Have I mentioned how much I love sitting and knitting with other people? Tonight was fun. Met 3 new girls and I hope that I can make it out for more knitting.

One of my mittens is done. I think that's a record for me. I plan on finishing the second mitten this weekend along with starting the Onde sweater. Can't wait. A whole weekend of knitting. That's life. :)

Who would have thought that gloves, or fingerless gloves in this case, would be so much fun? I started the cuff on the train yesterday morning, did up to the beginning of the hand during the day at work (shhhh, don't tell the boss!), and by the time I went to bed last night (11pm), I had put the stitches for the thumb on a holder and finished the pinky finger. This morning I did the ring finger. 2 more fingers, plus the thumb, and I'll have a semi finished mitten. The flap will be the only thing left to do. Either these mittens work up really quickly, or I'm knitting faster. And I sincerly doubt that they knit up quickly, since it's sock yarn and on size 2 needles.

I'm going to a cafe tomorrow to meet some knitters. Should be a fun time. :)

12:30pm: I got my Onde package!! The yarn is really nice looking. I looked at the pattern and I see that it's on size 2 and 5 needles...I hope this flies by as quickly as the gloves! I can't wait to start on it!!

Ok, so I still haven't taken pictures of the strappy tank, or have had pics taken of me in it. Maybe this weekend. It did go over quite nicely at work the other day.

I have started the Broad Street Mittens using the leftover yarn from the Krazy Socks. I bought 4 balls of the krazy sock yarn, so I've got plenty for the mittens. I've never done gloves before, so it's an adventure for me, and it doesn't cost me any more money.

I balled up a hank of Blue Heron laceweight yarn over the past few days. It took forever to ball it up, AND I was using a swift. I'm grateful that my son has no interest in my toys and didn't touch the swift/ball halfway through the winding, or else it would have been a disaster. I brought out size 11 circs to start a shawl with the yarn, listening to the woman at a yarn shop on needle size recommendations (the tag the yarn came with didn't give a needle size). It was way too big, and while I know that lace is supposed to be open and all, this was WAY too open. I did about 6 rows before I ripped it out and restarted with size 7. This was perfect, til I paused mid row for something and accidentally dropped one of the needles...everything halfway unravelled. So I ripped it all and put it away. I'll try again tonight.

My Phildar Onde has still not arrived. I'm becoming very impatient. The mail guys here at the office are going to start wondering about me because I'm always so excited to see a package, then so disappointed when it's not for me. I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning.

My strappy tank is done, and I love it. It’s not fitted, but not too loose. It helps hide my less pretty parts, while helping to accentuate the prettier parts. J I will have to take a picture of it soon.

I purchased a ball of ribbon yarn that I thought I’d try during the yarn crawl. The woman at Seaport yarns told me to buy one ball to see if I liked working with the ribbon yarn before I purchased 13 balls for a project. My thanks go out to her because I hate it. Maybe it’s just this one type…I’ll have to try another type; I’m not swearing off ribbon yarn altogether. This stuff is horrible. I started a swatch that would have been made into a scarf, but hubby said that it would be cool as a doily in the shape of the Reverse Bloom Washcloths (flower shape). So, that’s what’s it become. I’ve done all the petals and started the center. Should be done with it tonight, and maybe pics along with my strappy tank.

I’ve got to get size 1 and size 2 circs for socks. If I’m going to be addicted to the socks may as well have the 3 major sized needles for socks, right? I’ve already got size 3.

I’m impatiently waiting for my Phildar package. The mail guy came around earlier with a box and I got so excited, til I saw that it was for the boss. Blech.

I’m really stalling on the baby blanket. All that sewing. I didn’t have a problem with seaming til this project. Now I may just have to search out several projects done in the round without seams. Now I know not to do anymore baby blankets that are done in squares.

You may notice on the side my works in progress has changed slightly. I finished the knitting portion of the strappy tank and now I can't see why the criss cross straps scared me. It was quite simple and fun actually. I've got blocking and sewing up to do and then it's ready for picture taking and wearing. Who knows. You may just get a picture of me in the tank....

