The Land of Port

Malabrigo Rios Scrunchy Scarf

I enjoy the occasional port.  Something well-aged, served after dinner either with or in place of dessert.  Maybe near a crackling fire, with a sleeping dog at my feet.  Good stuff, really.

So I'm pleasantly optimistic about this weekend, when I will travel to Portland, Oregon for business.  Now in fairness I've been to Portland several times before and never managed to get a decent port.  But hope springs eternal.

I'm going to be in meetings all day on Saturday, but if I make it down early enough on Friday I plan to check out a few of the local yarn shops.  If you happen to have a favorite in the area, shoot me a message and let me know. 

Manos del Uruguay Slipped Stitch Scarf

Continuing in the Christmas theme from my last post, let me share a trio of scarves.  I like making scarves for gifts because they typically take just long enough to make to be pleasant - but not so long as to turn to drudgery.  This Christmas, I made five: one for my assistant, one for my sister, one for a good friend, one for my son's kindergarten teacher, and one for the Christmas-gift-listapalooza giveaway.

 

Malabrigo Worsted Bias-Ribbed Scarf

For my son's teacher, one skein of Manos del Uruguay with a slipped stitch pattern.  For my good friend, one skein of Malabrigo Worsted (a personal favorite), knit on the bias with a ribbed pattern.  And for the contestant, one skein of Malabrigo Rios, knit in a scrunchy pattern and then blocked within an inch of it's wooly life. All three were fun to make - and true to history each was done in about a week of commuting time. 

~TSMK

The Ballad of Buster and Gigi

He desired her from the moment they first met.  The dark eyes.  The button nose.  The voluptuous hips.  And that hair.  She was a goddess.  He knew he must have her for his own.

From the instant their eyes locked, she knew he was trouble.  The kind of guy her mother would have warned her about, if she'd bothered to hang around.  The kind of guy who would love her and, almost certainly, leave her.  The kind of guy who would make her a single mother without a second thought.

She vowed to be strong.  She would resist.  She would not submit to his advances.

But still, she could feel his eyes burning into her.  Penetrating her soul from behind the cold grey bars of his cell.

And when the fateful day finally did arrive, the day she was delivered into his clutches, she found herself unable to resist.  Though she knew it was foolish, she found herself falling under his spell until finally, drunk on passion and papaya, she lost herself in his embrace.

When it was over, it was exactly as she feared.  He had his way with her, and never gave her a second glance.  Clearly she meant nothing to him - just another conquest.  A notch in the hutch.  Now he was gone.  And her belly was starting to swell.

[Stay tuned for the next installment of the ballad - hopefully around February 1]

In my last post, I began to describe holiday projects.  Continuing that theme, let me share another - a sweater for my dad.  The pattern is Smokin' - a Jared Flood design.  I've done it in Ironstone, which I like for the drape as well as the variegated color.  I like the shape of the sweater quite a bit, and may need to make another one for myself in something tweedy.

~TSMK