Amy Swenson is a knitting and crochet designer and software engineer living in Toronto, Canada. See something you want to make? Get started right away with downloadable Patterns using popular techniques. Learn more by taking a Class. Read the Blog to see designs in progress.
Riverbank Road is constructed to make the most of even a skein or two of your favorite sock yarn. The stockinette sections showcase color. The lace is simple enough to stand out, even in a handpaint. And the open V neckline is more than just flattering; it helps your yarn go further!
$5.00 US
This small lacey cardie with cap sleeves is knit from the bottom edging up, with no seaming. Because of the small amounts of yardage, it’s the ideal pattern for making the most of that preciously perfect yarn.
The Cloud Chaser vest is a design I’ve been dreaming of for years. Delicately cabled. Dramatically draped. The back features full cables, knit from hem to neck. The fronts are knit side to side, with a single cable detail near the edge. But the collar is the highlight here; wide and cabled and framing the neckline perfectly.
A couple suggestions on making risotto. The rice must be thoroughly tosted before adding the wine, so do not leave it just for a minute, just stir it in the hot fat until it turns translucent, nearly transparent. It’s this tosting process that makes it stand perfectly the cooking, indeed it’s a light parbolization that creates a thin tough layer on the rice grains that keps them from getting too done in a gentle way. Once the rice has been properly tosted. add the wine and stir just once to let the liquid fall to the bottom of thepot, then lower the heat (if you cook on electric plates, lower the heat a bit earlier) and let it evaporate until the smell changes from sour and winey to very mellow making sure you DO NOT STIR. Now it’s the time to add the stock: don’t add it a bit at a time stirring, this breakks the rice tough layer and makes it too soft on the outside and not perfectly cooked on the inside. Add all of the stock at once, making sure that the rice is completely submerged, stir once so that the stock reaches the bottom, and let it simmer away without touching the pan. Let me say this again DO NOT STIR. if you see that too much of the stock has evaporated, add some more, stir once and let it simmer. The stock will also prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The rice is done when it’s al dente and “all’onda”, which means “wavy”: when you shake the pan it should slosh around. This is when you turn off the heat (if you use electricity, remove the pan from the plate) add butter, cheese and stir vigorously for a couple of minutes: this makes the tough layer on the rice break and the rice releases its starch at the right moment, when the fire is out and the rice does not risk to stick and burn and when the starch can mix with the tiny amount of liquid left, the fats in the cheese and in the butter, and turn the sloshy risotto into a prefectly creamy one. And with much less effort (while the rice cooks you can do other stuff!). As an Italian (I mean, like in citizen of Italy, not like in my grand-grand parents used to be Italian) I would not serve the rice as a side to a fish or meat dish, I would have rather served it as a first course (the same amount you served) and I wold have served that lovely-looking fish as a second course (with some vegetables as a side), but this is purely out of local habits.
Hi Amy,
Found this pattern on Ravelry while looking for a project for my cascades eco wool, but also to keep me occupied for a while as I’ll be heading off to Swaziland to work with an HIV/AIDS project for a year. Saw that the $ also goes to an HIV/AIDS charity – so it’s a no-brainer, this tunic was meant to be knit!
Cheers!
J
It looks beautiful, I love both colorways and the design details. You’re very talented, don’t forget that!
© 2010 Amy M. Swenson
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