what an exciting week!

I’m in this month’s issue of Your Home & Garden magazine….. and it’s the September Issue!

They’ve published some of my knitting patterns, and I was asked to choose ten of my favourite things to photograph. Here’s a little taste of the lovely photos that were taken at my house.

We are so lucky to have such a beautiful magazine in our little country. Here’s a link if you’d like to subscribe.

That’s my dining room above, with 1940’s Australian sideboard and my dining table designed by Mark Mack, Los Angeles architect and our former neighbor on the Venice Canals, where we lived for a year or so. When we left there to live in Santa Monica, he designed the table for us and in return we gave him and his family our old Hiawatha-style canoe that we wouldn’t be needing any more since were moving to a regular street. Hard to believe you can have a canoe parked outside your house in a city like Los Angeles, but it has many secrets that are not obvious to those who rush from the airport to Disneyland. The best thing about having the table built was choosing the colour. It’s orange, my favourite. The shape is inspired by school cafeteria tables, complete with horizontal bar underneath to put your feet on, and the top is made of layers of plywood.

That’s my mum’s old glass jug filled with tulips. It has a gold rim and two flying geese on one side.

Below is the photo they took of me, knitting guru?  No that is not a swift on my head. It’s the light over the dining table.

I’ve mentioned my David’s patience when it comes to craft projects littering the house. Well, here’s what I have to put up with. Multitudes of guitars. Not much of a trade, really, is it? They are so beautiful, if he asked me I would agree to hanging them on the wall. So far, not a peep.

I wonder if these Los Angeles firefighters really were knitting? I don’t recall where I found this photo, but if anyone knows its history, please enlighten me?

There are many men who knit for real.

Here’s Ryan, who is studying for a PHD in 20th century art history at Princeton. When he’s not studying he knits with gusto and designs for a yarn company.

Knitting while sunbathing is impressive. I wonder if he knits in the movies? Probably.

Of the men who don’t knit, there are two categories:

Support and Hindrance

Supporters are those who love that their partners have a hobby and never EVER complain about how much they spend on yarn.

They do things like this:

Michel (Jean Louis Trintignant), the patient guy who marries flirtatious Juliette (Brigitte Bardot) in Roger Vadim’s classic  movie  “….and God Created Woman”, helps his mother wind her skein of yarn while his jealous, macho older brother skulks. Nice guys finish first!

and sweetness is rewarded.

Hindrance

This man is most likely to complain about how much his partner spends on yarn and he usually has an expensive hobby himself, like motorbikes, cars, boats, golf, or ski-ing to name a few.

He might also be prone to jealousy. Of your knitting, that is. He’d prefer it if you spent all your time cuddling him instead of counting stitches.

[disclaimer: even if your partner is the most patient Supporter type, it's advisable to put down your knitting once in a while just to show your appreciation]

But even the complainer is not as bad as the man who tells his partner that knitting makes her/him look OLD. This man is more than a hindrance. He’s a Saboteur!

I’d never thought about men’s attitudes toward knitting until I heard this complaint for the first time from a woman who was learning to knit. I felt sad for her knowing that she would probably not continue to knit, and grateful that the men in my life, father, husband, son, daughters’ boyfriend, all understand the benefits of knitting, not the least of which is the thrill of making something yourself!

The Saboteur needs to ponder this:

When I met David he asked me a question: are you sane because you knit or do you knit because you’re sane?  I had to give it some thought and I’m not sure of the answer. But I’m glad he asked.

Of all the things I expected to miss about life in the USA, fresh corn tortillas weren’t on the list. They’re not available in the supermarkets here. But masa flour is, so I’ve learned how to make them myself. What took me so long? Now I make them so regularly they’re threatening to replace my life-long love, potatoes!

But first things first. If you’re going to make tortillas, you need a pretty cloth to keep them warm. The traditional tortilla warmer is a round pocket, but I thought a double-sided square cloth would be useful for  serving bread, too.

For the lace edging I used one skein of Allhemp3. It’s crisp and hardy and seemed like it would survive the regular washing my cloth will need. I used two 3.25mm double pointed needles. I find short needles easier for such a narrow strip of knitting.

