Knitcircus

Proud to announce....

For our online debut, we'll be joined by Bezzie of Random Meanderings fame as our Cookie Czar; check out her blog for stories, knitting, recipes and sassiness with lots of fun cookies in the mix! She'll be giving us recipes for each issue to keep your house full of delicious smells and taste treats.

And as test-baker and food stylist, please welcome the fabulous Susan Spiro! My mom has an eye for the pretty things in life and loves to put together vignettes in her home (next door to mine, we're so lucky). She likes to use vintage, handmade and fair trade items whenever she can. If I own it and it's appealing, it probably came from her. We're going to start sharing some of her home arts regularly on the blog, so here's a peek at some of the holiday scenes from next door:

Vintage feather tree with display of vintage toy cooking implements, glass balls and an assortment of handmade decorations found at the Holiday Craftacular.

Happy girl cake topper with plate of cupcakes by Ten Finger Workshop.

 

The cupboard-top scene:

We've got more than one holiday tradition in our family, so here's the menorah ready to go:

And in the dining room, the curvy light has put on its bells:

Moving into the living room, this Santa's been in the family for a long time, sitting with new shiny decorations made by mom herself:

The Eiffel Tower lamp's casting a golden glow:

And finally, a an idea of what we'll be seeing soon, in fabric form:

 

We're making presents and wrapping them left and right; my kids are so excited already they pop up early to open their advent calendars and see what Christmas activities are on the menu. Hope that you're enjoying the season, too.

 

Psst, Pass It On...

Whew, what a day yesterday, shoveling 14 inches of snow, and now it's 17 below wind chill! Hard to keep up with the weather these days...I hope the birds found the millet and sunflower seeds we put out for them...We're happy we still have heat and power here, and lots of cookies that we baked!

It's not howlingly cold where these people are and they look happy because someone helped them feed their family, go to school, make their farm successful. Clara Parkes on Knitter's Review reminded me today why I started Knitcircus in the first place--to help knitters share their generosity and just a little bit of yarn money with mothers and families around the world who could benefit so much from what we use to buy one skein of yarn, while having fun and knitting, sewing and crafting in the process.

Every issue, we've given what we can to Heifer International--we've made Heifer a priority in our extended family for the last few years, and I just went on there this morning to shop for everyone and print out my own cards sharing the good news. And I cried the whole time, 'cuz I'm like that. The thought of giving the kids' teachers a flock of chicks, my mom a Basket of Hope, my dad the woodworker a Gift of Trees, my SIL who had a pet named Daffy a Flock of Ducks, makes me feel that we can be part of something bigger than our windswept Wisconsin block. So often I wonder what worrying effect we're having when we run the dryer, salt/sand the driveway, etc, and of course, as a mom, the thought of kids hungry or cold gnaws at me. What a relief to know that we're having a ripple effect in a good way.

If you're not familiar with Heifer, one of my favorite foodies, Alton Brown, has a great  video intro on the program.

Things have been a little leaner here than in past years, but we're still going to have a lovely holiday full of crafts, carols, fireplaces, cookies, sledding, knitting and gifts. I'm glad we can still reach out to Heifer this holiday, and hope you'll be able to help a child in Tanzania, family in Vietnam or farmer right here in the States by passing on the gift. You might hint to your family members that a share of a Knitting Basket would really warm your heart...

Hey, for another gift that really warmed all of our hearts around here, check out   Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson.

My parents gave me the book last year and I've lent it a number of times already. Greg Mortenson was a mountain climber who wandered down the wrong side of the mountain, arriving sick and starved in a remote village. The people there nursed him back to health, and he promised that he would repay their generosity by building them a school. He had very little money or connections, but he never gave up, and ended up building not only one school, but many, in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan where the opportunity for school and a better life had never been an option--especially for girls.

"Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world." -Tom Brokaw

Tom's right. After reading this book, if you ever find yourself wondering how much one person can really do, you'll always be able to think, wow. One person can really make a huge difference in this world.

