Remember how hot it was in July?

This was the scene on my street last night. Look at my sad little face!

Holy crap!

It's, like, -400 degrees outside. Yesterday was a little mini blizzard. When I woke up I was pleasantly surprised by the buckets of snow falling from the sky. Pretty! Fun! But then it kept it up for 12 hours. Cancellations! Accidents! No karaoke tonight, kids. Let's all hole up and play games.

Scattergories!

Other cozy winter activities:

Kitten Naps!


Bakin' savory pies!

Irish hiking scarf!

Baby Alpaca Chunky! It's for dad.

Raglan!

I thought I'd throw together a little raglan cardigan using Cascade Jewel. Jewel is a Manos knock off, and it is really nice. The colors are chewy and full, it is easy to work with, and it knits up beautifully. It also felts real nice, if that's your thing. For my cardi, I didn't really swatch or make a plan or anything. I just sort of assumed I'd get about 4 sts to the inch. I'm only about 5 rows in, so we'll see where we end up. That's what I call "Designing."

Wine!

KT bought this wine because she is allergic to sulfites. She says that most people are allergic to sulfites and that's why they get bad hangovers from red wine. She says that I am probably not allergic to sulfites because red wine is like mother's milk to me, and I have never gotten those monster red-wine-hangovers I've always heard about. See how KT going to culinary school improved all our lives? Now we know about certain kinds of hangovers.

Clean out the pantry!

Snowstorms are the best time to clean out your pantry. Look how happy he is, happy about his clean, clean pantry fulla food! He's a little OCD, though, so don't be disappointed if you clean your pantry out and do not experience this kind of radiant joy. He also gets that look on his face when you show him an Extreme Weiner.

Emerald Isla Yarns!

We're pretty excited cause Esmeralda is dyeing up a batch of this kind of beautiful thing for the shop. It's gorgeous, and I love that she is a super cool lady who lives right here in Clintonville.

That's all for now. Stay warm, my pretties, and stay tuned for stories from San Diego! I'll be at TNNA with Karida, hanging out in North Light's booth, doing promotion stuff for Pints and Purls.
You know, that book we wrote.

Luv,
Bruce

Some self-reflection, aka what Brax has been up to!

Ok, guys. I know I haven't blogged in a long time and have been generally slacking this summer. Part of it was because I went through a big ole life change and moved and had technology problems, but part of it was also because I got really lazy about blogging. Brucie, I'm sorry! But from here on out, I vow to be much more on top of the blogging stuff!

Overall, I have been treating this summer as a big vacation, like we used to have in school. I have been working a little bit, but I've mostly been slowing down, going for walks, knitting, and drinking wine on porches with friends. It might not have been the most responsible decision to quit my job and move to Columbus, but it sure feels like the right one.

I spent two years in Toledo, doing nothing but working. At the time I took the job, it was really important for me to move away. I had graduated from college and worked 2 jobs for about a year, and I was starting to worry that I would never have a "real" job or generally amount to anything. And while I really loved my friends here, I was experiencing that thing that happens inside of every recent Bachelor of Arts graduate: the furious recognition that I wasted $40,000 on an education that may very well have me waiting tables forever, and the urge to jump in the car and drive it straight to the ocean. So when I was offered this job, it was like a miracle.

At first, I was so excited! I worked 50-plus hours a week, turning that office from a disorganized free-for-all into something I could be proud of. I got SO much experience running a business. But after work sort of plateaued, I was just left with a job I enjoyed less and less as the months went by. I didn't have any support system, and I really began to realize how bad I am at making new friends. I'm really shy and I have trouble talking around big groups of people I don't know very well, and this always tends to come off as total snobbery. Of course, my solution is usually to just get really wasted, which doesn't win me any friends either. Nobody wants Conceited Obnoxious Girl at their party. After about 6 months I sort of decided that if I DID meet someone I could be friends with, I would have to explain to them that I had lived in this town for 6 months and didn't have any other friends yet. That fact alone embarrassed me into giving up on meeting people in Toledo.

Of course, there were some pretty awesome people in Toledo who I'm discounting here. Abby, a totally cool girl I served with in Columbus, was living in Toledo and going to school while I was there. Sarah, of Skeins and Beans fame, is a super sweet and super fun sock-knitting diva. Both of those girls were amazing and genuinely tried to draw me out of my shell. But I think that I eventually just had my heart set on moving back home.

