PutYourFlareOn

The woman behind the yarn

I made it over to meet Debbie Bliss today. She is such a lovely lady! We talked for about a half and an hour if you can believe it. We stood in the middle of the mercerie at the Bon Marché while French women buzzed around us buying their buttons, yarn and ribbons. Most women were not aware that Debbie Bliss was there. Even one woman came and asked her if she'd write up a fiche de produit for her. I went over and introduced myself and she asked me to call her Debbie. I was a little star struck because I had been knitting with her  yarns for so long that her name had become a household knitting term for me. At any rate, it was very cool to meet her in person. She asked me what kind of knitter I was? If I knit for other people or kept what I knit for myself? She cooed to Maximilien and noticed that he was wearing a sweater knit in her Cashmerino Aran.  I asked her about her new books and she showed me her spring/summer book called Rialto.  I did not know this yarn, it's a superwash merino with an amazingly cushy spring to it. She pulled out a sweater that she had knit with her Rialto and insisted that I try it on. I was in love. I bought the book and found that it had several other sweaters I instantly fell in love with. Isabella will be the next sweater I knit for myself. 

I went on to try (upon her request) on some other sweaters she had brought with her. I was impressed. The construction was amazing and the fit was almost perfect. She had me try on sweaters she had knit in size 34 which isn't my size and they fit rather well. I jotted down notes to remember which size  to knit as she autographed two books to me. 

Before leaving, Debbie asked me to tell my regular knitting sales woman that the Bon Marché needs to bring her back every month to have a regular knitting session apparently she loves Paris and tries to come to visit as often as she can. She even said that she'd love to come to our knitting circle someday. Imagine that?   

Yes, I still knit...

Once upon a time I used to post blogs about knitting amongst the other random things on this blog. Then I had a baby and Maximilien hijacked my blog.

Well, here is a little knitting content for ya... I've actually finished some top secret Christmas presents! I can hardly believe that I did it. Photos will be posted later as I don't want to ruin the surprise. Secondly, this Friday I am going to go and meet Debbie Bliss.  I do enjoy her yarns very much. Cashmerino Aran has been a favorite of mine for a long time and I think I will go and buy her new baby knits book that she will be dedicating this Friday at Le Bon Marché. By the way, for you Paris knitters, she will be there from 11am-5:30pm. 

I think I will buy some of her new yarn, chunky cashmerino to make myself a hat. No pattern in mind yet but maybe Debbie Bliss* can give me some advice.

* I know I keep using her full name but to call her Miss Bliss just sounds too... you get what I mean. :)

Buy Handmade

I first learned about it here. Pledging to buy handmade things is not a hard things to do for me. I appreciate a nice handmade object. I am a knitter. I dream about being a sewer (this I am working on to improve myself everyday). After reading about call backs on children's toys because of lead or harmful chemicals, it made me sit down and go through all of Max's toys to double check that he didn't have any of the toys that were harmful to his health. Looking at each tag, I realized that almost every toy he has was made in China except his stacking tower which was made in Mexico and a stuffed elephant that was made in Italy.  Even all of his books were either printed in China or printed in Mexico.  I couldn't believe it. Most toys were clearly marked with something that said designed in the US but made in China. The made in China part in a much smaller font than the designed in the US part. I guess that's supposed to make me feel better about where Max's toys come from. Well, it doesn't.

So, I am taking this pledge to buy handmade for this coming holiday season. Gifts. Toys. Household items.  I am excited to scavenger Etsy, my new favorite place on the web for gifts and inspiration. My recent favorites: StumpPondToy, Pookeh, Isofoto, and SuperCapacity.  More here. Taking this pledge has also motivated me to finish a few knit projects for loved ones as well. If you take the pledge, let me know! I would love to see what handmade treasures you have found.   

Inspired? Read more about here.

Handknit Love

Maximilien can sit up now. It is a new development that literally happened over night. I can not believe how fast he is growing up. Chatting with another mama friend online today, we were marveling at how fast our boys were hitting their milestones lately and at the same moment we both typed: :(  because it's just happening too fast. Our little boys are becoming big boys.

