I talk about how much I enjoy daily blogging, and what do I do? Go and skip the next few days. Completely not by choice, though. Baby girl is trying to cut her eyeteeth right now. Not an enjoyable experience for anyone involved. Poor thing. Plus there was moving of household items. Again with the lack of enjoyment. But I was blogging in my head, really!
First up, I have a(n) FO!!! The Weasley Sweater is done (sort of.) Here it is, lounging in the swing outside. I'm quite proud. And as soon as I wove in that last stitch, I slipped it onto MMT to check the fit. Too big, which is actually a good thing in this case. It looks like it will just fit once the cooler weather rolls back around, and continue to fit through next spring. She loves it, too. She'll pick it up and take it to me or my mom and ask us to put it on her. She even goes so far as to get upset if we take it off - even though it's 90 gajillion degrees around here right now, and muggy to boot. (Monsoon season came a good three months early this year. Blecch.)
Speaking of weaving in the ends, and finishing in general, I see so many people complaining about doing it. I just love it. I feel like I'm really accomplishing something when I'm finishing - I fly through it. I love seeing those perfect little seams begin to emerge and create a recognizable shape out of a few bunched and rolled knitted pieces. How could anyone hate that??
make a plea for assistance - this is a Weasley. For those of you who don't read HP, a Weasley is a sweater with your initial on it. In case you didn't notice - there is no initial on this sweater. That's where you come in. Should I duplicate stitch it, cross-stitch, or otherwise embroider it? The thought of doing it in intarsia crossed my mind for the briefest of moments, but lets just say that intarsia is the bane of my existence. It's the one thing I wouldSo, now comes the final part, the one in which I actually take a class on at the LYS, if I could ever get over my extreme hatred of it. So, the initial got left to be part of finishing. How would you do it?

A long time ago, this was going to be a cooking blog along with the crafty. I kinda forgot about that, but I do have a recipe for you today. (No picture, by the time I had grabbed my camera, the evidence had been doled out and was almost totally consumed.)
It's a meatloaf. Don't groan, it's a *good* meatloaf! It's Cheeseburger Meatloaf. Yum. And it's more of a recipe a-la Harlot Socks - I don't measure unless I'm baking, so it's kinda more chatty and less "2.5 tbsp squee."
So, you take about one pound of ground beef, and mix in a small dollop of mayonnaise, a big handful of grated cheese, 1-2 eggs and some bread crumbs, and a dash of Worcestershire. In a separate bowl, mix together ketchup and mustard until you get an orange-y rust color. Add a little to the meat mixture, and save the rest to top the loaf. Mix everything together well. It should be moist, but not runny. Plop it down onto a sheet pan and pour the topping over it. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about a hour and a half, or until done. It tastes just like a cheeseburger, and you can add other things to taste. Think about what you like on your burgers - onions, jalapeños, bacon (needs to be cooked beforehand) pickles (though I would put those on after baking.) Don't forget to add any seasonings to make it your own (MathMan always likes to put Lowry's Season Salt on his burgers, so I add a little to the mix.)

I finally go invited to Ravelry!!! I'm so excited, but I haven't had a chance yet to really play around with it! For anyone who is curious, I'm (again) PinkPorcupine.

Labels: FO, recipes, Weasley sweater

This blogging every day thing is kind of... well, I had the word a second ago, but it slipped. It just feels good, like I'm keeping myself a part of the world. I've tried to start a stitch group for moms of young kids in my area, but no one ever showed up. It's nice having somewhere to go, even if it's just a quick pop in like this one, where people understand my love of fiber!
Today I actually made it to the LYS, *with* my skein of Koigu. Unfortunately I was alone with MMT, and they were hella busy, so I didn't get it wound. I also *shock and amazement* DIDN'T spend any money!!! I was going to buy two balls of Austermann Step for the socks Cat Bordhi recently did on Knitty Gritty (btw - have you seen these?? So neat! I can't wait for the new book!!) but they were all out of it. She wasn't sure when it would be coming in, as it's been on order, but she was able to tell me that the new sensation, Superior, *will* be available in late August! Another thing I can't wait for!
I'm currently sitting in bed, knitting on MMT's Weasley and watching some of season 2 of Xena (baaad tv, but in a good way, like Bruce Cambpell!) on my laptop. I finished the sleeve and the collar earlier tonight, and I just picked up the stitches for the second sleeve. Would I be reviled if I say I'm actually *looking forward* to seaming it up? I've found I enjoy it, maybe it comes from sewing on the machine and hand stitching the finishing work.

