This is all sort of weird. Rachel called me to say that she and Margot and another friend or two were going to (actually, when they called they were already on their way) head down to Falls Church to see Margot's boyfriend. Didn't know when they'd be back. Don't wait dinner. Bye.
I know, I should have been getting used to this when she was 16 or so. I love it now, but it is strange.
Current Reading
I've give up on both Dakota and whatever the title was of the other book I mentioned. Dull. In the case of the Grimes, dull and sort of preachy. And unbelievable. In the case of the other book, just not anyone I cared about reading any more about.
So I've picked up the new Peter Robinson, Friend of the Devil. Now this is satisfying. Just a good, well-written, appealing English police procedural. I rank him up there with Reginald Hill.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A Chicken in Every Pot
So, I get home from work this afternoon....what's this?
What's going on in the kitchen?
Roast chicken for dinner. Have I mentioned lately that my daughter's a pretty nice person to have around?
It'll be a late dinner, but it'll be good.
(Rachel tells me I should resize these pictures so that people can't click on them and see how filthy the kitchen is. So....don't click. But hey, it's a working kitchen.) (Edited to add: Hmmm...she's right. Sometimes details are not a good thing. And the lumps on the chicken? It's not tumorous...we shove garlic and butter under the skin. Yum.)
And dinner was fantastic. Roast chicken, orzo, caramelized carrots and zucchini. Yum.
What's going on in the kitchen?
Roast chicken for dinner. Have I mentioned lately that my daughter's a pretty nice person to have around?
It'll be a late dinner, but it'll be good.
(Rachel tells me I should resize these pictures so that people can't click on them and see how filthy the kitchen is. So....don't click. But hey, it's a working kitchen.) (Edited to add: Hmmm...she's right. Sometimes details are not a good thing. And the lumps on the chicken? It's not tumorous...we shove garlic and butter under the skin. Yum.)
And dinner was fantastic. Roast chicken, orzo, caramelized carrots and zucchini. Yum.
Impulse Purchase
So, like millions of people out there, I get the weekly emails from Herschnerr's, telling me all about what delightful novelty yarn they have on sale. Usually dreck. But this morning's mail was all about stuff that they "found during inventory." Which included 11 skeins of Noro Kureyon in a good color combination, which they had priced at $4.97. What a deal! I threw them in the cart immediately. Now to see if I got them or if someone else had beaten me to it. Could make a really nice Clapotis. Or a Lady Eleanor. Or a vest....
But...nice deal, right? Tell me I'm right. I'm feeling a little guilty, here.
Margot is visiting with us for a few days, saving Rachel from terminal boredom during her spring break. It's interesting...Margot drives, and loves driving. So they are running out to the store while we're gone. Yesterday they ran down to the mall for some shopping. At 9 o'clock last night they went out, with a "I have my key. We'll be back!" and went to the diner down on York Road. It's just so...young adult. I love it. (Though it would have been nice to tell your parents where it was you were going when you went out last night. Hem hem.)
Knitting...the back of the cardigan is close to the neck division...therefore close to done. (Heh. I spread the back out on the couch last night to measure the length and Gizmo arose from his nap, walked over, sniffed the sweater for a second and then curled up on top of it and started purring. And shedding, of course. Thanks, bud.) The scarves (Oak Leaf and Son of Serpentina) are moving along slowly. (Perhaps because....I'm not really working on them! Do ya think?!) The baby sweater is calling me but I really want to finish one of these scarves before I start another project. But there isn't much exciting to take pictures of.
Current Reading
Well, after a string of really good reads, I seem to have hit a slump. I finished the Denise Mina. It seemed a lot less lean then the earlier books. Less edited maybe. And I really disliked something that Paddy Meehan does at the end of the book. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I think I might be reluctant to pick up the next Mina.
Then I read a slight YA novel called Just In Case, by Meg Rosoff. A cover blurb compares it to Catcher in the Rye. It's not that good. Or my appreciation of self-obsessed, morose, clueless teenagers is missing. Though the cover of the book is really nice. Some of the leave are satiny-metallic. Too bad the contents aren't as appealing.
Next, I've started Martha Grimes' latest, Dakota. So far I have to say....eh. (It's a sequel to Biting the Moon, which, come to think of it, I don't think I liked that much either.) I put it down with about a third read and picked up Making It Up As I Go Along, a book I got at Daedalus a couple of weeks ago. It's also fairly eh. Female reporter with brand new baby leaves Sierra Leone and her lover (who doesn't know about the baby) to come home to LA, where she has been left a $5-10 million property by the woman who raised her and whose natural son is trying to get the property. Scenes of brutality in Sierra Leone alternate with lunches in Beverly Hills...and not in a good way.
