What's going on

Not a whole lot of anything, really.

Why is it that time seems to pass by so quickly in the summer? I mean, the days are longer, so you should be able to get more done, right? Maybe it's just that the heat sucks all life out of you.

Actually, something really great happened Saturday.

Anyone who's read this blog for any amount of time will be familiar with my lamenting over the fact that no one knits in Florida. Sure, I've got this great community of online knitters to hang out with, but nothing can compare to sitting in a cozy chair in a coffeehouse with a friend chatting about yarns and needles and patters, and laughing over your first project bloopers. Well, Saturday I got to do just that.

Bless Michele and her super-great husband for making the drive down from Merritt Island in a torrential downpour to do it. And hubby gets double gold stars for patiently sitting by and keeping a smile on his face while we gabbed like a couple of old hens. We were a wet and soggy trio, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Michele is super-crafty, toting her current sock around in an adorable little hand-made ladybug drawstring bag. I was envious of it's simplistic perfection. Really, I've oogled the Goknit pouches a time or two, and her bag was a perfect little knockoff. I'm going to have to break out the sewing machine, I think.

I hope that we find time to get together again soon. This time, I'll make the drive.

Sunday we had a fun day of shopping for nothing in particular followed by swimming and dinner at the parents.

Today my car got dropped back off at the shop to have the air conditioner fixed. While it was being worked on, J and I ran our usual errands including a stop at the scrapbook store for some pirate-y paper to make his birthday invitations, an then a run to the party store for decorations and supplies. We went a little overboard, but not horribly so. The good news is, I don't have to stress about last minute stuff now. I've got just about everything I need besides the food. Yay!

The car's still in the shop, and I don't even know if I want to venture a guess as to how much the final bill will be. Ugh!

Knitting... yes, I've finally finished the first clue on my Mystery Stole. I know, I'm about 4 weeks behind, but I'm not in a big hurry, and it's a project that requires undivided attention, which I don't have most of the time. I really do like the way it's turning out so far, though.

I'm itching to start on a new pair of socks just to give me a more mindless sort of thing to carry around with me. Right now my two WIPs are both attention hogs, and they don't travel nicely.

End pictureless ramble.

Kids, little lacey things, and orgasmic oatmeal raisins

So, I've sort of taken on another kid part-time. I'm all for it, but I guess I forgot two things: 1. What having an 18-month-old is like. and 2. That not only do I have an 18-month-old, but also an almost 3-year-old. Wow!

I've only had her one day so far, and honestly, they play together well. They're both really good kids, etc. so I don't think it'll be all that difficult once we all are on the same schedule and are more familiar with each other. Every baby has their own baby language and personality and I'm still learning hers, which means that I'm not always spot on with meeting her needs/demands. Fortunately, she's much more patient than J ever was at that age.




After making a decision to go with the smaller size beads on my mystery stole, I was all set to go when the first clue came out on Friday. Of course, I have to work on Fridays, but told myself that I'd cast on just as soon as I got home. That turned into just as soon as J goes to bed, which then turned into "I'll wake up an hour or so early in the morning to get started." Well, I did manage to wake up early, but no sooner had I cast on and done the first three rows (which is nothing, considering you start by casting on 2 stitches!) than J woke up, too. I simply can't focus on lace with J clamoring for my attention. It's not fair to either of us. And so, I put it away.

Since I couldn't knit I figured that the next best thing to do would be to prepare myself for absolute success once I did get started. So J and I hit the kitchen to whip up food to munch on for the next couple of days. If I take cooking out of the equation for the next several days I'll have all that extra time to sneak in a row or two here and there.

So we made a huge pot of leftover soup. I have fond memories of my grandmother's "Magic Soup", which she swore had magical powers. My brother and I would eat it up, fully believing that it was magical. It's a tradition which is lost on Jonas so far. He has no interest in it, magical or not. He loves soup, but it has to be the creamy kind. Hubby doesn't eat soup either, so I've got this ginormous pot all to myself.

I'll eat it for a few more days, then freeze the rest, I suppose.

Soup made, I decided that hours of sitting on my butt knitting deserved a sweet treat to go along with it. Now, I've always had a weakness for a nice soft, warm, oatmeal raisin cookie. My problem is this: I've never made a recipe that stands up to the demands of my picky palate. Sure, they're just cookies, kind of the red-headed stepchild of the baking world, but I'm quite picky about them. They can't be too soft, or too crispy, or too sweet. You get the idea. I decided I might as well give it another try with a new recipe that seemed to have good reviews. You can find it here, if you wish to give them a try yourself. They really are simple, and they turned out perfect.

