Knitching

Distracted

2012-01-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

It's January, and there's a new annual knitting tradition in New York City: Vogue Knitting Live (VKL). It's a "convention" held around the second or third weekend of the month. Knitters come from all over the world to gather, take classes, meet other knitters, and, of course, show off their knitting and buy more knitting stuff (as if we ever have enough?)

... so there I was, knitting and knitting and knitting, realizing that I would never finish that Norah Gaughan poncho from the latest issue of Vogue Knitting that I thought I would by the time that I needed to wear it to show off at VKL, so I figured I'd plow through some other really quick and fast projects just to get that feeling of "I'm done!". They all used the same size needle (US13/9mm), and the same thickness of yarn (bulky).

There were a couple of patterns on Ravelry that had been staring me in the face for a few months, and I kept saying to myself that one day I would make one just to get it out of my system; so, I started. And, as is my wont, I ended up working on four. The formula is basically all the same: cast on a number of stitches, join in the round, and knit until you've reached a certain width, then cast off, and wear.

The first one was done before the holidays, out of one skein of thick/thin yarn in my favorite color (at least my favorite for that week).

The second one was knit from this most excellent (and sadly discontinued) Noro yarn for the other pattern.

The third one is from the prescribed yarn from Lion Brand, and the fourth one (that I'm working on now) from a delicious Alpaca yarn that I mistakenly bought only one skein of from Webs (stupid me, didn't read the needed amount in another pattern that I bought it for).

Luckily, Webs has such a deep inventory that, when I ordered two more skeins a couple of days ago, they came today in the same dye lot! (cue coloratura soprano hitting a very high note)

And, as of this point in time, since I went last year and found it way too crowded for my taste, I probably won't even go to VKL. Probably will feel more like staying in and knitting that poncho some more!

Broken

2011-12-31T12:06:00.000-05:00

Every year at just about this time, I try very hard to dig myself out of my reveries about what life used to be like back in the day. To me, memories are something that we either keep or throw away.

Yesterday, my friend asked me what was my earliest memory; I had to think long and hard about that one. They come rushing back in snapshots, movies constantly looping in my brain, and then recede, until something triggers them to resurface to the forefront.

This morning, at the end of a notsogreat year, I flashed on my brother and me back in the day. Luckily, that time in 1954 is frozen in pictures, which my mother lovingly kept and catalogued in albums, and after she died, I was able to bring them to my home.

My adult years became a blur, and I was immediately transported back to that time when life was so much simpler. We were always smiling for the camera. Were we really happy? I'll never know, since he won't talk to me. I know where he is, he knows where I am, and, through little snippets of internet connections, we know that each other is still alive. We know of each other's accomplishments, we don't know of each other's failures. Who knows?

Maybe in 2012 we can physically reconnect. I'm always hoping.

Still Undecided after All These Years ...

2011-12-12T19:27:00.000-05:00

What is wrong with me?

Every year at about this time, I get crazy - I have a list of things that need to get done, and I keep temporizing, or postponing, if you will ...

What I'm supposed to be doing is creating and/or addressing holiday cards for business; what I do seem to be doing is switching between knitting projects.

First, I promised myself that I would only work on one project at a time -

hanne falkenberg pirouette

then that fell by the wayside, and I bought the yarn and pattern for and started a new one.

kate davies funchal moebius

That worked well for a couple of weeks, and then that old feeling crept back in: start something new? oohh noo!

craig rosenfeld loop designs carlisle scarf

So I bought yet more yarn today,
rationalizing that I could have bought another new bag, which I held back on (truthfully, the line at Loehmann's was so slow that I stood in it for about 10 minutes with the bag that I wanted to buy, and then put it back and walked out the door).

It cost the same as that new bag that I didn't need, but I'm thinking that it gives me the therapy that I really need!

An Apple A Day ...

2011-11-29T18:19:00.001-05:00

is NOT what the doctor had in mind for me!

On Thanksgiving morning, my beloved Dell Inspiron dropped dead, 4 years and 1 week after the day it came to me. I opened it up, and black and white parallel lines appeared on the screen - nothing could be done to revive it.

Luckily for me, I had learned my lesson about backing up everything on my hard drive quite some time ago, and everything content-wise is safe and sound on my LaCie 1 Terabyte external drive. My husband kindly gave it to me, once he had upgraded to a 2T external drive - one of the many reasons I put up with him. I am the lucky recipient of his hand-me-downs when it comes to computer stuff.

All of my business life is Windows based, and I have been so used to it that I went with an Android phone, then just recently switched to a Windows Phone 7, with which I pretty much am happy.

Rockstar, on the other hand, is a total Mac guy, and recently had treated himself to a new MacBook. So, sitting in Froggy's room was Rockstar's old MacBook, which I was forced to use, since I could not be without a computer for any amount of time, either for work or for play!

So, the learning curve began: "Oh, it's so easy and intuitive! You'll figure it out in no time, and you'll be hooked and in love." So sayeth the Appleholics. I don't know if you remember, I tried the iPad2 for exactly 20 days (on the 21st it went back to the Temple of Apple). Just not for me. For example, on the MacBook, why in the name of whoever, is there no backspace key? Also, why do those little cute icons at the bottom of the screen bounce when you click on them? How annoying. oh yeah, and I cannot figure out how to upload any pictures that I took to put here, so this will be a totally text-heavy blog post. Sorry.

Luckily I was able to figure out how to install Chrome, because Safari just had me baffled. Maybe I just don't know how to read a compass? I've been reading Steve Jobs' biography, and while I've learned all about his temper tantrums, his exacting preference for perfection, I wonder if he was left handed or not; the reason I ask is, why is everything on the MacBook on the left??? And WHY are Apple's products so expensive???

I will give it a couple of things - the keyboard is very nice to type on, and the fact that the power plug must have a little bit of a magnet in it, since it automatically "jumps" into its socket (easier for those of us who are always afraid of pushing the plugs and USB thingies in too hard and breaking them) is nice, but - at this point, after using it for five days, that's about all I find fun about it ...

So, thank heaven for Black Friday - in this case, Dell's Black Friday Weekend! I was able to get a brand new Dell Inspiron 15r with twice the RAM (or is it ROM?) as my old Dell, and the really neat Windows 7 operating system, which will communicate nicely with my Windows phone, PLUS THREE YEARS of full support (which I desperately need) for just about the same price as the iPad2.

I just have to wait 10 more days, which of course, by that time, I may well have figured out everything I needed to know about this Mac!

Lesson Learned ...

2011-10-31T15:57:00.003-04:00

definitely the hard way!

Saturday's weather was rather a shocker: Snowtober - a nor'easter dropped in and landed a record 2.9 inches of snow in Central Park. I know that most people who live in the snow belt are laughing, but, it's considered a record since there has never been measurable snowfall in October in New York City since 1952. So, we'll take what we can get.

The cold weather led me to pull out all three of my mesh cubes filled to the brim with scarves, hats, shawls (the normal Winter paraphernalia) to grab something to keep both me and daughter warm, since she insisted on going out in the middle of the "blizzard" (more like slush on this side of town).

As I was pulling, I saw a little flutter of a little creature that had a pair of wings.

PROMENADE SHAWL

madelinetosh cowl

I screamed - very loudly. Several of my beloved handknit items were breakfast, lunch and dinner (and probably some bedtime snacks as well) for said devil's spawn.

Not happy. This was the first time in my memory that I ever saw moths in my knitting, and also the first time that I had not stored my knitting without the appropriate defense.

Trust me, never again.

Down Memory Lane ...

2011-09-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

Every year at this time I decide to reorganize.

Not only is it the beginning of Rosh Hashana, it's also the beginning of the school year; but for me, it's the thought of cooler temperatures and less humidity, which gives me a newly discovered energy.

I have to take advantage of that cooler weather; luckily, I've got about six months to do it in. Have decided to unload many, many items in my apartment that no longer serve a purpose except to remind me of all of my excesses over the past decade.

JeriBag Monarch

The two categories that I'm concentrating on are yarn and bags, both of which I have much more than I will ever use in my lifetime, and if I cannot remember why I bought them (probably just because I could at the time), then someone else deserves to have them.

Randi Zinz for Randibags

While I've been searching through the piles of stuff that have been buried in various closets and armoires, I'm not so much reminded of Hoarders, but more of what I was doing at the time these things were brought into the house.

RAGNA start

It's been a tough decade for a lot of us (yours truly included), and it's time to put those memories in their proper perspective: either out of the house, or back into their places, depending on how happy or sad they might have been.

As I pull out the bags, I find receipts in them, luckily dated, so I can recall that specific time in my life. Happy that I left them in there; otherwise, there might be no way for me to remember where I was or what I was doing. The bags also yielded old knitting projects that I had put aside for future work. Some of them will get finished, and some of them will get "recycled".

Annabel Fox Counterpane

RAGNA detail

So, the bags are going to go; and, quite possibly, the yarn that has been stored in them will also find new homes!

Bagging the Knitting, not Knitting the Bag

2011-09-03T18:20:00.003-04:00

While I've been knitting and staying out of the summer heat, and thinking about not spending money, this popped up on one of my walks; I was sidetracked into a shop, and there it was ... can I resist?

Only time will tell ...

I wrote this a couple of days ago ... now I have something a bit more cogent to talk about. I could NOT resist that bag - since it will go more than well with my latest attempt at finishing at least one project.

Especially since this one project is feeling as though it will never finish! Right now I'm at the bottom of the poncho, which means at least 500+ stitches on every row. That bottom should be around 3 inches - so .... doing the math, about 6 rows equals 1 inch (3000 sts) - one inch done, another two loom ahead. hopefully it will get cool enough to wear it with the bag sooner rather than later!

All I Needed ...

2011-08-19T23:15:00.000-04:00

was a younger pair of eyes!

That's what I told the young designer of this great pattern - yep, I know - I was only knitting shawls, in stockinette, in garter, mindless, easy, dreamy ... and I saw this pattern that I absolutely had to start knitting, so, knowing me the way I do, I started it.

It took about three false starts before I really got into the lace groove. I was rolling right along, in the zone, and then - hit a wrong note - oops! Well, I hoped that the young lady would be spending her last day in the city before returning to college in the yarn shop down the block.

So, I gathered my wits about me, headed down there with the project and the pattern, and there she was. What good fortune! I put the stalled project down in front of her and said: "either I made a mistake somewhere that I can't find, or there's something wrong with your pattern." Convinced that it was the former, I waited for her to examine it carefully and, sure enough, I missed a little stitch a couple of rows back.

Again, the beauty of knitting, as well as the beauty of lace - you can rip back to where you made the booboo and get it right, and climb back on the horse! It's going to be beautiful, and it's going to be finished ... eventually.

Shawl Summer

2011-07-28T12:34:00.000-04:00

This has been a rather interesting season ... the heat has been intense, work has been on and off (when it's on, it's seriously ON).

So, I've chosen to work on nothing but mindless (or so I think) projects. Even though lace is a typical summer knitting endeavor for me, this year it's been shawls - as simple as they can be.

