Merry Christmas to All!

(Have I mentioned recently how much I love my new camera?)

Finished Object: Super Secret Honey Cowl

I can finally reveal the supre secret Christmas present I was working on - because it is now in the recipient's hands! Or, around her neck as the case may be. My friend, Cindy, is moving away to colder climes, and I am going to miss her immensely. She has been a huge source of knowledge at work, and I am really afraid of floundering when she leaves in the new year. I hope this soft and warm cowl keeps her comfortable in her new surroundings.



Cindy wearing her cowl in The Corner Bistro.



Close up of the drape of the cowl. I may hate blocking things, but it is undeniable what it can do for knitted items.



Close up of the pattern.

The Particulars:

Pattern: Honey Cowl by Madelinetosh (Rav link)

Needles: Size 8 Aero circulars - 32"

Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Green Grey - 2 skeins

Would I knit this pattern again? Absolutely - it is a simple pattern and I really love the results. There was not much variegation to this particular Malabrigo color, but I would love to try this again in a color with more changes.

My Fierce Green-Belted Girl

Willow passed the green belt test in Tae Kwon Do this afternoon - look out purple, she is coming for you next!

Quickie Book Review: For Darkness Shows The Stars

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. For Darkness Shows the Stars is based on my favorite Jane Austen novel, Persuasion, so I knew that I would be interested in the story, even if just for comparison's sake - but 40 pages into the book I was crying, just like I had with the original book. Peterfreund's setting, world, and history-building intrigued me, and I really wish maps had been included so we could find out where this post-ERV civilization lives. My heart hurt for Elliott in this book, and I think it is a credit to Peterfreund how much I wanted to pull Elliott and Kai together so they could just talk about what happened when they were younger and see how much they mean to one another. I know Persuasion doesn't have a sequel - but part of my wishes this story could continue the Cloud Fleet's adventures and see what remains of the world.

View all my reviews

The Tree Is Up!

Our tree is up!



Willow and I started decorating last night, but we came to the conclusion that we couldn't put up the glass ornaments. Between the over-inquisitive toddler and cat, they wouldn't even make it to Christmas. However, without all my pretty glass ornaments, the tree was quite bare. We were in Michaels' last night, and picked up a container of 50 shatterproof balls - so we finished our decorating this morning.



Piper and Willow worked very well together to put up the new ornaments.



The two troublemakers - you can see all the balls clustered on the bottom - that was Piper's contribution.



Two seconds later the cat snagged one of the balls, and Piper scooped it up and gave it back to me. She looks so innocent, doesn't she?!?!



This one? Not so innocent. Kept looking for low-hanging fruit and made decorating a much longer process than intended.



My new ornament - normally I don't like ornaments with dates on it, but he's a penguin! And he has knitting needles and a ball of yarn!



One of my favorite ornaments - I know it is a cheapo disco ball, but the little mirrors reflect light really well and look so pretty at night.



Willow and the tree. Piper was supposed to be in this pic as well, but she decided she had better things to do (pulling out all of the hurricane lamps - sigh...).

Quickie Book Review: The Haunting of a Duke

The Haunting of a Duke by Chasity Bowlin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story - part Gothic mystery in a Jane Austen-like setting, part paranormal romance, it had engaging characters and a smart heroine. The author had me guessing until the end who the murderer was, and I hope that the introduction of the hero's friends means that there will be additional books following this one.

I won this book in a blog contest from http://romancingthedarkside.blogspot.com

View all my reviews

Finished Object: Piper's Little Sister Tunic (take 2)

All I wanted was a nice picture of Piper in the tunic sweater I finished for her last night - still and smiling at me. This is what I got:


Piper climbing the footstool, threatening to jump down.


The action pose


Refusing to face me, but at least you get to see the back of the sweater.


Punkin! Mama punkin! (She later tried to bounce the pumpkin like a ball...)


Okay - she's standing still, but I am not sure with the bereft look on her face.


All laid out on a pillow.

The Particulars:

Pattern: Little Sister Dress (Rav Link)
Needles: Size 3 16-inch circular
Yarn: Joann's Sensations Breeze
Would I knit this pattern again? Definitely! This is the second time I have knit this pattern for Piper, and I really like it. It is seamless, topdown, and allows for many adjustments in style, length, and yarn.

Finished Object: Willow's Washcloth Shawl

If you have been following along on Facebook, you know that I recently had an issue with bugs in my acrylic stash. I am not sure when this started, but am beyond grateful that I normally bag up my more expensive wool, so that stash was not really touched by my purging a few garbage bags full of yarn.

This project wasn't touched by the bugs (which I believe to be carpet beetles, but the bugs guys will tell me for certain next week), but seeing as that it hasn't been bagged and has been languishing on the needles for 4 years, I thought I had better just cut my losses and change what was supposed to be a lap blanket for my sunroom into a shawl for Willow.

We went down to the Wilmington Riverfront yesterday to have lunch at Iron Hill Brewery and play at the Delaware Children's Museum, and took advantage of the great scenery for the pictures.  The light was not fabulous in this direction, but it was the only way I could get Willow to open her eyes. I need to start carrying around sunglasses for my special snowflake or I will not get any decent pictures.



