honeyflake

peace

very pepperminty

 

and very wintery. the christmas baking is finally underway here. we began not with the traditional sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies but with a batch of chocolate peppermint cake pops. i used this basic chocolate cake recipe (which i've bookmarked for future use — it's a good one!) and from there just sort of followed several cake-pop recipes from various web sources (mixing the cake with frosting). to get them minty-fresh i added a few drops of peppermint extract to the melted chocolate and sprinkled the final pops with some crushed candy canes. a little bit of cool and a little bit of fun for all.

bright lights, big city

 
yesterday margaret and some of her cousins joined my parents for a performance of the christmas spectacular... crazy to believe my nyc born child had never taken part in this city's annual tradition before. it was a first for her and i think for her cousins too. the excitement and joy for those under nine in our group was off the charts. i tagged along (partly to help out and partly to not miss out on any of the aforementioned excitement and joy.) and while they went into the show (complete with 3d glasses this year) i got to spend some time by myself enjoying the buzz of midtown. hello old office where i used to work, hello saks, hello central park, oh, and hello family that just got out of that spectacular show.... and off we went together to wrap up our day.

the big tree at rockefeller center. so classic.

 
interacting with the technicolor touchscreen windows of macys at herald square. so cool.

passing the travel time with all sorts of hand clapping games and candy !! so sweet.

it certainly is christmas time in this city and i'm glad to have the time to enjoy it and such happy people to enjoy it with.

remember that time when we went to get our tree and it was 52 degrees? that was a good day.

yesterday chuck, margaret and i went on our traditional tree farm outing. embracing tradition, we brought along homemade ginger cake, a thermos of cocoa, lots of marshmallows and vintage holiday plaid. usually we find ourselves out there, bundled up in layers... but not this year. we'll remember 2011 as the year that we wandered around amongst the pines jacket-and-mitten-and-hat-free... the year we excitedly chose that big silly tree with the single quirky pinecone... the year we felt a bit of extra warmth of the season together on this sunny december day. oh so merry!

thanksgiving time

november is winding down (can't believe it, really!) with many seasonal signs and familiar family traditions as always. the sun has been shining, the golden leaves are almost all off the trees and i baked a pie for my loved ones. mmmmmm.... inspired by the "crowd favorite" at the brooklyn pie bake-off i made a basic apple crumb with an improvised bacon and caramel creation on top. a little something sweet to share at our thanksgiving meal (who doesn't love a good pie?)... and it is something that seems as authentically autumn to me as running turkey trots, simmering cranberry sauce and giving thanks (all of which we enjoyed together these past few fall days here as well). fun stuff.

hope you have been enjoying some wonderful moments that capture the season too!

play

a trio of new legwarmers has been knit for my girl's ever moving, running and kicking limbs. usually these things do come in a matching pair - one to wear on each leg... but this set contains three. each one an improvised pattern of stripes that seemed to design themselves as they were being knit. the final three uniquely striped tubes can be mixed and matched in different combinations — a sweet feature which margaret loves. my goal was to use up some yarn from my stash, specifically a nice unused skein of organic, periwinkle wool. i knew that i'd probably be short on yarn to finish two legwarmers with just that color, so with margaret's help, we pulled a few extra balls of yarn out of the bin... i cast on and just began to play with the yarn and the quantity that i had... changing colors here and there as they took shape... finishing one and beginning another, and then another. knitting these free-form was really such a relaxing pleasure. no rules. nothing to troubleshoot. just fun. perfect for the tomfoolery that finds its way into our days.

my knitting notes posted at ravelry.

on monday morning

the morning glories are still growing and blooming. their vibrant bursts of purple made a nice companion to this morning's cup of coffee.

remembering

from our city rooftop, september 11, 2001.

surf-side

 

after streaming live video feed throughout the week, gazing at the ocean swells virtually right in our living room, we finally made it out today to the east coast's big surfing event. the contest actually wrapped up on friday but there was still a bit of the festival set up for the weekend. with this being the time of year where everyone around here seems to be holding on tightly to every last bit of warmth and sun... wishing in some way for their own personal endless summer, we thought this seemed like an excellent place to spend the day. and it was. margaret easily got down with the feather and beads braiding craft that we stumbled across... a giant pink promotional beach ball sparked a friendly 1-v-1 sand soccer game between chuck and margaret...  and i even found some time to just be on the blanket with my double pointed needles and a few balls of yarn... some time to be right there... next to the waves of the incoming tide. nice.

the yosemite trip

a pouch of freeze dried chili-mac, a tiny propane stove, a headlamp, a compass, trail mix, the 45 year old lightweight coffee pot, a tent — these items say it all... somebody is seeking out an adventure. back in mid-august, chuck assembled and packed up a bunch of great gear for a big multi-night trip out to the sierra nevada mountains. there was a lot of preparation on those pre-trip weekends which was very interesting and exciting for all three of us. margaret loved testing the new one person tent, we watched chuck carefully fit & adjust his pack straps, searched youtube for bear videos in yosemite and all helped test out his trail snacks and meals. while it was a trip chuck would be making with some longtime friends, we all got involved in one way or another before and during the time in which he was gone...

