Gunnister Gloves Complete

Gunnister gloves L&S
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I finished the smaller pair, wove in the ends, washed it and the larger pair and they are packed and ready for the mail.

P is wearing the large gloves, which fit him perfectly, and I am wearing the smaller gloves, which fit me perfectly. I trust that they will fit an average men's and woman's hand at the Plantation as well.

The yarn did not really soften up in the wash so I still find them to be quite scratchy.

The quilt was made by my grandmother and I think the pattern is "Dresden Plate". It's machine pieced and hand quilted.

Silver lining

Sometimes good can come from bad. I'm hoping that is the case today and I'm hoping that my friend's hospital stay is beneficial.

I'm thinking that the fates put her where she needed to be.

Good thoughts today.

More 12th night garb

Giovanna
Originally uploaded by Margareta Saunfayle

You can see more of the front panel in this photo. I like it!

I look like a donor in an alterpiece.

Foodie goodness

I was taken to a new place full of culinary goodness on Sunday. The place is called Vom Fass, which roughly translates to "from the barrel". As the name suggests the store originates in Germany and specializes in selling specialty oils, vinegars, liquors, scotch, pretty much anything aged that you can drink or cook with.

I purchased 2 types of oils (Thistle and Madonia Olive oil) I purchased 2 balsamic vinegars as well (an Apple blend and a Lemon and Ginger blend). You get to go around the whole room and try all the oils and vinegars and the Scotch (but the employee serves you)! It was a lot of fun and I could see myself buying lots at this store! Everything was highly tasty!

If you get to Madison, WI I highly recommend visiting the store!

Delivering presents

1 directly and the other via courier.

DJ got his 12th Night gift and I must say he was very happy with the blocks. I suspect he will warm up to the book later.



The other gift was a mini Kransakage made out of the leftover dough and icing. I had the perfect amount to do 10 rings and ice them all. I think I'm getting better at this treat. Now I just need to purchase a tip adaptor for my cookie press and I don't have to roll the coils by hand anymore. The person it was for was not at the meeting so I handed the delivery off to another and it reached it's destination in one piece.



I'm still trying to decide why the woman at Sweet Celebrations said that I needed 3 cans of almond paste to make this dessert. The recipe calls for 1 can and, as you can clearly see, that was enough for one and 2/3's Kransekage. Ever since the store stopped being Maid in Scandinavia the service has gone straight down the toilet. A good half of the people who work there don't know anything about what they are selling.

My next lefse class is Feb 4th and I'm going to add Flat brot to the class. Guess I need to practice first.

UFO update

UFO = unfinished objects, as in knitted objects that are unfinished.

According to Lime and Violet proper UFO's are items that are currently on needles. That being the case I only have 1 UFO.

The Plimoth gloves in the smaller size are currently on my needles. The left hand glove is done and needs to have the ends woven in. The right glove hand is complete and the index finger has been started. I should be able to finish the glove this Thursday at knitting. Once this pair (and the large gloves) are washed, blocked and dry I can pack them up with the leftover yarn and send them back to Plimoth.

I'm going to be sending my notes to correct the patterns too. Ahem....

I have not cast on the second flat cap or the silk stockings and I think the flat cap is going to win out as the next project.

Everyone is having babies and I need to make baby stuff soon. It's a bunch of girls, yay!

12th Night garb

I really like this photo from 12th Night. While it is not the best view of my garb, it captures a very lovely moment and memory.

The hat looks awesome if I do say so myself.

Tasty treats

12th Night is over and everyone ate. According to reports they ate well, and if they didn't no one told me.

Pictures of pretty treats!

Nut tofee from Ingus

Pretty little Bundt cakes from Birdkiller (Martha Stewart eat your heart out!)

Rose tart from Margaretta, Onion tart from Alinore, various cookies from myself and others.

The Kransekake and Rose Marion's plum tart and Sorcha's gingerbread.

More lovely dessert trays with home made breads, cakes and cookies.

