I got a lot done on Sahara today at Sit'N'Stitch. I'm about half way to where I was when I frogged it yesterday. However, the most exciting news is I'm got tickets to see The Police in Louisville on July 14th! I'm so excited, my husband is mildly amused.
I also have a huge painful zit on the side of my nose. It just popped up today and is very deep. Ouch.

I am know frogging Sahara for a second time. I finally got to the part where you can try it on and it's too damn small! I usually knit a large, but this time with all the talk in the pattern about the sweater have a large amount of ease, I decided to try a medium. Nope, I should have knit a large.

My husband mailed the second package for my Secret Pal today while I worked at our Relay for Life yard sale. I hope she likes it.

I also joined International Tote Exchange IV. (I'm becoming such an exchange whore.) I figured I should post my questionnaire here, since I always seem to forget or add something to each one.

1. Name and blogger handle: Kristan "aka" Pantoufle
2. Blog URL (if applicable): http://nukeknitter.blogspot.com/
3. Do you want a purse that is felted/not felted/surprise me: surprise me.
4. Color/fiber likes and dislikes: I like all colors except coral (although I do like peaches). My favorite color combo is purple and lime green. I'm not much of a fun fur girl.
5. Do you tend to be dressy or casual? Casual. I would like something that can fit my wallet and other necessary things. I really don't have much use for small evening bags.
6. Prefer a pal who lives in the USA or international? Either is OK with me. USA is easier, but I'm intrigued about the prospect of getting items that aren't available here.
7. Miscellaneous info (anything you want to tell your pal): I have three dogs and am a non-smoker. I love candy that is strawberry or peach flavored. I hate banana flavored anything. I just recently knit my first pair of socks, but I'm trying not to become addicted. I'm severely allergic to pine nuts (not that I ever expected anyone to send them to me) and Burt's Bee's chapstick makes my lips swell out to two sizes too big (and not in a sexy Angelina Jolie way..more like the entire right or left side or half of each).

Spring Felted Bag Exchange

1. How long have you been knitting or crocheting? How did you learn?
I've been knitting for about a year. I learned by taking a class at a LYS when I lived in Knoxville.

2. What are your favorite yarns to knit\crochet felted bags with?
Reynolds Lopi, KnitPicks Wool of the Andes

3. What are your favorite needles to knit\crochet with?
My bamboo interchangeable circs from Webs (now discontinued)

4. What are the last 3 bags you knitted\crocheted (include URL for Yahoo! or flickr album or your blog if you have them!)? You can also link to patterns if you don't have pictures of your finished objects!
Wave bag and two clutches

5. Do you carry the bags that you make, give them as gifts, or both?
Both. My standard gift is the felted clutch from One Skein.

6. What is your favorite felted bag that you have made for yourself?
The wave bag.

7. What are your favorite colors? Do you like bags in these colors or choose other colors?
I like purple. But, I'm not locked in. The only color I don't like is coral because I look absolutely horrible in it.

8. Chocolate: White, Milk, Dark, or not so much?
DARK!

9. Coffee, Tea, or Milk?
Tea

10. Do you prefer sweet or salty treats? What kinds?
I like both.

11. If you went into Bath and Body Works and could only come out with one item, what would it be and what would it smell like?
I'm not the biggest fan of B&BW. I worked at the Body Shop in college and you hear about how bad the lotion is for your skin. That being said, I do buy their home scents. I like their candles and wallflowers. Since it's spring, I would probably buy Sun Ripened Raspberry or another fruity scent. I really don't like melon or cucumber scents.

12. Do you enjoy any other crafts or hobbies? Do you collect anything?
I make my own cards and collect lady head vases.

13. Are there any bag patterns you have not yet knit, but hope to someday?
There is, but I think I may make it for this swap.

14. What is currently OTN (on the needles) for you?
A lightweight sweater, a baby blanket and a baby hat.

15. What is your most recent finished object before that?
Another baby blanket

16. What's cutest: Puppies, Piggies or Pixies?
Puppies, definitely puppies.
17. Do you enjoy reading? Books, Magazines, or both?
Both.