I finished a couple of Catherine's Shawls (thank you, Amy Hendrix of Madelinetosh) out of Tosh Merino Light, and have just started Cambridge (thank you, Carol Sunday of Sunday Knits) in Tosh Pashmina.

Then the new Brooklyn Tweed offering for fall hit the airwaves, and I was taken with Seraphine. So, of course, I'm off to Purl Soho this afternoon to see if they have enough skeins in Shelter (specifically the Wool Socks colorway, since I cannot make another gray shawl right now) in order for me to start it.

I'm looking for any excuse to make a trip downtown and rationalizing it with my Jury Duty paycheck!

Every Day Starts with a Dilemma

2011-06-19T12:46:00.000-04:00

... more like a knitting frenzy - I'm in "startitis" mode once again.

The onslaught of new patterns and ideas on Ravelry and the combination of new yarns and needles have gotten me nuts!

Here's what happens: I start to knit furiously on one thing, get to a point where I consider myself bored, then pick up something else that might be more challenging. I work on that for a while, then something else catches my eye. Oh well - I probably will never stop having trouble making up my mind.

first, there is the Catherine's Shawl, minus the neverending ruffle, which probably should happen at some point before the winter; I did manage to cast on 384 stitches, then increase into every 3rd st (so - um - that would be close to 600 stitches?) for the ginormous ruffled part before I put it down.

next, this is a new Kirsten Kapur design called Cladonia, which is full of happy colors and there will be a little lace at the end (as is her wont); only 32 increase rows to go before I get to start the lace part - YAY!

and today, the beautiful Paris, 1919 socks from Janel Laidman - a fabulous combination of colors and a pattern that is totally reminiscent of the Golden Age a Paris - socks, once they get going, are a great summer project as well.

I just finished the cuff, so now I go to the charts and have some Fair Isle fun, which I have missed lately.

Bittersweet

2011-05-30T13:08:00.000-04:00

Today is Memorial Day here in the US. It's also the day we got married, 34 years ago today! Every seven or eight years, depending on leap year, our anniversary falls on a Monday, and then it's always Memorial Day.

For me, it's more than just a day to remember, because two days later, in 1999, my mom passed away. So, it's particularly a bittersweet time for me - happy one day, a day to be normal, then the next day is a day to be terribly sad.

So, today, we'll celebrate in our own special way (maybe we'll try to experience Manhattanhenge at sunset?) - tomorrow, we'll go about our business, and then Wednesday, I'll light a candle for mama.

Last Night, I had a Dream About You ...

2011-05-24T23:41:00.000-04:00

well, more like for the last six months, I've had this "itch", nay - yen is more like it; as some of you may know, I've been trying to find a tablet to combine with my phone to make my life more portable. I didn't need it to play games (except for one), I don't watch movies, I don't (gasp) listen to music while I'm walking around town. There were really only two things I wanted to be able to do with it: work and knitting.

Even though I hardly ever leave town, I do run around town a lot, and I don't need/want more weight hanging around my shoulders or on my back ... so, the search began.

All along, I had this one tablet in mind, and it was developed, created, marketed and sold in Europe, and I had to bide my time until it came across the pond. Now, I'm not the most patient person I know, especially when it comes to something I know exists but cannot be gotten yet, so I tried to substitute - first, early adopter that I am, I tried the Samsung Galaxy Tab; I kept it for a couple of weeks, even made a pocket for it (out of a Shamwow, believe it or not!), but, in the end, decided to return it, since I was thrilled with HTC's products, and there were certain things about Samsung's hardware and software that I wasn't crazy about.

Then, I waited and waited and waited, for what seemed like an interminable amount of time (actually only about three months), and it still wasn't coming over here yet, so, in a huge rationalization (combo Mother's Day and 34th wedding anniversary coming up), I broke down and went to the Temple of Apple and got an iPad2.

I know that I don't need to put in a link to that seductive little piece of hardware, since everyone and their mother knows about it and owns one. I wanted to be part of the "in" crowd. So, I carried it around. I played with it. I took workshops. I tried my best to get past the "it's so simple to use" bits. It was ... and it wasn't.

Probably from years of working in a PC environment, my brain just could not wrap itself around the beauty and simplicity of it. I could not get past the fact that it didn't have a back button ... constantly pushing that one button was probably one of the more frustrating experiences in my life.

Luckily for me, there are trial periods for all of these "toys" (let's face it: that's what they really are, because, in this day and age, you've got to have some disposable income to own one). So, I made the executive decision to return it the day before the trial period was up, and proceeded to try out my next substitute for my dream gadget, the Motorola Xoom. OK - so it was - sexy, fast, about the same size as the iPad2, but heavier. I found the appropriate case for it, which turned it into an easily workable gadget, but added more weight to it. While I was much more comfortable with the Android operating system, my back and neck were starting to hurt from the lugging around. I knew I could do the return thing, so even though I had only had it for two days, I went into Best Buy to return the first case (lighter, but poorly constructed).

As I was getting my credit back to my card, I made a slight turn to my left, and in my peripheral vision, I noticed something that made me stop in my tracks: my dream gadget had finally arrived!

The sales guy had no idea what hit him - it was surely the easiest sale he had made all day - I bought it, brought it home, and am in the process of loading it up with all its necessary accoutrements - I know, takes all kinds to make a world, but mine (at least this little department of it) is now complete.

Who knows? I may even knit a cozy for this one!

The Saga of NSG* 269*

2011-05-16T14:34:00.000-04:00

*NSG: my code word for Noro Silk Garden, a much-loved and much-knit yarn from the fabulous Japanese dyer, Eisaku Noro.

*269: a now-discontinued colorway, which became immensely sought-after in the knitting community due to a wonderful pattern created by Kay Gardiner.

I happen to have about 11-12 skeins of it in my stash, and was never planning on making that blanket. I've been overwhelmed by people asking me if I would sell any of it (answer was a categorical no, no matter how nice knitters are!) No one knows why Mr. Noro decided to discontinue that particular colorway, but, after all, it's his company, right?

I must say that, due to its lack of dye to the yarn, I do believe that it feels and knits up more softly and better than most of the other gorgeous Noro colors.

So, just the other day, the latest request for a possible relinquishing some of my stash mentioned this pattern; I looked at it, and finally decided on a use for a few of those precious skeins!

Mama's Hands

2011-05-06T17:40:00.000-04:00

As Mother's Day approaches this year, I realize that it's been 12 years since I was able to hold my mother's hand -- I catch glimpses of them when I look in a mirror at my own hands.

This happened to me today yet again, as I was riding up to my apartment in my elevator ... the highly polished panel with the elevator buttons acts as a really good mirror (I use it on an almost daily basis to put on my lipstick as I ride down to head out of the building).

So, I know that my Mama is still with me! Happy Mother's Day ...

Ink Stains

2011-04-16T13:23:00.000-04:00

Another rainy and gray Saturday here in the Big Apple ...

Seems like Saturdays are becoming my blogging days, especially when I have nothing compelling on the books (like work) and I can concentrate fully on my knitting.

Several really nice things have happened to me in the past week or so:

1. Mr. Jared Flood (aka Brooklyn Tweed) released a phenomenal lace pattern called Rock Island.
2. Ms. Lorna Miser (aka Lorna's Laces) dyed an amazing colorway named Grand Street Ink.

Helen's Lace in Grand Street Ink

3. Ms. Cathy Bothe (aka Signature Needle Arts) produced another addition to her ever-growing collection of the perfect knitting needle IMHO in US8 5mm for circular needles.

Viola Shawl

Cobblestone Sweater

Since I promised myself that I would finish a couple of projects that were begging to be completed, thereby freeing up a couple of sets of Signature circs, before starting on anything new, that happened:

I can now work on this with this incredible yarn, and then start Rock Island with all the right tools!

Stranger in a Strange Land

2011-03-23T19:53:00.000-04:00

... with apologies again to Robert Heinlein.

Today, I made the executive decision to take advantage of a 20% off sale on a specific yarn dedicated specifically for Japan Relief.

Nothing like a little combination of retail therapy and humanitarian effort, I always say. So, I ventured across the park on a day that no one in their right mind would have left the comfort of their home, and wended my way up to said yarn shop.

There was the yarn, and there were the ladies at the table, knitting and talking (more talking than knitting); there was an extra chair, and I asked if I could sit down; a begrudging "yes". So I sat, and I knit, and I tried to join in the conversation, but wasn't made to feel comfy at all - which has happened before at said yarn shop. So, I spent as much time as I could picking the yarn I wanted, did my bit for charity, and left the shop.

I really don't know why I continue to go over there -- oh, right - the yarn, which will definitely be put to good use - to make more of these cowls!

What WAS that Red Thing?

2011-03-13T21:28:00.001-04:00

I realized that I only showed a picture of what was on my needles today ...

The other day I had picked up a skein of Sugar 'n Cream at Michael's, thinking that it would come in handy when I needed something to do that wouldn't involve heavy thinking.

Today was that day, with the evil time change and my darling daughter both showing up on the same weekend.

So, a couple of hours later, I've added a new washcloth to my ever-growing collection!

Blogging from my EVO

2011-03-13T18:48:00.001-04:00

Ok-now I'm getting nuts with this process. I'm sure that it will wear off in due time.
As I was playing on my Galaxy Tab, a larger android variant, I thought: hmmmm .... Maybe I could do this from my EVO as well, and sure enough, here's proof!

Further proof (to me at least) is that the camera on the EVO is light years better than the one on the tablet.

Spring is in the Air?

2011-03-12T20:43:00.001-05:00

I always hesitate to say it, especially since March is such a fickle month. Case in point: while out walking with my adorable daughter this afternoon, I happened upon an extremely seasonal skein of yarn ... It will surely become a snuggly cowl, which will remind me of the upcoming weather all year long!

Testing, testing ... 123

2011-03-12T14:43:00.001-05:00

I've got about a week left to see if it's worth hanging on to my Galaxy Tab or not, so please expect a brief flurry of blogging on the run from me.

Instant Gratification, or Not?

2011-02-09T19:38:00.000-05:00

... or, um - the short or the long of it?

I was thinking (as is my wont when I'm sitting around the kitchen and knitting) that there's a huge toss-up in the knitting world between finishing something fairly quickly, or enjoying the process and letting it go on and on and on and on (well, you get my drift) ...

and I wondered, today, which is better, and why? Age-old question, to be sure ... part of me wants to immediately cast on and get it off my needles, and then part of me wants to savor each and every stitch, either because of the pattern, or the quality of the yarn, or the smoothness of the needles. So, I've come up with a solution, which I'm sure every knitter has done at some point in time or the other: one quick knit, and one slow knit.

to wit: two cowls, one of which I finished in less than 24 hours, and the other, which I hope the knitting of same never ends!

Which process do you prefer?

Why Don't You Knit Sweaters Any More?

2011-02-05T16:31:00.000-05:00

This was a question posed to me last night by Froggy, while I was happily working around and around on Christel Seyfarth's Bon Bon shawl.

