The Other Secret Pal Questionnaire

I've signed up for Yvonne's "Other Secret Pal Swap" and therefore need to answer questions, questions, questions. This is my first Secret Pal swap so to say I'm excited is putting it mildly.

1. My favorite yarn to knit with is: Misti Alpaca

2. I really do not enjoy knitting with: Red Heart

3. If I had a choice, I would banish this yarn from my LYS: eyelash yarn

4. If I could knit only one more project for the rest of my life, it would be: the world's most complex Aran sweater

5. My favorite flower is: gerbera daisies

6. My current color obsession is: blue

7. My other interests are: reading, baking, horses

8. Something I wish I knew more about is: why popsicles and fudgsicles are called "ice cream novelties"

9. A knitting technique I want to learn is: Fair Isle

10. My favorite needles to knit with are: made from palmwood

11. Do you knit socks? Sock School starts June 10th!

12. Please provide your foot measurements*:
length (longest toe to heel): 9"
instep circumference: 9 1/2"
ankle circumference: 10"

13. What was your favorite childhood movie? Mary Poppins

14. What is one thing in your knitting bag that you can't live without? my tape measure

15. What is lacking in your notions bag that you really, really want? (Cable needle, Kacha Kacha, Chibi, etc.) I could use another Kacha Kacha

16. What is currently on the needles at your house? Besotted Scarf, Branching Out Scarf

17. If you could do nothing but knit all day, every day, for the next month (and get paid for it!), what would you knit? baby sweaters

18. Least favorite color(s): olive green

19. Favorite genre of music? Or any way you want to answer that question...basically it's the what kind of music do you like question. U2, Sarah McLachlan, Bruce Springsteen, Enya, Clannad

20. Favorite candy or sweet: Gummi Bears

21. What is the most challenging thing you have ever knit? An intarsia sweater with 12 different colors per row. In mohair.

22. How long have you been knitting? 20+ years

In some rather annoying news, I have been ORDERED by my physiotherapist to *limit* my knitting time to 10 - 15 minutes a DAY. Is he insane? Back spasms be damned, I need to knit.

Oh and I suppose I should have mentioned in yesterday's post that the Irish Hiking Scarf is for a friend of the male gender. Not me. Feel free to change your vote if need be.

April's Bakery

Today was baking day at Chez Insanity. I am a big lover of cookies but hate store bought and there are no decent bakeries in the South Bay. So what to do? Well make my own, of course.

Double Chocolate Chip

This was the first time I tried this recipe and in one word - NUMMY! I'm very glad I halved the recipe otherwise they'd be widening the doors of my apartment so I could get out. And for my breakfast this week -

Apple Walnut Bread

The jury is still out on this, another new recipe. It doesn't taste very apple-y but quick breads are usually best the next day. So it gets a day's reprieve before a final decision is reached.

In knitting news, there are but a scant 23 rows left to go before Branching Out will be ready for blocking. This scarf may well win the "Fastest FO" Award. Then it'll be back to Besotted which hopefully will be finished by the weekend. And then it'll be time to start the Irish Hiking Scarf. It's a veritable scarf-a-thon goin' on here.

I want to do the Irish Hiking Scarf in Knit One Crochet Two's Paint Box yarn. But I can't make up my very little mind about which color to use. I am torn between "Brook Trout" and "Blue Spruce." So this, dear reader, is where you come in. If you would be so kind as to click on the Paint Box yarn link and post which color you think I should use you might win this.

I think it's pretty explanatory what this prize is. Voting closes at 10pm PST on Wednesday, May 31st. Everyone who votes will get a chance to win. Speaking of prizes I am *seriously* delinquent in sending out Wendy B's prize. It's going out tomorrow. Sorry Wendy! And Raquel, I need your address as you won the last "Made In Canada" contest.

There, I think that takes care of everything.

She's Branching Out

I am tenacious, if nothing else. After many failed attempts at our meeting on Thursday night to get Branching Out up and running I came home, sat down on the couch and refused to go to bed until I'd conquered the pattern. Since it's not finished YET I won't say I've conquered it but I think we've come to a truce. Here she is, 15 repeats out of 27 done, pinned to my mattress. She's definitly going to need to be blocked, which is something I've never done before. I'm using Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool which is 65% wool and 35% silk, DK weight. And only $6.95 per skein at Commuknity. The pattern calls for one skein of yarn so this is definitely a good deal scarf. Although it looks black in my picture this is actually the color I'm using ...

