This pattern is bloody brilliant and I adore the arch shaping! I'm anxious to get the first sock done so I can try it on and see how the shaping hugs my foot.

The best part of my Seattle trip, by far, was hanging out with Sundara (and as an aside, don't you just love her new website)! We did a little yarn shopping and went out for drinks - it was great fun. And she was so nice to provide me with a little yarn fix!

Gorgeous Sock Yarn!

And scrumptious silky merino.

Nobody does color like Sundara.

Today is the first installment of our work lunch/knitting group. It's actually open to anyone who wants to do anything crafty, and since it was my idea, I hope we have a good turn out. I'll let you know.

Summer has finally shown up in Wyoming. Yesterday it was in the 70's and word is that it will get up to the 80's today, which I don't really believe. But anything is better than the cold and snow we had last week.

Have a great day!
Stephanie

I picked the Francie pattern because I saw Stephanie's (scroll down a bit) and thought they were the cutest things I'd seen in awhile. Have you seen that shaping? The ribbing on the foot? I think they're fabulously cool.

Then I needed to find some yarn. I have a good stash of sock yarn (really, who doesn't?), so while I was tempted to buy something new, I resisted and went looking in the stash. I debated between a few choices and finally decided that the Brooks Farm sock yarn I bought at Estes Park two years ago (!) was the ticket. It's a gorgeous wool, silk, viscose blend that has a fabulous sheen and I love the color - I still don't have a pair of red socks and I think that's a crime.

Then it came time to pick the needles. I'm back to knitting on dpns after a few socks using magic loop, but I've been wanting to try the Knit Picks Harmony dpns for awhile and this seemed like the perfect excuse. I mean really, why ruin a perfectly great knitting experience with needles you're not crazy about. Right? So, I ordered a 2.0 and 2.25mm set (which are 6!) and they came Monday. That meant I was ready to go. Weeee.

So, now that I had all the materials assembled and was riding high on my new project giddiness, it was time to cast on. So, I get out the pattern and read (always a good first step), and what I see is "Loosely cast on 64 stitches using the Long Tail or German Twisted method." The German Twisted method? What's that? So me being me, I have to check it out. Google is a wonderful thing, and this is what I found

And this lovely pdf: How To Do The German Twisted Cast On

So, since it's something new and it's supposed to be "a very stretchy and neat looking beginning for socks,hats, gloves and mittens" I decided to give it a try. And after a few tries, I figured it out and it works pretty great.

So far, I love the whole project - pattern, yarn, and needles are working in harmony. Will the giddiness continue? Stay tuned.

Stephanie

I promise this isn't going to be all baking all the time, but since my fiber adventures are plugging along at a snail's pace, I'm left with baking and television watching to entertain you with. So, baking first, then talk of television...

Scones are one of my favorite breakfast foods. Well really I will eat a scone just about any time - day or night. There are lots of yummy things you can add to scones - fruit, nuts, you can make whole wheat ones and savory ones, but my favorite in the cream scone - just a little sweet and light and delicious.

Cream Scones
recipe from: How to Bake by Nick Malgieri

Makes 12 scones

3 cups all-purpose flour (King Arthur is the best, in my opinion)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream, plus more for wash
cinnamon sugar

Set rack in middle of oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and rub evenly into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine cornmeal (just like if you were making biscuits).

Whisk eggs and cream together and stir into the butter and flour mixture.

At this point the dough looks a little dry and you might be tempted to add more liquid, but don't just yet. Knead the dough and it will combine nicely. I just dump the whole mess out onto the counter and knead it for a few minutes to work all the left over dry ingredients in and you end up with a nice firm dough.

Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and form each into a 5-inch disk - just pat the dough until it's relatively flat and about 5 inches in diameter.

Cut each disk into quarters so you have 4 triangle-shaped wedges - I find my metal scraper works great for this - better than a knife.

