cables and bobbles and seed stitch, oh, my!

Here is a photo of the hat that I am so in love with. The pattern is the Braid & Bobble Hat by Fiber Trends that Lindy sent me as part of my fabulous Chocolate Swap package. It's a sixteen row repeat and after the first two repeats the pattern suddenly imprinted on my brain and knitting this pattern is a Beautiful Thing. I wish I had a block of time big enough to just sit and knit it until it's finished.

The yarn is the hand dyed skein of deliciousness by Khris, of ChewySpaghetti. I loved that I gave her an idea of the colors I was thinking of (dd #'s faves) and now I hold her interpretation in my hands. So. Much. Fun. Go check out her etsy shop. She has marked down some of her yarn to make way for new. I just popped over there again thinking I would mention a specific one to check out but couldn't choose just one. Tumultuous. Evocative. Capricious. Meandering. I have Evocative in a worsted alpaca/merino blend (oh, so soft!) that is quickly becoming mittens and a hat for a certain person at my house who loves pink and purple.

Oh, and I'm through next week's rows in my How Many Rows To Knit Each Day To Finish By December 10. AKA, My Plan of Madness. I'm just saying.

this is the part where you never hear from me again...

...and wonder what happened, only to find out later that I died from a chocolate overdose.

Lindy, my Chocolate Swap pal, has struck again. I wish I could show you a photo of it before we tore into it. It was a vision of pink and gold beauty. Everything wrapped up so pretty and fitting Just So. But, alas, the package came just as I was leaving the house and I didn't have time to run back in for the camera. I had the purest of intentions to wait until I got home to open it. But, my evil, impatient self won out and I had to start opening it at a red light. That's right. I didn't even make it to my destination before I started in on it. In case you need this bit for future reference, when you have no scissors with you to cut through all the packing tape, a pin that says, "Puppy Love" in your glove box will suffice.

Behold the box of chocolaty goodness:

I knew it was going to be good when, as soon as the seal was broken, a wonderful aroma wafted out that turned out to be lovely little soaps and yummy lotion. And see all that Lindt chocolate? Cadbury Koalas for the kiddies? That's just the beginning.

She knows I'm a tea drinker and sent chocolate tea. You heard right. Chocolate tea. Green tea with lemon. Mmmm. Not one, but two knitting patterns--a pretty lace scarf and a gorgeous cabled hat (I'm already yarn shopping in my head). Chocolate tiles for the kids with Australian animals on the labels. Postcards from Victoria (what a gorgeous place it must be!), stickers for the kiddos, a 2007 calendar of Australian animals and (have to admit--it's a favorite) a magnet that says, "A good mother has dirty floors and happy children." When Jake saw it he said, "How does she know you?! I bet the stuff you sent her had dust on it." I forgive him. He comes from a long line of smart alecks. On both sides.

Once we've eaten ourselves sick, there is a recipe book with wonderful recipes for more chocolate desserts. The meringue and chocolate mousse cake is on my short list. You know. At the top.

Lindy, I thought I was spoiled the other day when the book arrived. That didn't even touch on it. Thank you!

Lydia realizes that I was serious when I said she's too young for chocolate. See the boy next to her? He knows he gets chocolate. He is a Very Happy Boy.

Lindy Rocks!

I really lucked out with my Chocolate Swap pal. She is way too generous, having already gifted me with a luscious skein of laceweight merino and silk in shades of strawberry from pale to deep and ripe, she has now sent me Mason Dixon Knitting, a book I have been longing to add to my collection. Ask me how many times I've picked it up at the book store, flipped through the pages and then, after patting my wallet, sadly put it back on the shelf. Thank you so much, Lindy! The kimono is going on the needles today.

Below, you can see Lydia mimicking my expression when I opened it--complete with tongue hanging out.

"Mason Dixon Knitting?! From Lindy? Lindy Rocks!"

Chocolate Swap!

My pal, Lindy, ROCKS! She told me the other day that my goodies would be coming in two packages--one from her in Australia and one was being sent from So. Cal. Then she said she would give me a hint--that her favorite treat is chocolate covered strawberries.