Labels: misc, Weasley sweater

Yeah, that's right - I have pictures today!
First up is one of the Weasley. (!!!) I finally got the chance to take a nice daytime picture of it.I'm really trying to take better pictures, or at least easier to look at ones. I'm going back and looking at some of the first ones I took, and eek, they were bad!
So, on my monitor this is a pretty true representation of the colors. I loved the pink color so much, but every time I go to the LYS either I forget to look, or they don't have anymore. I know I can order it online, but you know how it goes. I'm thinking about making either the baby pants from LMKG or Mickey to go with this sweater when it's done. We'll see how well that pans out. The little tiger in the corner is my daughter's backpack, which I commandeered until she's old enough to use it. It's great for carrying around a larger project like this, yet still not so big that it's annoying. It's a perfect fit for my Lantern Moon striaghts, plus it's little tummy is a tiny zippered pouch that just fits a chibi! You want a closer look you say? Here it is - feel free to turn green with envy of it's utter cuteness!
I'm going to leave you with a shot of the next chevron scarf. That's right, the first one still isn't finished and I've already started a second. So much for project monogamy. At least it's the same pattern. The rose is one my mother helped MMT pick and bring to me this evening. It just looked so lovely I had to include it. The iPod is to remind myself that I'm getting behind on listening to podcasts. I managed to find two balls of CTH at my mom's that I had gotten at the same time as the Koigu - these were even purchased to be a chevron. I'm still sitting on the one skein of Koigu waiting to wind it into a ball. I know - I could do it by hand, but just once with Lorna's Laces swore me off doing that. I'm lazy, remember? So sit it shall until a ball winder I see. Oh, did you want to know what colors those are? See the StashSheet in the sidebar.

Labels: chevron scarf, Weasley sweater

I've been meaning to steer people to trek's contest post for some time now, but I just keep forgetting! So, go, help her get 290 comments on a single post. That's double the original number of 145, which was passed pretty darn quickly. It's one post per customer, though, which is why it's taking longer to reach the new goal. If anyone reads here that doesn't read her blog, why not?!? Go over and leave a comment!

So, the closing on our house got pushed back to the original date - June 12th. Oh, well, it would have been nice to be in the new house by next Friday, but it's only two weeks out from there. Not that long in the scheme of things (everything inside me is screaming that is BS - that it's years and lifetimes away!)

I've got all but the last inch done on one sleeve of MMT's Weasley, with just one last sleeve and a collar to go the end is most definitely in sight! I may make a trip out to the LYS today to pick up a size 5 circ to do the collar. My Denise kit is packed away who knows where right now, and I don't want to wait 'til I find the box and unpack to finish the sweater.

I know I've mentioned I adore anything Google, and now that I'm working on the stash spreadsheet, I've got it on Google Docs. So if anyone is actually curious how much sock yarn I have, or what is planned for that alpaca I got at Aspen Ridge Alpacas, here ya go! (I'm putting a permanent link in the sidebar, too.)

And, just for fun:

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Goddess. You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with reward, you simply want others to love knitting as much as you do. If someone wants to knit miles of novelty yarns, you are there for them. If someone wants to learn short row shaping, you can help. There are no taboos in knitting, only opportunities to grow. Everyone should have friend like you around if they want to learn to knit, and there's a good chance that your passion has rubbed off on a few others.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Labels: house, misc, Weasley sweater