My dad's getting Greg Mortenson's new book from me this year: From Stones into Schools.

And,in unrelated cool gift news, if you're looking for a book for anyone who loves beautiful pictures, you've got to see Flotsam.

 

Lil Buddy brought this home from the school library, and we all paged through it, entranced. This wordless book draws you into a secret of a camera that's been floating through the sea for decades and can photograph magical sights of undersea creatures as well as of the kids who find it.  Everyone from Lil Buddy up to my dad wanted to look through it more than once.

Okay, Knitcircus Gift Guide signing off for now--watch for more recipes and crafts tomorrow and take care, wherever you are, especially if it's cold and icy.

Jaala

Let It Snow...

Because what else can you do? We're getting a full taste of the big storm that come from the West and settled on top of Wisconsin--the kids all anticipate a snow day tomorrow. Under the street light on the corner, it's thick with small, white flakes heading straight down. It looks like we're seeing the yard through a layer of thin cupcake glaze, making the neighbors' lighted icicles and our little LED'd fruit trees look even brighter by contrast.

We're planning a day of sledding, making snow forts and baking cookies tomorrow. Since it's not quite time to go around giving our neighbors their cookie plates, we'll focus on the ones that freeze well. Weve got a batch of Bull's Eye Cookies already in logs and frozen, and will try some more, in a checkerboard pattern this time.

High on the list: Cranberry-Orange Shortbread cookies, Lemon-Poppyseed bread and mint-chocolate thumbprints with kisses. These last I adapted from the Barefoot Contessa's Thumbprint cookie recipe, adding the mint extract and Hershey's kisses, and I declared to the kids that they tasted good enough to win a State Fair prize. So we call them State Fair cookies, even though they've never been near one.

Li'l buddy and I love spice cookies, so if you haven't got Knitcircus #4 in easy reach, I'll share this family favorite:

Molasses Crinkles

 

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies

 20 min to prep and 12-15 to bake

 

Ingredients:

.5 C butter

.25 C blackstrap molasses

1 C sugar

1 egg

1 t salt

2 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1 t allspice

1 t powdered ginger

1 C white flour, 1 C whole wheat pastry flour

1-2 T additional sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets

Melt butter and transfer to bowl.

Beat in molasses and 1 cup sugar. Beat egg by itself, then beat into molasses mixture.

Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir well.

Flour your hands and use them to roll 1.5” balls. Roll each ball in extra sugar and place on cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until firm to touch.

 

Recipe from Susan Spiro, Jaala’s mom and an excellent baker!

I formed a batch of these, rolled them in sugar and froze them, too, ready for baking.

Well, we just got the official word that school's closed--and the kids are too excited to sleep. So it's cookies for us for sure, and I hope they'll sleep in tomorrow (one can dream...)

Take care out there, especially if you're in the teeth of the storm,

Jaala

Holiday Crafts

For the first time I tried making my own wreath. My mom and I were walking one morning and spied a big pile of cedar branches on the curb. Since it was near our houses, we returned after our walk and gathered up armfuls of it to bring home. Had we brought a basket or wheelbarrow, we could have had some bittersweet and other branches with red berries. It must have been the neighborhood pre-winter trimming days.

It started as a big ol' pile:

Then I took our big garden clippers and nopped off the top leafy bits and about 6 inches of branch. Just as the kids and I returned home from school, it started snowing hard, so I decided to work on the wreath outside while they tried sledding on our side yard. My mom found a roll of green florist's wire, and I held a couple of the stems together as one, adding another two every couple of inches and trying to turn them all about 60 degrees clockwise. When the garland looked longer than my arm, I bent the ends together and wired them together.

The circle wobbled quite a bit, so I brought it in and fleshed it out on the table, adding more branches all the way around and wrapping the heck out of it with the wire.  I had to go around once more adding and wrapping, and then it seemed sturdier, so I slipped in a few more leafy bits just to make it look fresh. Stringing the jingle bells on the gold ribbon and wrapping it proved fun and easy, and the big bow gave me a good reason to use some of the fancy ribbon from my year abroad in India lo, those many years ago.