This was the first picture attempt (after much cajoling/teetering onto yelling on my part, she agreed to have her picture taken with her eyes closed) - with better light.



Wilmington in the background - it isn't the prettiest city on the East coast, but like the rest of us, it is attractive at the right angle.



The Particulars: Pattern: Grandmother's Favorite Washcloth (Rav Link) - completed about halfway.
Needles: Size 10.5" 36" circulars
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun, 2.5 skeins in a blue/green/grey colorway
Would I Knit This Pattern Again? As a washcloth, sure! As a blanket (as this project was originally intended) or a shawl... eh, maybe not. The monotony got to me after a while, and Homespun isn't my favorite yarn to work with.

A Better Finished Object Post - Nichole Cardi

This is not a new finished object. In fact, this is a sweater that I completed back in May - but at that time, it ws much too hot to wear, and it was a bit too big for Piper. So, it was washed and folded, and put away for a cooler day.



Well, that day was today!


Piper telling me that Merlin (our neighbour's great dane) is barking.

I'm actually accomplishing two things here - taking better pictures of Sam's great sweater pattern, and playing with my new camera! Andrew gave me a Canon Rebel EOS T3i DSLR - this was my anniversary, birthday, and Christmas present all wrapped in one. Oh, I love it :)


Watch me climb the stairs!


Whee!


Dog dog! (The playground is near the dogpark and there are always dogs walking by.)


See see! (There was an airplane in the sky.)


I love swings!


Me and my beautiful girls.

If you would like to see my original blogpost about this sweater, you can follow this link. If you would like to find the pattern on Ravelry, it is called the Nichole Cardi and it is a great, quick knit.

Remember

This is my grandfather.

Score!

Look at what we just picked up half off at Target:



It's a great deal, because Willow will be able to do double duty with this dress next year between Halloween and the PA Rennfaire.



She looks gorgeous, doesn't she? It's a little scary to think that your 10 and a half year old daughter fits very well into Ladies size small clothes. Even scarier to think that next she will be wanting to buy prom dresses...

Happy Halloween!

Piper loved trick-or-treating! We only went to a few houses (Willow went out with school friends), but she was the hit of each house she went to. We hadn't mastered 'Trick or Treat,' but she could show people she could roar and say thank you. She also picked out her costume herself! About two months ago we were in Old Navy, and she picked this costume off the hook, wouldn't let it go, saying, "Mine! Mine!" She's definitely a kid who knows what she wants.

Update - 4pm Monday

I don't know how many more videos I will be able to take - it is just going to get darker as the storm gets closer.

Monday 1:30pm Update

Sunday 5pm Update

We're as ready as we are going to get, now we just have to sit through this thing.

Anyone Have a Dinghy We Could Borrow?

This path took me by surprise. Of course, the forecast of Sandy's path has been shifting the last few hours - when I woke up this morning, it was extreme lower Delaware, then midday it had moved up to Northern New Jersey - and just now when I checked it... it looks like it is going to cut across Cape May and then Middletown, Delaware. Middletown is about 20 minutes south of here.

We have supplies, candles, and are charging all the electronics... wish us luck.

Piper Apres Le Diner

I have a real finished object post coming - just too tired to do it tonight. Here's a messy picture of Piper instead.



One day she will stop smearing food on herself, right?

Orange-belted Willow

Willow has moved up to the next level in her Taekwondo classes! This one has been a long time in coming, not necessarily because it was more difficult, but because there were so many weekends in the summer where there were no classes or she had a conflicting birthday party to attend or we were in another country... Willow says that what she likes best about Taekwondo is that Taekwondo gives her the means to control herself when she gets angry or aggravated by other people.

Onto the green belt!

Chicago Trip: The Good and the Bad

I know I don't talk much about my job here - other to say how much I love it - but earlier last week I had the chance to travel to Chicago and not only participate in a large industry conference, but present at it as well. This was the first time I had been able to present, and I was very excited about it. Here was the view of my hotel room on the 36th floor:



Pretty nice, right? I loved coming back to the room - I would pull the curtains open every time so I could see the water.

Here was the view from the window near the elevators on my floor - I can't get over the color of the water here - it looks so tropical:



Here is a close up and you can see the Navy Pier with ferris wheel from same elevator window:



Are you catching the theme here?

Yeah, I didn't leave the hotel for three days. 

Don't get me wrong - I didn't have my nose to the grindstone the entire time - I did attend many sessions and learned so much about how things are changing in my industry, as well as met many of my counterparts with other companies and government agencies.  The thing is, I got really sick... as in worship the porcelain god sick - the night before my presentation.  I wasn't sure at first if it was food poisoning or nerves, but it was horrible.  The next morning, I checked my text messages, and there was a note from Andrew saying the girls had been sick all night... Poor Daddy.  This was my first trip away from Piper, and I was so worried about how she would take it - I hadn't anticipated at all that a stomach bug would take us all down.  I love my husband for being here with the girls and taking it all in stride.

