Let’s talk turkey.
18 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Family, Knitting Content Ahead
We are now less than a week from my FAVORITE family holiday. Growing up Jewish meant that the big family holiday was Thanksgiving, a tradition we continue today. Now my sister and I both celebrate Christmas with our husbands’ families, but Thanksgiving is still the big WOLF holiday.
This is the time of year that visions of pumpkin casserole and Grandma Ruthie’s homemade stuffing and of course that chocolate cherry Bonnie Maziotta cake dance in my head. Where we make the stuffing on Wednesday night and then on Thursday I put the mashed potatoes through the Foley food mill, and the little sis stirs the gravy. And we eat too much and talk and laugh.
It’s also the time of year I’m thankful: thankful for my family and most especially my wonderful husband, thankful that we all have good jobs and roofs over heads and plenty to eat, thankful that we’re healthy and happy and have survived another year.
The only problem is that this year I may have to go naked at Thanksgiving because I’ve been concentrating on what knitting projects I’m going to take. The yarn and patterns and implements are all packed, but nary a stitch of clothing. This is normal right?
In memoriam.
23 Apr 2011 4 Comments
in A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Family
James Allen Cameron
May 16, 1974 – April 17, 2011
We will love you and miss you forever.
I will always remember your wicked sense of humor,
your smile, and your toast to your big brother at our wedding.
The world just won’t be the same without you.
Christmas 2010
30 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Adventures in Travel, Family
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were awake, but cute as could be,
The cookies left out, plus milk just for he.
Me and my grizzly happy and warm
Another family evening, just one of the norm
Sooner or later we all went to bed
Arose in the morn, barely ‘wake and half dead.
White Christmas we saw, ’bout 8 inches of snow
Ate junk food a plenty, played cards and watched shows
Till on Monday we had to pack up the big van,
Filled with presents and luggage and nuts in a can
Hugged the family goodbye, and bid Christmas adieu
Sadly left little dude, hamming it up here for you!
A few more pictures…
30 Aug 2010 3 Comments
in A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Family, Off the Needles
I couldn’t resist posting a few more of my favorite shots from the wedding.
I love this one of the “maids”:
The father daughter dance:
The cake and incredible flowers:
And of course, a little knitting. The wedding gift:
The pattern: Wool Leaves by Jared Flood
The Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool, Lake Chelan Heather colorway
The Needles: US 15′s
The Verdict: I hope this enormous warm woolly blanket keeps Beth, her hubby and their future family wrapped in warmth, happiness and love for years to come!
Married off!
30 Aug 2010 1 Comment
in Family
This weekend I went up to Chicago for my little sister’s wedding! I can hardly believe that she’s married and on her honeymoon now. We spent a wonderful week getting ready, visiting with family and friends, eating good food and catching up. I hardly know what to say except I wish them both a lifetime of happiness and love.
The rest of the album can be found here.
Weekend trip!
02 Aug 2010 3 Comments
in Adventures in Travel, Family
This weekend I packed myself up and headed to Chicago for a quick 36 hour visit with the little sis and a bridal shower for her! I can hardly believe a year has gone by since she and her fiance got engaged and the wedding is fast approaching (the end of the month).
We got to run around and do various and sundry wedding errands and she appeased me by taking me to Trader Joe’s for some much-needed tasty snacks to stockpile at home. (since Kansas City has no TJ’s which is another story for another post!)
One of my favorite stops during the errands portion of the weekend was the Chicago Cultural Center. I hadn’t had reason to go before, but we went to grab some city brochures for out of town guests and Beth showed me the beautiful windows:
Saturday night was the shower. Managed to grab one pic of me and the little sis after the champagne toast!
And really, what trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to Wrigley Field? (though I admit this was just a driveby!)
Thirty-five years.
29 Jun 2010 3 Comments
Today my parents celebrate 35 years of marriage. I want to tell them so many things, but above all I hope they enjoy their time together for many, many more years. I love you both!
I wanted to do something really special for them this year, so I chose to make them an afghan. I chose the pattern and the colors to (hopefully) compliment their decor and style. I made it lightweight enough to snuggle under in those brutal California winters. And then I held my breath as I put it in a box and shipped it to California, only breathing again when it landed yesterday afternoon. Here’s hoping they enjoy it!