chuck and i had made a similar hike close to ten years ago together, but this year's journey was different, it was much more about the extended backcountry experience. so while chuck was making his way through the wilderness, along the planned out route towards the peak of half dome, back at home margaret and i went about our regular summer pace  — including extra swimming and reading time (for margaret) and lots of extra knitting time (for me!!) but with some extra attention payed to our own copy of the topographical map. we could simply follow along as chuck trekked his way on this new route, passed lakes and valleys to the iconic california peak. when the map wasn't enough for our curiosity, there was the modern day web cam that we could check out on the day of their ascent (if only there was the capability to zoom!!):

 

of course he made it through and back home safe and sound. arriving home last thursday with many great tales to tell about his friends, the mountains and the bears. he greeted us with some hugs and mementos for margaret (and sadly we greeted him with news that a hurricane was headed our way) welcome home, huh? 

with all that passed this past week, we're just now sorting through videos and photos sent along by friends (and enjoying the recently cleared, gear-free space on the living room floor...) we're all very inspired from chuck's adventure to get back out there, somewhere magnificent, together. but for now, as the crickets of september chirp outside the open windows, the quiet time of right here, right now seems just perfect too.

post irene

 

so the beach is still there. we're still here, minus a few neighborhood trees. things got churned up quite a bit over the past week but the storm has long passed and life is settling back in. we feel very lucky. our power remained on, our clean-up remained minimal and now we are finally breathing slower... deeper...  and enjoying some of the last-minute pre-storm 'just-in-case' preparations — like cooking up the very large bunch of kale that chuck rescued from the garden as the rains started to fall... snacking on lots of peanut butter and crackers... and turning the random can of wild salmon into salmon cakes for a quick and easy dinner. margaret has been endlessly busy with all the freshly fallen twigs — her bow and arrow creation being her favorite. yes, this storm really did create a stir. and it is nice to be moving forward now, into september... one sandy, beachy step after another.

art and pops

sketching & getting up-close with the delacroixs.

exploring a bit of ancient egypt.

bright and sunny.

studying the crisp lines, lines and more lines.

 
sculpted.

 
specially hand-crafted gelato pops dating from 2011AD from the west village region of new york.

today margaret and i took in many many ages worth of art, from all around the globe at the met. it never gets old. mmmm, ok, actually a lot of the stuff is already quite old and does technically get old-er as time passes... but truly, it is always pretty fresh, inspiring and just plain amazing. today's highlights were some teakwood carvings from tibet and also the pocket-sized string instruments. oh and a silly miniature sculpture of a heron wearing a crown. this time, up on the second floor, margaret found herself drawn to this and i found something very sweet in this one... (funny how both of those seem so "late summer" to me).

after wandering the corridors inside of the museum, (wondering why on earth would a heron be needing a crown?), and keeping with the late summer feel of the day, we then headed downtown for a couple summery, melty and yummy popcicles. a nice way to chill out and just sit with our freshly fueled imaginations from all that we saw... remembering how when we create, anything is possible. 

summer visitors

anglers and campers

the past few days were spent at a small spot just alongside a stone bottomed creek. a small outing to the catskill mountains with our tent, some well planned out campfire eats, the usual gear and my parents! 

camping for us, whether the trip is big or small is really always an adventure. each time there is something new to enjoy + discover and it was great to have my parents for the first time as part of an outing to share these experiences together. they brought along extra tarps, thai-peanut-chicken skewers for the fire, and most importantly an up-for-anything attitude. which was good because we got a full day of rain monday and our activities were limited. so there was some time spent reading, whittling, watching the rain fall, and getting to know the creek and our rustic surroundings..




the creek-side moments felt simple. slow. and purely summer... absolutely the type of pace that draws us out there...

green, blue & green

 

sometime in the spring, cousins on chuck's side of the family will be expecting their first child. of course this type of news is always exciting and well, always a great reason to happily create a few new handmades. new little gifts to box up and send along to welcome the new arrival. not being sure if i wanted to knit or sew—i went with both... getting all sorts of inspiration from my blue fabric stash, blue yarn stash and some easily found patterns. in the end, the final projects sprouted from materials that i already had on hand, some even thrifted (certain fabrics and buttons) or made from recycled materials (the yarn) making this a very sweet eco-green, blue and green, baby gift, which i love as much as the wee, teeny-tinyness of it all. 

i had some recycled fiber yarn left over from margaret's tunic. just enough to make this seamless baby cardigan. so very adorable to see this one come together. {ravelry link}. the vintage avacado green buttons were a final addition to this knit. they have had a presence in my button collection for a while — originally picked up second hand in the thrift store's craft section and it was great to find a project to use them on.

two side-tying baby kimonos! the free pattern can be found here at martha stewart's website. these only require fabric, thread and some bias tape (or more fabric to make your own bias tape). all of which i had plenty of, so these two shirts came together quickly.

 

and lastly, a little fabric ball for the fun of it. made from fabric scraps and stuffed with 100% natural wool. again the pattern is free and online.

and there you go... a very green, blue and green themed baby gift. ready to be shipped off to greet a new little person.