So, this morning, waking up with that in mind (and nothing else pressing on the agenda), I pulled out Jared Flood's Cobblestone, which had been peacefully waiting for the sleeves - the construction of it is such that, once I finished the body, the sleeves would be worked, and then would be attached to said body, and the balance of the sweater (the yoke) could be done, and he would have that sweater!

Back to the question: I used to knit nothing BUT sweaters, and most of my immediate family members certainly have their share of them.

Hats, shawls, cowls and scarves got in the way and took prime positions in my knitting queue, mainly because they were fairly quick to knit, had interesting and challenging knitting involved, and they served to keep most heads, necks and shoulders warm, and the minds of the non-knitters among us both puzzled and amazed that we could actually create such marvels.

With the way that this winter's been going, I have a feeling that it will definitely be finished in time for him to wear it before it's too warm to do so.

Test Drive

2011-02-03T19:28:00.000-05:00

Since the temperatures have been hovering at or below freezing for quite some time now, and I've been churning out hats, I decided to take it upon myself to try each one out in different weather conditions.

I've discovered the following: the Deb Newton hat is the absolute toastiest - I don't feel a single bit of wind through the alpaca blend yarn and the tight construction of the horizontal cabled band. Christa Giles's Lara works very well when there's no wind and the temps are between 32 and 40 degrees F.

And now for my latest: in a salute to the town in which I live, I've named it Pickled Herring (with apologies to Kate Davies)! The fair isle construction, coupled with her wonderful choice of colors from the Hebridean 2ply collection, and of course her perfect pattern-writing abilities, made this slightly oversized beret just the ticket for walking around in the weather today, which was just about 28 for the high, and not too much wind. I'll wear it again tomorrow to take it for a longer drive.

There probably will be one more hat to add to the Winter of 2010/11 collection: Piper, another Christa Giles creation, but that won't be done for a while -- my poor old hands just don't love the combo of 16" circular needles and the US8 size of the needles, so I'm limiting my Piper knitting to only a couple of rounds a night - Owie!

Must be the Season of the Hat

2011-01-26T12:47:00.000-05:00

With my apologies to Donovan - global warming is showing its mightily schizophrenic face by giving us in the northeast (especially here in the Big Apple) a huge dumping of snow after a viciously hot summer ...

This affords me the perfect opportunity to knit warm coverings; these days I'm more into covering the head, or the neck. I already have more hand coverings than I can use i.e. one pair of glittens that I love to wear (hand knit, but not by yours truly).

Scarves and cowls are also overflowing in the handknit department. The latest one is this, thanks to both the ingenious brain of Lucy Neatby, and the inordinately long color changes of Kauni.

I'm always interested in a knitting challenge, and don't look so swell in the standard "beanie" style hat, so this season I've been concentrating on more complicated patterns: starting with Deborah Newton's really wonderful Cabled Hat that graced the cover of the latest issue of Vogue Knitting (two were made and more than happily worn).

and then there's Lara, a sort of Amish head covering on steroids (my take on it). It's almost off the needles (probably today, since there's not much of a reason to leave the apartment).

Next up? Caller Herrin', which should fly around and off the needles, now that my wonderful wool from across the pond has arrived, along with my more than wonderful needles, which were finally produced in the requisite size for the project.

I'm stoked, and, when I do brave the inclement weather, I'm secure in the fact that my head is going to be both warm and colorful!

HOLIDAZED

2010-12-24T13:27:00.000-05:00

OK - so, for the first time in what seems like aeons, I have a day - no, make that three or four of them - to do absolutely nothing, or whatever I feel like doing - which makes me feel terribly happy and calm. I've fulfilled all of my pre-holiday obligations, which hardly ever happens in a timely manner, so I have no last minute gifts to get or give, no wading in and out through the shopping throngs, and, interestingly enough, I don't feel lonely or left out, or compelled to "do something" or "be somewhere". Have to get used to that feeling, because it hasn't happened in, like, forever.

Luckily, the weather is perfect for either staying indoors and doing nothing, or going outside and doing much of the same - the economy has forced me to reconsider my constant urge to $PEND, and I really don't need anything AT ALL.

Planned ahead this year - the one thing that I DID want, was the new Lexie Barnes Lady B knitting bag, aptly named the "Queen B" - the nice people up in Northampton gave the faithful a heads up way back in September of this year, I think, and I jumped on it - and forced myself NOT to buy every bag that came down the pike between then and now ... the arrival date was predicted mid-December.

I was very very patient (have learned this skill in my advanced age), and, sure enough, two days ago a great big but very light box arrived from UPS - and in it was the knitting bag of my dreams, in the Disco Ball colorway (which I have since found out is totally sold out - "smart" me, huh?) ooooh shiny!!!!

So, while I spend my indoor hours knitting, I'll also be slowly loading up my new bag, in preparation for carrying it with me whenever I go outside.

Happy Holidaze to one and all!

(in case you're curious about the project resting on the Queen B, it's the intriguing Infinite Entrelac scarf by Lucy Neatby, being knit with Kauni Effektgarn in EQ, with my Signature Needle Arts circular needles.)

Drafts

2010-12-04T22:07:00.000-05:00

... as I sit here, wondering why I haven't been blogging, I decided to look into my old posts - there are 13 drafts, aka posts that I started, and, for some reason or the other, decided not to finish.

I still sit here, still wondering what I really have to say that might be of interest to the world. Have I been knitting? the answer is yes. Have I been finishing anything? Well, sort of. Little things. A little cowl/neckwarmer. With yarn that has been hanging around waiting to become something. This particular yarn came from the opposite end of the world.

Since I am curious by nature, I did a little research about Ushuaia, and discovered that one of the economic activities there is sheep farming ... which means that there has to be some wool floating around at the other end of the earth, which means that said wool had to be either exported or spun and made into yarn, and then knit by the denizens, or sold to tourists.

So, it's kind of a tweedy single, in the manner of Manos del Uruguay or Malabrigo, (except for the lighter colored bits - I've yet to see something like that in either of those yarns) but much more fragile - it was constantly breaking any time I tried to make something of it.

Thanks to the good folks over on Ravelry, I figured that maybe this might work for my magical mystery yarn. Sure enough, it did, and it only took a couple of hours to whip up. It's a bit lacey (if you could even imagine bulky weight yarn do be so), but, one thing's for sure, it keeps out those drafts!

The Touch, The Feel ...

2010-10-17T11:29:00.000-04:00

Again this year, while everyone else is fondling fiber and having a glorious time at Rhinebeck, I'm tucked in at home in Manhattan, thinking about my work, and, while I'm thinking, I've been knitting. A lot.

Last month, I decided to squeak in under the tax free wire (October 1 began the return to tax on yarn in New York City) and purchased this beautiful kit to make the Bon Bon Shawl.

In the instructions, it stated that the yarn included was a combination of shetland wool and alpaca. As I wound up the required magic balls to begin the fair isle process of creating the shawl, I noticed that ONLY ONE cake of pre-wound yarn was alpaca. Odd, but I guess the kit creator is within their rights to only include a virtual snippet of that soft, warm, and sensuous fiber ...

as I happily worked away on the shawl (it keeps growing and growing), my hands were getting rougher and rougher, until that magic ball's contents released the strand of alpaca ~ ahh .. a welcome break from the scratchiness of the shetland. It could not come quickly enough for me! look very carefully at the top of the picture - the acid yellow stripe is the aforementioned alpaca.

So, naturally, I searched the stash for something softer to work on, as a respite, and found the lovely Serena, a heavenly DK weight yarn composed of 60% alpaca and 40% pima cotton ... and landed on this comfy small shawl (small at 54" as opposed to the Bon Bon which will end up being probably twice that). And, mirabile dictu, my Signature Needle Arts circulars were available to me in US5/3.75mm, the prescribed needle size for this project!

The combination of the softness of the yarn and the smoothness of the needles is making this little shawl flow quickly through my fingers, and my hands are happy again!

Don't worry, Bon Bon - I will not forget you - just needed a break.

Code Red

2010-08-21T10:55:00.000-04:00

for some reason, I'm perpetually drawn to the color red. Lately, I've noticed that it's been popping up everywhere I look ...

In my knitting

On my feet

On what I'm reading

On my nails

Something old, something new

there are a lot more pictures that I took - there's the red laptop, the red mouse, and the red EVO cover ... but I won't overdo it - a good, strong color - the color of passion, the color of love!

Autumn's in the Air ...

2010-08-13T20:21:00.000-04:00

For the first time all summer, I have felt a hint of my favorite season; the first fresh breeze of dry air, low humidity, and blue skies. That means that I can go back to knitting fall-type of stuff, with fall colors, which means, a lot of Rowan, particularly Kaffe Fassett (yay!). So, since I was already well into the Lidiya scarf,

and I had finished a pair of socks, I figured it was time to start a new pair - for fall, of course... interestingly enough, I just happened to have a couple of skeins of Regia Design Line in just about the same colors that the scarf is being knitted in.

Who knows? Maybe, on one nippy day in the near future, I'll wear both at the same time!

Goldilocks, Redux

2010-07-31T19:00:00.000-04:00

It's been too hot to even think about blogging; knitting has been plentiful, but has kept me totally involved, and just not in "blog" mode ... but today, the weather cooled down a smidge, and I had something that might be worth my thoughts.

I started working on this wondrous project

which involves 11 different colors of the same yarn, as in, my beloved Fair Isle style of knitting. It's been a while since I was in the mood to do something like that, but this one really caught my eye.

So, I ordered the yarn, it arrived, I cast on, began to knit, and the realization that I'm extremely picky just washed over me: the width of the project, even though it's knit in the round, is just about 10 inches ... at the beginning, I thought that a 24" circular would do the trick, but as I was working away, the pulling and tugging to get the thing around the needles was making me nuts - so I got a 16" circular and thought that would be better - nope, too tight, and too scrunched up on the needles. So, the obviously perfect length would be 20", right? of course, no one in the vicinity had any 20" circular needles.

Then the next best thing hit me like a ton o' bricks: two circulars! why did I make myself so nuts about it? dunno ...

Go, Go, Gadget Girl!

2010-07-05T11:21:00.000-04:00

Most of my friends know me; I'm a sucker for gadgets, especially in the knitting department.

I've ~~amassed~~ ~~bought~~ collected almost every knitting accoutrement known to the modern world (mostly the ones that are bright and shiny), and am always on the lookout for containers ...

I'm just going to show you two of my favorites, and pay homage to a couple of knitting bloggers who pointed me in the right direction to acquire them.

They have compartments that obviously can be used for other interests than knitting, but in my world, this is what they are perfect for!

Tour de Steel!

2010-07-03T11:48:00.000-04:00

Over on Ravelry, Natalie Servant has written a beautiful pattern for a shawl depicting the Eiffel Tower, and has initiated a KAL (Knit-Along) to make this during the Tour de France,

which starts at 11:30 am EDT today and ends July 25 in the City of Lights.