Place scones onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silpat - I use 2 cookie sheets and put 6 scones per sheet. Brush tops with remaining cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes - 10 or 12 is enough for mine. You want the scones firm but not dry, and you don't want golden brown, but rather just slightly tan... Kinda like this.

Let me know what you think of them if you try them. They're good with butter and jam, but honestly, I like them plain with nothing to interfere with the slight sweetness. Yum.

So, now on to the entertainment portion of today. Do you watch Army Wives? If you don't, you should. Last night was the season 2 premier and it was great - I was totally shocked - didn't see that coming at all. I love the characters, so flawed yet still so likable and human. And I love that it's a show that airs new episodes in the summer when everything but my beloved General Hospital is in reruns. Lifetime has all of the season 1 episodes, as well as last night's premier on their website so if you've never watched, you can get caught up before next Sunday.

This week there will be some knitting on the never ending sleeves and I'm starting some new socks because I'm flying to Seattle on Thursday and I need a small portable knitting project for the plane - that big hulking sweater is not making the trip! I'm almost done with a fun little summer dress - just have the collar and sleeves and hem to finish, so hopefully I can get that done in the next couple of days and share that with you. Have a great Monday.

Stephanie

Yesterday was a day for household stuff. I did laundry and worked in the yard. I still have more flower beds to clean out, but they're getting there. The highlight of the day was making oreo cookies.

The recipe is fabulous and quite simple to make, although I made a huge mess while I was doing it - which is pretty normal in my cooking en devours.

I'm still knitting the sleeves on the never ending sweater, and I had to call the yarn store and see if she could put a couple of balls of the Rialto back for me because I'm going to run out before finish. Lovely. At least the LYS still had a few balls in the same dyelot. I ordered the harmony needles from Knit Picks, and they should be here this week. I'm not sure I'll be able to resist casting on once they arrive, but who knows. Maybe I'll surprise myself. Or maybe not. Whatever.

Have a happy Monday.
Steph

In an attempt to spin a bit more, I took my spindle and some pretty pink roving to my office.

I thought I might be able to find 5 or 10 minutes a day to spin a little on the spindle. And the added benefit is that it's right there and so springy and pretty, maybe I'll be inspired. I also picked out some bright roving from the stash to spin on my wheel. The alpaca just isn't working for me, so I think I'm going to try something else and see how it works.

I always enjoy my time spent spinning, but I just need to make time for it. Sigh, the story of my life.

I've decided to try running again. I really need to add some cardio exercise to my karate workouts - which I should be doing more than I do. I found a good basic plan on Runner's World. Or at least it looks good to my uneducated eye. I think I'll try to find a 5K in the area in a month or so to give me some motivation to stick with it. I know my dog would like it if I'd take him for a run a couple of times a week. And I would like it if I could lose a few inches - so I just need to figure out how to translate that unhappiness with my body to stick-to-itness (and I totally just made up that word). Maybe yaiAnn can give some pointers?? She just finished the Brazilian Ironman - talk about sticking to it...

And to continue with the "basics" theme, I've been reading In Defense of Food and I'm finding it very interesting. I'll keep you posted as I work my way through the book. A few friends have read this book and had great things to say, and it is an easy read even though I've been reading it before I go to sleep and I keep falling asleep while reading. I don't think that is a reflection on the interest of the book, rather just my inability to stay awake lately.

It's Friday afternoon and I'm headed home for the weekend. Hopefully it will be really productive and I'll feel better about how much I get done (or don't get done) by this time next week. Have a great weekend of your own.

Steph

Ravelry Link

I started this sweater in February and then got tired of it and put it in the knitting basket. A couple of weeks ago I picked it back up and decided that I needed to finish it before I started the Corset Tank Top by Annie Modesitt, which is going to be my summer knitting project. So, now I'm about 1/2 done with the first sleeve and it's killing me. I have the body of the sweater to shlep around as I turn the sleeve to knit it and I'm just not amused. The good thing is that it's endless, mindless stockinette in the round, which works for tv watching. I think the real problem is that I want to start some new socks and I'm not letting myself until I finish this sweater. I bought Francie and have decided to use the Brooke's Farm sock yarn I bought ages ago.

