Knit Pattern: Thrummed Lady Moss Mittens

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017 ~ kristinMroach ~ Leave a comment

This is one of my favorite winter patterns and I still wear them every cold weather season. I’ve also made them larger for Jason which he refers to as his ridiculously warm mittens. It was first published November 11, 2007

I usually start the summer to fall to winter layering with fingerless glove, a light scarf, and a jacket or thick sweater. Then it goes to a hat, thicker scarf, full gloves, and a medium coat. Now I’m moving into the winter coat, thick wool hat, long warm scarf, and thick mittens. There is only one issue. Late last winter/early spring I lost my mittens! What am I to do?

Well how about whip up some new ones with some stash yarn. I’m feeling particularly cold this year and wanted some extra warmth. My friend had just told me about this technique called thrumming. Perfect! Lets give that a shot too. I must say I really enjoy them, they are super warm and really cute to boot! The neat thing is that as you wear the mittens, the roving will felt and it will make a super warm, somewhat water proof mitten. Hooray! Perfect for anybody in the winter.

Lady Moss Mittens Knitting Pattern

Ingredients
75 grams worsted merino wool MC
50 grams worsted merino wool CC
25g merino wool roving
Size 3.5mm dpn (US 4); Set of 5
3 place markers

Notes about the yarn choice: I used yarn that was my first shot at natural dyeing with lettuce. It didn’t turn out so hot, but with the green roving in there, it perks right up. I would say that Cascade 220 would be similar in weight and texture.

Gauge 22sts x 30 rows = 4” x 4” in stockinette stitch

Abbreviations
CO = cast on
CC = contrasting color
St(s) = stitch(es)
rnd = round
MC = main color
K = knit
P = purl
Kfb = knit through the front and then the back of the same stitch (increase stitch)
Pm = place marker
M1 = make 1 st
Ssk = slip, slip, knit (Decrease stitch)
K2tog = knit 2 sts together (Decrease stitch)
BO = bind off

Thrumming When knitting in the roving, just use a thin teased out piece about the length of your pinky. When you get to the stitch that is done with the roving, place your main color yarn over the needle as if to knit, then loop the roving over the needle next to the MC yarn, knit the stitch. On the next row knit the roving and the MC yarn together as if one stitch. If you work them separately you will make an increase.

Directions
CO 36 sts with CC and arrange evenly on 4 needles; 9 sts on each needle.
Join in the round and work 1 x 1 rib (K1, P1) for 3 inches.
Change to MC and start working the chart.
Rnd 1: (k1, kfb, k to last 2 sts on needle, kfb, k1); K1, kfb, k2, kfb, k2, kfb, k1; repeat ( ) 2 more times; 45 sts on needles.
Start of Thumb Gusset
Note: Work chart, but skip over the gusset stitches and continue chart after the second place marker.
Rnd 2: Knit 22sts, place marker, m1, k1, m1, place marker, knit to end.
Rnd 3: Knit all (as in knit all stitches in round three).
Rnd 4: Knit 22sts, slip marker, m1, knit to pm, m1, slip marker, knit to end.
Rnd 5: Knit all.
Repeat Rounds 4 and 5 five more times – 14 rounds worked.
Knit all for three rounds.
Repeat Round 4.
Knit all one round.
Knit to marker, remove marker and place gusset (stitches between the two markers) on to scrap yarn, remove second marker, knit to end.
Knit all until piece measures to just above the little finger.
End on row 1 or 4 of the chart. The remainder of the mitten is worked with just the main color.

Decrease Round
Rnd 1: K1, ssk, knit to the last three stitch on needle two, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, knit to the last three stitches of needle four, k2tog, k1.
Rnd 2: K all.
Repeat Rnds 1 & 2 two more times.
Repeat Rnd 1 until 20 sts remain.
Arrange sts evenly on 2 needles and use the kitchner st to BO all sts.

Thumb
Pick up sts on scrap yarn and arrange evenly on 3 needles.
Rnd 1: K to end of needle 3, pick up and k one st at gap between needle 3 and 3.
Rnds 2-6: K all.
Rnd 7: (K1, k2tog, k to end of needle) repeat to end.
Rnd 8: K all.
Repeat rnds 7 & 8 two more times.
Cut yarn and thread through sts on needles, tighten up the hole and weave in all ends.
Repeat all steps for the second mitten.

