M’s Mittens

Zach and the Boogedy and I came to Washington DC to visit family for the week. This cold weather makes me want to knit, and I was really glad I brought some scraps of Koigu pppm on the plane to play around with. My 6-year-old niece flipped over the idea that I might make something just for her. I really only had enough to make some tiny, ribbed fingerless mitts.

She hounded me every day to make sure I finished them! Every little kid should have an aunt who knits something special when she comes to town!

These mittens were even more exciting than the nutella-filled crepes we made the kids for breakfast (which I forgot to wash off before photographing these mitts).

Here are some photos of the cousins piling stuff on top of my brother-in-law while he tried to work last night:

Used Book Find!

A few weeks ago my sister Marian came to town, so I took the day out to hang out with my sisters and parents. We went to our family’s favorite restaurant, El Matador, in Bountiful. It’s a Mexican restaurant owned by an Armenian family, and SO yummy. I practically grew up there; we celebrate every special occasion there, and it’s the first place we go when any family visits from out of town. Yum.

Zach doesn’t care for our family’s favorite restaurant. I joke that it’s a good thing we got married out of state, before I knew that he didn’t like El Mat. Otherwise, he might never have made it into the family.

After lunch we went to a great local used book store, The Book Garden, up the street a ways. I saw this cardboard box in the kid’s section and debated with myself for a good 10 minutes about whether I just HAD to buy the set. I’m on a tight budget. These books reminded me of the Childcraft Encyclopedia set (just like this!!) we had when I was young, which I would spend HOURS reading and thinking about. I wondered if my son would even care about this kind of thing when he gets older. My sisters said, who cares if HE’LL like it, YOU’LL like reading them all.

So, just as the decision clicked to buy the books, and I picked the box up to carry it to the cash register, my sister Marian pulled out a twenty and said “Here you go sweetie, A little present”. WOW! Such a nice treat!

The set was published by Children’s Press, Grolier, in 1974, and the covers and pictures remind me of my childhood.

Honestly, what sold me was the sweet volume about caring for animals.