Finally, after much pattern tweaking here she is - the Emelia Lace Choker. Add a little lace flare to almost any outfit. Wear it over a high neck shirt or a more dramatic neckline. This piece is knit lengthwise and is essentially two lace edgings facing in opposite directions with a center column of enlarged eyelets between them. I really wanted to make a very complete pattern and it took a little longer but I'm pretty pleased with the results. Included are both the written out lace instructions and the charted design in scalable, easy to read format.



The upper lace is my variation of an 1890's rosebud pattern. The bottom edging calls to mind the rose's thorns and the pattern looks of little stems and leaves. Two delicate button loops worked in the bind-off row and ribbon woven through the center eyelets secure the piece in the back.



All set up for instant download, easy peasy. After payment via Paypal you will be given a link to download the pattern. This link will also be emailed to you and will expire in 48 hours. For any questions about the pattern or whole download process please holler at me here- jen@pieknits.com
More gratuitous photos here, here, and here.

Pattern Specs
Gauge: Lace weight
Needle size:US size 2/2.75 mm
Yarn: Shown in Zephyr Wool-Silk (50% merino wool/50% tussah silk; 630yds per 2 ounce skein) Color: Iris; 1 skein
[Alternative: Any lace weight yarn]
Skill level: Intermediate Lace (Reading chart or written lace stitches, double decreases, binding off in pattern, small amount of patterning on every row)
Price: $3.50
Format: PDF instant download

Posted by Jen at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

So quick it didn't even make it to the progress bar.

Slip stitch preemie hat and toe-up socks. Quarter placed for size perspective. The endlessly generous Wool Winder is hosting a little contest to raise donations for The Preemie Project. I have a bunch of baby acrylic left over from the lace socks and had been thinking about knitting up something for a charity. When I saw this, and that it's based out of Iowa, I had to hop to it. :)
I used this pattern in the smallest size with the only modification being I made the last 2 rows on the socks 1x1 ribbing to match the hat. It's a cute pattern and of course a pretty fast knit. The top of the hat was different than ones I've done before. It creates kind of a star shape, close up pic here.

Posted by Jen at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Almost didn't make this one for May's Project Spectrum Sari Style- been a crazy month! This sari however is one of my favorites. I love the detail and embroidery work. This was the sari I wore for the first part of my wedding. My MIL did a fabulous job of finding even the perfectly matching bangles. The body section is a goldish/green and the border and end piece that hangs down your back (pallu) is a more solid green with extra embellishments. The colors have beautiful subtle changes in the light. The choli (blouse piece) is also pictured.




Right before the ceremony all dolled up. You really feel like a princess in an Indian wedding. :)

Posted by Jen at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

And the winner for the new blog contest is....

The lovely lobstah!
Go check out her very amusing Amazing Lace entry!

Again, big thank you's to everyone for the fantastic comments.

Posted by Jen at 06:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A big Thank You to everyone who's left such awesome comments about the new site! It is always cool of course to see that there are people actually reading your blog. And not just people, Aejaz is a real fan of the new site too!

Ok actually, he's just become fascinated with the on-screen mouse pointer. Excuse the crappily lit photo, but just had to snap this after he was nodding his head along with the mouse and trying to bite at the screen. I think he believes it's a very illusive bug.
Reminder that you can still enter the contest for some lovely Inca Alpaca up until midnight tonight!

Project Spectrum Green
So even I'm getting a little tired of seeing photos of this but it fits for May's green so nicely. The celtic cable purse, which I am now dubbing 'Aileen', with most of the double knit section complete.

I'm liking the double knit. It's one of those things while relatively simple to do you feel pretty clever once you get it going. The downside being since you're knitting both sides as once, the visual progress isn't so much. I did however switch to a two-handed method which is going much quicker after getting the hang of it one-handed. I plan to explain both methods in the pattern.

That's it for now. Contest winner announced tomorrow!