Cast on 5 stitches.

Row 1. K4, yo, k1–6sts

Row 2. K4, yo, k2tog.

Row 3. K5, yo, k1–7sts

Row 4. K5, yo, k2tog.

Row 5. k6, yo, k1–8sts

Row 6. K6, yo, k2tog.

Row 7. K4, ssk, yo, k2tog–7sts

Row 8. K5, yo, k2tog.

Row 9. K3, ssk, yo, k2tog–6sts

Row 10. K4, yo, k2tog.

Row 11. K2, ssk, yo, k2tog–5sts

Row 12. K3, yo, k2tog.

Repeat rows 1-12 until the lace is 160 cm long.

For the cloth, I cut two 40 cm squares of fabric, and sewed them together, right sides facing in, on the sewing machine, leaving a 10 cm gap on one side for turning out. I used blanket stitch and the same hemp yarn to sew the straight edge of the lace to the cloth.

If you don’t have time to knit your own edging, you can use a pretty cotton lace like this one.

and now, the tortillas.

you need:

1. masa flour. I found it at Mexican Specialties, a cafe run by a cute, very exuberant couple from Mexico City. Their food is superb (treat yourself to Saturday lunch) and they sell all kinds of Mexican supplies, from spices to blouses.

When I was in New York I was amazed at how many brands of masa flour there were at the Pioneer market on Lafayette in Brooklyn. So inexpensive too!

2. a tortilla press, also sold at Mexican Specialties. I found an identical one at Sur La Table in New York (India is now making her own tortillas, too. It’s infectious)

3. a little vegetable oil.

4. a griddle or heavy skillet.

and now, to make the tortillas….

Take 2 cups of the flour. Add 1 cup of water and a little oil. This will make approximately 12 tortillas.

Mix it up until it forms a ball. Add more water if it’s too dry. You don’t want your tortillas to be crumbly.

Form the dough into small balls approximately 4-5 cm in diameter. These will make 15 cm diameter tortillas.

Here they are ready to be pressed. Cover them with a damp cloth to keep them moist.

Here’s my magnificent press. It’s made of cast iron, covered with a curious silver paint, which I think is why I was advised not to wash it after use, rather to wipe it clean. It’s heavy, which is a good thing. I’ve tried a lightweight press, but the tortillas weren’t as thin.

Take 2 pieces of plastic wrap. For those who cringe at the use of plastic, I’m with you, except that I’ve tried baking paper, brown paper and foil, and the plastic wrap worked best.

Lay one sheet of plastic on the press then place a ball slightly “above” the centre of the circle toward the handle. I used to place it in the centre until my clever India discovered that slightly above the centre is the best place for achieving a nice round tortilla. Something about the angle when you press down, I think.

Place the second sheet of plastic over the ball.

and now, the fun part. Press down on the lid, and use the lever to press further.

Have a pan ready on the stove, heating. No grease or oil is needed for this part of the cooking.

Peel the top layer of plastic from the tortilla, then take it in your hand and peel away the bottom layer of plastic. Do not attempt to peel the tortilla off the plastic. It will fall apart if you do.

It is possible to press all the tortillas and keep them in a pile, but they tend to stick to each other, which means layers of paper to separate them. here’s where I copy the Tortilla Lady, seen at the stove behind the ordering window at my other favorite Mexican place La Super-Rica Taqueria in Santa Barbara. She presses each one just before it goes on the griddle.

Place the first tortilla in the moderately heated pan and cook for 30 seconds, one side, 45 seconds the other side, then turn to back for another  20 seconds or until brown specks appear. Cover the tortillas to keep them soft and pliable once they’re cooked.

You’ll end up with a pile of sweet round tortillas like this. Don’t fret about your first few attempts. Expertise comes fast and even the broken or misshapen pieces can be fried into chips, after all.

You can keep your tortillas wrapped in a cloth, plastic wrap of foil, and refrigerated until you need them.

