Blueberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes

We had a storm pass through last week and it took some of the hot air with it, so I finally had a chance to use the nice blueberries I had bought.

1 box yellow cake mix

1 pint blueberries, washed

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup shortening, room temperature

2 eggs

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup milk
(or 1 cup of half and half)

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare grease and flour approx. 15 muffin tins or line with paper.

Gently toss damp blueberries in 1-2 tablespoons of the cake mix. Set aside.

Beat together cream cheese, shortening and eggs. Add cream and milk. Sift remaining cake mix into cream cheese mixture and mix well. Scoop half of the batter into the muffin cups. Cover with half of the coated blueberries. Scoop remaining half of batter over blueberry layer. Top with remaining blueberries.

Bake for 22 minutes, turning the pan halfway through for even baking.

Red Ruffle

Still ruffling away.

This is Sparkle from Euro Yarns.

Sparkle Fun Time

I finished the Tecido Trico scarf, which came out to about 54", worked over 4 sts.

I also made another fancy looking ruffle scarf with the sparkly sequined Patons Pirouette.

Frou Frou

I ordered some of Tecido Trico fabric ribbon "yarn" last month and finally got around to trying it out.

That's some fancy looking knitting!

Howdy, Fiber!

I'm working on some merino from Zen String in Austin. 

I'm also halfway through some fingerless gloves.

It looks like a fluffy green teapot. See the spout?

Heel Turn

Halfway through the first Knitters without Borders sock.

Knitters Without Borders Sock

I started a new sock with some Socks that Rock, in the Knitters without Borders colorway I got a few years back at MD Sheep & Wool.

Since STR is thicker than the average sock yarn, for once I don't have to work with 00 needles to get the gauge and drape I like. Just regular old size 0!

Hulk Spin!

The second pink and green sock is at last done:

I spun some wool on the new-to-me Schact spindle. I love the color name: Gamma Ray.

More Green Things

I had to rip back quite a bit of the baby kimono, since I had made the back too short. While I moped about that, I made a wee hat:

I also finished up some half-spun Gales Art BFL I inherited from Erica:

It's striking shade of green!

New to Me Spindles

I love shopping online at the Ravelry forums. Here are a few recent finds:

These two hefty spindles are good for making chunky yarn, though they were likely originally intended for plying.

Damascus

I also spun some BFL over the weekend. This is "Damascus" from LMS Studio Arts.

Shhhh!

This is 4oz of finn from Two if by Hand in the color "Lap of Silence."

Ceres

I worked on 4 oz of Spincerely Yours merino/bamboo/nylon blend in the color "Ceres."

I love how it came out looking like fluffy dirty moss.

Lime Green Jelly

I spun up some merino yesterday. This is Lime Green Jelly in the color "Zesty

A Side of Kimono

I'm almost done with the pink and green sock, but I'm also working on this baby cotton kimono. It was supposed to be the baby kimono from the Mason Dixon Knitting, but I couldn't find my copy in all my clutter, so I just improvised. I'll need to add some length to both the sleeves and the body. I'm thinking of doing so with a bit of Tunisian crochet after seaming.

Fractions

Halfway through the second pink and green sock. On to the fourth quarter!

Halftime Report

At long last, the first pink and green sock:

Slow Going

Still working on the first pink and green sock. I've decided to go back to a longer heel flap, like I used to use on my socks, but had been getting lazy about more recently.

A Pair of Birds

Finally finished the second Macaw sock.

And I started a new pair, this time from Curiously Zen handpainted BFL, which has been stewing in my stash for many a year.

Folklife Festival

The stupendously hot weather of the past few weeks has kept me away from this year's Smithsonian folklife festival until now. Not that it was all that much cooler today, but it was the last day, so it was now or never. There was a display of mural in the "citified" section.

There were also plenty of interesting exhibits from various colleges. This explains how native Hawaiian sailors navigated:

It seemed really complicated. I'm glad I wasn't a native Hawaiian sailor. Here's a display of useful items made from buffalo:

There were holey cows like at Maryland Day, but there was an artificial one for practicing your milking skills.

My favorite bit was this big globe made from blue and white plastic bags.