city knitting

back to the city, back to the usual. knitting monday brought a return to the dreaded "surface" wrap, but i'm down to one last bobble row before i go on to the ribbing (thank goodness). also, i "taught" (or rather re-taught) jen to knit! another convert, and a way to get rid of leftover "hunter orange" yarn.

meanwhile, the slow-going spring dreams dress has grown a little more! i am reminded of the classic haiku by (i think) issa:

o snail
climb mount fuji
but slowly, slowly!



p.s. "amy's scarf" won first prize at the fair! whooo. "20000 leagues" sadly won nothing because i missed running in a few ends. blast you, intarsia!

i am stupid excited about this!

i am officially registered at the fenelon fair - exhibitor 1705! didn't get the quilt done (found out too late that you have to provide fabric samples - to prove you made the quilt yourself - and hadn't brought any [i don't think there were any scraps left, anyway] so i wasn't terrifically motivated to finish the last few letters - also it is the only blanket-type-object harry was willing to accept at the cottage - he calls it his "turtle shell" and if i tried to work on it he would say "hey, where's my shell?" and take it back) but the 20000 leagues cardigan is in, along with amy's scarf. yay!! cannot wait to go tomorrow and see the results!!

why am i still awake?

drove home from the cottage this evening, super-tired after a week of fun and relaxing and knitting (20000 leagues cardigan and amy's scarf are done!) and baking (cherry cobbler, raspberry custard pie with chocolate crust - i think i've got it this time - bread and pancakes pancakes pancakes) and swimming and the rest of it. wish i was still there. more later. sigh.

cottage plans

our week at the cottage is almost here! so i need to decide which projects to bring with me. the long-hibernating quilt is definitely on the list, because i intend to enter it into the fenelon falls fair. also i think the dreaded surface wrap, because it's mindless at this point and i want it done. and harry's squid sweater. is that enough? should i bring more? what about the "spring dreams" dress? it's the most exciting to me at the moment, but it was going to be my "work" project. i am keen to get stuck into the frost flowers though and see how it all works out.

so far, i've done 10 rows of 17 of the modifed half-chart i'm using on the sleeve:

holy slowly!

have completed row 3 of the main "frost flowers" chart! go me! not that it looks like anything yet though.

dumbest project ever

so i had this idea that my real problem in life is that i don't have any "spring/transitional" clothing, and if i did - say, an apple green 1930s-style day-dress with elbow-length sleeves and a bit of lace - my life would be infinitely better. why i would be thinking such a thing in the middle of july is beyond comprehension. so i thought "well i'll just look at knitpicks to see what's out there as far as superwash wool fingering in apple green is concerned." and just by coincidence they happened to have stroll on sale in a colour called "granny smith" (discontinued i think - it's gone from the site, so i guess i got the last of it).

anyway i've cast on and started knitting. i really need to swatch the lace, but kind of can't bear the idea of knitting a bunch of lace and not using it especially on a project of this size where i am likely to get bored well before i finish. so, if all goes well, this swatch will become a sleeve. i'm almost done the first chart. we'll see how it goes!

actual project:



inspiration:

peanut butter pie?

take two on the peanut butter pie experiment was better than take one (which it seems i didn't blog about), but i haven't quite hit the sweet spot. the peanut butter pie of my memories is a bit more custardy, and the crust i used isn't quite there - adapted from this recipe but cocoa without any sugar is a bit too bitter with this pie (which is more rich than sweet).

more experiments needed! recipe to come once the ideal is found.