spots of cheer

Another dismal, grey, rainy day here in Chicago. A few spots of cheer, though:My Windy City Hat and Irish Hiking Wristwarmers finally saw their trial run, and Ysolda's new book arrived in today's post. My handknits kept me warm and cozy but didn't succeed fully in cheering me up. When I met one of my university friends outside the (dreadful) library today, I told her she was witnessing me at my most cantankerous. She laughed and laughed...

Oh well, not every day can be full of rainbows and unicorns, I suppose.

Then again, I do live in Boystown, where every street corner is bedecked with giant rainbow-striped pylons:

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Last night I baked chocolate chip maple walnut cookies (recipe here) before scurrying off to my guitar lesson.
Not the best looking cookies, but they taste pretty great even though I substituted vanilla extract for maple extract. My kitchen is well-stocked, but not that well-stocked. The maple extract would definitely kick up the flavor another couple notches.

OK, off to fix another cup of tea (Candy Cane Lane, best holiday tea ever), down a couple Aleve, and bust out the heating pad. Have you ever read the warning label on a heating pad? Apparently you're not supposed to use it in any way that would actually benefit you at all. I blame the lawyers. Hear that, Paul? ;-)

conundrum

Looming in the back of my mind was a sneaking suspicion that a handknit baby blanket composed of squares was not a good idea.
Indeed, it was a bad idea. The navy blue squares are larger than the light blue squares even though they are all knit from the SAME YARN (RYC Cashsoft 4 ply, doubled) on the SAME SIZE NEEDLES. The camera angle makes it look a little worse than it actually is, but it's pretty bad nonetheless. This was a stashbuster project, and I'm not happy. At least I've only completed 6 of the 12 squares.

Can blocking solve this problem? The Cashsoft is 40% merino, 40% acrylic microfibre, and 10% cashmere. Or should I frog it? Sigh...

On a brighter note, the Capricha's lot in life seems very luxurious indeed.
A typical weekday morning pose:
I sent off a pair of Irish Hiking wristwarmers and a Skye hat to Mia a while back. The wristwarmers were an easy knit, and the cables are so much fun.

Pattern: Irish Hiking Wristwarmers (link from the Irish Hiking Scarf KAL)
Yarn: Smoky Mountain Fibers worsted wool, in "Summer Garden" (a little more than 100 yards)
Needles: US 7 Clover bamboo straights

Notes: The yarn's colors are simply gorgeous, and the dyer did an amazing job. It's not the softest yarn ever, though.

Pattern: Skye Hat, from the Daily Knitter
Yarn: Smoky Mountain Fibers worsted wool, in "Summer Garden" (~ 100 yards)
Needles: US 6 Clover bamboo straights

Notes: The lacy pattern shows up much better when stretched out on an actual head. I didn't want to get my head germs all over the newly-washed hat before I posted it, though!