Did you know?  Once you get through Wednesday, it's practically the weekend.  Today I have lots to share!  Last Friday I had a successful encounter with a sewing machine, the first in a looong time.  I can't share the fruits of my labor just yet, but when the time is right, there will be pictures.  Colorful pictures!  I forgot how much I like the power of the pedal.  Don't worry mum, I won't buy a sewing machine--no time for that!!

I am hopelessly behind in cleaning my apartment, doing the dishes, preparing for classes, and just about anything else I should be doing.  Oh yeah, hanging out wet laundry.  The priority during my Wednesday lunchtime at home wasn't doing any of the above, but rather taking daylight photos of my knitting, of course!  At least I fit in a quickie vacuuming and got a friend to make me dinner tonight so the dishes haven't multiplied.  Check out my progress on my Lucky Clover wrap.  I panicked about the size a bit, but I decided to go for the small, cast on again and get moving.  Here's what I have so far:

I know, it's not so big, but I'm working!  This is probably the most accurate color shot.  Next time I won't put blue on blue.  There have been a few tense decision-making moments, but I'm not sure I had the best judgment.

Decision #1: When I got to the second row of lace, I had some trouble working the lace pattern into the size I was working on.  I couldn't decide if I should have knitted one more clover or just knitted straight to the edge.  I decided that maybe I was reading the pattern wrong and it would be weird if I knitted the clovers too close to the edge.  As it turns out, that plain band does not need to be QUITE so big, but since this is a wrap, and the edge of the inside piece, I am not the least bit worried. 

Decision #2: To compensate for my bad judgment on the edge side, when I increased in the waist shaping, I decided to add in an extra clover too close to the seam.  I thought it would be perfect... but it turns out I could have safely waited until the next repeat.  Oh well, not the end of the world, right?  I'm not turning back--if you look back at the big piece, these minute details are hardly visible.  Just thought I'd point them out anyways. 

Finally, check out these Choco Balls that snuck their way into my lunchtime photo shoot!  OK, this is just a picture of the box, but they were SOOO tasty.  The candy aisle in Japan is really annoying because it is made specifically for kids and you really have to fight 'em to get to the front.  As if I don't look ridiculous enough as a huge foreigner in the grocery store with a backpack (and that time soaking wet because I wasn't prepared for the torrential rain), I also frequent the kids' aisle. There is a lot of cool stuff down there!  And it's all written in simple Japanese that I can read and understand!  These caramel ones actually taste like cake batter.  It's amazing.  I'm definitely going to be wading through the toddlers again sometime soon.