I Missed You All So Much!!

Wow! Four days with no internet at home! I had SO much I wanted to share with you all, and I couldn't!

I indulged myself at a kitchen store ... bamboo cutting boards, silicone oven grabbers, a garlic crusher, mortar & pestle, etc ...

I've been wanting one of these rocking-style garlic crushers for ages.

It's fun, but tedious to clean. I use a 00 knitting needle to poke the garlic out of the holes.

I sewed some hexipuffs together...

Started a scarf which is now ....

This big.

This is a Striped Graduated Scarf from Cascade 60 Quick Knits. Being me, I have messed up the tweed pattern pretty badly.

Caught the doggie and kitty spooning one cold evening ...

And found Petunia in her favorite game; waiting till every person and animal is upstairs, then staring downstairs as if something was moving around.

Don't forget to stop by Tamis Amis for work-in-progress Wednesday!

Back on Track

I'm pleased to announce that my knitting mojo has returned. I have three WIPs on the needles.

1. The Gail (Nightsongs) shawl, which I tried last year and fubared pretty badly. I hope I'm on the right track this time. Yarn is Manos del Uruguay laceweight, purchased at the MD Sheep and Wool last year. Or the year before ... can't quite remember.

I got up to row 28 and then realized I was knitting far too tightly, so I frogged and started over. I should be okay till the last row of the chart, when I have to stop and figure out where to resume in the middle of the chart, which is one of the things that threw me last time I tried this pattern!

2. Calypso Shrug/Shoulder Wrap, from the fabulous Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders book.

The pattern is very simple and mindless, but I might have chosen the wrong yarn for it. This is like the crazy-eyes scarf pattern, where you yo1, then 2, then 3 times to make a stretched out pattern. But the yarn is this odd thick-and-thin blend I bought at last year's S&W, and I'm afeared it won't work right when I go to block. But I'm three pattern repeats in, so I don't want to stop.

3. The Beekeepers Quilt, also known as Hexipuff.

I'm going to start sewing these together so I won't be trying to sew 300 of them all at once.

I leave you with this absurdity, which is really a very typical Spinster Beth sort of thing.

Question: Do you ever re-use your spice jars, but don't relabel them? 

Any guesses? 

So that is what I am up to! Don't forget to stop by Tamis Amis on Wednesday, for WIP Wednesday.

Well, this is a First!

I started knitting in 2005. I have knit constantly since then, always something on the needles or lined up for next. But two days ago ... a strange thing happened.

I finished these ...

And had nothing to follow them with.

Seven years straight. But now it's just me and the hexipuff quilt, which is a sporadic project. I couldn't believe it. In desperation, I cast this on ...

But I don't know if I'll stick with it, so I won't go into any detail until I know if it's going to be an actual project, or if it was just a stopgap so I wouldn't freak out at not having something to knit. I think it's the self-imposed yarn starvation diet I put myself on. It's crushed my imagination. I hope this project shakes me out of it. 

(That's Edgar giving it a cat-scan).

Okay, that is it for me ... I'm very tired tonight, and I think I'll be hitting the sack early. Don't forget, though, tomorrow is Work in Progress Wednesday at Tamis Amis!

Hurrying to Beat the Deadline!

NaKniMitMo is almost over .... so close! Must hurry!

So close ...

I still have to do the thumbs!

(Yes, I screwed up halfway through the finished mitten. I didn't notice till now)

I'm not really all that worried about getting caught at the end of NaKniMitMo with an unfinished pair ... I just like to tie up loose ends, is all.

What's February? Anyone know? Any National Knitting for February?




In other news, my quests to make good homemade bread continues. I followed someone's excellent advice from last week ... well, modified it, anyway. I cooked soup in my microwave for 7 minutes, then put the dough in the microwave -- now nice and humid -- to rise. It rose wonderfully. And it rose wonderfully, while baking. The problem is my shaping of the bread ... it's too dense and moist in the middle, and the top burns before the middle is done.