Perhaps I need to start Red Seas Under Red Skies.
But...nice deal, right? Tell me I'm right. I'm feeling a little guilty, here.
Margot is visiting with us for a few days, saving Rachel from terminal boredom during her spring break. It's interesting...Margot drives, and loves driving. So they are running out to the store while we're gone. Yesterday they ran down to the mall for some shopping. At 9 o'clock last night they went out, with a "I have my key. We'll be back!" and went to the diner down on York Road. It's just so...young adult. I love it. (Though it would have been nice to tell your parents where it was you were going when you went out last night. Hem hem.)
Knitting...the back of the cardigan is close to the neck division...therefore close to done. (Heh. I spread the back out on the couch last night to measure the length and Gizmo arose from his nap, walked over, sniffed the sweater for a second and then curled up on top of it and started purring. And shedding, of course. Thanks, bud.) The scarves (Oak Leaf and Son of Serpentina) are moving along slowly. (Perhaps because....I'm not really working on them! Do ya think?!) The baby sweater is calling me but I really want to finish one of these scarves before I start another project. But there isn't much exciting to take pictures of.
Current Reading
Well, after a string of really good reads, I seem to have hit a slump. I finished the Denise Mina. It seemed a lot less lean then the earlier books. Less edited maybe. And I really disliked something that Paddy Meehan does at the end of the book. It left a bad taste in my mouth and I think I might be reluctant to pick up the next Mina.
Then I read a slight YA novel called Just In Case, by Meg Rosoff. A cover blurb compares it to Catcher in the Rye. It's not that good. Or my appreciation of self-obsessed, morose, clueless teenagers is missing. Though the cover of the book is really nice. Some of the leave are satiny-metallic. Too bad the contents aren't as appealing.
Next, I've started Martha Grimes' latest, Dakota. So far I have to say....eh. (It's a sequel to Biting the Moon, which, come to think of it, I don't think I liked that much either.) I put it down with about a third read and picked up Making It Up As I Go Along, a book I got at Daedalus a couple of weeks ago. It's also fairly eh. Female reporter with brand new baby leaves Sierra Leone and her lover (who doesn't know about the baby) to come home to LA, where she has been left a $5-10 million property by the woman who raised her and whose natural son is trying to get the property. Scenes of brutality in Sierra Leone alternate with lunches in Beverly Hills...and not in a good way.
Perhaps I need to start Red Seas Under Red Skies.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Oh, Baby, Baby!
Shandy asked a question yesterday about knitting for office-mates babies. She wondered how I decided what to knit. Well, with the Saartje booties and hat I made earlier, I just chose something I wanted to knit. This time, with some more advance notice, I decided to try to do something I would be sure the mom would like.
So I handed her this questionnaire:
Someone gives you a baby outfit that requires hand washing. You:
a) Think "Hand washing?! You mean, with my hands?!"
b) Put it away until Junior stops throwing up...say, when he's thirty.
c) Think "Oooh! I love hand washing beautiful things! And laying them flat to dry is a joy!"
d) Let the baby wear it once and then stuff it in a basket to hand wash "someday."
You have a little boy. You and your husband:
a) Want that kid in blue...all the time...only blue. Or perhaps grey with pinstripes.
b) Like bright kid-like colors.
c) Have no preferences at all.
d) Can't stand the following colors: ______________
Someone give you a stack of bibs and burping clothes. You think:
a) "Burping clothes? Do they know my husband that well?"
b) "How thoughtful!"
c) "What are these again?"
d) "Yeah, fine. Not exciting though."
You think cute but silly hats are:
a) Perfect for babies. Who else could you force to wear them?
b) Cute...but silly. No kid of yours is going to be caught wearing them.
c) Perfect. May I have one in my size?
d) Unbearable.
The colors and/or theme of your baby's nursery is:
a) Nautical
b) Jungley
c) Oh, lordie, what room are we putting the baby in?
d) Fill in the blank ________________
I plan to diaper my child:
a) Ick.
b) With disposables...if they were good enough for me, they're good enough for my kid.
c) With cloth...if they were good enough for my parents, they're good enough for me.
d) Again...ick.
In this case, we know the baby is going to be a boy. (Which is a pity, because I really wanted to make the Miss Dashwood bonnet from Knitty. Maybe for the next baby.)
And in case anyone is interested, the mom's answers were: d, a (with the addition of green and tan), b, c, d (airplanes), and b and c.
