A Blog-worthy Dinner

I never remember to take pictures of great meals, but Seth took one bite of this particular dinner and said, "You should take a picture of this and put it on the blog." Apparently, he thought it was pretty tasty and deserved a little blog attention.

On Saturday I pulled out a bunch of my Rachael Ray magazines and flipped through looking for something "different" to make for dinner. I've never in my life made meatloaf, so I thought I'd give it a whirl with this recipe. "Mini Meatloaves Smothered with Onions"

It. Was. Delicious.

Um. No, the french fries are not homemade. 

Obviously, the best part is that the recipe includes bacon. 

We're also going to be eating leftovers for the next week because Seth insisted that I make the whole recipe, which made 4 mini meatloaves. 

In knitting news, I finished my Blair Sweater!!! It's drying now, and still needs the buttons sewn on, but it should be completely done and ready for some photos tomorrow! 

Hope all is well with you!

Love,

liz :)

P.S.

We're officially homeowners!

That's all.

Rikke Hat

In true Liz fashion, I decided that I needed to take a break from the sleeves on my Blair Sweater and whip up a quick project. I choose a hat pattern that I've been eyeing since it's release and I'm really pleased with the result and will most definitely be making more.

Pattern: Rikke Hat by Sarah Young

Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK in Earl Grey

Modifications: I knit the body of the hat about 1/2 inch shorter than the pattern called for before the crown decreases. Mostly this was because I was afraid of running out of yarn (I had a few yards to spare when all was said and done), but I'm glad I did because I definitely wouldn't want the hat any longer/taller.

The Tosh Merino DK knit up really nicely and ended up much softer than I thought it would. It's a single ply merino, so we'll see how it holds up, but I think it's going to do pretty well.

I've also been spinning like a maniac since I had a shop update planned for today. So, hope you're ready for some more handspun pictures!

Corriedale/Finn/Rambouillet blend dyed by Spinner's Hill 

Organic Merino dyed by Two if by Hand in "Sweet Surrender"

Superwash Merino dyed by Pigeonroof Studios in "Swamp"

Superfine Merino dyed by Two if by Hand in "Dance Hall Hips"

This is my most favorite skein of the bunch! I love the flashy, bright colors!

Now that the shop update is over I need to concentrate on some more custom spinning and a handspun/project bag set I'm doing for an auction on ravelry to raise money for several charities that are sending money to Japan. More on that to come...

Well, I'm off to package up some etsy orders and ship them out!

Love,

Liz :)

I finished a project!

Now, don't get too excited....it's just a cowl. But it's made out of handspun yarn, and I happen to love it.

Pattern: Simple Seed Stitch Cowl

Yarn: Handspun yarn spun by me from Juliespins roving

Modifications: Surprisingly, none.

close-up glamor shot

I've also made some progress on my Blair Sweater.

I did the collar before the sleeves so I could know ahead of time if I'd have enough yarn to do long sleeves.

The collar took FOREVER. The fold-over part is all short rows, and once I got past those it went a bit faster. I just ordered these buttons to go on it.

I always seem to stall out a bit once I get to the sleeves, but I'm hoping when the buttons arrive it will motivate me to finish it sooner rather than later. That way I can at least wear it a few times before it gets too warm for handknits! 

I've also been spinning up a storm (what else is new, right?). I'm doing a shop update this week, so I've been trying to get 5-6 skeins of yarn ready. 

This lovely was slated for the update, but someone on ravelry saw it in my stash and wanted it. It was spun from Two if by Hand Rambouillet in colorway "New Tattoo."

Oh, this skein makes me smile. It's such a a great combination of cheery colors. Spun from Two if by Hand's Organic Merino in colorway "Surfer."

I think this would make an adorable baby boy knit of some sort.

Since I've been spinning so much, I've depleted my fiber stash quite a bit. So much that most everything I had left was purple. Probably because I've been hanging onto some of those to spin for myself. And while I love purple, I suppose customers probably want to see something other than all purple, all the time in the shop! 

So...I've been doing a little a lot of fiber shopping (some from etsy, some from people on ravelry looking to destash). 

This is what arrived in my mailbox on Thursday:

Starting at the top and going clockwise: Funky Carolina Polwarth in Egads with Aqua Trim (two 4 ounce braids and 2 ounces of trim), GLBLF Polwarth in Ferris Night, FLUFF Silky Cashmerino in Agate (two 3 ounce braids), and Pigeonroof SW Merino in Swamp.

Thursday was a good mail day, what can I say? Today was also a good mail day....but I'll save you endless amount of pictures of fiber...for now. 

Well...I think that's it for now!

Love,

liz :)

WIPs Galore

Well, well, well. Apparently I have a problem with casting on for more projects before finishing any of them! I have a sweater, sock, and cowl on the needles right now and finally took some pictures today.

First up, the sweater:

Pattern: Blair by Thayer Preece from Twist Collective

Yarn: Madelinetosh DK in Lapis

The sweater will have a 2 inch button band and larger collar that folds over (so while it looks a little small, it should be perfect once the button band is on). 

Now, I was planning on following the pattern exactly.  However, I somehow skipped over the increases that were supposed to happen on just the front and ended up with the same number of stitches as one size smaller than I was knitting. But...it ended up working out just fine. The neckline is a deeper V than is written in the pattern, and I actually think I like it better...so it's all good. 

Next up...handspun cowl:

Pattern: Simple Seed Stitch Cowl by Pongue Ette

Yarn: My handspun!

The ribbing on the cowl will be more flat after it's not all scrunched up on the needles! It makes a good mindless knitting project.

And last, but not least....the sock:

Pattern: Clandestine by Cookie A. from Knit.Sock.Love

Yarn: Wollmeise 80/20 Twin

This is my first time knitting with Wollmesie, and I'm really enjoying it so far. It isn't as soft as other yarn I've knit with, but it feels very sturdy and will make great socks. I've also heard that it softens up quite a bit after washing. 

I think these socks are going to look awesome when they're done. Cookie's sock patterns are gorgeous, but are certainly going to take me longer to knit than the plain-ish socks I've done so far this year!

I also have a couple more skeins of handspun (are you sick of seeing handspun yarn yet?!)...

BFL/Silk dyed by Two if by Hand in colorway Secret Dawn 

Spun for a custom order for a lovely customer in Alaska!

Organic Merino dyed by Two if by Hand in colorway Antique Ram

Spun up for the etsy shop

In other news, we got quite a bit of snow last week. Okay, we only got about 4 inches, but that was quite a bit for around here! The local trails are at a higher elevation, and there were about 8 inches up there when I walked with Valerie and the dogs.

Gorgeous view of town from the top of Dimple Hill

Sailor waiting patiently for a liver treat. Yes. Liver. Homemade liver treats.

Sailor and Diamond running up the trail.

And then there were the blackberry bushes that I had to drag Sailor away from. We've been picking blackberry thorns out of his fur all week!

Well, I think that's it for now! 

Love,

Liz :)