Joshua Train

Over the last couple of weeks I put together this little train complete with puppet passengers. A friend in Atlanta wanted a specially crocheted gift for her son's birthday in a few weeks. I really hope he likes it!

Wetland Trail

Well, I'm officially part of the workforce again and it feels great! I really love the people I work with and it's absolutely wonderful to work for another small company. It would really be hard for me to go back to working for a large corporation again so I'm thankful to be where I'm at now. I was so busy this week that keeping up with my 365 went completely out the window. Oh, well...I'm happy with the pictures I have of my year thus far. I'll try and keep up on a weekly update at this point as I'm sure I'll have my camera with me every weekend anyway.

This weekend was a bit of a downer because there was so much going on in Seattle but even more obstacles to overcome in order to join in on all the fun. I was looking forward to the Solstice Parade/Fremont Fair all week and even the weather man was positive the weather would hold out for it. Boy was he WRONG! Not only did it rain all weekend but getting even close to the festivities was an issue. Bridges were closed, cars were jammed into the tiny streets of our neighborhood all the way to the other side of the hill that leads to Fremont and it's bridge. We decided to backtrack and try a different route but once we made it into Fremont it was even worse so we vacated all plans to attend and took off with the pup over to Carkeek Park.



We have been to Carkeek several times but never walked the trails so we went through the wetlands there and I snapped a few shots of the foliage during our walk. Among the colorful shrubs, foamy flowers and little streams it felt great to get away from the city sounds even if it was for just an hour or so. Clover had been cooped up all week so she quite enjoyed the walk as well.

Here's one of the pictures I took while there and the rest can be found in my Carkeek Album on Flickr.

Today we went to the Asian Art Museum here in Seattle and saw a wonderful exhibit of the woodblock prints by Hokusai, Harunobu, Utamaro, Eishi and Hiroshige. The most familiar of these prints are Great Wave off Kanagawa and Red Fuji but all of them were simply gorgeous. We spent all afternoon there gawking at ancient art and spending some time in a few of the rooms we didn't have time to see on our last visit. I also picked up pamphlets from the other museums in town that have some really interesting exhibits at the moment so I hope to catch a few of these over the next few weeks.

Clover Training

Clover has had a leash pulling problem and we're trying a no pull harness on her. So far we've had to trade it in for a smaller size and we're still not sure if it's going to be effective but may be worth a shot. It looks so uncomfortable to wear but this happy dog doesn't seem to mind one bit <3

World Cup

First USA game at the World Cup and many were out celebrating. Even in the waters around Seattle. These guys stirred up some yelps and woohoo's while we were enjoying the sun. Really a fun day to be at the park!

Fremont Troll

Finally visited the Fremont Troll this weekend. Huge, ugly and a perfect bridge troll if I ever saw one!

Ninja for my nephew

My nephew's birthday was just a few days before my niece's so I'm sending them a combo cupcake/ninja package.

Emma's Rainbow Cupcake

My tiny three year old niece is just about the cutest little girl in the world. So adorable in fact that she would fit comfortably in a Disney animation. She lives in PA so I've only gotten the pleasure of meeting her once. I get to see pictures of her though and she's growing up to be a beautiful little girl. For her birthday I made her this little rainbow colored cupcake that will be on it's way to her shortly. I really hope she likes it as much as I liked making it for her!

Proof of the cute, little Emma!

Masala Yums

This one took awhile since I soaked the beans & barley(in veggie broth) and basmati(in milk) all day. Masala was the easy part because I tried TJ's simmering sauce and it was AMAZING! Add some nan and dinner was delicious! i even have beans for some lunch and dinner left-overs later this week...yay!!

Rottger & Meredeath

Meet my new zombie pals! They followed me home while seeking out a replacement lamp for my dining area (no luck yet btw). Among the stowaways were these two, a pair of gigantic rubbery goldfish, a corked bottle and a bag full of tiny paper parasols. All under 10 bucks too! Right now these adorable zombies are resting comfortably on the backs of my goldfish until I decide what to do with my newly acquired accoutrements.

Lake Sammamish

The sun decided to show it's face all day today! After making a quick stop at the post office we whisked the dogger out to Lake Sammamish to check out the park. There were a lot of people but the park has at least two dozen grilling areas, a playground, a few pavilions and trails all over so it wasn't crowded at all. They had a little horse shoe game area and we saw some big fields that groups had set up volleyball courts in. It's a really nice park even though it was a bit muddy from the rain all week. Gotta get used to that living here though.

If you want to check out some more pictures from our outing check out my Flickr album.

Poached Egg Success

I've always been terrified to poach an egg. Afraid that it would end up as scrambled goop. I've seen a dozen chefs on TV and even in films poach eggs so this morning I tried my luck. I must say, surprisingly easy and SO delicious!! I tried eggs over easy as a child and was disgusted so I wasn't looking forward to trying the runny egg yolk again but I'm glad I did. So rich and almost like thin cheese sauce. DELIGHTFUL!

Pictured is flaxseed toast, hollandaise sauce w/ cayenne pepper and a poached egg of course.

Dog Dress

Another project from this week. Burnt orange & cream colored knit dress. Made with organic cotton so it's super soft on Clover's sensitive skin <3

Stripe Bag

Finished my bag made from yarn remnants. Took me almost a week but I loooooooooooove it!! Now to rest my paws for a few days before I start on a another project I've been asked to do.

Fiber Duct

Am in the process of making a strap for the bag I'm working on but for now it's an ever growing tube. After a few hours of crocheting I decided to play around with it and a flashlight. The picture turned out looking a little outer spacey I think.

Recycled Yarn

Currently using up a basketful of yarn remnants to make a slouchy/messenger like bag for myself. Making this is been surprisingly therapeutic in a way because working with every individual yarn reminds me of past projects I've created. Reflecting back on my accomplishments in crochet this year sort of forces me to realize how far I've come working this craft. I started knitting about two years ago and ended up really disliking it so I strayed from yarn of any kind until we moved to Seattle. Once here and unable to find work I read a book about amigurumi called Creepy Cute Crochet that Jon gave me last year as a birthday present. The creatures in the book were adorable and this book is also where the patterns for my cute little ninjas came from(which I plan to make more of in the near future). After crocheting those I picked up a set of cheap metal crochet hooks and found a local store that almost always has a yarn sale and haven't stopped since. Not only do I find it relaxing, but others seem to like my work enough so that I can sell a few items(on Etsy mostly) a month and pay for more yarn, buttons and supplies to keep me making more. It's so much fun to create and keeps me busy when I'm not searching the job market or out on interviews.