Swatch This!

I’m so close!

All that’s left is the seaming and hood! Of course, I haven’t actually seamed at all yet. While Cassidy dried, I decided to try to catch up with some languishing WIPs, and started with my poor Peapod baby sweater. All this sweater needs is a collar and attached sleeves. I have never had such a hard time setting in sleeves in my life! I eventually got one set in, but the second is refusing. Hopefully whatever baby ends up wearing it (at this rate, it’ll be the second child of my five year old nephew’s), will not share the stubborness.

I just have to share this coffee cake recipe!

From the minute I saw the recipe for this coffee cake, I was consumed by the desire to make it. I’ve had a can of cherry pie filling in my pantry for a year now, just waiting for a good recipe. This was it!

The dough is very biscuit-like, light, but also dense. It’s not too sweet, providing a nice balance for the pie filling. I think next time, I’ll make my own pie filling. (#1 reason the pie filling sat in my pantry? Not a big fan of canned filling.) The only change I made to the recipe was to use almond instead of vanilla extract (the original recipe uses apple filling), and added some cardamom to the topping. Next time, I’ll make less topping as well. I knew as I was shaking it on that it was too much, and in fact, didn’t use all of it. I think I’d make three-quarters or even half as much. I waited until the weekend to make this due to the long baking time, over an hour! I was cooking dinner while it baked, so I don’t know exactly how long it took, but it was at least an hour and a quarter.

In other news, we celebrated a very special birthday today:

Coopie loves her special birthday breakfast. I’m guessing this is birthday number six for her. She’s an old lady now!

Here we are, finally on sleeve island. The weather is wonderful.

I don’t have pictures of the sleeves, because really, our stay has just begun, but I do have a picture of the completed fronts!

They wanted to come with me on the island, but water and sand don’t go so well with wool.

Being on sleeve island means it’s party time! Sort of like the last fifteen minutes of work, or senior year of high school. Before you know it, you’re going to have something new to wear.

Even though we’re slowly sliding into Spring here, I think I’ll be able to use this sweater throughout the summer at night.

(Guess what? I went to Cancun!)

Well, hello there! How have you been? It’s been so long since I talked to you, I hardly even know where to start. I suppose I can tell you a little about what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been hanging out with bunnies,

and hanging out with nephews.

I braved the cold to spend time with friends,

and warmed up with some delicious comfort food.

One thing I haven’t been doing a ton of?

But hey, since I took this picture, I finished the thumb! This winter has been wicked, and I need all the wool I can get.

See you soon!

Love, Marlena

Full disclosure: I am such a dreadful blogger now, I finished two project that not only I never blogged about, but I never even photographed. Terrible, I know. But I’m making up for it now with pictures of everything on the needles, and an actual FO!

I know, with all that buildup (and time between posts!) I bet you were expecting a sweater, but no. Just a wee gift. This is Nakiska from Knitty, a gift favorite of mine. This cute ear warmer only takes about two hours to make, and uses a very small amount of yarn. I made this one using only one ball of Laines du Nord Royal Cashmere, which has only 82 yards per ball. I made another (not photographed) using Knitpicks Merino Style, and only needed about 3/4 of the ball. Love this project!I’m also slowly working on the fabulous Cassidy by Bonne Marie Burns.



Aren’t these cables just beautiful? I’m using Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed DK in Treasure. This is the same yarn I used for my Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan. The yarn is as wonderful to knit as I remembered, I’m already plotting what other patterns I can make with this yarn.


The impending end of the year had me rooting through my knitting basket, searching for forgotten projects. I found three that I hereby resolve to complete in 2009. Usually, I suck aat keeping resolutions, but these are really easy ones.

Resolution 1: Two measly seams and five buttons.

Resolution 2: Attach sleeve #2, knit on collar, and buttons. Oh! And find someone to give these baby sweaters to. Oops.


Resolution 3: Finally (re)make mitten #2. With the tragic loss of one of my Chevaliers, I have only a pair of fleece (!) mittens and my heavy duty thrummed mittens to wear.


Any bets on whether I actually get these finished before 2010? Ha!

I’m not quite sure how I did it, or why I didn’t notice until I was done, but… yeah.

