Sugared Cranberries

Illustration Friday's topic this week is "trick or treat". This will be my non-submission participation for "treat".

When I first had sugared cranberries, it was when I was still living in Florida. I had them at a party and had "just one more" fifty-seven times. You can't purchase superfine sugar in the South, so re-creating these was a lost dream.

Years later, I moved to Philadelphia and finally made these little jems. Everyone loves them. Especially, Aimee, who this recipe is really for!



Remember, these are not bad for you. They contain anti-oxidants and prevent certain, er, infections. Review health benefits to cranberries here.

This recipe was from Cooking Light.

Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup superfine sugar

Yield
9 servings (1/3 cup per serving)

Directions
Combine granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring mixture until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Stir in cranberries; pour mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Marissa's note: If they do pop, it's giggle inducing, and they'll still taste good. They probably won't stay as fresh though, so it's not recommended.

Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl, reserving steeping liquid, if desired. Place superfine sugar in a shallow dish. Add the cranberries, rolling to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry.

Note: The steeping liquid clings to the berries and helps the sugar adhere. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.

Completed: Saartje's Bootees

As promised, here are two pairs of Saartje's Bootees.

After further thinking, I don't want everyone having 11 babies. (Perhaps one or two is more reasonable.) There's enough already, and Angelina can't adopt all of them. So I will show you the finished booties, if you refrain from the overpowering maternal instinct.

The newborn size for Baby Sonny. They're not perfect, but Brooke is not picky.



A slightly larger size for Baby A. Karabella scrap yarn from a hat I made for Mike's best friend.



I went to buy buttons, blanked out and bought half the amount needed. I stitched the interior strap to the bootee, and only did one button per bootee.

Thanks for playing along with me and my baby mania. I'm just so excited for my friends, and can't wait to become an aunt to Sonny. I also have melodramatic tendencies, I've been told, on the off-chance you hadn't noticed.

Cast-on: Cinnabar Drops Jacket

Ravelry is my new favorite knitting tool. When you queue an item, your friends see it and vice versa. Needless to say, coveted patterns are spreading like...well, you know.

Enter Garnstudio's Drops Jacket 103-1. I am craving the process to knit it. The fact that I donated nearly all of my sweaters to the Goodwill last spring is mere coincidence.

Now, sweaters galore don't fit into my budget. I almost broke down and bought Vanna White's acrylic yarn at the AC Moore. Who knew?

Another solution? I went out of character and knit a quick novelty yarn scarf for a favorite coworker's daughter. He paid me in cash, with a thank you card, glorious praise and coupon to be a future reference! He actually gave me more than I asked for, so I bought some yarn.



It's Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Frank Ochre. The pattern only calls for 4 balls, but I got an extra just in case. I want to make the collar more exaggerated. Any tips are welcome.

I cast on last night, and it knits like a dream, I tell you! The color is prettier in person.



I like to compare yarn colors to paint colors. My Cinnabar Drops Jacket sounds more regal than chartruese, don't you think?



P.S. Mom, those sweaters I donated needed to go. You'd be mad I didn't do it 3 years ago (wink).

Saartje's Bootees

Here's a small preview of what I worked on this weekend. Below are little booties in progress, for my best friend, Brooke's unborn child. I used scrap yarn from a hat I made her last year. Fitting, no?

This darling (and free) pattern may be found on Saartje Breit's website here. Mine below do not have the buttons yet, so you're not seeing the full cuteness yet.

Be warned, when you see them in their entirety, you will be physically unable to want less than 11 babies. That's just the way it is, I apologize in advance for your future financial difficulties.

I also want to congratulate my friends, Nicole and Brent, who had their first son last week! I'm so happy for you.

Illustration Friday: Grow

I'm trying to participate in Illustration Friday regularly. There's nothing like blogging for accountability (wink).

This week's topic was "grow". What better than one of my favorite hobbies?



Click here to see other people's interpretation of "grow".