So, on a day when there are so many world sporting events converging all at once, I finished watching Wimbledon, and may watch the World Cup, but don't think I could watch the TdF (except for the beautiful landscape of it). I've decided to venture into the world of knitting something with a virtual group.

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up some Zephyr in the Steel colorway - gray has never been a fave of mine, but I figured I should have some in my stash of laceweight yarn, waiting for the right project to pop up, and this one surely did.

How a propos -- a shawl about one of the greatest steel structures in the world in a colorway named Steel!

Allons y ...

Down to the Wire

2010-06-29T23:29:00.000-04:00

I found a sock pattern on Ravelry that really intrigued me; I realized that I had some self-striping yarn that might be really adorable to use for this particular pattern, so I dug it out of my stash closet, and cast on.

As most socks go, this one was fun to do (top-down), and moved along very quickly ...

the only mod I made to the pattern was to add half a repeat of the circle to get the leg to be the right length for me.

Everything else worked as predicted, but then, during the day, while I was working on the foot part (I vastly prefer toe-up due to the ease of trying them on in progress),

I kept slipping it on, praying that the stitches wouldn't fall off the needles, to see how long the foot needed to be - although I knew that the right length before doing the toe decrease was about 7ish inches, I got the uneasy feeling as I went along that I might run out of yarn.

Not a huge problem, since all sock knitters know that a toe stays covered in the shoe, and it doesn't really matter what yarn it is made from. But, I turned OCD and decided that I must find another skein of the exact same colorway ... hied myself across the park to one of my favorite yarn shops, and, for some unknown reason, there was one skein left of this yarn - I scarfed it right up and quickly came back home to discover that serendipitous event that doesn't happen too often to a knitter: it happened to be the same dye lot! Oh Happy Day!

So, I relaxed and continued knitting with the ever-dwindling pile of the first skein - got to the toe, kept decreasing, and ended up with 3 grams left over - what a shock!

Now that I've recovered, will I ever have the incentive to make the second one?

Back to the Blanket ...

2010-06-08T19:10:00.000-04:00

The weather around these parts lately has been quite unpredictable; the effect of which, predictably, has caused my knitting to go through several phases:

heat dictated lace,

or socks, anything that was either easily portable or wouldn't sit on my lap and make me drip with sweat - but yesterday the thermometer dropped, as did the barometer, and during the night I dreamed of Frankie's 10-Stitch Blanket, that I started in February, vowing to finish it before it got too uncomfortable. It is destined to be king-sized, and I documented it extensively on ravelry. Then, the inevitable happened: I put it down, and started a bazillion other projects.

The dream was SO vivid (what DID I have for dinner that did that?) that as soon as I woke up and had my first cup of coffee, I dug out the blanket and started back up again - the rhythm is soothing; the needles are a pleasure, and I'm happily in some sort of groove.

Have no idea how long this groove will last, but I'm enjoying it while it does!

MOTH-RA

2010-04-20T18:59:00.000-04:00

... so I've gotten on a lace binge lately - have about five or six different projects going all at once - yep, I will do one repeat of one shawl or wrap and put it down, going on to another one in another color, another fiber, and so on ...

but I decided to dig into that big red collapsible rectangular thingamajig that is really supposed to be used for either dirty laundry or toys, but became the repository for many of my UFOs over the last year - because a friend of mine asked me if I had done Luna Moth, and I thought that I had started it at some point - yeah, like almost a year ago.

There it was, staring me in the face from a ziplok bag - wanting to be finished ... in the wonderfully splitty Soie Bambou from Elann, in a great colorway named "Hawaiian" (still haven't figured that one out, it's a very very pale pink).

Reprinted the pattern, and now I'm past the third repeat of six - if I keep my mojo going on this one, I should be done with it by the week's end.

Keep your fingers crossed!

A Brilliant Invention

2010-04-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

... in my mind, at least - I don't know about you, but I have eschewed using a swift and ball winder when I am faced with gorgeous hanks/skeins of yarn; the actual winding of it by hand is something that gives me a bit of peace in this crazy world. I get to check for knots, and become accustomed to the "hand" of the yarn.

The only downside to this is, while I'm in the process of knitting it, the ball will roll off of wherever I put it, i.e. the table, and end up bouncing around the floor, which makes the cats extremely happy and me notsomuch. I know that I could put it in a pretty basket, or a cute little drawstring bag, but for some reason, that wasn't my style.

Along comes this incredible gadget (and I'm always on the lookout for something new) that accomplishes the obvious: keep the ball in one place, have it roll around inside its own little globe, and it has the added benefit of keeping the yarn free of dust, dirt, and pet hair as well! (I know, I sound like an infomercial)

It has the obvious name of Fibersphere, and I'm truly sorry that I didn't create it first!

Honestly, Officer, I Had No Idea that I was Speeding!

2010-04-05T19:41:00.000-04:00

This is the way my knitting mind works when I'm bored with one project - I pick up another, and another, and another ... well ... you get the idea.

Clockwise, there's Taliesin, Summit, Dryad, Damask, Gail, and Kai-Mei, or something to that effect.

Sheesh - Ravelry, Knitty, Twist Collective, and Cookie A., you've done me in!

and someone else in my household feels like putting a kibosh on the whole lot. Do you think she's trying to tell me something?

... So I Felt Like a Sock

2010-03-29T18:38:00.000-04:00

The weather's been changing, just like my moods - AND my knitting moods as well ...

for about a week, the temps hovered around 70 degrees F, and I didn't feel like working on a blanket. So I started some things, and actually finished something.

Then the cold front came through again -- and, while browsing through other people's blogs, I found a sock from Cookie-A called Kai-Mei that looked pretty interesting to make: but I didn't feel like making a dark sock, I felt like making a sock that screamed HAPPY. I already had lime socks, and yellow socks, and striped socks, and rainbow socks, so I thought something in red. Of course, I had some happy red yarn but it would make large stripes - I wanted a more solid red.

So ... I stopped by my LYS and found this, which obviously had been hanging out there waiting for me to buy it. I wound it up, dug out my KnitPicks 6" dpn set, and cast on - so far, it's making me happy ... let's just see how long that feeling will last!

Wish me luck and happiness - I wish you all the same.

Trees

2010-03-20T12:33:00.001-04:00

Now that the weather seems to be improving for those of us on the east coast, Happy Vernal Equinox!

I've been ruminating while knitting, and have been fascinated by the names chosen for yarns. Since it's now officially spring, I decided to pick something lacy to knit, and went with Birch, and the perfect yarn for it (at least for me) is Maple Leaf in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock. Then I started to feel guilty about not having turned out a sweater for the men in my life, so I lucked out on Sequoia in Tosh Vintage.

That's going to become Cobblestone - sorry, couldn't find a pattern with the name of a tree in it to complete the theme of my thoughts!

Now to go outside and enjoy the day ...

Blankie ... Me Likey!

2010-02-25T15:16:00.000-05:00

this time I called it right - at least knitting-wise ... while I was happy doing the scarf, the weather once again turned colder, and I'm even happier to be back with the blanket - there's something eminently refreshing and relaxing to just do 10 stitches and keep doing them and watch the blankie grow ...

And grow

...and GROW!

now that we're getting that second big wallop of winter (it's definitely going to make March come in like a lion), I'm into the 20th skein of this ginormous project - right now, it measures about 4' square - will probably need another 3' to make it approx 7' square - so, my calculations are still on target - but - ulp! I'll probably need close to 30 more skeins?

Taking a Break from the Blankie

2010-02-22T20:56:00.000-05:00

the weather warmed up last week, and the neverending Noro blankie was beginning to overheat me during the knitting of it -

I found a great scarf pattern on Ravelry - the designer must have read my mind, because I've had that particular pattern in my head for a number of years - saw it in an ad in the Times - never had the gumption or brains to figure it out myself - I thoroughly thank her for doing my numbers for me!

I just happened to have the prescribed yarn in my stash. Malabrigo, in all its softness, is a comforting change from the slightly harsh Kureyon (my hands were becoming dryer and dryer by the stitch). So, I cast on 398 stitches onto my favorite Circlons, and knit happily away!

The pattern said that it would take two skeins of Malabrigo worsted, or some similar yarn, and luckily I had three in my stash - because I'm now just beginning the third skein with 3x398 stitches to go plus the cast off, which would obviously dip into more than the amount of yarn to use for just the knitting of those 398 stitches. My mantra has always been: ALWAYS buy an extra skein in the same dyelot if you can - and this time it certainly proved useful!

Perfect timing - I just felt a wonderful whiff of cold air through the window - back to the blankie!

Preparing an Obituary?

2010-02-10T18:06:00.000-05:00

... not quite! but - and this is a little bitty but, I've noticed (as I surmise many of you have) that my computer time has been comprised of reading (and posting) on Facebook, Ravelry, and Twitter.

While I've been knitting during 90% of the reading time, I have not felt the compulsion to write a full-blown blog post. Today, during the ballyhooed and predicted "blizzard" in NYC, I realized that the posts on the social networks make up a blog - and they are so scattered (as are the thoughts that flit through my brain) that I wouldn't consider them anywhere near cohesive.

So, I'll go back to my current knitting,

and back to my reading - oh - what about books, you ask? well, I'm finishing up The Help on my Kindle, and will then probably start Wolf Hall, also on my Kindle - obviously I've fallen in love with my Kindle ;o)

now ... if only I could get some real work done! I'll save that for another blog post.

Move Over, Mr. Jeffries ...

2010-01-13T18:59:00.000-05:00

and meet Jasper!

yes, another Yorkie, a cutie-patootie rescued by my really good friend Jim ... he got him socialized really quickly, so it looked like it was time for me to actually knit a doggie coat.

Jasper is quite the Connecticut gentleman, who also hangs out in hip Manhattan (mostly the west side). Turns out that he loves his coat so much that his Dad has requested another one - not quite so involved as the one he's wearing, plain and "1970s chocolate brown" - so my assignment now is to come up with the proper yarn - I suggested tweed, but Dad said no - just plain - so I'm on the hunt for that exact color, the one that might match Jasper's big brown eyes.

Stay tuned for a spread in Town and Country - just where Jasper deserves to be!

Held Hostage

2010-01-09T17:27:00.000-05:00

it's a cold, cold day here in the Big Apple - and I'm stuck inside with my lovely daughter, who graces this house with her presence every three weeks or so ...

the weekends usually consist of hanging out, watching TV, and my being able to knit almost nonstop.

Of course, we have to stop for food and maybe some laundry, and we also manage to get outside to visit some of the local shops -

today we only got as far as the toy store, on the hunt for an elephant cup - no luck on that, but this is what we got - a far cry from the normal collection - happily, the size of her toys is getting smaller

just finishing up watching Babe: Pig in the City - waiting for Rugrats in Paris to start -

what a life!

A Peaceful Sleevening ...

2009-12-26T23:54:00.000-05:00

... at last!

