I've gone and done it now

I came home early Thursday (snow/ice/sleet made it advisable), so I had a quiet hour or two to myself. I got out my favorite sweater and measured it for the 4th time (at least); then I measured the parts of my Weekend Sweater once more; then I took a deep breath and joined the pieces together:

I've been waffling and dithering over measurements for weeks, but every time I would check, I kept getting the same results, so I decided it was time to move forward. I'm excited, and a bit nervous (kind of how I feel about the new job starting Monday). I'm really looking forward to completing this sweater. Not only do I want to find out if I figured correctly to get the fit I want, but I really like the feel of this yarn (KnitPicks' Telemark in Charcoal Heather). It's soft and springy, and I think it's going to be wonderful to wear. I'm so excited, I just want to spend the weekend on the couch, knitting away!

Hilfy inspects my work.

The things you find

I finished the Magic Slipper booties a few days ago; finally got around to taking a pic today prior to tucking them into a box of clothing heading to the Cheyenne River Reservation. I stuffed them with some oddments of yarn to give you a better look:

While looking for a scrap of yarn and a tapestry needle to tie the booties together for their trip, I found this lurking under the pile of yarn and WIPs that inhabit one corner of our sofa:

A pair of socks just waiting for one final toe to be sewn up! I had forgotten all about these; I think I finished them while I was sick, and didn't feel up to the challenge of Kitchener with a head cold. So, a few minutes later, I had a pair of socks for CIC:

Man, that was easy. I ought to sort through that corner more often.

Hard to type like this...

...with a cat between me and the keyboard.

Last Time

This is the last time I'll have to twiddle my thumbs at work on the weekend because--drum roll, please--I got a new job! Someplace where I'll only have to work on the weekend if there is work that actually needs to be done on the weekend (what a concept). I start in two weeks. I'll be sorry to say goodbye to a lot of the people here, but I won't be sorry to leave behind some of the policies and rules they've come up with lately.

I'm celebrating with the cutest little bootie:



Sockpixie's Magic Slipper, made with unknown sock yarn given to me by Shelly Kang, when the Yarn Harlot encouraged everyone to bury her house with yarn. I've been looking for ideas on how to use all those little bits of lovely yarn, and this is an excellent method! It took me a few tries to get this right; I just couldn't seem to get the sole the right length so I could pick up the specified number of stitches. I found that if I start decreasing the sole when I have 21 ridges from the cast on edge (42 rows), I am able to pick up the right number of stitches. Or, at least, I think I will; I actually started decreasing after 22 ridges for this one, and I picked up 2 more stitches than planned (1 extra on each side). I didn't feel like ripping it out (again), so I just did one more decrease round. Works for me!

Hilfy pacing in front of the door this morning;
apparently, she thought she was coming to work with me.

Delish

Tried out the Retsel mill today; big improvement over the old one! With my old mill, I struggled to grind a cup of flour. With the Retsel, I ground about 3 cups and, while it was a bit of a workout, it still wasn't as much effort as 1 cup with the old one. I'm sold!

I used some of the flour to make muffins. I've made this recipe before (the whole wheat variation), and they're quite tasty. But in rummaging around in the frig I came across some applesauce I really should use up, so this is what I made:

Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins
(makes 12 muffins)

2 Tbl oil
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbl baking powder
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour

Beat the egg, then mix in oil, milk, applesauce, and brown sugar. Add the remaining ingredients and stir just until everything is moistened and well mixed (you don't want to overbeat muffins; they'll toughen up).

Pour into muffin tin (greased or lined with paper cups) or silicone muffin cups (as I did). Bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes.

I tried one as soon as they were cool enough (that's why there are only 11 in the pic), and boy, are they yummy! For the whole wheat flour, I used hard white wheat. I'd like to try soft wheat, if I can find it, and see how these would be with all whole wheat flour (instead half whole wheat, half white). I used chunky applesauce, so there are nice moist little bits of apple here and there. I meant to add cinnamon, but I forgot. Maybe I'll try that next time.

Yesterday I turned the heel on the CIC sock, but didn't do much more, because I was engrossed in a book. A while back, I was poking around Amazon.com, and saw a mention of a TV movie coming out soon with Tom Selleck playing a police chief named Jesse Stone. And, what's this? This isn't the first such movie? Tom Selleck has played this character before? How did I miss this? Who is this Jesse Stone character, anyway?

So, I learned there are several books featuring Jesse Stone, police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts. Sounded interesting, so I hit paperbackswap.com and snagged the first book in the series, Night Passage by Robert B. Parker. I am loving this book! Strong but flawed protagonist (as the best heroes are), suspense, intrigue...I'm really hooked. And the character seems tailor-made for Tom Selleck; before I was a quarter of the way into the book, I put Stone Cold (Tom's first Jesse Stone movie) on my NetFlix list. Can hardly wait to get it.

Can you guess whodunit, Hilfy? No, don't tell me, I want to find out on my own.

It's finally here!

The b/f and I have the day off; convenient since we got about 6 inches of snow last night. This morning we had a big breakfast, then worked it off shoveling our driveway and his father's. I'm worn out! Which is too bad, since I had planned on spending the day playing with this:

My grain mill finally arrived! I only ordered one can of wheat with it, but as you can see, they sent me two, I assume because it took so long to ship. I'm really looking forward to setting it up and giving it a whirl. I've been gathering recipes to try out; my mouth's watering just thinking about whole wheat applesauce muffins.

But I'll probably spend the rest of the day on the couch instead, finishing up these CIC socks, maybe watching a movie. Not a bad way, really, to spend a snowy day.