For the past few weeks I've been planning, reading, youtubing, facebooking and tweeting to design the best Christmas dinner I could. After much research I decided to make Beef Bourguignon for Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

I woke up around 5am yesterday morning and was like a little kid on Christmas morning. I was so excited about dinner that I couldn't go back to sleep.

I did everything I could to entertain myself - I showered, took my time doing my hair, emptied the dishwasher, brought all the laundry into the basement, tidied the dining room and kitchen, and read through the recipe (at least twice more).

Finally at 9 am I decided it was "late enough" and I started.

Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon

9 am - preparing the ingredients

Most of the ingredients were pretty standard. The few that were a bit unusual were:

• Whole chuck roast - so it could be cut up into 2" cubes
• Chunk (unsliced) bacon - to cut into "lardons" (little logs cut into 1-1/2" inch length x 1/4" depth and height)
• The wine - not an unusual ingredient, but Julia is very specific about wine pairing in the book (I love that!). For this recipe we needied a full-bodied, young wine. I went with a Bordeaux. You use an entire bottle in the stew so it's worth finding something you like.

After cutting the chuck and removing any larger pieces of fat, you dry the meat - just pat it dry on all sides with a paper towel. Julia explains that this allows the meat to brown properly and I did see a difference during browning. She also cautions about overcrowding the meat in the pot so I did it in three batches. I just tossed the lardons in each of the batches as well.

After browning the meats, you saute the onions and carrot in the same pot. The onions took on a great color.
Place the meat back in. Sprinkle it with 2 Tbs of flour and place in a 450° oven for 4 minutes. Stir up the meat and put it back for another 4 minutes. This cooks the flour and gave it a nice crispy shell.

10:30 am - stove top simmer

Take the pot out of the oven and add the wine (recipe says 3 cups but a bottle is just over 3 cups so I used the whole bottle) and enough stock just to cover the meat. Add in the bacon rind, a crumbled bay leaf and some thyme and bring the whole thing to a simmer. Place it in a 325° oven for 2.5-3 hours.

Note: 325° was too hot for my oven. After a few adjustments, 250° was perfect.

11 am - pearl onions and mushrooms

One of the unusual techniques Julia uses is to cook the soft vegetables separately and add them at the end. This allows them to retain their shape and not become a big mush in the bottom of the pan. It's a great technique.

I learned that pearl onions from scratch are *a lot* of work. You have to blanch the onions for about 25 seconds to loosen their skins. Then you cut a tiny part off the root and tip ends, and score a cross in the root end so it doesn't explode when being cooked. This probably took 45 minutes.

Then the onions got a 10 minute saute in some oil and butter, and a 50 minute braise in a 1/2 cup of stock to give them more flavor and allow them to take on a brown color so they look like they belong in the stew.

The mushrooms were the surprise star of the meal. They were so simple but were the best mushrooms I've ever eaten. Seriously.

Take large white mushrooms and quarter them. Melt 2 Tbs butter and 1 Tbs oil over high heat. Add the mushrooms and shake vigorously for 4-5 minutes. Julia notes that the mushrooms will first absorb all the liquid and then release it again - so don't add any more fat. She was right. 4-5 minutes later the mushrooms were perfectly cooked. Season with salt and pepper and you're done.

I think the high heat is what makes these mushrooms sing. I will be making these a lot

1 pm - sat down to take a break and process some of the photos for flickr

2 pm - checked the beef and it was tender. time to make the sauce

Take the stew out of the oven and pour it into a strainer set over a sauce pan. Wash out the pot used in the oven and replace the meat in the clean pot. Stir in the onions and mushrooms.

While I was making the sauce I wrapped a sourdough boule in aluminum foil and placed it in the oven to get nice and hot.

Defat the sauce and simmer for a few minutes. My sauce was too thin so I cooked it down for 10 minutes over a rapid boil but it still wasn't thick enough. I added about 1.5 Tbs of flour and that did the trick. Note: Julia never mentions needing the flour but I was afraid of cooking down the sauce too much and not having enough liquid left.

Pour the sauce over the meat, stir and simmer for a few minutes.