The recipe says that it'll yield 36 cookies, but I only got 28. Of course, I didn't measure mine out, so some were bigger than others. If you took the time to measure out each cookie, you probably could get the full 36. Man! What do you do with 3 dozen cookies, anyway?

The verdict?

Oh my freaking god!!! These are absolutely the best cookies to ever come out of my oven! There's nothing pretentious about them... just humble little oatmeal raisin cookies, but they are so absolutely perfect in every way. I wanted to crumble them up and mix them into some ice cream. Or maybe just snarf a plate full along with a tall glass of milk. Oh! The control it took to keep from devouring them all!

I did add a bit of cinnamon to the mix, which improved the recipe, I think. If they have any fault at all, it's that they're maybe a bit too sweet... as in, make your teeth hurt sweet, but I can live with that, I think. :)

In order to maintain some sort of control, I went ahead and boxed up a dozen of them to take to work next week. That means I only have 16 left to worry about. Doesn't sound nearly as dangerous, does it?




This morning I was able to get about an hour in on the mystery stole, along with an oh so healthy breakfast of a cookie and a cup of coffee. Here's the progress so far. Yes, I realize it's not big enough to really see any sort of design at all, but I'm loving it so far. Do you see the beads along the edge? I'm so glad that I went with the smaller ones! They might be a little lost in the pattern, but the bigger ones would surely have overpowered the design.




Later I'll share a few little tips that I've already come up with while working these 30 rows.

Which beads and bad pictures

My yarn arrived for my Mystery Stole. The suggested colors were either white or black for the purest interpretation of the theme, but white is just not a color that's an option for me. I mean, 3-year-olds, cats, a dog, they just don't go with white yarn, no matter how careful I am. And black... yes, I love black. All one has to do is look in my closet, or my high school yearbook to know that, but knitting tiny lace in black is a sure way for me to go blind. And so, I went with another favorite color and chose Knit Picks Shadow in Vineyard. It's a lovely eggplantish purple and I couldn't be happier with it. It's not splitty, it's not fuzzy, it's just perfect! And the price is perfect too. I don't exactly have a huge yarn budget... or any at all, for that matter.

So, I got my yarn and went ahead and did a test swatch to make sure I was picking the right size needles- size 4 options. I could knit for the rest of my life and never need another needle aside from these. Some people complain that they're too slick for lace knitting, and by the end of this stole I may feel the same way, but so far *knock wood* I've never once dropped a stitch or had one jump off the end of my needle. Aside from a little goof at the beginning, which I was aware of when I did it, but decided that I'd just keep on going because, well, it's a swatch, it turned out perfect.


Onto the beads. Since, as I said, my budget is fairly slim for this project, I decided to purchase beads locally rather than online shopping and hoping that my choice actually matched well once it arrived. I like the tactile experience of local shopping rather than trusting pictures on the computer.

Ny delimma? The pattern calls for size 8/0 beads, and they simply don't have them in any of the stores here. So, I picked up every size I could find in the color that I wanted-- an amythest with silver lining. I've got them in 11/0, 10/0, and 6/0. On first thought, I assumed that the 6/0 would stand out the best, but after rethinking, the 10/0 seem to be the better choice. I want them to be an accent, not a focal point, and I just think the 6/0s might be a bit too heavy for the yarn. Lord knows I don't want to put that much work into a project just to have a bead break the yarn and leave me a cursing, muttering, sobbing heap.



You can click on the picture to make it bigger. Yes, that really IS a crochet hook there! Can you see the tiny little hook on the end? How did our grandmothers do all that doily stuff?!

Of course, there's always the option of not beading at all, but that just doesn't sound very adventurous to me.

So, your opinion please...

The picture sucks, so please don't try and rely on color so much. The beads are the same color, just different in size. Which ones would you choose if you were going to knit this sucker? The 6/0's are the larger ones on the left... the 10/0 are the ones on the right. 11/0's not pictured... I can't get a crochet hook small enough to fit through them and they would most certainly give me fits if I were to try and string them with wire.

Feeling brave

I just signed up for Mystery Stole 3 last night in a moment of bravery. I'm not the most experienced lace knitter in the world, but I'm always open for a challenge. Besides, I have no one to impress but myself, right?

I ordered my yarn this morning, and now I'm just waiting for it to arrive so that I can choose the appropriate beads to go with it. Doesn't that just give you the shivers? Lace knitting AND beads. It'll be a good time. Any of you knitters interested in joining me on this adventure?