Småting

There's lots going on here on the home front, and even some finished objects to report. On Thursday I had to bake cookies for E's school "Lantern Festival"; the recipe they distributed didn't appeal, so I searched the internet and came up with this Martha Stewart recipe for basic sugar cookies. They were so good that I had to make a batch for us here at home today too:

The only change I made in the recipe was  to add a little bit of fresh lemon juice, since the school recipe had called for that. They turned out delicious even without any icing or decoration. These will be gone very soon, I fear.

Since abandoning my big sweater projects, I've been doing much better with knitting. I finished up the cashmere "Lava Flow" cowl, and have been wearing it almost constantly since:

It has been an especially welcome addition since I seem to have developed my annual winter neck crick already. I used just under three skeins of Classic Elite Marley (100% cashmere), and modified the pattern (a free Ravelry download called Lava Flow Cowl) by adding a third cable repeat, and by making it long enough to double the cowl around my neck. This makes it big and bulky, like the women in Oslo seem to always wear them. The other day walking from the subway to the ferry I tried to tally how many women wore cowls or scarves of some kind compared with women who didn't. I lost track, but it was something like seven with for every one without!

Each year I attempt to knit a new winter hat that will work, and each year I fail. Here's this winter's first attempt, the "Rikke" hat (free pattern here):

I suspect that this one won't end up being exactly "it" either, but for now I think it will work. I used just under two balls of Rauma 3-tråd strikkegarn, and followed the pattern exactly.

Otherwise, I've dug out a disastrous project from this summer, and have decided to finish up the crocheted border so that I can donate the thing to E's school's Christmas bazaar. I know I'll never wear it, but it sort of has that Waldorf school aesthetic, so maybe someone will buy it in support of the school?

See, cute in a way, but totally not my thing. I can't stand pink, or fuzzy yarn, or cardigans, or things that are tight (which this definitely would be on me), but I was just so taken in the picture from Tine Solheim's book Maskeball, and the yarn I had been given was a perfect match for it, and so I just went for it...

Just a few more inches of crocheting the ruffled edge, and it will be done well in time for the Christmas market next weekend. And now, after finally getting some wearable (or donate-able) finished objects under my belt, I think I'll be able to pick up my two big knitting projects (the Still Light Tunic and the Ung Høst pullover) and maybe even get them finished by the end of the term...