Tea on Tuesday

Loom knitters love tea ♥

Today's recipe is a favorite of mine. If you have never rubbed the leaves of a scented geranium, you have missed an herbal treat. Substitute mint if geranium leaves have not favored your garden. There is a lovely KAL at Ravelry in the Jane Eyre Fans group. The theme is "Tea on the Moors", and the patterns are open to any tea cozy or mitt pattern you would enjoy making. Prizes and a virtual tea party will be at the end of the KAL for anyone who has shared a finished project. I'm contributing 2 tins of Harney's Tea, winners choice.
Rose Scented Geranium Cake

Like tasting a wonderful aroma! A beautiful cake for a special occaision, or for your special family. This cake keeps well and can be made a few days ahead, or frozen, if need be.

1 1/2 cup sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 large egg yolks
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1 cup (whole) milk
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 TBSP. finely chopped rose scented geranium leaves -stems removed

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and sugar a 10 inch bundt or tube pan. For an extra special treat, use rose vanilla sugar for the pan. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time. On low speed, add cake flour alternately with milk. Beat in baking powder and vanilla. Beat in rose geranium leaves. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees, until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a platter and cool completely.
Copyright 2000- 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Vacation

We are back from a very nice vacation. The photo shows my yarn "souvenir". I splurged on one giant hank of hand dyed fingerling wool - 1700 yards from "The Drop Spindle". The colors are a very deep magenta and purple. Now, what to make with it? I'm thinking it may be time for a cardigan pattern. After the shawl project is finished.
I have to admit, I did not work much on the shawls while we were gone, but with school starting next week, I will have time to fill, and it will be back to work. 4 patterns are in draft form, two are photographed. Maybe October for the e-book?
A little late, but a few August loom doings: the Ravelry loom-a-long group is making Helen (myheartexposed) Jacobs-Grant's beautiful "Wavy Feather's Shawl" this month. Here is a photo of my version: I made two of these lovely shawls last year, one in worsted weight wool, and one in mohair. Both have been a delight to wear. The Loom Class Group at yahoogroups is making a number of kitchen patterns all month, great for a start on holiday gifts.
Happy looming!
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, all rights reserved.

On and Off the Loom

The Hydrangea Petal lace shawl is off the loom, blocked, and if I say so myself, gorgeous! Lace can and will be made on a knitting loom. I've ordered the lace, fingering and sock yarns to prove it! The first photo is a close-up of the blocked lace. The second of the finished shawl. It blocked out to a very large size - 70 inches by 35 inches, which is pretty amazing when you consider it was made in one piece on a 59 peg knitting loom.

On the loom, another of the "shawl project" pieces. This is a shawl inspired by one my friend Karen asked me to design. She wanted a simple curved shawl with a ruffle, that would wrap around her. For the "shawl project" I'm working on a version with a lace panel of diamonds. The loom is the 59 peg 1/2 inch adult hat loom from CinDwood, and the yarn is a fingering weight from The Great Adirondack Yarn Co. in the colorway "machalite", lots of teals, greens, and purple.
Other projects for August will be a pair of fingerless mitts for the Ravelry "Jane Eyre Fans" knit along, "Wandering the Moors", and, of course, another lace shawl. What's on your loom?Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, all rights reserved.

In love with lace

The lace shawl is 3/4 of the way completed, and I am totally in love with it. It amazes me to see such a delicate piece coming off of the loom, yet the stitches are sturdy and holding together as beautifully as if they were made out of a heavy yarn. I know the shawl will "bloom" even more when it is blocked and the lace opens up. I started with several lace pattern ideas, but in the end, chose to make the shawl with only one, that I'm calling "Hydrangea Petal."

This shawl is being made on a CinDwood 1/2 inch gauge hat loom with 59 pegs. The yarn is Knit Picks Shadow Tonal in Blue-Violet. It will take 1 skein of yarn to make the entire shawl, and the entire skein fits in a teacup. I'd love to hear what you think - are you going to start stashing some lace yarns?
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, all rights reserved.

