Savory Knitting

(from Wikipedia):

The original “Manhattan cocktail” was a mix of “American Whiskey, Italian Vermouth and Angostura Bitters”… The variations on the theme are endless, to name a few:

• A Rob Roy is made with Scotch whisky.^[9]
• A Dry Manhattan is made with dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth and served with a twist.^[9]
• A Perfect Manhattan is made with equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.^[9]
• A Brandy Manhattan is made with brandy rather than rye.^[13]
• A Ruby Manhattan is made with port rather than vermouth.^[14]
• A Metropolitan is similar to a brandy manhattan, but with a 3-to-1 ratio of brandy to vermouth.^[13]
• A Cuban Manhattan is a Perfect Manhattan with dark rum as its principal ingredient.^[15]
• A Royal Manhattan is made with Crown Royal Canadian Whisky.^[15]
• A Southern Manhattan is made with Southern Comfort.^[15]
• A Tijuana Manhattan is made with an Anejo Tequila.^[16]
• The Fourth Regiment is a classic (ca. 1889) cocktail that uses a 1/1 ratio of whiskey and vermouth, and uses three dashes of three different bitters – orange bitters, celery bitters, and Peychaud’s Bitters.^[17]

End quote.

Apologies teetolaters (See also Roy Rogers and my personal favorite the Shirley Temple).

No coincidence that designing knits and cocktails bares a certain resemblance. You have a fairly finite set of ingredients and tools and from them the ability to produce endless variation. Therein lies a small clue to the genius that is Thea Colman’s Baby Cocktails.

So I was tremendously  flattered when she asked me to collaborate on a little experiment with her: Mixed Drinks- 2 designers, a few common ingredients, see what happens.

We started with the project: a hat. We walked and talked at Rhinebeck and came up with the perfect yarn: a pair of cormo blends from Foxfire Fiber. Then chose a theme to be the common thread: Bourbon… Or, lace. However you prefer to think about it. We spent an evening brainstorming over a couple of cocktails and a LOT of stitch dictionaries discussing our mutual favorites and their variations and came up with these.

I love how they have so much in common- fingering weight*  held double stranded, deep ribbed cuffs, allover  creative lace stitches. And so much about them that is different- Thea’s is a refined bohemian slouchy beret with a rib and eyelet motif that reminds me of early art Deco. Mine is a bit more rustic with a twist on old fashioned feather and fan lace and a simple 2 over 2 cable cross. Our yarns are subtly different too but the projects them selves are pretty interchangeable, substitute any heavier sport or DK weight yarn of your choice for either hat.

All the details are on the Ravelry pages, 2 hats, 2 designers, 1 PDF available here now.

Last but not least:

My Manhattan Cocktail:

2oz Bourbon

1 generous splash of Vermouth

A dash of Vanilla Bourbon

A pinch of orange zest

Please visit  the Baby Cocktails blog for Thea’s Manhattan

*Thea’s yarn is actually lace weight, but the alpaca fiber in the blend has a lot of halo thus the gauge remains the same.

Photograhy © 2013 Amanda Johnston

Something to look forward too! A fun little side project with the crazy talented Thea Colman of Baby Cocktails… Coming soon.

New Years is my favorite holiday. I know that in reality its “just a day” but I love the prospect of the shiny new beginning , the chance to set the tone for a new year, to make a fresh start. Oddly though I don’t usually make resolutions. Goals maybe but not “Resolutions”.  That is until this year anyway. I’m going to try some and they’re going to be strict: No new clothes. I’m going to cut my self off altogether. This will be harder on me then you would think.

My exceptions? A few.

The rules:

1. Not going to buy any clothes unless its a replacement of something that is worn out to the point of needing replacement. Since I tend to hang on to everything long after the point when other people would have considered things worn out this pretty much leaves me socks… and maybe some undergarments.

2. If I gain or loose more then 10lbs I’ll be buying new pants.

3. I’m going to give myself a small allowance of $25/month that I’ll need to save up if I expect to have any fun at my favorite sample sale in October. The sample sale is the incentive not to use any of the allowance for anything.

4. Supplies for handmade, are limited to notions, patterns, tools etc. not fabric or yarn. Because I have a lot of fabric and a LOT of yarn. (Also does not count ‘work yarn’).

5. People can still give me clothes… so if maybe there is a birthday or something like that…

The fact is I don’t ‘need’ anything and it really shouldn’t be hard at all but I don’t think this will be easy, because I really really like clothes… REALLY like them. I think I’m going to learn a lot about my self. And hopefully save a bit of money. I was inspired by the Seam Allowance Group at A Verb for Keeping Warm/Ravelry, they’re committed to making 25% of the clothing they wear and  have a sort of support group for the process. I love it. Sadly this not actually practical for me this year. I’m with them in spirit but I don’t actually have time to make half the things I want much less to get the point where 25% of the wardrobe is handmade… Next year. What about you, any resolutions?

In the spirit of the day I’ll have a little sale tomorrow- 25% off all the Savory Knitting patterns all day 1/1/13 (from 12:01am to 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time). Use the coupon code happynewyear.

Happy New Year!

There is a lot going on.

Between real life (current events, holidays, a flu-sick kid) and work life (deadlines, deadlines deadlines), I will have to forgo sleep for most of the next month if I’m ever going to do half the things I’ve promised to get done.

I did sneak in a little holiday knitting though- a hat for Mister. He doesn’t know its for him (good thing he never reads this) because I did it all under the guise of “work knitting”. Which means photographing and writing it up and everything. Aren’t I sneaky?

(No, no I’m not, I repeat: good thing he never reads this)

I briefly entertained thoughts of keeping this one as my own I love it so much but he has seen the hat and informed me that he intends to steal it as soon as I’m not looking because it is absolutely the perfect hat for himself.Which I think means I hit this nail on the head. (heh!)