The baby blanket sewing up that I mentioned earlier was not done. Silly me took the book with the pattern to work to pass along to my mom. I wrote down the finishing instructions, but neglected to write down the order to sew up the squares in. I DID separate them into groups of 5, and in the order to sew them up in, but the wonderful child knocked down my pile and messed up the order. I completely forgot that there was a picture on the blog of the squares in order, so I just put it to the side, yet again. Now I've made a chart from the pic and will work on the squares. My WIPs are dwindling down....MUST GET NEW PROJECTS. :)

I'm just a few short rows away from the armhole shaping on my strappy tank. I'd like to think I could finish it this weekend, but the criss cross straps in the front..well, frankly, they scare me. So I'm going to work on sewing up the squares on the baby blanket.

I learned today that the Phildar sweater was shipped yesterday, and I should receive it next week. Woo hoo!

I still have 2 full skeins of the Patons Kroy from the Krazy Socks and I think I will be using them to make Broad Street Mittens from Knitty.

I have to order yarn for a shawl for my mom...she asked for one, and I told her maybe I could have it done for her birthday...well, the yarn's not ordered, and her birthday is the beginning of July. Don't think that's getting done. Oh well...it'll make a nice Xmas gift. Something tells me I'm going to be knitting furiously come fall time...I forsee a lot of handmade Xmas gifts.

I'm convinced: I need help. I either need to stop reading knitting blogs and looking at pictures, or I'm going to have to get a second job to pay for all the sock yarn I want. Not just any yarn, but sock yarn. Who in their right mind needs that many pairs of socks? And how many people can you possibly make socks for before they say enough is enough. But I want it. It's so darn pretty and so darn soft. I have dreams of soft, pretty, colorful sock yarn. I think I need help.

The tangled mess that was my working yarn yesterday was wound into a tight little ball that is quite manageable. This made me quite happy, so I knitted happily and as of this morning, have only about 30 rows left before I start armhole decreases for the front of the strappy tank. Maybe I'll be able to wear it next week. :)

I had a weak moment today and I placed an order online. I bought a knitting kit: Phil Onde #18 Sweater. I bought the pinky shade, not the orangy one, but I expect it would be gorgeous no matter what shade I bought it in. There's an Onde webalong somewhere, but I don't know if I'm going to start on it right away. I've got other yarn in the stash that needs to be used up first.

Blech. Nothing really new. I'm not even 3 inches into the front of the strappy tank. The yarn doesn't pull nicely from the skein, so I wound it into a ball, and it's gotten all tangled (don't ask) and now I'm sitting here at work trying to work it into a manageable ball. Don't think I'll be using this yarn again unless someone purchases it for me.

I tried to make petit fours the other night. Oy. I had a box of yellow cake mix. I made it in a rectangular glass pan. Baked up nicely, and let it cool before turning it out of the pan. The bottom stuck a bit, but I knew it wasn't a complete disaster. After it cooled completely, I cut a small section off, cut it in half and put blackberry jam on it, put the other half on and cut it into small pieces. So far so good. Then I made icing. I couldn't ice it well, and some directions I had read said to spear the cake piece and dip it in the icing. Well, that was disastrous. Only good thing to come out of it, was that the pieces that already had the jam, hubby loved the way they were. I think he's just easy to please.

Back from the mini vacation. A quick run down of knitting stuff while on vacation:

Hit Knit + Stitch = Bliss and Knit Happens in the DC area. Both really nice stores, both more than happy to let me sit and rest after travelling to their stores. Both a nice selection of yarn. I purchased a ball of fuzzy stuff at K+S plus a book, and I bought 2 balls of sort of fuzzy stuff, plus some sock yarn at Knit Happens. I couldn't go into a yarn store and NOT buy anything, ya know?

I knit down to the toe decrease of the second Krazy Sock while away. I finished the back of the strappy tank and cast on for the front. I was a knitting fool. I knit on the train there, on the bus back, in my hotel room, and while taking a rest from sightseeing...sitting near the reflecting pool. Such gorgeous weather screamed "sit and knit!" Several passerbys commented to either me or to someone in their party about the knitting, and all were nice comments. The only bad thing that came out of the knitting in public was that I think my sunburn came from just sitting in the sun. Oh well, it's not that bad of a burn, and I got so much work done!