This sweater is cute, the yarn is very soft and machine washable. And it's blue. I think it'll do. I may, if I feel energetic, also do a bib or some burping clothes.
So I handed her this questionnaire:
Someone gives you a baby outfit that requires hand washing. You:
a) Think "Hand washing?! You mean, with my hands?!"
b) Put it away until Junior stops throwing up...say, when he's thirty.
c) Think "Oooh! I love hand washing beautiful things! And laying them flat to dry is a joy!"
d) Let the baby wear it once and then stuff it in a basket to hand wash "someday."
You have a little boy. You and your husband:
a) Want that kid in blue...all the time...only blue. Or perhaps grey with pinstripes.
b) Like bright kid-like colors.
c) Have no preferences at all.
d) Can't stand the following colors: ______________
Someone give you a stack of bibs and burping clothes. You think:
a) "Burping clothes? Do they know my husband that well?"
b) "How thoughtful!"
c) "What are these again?"
d) "Yeah, fine. Not exciting though."
You think cute but silly hats are:
a) Perfect for babies. Who else could you force to wear them?
b) Cute...but silly. No kid of yours is going to be caught wearing them.
c) Perfect. May I have one in my size?
d) Unbearable.
The colors and/or theme of your baby's nursery is:
a) Nautical
b) Jungley
c) Oh, lordie, what room are we putting the baby in?
d) Fill in the blank ________________
I plan to diaper my child:
a) Ick.
b) With disposables...if they were good enough for me, they're good enough for my kid.
c) With cloth...if they were good enough for my parents, they're good enough for me.
d) Again...ick.
In this case, we know the baby is going to be a boy. (Which is a pity, because I really wanted to make the Miss Dashwood bonnet from Knitty. Maybe for the next baby.)
And in case anyone is interested, the mom's answers were: d, a (with the addition of green and tan), b, c, d (airplanes), and b and c.
This sweater is cute, the yarn is very soft and machine washable. And it's blue. I think it'll do. I may, if I feel energetic, also do a bib or some burping clothes.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Rabbit, Rabbit
Remember that thing from childhood where, if the last words you say at the end of the month and the first words you say at the beginning of a new month were "Rabbit, rabbit," you'd have good luck all month? I never did remember to say it.
Just a quick post before I toddle off to bed to show off the yarn I bought in Fredericksburg. The colors are all going to look a little washed out, I think, because the sun was so bright this morning when I took the pictures.
First off, some Noro Matsuri - 87 % cotton, 13 % wool. Very very soft. I'm thinking scarf. Maybe more entrelac. Maybe for me. Who knows?
Then, a pattern and yarn for making a baby sweater for an expectant mom in the office. She's due in June, so I have a little time.
Sirdar's Tiny Tots in denim.
And lastly, some Mission Falls Cotton...they have a sample sweater there in this. A really lovely cardigan with random stripes of about eight different colors....it's one that shows up in their ads all the time. Anyway, I picked up some random colors to play with for a scarf or something. A pure impulse buy.
I went into the shop (It's called the Knitter's Cottage and is on William Street in Fredericksburg) telling myself that I wouldn't buy anything that I could find at The Black Sheep. But there was very little overlap. One thing I would say...they didn't seem to have any "local" yarns or hand-dyes...all big operation yarns. Noro, Debbie Bliss, Colinette, Mission Falls, Cascade. It's a nice shop. I could see stopping there again sometime.
Just a quick post before I toddle off to bed to show off the yarn I bought in Fredericksburg. The colors are all going to look a little washed out, I think, because the sun was so bright this morning when I took the pictures.
First off, some Noro Matsuri - 87 % cotton, 13 % wool. Very very soft. I'm thinking scarf. Maybe more entrelac. Maybe for me. Who knows?
Then, a pattern and yarn for making a baby sweater for an expectant mom in the office. She's due in June, so I have a little time.
Sirdar's Tiny Tots in denim.
And lastly, some Mission Falls Cotton...they have a sample sweater there in this. A really lovely cardigan with random stripes of about eight different colors....it's one that shows up in their ads all the time. Anyway, I picked up some random colors to play with for a scarf or something. A pure impulse buy.
I went into the shop (It's called the Knitter's Cottage and is on William Street in Fredericksburg) telling myself that I wouldn't buy anything that I could find at The Black Sheep. But there was very little overlap. One thing I would say...they didn't seem to have any "local" yarns or hand-dyes...all big operation yarns. Noro, Debbie Bliss, Colinette, Mission Falls, Cascade. It's a nice shop. I could see stopping there again sometime.
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