jen’s bowl of soup

Trying to blog from phone

what is there that can be said about a 5 year old having cancer? it’s hard to even think about, much less figure out how to summon the courage to be strong for your child in the face of such an obstacle. we have friends going through this right now and it sucks. i don’t know the little girl personally but i know she is full of awesome and i can’t stop thinking about her. i have knit her two chemo cap beanies, this last one is reversible. it has a smiley side and a fighter side (it’s a raised fist and the letter “M”). so she can wear whichever side she wants depending on her mood that day. i hope she likes it.

given the state of the newspaper industry, i decided to do a ‘newsboy’ cap to generate some good vibes! not really, i just liked it.

pattern is here

i can’t remember the yarn – it’s italian.

made these roll up placemats [that include bamboo utensils and cloth napkins] for a few friends this year. i don’t want to encourage eating at a desk, so maybe they will be used in a workplace cafe or something! or, if eating at a desk is inevitable, then it makes a great crumb catcher!

i decided to do some yarn stash busting this year and actually just make something for me [us]! revolutionary. it feels good.

the countdown to christmas will be on soon and so i am making this advent calendar as a christmas decoration for our fireplace mantle. it’s going to have kind of a wacky color scheme [see above stash busting comment] but i think [hope] it will be somewhat charming. if i start to get busy, i am imagining myself staying up late knitting a hat or mitten the night before it is due to go up! such is life in our happy home.

pattern can be found here—> tangle

making my own muppet is like a dream come true!

faoschwarz

I ran my first 5k since hanging up my running shoes post-half marathon in April. I have since recovered from that badness, orchestrated a cross country move, got the kids settled and in school and thought it was time to get back on that horse. I was not quite finished with the couch-to-5k plan but signed up for the Presidio Trail 5k …because I conveniently forgot how freakin’ hilly San Francisco is!

Ah well, I decided not to take it too seriously, not go for any personal records, and just enjoy it. Good thing our new home is full of really beautiful scenery! I love living here. And to give me motivation I ran in honor of Alex’s grandmother who recently passed on. I’d like to think she gave me some extra wings in those tough moments.

turned the big 3-9 today….the big 4-0 just around the corner now….eek!

alex gave me the best present ever: living in a place i LOVE.

this is the sunset view from our dining room window. ahh west coast. smooches.

bought one of these beauties a while back. bracelet made from recycled skate decks. love it.

www.mapleXO.com