18. Do you have any children? (kid-kind or pet-kind apply!)
I have three dogs, collectively known as The Idiots.

19. What are some of your favorite yarns for other projects?
Noro Cash Iroha, all the new bamboo stuff,

20. And for the final question, one I see debated all over: Novelty Yarn: Love it! Hate it! or It depends!
It's not my favorite, but it can be cute for a scarf

Also, check out my SP 10 questionnaire.

The sock passed this morning!!!!

Now I will post this:

Update on the Idiot: She hasn't passed the blockage, yet. However, the vomiting has stopped, she has more energy, and she is eating. If something doesn't come out of her tomorrow, then my husband will take her back to the vet on Monday.

I got my SWTC DiscontinuedBrandNameYarn.com Bamboo this week! It's so pretty. I don't think I would have chosen this color in the store, but I like it. The color is actually a little more rich than in the picture.

The washcloth that I knit a few months ago for my husband is starting to look a little ragged. I had some variegated pink Sugar'N'Cream lying around, so I knit this:

It is technically a washcloth that I knit for myself that will stay in the shower and he can use if he needs to. This is because heaven forbid that he actually own anything pink.

Also, my boss's birthday on Friday. I made some carrot cake cupcakes that I adapted from a couple of different recipes. I'm posting the before and after picture of the first dozen. (Notice how one cupcake is missing. I had to taste one to make sure that they were edible...yeah, that's it. It was for the good of my coworkers.)

Better For You Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup no sugar added applesauce

1/3 cup oil

4 cup grated carrots

3/4 cup walnuts

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz. 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

dash of salt

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. Mix together sugar and eggs until thick and pale. Stir in applesauce and oil then gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in carrots and walnuts. Bake at 350 for ~25 minutes. Check with toothpick.

For cream cheese frosting, beat together powdered sugar, vanilla, cream cheese and salt until smooth.

Another day, another drama. Our St. Bernard has been acting sick the last few days. Vomiting, lethargic, not pooping. She has a penchant for socks, so I took her to the vet. Sure enough, he thinks she has an intestinal blockage. He gave me some medicine, told me to watch her closely and call him with an update in the morning. He said we are now the No. 1 patient on his worry list. If she starts to show any sign of distress we have to take her in for emergency surgery.

I was supposed to do the MS Walk tomorrow, but now I'll probably have to stay home to keep an eye on the Idiot. When I got home from Sit'N'Stitch tonight she seemed to have more energy and has been staring at her food bowl. Hopefully that's a good sign and she'll pass the sock tomorrow. Also, she doesn't want the other Idiots around her. But, the Rotten Idiot keeps her eyes and ears clean. (I know it sounds gross but it really is quite cute when you see it.) Know she has eye boogers that she keeps on depositing on my pants when I massage behind her ears.

When I realized she might have a sock stuck in her the first thing I though of was the pair I knit last week. But, I found both of them under the bed. Wouldn't that have been a tragedy...to have your first pair of knit socks cause your dog to have emergency surgery?

Oh, and I had to rip out everything I knit on Sahara (typical) because somehow I accidentally lost a stitch at the provisional cast on row. The expert at the S'N'S tried to help me save it, but there was also something funky going on a few rows lower.

Well, I got all the little project thinks done this weekend. I finished the i-cord edging on the baby blanket and weaved in all the edges. I hate to say it, but I think my husband was right today when he told me that I needed to block it. (I can't believe he retained what blocking is. I know I told him about it awhile ago, but I would think that piece of information would have been replaced with the engine stats for the new BMW models or something.) Anyway, I have a lot of yarn left over so I'm going to do another baby blanket int he same yarn. But I'm going to use the Bath Mat pattern from Knit 2 Together. That way I won't have to clean up any edges.

I also knit and washed gauge swatches for Sahara. Size 6 needles were right on the money. I'm so excited. I keep on reading ahead on the directions and getting so confused. I just have to take it one step at a time.

ALSO...I found this great deal at DiscontinuedBrandNameYarn.com. I bought 10 Skeins of SWTC Bamboo for $50!!! I don't know what I'm going to do with it (but I'm going to love it). Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Gotta go TaeBo.

