tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12237133735742904222024-03-13T03:04:02.894-07:00EmmakatThe blog of Emma Nolan, the proprietor of emmakat.etsy.com featuring handmade jewelry, gocco prints and more. Also an architectural designer who has lived in Ohio, Seattle, Chicago, and finally Portland, OR.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.comBlogger551125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-3191535512005835262012-07-03T08:05:00.002-07:002012-07-03T08:05:35.005-07:00Portland Walks: Marquam Trail<div style="text-align: left;">
We hiked up the <a href="http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/Marquam_Trail_to_Council_Crest_Hike" target="_blank">Marquam Trail to Council Crest</a> the weekend before last and guess what we saw!: </div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7494647696/" title="Barred Owl by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Barred Owl" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7266/7494647696_82a5231a3f.jpg" width="479" /></a></div>
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It's a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_Owl" target="_blank">Barred Owl</a>. And not only that, moments after this picture was taken the owl swooped down to catch its dinner and flew away. The trail was also laden with <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7447972686/in/photostream" target="_blank">moss, ferns</a>, salmonberries, slugs, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7447994578/in/photostream" target="_blank">snails</a>, and mushrooms:</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7447992688/" title="Salmonberries by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Salmonberries" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8154/7447992688_8dd43224b9_n.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7447969042/" title="Garden Slug & Moth by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Garden Slug & Moth" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8021/7447969042_cea1e7a359_n.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7447967772/" title="Fairy Ring by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Ring" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8004/7447967772_96917fe708_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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I took my <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780679446798-3" target="_blank">Audubon book</a>, but I'm still such a novice at identification. After a week or so I am pretty confident that these are salmonberries, a garden slug and a fairy ring mushroom, but I'm not 100% confident. </div>
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Anyway, the trail is lovely enough on its own, but the view from the top (Council Crest Park) is also very nice, with a view of Mt. St. Helens:</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7447990344/" title="View from Council Crest by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="View from Council Crest" height="375" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7447990344_084a6a87b2.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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I was a bit taken with a sculpture called <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7447970260/in/photostream/" target="_blank">Westward</a>, that also featured three drinking fountains. We ended up resting at Vista Spring Cafe before heading home. They served us Widmer Hefenwizen in the right glass while we pondered what it would take to get their <a href="http://instagram.com/p/MRsMMWD7l1/" target="_blank">unusual fans</a> up and running again. It all made for the perfect Sunday!</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-10726197201751473172012-06-29T07:26:00.002-07:002012-06-29T07:30:32.741-07:00Word of the Week: Acanthus<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/441057755/" title="DCP_3656 by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="DCP_3656" height="270" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/184/441057755_705d431cb4.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7466767318/" title="Acanthus by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Acanthus" height="270" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8016/7466767318_2bc893571b.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">From Wikipedia: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthus_(ornament)" target="_blank">Acanthus (ornament)</a> - "<span style="line-height: 19px;">In architecture, an </span>ornament<span style="line-height: 19px;"> is carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the </span><i style="line-height: 19px;">Acanthus</i><span style="line-height: 19px;"> </span>genus<span style="line-height: 19px;"> of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to those of the </span>thistle<span style="line-height: 19px;"> and </span>poppy<span style="line-height: 19px;">. Both </span><i style="line-height: 19px;">Acanthus mollis</i><span style="line-height: 19px;"> and the still more deeply cut </span><i style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthus_(plant)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Acanthus (plant)">Acanthus spinosus</a></i><span style="line-height: 19px;"> have been claimed as the main model, and particular examples of the motif may be closer in form to one or the other species; the leaves of both are in any case rather variable in form. The motif is found in decoration in nearly every medium. These sculptures were made from 75 BCE through 15 BCE."</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthus_(plant)" target="_blank">Acanthus (plant)</a> - "</span><i style="line-height: 19px;"><b>Acanthus</b></i><span style="line-height: 19px;"> is a </span>genus<span style="line-height: 19px;"> of about 30 species of </span>flowering plants<span style="line-height: 19px;"> in the family </span>Acanthaceae<span style="line-height: 19px;">, native to tropical and warm temperate regions, with the highest species diversity in the </span>Mediterranean Basin<span style="line-height: 19px;"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Asia">Asia</a><span style="line-height: 19px;">. Common names include </span><b style="line-height: 19px;">Acanthus</b><span style="line-height: 19px;"> and </span><b style="line-height: 19px;">Bear's breeches</b><span style="line-height: 19px;">. The generic name is derived from the </span>Greek<span style="line-height: 19px;"> word ακανθος (</span><i style="line-height: 19px;">acanthos</i><span style="line-height: 19px;">), meaning 'thorny.'"</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">File this under things I probably should have known something about with my background in architecture but I don't recall seeing this plant much before living in the Northwest. What a weird looking thing. It looks like it <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7466765936/in/photostream/" target="_blank">a stalk full of little hungry mouths</a> eating bugs or something. And yet it's commonly carved into column capitals. The plants I've been seeing around Portland are also called "Spiny Bear's Breeches," a cute name.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://leapbeer.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/img_0897.jpg?w=1024&h=764" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://leapbeer.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/img_0897.jpg?w=1024&h=764" /></a> <a href="http://beaverstatebeer.com/its-going-to-be-huge-gigantic-brewery-opens/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://beaverstatebeer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/photo-may-09-6-29-49-pm.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19px;"><b>(Gigantic Image via BeverStateBeer: </b></span><a href="http://beaverstatebeer.com/its-going-to-be-huge-gigantic-brewery-opens/" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">http://beaverstatebeer.com/its-going-to-be-huge-gigantic-brewery-opens/</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">) ; Upright Brewing via leapbeer: </span><a href="http://leapbeer.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/leapbeer-review-150-five-by-upright-brewing-company/" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">http://leapbeer.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/leapbeer-review-150-five-by-upright-brewing-company/</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"> )</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lots of beer festivals going on, and it's acting like summer weather-wise. This means I'm learning new beer words lately. The latest is Saison, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">From </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saison" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">: </span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Saison</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="French language">French</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">, "season") is the name originally given to low-alcohol </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_ale" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Pale ale">pale ales</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> brewed seasonally in farmhouses in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallonia" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Wallonia">Wallonia</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">, the French-speaking region of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Belgium">Belgium</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">, for farm workers during harvest season</span><sup class="Template-Fact" style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em; white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from May 2011">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">. Modern-day saisons are also brewed in other countries, particularly the USA, and are generally </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottle_conditioned" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Bottle conditioned">bottle conditioned</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">, with an average range of 5 to 8% abv,</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0" style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saison#cite_note-0" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> though saisons at the more traditional 3.5% strength can still be found.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-52163910602305935792012-06-19T18:56:00.001-07:002012-07-30T18:38:10.026-07:00Moonrise Kingdom Inspired Knitting<div style="text-align: center;">
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Over the weekend we went to see director Wes Anderson's new movie <a href="http://www.moonrisekingdom.com/" target="_blank">Moonrise Kingdom</a>. It's really good, very pretty with many things I could obsess over. I've started with the Narrator's mitts. I haven't found any great pictures of them yet, but they were fingerless, black and white, and stranded color-work knitting. And I think they did have a floral motif, while still managing to look masculine. I loved that his costume gave him a back story; I imagined his wife at home knitting elaborate gifts for him while he explored the island. I was inspired to pull together a collection of Moonrise Kingdom knits today. Most of these are free patterns, with the exception of the amazing & adorable raccoon knits at the bottom. But they are so cute!:</div>