Obviously there was no cooking on the trip, but I have to make mention of the desserts at the graduation luncheon I went to. They had several, ok, a lot of different cakes and trays full of petit fours. I HAVE to try my hand at petit fours. I just LOVE the way they look. I also had something that looked like a truffle, but was a bit mushy when I picked it up. It was a sort of chocolatey cake with what the graduate thought had rum in it, rolled in mini chocolate chips. It WAS mushy, but it was oh so good. Now, to try and find that recipe, or even the name of something like that....

I finished the last of the squares for the baby blanket tonight. Here is what I've got:


I feel a sense of relief having finished all the squares, but I still have to sew everything up, and then do the borders. I am NOT looking forward to picking up all those stitches.

Yesterday was a great day. Started off by meeting up with a bunch of knitters at Purl in the city. I loved that the store opened up an hour early just for our group. I bought some great yarn there to make socks with. I think I'm on a sock kick. :) The next shop was Seaport, which I absolutely loved. I know that I'll be back there...and I have a feeling I'm going to drop lots of cash there. I made one more stop with the group, School Products, which was having a sale, and a book signing with Lily Chin. I'm ecstatic that I got to meet her and get a book signed.

The day ended with a late dinner with the hubby, some sushi. We sat at the sushi bar and had some really good stuff. My favorite however, ended up being something new they've added to the menu, fruit roll. It's was a sliver of cake, with sweet red bean, kiwi and strawberry, wrapped in what hubby thinks was thinly sliced cantaloupe, topped with a strawberry sauce. Lily Chin had been the highlight of my day until this fruit roll. Oh my god it was so good.

I've got loads of new yarn, a happy mouth from yummy sushi, and the best husband and son around. What more could a girl want for Mother's day?

Ok, since this is about cooking AND knitting, here's some cooking stuff.

I made a batch of brownies last night. I used one of two of my favorite recipes, but made a slight change. Instead of 4 oz of semi sweet chocolate squares, I used 4 oz of german chocolate squares. I immediately saw a difference. I didn't think that it was going to be a problem. They baked up in the same amount of time, looked good and smelled just as good. When cooled, they were a bit mushier to cut through than my usual brownies. They tasted good to me. Hubby said that they were very moist. When asked if that was good or bad, I believe he said good, bordering on bad, because of the mushiness factor. Next time, I make the recipe for brownies that came inside the german chocolate squares box....how come I didn't see that til AFTER the brownies were in the oven?!?

Sock!

Krazy Sock

Baby Blanket update: 4 square left to do, sewing the squares together, and then the border to knit.

Strappy Tank update: had about 3 inches of the back done; ripped it all out to start over. Reknit about 3 1/2 inches. I like the way that this second go around is coming out.

Sock update: worked only 5 more rounds on the foot portion of the sock, but plan to do more on the train ride home, and then finish it tonight. Maybe pics of the finished sock tomorrow or Friday.

Train knitting: yesterday on the train, sat next to a woman who was knitting. Asked her what she was working on, and she replied a blanket comprised of squares. How many squares? Close to 200. And I thought that my baby blanket of 30 squares was killing me! She's been working on and off, and she stressed on and off, for 5 years. GEEZ!!

Yarn Crawl on Sat.: am looking forward to this. I'm only hitting the first couple of stores with the group, but it should be fun for all.

Cooking: Am in the mood to make brownies or a cheesecake. Am NOT in the mood to wash up the mess after making the masterpieces...

Nothing about knitting

Today is my husband's birthday. Everyone say Happy Birthday!

One sock almost done

Friday's little knitting gathering turned out to be very small. Just me and a friend, but that's ok. It was beautiful in the park. I had good music blasting in my ears while I waited for my friend and worked diligently on a sock. I've had Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles for awhile now, but I've been too chicken to try to convert a traditional pattern to work with 2 circulars. I'm so glad that I finally did. They really do "soar"! I started the sock on Thursday evening and have just about 5 inches left of the foot to do. Next pair of socks I do, I'm going to attempt doing them both at the same time.

I haven't done ANY work on my strappy tank. So I think that'll be my train work on my way to DC. But then again, I still have those baby blanket squares to do. Argh. I'm hating that blanket now. I have no desire to finish it. Maybe I'll just hammer out those last few squares and then put it aside to sew up and do the edging...the baby's not due til July.