A very rich teal that has a bit of a tweedy look to it. I love this yarn and will probably make a few other items out of it. It doesn't split, and stands up well to repeated ripping out and re-knitting. I wouldn't call it soft, but it's not scratchy at all. Just ... tweedy.

We have a new addition to the household in the form of another mouse. I wasn't going to get a new friend for Lily as she's getting old (mice only live 1 - 2 years). If you have two mice they should be relatively close in age. At least that's what I read on the internets. But I was worried she'd be lonely without Daisy. So yesterday I went off to PetsMart and bought "Fleur." She's black and white and reminds me of a badger. Here's a helpful tip for all you potential mouse purchasers out there - Do not attempt to transfer a wild mouse from a box to a cage with a cat nearby. Call me naive, but I was not aware that mice can jump. Especially Fleur, who jumps like she's playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. I don't think I've ever seen Andy's eyes quite so big. We'll have pics of Fleur as soon as she settles in.

In the meantime, Wilma says,

"Shhh ... I'm hiding from Andy."

Lessons On Lace

Since I had today off as well I decided to spend the afternoon at Communknity which is one of my LYS's. I planned to get a start on the Branching Out scarf before the meeting of the Silicon Valley Stitchers which was tonight. Here is what I learned today about lace both at Communknity and at our SVS meeting. With random photos of Communknity thrown in for entertainment sake.

1) A lace pattern demands your respect.

2) Never assume you *know* what the next stitch should be.

3) Two people should never try and knit from the same lace pattern at the same time. This is sheer folly.

The Communknity "Living Room"

4) Never try to knit lace when someone is bellowing in your face, "So we're not doing bead crochet tonight?!?"

5) A lace pattern cannot be beat into submission.

6) Knitting lace is a wonderful way to learn humility.

The "Wool" Section (more or less)

7) Lace patterns make you wait a very long time for the "a-ha" moment (if it comes at all).

8) Lace and T.V. are not compatible.

9) Lace is best knit AFTER the cats are asleep. However, one should never let their guard down completely.

Cotton, Cotton And More Cotton

10) Lace is addictive and will keep you up past your bedtime.

On The Mend ... Finally

After a brief tune-up at the hospital this morning I am happy to report I am finally on the mend and feeling about 100% better. And a very big thank you to Kerry for coming to retrieve me. So what do YOU usually do after a trip to the hospital? I bake.

Blonde Brownies

This is one of my favorite recipes because a) it's foolproof, b) it doesn't use obscure ingredients and c) it tastes like chocolate chip cookies in bar form. You can have a pan of these in and out of the oven in under 30 minutes. Here's an online recipe that is very similar to the one in my cookbook.

Summer Scarf Swap

So I'm feeling pretty good, I've got something tasty to munch on and then the UPS dude brings this! Over at ol' Crochetville we had a Summer Scarf Swap and this is what I got. Two beautiful scarves, the one on the right is actually a very pretty mint green. As opposed to the rather icky color it is in the picture. Two Moonpies which have to win the contest for most brightly colored food (neon yellow and orange), a bar of gorgeous pine scented soap from Rhode Island (Rhode Island!) and a lovely card with poppies on it. I've had to hide the bar of soap because ... well ... Andy wants to *eat* it. Why does my cat want to eat soap? I swear, I don't know where I went wrong with him.

Wanted: Pattern Reader

I started working on the Branching Out scarf this evening and have come to this conclusion. Lace patterns would be a lot easier if you had someone sitting beside you reading the pattern to you while you knitted. Then you wouldn't miss four yarn overs on row 7 and have to rip the whole thing out. It would also go a lot faster. Work three stitches, pick up pattern, work three stitches, pick up pattern - do people really enjoy this lace stuff? But I'm sure that once I get to row 8,739 I'll have the pattern memorized. Thank goodness it's only 31 stitches across (when done correctly) or this may become my life's work. Actually it won't be anything until I get a different yarn. I thought to use my ugly Rowan 4-ply but it's far too sporty looking to be used for a lace scarf. The pattern uses "Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool" which I've never heard of but which I am now on the hunt for.

Not so great cookies

Here's another addition to the Sharkey's collection. I think this is a size "K" and it's made of Corian, that countertop stuff that people with nice houses have. I really like these Corian hooks, I wonder if they make knitting needles out of them ...

Lily says, "Where's Daisy gone?"

