the buck stopped here

Yesterday around lunch my neighbor called from her car to say that she just pulled into her driveway and saw this guy hanging out.

Not a normal visitor to our 1st ring suburban neighborhood.

Later he circled back for a closer shot.

The bud kept calling him a reindeer. It seems the excitement of the "reindeer season" is already upon us.

Our poor little tiger (aka the Bud) seemed to catch just about every bug out there last month. I am crossing my fingers that he is finally on the mend for good.


Thankfully we have managed to keep the Cupcake healthy during this very germy time.

Meanwhile... I have been knitting away on many secret projects.

finished this (ravelry link)


checked off this (ravelry link)


still working on this (ravelry link)


and this (ravelry link)


and this (ravelry link)

(I recently learned that I can now post photos directly to Ravelry - so there are more pics and details there)

I did take a little break from secret knitting to whip up a beret for myself - or as my friend called it, a beret-k (just say it out loud).

I love a good beret - every girl needs at least one in her hat arsenal - and when I saw this one in the recent Vogue Holiday magazine, I knew I needed to cast on.


I have finally learned how to read a chart "lefty style" - it's like a whole new knitting world just opened itself up to me. This lace cart based on a Japanese stitch pattern was a joy to knit.


Many folks, including the infamous yarn harlot, have fallen in love with Dream in Color Starry lately - this is very similar (superwash, semi-solid, fingering weight, spun with a little silver), but is from Zen Yarn Garden - a favorite little shop of mine.

Ravelry Link

I hope you all are making time for a break (or a beret-k) for yourselves.