Evelyn's Glow cowled cape

My newest design is free to download from Skacel, Inc.!

I originally created this design in handspun for a dear friend, Evelyn,  who loaned me her spinning wheel until I saved enough to buy my Fricke.  It was such a hit that Skacel wanted to publish it.  The cowled cape is designed to show off long color change yarns, like the Zauberwolle by Schoppel.  Zauberwolle is a sport weight but this will look sweet in a fingering weight or worsted as well- just makes it a little lighter or heavier. Or take the plunge and spin up your yarn! Don’t worry too much about gauge- it’s drapey and loose fitting so a little bigger or smaller won’t make a significant difference in fit.

Wear the cowl up when it gets chilly!

I recently found out that several people were given  an incorrect print out of The Fish scarf pattern at Unraveled Artful Yarns and Gifts when they purchased this  pattern during the Yarn Shop Hop.  Please email via contact (above right) or PM me on Ravelry (ahardingdesign) and I will arrange a download of the correct version for you. Many apologies.

I have been promising to clean and organize my studio for months, but it seems such a huge task it’s hard to get started. Besides I have too many fun things to play with to bother with cleaning.

Sara Mae to rescue! I am so excited to have this book because Sara gives us heart and soul cleaning- not just how to do it, but why.  If I have a why, I can be motivated. Check it out- for the cost of a latte you can have the eBook right now!

OUCH! I’ve been bitten by the spinning bug!  Here’s one of my new projects.

Take a beautiful ball of fiber from Herndon Creek Farm, add koolaid, spin and voila!

Some awesome yarn!

What shall I make with this?

Emerson strikes again!  Here are some of his completed projects: a sweater vest and 2 hand-gun cozies!  Pushing Daisies 2007 Season 1 Episode 2

Knitcircus Magazine Spring 2011 has sprung!

You’ll find reviews, video how-to’s, design articles, contests, fitting instruction with Jane Prater, an interview with Alana Dakos (Never Not Knitting) and more in this beautifully designed online magazine.

Plus you can purchase the entire Spring Pattern Collection  from designers such Susanna IC, Talitha Kuomi, Doris Chan and myself…that’s 21 new, full color, knit and crochet patterns, all for $7.99!

Check out my two new designs in this issue:

©2011Knitcircus

Gerberada

~ knit shawl

~ 1 skein hand-dye sock yarn

~ beads

~ easy, knitted on lace

©2011Knitcircus

Tic Tac

~ crochet hat and blanket     

~ superwash sock weight

~ more than single and double crochet

Also look for my ad in this issue for a 25% discount on any of my other patterns!

Yep that’s Clint … he’s singin’ AND he’s wearin’ a granny square vest to boot!  YeeHAW!   I nearly slipped a stitch!

Paint Your Wagon 1969 Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Jean Seberg

Gold fever, wife-sharing, brothels, gambling, preaching, singing, dancing…it’s Lerner and Lowe at their best with unexpected performances by Lee and Clint that will have you singing along all day.

I wouldn’t kick him outta’ my cabin for wearin’ crochet…would you?

My family loves to sleep in and then have pancakes for brunch on the weekend. Yum ! But who wants to stand around flippin’ flapjacks while everyone else curls up on the couch with coffee?  Not me! Once again Mother Necessity bears an invention – an easy version of the oven pancake. Mix everything in one large measuring cup, pour it into a pan and cook it all in the oven -no kiddin’, no flippin’!

No Flip Flap Jack

4 T butter               1 1/2 C Water

2 C fruit*                2 Eggs

4 T sugar*              2 C Pancake mix

Spices*

Preheat oven to 425°F

To save washing up, measure water into a large measuring cup, add eggs and stir with a fork to break up the eggs. Add pancake mix and stir until moistened.

Melt butter over medium heat in an extra large (10 inch or more) OVEN PROOF skillet.  Add fruit, sugar, spices. Cook until sugar is melted and mixture just bubbles, then swirl up the sides a bit. Pour batter gently over butter mixture.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  Sip coffee. Peruse newest patterns. Reduce the heat to 375°F and bake for 10 minutes more.  Go work a few rows.  DING!

Be careful taking that pan out of the oven. I always slip a glove potholder right over the pan handle to avoid anyone grabbing it by accident.

I have never had any luck slipping it out onto a platter and serving all fancy-like. Not because it’s hard to do – the pancake just disappears when I turn my back to grab the platter.  Cut into wedges and serve with or without your usual pancake toppings.

*Fruit/sugar/spice combos taste tested at my house:

Bananas Foster: bananas/brown sugar/nutmeg/dash of rum flavoring

AppleJacks: apples/brown sugar or white sugar/apple pie spice

Blueberry Muffin: blueberries/white sugar/dash of vanilla   For this combo, melt the butter/sugar/vanilla, pour on the batter then add the blueberries over the top. They are so delicate that they turn to mush otherwise.

Nutty Chocolate Chip: (chocolate is a fruit on the weekend, right?) Chocolate Chips/chopped pecans or walnuts   Melt the butter (no extra sugar needed), add nuts, pour on the batter, and then sprinkle with chocolate chips. Probably not 2 cups of chocolate chips- but I won’t tell.

Introducing Delilah!  Here’s Delmont’s flirty and feminine girlfriend.  All the same simple, elegant shaping of Delmont with a sweet little button flap and the flipped brim winking over on the side!

Delilah is  worked flat in garter stitch with easy shaping to curve the flip up brim.  You then joined in the round for some simple decreasing of the crown. You can work the crown on DPNs, 2 circulars or Magic Loop, whichever method you prefer.  No buttonholes, just seam up the faux flap and tack on as many or few buttons as you like.  This hat looks amazing done in Jewel, a new yarn from Cascade that has a lot of texture and rich kettle-dye colors, but any worsted will work as well.

You’ll want to make more than one to show off all your great buttons!  The buttons shown here are from STUDIOSCHIEK.  She creates beautiful, one of a kind design designs that I use all the time.

Buy your copy of Delilah now using this coupon code DELINEW and receive one dollar off your purchase. Good until December 31, 2010 for this pattern only.   

Drum roll please!  Using the True Random Number Generator from Random.org the winners for the Delmont Cap give away are:

SHERMIE comment number 16 has won The Knit Circus Winter Issue Pattern Collection!

LIZ A comment number 28 has won a one year subscription to Knit Circus Magazine!

Would you both please email me via my contact page (see link above right hand corner) and I will have your prizes emailed to you ASAP.

Thank you all for your support and keep coming back for more pattern news, recipes and fun.  Check out the Meet Delilah post for a discount coupon on this new pattern just for my blog fans … I have lot’s of stuff on the needles and can’t wait to share with you all!

• 2 new designs coming up in the next issue of Knitcircus, one knit and one crochet!
• a lacey knit scarf  that’s in the test/tech phase
• a  crochet shawl that’s in the writing up phase
• new recipe will be posted this Tuesday!