Beads, Beads, Beads

I think I have found a new craft! My uncle's girlfriend brought her beads over to our house for Christmas. My mom, sister, and I were all able to design our own peice of jewerly. I created this necklace with pearls.


I was so into the idea of designing my own jewerly that I brought some beads to create this necklace and matching bracelet, based on a necklace that my sister bought a while ago. I think I may be beading more in the future. Who knew!

Simple Hooded Cardigan

Friends Paul and Shannon just had a baby boy, Andrew, in September. I decided to knit him a sweater for Christmas. This is the Simple Hooded Cardigan with Lion Brand Jiffy in Rust. This is a very easy pattern, and only took a couple of days to make, however, I wasn't able to get the correct gauge so it came out a little bit smaller than the pattern calls for. Hopefully it will fit.

Spring Garden Lace Socks

I finished by Spring Garden Lace Socks after about 5 months of work. They are made with Koigu yarn on US 0 double-pointed needles. It was a fairly complicated pattern with all the lace, but they turned out great!



Tip for next time: do both socks at the same time, otherwise its really hard to finish that second one.

Portland/Seattle Trip

Portland and Seattle were both amazing cities with good public transit and wonderful restaurants and nightlife.

Day 1: We arrived in Portland about 12:30 pm and took the light-rail train and streetcar to our hotel, the Inn @ Northrup Station. The hotel was in a great location, right on the streetcar line and in Nob Hill. After settling in we went to 23rd street in Nob Hill and had lunch at Papa Haydn. They have about 50 deserts on their menu and they all looked great! Our favorite was the Boccone Dolce - swiss meringues drizzled with semi-sweet chocolate, layered with fresh fruit and whipped cream. After that we did some more exploring of Nob Hill and the Pearl District. We stopped at Powell's City of Books and Cupcake Jones. We had dinner back in Nob Hill at Paley's Place. They had great French inspired Northwest cuisine with local ingredients. They also were doing a wine tasting, so we joined in a well.


Day 2: After finding out that the bike rental place was closed we went to the Portland Art Museum and the Rembrandt exhibit. We ate lunch at Hot Lips Pizza in the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center (Ecotrust Building). Thew building has a gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and they have a self-guided walking tour. In the afternoon we picked up out bikes and rode on the waterfront. We also stopped at Voodoo Donuts for some creative donut creations and Clear Creek Distillery to sample the pear-infused Brandy. Later we went to the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park, which had a great view of the city. We wanted to try some local beer so we have dinner at the BridgePort Brewing Company. After we went to a Jimmy Mak's in the Pearl District to listen to some live jazz. It was pretty empty since it was a Thursday night, but it music was nice.

Bike riding on the waterfornt

Day 3: We started off the day biking through Forest Park. It was a nice break from the city - you really feel like you are up in the mountains, but your just minutes from Downtown Portland. Then we jumped on a 4-hour train ride to Seattle, which wasn't too bad since the scenery was nice and we were all able to catch a nap. Scott's Uncle Jim picked us up from the train station and we went to a Chinese restaurant in Belleveue with Scott's Uncle Jim, Aunt Robin, grandma, and cousin Nicole.

Day 4: Scott, Dan, and I took the bus into Seattle and met up with Virginia for coffee and crepes at a little cafe near her apartment in Capitol Hill. Then we spent the day at Bummershoot: Seattle's Art and Music Festival. We say a couple of pretty cool bands including Portland's local Menomena and Burt Jansch. We has dinner at a sushi restaurant in Capital Hill and then hit a couple of the local bars.

Day 5: We meet Carl and Rachel for wine/beer tasting in Woodinville, just outside of Belleveue. We had a nice tour and tasting of the Chateau Ste Michelle and Columbia wineries. We ate lunch at the Red Hook Brewery and also had a tour and tasting there.

Day 6: We went to Pike's Place Market, the aquarium, and the first Starbucks in the morning. We ate at Elliot's Oyster House in on of the piers for lunch. After lunch we went to Pioneer Square and did the Underground Tour. Later we went to the Si-Fi Museum and the Experience Music Project. Then met Virg for dinner at one of Tom Douglas' restaurants called Lola - a Greek inspired restaurant. It was amazing! Probably the best food we had the whole trip.

See all the photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/CourtneyEWood/PortlandSeattleTrip

Better than Booties Baby Socks

These are the first socks I have ever made. They are for my boss who just had a baby girl.



Pattern: Better than Booties Baby Socks from Interweave Press by Ann Budd.
Yarn: Kuigo sock yarn
Needles: US 0 double pointed needles

Calorimetry

Pattern: Calorimerty from knitty.com
Yarn: I forget
Needles: US 8