The Golden Iris

As you can imagine, I can get a lot more done at home when I don't have three papers to write. Christmas Decorating Yesterday I decided that once and for all I was going to have a Christmas tree in this crappy little apartment of mine. After an unsuccessful trip to two stores, a friend of mine remembered that they had just happened to have one sitting around in the trunk of their car. So, a little later I had a 3' tree. Well and good, right? Wrong. Darn thing had tripod feet... but only one of them! So as you can imagine, it didn't want to stand up very well. After fighting with it for almost an hour to rig it to stand up and not bust all my ornaments, I gave up and tied it to the wall. Photos of Christmas trees always turn out crappy, which is a shame, because this one is nice. I've got lots of handmade ornaments. It goes a long way towards making me happy for a couple of weeks, regardless of whether my boyfriend really likes it or not. Knitting That's why ...

Since writing papers is supposed to mean that I should put off knitting for a while, I baked instead. I got a delicious orange-chocolate muffin recipe from my sister and I am trying not to eat the whole dozen tonight. As you can see, one muffin succumbed before I had a chance to take a photo. I know they look a lot like bran muffins or something less exciting, but trust me, they aren't. See: observe the delicious interior of the muffin. Filled with yummy orange peel and chocolate bits (I had big blocks of chocolate instead of chips, hence the strange distribution of chocolate). Aren't you hungry yet? Too bad there isn't internet with smells. Actually... maybe that's a good thing. Anyhow, I'm supposed to be writing. This is writing, right? Sadly this is not the writing I get paid to do, which is kind of a bummer. If only this writing contributed to the length of my other writing... guess I should get back to that.

The most effective forms of procrastination seem to result in the creation of something irrelevant to the procrastinatory goal. Okay -- let's not overlook the fact that I spent six hours in the library yesterday, but seriously, I probably don't need two new projects. Toe-up knee high socks, from a general toe-up pattern. I'll work on the problem of leg increases when I come to them. And a glove. Really, it's going to be a glove, I promise. Left over from Lacevember, here is approximately one third of my Lace Dream Wrap: It's going to be really lovely, if I ever get through the other two balls of yarn. And I was going to put up some more photos, but I realized I would have to censor them anyhow. So I'll save you the temptation of discovering what I'm knitting for Christmas. Unfortunately, I've run into a knitting problem. Remember my Vintage Cabled Pullover ? Those photos artfully mask the fact that the sweater is easily 3 inches too short. I dou...

Last night I finished the Scribble Lace scarf. What a fast and simple gift, yet how satisfying and impressive looking it is! I will probably have to make one for myself.... Here is a closeup of the texture: And here you can see that the openness of it works about equally well as a small wrap... As a big scarf. Obligatory stats: Pattern: Loopy & Luscious from Knitty Yarn: 1 skein Trendsetter Yosemite and 1 skein K1C2 Douceur et Soie Needles: #13 circular (because I don't have, or couldn't find, the #15s) Size: about 16" x 55", but variable as the pattern says Modifications: Amazingly, aside from yarn substitution, none What's next? Not much on the knitting front. Mostly grading a big fat stack of papers and writing some of my own. Oh, and giving this lovely gift away! I hope the recipient enjoys it :)

What would Black Friday be without a trip to the yarn store? I just got a few things, including a cone of fingering weight wool for a shawl or three, some Trekking for gloves, Encore for a silly hat, and those plum colored things for a scribble lace scarf. Yesterday I made the amazing discovery that scribble lace is really crack for knitters in disguise. I cast on (using this pattern from knitty )and suddenly couldn't stop knitting. It was freaky. See what I mean? I think this is going to be a gift, but now I think I need one. Yikes! And unfortunately the yarn isn't cheap -- it's instant gratification, surely, but not what I'm used to doing with socks or ordinary lace. (Can we make this count for Lacevember? I'm not pushing the envelope....) Now that I took it out to take photos of it, it's calling to me.... must.... knit....

That's probably not a phrase anybody hears regularly, but today it's my favorite topic. I'm going to talk about my favorite holiday dessert and about how to avoid the dreaded caramely shrapnel. Since you missed out on this dessert for Thanksgiving, file this one away and make it for Christmas. While lacking in impressive table presentation (perhaps some would argue otherwise), it's fabulous. Welcome to Caramel Pudding 101. Go buy one can of sweetened condensed milk. Don't buy evaporated milk or you'll be sorry. We'll wait here. Trust me, unless you have 50+ people coming, you only need one can. Friendly can of sweetened condensed milk. This one is about 14 oz. It has no clue what's coming for it. Remove the label. That was easy! Remember that reading the label is bad for you. This warning is to avoid the caramely shrapnel. Trust me, if you follow my directions, all will be fine. They used to have this recipe on the label anyhow, so this is mere...

Wait, WHAT?!?! Is this thing always going to be covered in nipples?! Crap! Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style, inside out and unblocked. The miracle of blocking removes the terrifying nipples! Hooray! If I had something black to pin this to, I would have, but sadly no. This shawl is about the perfect size for me, I think. Not too small, not too big. And here it is, wrapped sideways. Too bad I can't always look this graceful. Obligatory stats: Pattern: Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style Needles: #6 circular, the grey bendy plastic kind I like Yarn: 4 oz. fingering weight custom dyed from Blue Swallow Handmade Size: about 68" x 34" Modifications: I added 5 extra pattern repeats because I wanted to use up as much yarn as I had. I'm very happy with the size this way. I was frightened of running out of yarn at the very very end so I didn't do one of the rows in the edging, but it's all the same to me. This is a great project, it comes together fairly q...