sweet celebrations

i'm officially done with academia for a while. i graduated!


announcing bhcd, ab, msc.

i realize i don't look very impressed with the get-up, but i was actually quite proud of myself.


and look what nice surprises were waiting for me back home.


my sister sent flowers:





and s made tiramisu.




***


over the weekend, we had our long-awaited london wedding celebration, cruising down the thames.




it was great to have our families and friends gathered together.






























we had originally wanted to have a picnic in hyde park, but knew we couldn't count on the weather in july. sure enough, it started raining about half an hour before the boat left, which made for choppy waters and some unfortunate un-champagne-related motion sickness. the weather cleared up quickly, though, and the cruise was lovely.

especially when the desserts came out!

s's mum made a proper english fruit cake




and of course, we had to have some chocolate, too!



thanks everyone for coming to celebrate with us!

weekend in wales

my parents are visiting and we met them in wales for the weekend.


typically, we saw lots of sheep:



not so typically, the weather was gorgeous, sunny and hot:





apparently, the locals also thought it was a great day for the beach. they're not as picky about suntanning (or burning, more accurately) on rocks as californians would be. *






the water was quite refreshing, despite the rocky terrain.






the landscape was beautiful and we enjoyed the scenery.

cliffs in southerndown


thatched roof cottage in merthyr mawr


caerphilly castle



look up the vale of glamorgan, wales, on google earth and have a look around... v cool.


* reader anne points out in her comment that it was high tide, so there is actually quite a large, sandy beach at other times. we should have recognized it from dr. who. by the way, who noticed the dalek on s's t-shirt?

(k)new knitting

two of my friends had babies this spring, and i recently completed a baby sweater for each of them. i call it the london jumper.


e's baby boy got one in brown and green camouflage colors to inspire him to be an eco-conscious forest ranger when he grows up. i also made him a mini london jumper for a tiny friend.

jumper for baby drake




k's baby got the same one in a yellow and aqua colorway which has rapidly become one of my favorite yarns ever. he got a matching hat - although i fear that the sweater will be too big while the hat is too small. oh well.

jumper for baby kohei




so after months of boring stockinette stitch, i decided it was time to take the next step with my knitting: double-pointed needles.





aw, heck. why stop there? add a fifth DPN and make cables!



unless arthritis or repetitive stress syndrome kick in, i will conquer this fetching pattern


and since i am so in love with the jaeger baby merino dk, (and since my currently pregnant friends refuse to find out if they are having baby girls who merit me making more london jumpers), i am going to use fun pink yarn for myself this time.




ooh, project!