Running Shoe Shopping

kicks2012.side, a photo by jmfknits on Flickr.

My new (same old model) running shoes! Kinvara 2's :-)

Nothing that I tried on compared to these. They are just too awesome.

What's For Dinner: Chicken Quesadillas

This is the second time I've made this black bean quesadillas recipe by Budget Bytes. It's so good! I like to add diced grilled chicken and use less red onion than indicated. The sweetness of the corn blended with all the other ingredients is the key ingredient for me. Check it out, I took pics this time. My favorite is the last one. Sidenote: I actually didn't mind the whole wheat tortillas! Then again they were toasted ;-)

Mockingjay Socks WIP Pic

Since I'm clearly on a roll with blogging tonight, here's a pic of my current socks on the needles :-) They're the Darjeeling socks by Cat Bordhi from The Knitter's Book of Socks (Clara Parkes, author). They're toe-up with the center cast-on stitches bordered by the toe increases. The stitch pattern is simple yet exquisite and slimming, a vertical line running up the center flanked by spaced purl ridges. Notice that the center vertical strip is a continuation of the centered cast-on stitches. A very pleasing knit so far! The upcoming gusset will be underneath the foot - never have done it that way before. That should be interesting! I named these Mockingjay Socks since I'm in the midst of reading The Hunger Games Trilogy, I just saw the movie, and the yarn (Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Foliage, colorway no longer available) suggests a flaming mockingjay (to me!).

Twisted Interlock Bind Off

In doing a test knit of my Mockingjay illusion knitting chart, I experimented with my bind off to match my cast on. My cast on was done in two colors using the Old Norwegian (aka German Twisted) Cast On with purple as the base and green as the working yarn. It's basically Long Tail Cast On with an extra twist of the thumbloop. On the last row before binding off my knitting, I knit across in green (In hindsight, yes, I could have also worked back an extra row on the wrong side in purl. But, this was a test knit, so I wasn't really going for perfection.). Then, following Jeny Staiman's directions for doing her Interlock Bind Off (Knitty link; Ravelry link) for stockinette stitch, I added just one simple element: I twisted each loop to the right (a half turn) before inserting the yarn needle through its front. Here are pictures of each end of my knitting. Hopefully that bottom picture is clear enough to compare.

Hunger Games Mockingjay Illusion Chart Project

Inspired by recently reading the books (almost done with book 3), seeing the movie, and by a new multi-colored Dishie yarn from Knit Picks, I took to learning all about illusion knitting from the Woolly Thoughts illusion knitting site. Using Inkscape, which is free and open source, I followed Woolly Knits' directions on how to create an illusion chart using the mockingjay symbol. After posting it on Ravelry yesterday, my friend Karen and I pulled out scrap cotton yarn and did a quick test knit. Here are my pics (below). Note: there are two Ravelry projects with separate notes for each; one project is the test knit (purple and green) and the other is for when my Knit Picks yarn order in flaming orange and black arrives :-) I plan on fine-tuning/editing/shrinking this chart. Thank you Karen for graciously and voluntarily testing this chart! You're such a dear knitting comrade and friend :-) Pic 1 is supposed to match the original symbol. Pic 2 is rotated. Pic 3 is a a straight-on shot that amazingly shows a hint of the mockingjay if you look closely. Pic 4 is of the wrong side of the knitting which shows a negative of the front. What a fun project! Future plans for this chart: a Mockingjay birthday gift for my SIL who suggested the Hunger Games trilogy when she and my little brother got me a Kindle gift card last summer...