Houston, we have a problem

So those two backordered skeins of Dream in Color Everlasting 8-ply in Tidewater arrived today in the mail. I'd been keeping my fingers crossed, but luck does not seem to have been on my side.

Remember my three original skeins (from left to right): perfect, darker version of perfect, and too blue?

 Well, meet my two new skeins, way too brown, and a little too brown (this is with flash):

 the whole skeins:

 and in sunlight:

 and another (too much brown on top):

I did not even dare ask "How many variations of this colorway could there be?" but wow, I'm at a loss. Also, I'm fairly certain I won't need all five skeins for my cardigan. So maybe I'll make a cardigan for Itty Bitty, depending on how much I have left. Of course, it will be for the next winter. Summer officially made its appearance today--it's only 70F but for some reason, feels like 77F.

Or. . . I could save all of my sock-weight DIC for a raglan later on. It's an idea I've been mulling over. That would be a lot of leftovers though, and I'm not sure how many sweaters I'd have to have knitted in different colors for this to be a viable option. Well, that might work for Itty Bitty. Unfortunately, most of the colors I like (red and variations of grey) are not colors she likes (red, pink and purple). We only have red in common, and so far, there has been no red sweater. For now, I have to figure out what to do with this new yarn and how to incorporate it into my sweater. Maybe I can trade out the too-blue skein. Because it's really too blue. My poor cardigan. It's going to look mottled. Maybe I'll be the only one that notices?

Like he needs a reason anymore. . .

These were from a few weeks ago, in the beginning of the month but I only just now unloaded the pictures off of my camera.

Obviously, that on the left is a 1.75L of Johnny Walker Black Label, very self-explanatory. The other is Bruichladdich (with its box), I have no idea what it is but I assume it's smoky and probably peaty. The Walker Black is too smoky for me so I never tried the Bruichladdich, but it was a birthday present for Hubby (not from myself). I'm pretty sure there was another "update" to the Scotch cabinet that I've missed. As it is, there's so much we really need to do another tasting (or three). We could even divide it up: single malts, double barrels, blended Scotches, etc.

Hot and sour

Cajun Power Garlic Sauce. It was at King's Fish House in Carlsbad so we sampled it and we kind of liked it. I'm just posting this before I forget about it and it's here. . . somewhere.

1, 2, 3, 4, tell me can you count for sure?

Bub finished all of the minilessons for first grade math in his First and Second Grade Math book (by Steven Slavin) so now he's in the middle of taking his final exam. I'm wondering how long it will take. The book instructed six or seven days, each day having a half-hour session. Yesterday he finished about half of the exam in 45 minutes and today only a page or two for the same time period. I've graded the first half, and for the most part I was impressed. He correctly answered all of the word problems, double digit addition and subtraction, fractions, etc. The section he got four wrong in (and if you get three or four wrong in one section, you're supposed to review that section to ensure the child thoroughly understands that lesson) was the first--counting from one to 100. Seriously?!?!

I have the horrible suspicion that he got bored. Or, since he neglected to put adequate spacing around each number, confused as all of the numbers squished into each other. But he wrote 38 twice, then skipped 55, 71 and 90. So we're supposed to review counting. He's been able to count forever, and understands the concept of infinity, but we're supposed to review counting. Because that's the one and only section so far, that he kind of failed.

WIPs, status update

So my projects have been kind of kaput. The cardigan I was working on. . . I wasn't happy with the three different skeins, so I ordered two more skeins (which have since been backordered so I don't know when I will ever get my yarn) in the hope that it would help to even out the variation of the variegation. I took a couple pictures though, of the two sleeve shoulders. I picked up the stitches pretty well! Well, the left one is perfect, the right has two mistakes (but who's going to be paying that much attention to my sleeve caps?).

So without further ado, the right sleeve cap:

 And the left:

 There's a second sock I've been working on too, since the cardigan has stalled (it's Cookie A.'s Baudelaires, predictably in red):

My defense though, is that red is one of my favorite colors, and I've been holding onto this sock yarn for awhile looking for the perfect pattern. So when one came up, the sample being in red, it seemed serendipitous.

I really want to finish my sweater so that I can start planning my next one (I ordered five skeins of Dream In Color Smooshy in Cocoa Kiss with those two additional skeins of DIC Everlasting in Tidewater, nevermind the three skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina in Calligraphy that I bought with my first DIC Everlasting order, but I digress). I officially have sweater madness. And it's expensive.

The best birthday present for our now five-year-old

was not a toy or a book he got from any of his friends. Or the Razor scooter we got him so that he could ride around like all of the other boys at our park date. Instead, it's this:

That's right. A label maker, from the office supply section of your Costco. Because what five-year-old doesn't want a label maker? (Although, in full disclosure, he wanted this when he was four for Christmas and we didn't get to it, so when his Nana asked what he wanted, I was able to make an informed suggestion.) He promptly labeled his scooter, Nana's luggage, and regrettably, Nana's new Coach purse. Luckily, it came off. I guess it hadn't been on long enough to really stick, but boy was that a shocker. Happy birthday Bub!

The Tailored Sweater Method (the beginning of Tidewater Cardigan)

 Above, the left back shoulder.

 

Above, the right back shoulder.

Below, the two back shoulder pieces joined with newly cast-on stitches for the middle of the back.

 A close-up of the shoulder seam with front and back joined.

Now with the left and right fronts added as well.

