Lots and Lots of stuff to share!

Exactly 2 weeks 'til our rehearsal dinner! 15 days 'til our wedding! And 22 days 'til our honeymoon!

First of all, I want to post pictures of the fabulous gifts my secret pal sent to me for SP8.
First, she (I can say that with confidence, because we are all women) got me some beautiful lace yarn in brilliant pinks and yellows with the Elizabeth I patterns and a wraps-per-inch tool. I did start it, but I have decided to wait 'til after I get back from my honeymoon to work on it more.



My other gift from my secret pal is really great. Part of it is yarn to dye, Kool-aid packets, and Yarn to Dye for, by Kathleen Taylor, a book about dying with info on self-patterning. The pictures in this book are so inspiring. This is another thing I am saving 'til I get back from my honeymoon!

If you want to see some pictures of beautifully handdyed yarn (for sale), see what my friend, Kate, is doing here.

In addition to the dying gift, my secret pal also sent me some lovely Trekking XXL. I don't know if I can say enough about this yarn. I LOVE TREKKING XXL! When I received my gift from my secret pal, I was working on a pair of Grumperina's Jaywalkers in a lovely colorway 105 which is absolutely gorgeous and is made for Jaywalkers! I knit the smaller size on US1s for my 8 1/2 inches around foot. They fit perfectly.

So, I just had to say all of that so that my secret pal and everyone would know just how thrilled I was to receive my new Trekking XXL colorway. I took a picture of it with some Koigu because they are the yarns I am bringing on my honeymoon with me. For our honeymoon, Adam and I are going on a Princess Cruise that leaves from Oahu, visits Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. Then the ship heads south for 4 days (Read this as lots of time for knitting!) with a stop at Christmas Island (which is actually called something else, but in the US we call it Christmas). After the 4days south we end up in French Polynesia where we visit Bora Bora, Mo'orea, Raittea, and Tahiti. When I saw this Koigu, I had this vision of knitting socks the reflect the colors of the Pacific Ocean while reclining on the cruise boat. My only trouble was deciding whether they should be for Adam or for me. When I saw the Trekking XXL, my problem was solved. Now I have to decide who gets Trekking and who gets Koigu. I'll leave it up to Adam.

In other news, Adam got me flower! He even put them in a vace and had them waiting for me when I got home. They look so lovely and smell so sweet.















Since Adam is so sweet, I baked him a cake. (Yes, I answer to domestic godess.) It is called Rigo Jansci. I found the recipe in an amazing cookbook called A Baker's Tour, by Nick Malgieri"It is made from two thin layers of chocolate cake with a whipped chocolate cream filling and a shiny chocolate glaze..."(Malgieri, 179)

It isn't perfect because of my own impatience. I didn't let the inner layer chill long enough, so it was a tad runner than it should have been, more of it ended up gushing over the sides than stayed in the middle, but it still tastes fantastic. (I had it for breakfast with a glass of milk.)



My houseplants that I were dying are making a miracluous recovery after I moved them to a sunnier corner and saturated them with water. That's good, because I don't do much more than relocate and give them a drink. If they don't respond to that, they are doomed...













As my flower boxes prove. I do plan on finding some other flowers that enjoy lots of direct sunlight in the next week. Any suggestions?











Here is some Euroflax that I am going to make some kitchen towels and washclothes out of.










Emily hosted a knitting swap, to which I forgot to bring my camera. Her blog has lots of pictures! I did not want to get anything, but Emily pointed out these Ebony US7 14inch long needles which I couldn't resist. Really, I think of them as a gift from Emily rather than a stash swap score. I have never had a pair of ebony knitting needles before, but now I want to find a project for which I can use these. Most people are inspired by patterns or yarn. Do you ever choose your project because you want to use a new pair of needles?