Alinore's Plum Tart from the December Cook-A-Long, Samia's cheese cake and more lovely things!

This is my first Kranzekake and, although my decorating is not the best, it tasted wonderful and people seemd to enjoy it. The Kranzekake roughly translates to "Crown cake" and it is traditionally served at Norwegian weddings. I have some leftover dough and frosting and I'm going to bake up some more rings to eat. I will deffinately make this dessert again.

Springerle

I have 2 pans with Griffins and snowflakes to be baked tonight.

More hats

My finished henin.



The base is constructed using 2 layers of cotton canvas that has been stiffened with fusable facing. I sewed boning around the bottom and top edges. I sewed a length of boning up the center front, with a small portion extended to make the loop. I sewed a piece of boning up the back. I covered the base with black wool and hand tacked it in place. I sewed the cone together at the back. The veil is help on the front with 2 large pins and I used 2 small pins to hold it down at the top back.

Overall I think it turned out quite well and it fits me perfectly! I shouldn't need to use anything to secure it to my head, it simply sits there perfectly balanced, which is what it is supposed to do.

Flat cap

Flat cap
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I plopped this on my head and attempted to take my own picture. Not the best job, but you can see how it fits. It's a bit big for me, but that is good since the person receiving it has a bigger head than me.

I think it turned out pretty good, but the next one is getting a deeper fold between the crown and the brim.

Sore

I spent a good deal of time sewing, knitting, and basic puttering last night. P cooked a lovely Ethiopian meal, complete with injera. I have decided that berbere is one of my favorite spice mixtures. Nummy!

I am sore from spending too much time hunched over a sewing machine, but I got a lot done so this is good. There are so many other things that I would like to get done for 12th Night, but I'm at a point where I need to choose. I have most of my gifts done, which was very important to me.

Tudor Flat Cap

I downloaded Chris Lanning's instructions for a Flat Cap last Thursday and stopped by Knit-N from the Heart and picked up 2 skeins of Galway in a heathered black and 2 skeins of Cascade 220 in a heathered brown. I knit the black wool first. Despite doing a swatch and fulling it, I was still uncertain if the finished cap would full down to the correct size. I'm still uncertain as the person who's head it is for was not available for a fitting so I am guessing.

The knit itself went relatively quick, although I did frog a couple inches to make the radius an inch smaller. I knit a cap with a single fold and a 2 layer brim.


The double fold cap is from the Victoria and Albert collection in London and is a knitted and fulled cap dated to the 16th century. I'm uncertain how my single fold cap compairs, personally I don't think the brim is deep enough so I'm going to remedy that on cap #2. I am pleased that the yarn I purchased is a similar color to the surviving cap (although I'm sure the original color was much darker). The brim on this cap appears to be a single layer and mine is a double so I may change that as well.

I fulled my cap in the washer with hot water and an addition of a kettle of boiling water to the wash. I agitated the cap for 45 minutes before rinsing and laying it flat to dry. The fulling is nice and even and wonderfully tight.

Another item for the raffle

Fairisle cap finished
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

Thanks to Malcom for the splendid use of his head! YAY!

Setti has already put claims on this so look out.

Gunnister gloves

Gunnister gloves
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I finished the large size last night and I estimate that I have enough yarn to complete a pair in the smaller size. The gloves fit P perfectly so they should be a comfortbale wear for an average man. I'm going to knit the smaller pair to comfortably fit my hands, so they should fit an average women's hand.

I think they turned out really nice and I am especially pleased since this is the first pair of gloves that I have made.

Norwegian Cap

First project done for the New Year!

fairisle cap
Originally uploaded by Valkyr8

I finished the cap last night and added a huge tassle. It's going into the Quill raffle at 12th Night. I think it turned out pretty good.

I used leftover Dale Baby Ull for the cap and knit it on size 2 needles. The patterns are charted from traditional Norwegian caps and are in my new book from Steph: Traditional Scandinavian Knitting, by Sheila McGregor. It's a great book!