Did someone say, "Cupcakes"?

What's not to like about cupcakes? Today is National Cupcake Day. Let's celebrate!!

And, of course there have to be cookies!

And what about actual cupcakes??? Yessirreeeeee!

I think we're done here.

Back to socks

My friend Kate talked me into doing the (free!) sock knit-along that Craftsy offered last month. It was taught by Lucy Neatby. Lucy has some very interesting tips for sock-knitting, and I learned some new stuff! Always a good thing. The first sock in the knit-along involves a smocked stitch. This particular stitch is fairly fussy to perform, but ends up looking quite nice. I think one pair of smocked stitch socks will be enough for me though.

The really interesting thing about these socks is that when I was about half-way through the leg of the 2nd sock I noticed that the wool produced stripes. I hadn't expected that, because in the ball, the wool looks sort of mottled and muted. However, not only does it stripe in a quiet way, it also happened to do it in a way that made these 2 socks identical. That is amazing. Such luck. Such happenstance. I suppose I ought to say I made it happen, but that would be a lie. Sheer flukey luck.

Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Petals Socks in the Alpine Strawberry Colourway. 50% merino, 20% angora, and 30% nylon. Socks are Lady's size 6 shoe size, 60 sts., 2.5 mm needles. I used 63 gr of the 100 gr.

The 2nd fabulous thing I want to show you today is this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

OK, so that makes 4 more things. The above-mentioned Kate made some lovely project bags, and donated them to the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project for fundraising. These bags are now part of the online auction that's starting today on this Facebook page. You can bid until next Thursday at 7pm EST!! And these are completely mail-able! Go have a look. You know your socks-in-progress would look great in one. (Or, I guess, your lunch would!!)

Cupcakes!

This is a cupcake time of year.  Last year, around this time, I baked cupcakes for our local shelter and the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. This year, the LFCP is holding a massive online auction in support of the Gananoque & District Humane Society. Our auction is meant to coincide with National Cupcake Day which is February 29th. The G&DHS is, in turn, planning its own Cupcake-themed fundraising event next month. They're calling their event, What's Up, Cupcake? Fun, eh?

That's a lot of cupcakes!! And Grandma Coco can't be left out! Here's a little something 'for the kiddies' (as Kevin McCallister would say)! (Click HERE to get a full-size version for colouring.)

Please go to the online auction site (It's a Facebook page.) and have a look at all the items on offer. And it would be great if you could share and spread the word! The site is open for viewing now, but the auction doesn't start until Thursday, February 25, 2016 at noon. You can place your bid between then and Thursday, March 3rd at 7 pm EST.

Happy Valentine's Day!

You knew there'd be cookies for Valentine's Day, right? Romantic, girl-y cookies. These are quick ones. I'm aiming for cookies that people will eat guilt-free. No more of this 'too pretty to eat' stuff. Cookies are cookies. Not fine art. Eat 'em up!

Loops and fringes

Mittens made by Elza Deklavs

My friend Amanda has a pair of mittens that her grandmother made for her. Her grandmother was born in Riga, Latvia. Unfortunately, she died in 2011. When Amanda showed me the mittens, I was intrigued by the loops at the cast-on edge. I took photos, and I hoped one day I'd figure out how she did it. I didn't have any luck at all trying on my own.  I'm a pretty good Googler, but I came up empty. No references to that technique at all. :(

And then, quite by accident (since most good things happen by accident), I contributed to a Kickstarter campaign for a new knitting book by Donna Druchunas called Lithuanian Mittens. The technique is explained in that book.

It was a little clumsy to do, and took me several tries, but I think I'm close. Mind you, I didn't push my luck with a double row of loops as Amanda's grandmother did. Maybe next time.