Instapot Short Ribs in a Pinch

December 6, 2017December 4, 2017 ~ kristinMroach ~ Leave a comment

This is a story of how I am definitely not a professional cook and got myself into a bind.

You know how you know you should do something and you think of it, sideline it, and then think of it, and sideline it…. and think of it and sideline it. You get the idea. That’s what I did. I knew I needed to start thawing the ribs two days ago. I just kept forgetting whenever I was actually in a place (ie Home) when I could get them out of the deep freeze. You see, I’m supposed to be taking delish short ribs to a friends house tonight as the entree for our shared meal. Pressure is on. Pun totally intended.

So this morning I’m thinking how in the world am I going to get this done and maybe that rotiseree chicken from HyVee isn’t such a bad option after all. Then I remember, hey, pressure cooker. Those are supposed to speed thing up and breakdown tough meat right? After looking around on the wonderful internet, I found this recipe for How to Make Instant Pot Short Ribs. Unlike Mila who has countless recipes and experiences with using a pressure cooker, I’m a total newbie. I make rice. I tried to use it as a slow cooker and pretty much just made a pot of really good tasting mush. Unfortunately Jason and Lucy are not fans of mush.

First step in my mad dash for short ribs – thawing in the microwave – yikes. I hate having to do that. But well, I’m in a pinch and this is what it’s come to.

Second step. Salt and pepper. Then I seared it in batches.

Check. So far so good.

Go a little choppy with onions, garlic, some carrots (lucy loves carrots). Saute those in the seared fat drippings in the instapot.

Deglaze. Of course I didn’t have 3 cups of good wine. I had 2 cups of crap red wine (I’m a fan of a good $2 bottle of merlot, but wow, this stuff was bad to the point I couldn’t finish a glass even). And some veg broth with some beef better than bouillon in the mix.Making a pile, I sort of coated all the beef in the wine/broth/onion mixture, sprinkled in some Bouquet Garni (excepting the bay leaf chunks because I don’t have a culinary sachet), Rosemary, and Parsley. Wondered at the sanity of what I was attempting and how full the pot was (“Is this going to explode? hmmm…. I’ll find out soon enough I guess”).

And now I wait…

….

…

It worked! what a reliefI took all the solid stuff out and put the pot in the fridge to make it easier to skim the fat off the top. Then I reduced it down by about half or as much as time allowed before we headed over to our friend’s house.Voila.

Served over rice with the carrots on the side it was delicious. All together it took about 2 1/2 hours, a much shorter timeline than my usual 14 hours of cooking for short ribs.

Craft Leftovers Homecoming

October 29, 2017 ~ kristinMroach ~ 1 Comment

THANKS~2 — This is me at our tea shop, Little Woods, enjoying a nitro tea during Book Club.

More than a decade ago… whoa. I started a blog called Craft Leftovers to fill a need in my life. I needed some outside accountability in busting my stash. I had my own pile of yarn and fabric as well as all the craft supplies I inherited from my grandma. Over the next several years my hobby blog grew into a full blown career as a pattern writer. It culminated in 2011 when I wrote a book for one of my favorite publishers – Storey Publishing – called Mend it Better!

Life is full of twists and turns and within a year of writing Mend it Better, I was hired as a curator at an Art Center and gave birth to our daughter Lucy. It set me on the path that lead to retiring from the art center and opening a tea shop with my husband! Whoa again.

I had always intended to write more blog posts about crafting, diy projects, cooking, and herbalism. I even took pictures and wrote the posts that just never quite made it to the internet. But right when I was ready to push that “publish” button… we got hacked. In a huge way! Literally corrupted all my data. I became pretty demoralized and the work involved to get it back off the ground was daunting and more than I could face while getting the shop off the ground and taking care of a toddler. So I put it off… until now. While we might be able to restore some of the archive eventually, I’ve decided to breath new life into Craft Leftovers and start anew.

I’m facing down that original spark that inspired my first blog post ten years ago. I need some accountability. But this time, it’s not just using up my stash. It’s doing something creative every week for me, for my daughter, and our home using what’s on hand.

Just typing this up has me fired up to craft, clean, and play with some fabric with Lucy – she’s been asking for some sewing lessons again!

Until next time!
Kristin M Roach