It looks like a real wreath, to my mild surprise, and hasn't fallen down, so I'll count that as a victory for recycling. One of these days I'd like to use the rest of the branches for garlands.

In gift news, well, here's one finished: a set of napkins for my mom and dad.

 

My dad loves fruit, and pears in particular, so I thought of them when I saw two fat quarters of this juicy fabric at Stitcher's Crossing.
The gingham from stash rounded out the set of six.

We're supposed to get lots more snow here, so everyone drive safe and enjoy...

Craftacular, Pretzels and more!

What a long weekend! Lots of action and a lot to be grateful for. This year, we welcomed my brother and SIL's baby twins to the family for their first Thanksgiving! They're almost six months, and even ate a little bit of pureed sweet potato with us.

Saturday, Mom and I hit the Craftacular again--as an early Xmas present, she gave me a knitting snowman! The ones pictured have knitted scarves, and mine was actually knitting a little scarf itself. While she looked at onesies for the twins, I managed to purchase an ornament I know she really wanted.

 

Li'l Buddy puts on his GQ attitude to show off his baking prowess.

Mike and the kids made pretzels--this first batch stuck to the parchment paper, so he bravely mixed up a second dough, which everyone agreed was good enough to eat (I may have snacked on the shredded sticky pretzels dipped in mustard myself).

In knitting, gorgeous Manos I purchased at the Cat and Crow in Mount Horeb with Ms. SABLE--the colors on this have my tongue practically hanging out as I knit up a simple design sample.

There's going to be a lot of sewing on here soon--I thought I was being so clever not planning holiday knitting, but it turns out that to keep up with my handmade gift schedule, I'll have to be completing a sewn project at the rate of at least one a day between now and Xmas. Um, yeah, I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

oxo jaala

Guernsey Winner!

Okay, the random number generator says: 8, so that means Katie's our lucky winner! Please email me at: jaala@knitcircus.com and let me know where the postperson can find you and I'll do my best to get it out for you before the holiday sets in!

We're laying the groundwork for our move online a bit more every day, so today there's a new feature at the bottom of the blog (it's the only place it would fit)! Scroll down to let us know your email so we can tell you the very moment that Knitcircus goes live with our Spring Issue.

Take care and sleep well,

Jaala

Guernsey Literary Giveaway!

Thanks again to the generosity of Random House Audio for letting me give away a book! This wonderful story takes place in post-WWII London, told in letters between writer Juliet Ashton and a number of correspondents, all fascinating. She begins corresponding with a member of the Guernsey Literary...Society and becomes drawn in to the world of the island and its inhabitants. The "voices" in the novel are all engrossing and the audiobook is read by a number of different actors, bringing it to life.

You'll definitely know more about Guernsey than as the birthplace of an Aran-type sweater! Great to listen while knitting cables and bobbles for the holidays.

Please leave a comment to enter the drawing (you may ravmessage me: jaaladay if you aren't able to make typepad do your bidding...) This will be a quick one to get in before the holidays, so I'll use the Random Number thingamabob to choose a winner at 10 pm (central time) tomorrow/Tuesday.

Good luck!

Jaala

Baking Season!

Okay, I wasn't planning on blogging today, but I just got so excited. We have a great Thanksgiving tradition going, where all of the grown-ups take up the charge on a specific dish or two (Mom: apple-cranberry sauce and green jello with cream cheese; Mike, green bean casserole, Dad:turkey, my bro:mashed potatoes, etc) and I happily bake the pies. Usually we've just stuck with pumpkin, because, really, what's not to like? And, after years of practice, I make a  pie crust that does our midwestern farming/iron mining heritage justice.

