Yikes, Oh Duh and D'oh!

First the Yikes: I finished the top of the first mitten, but I'm not happy with it. I get a little paranoid about mittens being too short. (I hate having my fingers squished). But I over compensated and these are decidedly too long. Also, I don't like the prominence of the decrease line in orange.

So I'm going to rip back. Then I'll either decrease on black stitches, or slant the decreases the other direction. Golly, at the rate I'm going I'll have these things done just about in time for next year.

Now the Oh Duh: Sometimes I'm just slow. When I met the lovely J. at Last Saturday Knitting, I never made the connection that she is also the lovely Kitty Mommy. The new teeth should have been a give away, but no.... Sometimes my brain just has these separate parallel compartments that never meet.

Finally D'oh!: OK, it's still February, even here in my alternate universe. So tomorrow will be March. Daylight Savings Time is coming. Just watch me get up an hour earlier than I need to (or will that be sleep an hour later than I should have?)

Oh Johnny!

Johnny Depp is coming to town! Well, not our town, exactly. He's coming to Wisconsin to shoot some movie scenes. Rumor (and the local paper) has it that there will be a day or two on location at the county courthouse over in Darlington. So where do I go to sign up as an extra?

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I did order a bag of the Elann Esprit, and yes I'm glad I did. The Canyon Rose color is very pretty. I've never used this yarn for anything but socks, and that was the intention for this batch. But maybe I should get adventurous and try a tank top or tee.



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There was a perfectly lovely show about Pete Seeger on PBS last night (American Masters). I think I've said this before, but I truly believe he is one of the seven just persons who hold up the universe. It also reminded me of the power of music and song to effect change. Where are the songs that can end this war?

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The last two days have been cold, but gloriously sunny. The angle of the light is higher. Tomorrow will be March. I'm beginning to think that spring may actually be on the way.

So Where Ya Been Anyway?

I haven't gone completely AWOL, just haven't set myself down to write in a while.

First off, thanks to everybody for all the good bread suggestions. I'll be doing some experimenting.

So where have I been? Thursday I subbed for the school secretary again, then in the evening had my regular weekly get together with L and L. Friday I spent much of the day chopping ice from the sidewalks and driveway. Saturday: work in the morning at the library and then in the afternoon had Last Saturday Knitting - always nice. A new to me attendee was Jen (did I get that right?) with her adorable baby Isaac. I brought along the current mittens.





The band that looks electric blue is really a darkish teal, much more subtle in real life. Sigh, I find that as so often happens, my tension has become tighter as I progress. It's not a huge difference, at least not enough that I'm going to rip back.

Sunday Mr S and I went to Madison for brunch with some good friends we hadn't seen in months. Chopped more ice in the afternoon. The last installment of Pride and Prejudice on PBS in the evening. This is an older version, but I hadn't seen it before. I think Colin Firth is the best Mr. Darcy ever.

Yesterday I baked up the remaining frozen dinner roll dough, just to clear the decks for the day when I by a package of yeast and start from scratch. Most of the rest of the day (before work at the library in the evening) was spent chopping the last of the ice. The entire driveway and sidewalks were clean down to the cement. This was a major accomplishment, given that it had built up two to four inches in places. But I finished it all. Just in time for more snow last night and today.

If at first.....

Well, I thought I would make another stab at focaccia, taking into account some helpful suggestions from readers. Our local store doesn't carry refrigerated or frozen pizza crust, but it did have this.



And while I was there I picked up some rosemary and garlic granules, too.

When it was done it looked like this.



Next time I will mix up two packages of pizza dough and make it twice as thick. And I will bake it in a cake pan or just build up the edges some. From perusing actual recipies on the internet, I'm beginning to suspect that the chewy texture I crave is impossible without sourdough starter. And I am without it. (On the other hand, there was one that started with a "sponge" that didn't look too difficult, and might come close...) But this actually tasted very good. And it was easy. And fast to put together. I polished off half of it as soon as it came out of the oven, then forced myself to leave the rest for Mr S. It would hardly be fair for a guy to come home to signs of baking, but no actual baked goods. If I weren't a woman with scruples I would have eaten it all.

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I've started the first mitten. Had to stop and fiddle with the charts after deciding that I did want a thumb gusset after all.

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Note to Linda L - those colors are good. We'll see.

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Note to all - if at any point it appears that my spelling has deteriorated I can assure you that it is no worse than it ever was. My Blogger spell check won't work, and I haven't yet figured out how to get it running again. Things could get intirasting.

I find myself wandering from window to window

staring sullenly at the icicles. Occasionally I venture out and whack off a few that are within reach. I does no real good, but expresses my feelings.

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As I suspected, linking the headband pdf from Ravelry to here was not hard, once a kind forum member responded to my question in terms that even I could understand. So the Gemini link is back in the sidebar, and it works for me even when I'm not logged in to either Blogger or Rav, and I've got my fingers crossed.

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I need more mittens, because this is the year when the fingerless mitts I usually wear just aren't enough. In order to make more mittens, I need to wind some yarn into balls (in this case Cascade 220).






In real life the orange looks less pumpkin and more rust. I may throw in a few yards of some leftover teal. It's only enough for a very small accent (at the wrist?), but sometimes a small color accent perks things up considerable.

Now as for winding, do I haul out the swift, or just drape it over my knee? I think the latter. I don't have a ball winder, so the speed is about the same with either method. For finer yarns (or a hairier yarn) I would definitely use the swift, to avoid tangles, but I can usually manage a smooth worsted well enough without it.

Say what you will about Red Heart, I only wish every yarn came in center pull logs like theirs. I know there are knitters who want to wind/rewind every yarn purchased, to get the feel of it and to look for knots. I respect that. But for myself, I'll get the feel while swatching, and I don't mind a spit splice or two.

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I just got crazy excited because Elann is have a really good sale on full bags of Esprit. And there are quite a few colors left. I love this yarn for summertime socks. But then it occured to me that 1) I have at least 8 balls of Esprit in the closet still waiting to be worked up, and 2) a full bag would mean making 3 to 5 pairs (depending on cuff length) all in the same color. So I'm resisting the urge.

Twice is Nice (Edited)

I liked the latest headband enough that I did it up in a different color. This one is in Lion Brand "Lion Wool". I'm calling it "Gemini". Because it has two buttons? Because you can wear it two ways? Because that's my sign? Who knows?



Edited Bit: A big thank you to all who tested the link to the pattern download. I know people have downloaded within Ravelry, but either the external linking feature needs some work, or I misunderstood (very likely the latter). I'll go work on getting the pdf parked elsewhere. So the free download will be available from the sidebar soon.