When nostalgia hits..

When I came out to Cincinnati to interview, one of the many nice women I've met on knittyboard picked me up at my hotel and took me to one of the local yarn stores.  This place looks like it has been in business since I was born... and to prove the point, I found the same exact sock yarn that I had used five years ago to make my first pair of socks. 

Now, that first pair is still going strong.  I was highly proud of them at the time (and still am) but they wouldn't pass muster today.  I prefer to knit all my sock weight socks somewhere between 9-10 stitches per inch and the originals are at seven.  It's odd how going down a few needle sizes can change the look of the finished project.

Original sock on the left foot, new one (with the ends not yet woven in) on the right.  The stripes are about two rows less and I used a bit more yarn.  I don't think the change is that drastic though so I'll have to either be careful about which pair I'm grabbing for or retire the originals to a shadow box and hang them on the wall.

An off the feet shot.  It's harder to tell here which is which... but the original is right and the new one is on the left.

New Oven

Now... one of the reasons I bought this house was that it has a gas stove.  I love having gas burners for my stove top work.  One of the disadvantages is that the oven itself is huge and heats up the whole house every time you turn it on. (okay, that might be an advantage come winter)  So, when mom was here, we stopped at Costco and I found a convection toaster oven.  It's large enough to fit a frozen pizza, so I shouldn't have to turn my oven on unless I'm cooking a turkey or some other huge meal.

Today, I used my toaster oven for the first time.

As you can see, one didn't make it to the photo shoot.  These are Jesh's famous peanut butter cookies.  One of my co-workers is gluten free and no one ever remembers to bring stuff she can eat when we do work events.  I figured with a brand new oven there is no chance of cross contamination, so I'd make her cookies.

They don't taste quite the same as Jesh's.  I don't know if it's because I didn't get them as flat as she does, if I ate it while it was too warm or if I added too much sugar.  Either way, they're still yummy.

Thanks for the recipe Jesh!