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<a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/5374974085_d08066d6aa.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/5374974085_d08066d6aa.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://cache.lionbrand.com/stores/lionbrand/pictures/20061127sweatera.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://cache.lionbrand.com/stores/lionbrand/pictures/20061127sweatera.jpg" /></a>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><u>Narrator:</u></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Pressed Flower Mitts by </span><a href="http://www.ravelry.com/designers/meredith-ramirez" style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meredith Ramirez</span></a> <span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="http://www.aknittingblog.com/2011/01/pressed-flower-mitts.html" style="background-color: white;">http://www.aknittingblog.com/2011/01/pressed-flower-mitts.html</a><br />
Red Hot Sweater Jacket by Lion Brand Yarn: <a href="http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/20061127Sweater.html" style="background-color: white;">http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/20061127Sweater.html</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.stitchnationyarn.com/Patterns/free-pattern-all-day-beret.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.stitchnationyarn.com/plugins/content/jumultithumb/img.php?src=Li4vLi4vLi4vaW1hZ2VzL3N0b3JpZXMvYWxsX2RheV9iZXJldC5qcGcmYW1wO3c9MzgwJmFtcDtoPTUwMCZhbXA7cT05MA==" width="239" /></a> <a href="http://www.garnstudio.com/drops/mag/112/5/5-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.garnstudio.com/drops/mag/112/5/5-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<u>Suzy Bishop:</u></div>
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Drops 112-5 by Drops Design: <a href="http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=4105&lang=us">http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=4105&lang=us</a>
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All day Beret by Debbie Stoller: <a href="http://www.stitchnationyarn.com/Patterns/free-pattern-all-day-beret.html">http://www.stitchnationyarn.com/Patterns/free-pattern-all-day-beret.html</a></div>
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<a href="http://alisonguinee.blogspot.com/search?q=raccoon"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6dH6Uu4_ClZrFGkQAKJLXov50TKFA15daMa58JGXeZdYjBlVHt6k-xnu0CxpJyKm7ee1m5_-jo3is0X2x_JEVQFsFai3B1KY4V45AC5UnIMV0d9Xq_lAJvFT_ODzI5BfB8fBC5Fdwk68/s320/DSC_0058.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/pub/ms_living/2009Q1//mla104262_0109_knit_scarf_xl.jpg"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/pub/ms_living/2009Q1//mla104262_0109_knit_scarf_xl.jpg" /></a></div>
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<u>Khaki Scouts:</u></div>
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Raccoon Mitts by Alison Stewart-Guinee: <a href="http://alisonguinee.blogspot.com/search?q=raccoon">http://alisonguinee.blogspot.com/search?q=raccoon</a> Knitted Neck Scarf from Martha Stewart: <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/knitted-neck-scarf?autonomy_kw=knit%20scarf&rsc=header_6#slide_0">http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/knitted-neck-scarf?autonomy_kw=knit%20scarf&rsc=header_6#slide_0</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-40717625760488344982012-06-14T08:06:00.002-07:002012-06-14T08:06:25.641-07:00Events: Portland Fruit Beer Fest<div style="text-align: center;">
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Last weekend we went to the <a href="http://www.portlandfruitbeerfest.com/" target="_blank">Fruit Beer Festival</a> at <a href="http://burnsidebrewco.com/" target="_blank">Burnside Brewing Company</a>. Beer festivals in Portland are pretty spectacular. I'm still in awe that there can be that many people in a small cramped space, all drinking, and everyone is friendly, happy, awesome and not at all annoying. How is that even possible? Also at this even the glasses were actually glass and I didn't see any broken glass anywhere. Portlanders, you're amazing.<br />
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Fruit beers, as you might have guessed already, are brewed with fruit. My favorites from the day were the Whack & Unwrap from <a href="http://oakbrew.com/" target="_blank">Oakshire Brewing</a> (tasted exactly like a dark chocolate orange,) <a href="http://www.2townsciderhouse.com/ciders.php" target="_blank">The Bad Apple from 2 towns Cider house</a> (10.5% ABV, wow!), and the Extinction Ale from <a href="http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/" target="_blank">Deschutes</a>. Chuck got those last two, and I had only a few sips but they were amazing. I seem to have a habit of picking out some of the weirdest flavors, like the Strawberry Mandarin Wit from <a href="http://flat%20tail%20brewing%20company/" target="_blank">Flat Tail Brewing</a>. It was so sour, kind of amazing in its own way but wow. I made some funny faces while drinking that, I'm sure.</div>
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The event also featured live music and we thoroughly enjoyed the bluegrass band <a href="http://www.leftcoastcountry.com/" target="_blank">Left Coast Country</a>. They sounded great while also looking very Left Coast. You can't see him well in the picture above, but the bearded bass player was wearing an "Obey" t-shirt. Perfect! It was my assessment that they were perfect for a beer festival and should play them all. Actually, looks like they are playing the <a href="http://www.naobf.org/" target="_blank">Organic Brewer's festival</a> at the end of the month too. Yay! </div>
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Of course the original location of <a href="http://www.sizzlepie.com/" target="_blank">Sizzle Pie</a> is right across the street from this festival, and after we drank all that beer we were starving, so we had plenty of yummy vegan pizza before heading home. Pictured above are the Spiral Tap (with such good caramelized onions) and the Bad Reputation (with Daiya vegan mozzarella, olives & mushrooms.) Always so good, and amazing post-beer festival.</div>
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-39877662885182716812012-06-13T19:31:00.005-07:002012-06-13T19:32:17.158-07:00Word of the Week: Peplum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/clothing/shopping-guide/four-velvet-looks-00000000025054/index.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://media-cache-ec5.pinterest.com/upload/163185186468485752_Sb23msR5_c.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.modcloth.com/shop/blouses/peplum-squad-top" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://productshots0.modcloth.com/productshots/0098/8485/26297ae671cda9c157a3d43012fda5c7.jpg?1328566323" /></a> <a href="http://burdastyle.tumblr.com/post/24956536931/strawberrys-mint-peplum-skirt-on-burdastyle" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://media-cache-ec2.pinterest.com/upload/40039884157563337_q5By67qS_c.jpg" /></a></div>
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From <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/" target="_blank">The Free Dictionary:</a> </div>
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<span class="hw" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;">pep·lum</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"> </span><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" height="21" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; margin: 1px;" width="13"><embed src="http://img.tfd.com/m/sound.swf" flashvars="sound_src=http://img.tfd.com/hm/mp3/P0177400.mp3" menu="false" width="13" height="21" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></object><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="pron" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(128, 158, 131); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px;">(p<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/ebreve.gif" />p<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/prime.gif" />l<img align="absbottom" src="http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/schwa.gif" />m)</span></div>
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<i>n.</i> <i>pl.</i> <b>pep·lums</b><br />
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<b>1. </b>A short overskirt or ruffle attached at the waistline of a jacket, blouse, or dress.</div>
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<b>2. </b>See <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/peplos" style="color: #645e7d;">peplos</a>.</div>
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[Latin, <i>robe of state</i>, from Greek <tt style="font-size: 11pt;">peplon</tt>, neuter of <tt style="font-size: 11pt;">peplos</tt>, <i>peplos</i>.]</div>
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And a wikipedia article on the Greek peplos garment: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peplos">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peplos</a> (with amusing and potentially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DoricChiton2.GIF" target="_blank">nsfw</a> diagrams.)</div>
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This week definitely has a word. I bought the jacket on the left at a used clothing store this week, and found out it was probably the <a href="http://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/clothing/shopping-guide/four-velvet-looks-00000000025054/index.html" target="_blank">Peplum Jacket from J. Crew</a>. That had me wondering what that word was all about, and now I know. It occurred to me I'm often looking up this type of stuff, so maybe I ought to share it on my blog sometimes. Weekly, hopefully.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-20870242500430992092012-06-12T08:03:00.001-07:002012-06-12T08:03:14.267-07:00Yarn-bombed Statue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://distilleryimage11.instagram.com/3d45d5e6b42911e1a92a1231381b6f02_7.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://distilleryimage11.instagram.com/3d45d5e6b42911e1a92a1231381b6f02_7.jpg" width="290" /></a> <a href="http://distilleryimage6.instagram.com/5a7f4f94b3d811e1b9f1123138140926_7.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://distilleryimage6.instagram.com/5a7f4f94b3d811e1b9f1123138140926_7.jpg" width="290" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I had to share this great yarn bomb in the South Park Blocks. Yesterday morning on my walk to work was the first time I saw it, and I hope it's still there through the week at the very least. Preferably it will be around until it starts looking too dirty, since it really makes people smile. Adds a lot of color to the <a href="http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=674&action=ViewPark" target="_blank"><i style="background-color: white;">Theodore Roosevelt - Rough Rider </i><span style="background-color: white;">Statue</span></a><i style="background-color: white;">. </i><span style="background-color: white;">Apparently <a href="https://www.facebook.com/InternationalYarnBombingDay" target="_blank">International Yarn Bomb Day</a> was this past weekend (thanks for the heads up from <a href="http://fiapdx.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Fia(PDX)</a>. I wish I'd know that sooner!) I also wondered if the yarn bomb had anything to do with the <a href="http://www.pdxgmc.org/" target="_blank">Portland Gay Men's Chorus</a> since it is a rainbow & they were putting up signs for their upcoming show at the </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> nearby yesterday morning. Maybe not, but the idea of the Chorus putting up this yarn-bomb up does make me smile. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-50432426339487774022012-06-01T07:35:00.002-07:002012-06-01T07:48:21.586-07:00Portland Events: June 1st - 3rd<div style="text-align: center;">
