My Knitting Bag: A New Cardigan

Yesterday, I received the best phone call: The yarn I ordered had arrived!  I immediately ran to the yarn store to pick it up and cast on my new sweater.

Words cannot express how glad I am to own a yarn swift/ball winder.  11 skeins that need to be transformed into center-pull balls!

I've only had the yarn for about a day, but I'm already a few inches into the body of my cardigan:

More pictures after the jump!

New Use for Wool: Insulation

Me, in the fisherman's sweater I knit.

Come winter, I'm looking forward to curling up in my warm, cozy (hand-knit by me), wool sweater.  This is because wool is an excellent insulator.  In elementary school, we all learn that conductors pass electricity along easily, while insulators do not allow electricity to pass easily.  The same rules apply for heat.  Conductors, such as metal, both pass electricity and heat.  Insulators, such as cork, do not.  Air is one of the best insulators.  Down blankets keep us warm, because the feathery fluff contains many small air pockets.  The air pockets do not conduct heat, so the heat from your body remains trapped under the blanket, keeping you warm.  Knit sweaters keep you warm the same way.  On a larger scale, we use insulation to keep the heat in our houses throughout the winter.  Commonly, we think of pink or yellow synthetic fluff when we think of house insulation.  Before the synthetic material, builders would use rags and even newspaper.

Recycled Knitting Needles (and other knit-inspired jewelry)

I love the idea of recycling old knitting needles into jewelry and cute accessories.  Now I just need an idea for my old bamboo needles...

So cute and colorful! (Source)

Baking: Not My Usual Craft

Sometimes I pretend to be domestic. This happens rarely. Sure, I enjoy cooking the occasional meal. But only if I'm cooking with someone else. I hate cooking by myself. And I quite often do not have the patience for baking. You have to mix the ingredients in the right order and pay attention to annoying little details. There is one obsession I have that overrides my baking aversion: Key Lime Pie Cheesecake. I first fell in love with it at the Cheesecake Factory. Then, I discovered a delightful French restaurant in my small, Indiana town with delicious Key Lime Pie Cheesecake. When I saw this recipe on a guest post by Sprinkle Bakes, I had to try it!

I follow Sprinkle Bakes mostly because her photographs of recipes are amazing.  Her cheesecake bars are delicious, and she recently put up a recipe for home made cow tails that I want to try!  Definitely check her out.  Meanwhile, here are some (not as good) pictures of my cheesecake:

Yummy yummy yummy in my tummy tummy tummy!

The recipe has you make enough lime curd for three batches of the cheesecake bars.  I already made a second batch to take to my boyfriend and his family.  The third batch will probably be baked this weekend for a friend's party.  Yes, it takes forever to make this from scratch, but it's totally worth it.

Blogs I follow: One Sheepish Girl

Meredith has an amazing blog that I love.  She's super creative, and you should definitely check her out.  My favorite is her Knitting for confidence series.  Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to do her challenges (red lipstick = eek!).  For her upcoming birthday, she's doing a giveaway!  Enter to win.