Have you all used the Harmony wood dpns from Knit Picks? What do you think of them? I was thinking about buying a couple of sets to see what they're like, but if you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

Other than dreaming of socks and hating sleeves, I'm going to try to sew a top this week. It's a cute little peasant top from Hot Patterns, but the directions are confusing and so I'm going to have one of the ladies I work with help me figure out what the heck they're talking about. Like why the heck I would sew the seams with the wrong sides together. Makes no sense to me.

Have a great day and hope for warm weather for me - it's still only in the 50's and we have a really cold wind today. I imagine the wind chill is in the 30's. Spring really needs to get here soon!

Steph

And 24 hours later - this morning - this is what it looked like:

Big difference, and while it looks nice in todays pictures, it was still cold. And the really good news is that we're supposed to get another inch of snow tonight, so I'm sure tomorrow morning will look like yesterday. It's a vicious cycle. If I didn't have to be a somewhat productive member of society, I'd just stay home and craft and drink until July when our 4 weeks of summer finally show up.

Happy Thursday.
Steph

Clearly I hate myself. Ok, not really, but talk about calories. I guess the only way to enjoy the treats and still be able to fit into my clothes is to spend some extra time at the gym. Ah, the price I pay for sugar!

This recipe is from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's a simple recipe that in the grand scheme of things isn't that fattening. It has 1/3 cup of butter, uses buttermilk, and the filling is cinnamon and sugar without additional butter. The buttermilk makes for a nice tender dough, plus adds a bit to the flavor. The other thing you could do to cut down on the inches to the hips is cut down on the frosting, but that doesn't work around here. Travis actually wishes there was more frosting! My teeth hurt just thinking about it.

I didn't do any crafting this weekend aside from cutting out the pieces for a top. A summer top. And since it's getting ready to snow here, I think I have enough time to work on it this weekend. Can someone in the know please let me know when we might expect summer to show up in Wyoming? Assuming summer will arrive eventually, I also want to work on the second skirt. And then I need to start thinking about a quilt for my brother and his girlfriend. So many crafting projects, and life keeps getting in the way. This week marks the beginning of summer hours at the University - 7:30 to 4:30, which sucks in the morning, but makes for a little extra time in the evenings. Here's hoping I can fit some crafting into that time.

Steph

I spent all last week in Indianapolis at a conference on fundraising. I learned a lot, but came home yesterday exhausted. I guess that's the price I pay for living in a hotel for 5 days. Before I left I managed to make myself a new summer skirt - mostly because I wanted some cotton skirts for summer but I refuse to pay the crazy prices for them (and I wanted to take at least one on my trip to Indy). Anyway, I have a pattern that I've used before, so I just whipped up another one with some cotton fabric from the quilt shop.

I didn't line this skirt, so I used french seams to finish it.

And I put an invisible zipper in rather than the regular zipper suggested by the pattern.

This pattern is really simple and I like how it fits so I think I'll make at least one more skirt for the summer. After that I'm going to have to try something new.

Otherwise I haven't done a lot of crafting. I didn't knit anything while I was in Indianapolis. I just went to class, ate dinner, and vegged in my room - oh, there was a tiny bit of shopping too. Of course. I'm feeling kind of blah about my knitting right now, but I think we're going to start a knitting group at work, so I think that will help me get back into the swing of things. I have a couple of projects that I really like, but I just don't seem to be making time to work on them. All in good time I guess.

Tomorrow we're taking my mom to brunch for Mother's Day, which is always fun. And she's decided she wants to make a couple of skirts but wants me to help her. I'm not sure I'm qualified for that, but we'll see. It might go alright or it could be a complete disaster. My other plans for the weekend include baking some cinnamon rolls (what's the consensus on pictures? yes or no?), doing laundry, and maybe sewing a simple summer top that I have cut out. We'll see how productive I am tomorrow.