Over Christmas my Grandfather passed away, three weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was a very sudden blow, and I felt completely alone for it. It sounds trite, but a few weeks after the funeral I sat down and made a list of things that are important to me, and things I want to do with my life. My list didn't include anything about having a lot of money, and it didn't include anything about having a job with an impressive title. It didn't include any of the reasons I had moved to Toledo in the first place. I decided then and there to stop living my life with the idea that "someday" I would make a move toward friends, a job I enjoyed, and generally being happy. That was basically when I decided that come summer, I would quit my job and move.

Obviously, just changing locations doesn't fix everything in your life. There's still things I need to work towards. But I think that if nothing else, the past 2 years gave me the perspective I needed to begin to improve myself, and to believe that if there's something cool I want to do, I should just DO it! In the next couple weeks, you will all start to hear more about Bruce and Brax's Special Project, which is (for both of us) a huge step in that direction.

Anyways, sorry for the big long post with only one picture!

Love,

Brax

Weekends are awesome

Bruce,
Looks like you had a pretty solid week! I'm glad I'm moving back to Columbus so I can go visit your parents more often...and pet those donkeys! And play with those puppies!
This is what I did Friday night:

L-R: Tome, Josh, Me. Tome invited Josh and myself over to his parent's "estate" out in Hebron, Ohio because he was dog-sitting for them. The original plan was to cook dinner, but I'm not sure what happened. Upon my arrival (straight from a work meeting, with light appetizers, wine, and after dinner drinks), Tome and Josh had the "cooking" well underway, and were doing that Charming thing they do when they snipe at each other like a married couple.
I think Tome was perhaps irritated at being picked on during dinner preparations by Josh and myself. The food was eventually prepared sometime around 1 am, brought to the table for "formal" photographs such as the one you see above, and then put away again immediately. I think it's our new diet plan.
The above picture is slated to be our new Christmas Card for 2008. Unfortunately, no other pictures were released for the press, so I couldn't share any puppy pictures, food pictures, or outtakes from the above photo shoot.
The next day was spent alternately cleaning our fingerprints off of Tome's mother's kitchen cabinets and lying about the house moaning.

Knitting pictures soon!!
Kbrax

Maxin', Relaxin'

Brucie,
Looks like you had an awesome time!! Man...fiber animals are where it's at! Know what else is where it's at?? Porch+wine+knitting....aka what I did with MY weekend!Oh heck yes! In case you're wondering what I'm knitting, it is some socks for my mom's Mother's Day gift!! The pattern is Reptilian Lace from the Summer 2006 Knitty, and I'm working it sans beads. Quite frankly, I'm not a "bead" kind of person, and I don't think my mom is either.
The yarn is some looovvvvveellly merino superwash sock yarn from Karida. I joined her sock yarn of the month club, never having knit socks before in my life! It's going pretty well, I'm just taking my time with the sock knitting. (clearly, as I am currently using the February yarn) I enjoy it, but I don't think I could ever become an obsessive, constant sock-knitter. All those teeny tiny stitches are a little hard on the hands.
Here she is:
This pattern is really interesting and fun!

Also, here is the most recent sock yarn to come from the sock club:
"Raspberry Truffle." Merino wool with cashmere...mmmmm......I can't wait for this yarn to go on my feet! Also, this is a terrible picture...the colors are these bee-yootiful browns and reds. Seriously, Karida. This yarn is awesome!
The whole time I was out on my porch, this guy really wanted to come outside too:

In case you can't tell, he's rubbing his face against the window, trying to get my attention. I think it will be good for him to move to Columbus with me. Once I'm there, I'll have people coming over to my house all the time and Oscar will have a whole new audience. Maybe he can help Freddy adjust...Fred's not a "people" cat, nor does he like moving or cars or his carrier or the coffee grinder or things changing at all.

I'm SO excited to move. I'm READY!! I know I still have stuff to do, like "find a job" and "train my replacement at my current job," but I seriously want to just jump in the car and GO most days. It has been great to have this experience, don't get me wrong. I really needed to get away from Columbus for awhile and gain some perspective, and I had 2 years of fabulous work experience. But especially over the last few months, it has become very clear that for me, being happy and living a full life means being close to my friends and family....not necessarily having a great job any old place.
Anyway, that's about all I've been doing. Red wine philosophizing on my porch while knitting. When I'm not knitting on mom's socks, I'm plugging away on Labyrinth.
I'm excited to get the waist shaping done and try it on. I am in love with this color!
Lylas,
Brax

