Better Than Blogging

I come from a crafty family.

My mother, a true artisan, ran a wood refinishing business throughout much of my childhood.  Her sister, my aunt Teesy, has a jewelry business and currently sells her amazing work in craft shows.  (I hope she has a website up soon that I can share with you.)  Their other two sisters, Jana and Libby, are also always making incredible things, including costumes, clothes, home decor, etc...

My paternal grandmother, an avid knitter, crocheter, and maker of things, taught me to crochet when I was about six years old.  Her sons (including my father) all make and do creative things with their hands for a living.  Her only daughter, my aunt Doe, has recently rediscovered knitting, and whenever I visit her in North Carolina we always have at least one knitting session involving a trip to a local yarn shop, a few hours of knitting, coffee, and wine.  (We'd do this together every day if we could.)

She doesn't have a knitting blog, but she recently completed her first pair of socks and wanted to share them with me.  So she mailed something even better to me in Israel: a parcel of  photos and a swatch of the yarn she used!

These are the socks in progress, complete with swatch:

And here are the finished socks:

Absolutely fabulous, just like her.

I can't wait to see them (and her) in person this summer, but this was definitely the next best thing! 

Old School Badger Hat

New pattern! 

I made this hat for a friend and thought I'd share it with all the Bucky fans out there!   

The PDF can be found on Ravelry or downloaded directly here. 

On Wisconsin! 

Sunny Swap

I recently participated in the spring Swap on a Budget on Ravelry.  My package from Sunny63 was so fantastic that it made me want to return to blogging so I could share all the awesomeness!

I got my package-slip late last night as I was coming back from a bonfire and grill-party in the Jerusalem Forest.  I hoped it was my SOAB package, and was so excited that as soon as I woke up this morning, I ran to the post office to pick up my box!

I knew I was in for something good when I noticed the little bunnies drawn on the box: 

But then - a warning! 

What was hiding for me underneath the grass? 

Oooooh! 

First, a sweet note from my spoiler (on a lovely postcard featuring a scarf-clad Brandenburg Gate) and lots of wonderful cappuccino, mocha and latte drinks.   (I paused here and fixed myself a coffee.)

I dug deeper into the rabbit-hole, and found: 

Lots and lots of chocolate bunnies!  I was so happy to get these - living in Israel is wonderful, but there is a real lack of chocolate bunnies come spring.  And these are not just ANY chocolate bunnies - there is an After Eight mint bunny (After Eights are my FAVORITE), a bunny filled with Smarties, two Milka bunnies, lots and lots of little Milka chocolate bunnies - and of course a Lindt Goldhase - but this one is in WHITE chocolate!  

But that's not all... 

Sunny63 owns a yarn store, and gave me some beautiful and useful notions, including lovely no-snag stitch markers, sweet scarf- and hat-shaped needle tip protectors, a "made with love" fabric tag, a knitting pattern for "Briochette," and a gorgeous and incredibly well-made project bag.  

Bonus: two bunny buttons, one brown, one white! 

Then came the yarn: 

!!!

Wollmeise yarn! 

In a gorgeous color: "Neptun."  I am amazed and so very excited to knit with this yarn. 

But that's not all, folks: 

 

She sent me a new friend!  He is made from super-soft fuzzy yarn, and has completely removable overalls made with the cutest little buttons... and his carrot comes out of his pocket, when he needs to have a little snack! 

I am so very happy that I participated in this swap, and that I got the best Swap Partnerin ever - 

Vielen herzlichen Dank, Heike!

Playing catch-up

I finished my dissertation and defended back in August.  Since then, I've been updating my cv, working on articles, and knitting.  I've not, however, been blogging.  So here is a quick rundown of a few of my recent projects...

First up: the Flower Basket Shawl, in 100% bamboo, with a beaded edge. 

2. Miffy - a birthday present  for my niece.

3. Mitered Mittens, from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac.

That's all for now!

Never fleeced is he who buys the wool...

To give or receive?

Usually I enjoy the former more than the latter.  However, my participation in the Grad Swap on Ravelry is making me rethink my stance on this question, because Rebeccag sent me the most awesome package ever!  I now have: 

coil-less safety pin/stitch markers,

a tape measure that reminds me of Pinocchio (you pull his nose and it grows!  I just hope he doesn’t lie when it comes to measuring… J),

a copy of the totally cute It Itches (Franklin Habit is hilarious),

a skein of amazing merlot-colored Australian merino,

and a skein of Malabrigo sock.  

I have NEVER tried a Malabrigo yarn before, but now I’ve got my chance!  I’ve been scouring Ravelry for the right pattern all morning.  I love love LOVE this colorway, called Archangel.  It amuses me to no end that I receive a colorway named this during the Pope’s visit to Israel, which has effectively made getting in and out of Jerusalem – and specifically the Hebrew University – a total pain in the Arsch (vielen Dank, Ratzinger).  

I’ve coped admirably with the traffic, however, by making Jonathan drive and taking the time to work on several knitting projects in the car, like these socks which I finally finished up – the pattern is Cookie A’s Monkey from Knitty.

Oh yeah, Rebecca also sent me some amazing Belgian chocolates, but Jonathan and I ate them about 30 seconds after opening the package.  J Rebecca, תודה רבה!

 I also did some giving last week.  For a friend’s new baby boy, I knit my first Baby Surprise Jacket in Wisconsin stripes.  I wanted the jacket to have a sporty, rugby-like feel.  I totally got lucky with the stripe placement, though – when knitting the jacket for the first time, I was unsure how the shaping worked exactly so I just winged it.  I am most pleased with the turnout and plan to use this pattern again soon. 

I also made the new one a Bobbi Bear.  I was very happy with how he turned out.  Bobbi was difficult to give up, and before I gave him away I would sneak him out of the gift bag and hug him.  Wouldn’t you? 

Sláinte!

When we approached passport control in Dublin, the officer looked at my passport, then at me, and smiled.

“Well, you’re a Hughes, so we HAVE to let you in!”

The first few days were typically rainy.  This is the pedestrian zone on Grafton Street.  I trudged about the city in waterproof boots, a rain coat and with an umbrella.  And I still got wet. 

All that water is what keeps the island so green.  Here is the garden at the Dublin Castle… note the labyrinth-like design in the grass.

Dublin is full of churches – here is the protestant St. Patrick’s: 

And the catholic Christ Church.  The weather was gorgeous for our last few days, so we were outside as much as possible.  

That is, when we weren’t drinking.  The Jameson's Tour is fantastic - and if you go, be sure to volunteer for the tasting.  The Guinness “Experience” isn’t really a brewery tour, which is very disappointing, but the beer at the end in the bar with the view of the city is very nice.  We left happy.  

Almost as happy as when I left This is Knit! J  If you’re in Dublin, go check them out.  They’re really nice.   Here is my huge haul, plus some knitting magazines I picked up at a bookstore across the street from Trinity College:

I really loved it in Ireland.  The accents were so cute - it was all I could do not to ask people superflous questions just to hear them talk.  Some people were difficult to understand, however - a few bus drivers, nice as they were, were also pretty confusing.  And one woman and I were totally at a loss with each other - finally I looked at her and said, "you know, we speak the same language only in theory!"  She smiled politely, but I have no idea if she understood my joke.

The people were ridiculously nice.  People would approach me when I was staring at the very confusing bus schedule and help me, unprompted.  I'm not sure if I could get used to the lack of sun - but if I could, I'd love to live there one day.  

I wonder why my great-grandfather left... a question for the next family reunion, perhaps.