FO: More Stripey Socks

I actually knitted these quite some time ago, but never wove in the ends; now, at last, they're done:

These were made with Mini Mochi from Crystal Palace Yarns, colorway 107, Autumn Rainbow, probably using US0 circular needles.  The color looks odd because of the lighting in the room.

WIP Progress: Pink Kimono

So, apparently it's been quite a while since I worked on the Pink Kimono:

Since then, I've started school, separated from my husband, and moved me and three of my kids out on our own.  Here's the view from my balcony:

You can see two of my gnomes; two more are to the left of the picture, but that side of the view is mostly wall and Whataburger.  It's funny how moving has a way of helping you find old projects you misplaced in the daily chaos; that's how I found the pink kimono. My last memory of this project was that I had somehow messed it up again; the picture in my head was all those bobbins tangled together. Turns out, I made more progress than I remember; I'd already cast on the sleeves and compensated for having forgotten to do a color change at the ends of the sleeves when I cast them on:

It's wider than it looks; the needle wire isn't long enough to stretch the thing out to its full width.  I am also going to make a kimono using a size-altered version of this pattern for my best friend; I do not plan to finish this one first because my poor friend would be waiting until retirement. Hers, however, will not have color changes; we have a variegated yarn she bought long ago that is perfect for this pattern. Thus, no color-changing bobbins! Yay!

FO: Stripey Scarf

This scarf was made as a gift for my daughter's friend, who wanted the Harry Potter Slytherin look.  I didn't want to knit yet another plain striped scarf, so I added smaller stripes between every third large stripe, and mixed up the colors for the fringe.  Bruce Shee(p) was kind enough to model it for me:

Tres sheep chic, non?

This was made with Ella Rae Classic in dark green (125) and Ella Rae Classic Heather in grey (122), using US 5 circular needles, which yielded about 4.25 st/in.

FO: Blue hat

My youngest son and I went to my LYS Saturday.  While we were there, he spotted some blue yarn he loved, so we got it.  The yarn was Plymouth Yarn's Grandiosa Hand Dyed yarn (75% Merino, 25% Alpaca; the boy has good taste).  His challenge: mom had to make something with just the one twist of yarn.  My answer to his challenge, a blue hat:

I used size US 13 circular needles, which produces about 2 st. per inch, and knits very quickly.  The twist had just a little over enough to make the hat, so he insisted I leave the tail attached.  I admit I did not anticipate its transformation into a blue Fu Manchu. 

Alfredo Win

I love Alfredo sauce, and so do my kids, as long as it's not the stuff in the jars.  Pre-made spaghetti sauce can be doctored and made to taste good, but there's just nothing you can do to fix pre-made Alfredo sauce.

I finally hunted down a recipe for Alfredo sauce and made a batch last night, though I was worried how it would turn out since I've never made it before.  I also made some doctored spaghetti sauce as a Plan B in case the Alfredo experiment went badly.

The results?  As they say, a picture us worth a thousand words:

Note the untouched tomato sauce on the right, looking very lonely

The recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/alfredo-sauce-2/

Doozy Yarnblob and WIP

No, this isn't a very late Halloween decoration, it's a doozy of a yarnblob:

The above yarnblob is brought to you by RedHeart yarns; by now the yarnblob has been straightened out and incorporated into one of my current WIPs:

Yes, I am crocheting this one; I realize it's rare that I crochet, but the pattern (available for free here) was just too enticing to pass up. The pattern calls for three or more colors, but I went with just two; solid black (color 0312, displayed in the yarnblob above) and a lovely green hombre I hadn't seen before.  Both yarns are Redheart Supersaver yarns; the green is simply called "Green Tones," color 0629. I decided to go with solid black for the second color to highlight the variegation in the green.

For this project, I'm using a size US-K (6.50mm) hook as recommended in the instructions. It's an easily memorized pattern and works up quickly unless you leave it in a bag and forget where you put it.  (What? You've never done this?)  Once this one is complete I may try a second one in multiple colors. I suspect this would also be a great pattern for using up remnant yarns.

RPG Skeleton Statues

These are generic skeletons I painted for my Hubby that he wanted to use as statues:

I think I did ok making them look like statues. Especially since they started their un-lives as part of a Bag O Skeletons (possibly made by Twighlight Creations, though I couldn't find a pic). Gotta love the original color:

What? Aren't all skeletons hot pink?