pictures in the back, almost Stitchy McYarnpants bad, seriously. When I can manage to look past the pictures (and the slight mildew smell of the book - has the library been storing it in a basement or something?!?), the book is actually really interesting. Reminds me quite a bit of Elizabeth Zimmerman's books in the way it's written. I might need to buy a copy for myself, if only to see if the 1996 Schoolhouse Press version has updated the pictures :)

And, because a post without pictures is a little boring, I give you Necco. She's the cutest cat in the universe when she's sleeping, you'd never guess how crazy and evil she really is from how she looks taking a nap.

Surprise FO: Felted bucket hat

Is this bucket hat an extreme reaction to all the complicated, big projects I've been working on lately?

Well, actually... it's a bad reaction to trying to use the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran that I bought in Austalia to make the Enia scarf from the Jo Sharp book I also bought in Australia. After a few rows of crazy K3Tog (why did I not notice this when I was looking at the pattern in the store?!? K3Tog?!? Like that's something I'm going to enjoy, ha!) followed by lots of swearing as half the stitches fell off my needles, I went to Ravelry to try to find some alternate use for the yarn. Although ravelry has almost always worked quite well in giving me ideas in situations like this, I didn't turn up anything inspirational.

Short on ideas, I pulled out my binders of patterns (lovingly inserted into plastic sleeves and organized loosely according to categories - can anyone say... procrastination?) and started flipping through them aimlessly. Ha! I thought - that's just what I need, a felted bucket hat. Did you hear the sound of Silkroad Aran being thrown into the "bad yarn" corner for a time out? How about the sound of me digging through my stash of single skeins of Cascade 220? No worries if you didn't, I think I abandoned the Silkroad Aran so fast I actually broke the sound barrier :)

In the end, I grabbed the closest skein of 220: the ball leftover after I finished knitting the back of my ribby cardi. Some (er... me?) would question the wisdom of using this ball until the sweater is totally finished, but I was really swept up in cast-onitis. Nothing was going to stand in my way.

Entertaining pre-blocking shot
Does this remind you of anything? Perhaps this little sewing escapade?

Blocking, after felting
Any guesses on what my blocking form is? Come on, take a close look...

This is an Umbra trash can. The bottom end of it is precisely the same size and shape as the top of my head. No comment.

Finished object, action shot
My rationale for making this hat is that the weather right now is a bit too warm for wearing any of my heavy-duty winter hats, but I feel weird driving around in my sunny flower hat in October. Without any hat, my hair blows around too much, I get blinded by the sunlight, and I do actually get a little chilly. Will the felted bucket hat be the solution to my dilemma?

The sad news is that it's been too warm most of this week to really test out the hat! Cooler weather (plus rain, sigh) coming this week, apparently. (ps no worries, I wasn't taking knitting action shots while driving, Tim was in charge of the camera)

Project stats:
Pattern: Felted bucket hat from Chic Knits (pattern also available in non-felted version)
Yarn: Cascade 220 (the work horse of the felting world) in light blue
Needles: #10 Clover circular, #10 Crystal Palace DPNs
Started: October 13, 2007
Finished: October 14, 2007
Mods: The instructions call for also using #10.5 needles for a big section of the hat, but I didn't have a short enough circular in that size and so I just ignored that part of the instructions. Worked out fine.
Will I make this again? I'm thinking yes. It's got a lot going for it: fast (weekend project), cheap (Cascade 220), and out of control (felting is always a bit wild, no?) [referring to one of my favorite documentaries, by one of my favorite filmmakers - he should totally do a follow-up on knitters] BTW, the pattern is really well written and easy to follow, and actually has some reasonably helpful specific instructions on felting and blocking the project.

The hat itself is an insanely fast knit. A couple of hours (<6 hours, I think) knitting, an hour or so with the felting and blocking, and then it's just a matter of waiting for it to dry. The best part? Even though it isn't exactly an earth-shattering and/or complex knit, it's so small relatively speaking that I didn't even get bored. Or at least not so bored that I actually fell asleep while knitting (see: ribby cardi).

ps I have actually found a use for the Jo Sharp, but I think I need to go a few more rows before I'm positive it's going to work out this time. It's beautiful yarn and really nice to knit with just... not obvious for too many projects.