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There's so much going on in Portland now, and these posts the last few weeks have helped me sort out my plans for the last few weekends. I thought I might as well share them since I'm making the list anyway. I know I won't manage to do all of this, but just a fraction would still be a packed weekend:</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5801844973/" title="Pioneer Square by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Pioneer Square" height="280" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3155/5801844973_f582a1931f.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5801840309/" title="Pioneer Square by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Pioneer Square" height="280" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5226/5801840309_641e0f8d9f.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.thesquarepdx.org/images/2012MasterSitePlan.jpg" target="_blank">Festival of Flowers at Pioneer Courthouse Square</a>, on display now through June 12th. <a href="http://www.thesquarepdx.org/images/2012MasterSitePlan.jpg" target="_blank">Check out the plan drawing here</a>. (Last year's display is pictured above.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.rosefestival.org/events/rozone/2012-RoZone-Schedule-May-31.pdf" target="_blank">Portland's Best Indie Bands Part 1</a>, Fri., June 1st, Gates at 4pm, <a href="http://www.rosefestival.org/events/rozone/" target="_blank">Rozone</a> at CityFair, with Lost Lander, And And And, Black Prarie, & Y La Bamba, Free w/$5 admission to CityFair<br />
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<a href="http://tickets.orsymphony.org/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=2033" target="_blank">Hugh Laurie & The Copper Bottom Band</a> - Fri, June 1st, 7:30pm, Tickets start at $25<br />
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<a href="http://japanesegarden.com/events/celebrations/ikebana/" target="_blank">Ikebana Exhibit at the Japanese Garden</a> - June 2nd & 3rd, 10am-6pm, Included with <a href="http://japanesegarden.com/visiting/info/" target="_blank">Admission</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.rosefestival.org/events/starlightparade/" target="_blank">Rose Festival Starlight Parade</a> - Downtown Portland, Sat. June 2nd, 8:30pm, Free<br />
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<a href="http://www.rogue.com/events/firkin_fest.php" target="_blank">Firkin Fest</a> - Sat., June 2nd, 11am-6pm, Green Dragon, $10<br />
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<a href="http://www.mississippistudios.com/" target="_blank">Mississippi Studios Summer Sessions,</a> Sun. June 3rd with Lewi Longmire Band & The Darlin' Blackbirds, Free, 3-7pm<br />
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<a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/events/search/Music_And_Event?start_date=06/03/2012&location_id=2&joint_name=Al's%20Den" target="_blank">The Robinsons (Kevin & Anita of Viva Voce) Residency at Al's Den</a>, Free, 7pm, Sun, June 3rd - Sat, June 9th, List of guests <a href="http://therobinsonsmusic.com/post/23402436406/the-robinsons-june-portland-residency-rose-festival" target="_blank">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-26337420987696958082012-05-30T08:21:00.001-07:002012-05-30T08:21:46.637-07:00Portland Walks: Rose Test Garden<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7288900880/" title="Carding Mill by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Carding Mill" height="270" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7288900880_dd2293d179.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7288941230/" title="Crown Princess Margareta by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Crown Princess Margareta" height="270" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7288941230_cf1145d51d.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7288917828/" title="The Shepardess by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="The Shepardess" height="270" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7288917828_f4c241f477.jpg" /></a><br />
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The roses are in bloom! I guess that's why the <a href="http://www.rosefestival.org/" target="_blank">Rose Festival</a> is happening right about now. We just became members at the <a href="http://portlandartmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Portland Art Museum</a> & the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjapanesegarden.com%2F&ei=_zbGT4eIA4iA2wXv05npAQ&usg=AFQjCNFkbN9VqKjDa1QU5i14QulVI22gTQ" target="_blank">Portland Japanese Garden</a> recently, and we spend a chunk of our weekend enjoying that fact. We caught the very end of the <a href="http://portlandartmuseum.org/page.aspx?pid=626" target="_blank">Rothko</a> & <a href="http://portlandartmuseum.org/page.aspx?pid=627" target="_blank">John Frame</a> Exhibits, and I decided that <a href="http://artgalleryartist.com/mark-rothko/imagepages/image3.htm" target="_blank">this</a> is now one of my favorite paintings. It's hard to find any good pictures of it online, but I really like the texture given to the railing. </div>
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Anyway, The Japanese Garden is right next to the Rose garden and it's really easy to get distracted by roses on the way. I found on this trip that I was partial to the English roses. I don't know a lot about roses, but the ones pictured above are named (from left to right) Carding Mill, Crown Princess Margareta, & The Shepardess, and were all labeled English. I especially like the shape of the Shepardess, very round, but all the blooms seemed to be hiding beneath the leaves. </div>
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Rose names are always fun. These are Scent-sation, Shockwave, & Easy Does It. While I was taking pictures, Chuck went off and bought me a peach flavored snowcone. It's been a long time since I've had a snowcone, and I'm not sure I've ever had peach. It was very good.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7288853664/" title="Scent-sation by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Scent-sation" height="270" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7229/7288853664_ccef75228e.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7288908208/" title="Shockwave by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Shockwave" height="270" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7243/7288908208_fa240e9f99.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7288913556/" title="Easy Does It by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Easy Does It" height="270" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7288913556_97a50d70cb.jpg" /></a></div>
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We have plans to head back to the Japanese Garden (which will surely mean a detour in the Rose Test Garden again) for at least the next two weekends. Next weekend there's a <a href="http://japanesegarden.com/events/celebrations/ikebana/" target="_blank">Ikebana Exhibit</a>, and the following weekend <a href="http://japanesegarden.com/events/threads-of-hope/" target="_blank">a textile exhibit</a> begins. If it's anything like <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5136954794/in/photostream" target="_blank">the one we saw last year</a>, you shouldn't miss it.</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-26719063096362883072012-05-25T08:10:00.002-07:002012-05-25T08:11:44.032-07:00Portland Events: May 25th - 28th<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5839423982/" title="Ferris Wheel by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Ferris Wheel" height="295" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5225/5839423982_58cdd5df15.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5839424664/" title="Vertigo by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img ]="" alt="Vertigo" height="
295 " src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3216/5839424664_71e8e676c3.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/events/101834-Luzelena-Mendoza-of-Y-La-Bamba" style="background-color: white; color: #6e6e6e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">Luz Elena Mendoza</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> of Y La Bamba will be at </span><a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/1641-al-s-den-at-crystal-hotel-home" style="background-color: white; color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Al's Den</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> for a residency, free & will be at 7pm every night through May 26th ( Sat.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://www.kink.fm/03/26/12/KINK-at-the-Waterfront/landing_music_discovery.html?blockID=595376&feedID=10366" target="_blank">KINK at the Waterfront</a> with Alabama Shakes, Vintage Trouble & Everest, Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Sunday, May 27th, 5:30pm, $20 in advance/$25 day of show, includes admission to the Rose Festival's City Fair.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://pdxpipeline.com/2012/05/22/2012-portland-rose-festival/" target="_blank">Rose Festival CityFair</a>, May 25th - June 7th, Friday May 25th is Free Admission day, with fireworks at 10pm, Regular Admission is $5 for everyone 7 yrs old+</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://mcmenamins.com/events/102624-Adventures-in-Plymptoons" target="_blank">Bill Plympton Day, Screening of Adventures in Plymptoons</a> at the Bagdad Theater, 3pm & 7pm, Saturday May 26th, $9 adv., $11 day of show</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://portlandartmuseum.org/page.aspx?pid=291" target="_blank">Last weekend of the Rothko & John Frame Exhibits at the Portland Art Museum</a>, Extended through the 28th, with John Frame in attendance from 1-2:30. <a href="http://portlandartmuseum.org/page.aspx?pid=377" target="_blank">Hours and admission information here.</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-29767308027448371342012-05-22T07:51:00.000-07:002012-05-22T07:51:10.689-07:00Events: NW Animation Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I got to play with <a href="http://coraline.com/" target="_blank">Coraline</a>! I also got <a href="http://distilleryimage7.instagram.com/d8ec93c0a24711e1a39b1231381b7ba1_7.jpg" target="_blank">Bill Plympton's autograph and quick sketch of a dog</a>. I am so glad I happened to find out about the animation festival. We'd been meaning to go see something at the <a href="http://hollywoodtheatre.org/" target="_blank">Hollywood Theater</a> and I just happened to see <a href="http://www.nwanimationfest.com/" target="_blank">this</a> on their calendar a few weeks ago. We bought the 2-day passes, which were cheap at only $20 in advance. <a href="http://www.laika.com/" target="_blank">Laika</a>, the Portland-based studio that worked on Coraline, gave a presentation the first night that ended in a crowd of us on stage patiently waiting for our turn to look at the puppets, some of the replacement faces, and an armature. I think the number of puppets used in the film was 29, but the studio used rapid prototyping to generate tens of thousands of replacement faces, switched out for each frame of animation. </div>
