Ingredients in my son's 12th store-bought Birthday Cake

"1/4 sheet cake decorated buttercream iced"

Sugar, enriched wheat flour bleached (wheat, nicain, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid) water, whole egg, partially hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed & palm oil, citric acid, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, invert sugar, salt, dextrose, sodium bicarbonate, acidid sodium aluminu phosphate with sulfate, food starch-modified (corn, tapioca), nonfat milk, cocoa with alkali, wheat starch, monoglycerides, propylene glycol - THAT IS A FORM OF ANTIFREEZE!!! mono esters, sodium sterdyl lactylate, calcium silicate, corn starch-modified, whey, baking powder, wheat gluten, natural & artificial flavor, soy lecithin, sodium acid, pyrophosphate, polysorbate 60 & 80, monocalcium phosphate, cellulose arabic xanthan guar tragacanth carrageenan carbohydrate & locust bean gum, sorbitantristearate, chocolate liquor, sodum caseinate, soyprotein, caramel color, calcium propionate, rice flour, liquid whitener, high fructose corn syrup, microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose gum, carrageenan, confectioners glaze, sorbitol, canola & coconut oil, hpko, triethyl citrate, glycerine, polyglycerol esters, algin, titamnium dioxide, e461, methocel, alcohol, carnuauba was, dextrin, potassium sorbate & sodium benzoate preservative to maintain freshness potassium sorbate, phosphoric acid, methyl & propyl paraben, sillicon, sodium hexametaphosphate, carmine, red 3, 5, 40, yellow 5, 6, blue 1, 2, blue 1 lake, black lake

My cake recipe (which I'm kicking myself for not making....)

eggs
flour
butter
cane sugar
baking powder
salt
vanilla

Buttercream frosting
butter
powdered sugar
vanilla
cream

I am so mad that I paid money for that damn cake.  GROSS. 
Next post - KNITTING, I swear.

Achem. Notice anything?

From the Winter 2010 Athleta catalog

 Do you see what's on her head?  Have a closer gander...

And for a nifty $20.00, it's yours.  Or you can grab your knitting needles and some leftover yarn from your stash and make your own nifty "Petra Headband" - or as the rest of the knitting world calls it:
THE ORIGINAL CALORIMETRY by Kathryn Schoendorf.  A free pattern, I might add.


And now let's take a left turn from that moment of product-plagerism to another astonishing advertisement in a popular clothing catalog.  I found it while browsing for knitting inspiration. I am not usually very critical of fashion, since I am known for both my informal and formal sweatpants. (You can buy cashmere and velvet sweatpants.  Really, you can.)   But this picture, which was carefully planned and coordinated by paid fashion professionals, made me snort part of my fifth cup of coffee out of my nose. 

 Is is just me or is this outfit (and beard) (and hair) all wrong?  ALL WRONG.

And now I'm off to dig out some old stash yarn for my next Calorimetry; thank you Kathryn!

Happy Trails

 My mom surprised my daughter and I with a short trip out west to visit my sister and her family.  We hopped on a plane and soon found ourselves in the middle of the mountains of Utah. 

 First on my agenda . . . well, after saying hello to my sister and her family . . . was to find the local knitting shop.  The good news:  it was a spinning shop called Rumpelstiltskin.  The bad news: it had closed.  The good news: there is a new knit shop.  The bad news: it won't open until November.

So close.

 There we were, wandering through this charming little town and I saw this in the window of a Hallmark store.

I went on a covert mission to find out more.  I snapped these photos with my super-spy camera (and by the way, one should always turn your mute on and turn your flash off when sneaking indoor photos or you'll find yourself in a very awkward situation).

 This would be a lot of stockinette stitch, but if you're in the mood for mindless knitting, or if your lucky enough to have a knitting machine - there you go.  A funky wrap.  I'll be spending some time on Ravelry trying to find this pattern.

 The real enjoyment came from simply spending time together with my family.  Belle found plenty of things to amuse her, including herself.  My niece was a ball of wonder and joy. 

 My sister and her husband were gracious and hospitable, feeding us well and touring the town in their shiny new Subaru with all of us in tow. 

We passed this house and I had to go back to get a photo.  This was typical of the town.  Chickens in the backyard, sheep and horses right there in suburbia.  The homes were tidy but always decorated and inviting.  And look at the corn!  This was a gorgeous garden that inspired me to try corn again next year.  I think I just need to plant more, move into a Victorian home and hire a gardener.

I couldn't put my finger on what was so appealing about this little town.  This house above, was fairly typical of many homes there.  Big and little, humble or grand - the yards were clean - the front porch always tidy with chairs and tables.  Beautiful, functional gardens were alongside sheep pastures and chicken yards.  Pumpkins lined the steps of many porches, one for each member of the family.  One porch had 14 pumpkins . . . but we are in Mormon country, so I was told that this is not unusual.

And my Knitting?  Yup.  I've been working feverishly on a gorgeous little sweater for my little niece that should have been done two weeks ago.  It's almost done.  I'll post pictures soon.

Calorimetry

I took a break from the regular car knitting schedule - yes, I knit when I drive.  It's the only way I can sneak in my daily fiber supplement.  When I come to a complete stop at a stoplight, I'll very cautiously knit a few stitches here and there, being careful not to let the driver next to me see my crime. 

Anyway, my kiddo here, wanted a funky hat, so I whipped out a Calorimetry with some fabu yarn that I won from Karoline Knits (thanks Karoline!).

I actually told this little punk to just act normal so I could get a decent picture.  That makes about as much sense as me asking the birds not to sing or the rain to fall up instead of down.  So that's the photo shoot.

Specs on Ravelry.

Beat the Birthday

That's right, I finished my first crochet blanket just before my cousin's baby is due.  Phew.  As the Yarn Harlot puts it, there was a lot of "Black Hole" moments - those moments when you feel like you've put in the time, but the darn blanket doesn't appear to have grown at all.  And then suddenly, it's done.  


The yarn was Cascade 220 (on sale at my LYS).  I've used Cascade before but this time, it felt like acrylic.  Very strange.


The pattern was from a fabulous tutorial that very clearly demonstrated just how to turn at the end of a row - something I've never quite managed, which is why I prefer round doily shaped things.  You can find the pattern and tutorial for the free Neat Ripple Pattern here.


I'll pack this little baby up and ship it off to my cousin before the big day.  It will be perfect for a car seat blanket or stroller blankie.