Me and Madelintosh

It has been hot as hell here (see Monday's post) and yet I have had a lot of yarn in my hands. The central air does help, but I think I may have continued to work on my new sweater without it. Yes I said MY! I am knitting for myself...yeah! Mine, mine, mine.

It started as a twinkle in my eye.

The yarn I bought on a recent trip to Chicago is fast becoming a Tea Leaves Cardigan. Well, pretty fast. I have knit the yoke (this is a top-down sweater) and am currently wading through 13 inches of stockinette. Ugh. What is getting me through this mindless knitting is the amazing fabric the Madelinetosh is creating. It drapes, has a medium weight, and a soft texture...the finished garment is going to be incredibly versatile.

On each row I am alternating between two balls to avoid pooling.

 The Madelinetosh knits up like butta. I will be straight with you, when I bought this yarn I had some sticker-shock. I wondered if it was worth it. (I mean really, I've made some beautiful stuff with $7/skein Cascade 220. ) Oh my, I've learned that you get what you pay for with this yarn. It has it all, stitch definition, rich color, a firm twist...I repeat, butta. I don't want to love something so pricey, but I'm afraid it's too late.

Love!

And so far, I am really digging the Tea Leaves cardigan pattern. It has been very easy to read and fun to knit. If this sweater fits well when finished, I will be one happy girl. I will even go so far as to say that it would be a great "first-sweater" project for those who have never tackled one before. (You know who you are.)

Between the yarn and the "friendly" pattern, I am having a great time with this project. It is one of those that I get obsessed about finishing. With so many other projects on my plate, I keep picking up the needles and soldiering through the stockinette. Now, I need everyone to pray for some cool weather so I can wear the sucker when it's done!

Have a great weekend!

–Cassandra

Hot as Hades

According to me, we are living in hell. (FYI, anything over 90 degrees is hell.) This means that I did a lot of activities indoors this weekend. I am a big baby.

Central Air = Best Friend

With all this time indoors this weekend, you would think that I might have cleaned a room or two. Nope. I was in the mood for fun. And that means my hands are busy making.

Girls who sit and knit in the central air make progress on their sweaters!

I will admit, the one thing that did drag me outdoors this weekend was the cherries at the farmer's market. They are finally in season and...oh lordy, they were worth the trip in the heat. With cherries-a-plenty at my house and hot temperatures, I decided to make some cherry ice cream.

A love, love, love the bing cherries.

Simple vanilla ice cream with cherries mixed in. A recipe with just a few ingredients to keep it as light as possible. I poured over a few of my books and distilled down a basic recipe.

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Cherry Ice Cream
1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups of quartered pitted cherries

Combine milk, cream and sugar in a bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. (I use a whisk, but be careful because you don't want to stir too vigorously or you will make whip cream!) Add the vanilla.

Place your mixture in the ice cream maker and let it go for about 10 minutes. Then, add the cherries. Let the ice cream maker do it's job until you have ice cream. (For me, it was another 20 minutes.) Transfer to a covered container and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours.

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Ice cream action.

During the ice cream-a-thon, there was also knitting, sewing, and drawing. It was a good (self-indulgent) weekend.

Little boys need Snoopy pajamas!

–Cassandra