Brick Stitch Blankets

Since learning how to crochet about a year ago I have made over 25 blankets. I keep a little list on my phone of all my completed projects and another list for the ones I plan to start soon. I feel like every time my to-do list gets almost completely crossed off another wave of cousins and friends announce babies on the way. I fill up my little cubby below the tv will blankets and then I spend a day wrapping and packing them up and away they go to cute little babes all over the country. Seeing those empty cubbys is always motivation to get me going again.

One of my more recently finished projects is a blanket for my cousin Eli and his wife Kara who had a little baby boy this summer. Sometimes I get blankets to the babies before they're born and sometimes they're 6 months late. And that is why I will never turn this hobby into a business, ha!

I wanted to make something with the neon colors I got for the Tribal Neon blanket I made a few months ago. I have to say that after I finalized my color selection for this one I was still unsure of how it would look. The more rows I worked the more I liked it and by the end I had fallen in love! I think I need to use neon colors more often.

I see this stitch used all the time for baby blankets on Etsy and after making it I can see why it's popular. It comes together so quickly without being boring to work on and it makes such a nice waffley, draped blanket.

I finished another blanket in this same stitch earlier this year and have just now gotten around to actually blogging about it. I had a bunch of half used balls of yarn so I just threw them all together in as random a pattern as I could and this was the result.

This one is much bigger than a baby blanket, it's perfect for snuggling on the couch and watching TV. I find Thomas wrapped up in it regularly.

Stats & Links

Stitch tutorial: Here on YouTube
Neon blanket yarn: Stylecraft Special DK found here. I used 5 colors, one whole ball of each
TV blanket yarn: Red Heart Soft

Halloween Parade 2014

New Englanders really love Halloween, I think it has something to do with the proximity to Salem. All that witch trial hysteria must still linger in the air but thankfully it's a little less let's-put-someone-on-trial and more let's-have-a-Halloween-parade.

Our friends live right at the beginning of the parade route so they invite a bunch of people to gather there for food and prime candy-grabbing real estate. The parade was over two hours long this year and the kids made quite the haul of candy.

I love parades. I mean I really love parades. I was in one every year at my grandparent's house on the 4th of July growing up. And seriously, who doesn't love seeing a string or assorted amusements walking by and throwing sweets at you. Can it get any better than that?

I always look forward to a few things at parades. First, is the Clydesdales. They are so beautiful and again remind me of childhood.

Next is the cars, people always shine up their classics, their souped up Harley's and even their tanks.

Then there are the bands. This parade had so many bagpipe groups! I guess parades are the only place they can play without annoying all of their neighbors to death. Marching bands from high schools near and far came to play and there was even a tiny fife and drum 4-H group.

The last thing I look forward to is the nerdy stuff. You don't get this in all parades- the 4th of July, for example- but there is sure a lot of it in a Halloween parade. Star Wars, Batmobile and the like.

All of our friends' kids had such a great time. When it was all said and done- and we were almost frozen to death- we went inside to sort the candy. Is there anything better than picking through a pile of candy that you just stood on the street and had thrown at you?

Autumn Portraits

So, there is this really great pair of our friends that happen to rent our spare bedroom. Thomas and I have known Ryan since our years in Santa Barbara and he happened to meet and marry Heather, a pharmacy student out here in Boston. After living with us earlier this year they spent the summer out west so Ryan could finish school. They came back at the start of Heather's school year and we've had so much fun having them as housemates again.

They asked me to take a few pictures for their first anniversary and I obliged. I am in no way a professional (obviously) and it proved to be a rather laugh-filled evening of me awkwardly coaching them with phrases like, "stop looking so creepy" and "make your face more normal".

Fun things we do with the Shapiro's include:

Watching cat/baby/Andy Samberg/Julian Smith videos on YouTube
Finding hilarious memes
Ryan and Thomas sharing poop/fart/burp stories
Watching hour after hour of The Big Bang Theory, Scrubs, Spongeobob Squarepants and Raising Hope
Mac & Cheese every Sunday after church
Sunday dinners followed by giant sugar cookies

Uncles & Cousins in Boston

The week we got home from Hawaii, Thomas' cousin Carma and her husband Jared were in town as well as my Uncle Norman and his husband Hans. It was so much fun to spend the weekend with all of them. Of course it rained the entire day we chose to be downtown, my shoes were soaked from the first five minutes until we got home that night. Fun.

My goal for the weekend was to take pictures of details. Although I did find quite a few interesting things including some letter S's I ended up with one picture that had people in it and half of their eyes were closed. So, thank you Uncle Norman for letting me use your pictures or our adventure!

We started the morning with amazing filled muffins from the Gingerbread Construction Co. in Winchester. If you're a local and haven't tried them then you need to get yourself down there right now!

Every time we have out-of-town visitors we try to discover something new. My uncles wanted to see the USS Constitution as did the cousins so that was our first stop. I couldn't believe how much it was raining! Luckily we got to go below deck and tour around which kept us ever so slightly more dry. It was a good thing that went when we did because the ship is being dry-docked for the next three years for some repairs.

Since Uncle Hans is a Veteran we got an extra special tour of the Captain's Quarters.  

We took the whole crew on a walking tour of the best bits of downtown. We stopped for lunch in Beacon Hill at a pizza place called Figs. Again, if you're a local you need to get yourself there.

There was some strolling by the Charles.

Can you see the family resemblance?? Uncle Norman looks so much like my dad!

Some confusion at Copley Square. I feel like I have so many pictures of myself like this.

Make Way for Ducklings in the Boston Public Gardens.

Statues and squirrels in the Boston Common.

Graveyards in downtown.

We stopped at the Omni Parker Hotel for some of the original Boston Cream Pie. And once again, locals better get yourselves down there.

There was the old state house and Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market and Haymarket.

Our evening ended with dinner in the North End and a little trip to Bunker Hill. I just love this town at twilight.

The next day after church we ended up going out to the beach, it was sunny and chilly but at least it wasn't raining.

From there we went to Rockport for some fresh lobsters. There is a great little place on Bearskin Neck called Roy Moore that sells freshly steamed lobsters for $10-12 apiece. It's messy and you have to sit on rough wood tables but it's a great New England experience.

We ate some fudge and soaked in the last autumn rays of sunshine on the rocks overlooking Rockport Harbor. I always love having family in town and I love it when the two sides of our family get to meet get to know each other too. Thanks for the fun Uncle Norman, Uncle Hans, Cousin Carma and Cousin Jared!