Pet peeve of the day - Yarn stores that insist on putting their price tags over the yardage measurement on the ball band. I'd *really* like all of you to stop that. Or at least use price tags with less glue. It's damn hard to get those things off sometimes.

Good-bye Cable Needle

I am still besotted with Besotted obviously. She's now reached 25" in length which means she's almost half done. I won't be putting any fringe on her because I don't think fringe and cables are a good match. But that's just me.

But I'm even more besotted with her now that I've learned how to cable without a cable needle. Thanks to the wonderful Wendy of WendyKnits and her dead easy instructions (left twist cable and right twist cable) I no longer have to walk around with a cable needle stuck in my head. And I get a much neater looking cable than I did with a cable needle. Or at least I think so. And it's a heck of a lot faster. Which means I can hopefully have her done by Thursday when I need to teach the Silicon Valley Stitchers how to knit lace. Because that's when we're starting our very own Knit-A-Long with Branching Out. Have I knit lace before? Well sorta ... Am I an expert? Far from it. But I hope to be at least competent by Thursday.

And then when Branching Out is done I can either start on the Irish Hiking Scarf or this!

This is Fiber Trends Falling In Love scarf. I've been lusting after this scarf pattern for a while but kept putting off buying it because it has a PROVISIONAL CAST ON. Now 20 years ago, when I first started knitting there was one way of casting on and that was the long tail. Everyone cast on that way. Now there's like 600 hundred ways to cast on. Truly, it boggles my mind. Knitting has gotten way complicated in the last few years and frankly, I'm a little annoyed. When I looked at the pattern and saw that I needed to do a provisional cast on I got my knickers in a knot, pouted and simply refused. Obviously I was suffering from "old fogey syndrome." But surely if I could walk 20 miles uphill in the snow to school I could do this new fangled cast on. On the left, Lorna's Laces "Sheperd Sock" yarn. Pretty color, no?

From the "My God, She Once WAS A Child" file ...

A few months back my Mom sent me a box with some yarn and two dresses in it. At first I thought she'd knit dresses for the cats (you never know with my Mom). But upon closer inspection of the dress above I noticed this:

Since my cats are Wilma and DeeDee and I'm the one who's April, I think we can safely assume this was one of my baby dresses. Because Lordy knows, it sure wouldn't fit me now.

R.I.P. Daisy

Lily & Daisy 2006

After a courageous battle with cancer, Daisy Mouse Paddock passed away on May 20, 2006.

A life long resident of Campbell, California, Daisy was well known for her mastery of the exercise wheel as well as a fondness for french fries and cocktail peanuts. In addition, she was an accomplished acrobat, known for her ability to hang upside down for hours in the tubes on her cage. Daisy leaves to mourn her mum, April, her devoted stalker, Andy and her very special friend and companion, Lily.

Back Sorta

Well here I am, back again. Still rather ill but on the mend. Hey, that kind of rhymes, doesn't it?

I have not done any knitting or crocheting since Sunday so I have no updated WIP pictures to share. However, there is new yarn in the house so we can take a look at that.

As luck would have it (or not), my physical therapy office is located two blocks down from Yarndogs, in Los Gatos. The traffic Gods were smiling on me on Tuesday so since I had some time to kill ... I believe, but don't quote me, that this is a *new* yarn from Plymouth. It's 100% nylon and is without a doubt the softest, squishiest yarn I've ever felt. The name "Oh My!" is totally appropriate. It's a chunky weight (recommended knitting needle size - 10) and at least at Yarndogs, very reasonably priced ($5.55). I wuv it.

I really liked the color of this yarn when I bought it. I really liked the scarf pattern I bought to go along with it. Now I like neither. I am a fickle girl sometimes. Here's hoping I can exchange it for something I'll like for more than a day.

The second Yarndogs purchase. Another yarn I love, especially the price ($5.55). And the fact that it comes in 100g balls (200 yards). I much prefer this yarn over Lion Brand's Wool-Ease which is the same blend of 75% acrylic and 25% wool. Actually I think Wool-Ease is 80/20. So there, an extra 5% of wool at probably half the cost of the Lion Brand counterpart. This wonderful yarn will be used to make this.

This is a child's sweater and no, I don't have any children. But I love knitting baby and children's sweaters since they go up so fast. Well relatively fast. Not crochet fast, but you know, quick. Plus they're just so dang cute. Especially when it's an Aran sweater on a little boy. Can't you just see him in his Oxford grey dress pants, a grey Aran sweater and shiny black shoes? A scholarly five year old, just what the world needs.

