Michigan Machine Knitting Seminars

Since the topic has been mentioned this past week on the knittingmachines Yahoo Group I thought I'd add the upcoming seminars/workshops coming up in Michigan.; Its time to plan for them now.

BTW, this information came from Sandee Cherry's web site http://sandeeskwikknit.com/seminar.html. Sandee will be teaching at the Monroe seminar in July. If you can attend do, her patterns are quick and easy and spot on for up-to-date-fashions. While I'm at it I added Peru, IN...Charlene Shafer always has a fun seminar, its inexpensive and people leave with a carload of yarn(ask me how I know)

March 25-26, 2011 Monroe, MI USA DAK Hands-on Workshop
for more info call Cathy Reaume (734)243-3016

April 1-2, 2011 Grand Rapids, MI USA Grand Rapids Area Machine Knitters
for more info call Sara Coates 616-887-0675

April 15-16, 2011 Peru, IN USA Spring Fling Knit Knack Shop
for more info call Charlene Shafer 765-985-3164

**July 22-23, 2011 Monroe, MI USA 23rd Monroe Seminar
for more info call Cathy Reaume(734)243-3016

I am planning on attending the Grand Rapids seminar and possibly the Monroe seminar, depending on other obligations. There's nothing like a seminar to learn more about your machines and to have a great time with other like-minded people.

I hope to see all you Michigan and surrounding state machine knitters at one of these seminars, I promise you'll have a fabulous time.

Chicken Pot Pie

Yes, another pot pie recipe.  I think they are so easy and so tasty and its an all-in-one dinner.   If you want a little salad with it, its even healthier and for ease of preparation, you can't beat it.

This recipe came from the Pillsbury.com/calendar2011.  Its the January recipe and I knew as soon as I saw it I was going to make it.

INGREDIENTS:
Crust: 1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts softened as directed on pkg. (I did mine in the Microwave for a second or two...don't go too long (ask me how I know)
Filling: 
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
1/2cup milk
2 1/2 cups shredded turkey (I used chicken, hence  the change in title)
2 cups Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers frozen mixed vegetables, thawed.

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 425 F   Make pie crusts as directed on box for two-crust pie using 9 inch glass plate.
2. In 2-quart saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, cook 2 min stirring frequently until
    tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended.  Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and
    stirring until bubbly and thickened.
3.  Stir in turkey or chicken and mixed vegetables.  Remove from heat.  Spoon into crust lined pie plate.
     Top with second crust, seal edge and flute.  Cut slits in several places in top crust.
4.  Bake 30 to 40 min or unti crust is golden brown.  During last 15 to 20 min of baking cover edge of crust
     with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.  Here's my pie ready for the oven

Very yummy, as you can see 2 of us did a good job of eating it although I did take out a slice for my friend for his freezer.  It will make a nice lunch in a few days.

NOTES:

OK, I didn't have any leftover poultry so I used 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed almost totally and then chopped into about 1 inch pieces.  I used Pam in my frying pan and cooked the pieces until all pink was gone.  I salted and peppered them as they were cooking and also sprinkled in some McCormick Chicken Seasoning (it has a little bite, makes it sooooo good) and some poultry seasoning.    Put it in the fridge until I needed it, there were some nice juices  in the bottom of the plastic tub I had them stored in  and I added that to the chicken broth in number 2 above.  I also sprinkled just a little poultry seasoning on the crust.
Next time I'm thinking I'll use Cream of Chicken Soup for the liquid it has a nice flavor and I can add the liquid from my cooked chicken to make it a little more juicy. 

I hope you try it and ENJOY!

The crust comes out really nice and flakey.  It really was a delicious dinner and we're eating the leftovers tonight  :-)   That's making a couple chicken breasts go a long way, don't you think?

Baabaazuzu

One of my friends here in the condo units recently told me about a company that is located right here in Leelanau, MI.  I've seen a company just like this highlighted twice before on Carol Duval's Christmas show on HGTV and I suspect this is the same company.   Carol showed a lady's messy basement, full of old wool sweaters and pieces of wool.   Then she showed the things the woman made with her wool after she felts it.   If this isn't the same company, I'd be surprised.

Anyway, my friend bought a pair of mittens from the company she was telling me about (Baabaazuzu is the company's name)   Funny enough, this past Sunday the local newspaper had an article about this same woman and her company.   Well, my friend's pair of mittens were to die for, I wanted some.  Then when I saw the newspaper article I looked Baabaazuzu up on the internet and decided I was getting myself a pair.   I walk the dog every day in very cold temps, my hands freezing in spite of the fact that I have some nice warm gloves, I knew these mittens needed to be mine so yesterday I took off for town.  There were 2 shops that are very close to where I live and since I was in town anyway, I found the closest shop.
I knew I wanted the denim color and I thought I wanted a hat as well as mittens in spite of the fact that its so expensive this close to Christmas.  Oh well....the hats were not in the color I wanted but there they were, my mittens.....

