What I’ve been up to

More travel! If I were reading my blog I would begin to think I lived a rather charmed life. And I would be right in many regards, although the past year has been quite exceptional in the amount of the world I’ve seen. Not only did I get to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing Switzerland (and Ireland), but I also finally got to go to New England. Ok, who am I kidding? I’m in Maine right now!

And last week I was in New Hampshire and Vermont. I am thrilled to say that they were both as beautiful as I’d always hoped. I have never before felt as immediately comfortable in a town as I did when I was in Hanover, NH. Although I have spent the last eight years in cities, I remain devoted to the country and found New England to be an enchanting mix of both. This circumstance is especially fortunate, given the reason for our trip was for job interviews of a sort for DH.

view from the hotel room in Lebanon, NH

on the road between Hanover, NH, and Burlington, VT

From holidays 2008

From holidays 2008

From holidays 2008

From holidays 2008

more Burlington, for good measure

Then there is the fact that the 14 inches of snow that dumped on Vermont while we were there confirmed to me that my decision to become a knitter was a prophetic move indeed (which reminds me: have I ever told you why I started knitting in the first place? DH loves football and loves watching football on TV, and I can’t even make it through a sitcom without a project. Makes me wonder about you all–what were the circumstances that led you down the dark alley of string addiction?).

I wanted to show you my proud display of knits–hat, scarf, gloves–in the holiday wonderland that is Church Street Market in Burlington, Vermont. I hope that you will please excuse the somewhat disturbing facelessness!

Another sighting in the wild–this Road to Golden was seen (on me) at the Skinny Pancake in Burlington, and that, my friends, is an apple and brie crepe. (I could describe it for you, but I hope you will get the chance to experience such goodness for yourself. Plus I am very full from another excellent meal at the moment and I don’t know that my senses can handle reliving this particular taste bud enchantment at the moment.)

These are the gloves I started for this trip. Thankfully one of the hotels had a sewing kit that included needles to sew in the ends, because these went much faster than I expected! The yarn is leftovers that I crock pot dyed with food coloring last winter. I’m quite pleased with these, except as you can see they are already heading down the path of pill after only a week of wear.

I do thoroughly enjoy commemorating days and events with knits like this. These will forever be my Vermont gloves. Does anyone else do this?

Hollyhocks and Monkey socks

Newly-transplanted and already-blooming hollyhocks are enriching my gardens this morning (thanks Mom!).

 

Another crop for the year was entirely unintentional. Some spry (and I suspect furry) little thief took off with my baby tomato plants a few weeks ago. I found out a few days ago, however, that he did not steal but traded. In their place he planted…a peanut, which is growing rapidly. Just call me Jimmy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other finds for the day include…

Louet “Northern Lights” roving in Toffee and Thunderstorms. Pretty fiber turns me into a little girl.

 

 

I spun an experimental few yards, and though I’ve been away for my wheel for quite some time, it still ne’er fails to please!

Isn’t it fantastic when your snacks match your socks?

 

DIY is just how I roll

A sudden and very welcome storm.

 

Pines, cornfields, and empty roads mean I must have been at my parents’ house in the midwest for the weekend.

And what was I doing there? Getting a new side view mirror, after mine got whacked off in an unfortunate incident involving my driveway, the neighbor’s fence…and me in the passenger seat (minor accidents such as this one are always much funnier from that angle than the driver’s). It took all three of us (mom, dad, me) to de- and re-assemble the door to get this thing working, and there were a few Red Green moments (can you believe I just linked to that? Me neither), but now I can change lanes with confidence once more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is really strange about these pictures (and interesting to no one except me, sorry!) is that I’ve always thought I had my dad’s hands, but here Mom’s hands are on the left, and mine on the right. Strangely similar! The only way I knew they weren’t my hands after much debate and scrupulous picture inspection was because of her wedding ring (And I took the picture, but who thinks of small details like that?).

 

 

Knitting! There was knitting!

S’mores socks on Saturday afternoon and Monday night (they were done on Sunday, actually, but who’s counting?)

(specs: Trekking #163. Size 0 needles. 68 sts with Wendy’s toe up pattern mashup- old short row toe & new heel. 2 x 2 ribbing up the leg. )

And he loves ‘em. What good taste my man has! And what good timing I have, to accidentally finish them just in time to be stuffed with Sm*rties for his birthday.*

*note: the picture is feet-filled socks, not candy-filled socks, which looked a little strange and took lots of effort for said candy extraction.

My garden grows…