Is it just me?

Or does anyone else think that the Barnum's Animal Crackers that come in the funny box (below) are a million times better then any other kind of Animal Cracker?

Just sayin'. The ones in the bucket (below) just aren't as good!

That said, I googled the crackers only to discover there is a lot of controversy over these Barnum's Crackers. Most purists are saying they are cookies. I say. Who Cares!

Brrrrrr!

Baby, it's cold here!!!
We left Providenciales this morning at 6am and it was cool and breezy. By cool, I mean about 70.
I'm now home, and it's 30 degrees. Yikes!
A quick run down of what we did and did not do this week...

• We went snorkeling (twice)
• We went sailing (the Tall Guy more then me)
• We slept in.
  
• I rarely knew what time it was
• I ate a lot. (Um. Fresh ceviche and conch salad? Of course I'll take seconds!)
  
• I drank more rum in a week then I had in the last ten years
• I took a yoga class (one, it was 30 minutes, I don't think that really counts)
  
• I relaxed
• I did pretty good with my sunscreen (I'm not known for being good at sunscreen, mostly I'm good at getting streaky sunburns)
• I read:

Away, Amy Bloom
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
Marley and Me, John Grogan
and I'm nearly done with: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Horston

• We watched the inauguration from our hotel room. For a fleeting moment, I was sad to not be in DC. Then I realized I saw more on TV then I would have on the Mall and I was off to find another Pina Colada.
  

What didn't happen...

• I didn't do much knitting. I have a cuff of a sock to show you. And the start of a scarf I'm still not in love with. That's it. I just had no knitting mojo this week and I'm a-okay with that.
  
• We didn't see any sharks while snorkeling. (Though there was a turtle, barracuda and eel!)
  
• I didn't bring home any seashells or coral for my collection. I'm not sure why, except that it just seemed better to leave it there.
• I didn't party til all hours. We were in bed every night before 11pm and I was loving it!

So now, I'm back. I'll be knitting again and have more to show you. I'm refreshed and in good spirits. Now, the Tall Guy and I are off to plan our next adventure!!

And we're off!

The Tall Guy and I are off for a week of fun in the sun.

Or, as we like to think, we're leaving before the entire District is under siege with tourists and Secret Service.
Stay warm, ya'll!

It was a mitten year..

These mitts mark the third pair I knit for this years holiday season...
As I mentioned a week or two ago, these mittens are the same pattern as these ones.
Same yarn (different colorway of course), same needles and then only a couple of mods.. the biggest was one I snagged from my friend Jessie. Basically she (and then I) shifted the cable so that it would be more centered and then continued it to the very tip of the fingers, instead of stopping it when you started the decreases. You can see hers here.
The only other change I made was on the wrists. I did a k1p1, but twisted the knits so it would be a bit more snug for my sister. She lives and goes to school in New Hampshire, where it's pretty much been snowing non-stop since December 1. She'll need the mittens this year!

Pretty...

I just stumbled upon Hazel Knits yarn... I don't have any in my stash and I probably won't buy any immediately (the stash is a bit out of control right now...or just at max capacity), so I'm trying to be good.
Her colors are gorgeous!!!


Photo from the Hazel Knits Etsy site, saved to my server.
You should go buy some of her yarn and tell me about it. Or, buy it for me, my birthday is in March! (Well, it's worth a try!)

The Noro Scarf....

I had been admiring the ubiquitous noro striped scarf from brooklyntweed for some time and then, this fall, the Yarn Harlot blogged about it. She sucked me in, just in time for the perfect gift for a co-worker-turned-friend.Details:
Pattern: The pattern is from brooklyntweed, as I mentioned, but it's really just a generic seed stitch (knit one, purl one over an odd number of stitches)
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite, two skeins. I have no clue what colors. I'll try to find the ball bands, if you're really curious.
Needles: Size 8 Brittany Straights
Modifications: I cast on ten less stitches then Jared for 29, and used Silk Garden Lite, instead of regular. A normal length scarf came out of two balls.

Have a great weekend, if you don't hear from me, we have friends from Boston coming into town, I'm very excited!!!