These items are all a mixture of  sweaters and assorted other wool items, all felted by this lady and her employees (yes she now has quite a few employees and her things are sold all over the country).   Nothing matches, my 2 mittens are in the same colorway (denim) but they don't match.  The vintage buttons that decorate the mittens also don't match.    Here they are, my wonderful, warm mittens...

Check out the web page, she has hats, headbands, vests, jackets...well...anything you can make out of felted wool, she makes it.   I definitely still want a hat in the denim colorway.  I know I can't make anything as great as she does but I think I'll go to Goodwill and get some old jackets and see if I can make myself a hat.  If my hat fails.....I'm going to go back to the shop and get one.  Its VERY cold here in Traverse City and why not have something that's going to be so wonderfully warm I won't mind going out to walk the dog.   Hey!  Maybe I should make the dog a jacket out of this felted wool too.

Biscuit's Coat

I have to show off this coat again, I think I posted a picture last spring when I made it but....he never wore it.   Biscuit has been wearing it this week because its windy and cold out.  Today he wore it while it was snowing, wet flakes (31 degrees out so, almost rain, but definitely snow).  Polar Fleece is water-resistant so its a good jacket for wet snowy days.  Anyway, the coat is made out of a remnant from JoAnn Fabrics.  I bought some Sherpa from JoAnn's on line and planned on lining the coat with the Sherpa but when it came I realized that might be a pain in the neck to sew so instead I lined it with the same polar fleece that's on the top.  I ended up quilting it thinking that would look pretty nifty (and it does).    I had a little piece left so made him a pocket and of course, had to embroider on it.   I used the Sherpa to line his belt and really love how that looks as well.

The nifty thing about polar fleece, if you've never used it, its like felt. You can cut it and you don't have to worry about the edges fraying.   So I cut a pocket out with my pinking shears and sewed it right into the back, I didn't have to finish the edges or hem it or anything.  

I also put a buttonhole on the back because Biscuit was wearing a halter with a clip for the leash that ended up on his back instead of around his neck when I made the jacket. Nowadays he wears a collar and doesn't need that buttonhole, I'm thinking of sewing a tiny piece of that polar fleece across the buttonhole to keep the wind off just in case the wind goes in the buttonhole....(besides, it would look nicer that way).

For a pattern, I took a little coat I had bought him at Pet Smart, it was a cheap little coat, very lightweight.  I didn't like the way it didn't fit all the way down to his tail and all the way up his neck.  Store bought jackets seem to be too long, too wide or just a little too narrow for Biscuit.   Little boy dogs can't have much under their belly but most of the store bought coats just have a little strap around the belly, I felt like he needed more under there there so I made the belt around his belly wider, making sure it didn't go too far down, for obvious reasons.  I also made the piece around his neck wider so he has the equivalent of a scarf around his neck.   I put the belt higher than the store-bought ones because he apparently is shorter from front to middle back...or they just put them in the middle. I added a collar because I think it looks super but also, when its windy I can put the collar up and it gives him a little more protection around the neck.

To make sure the thing fit the way I wanted it to, I got out my pattern-making paper...SOIL SEPARATOR which you can buy at Lowes or probably Home Depot for around $20.  It's something I think they put down before they lay sewer pipes.  The stuff resembles Do-Sew which is sold in fabric stores only theirs is gridded.  You can cut it, baste it, try it on...and even trace a pattern with it.  So I traced the store-bought jacket and then proceeded to enlarge it to fit.  Since I have a lifetime supply of Soil Separator in one roll, I made several pieces until I was happy with the final fit.  Then I used my Soil Separator  pieces for my pattern.

Here's the result, I think the sweater is fabulous and Biscuit gets compliments every time he wears it at the park. He doesn't look so cute in the picture, unfortunately he hates having his picture taken...but then who doesn't?  You can't see them but he has little blue bows in his hair, thanks to Pet Smart's hair cutter.    People have complimented him on his beautiful coat, I had to take the bows out darn it, they matched his coat but too many people said boys can't have bows but I did leave them in for Thanksgiving.........

Next one will have Sherpa  around the bottom or maybe I'll get up the nerve to actually line it with Sherpa, I think the Sherpa would be nice and warm because it would fold around him and fit next to his body better.  I just bought him some doggie-paw polar fleece for the next jacket.  :-)  Am waiting for my fancy new sewing/embroidery machine before I make the new jacket.

Knit Cotton Washcloths & cast on rag

These gems are easy to make and you're friends will love you if you make them a dozen for Christmas.  Tie a bow around them and give them to everyone.

Machine:  Standard Gauge, I used Brother 970

Material:  100% cotton, I've found people like the natural color or white so they can bleach them if necessary.   Use 1 strand 8/2 cotton or 2 strands 16/2 (available from weaving shops or Stephanie's Yarn Shop, Bybee TN).

Directions:  Begin by making yourself a cast on rag using  100 needles.  I used Cotton Crochet thread for mine. Tension--whatever knits easily with the yarn you bought.