Max is sporting a bottom up raglan with a placket-neck that I knit for him in just three days. Three days! That's insanely fast for me. But I have to knit fast now if I want Max to wear something I make for him more than once. He's got some time with this sweater. I knit the 1-2 year old size.  Standing up he looks like he's wearing a mini dress.

Finishing this sweater was so fulfilling. I admired it as I laid it out to block and I was filled with this unexplainable feeling of love. I made something for my son. It made me think of my mother right away.  She was such the fiber artist. She made us all kinds of amazing things for us: Dresses for school dances, graduation dresses, bridesmaid dresses, curtains for our bedrooms, hand knit sweaters, scarves (or mufflers as Omma always said) to keep us warm, booties, gloves, hats, a tube top (from seeing a picture in a JCrew catalog!) a wedding quilt, afghans, and the list goes on.... I was so lucky to have all those wonderful things growing up and  I am so proud that I can do the same for Max. It will be a way to leave my legacy for him long after I'm gone just as my mother has done for me.

In the background is the quilt she made Julien and I for our wedding. This is a sweater that my mother knit for me after I showed her a photo in an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog of a sweater with long flared sleeves.

This is my favorite sweater and the last one she ever made me.

Sneak Peak

Not to get off subject here... wait, what's the subject of this blog again? Oh, that's right... whatever I want.  So, living in France, married to a Frenchman, just had a baby and I knit... you still with me, there?  Good. :)

Yes, I've finally found time to knit again.  Who needs naps when there is knitting to be done? Anyway, when I try to take a nap while the baby is napping all I can think about is yarn like this:

So, while baby sleeps... mama knits.
I love stripes. A lot. Proof here. and here.

Sock it to me

Last weekend I could have sworn that Spring was making it's way to Paris. Sunny rain showers and spring-like gales sweeping the streets reminded me of springtime in Kansas.  I look around at the Parisians bundled up like it was below zero outside while I'm wearing my spring jacket (unbuttoned) with a light weight scarf lightly draped around my neck enjoying the gust of wind blowing my hair out of my face.  Perfect weather for a pregnant lady whose oven has been on for nearly 9 months now.

I got in a little knitting in the park by my house in this weekend between rain showers. I finished sock one of the gray and green leg warmer sock for my husband.  He kept trying on my NoNo kitty socks, so I gave in...

Per my husband's request, he wanted long cuffs. "Leg warmers", he said. Same pattern as the NoNo kitty socks I made a few weeks ago.

A week ago I finished  a pair of socks for Riana of French Toast France. I'm keeping with my knitting resolution of one FO a month. Yay. Riana was sweet enough to send me a photo of the socks on her cute little feet:

Click photo for knitting details.

I tried to send them to her in time for her to wear in the hospital for the birth of her daughter but her daughter had other ideas and decided to come a little early! Check out how cute she is!

And finally, I cast on last night to make a pair of Cable Twist Socks from Hello Yarn. I'm using my favorite yarn of moment, Anny Blatt 100% Merino. It's so springy and soft. It's the same yarn I used for Riana's socks. I'm have a little trouble starting the heel, I feel like the pattern might be wrong but it's more likely me reading the pattern incorrectly.  Has anyone else had any difficulties with the heel portion of this pattern? Any ideas for an alternative heel?

The log cabin blankie is coming along nicely... I'll have an update photo of that very soon.

Ironic that I'm knitting socks when personally I hate wearing socks. First thing I do when I get home is strip down to my bare feet. Even in the winter time. So, I chalk it up to the addicting nature sock knitting is but I just can't bring myself to knit anything else right now.

Well, I'm off to figure out the heel on the Cable Twist sock. Thanks to everyone for their advice and support on my latest baby update. Time seems to be going by so fast now... I can't wait.

I actually finished something...

I have an FO for 2007! I can't believe it.  Of all things, it's a pair of socks!

Click photo for knitting details.

I thought that I would be forever doomed to only knitting one sock. For some reason I never could get my mind around the basic construction of a sock. But there was something about this yarn that mesmerized me into finishing them.  Maybe variegated yarns are the key to getting me to finish a pair of socks?  So, I've set myself a little knitting new year's resolution: One finished object a month.  I think that's pretty do-able. I feel motivated to try anyways and since I'm starting my congé maternité very soon, I think I'll be able to get a good start.