Well, the strawberries arrived and they are more delicious and beautiful than I could have imagined! And I am, literally, laughing out loud. Oh, I love it, I love it, I love it. When I saw the return address on the package I couldn't imagine why Khris was sending me something.

Then I opened it and when I took it out of its pretty bag and tissue and saw it I gasped. Why was Khris sending this to me? I've been gazing at it on my screen since the end of August, willing it to come to me. I even almost posted about it on my blog the other day but then didn't (so I thought), afraid someone else would buy it for themselves, not realizing that it was fated to be mine. Did I order it and not even realize? I might be losing my mind.

Hang on...a card! Ok...what could Khris have to say? AAAAAAAAH! It's from LINDY! I started howling with laughter. The baby was next to me and was watching me as if to determine whether I might be dangerous. Then I stopped. How did Lindy know I wanted this?

SHE. READ. MY. MIND.

I was seriously spooked for all of three seconds then quickly went to my blog and saw that I did, in fact, post about it (ah, along with a threat. Always nice). Ok...so I am losing my mind. But I will have this beautiful merino and silk laceweight yarn clutched in my hands as they cart me off.

The yarn, I love her. And I still have the chocolate to look forward to.

my head did not implode and knitting, at last

Buh-bye, Coke. You're out of my system and my head is, miraculously, in one piece. Of normal size, even, despite how it felt over the weekend.
I'm very happy to say that I got a bit of knitting done this weekend and even finished a Christmas present.


Fetching, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You are truly knit with one skein. The warning about having very little left over was true. I held my breath as I knitted the last few rounds and said a little prayer just before doing the picot cast off, on my way to the thumb. Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran was a pleasure to work with. So soft and pretty. I worry that it might pill up though. Anyone care to share their experience with it? I will be knitting another pair or two or three of these, for sure.

You know what I do when I'm knitting a pattern repeat? To keep track of the row I'm on, I count them by using my kids' names. The first row is Jake. The second, Hope, etc. I simply cannot keep track if I'm just counting by numbers (yes, I'm lame) and, heaven forbid I write out tic marks or use a row counter. So Ben was my cable row on these.

Blogger keeps showing this photo sideways, for some unknown reason. Anyway, here is the Double Cable Scarf from One Skein. Knit in a chunky wool that I have had for a while and cannot remember the name of, for the life of me. It's nice and soft and cushy. I have far more than one skein so I think I wll be making this a bit longer than the pattern calls for. This, too, is destined to be a Christmas gift, though I haven't quite decided on the recipient, yet.

And now, behold the loveliness that is on my needles. This yarn is from Khris, of the beautiful hand painted lace weight merino from the yarn raffle, over at Chewy Spaghetti. The colorway is Cherry Cordial Decadent (newly renamed) and if you are fast you might be able to snatch up a skein at her etsy shop. I am in lurv with pinks and browns right now and trust me when I say that this photo does not begin to capture the rich pink and brown deliciousness of this yarn. I can't stop staring at the subtle shade variations within each color. So, so pretty. They're knit in a simple 4x1 rib so as not to distract me from the purty colors. I think these socks would be finished by now if I didn't have to stop so often and just lovingly gaze at the yarn. If you buy this of hers and don't send it to me, I will be forced to hate you forever.

In other news, I have my Chocolate Swap package just about ready to go. I have one more thing to put in and then off to Australia and Lindy it goes. Want a tiny peek?

A few people have asked me what the chocolate swap is. You can get the most information by clicking here. Scroll all the way to the bottom. Basically, though, it's a yarn swap with a chocolate theme. You send chocolate colored yarn/fiber and chocolate goodies to your swap pal. Unlike some swaps, you pal is not a secret, though. The whole shebang is the brainchild of Abigail (brilliant--combining chocolate and yarn. I really can't say that enough) and I happened across the information on Dave's blog (another smartypants--that Garterlac dishcloth that everyone is knitting and raving about? His.). Anyway, I'm so glad I found out about the swap before it closed! When this one is over, maybe she'll run another.

Matches have been made and my swap partner for the Chocolate Swap is Lindy! Her recipe (see Sept 17 post) for Chocolate Butter Cake sounds amazing...we'll be trying that one! I am having so much fun assembling a box of chocolatey goodness to send. Chocolate and yarn. What's not to like? Abigail, you're a genius!