My first skirt!

I'm so excited.


Pattern: New Look 6843 view A

I'm a little embarrassed to have had to use a pattern for this skirt. It was a very easy shape and took less than an hour to do (including cutting time). I still need to hem it, but I think it came out great. It's light and skimmy and perfect for a spring skirt. This pattern will be used a few times.

In knitting news, I've completely abandoned the kid's cable pullover to knit some socks for Matt. These are coming along quickly and I hope to have them done by Wednesday so I can finish the pullover, so I can start Rusted Root. Whee.



Pattern is here.
Yarn is Regia crazy color 112

I'm with the (head)band

A little late for FO Friday, but I swear this headband was finished on Friday. I just didn't blog it.

The Jacqueline Headband:


Back lit shot a la Gigi

I love this headband and have already worn it several times this past weekend.

The girly liked it too, even though it made her look like she was from Estonia.



Next photo is from Gina's blog. Don't mind the psychotic look on my face, Gina took the picture in the middle of Barnes & Noble and I was trying to not look weird. Well played Jackie, well played.



Specifics:
Pattern: Radiance Lace Headband by Gina
Yarn: Sleepy Eyes Handpainted Merino/ Tencel in the colorway "Mermaid"
Started: April 12
Finished: April 20

Whatcha Knittn?

Recently it dawned on me that I've not written any updates on my knitting since the completed Tote 'Em, which, by the way, I may end up keeping for myself. The birthday in question isn't until the end of next month, so we'll see. I currently have three projects going:

1. Cabin Fever Kid's Cable Pullover for the boy. I'm up to the underarms on this one. I had to run out this morning for a 40" size 6 addi so I could magic-loop the arms. I love this sweater but man, it is so boring. I'm working on this one pretty much exclusively just to be done with it. I think I'm past the major boring, the sleeves should only be minor boring, then I get to the fun stuff, yoke and steeks --yes, I'm going to steek it so I can make it a half-zip pullover. I was going to work the yoke back and forth, but I think if I steek it I can match the steek to the zipper and it'll fit better.



2. The Jacqueline Headband. I have still not finished knitting my namesake headband. I'm about halfway done with her. I need to have this as it is very much headband weather here this week. The yarn is so gorgeous, merino/ tencel that was dyed by the equally gorgeous Gina. Heather has the same yarn in different colorways here. That Blue Lagoon would make a gorgeous headband. Actually you could get two out of one skein, so one for you, one for a gift. The pattern is available for purchase on Gina's blog.



3. Last and least, a pair of socks for myself in Artyarns Supermerino. I thought that a worsted-weight pair of socks would be done in a day, two max. These have been sitting on my bedside table for three days. I love the colors and this yarn has been in my stash since last year's Sheep and Wool.




The pattern is Thuja from knitty, knit on smaller (size 5) needles for a woman's foot.

So, what're you working on?

lucky

My birthday is this coming Monday, and I got to celebrate early on Wednesday with my ManchVegas peeps. Here's some awesome birthday booty;

First of all, I'd like to introduce you to Little Jackie. Here she is modeling her very own Wicked Sweater, knit by lovely blogless Amanda and denim capris, knit by hottie Heather. She also has a beautiful Berroco Boho skirt, knit by beautiful Gina. A very enviable wardrobe.



Here we are modeling our matching sweaters. The blotches are on the mirror, not the sweater (note to self, clean mirror).



Lora gave me a gift certificate to JoAnn Fabric so I can start on some spring skirts that I'm planning to sew. I'll hopefully be posting that progress soon.

She also made me this beautiful card. It's so perfect.



Heather gave me this awesome skein of her hand-dyed merino/tencel in the Martian colorway. She knew I was lusting after this one. Simply gorgeous.



The group gave me four months (FOUR MONTHS!!) of Spunky Eclectic's sock club! Talk about the gift that keeps on giving! I'm so excited to see the first package.

