[misc] Vacation

I'll probably not be posting for the next couple weeks- going into vacation mode. No showering, only crafting and baking. Pajama life. I'll def have a lot of new stuff to show off when I return. Merry Happy and see you next year!

[knitting] Santa Hat

Made a quick little Santa hat for Baby Yoda:

The red yarn is Lamb's Pride Worsted. I cast on 56 stitches with US 8 needles and knit an inch and a half. Then decreased a stitch or three every other round, in random places, to get a cone shaped hat. I picked up the brim with Bernat Pipsqueak yarn in white and knit an inch. And made a little pompom for the top.

I was able to do it quickly, in a couple hours- just in time to plop it on his head before we watched the new Mandalorian episode.

My crafting life has been revolving around Baby Yoda for a while now. I made him a little cup to hold popcorn for the last episode:

He was in Murderface's bed, which made Murderface take my seat.

I'm not having that, of course, so I had to move everyone around:

Pauvre bebe Yoda :(

I need to find some other projects to work on over the break. Maybe another sweater for me...

[cooking] Yule Log Cake

We went to a holiday party this past weekend and I baked a bundt cake to bring:

It's the Nordic Ware Yule Log pan. I used this recipe, increasing all the ingredients by 50%. I've made this recipe in this pan before and the batter didn't fill in the pan completely. This was the perfect amount for this pan. 

No frosting or glaze- I just made some vanilla bean whipped cream to serve with it.

I should embroider the yule log on a bundt bag during the Christmas break.

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Had a car appointment this morning; worked on the advent socks more.

This limited color palette is presenting an extra challenge to working on these socks.

The only other thing on my to-knit list is a little Santa hat for Baby Yoda.

[knitting] Advent socks

Caught up a bit on my advent socks over the weekend:

I'm definitely trying to only use sock yarn leftovers, so my color combos might be a little weird. There are going to be a million ends to sew in but it's been a fun knit- each band doesn't take too long and then you're on to a different pattern.

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Last night's supper was Vermont Curry:

And today's lunch. And tonight's supper. 

[cooking] Babkas

I made a couple babka's this weekend.

Chocolate, before baking:

After baking:

Ube, before baking:

After baking:

Ube is a purple sweet potato used in a lot of Filipino desserts. I picked up a couple potatoes at Hmart and baked one. I skinned, mashed and mixed it with coconut milk. Then I smeared it over the dough, rolled, cut, shaped the loaf. The purple paste cracked apart a bit while the bread proofed, which makes the swirls look a little like tentacles- and I don't hate it. I kind of want to do this again with matcha- make green bread and darker green paste? Then it'll look like a green tentacle? Ooooooo.

The bread is very good. It toasts well and the ube is a pretty touch.

The chocolate one was cooled and then wrapped up for the freezer. I'll reheat it after Christmas, when I'm on vacation.

By the way- I love collecting shower caps from hotel rooms, so I can use them for bread proofing:

[misc] Christmas tree

It took all night but I decorated the tree last night (band practice was at the house, so it was nice to listen to live music while I was working). The lights and star:

With all the ornaments:

Some of my favorite ornaments:

You can see my phone's Lil Bub PopSock reflected in the body of the guitar!

[misc] Guitar case = cat trap

After a couple days of high temps that melted practically all the snow, things are frigid again. This includes the wood floors in the house. Penny snuggles into the faux fur lining of an open guitar case:

Then I caught Murderface in it last night.

I just have to lure Santana into it and then the trifecta will be complete.

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We did get a tree last night- an 8ft tall frasier fir. It's up in the stand and glorious but...listing a little. I'm going to see how it looks after work today, make some vertical adjustments and then decorate tonight.

[knitting] Starfall Sweater

My finished Starfall Sweater:

I love it. The pattern is well-written and features waist shaping and short rows for a better fit. 

The yarn is Knit Picks Main Line, which has been in my stash for... a decade? It's been discontinued for a long time but (thanks to Ravelry), I was able to to score an extra ball of cocoa when I ran out during the yoke. I even had enough to do a ribbed, fold-over neck.

There is a marker there to indicate the back of the sweater. I need to sew a little dot or tag or something.

