Knitting Iris

eleven

Fresh made corn tortillas, roasted & shredded venison, smothered in homemade enchilada sauce (I'll never waste $ on canned sauce ever again), black beans, limeade, Ibarra hot chocolate, chips & salsa, pickled beets, and dill-pickled snap peas, birthday cake, ice cream, and an assortment of interesting mexican candies and sweets (some salty, some tart, some spicy, some sweet, and some even all four flavors together in one!)

Cascarones, piñata, lotería, tortuga trinkets, confetti, papel picad0.

Family & friends.

Such fun planning, making, decorating, cooking, and baking, together, for this day,

one where the snow just kept coming down and down and down ALL DAY LONG.

Feliz Cumpleaños, my 2-22-2000 boy, now eleven in 2011!

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hundterwasser socks

 

 

Well, we were away for a week for a mid-winter vacation with my parents in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Such a lovely time together. 

As always, it was all about the food for us.  Aside from fresh coconut and a few tacos on the street, we cooked nearly all of our meals in, made with the freshest of ingredients: fruits, veggies, hot off the press corn tortillas, seafood (shrimp, mahi-mahi, snapper, octopus), etc.  Such a treat! 

Also, it was just so nice not driving for a full week, travelling only on foot, by bus, or by boat.   There's certainly something to be said for living in the city.

There was all the build-up, planning, packing, and preparations prior to leaving, and then the exhaustion and all the catch-up to do upon our return.  Thus, my absence here.

Of course, there was knitting:

Yarn: Hundertwasser Opal sock yarn.  Details on Ravelry here.

Worn for the very first time, by C, during our layover in the Seattle airport on the return trip between Mexico and Montana, by which time we were all in a near delirium, with still another hour to wait, another hour and half flight, and an hour and a half drive home, putting us home in the very wee hours.

In the terminal.

C doing a mocking cutesy pose before kicking his feet up for awhile.

24th annual kids' sledding party

 

 

holiday gifts recap

Finally, I'm getting around to sharing (or rather, showing off) a rundown of the holiday gift knitting & sewing as, I think, all have finally arrived with their recipients.

Oven mitts, 9 pairs (one not pictured) from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. 

Some fabrics and inner layers are from stash while some I bought with each particular recipient in mind.   Some of the solid accent fabrics are recycled linen from thrifted skirts & shirts.

The palms are lined with 2 layers of cotton batting + 1 layer of polarfleece fabric.   The backs are lined with only one layer of cotton quilt batting .  The interior lining fabrics were cut mostly from this fabric.   

 

Fingerless mitts for my sister in law.  pattern: 220 fingerless mitts in miscellaneous worsted weight woolen yarns in stash.

James Dean hat for my brother:

Aviatrix hat for the baby girl of friends:

Cambridge Watch Caps for the boys.  Berocco Ultra Alpaca.  They each chose their own color.

From our hens to our friends on solstice night:

There they are.