But, this fall, Belle and I had made a blueberry pie using frozen berries and people wanted it again. So, sure, blueberry and pumpkin pie. Then Mike mentioned that his family is from the South, and so...what about a pecan pie? Now, y'all, have I ever tried making one? No. But I love me some Mike, so I said that I would. A discussion ensued among my extended family about how many of them like pecan pie. It turns out, none. Too gooey. And, really, with two other kinds of pie, they'll be fine. But I just stumbled across a very  promising twist on the tradition. 

Oh, yes. With three kinds of pie and 14 people for dinner, we're going to be starting to roll out on Wednesday. Mmm, I can't wait.

Big news

Key to My Heart Mittens, by Nicole Feller-Johnson

We've really enjoyed being a print magazine, but changes are afoot here at Knitcircus--next issue, (due out Feb 1) we're going to go digital!

I admit to having mixed feelings about this, since we chose to go print because, well, we like print. Taking a magazine with you in your knitting bag, to the library, to read in bed, feels very cozy and as a lifelong bibliophile, I have a secret belief that books themselves represent knowledge; each one is like a nugget of magic or new facts. As a kid, I used to read favorite ones (Narnia, Ballet Shoes, Pippi Longstocking, Betsy, Tacy and Tib) until they literally fell apart. But a magazines' a spendy proposition. Working with each individual LYS who carried the magazine is very rewarding, but made it tricky to grow as fast as we needed to to keep up with printing and postage costs.

So  we're expanding into the digital world, and expand we will! Now that we don't have to pay for printing each glossy page, we'll be able to stretch out luxuriously with fronts, backs and detail photos of each design the way we always wished we could. We'll really be able to showcase our designers' patterns and Ms. SABLE's eye for photos that pack a punch.

We're planning to keep the magazine looking like a magazine with virtual pages to turn; all of our articles, reviews and interviews will be free. Only, unlike the print version, you'll be able to click right on a designer or ad to learn more about them, and can instantly email a friend if you see a garment you like. We'll show the pattern previews for each design and people will be able to purchase the whole pattern collection for a very reasonable price. You'll be able to download and print out the collection pdf, so you can take it to the coffeeshop to knit and not even worry if some mocha spills on it! Current subscribers will get as many editions of the magazine as left on their subscriptions, and each magazine will remain up for the three months its current, like our pdf's do now.

It's a work-in-progress and we'll keep you posted about specifics as they're firmed up... We're still working on ideas about individual pattern sales, paper pattern distribution and Knitcircus books, so our beloved LYS's still have a vital part in our world.  We're excited to embrace the changes and explore the opportunities the new medium offers for our designers and readers and save some trees in the process.

Thanks to all of our designers and staff members who've gotten us this far, and we look forward to rocketing into the world of online magazines together in style!

Take care and craft on,

Jaala

Sand Dunes

This weekend took us unexpectedly to Michigan for a family health situation; suffice to say that my dear MIL is on the mend now; luckily family there is stepping up to the plate in style.

So while she rested, we took the kids and their young uncle to Warren Dunes State Park. We got an unexpected windfall--a gorgeous afternoon, sunny and 60F.

 

We made it to the top of this big dune, and then noticed that on the other side of the flat, people seemed to be running and jumping into thin air, yelling with joy.

Upon closer inspection, we found this:

 

We weren't sure about it at first, but of course Li'l Buddy dared to try running down, and we soon discovered that the soft sand let you throw yourself down to stop at will.
Getting up, of course, took a little longer...

 

Shortly, two bunches of college and high school kids joined us, whooping, somersaulting and throwing each other over the edge (facebooking it all, of course). Mike and I kept turning to each other and laughing, and I even turned a couple of somersaults, myself.

In knitting news, a lot of design projects on the needles and finally a few FO's! Here's one which I'm calling the Sand Dune Scarf:

 

Made from some Rowan Soft Tweed in color Bark scored at the Knitting Tree's big summer sale. This prototype needs a bit more tweaking, but  I wore it last night and it's soft and warm for sure.