Love Fest, in Photos

Flowers from my mom!

Delivered on the 15th, so they'd be more of a surprise, and less work for the flower shop.

V-Day b-fast.

French toast, soaked overnight, and mimosas.

V-day dinner.

We spent three hours cooking and ended up with an Indian feast! Cashew curry lamb (from the farmer's market), potato samosas, and dried fruit rice pilaf. The curry was delicious, but decidedly un-photogenic. We did not, in fact, eat cat vomit for Valentine's Day dinner.

New yarn, and a new pattern.

Mike's dad is in town for the International Film Festival, and has been very generously taking us out to movies & extravagant meals all week. I was going to the Knit / Purl sale right after a movie, and he handed me some money for my yarn! I got Cashsoft by RYC, a mix of cashmere and cotton, and had a little leftover so bought myself some Addi Turbo circulars, to replace my shitty size 2 dpns that keep breaking and are absurdly long.

The yarn is awesome, and I think this is going to be the softest sweater ever.

And,thank you and welcome to all my new readers and commenters! I don't always receive your email address when you leave a comment, but I try to respond if I can (by tracking you down on Ravelry, for example). If you've left a comment and I didn't respond, I apologize- I promise I loved what you said and am so grateful you are reading my words!

It's a gorgeous spring day today, so I think I'll try doing some reading outside!

A Day for Love

Nothing is better in this world that waking up with a purring kitten, a lovely man, and a mimosa in your hand. I love Valentine's Day, especially when my first class is canceled and I can spend some extra time in bed and then have a special French Toast breakfast.

I tried to send my Valentines out early- I had them all ready to go the first few days of February, with cute heart postage stamps, and lettering with my set of rubber stamps, and I slid them into the mailbox with love for everyone in my heart.

Then, tragedy struck about three days ago.
Yes, the post office returned my Valentines, canceled the stamps, and smudged the ink. All because my cute little cards, so adorable in their small size, do not meet minimum size standards. Well, you'd think the USPS would be glad for any mail it could get. Harumph.

So, instead of just a few friends receiving Valentines, you all get one! And the internet triumphs over the postal service once again.

The point of it all

This blog is called Cast on a Cupcake, right? So you come here looking for both knitting and cupcake content, yes? Well, today, I'll make all your dreams come true.

First, with some knitting.

Tea Roses - the whole package - Beach Glass

I was seriously craving some bring pink sock yarn for Valentine's Day. And Sonny and Shear was having a 25% off sale. The Tea Roses (Whimzy Pinzy 2 Socks @ Once) looked close to what I was looking for, and the Beach Glass (Hazel Knits Sock) was just too gorgeous to pass up. Now that I've received it, I like the Beach Glass far more than I like the Tea Roses. I was looking for something more like this (which ends up like this when knit- unfortunately every store in the entire internet is sold out. Boo).

And second, with some cupcakes.

Coconut Lime deliciousness

Oregon passed a domestic partnership law that was supposed to go into effect January first, but someone got an injunction against the law, delaying its implementation until a judge could take a look at the law. Well, a judge looked at it, said discrimination is wrong, and allowed the law to go into effect February first. Unfortunately, that was a Friday, so the law really went into effect on the third. Long story short, my friends were among the first 50 couples in line at city hall on Monday, and got their domestic partnership in Oregon!

They held a marriage reception / party on Saturday night, and I promised them some approximation of Key Lime Pie cupcakes. Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World had these Coconut Lime Cupcakes, which were a dream to make, and came out beautifully, with the help of my decorating bag & the assistance of my friend Katie. (Someone has to taste the frosting & lick out the bowl!)

The cupcakes looked a little amateur next to the bakery-wedding cake, but they disappeared by the time I left the party, and the grooms had to shelter a cupcake in their refrigerator to make sure they were able to eat at least one. An unqualified hit!

Brightening your day, one mug sweater at a time.

Remember my friend Claudia? The one whose blog I told you to go read if you wanted witty anecdotes? The one for whom I made a mug sweater, to replace those silly cardboard sleeves you can put around your paper coffee cup so you don't burn your fingers?

Well, said wit and said mug sweater have combined for a touching and witty tale involving a university co-op, morning coffee, and an impressed unimpressibly hip co-op worker. Hie thyself to her blog to read the story, then come back here, refreshed and awed by the greatness that are university co-ops, for some knitting content.

I've picked up some stash yarn out of my rather large, inherited, acrylic stash and started some socks! I figured, while I'm waiting for the bulky wool to dry (seriously! It's been over a week. Portland is just that wet), and since I bought that book of sock patterns, I should make one.

I don't have enough of the white to make a whole sock, so I'm doing a blue cuff and perhaps toe, and a white body of the sock.

They're both some sort of acrylic mix - I know, I did the burn test! I think the white is cotton / acrylic and the blue is wool / acrylic. They're the same weight, t hough, and it's stash knitting, so I'm happy.

It's the Uptown Bootsock (Ravelry) from Interweave Favorite Socks.

I also gave into a serious yarn craving last night. I've been trolling the Destashing forum on Ravelry, and got a hankering for some bright pink sock yarn for Valentine's Day. Didn't find any on Ravelry, but got a tip that an online yarn shop (Sonny and Shear- too cute!) had a 20% discount. They also happened to have the perfect shade of pink. And also a gorgeous aquamarine I couldn't pass up. Scratching a yarn itch feels so good.

