best thing i've seen today...

this! i know it's likely you've already seen it (what do the kids call it now? "viral?"), but if you haven't, please watch the whole thing. maybe i'm just pre-menstrual, but it almost made me cry with how dang sweet it is. my personal fave would be the slow-motion part.



i just got back from dinner and a drink after a ceremony for a memorial statue for a friend who died almost two years ago. he wasn't a close friend - but he was one of those people who, when you were with him, made you feel like a close friend, like you had known him forever.

i suppose, since this is my knitting/crafting/making things with my hands blog, that i should report in on some of the stuff i've been working on? i've been addicted to a black, crazy, bobbly wool cardigan a la forecast - i'm on sleeve number one, FINALLY. i have finally met my match - bobbles become no longer fun to knit after about, oh, the first round of them. maybe when i'm done i'll count the bobbles. alos? black knitting is difficult to take photos of.

there are a few other things in the works. maybe i'll try some photos later. pics or it didn't happen, right? isn't that what the kids are saying?

and just so this isn't all boring old lady text, i give you: what my bathroom window looks like every day in the summer when i return home from work. serene, right?

the kid...

this kid just cracks me up. "what the heck are these ARM things?!" my nephew, benjamin's, latest youtube update. and look! he's wearing one of the onesies i made for him!

self-portrait roundup...

yes, i have still been doing my weekly self-portraits (more or less weekly, that is). i've just been absolutely horrendous at posting them, apparently. so here's the roundup - from the last time i posted one until now.

ready. set. go!
5.29.09. on the steps of the school across the street from my house, which will soon be torn down to make way for a parking lot for the new, much less interesting looking (but likely nicer) school.


6.3.09. i fully maintain that everyone should own at least three pairs of brightly colored tights. at LEAST.


6.11.09. my new ruffly-butted swimsuit.


6.21.09. what way too much heat and no a/c looks like.


6.26.09. nighttime pony races at churchill downs!


7.2.09. spinning with sparklers on kirkwood ave.


7.11.09. and, even though this was in my last post, it was also my self-portrait for the week. me (30) in my house and me (4) at the lincoln park conservatory.

baby boy benjamin goodies...

my good friend, jes, in san diego sent me a lovely care package a few months ago, which included luscious, beautiful moda dea tweedle dee yarn in a lovely blue-purple combination. i had to figure out what the heck to do with it, of course. i had made the munchkin (aka the nephew, aka little benjamin, aka jammin) a hooded summery blanket out of cotton yarn, so i decided he would of course need a winter blanket soon enough in the great pacific northwest. i searched through an ancient knitting book my grandmother gave me years ago. it is chock full of nearly every stitch pattern you could ever want. i decided on something simple that would look nice from either side of the blanket ("striped fagoting" was the winner). next, off to the LYS for two matching shades in nice lamb's pride bulky, and i kicked off the knitting.

we have a blankie, my friends. a nice, wooly, bulky throw that i think will work wonderfully tucked in around a carseat or laid out on the floor for the wee one to practice his rolling skills. we have side one:


and side two:


well, as always happens, you've either got plenty of yarn leftover or just barely not enough. this time, we had quite a bit extra. what next? baby sweater! i followed the mossy jacket pattern because, well, it looked like a quick, easy knit and i had never tried it before. i'm pleased!


in other news, i have managed to restore my hair to its four-year old status. rock what you know.

things that make me smile...

i can't get enough of this video. seriously, just watch it.

oh, and did i mention?

I AM AN AUNTIE! meet benjamin damon, born early monday morning, 6/29. and i am in LOVE.




little jammin, rocking out while sleeping out.