theraineysisters knitting and so much more

The crisp air of fall is upon us and the thrill of taking out our handknits!  We both recently finished a rather laborious but satisfying project – The Circlet Shrug by Norah Gaughan.  It is in the Making No. 3 — Dots book.  A fun book with a lot of interesting projects – and not all knitting.  We loved the Circlet because of the bold cabling with decorative holes.  It is stunning fabric.  The yarn is Brooklyn Tweed Arbor.  Susan used a deep evergreen called Dorado, and Sally chose a rich red, called Vintner.

Surly’s Circlet Shrug in BT Arbor, Color Vintner

To call the design “boxy” is an understatement.  It is a perfect rectangle when knit and a square when folded in half at the shoulders to seam.  Sally is planning to re-block hers for a little extra length.

What gives the Circlet its style is the seaming — you sew it so the armholes are relatively fitted.  It gives the illusion of an actual sleeve cap when worn:

Susan’s Circlet Shrug in BT Arbor, Dorado 

Here you can see the fabric close up, with back neck details (Susan’s Shrug).  Susan adapted the collar and back neck to more closely resemble the recent Norah Gaughan cardigan in Vogue Spring/Summer 2017.

Sally followed suit, pictured here at a different angle than Susan’s photo.  Note that we twisted our cables in different directions.

We are such lemmings!  We both bought the Marrakech Shawl Pin from Jul Designs because it reminded us of the cable motif in the shrug!  See first picture of Surly’s Circlet.

I way of a PS, Susan won a blue ribbon at this year’s Minnesota State Fair in the ‘sleeveless sweater’ category for her Circlet!

Who doesn’t like a cute Moose??!!  I love a cute Moose so I added another to my winter wardrobe of hand-knit accessories…which is pretty laden down with options at this point. 😉

I recently posted about winning some yarn and a cable book from TKGA.  The yarn is Madelinetosh “Tosh Chunky” in Antler – 4 skeins.  A lot, but not enough for anything big.  I had knit the Moose River Cowl once before and thought the yarn weight and quantity would be the perfect way to showcase and use this lovely yarn.  So, a second Moose River Cowl now graces my Ravelry pages.

The great thing is, it’s completely reversible!! 🙂

Thanks, TGKA, for a great prize!!

With over 5,700 projects, no one could ever say that Reyna isn’t popular!  I bought a skein of KnitCircus Trampoline Yarn in color Mischief Managed and really didn’t know what to do with it.  Thought I would try a Reyna.

It took almost all of my yarn.  I did something different and don’t know if I should have.  Instead of starting the mesh with YO, k1, I started with YO, k2tog, and placed the spare k1 at the center.  This was so I could be inserting the tip of my needle into the knit stitch, not the YOs, on k2togs.  It makes a stronger line.  Putting the YO to the left of the knit stitch in a k2tog (or to the right in SSKs) creates a ropey appearance.  But my method also created a strong angle away from the center that is not in the original.

Compare to the original:

Not sure it matters to anybody!!  Including moi! 😉

The tassels were made from old yarn in my stash: Handmaiden Fine Yarn, which has a very crimped appearance.  I thought the tassels would look fuller with the crimpy yarn.  I do like it!!

PS to Chloe: Thanks for the nice comments, but this is just not “fair worthy!”  Fair too simple to get anywhere in the judging, but I am glad you like it.  I just hoped that the design would work with the yarn and I think it did.  Thanks!!

PS to Marlys:  Marlys asked specifically how I changed the mesh pattern, so here it is:

Original Mesh Row 1: k2, yo, k1, *yo, k2tog* until marker, yo, slm, k1 (center st), *yo, ssk* until 3 sts remain, yo, k1, yo, k2

My Mesh Row 1: k2, *yo, k2tog* until marker, yo, k1, yo, slm, k1 (center st), yo, k1, *yo, ssk* until 2 sts remain, yo, k2

Row 2 mesh was knit as the original pattern.

I LOVE my Instant Pot!  I bought it from Amazon with 1-click while hubby and I were watching someone cook with it.  John said, “We should buy one of those.”  I said, “It will be here tomorrow!”

It makes the best ribs, corn on the cob, HARD BOILED EGGS (that peel perfectly every time), and Coq Au Vin.  But yesterday I tried a recipe that had caught my eye for Salted Caramel Cheesecake.  OMG.  OMG.  The.  Best.

The picture from the Cookies and Cups Website

I bought a 7 inch spring-form pan and then followed the recipe as written.  You set the Instant Pot for 35 minutes, and then let the pressure release on its own.  I suppose it took an hour from start to finish in the Instant Pot.  My crust had “issues” because I didn’t use enough butter (long story).  BUT, it dropped out of the pan perfectly – just like on the Great British Baking Show!  The Ritz Cracker crust was crumbly and I suspected soggy.  I let it cool a while and then into the fridge.

After dinner I drizzled a piece with Smucker’s Salted Caramel Topping, so I did not sprinkle it with salt as directed in the recipe.  It was delicious – smooth, creamy, perfectly baked.  Not too sweet, not cloying and heavy like a lot of cheesecakes.  Perfection.  The crust was actually crispy, not soggy as I expected.  It was amazing.  Hubby RAVED about it!!  I like the smaller size, too.  Nice size for a small dinner party – or you could make a couple of different types if you had more people.  I would say it makes 8 small servings.

This could be VERY dangerous!!

PS to Surly: An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker with a lot of settings to broaden its range of capabilities.  Do I use all of the features?  NO!  But the fact that you can set it and let it do its thing is wonderful.  My old pressure cooker had to be watched like a cat because it needed to get to the “rocker” stage and be turned down, etc.  You had to set a separate timer.  This just does the work for you.

I set eggs and corn on the cob for 5 minutes.  It takes 15 minutes total from start to finish.  The only problem I have is that I cannot hear the finish beep.  It is in my “hard of hearing” sound range.  John will say the beeper went off, and I did not hear one peep.  SO, what I do is set the timer on my range, adding 10-15 minutes to the time I set on the Instant Pot.  After the Instant Pot gets up to pressure, the timer you set kicks in, which is very visible on the pot.  I will sync my oven timer then, but I am always very close.  That is not a problem with the Instant Pot but with my own hearing loss!!

PS to Purrlie: Pressure cookers have been used as a replacement for slow cookers, often using the same recipe but very different cooking times.