Tag Archive for 'holidays'

Hi Mom! 11May08

Happy Mother’s Day!

I’m sure you’re aware of it, but I thought I’d just take a moment to remind you how awesome you are. You’ve raised 3 pretty awesome sons (despite the fact that all you had to work with was 3 dorky little boys), and we’re all proud to call you our Mom.

mom and the boys

You’re an awesome Mom and a loving wife with a green thumb to rival Martha Stewart (who are we kidding, she pays people to garden for her!). You’ve always been there to support me and help me out, either by giving sage advice, or just sitting down and knitting with me. Heck, if you hadn’t taught me to knit, this blog wouldn’t exist today!

mom in chicago

And in these last few years, you’ve stood amazingly strong, despite all the stuff going on in your life, and I’m in awe of that. Your life is profoundly different today than what you imagined it to be, yet you’ve been able to roll with the punches, no matter how hard or fast they’ve come. Not content with having 3 sons and calling it a day, you and Dad took on the challenge of raising 3 of your nieces. I know that it’s one of the hardest things you’ve ever done, and I hope that when I’m confronted with a similar decision, I have the strength to say, “Ok God, I’ll do it”.

So thanks Mom. You’re the best Mom I could ask for. Even if you did have some crazy hair back in the 90’s.

totally 90's

(I’m so going to get it for that photo, aren’t I?)

How The Grinch 25Dec07

Learned to enjoy Christmas…

Merry Christmas everyone! I’m in quite a festive mood this year, which is a definite departure, as I’m usually a bit of a Grinch this time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with family and exchanging gifts, but the craziness of it all gets to me at times. This year however, I armed myself with the one two punch combo of hand knitting gifts and online shopping, so my retail excursions were minimal.

I did lose a bit of Christmas spirit today when I went into a certain big box craft store to find that the Christmas section was being torn down and replaced with Valentine’s Day. I was a bit infuriated, but any thoughts of tree burning were quickly squelched when I finished this little beauty.

how the grinch learned to love Christmas

It’s a Grinch Green Christmas Tree (pattern at Monster Yarn), and I love it ever so much. It was a gift for my extended family’s gift exchange on Christmas Eve, and it was well received, along with many requests for duplicates :) Nothing like a fun fur tree to make that Christmas spirit soar again.

how the grinch learned to love Christmas

Have a good one everyone! I hope your Christmas day is filled with food, fun and maybe even a bit of knitting. I finished all but one of my gift hats, and I don’t think the final recipient will mind too much if I gift his hat towards the end of the day.

hats galore

Musical Interlude 21Nov07

Oy vey, where does the time go?! It’s already been 11 days since the last post, and Thanksgiving is looming in the foreground like a 30 pound turkey. Also looming is the impending deadline of my final project paper for my Multiuser Detection class, but we won’t discuss that…(shudder).

I’ve been busy knitting, and am almost ready for the big unveiling of my first sweater. I have a few finishing details left this afternoon, but I’m almost there, and I’m happy that I can wear it for Thanksgiving tomorrow! (And that a cold snap just moved in, cause I really don’t want to wear the sweater if it’s still 70 degrees!) It will also come in quite handy for a weekend trip to Chicago this Friday, in a repeat of last year’s trip. I’m going out with both of my brothers, and am actually going to see Over the Rhine play a double header. I’m super excited to see them again, and to have a weekend to explore Chicago with both of my brothers. And yet again, I will completely ignore the fact that finals are in 2 weeks. ;) Now let’s just hope that there’s not massive amounts of snow in the next few days like last year…

And to disguise the fact that I have no actual knitting content until the sweater unveiling, I’ll distract you with a bit of trivia about myself.

