Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Spring Robins


I am back home from Seattle - which was wonderful!

I turned a year older, and on my birthday evening, we went to Wasabi Bistro, a famous sushi restaurant - considered "the second best" for sushi. It was great fun - with music. I especially liked the hot saki with the Dragon roll (eel sushi wrapped in avacado; the eel is smoked and salty and the avacado plentiful). Some crazy partying ladies at the next table knocked a drink off their table and it flew across the folding screen and slammed into me. When I complained to the waitress that I thought they'd had "enough to drink", she said, "not really. they're just Silly Girls", which I thought was cute. I wasn't a "silly girl" though, so sipped my saki sedately! heehee

Afterwards we went to my sister's house for a Lilac Lemon cake and Mango mouchi (Japanese ice cream wrapped in a sweet dumpling) and presents ~ which included an iPod Shuffle and an Iron and Wine CD and a tea infuser bottle with a holographic tree on the lid and an Anthropologie sweater and handcream from Sephora that smells like chocolate and oranges and other very wonderful things and very premium white tea!!

My little sister - a most fabulous artist - made me an iPod cosy right away - a little Robin with a glass button beak. And her bf John put hours of music on it that I listened to the whole way home (which took 12 hours counting the stopover). No plane travel drama this time - it all went smoothly (if you don't count the guy in the middle seat with exceptionally long arms who kept poking me in the ribs with his elbow!)

Here is the March Robin:

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We went to Uwajimaya and for the first time, the Japanese bookstore there, and I got lots of knitting and crochet books (and a Japanese dictionary!). I'll show those soon. I started a little crocheted blouse right away for my sister from The Happy Hooker, one of the crochet books I bought - so I'd better go and finish it!

Edit: PS - My iPod's name is "Two-Fisted Poe"

Sunday, March 5, 2006

knitting camel from across the seas

Do Camels cross the wide seas???

Anyway, The knitting camel caravan arrived yesterday at my house from far across the seas! Dear Marky sent knitting gifts that will keep me busy for a long, long time...

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Knitting needles click:
a cup of tea scents the air,
The new shawl begins!

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So, I started a new shawl that I like far better than the one I was making. This one is my own design, taken from several of the lace patterns in the books from Marky. I'm using a non-striping sock yarn in shaded blues, combined with light blue Kid Seta mohair and silk. It’s beautifully soft, and I'm still trying to finish it in a week! I've got a couple of feet done, while watching a Project Runway marathon. I'll knit more tonight because I have the new Pride and Prejudice to watch!