When I’m feeling really indulgent I like to fry them. Mmmmm. Try them with fresh guacamole and salsa.

For the healthier option, cook them briefly (both sides) on the gas flame. Also delicious.

Buen apetito!

ps. thank you to Lisa, aka sundayhotpants, for the idea of how to include my new love, tortilla-making, on a knitting blog.

–Mel

On my first day in Manhattan, dazzled by the splendour of the city, I visited MOMA and then whizzed over to Barney’s for some serious perusing and cultural enrichment. I love Barney’s. Even if you’re on rations, you can’t beat the people-watching in the shoe department, and a cup of tea in the cafe. There’s no harm in looking, and after a few hours of exactly that, you come away feeling almost as good as you would if you’d actually bought all the fabulous things you saw.

At Barney’s, you’re starting at the top. You can see beautiful cutting edge fashions by your favourite designers, and choose to

1. buy a little something

2. go home and make yourself an item inspired by what you saw. Note that I’m in no way condoning ripping off designers. I’m talking inspiration only.

3. wait for the trickle down effect some time later when you’ll see a much cheaper version of the same styles reaching the bargain stores.

It’s your choice.

Thank you Barneys (and other stores like it, in other cities) just for keeping the doors open so we can drift in, waft around, admire the beauty and occasionally buy something.

Here’s what I didn’t buy at Barney’s. It’s the work of Maria La Rosa. Hers are different to most designer bags. I first discovered them a couple of years ago when I thought I finally deserved a grown up hand bag and got confused by all the leather bags dripping buckles and pockets that were fashionable at the time. I looked at them all and just couldn’t relate. When I spotted a discreetly beautiful bag made of fabric amongst the faux lizard LV’s, the Guccis and the Pradas, I bought it and have treasured it ever since.

So there in a display case in Barney’s New York was a sensibility and style I recognized.

Maria La Rosa’s bags are made of fabric, woven by HAND on antique looms. They’re simply gorgeous. There were several, so India and I spent quite some time deciding which one we liked best (it was very hard to choose but much fun trying), and whether it should be my first New York purchase. Regretfully, it was not. I thought I’d find other things on which to spend my holiday dollars, which I did not. Maybe some lucky New Yorker has already taken it home.

Below are a few more of her bags. The range can be seen on her website here.

As I was passing through “security” at LAX on my way home, a young woman behind me was concerned about placing her handbag, which was falling apart, through the X ray machine. On seeing the very obvious JIMMY CHOO label I made a note to myself never to buy one and expressed shock that it was such a wreck given that Jimmy Choo is an expensive label. She laughed. “Oh, it’s not real. It’s a  knock off”. Get what you pay for, I thought.

But seriously, think how damaging it is for designers’ reputations when their work is copied with inferior materials, shoddy workmanship and judging by this one, will fall apart in a short time. Just sayin’.

Even though I think of myself as somewhat minimalist, I do like a touch of frippery here and there. I’ve heard other women confess this dark secret, too. We love lace the way we love patchwork quilts and vintage buttons. Mostly our lace is confined to underwear, but there’s no reason not to indulge your inner frill seeker and use it in the broad light of day. On a pretty homemade Christmas apron, for example, a doll’s dress, a hand-embroidered hanky, or as a ribbon on a bridal gift.

These laces are the beginning of South Seas Knitting’s haberdashery department. What a lovely word. It brings to mind polished wood counters with glass fronted drawers, and a lift attendant to take you up to the ladies lounge for afternoon tea.

They are made in Nottingham, England, one of the homes of the lace making tradition, and they’re 100% cotton.

For a more exotic effect, here are some made in Italy, also from cotton, with a dash of gold metallic thread, perfect for a bridal garter.

Cuteness alert!

Patterns for irresistible knitted friends have just arrived. Among this mischievous group by Rebecca Danger are Wasabi the Gregarious Pug (below), who is incredibly outgoing and will do anything for attention (does that mean he’s insecure? surely not)…..

Penelope the Empathetic Monster, who thinks that all life’s problems can be fixed with one big hug…..

and Greta the Captivating Cat, who adores silent movies. I’m guessing she probably adores lace, too.