Lucky thing is, I actually have enough yarn left over to make a third mitten, since ripping that second completed mitten would be a little demoralizing. I mean, isn’t this like the third project I’ve “finished” this year?! Also great? I love the yarn! I love the way it’s so subtly variegated, adding depth to the fabric, and I love the way the stitches in this pattern work with the yarn. Fab. Oh! And one more thing: I’m pretty sure I have this pattern just about memorized.

I have sweaters on the brain, and it looks like Cassidy is the front runner. The question is, which color? I’m torn between a soft gray and bright fuschia. Both of the pinks I’m thinking of are tweed, but one is the inimitable Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed which I love, and is on its way to becoming that yarn that’s too nice to use for anything.

Now that kickball season is over, the days are shorter, and the cold is setting in, I’m hoping some more knitting time will open up. In fact, what am I doing writing this post?! I should be knitting!

So… I have been knitting! Just not as quickly as I’d like! My fingers are itching for a sweater, but my brain knows that’s a poor choice. It would take me forever to finish one, so I’m making do with small things, snippets of knitting.

I finished one mitten on plane rides back and forth from Austin, Texas. I went to visit my best friend for her birthday. I love the city, but the fabled yarn store I kept hearing about just couldn’t hold a candle to my most favoritist LYS, so I had to come back home. Perhaps my favorite part of the trip were the cupcakes.

I’m slowly working my way through some seaming just now. A sweet cotton sweater for somebody special. Sometimes I really like seaming, I like how the pieces come together so perfectly. I like the rhythm of it. But the fingers are a little restless just now, and I’ve had to pull out the same seam three times already. Can’t have lumpy seams… it would be (excuse me) unseamly.

Also perhaps unseemly, going all out for 80’s night when you are actually old enough to remember the 80’s? I don’t even care, I had so much fun. And I’d also just like to mention that I achieved this hairstyle without the assistance of a curling iron! Just a round brush, a can of hairspray, and a blow dryer. Muscle memory, baby. Muscle. Memory.

Oh! PS: my teammate and I (the girl in the middle in that picture, actually) raised almost $1,250 for the Alzheimer’s Association! Thanks to everyone who offered encouragement and donated. I plan to cook up some more yarny goodness for next year!

I could make excuses, but we’ve all heard them before. The truth is, I’ve been busy playing kickball, hanging out with friends and family, and enjoying the end of summer. Now that Fall is pretty well here (and oh, how I hope it sticks around!), my knitting has seen a resurgence! I’m actually almost finished with one project (just seaming and buttons), and my other project is speeding along. (Notice how I said “other project” like that, like those Druid Mittens don’t even exist? We’re still fighting.)

I’m sure anyone who sees an expanse of garter stitch now must think immediately of the Baby Surprise Jacket. This is my second, just as fun as the first, but unfortunately way too small for the baby for whom it was intended. I used Socks that Rock lightweight in Marbles and US5 needles. Love the fabric, love the colors, love the sweater… I hope someone I know gets pregnant soon!

Another little secret project is in the works… the speedy one. The yarn took some adjusting to, but I’m loving the fabric it knits into!

It’s Nashua Handknits Focus Cotton DK in this awesome slate blue shade. It’s soft and drapey, if splitty, and would make a truly terrific tank or camisole for me.

Since I can’t really show good pictures of my knitting right now, may I interest you in a pie?

The finished pie picture didn’t come out that great, and sure, this piece of pie looks more like a cobbler, but just trust me, it’s a revelation. Another hit from the Isa Chandra Moskowitz oeuvre, Gingerbread Apple Crumb Pie. I don’t know why I never thought of this before! I love apple anything! I love gingerbread! Put together, they are (dare I say) even more perfect than a peanut butter cup. I killed two pieces last night and when I caught myself contemplating a slice for breakfast, I hastily packed it up and brought it to work, where it was summarily devoured. I love that it doesn’t use a rolled crust, but next time, I’ll grease the pie plate. Even given the high margarine content, the pie stuck to the plate. I’ll also reserve more of the crust for topping, since I had to mix up some more of it on the fly when I ran short, and either omit or reduce the maple syrup in the filling. Not only was the filling pretty sweet, but between the syrup and the juice in the apples, the filling was pretty soupy. Even two tablespoons of corn starch didn’t help. Still though, SO delicious! I’m going to make this every chance I get! (I also want to try it as a cobbler, with the crust spread over the top.

