Frivol!

Pattern: Frivol by Debi Tuttle (free pattern) [Ravelry]
Yarn: Rowanspun Aran, 1 skein
Needles: US 8

Notes: How many hats have you seen with a sideways cable? Not too many, right? Sometimes it takes a newbie to see things in a different light, ask why something isn't usually done, and figure out a way to do it. It sounds like Frivol was the result of just that process. Debi Tuttle came up with this hat about four months after she started knitting, and Frivol shows you what a little math and a lot of short rows can do.

The construction is kind of ingenious. The hat is constructed in one piece, knitting the piece around the head and shaping the crown using short rows all the way around. You can see the crown above.

There's a seamed version and a seamless one. I did the seamed version because i was too lazy to use the provisional cast-on used for the seamless. Apparently many knitters have also made this without the bobbles, which I find a little sad. Bobbles are one of my great joys!

The yarn used here is Rowanspun Aran received from Andrea of Knitting by Bicycle in a swap a few months back. If you find some, snap it up, because it has, tragically, been discontinued.

A Wintry Update

Happy New Year! If you're excited about 2012, you aren't alone. 2011 was mildly rotten for a lot of folks (Corduroy Appreciators aside), and it got off to a rocky start for me too. I blame the awkward way "twenty eleven" rolls off the tongue. "Twenty twelve" is so much nicer, isn't it? This year is a leap year, the end of the current Mayan Creation, the Queen's Diamond Jubillee, the OLYMPICS for Pete's sake! It's going to be good.

We spent our New Year's upstate, hiking in Minnewaska State Park on New Year's Eve in the glorious unseasonable weather that no one in New York seems to be complaining much about (so out of character!).

We ate Korean-Style Steak & Eggs, a recipe from The Good Fork in Red Hook (where we got hitched!) from The New Brooklyn Cookbook(Christmas gift from Chris. Good job Biggie!) (but you can find the recipe here)

We made cardamom marshmallows, because Chris unceremoniously tossed the last of my stash from the last time we made them. So what if they were a year old?! What's with his obsession with food going bad? He's as incorrigible as Heather's Gary.

Today, it finally snowed.

Chris and I went for a walk just to get out of the house and out of (my) PJs.

We happened on a tasting that was going on at a delightful new shop nearby called The Winey Neighbor.

A nice guy from Janelle's was there handing out samples of a Trini dish I'd never had before, called buljol & bake. Buljol is a salt cod salad with lime, cilantro and guacamole in a fresh, warm "bake," which is essentially fried bread.

The big news around here, though, is that (if all goes well) we are moving apartments to a place we're going to own! After a decade of pressing our noses against realtors' glass, two lengthy post-graduate educations and one expensive one, and five years of gainful employment, we're buying our first home. We'll be doing some renovations, and I expect to post about them here, but I have to tell you it's beautiful just the way it is. Especially the two bathrooms. And the roof deck.

We'll be moving to Crown Heights, changing neighborhoods ever so slightly (and only by NYC standards . . . it's a 10 minute walk from where we now live).

Here is one of our new neighbors:

As you can see, St. Paul & Mohammed live there! And our new street:

Not too bad, huh? Anyway, stay tuned for that.

I also have a FO to show you next week!

Moonshine Kitty + Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Hanukkah, for those who celebrate! I've been doing some holiday crafting, and by little, I mean a real little. My niecelet AJ has been feeling poorly, and it's Hanukkah, so I sat down and made her a kitty.

This is based on the pattern for "Steve" from Denyse Schmidt Quilts. The kitty perhaps looks even more unwell than AJ's been feeling, what with her wonky eyes, crooked head, and general drunken demeanor. Thank goodness she's supposed to be "folk arty," which to me means "made after several swigs of moonshine" or, as Adrian suggested, "by firelight alone." I am not good at sewing. It was the cause of poor grades in Home Ec, along with that one time we put a cup of salt in the hot cocoa instead of a teaspoon.

I did have to embroider the mouth twice because the first time it was Just. Too. Scary. for a 5-year old. Sadly the corduroy isn't that forgiving, so now Moonshine Kitty has a shadow mouth.

Whoops! Well, looking delightfully handmade is all the rage these days.

In related news, Curtain up! Light the lights! It's the first night of Hanukkah!

If you're celebrating, Happy Festival of Lights. Have an extra latke for me!

And I leave you from an image from this year's Spiders holiday party, hosted Chez Fig and Plum. There was gløgg. And a pumpkin stuffed with everything good. And this delicious concoction too. It was a good time, as you can see.

No, that is not a can of original Four Loko you see.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Herbs

Finally, a photo for my beloved favorite recipe for roasted brussels sprouts, originally posted here. It's adapted from Second Helpings from the Union Square Café by Danny Meyer and Michael Romano.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Herbs
Serves 4

6 oz. bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch-wide pieces
1 lb. brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed - larger sprouts quartered, smaller sprouts halved
1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano, sage, or thyme (we used thyme)
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
pepper to taste

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  
• Cook the bacon in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium heat until the fat is rendered, 6-7 minuts. Toss in the brussels sprouts and stir to coat. Add the chosen herb, salt and roast in the oven, stirring now and then during the last half of cooking, until the sprouts are tender, about 25 minutes.
  
• Remove from oven, stir in the lemon juice and pepper, transfer to a warm platter, and serve.
  

Meyer and Romano say that back in the day, a side of brussels sprouts was a dependable way to kill sales of a dish, but that they have noticed they are now winning people over. As for me, I DESPISED them until recently, when I discovered that it was not the sprouts but (sorry Mom) my mother's way of cooking them that was to blame. Poor sprouts: for all these years I blamed you!

Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigans for Lilly & Caroline: Postscript

Seriously? Seriously?

Are Marie's girls for real? Here are Caroline and Lilly at eight months . . . eight unbelievably fast-gone months, modeling their Sheep Yoke Baby Cardigans.

See more on Ravelry or drop in on Marie!