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week 28: new f.o. and a delicious corn salad

Published by fairfaxhill

finished! ribbon-tied wool vest

I finished knitting the baby top I started a few weeks ago and finally got it in the mail. Well, with a few hiccups.

I’d been worried that I’d taken so long to knit it, that by now it wouldn’t fit. Babies grow so fast! 

So, as soon as I finished it I ran out to buy a small envelope at the local pharmacy, looked up my niece’s mailing address as soon as I got back, and stuck one of my Elvis forever stamps on the front of the package. There. Ready to ship! Or, so I thought.

I put the package outside on top of our mailbox to make sure the mail carrier would see it, but when I went out to check later, the package was still there.

Oh, that’s right, it was Wednesday, we rarely get mail on this day, so the mailman probably drove past our house.

The next day, the same thing happened, which annoyed me a bit. So right before five, I drove down to the corner of our street where there is a blue collection box to make sure it went out that day.

Unfortunately, that box’s pickup time was 3 p.m., so I decided to drive to the main post office downtown. I was sure their last pickup was right at five.

I was right! I made it by a few seconds. I placed the package in the collection box and started to drive away, when I saw the mail worker in my rearview mirror, walking out to retrieve the packages. I suddenly wondered if I had put enough stamps on the envelope. So, I drove back to ask her.

The lady told me I couldn’t put this type of envelope directly in this box and that I did not have enough stamps to cover shipping – I am so glad I drove back! 

So, the next day I drove to the post office once again and was finally able to ship the vest. 

How did I not know I couldn’t just put this in the mail after all these years? 🫢🙄

The pattern is by Erika Knight from her book, “Simple Knits for Cherished Babies”. It was easy to follow, but I did have a little trouble with the sleeves.

Here’s what happened: the body of the sweater has straight edges. It’s knit like two big squares front and back, but the sleeves are curved. I wasn’t sure whether I should sew the curved part of the sleeve to the edge. (Now that I’ve read the instructions a few times, it does say to sew the sleeve head to the edge, meaning to include the curved part of the sleeve.)

After I sewed on the first one the wrong way, I immediately knew that didn’t look good and redid it.

In my defense, whenever you have a capped sleeve, the back and the fronts of the sweater also have curved edges. This was the first time I’d seen this construction. But, now I know better!

I made one modification to this vest. Instead of using ribbon on the collar as the pattern instructed, I decided to knit an i-cord instead.

It wasn’t that I had trouble finding the ribbon. I was able to get an exact match, which I thought was pretty amazing, but I didn’t like that it was shiny. That didn’t match the yarn I was using, which had a slightly rustic feel and I really like i-cords.

I would love to make another one of these little vests, but I might change the construction a bit. I don’t see a reason not to knit this in the round until you get to the sleeves, actually, the neck.

I’ll keep the grafted shoulder detail, I really loved that, but since this was the largest size that comes in the book, I’ll probably have to do some math in order to make a larger one. We’ll see…

Update: the package was delivered to my niece yesterday, and it fits!

the corn salad recipe you need to make this summer

We celebrated early July birthdays this week with a potluck dinner and I was asked to bring a salad. Immediately, a few salads I’d seen online came to mind, all made with corn. I LOVE corn.

At first, I worried that my choice of salad would not go well with the dishes others were bringing (I didn’t know what anyone else was bringing), but then I figured, it probably didn’t matter. People would choose what they wanted to eat, and I should make something I wanted to make because I’m convinced that when you do, everything tastes better! 

Well, honestly, I secretly hoped they would grill some meat because that would go great with this salad.

You should make it. It’s so good! It’s also a little different which makes it feel special and better yet, it’s pretty easy to put together.

Notes: 

Be sure to cook the corn on the grill! This adds tons of flavor.

I used the immersion blender to combine the cheeses to make a smooth dressing. I thought my family would prefer it this way. You may like the chunkier consistency of the original recipe.

