When the cat is away....

Yep that's right folks it's going to be one exciting night around here what with the husband gone and all. Knitting, netflix, and carbs what more can one gal ask for? This is pretty much what my life has looked like all this week except for the pasta, that one was a stretch it's pretty much been PB&Js every other night. Boy did I go all out tonight. The hemlock has been moving along quite well. I'm on my second skein and have found the hope that I was once lacking. I figure if I can get through one skein in 6 days then I should be able to get through another by the 24th. I haven't decided how far I'm going to go I guess I just figure I'll know when to stop when I get there. So what's on the ole movie list tonight you ask. Well I just finished up Starter for Ten, does anyone else find them self practicing their British accent after a British film (or a film set in England rather, not so sure it is actually a British film), or did I just tell how much of an dork I really am? It was a pretty good cheesy kinda movie. But it did include music by The Cure, so that's a plus. Up next will be Grace is Gone, don't know anything about it except John Cusack is in it. So I figure after this movie, and whatever Olympic events are on tonight I should be well beyond the Rainey Sister's chart. Finger crossed....

Go Team USA

Ok so I will admit there have been many times during these past 4-5 days that I was ready to give up on this damn blanket. And you know the sad thing is, it isn't too hard. I added in a yarn over and couldn't find the f-ing thing to save my life. No joke I came in the house Sunday morning and had prepared not to finish, hell not to even pick the thing up again. Then I received the sweetest push on ravelry. I was left a comment asking where my photos were. Well hell how embarrassing would it be to admit failure 3 days in. So here is that picture...

I think I was somewhere in the low 20's when this picture was taken, now I'm up to the high 30's.

So how about that Michael Phelps? And no I'm not talking about his rockin' bod, although we can talk about that if you would like. And sadly I have to admit I found myself routing for China's male gymnast team last night too. They were so damn good though, I guess if USA had been closer I would've been cheering them on but....They did well also though, all rookies and still bronze. Swimming and Gymnastics are the two events that I have always gotten into, but with this ravelmpics thing going on I have been watching a lot more. The other day I watched soccer and even a bit of handball. Ok ok so if I have any hope of finishing I better get back to cranking it out.

A Bit Old School....

Well I guess the Ravelmpics has me pumped up about blogging too b/c I'm back. What is this like two days in a row, WOW. Well I don't have anything current to blog about, I only finished a few rows of the Wild Stripes since the picture was taken, only four more rows until I'm officially a third of the way through the knitting part YEAH. So anyway I'm bringing back past projects, that's right baby I'm going old school. Actually it's not that old at all. It, Sally the Eco Fairy, was a birthday present for my youngest niece's first birthday this past May. There she is in all her glory. I was really happy with how she turned out, even without the curls. Oh the curls....I saw another fairy on Rav that was just the cutest thing I've ever seen and all because she had this head full of curls. Below is my half finished version.Yes I did attempt the curls and yes the curls defeated me. I was cranking them out, oh wait let me back up a bit. Did I mention that I started this thing a week before her birthday. Yes you heard me right. With that in mind I was a bit uncertain if the curls would get finished so I knit the straight hair from the pattern "just in case". Then I started cranking out the curls, a bit in between parts of the doll and tons after the doll was finished. I bet there's at least 20 curls on just that one side. Well I was actually starting to believe I would get this thing done, curls and all. Then of course I ran out of yarn and that skein that I just knew I had was gone. I looked everywhere it was nowhere to be found, so off to Michaels the hubster and I went. What happened next was a sign, they didn't have anymore of the Bernat Soy. Oh well, I have to say it was a bit of a relief, a weight was definitely lifted off my shoulders. I walked out of Michaels knowing full well that I wouldn't have to crank out curls the next whole day. I would simply sew on the straight hair and call it finished.
See all those ends, I hadn't quite figured out what I was going to do with them, nor how I was going to sew each of the curls on yet but lucky I didn't have to worry about that. Not to mention when I found out the following weekend that Sally had taken a swim in a toilet I didn't feel so bad about not finishing the curls. Yeah so I saved all those curls and low and behold within a few days I found that missing skein. He was hiding in my knitting bag, imagine that in a knitting bag who would've thought. Anyway so sometime I'll break out those curls and make my own Curly Sally, and no swimming lessons for my Curly Sal.

Training in progress....

