Just To Show I Care

The way I've been neglecting the blogging lately (much like the housework), you might start to think I no longer care. That would certainly be the case with the housework, but it's just not so with the blogging. I've wanted to blog. I really have, but since I tend to work by obsessive motivation (it's a family trait, I think), and all motivation has centered around web publishing lately, I don't have a lot of crafty stuff to show off.

This lack of things to say here on my craft blog makes it a bit hard to formulate a post. That's why I've decided to show off two projects I've had in the works for a little while but haven't really blogged about yet. I might have had some silly notions about making patterns to submit somewhere, but let's get real. I'll be lucky if the garments ever get fully knitted at this rate, so I may as well show them off here instead of keeping them a secret.

First off, we have a mango-colored yarn from Anny Blatt. I actually think the yarn is called mango, too, but I can't remember right now (and I'm not obsessively motivated to actually get up and check for you). It's a nice cotton/modal blend that is great to work with. I have a feeling I'm going to like the finished garment, too (if the fit is right when I'm done). When all is said and done, it'll be a lacy cardigan tank for the summer. The top (boob) section won't be lacy, though, so I can wear it without a shirt under it if I want, I think. You can't really see the definition of the lace pattern here, but it's really pretty. It makes a wavy front edge on both sides, so the button section in the front will be wavy. I'm hoping I like that effect when it's finished. Only time will tell, though, because it'll need some serious blocking to get it to behave.

This next one is something that I have no excuse not to have already finished. It's just a simple baby t-shirt for Lambchop #3, and if I don't hurry, it'll become a gift for a friend who's due around September. All that's left is to finish knitting a few rows on that first sleeve and to pick up the stitches and knit the second one. How hard would that be? Unfortunately, my obsessive motivation seems to be directing me toward computer projects these days, so we'll see when I get around to this.

I really have spent all my time on the computer these days. Having a decent looking blog (for me) and webpage (for my husband) is apparently more important to me than having a decent looking house. Actually, that's not it. I just know that web publishing success is actually within my reach, while I'll never have a clean house. So, why try? Right? What's sad, though, is that I've even been shirking other little duties and things I am good at like baking. We have actually had to buy bread this week. I would like to pretend I made some though, and show off this loaf.

I wanted to show you what a loaf of that oh-so-easy-to-make no-knead bread looks like when you use half whole wheat flour and half white flour. You'll have to adjust the water a bit, I'm sure, but once you know what the texture should be like after baking the original recipe, you'll be able to figure out how much water you need to modify the flour content. I also just about doubled the loaf size. I've got a pot that makes a nice size loaf, and we devour that itty bitty loaf in the original recipe way too fast. This is good stuff. I can't recommend that recipe enough (do a little google search - I don't have the time right now - for "no-knead bread recipe" and you should find it).

And, lastly, before I head off to clean the kitchen (my husband invited a friend over for lunch - smarty pants thinks I won't realize he's doing it to force me away from the computer long enough to make the kitchen presentable and cook a decent meal for once), I've got a picture of the baby for her grandparents and aunts and uncles.

She's recently started eating more solids, and I mean real solids. Much like her daddy, she can consume large quantities of bread now, though, I'm happy to say he doesn't suck on chunks of it till it's soft enough to swallow like she does. She also really likes bananas, though that gets pretty messy too. Somewhere, I have a great picture of her older sister around 9-10 months old eating a banana in much the same way as she is doing here. I couldn't resist taking this one for comparison some day.

So, there you have it, an actual real blog post - with pictures and all. Now, I've got to get on that nasty housework. I promised myself I'd stop working/playing on the computer at ten, and it's ten minutes past right now. Better get to work. The baby's sleeping, and I'm thinking maybe I could actually do the work at hyperspeed and still have time to play with my new blog site a bit. Think I can do it?