Xmas Stocking Redux

For Xmas 2010 I knit two stockings, a green/orange one for the Boogedy and a blue/yellow one for Zachary. For Xmas 2011 I made a fuchsia/violet one for myself, but without digging around in the closet for last years’ models. As you can see, I have no grasp of size over time.

When I pulled out all three stockings on Xmas eve several weeks ago, the Boogedy immediately picked the new stocking as his own, citing “it has purple and I like purple” as the reason. Somehow I doubted this excuse for bailing on the awesome orange and green one. I mean, the purple one doesn’t even have a tassel!

Xmas Knitting and Pottery

I started this rainbow scarf when I was in Salt Lake City this summer. My sister Jeaka flipped over it, and asked for it outright. This was supposed to be a lightweight scarf for my occasional Key West chilly days (like today…53 degrees!).

But how could I keep it for myself when she begged for it shamelessly?

All any knitter wants is a properly grateful and gushing person to wear and show off their time-consuming handiwork!

For my mom, I knitted something ghastly. I used a beautiful minty green, super bulky, nubbly, spun-cocoon-looking yarn. It made the most lopsided, lumpy, misshapen “purse” one could ever knit. I struggled with it for weeks before finally chucking it as a failure and buying her this lovely bowl instead.

It was made by my friends Adam and Kelly at Honest Works Pottery here in town. They are famous for their boisterous use of color and their rooster mugs are hugely popular. Roosters always make me think of my mom, who made the mistake of mentioning that she loves them and that they remind her of her own mother. I am not the only person always tempted to give her rooster gifts.

Roosters are Key West’s pests and icons; well photographed by tourists and hated by anyone with a bedroom window. I frequently photograph the prettiest ones when I’m out and about.

I’ve started making Key West christmas gingerbread roosters (becoming an annual tradition).

For knitters: the scarf used three balls of Koigu PPPM (no, I don’t have any clue as to the color numbers) and this Churchmouse linen stitch pattern. This was an excellent exercise in forcing myself to knit continental, because the constant switching between k, p, and yf, yb would have taken even longer if I had “thrown” my yarn the whole time.

People Kites

Today we went parasailing for the first time ever! It. Was. AWESOME.

Look, I duct taped my magnetic sunglass attachment to my glasses. Dork-0.

This kid never even thought to be afraid of parasailing!

Launch

Feet. High, high above the water.

The view. OH, the water was so gorgeous!

Squish Squash.

The Boogedy, 2 minutes after coming ashore….”Now what can we do?”

Kite Day

I bought this peacock kite for Zach back in May when I was visiting my family in Salt Lake City. I just love World Market. Zach put it together today. It had dangly, gangly bamboo legs and long tail feathers and was made from painted silk. (Look at both my boys wearing handmade leather shoes I made for them!)

It had the prettiest face. We debated just hanging it from our ceiling for decoration, but ultimately decided on giving our kid the experience of flying a kite, which he had never done before.

Run, run…  But not too fast, it’s just silk and bamboo!

Ah! Flight! Joy!

Damn. Total flight time: 120 seconds.

I made a delicious braided bread braid filled with sweetened cream cheese and homemade lemon curd a few weeks back. I shared some with Paige because it was too pretty to keep to myself. The recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite websites for great food.

Here are the spotty orchids currently in bloom by my front door.

I took the kid and dog to the playground 3 or 4 nights ago and stood on a fire ant hill. Fire ant bites form pustules that sting and itch like mad; if you scratch them, they pop open and spread sticky gold fluid all over and they just itch more. Look how far the redness extends…you should see the toe with FOUR bites on it!! Fire ant stings peak at 48 hours for me, so 6 hours after this photo was taken, I was begging Zach to PLEASE find the anti-itch spray so I could get some sleep!

This is my Sunday view. Looking at the washing machines, and eating bread and butter from Sandy’s Cafe.

This rainy day photo was taken back at the beginning of the rainstorm that caused the flooding. We were tired of being cooped up inside, so we took our umbrellas for a walk to the pier.

Despite the rain, the water was crystal clear, and we could see Parrotfish down amongst the rocks! Hmm, he is hard to see in this picture. Click here for someone else’s better photo.

I pulled over on my bike to take a photo of this glorious passionflower vine in a pot.

The Boogedy went to the new office with dad to help run network cables after Goombay Festival. This activity was deemed more fun than the festival itself, so much so that he forgot his tummy ache, which he’d had for days, and which the funnel cake and hot dog did nothing to stop.

