the knitting of the green

I spent five minutes decorating a wreath in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I suppose I'm not really Irish (though my Viking ancestors kept busy raiding and pillaging the Emerald Isle), but Paul is. Plus in a place like Chicago everyone's a little Irish on St. Paddy's.

Some little green projects are underway for upcoming baby showers! Here's the first one:

 

pattern: Butterfly Baby, by pyropagan knits

yarn: Lion Brand Superwash Merino Cashmere (2.5 skeins) ~ green tea

needles: Clover US 8 bamboo circs

on ravelry

 

notes:

Great little pattern! The butterfly details were easier to work than I expected. Next time I might switch to size 6 DPNs for the garter stitch cuffs, as they do flare out a bit, and there are no sleeve decreases. I found the ladybug buttons at JoAnn. The yarn's fine -- I wanted something superwash, and this was on clearance and quite affordable. A slightly thicker yarn would work better for this pattern, though (heavy worsted rather than light worsted).

------------------------------------------------------------

 

Paul and I zipped up to Madison over the weekend for an exciting (and victorious) Badgers hockey game. Protesters were out in full force at the Capitol on Saturday, peacefully assembling and speaking out against Scott Walker's draconian proposals.

The Old Fashioned, a pub on the Capital Square, wowed us with their amazing selection of draft beers from Wisconsin. I have a new favorite -- Ale Asylum's Madtown Nutbrown Ale. A hint of sweetness, and a smooth finish... We had an excellent dinner and cocktails at Graze (the new gastropub cousin of food critic-darling L'etoile). A delightful weekend!  I'd move back to Madison in a heartbeat.

------------------------------------------------------------

- Have you seen this NYT piece on Edward Gorey? Apparently I'm not alone -- Gorey's quite the thing right now.

- I'm totally hooked on Holmes Inspection on HGTV. Mike Holmes is a god among men... he's just so capable! He and Damon save people from expensive disasters that their initial home inspection didn't catch. At times it's terrifying to watch!