Caricia

My mini Caricia worked up beautifully and quickly and I have quite a bit of yarn left over. Blocking pictures never quite do it for me but they do show the pattern wonderfully. I really like that the upper border edging is knit as you go so there isn't any funky picking up or anything when you think you are finished. When you're done, you're done. Another fantastic thing about this is that the yarn did not rub off on my hands as I worked with it. I think that may be a first for me and my love of uber dark blues and it's a really really good thing. This is a mini shawl - just large enough to wrap around my neck and loop bandana-style to wear under my coat. I like this size, it gives all of the satisfaction of knitting lace triangles without the wearability issues of a larger shawl. If I use my knitting time to knit lace then I really want it to be wearable and not languish in the closet waiting for a "nice" enough reason to wear it. Plus it's a good size to use up all of that sock yarn stash that seems to be multiplying on its own. Isn't there some type of math equation that shows a correlation between the breeding rate of rabbits and the rate that sock stash seems to grow? If not, there should be, because even when I don't buy sock yarn for a while I go to my stash and I swear there's more of it. Really.

Jay Blue

I'm finally back from the last round of vacation craziness. California was lovely and the weather? Oh, 70-ish most of the time I was there. Ate at my favorite place (the Buddhist Temple restaurant complete with working monastery) and hung out with my family and even got an evening sans Little One so I could hit up a midnight movie which I haven't done in forever. But I'm home and I have lots of knitting to share but my batteries in my camera are dead and I have to get some more before I can snap and upload.

I'm about 99.5% finished with NaKniSweMoDo with just a little bit of blocking and finishing left to do on the last sweater. I had started a little shawl called Caricia out of this gorgeous skein of Hazel Knits, lost it, found it again, and realized there was a mistake in the setup chart. I frogged and restarted and am halfway done with the main chart. Well, I have 4 out of 9 repeats done in any case. It's a pretty flower basket lace pattern and it works well with the deep color of my yarn. The yarn itself is awesome to work with and for once the blue is not rubbing off on my fingers.

Post-Birthday or Birthday Post?

So my birthday was on Saturday and I got to do some fun stuff with my BFF (hee) who is visiting for the week. We went and watched Where the Wild Things Are which is AMAZING!!!!!!! Great all around and I love the soundtrack. I didn't really feel that it was a movie for kids though, maybe the older kid crowd? It was emotionally intense even for me and I'm relatively grown up. Nickie cried and honked her schnoz which kept me from boo-hooing. Post movie we hit up my favorite (cheap) mani-pedi place and got our relaxation on. Not a bad way to spend an hour. Lunch at Panera Bread since we were in the area and I had a hankering for panini. Relaxation at home with the Little One and the Man. Dinner at my favorite fancy-pants vegetarian restaurant Carmelita and a bottle of Persecco later and we headed home for a little movie watching. Not a bad way to spend a birthday.

Yesterday's Goodness

Piroshky, Piroshky - flaky, buttery, potato-filled goodness. I ate two.
Experience Music Project - oral history room had awesome interviews with people like Michael Azerrad, Sleater-Kinney, Exene Cervenka, and more.
Science Fiction Museum - surprisingly good and I loved all of the Blade Runner items.
Dahlia Bakery - tasty iced tea, we didn't do treats since we were saving ourselves for....

SERIOUS PIE. Yes. I ate a very serious amount of pie. My fave was the chanterelle & truffled cheese pizza. Even better, they have happy hour!!! 3$ pints of Maritime Lager and 5$ mini pizzas. The mini pizzas are half the size of the regular pizzas and include all the flava-flaves from their regular menu.

Slackerdom

I am a total slacker. I keep writing posts in my head but not actually posting them. I have finished stuff to block (approximately 2 sweaters and a ton of mittens) and share with y'all but it seems like so much work to do it. My house is a wreck and I have company coming today! I've been waiting for my fridge to be completely devoid of anything resembling food before replenishing it. The extent of tidying that has gone on this week is minimal: bed made every day, bathroom cleaned, cloth diapers laundered. And why is this happening? I've been spending a lot of time working from home before I'm laid off the last week of October. Yeah, my 2 month stint turned into almost 18 months and while I'm not looking forward to losing that income I am excited about spending more time with my Little One. I'll be a real live stay at home mom. That is something that I never thought I would do or even be exciting about doing. But there it is.

I have been doing more socializing though. I went to my knitting group as usual on Monday and last night I went to Theo for a stitch & bitch with chocolate tasting and yarn from Earthues. They had some sample yarn that was just gorgeous and squishy and it made me want to snatch up the whole load and run for the door. I learned about natural dyes and worked on the Man's boring boring brown socks. After picking up some Ghost Chile Caramels I headed over to El Camino with Jessica where I proceeded to drink two very strong but tasty margaritas and eat some guac with plantain chips. !!! Easily more tasty than tortilla chips because they don't get soggy plus they hold a lot of guac and salsa. I'll definitely be heading back there, preferably by bus, so I can stuff myself full of deliciousness.

There's No Place Like Home

Back from Kansas and all things Wizard of Oz, flat, and corn-filled. I had a great time with my family and it was actually relaxing. The high adult/kid ratio worked well in everyone's favor so I had a little time with my siblings sans myriad children. I loved meeting my nieces and my nephew. The Little One was a bit overwhelmed by the sudden immersion into a large and raucous household but it stood her well for playmates and socializing. An added bonus were the mirrored closet doors in the living room which she licked thoroughly before we returned home. I'm glad to be back in Seattle with the changeable weather and my own little house and the Man. Kansas is very flat and green and pretty in a wide-open-sky kind of way. But I don't like how far everything is spread out and that Downtown Wichita is bare of people on a Saturday afternoon while the suburbs are bustling. It seems backward somehow. They get a D- for vegetarian fare but an A+ for Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburger which has a delish veggie burger, shoestring fries, and a dense, creamy, mouthwatering concoction called frozen custard. Yum.

Now We Are 3

Today is my three year wedding anniversary with the Man. He took the day off of work and we're going to scoot down to Atlas for 5$ lunch and then go to Tilth for dinner tonight. What happens in between is kind of up in the air. Maybe the beach? Maybe the park? Definitely getting ready for my trip to Kansas since I leave tomorrow morning with the Little One in tow. I'm not really looking forward to my two-leg flight although my layover is incredibly short. I would almost prefer a longer one so I could walk around with the baby and have a leisurely lunch before jumping on the next plane. As it is I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to eat between the 8:45 take off and the 4:15 arrival. Bleck. It'll be worth it to see my family all together, I think it has been at least three years since I've seen my brother. Sadly, the Man will not be coming with me since he is going on tour with his band in October (East Coast!) and couldn't get so much time off from work so close together. So today is for us to hang out as a family unit and bask in each other's awesomeness before we're separated for a week. Happy Anniversary!