Sunday, Downtown

I met up with Mary Jo, Brit and Brit's friend Christina on Sunday at The Nickel Diner for brunch. There was a line. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. I'd read a lot about this place and wanted to go for a meal.

Hey, Regina! Check out this Pie Crust Hat!

The Nickel is famous for their Maple Glaze Bacon Doughnuts (below, left). I just had to try one.We each ordered a different breakfast dish: Christina had the Tofu Scramble, Brit had Vegan Ranchero. Being carnivores, Mary Jo and I ordered accordingly. She had the Scramble with Ham, Leeks and Fontina Cheese. I ordered the Scramble with Bacon, Spinach, Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese (both with creamy polenta). Everything was bountiful and delicious. At the end of our meal our waitress brought over a few doughnut holes: Maple Glaze Bacon and Plain with Red Sprinkles and Cream Cheese filling. The Maple Glaze Bacon doughnut holes were fabulous! Sadly, they'd run out of doughnuts to go, so I couldn't bring one of these masterpieces home for Larry to savor.The interior of The Nickel is classic, old-timey diner. The service on a busy Sunday morning was acceptable. The place is all hard surfaces, no carpet, so the din of people, clattering dishes and outside traffic noise is bothersome. I'm of the generation that danced too close to those big speakers at rock clubs in years past, so my hearing is slightly impaired. Yes, I'm turning into my mother..."What? Huh? Speak up! " I will definitely return to The Nickel to try lunch and dinner.
In order to walk off our big breakfast, we headed south to Maple and 9th to Michael Levine's. Yes, it's open on Sundays. I've written about ML's before. It's a fantastic source for fabric, buttons, trim, other sewing notions and YARN. I'm obsessed with that Noro Striped Scarf. I've only used Noro Kureyon for my scarves and I wanted to pick up some Noro Silk Garden (it's softer). Michael Levine's doesn't have any bargains on yarn, but they do have an excellent selection. I picked up some Silk Garden #255 and #47 for the scarf. M.J. and I checked out the less expensive yarn at the back of the store and saw a bin of Jelly Yarn. It's 100% vinyl. I picked up a skein of the Honey Gold for a possible crocheted Jelly handbag!Over the weekend I whipped up a new beret pattern from Berroco called Phannie.
M.J. brought it to my attention. She's making one too. Brit tried on one for me that I made out of a DK weight wool. I like it. It's similar to the hat pattern I usually make, using front-post double crochet stitches. I made two more...it's a quick pattern. I'll give them all a soak and block over the weekend for a slouchier beret.All in all, it was an excellent Sunday!