The Golden Iris

In with the new. The Logan River Wrap is no more, and it has been totally frogged and balled back up. Anybody want 5 balls of Noro Cash Iroha? Because it is hotter than hot here, even my winter knitting needs to lighten up. So no more worsted weight wraps. Fingering weight is the only way to go! I'm working on a skinnier fingering weight Clapotis in Trekking, color 105. I hope a good wash will soften it up, but right now I don't mind because I'm totally in love with the color. I also can't believe I'm making another Clapotis, but I love the one I have and don't want to make another Lace Ribbon scarf so soon. I keep telling myself I should try to break away from knitting everything in purple, blue, and green. It makes all my knitting look and feel the same. I have also started the Shetland Shorty sweater with the yarn that I dyed . Casting on and working garter stitch on over 250 stitches is a little tedious, but that's OK as it's the whole sweat...

It's time for my first finished object since January (well, one that I can actually talk about). What's this, you say? Hooray for the lovely Lace Ribbon Scarf designed by Veronik Avery. Incidentally I think I want to be Veronik Avery when I grow up. I wouldn't even have to change my name very much! In any case, I'm so glad this scarf is done, mostly because this is the third incarnation of this yarn. Poor Spunky Eclectic Super Socks... I loved this yarn (now, sadly, unavailable). It was beautifully dyed, the colors were unique, it was nice and soft and squishy... and just didn't want to be anything I wanted it to be. Here is the yarn, so innocently awaiting a project, months and months ago. First I tried to make it into a pair of socks. Yuck! They didn't fit and the colors pooled oddly, which was a shame for this yarn. Then I tried to make it into the Lace Diamond Scarf, and got all the way to the end before the edging got screwed up. It looked nice f...

Today I finally sent off four hats to the 300 Hat Project started by Kristy . Kristy is going to the Ukraine in September and is planning to donate the hats to an orphanage. I had hats that I didn't need and figured they could get better use. So off they go! Of course I forgot to take a photo before I sent them, but that's OK. Want to make some hats for this good cause? Check the links above for more details. You have until early September, and there's prizes involved!

A year ago, I had never heard of something called icebox cake , which is apparently a classic, made with Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers and large amounts of whipped cream. In my house we always made Chocolate Eclair Cake in the summers, another no-bake dessert made with graham crackers, vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, and chocolate frosting. In any case, with company coming, someone insisted that we make it - partially so we didn't have to eat it all! While the recipe and photo on the Famous Wafers box isn't particularly inspiring, a quick search brought us to this fabulous entry at Smitten Kitchen . That, my friends, is a cake to be proud of, baking or no baking. There is nothing difficult about this cake, except getting over the idea of three cups of whipping cream, and perhaps finding a way to protect it in the refrigerator overnight, which I'll get to in a bit. You have to use real cream, none of this stuff in a spray can. But first, the super-simple recipe. This ve...

You may recall that I listed a few knitting goals for spring just a short while ago. Seems that summer is upon us and it is time for some new goals! It was hotter than hot here last week, but thankfully it has cooled down again a bit and we can once again venture outside without collapsing under the humidity. As last time, the goal project and giveaway is being kindly hosted by Ali at Skeins Her Way and I was notified of it by my good knitting friend Dove . Considering the fact that I did so poorly on my springtime goals (I only succeeded on 3 of 16 of them), I think it may be best to cut the list down a little bit for the summertime. 1. Finish the bedjacket - I'm probably half done with the edging, so this shouldn't take long. The body of the garment has been washed and blocked, so there are very few steps remaining. 2. Finish the lavender lace blouse to go over summer dresses. 3. Start and finish the aforementioned Shetland Shorty, again for summer dresses. 4. Find m...

As you probably saw, the new Knitty came out a few days ago. While there were a lot of gems in this season's issue (my Ravelry queue is growing!) I was immediately struck by the little sweater on the front cover, Shetland Shorty . Summer here is pretty miserable by my estimation, so I've been expanding my summer wardrobe to include lots and lots of dresses. Of course not all of them are really appropriate for all occasions, or sometimes I get chilly in the evening. I knew right away this was the perfect little sweater to go over a dress. Of course, the last thing I need right now is to buy more yarn. But I do have a big bag of Knit Picks "Bare" or "Color Your Own" - whatever they're calling it now. And I didn't really want the white color, so it was time for a kitchen experiment. I don't keep Kool-Aid around, but I did have a couple boxes of cheap or old tea. It was time to brew up a whole lot of it! It was kind of amusing, standing there...

I haven't finished a knitting project (commissions and samples excepted) since January. The only knitting I've actually finished for myself this year has been two pair of socks. I'm serious. This was my last finished object. I've discovered it's really hard to finish anything when all your knitting looks like this: And this: I'm not knitting from balls of yarn anymore, just nearly-completed projects I've decided I no longer want. The sweater? Too small, too boring. The scarf? I couldn't get the final edging on right. Maybe I'll like the new projects more.