I mentioned having finished these lovely fingerless gloves AGES ago, but made the grave mistake of giving them to their intended recipient before taking an FO shot. So several months and many wears later, I present to you the projects commonly referred to as the "bum gloves."

Fingerless gloves were requested in January, so I took the leftovers from the birthday pillow and this stripy Project Spectrum-friendly project was born. I didn't use a pattern but just took the knowledge I gained from my fair isle glove experiments and put them together. They turned out surprisingly well! I'm glad that I didn't take the lazy route but actually knit each individual finger. I didn't cut the yarn after each stripe, but just carried it up the side of the glove, which made it infinitely more enjoyable to knit stripes. I see more stripey projects in my future, for sure!

This is the last time I give a knit gift without taking a picture first. But it works out well that at least it is something to get me through my boring blog slump these days. Happy Spring everyone!

Posted by Molly at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Making..
Carole's Polish Tea Cakes: Even though I am a disaster in the kitchen and I only used a fork to mix the batter, these turned out really well. It was my first time making them, and definitely not my last!
Log cabin squares: It's starting to look like I might run out of red yarn for the center squares which, if I do, will drive me absolutely batty.
Self-introduction lesson plans at work: It's that time of year again!


Eating..
An apple with crackers and cheese for lunch EVERY DAY. It's delicious and healthy enough to justify paying nearly 2 dollars an apple.
This amazing chestnut and lentil soup that I made in mass quantities and froze for easy reheating.
Macadamia nuts
Takenoko Gohan (rice with bamboo shoots and other spring vegetables) because it's that time of year again!

Reading and Watching..
Unclutterer: Next time there's an earthquake I don't want to worry about being buried in my crap. I'm aiming for this.
Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse Chinoise: This is the best book ever. It is originally written in French but the English version is really popular and easy to find too.
French Elle magazine: I just realized I can check this out of my local library and it is in much lesser demand than trashy magazines in English.
Japanese manga called "JaPAN" (pan meaning bread in Japanese) about a boy who is trying to bake a bread that will be unique to Japan.
Amazing Race All Stars: I LOVE this show. I'm desperately behind so don't tell me what happens.

Listening to..
Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me: My #1 choice for keeping up with news at home.
The new Fountains of Wayne: I love it.
Carla Bruni: She finally put out another album! Not quite what I was hoping for, but it's still good.


Wanting..
A new iPod so I don't have to worry about my little green mini running out of battery when I'm in the car (like it always does).
More sleep. I've been walking at 630 every morning but can never get to bed early enough to have an easy time getting up.
Just about all the new LeSportsac patterns. They even have a new bag called the Molly--I think it's a sign.
Anything with stripes or polka dots.

Putting off...
Posting the rest of my vacation pictures. Must do this so I can get back to blogging as usual!
Studying Japanese. Nothing new here.
Cleaning my apartment. Pretty much par for the course.

And most of all, actually doing work at work. That ends now!

Inspired by Mariko's sidebar.

Posted by Molly at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Here's a quick peek at my new project for the springy Fleece Artist that I was dying to use. The triangular shawl business really wasn't working for me so I decided to use a simpler lace pattern and am trying to make a bigger stole-y scarf--something to cuddle up in on the couch or to wrap thickly around the neck on a cold winter day. Not much to show at the moment but will hopefully have some downtime soon to really engross myself in the lace and start cranking it out.

And the squares, oh, the squares, are still coming along. I'm officially 3/4 of the way to finishing all of them. This monster (although really, it's not even that big) will be done by fall if I'm lucky! I thought of starting to seam the squares together early, but I realized that I will definitely want to lay them all out, fiddle around with the blocks and piece them together only when I've found the perfect order. Wonder where I got that tendency... sound like anyone you know?

Posted by Molly at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Our camping road trip was a success! I'm not so sure that I deserve a wilderness survival badge or anything, but I weathered the elements with only limited wimpering and had a great time. (I brought my mini clapotis* along to keep me warm, of course). My mind is reeling just thinking of all the great things we got to do and see in Shikoku. I'm so glad we went! I'll be sorting through our hundreds of photos and probably posting some good ones soon.

Unfortunately my "heaps" of knitting time turned out to be more like 10 minutes when we were sitting at a roadblock waiting for a mountain road to re-open so we could pass through. Note to self: knitting on windy mountain roads makes me carsick, don't forget! I'm exhausted and I've got a cold, but I have NEVER been happier to be home. I plan to spend a lot of time log-cabining to recover.

*If you're wondering about my mini clapotis, I simply cut back on the number of increases in section two of the pattern to make it a little bit narrower and suit the limited amount of yarn that I had. I did 5 increase rows instead of 7, and knit the straight part until I had my desired length and was running out of yarn. I also used smaller needles to get gauge that I liked with my yarn. Pretty simple!

Posted by Molly at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)