Thursday, May 04, 2006

okay. so i don't post for months, then, all of a sudden, two posts in one day! ahh...what can i say? what i can say is, is that i want this:



isn't that the cutest? it's a sheep embellishment kit from crazyyarnlady.com! i saw the cutest embellished mittens in morehouse farm merino knits. i think the sheep would be perfect!

today has been a very productive day, for me at least. first work, then to the grocery, then home to cook a small dinner, then, i started working on my newest obession:



irish soda bread! i've not tried this recipe before, but it promises to be less 'dense' than the other breads that i've tried. this one was a little different - calling for a 9 x 5 loaf pan - but, i'll probably try it on a pizza stone next time around if i like this recipe... i've got one more recipe to try out, so, we'll see...
okay. so april literally *flew* by, and now we're 4 days into may. where'd the time go? considering that i've been absolutely *awful* these past few months at posting, i'd better get everyone up-to-date!

"april in a nutshell":




first off, since it was on the first, anyways - was our (my boyfriend & i) 6 month anniversary. (i have to admit, he was more excited about it than i was.) we are now a statistic, as i've read that 70% of all relationships never make it to 6 months. i wonder how true that is? anyways. we had a nice dinner at ruth chris' steakhouse, complete with a ton of leftovers, and then went out with my sister's boyfriend for a few drinks afterwards. i must say, that this evening of being out and drinking led to some disastrous results - our leftovers ended up being fed to my sister's boyfriends' dogs! i guess chihuahuas do eat filet mignon!

then, in a few weeks:




(and no, this birthday cake isn't for the cat.)

(i'm not sure if this is just a weird angle or what, or if griffin really is *this* big, but he's sitting next to a full-size dinner plate.)

instead of making her a tiffany-blue buttercream frosted chocolate cake, i ended up making my sister a cake from a box. she enjoyed it at least; eating half (i hope she shared it with her boyfriend) and freezing the rest. she took this photo when she came over to pick up her cake with a few other items, and mentioned that griffin was sitting next to the cake. i didn't believe her, until i saw the photo for myself! what can i say? he's the center of attention. or at least wants to be. :)




"no comment" on this one. apparently, i've got no gauge at all. this is the eyelet baby blanket by blue sky alpacas that i mentioned in one of my previous posts, and, considering that annie is due any day now, i figured that i'd better get a move on it. so there i was, gauge unchecked, just knitting away while my boyfriend was watching sopranos. i remember thinking, and even asking him - if the stitches seemed a little loose - this of course, was after i had knit about 5 inches worth - and anyways, i ended up checking gauge and i was *way* off! the first one, on top, was knit with size 11's, as the pattern calls for - the second, is what it should've been - size 10's! (the second one has now also been ripped back completely. sigh.) april was just the month for ripping back. my 'french girl' is now 2 balls of yarn, desipite the fact it was 2 balls of progress. i made a mistake, and couldn't figure out how to fix it correctly. since is a 'lace' project, i probably could've just left it, and no one would've noticed it. but, i'm a control freak. what can i say? the one project that i've actually made *progress* on is a prayer shawl for my boyfriend's mother, who is a breast cancer survivor. i've made it in a green shade, since green represents health, wellness, healing - that kind of thing. will post photos next time.

and last, but definitely not least:


door #1



door #2


special thanks to my secret pal, dj! again, she has spoiled me rotten, with bath products, the *cutest* little fizzies, candles (and a holder!), knitting magazines and more *yarn*! i think she must've been reading my mind with the "knit it" magazine - there's this pattern in there for a scarf with pockets - and, i really liked it, but couldn't justify buying an entire magazine for one project that i liked. so, thanks again! you're the best!