Apron time 2008

Bruce,

Sometimes when I get home from work, I just feel like putting on some great tunes and hanging out in the kitchen. Sometimes, I'll tie one on....an apron that is!!
Aprons are the best. Don't you just feel so productive while you're wearing one? So put together? Maybe there's something psychological going on there. Anyway, I just thought I'd dance around my kitchen listening to Chuck Berry and bake something. I decided to be really ambitious and make a pot pie!!
I decided to make it in a 9" pie plate, using a top and bottom crust. I've never made a pie crust, and the results were...okay. I think I added a little too much water to the bottom crust, but the top crust turned out great!!
For the filling, I used lentils, tofu, and some vegetables i had lying around the fridge. Mushrooms and asparagus and stuff. And, of course, onion and garlic and seasonings. Then, I baked it according to the directions for a pie with a top and bottom crust. I got the pie crust recipe from my mom's old Better Homes cookbook from the 60's.

Of course, when I went to upload pictures of the baking process, this is all I took.
Apparently, I needed a little "assistance" of the yellow tail variety.

Here's the finished product:
I tried to cut the vent-holes in the shape of a tree. But it tasted pretty great. Good enough for some crazy apron wearing wino dancing around to chuck berry all night.

LYLAS,
Brax

2008 better be totally great

Brax,

I would like to start off by saying that I am watching the Republican debate and Giuliani just talked for around 6 hours about how America has the best health care in the world. Somebody had better tell our infant mortality rate--obviously it hasn't heard or it wouldn't be the second worst in the industrialized world. Oh Christ, now he's talking about how nuclear power is going to save the world. I don't even know why the hell I'm watching this. Excellent, I've changed the channel. Britcoms! I love Keeping Up Appearances. Hyacinth reminds me of my grandma.

I knitted some Christmas presents! I didn't document the process here too much, obviously, but here are the finished products.

Here's my mom wearing the scarf I made her. Most moms deserve cashmere scarves, my mom especially. (I blogged about this scarf when it was just a baby scarf.)

As moms deserve cashmere scarves, so dads deserve warm feet:

The pattern is Felt Clogs by Fiber Trends, and the yarn is Lamb's Pride Bulky. You're supposed to use a worsted wool and double it, but pffffffffft. A single strand of bulky worked fine, and I didn't have that whole keeping-track-of-two-tangled-skeins-while-two-cats-try-to-destroy-
everything problem. It felted FAST though, so if you're thinking of making these, watch 'em like a hawk. Also they needed a haircut after I finished them...the Lamb's Pride folks throw in a dash of mohair that makes this yarn felt up pretty fuzzy.

Here's my dad playing with his new amplifier while wearing his new slippers. See the amplifier? It is the size, apparently, of a briefcase, but has a remarkable sound. Modern technology!

It was a lovely Christmas.

So I know you had a good New Years because I was there. Here we are! (Readers, the two gentlemen in this photo are our former roommates. We all four live in different cities now, so it is always nice to see one another again. You may have seen them before, I think they're pretty popular on certain subscription-only websites.)

So yeah, that's us at the beginning of the night.

Cute, right? We are clear-eyed and pretty and ready to greet the new year. We're all upright. We're all dressed. Let's fast forward a bit...


Happy new year, my beauties! Readers, it only got better from here. I am refraining from posting any photos from later in the evening. This is all you need to know.

All lushery aside, it was fantastic and nourishing and energizing to see everyone this week. I love the people with whom I spent New Years Eve. They're the reason I'll be able to power through the last leg of this particular adventure. Yes, even (or especially) this guy:

I hope all of you had as good a holiday as I did. I've got high hopes for this year.

Luv,
Bruce

p.s. Special thanks to KT for being awesome and hosting the madness.

young man, do me a favor and snap my support hose to my girdle

Brax,

Ain't that pretty? It's Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky, 100% wonderful Fuzzy McFuzzball baby alpaca hair. I am going to make myself a warm soft lovely scarf out of it...maybe the Irish Hiking Scarf. It's about the softest thing ever. Man, I love alpaca. And alpacas!

I had a lot of trouble getting the color to come out. Here is the closest I got:



Thanks for visiting! We sure had a great time, and we went all over the place--to the market, to karaoke, to Crafty Bastards. It was so much fun!

But maybe my favorite part is how we forgot to take the camera with us anywhere we went, so all the pictures from this weekend are in this vein:



That's right, a full weekend with perfect weather and a crafts festival, and all the photos are of you and I dancing drunk in my apartment.