I actually prefer circulars to straight needles, but I think they're the archetypal knitting needles.



I love scribbling and loose pen strokes...I don't love the lighting after work though, when you're trying to take a picture!




Enjoy your Friday!

CA

My heart goes out to our neighbors affected by the wildfires in California.













Photo courtesy of Lucy Nicholson / Reuters from MSN.

The Yarn Harlot

Highlights from my past week (or so), in a disjointed, not necessarily grammatically correct format, for all you sticklers:

I made some progress on the socks. I took this picture in Mike's studio. I would tell him to replace this godawful chair, but he loves it. Plus, it's his studio, not mine!

I tagged along with Aimee at the Philly Design*Sponge Biz Meet-up. I got to meet the lovely, Grace Bonney, herself. What a wealth of information.

While visiting the Philadelphia Free Library just to return books, I got to attend a cooking demonstration by Chef Morimoto. I thought he would be stoic, like he is on the Iron Chef. Not at all, in fact, what a riot. He was also remarkably honest and appreciative of his success.

I enjoyed bonding with the SEPTA bus drivers who volunteered their time to chauffeur people around for Philadelphia Cares. Wasn't that nice? I love them! I hope those SEPTA increases give my new friends some benefits.

I'm not sure how much better the school is for the lockers I cleaned out, but I did take one for the team by cleaning up 'something' green. My friend flaked out, but she had a good excuse. And those high school boys I hung out with were super cute! (ha ha)

I started a super secret baby project with Lisa for Courtney's pending arrival. I'll show you soon, hold your horses!

Oh, yeah. I got to hold the sock!

The Yarn Harlot was speaking right over the Delaware River, and I got to go with my new friend, MB. I had the best time. We were the last people to get our books signed, and spent the time friendly heckling new acquaintances we had made while they were in line.

I'm not kidding you. We were so slap-happy and giddy towards the end, we literally hummed the Rocky Theme song when these gals finally made it to the front of the line. I said,"Do the pose!" As you can see, they were game.



I'm off to Quizzo, hoping we will win tonight so I'll get some free beer.

Philadelphia Cares

I'm volunteering for Philadelphia Cares this Saturday, with my friend, Debbie. We'll be helping out with (hopefully thousands!) of others to paint schools and repair playgrounds. It's a great cause, and who doesn't want to help children, especially the ones in Philly? If anyone wants to come out, let me know! (It's over by 2:30PM, you can't beat that...)

Below is a favorite old photo from a spring break service trip for Habitat for Humanity. We went to Jacksonville, Florida and helped build houses for a week. I'm so glad I did this. You really bond with people on those types of trips. My favorite was a girl who looked like Punky Brewster, if she took up smoking and wore a tool belt. Faux Punky, Anne (who was 4'-10" in high heels), and I were the tomboys of the group. We wanted the 'cool jobs'. We were on roofs, the tops of ladders, using table saws and nail guns, and taking discreet pictures of the hotties in AmeriCorps.



On the last day of working, us girls were laying down roofing tiles. We only had one nail gun, so two of us we were using hammers. Three Mormon missionaries came along to assist us. (Mind you, we had been doing this half the day already, and were getting quite good with whacking the nail in the first try). They came in and tried to take over, implying that they were more skilled as men. I remember telling them that they could hold the shingles in place for us. The boys ended up being very nice, and we had a nice discussion with them about their trip, their experiences, and how bad ass they thought we were! (wink)

It can be overwhelming at times to think of all of the injustice in the world. But we can't let it make us shut down and become apathetic. I'm no saint by any means, and have had troubles in the past spreading myself too thin. So on the other hand, we have to say 'no' sometimes.

The biggest thing I do regularly is donate blood for the American Red Cross. It's easy, quick, relatively painless, free, and it is always needed. You can save up to three lives with one pint. We started doing it in high school to get out of class, and it kind of stuck with me. (Ha ha...)

