100th Post!

One Hundred Yards of Yarn

One Hundred Buttons

On Hundred Cookie Cutters

One Hundred Blog Posts!

Have a wonderful 100th of something today!!!

White House Garden Tour

I had the opportunity to go on a tour of the White House gardens this spring (Thanks Ashley and Ben!!!).

Here's my hat again, sitting in a strangely jaunty way....why was it so cold a week ago and now in the 80s?  DC weather makes no sense...

The Cherry Trees were blossoming near the West Wing

From the West Wing you can see the playground that the Obamas installed for Sasha and Malia.

There were beautiful (if very cloudy) views of the Monuments

I got to see Michelle Obama's Kitchen Garden.  This is the most well-organized, weedless garden I have ever seen.  I suppose if you have armies of school children coming to help you out (under the supervision of a park ranger...), you garden is bound to look good.

Across from the garden is a beehive.  Apparently have make something like 140 pound of honey every year and use it to make the White House pastries.  The White House carpenter is the one that takes care of the bees. 

This is my favorite picture.  Hillary planting trees in heels and early 90's shoulder pads

Oh, Hillary.

BISIO UPDATE: April

I haven't done a BISIO (Because I Said It Outloud) Update in a super long time (since February....yikes).  So, in the spirit of accountability, here goes:

Grad School:  I'm signed up for Emory in the fall.  I will be doing first year as a law student.  I am quitting my job at DOT at the end of May to bum around (read: volunteer at the birth center full time) this summer.  I really need to find somewhere to live in Atlanta, though.  I am pretending that having a car isn't actually necessary, contrary to everything I've heard.

Sheep-To-Sweater:  I started my sweater!

Or rather, the sleeve of a sweater....

It obviously isn't made with yarn that I spun myself, but I am excited to say that I am in the knitting phase of my project.  In a couple of weeks I will be headed out to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival to learn about sheep shearing....I think then I will be able to say that I can do and/or understand each step of the sheep-to-sweater process, even if my final product is not the result of me doing each step myself.

Doula-ing: I explained in this post what I need to do to to get my doula certification.  I am currently working on one of the last things I need to do before I write my essays and turn in my certification application: observing a birth education class.  I am taking a Bradley Class with nine couples (the teacher and I are the only non-pregnant women in the room).  I am doing my best to keep my mouth shut in the class and focus more on learning from the instructor.  She is pretty amazing.

Knitting Inspiration: Weddings

This royal wedding mania is crazy!  It has even broken into the knitting world in the form of a pattern book called How to Knit a Royal Wedding

Knit the Queen, William, Kate, or even....

A Corgi.  WIN!

But knitted weddings are not a new thing (are we surprised?  Knitters are the tinniest bit nuts, no?).  I have lots of friends getting married this summer.  I recommend the following preparations.

Knit your wedding dress.

Knit Wedding Dress:  http://knitwear4u.blogspot.com/2011/03/knitted-wedding-dresses.html

This wedding dress is more sheepy

Telegraph Article about a bride wearing a sheepy dress

Have a wooly buffet

Via

Via

Hold felted flowers

via

Take your rings from a lace pillow:

via

And then ride off into the sunset with your betrothed in style:

These people have a whole gallery...Their whole wedding was knitted....

For all my friends getting married this summer, may it go royally!

Weekend Update Part II: Babies!!!

I will admit to writing many of my posts in advance.  Because of that, I didn't have a chance to mention that I got called this morning to an amazing, completely natural child birth.  SO.  FRIGGIN.  AMAZING.  My Sunday sort of disappeared (where do my weekends go?) but there was really no better way to spend the day.

Yea, birth!

Weekend Update: Birthday Knitting

On my actual birthday last week I did a little of this:

Flambeed s'mores dessert fondue

But on Thursday, I convinced a GREAT group of friends to join me at Looped Yarn Works.  Many of them are not knitters, but all made valiant attempts with the yarn.

Julie was an expert in the knit cast-on.

Judy's mom is a master-knitter...Judy seemed to have picked up some mad skills.

Devon, the beautiful knit demon

Amanda is new to the needles but well on her way to making a baby blanket for her sister's bundle of joy

Nate teaches Kelley how to do the purl stitch.  Porpoise, hilarious, or THE MOST hilarious?

I love you guys!!!  Thanks for the great birthday!

The Squirrel Lobby

This is a crazy week in DC.  No, not because of the looming threat of government shut down (I've been deemed "non-essential" and will be asked to not come into work on Monday if Congress doesn't get it's act together).

Picture stolen from WaPo

This week evil has won.  The Dark Side is nigh.  The squirrel lobby has the media in its fuzzy, mangy pocket.  In other words, the Washington Post has declared it DC Squirrel Week.

On the Q&A Page columnist John Kelly explains:

Well, the original inspiration was a story I did last month. I received so many responses to the column on squirrels I suspected there was a deep, untapped reservoir of squirrel love (and hate) out there. Plus, we have one of the world's leading squirrel experts right here, the Smithsonian's Richard Thorington. Discovery has Shark Week. We have Squirrel Week.

 

My disdain for this creature is well-documented.  With a "squirrel density of approximately 12.5 squirrels per acre--one of the highest densities ever recorded" the squirrel lobby has gotten far too strong in this city.  But as they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.  So in honor of Squirrel Week I am working on this:

Squirrelly Swedish Mittens by Elli Stubenrauch

 Right where I can keep an eye on them.

 

And because I am super impressed with my progress, look at how much it grew over the weekend:

Before Indiana

After Indiana.  This doesn't seem like a lot of progress except that I am a slow knitter and this is only my second Faire Isle project (first one with tiny yarn and tiny needles)

 That said, here are some of my favorites from squirrel week:

Q: Is it true that squirrels are Satan's minions and thus cannot be harmed by worldly weapons? Besides automobiles, they don't seem to have any predators. Who can I hire to exorcise these beasts as I can't drive my car on my patio?

A. John Kelly : I think if you told a squirrel he had no predators he'd laugh in your face--then bite it. Dogs, cats, snakes, neighborhood kids training to be serial killers. Also, I was walking my dog and watched a raptor swoop down at a squirrel. Almost got it too, except that my dog had startled the squirrel. That was on ticked off hawk.

Q:  Is it legal to hunt and eat squirrels in the District?

A. Richard Thorington : Not since 1906.

What happened in 1906 to cause this total reversal in policy?  Also, I'm not condoning animal cruelty, but: http://youtu.be/q6moWSYao1g

See also:

I would never condone putting clothing on an animal, but this is almost worth it.  From http://www.sugarbushsquirrel.com/

Oh evil squirrels....

Sheep/Dog

I saw this article the other day and decided that you just NEEDED to know.

A farmer in China says his sheep gave birth to a sheep dog...as in, a dog that looks like a sheep...A researcher at a local university had this to say about it:

It's not possible that a sheep could become pregnant with a puppy...It's likely that this is just an abnormal lamb.

Heh, the name of my new death metal band is going to be "Abnormal Lamb."  We'll be moshing this weekend at a club near you.

Weekend Update: Hoosier Time!

Ate the legs and butt off of a rice krispy white rabbit.

I refused to eat the face...cause eating the face off of even a tasty rabbit has to be the opposite of good luck.

Went to a big wedding in Chicago last weekend for the lovely Judy. 

Aren't Judy and Josh cute?

Stopped in Indiana to see my mom.

She's pretty cute, too.

And got stuck on an airplane.

But then got a whole row to myself...I will take what I can get.

Happy April, y'all!