Could this be the perfect knitting bag?

Have you seen the new knitting bag from Tom Bihn yet? How about the review from the indigodragonfly blog?

I saw the Swift bag mentioned on Ravelry and was immediately interested. I've been looking for the right knitting bag forever. I've even resorted to just throwing my project bags in a tote bag, which inevitably is a mess and disorganized and irritating. I looked at the Jordana Paige Knitter's Satchel and Knitter's Messenger Bag, the Namaste bags, the Haiku bags, and just about every other bag out there. There always seemed to be something about each bag that wasn't perfect for what I was looking for, and I'd rather spend my knitting money on yarn than on a bag that might not work out.

But the Swift bag? I took one look at the review and decided it looked like exactly what I've been looking for. Good size, lots of pockets, nice little pouches to add on, etc etc etc. I've also never seen such fast (and friendly) customer service - within an hour of ordering it online, the bag was in a UPS box on it's way to me.

The only problem? I picked UPS ground shipping - it won't be here until October 22nd :( I'll take some pictures and let you know if I'm still excited about the bag once it arrives, but take a look at indigodragonfly's review - she's much more thorough than I will probably be.

FO: Icarus Shawl

Ahhhhh, so sweet to finally be able to say Icarus is finished.

Here's the standard "finished object" picture:

I was going to try to do some pictures being all artsy and graceful like in the original pattern photos, but I wasn't feeling the whole ballerina vibe today :) Special thanks to Tim for taking about a billion pictures of the shawl, this was not easy to photograph for some reason.

Project stats:
Pattern: Icarus Shawl designed by Miriam Felton for Interweave Knits (originally in the Summer 2006 Issue of IK, also available now in The Best of Interweave Knits and for purchase from Miriam Felton)
Yarn: Mmmmmmmalabrigo lace weight in Stone Blue (color 99), which is a "kettle dyed solid" and hence is a bit variegated. Calculations made me think it would only take 2 skeins, but I was lucky I actually had three. I used two full skeins + a smidge from the third skein.
Needles: #3 Addi Lace needles (although I might have dropped down to a #2, I need to take a look at my needles)
Started: Around April 16, 2007
Finished: October 10, 2007
Mods: Yarn substitution, possibly a change in needle size
Will I make this again? No, but I'm glad I made this one! The pattern is really well written. The malabrigo lace weight is a dream to knit with (definitely using it again). The Addi lace needles were perfect for the pattern and yarn. It's just not one of those things you need to make a second time, though.

I know there's been a lot of chatter on blogs (heh, even from me) about the repeats of Chart 1 being boring, but the payoff is in the final 3 charts, which were totally fun to knit. This pattern is perfect for a first lace shawl. I've done other lace projects but nothing this large and nothing with the complexity of the last 3 charts. I think it's possible that this is the most beautiful thing I've knit so far. The name is perfect - it does totally look like feathers when you look at it in person.

I'm happy with my yarn choice - the semi-variegated yarn gives extra visual interest to the main body of the shawl while not taking away from the feathery lace on the tips. I don't think I'd use a yarn that was truly variegated rather than a shaded solid, that might get too distracting in the final shawl.

Important things that I learned while working on this project:

1. Malabrigo laceweight is as nice to knit with as the worsted weight, so yummy.


2. Blocking lace can cause some major dimension changes. Pre-blocking, Icarus was about 60" wide by 24" high. Post-blocking, 72" wide by 36" high (spot on to the desired project measurements, hooray!)


3. Addi lace needles are worth their price.


4. I cannot knit lace while watching DVDs, but listening to books on tape is fine (thank goodness, would I have ever finished if I couldn't tolerate any distractions?)


5. I like knitting lace, but not as much as doing colorwork. However, I hate blocking lace - even with blocking wires (first time actually using those, too), it was a tedious process and was not much fun.


