Pretty? Ugly? Pizza?

There are color combinations worth contemplating!

A fortuitous color combination came together for the knitting. The multi-colored Koigu thought by some to be the Nirvana of knitting, just didn't work for me in this bright green combo. (That's one of the hazards of phone order shopping). I had tried several stitch patterns and eventually combined it with the right shade of green in Berocco Touche, Sweet Pea. That made a nice scarf for Joyce, but took less than one hank of the Koigu. After playing with the way too bright Koigu again at a Lax game, I hit upon this combo with an oddball of Tahki Davos. The thick and thin Davos brings the color out in various areas -- brilliant!

The combination inspired a trip to Uniquities in Vienna, the first in a long time. I'll have to take a photo of the yarns purchased! (But some might be for gifts and that could ruin the surprises). I did by more blue, but not Davos, to use up more of the acid green Koigu.

Curiously, I must have enjoyed working with that color scheme as the pizza combo from Saturday night complements the hat! Tom asked me to remember the three pizza combos, but didn't suggest *where* to record such data. Left to right: (1) Basil and Arugula Pesto, sauteed red pepper, Vidalia onion slivers, (2) Sauteed red peppers, sauteed mushrooms and sauteed arugula, (3) Fresh tomato, vidalia onion slivers, topped with arugula, after grilling. Two were grilled and one was baked in the oven. Gianfranco Becchina's Olio Verde was used for every step of the process, from the pesto made the night before, to the sautee pan for the veggies, and even brushed on the pizza dough.

The weekend began with a thrilling lacrosse game, won in the last second. The ball was in the air when the buzzer sounded. Thank you, Megan. Congrats Robinson girls. On Saturday after rain, cancelled soccer, on-schedule field hockey and a quick shopping trip to the Exchange in Bethesda, we got to see the Weinermobile.

Mother's Day brought a cool, but pleasant morning, huge grocery run at the commissary, and rain, rain, rain, the rest of the day. Tom, Carly, and Katie prepared lobster tails (which Katie wouldn't touch....) while I watched a "taped" show from HGTV: House Hunters International -- on selecting a home in the Greve area of Tuscany.

Later in the evening, amidst torrential rain, clearing clogged gutters and downspouts and catching up on ironing(!), we purchased tickets for next weekend's NCAA Men's Lacrosse Quarterfinal games at the Naval Academy. That should be very exciting!

Lacrosse/NCAAs makes me think of MA and Greg. I didn't get to connect with MA this weekend, but she's in my thoughts as she flies to Phoenix for the funeral of a former neighbor, Margie who lost the battle with breast cancer. From this distance, I know that Margie's battle was long...and hope that her family finds a peaceful new path.

Knitters Wine Tote -- Is this Useful?

I visited a Wine Show this past weekend to determine if it would have been a good show for Olio2go to be at (sadly, "no"). It didn't seem to be a gourmet olive oil crowd! I did find this cute wine bottle tote bag. I can't possibly think of an occasion when I would need a 6-bottle wine tote, but this holds promise for a knitting sports mom (that's a term in need of a definition!) The dividers could well keep separate a couple of bottles of water, a small snack, and small knitting projects such as socks or mittens.

The bag holds a twisted hank of Ballybrae, and the Finished Object: The Farrow Rib Scarf in Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo yarn. I haven't blocked the scarf yet because today is Valentine's Day and I need a flash of Red. A special thanks to Claudia for a great pattern and scarf idea. I particularly like this pattern because it could also be well suited to a gentleman's scarf. I must get back to updating my knitting log so the details can be found when needed again!

Reading Adventures: I finished Adriana Trigiani's Home to Big Stone Gap. The beginning was familiar in the sense that I kept asking myself if I had read this book before or if the deja vu sensation was from being familiar with the characters in her prior books. It took until the mid-point of the book before I realized that I hadn't read this book before. I've now read everything except her cookbook, Cooking with My Sisters.