Oooops, it looks like Greta has slipped away, as cats will do. She is currently out of stock. I’m sure she will return soon. Please check back from time to time. Meanwhile, there are many other fantastic creatures to be made from Danger Crafts Patterns

The wonderful thing about making toys, is that gauge doesn’t matter, so you can use any yarn, especially scraps from your stash. One suggestion for stuffing: organic wool fibre. It’s the best, and 100% natural.

Happy knitting!

–Mel

A year ago Eunice came to my knitting class and got off to a nervous start. She was quite sure she would never be good at it. But she didn’t give up and within a few months had made, among other things, a couple of lace shawls for her Mum and Aunt, a beautiful cabled scarf for her sister and a pair of socks, both of which she bravely unraveled and knitted a second time (each was too big in a different place). Here she’s wearing a seed stitch scarf made with Trish Anderson’s Tanglewood Fibers  breathtaking hand spun, hand dyed cashmere.

Eunice’s tentative beginning, perseverance and ultimate success are an inspiration. There’s a long list of things I’d like to learn but don’t: salsa dancing, roller blading (does anyone still do that?), fabric printing, pattern drafting, Spanish….. my excuse is that there’s never enough time but really, it’s courage I’m lacking, to risk failure or worse, mediocrity!
So, with thoughts of my gentle Cook island holiday still fresh, I took the plunge and have been trying my hand at making a tivaevae pillow. Ina’s skill, my own impatience to get started, and a lack of chalk inspired me to cut my pattern freehand but  for the next one I’ll sketch it first.  Unfolding it was thrilling!

I can’t claim any skill at embroidery, but I’m having fun (saying this reminds me of what I tell new knitters: enjoy the process, and don’t worry about the results). I work on it while I’m making dinner (Honey, is that soup burning?), a sure sign of addiction. I’ve been told that one of the Tivaevae teachers in Rarotonga never lets her students unpick their work. She makes them keep it as a reminder of how much they’ve progressed. How wise. Even in this short time I think I’ve improved. As yet my pattern doesn’t have a name, since I cut it in a burst of spontaneity. Most are named for flowers (zinnia, chrysanthemum, hibiscus) and plants (breadfruit, pineapple) but I have seen one from Hawaii enigmatically named “a distressing rain in Hanalei”. Wouldn’t you love to know the rest of that story.

My branches might turn out to be “orange trees in Santa Monica”. I’ll add the fruit later. It will need some hot colours to capture the spirit of the Islands.

The ladies in Rarotonga seem to favour these Rose Brand cotton threads. The variegated colours are the most popular and give the embroidery added texture.

Here are  two readily available books on Tivaevae.
Below is my favourite quilt  from this one (link to Amazon) which I already own and can recommend.

I haven’t seen this one yet (link to Amazon) but it’s published by the British museum and promises to be excellent. I’m waiting for it to arrive in my mailbox and inspire me even further.

Happy stitching!

Mel

Finally, my patterns can be bought as PDFs!

I admit I was dragged there kicking and screaming  because I really do prefer the lovely printed versions, but here I am in the 21st century, tucked away in peaceful New Zealand, so ok.

Along with One Skein Cashmere Ruff, High Tide (above) is now a PDF (click here)  

Look for more in the coming weeks, like 

Crystalyne (below)

Ballet Wrap, a favourite during my Wildfiber days

and Swing

And now, I’m going on holiday for a week. Happy knitting!

Look what arrived at my door this week– a box of Mac & Me knitting patterns and this cute bag that quickly became my new knitting basket.

Designed by Leslie Scanlan (some of whose designs are favourites in the Blue Sky Alpacas Collection), Mac & Me patterns are suitable for all kinds of knitters, beginners included, and most importantly, they have the sometimes elusive “where did you get that!” appeal that we knitters require from our finished projects. Here are a couple of my favourites. I want to make the Elizabeth Scarf (below) in GGH Soft-Kid mohair, and Gilded Lily (second below) in Royal Alpaca. Both yarns are currently on sale. 