In other news, my smoke alarm works.

Here are the before-and-after loaves:

I followed the directions I found online, which instructed me to roll the dough into a rectangle and then fold in thirds. I did that. I didn't pinch the edges down very tightly, though, as you can see. I think the one on the left looks obscene.

I also slashed the top, as instructed, which makes it much easier to cut afterwards, and should have contributed to the loaves rising so high.

So do you all think I just have to shape the loaves into a broader loaf? Do you all think that's what needs to be done to fix the too-dense-in-the-middle issue? I'd welcome any tips!

I leave you with Coraline and Mamma Girl in their favorite spot.

Don't forget to stop by Tamis Amis  for Work in Progress Wednesday!

I'm a Bit Hooked on These

"These" being color-work mittens ...

I finished the Daisy Mittens by String Theory and gifted them today.

And promptly started looking for another pair to cast on. Now I am still determined to use up my stash, so I had to find a pair that would use the same knitpicks yarn, 7 st per inch, which is what I have in abundance. I settled on another pair by String Theory, Flower Mittens:

The only difference I made is that I chose to make a ribbed cuff, rather than the doubled-stockinette stitch cuff, which involves sewing (something I am spectacularly not good at).

I haven't yet decided who these will go to for a gift, I really just want to knit mittens right now. Heaven knows, the last thing I need is more mittens in my cupboard.





In other news, I was off work Monday and spent the whole day baking and cooking! I made this delicious Savory Tart, from my favorite non-knitting blog, "Reading my Tea Leaves." If you like rich, delicious, savory-sweet tarts, you will love this. It's made with mushrooms, carmelized onions, eggs, cream, goat cheese, and a touch of fig preserve on the goat cheese. In a delicious pastry shell. I don't often bake, but this was totally worth it.

(recipe here)













And since I forgot to buy bread, I baked some.

(Ignore the hole)

 

It is very hard to find a warm place in my house for dough to rise when it's January, so it didn't get very big. 

 

What are you all up to? How are the resolutions coming along? 

 

Don't forget to stop by Tamis Amis for Work in Progress Wednesday!  

Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Mittens, Do ...

Am I old? I know that song (although it's supposed to be "give me your answer," not "mittens"), so yeah, I guess I'm old!

In any case, the Daisy Mittens are done. Here, they're resting after a warm bath.

I really enjoyed knitting these ... probably because I finally figured out how to carry the yarn in both hands, and that made it a lot easier. No tangled yarn, no fiddling around with two strands in one hand.

I'm going to go find something else to knit in colorwork, while the mood is upon me!








I actually do not have a project to start ... this has got to be the first time I've ended one project without another in mind. I'm off to scour the Ravelry pattern searcher. I might even try another lace project ... maybe.

Possibly.

Or not. Lace has kicked my rear-end twice in the past, I'm not sure if I'm up for round three just yet. But I am still ferociously determined that 2013 will be my de-stash year, so I must find something I can apply to stash yarn. I've done a lot of shawls, scarves, cowls, socks ... what else is there that only takes up a skein or two?

And in closing ...  

GO RAVENS!!!

To Block or Not to Block?

Block, definitely!

Blocking turned this ...

To this!

Voila, citron!

I'm not sure how many inches longer it is now, but it made a huge difference.

I have blocking wires and t-pins; I used the wires along the top, and the pins at the edges. Rather than soaking first and worrying about having to handle sopping wet yarn, I use a spray bottle.

Yarn is not-crazy Zauberball.

Sometimes I'm lazy and don't get around to it right away, but eventually I do, and I'm always so pleased with the result.

Here's another, the Elizabeth's Diagonal Scarf...

I only blocked this one to show the patterned edges. Yarn is Berocco Boboli.

So there are two completely finished objects, for a lovely Tamis Amis Finished Object Friday! Stop by and see what everyone else is up to!

This *is* my thrilled face.