You know what this is?

This is a promo image. Yes, the now-infamous First Impressions Dress, which was all finished back in December except for packaging and promo images, might actually go live within our lifetimes!

I'm tempted to put all three of them into one download package and make people just delete what they don't want, but that would do mean things to download times. I might put the two Victorias together, however. Whichever way I go, I better get things packaged fast before I drop it again.

Also, a note: I am always annoyingly slow at CG, but having the cold from hell doesn't help matters. :P

I'm Dubious

I did go ahead and get the Noro Silk Garden for my arm warmers, because there really wasn't an alternative. The next closest option was 30% wool. Interestingly my LYS does have a self-patterning non-wool yarn in worsted weight, but that would have been too busy for my project.

BTW, my project:

Honestly, IMHO, this pattern is not all it could be. First, the reverse stockinette background is too wide. If I were designing it, I'd leave one purl stitch on each side only, not two. That's why I don't like ones done in solid colors. The Noro gradient helps add some interest; without it, there's just a huge expanse of ass-ugly reverse stockinette.

The designer also does not consistently twist her traveling stitches. I've changed that as I knit.

What makes me very dubious, though, is that this has the shortest thumb gusset in the world. Only 7 rows. Having made a mitten or two in my time, that seems waaaay too short. Normally I would work a plain row between each increase row to get more length. I'm sure I'm reading the pattern correctly, though, because I checked. Then I checked again. Then I checked a third time. Then I squinted at the sample photo and counted rows. Then I flipped to the other sample photo and counted rows again. Then I went to Ravelry and counted rows on some of those photos. Then just for good measure I double-checked the errata, and then clicked some more Ravelry photos. Because it really doesn't seem right.

I am really quite convinced that the pattern intentionally has the shortest thumb gusset in the world. I'm not convinced that's going to be comfortable, however. Actually, I'm wishing I'd put in a lifeline before starting the gusset, and I may frog back anyway and add the increase rounds. These are going to be so long on my fingers that I've got room to do it, although unfortunately it'll make the cuff even longer. Gosh, I hope this yarn'll frog. It's got an awful lot of mohair in it.

Mmm... Fresh baked bread

I haven't done a "creative stuff" post in a while, because the last couple of weeks I've been knitting dishcloths. Ooh, exciting. :P They're not even fancy dishcloths; they're just mitered squares with dishcloth cotton.

So instead I will talk about fresh baked bread. Mmmm... Whenever I make bread at home, I always wonder how they can call the stuff in the store "bread". It's just so different from real bread.

Now, although I like to cook, I'm also quite lazy, so I've been using this No Knead Bread recipe from Hillbilly Housewife. Don't worry about the "2 or 3 hours" in the title; your actual kitchen time will be maybe 15 minutes, and that's if you take your time mixing the flour in. Mostly it's just waiting for the yeast to do its thing, and you can go do other stuff while you wait. (In fact, I suggest it. Yeast isn't that interesting to watch.)

A couple of notes if you try the recipe:

1. It's not a very firm dough. Actually, it's kind of slimy. If you get something that with the consistency of silly putty, but sticky, that's fine. You haven't done anything wrong, and it'll still come out good. (If you get something more like normal bread dough, that's fine too. It's a forgiving recipe.)
2. Be sure to rinse the dough off everything before it hardens, or it's a bitch to get off. (BTW, the sink strainer counts as part of everything.)
3. Expect the towel you cover the rising bread with to get a little goopy. Sticky silly putty rising toward it.
4. If you put sesame seed on top, it's really good, but unlike store-bought bread, the sesame seeds actually impart a taste. Be prepared for that.

And of course as an extra perk, when your make bread, your whole house has that wonderful fresh bread smell. (Well, my little open-floorplan house does, anyway.)