Back to the drawing board!

Well, the Indian Summer Shawl is no more, which I'm fine with. I was really only designing it because I couldn't find the "right" pattern for the Cherry Tree Hill Fingering Silk, and I did! I've started on the Candle Flame Shawl and I'm enjoying the pattern with this yarn. The pattern called for Shimmer, a lace weight yarn, on size 4 needles. I swatched up the Cherry Tree Hill on size 6, then 5, then ended up on size 4 because I didn't care for the floppy fabric on the larger needles. The Candle Flame pattern doesn't actually seem to have a guage, but it's 97 stitches wide and 16" wide finished, so that's about 6 stitches per inch, which is about what I'm getting. I've already done a whole pattern repeat (36 rows), so I'm not excited about ripping back and making it wider. I should have realized that 16" is a pretty narrow shawl. I'm doubt I have enough yarn to do that, anyway, and the narrow rectangle is kind of growing on me now. I wish patterns would always have a very clear shot of the model wearing the piece without reclining or hunching over or something. I assume in lace weight, the pattern would be more delicate, but I quite like it in this yarn:

Here's a closeup of the wrong side:

And of the right side:


I envy the knitters who can knit from a chart. Sadly, I cannot do this without major frustration and constant tinking. So, this is what I do:

I cut 4x6 notecards in quarters, punch a hole in the corner, and tie using a bit of my working yarn. I write out each row on a card. After I finish knitting a row, I turn to the next card. This keeps me from getting lost, and is a necessary part of lace knitting for me. However, with a 36 row pattern, it can get time consuming!

Thank you Rain, Annie, and Marie! I'm going with the bold red/orange look on the baby hat. Marie, the Rowanspun seems fine once it's knitted up. I can't really explain why that would be the case, but it works. The shawl I made from the 4-Ply is perfectly fine, even durable. It's just while knitting that there's a problem.

Reading: Goblet of Fire.

Writing: Same spot. Taking the hot weekend off :)

Cooking: I made ice cream! Mmmm. I went with Mint Chip because, when it really came down to it, the kind of ice cream I most felt like was the one with the least prep time and no cooking :) Here's the recipe:

Mint Chip Ice Cream (Low Fat Edition):

3 1/2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tsp mint extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips or grated chocolate

Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips; stir well to combine. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to machine directions. After ice cream is beginning to thicken, add chocolate chips. Once ice cream is thickened, transfer to an airtight container in the freezer.

Notes: For the really good, yet not low-fat edition, use 2 cups of whipping cream and 2 cups 2% milk (or, cholesterol horrors! 2 cups whipping cream and 2 cups half-and-half). If you like, add a couple of drops red or green food coloring. Crushed Oreo cookies instead of chocolate chips are also nice. Enjoy!