I finished the second sock this morning. I had to wake up early and wait for the cable guy who should be here sometime between 8 and 12. It is now 10:30. I hope he doesn't show. I wanted to sleep the whole day away, but that plan is now shot.

This weekend I'm going to take care of all the little knitting things. Swatch for Sahara, put an edge on the baby blanket. Speaking of swatching, I think I learned my lesson with Wicked. I swatched it without washing. The sweater fit really nice when I knit it. Then I threw it in the washing machine because of all the dog hair and the run in the front where I had to pick up a dropped stitch. When I took it out to block, it increased by almost to sizes! The neck is huge. I'm going to try to rewash today and throw it in the dryer. Hopefully it will shrink some. Wish me luck!

I got three unsolicited compliments on the wave bag today! I also got a lot of questions about the socks I'm knitting while I was at the doctor's office. I love unsolicited compliments. I like to reply "Thanks, I made it."

Anyway, I tried a new recipe for Easter. It turned out pretty well, so I thought I would post it here.


Apple Glazed Turkey Breast
Bone-In Turkey Breast Sized to Fit Crock Pot (I used a 5.5 lb)
kosher salt & pepper
4-6 apples peeled, cored, and quartered
1/4 cup apple cider
3 T brown sugar
1 t ground ginger

Rub turkey with salt and pepper. Place apples on bottom of crock pot. Place turkey on top of apples. Combine rest of ingredients and pour over turkey. Cook on low for ~12 hrs. Baste occasionally.

After it was done, I took some of the drippings and added 3-4 T of flour to make a quick gravy. (More flour will make it thicker.)


My husband recoomends that the next time I make it I stuff the cavity with an onion.

So, I finally did it. I learned how to knit socks! I broke down at Sit'n'Stitch Friday night. Just a simple ribbed sock. What could it hurt? I'm not even in love with the color or the yarn, I was told that it is a good yarn to start off with. I'm not going to become a sock addict, right? Right?We went to Mammoth Cave today. It's the longest cave in the world. It has over 370 miles of known caves. We took a 4 mile tour. It kicked my butt. The description said that it was physically demanding and they weren't joking. The first part of the trail, I was like OK, I'm in shape, this is like a brisk stroll. Then, after lunch the "demanding" part hit. It was all up the stirs, down the stairs, up the stairs, up the stairs, up the stairs , down the stairs, up the stairs... I definitely got my cardio on. And, I totally blame my windedness on dehydration (yeah, that's it, dehydration).

This is one of the entrances to the cave.

This is a cool pictures of stalactites. They've put new lighting in the caves which makes pictures a lot easier to take. If you were there, you would say that they looked very alien like.

And, of course, since it was a 3 hour drive each way, I brought the socks. Here is a picture of the first time I tried it on. (I'm so happy I had a pedicure.)

And, here's a completed picture. Finished with 20 minutes to spare. (Notice the White Castle cups. My husband has this weird obsession with White Castle. Every time we pass one on a trip we have to stop. Then I have to put up with White Castle gas for the rest of the trip.)

Here's a picture of the finished wave bag. Somehow the yarn managed to wiggle it's way out of the weave in on the handles. I'll trim it off one it dries. I think I attached the handles incorrectly. Such is life.

My trainer cancelled on me today. I see her again tomorrow.

Although very hectic, Chicago was a lot of fun. We got to see Greg's mom before she flew out to California. After many discussion we all decided that it was better for us to not fly out next weekend. We are going to wait a few weeks after all the hubbub has calmed down and we will be needed more.

I got a lot of the baby blanket done. I love the Crystal Palace yarn. It is so soft and the colorways are so pretty. I just wish the edges were cleaner. I'm thinking about doing a single crochet edge.

It is so beautiful here right now. However, they are calling for it to drop down to the 50's on Wednesday and continue on until Easter. Here's a pretty picture, before all the pretty dogwoods freeze.

I felted the wave bag tonight. It's currently drying out in the bathroom sink. I'll lay it out to dry tomorrow morning and if my trainer doesn't kill me, I'll post a picture in the evening.