Rockstar left for the left coast tonight; it's been raining on and off (mostly on) all day here in the soggy Apple, and I've been able to do plenty of knitting ...

have been impatiently waiting for my Signature Needle Arts circulars, which were ordered a week ago today (at just about this time), and have yet to arrive. Maybe Monday will be the day chez Knitching?

The main reason I want them to hurry up and get here is that I am just about finished with my Benedikta sweater in Noro Silk Garden Lite. I haven't finished a sweater in the longest time, basically because I've been caught up with scarves and cowls (too fast and too easy not to crank out at least one every other day). Now I'm just about done with the second sleeve ... the whole sweater so far has been knit with the Signature Needle Arts single points, and I need the circs for the neck! they are such wonderful needles that I would hate to have to use another kind for the neck ...

so I just might have to crank out another scarf or cowl until Monday, or maybe, since I've gotten into sleeve mode, finish another couple for another project that's been languishing for way, way, way too long.

DROUGHT ...

2009-12-23T17:09:00.004-05:00

... literally and figuratively... due to the demands of everything from Ravelry to Facebook (oh yeah - maybe some personal and business stuff as well), I've been absent from the blog front.

I may go back to being absent, basically because I have felt an obligation to blog, and that's not necessarily a good thing - this was supposed to be fun, but it kept looming larger and larger as "something I had to do".

Suffice it to say that a ton of knitting has been going on, and, as usual, I've been flitting from one project to the next, to keep my brain from going off the deep end. Projects have been started, abandoned, and finished - not in any particular order - I'll start something that's involving, then switch to something that's mindless - don't we all?

Today I'll discuss the dry conditions around here - since the Winter Solstice arrived, I've been dealing with abysmally cracked and dry skin

- my poor hands have suffered the most, probably due to the inordinate amount of knitting (but that is one thing I refuse to stop - even a broken wrist failed to keep me from it a year and a half ago). So: first I got a "cleansing" manicure - i.e. no polish, just going commando for the holidays - no parties to attend, no cooking to deal with, just knitting, knitting, and more knitting (maybe I'll go out to a movie if I can pull Froggy away from the flat panel and his comfy chair). Next? I bought some cotton gloves, and some really heavy duty cream (intensive is the key word here) and tonight before bed, I'll slather it on, put them on, and hopefully go back to Her Fearful Symmetry on my Kindle (which I worship and adore, by the way) ... maybe I will wake up tomorrow with less pain, which will help me in my wait for this cream - heard somewhere that if a cream is thin enough to go through a pump, then it's not strong enough to do the job - so there will probably be more jars than bottles/tubes in my future.

These days the amount I'm spending on hand creams is vying for top position over the yarn I'm buying!

As an aside, what are your favorite solutions for your dry hands? I'll compile a list and let you all know -

Maybe I should rename this blog post "hope springs eternal", but I think I've overused that moniker in the past ...

The Price of Gold ...

2009-11-06T19:28:00.004-05:00

hit $1100/ounce today -- it happens like this during recessionary times. Enough econ 101 from me.

Even though I love my gold jewelry dearly, and keep it close for moments like this (thinking that IF I have to, I'll sell it to pay the rent), I thought that a woolen piece of gold might be a wonderful thing to wear - thought it might be a multiple of eight, so I could call it "pieces of eight" - the pattern is Diamond Links,

but I decided to make this one out of gold yarn - found what I consider to be a really good reasonable facsimile of the precious metal, in the Woodlawn colorway, and commenced working on this really fun pattern.

When I started the scarf in April, gold was hovering around $900/ounce - like gold, my yarn is a very precious commodity!

Necessity IS the Mother!

2009-11-05T18:23:00.006-05:00

OK ... finally something worth blogging about -

I'm not usually at a loss for words, but lately I've been in quiet mode - today this silence may very well be broken by something I have been thinking about and wanting for quite some time - it's been going in and out of my brain, and the light bulb went on this afternoon!

For the longest time, I've been trying desperately to find the perfect row counter to use on circs; Wendy's row counter gave me the idea, but I thought that a better mousetrap might be possible. Susan Bates had the right idea,

but I prefer the turning mechanism of the Clover -

so, instead of writing the Clover folks imploring them to produce one, I decided to cobble one together myself.

So, I visited one of my favorite places for inspiration, the hair products section of my local drugstore - all the little clips, bobby pins, hair bands and such tend to speak to me in strange ways. And sure enough, something piped up - I brought a pack of them home, took out my little Clover row counter and my dentist's tool from Patternworks (the only place I have ever been able to find it -- have stocked up on them as well); pushed it through the row counter, hooked it into the hair band, pulled the band through - now I had two loops: one to go on the needle, the other needed to be anchored with something - aha - another Clover product, a little coil to use for holding dpns.

Et voila: my perfect row counter for circs!

Yes, my friends -- if you like, you may create your own, unless you're happy with the other one - we all have our own little crazinesses, and this is mine - at least for today, I'm a happy inventor (as well as a relaxed and pleased knitter)!

What, you ask, is that little row counter sitting on? Right now, another love: a cowl - out of my latest passion: Great Northern Yarns' 70% mink/30% cashmere DK weight yarn in Sunset Red.

Craig is amazing, not only for his brilliance in combining the two luxurious fibers, but also for his incredible service; here on the upper west side of Manhattan, we have a Chinese food delivery place (one of many) that is positively psychic - the minute I hang up the phone from making an order, the doorbell rings and the food arrives (scary, I know...) that's how fast the yarn showed -- seriously!!

... and I have never worked with a yarn of this softness -- I thank Mary for blogging about it, and of course Anne was one of the first to rave - but I guess I didn't pay much attention to it - but, thank you BOTH for turning me on to Craig - I think I'm going to be spending a lot of my hard earned recession dollars!

Out of the Closet ...

2009-07-23T09:36:00.006-04:00

... and INTO the storage bin!

Now that I have a summer free from injury (at least so far) and also free from vacation, I figured it was time to rearrange some stuff - and boy, George Carlin had it right - I've got much much more than my share.

For at least the last 10-15 years, I've been knitting and accumulating more sweaters than I know what to do with - age, climate, and fashion changes have dictated certain wardrobe changes, i.e. most of them are too bulky for inside wear - so - what to do? I certainly don't have room for a sweater museum, but there's always the trusty basement storage bin

(fondly known around this town as the Bermuda Triangle).

What prompted this? probably the fact that rockstar son is home for a couple of months and is finally unloading all of his stuff that accumulated during four years of college and four years of living abroad (both Brooklyn and the U.K.) - so the storage bin is opening up to me!

I have done this "cleansing" type of activity almost every summer - this year I may have conquered it (or maybe not?)

It seems that the smaller projects are overgrowing their boundaries as well, but at least they're smaller boundaries!

Now that I'm back in computerland,

2009-07-12T19:13:00.007-04:00

I've been busily re-acquainting myself with the happiness of actually being able to easily communicate with the world from home - also have been finally enjoying the wonderful weather that has decided to descend upon the east coast!

But mostly, I've been staying close to home because the last couple of weeks have been the one-year anniversary of my first big break - as in bones.

6/26/08 I broke my wrist.

7/10/08 I had the surgery.

... so I have been afraid to have a new accident ... I know, I know, lightning doesn't usually strike twice, but one never knows, does one?

To celebrate my "wholeness", I've been celebrating -- just doing some little things to make me happy -

these incredibly cute sticky notes:

this gorgeous Noro Taiyo (thanks, B!)

this precious crochet kit

(I guess I'm really going to have to start crocheting)

and my latest sweater attempt using Koigu instead of Louet Euroflax sportweight --

we'll see how far I get on that one - hopefully finishing it? Again, hope springs eternal...

NOPE.

2009-06-20T14:51:00.004-04:00

Nope, I didn't bake this.

Nope, I'm not gonna eat another one today; maybe tomorrow I'll treat myself -

It's a white choco-chip and cranberry cookie from Chris's Cookies - probably the least calorific of all their products - HA! at least the canberry bits are healthy ...

On another rainy weekend day from the Drowned Apple, I'm happy to finally be able to sit home, knit, pay bills, and eat sweets!

This is on the blocking board, from the ever-genius Kate Gagnon ... I was so in love with Springtime Bandit, that I was happy something else came down the pipeline - I predict that it will become the "chick" version of Jared Flood's scarf - only two skeins of Noro Silk Garden necessary!

thanks, Kate!

Ulmus - Almost!

2009-06-15T23:22:00.005-04:00

The main reason that no one's heard from me lately is that about a week ago, I got myself a Palm Pre. I was excited beyond belief to get it and learn it. The night before I got the Pre, I waterboarded my laptop keyboard- clumsy me, a large glass of ice water to my right, I reached up with my right hand, it tumped over into the keyboard - horrors!

Many attemped drying techniques ensued -- even broke out my shamwow (yes, I own a pack of 'em - actually they're quite useful...) - after a couple of days, I seem to have permanently lost the use of the following keys (all on the poor right side):

period

forward slash

left arrow

delete

and the bluetooth mouse connection seems to have shorted out.

Luckily, Windows Vista has something called an on-screen keyboard , which certainly provides a convenient workaround until Froggy and I decide on what to replace my beloved red Inspiron with - no, I can't get a Mac (I could spill water on that as well) for work reasons -

But my poor pointer finger is killing me because I have to use the touchpad as opposed to a mouse.

All during this technomisery, I knit like crazy on my first Ulmus shawl - if you will notice, there's no picture there - so I'll put one here on the blog - the problem with that one was not the yarn at all - the Malabrigo sock yarn

is beyond soft and smooth, the colors are enticingly exceptional, but my gauge was WAAAAAYYYYY OFF -

coulda been a sweater, instead of a "lacy" shawl...

so, I think this one will be totally ripped out - it was good mindless knitting for most of the time.

So I started on my second Ulmus, this one using Starry by Dream in Color, which is technically Smooshy with a bit-o-glitter. The two colors I'm using for this one are Gothic Rose and Cloud Jungle, and the needle size I'm using is 10.5mm - just to get the gauge.

Life is really tough sometimes!

In the Pink ...

2009-05-30T10:13:00.004-04:00

Today is a special day for me. I've been married to Froggy for 32 years.

A dear friend said that it was remarkable for two people to be together for such a long time. I guess I agree!

Most of my time lately has been spent knitting, mostly lace, and buying more yarn (don't tell Froggy, please!)

I've actually finished a few projects,

but rather than blog about them, I've been joined at the hip to ravelry ... for some reason, at least for me, it's so much easier to just "jot" down what's going on there - and I'm happy to take pix and upload them there. I've noticed that a lot of bloggers have taken the same route; it's difficult to keep up with both blog and rav, I've been finding - there are only so many hours in a day, especially when one has to continue to work for a living.

Also, it's almost been a year since I broke my wrist, and a bit more than four months since the three broken ribs, and I'm finally beginning to feel like "myself" again - I guess that's what happens with age - just takes longer to heal, but once one does, it feels really really good.

So, what am I going to do for my 32nd? ABsoLUTEly NOTHING! (which is just what I consider a brilliant way to spend a beautiful day)

Lace on Straights?