I’m saving the recipe here the way I made it, but here’s the link to the original by @ Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients

6 ears of corn, shucked

½ small red onion sliced thinly

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 lime, halved 

⅓ cup of sour cream

⅓ cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

½ teaspoon combination of guajillo chile powder and cayenne pepper

chopped cilantro leaves

Method

Heat your grill. 

While the grill gets hot, slice the onion into fine rings about ⅛ inch thick. Place the onion slices in a bowl with the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Put this in the fridge until you are ready to serve the salad.

Chuck the corn and grill it turning a few times until the kernels look nice and golden. It’s okay if they get a bit charred, it will add to the flavor. 

When the corn is ready, set it aside to cool while you prepare the other ingredients.

Using a food processor – or immersion blender (I used this) process the feta cheese with the sour cream until it has a smooth texture. You can skip this and just mix the ingredients by hand, but I like the smoother texture.

When the corn is cool enough to handle, remove the kernels from the husk using a sharp knife. 

On a large platter spread the cheese mixture evenly. Place the corn kernels on top and sprinkle with chile powder and cayenne pepper. Remove the onions from the vinegar mixture and spread them on top of the corn. Squeeze some lime on top and finish with some cilantro leaves. Serve right away, preferably while the corn is still warm.

Enjoy!

a new project and summer hiking

Published by fairfaxhill

I can’t help it. I start new projects all the time. Just when you’d think I’ve got enough going on, something new pops into my head and I need to try it.

That happened this weekend when I was browsing through some of my old Rebecca magazines. These are German knitting magazines I’ve had since I started knitting (about 20 years ago.) Yes, I still have them! Do you save your magazines?

Well, I’ve found out most of my magazines are now considered vintage and you can only find them at places like eBay or Etsy.

Rebecca magazine is still published today, so you can easily get newer issues starting with #34 on their website, but earlier issues like the ones I have, #21, #23, and #8! Those are hard to come by.

So, I feel lucky to still have them.

Some people may ask, why bother keeping them if all the yarns are now discontinued? That’s right! But, if you can find a similar yarn, you can use them forever.

And that’s where my new project idea came from. Ever since I bought magazine #23, I dreamed of making this zipped-up jacket which is knit in half fisherman’s rib.

I loved the color, the chunky fabric, and the fact that it was cotton. But, like so many things I often want to make, I never got around to it. And now 20+ years have passed and this beautiful yarn is discontinued.

Since I’ve been knitting lace for the past few weeks using #3 needles to make the April Blouse, the thought of knitting something chunky in a super easy stitch pattern using large needles sounded like a dream. So, I had to cast on this sweater.

I remembered I had some chunky wool in orange-red somewhere in the house. Could that yarn work with this pattern? It would be such a good way to use up the wool, and if I liked the design, I could try it in cotton next time — if I could find something similar.

I found the wool and made a large swatch following the instructions for the sleeve. My gauge was slightly off, so I was going to have to make a few adjustments.

How did you do that again? Ah, Youtube to the rescue!

I had to refresh my memory on how to adapt a different gauge to a pattern, but after a little math, I was ready to start.

If you are still reading and interested in how I calculated this, I’ve drawn a little chart.

What you do after you figure out your conversion factor, is multiply the stitch count in the pattern by your conversion factor.

So, let’s say the pattern asks you to cast on 30 stitches. You then multiply that number by your conversion factor. Mine is 1.166. (30 X 1.166=34.98). This is the adjusted number of stitches to cast on. You can round up to 35 or down to 34.

Since the pattern is asking to cast on an even number of stitches, which is essential, you should use 34 or 36 stitches. I would probably use 34 in this case.

Then, you would do the same with the rows. Since the conversion factor for rows is close to 1 in this case, I’m not going to make any adjustments, but I might need to when I get to the decreases.

Note: Don’t forget, you may also need to study the pattern a bit more carefully since you may need to take into consideration edge stitches or the number of stitches needed for cables or other designs in your chosen pattern. You may need multiples of 2 or 6 or something else to complete a pattern repeat. But let’s keep this simple for now.

