I’ve been pretty intimidated by the vast creativity on Etsy that I’ve been hesitant to open up shop. It’s a humble start — so far just custom-made flower crowns — but I hope you’ll take a look! Thanks to my friend Kate for being my model today.
xoxo,
Natasha
Happy Easter! It’s currently snowing here in Anchorage, which makes today’s pattern just perfect.
I was scrolling through some old knitting patterns on my blog and I came across my Chunky Ascot Pattern, which included a terrible Hipstamatic photo (before Instagram existed). I decided it was worth making a new ascot just to update the photo.
This pattern uses chunky yarn or you can knit two strands of worsted weight yarn together. It takes very little yarn, so it’s a great way to use up any leftover high quality fibers. I used Malabrigo and Manos de Uruguay worsted alpaca.
The Aspen Ascot is just right for a chilly spring morning when you don’t need a bulky scarf. The two spade-shaped ends create a lovely bow look.
The pattern isn’t difficult, but it does require thinking outside the box. You’ll use three double-pointed needles for the part where you create the loop. The instructions sound sort of whack, but trust the way it’s written and it should make sense in the end.
The Aspen Ascot – a free knitting pattern from Alaska Knit Nat
Materials:
One ball of chunky alpaca, or two strands of worsted knitted together
3 size US 10 double-pointed needles
darning needle
Abbreviations:
M1FB — make 1 stitch in the front and 1 stitch in the back of the same stitch, thus increasing the piece by 1 stitch
k2tog— knit two stitches together
Directions:
Cast on 2 stitches. M1FB of the first stitch, K the next stitch.
Continue to M1FB of the first stitch of every row till you have 16 stitches.
K 12 rows in garter stitch. I slip the first stitch of every row to keep the rows neat and even.
Next row: *Knit the first stitch, transfer the second stitch to the third double point needle.* Repeat * to end of row. You should have 8 stitches on each needle.
Starting with the needle that has the working yarn, K1, P1 for 9 rows. Cut yarn, leaving a 6-inch tail.
With the other needle holding 8 stitches, leave a 6-inch tail and K1, P1 for 9 rows, but don’t cut the yarn when done.
Next row: *Knit the first stitch from both the front and back needles together, then knit one from the front and one from the back.* Repeat * till there is 1 stitch on each needle. Knit these two stitches together. You should now have 12 stitches on one needle.
Knit in garter stitch till the work is long enough to go around your neck and touch the loop you just created, about 12 inches.
Next row: *K1, K2tog* Repeat * to end of row. You should now have 8 stitches again. K1, P1 for 9 rows.
Next row: M1FB in each stitch. You should now have 16 stitches.
Knit in garter stitch for 12 rows.
Next row: K1, K2tog, K to end of row. Repeat the last row till there are 3 stitches remaining.
Bind off. Weave in tails. Sew on decorative button to one side of the loop if you desire.
Easter is an unfamiliar holiday for our family, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get creative with hard-boiled eggs.
Pinterest will show you endless egg possibilities but I’m frankly too lazy to attempt most of them. I also don’t have egg dye.
We decided to bust out our $2 water colors and paint our eggs. It turned out to be far less messy than egg dye and our 3-year-old had a great time coloring his eggs.
We baked the eggs to prevent cracking. Then we just set them out in a muffin tin with some water colors and markers and let our son go to town. Fun!
For years I’ve struggled with stir fry. It seems easy enough: chop meat and veggies, fry them up in a hot pan, toss with sauce and serve over rice or noodles. I could do the veggie part right, but the meat always turned out pale and chewy. I wanted that crispy beef you get at a restaurant that’s tender and flavorful.
I finally figured it out. It isn’t even hard. First, my kitchen stove isn’t hot enough. It can’t heat a wok like an industrial restaurant flame can. So right away I was set up to fail. My first step was to ditch the wok. My stove just can’t heat the bottom of a wok to a high enough heat. Instead I place a cast iron skillet in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees before putting it over a hot flame. This produces the hottest pan and will help with that caramelized sear I’m looking for on the meat.
Second, tenderize the meat. In the past I just sliced my beef thinly and tossed it into a pan. I find poking it all over with a fork or a meat stabber creates a more tender final product.
Third, don’t overcrowd the pan. Adding a large quantity of cold meat to a hot pan will lower the pan’s heat and it’ll take longer to reheat it. Cook your beef in two batches and the pan will stay hotter. Lastly, don’t move that meat! To achieve that perfect sear, toss in the beef and don’t stir it, shake it or flip it for a minute.
