Year in Review (yarn version)

I feel like I should post something before we trade in 2009 for 2010. Some sort of retrospective account of the rollercoaster that was the previous twelve months, progress made, hurdles cleared, that sort of thing. To be honest, though, I'm not feelin' it today, so instead I'll give you a retrospective of a much more narrow scope: That Which I've Knit in 2009.

2009 was less prolific than 2008 (the sweater-a-month year), but the sweater obsession continued. I finished Thermal early in the year, so I suppose it should be included in the tally, even though that feels like ages ago. Francis Revisited has proven to be one of my most wearable sweaters, as the pilling along the sides of the torso shows (sigh). On days that I'm not likely to be eating or drinking anything that would stain if/when spilled, Surface, in white, has been getting some time in the wardrobe rotation.

Two sweaters were knit to the very end, never to see the light of day and be worn out of the house. Picovoli, knit in black cotton with long sleeves, was probably my favorite knit item ever, were it not for the neckline. The yarn drapes beautifully, the shaping and fit were perfect, but the neck edging curled too much even for me. It's been ripped out, and I'm halfway through a second attempt. Camden is suffering a similar, unwearable fate: the raglan cap sleeves are too... roomy, for lack of a better word, and the fabric bunches where it should be snug. I'll either rip this out too, or attempt some sort of sewing/steeking/hail mary rescue project.

Towards the end of the year, I knit this version of the Mrs. Darcy cardigan, and I wear it as often as I can get away with. I heart it. I also heart my second Coachella, but there haven't been too many opportunities to put it to use since it was finished at the end of the summer.

Right, and there was the Waist-Cincher Top, which I've already told you was a feeble success at best, to put it diplomatically.

So. That was my year of knitting. For the forseeable future (well, not really, but it feels that way), I'll be working on a surprise knitted gift of epic proportions -- we're talking 4500 yards of yarn here, people -- so the knitting updates will be nil for a while.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to take a nap so I'll be able to stay awake and ring in the new year by dancing my tail off this evening. Best to you all for a happy and healthy 2010!

christmas highlights

Yesterday was a pretty fantastic day. To wit:

- we hosted brunch for eleven without running out of food, plates, or silverware;

- the main brunch dish, spinach strata, was like heaven (if heaven is full of eggs and bread and cheese... and I sort of suspect it is);

- there was much laughter and merriment, and lots of groups of people mingled splendidly;

- the gift we gave with the lowest price tag generated the most heartfelt appreciation, and possibly a little tearing up;

- and we are the proud new owners of a kayak cart, which should allow us to go paddling more often next summer without breaking the muscles in our arms.

Here's hoping all of you fine folks have been enjoying the season just as much.

Excellent Timing

Just yesterday, SuperFiance and I realized we need to figure out the menu for our second annual Christmas Brunch, a festive and delicious opportunity for us to bring our families together and celebrate the holiday. Cue merriment and conviviality and carols and joyous togetherness.

Right, so we'll need food. And what should Google Reader send my way, but a headline that fits the bill almost precisely: How to Host Brunch (and still sleep in)." I prefer to read it in my head as "How to Host Brunch (and still have time for opening presents and frenetically cleaning one's house before guests arrive)," but the point remains that the advice is greatly appreciated this week.

I take issue with the formulation of a fruit salad (which should be be granny smiths, underripe bananas, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, and orange juice, thank you very much), but otherwise I think the brunch guide is spot on. Thank you, Smitten Kitchen Deb! I see chive-buttermilk biscuits in our future!

Homemade successes and, well, non-successes

I've talked a bit here about our (selective) efforts to grow and make foodstuffs in the interests of steering as far as possible from processed items. In theory, that's all terrific, and we'd never go to the grocery store ever again. Or something. In reality, there simply isn't time to maintain a pantry entirely comprised of homemade goods. More importantly, some items are simply better (however you want to define that) in their store-bought forms. Here's what we've found...

