Count down to the (Knitting) Olympics!

While everyone is looking forward to the 2008 Summer Olympics there is added excitement for knitters: the Knitting Olympics!  And for the knitters on Ravelry, the  Ravelympics!  The idea is to knit an entire item during the 17 days of the Olympics.  Cast on at the opening ceremony; finish before the flame goes out.

The pattern I'm planning to make is the Cobblestone Pullover from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007.  A while ago Todd came across this pattern when he was dutifully filling out the "Knitting for Men" survey on www.knittingdaily.com and since I was excited that he was interested in something with sleeves I immediately purchased it.

Unfortunately the yarn in the pattern is discontinued and, not only that, it is 100% wool.  Todd really would only wear something 100% wool on the coldest day of the year so I had to try to find something that is lighter, like a cotton-wool blend. And I also wanted something at least a little machine washable to avoid any unfortunate sweater versus washer disasters.  I had to choose between finding something closer in weight and finding something that could at least tangle with the washing machine so I am going to try Cashcotton DK.  Since this is a lighter weight yarn than the pattern calls for so I will have to do lots of math to get the sweater to come out right.  So far as I can figure, if I can actually get the gauge that the manufacturer gives I can get the right size by following the instructions for the second to largest size.  We'll be picking out a color tomorrow and swatching away to see if this can actually be pulled off...

Sofia's Birthday Present

The more I make this pattern, the more I like it!  It is really simple to memorize and if you knit it all in one piece the finishing really isn't very bad at all.  I decided to make the clutch in black sequins for my sister since it is a nice multipurpose color.  

I didn't have a whole lot of the black sequined yarn left but I thought I had just enough for one bag so I decided I would just knit until I ran out of yarn. 
I cut it pretty close and had just enough yarn to make the top close.  For a better fit I ended up folding the sides in at the top and I liked the effect a lot.  I'll probably do it again even if I have plenty of yarn.  
I also had trouble finding a button I liked and was digging through my button box for the third or fourth time before I found this button.  In the end I was very happy with the whole effect and I hope Sofia was too.

We Made Cheese!

Last Sunday, while recovering from our rafting adventure we decided to do some cooking and while I was reviewing the list of stuff that we'd been meaning to make I asked Todd if there was anything else he wanted to make and he said "Cheese!"  So we got out our handy green cookbook and found a recipe for Labneh, which is made from Greek yogurt.  

It seemed straight forward enough.  You season the yogurt, you put it in cheese cloth and then you leave it in the fridge for a while.   Then you roll it into little balls and place them in seasoned olive oil.  The only problem we had was that the cheese cloth we had, while excellent for making a grain bag for brewing beer, was slightly too coarse for making cheese, but we used four layers instead of two and we only lost a little of the yogurt.  

It tastes like goat cheese and smells like herbs.  Yum.

Whitewater Rafting on the Lehigh River

While Michelle and TJ were planning their wedding they somehow also managed to plan a whitewater rafting trip.  So last Saturday we got up early, left our pouting dog and drove to White Haven, PA.  Thanks to my paranoia we arrived an hour early, but then we tried to find the center of the tiny town and ended up being the last ones to be changed and ready to go.  Ack.  

The whole operation is like a summer camp and they get everyone outfitted with lifejackets and then bus groups of rafters down to the river.  The eight of us wanted to stay together so they had to evict some smaller group from one of the other rafts and then warned us that it would ride lower in the water.  Since the river is only mostly class II rapids we didn't need to have a guide in each boat.  Instead the guides kayaked at the front, middle, and end of our convoy. And although there were some challenging rapids there also long, smooth sections of slow-moving water, and all the guys were hopping out of the raft every chance they got and we used the bailing bucket and later the lunch buckets to have massive multi-raft water fights, including one covert operation where Todd and Landon snuck along with their buckets submerged and then ambushed a particularly rowdy raft of teenage boys.  

Lots of fun.  Can't wait for the next trip.

Banana Surgery

I blame the dog for this adventure.  One evening Todd started staring at the cabinet and then asked me, "do we have a syringe?"  Unfortunately the answer was 'yes', because the vet gave us about a dozen for Buddy's ear infection one time.  It turns out he wanted to eat a banana with both peanut butter and nutella and thought it would be even better if he could put them both INSIDE the banana.  So with a long needle to poke holes and syringe, he did just that. 

I think he gave up after the peanut butter half, but assures me it was a delicious success.  Here he is with his mouth stuck closed.

Dinner and a Murder at Hastings

A Trip to The Cape

I started a hat!

On the heels of completing my present for Enid I decided I would choose some small portable projects and the first one to actually make it on to the needles is a hat with a zig zag pattern of stitches and beads.  I had a stash of bead and had previously made a swatch with the yarn I wanted to use, so I was all set.  Or so I thought.... I even counted the beads, but some how, after I finished the first repeat the remaining strand of beads looked suspiciously short.  It turns out that somehow either I miscounted or beads mysteriously vanished, but there were not quite enough beads for the second repeat of the pattern.  So much for something that seemed like it was zipping along.  On the upside, I did order more of exactly the same beads as before so as soon as they get here the project should be zipping along again.