I've had a really hard time picking up the stitches for the shoulder caps (along the selvedge edge), even after going over the Tips and Techniques portion of The Tailored Sweater and watching knitting videos on how to pick up said stitches, does anyone else have a better tutorial? (And by better, I suppose I only mean "something that will make sense to my brain".) The front and back shoulder pieces flow together seamlessly (yes, I know there's actually a seam underneath for stability, but look at that close-up picture and look at how pretty that is) and I can't wait to see the finished results.

As it is, I think it will be time to start introducing yarn from the middle skein soon. Because you know, three differently colored skeins of the same color is kind of a disaster, but something you always have to deal with when knitting sweaters (or at least I apparently, have to deal with, see Imogen).

A last late edition for the week

And these are all repeats! From left to right: Balvenie Doublewood, Glenmorangie Lasanta, and Laphroig 10. My brother, hubby or I have all had each of these before, although I had not tried the Lasanta. Originally I was gunning for another bottle of the Doublewood, because I like my Scotch a little sweet, but we'd heard positive things about the Lasanta, which like the Doublewood is finished in a sherry cask. I thought that if we bought the Lasanta we wouldn't need the Doublewood, but Hubby thinks we need both for comparison's sake. And apparently, since he has the Laphroig Cask Strength and Laphroig 18, he needs the regular Laphroig 10 also for comparison's sake.

Not included in the picture: a 1.75 Liter bottle of Three Olives vodka. Hubby's mother is coming and I thought we should pick something up for her. This brand of vodka is consistently in her house, so that must mean that she's drinking it, right? (Unless it's the same one, but I don't think that's the case.)

I had a sip of the Lasanta last night at Hubby's urging. It is very good, a true dessert Scotch. I think it's sweeter than the Doublewood. (We'll decide in a side-by-side comparison at a later date.) But of all of the three trips last week to the favorite liquor store, this is my favorite trip.

The final tally (is it Scotchmas again?)

Hubby and I have his-and-her IKEA cabinet units in his office. Mine was a large cabinet on top of filing cabinets and his was three units of filing cabinets on top of each other. But now that he has an office job, he wanted to switch them out. That sounded like a great idea to me, because I ended up using my filing cabinet much less than anticipated. So I switched mine out for two drawers (one of which holds Bub's homeschool planner and books), and he switched his top two filing cabinets for regular cabinets.

Since then, the top cabinet has become his Scotch cabinet (see above). I feel like we're doing Scotchmas again, except that this time, it's heavily slanted towards the Ilas. Those smoky, peaty isles, there's barely anything up there that I can drink! The Glenmoranie Nectar D'or was in Sauternes casks, apparently I'm not a huge fan although the guys think it's not bad. And that's a good thing, since we still have a mostly-full bottle of it.

We have so much high-end Scotch, I am *so* hoping we don't have an earthquake or fire anytime soon.

Late additions

So yesterday Hubby went to his favorite liquor store again (see above). Actually, this isn't all of it (left to right: Johnny Walker Green Label, Johnny Walker Gold Label, Talisker 10 and Laphroig 18). Hubby actually bought two Laphroig 18s, as well as a Laphroig Quarter Cask. The Quarter Cask and 18 were for my brother's birthday (an early birthday present). The Talisker was to mix with the Caol Ila, because apparently the Walkers supposedly have both blended in them and this way you can customize to your own taste. And the Green is for me. Because apparently I need a drink too. Green is just about the only one I can drink consistently because I find it very smooth. Hubby likes Gold and even Black better than Green because he finds it tasteless, but Gold's a bit too rich for me and Black is too smoky.

The men find the Laphroig 18 to be amazing, like a cross between the Lagavulin and that regular Laphroig taste, but without the medicinal taste.

I haven't tried it yet, because well, just from trying the regular Laphroig, it's the type of thing you remember for the rest of your life and I'm just not ready for it yet.

The men found the Talisker nutty and a bit too alcohol-y. But, it's to be mixed, so maybe it won't be too bad. Hubby expects it to not go quickly.

Hubby wants to go back for Glenmorangie's Sherry Cask. They were out of Balvenie Doublewood and well, why not try a different sherry cask?

FO-Whisper cardigan

Not a great FO pic, but I'm glad this project is done (ignore the paint swatches on the wall).

Modifications:
-a provisional crochet cast-on of 76 stitches; after the left side is done, I went back to do the flare.
-made back narrower (~6-7.5 each side of back), to fit mine.
-picked up 120 sts (16 for each underarm) for bottom, 88 for top.
-did twisted rib for 2-3/8" (6 cm).
-for body, extended past 8" to 11".

Regrets:
-if I were to do this again, I would have made the arm circumference narrower and possibly straight, because even with the bell sleeves, you can't really tell.
-I did less ribbing than called for, but it was still a bit too high around the back of my neck and needs to be folded down or something, I could have done just two inches.
-it's hard to tell whether I made the back the right length due to the curling. I tried to factor that in, but where I live it's so humid that nothing will stay blocked.

Love:
-the Madelinetosh Tosh Lace. The actual base yarn is decent, not splitty or annoying at all, at least with my cheapo Knitpicks needles, and the color is divine. Just beautiful.

Don't Love:
-how it looks. I spent four months on this and I don't find it particularly flattering. And it's so thin it's mostly useful for something strapless. I don't own anything strapless. But it's done, so I can move on with my life now!

New additions

Hubby expanded his horizons last Sunday, from left to right: Caol Ila 12, more Lagavulin 16, Kilchoman (estimate it's about four), Glenmorangie Nectar D'or, and Laphroig Quarter Cask. I was kind of disappointed by this Glenmorangie. The Kilchoman has been the biggest surprise. It's surprisingly smooth for four, and it's fruity and smoky at the same time.