New Pincha

As I've mentioned before, I've been feeling very lackluster when it comes to projects. I've always got my purse sock going and while I love the simplicity of a plain stockinette sock (almost always in self-striping yarn) I sometimes crave something more. 

We're going to be traveling this weekend to visit my in-laws and some friends. My husband will be doing the driving. That plus some down-time while we're with said friends and in-laws led me to wanting a new project. I briefly looked through everything that was on the needles and nothing really fit so I decided to go ahead and start something entirely new.

I've had my eye on the Pincha shawl for some time. (Linked to Ravelry but it's available on Knitty really.) It seems like such a unique shape and a really fun and unusual knit.

So I went stash diving. I found it difficult to find something that I thought would work for this pattern. I wanted something with some contrast between the colors in the variegation but not too much that it was shocking every time the colors moved. 

I finally settled on this skein of yarn in my stash. To be honest, I've lost the tag so I'm not absolutely sure what it is but I think it might be Schaeffer Anne. It was already wound into a cake so I thought it would be handy to grab and work with and I loved the jewel tones in it. I do have a little issue with mohair but I've worked with this yarn before so I hope it won't be too bad. If nothing else, maybe I can knit the shawl and give it as a gift.

I sat down yesterday afternoon when I had a little time and knit the first section which is called the first feather. I really tried to reserve judgement on how it was working until I had finished the first feather and I'm still not sure what I think.

It's difficult to tell in photos. It really just looks like a bit of a jumbled mess of garter stitch. It doesn't look quite so...wonky in person. I don't know that this yarn is quite right either though. The stretches of color are so short. If you look at the pattern pictures, it seems like their color repeats are longer and that might make a difference for how it looks knit up.

It's unusual, that's for sure and I do like the colors but I'm not sure it's right for this pattern. I will have to make a decision soon because we leave this afternoon.

The construction calls for a ton of short rows so it's all counting and turning. I'm not sure it will be the right project for this weekend either so I tossed another skein of sock yarn into my bag just in case I finish my purse socks and need to keep knitting. 

I am a little fascinated by how it works and I'm interested to see how the next feathers will work now  that I'm done with the first one so I definitely think I want to knit this pattern. Possibly in this yarn, possibly in something else. I looked over the project pictures on Ravelry and there's one knit in what looks like self-striping yarn that looks really fun. That gives me something else entirely to think about.

Fighting that Minnesota "Spring"

After I finished my Shamrockin' socks I immediately reached for another skein of Vesper because, let's be honest, I have a lot of it and also, it's beautiful.

Since the weather here in Minnesota has been decidedly un-springlike I chose something bright and fun. This lovely skein is from last year's Vesper Rainbow club.

Rainbows after rain was the March 2017 rainbow colorway and its sparkles and bright colors were just what I needed. Since I was still on a bit of a finishing high I was able to crank out the first sock pretty quickly.

I was at the toe last week actually and it was very awkward to take a picture so I decided to wait. 

In the meantime, I also got a pretty good jump on the second sock over the weekend.

I've noticed that if I'm excited because it's a new project or just a fun knit, I can make much faster progress and I haven't felt that way much with my projects lately. That's partly my own fault. Every project seems to have that middle part where it feels never ending and you have to sort of slog through. Sometimes I let myself get distracted at that point and wander away which leads to not getting it finished. (It may be more often than "sometimes")

Can we talk about another of my odd little quirks? I prefer to rewind the ball of yarn before I start the second sock. I don't absolutely have to if I'm out and am ready to start the second but I greatly prefer to, it just looks so much neater. Does anyone else rewind in between? Let me know if I'm the only oddball. 

Carrot Patch Brownies

I'm trying to make more time for my knitting as it seems to be what's keeping me sane at the moment. Everything is in fits and starts though. Usually when I do have time to knit, it's just a round or two and then I have 11,000 things I have to go and do. But progress is progress and that helps my sanity immensely.

Since I keep having to pick up and put down my knitting, I have been sticking almost exclusively with my simple stockinette purse sock. It's at an awkward place right now so I will wait and share it next week and instead share the fun little dessert I made for Easter.

I saw it online somewhere and I thought it would be SO CUTE! I think it turned out well and I was happy with it.

I made a pan of brownies and removed them from the pan (thanks to parchment paper underneath them). Then, I frosted them with chocolate frosting and pressed crushed animal crackers onto the frosting to look like dirt.

Finally, I dipped strawberries in white almond bark tinted orange so they would look like carrots. I even tried to drizzle lines across them so they would look more like carrots. Then added them to the "carrot patch" and put some mini Cadbury eggs so it would like they an egg hunt in the carrot patch. 

I especially wanted to share this with my niece because I thought she would get a kick out of them.

She did. I'm happy with how they turned out and they stayed nice and fudgey too. Which is perfect for a brownie in my opinion. This was all gluten free as well. And delicious!

I used the Aldi chocolate baking mix as directed for brownies (with oil not butter) and milk chocolate frosting in the store brand from CashWise/Coborn's. Then I used Kinnick kinnick chocolate animal cookies to crush for the "dirt."