The Fourth Pentagon

Okay, I promise that I won't do this with every post on this sweater. But doesn't the post title sound like a noirish movie from the 40s (something with Barbara Stanwyck) or possibly, a Philip Pullman novel? One could do so much with this. Each book of the series progresses forward: The First Pentagon, The Second Pentagon, Pentagon the Third. Well, you get the idea, and are welcome to borrow it. I will try, going forward, to avoid further rumination about the wonders of combining the words "The" and "Pentagon" with a number.

Now, then, a picture of my progress so far. Still matching my earlier pace: a day, a pentagon. Amazing.

One concern is the size of the pentagons produced. Yes, I'm matching the suggested gauge of 18 stitches to 4 inches. And yes, my pentagon is measuring about 5 or so inches on a side, as suggested for my size. But don't these shapes look huge?
A mid-shot of a pentagon.

A close-up. Not to scale.

Too close?
I think I must have studied at the Brobdingnagian School of Knitting. Remember my flower attempts for the Noni bag?
Dinner-plate size. Here's the most recent attempt, not yet felted, knit while watching A Muppet Christmas Carol on New Year's Day. Still pretty sizeable. After felting, still too big. I'm going for attractive, somewhat life-sized felted flowers, not a gargantuan specimen.

It's all about the process, right? So here's Try Number One from Baking: the Chewy, Chunky Blondies.

My goal: something that emulates the Toffee Bar from Starbuck's. A blond brownie with chunks of chocolate and toffee, in a solid bar that is reminiscent of undercooked chocolate-chip cookies. Vanilla, brown sugar, and a chewy texture. The result: too sweet, too buttery, too much stuff and not enough bar taste in a bite. The cookies have 2 sticks of butter, a cup of chips, a cup of toffee bits, walnuts, and coconut in addition to the basics of flour, egg, sugar. I don't blame the author. When I reread her description, I discovered that she advertised the high percentage of what they call mix-ins, in the ice cream world, as a benefit of the cookie. I was ready to pitch the results. But my husband likes them, and perhaps folks at work will be willing to choke them down. For me, back to the drawing board.

Sometimes I wish that I was more like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland and less like Goldilocks.