Say cheeese!

My sister asked that I post about something other than knitting every now and again. She doesn't knit and I think she finds my obsession a little foreign and, frankly, scary. Here is proof that I obsess about many, many things. One of them is cheese. I've always loved cheese but when this place opened near us about a year ago my cheese fetish spun out of control. If you're not lucky enough to have one near you then you just don't know what you're missing. I'll spare you all the gory details, I have a tendency to wax rapsodic about this fabulous place. Suffice to say that it's 3 times the size of any grocery store I've ever seen and filled with wonderful things offered by incredibly helpful folks.

The place that most often busts my budget is the cheese section. It's got the most wonderful looking stuff and they're always willing to cut you a sample. Yum! Better yet, they'll cut a piece down to a manageable size for you. My family isn't as keen on the cheese so I was always able to resist purchases because I couldn't possibly finish a huge wedge of whatever. No problem now so I test it ALL out and take it ALL home. My cheese drawer is overflowing.
As yummy as it all is though, the best I've found so far is Vintage Dubliner. It is to die for! Unfortunately it only comes out around St. Patricks Day so it's in the stores now and I'm a happy girl again. Yum!

Unfortunately consuming great amounts of cheese isn't doing wonders for the size of my ass so the DFS photo shoot yesterday evening was not prime time material (don't want to scare anyone.) I'll have to give the proper attire some thought and try again this weeekend. The problem is that the most slimming things I own are black - not conducive to showing off a black shawl. Hmmmm....

Ready for a little Stash Reduction Exercise? Good! I dove in last night for round one and look what I found. This is all machine washable and cute too. I started bear number one in denim and white Lion Brand Polarspun with a red scarf made by Lindsey. It wasn't ready for prime time yet either so you'll just have to settle for the raw materials today. I have to say that working with the Polarspun last night reminded me of why it was banished to the bottom of the basket in the first place. I hate working with the stuff. It is really soft though and I'm sure that feeling it will make some child feel really happy so it's all good.

Naked!

That's how I feel today. Since I finished the socks for Stinkerbelle last night I have nothing left on my needles. Nothing that I intend to work on right now anyway. I think that I need to designate a spot on the blog for "eternal slumber". I must admit that I have a linen tank top and a hat for Lindsey that are hiding at the bottom of my stash and they are perfect candidates for the inauguration of the "eternal slumber" section. I am, after all, the Queen of all manner of UFO's. Ask my DH - he'll gladly vent his frustration at the many projects that I've begun through the years that never went anywhere.

Anyway, about Stinkerbelle's socks. It's amazing what you see when you get a close up. Like right now I'm looking at this picture and hoping that these socks don't cut off the circulation in her feet. A brief break for the stats:

Pattern: Chevron from the Sensational Knitted Socks
Yarn: Knitpicks Color Your Own 100% Merino dyed with, what else, Kool Aid
Needles: Susan Bates size 3 (Yuck, yuck and double yuck! I hate the joins on these)
Modifications: nada

Back to discussion. As I was saying, I can clearly see now that these are too small for Stinkerbelle. They are on her feet as we speak and I doubt that I can pry them away from her but I'll have to work on sizing the socks. The chevron pattern doesn't look so hot when it's stretched all to hell.

Here are a few more thoughts upon finishing the Knit Olympics - my own wrap up if you will. First, I feel incredible relief. I have never felt such pressure in my knitting before and truly I'm not sure I could stand it again. It took over my life. Now I can cook for my family again, do the piles of laundry that accumulated, read bedtime stories, really put some effort into the Girl Scout cookie sale, etc. The list of stuff I've neglected truly does go on and on.

It was very cool to get encouragement from so many people. I can't stress enough how much it adds to the experience when you share it. Every comment means more than I can say. Being part of such a huge thing was also inspiring. The idea of hundreds and thousands (ack!) of knitters challenging themselves all at once... holy shit - it's a little mind-blowing.

I think that I have a date with Knitting On the Road right now - and a calculater. I will get the size right if it kills me. Oh and teddy bears for Phyl. I enlisted Lindsey to help. She can't wait to sew up seams.

ECL: sizes chick! I need sizes or you see what happens.

Let's go to the videotape...

I never actually though that I'd make it on the medal stand and I'm not. I believe that the entry had to be blocked - past tense - not blocking. It's ok though because for me this is definitely a personal best. Here's another shot.

I totally recognize that it's far from perfect. The stats are:

Pattern: Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding

Yarn: Peruvian Collection Baby Silk from Elann.com in black

Needles: Addi Turbo size 5 about 31 inches long. ( lost the package so I don't know the length listed)

Modifications: Just one - my shawl is only 9 and a half repeats. I only had 6 balls of the yarn and couldn't find any more so after repeat nine I realized that I had too much yarn to stop there but not enough to complete the 10th repeat. It was clear from the finish instructions that the key was to stop after the first in a set of bind-offs so I did and I think that with the exception of the many, many folks that have made this shawl nobody will notice it. It still ends with a completed diamond , just not the center one.

In my defense I should note that I had every intention of finishing this yesterday but I got kidnapped. You heard me. Felicia forced me to go to the Baltimore Fine Craft Show yesterday. I tried to resist - really I did but she needed me. Who else could keep her from buying expensive furniture that wouldn't fit in her house? I did bring my knitting with me and I made a valiant effort but it's not easy to knit in an Explorer - the ride is a little bumpy. While I was there this called out my name and begged to come home with me. Isn't it purty?

I also had to buy these buttons. I think that at some point they will become a part of some lucky sweater. I think that, considering the staggeringly gorgeous stuff that was available, I did a good job of keeping the purchases under control - for both of us.

Perhaps the judges will take my dedication to the team into consideration and award me a Bronze. Nah - probably not.