2009-05-09T09:46:00.005-04:00

I'm on a serious lace kick these days ... that ritual of YO, K2TOG, PSSO, has me mesmerized.

As is my wont, I have cast on a number of shawls, stoles and scarves, only to knit and watch them grow: laceweight, cobweb, fingering, you name it - some get finished, some get frogged, and some actually get blocked! Ravelry has been a very good outlet for displaying most of my projects (less involvement than writing a blog post), but I thought that I would go forth here once more in blog-land.

The number of projects has me looking for ways to stay home and knit - the rainy weather has helped to enable that goal, but sometimes I do have to put down the needles and work outside my fiber-laden lair.

I have been torn between Aeolian and a few other patterns - the Aeolian issue is that of finding those perfect beads to go with the perfect yarn; it's still floating around in my brain - matching beads? contrasting? laceweight? a bit heavier yarn? I've got about 8 choices lined up.

Then, the needles: some projects work well with the Knitpicks Harmonies (gotta love those cables!), others feel better with the Addi Lace needles (ahhh the perfect

seamless joins and the sensational tips) ... last night I decided to cast on for the Lotus Blossom Shawl (a Dorothy Siemens classic, AFAIC) and I didn't have an available size US7 - but I had treated myself to a few pairs of Signature Needles (figured that a Mother's Day present was in order) and one of them was the right size.

I have the incredible Smooshy from Dream in Color in the more incredible Night Parade colorway (just winding it from skein to ball was akin to a religious experience) and thought it might be something to try - so I'm doing it, but don't know how many stitches I can smoosh onto 10" straights -

By the time I have to switch to circs, maybe Signature will have developed them?

Hope springs eternal.

OOOOHHH - SHINY!!

2009-04-04T18:51:00.005-04:00

The rants and raves of Spring have started ... my knitting is flying hither and yon; I'm flitting from project to project, starting, stopping, saving, stashing ... in obeisance to the recession, I'm only picking up a skein or two at a time, trying to work on little projects that catch my eye. I guess it's the "magpie" effect: see something shiny and pretty, pick it up - bring it to your nest, leave it there and see what hatches from it.

Today was no exception - a really neat offer from one of my LYSes forced me out of my comfy kitchen to brave the fierce wind gusts and head downtown to pick up at skein of Debbie Bliss Pure Silk to make their pattern of the month.

I was so taken with the concept of knitted jewelry (great idea for the summer?), I came back uptown to my supremely local yarn shop and got seduced by a skein of Alchemy Silk Purse,

just in case I felt like silver instead of gold.

Now, to cast on the first 210 stitches!

The Wearin' o' the Green ...

2009-03-17T09:45:00.006-04:00

I haven't had much to post about lately - work, work, work and knit, knit, knit ... I'm not in the mood to list all my projects that have either been started or finished - you can see all of them on Ravelry if you are so inclined.

But, since today, everyone's Irish, I thought I'd celebrate by putting a different colored stitch marker on my cowl.

Instead of the required yarn in the pattern, I chose the phenomenal MadelineTosh Worsted in the Alabaster colorway.

I love this yarn sooo much, that I had to buy a second colorway, in anticipation of making a second cowl, hopefully ready for St. Paddy's Day in '10!

I Guess She can Finally Learn to Knit ...

2009-02-14T09:44:00.003-05:00

just saw this on the interwebs.

and I'm complaining about not being able to get out for a manicure!

methinks Kiki's a bit envious ...

It's Mid-February ...

2009-02-11T21:50:00.004-05:00

and I figured it was time to show you my Lady Sweater (in progress, that is!)

I'm about 3 inches from the bottom of the body, then on to the sleeves.

Happy Half-Birthday To Me!

2009-02-10T10:09:00.004-05:00

Today is 6 months from my birthday - it's a summer birthday, so I never could celebrate it in school when I was a wee one; my mom instituted a half-birthday party for me, which worked out just fine.

These days, I'm celebrating the fact that I'm in one piece (sorta), and have my friends and family (mostly) around me ...

Here's the thought for the day:

what do you consider a necessity or a luxury?

I KNOW what mine is!

What's yours?

It's An Age Old Question ...

2009-02-04T13:15:00.003-05:00

so, thanks to imposed "house arrest", I have actually finished the Lady Eleanor Stole ... in the notsodistant past, I had made another one up to this point out of Silk Garden Lite.

There was a record of it, but it got destroyed in the great laptop hard disk meltdown of somewhere between aught-four and aught-five, before Ravelry, before my knowledge of flash drives, before I had the sense to back up my computer! I loved it - worshipped it, got tons of compliments on it, and then gave it to someone who was very important at the time, which is OK, because I knew that someday I would make another one.

And I did start making one, then another, then another, and finally I FINISHED one, which I truly love more than the SG Lite one. It's longer, wider, and definitely cozier.

But here's the deal: to block or not to block?

Once that's answered, the larger question looms: who's gonna block it for me?

It REALLY only hurts when I laugh ...

2009-02-02T22:03:00.003-05:00

um - remember back last month when I posted about the Lady Eleanor Stole? well, the next day was the Inauguration, and I was about as happy as a clam - then the next day there was a company annual meeting at a lovely spot; a good time was had by all... then at 4a.m. the same night/early morning, I had a terrific accident slipping in the bathroom and breaking 3 ribs. oy the pain - worse than the wrist!

well, here I am, almost two weeks later, after suffering "bed rest", which I call HOUSE ARREST, feeling like leaving the house, but Froggy has put a foot down and said "no leaving the house until there is no ice on the sidewalk or snow on the ground -

odd, since I never fall on pavement or grass - only wet sand or wet bathroom tile!

Soft as Silk (Garden, that is ...)

2009-01-19T17:51:00.003-05:00

Wonderful day, nasty day (weatherwise, that is). I've been avoiding the dreaded cabin fever not only by knitting, but also by organizing my uncontrollable stash (as it is)!

During that organization process, I uncovered 8 skeins of Noro Silk Garden in a phenomenal colorway, no. 211,

which I have always loved, but had totally forgotten that I owned... needless to say, I thought that it might be enough for a Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole from Scarf Style, and, um, sure enough, it supposedly would take 10 skeins!

GAACK!

what did I do? of course, as any "normal" intrepid knitter would do, I turned to the internet - ravelry didn't do it, my list of "NYC LYS"'s didn't do it either - seriously, folks, I called every single LYS in town that even purported to carry Noro Yarns - so, um, internet choice of last resort was ebay, and, sure enough, some wonderful people up north happened to have the EXACT SAME COLORWAY in the EXACT SAME DYELOT - (thanks, Les) YAY! so I ordered 4 skeins, just to be safe, and even more so, just to be sure ...

I'm thrilled with the progress of this luxurious wrap/stole ... and I promise to keep on knitting it through the incredibly historical day tomorrow - just hope I can actually finish it!

Resolution Road

2009-01-01T15:14:00.003-05:00

First, Happy and Healthy 2009 to all!

Have decided to start of the new year (knitwise, at least) by actually making a valiant attempt at finishing some old projects that are *this close* to being done... especially those that I've promised to others - this one in particular has a special meaning, since the intended recipient is a dear friend of my late mom, and it should have been finished for her 85th birthday this past August.

The wrist fracture got sorely in the way of the goal, to say the least.

Then my brain could not remember where the UFO was languishing.

Next, I could not find the pattern.

Finally, after all the stars collided, I began work on it again during the Ball Drop. I probably have about another day or so left to go, and then it will be given...

Though not a new pattern, it's certainly comforting to knit, and, at least today, easily remembered.

Forgotten

2008-12-30T09:54:00.003-05:00

I've come to the stage of my knitting life where, if I start something and put it down for a while, and have not taken any notes, for the life of me, I cannot remember what the pattern was or where I was in it!

So, having found something I distinctly remember knitting, and wanting to get back to it, I made myself and others crazy for a couple of days. I knew that it was either Flower Basket or Forest Canopy. Thanks to the resources of ravelry, I figured it out. I also figured out where the original pattern was, of course after I had decided to frog the entire project.

Restart. This time it's really going swimmingly, actually much better than the first time - I had needed lifelines before (this is a shot of the pre-frogged version),

but now, for some reason, my feeble brain has remembered the pattern and I can knit away without a boo-boo (at least not yet!)

Also, I was finally 'splained how to disable the flash on my new digital camera - it only took 3-4 months to learn that ... notice the difference in the color of the first one and the second one?

Presents from Across the Pond!

2008-12-25T14:46:00.005-05:00

The turkey is almost ready to go into the oven, the stuffing is made, the debate is now between string bean casserole or roasted brussel sprouts (for today) - tomorrow will probably be the ham, the broccoli/cauliflower cheese bake, the latkes, and whatever else either didn't get cooked or eaten today ... it's so nice to have a multi-tradition holiday celebration!

Last night rockstar arrived from London, with his adorable GF in tow, along with

several goodies such as these:

Adorable GF was thrilled with her

handknit goodies,

and Rockstar got a calendar - it's tough to get something for someone who has just about everything already!

In the inimitable words of another Brit, Happy Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!

Happy Holidays ...

2008-12-22T17:14:00.002-05:00

There's something Dickensian about this picture:

it's the front of my daughter's residence here in Manhattan. It's a landmarked building, from 1881.

I'll be back with more knitting content as it develops.

From a Galloping Horse ...

2008-12-20T17:16:00.004-05:00

I've picked up the February Lady Sweater again,

which gets a row or two knit now and then ... since the blessed recovery of the wrist, I've been in and out of projects, mostly quick knits - not my typical M.O.

One of the reasons I've continued to put it down is that the first skein that I used (which started the neck part, since it's a top down raglan) is a totally different colorway from the rest of the sweater (so far) - that's the problem with hand-dyed yarn - love it as one wants to, and should, there's always the "unmatching colorway issue" -

now, I'm well into the body,

and am wondering if it's really going to make a difference to anyone else but yours truly - your call!

Thanks for all your input, whether you give it on line or not!

Isn't It Romantic?

2008-12-05T20:28:00.005-05:00

this has NOTHING AT ALL to do with Knitting - it's just a reminiscence - our current times in the United States remind me VERY MUCH of when I came to New York City - and met my wonderful Froggy, in a bar on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, (the bar has a new name) and we are now in the throes of almost 32 years of wedded "bliss" ...

Ahhh - we were young (at least I was), in love, and nothing could stop us!

Everyone and Their Mother ...

2008-11-28T23:48:00.006-05:00

has made or probably is making this scarf, brought to the forefront of the (internet at least) world by Jared.

Not to be outdone, I am in the process of being sucked in to making yet another striped scarf. Once again in some delectable Noro Silk Garden, but this time, I'm experimenting with a new type of needle.

Tomorrow will tell how my forearms handled the power knitting of - oh - about 13 + or - inches ... so far so good, but, let's wait until then.

Sleepy ...