The pattern: Log Cabin Moderne by Mason Dixon
The Yarn: Elsbeth Lavold Sily Wool
The Needles: US 6′s
The Verdict: Love the simplicity of the style and the ease of knitting, even if the garter stitch gets a little tedious on the larger squares. Will definitely be knitting this one again!
Blogiversary
05 Feb 2010 4 Comments
in A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Family, Notes to Myself
Tomorrow marks 5 years since I started this “blog” thing. I can barely believe that it has been that long, but I have a cute little reminder. My nephew was born on February 1 five years ago. And look at him today:
Wes assured me that this voice changing Storm Trooper helmet would be the bees knees for a certain five-year-old.
Over the past year or two my posting has slowed down. Sometimes I feel like maybe I shouldn’t be blogging any more since most of my posts are related to knitting, and since Ravelry gives me a place to chronicle those. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve completely bored all (any?) of my readers to death.
But then sometimes I look back at old entries and find this really cool journal of my life over the last five years, and then I think that it doesn’t matter exactly when I post or what I post, but just that I do post.
In short, this isn’t an eloquent post but please accept my heartfelt thanks for hanging in there with me. Here’s to another great year!
Holiday Knits
30 Nov 2009 1 Comment
Since we usually spend Thanksgiving with my family, and Christmas with my in-laws, I’ve adopted the habit of getting my holiday gifts for my family ready for Thanksgiving weekend so I can deliver them in person. I’ve been working on the gifts for the past two months, but been unable to post since my wonderful family follows along here! Now that the gifts have been gifted however, I’d love to share them with you.
First up is my mom’s holiday present, a pooling stole. My inspiration for this has been Wenat, a talented knitter who has been perfect the technique of getting yarns to pool in various stole patterns. When I saw Wollmeise’s Agatha colorway, I immediately thought my mom would like it. So, a bit of mathematics and a little more knitting and I had a finished gift.
The Pattern: Falling Leaves Pooling Stole by Wenat
The Yarn: Wollmeise 100% Sockenwolle, Agatha
The Needles: US 7′s
The Verdict: I love the way this stole pooled! The pattern just accentuates the color shifts. I hope my mom enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed making it!
Second up is my sister’s present, an Ishbel out of some delicious merino, silk and bamboo Hedgehog Fibres yarn. When I visited my sister this past spring, I wore a shawl of mine. She commented that she liked it very much. So I posed a theoretical question: if I were to knit her a shawl what color would it be? She wanted green, and when I saw this Malachite yarn, and it’s bluey-green tones I snapped it up.
The Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
The Yarn: Hedgehog Fibres, Merino/Silk/Bamboo, Malachite, 2 skeins
The Needles: US 6′s
The Verdict: The yarn is on my stalking list now. The colors were beautiful, but the fibre itself was luscious to knit with – so soft and silky! I also loved the way it opened up with blocking. I enlarged the pattern and the resulting shawl is large and drapey. I hope it keeps her warm!
The wild wild West.
30 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Fabulous Friends, Family, Weekend Update
Happy Holidays all! We just returned from my very favorite family holiday, the Stashbuckler Family Thanksgiving. There was beautiful weather, lots and lots of food, visits with friends, and catching up with family and it was much appreciated!
Wes and I took off a week ago Saturday to drive out to Los Angeles. With no major mishaps we headed cross country and hit Vegas on Sunday night. We spent a night at the Venetian in an amazing room, and then hit the outlets in Primm (getting almost 100% of our Christmas shopping done!) and reaching LA by late in the day on Monday. We had a brief stop to get cleaned up:
Monday night, we had dinner at my favorite Japanese place with Bel, and got to catch up on all that I’m missing in LA. Tuesday we went to lunch with my dad and then saw New Moon with Sean. (I enjoyed it purely for entertainment value…the boys weren’t convinced!) Wednesday we had breakfast with my old roomie, and then helped mom prepare for Thursday’s meal. Wednesday night, my sister and her fiance arrived and the family was complete!
And then just like that the holiday was over. On Friday morning we had breakfast with my aunt, uncle and cousin at the Christmas be-decked Mission Inn. And then we were on the road again.
We arrived into Kansas City this afternoon, and did our grocery shopping and laundry. Then we came home and put up the tree – my very first tree! I decorated with a few ornaments I’ve been collecting and then spent the rest of the evening wrapping gifts! Now I’m settling in to catch up on what I missed being more or less away from the internet for the week. Tomorrow I’ll share photos of the knitted gifts for my family since they all have them now!
