a new year

you know it's going to be an awesome year when you catch a nasty cold the first day, right? ugh, the sinus pressure. i dragged myself into the office this morning but by 3pm couldn't take it any more. a new over-the-counter drug and an hour's nap later and i'm feeling a bit better - and figured wishing 'yall a happy new year might be a nice way to keep me distracted from the sniffles.

i don't really make resolutions, but this year... this year i hope to do more designing. it kind of hit the back-burner in 2009 when life - work, moving, other various and sundry items - made things complicated and hectic, and the last thing i wanted to be doing in my down time was math. so keep me honest, folk. ping me every once in a while and make sure i'm working on something.

but not right now, because my head's in a bit of a fog! luckily, i have a good challenging-yet-mindless project on the needles that i can pick up every once in a while when i'm feeling less headachey - wallis. remember her?




over the holidays i ripped out the sad few inches i'd knit and started over again. this is one of those patterns where i know i'll be in love with the FO, and the lace chart is easily memorized, but in general is not for the faint of heart (or a beginning knitter) - you really have to fudge around a lot on the edges, where you increase. the instructions don't clearly tell you how to do it, and you need your wits and knitting instincts about you!

to keep things interesting, next weekend i'm also casting on for rosamund's cardigan by andrea pomerantz. malaraky and i are doing another knit-along, and this time beigeberry will be joining us! we're already planning our slight mods and i'm really looking forward to this project - it's always fun to knit with your friends, even if they're far away.

okay, time to go rest up a bit more. i'll leave you with a photo of maeve enjoying her favorite xmas present -


happy new year all!

winter wonderland

it's not every day you find yourself in vermont at an alpaca farm. but that's exactly where i was last week!


b and i spent the holidays with my family in the northeast kingdom, which seemed to me an excellent opportunity to check out some local fiber action (it's cold and snowy there so everyone needs woolens, you know?). so i reached out to the local ravelry group and secured an invitation to snowshoe farm in peacham for me, my mom, b, and malaraky.

oh man are these creatures adorable.


terry and ron were fantastic hosts - so open and warm. ron picked up all the babies so we could pet them more easily, and man are they soft! we basically spent an hour looking into huge alpaca eyes, stroking alpaca fleece, and asking questions about different breeds, what they eat, their personalities and quirks.

this dude on the left with the crazy mop is a suri, and the gal on the right is a rose grey named esther rose whose coat was almost lavendar:


these are smart animals and some of them were so very engaged - everyone trotted out to say hi and a few even poked their noses over the fence to see what was up. my mom even made a new friend!


happy new year to all - may it be full of family, friends, and soft fiber!

wildlife

so on friday i formally entered what my friend jo calls "the flirty thirties". i approached this milestone with a bit of reluctance. okay, a lot of reluctance. thirty sounds awfully grown-up, and i don't feel it.

lucky for me, bryan took me on a surprise trip up north where i could gawk and squeal at animals as if i was three, not thirty.

big sur is an absolutely stunning place, where dense forest follows a rocky, mountainous coastline. the five-hour drive felt like two, it was so beautiful.


on the way up we passed a sign for "vista point - elephant seals". a quick u-turn and...






so many harbor and elephant seals - i'm amazed that they're still there, protected - that we haven't driven them all off. and they just lay there happily, burying themselves in the sand and honking at each other.

best. birthday present. ever.

we spent saturday at the point lobos wildlife reserve hiking around their unbelievably gorgeous park.








point lobos is known for their sea lion look-out -


- as well as coves full of sea otters. but they slid and somersaulted around so quickly i couldn't get a good photo! we did have an up-close experience with a lovely dear though -


that's, like, zero zoom on my camera. she was right in front of us.


also, there was knitting! see that hat? sort of? it's the felicity hat by wanett clyde (ravelry link). i wanted a new, slouchy hat and i wanted to use a skein of gorgeous sheepy linsmore sheep farm pure wool that malaraky gifted me last year. close-ups!:




the color is more accurate in that second photo - it's a deep brown with red, purple, and green hues very naturally wound into the yarn. i love it. i added a few rows of broken rib around the band so it wouldn't curl, and otherwise knit per the instructions. a quick knit, and very cute!

it's bryan's birthday today, so send him some b-day wishes!

thanksgiving, socal style

shots of wild turkey on the patio


ferris wheels and goofy glasses


segway rides down the beach


into the sunset


followed by a little ice skating.
nothing here is traditional, but that's okay. i am so thankful for my family, my friends, and for you all - happy holidays, everyone!

and the winners are...

guys, your photos are so awesome - i seriously had a difficult time making a decision. but i had to, and so, without further ado - here are the winners!

"the lion fell in love with the lamb"/authentic - melissa of blog_mbphotos!


seriously, how could i not choose this photo? it's like a kid version of the marketing campaign! the lighting is gorgeous and i can't believe she got her children to pose for the shot. i also love the mini-mitten mod. beautiful photo, don't you agree?


"you don't belong in my world, bella"/original - nancy fry / adnilamyrf


this photo was actually one of the first posted and it just cracks me up! great use of props to create an atmosphere, and just, well, smart and funny! and as a bonus - nancy's also designed a pattern for allice cullen fingerless mittens inspired by wardrobe in new moon - check out the ravelry link!

ladies, i've contacted you via flickr! please send your mailing addresses to me at info[at]subliminalrabbit[dot]com!


there were so many fantastic photos, i wanted to share with you a few more of my favorites -

generally gorgeous photos from the yarniad and mr puffy:






and brilliant photos of mittens holding various smart and hilarious things:


jesse strauch


cnorwoodknits


knitted tales


manda da pandaaa


dudawiesner


AutumnMama


Blackmystic
thanks again to everyone who participated! this was so much fun for me!


so... 'yall went to the movies this weekend, right?




we got the work posse together - this has become an annual "team building" exercise. one of the gals even brought these brilliant cupcakes from big sugar bake shop:


what did i think of the movie? let's just say...


i am now firmly team jacob.

and...

the contest is now closed. i am absolutely thrilled with the response and can't wait to sit down and spend some quality time going through all the entries. in the meanwhile, take a look!

(happy new moon!)

the final countdown...

last night i came home to a very happy surprise in the mail!


a few months ago, kate at crafts beautiful magazine contacted me about bella's mittens; she had knit a pair and wanted to write a little article about them in the magazine. of course i said yes and then promptly forgot about it! what a wonderful surprise. it's a UK magazine and it's stuffed with tons of great craft ideas that i can't wait to try out!

since we're in the final countdown to new moon (do you have your new moon tickets yet?), i thought i'd share these bella's mittens-inspired patterns that have popped up around the internet! because really, what're mittens without a matching hat and scarf? so without further ado:

1. bella's hat by hollye knits. this was designed back in january and it's super-cute! i love the ginormity of the horseshoe cable.

2. bella's cable scarf by bamboo needles & ink stains. it looks so classic - this could go with anything!

3. and last but not least... a french translation of bella's mittens at knit spirit (there is also a swedish translation coming soon!). how cool is that?!

someone asked in the comments when exactly the photo contest closes - it's this friday at 11:59pm. i love seeing all your fun photos and can't wait to go through them meticulously this weekend! happy knitting everyone!