We don’t usually get good sunsets from our house since it faces southeast (some very fine sunrises though) but this evening there was a sunset that filled the whole sky.
Autumn Sunset
Knitting Candy Floss
I’m almost embarrassed to tell you about my newest knitting project. Inspired by this blog post I am knitting up a very quick scarf in garter stitch on big fat needles.
I’m using Twinkle Soft Chunky yarn which is 100% pure wool, incredibly soft and only gently spun, so it’s very er, woolly and fat. My local yarn shop carries a great range of yarn brands but never chooses the nicest colours so I’m not sure I would necessarily have chosen this pink if all the colours had been available. However, I’ve ordered some other colours online, as I think I’m going to be making more scarves.
If you want to make one too, I loosely cast on 20 stitches and am knitting it up in garter stitch on size 35 (20mm) needles. My original inspiration suggests size 50 needles, but my yarn shop doesn’t stock needles that big. The needles are very ugly and plastic (which does have the benefit of being lightweight) and they’re quite tricky to work with. Let’s just liken it to knitting candyfloss with telegraph poles. But it really does knit up quick so there is much satisfaction to be gained.
UPDATE: I’ve just undone everything and reduced the number of stitches to 16 as it was too wide. I’m determined to get one scarf out of one skein of wool. So just scrub the bit about it knitting up quickly…
Barack the Vote Again
I promise I’m not being paid to shill for Trophy Cupcakes, but I thought you might like to see some of the essential supplies I bought for tonight’s election party.
They told me they’d had over 1,000 pre-orders for the Obama cupcakes and were baking them at the rate of 50 every half hour and still selling out. They weren’t making any John McCain photo ones (this is Seattle after all), but did have some with sugar elephants on them which did not seem to be selling…
Treat or Treat
Before we hit the neighbourhood to collect a quite spectacular quantity of candy, we decided to go trick or treating at the Wallingford Center – a small collection of indie shops housed in a beautiful old wooden school building.
The star turn of the Wallingford Center is Trophy Cupcakes, Seattle’s best cupcake shop, which has recently been discovered by Martha Stewart, which had gone to town on Halloween-themed cakes.
We did have a rather fetching devil costume, but there was a last minute change of heart (and yes, our front garden needs WORK.)
These couture cupcakes were not for sale
These are their ‘special order’ themed cupcakes. Lots of ideas for cupcake making next year.
And these are the ones that followed us home…
Grassroots
Just a quickie for all people who are either running a small business in the Seattle area or thinking of starting something up.
Megan Not Martha has got together with a bunch of folk to set up the Grassroots Business Association providing practical help and emotional support to small business owners. The first meeting is tomorrow Wednesday at 6pm at Vermillion in Seattle. All details are here.
This is incredibly timely for me, as I’m starting to think about setting up ‘mirrormirror US’ and have absolutely no idea where to begin. I hope to meet some of you tomorrow and a big shout out to Megan and co for getting this ball rolling.
Pumpkin Hunting
Click to enlarge. More photos here.
This Saturday we had glorious autumn weather for our annual pumpkin hunt. One of the nicest things about Seattle is that you can drive for about half an hour out of the city and end up somewhere like this. Also known as paradise on earth if you’re a small girl who likes to grub about, play with horses, splash in rivers and ride in tractors (not to mention the pumpkin trebuchet which got the Husband childishly excited). Highly recommended if you’re in the Seattle area and looking for a good pumpkin patch.
The Lab
For all Seattle readers, this is just to let you know that tonight’s Lab is all about the growth of modern architecture in Seattle and features Richard Corff founder 360Modern. Unfortunately I can’t be there yet again (the Minx’s new school keeps organising events for new parents on Wednesday evenings, and I feel these should take priority for the moment). But if you go, I know you’ll have fun.
All images from 360Modern.
La fin
For about twelve short but glorious weeks of the year – from the end of June to the middle of September – Seattle is the best place to be on earth.
For the last couple of weeks we’ve been enjoying the most glorious Indian summer, temperatures in the mid-to-high 70s (around 25 degrees) and cloudless clear blue skies. This weekend was another such but with added poignancy. The slight chill on the breeze in the morning and the leaves starting to turn red round the edges told their own story. The weather is supposed to turn colder by next weekend, so this weekend was full of small goodbyes.
The last sandcastles on the beach
The last lunch by the sea
The last strawberry lemonade The last margaritas on the deck
The last popsicle princesses
The last vestigial sunset through the trees
The last chance to watch the lights come on over Seattle and the sun glinting off the downtown buildings
The last chance to watch the moonlight on the water
The last chance to have a candlelit dinner with friends
It was also the last chance for some crazy drunken dancing under the stars but I’ve decided to spare you the photos
Those Summer Nights
Come twilight, on a crisp clear day full of sunshine such as today, I love sitting on the roofdeck and watching the setting sun bounce off the downtown buildings while the lights come on in the streets below.
An hour or so later, the whole scene looks like this.
Just playing with the ‘bulb’ setting on my camera.
The Cabin in the Mountains
This weekend was spent swimming in crisp, emerald lakes; listening to the wind in the aspens; messing about in boats; gazing in awe at the Milky Way and Jupiter’s moons through a telescope; hunting Sasquatch in the woods and swinging on Sky chairs…
.. all courtesy of our lovely friends who have just acquired a rather luxurious log cabin in a valley near Leavenworth.
Sometimes we are very, very lucky indeed.