croc mittens

I had intended to have these done for E's Christmas
stocking but actually just finished them last night. They are a little rough as I was adapting a thicker wool to the pattern, but I think they'll work great as puppets and maybe special mittens to wear to the zoo. I'll try to snap a picture of E wearing them - he moves to fast it's hard to get him to "look up, please!" We got many pictures of him looking down this year.

I am thissssssssss close to finishing my Spork bag. I sewed on the buckles by hand last night while watching all the DVD extras to Lost. Now I just need to drag out my sewing machine to finish off the strap and voila! Can't wait to actually use it!

finally - my Ribby Cardi

I've been working on this sweater for at least six months - two months of knitting and four months of looking for that last damm skein of "charcoal" yarn. That never showed up so I picked up the collar with "coal" and you can hardly tell. The missing skein showed up under the guest room bed just last week. I'll save it for another project.

Peruvian Wool in Charcoal (and Coal) and Ruby. I feel a bit like a football player when I wear it - I usually don't wear pure wool sweaters - so we'll see if it gets any use besides cold cold cold weather. It was fun and easy to make. Check out the KAL at: http://www.ribbycardikal.blogspot.com/

christmas photobiography

Christmas Eve was a big blowout at Aunt CeCe's. Tall House, Double Cup's family so graciously embraced my family in taking part of their annual party. CeCe's gorgeous house has a view of Mt. Hood from every window and is a consumate party palace. E was surrounded with cousins - and is especially fond of Big D - a very cool six-year-old.


One of the best parts of the night is when Santa comes. It's so exciting to have our very own Santa at the party. E sat right up in the first row to be near Santa and was very excited to sit on his lap. Santa gave him a Mr. Potato Head electronic game - which he later pronounced his favorite present.

Christmas morning was brunch with mimosas, strata, and abbelskivers. E loved his new scooter and distributed presents to everyone.

What a treat to have Nana and Jonesie with us for E's birthday and Christmas. E loves them so much - it makes me so happy to see him play, laugh, and cuddle with my parents.

We napped, cooked, and watched Toy Story in the afternoon and had Tall House, Double Cup's parents over for dinner. E opened even more presents and got right to playing with the t-ball set they gave him. He's such a slugger.

I look forward to the holidays SO much . . . and I feel like I did almost everything I wanted. I didn't make it to the Grotto again, but within two weeks we fit in so many things and still are talking to each other. I am excited for the new year . . . hell, I am excited about every day usually. But having E to watch grow and share experiences with makes everything extra big.

irish hiking scarf

Tall House, Double Cup, loved getting this scarf for Christmas, even if it was a day late. This is my first Irish Hiking Scarf and I can't wait to start another one. THDC's was done with Lion Brand's Kool Wool - soft but very thick and not what I'll use again - an okay practice yarn!

holiday hangover

I am detoxing from the holidays with Diet Coke and a day at my cubicle. I have so many pictures and lots of progress on knitting projects to post - I just need to take a minute to actually download everything.

Quick Summary:
1 ice storm
five celebratory meals
one trip to the emergency room (bil's girlfriend)
infinite glasses of wine
2 knitting projects finally finished
2 knitting projects almost there
1 new knitting project started
3 movies actually viewed at a movie theater
1 pedicure/manicure
1 high tea at The Heathman with friends and Nana


And much much more to detail - but only with pictures.

when it rains

It seems like the rain isn't going to stop this week in pdx. I love the rain . . . in fact, if I had to list the top five things about Portland, rain would fit in there - I adore it - but today . . . it actually got to me. I had a meeting downtown and had to park in an unfamiliar garage. Coming back from my meeting (in the rain), I saw that the elevator to my ninth floor parking spot wasn't working. I thought I would be smart and take the elevator on the other side of the building - which left me off on a whole different subsection of the parking garage. I was trying at all costs to avoid walking back down nine flights in order to cross the block and walk the nine flights back on the "right" side of the building . . . so I went all ALISAS-Jennifer Garner on myself and threw my bag over a four and a half foot wall standing between the two structures. Thinking I was nineteen, taller than 5'4 and a size 10, I leapt (that's being generous) up and over the wall, landing with a small flourish for anyone appalling the roof of the 4th St. SmartPark. I headed back down the parking structure and eventually found my car . . . just a whole lot more wet and a bit woozy from the excitement. I found myself minutes later sitting at King Kong with my mother (working a split shift at the library- so odd) and then back at work by 4pm . . . it was all a blur. Later this evening, I did serious holiday grocery shopping and realized I forgot my wallet on top of my desk at work. I checked out and then told the clerk and called Tall House, Double Cup to rescue me. I finished off the night with a bottle of Clos du Bois and Martha Stewart's The Apprentice Finale. It's almost more than a girl can take.

