the secret word is

...malabrigo!

cinnamongirl93 is celebrating spring by giving away some malabrigo. you have until tuesday, march 25th, 7 pm central to enter. and of course, if you would be so kind as to mention my name when you post! BROWNIE POINT ENTRIES are always cool.

ten "new" things

robyn will be celebrating 1000 blog posts in the next week or two. she has made march a "slow" month where she is trying not to spend money (can you imagine trying not to spend money?!). her challenge is for us to post 10 things that we bought but have never used. my first thought was to post 10 skeins of sock yarn but i think that would defeat the purpose of her challenge. so here are my ten things:

1. rotary cutter and mat (for when i start quilting. my sil gave me some fabric and a pattern about 3 christmases ago)
2. a boucle cardigan knit kit (bought at my first stitches west market about 6 years ago - still in cute plastic bag)
3. tote led clip light (for knitting in the dark)
4. eye shadow (a girl cannot have enough colors)
5. a set of good steak knives (why use the good ones when we still have bad ones?!)
6. set of knit picks options (i haven't taken them out to check if all the cables and needles screw in properly yet)
7. hand made soap (just cause it smells like chocolate=yum)
8. purse size burt's bees hand lotions (perfect purse size)
9. tape measure (in case i lose the other ones i have open)
10. nail polish ( see #4)
11. bonus: macintosh apples waiting for robyn to post recipe for apple cake (HINT! HINT!)

and to divert your attention from my stuff; look at what i made for dessert the other night.


upside-down apple pie made with golden delicious and braeburn apples. absolutely yummy warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. NOW IF I ONLY HAD THAT RECIPE FOR ROBYN'S MIL'S APPLE CAKE, I COULD USE THOSE MACINTOSH APPLES.

swan lake is totally fini!

it still amazes me what blocking will do for lace. you knit and knit and knit and end up with a light-weight blob of something. soak it in water, squeeze it dry, and then stretch it to an itch of its life (which is kind of scary because it was knit with very skinny, fragile-looking "thread"). somehow, it turns into a thing of beauty (if you are lucky and didn't make too many noticeable mistakes - grin)! i did find that i missed TWO beads in the edging; so did some minor "repair" work in those two spots. other than that, i think i did pretty well. the mistakes aren't too glaring. i am very happy with my finished "swan lake." now, i need some place to go. ah-hh! grocery shopping!!!

"the point"

"the wing"

"the whole enchilada"

zephyr wool-silk in ebony
approx. 80 gm/945 yds
us 4 needles
finished size: 20" x 78" (will probably shrink a little after i remove all the pins)
gauge: who knows? i am a bad girl and didn't swatch!

modifications: i used beading banshee's ending for clue 4 and didn't knit all the cat's paw lace. i am not sure how many i actually knitted. i was going to knit the shorter version but didn't because i would have only had like 4 repeats of the cat's paw lace and thought it would look really funny. i did add beads to clue 4. i hope that it's not too long when i wear it. i am still waiting for it to completely dry before i undo all the pins.

now, i'm itching to start another lace project from my long list of shawl/stole mystery (mostly known now because i didn't start them on time) kals. i could start the mystic water shawl or the secret of the stole ii OR i could wait for the mystic light or secret of the bad nauheim ( both of which start soon). i think i need to buy more lace yarn!

i really should just go finish my serendipitys and work on those 3 new sock designs (plus write up that one for crystal palace yarn) instead of thinking of lace; but the lace is so fun!

ps. hey, debi, i think i finally figured out that blocking thing. send your stuff down! of course, if i block it, i keep it!!!!!!!!!! then i can have a contest and give away all your shawls for prizes!!!!!

edited to correct needle size used for stole. you would think i would know after working on the stole for 8 months.

it's hatched!

it's finally undergone its transformation from mystery stole 3 to "swan lake"! and it only took 8 months almost to the day (actually finished binding off friday night)!! sad but true. but it is finished. i am anxious to see the shawl blocked and in all its glory. i did miss one of the beads on the edging so am trying to decide if i should just leave it or figure out a way to add one now. being me, i will probably try to figure out how to add it on.

in other news, i have a new sock pattern available for your knitting pleasure over at crystal palace yarns. "kilauea" has just been posted. go on over and take a look. i want to thank barbara for knitting a sample in panda silk (so you can see the stitch better). she told me it was "total torture" having to knit with the yarn (she loved every minute of it!!!!)

"kilauea"

CONTEST ALERT!!! secret word is "malabrigo." i have touched it and it is soft. i want some! (i don't know why i am telling you. it may lessen my chances for winning.) head on over to mariknits who is celebrating a blogiversary. leave her a link to your first post. i get "brownie points" if you let her know i sent cha over. (i knew there was a reason why i would tell you!)

"pms" contest

nope, it ain't me! and it's not "that" kind of "PMS".

nh knitting mama is having a contest to promote her esty shop. she has some very pretty hand-dyed yarns. make sure you let her know that i sent ya! yep! she has extra entries! you can win some of her beautiful yarn. of course, if you win, you have to send it to me.

i am still working on my "serendipitys". i 've frogged the second sock about 3 or 4 times trying to get the striping to match up. yes, i am totally anal! i think i have the leg pretty close right now. one time, i was knitting too loose so the stripes were getting too wide. i have kinda learned how to control the "pooling" and "striping" to a certain extent.

i am also working on new designs for theknitter and robyn's nest. hair pulling out time; especially when i can't find a pattern that works with the yarn. am i bald yet?!