2008-11-27T18:58:00.006-05:00

Thanksgiving is here - or rather, it has come and gone. I'm definitely thankful for everything that I have, and continue to be hopeful for the future.

In the present, however, here's the meal I concocted tonight, to be consumed by just Froggy and yours truly. Rockstar is in the UK, daughter joining us tomorrow (don't worry, she's full of turkey already!)

So, for posterity's sake, herewith the repast:

Turkey Roulade (before)

and after.

and even further after:

Brussel Sprouts, pearl onions and herb butter before

and after:

Sweet potato puree (with Granny Smith Apples, lime juice and plain yogurt)

the bland cauliflower gratin ,

and then the not-so-successful Jello/pineapple/cranberry mold

My Mom was the Jello Queen; I must have missed out on that cooking lesson.

LOSING IT!

2008-11-25T11:26:00.006-05:00

For years, I've been religious about saving my computer stuff on one flash drive or the other ... have progressed from 32K to 1G to 2G ... AND have managed to "misplace" every single one of them.

Feeling rather uncomfortable about the thought that my little laptop might crash yet again (seems to happen on at least a semi-annual basis), I was on the hunt for a new flash drive.

While doing some errands yesterday, I dropped by Golden Sound (where they always give me great deals) and was talked into this,

which holds a whopping 8G of storage -

I went nuts trying to find something to hook it onto; for some reason yesterday, there were no lanyards to be found (I don't carry a key chain so I couldn't really hook it onto one).

Here's where crafting somes into play ... I remembered in the middle of the night that I had gone through a period of making 10-repeat row counters, and knew that I had a ton of plastic beads left over from that obsession.

I also had some really pretty ceramic beads,

but they would end up being too heavy.

So, I also luckily had a leftover piece of elastic, which fit perfectly into the teeny-tiny holes in the flash drive ... so, I created something that hopefully will prevent me from losing this one!

I'm NOT a Great Cook, but ...

2008-11-22T20:37:00.003-05:00

I DO follow recipes very well! witness the little cloche hat

that I wanted to make for a special person -

I discovered it on ravelry, decided to spring for the entire book of patterns, and then found an acceptable yarn in my LYS, and turned it out in about 24 hours ... this is NOT my favorite style of knitting; I prefer to knit ad infinitum on a larger project, or something with thinner yarn and smaller needles, basically because I enjoy the process, rather than the project- but, in this case, I'm extremely pleased with the results!

OK - back to figuring out what recipes to follow for Thanksgiving Dinner - always a fun project in this house.

It Really IS Everywhere!

2008-11-18T11:59:00.003-05:00

As I was walking up Broadway yesterday, this store's display

caught my eye:

can't imagine anyone's hands not hurting from working with THOSE needles!

My "new" One True Love ...

2008-11-13T21:50:00.004-05:00

About a month ago, Shake Shack opened literally a couple of blocks away from us - I braved the interminably long lines once, then took a friend there about two days later, and was/am hooked!

So, tonight, even though it was raining steadily, I had a huge Jones for a Shack-Cago dog

;

oh, and, um - the fries ain't so bad, either!

put on my raincoat, walked the couple of blocks, stood in a teeny weeny line, placed my order, got my "shaker" (a little handheld pager that notifies you when your order is ready), walked another block to the bank for some Friday money, was "shaken", came back, brought the booty home, and indulged!

Happy almost weekend, guys ... if you're ever in Manhattan, there are two locations to try Shake Shack - the outdoor one in Madison Square Park is only open in clement weather, but the uptown one here on the Upper West Side survives any type of climate!

Soon to be revealed, my latest attempt at a pretty amazing pattern that I found on ravelry - the challenge here is that the cables need TWO cable needles to create them - my manager needs a holiday present, and, as he was admiring one of my scarves the other day, telling me that he collected scarves, I decided to try to make one for him...

found some delish Malabrigo Silky Merino in an oddly enough named colorway of Green Gray 411 - I'm thinking it's more blue than green, but what do I know?

Color commentary greatly appreciated -

Of Course I Voted ...

2008-11-04T20:27:00.004-05:00

and yes, there were tens of 100s in line in front of me and behind me ...

but then I came home, and Kiki presented me with her opinion.

Anyone have the standard measurement of an ironing board?

First Foray into cooking after the Big Break...

2008-11-02T19:31:00.014-05:00

OK - so I wasn't cooking -

OK - Froggy told me point blank that he had no desire for me to either (a) cook, or (b) even plan to cook - that also included no DINNER out of the house for the two of us -

no worries - I'm with him for the duration, whether he wants it or not ...

anyway. I was in cooking mode ... it's getting chilly here, and I thought that something tummy-warming might be acceptable -

so .. I thought that I had in hand all ingredients for a Paula Deen pork recipe (how wrong can one woman be, especially a woman who's been mistaken for Ms PD time and time again?)

and of course I did NOT!

so, found something else relatively appealing to cook for Froggy - whether he likes it or not, we'll soon find out!

this is something called a Piperade - a Basque dish, involving red peppers,

onions,

and lotsa salt/pepper/spices - usually just a basic mix, but this one seems to include Pork (in this case, totally fat-ty pork as well, aka prosciutto)-

what do I know?

I'm only a Nice Jewish Girl, which is what I've been for ages ...

oh yes - there's a coarsely chopped Orange in there as well ...

all best, and best regards, and etc ...

All Tied Up!

2008-11-02T12:39:00.003-05:00

Some time in the beginning of June, I started to make a necktie for Rockstar. Then, I had an unfortunate accident, which left me unable to knit for a couple of months.

Once I was able to resume my semi-normal life, I could knit but NOT the tie. The incredible Alchemy Silken Straw made my hands and fingers feel horribly miserable.

I thought that I could finish the tie for Rockstar's birthday, about a month ago, but to no avail ... the old digits just wouldn't cooperate!

Well, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, Rockstar came back across the pond and I had new incentive to finish ...

TA-DA: A TIE!

(don't ask about my aching hands - I may have to soak and ice them for a day or two before I can knit again without pain...)

BOO!!!

2008-10-31T16:40:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween to all ...

ROCK the CASBAH/Camera Crash

2008-10-28T10:28:00.004-04:00

Haven't been here for a while, working in real life a bit too much (but someone's got to do it, right?)

Developed "startitis" once again - I must be on the road to knitting recovery - while in my LYS the other day I discovered this beautiful yarn (scroll over to Casbah Sock) while watching a knitting friend casting on with it, and immediately dove into the basket to see which colorway jumped out at me.

Another knitting friend was making her first Clapotis, and since I've made a few in the past, figured that this

yarn would look decent as one ... so two skeins came home with me.

I decided to snap a few digital pix of the skeins (they always look so inviting before they're wound into cakes or balls, don't they?) and found something seriously wrong with my vintage (well, it's about 5 years old) Sony, which I had gotten with rewards points. It's so weird - the screen is white, but everything else seemed to be working - so, I took about 10-20 shots while looking at a white screen (kinda sorta like a blind person taking pictures) and actually got a couple of great (IMHO) ones ... this is actually the first good shot of Kiki that I've gotten in a loooong time!

BUT, I cannot continue with a camera that I can't see into - so, off I went to my trusty rewards points place, and clicked on this, and bought it - double the megapixels, half the size camera-wise. I figured it was the one thing I could do during these "interesting times" - not spend any "real" money!

Am I Blue?

2008-10-16T11:30:00.004-04:00

Again, I'm noticing that most of my yarn purchases lately have been in the aqua/turquoise/teal department.

and yes, Joan (sorry I cannot respond directly to your last blog post, since I have no idea of your email address), this is all that's left of the THIRD ball of Kidsilk Haze (the Cardi Cozy from the new Mason-Dixon book, in the XS size ...)

I think it has to do with my hair color, or rather, cessation of coloring it - my whole skin tone has changed, therefore, no more orange/yellows are ruling the stash/project roost.

in fact, this beautiful skein is Dream in Color Classy in Blue Lagoon - and amazingly, I found these buttons at Tender Buttons - a good friend remarked that it was almost like I had found them first and then bought the yarn to match! It's the opposite. This is part of what's going to become my version of the February Lady Sweater.

The main way I've seen this, aside from what comes home in those super-secret clear plastic knitting store shopping bags, is on ravelry. There's a great little organizer in there where one can change the order of projects, and when I sorted them by date started, the blue family stood out STRONG!

Aside from the Permission to Knit Shawl, I hope that I'll be able to finish more of my blues (maybe a little red will be thrown in, but suffice it to say it will be on the blu-ish side!)

Like Buttah ...

2008-10-11T20:30:00.005-04:00

For lack of something better to blog about right now, I though you all might want to know about my collection of butter knives...

starting in 1949, when Mom's Uncle Harry (who brought my parents to the US after WWII) had everyone (including 1 yr old me) installed at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel here in nyc, he started me on my collecting jones - I guess I could say that I've always had it - yarn came along much much later, but here is a sample of what I first collected, and have continued collecting - except now, during hard times, there ain't no butter knives to be found (well, there probably are, but one has to be able to afford to go to restaurants fancy enough to offer them at the table...

can anyone recognize the Waldorf Astoria ones?

Actually, some of them even have sterling marks!

Raglan vs Raglan

2008-10-11T12:39:00.007-04:00

I'm working on two sweaters now, alternating when my hand gets tired - one is this,

and the other is this.

The fun of it is comparing how the two appear (same concept, different designers, obviously different yarns).

The Cardi Cozy came out of the new book from Kay and Ann, and, aside from a few minor pattern errors, was a very very quick knit, due to the size of the needles and the diameter of the yarn. I've done everything except sewing the sleeve seams together and crocheting one row around the collar; due to the fact that I only have this much

left of the third ball,

I'm hesitant to do the crochet since we all know it eats up a LOT more yarn than knitting!

Then the other one, in a DK weight (I'm using Berroco Pure Merino DK in colorway 4555) is taking a LOT more yarn (sorry if I'm repeating myself) and is a little tougher on my left hand (3 month anniversary since wrist surgery - YAY!), but is definitely satisfying in its own way.

Suffice it to say that the Cardi Cozy will be a gift for someone other than myself, but I think the Hermia will be the keeper (if I will suck it up to finish!)

Keep your fingers crossed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROCKSTAR!!!

2008-10-06T09:49:00.003-04:00

Darling son, just about this time 29 years ago today, you were born ...

and baby, look at you now!

love always,

yo mama

Self (?) Portrait

2008-10-05T18:08:00.005-04:00

While practicing all of my recently "abletoknit" skills (reacquired, of course), I tried really hard to capture a self-taken picture of both hands knitting. Seems that I have been sucessful ... the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole that I have been working on (well, um, rather, onandoff since the fracture) allowed itself to be snapped from my chin - don't ask - and I got a really decent shot of the actual deed - thanks to my chin, my poitrine, and both hands (oh yes - and my little Sony digital camera!)

ps - please notice my first manicure since the middle of June ... I think the color is OPI Rudy for Rudolph or some other inane name -

I almost got run over by a Maserati on Rosh Hashana

2008-10-01T22:30:00.002-04:00

... got your attention, didn't I?

