Rhodion

It's done.

And it's gorgeous.

Pattern: Rhodion Lace Shawl, by Elizabeth Freeman
Yarn: Knit Picks Shimmer, in Spice

Almost

It's blocking.

And it's almost dry :)

Delicious Weekend

This weekend was filled with exceptionally yummy food. Here's a sampler:


These were gluten-free cranberry-lemon corn muffins for Lindsay's Classy Sunday Brunch this morning. I used this recipe, and added chopped cranberries, lemon zest, and a touch more sugar (including a sprinkling of sugar on top of the muffins). There was also sparkling apple cider, and champagne, as today is Michelle's 21st birthday. I didn't partake in the champagne, but everyone else had mimosas.

Tonight's dinner:

Standard baked acorn squash with butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. It's one of my favorite things in the whole universe.

Yesterday I made this gingerbread cake box mix thing from Trader Joes' that my mom sent me:

It's delicious - just like everything from Trader Joe's is.

There were also multigrain biscuits yesterday (courtesy of multigrain Trader Joe's Bisquick), but those are already gone, so no picture. 

Wetsuit Burn

So, I went diving yesterday. No pictures, sadly, because it was a skills dive for my Advanced Open Water certification, and I had other things to focus on (like maintaining my buoyancy and remembering how to properly use a compass... underwater). Somehow, on my second dive, my wetsuit got all awkwardly bunched up at the back of me knees, and now I have this nasty wetsuit burn there that's irritating every time I bend my legs. Compensation: a stingray, a sea turtle, and praise from Richard (the instructor) that I did everything perfectly. 

Friday was the peak of the Homecoming festivities (FYI, last week was Homecoming week). The parade every year stinks, and the usual lakeside viewing for the boat burning and fireworks was going to be restricted to at least a quarter of the usual area - i.e. everyone's packed like sardines - so Jen and I opted to watch from the top of the parking garage at the UV. The Towers blocked the view a bit, but it was still enjoyable, if a little long.

On the knitting front, I've mainly got socks. Two pairs of socks and my lace, actually. Socks are coming along well, and so is the lace, except for the fact that I discovered I dropped a stitch in the middle of a cable and now there's a large hole in the middle of it, but it should be relativity easy to fix(?). All I can say is, thank goodness for complicated knitting, because without it, that stitch would have run all the way down the piece in no-time, but the cable turn stopped it in its tracks. 

Pair #1 of the socks is for my comparative physiology reading:

And pair #2 is for class:

Oh, and there's a Jackalope:

Pattern: Jackalope, by Hansi Singh

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver, in Painted Desert

Caron Simply Soft, in Blue Mint and Off White

The Jackalope's for my physics TA, Nick. 

Let me tell you about Nick: this semester, for the first time, he decided to take on not one, but two, discussion sections (a mandatory homework review session each week where we turn in our homework and take a quiz) because he needed the money. This entails giving up up at least an hour of your life each week (three for Nick because he took on two sections), plus you also get to grade part of the tests for the class. Nick is a last-semester PhD student, meaning that this is the semester when he's writing/finalizing his thesis, and defending. In sum he's really pressed for time. And what does he do? Halfway through the semester he decides to hold extra two-hour sessions every week (that he's not getting paid for), because he feels like the class really needs it. I know if I hadn't gone to the one he held right before the last test, I wouldn't have done nearly as well as I did (did I mention he's also a really good teacher?). 

Therefore, Nick deserves a Jackalope. 

Stranded

I apologize for the silence (no, not that kind of Silence) for the past week and a half. I kept meaning to do this really well thought-out and intelligent discussion of the tubular cast-off vs the invisible cast-off, with comparison shots of my endpapers and the latest socks. Never got around to taking those pictures. 

So, here you go, they've been done for about two weeks, just didn't get around to posting them:

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts, by Eunny Jang

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll, Bare

Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball, color #1702

They're my first go at anything stranded. It's not as bad as I thought it was - the last time I tried was over two years ago when I was just getting into the world of crazy knitting - but still not my favorite thing. I think I'll stick with intricate cables as my crazy-knitting-of-choice.