Toddler wears hat

My dear friends Jenifer and Greg have a small son, and that son has a wool hat (knit by me). Stay warm, bro!

Free, feathered entertainment

Always looking for fun events that can accommodate our monthly entertainment budget of zero dollars (actually, that figure isn't exactly right, since we have privately--and not begrudgingly--agreed to give $17 to NetFlix every month for the rest of our lives), Ben and I spent Sunday afternoon at St. Paul's raptor center. Ben already knows everything there is to know about birds, as far as I can tell, but he still had fun. And I learned a few things about birdies, and took this cool photo.

Isn't this great horned owl a gorgeous boy? Or maybe it was a girl. Either way, those cute tufts aren't its ears.

Better than just loafing around...

This week I made ciabatta bread for the first time! It didn't turn out as chewy as I wanted, but still wonderful! At "yeast" it tasted nice (ha!).

And this weekend Ben made one of my favorite desserts, his delicious crumb cake.

Resolver

Since we're already kind of moody about a) the flaws of the early primary system and b) the results of last night's Iowa caucus, why not tunnel further into despondency by taking down the Christmas tree and making new year's resolutions?

They might not be as far-reaching as my husbeau's pledge "to stay awesome" in 2008, but here are mine:

To scream and swear less when I bump my head, break a dish, burn the banana bread, or accidentally drop a bag of garbage all over the just-mopped floor (all events that have occurred in the last ten days and that are very, very common in my life).

To really try not to be such a klutz. No kidding, I injure myself or break something or burn stuff in the oven almost every single day. I'm irritated by these accidents (because what am I, a gangly thirteen-year-old?) and also by the childish overreactions to them that my gentle husband has to endure.

To print a new issue of my little zine.

To stay awesome.

Frivolous, fun

Allow me to apologize for knitting a cosy for my iPod Touch when a shameful war is raging and
African children are dying in church fires. But this iPod thing is the only cutting-edge device I've ever owned and I'm constantly terrified of breaking it, especially since it provides me the great pleasure of listening to BBC podcasts eleven hours a day.

I made what is basically a tiny sleeping bag for the iPod, appropriating a slip-stitch pattern that, due to its thickness, is also nice for pot holders and Russian hats. Slip-stitch creates a great cushion, perfect for encasing a device that I am likely to drop on the ground frequently.

It's green wool, but is lined with a shiny, smooth peach yarn. There's a hole for the headphones, and another for the on/off button!