i've been very unproductive as far as knitting goes this past week.  the friend that i'd made the Skully Vest for moved, and i helped out.  oh...my....god.  it really really sucked, but at least it's done with!  i failed to get pictures of her wearing the vest (i forgot the camera) but i'll get around to it sometime!  i also made another buddy of mine an alpaca hat--there was absolutely nothing excitting about it that's why no pics--but he loved it.  the 2 for 2 on knitted gifts this past weekend got me thinking about the Yule season and gift giving.  and also the fact that the majority of my friends have their birthdays within the next 6 months or so.  i think that i might start giving bigger knitted gifts for birthdays, and smaller ones at holiday time.  that way, i don't go insane trying to make 20 sweaters or shawls in the next 95 days.  it seems logical to me.
upcoming WIP's are as follows:

i'm getting dangerously close to finishing up Eris.  i've gotten the front bottom cable details completed.  the picture is a bit dark, but you get the idea, i hope.  i like the edging on the bottom of this: Rogue called for a hem, which can be a really nice touch, but in worsted weight yarn, the double thickness was just too much.  the bottom of my sweater always flairs out a bit, no matter how crazily i block the damn thing.  the edge treatment for Eris is a knit-on border that takes advantage of slipped stitch to cause the very edge of St st to curl under, making a nice clean line.  it's very neat and clean looking, but i've not got it finished and it would be a damned boring picture!

i'm a crazy lover of the old time radio programs, and i used to be able to catch them on the NPR station that was out of Xavier university.  i think that they must have not been a big draw at pledge time 'cause they stopped.  and i was very dissapointed.  but today, the clouds parted and the sun streamed down onto me!!!  the fella sent me the link for OTR.Network Library, and i have a steady stream of radio programs available at a mouse click--for free.  i am beside myself with glee.  Inner Sactum, Suspense, and X minus 1  have been speeding me through work on Eris.

i've learned of a new knitting group that's just a block from my apartment.  i think that i'm going to check it out on wednesday--i'll let ya know how it goes if i do.

and now, cause i know you've all been anxiously waiting for it, the cooked purple and green cauliflower.  see???  it stayed pretty colored!!!  whoot.  i roasted it, and it was deeeelish.  if you'd like to try it, toss cauliflower florets with enough olive oil to lightly coat, some crushed garlic, a bit o' lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.  bake on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 15-25 minutes or desired level of doneness.  my favorite type of recipe--simple, tasty, and beautiful!

alright, let me first explain something about me--i'm a little crazy when it comes to how food appeals to the eyes not just the tastebuds.  if something doesn't look good to me, it just doesn't taste as good.  so, you have to imagine the sqeals of joy i let out at the market when i stumbled upon these: 
oh...my....sweet....lord.  yes.  that is purple cauliflower.  the brociflower isn't new, but it is a lovely shade of green.  i cannot wait to have these on a plate together. 

Eris is coming along slow but steady.  instead of twisted increases like these, i chose to use plain old increases.  i like the look better, and they are much easier on my poor little hands.  if i had made this in a more elastic fiber, i think that i'd probably have it all done by now.  if i make another one of these, i'll use a DK weight wool.  cause, seriously, i'm not sure why this pattern specifies Worsted Weight when it calls for a gauge of 5.5/8rows and 5/7rows.  i didn't really think it out before starting, and i can't figure it out now.  oh well, here's where she's at so far:

don't mind my wandering eyes....i thought i saw a bug on the wall, and i liked how the sweater looked in this pic, so i used it even though i look sorta vapid.

 PS.  if anyone can give me any pointers for changing my banner, drop me an email, and i'll be eternally grateful.

i broke down and bought some more yarn.  *le sigh*  i keep saying "i need to go on a yarn diet!!!  no more yarn until (insert goal here), and then, oh boy!"  yeah, i'm a damned liar.  i've had the pattern for the Eris cardi since 20 Aug 2005, and i really wanted to make it in a cotton/wool blend.  so it would be something i could probably wear for at least 3 seasons instead of 2ish.  i'd been eyeing the knitpick Main Line, but at $3.29 for 82 yds, it was a sucktastic deal.  well damn you knitpicks!  damn you and your sale!  i got the yarn in Red Velvet Cake.  and so the shipping would be free, i added in a hank of the brand spanking new Bare Merino DK so that: 1) the fella can swatch for the awsome sweater (the first one in 222) he's picked out to knit (when his socks are finished. one-project-at-a-time-freak) and 2) i can try my hand at designing a cardigan.  so, we'll see.

