A Silly Knitted Self Portrait

It's been months since I've done anything crafty, and almost a year since I've done any knitting. But I was inspired by a woman on the airplane to pick up my gigantic Wilma Flintstone (size 19) needles to make a scarf. And what a scarf I made. I used brown chenille together with a fun eyelash yarn of browns and greens. The pattern is basically two rows of knit stitch, with a triple yarn-over, and then I don't even know what it's called. My directions were verbal, so I just did it and it worked. It makes these cool sections of the scarf where the yarn is long and loose (in an organized fashion) between the rows of knits. It knitted up very quickly thanks to the big needles and the pre-historic wooly mammoth acting as my skein outside of the window. I was so excited to have a completed crafty project that I put on lipstick and took this self-portrait (in front of my new dining room curtains) at 1:00 in the morning. I think I was just a wee bit wiggy.

So My Dad Has Something New To Read

Actually I've been itchin' to write something anyway, but first and foremost I am a dutiful daughter. I don't want my dad to spend another minute checking-in on my dumb old boring blog. So dad, I love you, here's something new!

Hooray it's Fall! Oh, but it really is all about the clothes, isn't it? There's nothing better than when the air becomes crisp and we can once again wear courduroy, herringbone and tights! Actually what's better is buying it for Zöe instead...cheaper, smaller sizes, better colors. This photo perfectly illustrates Zöe's obsessive fascination with the car. She can spend forever sitting behind the wheel, pretending to drive, pushing buttons, flipping blinkers, making car sounds, and checking herself out in the vanity mirror. Given how hyper-excited I was to learn how to drive, I think Zöe may have inherited the gene. For now I'll just be happy buying stripey tights and butterfly barrettes.

In other fashion news our house has had a serious haircut. If you check back to the first photos I posted (Sand, Salt Water and Tomatillo Green) you should notice a gigantic change...you can actually see the house! I've also included a photo of my favorite feature: a sweet covered side porch which sits to the right of the house, off of the living room through french doors. Max and I had our first lunch "al fresco" last week and it was lovely. We had a delightful time laughing at the antics of the local squirrels. My grandmother was a die-hard animal lover who went through 20 pound bags of peanuts on a weekly basis to keep her squirrels fat and happy. After she died the squirrels went away for a while, but when we moved in they started coming back to check us out. Eric has been filling our feeders and while they're not as well supplied as before, they seem to be happy and are certainly as silly as ever.

This last photo is for my good friend Rebecca, who is just beginning the packing and moving process with her family of three little ones. I guess the purpose is just to show that nearly a month after move-in: a) we've decided to incorporate the "U-Haul Look" into our interior design scheme c) it is widely believed that there may actually be a fireplace behind all of those boxes, and c) we're gettin' there, and you will too Rebecca!

Max Man Ray

Boy is it nice to finally be back online. The move is complete but the work is far from done. At this point anything that distracts me from the enormity of the tasks at hand is a welcome diversion. While on a walk the other day with Max and his best girlfriend Anna, Max set up this surreal vignette and asked me to please take a picture. He helped me set up the shot and then took a few of his own. The whole series is really one of my favorite photo sets, ever. It's exactly how I have been feeling lately: very much upside down, with my legs flailing in the air and my head stuck in pipe. I know that things will right themselves soon enough with some physical, mental and emotional elbow grease. But for now I'm just going to try my best to enjoy how everything looks from this angle.