So - the good?  I stayed in a nice hotel with a beautiful view, learned some interesting stuff, and gave a kick ass presentation.  Despite the unpleasantness of the night before, I felt much better by the time 4:30pm rolled around.  I really wasn't nervous at all (you know me - I love to talk and teach people stuff!)

The bad?  This was my second trip to Chicago (the first being 2 years ago when I was 6 months pregnant with Piper to the same conference), and I still haven't seen much of the city.  It looks like a really cool place and I do hope I get the chance to come back and explore it one day.   And maybe eat some of its famous food?  I teased my boss and told her I was saving the company money because I only managed to eat 3 meals in the 3 days I was away.  You would think that would have me losing weight, but no such luck!

Piper Picasso

Before Piper was born, my friend Tracy gave me this Crayola Color Me A Song easel. Her son had received two for his birthday, and he didn't need two. I took it home, put it the baby-to-be's closet... and promptly forgot about it until this past weekend. I popped in new batteries, gave Piper her Crayola Twistables Crayons (the only ones she will use without eating), and she went to town!  It's a cool toy - the faster you draw or colour, the faster the music goes, and you can choose one or more instruments to play as you draw.  I've even caught Willow playing with it, trying to see just how fast she can make the music come out.

So, it's been nearly two years - but thank you, Tracy!  Piper loves it!

39 Years, 10 Months, 22 Days

Yep, that is how old I am today. And that is how long I lasted before having to dye my hair to cover the white. I used to pull the white hair out (the ones I could find, anyway), but they were coming in too fast for me to keep up with. And to make matters strange, my white hair is stick straight, in direct contrast to my naturally curly hair. Someone up there is just messing with me.

It won't be straight tomorrow - and to be honest, I am surprised it is as straight as it is right now considering the extreme humidity and flash heavy rainstorms we have been having all day.  I'm really happy with the colour - I went into the salon with something more red in mind, but the stylist convinced me that this would be a better colour for my skin tone.

Here is a less smiley picture - but shows how the cut is angled toward the front:



Okay... someone remind me about upkeep in 6-8 weeks?  That's the part I always struggle with - remembering to keep it looking pretty.

Arden Fair 2012

Piper, Willow, and I went to the 105th Annual Arden Fair yesterday, and it was a beautiful day for it. Andrew wasn't able to come with us because he had to help his Dad with a project, and I was a bit apprehensive on how I was going to manage Piper and all her gear. Willow is a great help, but you have to park at Hanby Camp and catch a school bus to the Arden Fair - which means lugging the monster stroller, diaper bag, and Piper up and down the bus stairs, maneuvering over people...

Gah.

I'm happy to say that there were some really nice people on the bus. One lady in particular - she came out of the bus, got the stroller for me, carried it on, and kept it beside her on the bus at the front so I wouldn't have to carry it to the back. When we arrived at the fair, she was the first one off the bus, and she set up the stroller and waited for us to get off so we could get Piper in it. Thank you for the kindness of strangers!

We arrived at the Fair right when it opened, and the first thing I did was buy my large bag of Kettle Corn. It's delicious, and they make it there for you! Normally I get the Kettle corn on the way out, but then you always have to wait in line with all the other people who are thinking the same thing.

We walked around a bit and checked out the different vendors (everything from food to tie-dyed clothing to herbal stuff to art to dolls - there is even an antiques section) and then went to the midway to go on some rides. Now, the truth be told, Willow is getting too big to go on these rides, but being the best big sister in the world, she folded herself into small places went on these rides with Piper.

They went on the Thomas the Tank Engine ride:



The Rocket Ship ride:



And then, since it wasn't crowded yet, Piper and Willow went on the swings. I wasn't sure what to expect - Willow at this age was terrified of swings, but Piper is apparently a speed demon.



Excuse the quality of the above photos - I forgot my snazzy cameras when we went to the fair, so I was limited to my cell phone.

We also bought some stuff from the vendors - here is our loot:



Piper bought a fleece skirt, Willow bought a pretty hairband, and (no surprise!), I bought yarn. Now I just need to find something I can knit with 150 yards of DK weight handspun. We left the fair just before noon, and so probably missed most of the crowds, and that was fine by me. I wouldn't want to do this again without another adult around, but I'm glad that with some help of some strangers we were able to manage the bus situation with all the toddler equipment.

*****

My Dad has been hassling me about not updating the blog frequently. I know I haven't done my vacation recap yet, either - but that one is taking some thinking through since I have 100+ photos to choose from. But the truth is blogging hasn't been terribly rewarding of late. In my last 8 blogposts, I have had 5 comments. Total. I get much more of a reaction from people when I post my content on Facebook. I honestly don't know if people just don't read blogs much anymore - or whether it is just my former steady stream of readers, like me, have grown up in the last 8 years or so and blogging doesn't have a place in their lives anymore. I don't know what the solution is... but I think in the meantime my Dad needs to set himself up with a Facebook account so he can see the almost daily pics I post of the girls.