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We got to see almost 60 animated shorts. The <a href="http://www.nwanimationfest.com/2012-schedule/" target="_blank">selection</a> was incredibly diverse, global, and interesting. There weren't any among the selections that I disliked, but I had some favorites. Of course I loved this one about a woman looking for her lost cat, Pushkin. We've been saying the name since we saw it, and I realized that I already called Lucy "puss-kin" from time to time. Now I'm thinking that's going to be an even more common nickname for her: </div>
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Another favorite was Bottle by Kirsten Lepore, a stop-motion animation on a beach. It's also a love story. Impressive, cute, pretty, and clever:</div>
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A few other favorites included the Academy Award winning short, <a href="http://morrislessmore.com/?p=film" target="_blank">The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore</a>. It's available for download from itunes for $1.99. It's set in New Orleans, with Oz-like references to Hurricane Katrina. The very first film, <a href="http://www.themakerfilm.com/" target="_blank">The Maker</a>, impressed me, and the dark but very pretty <a href="http://www.birdboy.net/film.html" target="_blank">Birdboy</a> was another favorite. And that's just my short list of favorites. I'm already looking forward to next year!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-65436190244947883732012-05-21T08:18:00.002-07:002012-05-21T08:18:46.665-07:00Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227980790/" title="Rhododendron Garden by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Rhododendron Garden" height="295" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7231/7227980790_0e4b52908b.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7228020226/" title="Rhododendron Garden by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Rhododendron Garden" height="295" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7214/7228020226_9b49511982.jpg" /></a><br />
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The week before last I was reminded there is a <a href="http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=27&action=ViewPark" target="_blank">rhododendron garden</a> here by following <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/pdxpipeline" target="_blank">PDX Pipeline on twitter</a> (& more specifically on instagram.) As soon as I saw their pictures I realized that the rhododendrons would be in bloom and peaking soon. I had definitely noticed they were peaking around town. A little internet research proved that was correct, Mother's Day weekend is a big weekend for the rhododendron Garden. They have a plant sale, prize winning rhododendrons on display, and most of the park was in bloom. </div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227735432/" title="Rhododendron Garden by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Rhododendron Garden" height="295" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7235/7227735432_368a5e9b01.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7228030070/" title="Rhododendron Garden by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Rhododendron Garden" height="295" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8019/7228030070_1d28db91b3.jpg" /></a></div>
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They come in all colors and sizes. I certainly don't remember all the names, but a few, like the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7228003244/in/set-72157629800974050" target="_blank">Blue Peter Rhododendron</a>, Lem's Cameo, and Double Date stood out. The labels at the plant show helped a lot, but it might to take me a few more visits to put all the names with faces. We were amused that several of the rhodies were <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7228010680/in/set-72157629800974050" target="_blank">displayed in beer bottles</a>. </div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7228015174/" title="Wood Duck Mother and Babies by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Wood Duck Mother and Babies" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5326/7228015174_a678401379.jpg" width="295" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227943970/" title="Wood Duck by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Wood Duck" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7227943970_c6ddddf67f.jpg" width="295" /></a><br />
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There's also a lot of water in the garden, attracting various kinds of water foul. I was really excited to see wood duck for the first time. We even got to see a whole family, although the mother was quick and busy, with her ducklings struggling to keep up. Informational signs also indicated the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bufflehead" target="_blank">bufflehead</a> is a regular. It's an interesting bird that I'd really like to see sometime. Of course there were <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227992532/in/set-72157629800974050" target="_blank">geese</a> all over. They didn't seem to be too bothered by people, although I did elicit a lazy hiss from one by just walking past its resting spot. Oh, and a couple of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227983590/in/set-72157629800974050" target="_blank">sleeping ducks</a> who were very cute. They'd drift apart and then wake up just to paddle closer together, then go back to sleep until they drifted apart again. </div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7228028124/" title="Dove Tree by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Dove Tree" height="295" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/7228028124_73dab1a1b7.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227948014/" title="Rhododendron Garden by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Rhododendron Garden" height="295" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5324/7227948014_4b05674c00.jpg" /></a></div>
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The park has a few other interesting plants other than Rhododendrons and I'm sure it would be a very nice place for a visit at almost any time of year. I was particularly taken by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_tree" target="_blank">dove tree</a>. At first glance I thought it just had the occasional lightly colored leaf, which looked strange enough, but I quickly realized there were strangely shaped white flowers. There were <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227995882/in/photostream" target="_blank">a few</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227951204/in/photostream" target="_blank">other</a> flowers that I have yet to identify, but they were all very pretty. And there were ferns throughout the garden, including a few growing through <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7227989356/in/photostream" target="_blank">a wall by the water.</a> </div>
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It's a very pretty garden, and there should still be plenty of blooms for the next few weeks. It's worth the visit regardless, and only costs $3/person. We also did a little bit of exploring on the Reed College campus nearby. Very pretty, but I didn't get to take any pictures because I'd filled my camera with Rhododendrons, and forgotten to bring a back up SD card. I guess that's just a reason to go back sometime soon.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/sets/72157629800974050/with/7227948014/" target="_blank">More pictures of the garden on flickr.</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-13891546624571923222012-05-18T08:05:00.000-07:002012-05-18T08:05:06.903-07:00Hometown Visit: North Market<div style="text-align: left;">
One of the best things in Columbus is the <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">North Market</a><span style="text-align: left;">. It's been around for a very long time, but the current location opened in 1995 in a renovated warehouse. There are permanent stalls inside, and on summer weekends farmers set up outside. The new building has a great rooster sign:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966238058/" title="North Market by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="North Market" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7188/6966238058_63483cbcb4.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966238910/" title="Jeni's by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Jeni's" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8168/6966238910_8e6e2b28b2.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966239680/" title="North Market by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="North Market" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7272/6966239680_bb44af6841.jpg" width="200" /></a>
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<a href="http://jenisicecreams.com/" target="_blank">Jeni's Ice Cream</a> is still there of course, and doing very well. After our trip I found out it's being distributed nationwide, including to <a href="http://www.zupans.com/" target="_blank">Zupan's Markets</a> here in Portland. I might have to check out if they carry any of the sorbets next time I'm near one. Her flavors are amazing and creative. She now has a case full of very fancy ice cream treats, pictured above, like ice cream sandwiches with macaroons, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151044169335492&set=a.169119045491.254613.53668535491&type=3&theater" target="_blank">terrine</a>. Plus she came out with a <a href="http://www.jenisicecreams.com/products/Jeni%27s-Splendid-Ice-Creams-at-Home-%28signed-copy%29.html" target="_blank">cookbook</a> recently. Very cool to see her doing so well.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112316611/" title="Coffee by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Coffee" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7112316611_0d04f0c8b6.jpg" width="295" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966240924/" title="Pastaria by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Pastaria" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7202/6966240924_9c83de285f.jpg" width="295" /></a><br />
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It was delightful to find it hasn't changed much since we moved away. Most of the vendors I remember are still there, including <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/meet-the-market/merchants/pastaria" target="_blank">Pastaria</a>, with all the same dishes. I used to get the Pasta Arribiata, which has anise seeds in the sauce. It's very good. The day we visited we stopped for good coffee from <a href="http://www.northmarket.com/meet-the-market/merchants/a-touch-of-earth" target="_blank">A Touch of Earth</a> and treats from a new booth, <a href="http://expressly.../">Expressly...</a>, with vegan baked goods. </div>