Aside: I have enough picture files titled some variation of "drunk" ("drunkies," "Alena and me drunk," "drunkface," ...you get the idea) that it is starting to get confusing, and I'm going to have to start being more specific when I upload my pictures.

So this weekend was awesome, and I hope we get to hang out again soon! Like maybe in Seattle? Are you free next Friday?

Love,
Bruce

The Fourth

Bruce!

I know all about the Metro Problem in D.C. Last time I was there, I went to a conference. And coming home from the conference was the biggest pain in the ass, because no one knew about the stand to the right rule. At one point, as I was rocketing my way down the escalator to catch a train, I stopped and explained the rule to this group of businessmen who were lounging about on the left side with their popped-up collars. I felt so awesome, like a real D.C. person! And then, my metrocard didn't work for some reason. Yep, still just a jerk from Ohio who can't work a metrocard.

On Tuesday, I decided to celebrate our nation's independance by driving down to Columbus. I braved the fireworks downtown and met up with our marvelous friend Tome, who was catching his plane back to L.A. the very next day. I met him and Josh at a hotel room at the Crown Plaza (SO not fabulous), where I presented him with his birthday present, a bottle of wine. Things went kind of south from there, and the following pictures were on my camera the next morning:

Ahhhh, glass of wine posed on the bedside table. Josh in background, reading the Columbus visitor's guidebook provided in the room. It's pictured below:

Bruce, I tell ya. It took me hours to figure out why they pictured columbus as having a ferris wheel. In fact, it's a picture of the State Fair. Oh my! What in god's name is this creepy thing??

My best guess is that it's a picture of a page from the guide book.

And finally, someone snuck this picture of me. I call it "Contemplative Wino."

The next morning, we all watched Mythbusters in the hotel room and then went to First Watch (I know the face you're making right now!), and then Tome had to leave. I wish I saw that awesome dude more often. Josh and I saw Paris je t'aime, which was really sweet, and also the first movie I've seen in the movie theater in about a year.

Whew! When I got home, I worked on this baby blanket I'm making. It's for my future baby! Ha ha!!!! Just kidding, it's for a baby shower I'm going to at the end of the month. Here it is, draped over my couch and poorly lit:

And here it is, all spread out on the floor. And poorly lit. It's bigger than it looks. I'm making it out of a cone of peaches and cream cotton (classy!). It's yet another Argosy pattern...I'm obsessed! It's just so relaxing to knit, and it's one of those patterns that's really easy but looks impressive to the non-knitter.

I love having days off in the middle of the week. It's pretty sweet. And I also know you'll find a job soon. You are awesome and you'll get a job where they appreciate that. In the meantime, keep enjoying unemployment. I know I always did!

Brax

The winos visit the country, with pictures

L. Bruce,

Here are the pictures I promised from our mini-break. The first night, the Night That Will Live in Infamy, produced about 25 pictures, almsot none of which are acceptable for public viewing. (Think eyes half closed, failed self portraits of our necks, dancing, no flash, etc.)

Nevertheless, here we are next to all of our "empties," after we had to switch to your dad's beer. Did we ever replace that? Oh well, it was probably from Thanksgiving anyway. Say what you want about us, we can hold our wine like nobody's business.

The next day, we went to a picnic at Libby's grandparent's house. We put a bottle of wine in a beer cozy. Thank you, Watson Gravel!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

On Tuesday we went to Honey, a restaurant in Cincinnati with delicious food and wine. I wonder why we like it so much? Here is Libby's great aunt Jean and her cousin Tammy.

And here is me listening to Libby's grandmother, Ruth. You do a lot of listening when Ruth is around.

Next, I got tired of taking pictures, so I handed the camera off to Barb. Barb took about 20 pictures of the group. They all came out like this:

I love that place so much. Everyone teased me for getting red wine when it was 85 degrees outside, but my wine was delicious! Best wine I ever had...it smelled like flowers.

I came home on Thursday night after an exhausting day of meetings in Columbus, and I worked a lot on my shrug. So far, I have finished the sleeves and back, and I started seaming the sleeves. I just need to do the orange ribbing around the body and I'll be set! It will probably take me awhile though, because it involves picking up stitches. I've set aside projects with way less picked-up stitches, I tell you what.

This is the back.

It was lovely to see you! I wish I could have joined you in Columbus, but I needed some serious down time. This weekend, I'm mostly listening to Tegan and Sarah and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's...but I will be fine.

Safe trip back!
Karen