3 pm - dinner is served

Things I learned:

• Julia Child is a wonderful teacher! She doesn't just tell you what to do - she tells you why to do it. She gives you the information you need to make good decisions on the fly. She is amazing and I can't believe it took me this long to become a fan. A really, really big fan. Julia rocks.
• I like big chunks of meat in a stew. It allowed them to remain as big chunks instead of shredding apart.
• Patting meat dry makes a big difference when browning.
• Cooking a stew in the oven is great! One less pan on the stove top and no concern about burning the bottom. I stirred it once or twice during cooking and that was it.
• Sourdough is the perfect accompaniment to a strongly flavored stew (thanks for the suggestion, Liz!). It cut the flavor of the wine very nicely.
• Next time, serve the mushrooms on their own. The wine overpowered the mushrooms and while there was nothing wrong with them, you couldn't taste their awesome subtle flavor once they were in the stew.
• Buttered noodles would be a good thing next time. The meal was quite heavy and full of flavor. I think I'd like a something "plain" to go along with it.

I'm using Knit Picks Shine Sport in Grass and Leapfrog and Cotlin in Swan. They were all out of white in Shine Sport and I didn't want to wait and pay additional shipping for a single ball of yarn.

I'm knitting it firmly an US #3's but it's still staying very soft. My hope is that if I knit it firmly the stuffing will not show thorough and it will hold up to lots of love (at least, I hope it gets lots of love).

The pattern has been pretty good so far. Things I like:

• Stitch counts for every row that has incs or decs.
• Pics for the unusual instructions like making up the eyes and transitioning from the foot to the leg.

Things that could be improved:

• Gauge. It says DK or worsted weight yarn but doesn't list a gauge.
• When the pattern tells you to work in St st it doesn't say whether to start with a knit or purl row. This has only been a question one time - when knitting the eye - because I hadn't worked any rows yet. A quick read through the rest of the instructions and it was clear I should start with a knit row.
• For the collar yarn, it lists 10dag=400m. I'm still not sure what this says but I think this is telling you to use a thinner yarn because in the instructions for the collar (on page 6) it says "Notice: yarn for a collar is thinner than yarn for a frog!" I didn't see this note in the instructions so I bought the same weight yarn for the collar. I'm sure I can fudge it since it's a toy so I'm not too worried.
• There are several typos in the pattern. To be fair some of the typos may be because I believe the designers are not native English speakers, but in others I think they're just genuine typos. So far they're not anything I couldn't figure out.

BTW, they use the word "nari" in the embroidery instructions for the face. By process of elimination I've figured out they're talking about the nostrils. I googled "nari nostril" and found a definition to confirm it. I think this is probably a translation thing. Or am I the only one who didn't know that word?

I've added to my sock yarn stash every year since I got back into knitting 7ish years ago. You know the drill. Pretty colors. Unique hand dye job. One of a kind. Can't do without it.

I've proven that my ability to purchase sock yarn has exceed my ability/interest in knitting said sock yarn.

It's time for that to stop.

As we approach end of the year I start to think about what I want to work on over Christmas vacation and my goals for the following year. This year I'll be working on sock yarn projects over my vacation, and I'm setting a multi-year goal of ending the year with less sock yarn than I started with at the beginning of the year.

Over the next few weeks I'll be doing a complete inventory of my sock yarn stash. It's mostly in 2 big plastic bins but I know there are errant balls here and there. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this. Lie to me if you need to ;)

This is a reasonable goal. I'm not saying I won't buy any more sock yarn. I'm not saying I'll only knit socks. I'm not saying I'll only knit with sock yarn. Just that I want to have less sock yarn. This should be doable, right?

To get the ideas flowing I've been browsing ravelry and picked out a bunch of non-sock sock yarn projects. I'm using the tag "nonsock" when browsing so I can easily keep track. {see my list}

row 1: alpaca sox legwarmers, springtime bandit, yvaine, sagano, colonnade, daybreak
row 2: centrique, vent d'est vent d'ouest, fizzi, moonlight, swirl shawl, abby
row 3: shetland triangle, gail, endpaper, veilfalt II, lazy day, keefely
row 4: red skies, one skein, october leaves, aestlight, milkweed, akimbo
row 5: spiral mitts, bouquet, heather's mittens, limerick, colourflow, waving chevron

I'm in a modern-wearable mode right now so you'll see a lot of simpler knits. Same goes with shawls. Sock yarn shawls are so versatile! I love wearing them as a scarf with my fall and winter coats.

I've selected:

• 17 shawls/stoles
• 6 mitts/mittens
• 4 scarves
• 2 cowls
• 1 pair of legwarmers

I also tried to pick some projects that would work well with mostly solids and others that would work well with variegated handdyeds.

Since I won't be buying yarn for my vacation knitting I'll be continuing to collect more non-sock yarn patterns over the next 5 weeks. Can you believe Christmas is only 5 weeks away?

