I thought that maybe it was time to try something new in knitting. Something challenging and interesting and somehow I decided on entrelac. I managed to persevere after immediately making a mistake and having to rip out the first 5 rows. I even made it past discovering that I didn't know how to increase on a purl stitch. (How was that possible? I've been knitting for several years now!) But having to pick up stitches turned out to be too much. My attempt doesn't look too bad in this picture but let's just say that there was a fair amount of room left where there shouldn't have been any. So, for now, entrelac is on the back burner and this wool has been returned to Trish's basket.

For Tara's birthday I whipped up a new sock creature. It's a striped giraffe but could also be mistaken for a slug with legs. He's very stylish with a purple felt tie. Sadly, his legs are completely useless.

We went out to Jolly's for dinner and then walked up to the Ridge to do some 5 pin bowling. It's been years since I've been bowling and I love it! The shoes, the tacky decor, the both feet on carpet drinking rules. It's all fantastic. The Ridge has automated scoring which cuts down on the math and that's always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. None of us managed to get a turkey but there were a couple of double strikes so we didn't fair too badly. Trish even managed a strike with the granny bowling method.  

After hours of bowling we headed back to Trish's for some cheesecake. I only just discovered the amazing-ness of cheesecake in the last year or so. I'm a bit behind the curve on that one. Among other things, Trish's recipe calls for a whole lot of booze which makes for a delicious dessert.

Amy is perhaps the sweetest person I know but when she got to choose which sticker went next to her name after cleaning the fridge at work, she chose a skull. She's trying to up her tough factor. I don't think it's really working but I saw this little item on etsy and couldn't resist buying it for her. It's from circaceramics.

Sam invited us office girls out to Canvas Lounge where he happens to be the Executive Pastry Chef. Sadly, this is about the only photo I could take since my batteries died out after taking a million pictures of the twins earlier in the day. Canvas is a bit fancier than any place I'm used to so I felt a little out of place with my sneakers and goretex jacket. Even the guys at the door were better dressed than I was!

Sam brought out one of each dessert so that we could all get a little taste of what was on the menu. Here's the list:

• flourless chocolate cake (which came with a little something else that I can't remember)
  
• tonka bean panna cotta, vanilla crumble and mandarin sorbet
• ginger creme brulee with candied ginger and green apple sorbet
• passion fruit tart with mango pearls and coconut sorbet
  

They were all delicious but I think I'd have to say that my favourite was the passion fruit tart. It was ridiculously good. Want more desserts? Visit Sam's blog over at Sweet Pleasure: Plaisir Sucre.

I just received my first Japanese craft book in the mail. It's all about making shoes, although I wouldn't wear them outside so they are probably better described as slippers. It came all the way from Malaysia care of Amy of re:makeables. The instructions seem pretty clear so hopefully not being able to read Japanese won't be too much of a hindrance.