You can try this method whenever you want to use a different yarn with a pattern you like, especially if it’s something simple like a scarf. Of course, you’d always start with something similar if you want your finished item to look like the pattern you are using as your guide. Here where I live, the people at the yarn shops are very knowledgeable and helpful in showing you yarns that may work.

KEEP IN MIND that substituting yarn is almost an art form. Even when yarns may look almost identical, you need to make sure you consider a few other things. And sometimes, it can be nearly impossible to make things work.

Here’s a great video by “Knitting the Stash” on Youtube that explains this. In summary, what you should look for if you want a close match:

Keys to Yarn Substitution

Composition: What kind of fiber makes up the yarn you are trying to substitute, and what are the percentages of each (alpaca, silk, merino wool, etc.)? You want to look for something very similar to get similar results.

Construction: Single-ply, multi-strand, chain, bouclé. This is important because it will change the way your fabric looks, feels, and how much it drapes.

Grist: This is the density of the yarn you’ll use. What is the weight of the yarn? Is it fingering, DK, Aran, or chunky? How many grams and yardage are there per skein in the yarn you want to use compared to what the pattern calls for? You may need more or fewer skeins to get the same yardage, so it’s always good to check.

Color: This is a very personal choice, but good to check if there will be enough in your chosen color. Remember to check the dye lot and get a bit more in case you run out.

Availability: This one is obvious.

For this project, I know the composition is very different, 100% wool instead of 50% cotton-50% acrylic. Thus, I’m not expecting to get the same drape as I would if I were using the cotton blend specified in the pattern. My stitches will not be as defined as if I were using cotton, but I’m willing to try this out.

Anyway, what seemed like a quick project is probably going to take longer than I hoped. But, look at all that I have learned!

And here’s a look at my project so far, the left front is ready and looking good.

April Blouse Update

My April blouse is slowly growing! I’m almost done with the third ball of yarn. I have seven balls. But I don’t want to rush. My goal right now is to finish by September, before it gets cold again.

The lifelines I started using after I made a mistake I couldn’t fix and had to start over are helping a lot. Knowing I won’t need to start over makes me very happy.

Something I learned is that the material and weight of the yarn you choose for your lifelines matters! This is because the first row you knit with the lifeline can be a bit difficult to knit because of the added thread.

I tried cotton in a similar weight as the yarn I’m working with first, but it was too thick and the stitches were getting stuck.

Then, I tried some fishing line I borrowed from Patrick. The fishing line worked great because it’s just as smooth as my circular needle cable, so the stitches could slide off the needles smoothly, making it super easy to knit that first row. The only problem with this material is that you need to know how to make a very good knot or else you’ll be nervous about it coming undone the whole time! My knot was pretty strong, but I decided to try something else.

I opted for a thinner, fingering-weight thread. This made it a lot easier to knit the first row, although knowing it can break easily, makes me a bit nervous. So, I might go back to the fishing line. For peace of mind, I’m just adding lines every eight or 16 rows –– just in case. Anything is better than starting over!

In other news, I’ve been out hiking this weekend. We are having a four-day weekend because of the Fourth of July holiday and the pool is closed for a few days. It’s beautiful outside and I love that my running shoes are starting to look like real hiker’s shoes.

I just need to remember to bring my water bottle when I go on hikes. I had a bit too much sun on Saturday, but I’m feeling better.

These are some photos from my Saturday walk, which you may have already seen if you follow me on Instagram.

This is one of my favorite hikes. It’s about three miles. What I love about this hike is that you are on a path all the way surrounded by nature and pretty views like Mt. Tamalpais in the distance and Corte Madera Creek. I always see some ducks, and sometimes geese.

This time, there were lots of kids riding their e-bikes. Thankfully I heard them just in time to get out of their way. For some reason, they remind me of the Harley Davidson crews that used to ride through Stinson Beach on the weekends. Watch out!