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.

I actually got some knitting done this weekend. I finished the last washcloth for my MIL. I was actually on time! I even stamped her (a simple) card. The package went out today. Much better than the Christmas presents that weren't mailed until mid-January. I had some tension problems in the last washcloth. I hope after a few uses, washes, and dries, they will be undetectable.

I also got quite a bit done on Wicked. I started the pocket tonight. I only got 19 rounds done before I had to fully immerse myself in Heroes.

We are driving to Nashville this weekend to see 300 in IMAX. I'll surely get a lot of knitting done then. Plus, I think there is Sit'n'Stitch on Friday night. I think it's going to be a wild and crazy knitting weekend.

Fourth washcloth complete, woohoo!
My hourglass is dry. I'm going to wear it tomorrow night out to dinner. I hope I don't spill anything on it.

I finished the third washcloth for my MIL last night. You can't tell form the picture, but it has the same wave pattern as the one I made for myself a month ago. My husband swears that she's going to love all the variegated color ones, but I never like them as much because they don't really show off the patterns that well.
Has anyone else been finding little plastic stitch markers all over their house? I think they're turning into my new hair elastics. You always find them all over the house, but you can never find one when you need one.

I haven't posted or knitted much this week. Mostly because of Valentine's Day combined with an over all fatigue. However, I am making up for this over the weekend. I started my MIL's second birthday washcloth on Thursday and finished it this morning. It's the Bubble Wrap design.
This afternoon I started a cowl for my husband. I decided on the cabled gaiter in One Skein. He chose Mission Falls 1824 wool in color #17 (Heath). I should finish it tonight. Hopefully I'll have action shots tomorrow.

I went to sit'n'stitch tonight and finished a wash/dishcloth for my mil. I'm making about 5 washcloths for her birthday next month. One down, four to go.You can't really tell that it is a diamond pattern. I tried to start Wicked, but I had terribly bad luck. First I twisted the stitches, then on the first round I somehow got off the pattern by one stitch. With the cross-overs, it's hard to backtrack the stitches. I frogged it twice. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

Here is a picture of the finished Paintbox hat. I'm not lovin' it (either is my husband). I'll probably rip out the weird dread things and close up the top of the hat. I think it's a lot more wearable that way.

Yesterday was out 2 year wedding anniversary. I got a Sex and the City Carrie necklace (with my name of course) in white gold. While watching SATC On Demand a couple of months ago, I mentioned that in college I really wanted one. My then boyfriend, told me he was going to get me one and never did. Now I have one of my very own! I heart him!!!

I got him tickets to go see Cirque Du Soleil (or Circus Ole, as he calls it) in St. Louis. Now we can't wait until May 5th.

I can't believe it's finally, here...The day I get the hourglass sweater off my needles. Now, it' snot 100% finished; I still need to do the armpits and fold and sew in the ends (and block, of course). But, it's off my needles!!! Here is a very unflattering picture:

(notice the string hanging down the side.)

Tomorrow I will start Wicked. It calls for a long-tail cast-on, which I had never done. So, I decided to knit a washcloth today and go to Knitting Help to learn the cast-on method. Here is a picture of my washcloth so far:

Here is a picture of my long-tail cast-on. I'm pretty proud of it.

I made my favorite crock-pot recipe, Turkey Chili, for dinner tonight. I decided I wanted to share it with everyone. It is award winning (first place out of five entries), you know.

Kristan's Turkey Chili

2 cans kidney beans 2 cloves garlic

2 cans diced tomatoes 2-3 T chili powder

1.5 lbs ground turkey 1 t pepper

1 small onion 1 t cumin

2 T olive oil salt to taste

cook turkey in a large saucepan with olive oil. Dice onion and mince garlic. Add all ingredients to crock pot.

low 8-10 hrs

high 3-4 hrs

I find that is especially good if I prepare it the night before, refrigerate it, and then plug it in the morning.