Have I ever mentioned that I play the violin?

betcha didn't know

I’ve been playing since I was 8, and it’s something I really love. One day when I was in 2nd grade, a middle school orchestra came to my school, and I was enamored with the violinists. I actually walked around for a few weeks with a ruler and pencil, pretending I was a famous violinist, so my Mom figured she should enroll me in lessons. Now 15 years later, I still love it, and hope that I’ll be playing well into my senior years. Just this week, I joined the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, a local amateur orchestra that plays just for fun. I’ve been wanting to join this orchestra for a while, but it hasn’t worked out with my schedule before. It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve played with an orchestra, and I really have missed it.

So who else plays an instrument? I’m thinking it’d be awesome to start a traveling group with knitting musicians. ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! I’m looking forward to the big gathering at my parent’s house. I made my own pumpkin puree last week, and will be baking some pumpkin pies, pumpkin cheesecake and roasting pumpkin seeds for the big meal. I can’t wait for my big baking session tonight, it’s gonna be loads of fun. There’s so many things I’m thankful for this year, and so many things God has given me, that it’s really hard to pick one thing. So I think I’ll just try to be thankful for all the simple pleasures, such as pumpkin pie, classical music and sweater knitting. Not to mention a great time of hanging out with friends and family.

Happy Independence Day! 04Jul07

Happy 4th of July everyone! I’m off to the family cookout, to enjoy tender steak, tasty beer and a swim in the pool. Oh, and this little festive cheesecake I whipped up today ;) Looks pretty good huh? I think so!

it's a wonder I haven't snuck a slice yet!

I hope that whatever you do today, you get to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family, while celebrating the wonderful things that make the US a great place to live. Like fireworks! Have a great day everyone!

Being Ambidextrous Is Hard! 03Jul07

Thanks to everyone who left me well wishes on my burned hand, I appreciate them! Let’s just say that it’s not wise to touch the lawnmower exhaust 5 minutes after mowing the lawn…because this will happen:

ouch!

I spent Sunday evening holding an ice bag and attempting to do mundane tasks with my uncoordinated left hand, because my poor fingers hurt so bad. Let’s just say I hope I never break my arm, because it’s down right impossible to eat with my left hand, as evidenced by the stains on my shirts and shorts from that day. But thankfully, it doesn’t hurt anymore and I’m able to once again eat without looking like a 2 year old. Oh and reskein yarn too, cause that’s a fairly important task.

I haven’t tried to knit yet, but I think I’m gonna attempt some work on the secret stranded project tonight, since the herald of July signals that I don’t have too much time left to finish this one. I tried to enlist Dallas’ help to do a few rounds, but he seemed to be all thumbs when it came to holding both colors. And not to mention that he wasn’t too keen to be featured in another blog post after the last photo shoot. (My entreaties of “you’re an Internet superstar now, your public needs you!” didn’t seem to perk him up either)

dallas gets in a bit of knitting before bed

I guess that leaves it up to me to complete the hat on time ;) It shouldn’t be too bad though, I’m definitely getting better at holding one color in my left hand, and everyone’s tips were super helpful. For me it’s been a matter of just getting my left hand used to having some form of structure so I can tension the yarn, rather than sitting there like a limp noodle that occasionally pushes stitches forward. I’m able to wrap the yarn on the left without using my right hand to thread it now, so I’m making progress.

Speaking of progress, I’m also super proud of myself in the bike commuting arena. I managed to ride in 4 days last week, and would have done 5 if my legs didn’t collapse into a pool of Jell-O when I woke up on Thursday. But I’m getting stronger and losing weight (3 pounds last week!), so the results are very encouraging. It’s a bit hot for the ride home these days (today’s commute will be extra sweaty since it’s 97 right now!), but I seem to have managed so far. If anything, all the sweat just adds up to a pound here or there ;)

summer colorways

Be sure to go check out the Yarn Nerd site soon too, because this week’s shop update is live and ready for the taking. The new colorways above are inspired by some of my favorite summer time treats, and I think they’re pretty awesome. There’s still plenty to be had, but it might not last too long, so go check it out!

And tomorrow’s July 4, woo-hoo! I’m hitting up a BBQ/Pool Party and then checking out some fireworks, how about you? Whatever you do, make sure there’s knitting, and be safe!