A Gift for Mom

The Wavy Ribbon Scarf, knitted from Tess' Designer Yarns Microfiber Ribbon in Enchanted Forest colorway. 

 The photos don't do the yarn justice.   The microfiber ribbon has a slight shine (think shimmer, and not horrible 80's spandex kind of shine) and the colors are really vibrant.   The look and feel of the scarf don't translate well into photos (well, at least the kind of photos my husband and I take anyway).

 It's a gift for my mother.   It's not a surprise because she and I went to Stitches West and she saw the scarf displayed there.  She actually asked me to make her one!   We couldn't purchase the yarn at Stitches because the vendor had sold out of the colorway, so I went home and ordered it online through the website.

Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater

Good Lord, this one took forever.  I started this one in November 2009. It still needs a button at the collar and it needs to be blocked, but I am calling this one DONE.   The original pattern for the Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater only has short sleeves.  I read a bunch of comments on Ravelry about the pattern's sleeves being very large, so I cut the number of stitches I picked up for the sleeves, and made them a few inches longer.

 Since Emma is a petite baby, the finished sweater still fits her, thank goodness.

Sometimes I Wonder

Sometimes I wonder if my workplace exists in some sort of alternate universe or strange bubble. Here's what happened this morning in the office kitchen:

Someone: There's no coffee! (Flashing look of genuine rage.)
Me: Well, it looks like Mr. X (our office services guy) started some new pots. (Looking over to the coffee machine where two new carafes of coffee are just waiting to have the lids popped back on. They are the kind that look like cylinders with a lever pump on top.)
Someone: Well, let me go call reception to get Mr. X to set this all up. (Mr. X floats between three office floors, so this would mean paging him, then waiting.)
Me: Uh, well, here. (Take the carafes, snap the lids into place, which is very easy, since the lids are hinged and attached to the actual carafe, and move the carafes less than 1/2 a foot to the pouring station.)

Really? Many people I work with seem to have a hyperactive sense of hierarchy and entitlement. The above scenario is just one of the ridiculous situations I come across daily. It happens all the time that someone cannot walk literally two feet to a garbage can to throw away dirty napkins or paper plates, and just leaves these things in random places for Mr. X or office services to pick up. Honestly, I wonder how these people handle things in their own homes.

Laughing Like a Big Girl

Emma here. Ever since my grandmother moved to San Francisco, things have been great. She loves me a lot, and I love spending my days with her. She makes my mom and dad delicious food every day, and she is teaching me Korean! Check out how happy I am these days. There's some funny lady in the background making weird noises and faces (that's my mom). She thinks I am laughing with her, but really I am laughing at her. Look at my shoulders jiggle when I laugh!

Look At My Moves!

The Little Elbow Biter

So our family is finally recovering from a very nasty respiratory virus.  I don't think that we have been so sick in a very long time.  Thank goodness that my mother arrived this past Sunday.  I don't know how we would have gotten by without her.

Emma is happy as a clam riding around on her grandmother's back (my mother brought this carrier thing with her, and it is working out wonderfully).  She is also getting to be quite mischievious.  She has been doing her military crawl on her tummy for a couple of weeks now, and she is very adept at it.  She can move around the entire room. 

I still nurse her in the morning though, and this morning, I must have fallen asleep while nursing her in our bed.  I woke up after a few minutes with this strange pain on my elbow.  I looked down and there was Emma, looking up at me so innocently while gnawing on my elbow with her two little teeth!  Ouch!  That little imp.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I love fresh brussel sprouts.  They are like little baby cabbages. 

I like to pan saute them, or even better, I like to roast them in the oven.  This time, I had some really large broccoli crowns, so I added them to the mix.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Brussel sprouts, ends trimmed, yucky outer leaves peeled off.  Cut in half if they are huge.
Minced garlic
Olive Oil
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your oven - I put my oven to 400 degrees, your oven might be different, so just experiment.  Toss the brussel sprouts with the minced garlic, olive oil to coat, some lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Spread out the brussel sprouts on a foil lined pan and pop in the oven. 

Roast them about 20 minutes, but keep half an eye on them, just so they don't burn to a crisp.  I don't mind if they get a little blackened, though.

Couldn't be simpler!