Girl Power

Last night I was invited to play in a Mother-Daughter basketball scrimmage. It was the last official practice of my daughter's basketball season and the coach thought this would be a fun way for the girls to end the season. I thought so too until I finished my work day and didn't feel like going to run up and down the court for over an hour playing a game I haven't played in over 25 years.

Once I got there and started playing, it was fun. The other moms were there and they were all as ambivalent about it as I was at first so I felt in good company. When we started playing, we had a great time and it was a fantastic workout as well. The girls were a little frustrated by our height advantage but I think it was good for them to see us playing as seriously as we did and hopefully it will have a lasting impact on the activity level they maintain over their lives.

One more basketball season over for the year, many new friendships cemented.

In like a lamb

March came in mild and lovely after a beautiful, last day of February yesterday that was sunny and actually a little warm.

I caught these geese munching while I was on my afternoon walk and break from work today. It was almost balmy and I was not a bit cold which is the first time in months I haven't been cold! I know it will get cold again, but spring is on the way - YAY March!


Its amazing how if you have an entire weekend to do your homework, you wait until Monday morning at breakfast to actually do it. But its super cute to see a 5th grader actually enjoying himself reading.

Winning a medal

There's nothing like meeting a challenge you set for yourself, its so satisfying.


Mom's sweater is done, cast off, and all the ends are woven in. I finished tonight, even before the Closing Ceremonies started.


I used much less yarn than I expected. I guess I'll need to make a scarf to accompany the sweater because I used only half the yarn we bought almost three years ago and I was afraid I wouldn't have enough! I used about 525 yards total.


My lovely knitwear model shows off her Grandma's new sweater.



If it looks small, that's because its less of a sweater for warmth and more of an accessory sweater to be worn over a little dress.




I could put a button on the top or several all the way down the front. What do you think?




Here's what it would look like with a shawl pin for a closure.


I'm pretty proud of myself for finishing this sweater in two weeks!!

Taco Stand?

Taco Stand Friday was thrown off course today - The Taco Stand was closed!

They are a local, family-owned business that can close on a whim if they choose to go watch a ski race or cook for a Mt. Bike race. They're only open for lunch hours on weekdays anyway so they don't have extended hours to maintain. But a lot of locals depend on them and it threw us way off. We didn't know what to do and we were hungry.

Somehow we decided on Super Burrito, a restaurant that neither of us have been to in its most recent carnation in the Mid-Columbia Bank building on Newport. It was not bad, had a fairly extensive menu (compared to Taco Stand) and is open for dinner as well. I tried the Torta with pork and it was pretty good but just did not have the good bread that Tortas in Mexico have. I wish now that I'd tried the nachos. Heidi stuck with her regular meal and had the bean and rice burrito.

I would eat there again and its close enough to walk to in the evening from my house. Lets just hope that next Friday we can go back to our regular schedule or I will have an unhappy, burrito-eating friend on my hand.

The end is near

The sleeves are attached and I'm working the raglan decreases on the yoke. I may actually get this finished on schedule and win a medal.

Inspiration

Reading other blogs makes me happy and sometimes is a huge source of inspiration.

I love it when I get new ideas about recipes or crafts or whatever else it might be. Its something that gives me energy during a busy or down day.

Some of my favorites: Crazy Aunt Purl, and Posie gets Cozy. Yarn Harlot is fun too.

They are my on-line friends.

February 23

I feel I should apologize for the boring posts lately. I know I've just been slapping up a photo, writing a brief comment, and logging out to get on with the rest of my evening. I can only think of one person for whom these posts might not have been so boring and that is the person following the progress of the sweater with the most excitement.

The one thing about this Olympic challenge for me versus the actual Olympic athletes is that they get to go far away from their real lives, stay in a dormitory, and spend their time focusing on their event for the duration of the Olympics. If I could do that, I might actually be able to knit and write creatively about my knitting as well. Where in reality, I have had to keep up my real life including full time work, parental and domestic responsibilities, and more social engagements than I've had to think about since the holidays. I haven't even watched much of the Olympics since that first weekend.

But here's what I have done, I've knit not a stitch on anything other than my intended project since the Opening ceremonies and when I could, I've focused an extended period of time on that project. I really would like to get this done within the time frame of the Olympics.

The body is done up to the bottom of the armholes, one sleeve is done and the second cast on. Next step is to attach the sleeves and work the yoke and shoulders up to the neck.