Dahlonega

This past weekend, David and I went to Dahlonega, Georgia (pronounced de-LON-ega) to attend the wedding of a dear friend from Philadelphia.  We dropped the pup off at David’s parents’ house in Tennessee and then drove through the Appalachian Mountains to get there.  Since we moved to Kentucky, I’ve developed a healthy respect for the culture and beauty of the mountains and, since there isn’t really a direct route across, we got to drive through a lot of little, rural mountainy towns along the way.  It was really a lovely drive. 

We stayed in a small b&b right at the beginning of the Appalachian Trail called Cedar House Inn and Yurts, run by the extremely friendly and hospitable Marybeth and Fred.  Oh, I’m sorry, did you have a question?  What is a Yurt, you say?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  A Yurt is like a tent for Troop Beverly Hills–they were permanent, had real queen sized beds, toilets, electricity and a deck with a lovely view.  Obviously, I had to become beautiful for a wedding, so we stayed in an actual room, not a Yurt, but if I went back and had more rustic beauty demands, I would totally stay in a Yurt.  They were so awesome!

Isn’t that cute?

So anyway, we stayed in a real room, but we thought the whole b&b was so cute that we had to reassure eachother that we are not, in fact, middle aged.

Super cute, no?  And they are “green”!  Awesome. 

At the end of the wedding, the guests each got an enormous sparkler-they had to be 3 feet long–and were instructed to make a sort of fiery arch for the bride and groom to run through to get to their limo.  Like a gauntlet.  This seemed like a great idea, until the people standing behind you light up and hold their fireball torch over your hair.  I felt just like MJ (RIP) in the Pepsi commercial!

Luckily, the reception site had the forethought to set out tiny buckets with 1/4 inch of water in the bottom.  Good thinkin’!

 

Because nothing says matrimonial bliss like a bucket of fire surrounded by dry pine needles.

Things I would want, were I to have a wedding do-over. Etsy Edition.

David and I are off to Georgia for a wedding this weekend, so I thought I’d do a quick post of things I might do if David and I went back in time and re-planned our wedding, which was really a lot of fun the first time.

This is photo montage of little things I would like to have:

diy cake toppers

Guest book/address cards. It will actually be useful later.

Letterpress Invitations

Ooohh prettyprettypretty

A very cool gift

Vintage Stamp Wedding Cake Garland

Zebra wood ring

And another thing…

After I finished those other green fingerless gloves, I had maybe 65 yards of the light green malabrigo left over.  I really wanted to make a slouchy hat with it to match the mitts, but knew in my heart that 60 yards was not enough to do this.  That didn’t stop me from trying, though!  First, I tried an eyelet cable pattern (note: cables are not a good way to conserve yarn), which was a sad failure, so I ripped it out.  Next, I tried lace, since a fabric with a bunch of holes in it, while not a very warm hat, doesn’t use a whole lot of yarn.  Unfortunately, I forgot that I really suck at knitting lace because I obviously can’t count.  So that got frogged.  Then, I tried just plain old stockinette stitch, and this was when I realized that I just didn’t have enough yarn for a hat. And that made me very sad.

But then, last night, I was digging through my yarn scraps and found some olive green Malabrigo left over from David’s hat and inspiration hit me.  Stripes!  Even though olive and sage are not the most obvious as far as color combinations go, I went for it.  I think I was just determined to get this hat knit.  So, on the 4th try, I knitted a striped, slouchy hat from start to finish last night.  And here it is:

Isn’t it cute?  I’m going to have a hard time giving it away, I think.  But give it away I must, because I committed to a handmade Christmas and I am nothing if not cheap dedicated to the cause of handmade proliferation. 

Other news:

Last night, I watched “Knowing”, which reinforced my aversion to all movies that are about the apocalypse.  They scare the bejeebers out of me and I hate them.  This explains some really tightly knitted areas on the above hat, which probably took place while people were screaming because their faces were on fire.  Also, Nicholas Cage, I love you because you seem really nice, but sometimes, your voice is a little zombie-ish.

Tomorrow night is a very important one for those of us who follow So You Think You Can Dance as they will be bringing back past dancers to do the best dances ever (park bench, door dance, bed dance, hummingbird dance, the list goes on…)! Raven and I watch SYTYCD together every Wednesday night, but usually I skip out on the results show and hear about it from her later.  Not this time, though! 

Today, I will start another pair of fingerless mitts, this time for a boy and with a convertible top.

Christmas 2009 Gift Update

I don’t want you to think that I’ve been slacking on my Christmas knitting duties–I’ve finished a couple more things to add to the pile.

This is a slouchy little hat I made on the way to Myrtle Beach a couple weeks ago.  It only took a three hours, which was a shame because I was counting on it to take up a bit more car-time than that–it’s the only time I’ve ever wished a project took longer!  It’s a very forgiving pattern (Star Cross’d Beret) in my most favorite yarn (malabrigo) and was a pleasure to knit up!

This is a pair of fingerless mitts to match the hat.  It was another one day project and was a lot of fun to knit up. They are a little more fitted than the green ones, which is sort of nice.  The colorway of the yarn is called “Paris Night”.  I think it’s an extremely lovely name for this purpley-blue color.

Finally, this little fella came together over this past weekend.  Isn’t he cute?  I used the Mr. Dangly pattern (isn’t that name a little….I don’t know….strange?).  I’m calling him Ollie.  He’ll be for Ellie Belly this Christmas.

I’ve also finished an entire sweater for my mom, but I haven’t blocked it yet, so it looks a little wonky right now.  I’ll get a decent picture up soon, though.

I’m so proud of myself for all the progress I’ve made!  I just have a few more things to do and then I’ll be ready for the holidays–and it’s only July!!

Summertime and the Living is Busy.

What a fun summer we’ve been having!  Here’s what we’ve been up to:

A CSA farm tour–we’re now in the middle of summer bounty!  Finishing up with the salad greens and well into squash and corn!  Tomatoes are just around the corner, I can’t wait!!

Hey, guess what?  June was Bike Lexington month!  There were a bunch of fun events for the professional bikers and for the…less professional bikers.  This was the drag race and those are my clothes, but that’s not me (hopefully, that is no surprise to you).

One mildly frustrating, but productive day of sewing with my bff Raven.  She ended up with a super cute top that she has actually worn  outside of her house (although I don’t think she’s actually washed it–we do not push our luck around here)!!  Today, we made cardigans a la Angry Chicken, which were a lot more agreeable because we are awesome at cutting, but not so great at sewing.

Eating these cookies.  Usually, the box is half empty by the time we get back from Whole Foods.

Eating.  A lot.  But luckily, it’s mostly healthy.  Okay, this sandwich wasn’t the most healthy thing and neither are those cookies, but mostly, it’s good stuff.  I love the way toast on a sandwich makes the top of my mouth sort of raw.  It reminds me of soup and sandwich dinners at home with my mom.

Riding MY NEW BIKE!  Now, I want you to re-read the phrase “my new bike” but say it like the announcer on Price is Right, because that’s the kind of enthusiasm this bronzed beauty deserves.  Do it.  Isn’t this the most lovely bicycle EVER?  What should I name it?

Discovering and eating the best pancakes ever.  Here’s some simple math for you: this recipe made 14 and we split them evenly between the two of us.  How many did we each eat?  Like I said, we are eating HEALTHY.

I hope you are having a great summer as well!