On the Needles

I'm trying to use up yarn in my stash.
This Rowan pattern, called River, is a light airy shawl.
I'm using a mohair yarn that just happens to be the same color as the pattern photo.
They call the color smoke in the specifications.
True to the name it seems to disappear.
I love watching the pattern evolve with each row created.
This will be one soft wrap, but not quite as diaphanous as the yarn specified in the pattern.

Friandes aux amandes

For our celebratory inaugural dinner I made friandes aux amandes in mini muffin tins, easter egg tins and shell tins. It was quite an assortment of shapes. Next time I'll make them in madeline tins. I am in love with the shell pan. I finally figured out how to make the cakes slip out easily after they are baked. I have had some disastrous madeline bakings in the past where, after all the preparation, they were cemented into the pans. Grrr! These were lovely cakes however. I am in love with this delicate recipe. They would be perfect for a tea party.

Happy Inauguration Day!

Yeay!

Happy Day!
Cheers!
Good luck and Best Wishes Mr. President

Sunrise to a New Time

Due to the policies of the outgoing administration I have been ashamed to be an American for nearly a decade. My children have not known much of before all the mess that has been wrought upon the American image. After all the foreign policy catastrophes, although I have to grant the benevolent aid to earthquake and tsunami ridden regions of the farthest reaches of the world and AIDS help as exceptions, the policies of rewarding the crony rich and powerful with further riches, of lowering standards for environmental quality and enabling pollution to increase, to condoning torture, the callous disregard for the lives of our military personnel, to dismissing the Constitution, and the willful neglect of a glorious drowned city to name just a few instances, it is hard to believe that a new day is dawning tomorrow.

The dream of an intelligent thoughtful, considering, engaging President seemed a lofty goal and a steep hill to climb towards success. How could our country have re-elected such a bumbling idiot to a second term? It just further shamed me. Where would the country and the world have been if the Supreme Court had not handed the presidency to 43? I wonder if the depths of our condition had been widely different under a Gore presidency would the rise of 44 have been possible? Could it be that you have to reach rock bottom before enlightenment can occur to a nation? It's amazing to me that it took the emptiness of one's own purse to change the pulse of American contentment. That moment of gaze into that open purse couldn't have come at a better time. We are verged on a precipice and need the strongest leadership imaginable to convert the wrongs to goodness, health, fairness, transparency and peace. It is still so hard to believe that the country chose wisely after not such a good track record of many years.

I am in joy today. I am in joy with anticipation. I am an American again. I will proudly display my flags tomorrow. I embrace a new era. What a contrast of images, and worlds, between the sneer of the outgoing VP to the giddy gorgeous girls of the new President. The image of those lovely girls portends a glorious new beginning of possibilities for our own children and children throughout the world. I wish you good luck in your new job Mr. President. Thank you for stepping up when we needed you most!

Finished!

Knitting the last stitch of a sweater is exciting indeed. But it is far from finished at that state. There is all the weaving in of the yarn ends, then blocking and then sewing up all the pieces. This pattern was constructed far differently than other sweaters that I have made. The fronts and back were knit at the same time on a circular needle, while the pattern demarcates a side line or division between the vertical stitches of the back from the diagonal stitches of the fronts. The only seams were for the sleeves. The yarn is very soft, Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora, and the pattern is called Jess by Debbie Bliss. The pattern is pretty frumpy but will be a good throw on sweater for the spring. Yeay it is done!!! Now on to finish another sweater that doesn't have much further to go.

Needle Felting

Here's the latest needle felting project... an attempt at a Rufous Hummingbird.
I'd like to try to make lots of little birds.

Here's another photo from a few nights ago.

Something New

I'm going to try something new this year. We'll see how long it lasts. Each week I am going to quote something that I have read that just gets to me, makes me dream, makes me laugh or inspires me. This week's quote comes from the travel section of The New York Times article about Banff National Park, a place that I have long wanted to visit. Under a two page wide photograph of a single ice skater on frozen Lake Louise buried in the story reads:

"In the waning hours of the day, the town of Banff is lovely. The sun takes its time sinking into the west, and the deepening indigo of the sky limns the surrounding mountains with startling clarity." --Matt Gross

He hooked me. I want to go right now.

Back home on late Sunday night when the snow kept falling and falling until we had four inches by 10 pm Mr. and I went out for a walk. The stillness was punctuated by the crash of tree limbs under the weight of the snow in the woods. The whiteness everywhere created such light in the winter night. It was magical.

Happy New Year!

Timing is everything with forced bulbs, and it worked out perfectly this year.
The peak of bloom on New Year's Day. What a lovely celebration.
Happy New Year!

Just started a lacy wrap, called River, by Rowan.
This will take a while.