All posts by alaskaknitnat

Welcome to Alaska Knit Nat! I was born and raised in Anchorage and have always had a passion for making useful things, whether they are eaten, knit, crocheted, sewn or randomly glued and assembled. I received my bachelor’s degree in French and journalism from the University of Alaska Anchorage and work almost full time at a nonprofit and way over time as a mom.
Les importantes

My Quilt Finally Has a Home

1 Comment

When I graduated high school, my mom made me a quilt. Not just any patchwork, scrap quilt, but an intricate, well-planned one. Each basket square was given to a close friend, family member, or person who impacted my life. Each was given a fabric pen and instructed to write something on the square and give it back to my mom. These squares traveled as far as England. After the top was pieced, she stitched flowers and grapes and leaves on every square inch of the quilt, save the border, where she stuffed letters to form the first phrase from Shakespeare’s 18th sonnet — “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”

yeah. my mom’s a badass.

She named the quilt, “The Secret Garden.” From far away it can be admired, but only when you crawl across it with your nose nearly touching the fabric will you be able to see its true beauty. Each square has  different foliage — oak leaves for the wisdom of my father, forget-me-nots for my high school boyfriend, evergreen boughs for my now passed-away grandmother. Nothing was overlooked in this masterpiece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a young adult I was worried about using the quilt for fear of ruining it. Also, I never had a good bed for it. This quilt needs a regal bed — and I don’t just mean a queen size. It needs to be displayed with care and reverence.

Fast forward 10 years. My husband’s mom is moving out of state and she gave us an antique brass bed. Benetfinks & Comp. Made in Cheapside, London.

Thanks to both our mothers. Our guest room truly is fit for a queen.
Crafts

Tips on Tulips

Leave a comment

It was my mom’s birthday on Wednesday so on my way to work I stopped by the grocery store to buy her flowers. I brought my own vase and instead of paying a lot of moolah for a pre-made bouquet, I was just going to make my own. Daffodils were only $2 a bunch and there were all sorts of different colored tulips. I decided on a simple arrangement of daffodils and purple tulips. When I went to pay for them, the young woman behind the counter told me that daffodils are toxic to other flowers, so if you mix them, the other flowers will die.

I was surprised that a grocery store clerk knew this. I had worked at this very same flower department when I was 14 and I knew very little. I just loved flowers.
So I took her advice and went for yellow and purple tulips.
She then provided me with some other useful tulip information that I felt like sharing:

  • Tulips grow even after you cut them, which is why the purple ones in the photo look taller than the yellow — they must have grown faster
  • Tulips like pennies, so drop one in the vase not just for good luck
  • If a tulip is drooping, poke a pinhole just below the bloom and it should perk up
I gave this last advice to my mom upon floral delivery and she told me she tried it out and it totally worked. I guess a little air bubble gets stuck in the stem after it has been cut, so a little hole lets the air escape and get to the bloom.
Neat!
Les importantes

I love my mama

Leave a comment

My mama turned 60 this week. It’s hard for me to fully understand this as she’s got the spirit of a 20-year-old. She went salsa dancing twice this week and she always makes room for yoga and aerobics (she did, after all, found the aerobics association here in Anchorage in the mid-80s.) She plans on staring up pilates  soon too.

But that’s not why I love my mother. She is an exceptional person. Always level-headed. Makes practical choices. She’s an incredible quilter and sewer. She gives everything her best.

When I was a teenager, I didn’t understand why other girls my age were mortified of being seen with their mothers. My mom was my best friend and my confidante. Sure, she was silly, but that never embarrassed me. I was proud to have such an awesome mom.

As a young woman, she didn’t always make the best life choices, but it was those stories of her past that helped shape my future. Her wisdom helped me with some of my toughest decisions. She’s the one who solidified my philosophy of life: There’s no such thing as a mistake. There are choices you make in life and the best thing you can do is learn from those choices in order to live happily.

Her 60th birthday hasn’t fazed her much at all. In fact, it’s made her more motivated to live life to its fullest.

So happy birthday mama. I love you.

-Ta

Cooking, indian, recipes

Homemade Saag Paneer

1 Comment

Saag Paneer, an Indian spinach dish with fresh cow cheese, is one of my favorite foreign dishes. It’s creamy and spiceful (as opposed to spicy) and it’s got my favorite food — cheese!

My friend Mat loves to cook. Sometimes he lets me eat his delicious meals. Tonight we made this traditional Indian dish and it was fantastic. The cheese is surprisingly easy to make. I’ll provide the recipe. I’ll have to ask Mat to give me his recipe for the saag, but from what I watched him add, it seems pretty similar to this recipe by Tyler Florence, although Mat omitted butter and regretted it. :o( So below is a conglomeration of both paneer recipes.

