Category: everyday

  • dear chocolate hearts,

    I am so sorry that I poured you while the chocolate was too hot. It was my first time tempering, how was I to know better? The thermometer said I was okay, but you know how it lies. The ice cube tray probably wasn’t the best mold, either.

    I know the almond clusters are all shiny and dark and proper after just being thrown together, but I’ll still love you and eat you too. After all, you’ve got the whole shape thing going! I’ll try harder next time, but this whole tempering thing maybe just isn’t working out. After all, I started with great materials (Callebaut 70% couveture), spent so much time, and I ended up with you. You know what? You might become glaze on my heart-shaped flourless chocolate cake instead.

    happy valentine’s day,
    love,
    laura

  • oh-so-picky head coverings

    Hey all, things are still pretty damn crazy around here. Today I spent a number of HOURS trying to get a new router set up – including talking to tech support, etc. Eventually I just hooked the old one up again and it works fine for now. I need the internet for my schoolwork anyway, and faster would be nice, but it’ll have to wait.

    In the meanwhile…last night at Drunken Knitters, I worked on the second sleeve of the organic wool raglan, and discovered a number of rows later that I’d been increasing too fast! So I had to rip out a bunch – and I wasn’t even drinking.

    I discovered that I’m going to be short of yarn for that second sleeve – I only had 1.5 skeins of yarn to use, and the first sleeve took 1.6. So if anyone has any O-Wool in oatmeal, lot 710002, and would be willing to sell/share half a skein or so, let me know! Otherwise I’ll have to figure out what to do with a different dyelot. It’s quite similar but a bit lighter, so I was thinking of maybe striping it in? Hm.

    I’ve also just started a hat for the boyfriend, who is tremendously picky about his hats. I’m using Nature’s Palette in “Spruce” (he picked it), double stranded. I hope to gift it on Valentine’s Day, so I really hope this works out!

    Back to the books. I’ll try and come by with some pictures soon!

  • good googly moogly.

    Holy Crap.

    The school, it seems, shall kick my butt this term – it’s my very last term of school (perhaps forever) and I have So. Much. Work. Seriously, I have all kinds of little assignments, all one after the other, rather than just a couple big papers like I was expecting. The calendar is filling up and I’m already behind.

    That being said, I have a lot of reading and can knit while I read (at least, I hope I can with the readings this term). So maybe there will be some knitting content after all.

    With the several sweaters I have on the needles already, I still had itchy fingers. So I cast on for yet another one…

    A top-down sweatercoat thingy. It doesn’t have any buttonholes at the moment, so if I want to do something later it might be clasps or buttonloops or a zipper or, of course, I could just pick up and knit buttonbands later.

    I’m quite enjoying the cabled raglan lines.

    (Since I know someone will ask: it’s my own pattern.)

    I’m using Elann Highland Chunky at a tighter gauge (18 sts/4″ on 5mm needles) to hopefully help curb pilling. And I’m using my new pink Denises! Yes, I already have a set. No, I don’t think that’s too many needles!

    Off to do some reading. And maybe knitting, too.