Ravellenics Day 3 Progress

While knitting, I watched the Great Britain Men's Gymnastics team get excited over the possibility of winning a Silver Medal. The Japanese team contested a low score. The Olympic committee voted in favor of Japan, and they got the silver while the Great Britain team got bronze. The dispute happened over a dismount from the pommel horse, and weather or not the Japanese gymnast did a proper handstand before dismounting. I'm not a gymnast, but based on what I saw, there was no handstand.

The big question is, could he decipher the stitch chart to make this????

I am on row 22 of Chart A. I have so much more to go.

Ravellenics Day 2 Progress

I must admit, I got off to a slow start.

I spent time during the opening ceremonies swatching. The next day, I had a party to attend and also was busy in the kitchen helping my mom cook for some friends.

On Sunday, I went to brunch at Dans Le Noir and thought hey, I can just knit after. Wrong! I went to a rooftop party, and ended up staying until it was dark out.

I do however feel amazed that I did this after 5 cocktails (over the course of 4 hours). I casted on as soon as I git home from my summer fun. I completed row 10 of the first chart.

This will be a sweater in 17 days

I am embarking on yet another seemingly impossible knitting journey.
As part of the games with the "Ravellenics" moniker, I decided to join team MINE, which sprang from the Selfish Knitters Group on Ravelry. Ok, now that we have the specifics, let's get to the knitting.

I swatched (gasp) for the Dahlia Cardigan today. The goal was to get 24 stitches over 4 inches. I used size 3,4,and 5 needles to make my swatch. Unblocked, the size 3 needle puts me in line with the gauge I need. I am waiting for the swatch to dry so that I can measure it again. I'm using Manos del Uruguay Serena in the Zinnia color way. This is a mix of cotton and baby alpaca. It feels really soft. I'm just hoping that it doesn't grow too much after the wet blocking.

Hexipuffs....what week is this? It's Coco-Guava time!

The hexipuffs have been put on hold for a minute. I don't want buttercream getting all over them.

I have had this burning desire to properly ice a cake and add some cute decorations to it. So this is my first attempt.

I recently went to the Sugar Flower Cake Shop to learn how to ice a cake. My first try was good, but nothing to really scream about. So, this weekend I came up with the idea of making a Coconut Guava cake. I wanted something tropical that I have never done before.

I found a few basic recipes that had no coconut in the batter whatsoever. They just added coconut to the frosting. That's a no-no in my book. Why say its a coconut cake if there is no coconut in the cake??? So, I happened to find a recipe that uses creamed coconut in the batter and that made me happy.

As far as the guava goes, it can be very tricky because it is extremely sweet. I didn't want an overpowering jelly flavor so I made it into a buttercream instead.

I also created the white buttercream with shortening and corn starch to add to the stability in this humid warm weather. I had to add some clear vanilla extract and coconut extract to flavor it up.

So, after all is said and done, here is my cake. Mixing the guava buttercream, mixing the coconut batter, applying the 1st crumb coat, applying the final icing, adding coconut to the final icing, and decorating.

Enjoy!

  

Hexipuff Madness Monday - Week 10

The total this week is 33. I got a lot done on Saturday when I met with my knitting group that I haven't seen in ages. The host's daughter especially liked my purple squishy. She was too cute!

Here is a photo of all of my Hexipuffs.

Hexipuff Madness Monday - Week 9

I haven't been working much on my squishy-puffs this week.

I knit these while watching SMASH tonight. This brings my total to 29.

Hexipuff Monday Madness - Week 8

I haven't knit much this week. I only managed to make 1 Hexipuff, which brings the grand total to 27.

What I have been doing is volunteering at the 5 boro bike tour, so that I can have a guaranteed entry next year. I also bought my first cycling jersey, and polarized riding sunglasses at the Bike Expo. I'm getting so excited for the summer. Now, if the weather would just cooperate .......... Hmmmmmm.