FO: Smocked Guernsey Socks

This project technically marks my first fully successful pair of socks :) When Craftsy announced a free sock Knit-Along for this year, I knew it would be a great kick to actually make some for myself. I always have good intentions with socks, but my first pair (still yet to be officially blogged - holy cow, lol) took FOREVER and then turned out too big. This is entirely my fault, and I really should've started with a simpler pattern, but I was making them along with a Craftsy class (they were the Lace Knee Socks from Knit Sock Workshop) so I thought all would be well. Again, it was completely user error that the socks didn't turn out and I still love the pattern and hope to make them again, but that experience certainly put me off socks for a while. A full year in fact. Anyway, I decided to just bite the bullet and try again - knitting is great about that.

The first pattern was released in the class on January first. I deliberated for a few days as to what yarn to use, and in the end I just grabbed the skein I wanted to knit with the most. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Grape Gatsby colorway that was made exclusively for the Soak Box kit sold through Craftsy a year or so ago. It was a great kit and a great deal at the time, but it's sat in my stash ever since. I've longed to use this lovely yarn, and decided it was time. The yarn is wonderfully soft and silky, plus it's nice and warm on your toes :) 

The smoothness of the yarn made these socks ridiculously comfy, and since I actually measured my foot instead of going by the size I thought would work for my shoe size, these socks fit this time! Hooray! Like, I could actually wear these with shoes and be comfy. What a novel idea, lol. I did have a slight casualty with these and broke one of my size 1 bamboo dpns. It was inevitable really - seriously those things are like long toothpicks. I switched to metal needles then (and now have some carbon fiber needles) and didn't have any other problems. So keep that in mind - have extras on hand if you use bamboo.

So, back to the pattern. This is the Smocked Guernsey Sock pattern by Lucy Neatby which is free along with the free class. These were made from the cuff down (now my preferred technique for sure) and the class gave lots of great knitting tips even if you've made socks before. To start with, you cast on more stitches at the cuff then you technically need, knit ribbing for about 1/2", then decrease in the purls so you can't actually see that it isn't just normal ribbing. This makes the top of the cuff a little looser but still grabs enough at the base of the cuff for your socks to stay up - genius! You then knit some purl rows to separate the motifs, which I think gives a really nice finish, and then start the smocked stitch.

The smocked stitch is made by slipping 2 stitches onto a cable needle (or a darning needle in this case - a great tip that made it so much faster) then you wrap your working yarn around the two stitches two times and slip them onto the left needle to keep on knitting. You then just knit 3 rows, then on the 4th you wrap the two stitches between the previously wrapped stitches so the pattern staggers. I'm sure I'm not describing that well, but you can watch the free class and she shows you how to do it. The stitch was really simple to do, but certainly a little time consuming. I really love the effect though and it turned out that my yarn worked perfectly with this pattern since the little wrapped stitches end up a different color than the row they are knit into. The heel is a really neat technique too - you slip one knit one, then purl them all on the way back. It made for a very thick heel that is certainly going to last a good long time. The heel was a little interesting to wrap your head around, but the class made it all perfectly clear and I had no issues.

The only pace where I deviated from the pattern was at the toe - the class tells you how to knit a "toe chimney" which sounded interesting, but in reality is just a way to avoid kitchener stitch to close it up. That sounded like to much more work and I've used kitchener plenty of times, so I just did it the old fashioned way and it worked great. I included this pic though to show off the neat detail at the end of the smocking - isn't it pretty?!

So, there you have it - a pretty awesome pair of socks :) I knit them on and off over 3 weeks in January with the best intentions to stay up to date with each of the 3 patterns the class would release (I've already failed miserably at the others, lol) and this was a great project to take around with me - it really is true how people say that socks are the perfect project to throw in your bag since they're small and don't involve lots of small pieces. I've got the sock bug now for sure (in fact I immediately cast on another pair modifying this pattern with some fantastic yarn, but I haven't finished them yet). I absolutely recommend this free knitting class if you are interested in knitting socks. Even though I had knitted socks before, I learned quite a few great tips and really enjoyed the class. Plus how can you beat free? lol Yay for fun socks!

*The links in this post are affiliate links, but I purchased my materials myself. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. 