 

 

Key West Pride Parade 2011

Sunday evening we went to see the pride parade down Duval street. From my vantage point on the curb, I noticed that the police horses were wearing pretty cool shoes.

I called them Vibram One-Finger shoes.

This super cool “headdress” is from Island Gym, and it is more than one lane wide.

I like this car with stamps painted on it, but I don’t know who owns it.

The cookie mobile gave us FIVE fresh chocolate chip cookies (the benefit of taking a kid to a parade).

I have to interject here that one of the great benefits of having a little kid, besides the cookies, is the ability to use a bathroom in stores that have “no public bathrooms”. I never let on that it’s not actually my kid who’s going to have an accident if we don’t get to use their restroom right now.

Here’s a float from the MCC, the only church I’ve set foot inside in years (for a Hand-and-Foot tournament). Our friend Scot sits on the corner closest to us. He taught us the game last winter…I think he was a bit surprised at how fast we caught on to that locally popular version of canasta.

The cuties from Bourbon Street Pub

In 2003 there was an 8-bar rainbow flag that stretched from one end of Duval street to the other. Now pieces of it travel the globe and we have a small section for our parade.

Although curious, I did not ask how this codpiece stays on.

Advent Calendar

I decided to get excited about xmas this year. Often we try to travel, but that’s not in the cards this year (plus I don’t want to go somewhere cold and have to replace a wardrobe that I got rid of when I left Utah).

I subscribe to the wonderful newsletter from kids craft weekly, and inside the last issue was this beautiful idea: an origami advent calendar. I made 24 cups, here’s a closeup:

And this is where they are displayed in our kitchen.

Today we met the Boogedy at school with the December 1 cup. He was SOOOO excited. Inside was a tag that said “Pick out a Christmas tree!” He carried that cup and tag all the way to the nursery and picked a fluffy little island pine in a pot.

Here are the other tags I have made, with events and crafts and fun things to do. On days when I’m just not feeling the urge to do ANY of these things, the Boogedy will get a little square of deep dark chocolate, a real treat around here. Luckily, Key West is brimming with holiday events, many of them family friendly and inexpensive.

Many of these special ideas came from the newsletter. Do you have any other easy, cheap ideas for me to include?

People berries or bird berries?

We distinguish edible from inedible by naming their intended eater. These purple berries were so pretty, I had to take their picture for my sister, Jeaka.

The Boogedy loved the opportunity to use a real needle to thread buttons on a string.

And I brooded and pondered and thought while sorting my button collection.

A little boy did some dancing.

And I burned my hand royally while trying a new recipe. I picked up a skillet that had been preheating in a 450-degree oven. I’m lucky I got off so easy, with just some patches of puckered skin and three blisters.

On the up side, the No-Knead Bread Recipe lived up to it’s fantastic reputation. I have not had sourdough bread this good since I lived in California. Seriously, make some for yourself. It is amazing. Just don’t burn  your hand on the skillet.

Peent

I made potato stamps (“stampeters”) for the Boogedy today. I gave him nice, orderly dollops of “peent” and actually heard myself say “don’t mix them.”

Then I realized it was silly to even want that. I told him it was fine to mix any color and told him that they would turn brown when all together. He wasted no time finding that out.

But then I dragged the paintbrush over his “brown peent” and found the hidden rainbow. And it was beautiful.

And we thought it was interesting to see what happened when we took this frozen strawberry from the freezer.

Fingerless “Blitz”ens

These wild-lighting mittens have to be the prettiest thing I’ve ever knitted. And they have the added bonus of being for ME!

Problem 1: They’re really snug, but maybe they’ll stretch out a bit…please?

Problem 2: I’m moving to Florida, where I doubt I’ll really need these wooly wonders.

And before you ask, no, you can’t have them. They’re too small for you, too!

They’re coming to Florida with me. I’m hoping for another freak winter that freezes the iguanas out of the trees in Miami.

For the knitters: I used less than one ball of Schoppel Wolle Zauberball in color “fuchsienbeet”. That color name cracks me up. I used size 1 needles, knit the mittens flat, and seamed them. I made up this pattern, and it was really easy.

Update: I didn’t take them with me to Florida. I faced the music and admitted they were too tight. I gave them to a teenaged niece and hoped she wouldn’t outgrow them too fast! I have never needed mittens since moving here.  I did, however, bring the leftover yarn! Check out the baby hat I made with it here!