Happy Friday, Happy Weekend!

I like to look for any sign of the approaching spring season.  Yes, I know, we're only a little over a month into winter and I know I can't complain since Northern California has such mild winters, but a girl can hope, right?  .... And it was a gorgeous day today.

Happy Lunar New Year!

siu mai: pork and shrimp dumplings

egg custard tarts

jin doi: sesame seed balls filled with sweet bean paste

What does one do to celebrate the arrival of the year of the Ox?  Well, I chose to celebrate with a lunch of dim sum with friends.  (Like I need an excuse to have dim sum.)  

I've always told my husband that if we ever decided to move, we could only move somewhere within an hour's drive of dim sum.

images: Craig Lee/The Chronicle

More from a group effort

We made more progress on the lovely Blue Moon communal blanket last night at knit night.   It's mesmerizing to watch four pairs of hands knitting methodically, and each with a different style.

Do you see how those yarn cakes are getting smaller and smaller?  We're almost there!

A group effort

Slowly, but surely, our knit night group is making progress on the Blue Moon Fiber Arts (BMFA) communal blanket for charity.  We're determined to finish by late-March so that Irishgirlieknits, I, and a couple of others from knit night can hand deliver the blanket to Tina Newton of BMFA at Camp KnittyHaHa, otherwise known as sock camp.

colors clockwise from top left: Eggplanted, Love-in-Idleness, Sapphire, and Baby Boy Blue

We don't yet know who the recipient of the blanket will be, but we hope that whoever it may be will feel the love and all the good wishes that have been stitched into each row.

Details

• Yarn:  BMFA Socks that Rock Heavyweight, four skeins
• Pattern:  Knitting 4 Love--a Communal Blanket Knitting Experience, designed by Nathania Apple and Cookie A.
• Method: Four knitters knitting simultaneously, one on each side of the four-sided blanket

True Love

They're done!  I used the True Love pattern by Thayer Preece (thanks, Thayer, for the great pattern) and knit up in Sundara sock, colorway Guava.

I gifted these to Pamela and they fit perfectly.  She tells me she'll be using them to keep her toesies warm around the house.