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One unfortunate change we did notice is that one of our favorite vegan friendly soup places, <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/benevolence-cafe-columbus-2" target="_blank">Benevolence</a>, is no longer operating. They ran a small booth (where Expressly... is now, at least there are still vegan baked goods in the same spot!) in the market and a separate shop around the corner. Their soup was amazing and I'm sad that they are no longer around. We ended up eating at our other old standby in the area, <a href="http://barleysbrewing.com/downtown/" target="_blank">Barley's Brewing Company</a>. They have a really nice <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112313741/in/photostream" target="_blank">space</a> with <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112313067/in/photostream" target="_blank">tin ceilings</a>, and the veggie burger & fries are very good. Okay, now I'm hungry.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-64285178106473779252012-05-18T07:46:00.000-07:002012-05-19T11:47:26.781-07:00Portland Events: May 18th - 20thSuddenly it's spring, the weather is nicer and there is so much stuff happening every weekend. It will probably stay this way until winter. Here are a few things I think might be pretty interesting this weekend, some (all? I don't know if that's possible) of which I'm planning on doing.:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5749011494/" title="Kenton Street Fair by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Kenton Street Fair" height="275" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5022/5749011494_2b8feeff50.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5749006958/" title="Bunyan by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Bunyan" height="275" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2203/5749006958_2fba2f62b4.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.irvingtonhometour.com/TourInfo.shtml" target="_blank">Irvington Home Tour</a>, Sun. May 20th, 11am-5pm (w/a lecture at 1:30pm included in the ticket price) $20/person.</div>
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<a href="http://www.nwanimationfest.com/" target="_blank">NW Animation Festival</a>, Fri. May 18th & Sat. May 19th, 7pm-11pm, Hollywood Theater $15/one night, $25/both. We have tickets for both. The schedule is <a href="http://www.nwanimationfest.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. They'll be showing the Oscar nominees, Work by John Frame who currently has an amazing exhibit at the Art Museum, making of LAIKA's next feature, and <a href="http://www.plymptoons.com/" target="_blank">Bill Plympton</a> will be there Saturday night. (They just aired his couch gag for the Simpsons a few weeks ago, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/bill-plympton-animates-the-simpsons-couch-gag-intro-video_n_1428063.html" target="_blank">did you see it?</a>)</div>
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<a href="http://kentonbusiness.com/?page_id=33" target="_blank">Kenton Street Fair</a>, Sun. May 20th, 10am-6pm A great reason to visit this north Portland neighborhood, and it's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bunyan_Statue" target="_blank">historic</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5749006958/in/photostream/" target="_blank">Paul Bunyan Statue</a>. </div>
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<a href="http://www.mississippistudios.com/" target="_blank">Free Monthly Showcase at Mississippi Studios</a>, Sat. May 19th, 9:30 doors, 10pm show with <a href="http://wildonestheband.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Wild Ones</a>, who we saw open for <a href="https://www.tenderlovingempire.com/y-la-bamba/" target="_blank">Y La Bamba</a> last year at <a href="http://dougfirlounge.com/" target="_blank">Doug Fir Lounge</a>. They were good!<br />
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And <a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/events/101834-Luzelena-Mendoza-of-Y-La-Bamba" target="_blank">Luz Elena Mendoza</a> of Y La Bamba will be at <a href="http://www.mcmenamins.com/1641-al-s-den-at-crystal-hotel-home" target="_blank">Al's Den</a> for a residency for the week starting May 20th. It's free & will be at 7pm every night from May 20th (Sun.) to May 26th (next Sat.)<br />
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And of course the Farmer's Markets are in full swing. We will surely stop by the <a href="http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/markets/psu/" target="_blank">PSU Market</a> as usual!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-29179054102356309212012-05-16T07:54:00.001-07:002012-05-16T07:54:33.374-07:00Hometown Visit: Clintonville & German Village<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966228188/" title="Cup O Joe by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Cup O Joe" height="250" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8002/6966228188_7da25399c7.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112305973/" title="Book Loft by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Book Loft" height="250" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7248/7112305973_c2e3fcf89a.jpg" /></a><br />
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The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Village" target="_blank">German Village</a> is a really pretty area south of Downtown Columbus. As a kid my family went to see all the plays at <a href="http://parks.columbus.gov/SchillerPark.aspx" target="_blank">Schiller Park</a>, usually two Shakespearean and a Musical every summer. We's take a picnic. In college my friends & I spent a lot of time at the <a href="http://www.bookloft.com/" target="_blank">Book Loft</a> (above right) & the <a href="http://www.cupojoe.com/" target="_blank">Cup of Joe</a> next door. The Book Loft was just as I remembered, tons of rooms with different music playing in each, new and used books, and lots of fun to explore. And Cup of Joe was definately the best coffee we had while we were in Columbus. They even carry vegan treats from <a href="http://www.pattycakebakery.com/" target="_blank">Pattycake</a>. </div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112303461/" title="German Village by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="German Village" height="300" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7089/7112303461_7a9abd6e7d.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966225440/" title="pattycake, yummy by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="pattycake, yummy" height="300" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5468/6966225440_5d78727799.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966223698/" title="kitty cutout cookies by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="kitty cutout cookies" height="300" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/6966223698_20972ae21c.jpg" /></a>
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Actually, that might be the first place I knew of that had Patty Cake baked goods in Columbus. <a href="http://www.pattycakeveganbakery.com/ourstory.html" target="_blank">Their story</a> says they started in 2003 in a Cup of Joe, and they didn't open their store front in Clintonville on North High street until 2005. This was the year after we moved away! Now it's an important place to stop when we visit, along with <a href="http://www.wholeworldnaturalrestaurant.com/" target="_blank">Whole World</a> (though we missed that on this trip, since they were closed on Monday.) I also noticed that Clintonville now has a vegan friendly hair salon in the same area. Not bad, nice to see vegan stuff doing well in the Midwest, especially in my hometown. Anyway, <a href="http://www.pattycakebakery.com/" target="_blank">Pattycake Bakery</a> has an adorable sign now, and was serving up these adorable cat cookies, aren't they great? </div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-50539918264582813482012-05-15T07:25:00.002-07:002012-05-16T07:38:32.049-07:00Hometown Visit: Columbus CommonsColumbus, Ohio is my hometown. We were back for a visit last month to attend of my cousin's wedding. My parents moved to Chicago at almost the same time that I did a few years back. As a result I hadn't been back since around the time of that move. We were long overdue for the usually drive around town to check out how things have changed. The Ohio State Campus always has so much construction going on, but on this trip there seemed to be more than usual throughout the city.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112307111/" title="Columbus Commons by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Columbus Commons" height="250" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5324/7112307111_1d25bf7855.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112307821/" title="Columbus Commons by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Columbus Commons" height="250" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7049/7112307821_cb51c6753d.jpg" /></a><br />
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The demolition of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_City_Center" target="_blank">City Center</a> in 2009, Columbus's downtown shopping mall, is certainly the biggest change that has happened since we moved away. I remember when the mall was built in 1989. It was really big deal. Since Lex Wexner resides in Columbus Ohio, it of course had all the limited brand stores, including his recent acquisition an <a href="http://www.henribendel.com/" target="_blank">Henri Bendel</a>. I still have a skirt I got there, which was probably deeply discounted, that I will likely never get rid of for nostalgia's sake. (A lot of development in Columbus involves Lex Wexner, they are currently building the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State, for example.) The mall was in a state of decline for a long time, mainly due to the fact that several larger, suburban malls were constructed. City Center could no longer draw suburbanites into the somewhat neglected downtown. </div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6966233718/" title="City Center by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="City Center" height="250" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6966233718_647b23cc90.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7112310533/" title="Columbus Commons by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Columbus Commons" height="250" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8019/7112310533_0abaacf1e9.jpg" /></a><br />
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Shortly after the demolition was proposed, there was a plan to develop the site for <a href="http://emmakat.tumblr.com/search/city+center" target="_blank">a housing project</a>. It looks like there has been some attempt to get some housing downtown since with left, with a few tower projects nearby. But in the end they have turned it into a large park called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Commons" target="_blank">"Columbus Commons."</a> It has a carousel and amphitheater; both feel a bit small for such a large site. Also, unlike many good urban parks, the buildings surrounding the site are not much to look at. In the picture above you can see the old, no longer open, Lazarus Department store building. Either side of the park in the other direction has a view of parking garages. Occasionally there's still signage from the mall, and the covered connector space next to the Ohio Theater was maintained. Now it will take you between the Commons and the State House lawn.</div>