Go New Hampshire!

What's wrong with me? I haven't given a shout out to my home state since at least a few months ago!!!

Picked up from my hometown paper's website... the Portsmouth made BailyWorks Bags have made it into a Mercedes commercial. Go John Bailey! Check it out here. (And yes, our household owns 4 different Bailey Bags, you should own one too). Here's the BaileyWorks website. There's also a pretty funny mention at the end of the article about a city resident using his bag to fend off an attacking fox recently. Oh man, I miss NH!

Lorna's = Love

I'm starting to fall in love with Lorna's Laces.
I decided to whip up a pair of socks for the Tall Guy for part of his Christmas Gift... he had been hinting around for another pair, so under time constraints, I went with a worsted weight/size six needle type of sock.Pattern: Thuja Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces, Worsted Weight, 1.25 skeins, in Edgewater colorway.
Needles: Size Six Addi's Lace
Mods/Details: I increased the stitch count by 4, and used Magic Loop instead of DPNs.

In the end, the pattern was fast, easy and fun. I expect I'll be making more of these, as the Tall Guy hasn't taken them off since I gave them to him.

In other news, we're leaving in a week for a vacation, also known as a belated honeymoon (Turks and Caicos).
I am so ready. My book pile is ready!

Cupcake anyone?

In addition to normal life activities, my quest for the best cupcake in DC (or anywhere, really) continues. I have simply been remiss in telling you about it. Oh well, these things happen.

Around Halloween, I hit Hello Cupcake.I picked up six for a small dinner party and in the excitement of eating, we all forgot to take a picture. From memory, I know I got a Spice one(seasonal), a 24 carrot (carrot cake), a vanilla gorilla (vanilla w/peanut butter), a lemon and I think a chocolate chocolate. Reviews were positive from all (we cut up and shared), but not overwhelmingly life changing. They have a decent, revolving selection and had a handful of tables for people to hang out. Not a bad joint at all.

Just before Christmas, the Tall Guy and I were in Georgetown and I finally made it into Georgetown Cupcake.
I am never happy to wait in a line. It's the impatient New Englander in me, but I sucked it up, and the Tall Guy obliged my desire to try these infamous cakes, even though neither of us were hungry. The shop itself was total chaos, with one tiny table, and the atmosphere was one where you wanted to choose your sweets and get the heck out as fast as possible.
We picked out four to go: Coconut, Red Velvet, Vanilla w/Chocolate frosting and for the life of us both, we can't remember the fourth one. What I can tell you, is that they were a-maz-ing. It's a really good thing that it's CakeLove(ick) and not Georgetown Cupcake that's walking distance from my house...I would be a very pudgy Pia otherwise.

At this point, there are a few more places for me to check out, but Georgetown is winning right now!

The gifts continue

The parade of gifts marches on...
Socks for my aunt.
You may or may not recognize these from last year. My aunt loved them so much last year, she asked for the exact same socks again this year. I just changed the colors. If only Cascade Fixation was manufactured in better colorways! Sorry about the poor photo quality, I had a really hard time getting these socks in the best light.
Details: Broadripple Socks
Needles: Size three magic loop
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, 1.75 balls, not sure on color

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009! I can only hope that 2009 is as good and better then 2008 was for us, with (hopefully) slightly less travel.

Here is one of the holiday gifts this year.These were for the Tall Guy's sister. Given the winter Seattle is having right now, she was psyched for some new winter mittens!
Details: Basic Cabled Mittens
Yarn: Malabrigo, about 60% of a skein, green (not sure which one)
Needles: Size 6 Addi Turbo's (I did Magic Loop for the body of the mitt)
Mods: None, except for using Magic Loop instead of DPNs.
For another pair I did for my sister, I shifted the location of the cable slightly, but I'll tell you all about it when I show you that mitten.


I didn't knit as much as normal this year, my energy was less then average, so it just wasn't happening. We spent the week of Christmas in Detroit with the Tall Guy's family and now this week, my family is visiting us in DC, which has been awesome; otherwise, I wasn't' sure when I would see my side for the holidays!

Off to make dinner for eleven! Happy New Year again!