Alpaca for the Holidays!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with their families and friends!

My husband and I enjoyed a very quiet Christmas this year. Because we are traveling to the Midwest for my sister's wedding in a week and a half, we decided not to travel for Christmas. Instead, we spent Christmas Eve in a nice hotel downtown where we could relax and enjoy a great meal. Mmm... the food and wine were great, and we ended the meal with a delicious goat cheese cheesecake which has me curious to try this recipe.

Christmas day we headed back to our apartment, opened presents and relaxed. I received some great presents, including a new knitting book and a gift certificate to one of my favorite local yarn stores. We also enjoyed another great meal--if I do say so myself!--mexican lasagna, cauliflower-chili gratin and chipotle-cheddar mashed potatoes. Yum! I enjoyed that for lunch today, as well.

Before we left the hotel, Joel took some pictures of my new scarf...


Pattern: Waterfall Scarf by Linda O'Leary ( from the book 101 Designer One-skein Wonders)
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Baby Alpaca Hand Dyed

While I can't say that this scarf was particularly enthralling to knit, I am very happy with the end result. I love this yarn--so soft and the colors are beautiful. I've used the bulky non-hand dyed version before, and I know that I'll use it again. As a matter of fact, I already have the lace-weight version set aside for a swallowtail shawl.


The scarf ended up being fairly long, but I wanted to use up all the yarn. Perfect for wrapping up in! I'm perpetually cold here, so it will get a lot of use.

I should have another FO soon, if I ever attach those buttons on Buttony. I guess I just need to buckle down and do it!

That's LA for Ya!

My husband and I spent this past weekend in LA. He works in a very small office (2 people, including himself!), so we were invited to the LA branch's holiday party. The party on Friday was fun, but the best part was that we got to spend the rest of the weekend checking out the city. It was my first time in LA and Joel's second, so there was a lot to see.

Saturday we went to Hollywood and checked out the stars on the Walk of Fame. We also had a lot of fun at Graumans's Chinese Theatre.

A not very good picture of the theatre!

It was really interesting seeing the size of some of the stars hands and feet. Some of the women's were absolutely tiny--they must have been very petite!

We also checked out the men. John Wayne had tiny feet...


But Sidney Poitier's are huge...


From there we headed up to Mulholland Drive for some beautiful views of the city. It was clear and cool--very lovely weather. You can see a little of the hazy smog the city is famous for in this photo.


One of the coolest things we did was attend an Academy screening for the movie Juno (very good--go see it!). Apparently, Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon showed up to a screening the week before, so we were hoping to see some celebrities. Alas, all we saw were aging Academy members who looked like they last worked in the industry about 20 years ago--but it was still fun.

We also really enjoyed The Farmer's Market, which was across the street from our hotel. It had lots of food stalls and even live music. We spent Saturday night there and went back for breakfast! It's definitely worth a visit if you're in LA.

It really was a packed weekend. We also tried the frozen yogurt at Pinkberry--yum!--and drove around Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. I attempted, but failed to make it to any yarn stores though:) All in all a very fun trip, and I really liked LA-- I wasn't sure I would!

The whole time I was there certain songs kept popping into my head, including one my husband had written and performed with his sister when he was nine. They even made a taped recording which my mother-in-law still has a copy of! Some of the lyrics:

"Rockers! Knockers! LA! LA! Food Nutritionists? LA! LA! That's LA for ya! LA! LA!"

It is quite funny set to music. Yes, he was very talented at such a young age:)

I haven't had much time to knit in the past week, but I did manage to almost finish my scarf on the flight home...


I just need to drop those remaining stitches and this scarf will be complete.

Super Cute FO: Birdy Buddy Bag!

This may be my cutest knitting project ever...


Pattern: Buddy Bag
Designer: Anny Purls
Yarn: Bernat Satin, plus some leftover yarn for the leaves

This pattern was so much fun to knit, and I just love the end result! So cheerful and cute (how many times can I say cute in one post)!


There were a few very minor issues. All the little pieces were a bit fiddly, and the long i-cord was a bit tedious to knit (only because I hate knitting i-cord), and I think I could have improved my finishing of the pocket. The acrylic yarn was a little squeaky and scary.... but overall it was a super fun project and a great, versatile pattern.

The bag was a present for my nephew Aidan who, along with his mom and dad, visited us for Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun with them, although I was sick and cranky for most of the visit.

I managed to get a few action shots...



I think he liked the birdy!

I have lots more to come soon. Buttony is blocking and awaiting buttons and Forecast is almost complete--sans sleeves. I've also started a new scarf in preparation for our upcoming visit to the Midwest in early January. Hopefully, I'll have more FO's to show soon!