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Still, The official grand opening is later this month, and it could be nice to have a downtown <a href="http://columbuscommons.org/happenings/opening-weekend/" target="_blank">event</a> space in the summer. </div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-46221389635199431392012-05-11T08:05:00.001-07:002012-05-11T08:05:29.064-07:00Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Spring Sale is Tomorrow!I know it's been insanely awesome weather-wise this week and there are tons of great outdoorsy things to do in Portland, but if you start to feel like you might be getting a little too much Vitamin D for a portlander & you're tired of squinting, you should stop by <a href="http://craftywonderland.com/events/" target="_blank">Crafty Wonderland's Super Colossal Spring Sale</a> tomorrow:<br />
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<a href="http://craftywonderland.com/events/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPl0UH3wNJVH4Gi0PYq6lYYKrWTKdVJzUP3bYVsB_vrTYw4-AkB9TTR8VNGn2BI39f0cuWEEJsOVFSLGCun8g0SIq1bUtIItS0CX7kpDjF2bKcYxvN_x1DkDpjtgYin75O-mhWlRvfCNTo/s320/postcard-back.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://craftywonderland.com/events/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSBUucQftZsGLOmNsv-dlKuM9eXxsW89_b6bwSon84ZWcIjTmCpc-Z31cpVFW3gvysMoSTr0slWrZab9wwtWh720k-EBtp0zYz29qXdcm-OK45cmrCCCx_2Wsv3erkfjOQqiWd42kDcD6U/s320/online-image.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's a little preview of items I'll be selling, my booth will be near the main entry!:
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Stop by and say hi! Or get there early for a chance at the Goodie bags, really early. People are there earlier than I am as a vendor, it's crazy! </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-68784825036640295332012-05-09T08:20:00.000-07:002012-05-09T08:20:23.045-07:00Crafty Wonderland Goodie Bags<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I dropped of a bunch of gift tags for the Crafty Wonderland gift bags this week! There will be 50 packs of 3 fold over tags in two colors, finished with a bit of coordinating scrap yarn. I'll have just a few at my booth to sell as well. Here they are in process, packaged up and in a box:</div>
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And Crafty Wonderland put together a cute video about the Goodie bags:
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Get there early on Saturday to get a goodie bag!</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-76953656643915888462012-05-08T08:02:00.002-07:002012-05-08T12:42:55.842-07:00Chicago for a Day: The Field Museum<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6975485298/" title="Admissions at the Field by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Admissions at the Field" height="275" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7088/6975485298_6d2c02465c.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6975491852/" title="Magnifying Glass by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Magnifying Glass" height="275" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/6975491852_f6f86529ed.jpg" /></a></div>
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If you've followed my blog for a while you may have come to the conclusion that <a href="http://emmakat79.blogspot.com/search?q=the+field+museum" target="_blank">I'm mildly obsessed with the Field Museum in Chicago.</a> I even cried a little when we went to see the 3D movie <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVn_hPLK9Rg" target="_blank">The Story of Sue</a> (the most complete T-rex fossil) a few years ago. She had such a hard life! She died when she was only 28, had broken ribs, three holes in her jaw from an infection, arthritis, and many other injuries and issues. In addition to Sue, the Field Museum is just a really nice (huge!) space that's packed with tons of information.<br />
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Anyway we were in Chicago last month briefly to visit my parents before heading to Ohio for my cousin's wedding. We had about a day and I really wanted to visit my favorite museum, especially since they had an exhibit on <a href="http://fieldmuseum.org/happening/exhibits/opening-vaults-mummies" target="_blank">Mummies</a> (which ended April 22nd.) It was a small & dark exhibit so I don't have pictures, but it was neat. Some of the mummies had not been on display since the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. It also has me convinced we need to make it up to Seattle to see the upcoming <a href="http://www.pacificsciencecenter.org/King-Tut/king-tut-the-exhibition" target="_blank">King Tut Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center.</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7121575357/" title="Sapphire Necklace by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Sapphire Necklace" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8144/7121575357_635d798357.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6975493032/" title="Hall of Gems by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Hall of Gems" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7278/6975493032_91583bac14.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6975493194/" title="Etruscan Jewelry by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Etruscan Jewelry" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6975493194_f1f7f23259.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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We managed to visit the <a href="http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/gems/" target="_blank">Hall of Gems</a>, <a href="http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/evolvingplanet/exhibition.asp" target="_blank">The Evolving Planet</a> & some of the <a href="http://fieldmuseum.org/explore/department/anthropology/north-america/collections" target="_blank">North American Collection</a>, focusing on the Northwest Coast. Above are some pieces from the hall of gems. From left to right: <a href="http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/gems/ruby_2.asp" target="_blank">An Edwardian carved sapphire pendant</a> with diamonds set in rose gold, Sunlit diamond & fringe pendant with heliodor, and lastly Etruscan gold jewelry. Many of the pieces in the hall of gems were designed by Chicago jeweler <a href="http://www.lesterlampert.com/" target="_blank">Lester Lampert</a>, they have <a href="http://www.lesterlampert.com/museumProject/" target="_blank">a nice slide show of the one-of-a-kind works</a>. (Which actually reminds me, somehow I came across <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/04/downtown_portland_jewelry_make.html" target="_blank">this story</a> recently that a Portland jeweler, whose place of business I walk by often, won designer of the year in an industry competition. Neat, and very pretty piece!)<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7121576309/" title="Diamonds by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Diamonds" height="295" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8002/7121576309_9b5476f056.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6975495034/" title="Trilobites by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Trilobites" height="295" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/6975495034_cd183df57e.jpg" /></a></div>
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Just outside of the Hall of Gems was a display of meteorites. The magnified vile above was said to contain 5 billion year old diamonds, extracted from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allende_meteorite" target="_blank">Allende Meteorite</a>, "the best studied meteorite in history." The diamonds may just be powder now, but that's still awe inspiring. Lastly the fossils in the evolving planet exhibit are always great, and that exhibit is so full of information. I always hope I'll someday memorize it all, but at least I can learn a little more each time. We watched a cartoon explaining the use of name <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatosaurus" target="_blank">Apatosaur </a>over Brontosaur, looked at all the variety of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilobite" target="_blank">trilobites</a>, and learned that the Field has one of the largest collection of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrapod" target="_blank">tetrapod</a> fossils.<br />
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And before we went to the Field we had a nice brunch at another favorite, <a href="http://www.veggiediner.com/wp/" target="_blank">The Chicago Diner</a>. Perfect day, except for the fact that I didn't not have any room left after my brunch to have one of their amazing milkshakes...and they had mint milkshakes on the menu that day, which sounds fantastic. I'll have to remember to make a point of just going for a milkshake next time I visit!</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-16921787708719172932012-05-04T08:17:00.001-07:002012-05-04T08:17:39.956-07:00Knit Wedding Accessories<div style="text-align: right;">
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7125348503/" title="Charles in his knit tie by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Charles in his knit tie" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7185/7125348503_b6a1b9b502.jpg" width="281" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6996034422/" title="Me at Jill's Wedding by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Me at Jill's Wedding" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/6996034422_0ac0611377.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
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My cousin got married last month & we went back to central Ohio for the first time in several years. More on Columbus & the wedding later, but first we wore some hand-knit accessories! When I told Chuck he had to wear a tie he said he'd prefer a knit one. I showed him some yarn in my stash, but nothing seemed right to him, so he decided to buy my some yarn. We went over to <a href="http://www.knit-purl.com/store/pc/home.asp" target="_blank">Knit Purl</a> & he picked out some very nice <a href="http://www.knit-purl.com/store/pc/Rowan-Creative-Linen-Yarn-30p7822.htm" target="_blank">Rowan Creative Linen</a> yarn for me to play with! And then we had some beer at <a href="http://www.baileystaproom.com/" target="_blank">Bailey's Tap Room</a>.:</div>
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I wore a leafy headband, which can maybe seen in the picture above (from my cell phone/twitter) a little better. It's a prototype, I'd like to start making some to sell in <a href="http://emmakat.etsy.com/" target="_blank">the shop</a> but I still need to work out some small issues. Maybe by this summer I'll have it figured out!</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-1961745434862358042012-05-03T08:13:00.002-07:002012-05-03T08:13:23.456-07:00Spring Bloom Recap<div style="text-align: center;">
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I'm very behind on blog posts lately, lots has been happening. I'd like to cover a lot of that in the next week or so here on the blog, but I thought I'd start off with an easy photo-heavy post about flowers. Early in the month the Cherry Blossoms were out on the waterfront & throughout the city. Camellias were all over the place. We went on trip and now that we're back there are different flowers in bloom & things are looking a little greener. I will have to get out and take more pictures, but for now here's what was in bloom in early April.<br />
