Things that make me happy

I think I'm a pretty easy-to-please girl. Perhaps the Tall Guy or my Dad or Er (my HLP) would say differently... but really, here's a super quick view of what has made this a pretty awesome weekend in my world.

We had a last minute, overnight visit from the Tall Guy's brother, his wife and most importantly.. my peanut. Perhaps I'm biased, but she's the cutest 16 month old I know! We were sad to see them head on to the rest of their vacation.

There's been knitting, reading and a package arrival! My first Sundara yarn! (In Prickly Pear)
The blue project is a gift, which you'll see the finished product and details in the not-so-distant future.


Sunburst tomatoes from the Farmer's Market are amazingly tasty. I ended up tossing them with a cucumber, a can of heart of palm that I chopped and a light vinaigrette. So good!

And these cherries were about to become sorbet. Refreshing and easy!

Not pictured? An adventure with Jessie to check out Knit-a-Go-Go's new shop, Fibre Space, dinner and hanging out with the neighbors, a baby shower for Woolarina and some actual down time with the Tall Guy. All in all, a great weekend.
Hope you're enjoying the summer as well!

What a chore

Supporting local business and eating locally made food sure is a chore.
But, I suppose I can try.
Moorenkos ice cream is pretty tasty in my book, with fun flavors to boot. This recent purchase (from the local Whole Foods, though we do take regular trips to the shop on Georgia Ave as well) was a pint of Orange Chocolate Chip and a pint of Red Hot Chocolate (complete with cayenne pepper!)

Another Ishbel?

This past weekend was a weekend dedicated to my hanging out with friends, neighbors, the Tall Guy and knitting. Lots of knitting. I had had so many projects that seemed to all be half done and it was driving me crazy.(Case in point, yesterday's Whisper). A lot of it, I haven't even blogged for one reason or another.
This project is part of a spring (okay, fine it's July, whatever) craft swap with my sister-in-law in Seattle. She's a sewer, I'm a knitter and we decided to trade gifts.To me, it's always really stressful to knit for someone you know, but don't know SUPER well. I made her approve the hanks of Claudia's and she liked them and then I made her okay the swatches, because I'm not a pastel girl. I really couldn't tell if this was pretty or not! That was, until it was done, and I blocked and pinned it out. For a teeny tiny second, I completely regretted the fact that I would be mailing her this piece. Once I came to my non pastel senses, I realized that she will wear this far more then I would and really, it has her name all over it.
I love it when that happens.

See, I told you I was knitting!

The Whisper Cardigan, finally done!
I realize the background isn't exactly meant for the pages of Vogue, and yes, I just got home from work, but just look at the sweater, okay?

Here's a close up of the knit fabric.

When I purchased this yarn at the Homespun Yarn Party in March, most of the light blue/teal was actually wrapped into the center of the skein, so I thought it was a mostly brown/dark blue hank. I love this finished fabric, but may not have bought it if I had known the true colors. Funny how much of knitting is serendipitous/happenstance.
The last time I mentioned this piece was probably in May! I had been working on it regularly, but mostly on commutes and the like. The only mod I really made was to knit the bottom section about two inches longer, since I had the yarn. I probably could have squeaked out another inch but, truthfully, with the every other row increase, I was getting reallllly sick of the long rows.
Overall, a great knit, but I think I'll like the overall shape of Hannah Fettig's other light cardi, the Featherweight Cardigan. I have some Malabrigo (okay, more the one option, really) that should be just right for this.

Edit: For those asking, the yarn I used was Sanguine Gryphon, Sappho base (a laceweight) in the colorway The Black Earth. Amazing yarn, it's like buttah :)

Yummmmm

What I have for dinner when the Tall Guy isn't around.
Personally, nothing says summer like a good, local, vine ripened tomato. *Love*
(Finished objects coming soon!)

If not knitting...then food!

I don't have much to show you in terms of knitting this morning. Everything is in limbo, or is lace, which always looks like a pile of yarn vomit until off the needles and blocked. So, instead, here's a picture of my breakfast.
As I mentioned the other day, I'm just trying to be an all round better food eater. This morning I made a smoothie with a banana, some frozen pineapple, a handful of frozen peaches I cut up last night before they started to go bad, about a half cup of greek yogurt (so good) and some orange juice. So easy, so yummy and a good amount of protein thanks to the yogurt (one serving has 23g of protein!). I love a bowl of Lucky Charms as much as anyone, but wow, this is just as easy as pouring a bowl of cereal.

I promise to not sabotage my blog in the name of food, but I'm currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and even if you don't decide to move to the country and eat only locally sourced food for a year, it's definitely worth a read! I'm learning a lot and the conversational tone of the book is allowing for me to still be able to read it at the end of a long day. I'm sure it helps that the author, Barbara Kingsolver is someone who's fiction I've enjoyed for some time.

And, last but not least on my food rant today... if you're ever in the Columbia, MD area, check out Great Sage. I read about this Vegetarian Restaurant on Lolly's blog ages ago and in the past month or so have made it there twice. It's tasty, organic and even the less adventurous will find something yummy to eat. I've tried a variety of things there and all of it has been very good!

Happy Saturday! I'm off on a walk; the weather in DC has been unseasonably amazing right now. Breezy, 70's and a total lack of humidity. Hopefully this will stay into August!

This holiday weekend was spent much more quietly then originally expected, but I didn't really have an issue with this. My poor Dad had injured his back right before the drive down to the DC area, making our 4th of July a calm day of hanging out, bbq-ing and super new puppy cuddling.
(Meet Sophie)
Needless to say, Annie was not happy when I returned home from my Aunt and Uncle's with the scent of another "woman" on me. The Tall Guy seemed to get off scot free, however.. in Annie's book, he can do no wrong.
This is one of the first pictures I took with my iPhone, so please excuse the quality. It's two skeins of Malabrigo Silky. I bought it without a clue of what I would do with it. Soon after, inspiration struck. Unfortunately, this will be a secret project, so you'll have to wait a bit to see the results.
Over the past few months, the Tall Guy and I been working to eat a healthier diet (we were already pretty good, but just taking it even further) and I've been experimenting with a variety of vegetables through our vegetable delivery service. Sure, it's not a CSA , but we're taking it one step a time here. Last week I opted for a pound of brussel sprouts. I've never cooked brussel sprouts in my life, but I was feeling brave and took the guidance of the Barefoot Contessa. Oh Lord. All I have been able to think of since Friday, was making this recipe again. So yummy. I wish I had taken a picture! At some point, I'm pretty sure I'll make the step to being fully vegetarian but, I'm not quite there yet and frankly, titles stress me out. All in good time.

Just curious

...can anyone tell me where June went? Really, I have no idea.
So far the summer is zipping along at a pace I'm not really fond of. Fast days in February? Sure, but now? When the weather has been okay for porch sitting? This makes me a bit salty.

Anyway, this loss of June is mostly what has caused a total lack of blogging. It has nothing to do with long busy work days , only made longer by commutes from hell (yeah, we live about a mile and a half mile from the Metro crash, so it's been a rough week +), a new toy, summer field trips, a terrible stomach bug and the usual assortment of trying to see friends. Nope. It all has to do with June disappearing.
In the meantime, here is some knitting to distract you.
This is the beginning of another Ishbel. This one is for my Sister-in-law. We're having a little craft swap; she's sewing for me, I'm knitting for her. It's Claudia's Handpainted fingering weight.
A few other yarn acquisitions have happened (Malabrigo keeps getting me while I'm down!) but, I haven't photoed any of it yet. Soon. I promise.