FO: Endpaper Mitts

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts, by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Shibui Knits Sock, in Finch and Midnight
Needles: US o (2.00mm) Brittany white birch dpns and 2 1/2 (3.00 mm) Crystal Palace bamboo dpns

Notes: They fit well, and they're pretty! Success.

The "seam" tends to slide around to the back of my hand, but I think that has to do with my hand shape, and not with the gloves.

It's a great pattern, easy to follow, and with beautiful results.

I don't know how to knit with my left hand, so my colorwork tends to move verrry slowly, as I work both yarns in my right hand. Pick the blue up, knit the stitches, put the blue down, pick the yellow up - whoops, they got twisted! - knit with the yellow... you get the picture. It's actually not too terribly slow, but it'd be faster if I learned Continental knitting. As long as this is working, though, I probably won't take the time to learn.

I like these because they cover my whole wrist, but aren't so long they'll get stuck on my sleeves. I knit another pair of fingerless gloves (in red! acrylic) but they're nearly elbow length, so fairly useless when I'm wearing long sleeves.

I haven't actually played piano since I was about twelve.

I still have about half a skein of the Finch yarn, and a quarter skein of the Midnight... I'm pondering about what I can use these for... maybe someone will have a baby and I can make baby socks!

The rest of today is dedicated to making up for my slacking off this whole week. Step One: go to the public interest career fair. Check. Steps Two-Six: finish scholarship applications, finish trial brief, teach self in personam and quasi in rem jurisdiction, teach self about modifications and changes to contracts, soak sheepy-wool to get the sheepiness out.

Ready, go.

I'm Knitting a Sheep

This yarn! It's literally a sheep. It smells like a sheep, it feels like a sheep, and it looks like a sheep! Complete with sticks, oils, and maybe a stray lamb or two.

I counted one of the skeins and I've got about 125 yds / 8 oz of wool. So, I've got about 625 yards here. I swatched tonight, on a size 8 and a 10. The 8 gets gauge exactly for the Cozy V-Neck Pullover With Deep Ribbing (Ravelry) from Fitted Knits (not Ravelry), which is a book I bought and from which I have yet to knit something. However, I'm supposed to use a needle two sizes smaller than the 8 for the ribbing, which is the majority of the sweater, and my wrists hurt from just knitting those two swatches.

Do you like my swatches? And my cute little label?

The swatch on the 10s wasn't much easier on my hands, although they are now quite soft from the oils in the wool. Does anyone know if I can wash this yarn before working with it? Is that bad? Should I just proceed as is and enjoy the feel of down-to-earth, honest-to-goodness wool?

Also, I think this yarn deserves some cables, so I should do something other than the V-Neck Ribbed Pullover. And to preserve my hands and to make the most out of the yarn, I think I should use size 10 needles.

The ball ended up the size of my head!! I had to wind the second half of the skein by hand, because my ball-winder maxed out. This picture is now my avatar on Ravelry, because it's too hilarious not to. That is some bulky yarn, baby.

Tonight's dinner: homemade pita chips, hummus, and broccoli-cheddar soup.

PS- Anyone know anything about html and why, after the pictures, the text switches to single spaced? I like it better double spaced, and I've looked at the code, but I can't figure it out.

Score!

I was trolling Craig's List last night, minding my own business, and happened on a post advertising "Linen & Handspun Wool Yarn to Knit, Crochet & Weave - $8." I emailed the woman, and stopped by tonight to check out what she had. What she had was a trunk full of single ply wool and various and sundry cones of linen, tweeds, and a lot of unidentifiable stuff. She was selling it all for $8 / lb. I walked out of there with 5 8-oz. skeins of single ply wool that smells and feels like sheep. Yummy! And who could resist a cone of lace-weight mohair?! No one with a knitting soul.

The haul.

Gratuitous close up.

After weighing it all up, the total cost was $25. $25!!! Perfect for a poor little student. I'll use the wool for some sort of chunky, lovely sweater- and if I need more, the woman told me just to send her an email and swing by for more!

The mohair will be for socks, most likely held double. I plan to try my hand at dying with this as well. Mike has requested more socks, and with this much yarn, I could knit socks for the whole family, the kitten included!

I also baked last night. Delicious Chocolate Chocolate (er- Carob) Chip cookies, from The Post Punk Kitchen (that taste exactly like Nabolom Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies). Have I told you about these? They're yummy, easy, delicious, and good for you. I think the flax seeds definitely cancel out the canola oil and sugar. Definitely.

I also finished and blocked the Endpaper Mitts. FO post when the sun comes out and I'm home during the day! Perhaps tomorrow will be the day, if it snows like they're predicting.

We had a two hour delay on Monday, due to snow. Half the public schools in Portland were outright canceled. There was literally less than 1/2 an inch on the ground. These west coast folks are snow wimps. Back where I come from, we drove ourselves to school in 5' snowdrifts, uphill both ways, no snow tires, and no chains. Ok, just kidding. But we certainly don't cancel school for a dusting of snow.

PS- I changed the comments so you can post a comment anonymously, meaning you don't have to have a blog or an account to comment. I'll be moderating the comments though, so you might have to wait a bit for your comment to show up. Maybe this will bring some of these mysterious readers my mom tells me about out of the woodwork.