At least I've kicked the holiday knitting habit. Now for that sock-yarn-buying habit.

Well, OK, not my tots. My brother's tots.

My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their second child in January! I plan on making a blanket for my new niece. I swore I'd never make another baby blanket unless they had another child (I don't want to play favorites). And just my luck, they're having another child ;)

They're using frogs as the main motif. I found Miss Frog by Twins' Knitting Patterns while browsing on ravelry and knew it would be perfect for my new niece. I didn't want to make a toy for one and not the other, and 22 the Alien is going to be just the thing for my nephew.

I'm using Knit Picks Shine Sport and Cotlin.

Shine Sport in Grass, Leapfrog, High Dive, Marmalade, and Black
CotLin in Swan

Shine Sport in River, Sky, Serrano, Caution, and Black
CotLin in Swan

I was a bit concerned about selecting that many colors online. What if they clashed? They're only $2.50/ball but I'm trying so hard not to add to my stash. And I really have no need for single random balls of cotton blend. So I was happily surprised when I got the yarn this weekend - the images of the yarn were true to life and their descriptions were quite accurate too.

Now I just need to finish my Baktus so I can cast on. Maybe I can have this baby's toy done before she's born.

We're all coming across many requests to donate our time, and as the holidays approach we have less and less time to give. The thing that really got me was that these kids walk around in the winter time in flip flops. Can you imagine?

I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of weekend days than making children's lives a little less uncomfortable. Can you?

I've loved this pic ever since I took it three years ago. To me, it's full of promise - the warm light glowing from the leaves, and the winding road that says "there's more to come, even if you can't see what I have in store for you." This pic sums up how I've felt this weekend.

Yesterday I announced that I won't be publishing any new issues of knotions. It's a day later and I'm still feeling good about it so I know it was the right decision.

I'm excited to get back to the community - I've missed you all so much - and I'm excited to have some time to devote to myself - knitting, sewing, and cooking for me personally, and professional development through my other blog as well.

I did a bit of sprucing up of this blog - I designed a new, more colorful header, and I installed LinkWithin to call out three previous blog posts at the end of each post. I've been getting a kick out of clicking on old entries and have come across several that I didn't even really remember.

I want to do a little more blogging about cooking and sewing and plan to give that a whirl later today. I love cooking and I'm excited to share and learn from all of you. I need to get the knack of taking pics while cooking so bear with me while I figure that out.

Today I thought I'd start with an easy topic - Rhinebeck 09.

Each year is a new and different experience at Rhinebeck. The weather was the most challenging of the four that I've been to - It was the coldest and wettest I had seen.

Surprisingly, the fall foliage was not as vivid. I was curious about why that might be and came across this great article that explains that temperature and rain are the two biggest factors. I'm guessing the abundance of rain we had earlier in the year had a big impact.

Oh well, at least I got to wear St Brigid, and the cold made for a lovely evening of knitting by the fireplace and listening to some knitting podcasts.

We stayed in and cooked dinner on Friday, so we decided to go out to Flat Iron Steak House in Red Hook on Saturday. What a great call! The server's wine recommendations were spot-on and our steaks were cooked perfectly. It definitely won't be the last time we go there.

I was pretty selective this year in my purchases - unlike my activity in previous years.

Just 3 balls of yarn:

• Trekking 187 for a pair of socks.
• 2 hanks of Creatively Dyed Calypso in Navalis (purple/pink/blue) and Parade (red/orange) for a Baktus.

Every year I say that I think I can finish all this up before the next festival (Maryland in May) but this year I think it's true ;) I've already cast on for Baktus. Those are some big hanks though - 510 yards each- so I know I won't use it all up for Baktus.

My quandary - if I finish the project I purchased the yarn for, does that count as "finishing" the yarn, or do I need to use it all up to clear my conscience?

I ordered Breeze by Kim Hargreaves on Memorial Day* and have spent several evenings thumbing through the book since then. I love several of the designs - they're wearable with just enough detail to make them interesting to knit too.

*BTW, I ordered it Monday night and it arrived on my doorstep on Friday! Great service - I expected to wait at least another week.

I had planned on making this weekend as work-free as possible (both work-work and knotions-work), and I wanted to start a big project. I've started several in the past few months but I've lost steam on all of them quickly.

I decided to give Rose a try.

It fits all my criteria - great wearability, enough details to keep me interested, and ability to use stash yarn - sorta.

