i made jam!

and not to toot my own horn but it's probably the best jam i ever made. of course, since i'm not the neatest of cooks it looked like i committed berry homicide on my stove before all was said and done.

i combined a few different recipes from my ball home preserving book and came up with something i called devil's black forest jam. cherries, cocoa powder, cinnamon and red pepper flakes. it's a pretty even tie with the apple rhubarb i made last fall. you open the jar and the first thing that hits you is the smell of cherries and chocolate, then you bite into it and you mostly taste cherry (while smelling the chocolate), and a tiny little zing. the pepper's not really noticable; it's more of a "hm, what is that?" taste to it. heaven. i plan on eating it on toast, in a grilled cheese and jam sandwich (probably with monterrey jack or brie, swiss is probably too strong and mozzarella too weak), over ice cream or angel food cake, and baking it on pork chops or chicken.

want a picture?

yum. and yes, i'm keeping the recipe a secret.

so many finished projects, so many more to come

yeah, i thought i had startitis and homework both under control.

in my defense, i'm going to pass the semester, no question, and i did get a lot of projects finished. i'm just fickle when it comes to needles and hooks, i guess.

there's the fruity pebbles beret (ravelry link here). i got the yarn as a christmas present... yummy handspun angora/wool from Austin's in Harmony, WI.

and the fingerless mitts i adapted from a one-skein wonder book...

my favorite part of these is the heart on the palm!

and finally, pictures of the concentric stripes cardigan (here). my favorite part are the little buttons.

See? See the little buttons?

it's so weird, i thought i had more finished than that. i guess not... right now i'm working on a few lion brand patterns, the weekend cardi done in aqua cotton-ease, a simple garter-stitch scarf done in noro, the jiffy hooded cardigan (for babies! also lion brand), and a cable afghan i wrote the pattern for.

what can i say? i get bored, i try to switch it up. i'm also debating casting on the garden of alla shawl so i can maybe get it done by easter.

nothing else witty right now. i do have to write a paper tonight though.
later!