Looking forward...and a little contest!

So I've obviously let a couple weeks slip by. Whoops! I was too busy enjoying my extended vacation (which has ended very abruptly with the stark realization that TNNA in Long Beach is a short month away...). My mom was here for Thanksgiving and we spent the week enjoying all that Portland has to offer. We walked over the downtown bridges, toured the submarine at OMSI, took the kids to the zoo and generally had a great time. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house and managed to fit our gigantic 23-lb turkey in the oven (nothing else went in until the bird came out - it was like a toddler in a roasting pan!).

The food was all spectacular, thanks to a little help from my mother-in-law and foodie friend Chris (who made the most amazing pinot cranberry sauce - I don't like cranberry sauce as a general rule, but I liked this!). The highlight of the day, besides the pastured heritage turkey (which was quite tasty), was unbelievably the brussel sprouts. Even Sydney liked them! I used the Alice Waters recipe from The Art of Simple Food, which calls for the sprouts to be blanched and then sauteed with onions and bacon. I'm not a huge brussel sprout fan myself, but these were outstanding.

Mom left on Friday and the kids went to my in-laws' for the night, freeing Bill and I up to go see New Moon at a great little neighborhood theater (the Roseway) that we've never been to before. It was no Citizen Kane, but it was quite entertaining and a fun way to spend a couple hours. I tried not to annoy Bill too much with my True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse comparisons...

I managed to finish a knitting project during all this madness (actually wove in the ends Saturday) - Owen's socks are done!



He put them on right away, then had to take them off again because he immediately slipped and fell on the wood floor in the kitchen and bonked his elbow. We decided they were socks better worn inside shoes. I also got the monster felt applique Advent calendar done, just in the nick of time. It turned out really well!



Here's a close-up of Santa's workshop:



And a project that may or may not be done in time for Christmas, a sparkly pink Pinecone Scarf for Sydney made with some crazy glitter yarn I picked up at The Naked Sheep:



I was going to make something new up for this yarn, but after I started I wasn't feeling inspired and decided Pinecone would make a fine sparkle scarf for an almost-7-year-old girl. I'd forgotten that the pattern is a little bit of a pain, as in, you need to pay attention or you will get lost.

Okay. Finally, let's get to the contest, for those of you patient enough to read this far. Here's how it goes - I'm looking to give away a couple copies of Toe-Up! in time for Xmas. Go to the Toe-Up! website and pick the pattern in the book you'd most like to knit, then leave a comment here as to what it is and why. I'll draw two winners from the comments the week of Dec 14. Woot!