Halland Mittens

Last night I finished Melissa's mittens! :) This pattern came from Folk Mittens and is based on the logging jerseys of the Halland area of Sweden. They were knit from Lamb's Pride worsted on size 3 dpn's. I altered the cuffs to insert her initials and the year (they ARE legal because I finished the 2007 one while it was still 2007!). I am pleased with the way they turned out although I am not crazy about set in thumbs. I'd much rather knit around a gusset for thumbs. And just in time because it has been bitterly cold here and it snowed again last night. I will give these to her tonight! :)

Melissa held a Lia Sophia jewelery party at her home on Saturday night. She served a lovely lunch and had a lot of company! We all parted with a lot of money! Her sister also came with her new baby and I got to meet Aspen! This had been her first big road trip! I knit her a cap from the Star Lace Baby set found in Homespun Handknit. I started out with some homespun silk but after 3 hours realized it was going to be too small. I started over again with some Koigu left over from my niece's Kottou cardigan...only to RUN out just short of finishing! I 'edged' it in ribbing knit with more Koigu--left over from Lisa's Christmas socks a few years ago. I finished it AT the party and was able to get a picture of her in it, but at that point she was getting a little disgruntled and didn't want to sit still for long. She had had a big day! Melissa hosted a very nice party. She is now officially an established Lady Of The House!

Mmmmm.....butter

I made a 2 pound batch of puff pastry dough and baked pastry straws out of the ENTIRE batch to take to Melissa's house! I sing the praises of puff pastry all the time and I can't stress how it is WORTH the time and effort to produce from scratch! It really isn't LABOR intensive, just time consuming. It took me most of the day to make the dough and maybe an hour to roll, cut, and bake it. And I just marvel at the way it behaves every time I bake it! If you'll note above, the pastry straws look almost like wide egg noodles after they are rolled out and cut. But then they turn into...

...THIS! They puff up SO tall that they actually tip over when baked! I was going to fold in a layer of freshly grated parmesan cheese but I didn't have time. They are SO tasty and worth the trouble!

Yarn Boogers!

This is a pair of mittens I'm working on for my friend Melissa. It is knit on size 3 dpn's with worsted weight Lamb's Pride yarn. I love how fuzzies always collect onto one of the strands and just gets pushed along down through the skein as the work progresses. This booger is actually a shade of purple because the 2 colors of fuzzies blended together! Melissa has had a terrible year so I am commemorating it in these mittens with the hope of a better year. One cuff has "2007" knit into the design and this one has her initials. Incidentally, since I penciled in the design a bit differently than called for, the cuffs were also when I did the most SWEARING! These are turning out so well and they will keep her hands nice and warm! :) I met Melissa on our very first day of orientation when we started working at the hospital and I don't know what I did without her.