handmade holidays: coming soon.

cannot wait to show you this project; I've been working on it (off an on; drafting patterns for clothes for this guy has been a HEADACHE) for most of the year and now it is finally going out in the mail to my friend who probably has no idea I've been engaged in such silliness (it really is very silly, I was giggling all evening as I finished it and even Cass couldn't help but laugh at it all). As soon as it's landed, I'll post better pictures. Ah, the packages - winging their way out a bit late this year, friends. If yours hasn't come yet, hold tight! I'm slowly getting through it all!

handmade holidays: plaid shirt

believe me when I tell you that matching the plaid was nerve-wracking. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to cut out the pattern and which parts were most important to match (the way the shirt is cut, with a back yoke, and pleated back, it's actually impossible for all of it to line up perfectly). So, I matched the vertical stripe on the center of the back yoke and the shirt back. I matched the sides of the shirt front and shirt back, but didn't worry about the sleeves. I wanted the verticals to match on the pockets, but decided I didn't care about the horizontals - I actually wanted the pockets to be a little less camoflauged against the shirt front.

All in all, I don't think I saved a penny over just buying him a j.crew shirt for Christmas. BUT I have the pattern, which I can use again. And I won't always have to use such expensive fabric - I used a nice medium-weight yarn-dyed plaid, which means the stripes have been woven in (as in, the shirt is actually made of differently-coloured threads - and it looks the same on both sides) not printed onto a woven fabric. As he tried it for fit, he even commented that it's heavier than his other shirts (some of which are rather flimsy, if I do say so myself). I say good! It'll last longer!

It's a great fit, isn't it? I used Colette Patterns' Negroni, in size medium. For any other tailors or seamstresses out there interested in this pattern, I've heard that the arm holes can be small on some who have very muscular arms or a broad chest. For reference, Cass is about 6' 1/2" or 1". He wears a size medium in jcrew shirts, but a size large in gap (or a medium tall). He doesn't have very broad shoulders - we've never found a man's blazer that doesn't look oversized on him. He told me that the sleeve openings on this, far from being too small, were just right - whereas some of his other shirts use a really large opening, so that the body of the shirt pulls up when he raises his arm above his head.

It's a bit of a labour of love, matching plaids and painstakingly pressing and doing all of those flat-felled seams (the arm openings AND the side seams are flat-felled seams), but the result is a quality garment with a good fit. Score yet another win for Collette patterns - so far, every pattern (see this skirt, this dress, this blouse, this slip) I've tried by Sarai has turned out an excellent garment that fits amazingly well. Sarai, I thank you!!

holiday spice: gingerbread scones with candied ginger and orange

ohmygoodnessyum. I have a new favorite - also, I think my holidays needed a bit of gingerbread a LONG time ago. I made these scones by modifying this recipe for gingerbread raisin scones on epicurious. According to the reviews, the original was a little dry, so I added extra liquids and increased the flavour and incorporated something better than raisins: chopped candied ginger and bits of candied orange peel.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1.5 tablespoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup half and half
  
• 1 large egg
• 4 tablespoons dark molasses
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped candied ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped candied orange peel
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a baking sheet and set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and spices in food processor and pulse to combine. Add pieces of cold butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a large bowl, combine half and half, egg, molasses and vanilla. Add flour mixture and ginger and orange peel and stir together until just combined. Gather dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Pat into a disk, about 6" diameter. Cut into eight wedges.

Place on buttered baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes, then cool on a rack.

note: the scones didn't puff so much as just spread out as they baked. But they taste INCREDIBLE, like soft moist gingerbread cakes. Yum. We're serving ours tonight for dessert at our friends' place, with roasted chunks of apples and a bit of whipped cream.

happy holidays, indeed!

handmade holidays: this year's wrap

I'm quite pleased with how this turned out this year - especially this little package, isn't it pretty? Instead of buying paper, I saved the leftover scraps of Cole and Sons' Forest wallpaper from when we wallpapered our kitchen this summer, and used them to wrap up all the presents. Though arguably rather expensive to use as wrapping paper, I'm not sure what to do with the remnants otherwise - and I'm loathe to waste something so pretty.

I tied up Cass' presents with green garden twine and little paper tags; aren't they pretty under the tree? Our tree is all decorated in ivory, clear, silver and bronze glass ornaments in the shapes of acorns, pomegranates, icicles, and pinecones, and our tree skirt is a simple semi-circle that I made from some heavy-weight silk/cotton suiting fabric I bought for a song several years ago. I definitely have a thing for forest themes.

god jul!

the winter solstice occurred at 5:30am this morning. The longest night of the year, the shortest day; already the days are lengthening - just think! Seattle's shortest days are about 8.5 hours long, our longest ones about 16 hours. That's a big change - and turning back to the bright side of the year always feels happy and hopeful for me, especially when we have such a beautiful winter day on which to celebrate. The light is going down, at 3pm, here in Seattle - it'll be twilight here in 90 minutes - but isn't it so beautiful on these trees? I'm glad I've been able to get out and about for the last few nice days; KOMO is calling for a WEEK of rain starting tomorrow. (Well, it has been unseasonably dry; we can't really complain, not in good conscience. I know Cass was looking forward to a great ski season this year, but for a "la nina" cycle, it's been uncharacteristically dry.)

the light on the tree inside might not be so majestic, but that's only because it comes into its own at twilight. You'll just have to trust me on that one - the camera doesn't really do it justice after dark.

Wherever you are, whatever holiday you celebrate, I wish you a very happy and joyful one! More from me over the next few days - I'm finishing up another gift for Cass, a new shirt (and hoo boy, is it ever intimidating to sew men's clothes! the precision involved is crazy).

light winter fare

made this salad the other day for the first time and I thought it was delicious. Cass said he could do without the dates, but to each his own.

dressing: mix together 1 part balsamic vinegar, 1 part red wine vinegar and 2 parts olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. (So, make as much as you'd like!) whisk together in a bowl or place in a canning jar, screw on a lid, and give it a good shake.

salad:
toast a half cup of hazelnuts (or so) in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven and place in a dish towel. Rub to remove the inner skins, then chop nuts.

Toss a generous handful (or two) of arugula with about one tablespoon of the dressing (just enough to lightly coat the leaves, but not so much that they are soggy/limp/weighed down). Place in a bowl and top with 4 medjool dates, pitted and cut lengthwise into quarters, a few tablespoons of chopped toasted hazelnuts, and 1 or 2 oz of good, fresh goat or sheep's milk feta, crumbled.

I have got to get some more sheep feta and make this again.

handmade holidays: a twist (loop?) on the classic handmade scarf

I ran into one of my girlfriends on campus the first day I wore my hot pink handmade silimba loop scarf and she flipped. "You have to make me one!" she said. She wanted it in pink and purple - such a girl! I accidentally made the fringe so long on this one that I was at 4 balls of yarn just to finish the purple, so I hope that just-purple will do.

Btw, if you want to make yourself a silimba loop, here's how it works: chain a loop the length of your scarf (the original is something like 60 inches? - but keep in mind - as I somehow always manage to forget - that it is going to stretch as you make it, so make it shorter than you'd like your final scarf to be). Then single crochet. I do the center on a size Q crochet hook - it's a monster, yep. With big, fat wool and a softie wool-acrylic blend here for my friend's sensitive skin (it's Lion's Wool-Ease Thick and Quick).

Then it's simply a matter of chaining the fringes. This scarf has one fringe loop for each of the single crochets. My pink one has two. Up to you. For the fringes, I used a size N hook, so that the chain is a bit tighter and more compact than the center of the scarf. And that's it. It can be done in two evenings, easily.