6. You definitely need to block lace when you finish it (see item 2). It was astonishing to see how the little tips held their shape once I took the pins out. I've blocked plenty of other things, but blocking lace is defintely a must-do.


7. Lifelines are worthwhile. 'nuff said (hopefully). My solution: put in lifelines as often as I could tolerate it - mainly when I was changing either to a new chart or to a new type of pattern within a chart. I focused my lifelines (which I personally find irritating to put in) on areas where errors were more likely to happen.


8. Making a mistake while working in lace is not necessarily a disaster if you either a) can fix the problem or b) can tolerate the mistake. I fixed several errors when I got to the next row of the shawl but... I'm not telling you where, but there are definitely at least two errors left in this shawl. Perfection is over-rated :)

I want to say a big thank you to Grace of graceivy for egging me on a bit. Her post got me back to my Icarus, because I felt challenged! Now Grace and Alice need to get going on their shawls :)

Icarus is blocking!

Blocking
Originally uploaded by unertlkm.

After knitting group last night, I came home and finally blocked Icarus. This is my first time using my blocking wire kit from Knitpicks and I have to say, it wasn't quite the easy super-fast solution I was thinking it would be. Tim even stepped in and helped with threading the wires along the top edge :) I'm going to leave the shawl blocking until tonight to be sure it's fully dried out (although seriously, it seems totally dry right now).

I thought I was going to finish Icarus this weekend...

... but instead I'm stopping with the last 4 rows and the bind off to wrap up. It's only 8:30 pm, but we got up crazy early this morning to address the rather out-of-control state of our garden. After all that intense lace knitting, I don't want to mess it up on the bind off just because I'm tired :)

On the plus side, our garden is all neat and tidy and ship-shape for the winter (except for the bits that are still growing - like the two watermelon and oodles of tiny cucumbers). We also planted garlic, which will overwinter and hopefully be ready to harvest around May.

One last thing... FYI, next Saturday (October 13th) is the OKTOBERFEST celebration in my neighborhood, and also the Germantown Homes Tour, which is always interesting. The proceeds benefit our neighborhood association, as well as the two historic churches in the neighborhood. There's also a big Tennessee History Festival going on at Bicentennial Mall just a few blocks away. And on top of that the Southern Festival of Books is being held on the legislative plaza. So, if the weather is nice, swing by north Nashville next weekend for some fun times.

Bulletin board, revised

After we reorganized my craft room, there was a huge blank section of wall which cried out for a bulletin board. Fortunately, my sister Karen had an old bulletin board that she wasn't using that happened to be the perfect size. Bulletin boards were huge in my house when I was growing up - everyone had one in their room and there was even a gigantic bulletin board on the wall in the dining room. All of them were, of course, made by my parents and/or siblings - since we were more of a do-it-yourself kind of family rather than buying that kind of thing. They really hold up well too - they're floating around with various members of my family even today.

The only thing that didn't work for me with Karen's bulletin board was the front material. The main part of the board was some kind of drywall, in good shape. But the drywall had a sheet of burlap on top of it - perfectly respectable for bulletin board construction, but clashing badly with my craft room. Tim and I worked together to take the old bulletin board apart, remove the burlap and add some new spunky fabric as the covering.

The finished product...

The fabric in the middle is my favorite - it's bags of goldfish with different names underneath them.

Hooray! I'm done with chart one!

Some progress on the Icarus shawl front - better than just "still knitting chart one"... Done with chart one! In fact, done with chart two! I'm loving this whole project - the yarn, the pattern, the way it all looks. Now, I just have to wrap up chart two and chart three and bind off. I'm down to 28 rows!

Some progress pictures for you...

The whole shawl:

It's hard to see here, but towards the working end, the color shifts and it gets much darker. I think it looks cool, but it's not in any way on purpose - it's the same colorway, bought at the same time (so I suppose theoretically the same dye lot), but a much different color. Thank goodness it looks cool.

A closeup of that center section of stitches (just because I like how it looks):

And finally, a closeup of the edge stitches - you can see my lifeline (which I actually used!) marking the end of the chart one repeats:

I'm so close to finishing I can taste it!