I must say, I'm truly inspired by my friends, family and people in this design community. Lisa is knitting for Afghans for Afghans, Sherry is supporting Hats for Alex. Magda was in the Peace Corps. Olivia's mom helped out at an orphanage in Africa this year. Tracy used to help children at the Middle Way House. My mom and dad set up a scholarship in my brother, Andrew's memory. There are scholarships on Design*Sponge and Ashley Goldberg's monthly charity for her "Hello" Series. Not to mention my favorite overachievers, Oprah and Angelina Jolie!

Rock on, people.

Illustration Friday - Open

Illustration Friday's topic this week was 'open'. I'm not entering this little doodle, and took their topic to mean it was open to interpretation.



I used this week's IF to mess around with my new calligraphy nibs, patterns, lines and just let my mind wander.

Some parts of this drawing I like, such as fish scales, little ovals and the cobalt purple color. However, I'm the type to see animals and shapes in anything. I see a balloon creature, amoeba, and organ tissue and innards in this. Don't tell Freud. Can you tell I was also watching a documentary on the Big Bang Theory?

Here's hoping you all have a great weekend. I am looking forward to a roadtrip to Maine, a beautiful wedding, an Egg McMuffin from McDonalds (I only go there when it's a road trip), a rare bookstore, and experiencing fall, finally!

I'm also going to bring 5 books to read, my sketchpad, and 2 knitting projects. Did I mention I'll be back on Sunday? (wink)

Amapolas (Poppies)

I treated myself to this delightful print below. It is from the fabulously talented, Geninne, whose blog, photographs and illustrations I have been admiring. She's quite an inspiration, I can't help raving.



Please visit her etsy shop here. Even her two sons are wonderful artists, and have their own blog. Awesome...

Here's Muir below...or what was left of it before I ripped it out last night. I had made a few too many mistakes for only 18 rows, so am starting over. Why? I think my mama's worth it!



I better go. I have chili cooking and should not be blogging while waiting for water to boil. Mike is nearby though -- and we have a fire extinguisher...

Double Pointed Needle Holders

The Anne transformed into this skein after a spin with the swift.



I started knitting my sock from the toe-up, using the 'magic cast-on'. Hmm...I just looked at the diagram, and realized I did it wrong. But it worked out, so I'll let it go this time.

Don't you like how the rows of color are forming? The color coming out is different than I anticipated, but I love surprises.



I couldn't knit my socks without my new double pointed needle holders! Sherry, from knitting circle, sells them on her etsy shop, Three Owls Knitting.

They're fantastic. They prevent stitches slipping and needles stabbing through my purse, and keep the needles nice and organized. The cute beads Sherry put on don't hurt either!

The sun is setting earlier, as shown...so picture taking will be getting a bit harder.

Hello, Muir!

I am officially saying goodbye to summer.

Not that the muggy weather today feels like fall, but I'm craving pumpkin bread, apple cider and velvet blazers. (I'll take a size 8 in the Welsh Purple if any anonymous rich people happen to read my blog! Just kidding.)

Now that I have finished some projects, I can finally start the Muir stole for my mom. I bought this Handmaiden Seasilk for her last year, and thought I'd want to knit while I was in the Philippines. Um, do you know how hot that country is?

Muir is going okay. Reading lace charts is not my life talent, but I'm attempting to learn. In an hour of insanity, I translated the lace chart into a written form...which is three pages long. I'm surprised that for such a visual person, it's so hard for me use a chart.

I like to know how many repeats I'm going to have to do of a stitch (I.e. *YO, K2tog* 6 times), instead of having to follow the chart every step. My eyes jump ahead and I end up skipping something. (This is probably the reason I added an additional stick of butter to the carrot cupcakes on Sunday).

Just the effort of writing it out helped to understand it more, and made the chart reading a little easier.

My side project (for knitting circle and Quizzo) are a pair of toe-up socks with this Anne. I need to go to knitting circle tonight so that Lisa or Sherry can tell me what is wrong with my socks.