If by chance there is a hard to shop for lady or gentleman on your list you were thinking of eeking out a last minute knit for, the pattern will be available tomorrow on Ravelry.

Don’t forget all, the Savory Knitting accessory patterns are 20% off through December 24- the new hat will be included.

We have a holiday party for the kiddo’s Pre-School this afternoon. Never one to make things easy on my self I’ve made 4 dozen gougères (cheese puffs) for the pot luck. Or at least, 4 doz came out of the oven, it remains to be seen how many make it to the party. There was a little hang wringing over whether a gougère was too too for a preschool party…  But, cheese puffs who doesn’t like a cheese puff!? The fact is I need to go grocery shopping, meaning there wasn’t much to work with in the house except a few eggs, and some odds and ends of cheese leftover from this and that… sound familiar?

Want to make some too?

Preheat the oven to 400

In a medium-ish sauce pan, over medium heat, combine 6 Tbs unsalted butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup water and bring to a simmer. When the butter has completely melted turn off the heat, dump in 1 cup all-purpose flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until everything in the pot starts to come away from the sides of the pot cleanly forming a big ball (this dough is called pâté à choux, and is the beginning of all sorts of wonderful)

Put that aside to cool for a few minutes while you grate some cheese- you need 3-5 cups of grated cheese and any hard type of cheese is good. For this round I ended up with a combination of 1/3 Grafton Smoked cheddar, 1/3 Cabot Hunters and 1/3 Emmentaler- because its what I had*.

Now back to the choux, you may want to switch to a bowl if your pot is on the small side, mix in 4 eggs, 1 at a time being sure that each egg is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next. Next a little pepper, maybe a little thyme or nutmeg** and then all that cheese. The dough should be pretty firm by now, enough that your spoon can stand up straight without falling over. You can start baking now or cover the bowl with plastic wrap and wait a bit if you prefer.

Spoon out the dough into 1″ mounds evenly spaced on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Pop them in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes or until they are all golden and lovely.

If you have the luxury of time you should then turn off the oven and leave the door open a crack to let the puffs adjust to cooler temps before you remove them from the oven. Or do what I do and plop them on the stove top next to the oven vent while the next batch goes in the oven. Either way give each one a quick poke with the tip of a very sharp knife to release the steam and let them cool a bit before you transfer them to a cooling wrack.

Repeat until all the dough is gone.

Eat them all while they’re still warm or be friendly and bring them to a party.

Happy Holidays all!

* I have made these from nearly any and every cheese and have never gone wrong.

** Cumin, jalapeno, oregano… as long as you pick one and don’t use all I don’t think you can go wrong here.

First Sarah said this:

My name is Sarah and I’m addicted to @savoryknitting patterns. #savoryknittinganonymous #notashamed

And Amy said:

@knityorkcity @savoryknitting I’m so glad we’re forming a support group. I think I need it. So we can show off our finished cardigans.

So I said:

@threadpanda @knityorkcity What does it say about me that some designers get fan groups, but people who like my work want a support group? ;-p

And then this happened:

@knityorkcity @savoryknitting *ahem* http://bit.ly/Qv98df

Please do join us?

Thank you so much Amy and Sarah, you guys make my day more often then you realize, but this is extra extra special.

Are you a gift knitter?

I used to be but its something I struggle with year after year. So this year I’ve given my self the year off. In case your are one of those generous souls looking for some quick knits to gift, now- through December 24th all the accessory patterns in the Savory Knitting Ravelry Shop are 20% off. No coupon codes required.

Happy Knitting!

Something wonderful happened online while I was offline* over the weekend, Kathreen Ricketson of Whip Up invited me to contribute to her Knitting Designer Guest Series and this is what I wrote. When you’re done with that be sure to check out the rest of her guest post series, I am profoundly humbled to have been invited into such good company.

Kathreen asked me to share my thoughts about the design process and any insight I might have into what makes a successful pattern and especially why I make so many cardigans. Questions to which I really wish I had answers.

My best advice for a successful pattern launch is to be someone who looks good wearing yellow because the mustardy yarns seem to draw the eye but then again that maybe just a lucky coincidence as I happen to love wearing that color.

Which really all goes to my point: I have no point. All that I really know is that I am thankful everyday to keep this going another week, thankful for the opportunity to express myself creatively, for the all people I get to meet, many of whom I can now call friends. Its been an awful lot of work, sometimes frustrating but still feels like nothing short of magic.

Actually I think Thomas Jefferson said it best:

“I am a great believer in luck, I find the harder I work the more I have of it”

Also cardigans, I believe they are the best sweaters, because they are so versatile.

xo

A

*Rhinebeck, next time.

A riff on the traditional, a cabled cardigan inspired by Vermont granite and by the late 19th/early 20th century stone carvings done by the Craftsmen in Central Vermont (more on that very soon!).

The cardigan is hip length with a fitted saddle shoulders, waist shaping and generously overlapped fronts for that perfect mix of tailored fit and a laid back, comfortable style.

Finished Measurements

Total circumference is 39 ½, 41 ½, 43 ½, 45 ½,48 ½, 50 ½, 52 ½” around, closed.

To fit about a 34/35, 36/37, 38/39, 40/41, 43/44, 45/46, 47/48” bust.
Sample measures 34/35” and is worn (by me) with 0 ease.

Materials

Berroco Blackstone Tweed
65% wool, 25% mohair, 10% angora; 130yd/119m per 50g skein Ancient Mariner 10, 11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13 skeins

All the other details and how to purchase on the pattern page in the Savory Knitting Ravelry Shop.

Berroco Blackstone Tweed in Ancient Mariner