I wish I could take credit for anything in this post, but at least I can feel truly lucky to have so many friends and family that are willing to share a crafty gift with Wiggle! First to arrive were blankets from Nana: Years ago my mother made my brother and I matching crocheted blankets. She said she liked the idea of Mama and Wiggle snuggled up in matching afghans. So now there is a Wiggle sized one! Here it is on the rocking chair Partner got me for Christmas this year; this chair and afghan will spend a lot... Continue reading

Finally! A Wiggle FO! And, it's taken me three weeks to post and I'm at week 38, so this may be the last post for awhile. Fair warning! :) I started this sweater back in October and then realized I wasn't going to have enough yarn to do long sleeves. I was kind of bummed and didn't pick up the sweater again until last month. Then I needed buttons but fortunately Partner helped pick out the best available (there isn't much choice in Hawaii). Here's the buttons... I'd like to say I love the sweater, but it's not quite what... Continue reading

We've been going to Lamaze classes. The good thing about a passionate teacher is you learn a lot. The bad thing is that they like to talk. A LOT. The first class I thought we'd be breathing and busy. But we sat and listened for 3 hours. I almost went stir crazy with nothing in my hands. Fool me once. Last week I wove in the ends on Wiggle's Sweater. Your eyes do not deceive you. That's three colors on US3's. Now I just need to find the time to sew on the buttons. OpArt continues, but the difference between... Continue reading

So we're going to keep this short and sweet just to make sure you get a post... Opart continues. I've finished the first skein of teal and need to wind up the second skein. I suspect that I'll finish with just the small size. A sweater needs sleeves. The same ones it needed in October. And then those ends.... This is the beginnings of a supe secret knit. The very beginnings! The Wiggle Bug WIP continues to get bigger. and bigGER. and BIGGER. And finally the first FO of the year! A sweetie pie hat for my sweet wiggle bug.... Continue reading

I thought I'd have an FO for you by now. But apparently pregnancy brain makes bobbles too hard to figure out on the first attempt. But we're almost there.... What are you all working on? I'm hoping to catch up with you all this weekend! Continue reading

Alright, just in time for spring, my 2013 goals! You can tell one of the goals is not to be timely! ) You'll see that some of these are recycled from last year, either because I didn't do them or because I want to do better. I guess, not surprisingly, the first few are pretty Wiggle Bug focused. Each day I work on the first and now, as I'm about to enter week 31, keep holding my breathe that Wiggle waits until everything is nice and well developed to make an appearance. Stress is a big one for me. I... Continue reading

It's nearly a quarter of the way through 2013, so I guess I'll wrap up 2012. This is going to be super short so we can move on to 2013 Goals! 1. Umm, no, that didn't happen. We made a lot of progress, but frankly, I have way too much stuff and I wasn't at the house much after July and the plan stalled. 2. I'm still pretty much a stress monkey, but I think I'm getting better. Frankly, one thing that is helping is knowing how ba stress is for Wiggle Bug. It's a little easier to calm down... Continue reading

It's March tomorrow today 9th so I really thought that I ought to wrap up the 2012 knits. Ha. I am so far behind! This post was made much harder by the fact that I wiped my computer (virus) in July and put all my pictures on Flickr! With no labels or organization! Ack! The first one is either my first FO of 2012 or somewhere middle in the of 2012, depending on how you count FOs. Because I cast off on New Year's Day. But then there was a pull in the middle and I was afraid that I'd... Continue reading

It took about five months, but we finally closed on our house. I thought you might want to look around the neighborhood... Some of the houses... I was going to take a video of the downtown, but realized it would all fit in one picture. Left to right: the post office - Uncle Bobo's BBQ - 76 gas station - 7-11 I kid. That's not all... There is a firehouse down the street and a restaurant about 0.5 miles down from the firehouse. Here are some of our neighbors... Views around the house.... the backyard view (and from a field... Continue reading

Since I'm coming up on the third trimester, I'm probably way behind on posting about what I've been knitting for Wiggle Bug. I got all kinds of yarn during the eat.sleep.knit annual sale... I don't know if I've shown you all just how yarn crazy I went: I have some specific ideas and not so specific. One specific one is an OpArt blankie. The progress looks speedy in the beginning... But soon, with over 400 stitches per round, progress seems slower... But my first baby FO, was a very special hat. The first yarn purchased after we confirmed that Wiggle... Continue reading

Sorry for all the long breaks in blog posts! We are just so busy (finally in the same state - when I started this post two months ago, we were in different states) and it seems that blogging - as much as I love it - keeps getting dropped. So, for our introduction at the beginning of the reception was No Conversation by View from the Hill. Partner loves this band. They don't get a lot of press but I hope you all like it! As I've mentioned, we really tried to do this wedding our way, with our own... Continue reading

Hi there! Happy 2013! I know we're nearly at that time when it's too late to say happy new year, so I'll make sure I get that out of the way. I have a bunch of FOs for 2012 that I must put together into posts and I promise I'll do it soon. But first is a post long overdue... Nearly two years ago, Partner secretly went about an attempt to teach himself to knit. Not long before Sock Summit 2011, he admitted he needed help. And no wonder! A usually good LYS had set him up with a dark,... Continue reading