Here’s a recipe I came up with tonight, inspired by this recipe, and using what I had available in my kitchen. I hope you don’t feel intimidated by the number of ingredients. Most of them are staples in my kitchen. Use whatever veggies you like. That’s the great thing about stir fry. It’s customizable. Serve over noodles or rice, whichever you prefer. I happened to have udon noodles so that’s what I went with tonight.
Perfect Beef Stir Fry — A Free Recipe from Alaska Knit Nat
Ingredients (all of these measurements are estimated):
Directions:
Tenderize the beef with a meat stabber or a fork. Slice thinly across the grain. In a bowl combine soy sauce, vinegar, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp. sesame oil, corn starch, salt and pepper. Add the sliced beef, coat in the mixture and set aside.
Place a cast iron skillet in a cold oven and set the temperature to 500 degrees. Set a large pot of water to boil. Cook noodles for nine minutes, rinse with cold water and set aside.
In the meantime, chop the onions and bok choy. Massage the kale for a minute. This helps it be more tender when cooked. In a medium bowl, combine the sherry, oyster sauce, chicken stock and ginger; set aside.
When oven reaches 500 degrees, remove the cast iron pan and place it over a high flame. Add some cooking oil, enough to coat the pan, and let it heat for a minute. Add half of the beef and spread it evenly on the pan. Now don’t move it! Let it sit and sear for one minute. Flip each piece, toss in the dried peppers and garlic and let it sit another minute. Place into the bowl with the sherry and oyster sauce. Add a little more oil to the skillet and let it reheat for a minute. Add the second batch of beef and cook the same way.
In the now empty pan, add a little more oil if needed and toss in the onions. Stir and let cook for a few minutes till onions begin to soften and brown slightly. Add the bok choy, kale and sugar; toss to coat in the oil. Add a splash of chicken stock and let the greens cook down for a few minutes, until tender. Add the beef mixture and green onions and toss well. Serve over the noodles.
I seem to struggle with basic recipes such as steaming peas and frying bacon. Green beans fall into this category. I either undercook them or overcook them; either way they turn out not good. Welp, I finally figured it out. Slightly sweet, tangy and caramelized, these green beans were the easiest.
The best green beans ever
Serves 2
Ingredients:
Directions:
Heat a cast iron pan over high heat. Add the butter. When melted, add the green beans. Cook on high for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss in the marsala and thoroughly coat the green beans. Keep cooking until beans start to brown and caramelize, about three minutes. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking another few minutes until green beans are tender.
Yesterday was my birthday and I’m fortunate to have friends and family who know me well enough to buy me flowers on my special day. Fresh flowers add so much cheer to my home, but this simple luxury isn’t something I can always afford. That’s why I like to make my fresh flowers last as long as possible before having to toss them.
Here are some simple ways you can make your grocery store flowers liven up your home for several days.
1. Buy fresh flowers
This may seem like a no-brainer, but the less time the flowers have been in the grocery store, the longer you can enjoy them in your home before they wilt. Look for blooms that haven’t yet fully opened. If you’re buying lilies or daffodils, select a bouquet where only a couple have opened and several are still closed up. This will ensure you will have blooms for days to come. If purchasing roses, avoid the romantically opened blooms. Those will only go bad quickly. Here’s a rose tip: gently squeeze the base of the bloom. It should feel sort of firm like a golf ball. If it’s squishy, then that rose is on its way out.
Continue reading 8 Simple Steps to Long-lasting Grocery Store Flowers
I love junk food. LOVE IT. But there are lots of reasons why I shouldn’t eat it on the regular.
I’m not a big fan of diet recipes that try to emulate the real deal. Usually they lack in flavor or texture. But I’m willing to try them once in a while.
Here’s a recipe that satisfies my fast food desire: homemade chicken nuggets. Not only are they kid friendly (my son gobbled them up), but they are great for those on low-carb or gluten-free diets.
This is a great weeknight dish since they only take about 40 minutes from start to finish. Serve them with cheesy broccoli quinoa and you’ve got yourself a tasty junk-like meal.
Low Carb Chicken Nuggets
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
1 pound of chicken tenders (chicken breast would be fine)
1 tsp. baking soda (optional)
3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
Cut your chicken into two-inch pieces. Place them in a bowl with two tablespoons of cold water and the baking soda. Let sit for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. (This step is optional, but I find it makes a more tender nugget as per America’s Test Kitchen’s advice).
Whisk together the eggs in a pie pan. Combine the dry ingredients in another pie pan.
Toss the chicken pieces in the egg then gently dredge them in the almond flour mixture. Place on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, flip them and bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool a couple of minutes before serving.