Gina's gift included these beautiful hand knit socks:


Pattern: Gina's own design
Yarn: Cascade Fixation color 9916

I haven't taken them off.

Also from Gina, the stunning stitch markers from Zephyr at the top. They have the cutest little drinks on them (Old Fashioned, Cosmopolitan, Martini, and Strawberry Margarita) and one that says Happy Birthday Jackie love, Gina. That one is gracing my current project.

The markers are sitting on what may be, my favorite skein of yarn ever. It's handspun (by Gina) fingering weight Baby Alpaca and Merino wool with angelina in it, which gives it the most beautiful sparkle. There is no describing the beauty of this one, nor could I get a picture that appropriately shows this baby off. Here's one that comes kind of close: (click for big)



I don't know what to make with it. There are 356 yards here. I was thinking either a lacy scarf, or maybe a wrap. Pattern suggestions are more than welcome. I need to use this and drape myself in it every day.

I love it so much I went and collaged it.



Thank you all, I'm a lucky girl to be part of such a fabulous group!

Food as craft

I know this isn't a food blog, but I really do get the same enjoyment out of cooking that I do with any of my other crafty endeavors. And yes, I believe I finally perfected my spinach lasagna.

I actually made this twice this month, once when the husband was out for the evening, so he requested this little number again. Here is the recipe:

Turkey and Spinach Lasagna

for the sauce:
1 12 ounce package ground turkey
1 small yellow or white onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tbl olive oil
2 29-ounce cans tomato puree
1 tsp. salt
1 tbl. Italian seasoning

lasagna:
12 pieces no-boil lasagna
1 32-ounce container ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated romano cheese
1 9-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 cups mozzarella cheese

To make the sauce:
In a large saucepan over med-high heat, brown the ground turkey, drain and set aside. In the same pan, add olive oil and minced onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook, stirring for a minute or two. Add the browned turkey, green pepper, both cans of puree, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Turn heat down to low and simmer for at least one hour, stirring every once in a while.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl blend together the ricotta, two eggs, romano cheese, spinach and pepper. Mix well, set aside.

Assembling the lasagna:
Spray a 9x12 baking dish with no-stick spray. Add a ladleful of sauce to the bottom of pan. Place four uncooked lasagna noodles, overlapping edges slightly. Add half of the ricotta mixture over noodles, add a cup of sauce over cheese. Repeat noodle/cheese/sauce layer one more time. Add the final four noodles, top with a layer of sauce and sprinkle mozzerella over the top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and cook additional ten minutes to melt cheese.

Serve with leftover sauce.

It's nice to have options

The Tote 'Em bag was finished Wednesday night at knitting, with the exception of the 6 24" lengths of i-cord for the handles. I so did not want to knit the i-cord, so decided to go and buy some braided leather at Jo Ann Fabrics. I had no luck, but did stumble upon the Embellish Knit! cord maker. Now, the package specifically states that it is for lightweight yarns only, and you should not use worsted weight yarn. I tried it anyway, and it worked beautifully. 20 minutes of figuring how this thing worked, and I went to town.

I went with the tri-color look:



The pre-felted bag:



The post-felted, but still drying bag:



And the completed bag:



Specs:
Pattern: Tote 'Em from the Fall '06 Knitters Magazine
For: Aunt's birthday gift
Yarn: Patons Merino in New Denim, Worn Denim, and Chestnut Brown -- 2 skeins main color, 1 each of secondary colors
Started: March 11, 2007
Finished: April 5, 2007

The giant ballerina

What the heck did I do wrong?

One of the patterns I've been dying to try is the Felted Ballerina Slipper from Fiber Trends. The pattern itself was fun, and I used some Cascade 220 from the stash so that was also enjoyable.

They looked kind of big before felting, but I honestly thought they'd be okay.



But, after going through two cycles I realized that I could not get them down to six inches.



They're 8. And they're huge. Oh well, she'll grow into them. Or I can give them to the boy. He loves red.