Rose calls for Rowan Handknit Cotton (worsted weight) and I'm subbing Rowan Felted Tweed (dk weight). It's a really different yarn but I went with it for a few reasons:

• A collar that large will likely be warm, so making it in a cotton won't make it any more wearable in warmer weather.
• I've had the Felted Tweed for 2 years now and I lovelovelove the color.
• Ever since Kristy started making sweaters in finer yarn at larger gauges I've wanted to give it a try.

I knit up a swatch at worsted gauge (20 sts/4 in) and the texture was awesome - almost spongy. I think the looser gauge may also make it a little less warm, and with the alpaca content I'm fine if it's a little less warm.

I can see wearing this sweater with a variety of bottoms - jeans (of course), khakis, cotton twill skirts, and maybe even dress pants (not sure the collar would work with dress pants). I want to find a burnt orange t-shirt to wear underneath it, thinking you may even be able to see a hint of the color though the knit with the larger gauge.

I almost decided against Rose because of the way the peplum is made - you knit a narrow band of garter stitch and then pickup stitches along the long side to do the rest of the body. I wasn't sure I had it in me to knit all that garter stitch, but something clicked and I knit over 300 rows of garter stitch yesterday and the peplum is done.

I'm making a few minor mods - I'm knitting it in the round, and I plan to knit the raglan in one piece once I knit the bottoms of the sleeves and the body. I'll also add in some short rows for bust shaping, and i decided to have the knit side face out. Rose has the purl side facing out, but I think with the tweed there's enough going on already.

It's mid-July (albeit one of the most temperate July's I've ever seen), and I already can't wait for fall so I can wear Rose! It's been a long time since I've been so taken with a project - it's nice to be back.

I started out with some eggplant Louet Linen because I love the way my Lacy Skirt with Bows works with the lace. It's got great body and washes up beautifully - nice and open without any pressing.

I washed the swatch and dried it a bit in the dryer. I know the final product would have fluffed up more. When I went to make the center bow/band though the yarn looked terrible. It just wasn't a good fit.

I was ready to ditch the project for something else with the linen (I really have an itch to use the linen) when katrinkles' finished Tie Back Shell came up on my friend activity this morning on Ravelry. Her project did me in and I had to find another yarn to use for it. (click through if you didn't - her project is really beautiful).

I went for Classic Elite Bam Boo this time. It's been in my stash for 3? years and the color is a great fit - black will be so veratile. I already have a skirt picked out to wear with it for the FO pics. I know, I'm getting ahead.

I'm more convinced this yarn is a better choice. It's closer in density to the original yarn, although the Samoa has some microfiber to keep its shape better. If the design used a lot of ribbing I wouldn't have picked it (the bamboo would never hold its shape) but since the bulk of this is lace and stockinette I think I may be able to squeak by.

Of course, I need to get through 70 inches of 1x1 ribbing for the tie before I can move ahead. Good times.

These socks have been in development for months. I've lost count the number of times I swatched and partially knit this sock. This weekend I finally bound off the sock and feel like I can now share it. Sock #2 should come together much quicker.

pattern Tufted Diamonds (rav link)
yarn Indigo Moon Nature's Harvest in Madder Red

I've wanted to design a knee high that could truly be made for a wide variety of calves. This one is custom-sized and can go up to a 20" calf. I'm also including a crew height sock in case you don't want to knit the knee high length.

pattern bifrost socks by kristel nyberg from knotions spring 2009
yarn trekking 100
mods toe-up on 1 circ

I'm teaching a toe-up 2 at a time sock class and decided to make mine patterned just to make it more interesting for me to knit. This yarn has been in my stash for ages and if it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to use a yarn the LYS carries I doubt I would have picked this. Now that I'm knitting it up I love it and can't wait to wear them.

I'm also teaching a beading class and Janine Le Cras was nice enough to allow me to use the pattern in the class. I'm going to post an update to the charts to include the beads in case anyone else is interested.

pattern seaside serenade by janine le cras in knotions spring 2009
yarn woolbearers sterling sock yarn in Colonial Blue
beads clear with a silver lining

I'm using a fingering weight yarn instead of a laceweight so this stole is going to be quite wide (at least 25"). The yarn is a real surprise to me. I don't think of myself as liking metallic yarns but this has just enough to make it sparkle without seeming over the top.

Go check it out here! I had a lot of fun with a new series called Fabric Row -- combined knit and sew projects.

The issue launches next Monday, Feb 23rd.