Five to go, (that is, if I don't finish anything before I've blogged all my backlogged FO's)

Did you have any doubt in your mind that socks would make up the majority of the 10 items I haven't blogged about? C'mon now! Count 'em up, five pairs knit between April and August.

mamaFasu's Birthday socks
Pattern: 3x1 ribbed socks
Yarn: Regia Jubilee, 1 skein
Needles: Inox 2.25mm

Your basic 3x1 rib, my go to ribbing pattern. Nothing fancy here.

Pattern: Charade, Sandra of I May Be Knitting a Ranch House fame
Yarn: Yarn Pirate in Pure Knits, 1 skein
Needles: Addi Turbo 2.0mm

These were problem socks, not the pattern, but the yarn! It kept pooling something awful no matter what pattern. So I decided to start another pattern but from the other end of the ball and guess what, it worked!

Pattern: 3x1 ribbed socks
Yarn: Yarn Pirate in Shamrock, 1 skein
Needles: Addi Turbo 2.0mm

These socks are also known as the Incredible Hulk Socks, named, of course, by B himself. They're his socks so he can call them what he wants. I had the same pooling problem with this yarn as well, but hey, it pooled into stripes which is helluva lot better than pooling in to blobs any day!

Pattern: Conwy, Nancy Bush from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Koigu KPM, 2 skeins, color 242040
Needles: Addi Turbo 2.5mm

Love these socks and now I finally have a pair of my own! I knit my first pair for Lori two years ago for a holiday sock swap. This time I knit them exactly as written and only used two skeins, but just barely as only a few yards were left from each skein.

Pattern: basic stockinette sock with cuff from Giotto sock pattern
Yarn: Cookie A. yarn, 1 skein
Needles: Inox circulars and Crystal Palace dpns 2.25mm

This pair of socks were blatantly copied from Kris. That woman and her socks never fail to impress, I tell ya. I want to make every pair she makes.

And to appease the shoes with socks god(s)..

No worries, B's wearing shorts. It's not quite cool enough to bust out the hand knit socks, but it's getting there. Fall weather, hurry up and get here already!

a Motorola SLVR (cameraphone action at its best)..

Need opinions ASAP. I've committed to knitting a friend a FABULOUS sock. After trying three different patterns I decided to go it on my own. I originally wanted to knit something textured, but decided to do colorwork instead. I decided on a houndstooth motif and went from there. And now I'm not sure if I should go on. The pattern seems to disappear to me and you can't discern the "houndsteeth" from blobs of color. What do you think? Should I dunk, soak, and block this before I make a decision to go back to the drawing board or just scrap this pattern altogether?

flat

"modeled"

Can you think of a better way to fight the Monday blues than with a yummy lucious dessert? I can't. But before I get into the details of Sweet Monday, let me start with Sock Monday.

So you remember Mr. Houndstoothy, the should I or shouldn't I dilemma? Well I took all your suggestions into consideration and Mr. Houndstoothy looks like this

He's been blocked. And he's also been color redominated. The portion closest to the cuff is khaki dominant and the other half is brown dominant. So what was the verdict? Well in my scheming ways, I was secretly hoping that the friend I was knitting this sock for would comment and give her two cents, and she did! So in my assessment of her comment, I wasn't totally convinced that she loved the pattern. Why knit a sock for your friend that she wouldn't absolutely LOVE, right? So I racked my brain, went through my stash and fellow foodie craftster Nova received the awesome sock. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to snap a shot before I sent it off. But of course she has. You can see it here. You just have to scroll past the chocolately goodness first. No drool on the sock please. Love, much? Yes, looooove. It's Sundara sock yarn and the Uptown Boot pattern.

And what did I get in return, why a sock of course! Miss Brenda designed a fab pattern for me in some yummy blue yarn. I need more cool colors on my feet and these are just perfect!

These are knit in Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino in the Prosperity colorway and they fit like a glove! I know how nerve racking it is to knit for others with different size feet that yourself because I get the same way. But they fit perfectly! And whats best, the cabley goodness! I can't wait to get started on the second sock.

Now that I've lured you in with socks, you can definitely stay for the sweet! So what's this Sweet Monday business? It's actually part of a larger foodie project called Defiantly Domestic. Leah and Yahaira had a vision for a cook-along of sorts where they would make the same recipe and share notes, a learning circle you could say. They asked me to join them, and honestly, how could I say no? Three time's a charm, right? One recipe + three cooks = yummy fantastic food, at least that's the hope. But if not, the end result will be many lessons learned through our three separate processes.

First up is the Goat Cheese and Lemon Cheesecake with Hazelnut Crust from Cooks Illustrated.

Summary: This was my first attempt at cheesecake and second attempt at making lemon curd. End results were yummy fantastic cheesecake. I was concerned about the goat cheese dominating the flavor, but the balance of the goat cheese, cream cheese and lemon curd were perfect. I had two major technique issues, using a mini-food processor to prepare the curst and wrapping the pan in preparation for the water bath, none of which affected the overall taste of the dessert. And on a process/timing note, if you're planning to make cheesecake for a dinner party, start first thing in the morning. Otherwise, you won't be able to eat your cheesecake until the next day.

The in-depth process notes and details are over at Defiantly Domestic, as well as Leah and Yahaira's cheesecakes. Come and get some before it's all gone.