dotty

I made these cupcakes a while ago for a friend's birthday, but they got lost in the holiday rush last year. They turned out too cute not to share! Using a whole pot of Wiltons icing dye is the key to achieving a brilliant red color. (Actually this post is a shout out to my mom, who taught me this icing recipe and how to make fancy icing decorations. Thanks mom!)

countdown!

We're in the final countdown to Sitches West! Only one more week to go until Bay Area knitters will be able to feast their eyes on the most yarn gathered in one location. (Or at least the most amount of fiber I have seen under one roof!) Due to the current economic crisis, my Stitches West adventure will be much tamer than last year, but I have been saving up for it for several months now. My list of projects to shop for has grown and shrunk over the past couple of weeks, but here's what it currently contains:

Garden Gate Socks by Emily Johnson (This requires the right duo of colors that must be picked out in person.)

Anne Shirley Shawl by SaRi (How can I resist making a shawl inspired by one of my favorite literary heroines? I read every single L. M. Montgomery book I could get my hands on and dreamed of befriending fellow kindred spirits and one day finding my Gilbert.)

I took the Muir Wood shawl off the list after I spied some gorgeous Berroco Alpaca yarn at Imagiknit. That's all for now. Hopefully I will stay within my budget!

hand mitts

I love knitting things for my hands and feet, because it does not take a great amount of yarn. They also do not change size, so I don't have to worry about mittens and socks not fitting in a year. And I don't have to worry about them being a certain "shape" to fit my body type. (I will always love empire waist dresses even if I stop watching PBS adaptations of Jane Austen and the like. They look terrible on me though.)

I'm also in a stash buster mode, so I whipped up these hand mitts from gorgeous yarn that I got from the Viking Princess and Starry Knit at our yarn swap a while ago. I adapted the pattern from Eunny Jang's endpaper mitts and used an "eye of partridge" pattern to make the bright variegated colors pop. They provide a nice splash of color on a drizzly day like today!

doh!

Locking your keys in your car is great fun! I recommend that you try it sometime! Just try to do it by a cute fabric or yarn store, so you can peruse its wares while you are waiting for the bright yellow repair truck to show up and save you. Yes, you guessed it: while on a site visit in Martinez, California, I locked my keys in my car. They sat tauntingly on the car seat while I begged the Contra Costa County Clerk's office to let me borrow their phone to call AAA. I happened to park near Main Street Quilts and picked up a couple of bright fat quarters as a surprise gift for my mom. va va voom!