Thanks for checking out my Northern Lights Memory Blanket pattern. I have a little note for you. I wrote this pattern when I was a much less experienced crocheter. I don’t have a lot of experience writing crochet patterns and I have had a few people contact me about how the set-up rows are written in a confusing manner.
Unfortunately, as I’m a full-time working mom I don’t have the ability to recreate this pattern to check for errors. I based this pattern on the Granny Stripe Scarf from PurlSoho.com, so if you have difficulty following my pattern I recommend you read their instructions. Once the first few rows are set up it crochets very easily – just like a granny square. Instead of working in the round, though, you crochet back and forth.
Back to my original post:
A few weeks ago I tidied up my yarn collection and realized I have a whole lotta yarn. Too much yarn. I have a loose rule that I can’t buy more yarn until I use the last yarn I purchased. That doesn’t always work out, apparently.
I decided to work on a lap blanket to curl up on the couch with. I knew crochet was the way to go. It not only goes by more quickly than knitting but it also uses up yarn faster, which is just what I wanted. Instead of following a striped pattern, I opted to go with the flow. I started with some tripled up DK weight red wool I had used to knit a teeny tiny baby sweater. As soon as I reached the end of a skein I brought in a different skein.
As I crocheted along I was reminded of each project I had bought the yarn for. It was becoming a memory blanket. After I got through purple, the blanket was starting to remind me of the Aurora Borealis. I’ve not had the opportunity to see more than green and white with my own eyes, but the northern lights can be all colors of the spectrum.
I’m overjoyed with the end product. It’s every color I love and perfectly cozy.
Continue reading Northern Lights Memory Blanket — A free crochet pattern
My local yarn shop started carrying Malabrigo yarn. I have never knitted with Malabrigo before, but I know some knitters who are total snobs about this yarn. They refuse to knit with anything else. I now understand why. The Malabrigo worsted merino is like knitting with clouds. It’s so soft and light between my fingers – an absolute joy to work with. It’s also reasonably priced for the quality. At around $12 per hank, it has so much potential for small projects without breaking the bank.
I really wanted to show of the lustre and quality of the yarn. I decided on a cabled cowl. I don’t have much experience with cables except that they aren’t really difficult; they just take concentration and the ability to keep track of rows.
I wanted to try something beyond a simple cable, but nothing too complicated. I settled on a lovely Ravelry pattern from Auriga’s Knits called the Spikelets Cowl. I recommend this pattern to those who have a little experience with cables but are ready to go to the next level. It was fun to knit, and even more luxurious to wear.
I used one hank of Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Purple Mystery.
Boy, sending mail to Belgium takes a while! I’m so thrilled to finally be posting this pattern. I had to wait for it to arrive in my friend’s mailbox before I could publish it. Enjoy!
Last summer an old friend of mine got married on the Greek island of Paros, which is known for its brilliantly white buildings contrasted against the blue Aegean Sea. I wanted to send her a handmade wedding gift that represented the beautiful location of her wedding. Since I have limited artistic talent (I am not a brilliant illustrator as she is), I decided to knit her an ombre scarf. Ombre might still be considered trendy, but I know I’m a little past the height of ombre hype.
I had a difficult time finding yarn that was the right color, so I settled with a “Frozen”-esque ice blue. Elsa wasn’t whom I had in mind when I made this scarf, but I do love the colors anyway.
I wanted to try an unusual stitch pattern instead of doing my basic ribbing or garter stitch. I don’t have a great attention span for stitch patterns that take 14 rows to complete, so I found a lovely pattern that is repeated every 4 rows. This way I can set it down anytime and be certain where I left off. I went with St. John’s Wort Stitch.
St. John’s wort is a flowering plant that is used medicinally as a sort of cureall. It’s supposedly good for treating anxiety, depression and cuts. I made this scarf so my friend can feel cozy and safe, so it’s fitting it is named for a healing, cheer-you-up herb.
I hope my friend is able to think of this scarf as a warm hug from her past. We haven’t seen each other in more than 10 years, so I wanted her to have a little reminder of home and of her happy day in Santorini.
Fuzzy Ombre Scarflet
1 hank Heritage Cascade Sock Yarn, color 5630 (or any sport weight yarn in ice blue that is more than 200 yards). I’ll call this color B
1 hank Heritage Cascade Sock Yarn, color 5682 (white). I’ll call this color A.
1 skein Dale Påfugl mohair, color 0010 (or 100 yards of any mohair brand in white). I’ll call this color 1.
1 skein Dale Påfugl mohair, color 6815 (blue). I’ll call this color 2.
US 10 needles
Continue reading Fuzzy Ombre Scarflet — A Free Knitting Pattern
Alaska Knit Nat 