Nine dollars and change you can believe in

I was at Walgreens today, and they didn't have any mini-eggs, either.

They did, however, have Barocks:














I suggest blowing up that picture and inspecting the selling points.
I live in Hyde Park, a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, about 4 blocks from the recently vacated home of our president and his family. As such, this is my Walgreens. Even so, it's a little strange to see a politician so widely merchandised - growing up the closest I ever came to this was the (joking) Free Buddy campaign in Providence, anybody remember these?












So I didn't buy a Barock. ($9.99 seems a little steep, even if it is a real rock.)

EDIT: The Barock has been outdone.

H-Post

Good Things:

• grapefruit with turbinado sugar
• spending gift cards frivolously

Not-So-Good Things:

• fire alarm going off after midnight
• snow
• no Cadbury mini-eggs at CVS (tragic)

Excellent Things:

• spinach and tomato

Two Favorites

The first homemade iced coffee of spring:

French toast (made with homemade bread) and additional iced coffee.

Bread for Paupers

Today I made these:We are trying to stick to a weekly grocery budget of $X. Since X only buys so much, we are trying to do some of the usual items on the cheap. Last night we figured out that I could bake a loaf of bread for approximately half of what we'd spend on a comparable loaf at the store, so away I went. I didn't have any whole wheat flour in the house, so I used what I had to make this Amish White Bread. It's still cooling, so I don't know how it is yet, but the crumb that had stuck to the pan was tasty. I'll try it with dinner and report back.

UPDATE:
Never buying grocery store bread again.

Rabbits!

Simple Fair Isle, Manos Silk Blend, and a feisty band of hat bunnies - what else does a girl need?
Introducing Rabbits in the Grass, a new design from iknityouknot. Perfect for Easter, perfect for a still-cold Chicago spring, perfect for standing near a brick wall.Or for musing in front of a map.Pattern includes three sizes - Child, Adult Small, and Adult Large - available now for $3 through Ravelry or in my sidebar.

Thanks to Kate for test knitting and to Nicole for modeling!

To Do Today:

Organize stash, and upload into Ravelry: Working on it.
Make a huge mess of the living room: Check.

Bobbles and Sprouts

Introducing Effervescence, a new pattern from iknityouknot:
Effervescence is a bubbly, bobbly beret, which works up quickly as a last-minute gift or an ideal late-winter pick-me-up. Worked in two shades of Berroco Ultra Alpaca, the possibilities for color variation are endless. (I'm thinking black and white, I'm thinking shades of green, I'm thinking I'm going to end up with dozens of berets.)

Of course, for a more subdued look, you can work the pattern in a solid color:Enjoy!

(Many thanks to Ann for test knitting!)

On the farming front, garlic is going strong:

As is spinach:
But radishes are still clearly in the lead: