This is a knitting blog right?

Beautiful hat on otherwise pretty girl making stupid face:

Pattern: Spring Time Beret by Natalie Larsen

Needles: size 6 and 7

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Jewel Blue .75 skeins

I went over to Loop yesterday to check out their sale, which was pretty lame as far as yarn sales go, but they carry so many lovely colors of malabrigo - lace, worsted, and silk blend -  that I couldn't leave without just one skein. And since it was snowing I decided to make a winterized version of the spring time beret. I finished it last night, wore it today, and love, love, love it! I still plan to block it to open up the lace and de-bump it a bit, but overall I am very happy with this easy, quick, and ever so practical knit.

Nieces!

We spent a few days down in Oklahoma with the family last week and it was awesome. Below is a picture of the whole fam minus Kevin who had too work, poor Kevin.


Above: What Matthew's life will look like in 5 or 6 years.
Above: Sweet baby, Cora Jane, and Below awesome little girl Evelyn Rose.
Below baby Cora models her moderne log cabin baby blanket.

my year of austentatiousness

It all started last June. I had recently watched Becoming Jane and the newest movie version of Pride and Prejudice and could no longer hide my shame at having never read any of Jane Austen's novels. I had tried Emma several times since highschool, but it had never taken. Someone suggested I try P&P for my first go, and so I picked up a copy from paperbackswap and took it along with me on my train ride from Santa Fe to Riverside. I started reading and within 24 hours had gluttonously finished the whole thing. I spent the next four weeks re-reading the book at a more reasonable pace and decided I was a true fan. This January I spent an entire day watching Jane Austen themed movies (P&P, Emma, and The Jane Austen Book Club) and knitting - it was pure pleasure. Then my sisters bought me the BBC version of P&P and I spent another day in January gorging on Jane Austen and knitting - more pure pleasure. I had recently been given a copy of Sense and Sensibility and so a few weeks ago I began reading that. As soon as the Dashwood sisters were happily settled I decided to try Emma for the umpteenth time and was delighted to find myself finally finishing it. I'm now ready to go pick up a new book and I cannot decide which to choose: Mansfield Park  or Persuasion. I'm putting off Northanger Abbey for a bit. Thus far P&P is my very favorite as Elizabeth is the perfect heroine, and there is no sexier Austen man than Mr. Darcy, but perhaps I will change my mind once I have read them all, which I plan to do before this June - and thus complete my year of living Austentatiously.