Posted by Jen at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Ah, already feels like home. Blogger is a great free tool, but I really wanted the control, added features and integration of hosting my own blog. Enter Movable Type! Of course I come up with a layout that took reworking the templates from scratch, but bah! now it is my own. :)

Contest!
On to the fun stuff! I'd love to hear from you - your thoughts on the new layout, design or technical issues, etc. So here's the deal, leave a comment to this post about the new site- or just say 'Hi!' and you'll be entered into the contest for this fibery prize. Bonus points to anyone who finds something broken.

Classic Elite Inca Alpaca - 100% alpaca goodness
Contest open until Wednesday May 24, 11:59 pm CST. Winner will be chosen by random number generator in the rather standard way.

Posted by Jen at 06:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)

Finally, a chance to take a little gasp of air. Last couple of weeks have been one of those times where Everything happens at once. There has been lots of knitterly things going on too though. I actually have two FO's to report on soon, more patterns in the works with a couple almost completed, a blog relaunch very soon, a contest (yep, that's right), Amazing Lace entry, oh- and my pattern was accepted and will be in the upcoming Extremities Summer issue of Knitty. Phew! Now, if all that other real life stuff would just get out of the way.

In the meantime, sneak peaks.

Posted by Jen at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Looky what I got from my spectacular Project Spectrum Postcard Swap Pal!!


What a sweet surprise package! Not just a beautiful hand stamped card, she wrote a lovely note and included a very nice poem along with cute cute socks(!) and a package marigold seeds. I have the perfect little window pot for them (since my curry leaf plant didn't survive the 2 week out of country drought). Now I can look forward to more yellow and orange for months to come!
A big thank you to my pal Adelle of Hankering for Yarn! Go check out her site- she writes for b5 Media and has all kinds of interesting knitterly and crochet things on her blog.

Posted by Jen at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

First off thanks to everyone for the Blogiversary wishes!

So as we all know, with the start of May brings Project Spectrum Green. I did have a bit of "When the hell did it get to be May already?" going on here as I still have March and April items that are started but not completed. However, green - green we can do! I'm a sucker for a good green and currently have three projects in the works. So maybe I can finally get some stuff finished up this month.

To inaugurate Project Spectrum May (and get your Cinco de Mayo party going) we have a green recipe.

Guacamole!

The stuff you need:

• 1 large avocado (Note: ripe avocados vary in color but should give slightly when squeezed)


• 2 Tbs. sour cream


• 1 tsp. salsa


• 1 garlic clove, pressed


• 1 Tbs. sweet onions, finely diced


• 1 tsp. cilantro or parsley (optional)


• 3 Tbs. tomatoes, finely diced


• 2 tsp. black olives, minced


• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice or lime juice


• salt, use less if you'll refrigerate (you shouldn't need much)

What to do with it:
Cut the avocado around the pit into halves and remove pit. With a spoon, mash 3/4 of the flesh and chop the remaining 1/4 coarsely. This is easily accomplished in the avocado shell itself before scooping it out.
Mix mashed and chopped avocado with the rest of the ingredients.
Serve immediately, or cover with plastic wrap pressing wrap firmly to surface of guacamole (or it will turn brownish) and refrigerate up to 4 hours before serving. Serves 2.

In other news

I've just joined the highly amusing The Amazing Lace Knitalong. Me and my "teammate", the Peacock Feathers Shawl will be competing.
Go check it out for the Hosts have explained the concept far better than I could. Seeing as I've started on a serious lace kick and the hubby and I have just booked a Caribbean cruise for our 1 year anniversary this June (woot!) it seemed like just the perfect thing.
The lace choker is aaalmost finished and so I'm looking forward to casting on for the shawl. If I get ambitious I'd like to start the lace scarf design in the new cashmere and I've decided what the rest of the huge cone of purple lace weight will be - the new Paisley Long Shawl. This one is rated as "Experienced lace" so we'll see, but I do like to wrestle with my knitting.

Posted by Jen at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There is also a yummy recipe at the bottom- think of it as motivation...

