Frozen Lemonade Pie

Are you craving an end of summer dessert? Do you love anything with graham cracker crust? Do you have some fresh or frozen berries that need a purpose? Then take ten minutes out of your life, and make this easy recipe:

Covered in homemade whipped cream-we couldn't wait for it to get thick

Frozen Lemonade Pie
provided by my mom (I'm not sure where she got it)

Graham crackers (one package)
3 T butter
One can frozen lemonade
One quart frozen vanilla yogurt
Frozen or fresh fruit (optional)
9 X 13 dish

Process or crush graham crackers, and mix with melted butter to form crust, and stick it in the fridge to set.
Mix frozen yogurt, lemonade, and berries (you may want to process or puree the berries, so they don't clump together and freeze). Pour it on the crust. Freeze, covered, for at least 3-4 hours. Eat, and if preferred, top with whipped cream.

You could easily modify this recipe. I added blackberries. After I made it, I thought about using some lemon juice instead of lemonade to reduce the sugar. I thought about using a different kind of juice. I thought about using flavored frozen yogurt, like raspberry maybe? The possibilities are endless.

Make this. You won't regret it. It's delicious and easy.
Thanks to mom for the lovely dessert.

Swatching. No, really.

I'm not a good little knitter. I don't regularly swatch for new projects. I'll sometimes check gauge on a big project, a few rows into knitting to make sure I'm about where I need to be. I've also only made one full garment (if a shrug even counts), so I'm certainly not an expert by any means. Taking this information, and my sadness over a couple of recent projects (neither of which I've actually finish, for fear of failure), I decided to start a new and swatch like crazy for an upcoming project, Cherry. I picked out four yarns, based on a ravelry review of other people's finished objects, and what I had in my stash. I'm now making a swatch with each of the yarns to determine which I would like to use. I must admit, I was inspired to swatch by Stitchywitch. I read her blog regularly, and thoroughly enjoy it. She recently displayed some of her new swatches, and it really made me think abut the success I want to achieve with my knitting. I expect a project to just come off the needles like magic, but I don't do as much planning on the front-end as I should to get the results I'm expecting. Without further ado, here are the swatches and my thoughts:

Swatch #1: Berroco Touche

This was one of the first yarns I purchased. I originally bought a few skeins at Hill Country Weavers in Austin, and then purchased additional skeins in the same dyelot from Webs, after realizing I couldn't do much with the amount I had. I've used this once before, as the sleeves and neckline of my Two-Toned Shrug. It has excellent stitch definition, but my gauge is a bit off with the suggested needle size.

Swatch #2: Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy

I just acquired this yarn from Supercrafty, and hadn't decided on a pattern when I purchased it. I wouldn't have considered this pattern in hemp, but after seeing Blumunchie's FO, I decided it was a possibility. After starting a swatch (I didn't finish), I've ruled it out. In comparison to swatch #1, I just don't like Hempathy for this pattern. The stitch definition is not as nice as the other swatches. I'll use it for something on smaller needles.

Swatch #3: RYC Cashsoft DK

I happened to have a swatch of this (in plain stockinette) that I worked a few weeks ago for another project on the same size needles. The gauge is dead-on.

Swatch #4: Knit Picks Shine Sport

I like this one as well. The gauge is similar to the Touche.

I decided to go with the Cashsoft DK. The gauge doesn't need tweaking, which is nice, and I should just a little more yarn than I need, which is good for my yarn stash!
I'm glad I did this exercise. I learned a bit more about gauge, and I recorded my gauge for each yarn on Ravelry, so next time I'm swatching, I'll have a bit more information!

Sparkly Picovoli

Since my CPH has had me stressed, I started a tank top, in a glittery yarn from Louisa Harding. I picked up the yarn from Yarntopia, intending to make a shell or tank, and now I'm actually doing that!It's an amazing concept-following through on a plan for purchased yarn.

I'm already into the second ball of yarn (out of 8), and I've just gotten past the armholes. It's nice to see some progress, especially considering I spent the majority of the weekend playing Super Monkey Ball on Wii (amazingly fun-especially Monkey Target).

I'm a little concerned the collar may be a little loose for my taste, but I've heard you can use elastic thread to help with that, so I may look into that when I'm finished.