Fantastic New Free Class on Craftsy: Complete Knife Skills

This weekend marked two awesome accomplishments for me. I finished my sweater (photos to come in a few days - the weather is super rainy right now), and I also learned how to properly use knives in the kitchen! I actually accomplished these two things simultaneously - isn't technology great? :)

Craftsy just released a new free class called Complete Knife Skill. The class is taught by Chef Brendan McDermott and is seriously chock full of incredibly simple yet invaluable information. Within a few minutes of watching, I was really amazed by how much I had learned. Chef McDermott goes through the 3 main types of knives used most often in a professional kitchen, why they are used and how, how to hold them, and how to perform the standard cuts on different types of vegetables. I never realized that I should be using my big chef knife more often! The class teaches you what is taught to professional chefs to make their lives easier and their cutting more efficient. It's all about reducing the amount of work you have to do - the knife should be doing the work. 

Thanks to our new smart tv that Justin and I bought ourselves for Christmas, I was even able to watch this class on the big screen! I just signed in on the tv and came into the future, lol. It was fantastic to watch it this way because I could see the details so much better. I highly recommend this if you have the means.

So while I finished up my button bands on Sunday afternoon, I also learned how to use a knife like a pro - talk about multi-tasking! I'm actually excited about the next time I need to cut an onion, which is a huge deal as I am super crazy sensitive to crying. This class actually teaches you how to avoid crying at all - I never knew that was even possible! It's all about the grain of the onion and not releasing much of the liquid (that's what makes you cry).

Anyway, I could gush all day about this - suffice it to say that even if you have had no interest in any of the Craftsy classes I have posted about, this one is THE CLASS you need to take. Everyone should take this class. It's not very long, but it packs a crazy amount of useful info that will benefit your cooking forever. Who wouldn't like their chopping to not take so long, amiright? So head over here to sign up for this class. It's free and you can watch it whenever you want, as many times as you want, forever!

Sign up for this class now! Don't wait! You won't regret it!

*Expired* Behold My Beautiful Dumplings :) Plus A Giveaway!

I received a thrilling email a few weeks ago asking if I would like to try one of Craftsy's new Food & Cooking classes and review it. Would I?! I couldn't respond fast enough :) After much deliberation (and much wanting of all the classes), I decided to go with the Favorite Asian Dumplings From Scratch Class.

I decided on this class because it seemed the most out of my usual cooking comfort zone, so I would gain the most knowledge from it. I've never made anything like dumplings before :) I was able to watch the first several lessons of the class the next day, and it really made me want to jump right in and make some dumplings! The class starts off with simple wontons and the teacher - Andrea Nguyen, chef and cookbook writer - shows you how to make them with soup as well as fry them. It all looked so easy and delicious, not to mention I already had most of the ingredients on hand except the wonton wrappers. So, I bought some wrappers and got to work :)

I did have to make a few changes to the basic recipe. The class calls for shrimp in the wontons, but I didn't have any on hand and funds are a bit tight. I did, however, have ground chicken, so I just substituted that for the shrimp. Asian dumplings are all about using what you have, so I felt confident it would work out ok. Once I mixed the filling, I let it sit for 30 minutes. While it sat, I started on the soup. The recipe in the class actually shows you how to use canned chicken stock and "doctor" it to make it better - how great is that? It was so simple. Of course, I had to complicate things a little :) My husband seriously loves tofu and said that I just had to put it in because it just isn't wonton soup without it. Plus I was serving this for dinner, not an appetizer, and the tofu would give it a little more filling substance to make it more of a "rib-stickin' meal" :) So, I chopped up a few slices of extra firm tofu and threw them in. I also added garlic because ... well, I just love garlic. I simmered the soup to get it nice and hot and let all the flavors mingle.

Then came the fun part: assembling the wontons :)

The class shows you how to fold the wontons in 4 different ways - triangle, nurse's cap, flower bud and advanced flower bud. I tried all but the "advanced" flower bud and that's only because I didn't have a chopstick on hand. I liked the nurse's cap and the flower bud best - they just look fancier :)

Then I 'poached' the wontons (poaching is a lighter boil so they don't roll around so much and break). The white color in the water in the photo is from the cornstarch on the wrappers.

Once the wontons were finished, I used a slotted spoon and transferred them to the soup pot. This lets them absorb a little of the soup's flavor before serving.