I was crossing 83rd Street on Columbus Avenue here in the great Big Apple on the first day of the holiday - and there it came - directly from the east (where a very large synagogue here in town is situated). They weren't stopping - I am not so steady on my feet, but I managed to hop back (as opposed to running past them).

Caught my breath, tried to get the heart to stop banging against my chest, and proceeded along my merry errand-ful way.

I guess I lived long enough to talk about it!

ps - it was a four door Maserati - the parents were in the back seat and the children were driving - they must have finished with services and were heading toward a nice lunch somewhere. I guess the rich are really different than you or I ...

More later on the knitting front - but for now, a happy, healthy, and SWEET 5769 to all who observe and also read this meager attempt at a blog.

The Wrist Insists ...

2008-09-23T11:49:00.004-04:00

on knitting lace, and nothing but!

As of Saturday, I was literally this much (aka one row away) from finishing the Oyster Bay Shawl, my present to myself upon being told by the orthopedist that it was OK for me to resume knitting.

That was just about a month ago - I'm now thrilled that my knitting speed, while somewhat hampered, has returned to somewhat normal ...

What I AM noticing, though, is that any attempt to knit something other than lace has been met with great resistance from the almighty left wrist - yeah, I know - this too shall pass... but NOT SOON ENOUGH pour moi - I really really really want to make this in the colorway TRANCE, of which now I own two skeins, and, if I'm lucky enough, I can try like heck to start it tonight - it might just work, since, like lace knitting, but unlike "real sweater" knitting, my wrist (and attached adjacent hand) won't object!

update: Oyster Bay, c'est fini

(except for the blocking, of course, because I still haven't found that willing soul who will block it and the other three shawls hanging around waiting).

Oh well.

why is it that one kitty or the other always wants to claim a shawl for their own?

THIS Pig Doesn't Fly ...

2008-09-09T09:29:00.003-04:00

While running errands yesterday, I happened to "have" to walk by one of my favorite Manhattan stores, Reminiscence.

There's always something new and different and CUTE...

No matter how hard I try, I just cannot NOT walk in there,

and I just CANNOT leave empty-handed!

PROUD ...

2008-09-07T18:05:00.006-04:00

as a Peacock, I guess ... for some reason (as you may have noticed by now), I'm still drawn to that colorway. Witness the 97th iteration/aka purchase of that colorway, still in an attempt to figure out the Buttonhole Scarf from VK Fall 2008.

This time it's Brown Sheep Lambs' Pride Worsted in "Persian Peacock".

The pattern is supposed to be "VEVV - translation: Very Easy Very Vogue - but - there's something wonky about the pattern - maybe it's me, but my old brain doesn't wrap well around odd numbered rows being the wrong side and even numbered rows being the right side, therefore, I'm having mental issues - or maybe it's the broken wrist transferring its inadequacies over to the head?

supposed wrong side...

and supposed right side ...

but I am not sure that it matters which side is "right or wrong", since, after all, it IS a scarf!

ps: I think I'm in LOVE with the new Google Chrome browser - it seems to be reading my (befuddled) mind!

Can You Tell ...

2008-08-31T17:48:00.002-04:00

that I'm into Teal?

The Pain, Boss ... The PAIN!!!

2008-08-23T19:34:00.005-04:00

OK - so I'm able/allowed to knit once again ... so I started on this fabulous lace shaw l pattern, and, after 5 days, I've reached the second repeat of the second chart

(only 4 more to go on that particular repeat).

In the "old days" (aka pre-6/26/07), I would have been shocked that I only had gotten

"this far" ...

but today, thanks to the OT/PT knitting gods,

I'm thrilled that I got THIS FAR!

Permission to Knit!

2008-08-18T21:48:00.004-04:00

Today was my 6-week post-surgery followup visit to the almighty and glorious OZ - aka orthopedist non pareil ... after 18 visits to the Certified Hand Therapist, who worked me every which way but up, and I still had those "Jones Pork Sausage Link" fingers,

he said: "go forth and KNIT! I pronounce your wrist HEALED, but something has to be done about that SWELLING!"

The only thing that he could suggest, aside from BRUTAL STRETCHING of the RECALCITRANT fingers,

and ICING of said fingers, was to KNIT - what a guy!!!

So, in honor of his edict, I went to Knitty City and bought 2 skeins of Brooklyn Handspun in the Cool Creek colorway,

screwed my KnitPicks Options Harmony US 5s into a cord which would create a reasonable facsimile of a 32 inch circular, and knit away on this wonderful new shawl pattern called Oyster Bay, which I discovered in Ravelry ...

am I in Pain? but of course!

but then again, no PAIN means no GAIN ... I'll let you know in a couple of days if I have survived the agony of the feat, AKA knitting again! YAY!!!

The Birthday Reveal

2008-08-10T22:17:00.003-04:00

So ... I wasn't going to get ANYTHING in the way of a present or dinner or anything for the big 6-0 ... if you all might recall, the wrist surgery was the gift - happy I had it, I think?

Anyway, here's what happened tonight; Rockstar son comes over with adorable GF, on their way back across the Pond; they tell me to get dressed, close my eyes, and trust them ...

so out the door we go (of course Froggy was not only in tow, but in on the whole thing)

herewith what I got: a PHENOMENAL dinner at Dovetail ,

(a super "in" and super hard to get into restaurant here in town),

and a GORGEOUS bracelet that I had coveted in Soho about a week ago -

OMG! what MORE could a girl want? maybe health and happiness? that should be the ticket, yes?

and one day soon I'll be able to model the bracelet on the left wrist, when it ceases to be swollen --

THE BIG DAY

2008-08-10T09:56:00.002-04:00

... and I don't look a day older!

hair's just a little bit shorter and a whole lot grayer...

now please go and send HB wishes to my birthday twin as well ...

there's a saying that one should live to be 120 - if so, I've just started middle age!

ALL RIGHT, OK - I GIVE UP!!!

2008-08-09T20:49:00.004-04:00

It's now officially one month since my surgery ...

I'm expecting more progress - competitive moi, what can I say?
Supposedly I'm doing exceptionally well for my time in the game - this is according to the therapists;

I don't believe them!

But ... maybe they're right ..
So, expect nada from me until I've lived through my 60th birthday (which happens to be tomorrow, 8-10-08)

I guess that we should all be so lucky, yes?

HB2ME, AKA the BIG 6-0!!!

WHERE THERE'S A WILL ...

2008-07-26T14:20:00.004-04:00

there's a way!

I've had two very painful PT sessions, scheduled for three more next week, with lots of "homework" in between.

I hope that no one sends these pix to either the therapist or the surgeon, but I couldn't take it any more ...

hope springs eternal!

SPLINTED!

2008-07-22T09:53:00.004-04:00

The cast came off, 11 days after the surgery!

Yay, I think ... I'm in more pain than before - I guess it comes along with the relative "freedom" of the splint (custom made, mind you!)

The contraption is removable, and I've been given permission to take a real shower in a few days ... have also been prescribed a TON of both Occupational and Physical Therapy, which starts tomorrow ...

In the meantime, I'm supposed to try to make a fist,

hold it for a few seconds, then open up my hand as wide and as far back as I can --

much, much easier said than done.

Time on my Hand

2008-07-16T11:11:00.014-04:00

On the one-week anniversary of my surgery, since I'm still sadly unable to do any knitting, I thought that I might entertain you (while depressing myself) with all of my way-too-many WIPs.

This is where ravelry came to the rescue - I could have just linked you to my projects page, but, since I'm feeling a bit guilty about blogging, and have not much else to occupy my time, here goes: some projects ARE linked, since it seems the pix have disappeared from my hard drive - oh yeah - I forgot that I got a new laptop in November - that's why, and that's why I'm thankful for ravelry!

Happy Diamond Links Scarf

Cabled Pullover Tunic

Twist & Lace Scarf

Oregon Cardigan

Ruffled Fichu

Rectangular Shawl

Paisley Lace Shawl

127 Print Lady Eleanor

Swiss Mountain Scarf

Toe Up Flat Feet Socks
Leap Year Socks
Honeybee Stole

Opal Hundertwasser Socks

Shetland Triangle Shawl
Roll the Die Scarf

Oblique

Ice Queen

Now for a touch of current events: to quote Harry S Truman, "Give me a one-handed economist! All my economists say, On the one hand on the other."

So ... um ... maybe I've got some company out there?

FINISHED

2008-07-12T20:50:00.003-04:00

The surgery was finished June 10, 2008, at approximately 1230pm EDST. Thanks, Dr. Wrist Expert, and to all the incredible staff at HSS.

I've been loopy on pain meds since then, until I started to itch. And run a slight temp. No more super-strength pain relievers for me!

But, if you recall this post, I was "this close" to finishing the Helena baby sweater ... Well, here it is, in all its glory:

MANY, MANY THANKS go to my dear friend Maxine, who very kindly and very beautifully FINISHED it for me over last weekend. It's now hanging up at Knitty City for anyone who's interested in seeing it in person.

It's adorable, the RYC Cashsoft DK (this is colorway 510, aptly named "Clementine") is a dream to work with. A "skosh" over 4 balls were used to make the 12 month size, and there's probably enough left over to make a cute little hat to go with. I finally convinced Maxine to fall in love with the Harmony needles, both circs and DPNs!

This will be known as my "Legend of the Fall"!

(and, of course, thanks to all of you for your kind wishes for my full recovery ... I'll be counting the days until I can resume my beloved knitting.)

MAYBE my LAST MEAL?

2008-07-09T19:58:00.003-04:00

I'm going in for wrist surgery tomorrow at 8am EDST ... have to eat something substantial before midnight - dunno what to choose, since Froggy (a) won't leave the house to take me some place for a nice dinner, and (b) refuses to watch my Netflix pick of The Jazz Singer, which could very well be my last movie ever - YIKES!!

So this is what I'm having - something from EJ's: so, I'm thinkin', the chicksalsan on toasted challah, a side of fries, and some blueberry concoction from the menu for dessert ... whaddya think? Whatever!

Anyway, please, whoever reads my meager blog, think of me tomorrow from 8am-2pm and wish me a full recovery - I hope it will come true; after all, I now worship at the church of this guy! (who said to me at our initial consultation
Monday thedaybeforeyesterday, that I would be knitting again within two weeks ... how could a knitter not love him? cashmere scarf as a thankyou present, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Call...

2008-07-07T22:42:00.000-04:00

By hook or by crook, I'm going in some place tomorrow for surgery on my wrist. If I tell you I'm nervous, scared, and petrified, all at the same time, would you understand? Anyway, I thought that I would leave you with one
of the projects

I MOST would like to have finished before the cold weather arrives ...
stupidly, and unknowingly, I continued to procrastinate on this one, my chef d'oeuvre: the OREGON cardigan
in the Autumn colorway ...

ahhh - so close, and yet, so far!

Hopefully, on the other side of the surgery, I'll talk to you again!