A bit of politics, some cake and a little knitting

I cleaned the inside of my car this weekend. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how long it had been. Here's a clue... I found this under one of the seats:


Incidentally, I heard today that Howie is stepping down as DNC Chair. I hope that means there is a job for him in the Obama Administration.

In other political news, have I told you I live next door an outspoken, compassionate, bi-partisan preschooler? Her parents both had birthdays this weekend.

Me: "Should we make a cake for Momma and Daddy?"
Ragamuffin: "Yes! A Barocket Obama cake..."
Me: "Ok, we can probably do that."
Ragamuffin: "...aaannnd, John McCain Cupcakes"
Me: "?"
Me: "ummm, what do John McCain Cupcakes look like?"
Ragamuffin (in a "Duuuhh Katy" tone of voice): "They're purple."

So, I bought a cake mix (I considered for a minute making a cake from scratch but then remembered I was baking with a FOUR YEAR OLD). I went with the chocolate/vanilla marble cake which seemed fitting for the theme. We cooked half the mix in a round pan and the other half as cupcakes. Ragamuffin did well assisting, but she's "a little scared" to crack eggs.

Purple icing was easy, but I wasn't sure what to do about the Obama cake. Pastry bags being a bit unwieldy for a four year old and all. In the end, I bought red and blue sugar and cut a stencil from paper. I held the stencil and she sprinkled. A few sprinkles went on the floor....
While I cleaned up she climbed up and squatted barefoot on my counter and ate large handfuls of leftover frosting.... Her parents love me...

Then we had cake for lunch!


I have a kajillion knitted things to take photos of (and they're not all gnomes). Melissa took some photos (we did a whole photoshoot thing one afternoon) of my favorite recent project at Rhinebeck last month, but I haven't seen them yet. There are lots of other things, but I've been lazy about the photographing. Traci snapped this one of my election day project (knit in the car on the way to New Hampshire and later at the party) because I happened to be wearing it while cleaning out my car and she had the camera out:

It's the Celtic Hat which I have made 3 or 4 times in the past. Really it was just an excuse to use some of the yummy Cormo/Silk/Alpaca yarn I bought from Foxfire Fiber at Rhinebeck. If I could knit a bed out of this yarn I'd sleep happy for the rest of my days.

Looking at the photo, the hat seems a little short. I may need to actually block it and see if that helps.