Rusty Coast's Next Top Model...NOT!

It’s been another one of those whirlwind weeks. I’m in Victoria, chaperoning DH for a surgical tweaking for his shoulder. So far, the tweaking is taking and he’s recuperating very well, thanks to a good dose of rest between rounds of Civilization IV on his PC. His arm is going to be in a hammock for at least a month so I’m playing Florence Nightmaregale for the next while.

I finally got to sit down and knit for a while yesterday while waiting for the DH’s shoulder to get overhauled. I’m near the end of the body of my ‘Broken Brocade’ sweater. I’m not sure what to do for the sleeves. I’m thinking a moderate dolman. The Rococco diva in me wants puffy sleeves trimmed in velvet and lace. I picked up a set of #0 Addi Turbos to do this up and it seems to be going a bit smoother. It definitely makes a difference for smaller needles. I don’t know if I would break the bank for anything larger than a #4. But then again, I’m knitting a bloody sweater for a full grown me in #0. I’m not the sharpest or smoothest needle in the knitting bag :p

I finally managed to get to take some photos of me in my latest round of knitting projects, at least the ones that I got to keep for myself. I never seem to have a camera around when I’m wearing my FO and I feel kinda goofy playing supermodel. So here’s some of the stuff I’ve knitted up this past winter with moi doing my best Zoolander. ( I had to edit out my face, my Blue Steel is so powerful that it would have taken away from my FO)

The Midsummer Night's Dream sweater. It's basic design is Knitty.com's Tubey Sweater. Then I have a few too many glasses of red wine....
















Zee back of the MSND sweater. The middle panel isn't perfect but I don't have to look at it :P


















Zee sleeve detail. I feel like Puck in this sweater!

















The Arachne capelet.
I worked in some tailored shoulder shaping. Not evident here but it does sit nicely on my shoulders ;) The spider is BW's Spider design.











Zee back. The lace is a couple of Barbara Walker patterns. It's supposed to resemble wolfbane leaves. I said 'supposed' to, not that it actually does...









The Honeymoon sweater!!! I've been living in this sweater ever since I've finished it. It's so much fun to wear! I still haven't found the perfect button. It's out there somewhere...












Da back of da sweater. I love Noro! Thank goodness I held onto all those Noro leftovers over the years. I knew they'd come in handy!

With DH’s arm out of service for the next several months, we spent this last week stuffing in as much climbing and outdoor fun as possible. Thank goodness I finally got a slow cooker. We’ve been living off of slow cooker dishes for the last week. We get to go off and play in the mountains and come home to a wonderful, hot dinner. Why didn’t I think of this before???

One more snow day!

Here’s a buffalo stew with Pete’s homemade noodles. I just browned the meat, cut up a bunch of local veggies and threw it into the slow cooker with some broth and some leftover Phillips Black Toque Dark Ale that had gone flat. About 20 minutes before serving, I dumped in the leftover noodles. So good. So easy.

Pete and Nat made one more pass through town on their way to a kayaking adventure in Clayquot Sound. They dropped off a couple of bags of stinging nettle that they had gathered. Such lovely muggles!

Nettles are out in force right now. Be careful, they do have a sting to them. Boil them for at least 10 minutes to neutralize the toxins. Use them as you would spinach. They also can be dried and made into a tea.

Gotta go. I’ve got my sister and her fancy man dropping for a visit this evening so I’d better get home and rustle up some dinner. I wonder if those UVic bunnies would be in a stew?

Have a great bunny zombie messiah weekend!

Happy Eating & Knitting!