in need of some tea

whew! it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, and there are a couple more knocking this month. between trips to las vegas (work) and san francisco (fun), looking for a new home (the suburban experiment has failed), and saying good-bye to my boss (tequila nights, oh boy), i've barely had time to knit a stitch! this hasn't helped either:


bryan received rock bank as an extremely generous thank-you gift for being a very good person. he is quite good at the drums; i, frankly, stink and am sticking to guitar! neither of us has dared pick up the microphone quite yet...




over the past couple of weeks i've been thinking more and more about my impact on this earth. beigeberry's experiments with urban gardening under the tutelage of her very earth-conscious sister has inspired me, as did san francisco in general. i've expanded my indoor garden to include basil and chamomile and am planning to add wheat grass, tomatoes, and lettuce later in the month after i return from a two-week trip. in the meantime, we've switched to cloth napkins and reusable bags for all purchases, not just groceries. i'm trying to find good biodegradable garbage bags for the bunny litter since it's 100% compostable, and we're looking to move somewhere we can walk around more so we don't have to hop in the car every time we need/want to go somewhere.

wish us luck!

and she's done.

lace ribbon scarf by veronik avery from spring '08 knitty. i loved this knit enough that when i dropped a stitch in the airport and realized i was going to run out of yarn anyway, i ripped, frogged, and cast on again. i made this one skinnier than the original pattern but it's more than wide enough for me.


now if only i could keep the cat from sitting on it while it blocks!

a welcome package

i can't even begin to describe how difficult things are becoming 9 to 5 (or should i say 8 to 7?) but lucky for me, a wonderful friend sent me just the remedy to help me forget my worries:


now go read her review of the film and then netflix it - or, if you're a dedicated austen fan, just buy it. trust me. this, and the first five episodes of the latest bbc bleak house, have quite saved me this weekend. and given me a propensity to use words like 'quite'!

and on quite another subject - last weekend i drew up a new design with my mom in mind:


and i promptly sent off the originals! happy mothers' day to all the mothers out there! mom, i miss you, and can't wait to see you in june!

weekend score

today i went to the monthly pasadena city college flea market, and boy did i score!


that's six skeins of brown sheep cotton fleece and one of a nice tweedy wool - all for less than $20. some yarn store in maine went out of business and a friend was selling off bits of yarn for her at the market. ahh, bliss!

i also finally found a couple of different simple earring displays for a buck each:


now i just need to build a light box, find a decent printer for cards, and i'm in business!

the calm before the storm

things at work are in upheaval; my boss has given notice, and i've been given her team - and much of her work - to manage. while i look forward to the responsibility, being the insane kind of person who enjoys a good challenge, i am feeling a bit drowning-ish. we're going to to make some changes so that i have some semblance of focus, and thank goodness for the summer interns, who i suspect will save all of us.

in the meantime i'm trying to unwind at home with that rhythmic click-click of the knitting needles.




the olive branch yoga hoodie is all but done - just a zipper to install, which will happen this weekend. the pattern was riddled with errors but they were easily caught, and this hoodie is going to be SO comfy.

and happily, my mom cheered me up with a surprise package:


umm, how utterly ridiculous are these?! i love them! THANKS MOM!

mr b saw those photo cards and decided that he wanted to model my trinity stitch scarf, completed months ago (which i wear all the time, despite the heat):


ahh, yes; life's looking up!