and, i've fallen in love:

red elf shoes.  **swooon** unfortunatly, they're a little bit salty for the wallet...that's a lot of yarn (not to mention food and stuff like that) to give up, even if they are red elf shoes.  (Fella, if you're reading this, keep an eye out for these to be cheap someday.  cause they would be the most rockin' thing....ever)

is there a prize available for being a bad blogger?  if so, someone needs to nominate me, i think!  to anyone who still checks out my little blog with any regularity, i appologize for the hiatus.  i've been knitting a lot of lace, and i am of the opinion that most lace project updates are 1)very very boring, and  2) a pain in the behind to photograph since i have to pin out the project so that it doesn't just look like a wad of yarn.  that said, here are updates on 2 of the 3 lace projects i'm working on.  i've not pictured the Garden Shawl that's on the needles.  getting it all pinned out would have driven me to drinking.  when i'm feeling braver, i'll get a picture!
this is the almost half-way done center of the Fir-cone Shawl.  i am still in deep deep love with the Lacey Lamb.  i spoke with my LYS owner, and she said that she may pick some more up at Stitches.  (and that would be nice since there is exactly 1 ball of laceweight left in the store...in a color that i'm not fond of or i would have snagged it.  i'm hoping for some aubergine, but i digress...)  to save my sanity, i don't plan on taking another pic of this until i'm onto the edging.

here is lace project 2--the Mystery Stole 2006.  i'm almost done with the first half of clue 1.  i got a late start on this since my internet went down the Friday the first clue came out and didn't get going again until the next Friday. i'm using the navy merino laceweight i picked up at the going-out-of-business sale.  i'm actually glad that i took a (blurry--sorry) photo of this.  i wasn't sure if i was digging the combonation of a cobweb weight and 3.5 mm needles was to my liking or not, and they quite are.  it's wierd the little bit of perspective that a photo can bring....

between knitting on the shawls (it's sort of a round robing process i've been using--a row here, a round there.  it keeps me on my toes), i've decided to repot all of my plants.  i snagged some beautiful pots that didn't have any drainage holes in them and today, that all is getting fixed.  if there's something i love almost as much as knitting, it's power tools.  and see the safety glasses?  i'm so proud of me!  i would like to add that the drill is not mine, it's the Fella's and i think that i may just hate it.  it's pretty weeny.  i've been drilling for, oh, 30 seconds and then i have to let the damnedable thing charge up.  i need to get another drill....anyhow, my pothos is crying out for his new home, so i better get back to playing in the dirt!!!!

let me preface this post by saying that i don't spend a whole lot of money on yarn, and i don't buy anything like large quantities of yarn very often.  having said that, this past week, i spent more than i'm accustomed to on expanding my stash.  On wednesday, i picked up a skien of Henry's Attic Kona , which i'm totally in love with, will buy more of, and have already dyed 1/2 of (see the "underwhelming" yarn).  on thursday, i priced sock yarn for the Austrian Knee Socks from the book Socks, Socks, Socks , discovered that, to buy it from the LYS was going to cost damn near $30, and then thought "hey!  Knit Picks has the Color Your Own merino sock weight that would work PERFECTLY" and at only $8, that's something i can do.   enter  friday, and i was overcome with the desire to knit the Deep V-Argyle vest  designed by Eunny Jang.  add more yarn to that Knit Picks order....6 skiens each of Fog and Hollyberry Merino Style.  so, that's a lot of yarn to be adding to the stash for me.  granted, the bulk of it already has projects, which is good.  anyway, moved by a fit of guilt, i Catalogued my stash on a spread sheet.  that is right.  i took pictures of every yarn, put that and all the pertanient info into a stash spread sheet.  let me tell you, it freakin' RULES.  i think that i'm going to carry it around with me to knitting groups to show off.  i may even post it here if i can suss it out-cause it rocks that much.  such the little knitting geek i am.  this compiling of the stash has added to my guilt and i am now officially on a yarn diet.  i want to reduce the stash by 1/2 (i'm thinking that i should shoot for 1/2 of the yardage total, cause i have a lot of lace and sock weight yarns, and that would be sneaky).  i wonder how long that'll last?