Feet

Patrick's mom, Mary, came to visit us last weekend. It was lovely, but so short! We went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens again; the day was perfect, and I was really amazed by how much had changed since we were there last just a month ago. Instead of tulips, all the irises were blooming, and a crazy plant called Tower of Jewels. All the pictures are on Patrick's camera, so you'll have to wait or else visit his blog for that. After the gardens, we went shopping at a mall across the highway with a Trader Joe's (hooray for strawberry popsicles!) and a Loehmann's, which Mary likes a lot and where I tried on almost everything that was white in an effort to find something to wear to the Moving Up ceremony in a couple of weeks. Patrick was a very good sport (I think he has a career as a personal shopping assistant if this history PhD business doesn't work out), and Mary found a few nice things, too.

Back at the condo, Patrick and I discovered that all our futon-moving--what with Mary's visit this weekend, my dad's visit two weeks ago (I have to blog about that, too. It was a great visit), and the normal sliding around when we sit on it--has been scratching up the floor! There was only one thing for it: the futon's wooden feet needed socks. So I knit some up with size 5 needles and a ball of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, a 100% wool yarn that I got pretty inexpensively online. The corners are kind of messy looking, but oh well! The color is Hollyberry. Yay!

It's gotten hot here. You came at just the right time, Dad. Luckily, while I have several more days with my girls working on final presentations and ceremonies, I have no more formal class! Summer, summer, summer!!!

Oh and by the way, I added some labels to my posts. If you click on "family," for example, you'll see all the posts I've ever made with that label. :)

Knitting Update

Well, I had originally planned to post pictures of my hexagon blanket, but I put that project to the side for a while. I enjoyed working each hexagon, but I'm still only halfway through. A baby sweater goes much more quickly. This one is knit in Berroco Plush, 100% nylon ... I wanted cotton, but I couldn't resist how soft this stuff feels. The pattern is called "Gary" (which I think is a stupid name for a sweater, but oh well), by Anny Blatt. Na'amah helped me choose the buttons at my local yarn store, Loopy Yarns. A lovely place where the people are mostly very nice and un-condescending (unlike the snotty knitters at some other yarn stores I've been to).

I made up my own pattern, based on a knitty.com pattern called "Argosy," for this headband for Na'amah. It started with my desire for a neckwarmer--not a scarf (the main difference being that there are no ends to wrap and unwrap and otherwise fiddle with)--that was more interesting than a plain rectangle. I ended up knitting myself one, but then wearing it as a hat (my ears are more sensitive than my neck). So when Na'amah came to visit, she picked out this lovely Cleckheaton yarn (the darker green is a wool/silk blend; the lighter one is just wool), and I modified my original design to be more head-shaped. There was enough left to knit a short scarf, in case her neck does get cold.

My dad is here for a week. He's hoping to finally see Chicago this time--but we have other plans. On Wednesday, he's judging the Science Fair at my school, and we're also planning to solicit his help in re-doing the floor in our pantry. We spent half of today at Costco, using his membership to purchase our way toward happiness in the form of 52 ounces of Nutella, more of that great basmati rice, and endless cereal. We're still only about 1/2 way through the toilet paper we bought when Patrick's dad was here last (he was thrilled to take us to Costco, too).

As a final note, more flowers for Mother's Day. Tulips, this time, at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Love you, Mom! We must go there next time you visit.

Happy Mother's Day!