I forgot...

like usual, to take pictures of the things I made and sent off in Knitter's Coffee Swap Four! So, I will have to do the next best thing and link to what I sent Jodi. There's a funny thing about us being partnered.... she lives around the corner from where I lived in Chicago, of course, I left Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood in August of 2000 for Boston. At the time I barely crocheted - mostly baby blankets, and using yarn from big box craft stores... A lot has changed.

Anyway, literally days after I had sent off my last Knitter's Coffee Swap box, over a year ago, I found the perfect fabric to make a project bag or something from. I wasn't 100% sure I was going to do the swap again, but since I enjoy a good cuppa Joe myself, I figured worst case scenario, I would make something for myself... Instead, I joined the swap again, and made a project bag out of the fabric. I realized after the fact that since the fabric was so light colored that it would be a much better lining, so I dug into the fabric trunk, realized I had some brown striped wool left from a pillow I made and that it matched quite well w/ the coffee fabric. I still have some coffee fabric left, maybe enough to make a new handle holder for my kettle... we'll see.

My next sewing project should be a cover of some sort for the tub spout... Smush insists on sitting right up next to it in her tubbie time... and occasionally knocks her head on it, nothing serious yet, but why wait! I tried to purchase a plastic one at Target that had a cute firefighter duck on it, but, of course, it didn't fit our spout...

my new hat!!!!!!

my first attempt at cabling has been completed...

only a small mistake in how I followed the pattern, but I will definitely make this again, and next time will follow the pattern (which was actually written a little wonky, so it wasn't really my fault...) but the yarn is so soft and delicious that it was a breeze to make, worked up quickly, and I will do it again! (with a different yarn, of course, so that I have 2 new hats to wear!)

sorry for the flash - not sure how to turn it off on this camera...

nap...

let's play Smush's favorite new game... Nap... we find a spot, any spot, it could be the floor, it could be a bed, it could be the sofa... we lie down and for about 3 seconds... we nap. yep. 3 seconds. if that. Luckily she takes a real nap of about 1hour15min. mid-day... because these play naps, well, they don't add up to anything. Okay, off to nap...

coffee confusion...

You know you have lived in too many cities when you can't even remember the name of your favorite place to go get a cup of joe! On my initial Knitters Coffee Swap 4 questionnaire I answered that I loved to go to Coffee Tree Roasters in Chicago for my coffee... the only problem is that Coffee Tree Roasters is in Pittsburgh, not Chicago! If my partner, Jodi, hadn't been from Chicago I would have remained confused... however, luckily, I now, think I have it straightened out. I used to go to The Coffee and Tea Exchange when I lived in Chicago!

And, you might ask, how many cities have I lived in... well... I grew up in West Hartford, CT, went to college in Ithaca, NY, lived in NYC for 2 years, then moved to Chicago, IL for grad school, lived there for 5 years (in 5 different apts!) and then to Boston for 1 year to teach. After Boston I got a "full-time/tenure track job" and moved to Pittsburgh for 3 years, where I might have actually stayed... I mean I even bought a house, BUT... then I met my husband, and so, the moving boxes came out again, and here I am on Long Island!

Knitter's Coffee Swap 4 Questions

Yep, back again, for another go round... I had so much fun last time that I decided to do this again... the only "fly in the ointment" as my DH says, is that since I am pregnant I am so NOT into coffee at the moment... but, since this happened last time, too, I know that when I deliver the belly I will begin to crave the coffee again. So, this time it will have to sit and wait for me, but I am okay with that!
QUESTIONS
1. Whole bean or ground? whole bean, please - grinding is part of the ritual
2. Fully-loaded or decaf? fully-loaded
3. Regular or flavored? regular, unless the flavoring is provided by spices actually added to the beans, ie Trader Joes Winter Blend which has pieces of cinnamon, peppercorns and cloves actually in w/ the beans the be ground together
4. How do you drink your coffee? w/ half and half is preferred, but if I have had meat and really want coffee, w/ some sugar and no cream (will explain this more below)
5. Favorite coffee ever? can't really say, but I really enjoyed the Blue Mountain Roast Blend from Coffee and Tea Exchange in Chicago when I lived around the corner... actually anything from there was awesome!
6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? not so picky, but have had some "old beans" I regretted...
7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? mmmmmm....treats... you mean besides chocolate? well, we really like the Trader Joe's A Fig Walked into A Bar cereal bars... We keep kosher so any food products including coffee, need to have a symbol on them stating as such. The most common symbol you see will be an O with a U inside it, however there are many many symbols. Hershey chocolate is all kosher, Scharffen Bergen and Giradelli (the regular flavors - usually w/o nuts, fruits, etc) are also kosher. PLEASE ASK, don't just guess, I hate throwing food away and I really have no one to give these things to if we can't eat them.
8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? I like dark chocolate - did I mention chocolate...
9. Yarn/fiber you love? am really enjoying the alpaca/solk blend I am working w/ right now. Not too much of a yarn snob - will use blends, particularly washable ones...washable wool, or blends to make it washable... and MALABRIGO!!!! love the silky merino...
10. Yarn/fiber you hate? not a fan of Red Heart anything.... also, have plenty of teal and I don't know what to do with it, don't like the fun fur/novelty stuff
11. What's on your needles? too many things... a Feb. Lady sweater, a knit hat for my daughter, a knit hat for myself, a lace shawl for my best friend, a knit gansey for my daughter, a crochet sweater baby gift, a crochet animal baby gift, and probably a few other things here and there that have been started, and need my attention...
12. Favorite colors? blue, green (not kelly), darker colors
13. Allergies? fresh pineapple, smoke, typical animals - dog, cat, etc.
14. Anything you really love, really don't like, or just need to get off your chest? please ask me about kosher stuff, really, I don't mind - also, while you may think there is nothing "great" about Hershey's.. it's kosher, we're used to it! if you are near a Trader Joes my new fave chocolate is the dark chocolate wedges with Ancho and Chipotle Chiles & Korintji Cinnamon... mmmm yummmmmmmmmmm.... think I'll have me some right now...

that's it for now... i think!

random thought on Smush...

In our dining room we have a somewhat largish table. It's a rectangle. There is some other furniture in there as well, an antique buffet, a china closet, a section of a couch... and of course, chairs. You can't exactly have a dining room table without chairs. We don't have a matched set or anything, actually three are my old kitchen chairs (pre-marriage) and were actually our desk chairs growing up as kids and the other five are from my in-laws. Smush loves to push one chair, any one of them, around the table like she is an Indy driver and somehow is going to win a race if she can get the chair completely around the table. I understood it more when she was first learning to walk and needed something to lean one. Now that she runs everywhere... Well... it's just pretty darned funny. Especially when she hits another chair, or the couch piece and can't go any further. As if her engine has blown up and the race is now over, or she has to pit and pit row is closed.