We interrupt this wedding blog with some knitting. I kid. I still have a few more wedding posts - I hope you don't mind - but I decided to actually show some knitting on here! My new office is cold, cold cold! I was here a week and knew I needed wool mitts in Hawaii. When I was back visiting Partner for our anniversary, I rooted around in the stash and found the perfect yarn for some quick mitts. And here is a fuzzy picture but I thought it really showed the random patterning well. This was a total fluke... Continue reading

Well time to move on to more wedding stuff. Hope you don't mind. :) We took pictures before the ceremony when the light was better. But we were adamant that we didn't want to see each other before hand (seemed to defeat half the purpose though people thought it was odd since we've lived together for 2 years). Anyway, forgive a few narcissistic shots.... My thrifty side is happy that I managed to get this dress second hand and, with alterations, cost about $500. Thank you Canada (that is where I bought it from though I suspect she bought it... Continue reading

I know it's kind of crass to move my wedding picture down with a sale announcement. But, I just took part in eat.sleep.knit's black Friday sale and saved 25% on the random discount. Given that I made a huge push to increase my cotton stores, this was not an insignificant amount of money. So, if you need enabling, here you go. And a teaser for a coming blog post... finished on Thanksgiving... with just enough yarn.... Continue reading

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Partner and I had a small-medium sized wedding, so the size of our wedding party might seem a little strange but these people mean so much to us we wanted them in our circle on this special day. Not a bridesmaid or groomsman, our officiant is very special too. Bekah is the daughter of one of Partner's closest friends. She created a beautiful ceremony that perfectly captured the organic, natural and spiritual feel we wanted. The best man was Partner's oldest friend from high school. Jeff was a lifesaver. He did so much to help before and after. He also... Continue reading

One of the wonderful things about the garden where we married is that we weren't stuck with using particular companies. We thought this might help us save some money by doing things ourselves. I don't think we completely accomplished the first, but what we did end up doing was creating a space that reflected who we are and our relationship. We used a company to get the things exactly we needed for the reception. We also found a chef and assistant that moonlighted for party prep on Craigslist. They were great and allowed us to just enjoy! Partner and the... Continue reading

The tardiness of this post should in no way be considered a reflection of my happiness regarding the topic. One of the problems with getting married in California is that space is a premium. And goodness but the holders of pretty places know it. We looked up and down the coast, and towards and away from the coast. The reality is that I really wanted to marry at Stump Beach but practical heads pervailed (Partner's) that trying to get a bunch of guests up and down uneven steps on a beach that frequently - and unpredictably - fills with smelly... Continue reading

So, sorry for the very sporadic blog posting the past few weeks. I've been keeping a bit of a secret. Back in the Spring, I applied for another job. During the summer, I was told I'd made the final cut. Then, while we were in England, I was given a final job offer. And then the kicker: they asked when in September I wanted to start. When we were still in England. Did I mention the new job isn't in California? So, when we arrived home I had less than three weeks to wrap up everything in California and move.... Continue reading

And then, suddenly, were we on our last day in England. Somehow I missed a picture of Partner, so here I am with the Harrod's Bear in Heathrow... A long flight, and then we were back in San Francisco! The End of our great British honeymoon adventure! Continue reading

On nearly our last day, we finally got to the one place that Partner had wanted to see more than anything when we found out about this trip. We took the full tour, so we could... Sit in the Chairman's section... Sit on the players' chairs... Touch the grass... Walk by the pitch... See the historic cottage (from which Craven Cottage got it's name)... Sit where the inactive players and families sit... Check out the original wooden seats! The changing rooms... The walk to the pitch... The supporters section!! It was a football fan's dream! Continue reading

As you can imagine, Day 45 was a little less stuff. It took far too long to return the car so we really spent the day wandering London... We went back to Buckingham Palace... Then back to the British Museum (our 3rd visit!) The Lewismen Chess Set... And the most amazing room, Room 1. Room 1 is set up the way the original British Museum was set up in the 1800s. Partner and I were in awe... There was a little of everything, including these books Partner found by chance... Aren't you glad you don't have to knit socks for... Continue reading

Sadly, we had to leave Bath and head back to London. But the rain let up long enough for Partner to grab some pictures of Tasburgh House. And then off we went Via Stonehedge... The skies above Stonehedge And then we were off to Old Sarum, a very important part of English history about which I knew nothing... And then on to Avebury, a town I'd visited as a college student... I'd missed the manor last time... These guys were resting in a field... Unlike Stonehedge, you can touch the stones at Avebury even though they are at least as... Continue reading

No, we weren't abducted by English aliens! Life has been a whirl, but never fear, Day 43 is here (nearly a month late!) We are (were) in Bath, if you recall.. As you may have been too polite to mention, we were in desperate need of a laundry break. We didn't really move town each day so people didn't noticed the recycled tops and bottoms. Really. We found an amazing pub (that got us to the well-hidden laudrette) and enjoyed a lazy half pint and some wonderful tomato soup. It was also nice to have an interesting discussion on U.S.... Continue reading