Bad Blogger

Boy am I a bad blogger. I wanted to blog these scones about 2 weeks ago, but I'm not entirely happy about the recipe I created, so I didn't.

Then last week, I meant to blog about the lovely hike I took. I blew off a couple of "shoulds" (I should practice/study/clean the apartment) to take a long hike in the early spring woods. It was trying so hard to be spring. The whole walk was a juxtaposition of old, faded brown and bright, bright spring green. The trees are finally starting to leaf out now, which you can't see in this pic yet. Unfortunately, this means that my allergies are acting up. This picture was taken right before I took a wrong turn and ended up going two miles out of my way....
Oh, and let's not forget about my mom's $1.50 cardigan. I finished knitting the pieces just this week, and they're blocking on my floor. This color isn't entirely accurate. It's not so bright. It's a very nice deep purple.
I'm going to start the sewing up tonight, and then I need to address the issue of buttons.... My mom really loves buttons, so something a little unusual would be ok, but I'm not sure what direction to go in. Suggestions for a sluggish blogger?

Recital

Once a year I put on a pretty dress and stand in front of a bunch of friends and family and colleagues on an incredibly hot stage and show them what I've been doing with all that time I've spent in the practice room. Yesterday was that day.

As always, there were things that went really well and things that didn't go well at all. In my defense, I've been pretty distracted lately, which is contributing to my lack of posting. About two weeks ago, I found out that I have been accepted to study at Aspen, one of the most prestigious summer festivals in the US. Nine weeks in Colorado this summer! Needless to say, I've been over the moon about it. It has, however, cast a bit of an extra element of challenge over my recital. Suddenly there was all this extra pressure to be amazing, to do everything perfectly, to prove that I really deserved to go to Aspen. Every little mistake was proof that I didn't deserve it. It was really messing with my head. Slowly, slowly, I was getting past it, trying not to think about how excited I was and just focus on getting the recital done. And it was working, sort of. But I really think that the things that didn't go well last night were a function of my messed up head, and not a function of me not knowing my music or being able to play it well.

So now I can get excited! And I just bought a new mouthpiece last week, which I haven't been able to play until the recital was over. I can't wait to move ahead, to learn and grow and continue to put on recitals! Onward!

Project Spectrum: Earth

Ok, the real truth is that I finished these last week, while still in the Fire element of Project Spectrum. But I'm blogging them now, so I'm counting them towards my Earth quota. And as Lolly said, there are no deadlines for this, which makes it just the no-pressure kind of thing I need right now. Pattern: Evangeline Mitts by Michelle Szeghalmi
Yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in Peat Mix (leftovers from Gretel)
Needles: US 7
Mods: Added an extra pattern repeat before the thumb to lengthen them. Total 4 repeats. Also, didn't do the thumb as directed. Instead, I knit the four stitches to be held for the thumb on a bit of waste yarn, slid those stitches back to the left needle and knit them again with the main yarn, continuing on as usual. Then, just unstitched the waste yarn and picked up the proper number of stitches to complete the thumb.

I am completely in love with these mitts. My love of Ultra Alpaca is well documented, but equal to that love is my love of this cable pattern. Unfortunately, lighting being what it is, and my photography skills being what they are, I was not able to get a really good shot of the cable pattern or the color. The color is very much an evergreen kind of heather. Not spring-y per se, but green and conviently located in my stash. I think I even have enough yarn left to make another pair to gift. How nice! You may wish to look at the pattern or this version for a better look at the cabling.

Love, love, love!

Can you tell from this pic that my poor hands are tired and in need of some Ultra Alpaca love? I have a half recital coming up next Friday, and things are certainly cracking along this semester. Hang in there, hands. You can do it!