Falling Apart

This afternoon I decided to go in search of charcoal pills. Theoretically, charcoal pills are supposed to remove toxins from your body. And since I seem to be harboring more toxins than most people these days I figured I'd best go get some.

First I went to Rite-Aid. I searched high, I searched low. But alas, no charcoal pills. That was OK, Long's Drugs was on the way home. I would check there. Again I scoured the shelves looking for the pills that would allow me to refrain from visiting the bathroom every 30 minutes. I know, too much information. Nothing. I asked the pharmacist who assured me she knew exactly where they were. Could she find them? No.

If nothing else, I am tenacious. Especially when I feel like I've been run over by a truck and want to feel better NOW. Next to Long's Drugs there was a Whole Foods. Heck, if anyone had charcoal pills, it would be Whole Foods. So there I am, strolling the Dietary Supplements aisle when I hear a tiny "clink clink." And then a male voice behind me saying, "Excuse me Ma'am, but something just fell out of your head."

Yes, I am ill. On death's doorstep some would say. But have parts of my body begun to fall off? I am a well padded girl, the chances of any of my parts going "clink clink" are slim to non-existent.

Looking down at the floor I spot the "clink clinker." A metallic gold cable needle. I don't know which is more frightening. That I've begun to store cable needles in my hair or that half of Campbell saw me walking around today with a cable needle stuck in my head.

But there are valid reasons for me to store cable needles in my hair. First, I have a little brown tabby kitten who loves all things remotely metal. And second of all, I started this last night and have been happily working away on it ever since. And it requires a cable needle.

Yes, another scarf. This is the Besotted Scarf from Hello Yarns. It wasn't until I started working it up that I understood why it was called "besotted." I'm thinking it has something to do with all the X's and O's. Kisses, hugs, kisses, hugs. Just a *little* slow these days. I'm using an Italian yarn called "Granada" that I bought from Herrschner's at the much marked down price of $2.99 a ball. It's kind of a strange creature in that it's pink eyelash yarn encased in a white mesh yarn. So occasionally you get these little escaped eyelashes that give it almost a mohair appearance. 60% cotton and 40% nylon on size 8 needles. Gauge is bang on. Go figure.

And here we have further proof that the world really is just a giant cat toy. Andy with his new acquisition.

An empty strawberry basket.

Just Shoot Me

We are extremely under the weather at Chez Insanity. The constant ingestion of this magical elixir is about the only thing that's allowing me to function.

Frankly with the way I'm feeling I'd rather not ingest anything at all but one must soldier on. How sick am I? I don't even want to crochet or knit. Perhaps I should start drawing up my will now.

So given my state of disintegration, you'll have to bear with me as I post random pictures that have little or nothing to do with my current WIP's.

Can you guess which year I knitted this in? Here I'll give you some hints. "Live Aid" was broadcast around the world. Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It" was at the top of the charts. And "Out Of Africa" was playing at your local theatre. Yep, 1985. This sweater is truly a testament to the staying power of 100% acrylic. Of course, I hardly ever wear it anymore since pink giraffes never really were in style except for in the 80's.

Speaking of sweaters, here's another sweater. I did not knit this sweater, I just like the picture.

A goat in a sweater. I think the only thing cuter would be a sheep in a sweater.

And speaking of cute ...

Her Royal Highness, DeeDee.

100% Crafty Content Goodness

Finally I post something related to either crochet or knitting. Instead of droning on about horses and roses. It's a wonder anyone ever reads this blog. First up - I've finished Renee's scarf for the Summer Scarf Swap. Here's a picture!

Is that BEAUTIFUL or what? Haven't you been dying for a scarf just like this? Can't you tell how long it must have taken to crochet this? I know ... you're all speechless with amazement. Actually I can't show you the entire scarf until AFTER Renee has received it. That's the way these swapper thingers work. But it's done, it's finished and it only has a minimum of cat saliva worked into the yarn. Of course you can't simply send a scarf; no, you have to throw other goodies in as well. That's an unspoken rule. Hands up everyone that thinks Andy would survive the trip to Texas.

She's a genius.

Authentic Trek Sock Bag

How cute is this? Don't you wish you had one too? Trek made this for me in exchange for some dark chocolate. I definitely got the better end of that deal. It's fully lined and don't you love the cute little applique? And the ribbon drawstring is sooo pretty. You could use this as a sock bag, a scarf bag or a whatever you want bag. If you had a small chihuahua it would probably even fit in here. I would strongly suggest you check out Trek's blog, a bag like this could easily cost you $20 in your LYS. Who knows what you'll get yours for?

