A Visit to Texas

Greg and I took advantage of the three day weekend for Presidents Day and flew to Dallas, Texas to visit my family. We didn't try to get too ambitious about seeing and doing a lot--it was mostly just a chance to catch up with family and a couple of old friends.

To the right is the beautiful and historic Denton Courthouse with my sister Fran and me standing in front of it. As you can see, we had good weather--clear skies and not too hot or too cold.

Below is a picture of my brother Andy, my Dad, my step-mother Mary, Fran and Greg at "Miguelito's," a local Tex-Mex restaurant. Greg really wanted to sample Tex-Mex, and this place did not disappoint!

And here's a picture of Greg with Grace, our dear friend from Korea who lived with us in Spokane for a while. She lives in Dallas now where she is going to school. It was so wonderful to see her!  

"Anne Shoulder Scarf"

This is the "Anne Shoulder Scarf" (designed by Chris Carroll) made with the Schaefer sock yarn "Anne," a wool, mohair and nylon blend. It was very easy to knit, and made a great project for working on while watching the six episodes of Middlemarch recently (not all in one sitting). The scarf has a very pleasing circular drape; I like it so much that upon finishing it I went to my stash and found another sock yarn I had and have already started on a second scarf.

Ellie's Sweater and Booties

Here's Ellie, our housekeeper Aimee's new daughter, wearing the sweater and booties I just finished for her. I didn't note the yarn information--just know that both are wool or wool blends, worsted weight. The sweater pattern is called "Quickie Baby Sweater"; I can't remember where I found the bootie pattern, but I hope I remember because I'd like to make them again.

Stockings and Other Projects

Sigrid sent me this picture (left) of the stockings I made for her hanging on their fireplace for Christmas--I really love the colors she chose and how they are so well-coordinated. It inspired me to re-make ours in coordinating colors. I've done the two pictured here (above, in red and cream) so far. The two on the outside hanging by the fireplace pictured below are from our original set. I need a break from knitting stockings, so I'll wait until next year to re-do those. The wool is Lamb's Pride, worsted weight.

In other knitting news, I completed the pullover below; the yarn is "Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy," a 100% wool worsted weight, and the pattern is by Helen Rush, "Running Circles." It's knitted in one piece, from the top down.

And a while back I finished my first-ever lace socks! The yarn is a wool blend fingering weight sock yarn that I purchased while still in Munich (didn't remember to note the name).

Finally, here are a couple of pictures of a quilt I finished some time ago. I did the cutting, piecing and sewing, but it was quilted professionally by a machine quilter. The photo on the right shows the elaborate, beautiful quilting that really made the quilt.

Merry Christmas 2010!

We have a beautiful tree this year that I want to show you. It is even more special because we almost didn't get one. We just couldn't seem to get in the Christmas spirit, but we finally rallied because Conrad was coming home for Christmas, and we didn't want to be total wet blankets. We got a modest tree, one we were sure would be half dead already because we had waited too long to get it, and lo and behold, it has turned out to be one of our nicest trees ever. It has a very symmetrical shape and smells so good, just like a Christmas tree should.

We hope you are all having happy holidays!

Blogging

It seems I've hit a dry spell with my blog. I can't quite decide if I'd like to continue with it or not. In the meantime, Chris has started his own blog to chronicle his time abroad in New Zealand; here's the address if you're interested in taking a look:

http://chriswinter07.blog.com/

Leaving Munich

My last days here have been pretty hectic, and I haven't been able to enjoy the things I like so much...for example, the beer gardens! Not that I have spent lots of time in them! But a few weeks ago I went on a long bike ride along the Isar River with a friend (you should see the amazing network of bike paths here), and we ended up at this beer garden, called the "Waldwirtschaft" in Grosshesselohe. The atmosphere at each beer garden is different. At this one they had a jazz band playing, and it was very roomy and had an open feel.