Steph

I've been knitting and sewing, although not as much I should. I found that I'm not as productive when I don't have you all egging me on and waiting to see my progress. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I'm not all that motivated as a general rule. I'm really excited because I took a basic quilt class on Saturday and learned lots. I learned how to cut straight lines, how to make blocks with little squares of fabric

I learned about making stars

And I ended up with a finished baby blanket quilt top.

Now I just need to figure out what to do for the back and how to bind it and then it can be quilted. This is for my cousin's baby and she isn't due until July, so I think I should be ok for time. Assuming I don't procrastinate! Anyway, this quilting business is kinda fun, and my brother and his girlfriend are having a baby in November, so I will get to try my new skills on another quilt soon.

It was 70 degrees yesterday and today it snowed. This time of year I really hate living in Wyoming. It's spring everywhere else and it's snowing here. Ugh.

So, I need to make another one and incorporate the changes I want to make and see how it turns out. Who knew bags could be so technical?

I finished the Rocktober socks and wore them without taking a picture, so as soon as I wash them and get a picture, I'll blog about that. I'm terrible. I know, and can't seem to help myself. Ugh.

And other than sewing too much and knitting not enough, I've been baking bread. I recently bought The Bread Baker's Apprentice, which was on my wish list for at least a year, and I love it. I love the variety of recipes and the way he explains the entire process. I've learned a lot about making bread and figure out that I wasn't kneading my bread nearly enough. So far I've made 2 batches of one of his white sandwich bread and it's wonderful.

5 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
orange rind from one small orange
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 shot Grand Marnier
1 shot Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine apples, cinnamon, lemon juice, orange rind, Grand Marnier, rum. Toss to combine and pour into buttered tart or casserole pan. Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter with pastry blender (I use my hands to rub the butter in) until crumbly. Spread mixture over top of apples. Bake uncovered until apples are tender and top is lightly browned, approximately 1 hour. Serve warm with cream, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce (although I prefer it plain).

I adopted this recipe from one I found in Colorado Cache Cookbook, but changed it enough that I thought I could give it to you. I love apple crisps and this one has a nice thick fruit mixture with a nice crumble topping. I generally like oatmeal toppings, but this one might change my mind about that. The orange zest cuts the sweetness a bit and adds a nice layer of flavor. I like to use apples that are starting to get a little soft and are past the point where you want to eat them alone. It's a great way to use that fruit that's been in the drawer a little too long.

Jen was nice enough to offer me her leftover Roctober yarn so I can finish my sock! I finally ran out of yarn last night and I have about 3 inches left to knit. Jen's generosity is just a small example of how wonderful and generous the online knitting community is. I'm so lucky to be a part of such a great group. I knit a gauge swatch for the Manly Maze sweater from No Sheep for You. I'm using Debbie Bliss Rialto, but I didn't get gauge on size 5s, so I need to do another swatch on 6s and see I get closer to 21 sts/4 inches. And since that sweater is a whole lot of stockinette stitch in the round, I think I need a little something more interesting to break it up. I was thinking of the seeded cable sweater from Sensual Knits. Isn't it pretty?

I just finished reading Skinny Bitch and I can honestly say that I found it interesting. The authors strongly and passionately advocate for a vegan lifestyle. They make some valid points, and some not so valid. I have to preface this entire discussion by reminding you that I grew up on a cattle ranch and I live in a state where the major industry is agriculture. I believe in agriculture and wouldn't have traded my upbringing for anything. Considering that, I have a hard time buying the idea that every single thing in the cattle (dairy, chicken, pork, fishing...) industry is horrible, cruel, disease infested, chemically tainted, and disgusting. Do I think there are a lot of changes that need to be made? Absolutely. Do I think I am blessed to be able to eat locally raised, slaughtered, and processed beef? You bet. I also think eating steak every single day probably isn't a good idea for a lot of reasons. I generally cook meat for dinner for a couple of reasons. First, Travis is a card-carrying carnivore. If it doesn't have some kind of meat in it, he doesn't want to eat it. No excepts - well dessert is an exception. Second, I grew up eating meat and I know how to cook it. Third, it's quick and easy. The reality is that even if I wanted to, I couldn't cut meat out of my diet. And honestly, I don't want to.