So I've decided that the Wild Stripes blanket is going to act as my training for the Ravelympics. It's definitely helping me with me speed since it's just stockinette stitch and lord knows I'm going to need speed in 5 more days. Anyway I'm just about finished with one of the 3 repeats (just 9 more rows) and it's not as boring as I thought it was going to be. I long to finish just one more color to see what it is going to look like with the next color. And the purl rows aren't too bad because each time I start one I think after this row is a knit row. I'm not sure I'm diggin the colors but as I said on Ravelry it looked much better once I pinned it out to take the pictures and I'm sure it will look tons better once it's finished and the embroidery is on. Actually I can't wait till I finish it just so I can see the embroidery on it, although wait I will I'm going to stop working on it prob tomorrow until after the Ravelympics are over. I don't want to develop carpel tunnel before I even start my Hemlock...

Whoops...

Yeah so Newbs is gonna be mad at me. I've stolen her Wild Stripes blanket. Well it's completely her fault she's been talking about it a bit these past few days and it is too cute so how could I not knit it too. Plus until the 8th I can't start the Hemlock and what fun would it be if I finished something I already had going. Anyway it's not like I was going into Hobby Lobby to buy the yarn for it. I actually went in looking at cotton and saw Vanna's section and next thing you know I was walking out with 14 skeins (yes 14 I couldn't decide between 2 colors so I grabbed them both). Hey the good thing about it is that when she's finished and mine is sitting in a bag in the guest bedroom she'll be able to mock and torment me. Although that might be motivation for me to complete it...

Anyway so I'm off to watch the United States of Leland and cast on. I'll leave you with a picture of the yarn. Oh yeah see that glass hurricane/vase thingy, yeah so that was a wedding present that never made it to the recipient how horrible is that, we just kept it....

It's Hereeeee.....

Looky looky, two posts in one week. Yep so as you may have guessed I've joined the Ravelympics. I have my yarn in hand, pattern printed out, and I'm anxiously/nervously chewing away at my needles. If you don't know what the Ravelympics are let me break it down for you. First there is a Knitting Olympics and since I've never competed in it (although two more years baby...) I don't know all the details but the basics are....pick a project, one that will test your knitting abilities, grab all the necessary materials, and anxiously wait for the opening ceremonies to the real Olympics. This is when you can hear it around the world, what is it you ask? Well it's sort of a click but more like a bang, it's every one's needles clicking together as knitters around the world cast on with high hopes of finishing their projects before the closing ceremonies. Now the official Knitting Olympics only come around every 4 years so some folks over at Ravelry started one this year and that's what all this fuss is about.

So here's my specifics. I'm working with Cascade Ecological Wool in Latte or 8063 (down the page just a bit). I'm be using my Knit Picks needles, which I need to make sure are shined and ready to go. Oh you want to know the pattern eh? Ok so it's the Hemlock Ring Blanket. Ok so let me know when you've stopped laughing.....

And the last important fact, I've convinced my pal to shoot for the moons too. Although she went ahead and cast on (CHEATER) and is almost finished so I'm thinking she'll be looking for a new project shortly.

Cupcake anyone?

I figured that maybe just maybe if I introed with cupcake talk that everyone would forgive me for not posting. Back when I was in high school I used to babysit, for some of the best families I might add, I was sooo lucky. Anyway so one time one of the mothers had made cupcakes with marshmallows inside and for about 3 years now I've been wanting to make some. Do you know how hard it is to find info about a simple cupcake with a regular ole marshmallow inside? Apparently lots o people like to fill them with marshmallow creme and others like their cupcakes with a peep on top (and no surprisingly Amber this didn't strike my fancy), but no one just takes a cupcake and sticks a marshmallow in it. And yeah so it seems simple just stick one in but I guess I just needed confirmation. My original thinking was when you pour the batter that you would push one into the middle then, but what happens if the marshmallow blows up like it does in the microwave. Oh I did not want to be cleaning my oven at 9 o'clock last night, so I did find one site that used a spoon to scoop some of the cupcake out just put the mallow in while the cupcake was still hot. This is what I ended up doing and I guess it worked, although I'm still going to have to get my nerve up to try putting the mallow right in the batter. Oh and while I'm already rambling, my frosting was not being friendly either. I was going to make a white chocolate frosting (yes it is as good as it sounds) but turns out the white chocolate had a bug on it. The kind I get comes in a box and each block is individually wrapped and I hadn't even opened the box but when I was putting the blocks in a bowl to melt there he was. Some little tiny dead bug thing looking up at me. Needless to say we didn't get white chocolate frosting, instead I made some kind of whipped cream frosting, not bad but not even close to the white chocolate I was expecting. It would be really good on fresh strawberries (note to self) or some type of strawberry cake. Anyway maybe next time I'll have some knitting news. I've actually knit quite a bit but just haven't been so great with the update....