First snow! November 5, 2009

Ok, so this actually happened a few weeks ago but I had to share these photos of my co-worker Darcey and I playing in the snow on the way back from a local mountain-bound school. This place is called Mount Rose Meadows and is one of the best places to snowshoe in the winter… There isn’t quite enough snow just yet, but a first snow is still exciting! I certainly enjoyed it…even though I wore my Chacos that day.

The meadows...

Darcey was a little cold...

...and so were my feet...

But the meadow was beautiful...

and the trees were frosted with white...

Hooray for snow!

With colder weather upon us (hopefully), I am looking forward to some of my favorite cold weather activities, knitting and cooking! (I know, I know, I do these year round. It’s just so much easier to make excuses when it’s cold out!) Many new projects and yummy experiments to come….

A new home…and Tamales! November 4, 2009

So, Nick and I found a new place! SO excited! It’s right in the neighborhood we want to be in, directly across the street a good friend of ours, and just blocks from the Great Basin Community Food Co-op, delicious restaurants, cute boutiques, and the area doggie park…what more could we ask for? It also has hardwood floors throughout which was a non-negotiable for me. I will post pics as soon as we move in and get settled…we get the keys and sign the lease officially on the 15th. Can’t wait to have our own little place!

As a final send-off to our old house, we hosted one of our famous tamale parties on Sunday, the 1st. It was a lot of fun and as usual, we had many people filling our home–close to 40 actually! It always makes me feel so loved when so many show up to grace us with their presence. I’m sure part of it is the good food, but I really think everyone enjoys being a part of our family for an evening. Here are some pics of tamale production… unfortunately none are of the final product as they were eaten before I could get pics. The tamales were accompanied by homemade mashed pinto beans, spanish rice, and homemade salsa.

Getting my hands dirty making more Masa...

Tamale production in full swing...

Monty making guac...

Beautiful avocado...

Yummm...

Wallace is camera-shy...

Thank you to all the wonderful friends who filled our house one last time… here’s to many more get togethers in the new house!

Napoleon complex… September 23, 2009

Happy 1st Day of Fall everyone! I have been so busy since the last post getting to know my amazing new Macbook Pro! Thank goodness the learning curve seems to be curving less these days and I am finally feeling comfortable. For the most part, Mac’s are pretty intuitive, but there are still things to be figured out. Mostly, re-building my life has been the hardest part. I lost a ton of photos and that makes me sad, but it’s given me a chance to start fresh too which is kind of exciting.

Besides working my little butt off the last two weeks, I’ve also been busy knitting on the Napoleon Vest in Blackstone Tweed by Berroco. I loved this pattern the moment I saw it, and I knew it would be the perfect addition to my fall wardrobe. What is cool about it is that it’s knit sideways so you can adjust the chest size as needed. I happen to be in between sizes so it works out perfectly for me! Here is what it should look like when it is done:

Napoleon Vest

Here are a couple of other things I have been obsessing over lately too:

Moving. Nick and I are gearing up to get our own place! How about these for our moving notification cards?

or these that I saw on Lis’s blog:

Fleuvog Shoes. One word: Adorable! AND they look so comfy…

SingleBbeautiful Jewelry. Simple, beautiful, unique, conflict free. Because it’s time to start thinking about such things…

hmm...

Well, back to being sick on the couch… Maybe it’s time to make some homemade veggie soup… Soup is ALWAYS good when you are sick. Especially on cool fall nights…

Dog days… August 14, 2009

Summer has been pretty busy for us, and aside from me starting a new job (back at Sierra Nevada Journeys), i’ve been super busy with the garden, trying to finish up some knitting projects, and getting ready to release another pattern. We’ve managed to have lots of summer fun as well…and it’s not even over yet! Here are some pics of what we’ve been up to so far:

Some knitting FO’s and projects:

For a little one in Kansas...

Multi-directional Scarf...

A little shoulder wrap...

Malabrigo love... Hats!

The garden is huge and on the brink of producing tons of veggies:

May your garden grow...Squash!

Tomatoes!

Nick and I went to the LIFE conference:

Visited beautiful Lamoille Canyone for a week....

Lamoile Canyon- Ruby Mountains

Wallace loved Lamoille too...