Pull forward every other needle and thread up your crochet thread.  Knit across, right to left, hang cast on comb on the loops.

Pull forward every other alternate needle and knit back to the right.  Now you have all 100 needles in work with a stitch on them.  Continue knitting for 50 rows.  Pull forward Every other needle and bring up the cast on loops that are on the cast on comb tryto keep the loops in the cast on comb.  Hang the loops on every other needle.  You should now have a loop on every other needle along with a stitch on every needle.  Pull forward all needles and knit across.   Knit 30 or 40 more rows and latch tool bind off.

Now you have a cast on rag.  Its so handy to use this rather than waste yarn every time you want to start a washcloth.    Go to the hardware store and get yourself a round metal bar that is a few inches longer than the cast on rag and weighs about 8 ozs.  You can hang it in the hem you created when you hung the loops and that will take the place of a cast on comb for your wash cloth. (If you have a Bond you can of course use one of your weighted metal bars.

WASHCLOTH DIRECTIONS:

These are knitted using the tuck buttons as well as the slip buttons at the beginning and end of the cloth to create a pattern.  I don't change the pattern row count as I push in the different buttons.

Machine tension loose, I used 8 on my carriage and a medium antenna tension

Pattern:   xoxoxo

              oxoxox  (x is tuck (or black), o is plain (or white)

Hang cast on rag on the bound off edge directly on needles.  Place weighted bar in the hem.

Knit across with ravel cord

Ewrap cast on with your washcloth cotton.  

Set up machine for 1x1 tuck stitch shown above

Turn on KC button and knit across.  Every other needle should be selected.

Push in both tuck buttons and continue knitting for 17 rows (total 18 rows counting 1st row)

About this time I add claw weights to each edge to make sure the edge stitches knit off properly.

Push in slip buttons and continue knitting for 10 rows

Push in tuck buttons and continue knitting for 162 more rows

Push in slip buttons and continue knitting for 10 rows

Push in tuck buttons and knit for 17 rows, ending on right.

Turn off KC button and knit 1 row to the left.   Latch tool bind off.

Washcloths will be loosely knit but shrink when washed.  

Wash and dry your washcloths and  steam them if you wish fold them and they're ready to give to friends.

Towels are done, sweater's coming along

I managed to finish 35 of these and made the sign late last night.  I have 7 blanks left and may get some more to make for Christmas presents.   People really do like them, they're lint free, prewashed (by me), washed once again after sewing to remove the stabilizer and the iron and my arm got a workout, getting the wrinkles out after the second wash, for some reason they are sooooooo wrinkled its almost impossible to iron them although if you pay more for them, you get pre-ironed.   Oh well....it didn't kill me.    Hopefully the church will sell them all and that's my part for the Bazaar.

I have yard work to do, dead flowers to get rid of and hoses to get in.   It was pretty cold this morning when I walked the dog at 7:30 so I really need to start getting out some warmer clothes.  Also have to finish putting the film on the bedroom windows and the door in the sewing room.   Why is it I always am behind in everything I do?  I could have been working on these towels for a year, I knew they have a bazaar every Oct.  Well, I might go ahead and start soon, I would have liked to make knitted dishcloths to go with them and package them up with raffia ribbon, a towel and washcloth as a set.  Might do that next year, I have some really nifty paper ribbon that is red and white polka dots   I think I bought it once for this very purpose.

Meanwhile, my sweater is progressing, I've knitted 20 rows (I know that doesn't sound like much but remember I'm going around a humongous circle which is getting smaller by the decreases every 9 rows.  In fact after the second decrease row I was amazed at how fast I got back to the beginning.  I will have to make a swatch on the knitting machine to chart the sleeves although I have to wait till I get to the section of the circle where I put stitches on hold for sleeves to be inserted, then I can figure out how wide the top of the sleeve has to be.    I suspect the sleeve will be similar to a drop shoulder sleeve, straight across at the top (obviously I will look at the diagram in the pattern which isn't near the computer as I write this).    Anyway, I am convinced I can knit the sleeves on the machine which will make the whole thing go faster.    Our local LYS has shawl pins and I'll get one for this wonderful sweater but no sense rushing......

Working Day and Night

Well, I am working day and night but I'm enjoying every minute of it.   Our church is having a baazar early in Oct and one of their booths is called "Country Kitchen"  I had the brilliant idea that I had a bunch of flour sack towels and I would embroider redwork designs on them.  Turned out I didn't have as many as I thought I did.  Oh well I started in and you see what I got done before I ran out of towels.  So I went to a local store and got 21 more towels.  I'm now working on the last 21.  I'm doing the Days Of The Week designs on them.

When I say I'm working day and night, I mean it, I start early in the morning after walking the dog and cleaning up around the house I begin on the towels, stopping for lunch.  Then in the evening when my favorite TV shows come on I begin working on my hand knit project (the circular cardigan).  
So if you wonder where I've been---here I am, in my sewing room which is the perfect room for machine embroidery.  I can close the door when I'm done and leave things out, ready for the next day.  Perfect!