And another addition to the Sharkey hook collection. Size L.

New Friends

Today at lunch, my co-worker Rod took me up to the ranch where he boards his three horses. I am as crazy about horses as I am about cats and crochet. But how could you not love animals that are this beautiful?

Ashkii & Pasaali

Ashkii is the baby of the family and is half Percheron / half quarter horse. He's like a big puppy. Pasaali is a Paint and is blind in his left eye. That doesn't stop him from racing around and Rod is able to ride him with no problem. Of course Rod has been riding for 8 million years. If I got on him, I'd be lucky to make it around the arena.

Lio

Lio is an off the track Thoroughbred. He was purchased from Thoroughbred Friends in Woodland, which is a Thoroughbred rescue run by my friend, Joe. A lot of people get caught up in the glamor of horse racing but don't realize what happens once the race horse is no longer able to compete. More often than not, he's sold to "the killers", loaded onto a truck and hauled down to Texas. There he's slaughtered to help fulfill the horse meat demand in Europe. Thankfully there are people like Joe around who buy these horses before they get on the truck and then re-sell them to loving homes. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Have you ever owned one of these?

Kitchen Witch

I had one for many years but then she got misplaced in a move. You hang one in your kitchen to prevent cookies from burning and other assorted baking mishaps. And frankly, I'm in dire need of a kitchen witch right now because let me tell you ladies, I am the Titanic of baking these days. It started with the oatmeal raisin cookies that were rated "Excellent" by 3 million people on Allrecipes.com and tasted like sawdust to me. Then we had the disastrous chocolate chip cookies with the liquid/dry ingredient relationship problem. These were followed by a batch of muffins that I would be hard pressed to decide which was worse, their smell or their taste. Last night I decided to make a loaf of lemon bread. Half of it is still in the loaf pan. The top half came out quite nicely though.

It's "MADE IN CANADA" contest time again! Oh but first, a small note. Wendy, who won the last contest, could you please e-mail me your snail mail address so I can put your yarn in the mail. My addy is Sakkasie@hotmail.com. Thank you. OK, so this week I have been tormenting you with pictures of flowers. So today's question is - "What is the provincial flower of my home province, British Columbia?" Once again, if you've won in the last four weeks (or four questions, you get the idea) please refrain from answering. Post your correct answer in the blog. I don't know what the prize will be but since I left my digital camera at work today it's not like I could take a picture of it anyway. Good luck!

Because I'm trying desperately to get Renee's scarf finished and in the mail by the weekend I have no craft content this evening. Instead, here's a picture of my Mom's *slightly* overweight cat, Bubbie.

Days Of Yarn And Roses

One of the dangers of reading the WendyKnits blog is that Wendy is always posting links to sites that sell BEAUTIFUL yarn. Here is a good example (at least in my opinion).

This is the "Woodland" colorway from Cabin Cove Mercantile. It's an Etsy shop and this isn't the only gorgeous yarn for sale. Mind you, since Wendy posted the link yesterday the yarn in stock has dropped drastically. But there are still lots of nice colorways available so you might want to check them out.

A few new buttons have been added to the sidebar. Yarn Fondler is Marie's blog. She works at Knitting Arts and is a master knitter as well as being a very sweet person. Marie is the "good works" lady at the store and devotes a lot of time coordinating the delivery of blankets to Project Linus. Craft Kitten is Jen, the Crochet Goddess' blog. Jen has 8 cats (or, as Kerry would say, 4 pairs) and there's always lots of adorable pics of kitties on her blog. She's also trying to get her crochet design business up and running so if that's something you've been thinking about doing you should definitely check out Jen's blog.

Also on the ol' sidebar, the Amazing Lace Knit-A-Long. This kicks off the Memorial Day weekend. Basically you pick a pattern, any pattern, as long as it's lace and sign up. Part of the Knit-A-Long includes challenges issued by the two hosts, Theresa and Rachel. I'm not sure what that's going to involve but I'm sure it'll be fun. Apparently I'll need to photograph my lace "liberally and creatively." Stay tuned.

Marmalade Skies

Sniff 'N Stroll Sunday

It was about 75 degrees in San Jose today which made it a perfect day to visit one of my favorite places in the South Bay. Actually it may be my only favorite place but I'll refrain from saying that. I'd hate to hurt anyone's feelings.