On and Off the Loom

My looms are busy, and the shawl project is moving forward. The first photo gives you an idea of what it looks like when a lace piece is in the works. I start with the idea in my head, then place it on special graph paper for the visually impaired. This creates a huge map of the idea, but usually not the actual pattern. From the chart, I create the first written draft of what I think the pattern will be, using my favorite giant legal pads and 20/20 pens. From this draft, I begin the looming. I'm thrilled to show you the start of a shawl made with lace weight yarn!

Even this early into the project, I will be writing a second draft, trying to get the pattern into an easy to read format, and adding in the changes to the pattern that are being made as it is loomed. The second photo is a close up of the lace work. It will look very different once it is blocked out, but you get an idea at least of the first layer of lace with a little flower in it.

A nice break from the lace pattern is the JulyRavelry Loom-a-long, here in the third photo. I'm making the Leafy Sea Dragon Scarf in Chroma worsted in the Sunrise colorway. The loom is a CinDwood 1/2 inch gauge loom with 35 pegs. The lace is also being made on a CinDwood 1/2 inch gauge loom. There are a very nice group of loomers in the loom-a-long, and we will be working on the scarf all of July, so you have lots of time to join us.

Off the loom is the June Loom Class project, the Sea Glass Wrap, made from Anny Blatt Fine Kid in Arctic. With our cool, foggy summer, this has been my favorite wrap to wear right now.

Also off the loom, a small chunky scarf with a V-back. I know I've shown you this before as a shawl, but the first versions were frogged, and this little scarf is the keeper. It was made on the purple KK hat loom with Wool of the Andes Bulky in the Garden Party colorway.

What is on your loom?

Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.

Farewell to the Knifty Knitter

Love it or hate it, most loom knitters started with a hat on the big yellow ring of the Knifty Knitter round loom set. We complained about its bulky pegs, limited size, and the need to double our yarn, yet it has always been a staple of loom knitting.

Now, the Knifty Knitter looms are gone, and I am a little sad about it. Yes, I've hoped for more inexpensive options, and especially more sizes, and a better nylon instead of the scratchy plastic, but I never hoped that the Knifty Knitter would disappear altogether.

What are the new options? For the original round set, Michaels has a version that is very similar, and in some ways, better for the vision impaired. The round set has the same number of pegs, and is made in a brightly colored plastic that is much better for working with light colored yarns. The gauge on these is still "large", but the pegs have been moved slightly to the center of the ring, changing the overall position of the pegs a little, and making the gauge slightly smaller than the old KK. The plastic appears smoother than the KK looms, but only time will tell as to how they hold up.

Boye is producing a set of rings as well, with the peg count changed so that all the rings have an even number of pegs. The difficulty with these looms is that the looms come with all the pegs loose, and they have to be inserted into the looms. Martha Stewart also has put out a loom (looking much like the old "Dream Loom") with multiple pieces for different loom configurations. This set also has the pegs loose. The pegs in the Martha set have a very small "top", which lets the yarn slip off very easily.

As for my favorite KK loom, the 48 peg purple hat loom in the nice, smooth nylon, 5/8 inch gauge, it looks like this loom is not being replaced. What a shame, as this was a very nice loom to work with!

The KK long oval looms have also disappeared. Michaels has a new set with squared-off ends, that look like they are a wider gauge than the old KK looms. Boye is putting out a set with ends that unlock and open to allow for single knitting. I have not seen these yet, but they sound like a very nice option for loom knitters, and would help with some of the awkwardness in single knitting on a long loom.

If you have used any of these new looms, I'd love for you to share your comments with us.
Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All rights reserved.

Tea on Tuesday

Deep Dish Blueberry Pie

A July tradition, fresh blueberry pie!

PIE FILLING:
6 cups fresh blueberries, washed and dried
6 TBSP. sugar
3 TBSP. flour
1 TBSP. butter
1 tsp. Kirsch
pastry for a double crust 9 inch pie

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 9 inch deep pie pan with the pastry. Chill. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, sugar and Kirsch. Taste for sweetness, and if ok, add the flour and toss gently. Pour into the prepared shell and dot with the butter. Top with the second crust, and cut vents on the top. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. REDUCE TO 350 degrees, and bake another 25-35 minutes.
Copyright 2000-2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy, Renee's Tea Party. All Rights Reserved.