Homemade Paneer 
Saag Paneer with Basmati Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients for the Paneer:
1 gallon of whole milk
3 Tbs. salt
juice of 1 lemon
up to 2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
Cheesecloth

For the Saag:
2 tbs. butter
2 packages of frozen chopped spinach
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 cup cream
2 teaspoons garam masala, or curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
salt to taste
3 cups basmati rice

Directions:
Pour all of the milk into a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the salt. While the milk heats up, skim off any large amounts of foam (otherwise you won’t be able to tell if it starts boiling). Meanwhile, thaw out the spinach and squeeze out some of the liquid. Set aside. Place a large piece of cheesecloth in a colander.

When the milk starts coming to a simmer, turn down the heat and add the lemon, stirring constantly. If it doesn’t start to curdle in the next 30 seconds, add a swig of vinegar. Small curds should start developing rapidly. If the milk is still clear of curds, add another swig of vinegar. When you see lots of curds, it’s time to drain the milk into the cheesecloth. Let the liquid filter out and loosely gather up the edges of the cheesecloth so none of the curds escape. Do not squeeze the curds or the cheesecloth will stick to it and you won’t get as much cheese. Just let it rest for about 10 minutes. When it’s slightly cool, place the cheesecloth between two rimmed baking sheets and place a couple of cans of soup on top to weigh it down. Just leave it there till you’re ready to prepare the dish.

Prepare the rice according to the bag’s directions.

For the saag, heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute a couple of minutes, then add the ginger and garlic and cook till onions are translucent. Sprinkle in the garam masala and cinnamon and cook about one minute. Add the spinach and mix well. Cook for about 5 minutes then add the cream. Give it a good stir and transfer to a blender. Blend till blended. Ha!

Cube up the cheese and add it to the pan, browning slightly on all sides. Return the saag to the pan. Serve over basmati rice.

cocktails

Summertime Mocktail

Leave a comment

I hung out with my friend Ashley last night and helped her sew some curtains. She had had a small party the night before and needed me to clear away some left overs. No problem! In addition to halibut chowder and cheesy bread, I downed about five glasses of this deeeelightful concoction:

And here is her recipe for it:

1 bag of frozen strawberries
some lemon slices
2 cans lemon San Pellegrino
2 cups of Sprite
2 cups of lemonade

Check out Ashley’s fun photos at her blog.

Sewing

Funky Ruffle Skirt

Leave a comment

I found this skirt pattern and really wanted to make it, but I was afraid Jo Anne’s wouldn’t have the ruffle fabric it calls for. I was wrong! They had in the discount section a bunch of crazy ruffle fabrics in all sorts of semi-hideous colors. Since this skirt was definitely an experiment, I just decided to go for it.

My machine despised sewing the elastic, but after two broken needles I was pretty satisfied. I made my skirt 20 inches long instead of 26. I’m short so that mid-calf length doesn’t do much for me. I could totally go dancing in this skirt! Also, I’m pretty sure the original pattern uses a higher quality ruffle fabric, but this was the best I could do on short notice.
Also, thanks to my friend Ashley for being a great crafter host. I had a really fun time helping her with her new sewing machine. 
Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Baby Beckham Set

8 Comments

I have recently reunited with a high school friend via Blogland and we’ve been having a good time exchanging ideas and knowledge. She’s expecting a baby boy so I sent her a little hat and mitts set.

**Click HERE for the mitten pattern**

The pattern for the Stay-Put Mitts are from Sknitty.wordpress.com. I found it on Ravelry. They knitted up quickly and I really liked the twisted rib stitch on the cuff.

The pattern for the hat is as follows:

Worsted weight yarn, a skein of each color (you don’t need a whole skein)
size 7 circular needle
size 7 double points
darning needle

Cast on 64 stitches in your main color (MC). Connect the last stitch to the first being sure not to twist your work. Place a stitch marker if you need to. Make a rib of k2, p2 for five rows. Knit 3 rounds of contrast color (CC), then 4 rounds of main color. Either cut the yarn each time you change colors (leaving a six-inch tail), or carry up the yarn when you need to use it. If you do this, don’t pull too tightly when you bring in the next color or else it will make a gap in your work. *K 3 rounds CC, K 4 rounds MC* two more times. K 3 rounds CC and cut yarn leaving a six-inch tail. Knit 1 round MC and begin decreasing as follows:
*K2tog, k6*, repeat till end of round.
K 1 round
*K2tog, k5*, repeat till end of round.
K 1 round
*K2tog, k4*, repeat till end of round.
K 1 round. While doing this, transfer to the double points as you go so there are about 14 stitches on each needle (four in all).
*K2tog, k3*, repeat till end of round.
K 1 round
*K2tog, k2*, repeat till end of round.
K 1 round
*K2tog, k1*, repeat till end of round.
K 1 round
*K2tog*, repeat till end of round.
Cut yarn, leaving a long tail and with darning needle, run the yarn through the rest of the stitches and pull shut. Weave in all ends.

cocktails

Lemon Fizz

Leave a comment

It was our first really sunny day this month, so I thought I’d celebrate with this:

Ingredients:

  • 1 shot glass of vodka
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ultra fine sugar or Splenda
  • club soda
  • ice
  • lemon slice, for garnish

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add vodka, lemon juice, sugar and top off with club soda. Stir, add lemon garnish and enjoy!