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Cherry Blossoms at the Waterfront:</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7046485469/" title="Cherry blossoms by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Cherry blossoms" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/7046485469_ecd9f45229.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7046486305/" title="Cherry blossoms by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Cherry blossoms" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7069/7046486305_91554e706b.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6900387808/" title="Cherry blossoms by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Cherry blossoms" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6900387808_8b1ef5c407.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Cherry Blossoms Elsewhere, at Voodoo Doughnuts Too (where they match so nicely) & in the Northwest District:</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6973755535/" title="Voodoo Too by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Voodoo Too" height="295" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7062/6973755535_b853a67832.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7081010639/" title="Ruffly Cherry Blossom by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Ruffly Cherry Blossom" height="295" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/7081010639_9faa570030.jpg" /></a><br />
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Huge bushes teeming with scores of stunningly perfect Camellia. Also taken in the Northwest District, but they are all over town. I can't decide if I prefer the trendy gradient camellia or the really perfect pink ones. The bush with the pink flowers was huge with so many perfect blooms whereas the gradient one was small with only a few:</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6934939186/" title="Pink Camellia by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Pink Camellia" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5113/6934939186_f47d61d7f3.jpg" width="300" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6934941036/" title="Gradient Camellia by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img halt="Gradient Camellia" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7213/6934941036_6dccf22d2c.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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I'm learning the names of plants as I go, with some help from facebook friends, google, & wikipedia. That lead me to conclude recently that these plants in bloom on the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/sets/72157629742222113/with/6900219602/" target="_blank">Eastbank Esplanade</a> are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribes_sanguineum" target="_blank">Red Currant</a> & <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon-grape" target="_blank">Oregon Grape</a>. I think the Oregon Grape is prevalent all over downtown Portland and until recently my best guess was blueberry because it does, I think, grow blue berries later in the year. Apparently they are neither grapes nor blueberries but have been used medicinally. Here they are together with one of the public artworks by <a href="http://www.rhizaaplusd.com/studio/press/rigga-in-collaboration-with-mayerreed/" target="_blank">a group of artists & architects known as RIGGA called "Alluvial Wall"</a>:</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6900219602/" title="Oregon Grape & Red Flowering Currant w/Alluvial Wall by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Oregon Grape & Red Flowering Currant w/Alluvial Wall" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/6900219602_688ae794e9.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7046315825/" title="Red Flowering Currant by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Red Flowering Currant" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7140/7046315825_d373d251d1.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7046320341/" title="Alluvial Wall by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Alluvial Wall" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7046320341_2de9429a92.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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And with that I think it's about time I hiked up into Washington park again to see what's happening in the Rose Test Garden. There may not be any roses yet but there are plenty of other interesting blooms. Plus it's good exercise!</div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-87743238779264549442012-04-02T17:29:00.000-07:002012-04-02T17:29:00.340-07:00Finished Knit: Trellis & Vine Pullover<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6890436714/" title="Trellis & Vine Pullover by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Trellis & Vine Pullover" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6116/6890436714_96b81b6a10.jpg" width="275" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7040037319/" title="Front & cat Trellis & Vine Pullover by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Front & cat Trellis & Vine Pullover" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7077/7040037319_9fea5a8699.jpg" width="275" /></a><br />
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Pattern: <a href="http://www.interweavestore.com/Knitting/Patterns/Trellis-and-Vine-Pullover.html" target="_blank">Trellis & Vine Pullover</a> by Carol Feller, <a href="http://www.interweaveknits.com/preview/2009_fall.asp#Trellis-and-Vine-Pullover" target="_blank">Interweave Knits, Fall 2009</a></div>
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Yarn: <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/Shine+Sport_YD5420122.html" target="_blank">Knit Pick Shine Sport</a> in Silver Sage (which I think they've discontinued)</div>
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This is my first major finished object using yarn I picked up at the<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6133628833/" target="_blank"> Knit Picks warehouse sale</a> last fall. I only managed to grab 8 balls of this color since the bag had been broken open. We looked (yeah I took poor Chuck to a yarn warehouse sale, he was useful) but couldn't find the balls that had fallen out. That ended up turning out okay, I just had to cut a few corners here and there. The main one was the sleeve length; I just didn't have enough to get away with full length sleeves with the cable and lace that the pattern called for. Even so, these are actually the longest sleeves I've done for myself yet! Yay.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7040050967/" title="Back of Trellis & Vine Pullover by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Back of Trellis & Vine Pullover" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7140/7040050967_7cdbff83c5.jpg" width="275" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7040044065/" title="Back of Trellis & Vine Pullover by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Back of Trellis & Vine Pullover" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/7040044065_f7673bd909.jpg" width="275" /></a><br />
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My shaping ended up being a bit different than called for in the pattern. This was mainly to get a nicer fit to my measurements but it had the added benefit of using up less yarn. I also didn't do any increasing in the bottom set of cables and lace. I'm am pleased the fit turned out as planned.</div>
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The Knit Picks yarn was pleasant to work with and feels great on, very soft. Since it's mostly cotton I expect to get some wear out of it this spring. Chuck says it's his favorite of my projects so far. He quite liked <a href="http://www.emmakat79.blogspot.com/2012/02/finished-knit-bottoms-up-top.html" target="_blank">the last one</a> too. Maybe I'm improving slowly but surely. </div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-53996818090725400772012-03-29T17:27:00.000-07:002012-03-29T17:27:00.911-07:00Spring Crafting: Wreath & Terrarium<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7014570427/" title="Spring Wreath by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Spring Wreath" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7210/7014570427_940b9d0240.jpg" width="275" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6881619704/" title="moss by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="moss" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/6881619704_a3e3294f5f.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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Chuck & I spent some time crafting over the weekend and we each had our own little craft project. Mine was the wreath (probably not a surprise with the pastel color scheme) and Chuck's was this cute little terrarium. </div>
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First the wreath. I've been really taken with so many felt flowers I've seen all over the craft-o-sphere for some time now, and a spring-y wreath seemed like a great excused to make a whole bunch. I ended up doing a search and marking a bunch of tutorials for felt flowers through <a href="http://pinterest.com/emmakat/pins/?filter=likes" target="_blank">Pintrest</a>. After some review I picked out three of the easier tutorials that I found. Most only required a bit of hot glue, though the purple flowers used just the tiniest bit of thread.<br />
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Here are the tutorials I used:<br />
Pink Flowers: <a href="http://www.homemadeginger.com/2010/12/more-felt-flowers.html" target="_blank">More Felt Flowers from Homemade ginger</a><br />
Purple Flowers: <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/273124/floral-pillows-with-ultrasuede-petals?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/sewing-projects" target="_blank">Florets from a Floral Pillow tutorial on Martha Stewart</a><br />
Blue Flowers: <a href="http://shadandlizzie.blogspot.com/2010/08/felt-flower-headband-tutorial.html" target="_blank">Felt Flower Headband from Shad and Lizzie</a><br />
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This turned out to be a really easy & cheap project, under $2.40 total in supplies. I picked up the wreath a while back at a dollar store and recently bought various shades of <a href="http://www.eco-fi.com/" target="_blank">Eco-fi felt</a> (made from recycled plastic!) to play with for only 34¢/sheet. I only used 4 sheets and got about 3 of each style flower from each sheet. That excludes the blue flowers. I only got two blue flowers from a sheet; It would seem that particular style is a material hog. I still have 3 small pink spiral/rose flowers and 1 purple petal florets to use for another project. If elt the composition was complete and I figure I can make pins or hair clips out of them in the near future.<br />