The Rose Garden

I love roses. Love, love, love them. But, as fate would have it, I'm allergic to them. Particularly when it comes to body lotion and other skin care items. You'd be surprised at how many lotions have rose essence? extract? whatever, in them. Instant hives. Most unattractive. But for some strange reason I can sniff 'em and nothing happens. So this is where I go when I need a "rose fix."

Not only do I love to sniff roses I like to take pictures of them. However, in the interest of maintaining some sort of interest in this particular blog, I promise not to post all of the 10 million pictures I took today. Maybe just one or two, k? You can handle one or two pictures of pretty roses, right? And besides, there's a cat picture at the end of all this so it'll be worth it. You're too kind.

National Trust

Stephen's Big Purple

I'm serious. That was the name of this particular rose. Can you imagine devoting your life to cultivating a magnificent flower like this and it ends up being called "Stephen's Big Purple." As women we all know that different colors in roses symbolize different things. If someone gives you a bouquet of red roses, it's time to start thinking china pattern. If someone gives you white roses. it symbolizes purity (oddly enough I've never received white roses). Well then what does it mean if someone gives you a bouquet of Stephen's Big Purple? "When I look into your eyes I think of Barney."? Alert the horticulturists, we need a name change.

Of course it isn't all about roses at the Rose Garden. It's also a great place to people watch and goodness, it was busy today. There was one elderly gentleman who would stop, inspect the next rose bush, maybe have a little sniff and then applaud. I assumed he was applauding the roses but he could also have been applauding the elderly lady in skin tight jeans with the even tighter white t-shirt on. If my bosom is that perky when I'm that age, it'll only be because I've got elastic bands strung over my ears and under my boobies. Lordy.

Catnip Shark

There was some craftiness today as well. This is my attempt to make the Super Easy Knitted Garter Stitch Mouse from Wendy Johnson's "Wendy Knits" book. The instructions said to use worsted weight yarn but to use needles a few sizes smaller than what was normally called for. I think I may have gotten carried away with my reduction in needle size. The glowing white eyes don't seem to help either. But that's OK because it's got the "Andy Stamp Of Approval."

Umm ... Meow?

Here's my amigurumi kitty!

Err ... as you can see she's not quite done yet. This is "Fat Kitty" designed by the Crochet Goddess, Jen. On the right is kitty's body and in the bottom left corner is kitty's head. She's still missing two ears, two legs and a tail. And of course I need to put her eyes on. Kitty is being made with Cascade 220 so like most kitties she's REALLY afraid of water. Especially hot, agitating water. I will try and get kitty finished tomorrow.

Today's craftiness included working on the Mile-A-Minute "Heavenly Hearts" afghan. Since I've already posted pics of it before, and since every strip is the same, I won't bore you with more pictures. However, I've managed to do four of seven strips so hopefully it'll be finished soon. This 'ghan is bound for Project Linus once it's done.

It's May. It's California. It was like 70 odd degrees today. So why am I thinking ... scarves. It might have something to do with the fact that I'm working on my Summer Scarf Swap for Renee. Of course I can't post pics yet because Renee reads this blog and it's supposed to be a SURPRISE. But that doesn't justify printing off the pattern for this -

All together now .... "Oooooo." This is from Knitty.com, it's called Branching Out and is supposedly an introduction to knitting lace. How a novice lace knitter could turn out something this gorgeous is quite beyond me. But then a lot of things are beyond me. Like why Fudgsicles are referred to as "Ice Cream Novelties." Yeah, I still haven't discovered the answer to that. But anyways, I saw this pattern, went "Oooo" and immediately bought yarn for it.

Please to excuse the crappy picture I stole from Blue Sky Alpaca's website. I had to enlarge the color swatch and well ... it didn't enlarge quite right. Of course every picture I took with my craptastic digital camera turned out to be a yarn cake of glare. Anyway ... this is Blue Sky Alpaca's Alpaca/Silk blend, 50% of each fibre. The color is "Spring." And it's nummy.

But I'm not just craving lace, I'm craving cables too. Especially after I saw the Irish Hiking Scarf. And I even have the perfect yarn for it in my stash! I mean, how often does that happen? Don't you think this yarn would work out wonderfully? It's Cascade Yarn's "Quattro." Can't you just see me sitting in some Irish pub with my Irish Hiking Scarf thrown jauntily over my shoulder? Feel free to throw Colin Farrell into that little imaginary picture as well. If you don't mind.

What's a girl to do?