Sunday, April 22, 2007

Catching Up

I feel I am falling behind in my blogging responsibilities, so let's play catch up.

First up, the pink braided cable rib sock is almost to the toe! It looks a little goofy in the photo below as the instep needle did not care to be photogenic today.

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Astute readers will notice that I stopped doing the cabling once I finished the gusset decreases. This braided cable doesn't stretch out as flat as a simple cable, and I thought for comfort, switching to the rib was a good idea. It was a compromise between not wanting to have the cabling only on the leg, but also wanting a comfortable sock. I think it will work for me.

Next up we have an very disappointed chevron scarf posing (but not willingly) on the couch-o-meter. The scarf rather clashes with the threadbare ruby red couch cushions, and it resents be photographed thusly. But it is one couch cushion long! As I want a short scarf, it won't even make it to a full two cushions before the bind off. I plan to knit to about 44 inches (2 couch cushions=48+ inches) and then block.

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She better not take my FO picture with me lying on this %#^&*@# couch!--Chevron Scarf.

Third up has no picture, but I am teaching myself to carry and tension the yarn differently. My way of carrying the yarn is becoming more and more awkward and annoying. It is hard to get an even tension without constantly dropping and picking up the yarn again, and my tension gets looser and looser the faster I knit. So, I am trying to finish my current projects in the old method while training myself in the new method behind the scenes so to speak.

Finally, the chevron scarf did not grow any longer than one couch cushion today for two reasons. The first is that I have a new baking pan for uber-cool individual bundt cakes. I tried it out today on Amaretto Cakes from a Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel. The pan worked! It was so cool!

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Fleur-de-Lis, Bavarian, and Cathedral little bundt cakes!

The second reason for lack of chevron scarf progress this afternoon: a Hemingway Daiquiri:

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Not your frozen limeade daiquiri by a long shot

I had two such daiquiris today, but since M used my calcium-fortified grapefruit juice, I built strong bones while I drank. BTW, the recipe M used is from the book and a Bottle of Rum by Wayne Curtis. M enjoyed the book immensely.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

20 comments:

Christy said...

Way to take care of your bones and your knits. You may want to keep an eye on that Chevron scarf though....looks like it is starting to get a little mouthy. (Sounds kind of like my students ;)

pamela wynne said...

ooh, great colors for the chevron scarf! and yay! for bone-building daiquiris. :)

Zarzuela said...

I love the pink sock! What a great looking pattern. The scarf is coming along nicely too. Your culinary exploits look delish as well. Sounds like a good weekend. :)

Jessica

Jen said...

The pinks sock is looking great! And I love the scarf too!

Kristy said...

I really like the pink sock, and your scarf is looking great too! Good luck with the new tensioning. I had to re-teach myself once, and it can be difficult.

Lorraine said...

Brenda- Good for you for perservering with you knitting method. This particular dog is too old to learn new tricks.

I have the Fleur-de-lis Bundt pan- I used to work at Williams-Sonoma so I have quite a collection. Very impressive cakes.

Yummy!

cindi said...

Hi Brenda! I see your comments all the time on the Victorian Lace Today blog, so thought I'd stop by your blog and check it out. Love it. It makes me thirsty!! I'm just up the road a piece in Sacramento, getting ready for the hot weather to begin. Cheers!

abby said...

Those cakes are just beautiful! And the Hemingway sounds very yummy...

Anonymous said...

How are you holding your yarn? I'm a thrower and I'm trying to teach myself how to knit continental and I can't get the tension down at all! I have no problem with tension when knitting English style, but the continental feels weird when I hold the yarn. I'm trying to figure out a better way to hold the yarn so my tension is more even. Maybe a cocktail will help ;-)

Kirsten said...

Oooh, I think I want to come to your house and knit pretty cable socks and eat cakes and drink bone fortifying drinks. . .

Nana Sadie said...

Great sock! I agree with you about stopping the cabling at the ankle! And I love the Chevron scarf...got one OTN as we speak, myself!

TWO daiquiris? I'd not have been able to get up off the couch and might have been challenged to tell you what color said couch was!
lolol!
(((hugs)))

Anonymous said...

Amaretto cakes and cocktails! You've got my number all right. I hope the cocktail series continues; I'm always up for learning a new one. :-)

Good compromise on the pink sock. I bet you'll finish it a lot quicker now, too. ;-)

Brigitte said...

Oh, those cakes look divine!!! I should look into those cake pans for my sister, she loves to bake.

Don't put up with any guff from the chevron scarf! Just because she's pretty, doesn't mean she can sulk!

And the socks? Beautiful. I need to make a nice pair of pink socks...

knittingphilistine said...

Aaaalright! I'm coming over for fancy drinks and individualized fancy cakes now! The chevron is looking great!

PCR said...

The chevron scarf and the socks look great!

Chris said...

When I was teaching myself continental, I knit some felted bags - good practice and felting hid most of the oddities. :)

Those bundt cakes are too cute!

Hmm, what could possibly live up to the chevron scarf's requirements for its FO picture??

Anonymous said...

Your socks and scarf look fabulous! And the cakes, the little cakes, so tempting! Did they taste as good as they look like they tasted?

JayJay said...

The sock is looking good, and I am enjoying trying to absorb all your sock knitting expertise. ;) I LOVE the colors on the chevron scarf (even if it does clash with the couch). I'm sure the scarf would prefer if you bought a new couch which would better suit its coloring.

Those bundt cakes look fantastic and, of course, so does the drink. I hope they tasted as good as they look!

Kara said...

Your chevron scarf is looking good. I am excited to see it grow.

Those bundts are just the cutest things ever. Almost too cute to eat...almost.

Anonymous said...

Such pretty bead work. I love your pink cabled sock as well. I also dream about knitting. Is that wrong?