Busy non-knitting weekend

I'm sorry I didn't post last week. Somehow the weekend came and went and I never wrote anything. I have been knitting a little but nothing that I can show you. So I am going to regale you with photos of my baking this weekend.

Additionally, before I start, let me tell you about the wonders of ice. I have been having a lot of problems with my arms, especially my right due to computer usage. I am now icing everything every night and it cuts the pain amazingly well. Of course, I feel like an idiot sitting around wrapped in ice packs. I'm sure I will be enjoying this once the temperatures hit 90 F but for now, it isn't all that pleasant.

Yesterday, we had a gorgeous spring day so I cleaned up my yard. I pulled out the annuals from last year, got rid of the peony stems and set up the supports for this year and pruned the roses and the butterfly bush. It is almost time to plant pansies. I usually do that the second week in April.

Anyway, here are the delights from my oven for your drooling pleasure. The first is a babka that I made in the shape of a Kranz cake. I couldn't find a description of this as the site I got it from has been deleted. But here is my version. It is filled with chocolate.

Next I made a dozen blueberry muffins. I joined a winter CSA, called Winter Sun Farms, this year. I received blueberries in a number of the shares. Organic blueberries. I wanted to do something special with them - not just put them in my cereal. So I made muffins from scratch. They are very good. Not too sweet but moist with a crunchy top.

Lastly, I made two loaves of a cheese and onion sourdough bread. I guess you could call it a Quattro Formaggio as I threw in leftovers of cheese I had - a little mozzarella, a little cheddar, some Parmegianno Regggiano and some Monterey Jack. I also added some dehydrated onion and a couple of tablespoons of Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle which has garlic and spices.

I'm pretty pleased with my scoring. I've been making a lot of ugly loaves lately. These are the first ones in a long time that I feel like showing off.

Next week, I hope to be back to talking about knitting.

Finally! lace sock photos

I finally took the camera to the yarn store and photographed the socks. They seem a bit stretched out but will fix themselves when I wear them because they will stretch width-wise and that will shrink them lengthwise.

Detail of the stitch pattern. It is a very pretty stitch pattern and very easy.

Thank you for all the tips on straightening cables, both in the blog and via email. I will keep them in mind for the future. I also love the idea of making flex needles from the melted ones. I was going to throw the needles out but I've put them away for future flex needle creation.

I'm sorry I didn't post last week. I somehow completely forgot. There isn't much knitting going on right now but I am determined to start again today. So maybe next week I'll have some more interesting knitting to talk about.

I also want to welcome Roberta to the readership. I met Roberta on the way to Madrona and we hit it off right away. Roberta's blog is A Fiber Frolic and she is a knitter and spinner.

A Public Service Announcement

We'll get to the public service announcement (PSA) in a bit. I wanted to show you my latest knitting first so that you will leave with the PSA fresh in your minds.

This is a modular tank top/short sleeved sweater knit in Artyarns Regal Silk. It feels very nice to knit but it is already fuzzing so I am not sure how durable it will be. Silk in general is a very durable fiber so I am hoping that it will wear reasonably well. The pattern is also from Artyarns. It is Number P90. So far it is easy knitting. This is about 1/3 of the front.

I am going to make the V at the neck in the beaded silk to add some glitter. Here is the beaded silk. You can see the beads in the yarn. It is the same yarn with beads in it.

And now for the PSA. I usually straighten my circular needle cables by wrapping them around my Corningware tea kettle. I can't find a photo of the one I have which is clear glass. However, I usually heat water, turn off the flame and then warm the cable. In this case, I forgot to turn off the flame so when I let go of one end to pull the needle away from the pot, the cable slid into the flame and this is the result! Ouch! No more Inox size 8 needle. Cables are plastic and I guess heat melts plastic. I had to re-learn that the hard way, didn't I?

Oh well! Fortunately I have more than 1 size 8 needle and I was able to more carefully straighten the other cable and am happily knitting on it.