So, I've got a couple projects on the needles these days: A log cabin blankie from Mason-Dixon knitting and a chunky baby cardigan for the babe. I'm also going to be making a couple more pairs of house socks to gift to a far away blogger friend!

A good friend here in France has just confessed to me that she wants to learn to knit, so we have to get that taken care of too!

And something totally random, I hear it's supposed to snow this week in Paris! I can't believe it. But here's to hoping...

This is the beginning of my 29th week of pregnancy and I'm starting to feel the weight of the baby partout! Especially in my hips!

I hope everyone's having a wonderful start to your week. 

I love Frangipane

This is my new favorite pie! Last weekend was the fête de Galette des Rois or the celebration of Epiphany.  The holiday has been celebrated since the middle ages but more modernly it's become a way for families and friends to gather around the table to celebrate and spend time together.

I'm not a huge fan of the tarte in itself.   The original galette could look like this (Thanks, AliThinks  for the great photo!) but different regions in France have their own versions. So, with that excuse I've made my own version that my husband and I will enjoy. I love pears and he loves raspberries. I've omitted the top crusty portion of the galette and made a tarte entirely of creme d'amande and fruit.  The middle portion of the galette des rois is also called  Frangipane.  I call this my Frangipane tarte, just so much fun to say.

So check it out pre baking... the fruit will sink into the Frangipane once it's baked.

Here's the info you need to make one yourself:

Bourdaloue (Pear frangipane tarte, as I call it)

- 1 pâte sablée de 200g
- 1 crème d’amande (Recipe below)
- 1 grosse boîte de poires au sirop (or any other fruit you'd like to use)
- 1 moule à tarte

1) Beurrer la moule, le garnir avec la pâte.
2) Ajouter la crème d’amande
3) Ajouter les poires
4) Cuissons 30 minutes à four 200˚C

Crème d’amande (Or Frangipane)

-125g de beurre (en pommade)
-125g de sucre semoule
-125 g de poudre d’amande
-2 œufs à température
-30g de farine ou poudre à crème ou Maizena (corn starch) ou fécule. (I use Maizena makes for a lighter Frangipane)

1) Faire mousser le beurre. I heat the bowl in the microwave  and let the cold butter sit in the bowl for a bit to soften up. Do not melt butter completely . 

2) Incorporer la moitié de la poudre d’amande et la moitié du sucre ; faire blanchir (au batteur)

3) Ajouter 1 œuf, battre.

4)Recommencez étape 2 et 3.

5)Incorporer la poudre a crème.

My recipes are always in French and English, just the way my brain works now. Here's an english translation of the recipe.

Look!! It's a Clapotis and a rapidly disappearing belly button!!

Look it's a Clapotis and a rapidly disappearing belly button!!, originally uploaded by PutYourFlareOn.

 

Nesting?

So, maybe this is my nesting instict kicking in but I felt like making a pie tonight. Not nearly as bad as Riana's nesting kick. She made 24 dinners! But this urge for apple pie was plus fort que moi*! So here's is my tarte aux pommes pour la femme enceinte:

I kind of threw this together following my mind's logic!  I love pies but I've found that pies in France are creamier and heavier and I just don't like them as much as my mom's homemade pies.  I did not make the crust.  I just didn't have the patience to do that tonight but had a couple Picard frozen pie crusts or påte brisées in the freezer that would work just fine. 

Ingredients:

- 6 large pink lady apples (3 for making compote with, the other three to layer into the pie)
-  Cook down the apples to make a your compote sauce. Add sugar and spice as you like. I used my Penzey's apple pie spice.
-  1 påte brisée from Picard. Let it defrost while you are making the compote.
-  Layer compote and then sliced apples that have been tossed in sugar and spice.
- Bake at 200 degreed Celsius for 30 minutes.

Making a compote for the base of tarte avoids using cream or eggs for your tarte base as the French like to do. I was thinking about my thighs while making this pie. :)

Serve warm with a big glass of milk. It's better smelling than any Yankee candle and tastes pretty darn good.

* too strong to deny