- Mayo - We made a couple batches, and the second one languished in the fridge, takin' up tupperware. This, I think, is the ultimate death knell for a recipe's chance of attaining a spot in the kitchen rotation. There's a lot to be said for reducing the preservatives in one's diet, but a there's a lot to be said for creamy mayo, too.

- Bread - Delicious when made the (time-consuming and) traditional way. Not so good out of the convenient bread machine. Fresh baked whole wheat bread has become the stuff of long weekends and vacations.

- Yogurt - Homemade fail. I tried this three times. I'd been assured that milk + a bit of yogurt + heat would equal more yogurt, but all I got was warm milk with some yogurt at the bottom of the bowl. Ick.

- Cake - Surprising success! I had convinced myself that I was a box mix cake kind of girl, the thought of a recipe involving too much measuring and potential failure for me. But after making three birthday cakes from scratch in recent weeks and not ruining any of them, I think I've been converted.

- Salad dressing - Overwhelming success. I don't see us buying salad dressing ever again. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and brown mustard shaken up in a tightly sealed container, with either honey or garlic, does quite nicely, and we know exactly what we're ingesting.

So we're doing what makes sense for us. What I really need to do is find a suitable replacement for flavored coffee creamer. You ever read the ingredients list on one of those things? Scary.

It can be done!

I promise not to turn this into a full-fledged wedding blog... or anything close to it. But I saw something recently that inspired me.* And I don't mean "inspired" like "inspired to now require [xyz] element at our wedding" or "struck with the sudden desire to create an inspiration board" (they're great if you like them, but no, inspiration boards are not on the list of things I do).

What I'm talkin' about here is inspiration in a different sense. Like, "wow, that's inspirational!" "I didn't think a certain thing could be done, or I wasn't sure I could accomplish said thing, but now I believe it to be within my reach" kind of inspiration.

The Budget Savvy Bride (I may not create inspiration boards, but I do read some wedding blogs) featured a gorgeous wedding this week, with a stated budget of $7,500. (For those of you not planning or financing a wedding these days, that's, shall we say, near miraculous. Particularly given the results, as briefly evidenced below.) The budget isn't itemized, but that's fine, it still gives me a calm, happy feeling of hope that our budget friendly (partially out of necessity and partially on principle: we just don't think any one day should cost an exorbitant amount of money) nuptials could potentially be this lovely and enchanting.

To be fair, no, the ceiling at our reception won't look like that.

By all means, if you're so inclined, go check out the other beautiful photos from this beautiful wedding that cost $7,500. It's impressively affordable and just plain impressive!


*Err, two things. Stay tuned for the second one, and lots of other non-wedding-y things!

Not every item is a success.

So, that project I mentioned I was working on recently? The Waist Cincher Top? It's been done for a few weeks now. I've put off posting about it because this is the only remotely acceptable picture I could finagle.



... and even this is the result of some careful contorting of my torso and cropping of the photo.

I definitely love the pattern concept. And I love the yarn. They even might work well together on someone else's frame. On mine, I'd need to find some other combination of accompanying garments before I'd be convinced I can wear this out of the house.

Hopefully the next sweater will be more flattering. It might be a while, though, because I've got some pretty extensive gift knitting on my plate. The yarn I need for that is set to be delivered at the end of this week, so I've been hesitant to get my little knitting heart set on a project for myself.

Priceless and Adorable

As you may have guessed, The Awesome Fiance and I are planning a wedding that will, in many ways, depart from some of what we see as somewhat antiquated marital traditions. We've been joking about how quick the ceremony will be, what with the lack of the pomp and circumstance associated with organized religion. Don't blink, you might miss it! Folks paying attention might hear the words "cherish" or "honor," but certainly won't hear either of us saying "obey," for instance.

That said, we're not veering overly far from the traditional format -- minus the churchy stuff -- of a marriage ceremony. Which is what makes the following exchange that transpired in our house yesterday so very entertaining. To me, anyway.

Me: ... so I was talking to [friend] about wedding stuff and how we're going to have such a short ceremony, and she asked whether we were going to have anyone do a reading...

The Awesome Fiance: You mean, like, with tarot cards?


I stopped laughing about ten minutes ago.