Personally, I don't think deprivation works, but rather that moderation is the key. YiaAnn helped talk some sense into me and remind me that all you have to do is be smart about what you eat. I need to eat more whole grains, fruits, and veggies. I need to eat less desserts, refined sugar, and simple carbs. I probably shouldn't eat as much cheese as I do, but sometimes I'm just lazy and eat cheese and crackers for lunch, and I wouldn't do that if I had salad fixings or soup to choose from. I love to bake, as I'm sure you all have noticed, and I don't have to give that up as long as I don't eat everything I bake. Travis works with more than a hundred guys every day. I'm sure they'd be happy to take a large portion of my baked goods. That way I get the benefit of baking and having a treat now and then without having temptation staring at me 24/7.

Life is for living and we all need to find the balance between health and happiness that works for us. There is no one size fits all. I'd love to hear about how you found that balance in your life. You'll inspire me.

I'm busy working on the second Bartholomew sock.

The only problem is I only have this much yarn left

That isn't anywhere close to enough and I'm so annoyed. I'm so close to actually finishing a project and I'm running out of yarn. If anyone has any left over STR Rocktober they'd be willing to sell me (I don't need an entire skein!), I would be eternally grateful. I don't really understand why I'm running out of yarn. These socks are for me and they aren't any taller than a normal sock, so I'm perplexed. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to look in your stash for me.

This particular pattern has you do about 6 inches of the leg and then you start the increases on the instep and ribbing on the back.

Then you do the heel. This pattern calls for a reinforced heel, which I've never used on the bottom of a sock, but I assume it will wear much better than a plain heel. There's nothing particularly unique about the heel, but I do really like her instructions for short-row wraps and picking up the wraps. Her method makes for a wonderfully smooth heel.

After you turn the heel you work the "back of the heel." This is done in sl1, k1 repeat as well and this is where you add the plain stitches back in (I'm not sure that's the right description) by working until 1 stitch before the gap, decreasing across the gap, and turning until all the stitches are worked (is that a short-row too?). When the heel is done you start in the round again with the instep stitches. You don't pick up a single stitch and there aren't any holes! What's not to love about that?

And then you knit until it's time to do the toe. Oh, and she tells you how to use your row gauge to calculate exactly how much length the toe will add, so you know exactly when you need to start on the toe. Brilliant!

I signed up for NaSpiMoMo (there's a Ravelry group) for no other reason than I have a wonderful wheel that I have been sorely neglecting. And like I said, I do better with a class (and isn't a group sort of like an online class?). My goal is to spin the camel alpaca that I have had in the basket and on the wheel for months. Months!

We'll see how that goes, but at least it's some motivation for me to sit down and spin.

I've started a new sewing project. The last attempt at pants was a bust, but I'm still hopeful that these will work out better.

I have some inexpensive cotton that I'm going to use for a muslin and I'll keep you updated on the progress. In sewing news, my major Christmas gift was money for a new sewing machine. And I'm so excited. There aren't any sewing machine stores in Laramie, but there's one in Cheyenne and a couple in Colorado. I need to go look at machines, but I'm kind of intimidated. There are so many machines and so many options that I just don't even know where to start. I did read a really good article on how to buy a new machine, so I'm going to take that to heart and see what I can come up with. I'd like to stop and look on Saturday, but I may need to just go by myself one day and try a bunch of machines (right now I'm leaning towards a Pfaff, but I have no idea which model might be the best for me that I can actually afford).