Not much new, just a few random notes - and copious amounts of pictures. :)

Mel came down and actually finally visited me yesterday - though she did have an ulterior motive, given that I had birthday presents for her.

Scarf!
(I'm so in love with the colors of this yarn, and it is unbelievably soft to the touch, I was so sad to be finished working on it! Invented a pretty simple pattern, just two types of stitches, so the focus would be on the color - which is actually a bit brighter and lighter than in the photo, more magenta than red. Alpaca and merino wool.)

Prior to that, I went to a coworker's bridal shower, which was actually much less awkward than I'd feared. And she and the husband-to-be seemed to really like what I'd made them:

Amigurumi peas-in-a-pod!
(Tom was SO, so happy to see these go, and get out of his sight. I think they're freaking adorable. Pattern from Lion Brand Yarn's website.)

Dishcloths and potholders!
(These were SUPPOSED to be all in pinks and brown, to match the wedding colors (aka the bride's favorites), but, Mary Maxim has failed me for the second time. The yarn, which I rush-ordered a week and a half ago, only got here today. I even wrote them a cranky email, I was quite annoyed. Luckily, I have bunches of brightly-colored cotton in my stash, and these came out freaking adorable. I'm so happy with them.)

The other new crochet-creation, is a "gaming glove" for Tom. The heel of his palm rubs up against the edge of his desk while using the mouse for long periods of time, and it hurts. He requested a pad of some sort. So, I dug up the thickest cushiest yarn I had (chunky weight Lamb's Pride wool), and tweaked a wristwarmer pattern out of Interweave Crochet. Tom got a little annoyed with the extensive measuring process, but, his hands are way bigger than mine, and I really wanted it to fit comfortably. He freaking LOVES IT. He's still spazzing over it, like a week later. Wears it constantly.

It's not pretty, but useful as all hell. His only complaint is that it does get a bit toasty, especially now that the weather's warming up. I've been plotting out a revised pattern (and if it works, I might well make monetary use of it), and nosing around for different yarns. I'm thinking cotton blended with something else light and breathable - so I'm researching what yarns do well with dispersing heat. Rayon? Corn? Linen? Not half so cushy as the big thick wool I used, but I think doubling-up layers to create cushion should work well.


Not a whole lot by way of actual news. Tom has to talk himself out of calling in sick to work basically every day now. He has done some cleaning/packing, and I will probably do the same in a little while. It's like 80 degrees today - but I've already gotten a mild sunburn, so I'm staying in until the sun goes down a bit. (Also, our back-porch bees have returned with a vengeance.)

I've largely polished off all my current crochet projects (which is good since the super-tight stitches of Kate's presents made a callus on my thumb), and am plotting a fairly easy (and remarkably cheap!) skirt next. When warm weather hits, I obsess over skirts. So comfy, and cute, and omfg a MILLION times easier to find one that fits than it is to find shorts that fit. x_x
The yarn for this thing will only come to like $30, which is what I'd pay for a cute skirt anyway. I've been dying to make one of my own, but knowing my attention-span, I figured I'd better start with something simple, that I can work on while watching Star Trek. While it's cute in the light yellow and pale green, I think I'm going to switch the colors up, and do maybe a light aqua and white.

I am also dying to make this tanktop, mainly because the back is freaking adorable, and I love the colors. The suggested yarn is a hemp-cotton blend, which sounds great for summer and being durable, buuut, means this thing will be like $60 to make, so I'm keeping my eyes open for options. Same issue has cropped up with this tanktop, which I'm also totally in love with - bamboo yarn, while AMAZINGly soft, is still a lil on the pricey side. Fortunately, more companies are making bamboo yarn and bamboo blends, so I should be able to find a similar, but more affordable, substitute.

Not much new in the kitchen, I gave my goulash recipe a second attempt - and doubling the sauce STILL wasn't enough, it's still a bit dry, mainly for Tom. I baked some cupcakes (cream soda-toffee flavor), mainly to have on hand whenever Mel came down, but for some weird reason the batter didn't set all the way, and they're a smidgen goopy in the middles, though I let them bake awhile extra.

I've been thinking about new website layouts, so went into Photoshop awhile today to see what would happen with a handful of photos. The third one, I might be able to tweak into a layout, but... I really don't think in terms of layouts very well, just pretty pictures. ^^;;