Delicious

I work on Easter. I have the past couple of years, in fact. Holiday pay is wonderful, someone always leaves cupcakes in the break room (This year they were decorated beautifully! Should have taken a picture on my cell phone.), and I don't have to see my cousins that drive me batshit insane. The customers I deal with on days like Easter are usually in a good mood. I joked that they were all either Asian or atheists. They were pleasant, whatever they actually were. They were also few and far between; I know my company was not profiting with the full staff it was paying. I got a lot of administrative junk done.

However, my grandma got crafty this year and decided to have Easter on Saturday night. I got my family dinner, and holiday pay, too. I suppose this is a good thing. My youngest, most irritating cousin declared that I was a mean-hearted person when I suggested she eat herself and "do us all a favor." She's twelve, so she actually understands the mean things I say to her now. Oh well, I only see her three times a year and that is plenty.

This morning, while putzing around and pretending I don't have to go to work later, I decided that I needed to try out my new French press. Yes, I am a freak who buys everything from amazon.com. This also includes many of my video games; Guitar Hero 2 for the Xbox 360 is on its way. (Would it be wrong to knit a guitar strap for my little guitar controller?)

No, really, the reason I love Amazon is for things like the customer reviews, used copies of books, and my sweet amazon credit card that sometimes sends me gift cards.

I had been continually reading that French press coffee is greater than drip coffee. I'm sort of a skeptic. But I had to try one, as it would complete my coffee paraphernalia collection.



This is momentous, isn't it? I mean, this could change the way I home-brew coffee forever!

There was lots of water heating up in a tea kettle behind me. I was listening to it, trying to figure out when that perfect moment was to take it off and pour it into the press with coarsely-ground coffee in it. You see, the water isn't supposed to be boiling, but damn close.



Then it has to sit there for four minutes. This is agony. I'm not sure if this coffee is going to turn out well or not.



Oh, what was I ever worried about? The stuff was delicious. The only improvement I can imagine is hotter water! Get that stuff closer to boiling...

I'm not sure yet if I'm a convert. At least I've given it a shot.

In knitting news, I'm on the sleeves of Eiffel and still am very unsure about the hemp yarn. This yarn is sort of a shot in the dark, really; I have no idea if this hemp is going to feel as lovely as it LOOKS on the original version on Knitty.

Mac Cozy

My Macbook needed a home. Less than half a yard of black fleece and some white felt later, the mac cozy was born.



It fits snugly like one of those pricey neoprene sleeves, but was a lot cheaper to make.

I thought it needed to match and have its own little apple, if you couldn't tell. This solves the problem of throwing my laptop into one of my tote/messenger bags and not worrying about having my stuff scratching up my computer.

Hemp... and a winner.

I'm in the middle of Eiffel and Revolution. In both sweaters, I am plodding along in repetitive, somewhat boring stretches. Nothing exciting in either.

Although, this allhemp 6 is such a weird yarn. I'm using black, and we got off on the wrong foot; it made an awful tangle when I tried to wind it as it wasn't wound up into its hank correctly. And working with it is so weird... it's stiff, and reminds me of that craft hemp that was popular in friendship bracelets in sixth grade.

So I really, REALLY hope this softens up nicely upon washing. I've heard it does.

I must, MUST finish one eiffel or revolution before starting Mariah! The world at large (six people) chose Mariah over the other two sweaters I've been admiring. So, congratulations to Mariah for winning.

Perennial Knitters' ADD

There are so many choices. So many.

I want to make Knitty's Mariah.



I know it's old and everyone's made it, but the funny thing is, I was going to make it two years ago. I even bought the pink yarn necessary to do it. But then Revolution came along and I changed my mind on what to do with the pink yarn. I've been working slooooooowly on Revolution ever since it came out. Two years and the back is still only fourteen inches long. I fear I'll never finish it; the split stitch goes so slow. But I still love it as much as the day the pattern came out! Pulling it out of the depths has reminded me of Mariah, and how I was going to make it...

I also downloaded the lace inset cardigan thinking I'd like to modify it a bit...



I was somewhat disappointed that an $8 pattern only had one size which might be a smidgen too big for me. Lame. However there are other modifications I wanted to try, namely making the lace panels symmetrical.

And this one I actually have the yarn for. It looks so cozy and comfortable...



So, tell me:

Which sweater should I make next?
	Mariah
	Lace Inset Cardigan
	Barcelona Bolero
pollcode.com free polls

I leave it to you. You will also be indirectly deciding if I should work from the stash (Barcelona Bolero) or purchase more yarn (the other two). Choose well!

Satisfaction... kind of.

I've always liked a quick knit. They're so satisfying in between larger projects, you know?

So when friends get a pair of kittens, they NEED handmade cat toys, right?



It's a shame I don't have pictures of the kittens that this was gifted to. They're six weeks old and not even named yet! So cute. Camera was dead.

Anyway, I made a little mousie from this pattern. He was leftovers from my Tubey, actually. I've used this pattern a number of times, and it's always turned out quite cute.

Then I decided I wanted to make another toy, but something more interesting than a gray mouse. I found a lot of patterns that seemed great. Like the swirl ball? Too bad it turns out as big as a grapefruit and I somehow missed this detail. What cat wants a toy bigger than it?

Several other failures left me pouting and with a new appreciation of this mouse pattern: it's well-written, cat-sized, cute, and can be made with straight needles and stuffed with like five cotton balls.