Winter has arrived, even in Auckland, so it’s time to make something glam to cheer ourselves up during the next few months! 

Happy knitting

–Mel

Here’s Manu the Sock Monkey, whom I made this week as a baby shower gift. He’s knitted in Blue Sky Skinny Organic cotton, with a scrap of Koigu for his red mouth, and two coconut buttons for his eyes. The eyes could be embroidered, too, if there’s a concern about baby safety and buttons.

I love the idea of this scrumptious un-dyed yarn for a baby gift. Stuffed with organic wool he is 100% natural and as cuddly as can be.

[The pattern for Manu is free with yarn purchase. You'll need 1 hank each of Blue Sky Alpacas Skinny Organic Cotton, colours 30- Birch & 31-Clay. He would also be lovable in Forever Green Élan plant dyed organic merino. If you would like the pattern, please write a note when you make your purchase.You'll need double pointed needles Size 3.5mm.]

Does anyone else get confused when it comes to short rows?

I’ve tried many ways of handling them, and somehow I can never get it quite right. Manu the Sock Monkey has short shaping for his derrière (it allows him to sit comfortably in precarious positions) and his face. Since I was making him in organic cotton, which is a little less forgiving than wool, I wanted his short rows to look seamless, so I did a little experimentation with the various methods I’d used in the past. 

If anyone has a favourite way of dealing with short rows, please feel free to leave a comment. I welcome any suggestions.

So, here’s what I discovered:

1.First, (below) I tried the straightforward turn, with no slipped stitch and no wrapping. This creates holes, and is used in a couple of simple shawl patterns I’ve seen. I think it looks a bit messy and it’s hard to make the holes look deliberate and not the result of sloppy knitting. 

2. Next, I tried turning (no wrap) and slipping the first stitch of the next row. When working back across I simply knitted the stitches.

This still looks too loose for my taste.

3. Here I tried wrapped the stitch, turned, and when it came to working back across the wrapped stitches, I simply knitted them. You can see from the sample that the wraps are visible and the knitting looks a little loose.

3. For my last experiment (below) I wrapped, turned, then, when I worked back across the wrapped stitches, I knitted the wrap with the wrapped stitch. As I suspected it would, this one looks best! The results are seamless.

I’ve added the instructions on how to wrap a stitch, and how to knit a wrap & stitch together, in the Lessons menu.

Happy knitting!

–Mel

Recently someone was looking here for instructions on how to perform a Slip, Slip, Knit. Why would they not, since it is on the banner above? For months I’ve been writing this blog without adding SSK to the lessons menu. What an oversight. It’s now there, over to the right, folks.

I called my blog Slip Slip Knit for a several reasons. First, I love the sound of it. It suggests skip, skip, knit and skipping merrily along, what I am always doing (if only in my imagination) when I’m knitting. Second, the left slanting SSK decrease is complementary to K2TOG (right slanting) which is also the acronym for the name of my book, Knit 2 Together. South Seas Knitting and Slip Slip Knit were my new ventures and a continuation of my work in Knit 2 Together after I left California, so you can see where I was going with this. To use L.A. vernacular, “I’m all about SSK”.

It’s only in the recent past of my knitting experience that I was even aware of the existence of SSK. Having been raised in Christchurch without the benefit of any sophisticated, Continental friends to show me another, less English way of doing things, for most of my life I’ve happily performed my left slanting decreases as SKPSSO, later shortened to SKPO. After moving to the USA and meeting American knitters of all persuasions, I discovered a whole new world of SKP (SKPO shorthened further), SSK and other strange customs! 

It’s interesting that with all the seemingly exotic choices for the left slanting decrease, reliable old K2TOG (sounds like clothing for mountaineering, said a fledgling knitter) remains steadfast and constantly in use, no matter what dance partner is chosen to complement it. With all the possibilities though, K2tog need look no further than SSK. They mirror each other almost perfectly.

note: SSP (slip slip purl) is also an excellent partner for K2TOG and matches it even more perfectly than SSK, but is has the disadvantage of having to be performed on the other side of the fabric.