My 1 year blogiverary is here! I know everyone says this but I really can't believe it's been a year. I think it's kinda funny that a blog is what let me to discover knitting in the first place.
I was just bored and browsing through some random blogs one day and happened upon a post by a girl bitching about her ex-boyfriend (on a blog? really!?). She was pissed off that he had taken her Stitch n' Bitch book upon moving out just to irritate her. It was the one book she really wanted apparently. Well with a book review like that how can one not be intrigued? I mean seriously.
At the time I was in the middle of planning our wedding(s) and my head felt constantly full of all these wedding related details. I wished I could just empty it once in awhile and when I saw these knitting books I just knew- I Want To Do This! Lucky for me I had a bookstore gift card and picked myself up a copy of Stitch n' Bitch, some Red Heart and Susan Bates needles at Wal-mart and quickly discovered the world of knitting blogs. (Hey- we were saving for a wedding- cheap entertainment is totally what I was about.)
So being a web geek myself it wasn't long until I signed myself up for my own blog. Now with the wedding over I've been able to more actively knit and blog in the last 6 months. The community on here just continues to inspire, humor and challenge me like nothing else has before. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming year! Unfortunately, I had planned for a couple of things to be launched today in celebration but alas, it was not meant to be. There will be some new stuff happening around here soon however.

While were on blog meta, is anyone else amused that blogger tries to change "blogging" to "flogging" in spellcheck? Just me? ehm- ok.

Now if you've actually gotten this far- dessert!

Salted Nut Roll Bars


This was my favorite item I used to get at a little bakery in a historic section of my hometown. I searched the internet high and low along with some experimenting to come up with a recipe to match my memories. These little bites o' heaven have a buttery, crumbly crust layered with marshmallows and topped with a sweet and salty crunchy top. It's the perfect combination in my mind anyway. I brought these to the Dallas Hand Knitters Guild meeting last night so by popular request, here's the recipe!

Crust:
Modern Day Women Version:
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1/3 c. softened butter
1 egg

or

Domestic Superstar Version (from scratch)
1 1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. brown sugar
1.2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 egg yolks

Topping:
3 c. miniature marshmallows
2/3 c. white corn syrup
1/4 c. butter
1 (12 oz.) pkg. peanut butter chips
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. Rice Krispies
2 c. salted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine all crust ingredientss of your version choice, mixture will be crumbly. Press into a 9" x 13" pan and bake for 10-15 min.
Immediately sprinkle with marshmallows and return to oven for 1-2 minutes until the marshmallows begin to puff. Remove from oven and cool.
In large pan, heat corn syrup, butter, peanut butter chips and vanilla until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts and Rice Krispies. Spread over the marshmallows. Cover and chill, or start eating from the pan - your choice.

Posted by Jen at 12:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Not just something- cashmere.


I was lucky enough to be gifted this lovely skein of 100% cashmere (kashmir) in Natural Brown from www.jojoland.com, a vendor at the DFW FiberFest. It was one of the door prizes at the Fashion/Trunk show which was also quite fun. I actually already have a lace design for a skinny scarf worked up that I was really wanting to try in something like cashmere- so it was just kismet!


A little "light" reading


How I do love the library. With exception to Big Book of Knitting which I recently purchased these are my current rentals.

1. 1000 Great Knitting Motifs - Luise Roberts
   This is a neat book, so tempting to add a little colorwork to lots of things.
2. The Knitters' Handy Book of Sweater Patterns - Ann Budd
   A standard classic.
3. Big Book of Knitting - Katharina Buss
   I'm so glad I bought this book. Renting is great but it is so nice having a good reference you can keep and refer to any time. This one has particularly good and numerous photos.
4. Reversible Two-Color Knitting
   This book was such a great find as I currently have in the works three different types of double-knit. Some really interesting uses/ideas in here.
5. Designing Knitwear - Deborah Newton
   Worth checking out although I think I prefer Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English.
6. The Complete Stitch Directory - Cresent
   Covers several needlecrafts with some interesting stitches although have found errors in several.
7. The Arco Guide to Knitting Stitches
   Standard stitch dictionary but I really love flipping through any of these. I find I get all kinds of inspiration from them.
8. The Harmony Guides Knitting Stitches Volume 3
   Same as above.
9. Knitting on the Edge - Nicky Epstein
   If you have somehow not seen one of these books in the series go get one now! I really like how the photos are done in this and that you actually get to see the edges.

Posted by Jen at 05:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)