Beautiful fall.
30 Oct 2008 1 Comment
in Learning to be a Midwestern Gal, Off the Needles, The Great Outdoors
Today I put Round 3 of interviews to bed and I’m feverishly hoping that soon I’ll have good news to share. Until then I’ll leave you with (of course) more knitting and some lovely pictures of fall.
The Pattern: Mega Cabled Scarf
The Needles: US 15′s
The Yarn: Sheep Shop, Sheep Two
The Verdict: This was a really fun, quick knit. Since you’re using bulky yarn and big needles the scarf goes like lightening. The only thing I might change is that I’d make the scarf wider across – a slightly larger, wider cable to keep me warmer. This one is going to live at a The Studio.
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With our recent cold weather, the city is beautiful right now; full of gloriously colored leaves. My favorite trees are the ones that look orange and yellow and red, but I like all the leaves. I’ve been dying to shoot a few fall pictures and I got my chance yesterday wandering through midtown on my way to UFO night at MisKnits.
A wonderful Saturday.
21 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
in Fabulous Friends, Knitting Content Ahead, The Great Outdoors, Weekend Update
Yesterday was an absolutely fabulous day. It started early. We got up around 8:30 to get ready for a day at the Renaissance Faire. With a few errands and a bit of breakfast we arrived a little after 10:30am to the huge Faire grounds in Bonner Springs. We’d bought our tickets the night before so we sailed on through the gates and started exploring. For the next few hours we wandered and saw lots of things.
There was the petting zoo for children. They had goats and pigs, and even a few alpaca!
We wandered through various shops of leather, glass, jewelry, clothing and more. We saw a variety of faces.
We watched the jousting tournament while enjoying good food and beautiful weather. We saw the king and the queen.
And we even indulged in a little fibery goodness – hand-dyed merino!
Around 4pm we packed it in and headed out north of the city. A former boss of mine was in town visiting his in-laws and there was a big party out on the farm. He invited us to join in promising great food and a band. He didn’t lie.
The estate was beautiful – over 600 acres of forest, soybean planted farmland and a beautiful lake. We enjoyed catching up with him and his wife, and meeting new people.
We took a hayride in a tractor.
And enjoyed a sunset.
And oh the food – several different kinds of smoked meat (smoked all day next to the lake – smelled wonderful!), and salads and sides, and dessert.
All in all a pretty spectacular day.
Weekend in photos.
20 Jul 2008 Leave a Comment
in A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Domesticity, The Great Outdoors, Weekend Update
We managed to accomplish quite a bit this weekend. Yesterday we did wedding and clothes shopping, ran errands, and found a tasty lunch. Last night we saw Hellboy II – I liked it a lot better than the first. This morning we got up really early and went out to kayak at Longview Lake. We trolled near the shores looking for wildlife, and enjoyed photographing a beautiful water lily garden. Then we came home and I started working. I have irish soda bread baking right now, and I just turned the rest of our CSA peaches into a healthy peach cobbler – I’ll post the recipe if it turns out well. Now for some knitting and maybe a nap. Oh yes, and the pictures:
1. Dock, 2. Wes & I Kayaking, 3. Shadow Water Lily, 4. Water Lily, 5. Water Lily Garden, 6. Water Lily, 7. Gnarly tree, 8. Tree & Sky, 9. Fresh peach cobbler!
Holiday Weekend – Parte Deux
26 May 2008 1 Comment
in Off the Needles, The Great Outdoors
For the rest of the Holiday weekend Wes and I have been relaxing and enjoying ourselves. Yesterday we got a late start and decided to take the bike out and explore around the area. We went about 25 or 30 miles due south to visit the Louisburg Lake and scout out kayaking opportunities.
Since it was Memorial Day weekend there were plenty of campers down at this quiet little fishing lake, but it was still beautiful. By the time we got there, the sky was almost cloudless and a really pretty blue (of course on the way there Wes and I got caught under the ONE raincloud in the entire blue sky!) The day was gorgeous – warm and humid, but not too hot in the shade. It was a totally peaceful ride out and back.
Then we hit up a new restaurant (new to us that is), Amor de Brazil. It is a Brazilian churrascaria. Basically you come in and visit the salad bar and then you have your choice of 15 cuts of meat. Gauchos wander in and out of the dining rooms with fresh meat on the rotisserie spits, just waiting to cut slices for you. We tried leg of lamb, top sirloin, chicken wrapped in bacon, pork loin and a few others. There were also amazing sides – garlic mashed potatoes, polenta, lightly fried bananas, cheese bread and grilled cinnamon spiced pineapple. It was absolutely amazing. It’s a little on the pricey side, but if you’re up for a treat, you should check this out!
Lastly, I finished the tank I’ve been working on. The inspiration from this came from the wonderful colors of SWTC’s Tofutsies yarn. I’ve been wanting to make myself a tank top out of it for quite a while. When I was A Mano in April I mentioned that and they suggested I make a sample!
The Pattern: I loosely based this on Grumperina’s Picovoli – but once I got the original stitch count going, I kind of worked it on my own.
The Yarn: SWTC’s Tofutsies in Colorway 728
The Needles: Addi US 2′s
The Verdict: This is a beautiful summer tank that took only 1 1/3 balls of Tofutsies. A steal, PLUS a pair of socks with your leftovers! I love this and can’t wait to remake it for me!
The Weekend Report
19 May 2008 Leave a Comment
in The Great Outdoors, Weekend Update
This weekend was full of sun, fun in the water and family. On Friday night Wes and I headed down to my in-laws for a belated Mother’s Day weekend, and to pick up his motorcycle and kayak a little. Well ok, kayak a lot!
Saturday morning we got up at 6am and headed out to the Kansas River. That early in the morning it was cool, and breathtakingly beautiful. After sa slightly rough hike down to the water’s edge, we set into the river. Although I had been a little nervous about rapid-flowing deep river water, I was wrong on both accounts. The water did move along, but it wasn’t super quickly, and in most places you could feel the sandbars beneath your paddle if you set it in too far. We lazily floated and paddled down the river about 5 or 6 miles, rescuing two duck decoys along the way.
It was around mile 6 that I started to get a little anxious about when we might be finishing. You see, for those of you that know me, you know that I was born tragically devoid of the sports gene. It’s genetic and it’s definitely inherited. After about 6 miles, the sun was out and it was warmer, the gnats and flies were enjoying us and my arms were getting a little tired. Unfortunately, Wes informed me that we were only half way there. Well we would have been halfway there if the map hadn’t lied… when all was said and done we kayaked 15 miles! (OK Wes towed me for a few of those but I did at least 10 miles myself!)
All in all it was a good trip, although I bowed out of doing it a second time this morning and let Wes and his mom make the trek. We saw lots of interesting things on the river. Wes and his mom even rescued an abandoned canoe this morning. But nothing amused us more than this “redneck fishing boat” moored at the side of the river.