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Chuck's project was reasonably cheap as well. Around his birthday I bought a small round vase and some stones, again from the dollar store. I was considering assembling a little terrarium myself, something Chuck mentioned he'd like to do, but I'm really not the green thumb of the two of us. I knew he had done some research on soils and would probably have more fun experimenting anyway. We finally made it over the <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS435US435&ix=seb&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=653&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=ace+hardware+portland&fb=1&gl=us&hq=ace+hardware&hnear=0x54950b0b7da97427:0x1c36b9e6f6d18591,Portland,+OR&ei=4NZ0T5T7NKfM2gWCgoGgDQ&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&ved=0CBEQtgM&iwloc=cids:6382281667956283921" target="_blank">Pearl Ace Hardware</a> (a particularly awesome hardware store) & Chuck got some <a href="https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS435US435&ix=seb&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=%22charcoal+and+catus+mix%22#hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS435US435&sclient=psy-ab&q=cactus+mix+potting+soil&oq=catus+mix&aq=1s&aqi=g-s3g-ms1&aql=&gs_l=serp.1.1.0i10l3j0i5i10.277186l277186l1l280346l1l1l0l0l0l0l224l224l2-1l1l0.frgbld.&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=49e91e21499bfe9d&ix=seb&biw=1366&bih=653" target="_blank">Cactus</a> & <a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS435US435&sourceid=chrome-instant&ix=seb&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS435US435&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=charcoal%20soil%20mix%20&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&fp=9b0c83a130f3bca0&ix=seb&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=653" target="_blank">Charcoal Soil Mixes</a>. Moss was easily gathered from...anywhere outside in Portland, especially right now. It's very moist and mossy out there lately. After prepping the containers Chuck popped outside for just a few moments and came back with a big bag of moss. He had enough moss and rocks to spread around all of our planters, including the steel one he made a few years back. The glass terrarium also got a cutting from another succulent we already had. If the moss and everything works out, I think I'll be on the look out for a larger glass container...having moss inside (intentionally of course) is pretty lovely.<br />
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So there you have our his & hers craft projects from last weekend. We really had a great time listening to music while we crafted, much to our kitty's dismay!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-53199935551952075992012-03-20T17:39:00.000-07:002012-03-20T17:39:00.650-07:00Happy First day of Spring!<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6946994425/" title="Field of Purple Heather by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Field of Purple Heather" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7185/6946994425_1ed8672d5e.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6800887656/" title="Laurel by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Laurel" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7036/6800887656_25ca9f1043.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6799091078/" title="Purple Gaultheria Shallon by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Purple Gaultheria Shallon" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7186/6799091078_f30f8defc3.jpg" /></a><br />
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Happy First day of Spring! I haven't posted for a bit, I've been pretty busy lately. One of the things I've been up to is trying to take a lot of walks. More exciting right now, with spring starting up. The pictures above are from Washington Park, but the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6973755535/in/photostream" target="_blank">cherry blossoms</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6854622460/in/photostream" target="_blank">all around town</a> are starting to bloom. None on the waterfront just yet, but it won't be much longer!</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7000749521/" title="Irish cupcake from Petunias's at PSU market by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Irish cupcake from Petunias's at PSU market" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7000749521_e572e0ae73.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6854636248/" title="Vegan Shepard's pie by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Vegan Shepard's pie" height="265" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6212/6854636248_e906bf6059.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7000747513/" title="Trellis & vine sweater in progress by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Trellis & vine sweater in progress" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7209/7000747513_a0d2b188c7.jpg" /></a></div>
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We had a fun St. Patrick's Day. The PSU Farmer's Markets started up again just in time & we were able to get <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6854633958/in/photostream" target="_blank">some really yummy vegan treats</a> from Petunia's. I also convinced Chuck to make us a Shepard's Pie. He decided to make it in our skillet so we had a lot of leftovers. I started knitting a really tricky light green sweater, while wearing <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/5535543095/in/photosof-emmakat/" target="_blank">other green things I made</a>. I definitely did not get pinched, but I made up <a href="http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTAyMDQ5M3wyNDc4MTU4MzE2/please-dont-pinch-me?ref=pr_treasury" target="_blank">an appropriate Etsy treasury</a> just to be sure.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6944307439/" title="Craftsy Jan. Block of the Month 1 by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Craftsy Jan. Block of the Month 1" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7197/6944307439_daa7468f1b.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6821818196/" title="Phone Cozy by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Phone Cozy" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7194/6821818196_6ac09b6809.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6854640472/" title="Goccoed RSVP card and tulips by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Goccoed RSVP card and tulips" height="265" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/6854640472_aa090bb11b.jpg" /></a></div>
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And I've been doing various crafty things lately. I finally got started on the <a href="http://www.craftsy.com/class/The-Craftsy-Block-of-the-Month/50" target="_blank">Craftsy Block of the month</a> on Leap Day, but so far I've only done one of the blocks. I'm way behind! I really enjoyed the first one though and I'm confident I can catch up sometime soon. I'm planning to stick with just a few solid color fabrics which I really like the looks of so far. I've also been rephotographing items for <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/emmakat" target="_blank">my Etsy shop</a> for a more consistent look. I still have some of that left to do. And lastly I recently did a set of wedding invites for my cousin. I'm really happy with how the turned out, and hopefully I will share more of that project here soon! (Chuck bought me tulips very similar to the ones on the RSVP cards, which strangely seem to be <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/7000757601/in/photostream/" target="_blank">Mutant Siamese Tulips</a>. Interesting or Scary?) </div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05177512248682428576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223713373574290422.post-41572814659893544742012-02-27T17:35:00.000-08:002012-02-27T17:35:00.370-08:00Finished Knit: Bottoms Up Top<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6786095930/" title="Bottoms Up Top by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Bottoms Up Top" height="285" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7070/6786095930_a85a469f40.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmakat/6929830699/" title="Bottom's Up Top by emmakat79, on Flickr"><img alt="Bottom's Up Top" height="285" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7195/6929830699_3984e1caff.jpg" /></a><br />
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Pattern: <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bottoms-up" target="_blank">Bottoms Up by Alice Bell</a> (Ravelry link, it's free there)</div>
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Yarn: <a href="https://www.elann.com/Commerce.web/product.aspx?catID=&id=118533" target="_blank">Elann.com Lara</a> in Burgundy</div>
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This is possibly one of the first projects I added to my Ravelry queue, back when I got an account in 2008. I first saw <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindymindy01/2763661527/in/photostream/" target="_blank">smelinda's version in Euroflax Sport Weight</a>, and then <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24604702@N00/1794011778" target="_blank">the designer's version in a yummy emerald blue</a>. Between the two I knew I had to make the pattern, and for a long time I was putting it off until I felt like splurging on some <a href="http://www.yarnmarket.com/yarn/Louet_Yarn-Euroflax_Sport_Yarn-5941.html?GOOGLE&" target="_blank">Euroflax</a>. But the <a href="http://www.elann.com/Commerce.Web/default.aspx" target="_blank">Elann</a> had a bag sale, and I saw <a href="https://www.elann.com/Commerce.web/product.aspx?catID=&id=118533" target="_blank">this burgundy yarn</a>, and it just seemed like a great color for this project. I will have to find a new plan/excuse for someday splurging on Euroflax, but it will happen, I am determined!</div>
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I was very good about doing all the things you're supposed to for a big knitting project, since it's been in the queue so long I really wanted to get it right. I made 3 swatches to determine the best needle size, and even washed and dried them. And then while I was working on this project, I did math! After reviewing the other projects on Raverly it looked like the length was coming out smaller than most people wanted. I calculated that the size I was making would only be 11" long from the underarm, and that seemed too short for my liking as well. I wanted it to turn out just right so I tried to increase each section of ribbing in a way that was very similar to the original design. <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Emmakat/bottoms-up" target="_blank">More details about this are in my description for the project on Ravelry.</a></div>
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I am very happy with how it turned out. It's a very neat design, simply in-the-round knitting for the most part, with a <a href="http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer04/FEATtheresasum04.html" target="_blank">Kitchener stitch</a> to finish off the sleeves at the top. One of the things I really like about the pattern is the way the sleeves look, and think that stitch helps give them a little rigidity. It's also a fun project with just enough variety of stitches to do okay knitting & watching TV, though pay attention towards the very top. I wasn't so much and had to frog a little bit twice. </div>
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I do need to remind myself (yet again!) to go ahead and make a sweater for myself with full sleeves though. But I really just had to get this particular project out of my system!</div>
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