Once again, I’m here to provide a valuable lesson about something every knitter should already know. Row gauge is actually important!

I’m supposed to be closing the saddle on these right now, but luckily before I started that, I decided to try on the mitten. The thing is, I generally ignore row gauge, because on the garments I’ve made thus far, it’s been simple to adjust as I go. With mittens, my small hands have worked to my advantage, and these are actually the first mittens I’ve ever made that came out too short! It looks like if I just add one repeat before decreasing, I’ll be golden. No promises when that’ll happen, though! We all know, I think, my hatred for ripping. And I’m also looking at a crazy week, between kickball practice, my first kickball game (it’s a serious league!), and the big yard/bake sale for the Alzheimer’s Association, I’m straight out!

So clearly it was not the greatest idea for me to get involved in the Ravelympics. The only reason I knew what day the Olympics began was because it was 8/8/08 and who could forget that? I presume they’re over because I’m listening to the news and they haven’t mentioned them. With that in mind, here is my progress on my project:

It’s not the best picture I’ve taken! I think I might have been in a little sugar shock when I took this photo, I spent Sunday baking for a bake sale. I had a hard time getting into these mittens, I was chained to the chart and could only manage a few rows at a time. I’m into it now, though, and my work is going much faster. And also, I love making bobbles. Just putting that out there.So this bake sale…. I’m participating in the Alzheimer’s Association’s Memory Walk for the sixth year! This year I have an actual team to walk with, and my trusty co-captain (and co-worker) is also an amazing fundraiser. We’ve decided to hold a yard sale/bake sale on September 6. She’s handling the yard sale, and I’m handling the bake sale. I’ve never done one before! I’m so afraid that we won’t have enough to sell, I think I might be overbaking a little.



Two other people have committed to bringing in baked goods, and one of those others is bringing in quite a bit of food. For my part, I’ve already made three German chocolate cakes (no frosting yet), vegan brownies, and the fabled New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies.



If you’re wondering, they are totally worth the hoopla. I would like to try them again with a longer resting time, I couldn’t wait more than 24 hours this time around. I’ll also try bread flour next time, too, but this time I couldn’t find a bag small enough at the store to fit into my bike basket with everything else I bought. The edges of these had a great chewy texture, and the middle was like a soft cookie pillow. I forgot to sprinkle this batch with salt, but decided to look on the bright side and do a taste test: cookie with salt vs. cookie without. The salt truly made the cookie! Thank goodness I put these right in the freezer. I’m pretty sure I would have eaten one for breakfast.I have plans to do another brownie (with peanut butter chips), yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting, and another vegan option. I’m considering making the carrot raisin muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance again. Those were SO good.

The Memory Walk is October 4, and I’m collecting donations for the Association to help them in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease. Anyone who has seen this disease understands the isolation, alienation and loneliness, not only suffered by the victim, but also by their family and friends. Also called “The Long Goodbye,” Alzheimer’s Disease means that even though your loved one is still able to sit with you, they eventually won’t know who you are. (This doesn’t mean that a visit isn’t “worth it!” But that’s a post for another day.) I’m personally seeing more and more people who are diagnosed with this disease quite young (in some cases, in their forties), and the time is nigh to find a reason, and find a cure. I’ve set up a donation page again, and can also accept checks. Contact me for a mailing address!

Also, you might remember that last year Purl Diva held their first annual “De-Stash and Do Good” sale, with proceeds going toward the walk. Well, Ellen is at it again! This year’s sale benefits Operation KeepMEWarm, an organization set up to help people get through the long cold winter. I’m sad I’ll have to miss the sale (I’ll be on vacation), but I dug through the stash for a donation. The sale is September 27, there’s still plenty of time to raid that stash for a good cause! And make sure to check out the sale, if you’re in the area. Last year’s was super fun, and there were some amazing deals.

Next time I check in, it’ll probably be September! Hello Fall! Finally!