happy birthday mr. big

Happy Birthday E! I can't believe he's already three! We had a hell of a big weekend planned for this fabulous event. Nana and Jonesie arrived on Friday, we had his favorite friends over for a Roy Rogers party on Saturday, followed by a movie night and cards for the adults, and finally a family party on Sunday - which was cancelled due to the ice storm raging out there tonight. E was in heaven at his party - mostly because his best friends from school were there. It didn't hurt that everyone was dressed up like cowhands either. I asked this tonight what his favorite part of the party was. He said, "opening presents." And his favorite present? "Our new towtruck". His friends gave him such thoughtful gifts - totally fun - and my girlfriends are amazing at picking out fun stuff to share - where would I be without the other mamas?
Nana and I headed off to see Brokeback Mountain this morning and by the time we got out of the theater, the snow had started. By the time we hit the Fremont Bridge, the ice had started. A quick stop at New Seasons confirmed that everyone was out stocking up on chips, beer, and salami - which made us start considering the fact that we really should have checked into the news at least once instead of watching House, M.D. on dvd all night. We arrived home to hear that no one could make the family party - even the mayor asked Portlanders to stay home. So Jonesie started a fire, the five of us split a stockpot of chili and dove into the chocolate cake . . . the best part of E's birthday? Tonight he got out of the bath, wrapped up in a big towel and then rocked in the rocking chair with me for about 15 minutes - the quietest time we've had together in days - it was lovely - and I feel so lucky to have just the very best boy in the whole world - funny, fast, and so smart - inventive, playful, and insistent on what he wants. Nothing compares to Big E!

teflon scarf

I fell in love with the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern as soon as I saw it. I was so excited to start that I gave in to a sale on Lion Brand's Kool Wool which turns out to be too stiff and synthetic to really enjoy knitting with - but the cables are so pretty and the pattern so classic. I can't wait to make the next one - but I am compelled to finish this one first. This is my first knit-along (kal) that I fell like I am actually, truly a part of - not just finding it months after it started and never quite catching up. Check out the kal at: http://irishhikingknitalong.blogspot.com/

and a one and a two and a . . .

Three hundred tubas, our best friends, hot chocolate, a sixty foot Christmas tree. What more does a girl need to get into the spirit?
Well, some lipgloss wouldn't have hurt.

should this be illegal?

While I know it is a national faux pas to wear socks with sandals (though many in Oregon plus K-Fed in Cali definitely favor white socks and tevas), I am wondering if there is any sort of way to get away with hanknit socks and those new garden-y clogs made out of space material? Just from this picture, I am pretty sure it needs to be illegal. Maybe I can get away with a don't ask, dont' tell around the house.



They are lovely varigated blue/green socks. I know Martha would approve. And if you are following my sock creation, yes, it's true - I only know one pattern. And yes, these are pretty slouchy like the Christmas socks. But they are so satisfying. I spent all night catching up on tivo and working on super fun crocodile mittens for E's stocking - pictures to come. The google eyes are the best part!

two more knitting projects

This is a hat I had forgotten that I made for Jonesie - maybe in 2003? I got him still for a pose while we were in Wisconsin at Thanksgiving. It's a VERY basic skullcap with an intarsia "w" on it - Jonesie is a huge Badger fan. I was happy to see he was still wearing it - or maybe just wearing it - either way, it looked okay for an off-the cuff project.









I finished this little pretty-pretty felted bag - I've got it intended for a Christmas gift. I made it with the leftover Lamb's Pride Wool from my Spork - which is done and just waiting for me to stitch in the buckles. I love starting and working on projects. Those pesky finishing details always hang around wayyyy too long for me. Felting is so satisfying. I love the process of changing yarn so dramatically.

On the new project front, I just started a pair of crocodile mittens for E's Christmas stocking. Found great googly eyes to sew on it. I am also really interested in trying out the Irish Hiking Scarf for Tall House, Double Cup.

decorating fever

Hurrah - my holiday house is up
and looking tres lovely! I do
something a bit different every year and truly enjoy the process of putting out all my pretties. When we play Peter Pan, E always deems the living room Neverland and tells me very seriously that these are "all of my pretties and you can look but not touch." Yes! Lesson learned!

Friday night feast

I stopped by the new market on 15th and Brazee - Foster & Dobbs. For weeks, I assumed a boring eye-glass place was going in at the new beautiful corner development - I was so happy to see an upscale deli/market. Double happiness spread when I learned they carried Salumi Salami's - Mario Batali's dad's cured meats from Seattle. I stopped in Friday after work and put about 30 minutes into chosing our dinner. Tall House, Double Cup goes for salumi, cheese, fruit, bread and wine as much as I do - reason #421 that we make a good team.
We tried out five meats ($20 a pound is more than we are used to paying for our typical New Seasons' selections but we splurged to try the well-lauded Salumi. The Mole was incredible - like nothing else we've tried - the Finnocchiona too peppery - the hot Sopressata surprisingly yummy to this non-spicy girl. I could go on and on but this isn't a food blog so I'll stop and say that F & D will be a regular stop on Fridays. yum