Don't look too closely; the sweater is a little pill-y already. It ended up a little too big from blocking and still damp, so I put it in the dryer. I thought, "Hey, I'll add my dryer balls (spikey rubber balls), all six of them, and it will fluff the sweater nicely while it's drying. What could possibly go wrong?" Well- they agitated the sweater and it came out looking like I'd worn it half a dozen times already. I had to take a sweater stone to a never-worn freshly-knit sweater. Uggghh. But it mostly looks like new again. And the dryer did make it a better size.

Anyway, I'm ready to start living in this sweater. While I decide what sweater to knit next.

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I'm down to ONE knitting work-in-progress: my advent socks. (Which I'm so behind on, it's stressing me out and just what I need- more stress during this time of year.) But I need to really freaking focus on wrapping up a quilt this week so I can drop it off this Saturday. Have to have to have to.

I think we're going to get a tree after work today!

[crochet] Baby Yoda

I was able to snag a Baby Yoda amigurumi pattern before it was taken offline. I worked on the pieces over the weekend and assembled them last night. The finished plushie:

All the pieces:

I basically started the pieces early in the morning on Saturday and worked on them until bedtime. Sunday I finished the body parts and most of the coat. Monday I finished the coat and sewed everything together (they sewing/finishing took a few hours). I think it was about 25 hours of work.

Some things took a few tries to attach (eyelids, ears). I have a project page on Ravelry with more details and tips.

There's just a few details left to do- hem his coat a bit, do a little sculpting around the crown of his head. But he's looking pretty good...

And he'll be ready to enjoy the series finale on Friday.

[knitting] Cotton Mosaic Dishcloth

I finished a dishtowel over the weekend:

The yarn is Lion Brand Re-up, leftover from these towels. I started with yellow and switched to pink when I ran out. 

The pattern is "216ss-22 B Mosaic Eyelet Dishcloth" and it's free on Ravelry. It's a Japanese pattern, but the stitches can be read from a chart. I misread the chart, though- the yellow and pink rows should be stockinette instead of garter (I should have purled coming back on the wrong side). Oh well, next time.

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I spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday working on my Baby Yoda amigurumi. It took most of both days to crochet the body pieces and robe. I just have to assemble it all tonight. It's going to be so cute!

[misc] Murderface Friday

In bed with Murderface last night...

TGIFFFF. I have so much I want to do this weekend- wrap up a quilt top, block my sweater, catch up on the Advent socks, finish knitting a cotton dishtowel, cut some Star Wars snowflakes, crochet a Star Wars plushie...

[misc] Christmas Lights

Drove up to a nearby memorial to check out the Christmas lights last night:

So nice. I think we'll get our tree this weekend or next.

[crochet] Doily #81

Small doily crocheted with leftover Patons Grace cotton yarn:

The pattern is Doily #81 from 99 Little Doilies by Patricia Kristoffersen. I love these little doilies. It seems like most are only a dozen rounds (or less) and they use hardly any yarn. I use heavier yarn, fingering or sport weight, to size up the doilies a bit. If you used crochet thread, these would be very small.

[knitting] Cthulhu Mittens

Finished a pair of mittens to match the Cthulhu Hat I knit a few weeks ago.

The chart is free on Ravelry and called Cthulhu Mittens. I simplified the pattern to knit it up a bit faster. My cuff is just k2p2 rib and the palm is basic alternating stranded knitting apart from the thumb.

I used the same yarn as the hat (Cascade Longwood Sport) and knit with US 4 needles. These are very generous man-sized mittens.

I will probably duplicate stitch some red over the eyes eventually.

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The Starfall sweater is done. Except for blocking. I received a ball of discontinued Main Line yarn in Cocoa and I finished the sweater. I really love it.

I have a couple large, hibernating projects: the Sophie's World afghan (which is so large and cumbersome, it's kind of an ordeal to work on) and the Lost in Time crocheted shawl (this could probably be finished in a weekend). I'm not really feeling motivated to finish them, though. 

Instead, I started a dishtowel last night with some leftover Lion Brand Re-up cotton. And I also cast on for some Advent Socks today using misc leftover sock yarn. I'm not explicitly making any Christmas gifts right now and I don't know if I should be. Should I be? 

I'm trying to wrap up a quilting project. I went to a local fabric shop over the weekend and bought fabric for sashing around blocks. Once this quilt is done, I will have no quilting projects in the works. So I can finally start a Star Wars quilt for Dollar.