I Can Hear My Knitting Laughing at Me

Loudly, in fact.

I’ve been annoyed at knitting lately, and I was trying to hold on to a project that wasn’t really working.  First, recall this awesome swatch that I knit ages ago (March 3rd, actually).  I made that swatch in preparation for some awesome fingerless gloves that I had envisioned in my head.  Enter problem number 1 – a designer of anything more complex than scarves I am not.

But, ignoring that fact, I went for it.  I measured and did math (problem number 2 – math is not always my strong suit).  I thought really hard about increases and decreases and how to center the cable design perfectly on the back of my hand.  Through all of this hard work, I managed to create this:

I was excited that it was spring colored, bright and happy.  I ignored the fact that it was a little too small and started to cut off the circulation to my fingers.  (If you’re counting – this would be problem number 3.  Look how red my fingers are in the picture!)  I was giddy over the fact that the cable pattern was centered so nicely that the top worked its way right up my middle finger.  (I thought maybe that I could flip people off in style).

I was so excited about it that I was going to immediately cast on the second one.  Until I lost the first page of my notes.  (Problem # 4!)  I didn’t want to start a new project because I was afraid that I would never finish this one.  So I looked and looked.  I worked on other little craft projects here and there, finished up some things – but didn’t start any new big knitting projects.  I figured my notes would turn up.  Finally, I faced the facts.  I picked a new project, and went in search of some  laceweight yarn I had leftover from making a present for my sister.

I couldn’t find it anywhere.  I looked in my yarn bag, in my craft bin, under the couch, under the bed, under the dresser.  I tore apart the stack of things on my coffee table.  I was really ready to give up.  I looked under the couch again, and then I found this:

Yup, it’s my first page of notes from the fingerless glove.  It figures, right?  But, I was over the gloves, and now I really wanted to find my leftover Cashwool.  So I checked the yarn bag again – and there it was, right on top.

I thought about going back to the fingerless gloves.  Adding more stitches, ripping out the first one, doing them right.  And then I realized that spring has almost passed and I probably wouldn’t wear them anyway.  So I started on this:

I’ve even made a little progress:

But please, don’t remind me that I don’t really wear stoles either, ok?  I’m pretending it’s just a really wide scarf.

Fajitas

It’s been a while, huh?  I’ve been too busy to blog, too busy to craft really.  34 day until my PhD defense, so not to much time for anything!

But we did make a tasty dinner last night, fajitas!

Two small steaks were rubbed with salt, pepper, and a little taco seasoning and grilled.  The peppers and onions were sliced thin and cooked in some butter with the rest of the packet of taco seasoning until they were tender.  The meat was sliced and mixed into the veggies.  So so tasty, with the added bonus that the meat isn’t overdone by cooking it pre-sliced.  Served with a little guacamole, some refried beans and plenty of cilantro, it was a pretty tasty dinner!