And that's it! Crazy easy, huh? To serve them, you scoop the wontons into the bowl first, then pour some of the soup in, then garnish with scallions and sesame oil. Et voilà!

Isn't it pretty?! I just love the colors mixed around in there. Even better - it tasted fantastic! It tasted just like it was supposed to, which I was thrilled about :) My husband loved it too, so this is definitely a successful recipe.

A few days later, Justin and I decided to make more wontons :) This time, I tried frying them. My whole family wanted me to make them some to try, so I actually made a triple batch, lol. I ended up making 63 wontons in all. These also had ground chicken filling (again, I already had it on hand).

These were super simple to make, just a little time consuming because you can really only fry about 10 at a time. And what would fried wontons be without something to dip them in?

The class includes a delicious recipe to make your own sweet & sour sauce - which is incredibly each and so much better than the generic red glop you usually get at take out restaurants. Everyone really enjoyed these. I served them with rice and called it dinner, lol.

So, what did I think of the class?

This class has seriously demystified Asian dumplings for me. I think we are naturally inclined to think of any different types of food as difficult, but that really isn't true. It's not hard at all to make Asian food, just different than I was used to. I never even thought of making my own Asian food before about a month ago and every recipe I have tried has been not only delicious, but also really easy to make. These dumplings are no exception! The class very clearly shows you how to make wontons, siu mai (dim sum), gyoza, wonton wrappers, and more. I've learned quite a bit of useful cooking advice that I've already applied to my non-Asian-cooking as well. Andrea Nguyen really breaks things down so that anyone could make them. She describes different ingredients you can get at an Asian market too, which is a whole different type of welcomed info :)

I'm very into dumpling making now, and it's all because of this class! I've even asked for some of the tools to cook them with for Christmas so I can make more, lol. I love that this Craftsy class made it so easy for me to gain these new skills, and my family is excited about the new foods they get to try :) I give this class an absolute 5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait to make more dumplings!

Want to win a cooking class of your choice from Craftsy?
Enter through the Rafflecopter widget below (give it a few seconds to load if it doesn't show up immediately). This giveaway will run until Sunday, 12/15/2013 at midnught EST. This giveaway is open to international readers, too. The winner will be announced on Monday, 12/16! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* This giveaway is sponsored by Craftsy. I was given a free cooking class to review, but all opinions expressed are 100% my own and not influenced in any way. I just really loved this class!

New Free Craftsy Classes - And Behind The Scenes Info

This past week, Craftsy released 2 more Free mini classes :) 

A New Look at Longarm Quilting

and Machine Embroidered Classics.

Personally, I'm fascinated by watching longarm quilting - it's inexplicably mesmerizing. Like watching How It's Made. So even if you don't have a longarm quilting machine, it would be neat to see in action.

Behind The Scenes - Making A Craftsy Class

Before filming even begins, hours and hours are spent determining what content will be covered in each class. and how to best teach specific techniques to the camera. Instructors work with an instructional designer to create and in-depth outline of each lesson, and decide how to best prepare props or "step-outs" that show what your project should look like at different steps. Instead of a scripted class, instructors follow their outlines on camera to create an authentic and engaging teaching experience.

Most Craftsy classes are filmed in one of five Craftsy studios in Denver, CO, assuring that every part of the production goes off without a hitch. They fly in instructors from all over the world to spend several days filming, then spend several weeks turning hours of footage into a two to three hour class experience that has been watched, rewatched, and reviewed by industry experts. The final result is an HD-quality video that takes you in-depth into specific topics in any given craft category - from cooking and fine art to sewing and knitting.

What is the Craftsy Experience?

Craftsy classes are designed to have all the benefits of an in-person class, with none of the drawbacks. Available online and on-demand, you always have world-class instructors at the tip of your fingers. You can retake the class as many times as you want, and the 30-second repeat feature allows you to watch the same section over and over again until you get every technique just right.

Watching a Craftsy class is like having a first-row seat with some of the best instructors in the world. Even better, classes have a 100% money-back guarantee.

Try online learning today with a free mini-class from Craftsy! Choose from 23 Free classes ranging from drawing and painting to sewing and quilting, from knitting to cake decorating and more.

Sign up for Craftsy for free now and get ready for their big Black Friday weekend sale! I'll post more info when it gets closer, but all classes will be on sale so definitely check back :)