Cupcakes

Lately I've seen a lot of cupcakes around town. Just last week I saw, on two consecutive days, cupcake trucks. Unfortunately I wasn't able to buy cupcakes either time. One truck wasn't open when I saw it. The other was but I was in the middle of my run. That means I didn't have any money with me.

So I had to wait till this past weekend to try a cupcake from a truck. I was in San Antonio for a weekend getaway and look what I found at the Pearl Brewery.
This is the yummy cupcake I bought.

In January we went to a local restaurant/wine retailer for dinner. In the midst of our visit, a cupcake smackdown was going on. I couldn't resist. I had to buy one. It was pretty good too!

I've really got to make a batch of cupcakes at home!

Noro Laceweight

Noro makes a laceweight yarn. Who knew? I didn't. Last week I was in the yarn store, buying something for a swap, and trying mightily not to enchance my stash. Then I saw it--Noro Sekku. Since I love to knit with Noro in order to watch the color changes, I couldn't resist. Besides, Heather told me the stuff had come in just about half an hour ago. I would be amongst the first in Houston to own it. But I told her I probably wouldn't be amongst the first to knit with it.

I left the store, did some more errands, went out for pizza...I guess the whole time I was thinking of what to make with the yarn. I don't like lacy things made out of variegated yarn--I think the pattern and colors compete with each other. Then I remembered: the Citron shawl from Knitty. When I got home I cast on. This is my progress as of early Sunday afternoon.
Look at the upcoming colors! The outside of the skein was predominantly blue and turquoise and I could see the brown peeking through. There's a lot of bright colors in there too. I can't wait to see how #8 makes up into the shawl.

Valentine's Day Knitting part 2

Look at the little lace hearts in the border of this, Evelyn Clark's Heart-to-Heart Lace Scarf. They are subtle but pretty, I think. I fell in love with the pattern. Luckily I had the perfect yarn in my stash--a skein of Unique Sheep Verve that was part of a Woolgirl kit from last year. I didn't like the intended project for the yarn, so I used it here. I consider that stash-busting.

This is a Valentine's Day present for myself. It was quite easy to knit, mainly garter stitch with the exception of the lace hearts.

I'm quite happy with it!

Valentine's Day Knitting part 1

I made this scarf as a gift. It's from Knitty (see page 7 here). I used Dream in Color Fatty yarn, which is bulky, and size 13 needles. It felt really odd to be knitting with such fat yarn and needles, after the recent shawls with fingering weight yarn and size 6 or smaller needles. The scarf curled up on itself badly until it was blocked. I love the color and the design, but I think I prefer finer (thinner) yarn.