I won’t be working at Jimmy Beans Wool anymore after a few more Sunday shifts. I will still be teaching classes though. I will miss the yarn shop a lot but I feel like job at Sierra Nevada Journeys is more personally rewarding for me in the long run. More on that later and less general blog posts coming soon…

So much to say. May 26, 2009

It’s been a hectic couple of months and I apologize for my absence. I’ve been doing more work with Sierra Nevada Journeys, dealing with computer and internet issues, and of course knitting like crazy. Because I don’t really want to make this a long-winded post, I will just include pictures of a few projects and use some of my spare time in the next week discussing them here more at length. So here they are:

Ishbel from Whimsical Little Knits, in Noro Kureyon Sock this one is for me...

...this one is for my mom.

Started my first EVER pair of socks...

Bottom's up!

Slouchy Vintage hat pattern coming soon...

Made my own yarn....adventures in spinning...

And general silliness all around...

Will post more details of my last couple of months later this week as I enjoy my days off. Lot’s of gardening planned for the next couple days as well as some sewing fun too. Stay tuned…

Now blogging at Jimmy Beans Wool! April 11, 2009

Just dropping in to let you all know that I will be blogging also on the Jimmy Beans Wool blog site. I will continue to post here as well, but until I find my camera charger, there won’t be much to show. (Yep, i’m a big lame-o.) I will have plenty of cool new projects to share soon though. I promise. I’ve been quite the busy bee lately. Until then, check me out at JBW!

Basic Neckie Recipe Now Available! March 22, 2009

Hey all, just dropping in really quickly to let you know that my Basic Neckie Recipe is up at Jimmy Beans Wool for FREE! Yep. That’s right. I’m published! You can use the direct link here. Happy knitting all. I’ll be back in a few days to show off some new projects!

The Owls have landed. February 13, 2009

I present to you my version of the Owls! I finished two nights ago but then needed to buy buttons and block it. I am so excited to wear these little guys! My housemate Carolyn and I took Wallace to the dog park today and frolicked out of the pasture and into the nature walk area. We were able to get a few good pictures of me modeling the sweater. I didn’t need to modify it that much, only added a couple of inches to make it more tunic length on me. I could have made it a bit shorter actually but i’m pretty happy with it. Here they are:

I’m taking the Owls roller skating tonight. My friend Dan is having a roller skating birthday (silly, I know) but I have a feeling that for him its going to include some amount of alcohol and lots of silliness. For me, it should be interesting. I haven’t roller skated since that one night in my freshman year of college when we got bored and decided to go. It’s been about 8 or 9 years since that night and i’m not sure if i’ll remember how to do it. Anyway, should be interesting!

I forgot to mention… February 7, 2009

I completely forgot to mention this yesterday as I was so excited about the Owls! Kim over at Kim’s Crafty Apple, who I sold a Neckie to earlier this fall, interviewed me for her blog and then published it a few days ago. If you are interested, please take a look at the interview and also her blog. She is a lovely gal who makes some very cute things as well. Thanks Kim for the feature!

By the way, there are still some cute Neckies for sale in my Etsy shop, and winter isn’t quite over yet!

The Owl is taking flight! January 27, 2009

Okay, so today I made a snap decision and I am going to begin the Owls sweater by Kate over at Needled as my next project instead of the Sylvi Coat. Kate is hosting a contest and when I saw that, I thought to myself, “Who has two thumbs and loves free stuff? This guy!” (pointing at myself of course.) I am still working on Prudence, but as we knitters tend to do, we start a new project while the other is still going. Anyway, after much deliberation, I am going to knit the Owls in Lamb’s Pride Bulky in the Brown Heather. Now, I know this isn’t the fanciest of yarns, but I absolutely love it! I use it for so much already (even Sylvi), and I really wanted to try something new with this project. I considered the O-wool Bulky and Rowan Cocoon, but this particular color of Lamb’s Pride Bulky kept calling my name, and I just decided it had to be. My co-worker Sandy over at JBW even said, you have to use what is right for the project. I concur!

So i’ll be getting the yarn this weekend and starting early next week hopefully giving myself enough time to push through Prudence quite a bit more. I’m just getting a bit bored with knitting stockinette in the round forever and ever, with a few decreases and increases in there for a bit of interest. Of course, all of this is with a DK weight yarn on size 5 needles. I’ll be happy to trade them in for a size 10 or 10.5 and some bulky yarn. As cold as it is here in Reno right now, i’ll be read for a nice new warm sweater to wear! And then of course comes Sylvi, as I already have the yarn stashed away and glaring at me from my yarn shelving and saying “knit me, knit me.” I promise my lovelies, I will knit you soon…