yarntherapy

having treasonous thoughts

Freakin' Dubya.

I have had such a long crappy day and all I wanted to do was curl up on my nice new comfy couch with a beer and watch Survivor. But nooo, Bush just had to schedule a press conference tonight. I had to come home and see his ugly mug on my TV instead of Jeff Probst's.  This makes me very cranky, as do the results of tonight's Tribal Council (which I immediately had to find online instead of waiting to see if I could score a tape from anyone!)

Ugh. I just hate him.

In other TV news, however, The Amazing Race was just awesome this week. Rob got a healthy serving of karma on a silver platter served with a lovely dish of hubris on the side. And I never thought I'd say this, but I so want Gretchen & Meredith to make the final three. How wonderful to be able to run the entire race and make that run to the finish line even if they don't win! (and given G & M's incredible luck and perseverance, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they did win!) I'm totally rooting for Uchenna and Joyce though - they are just too cool.

I haven't been knitting. I've been really busy this week and haven't had time to get any of my projects organized. Honeymoon is stalled at the bust shaping until I get another set of size 5 needles, Audrey can't start until Honeymoon is done because I need the 5s, Branching Out is lace and I haven't had time to sit down to figure it out yet. I've been super cranky for a couple of days and I really think it's related to lack of knitting time. Well, that and the fact that I hate my job right now and I finally realized that that probably won't change and I really need to make a plan to get myself out of this situation.

But I digress.

I haven't made any flowers in a while, so I think I'll put together a bag of flower makings to carry around just so I have something to work on. It's amazing how much calmer I am when I can knit.

just call me imelda

I think I have a shoe problem - I saw these in a magazine ad last week and decided I had to have them immediately. So I headed over to Zappos.com (which is awesome, by the way!) and they arrived today:

I mean, come on ....... how cute are those? They're really comfy as well. My goal is to upgrade the style factor of my work shoes. I'm really tired of my ugly black Easy Spirit sneakers, but since I'm on my feet for long periods of time I have to have comfortable shoes, preferably with rubber soles. How very boring!

Here's what I did today in the knitting department:

Woohoo, shrug blocking! I haven't blocked anything in ages - I think I was so traumatized by Retroprep last year that I've stuck to things that don't require it. This wasn't too awful - how bad could a couple of three-quarter sleeves and a trapezoid possibly be? I haven't had to sew seams in a while either - this should be interesting.

I've been putting off the Flower Basket Shawl because it seemed a bit intimidating for my first lace project. Thankfully, Knitty came to the rescue with Branching Out, a pretty lace scarf that is basically a primer on lace knitting. I played with gauge tonight and I think that a double strand of Alpaca Cloud will do nicely. I have it in Moss and Iris - I think I'll make the scarf in Moss and save the Iris for the shawl.

I still need to get some bags started, lace knitting is simply not doable at work!
 

damn, i watch too much tv!

Holy crap! OK, let's talk TV for a minute......This is the best Survivor season ever, seriously. Right now they're down to seven and there are three people left who I could totally root for in the end and 2 that wouldn't disgust me if they won. I mean, there hasn't been a satisfying winner for me ever except for Sandra - and she was in the finals against batshit crazy Lill, you know? Not a lot of scintillating gameplay there.

Amazing Race continues to amaze even though I hate Rob & Amber. I'm convinced that they will win, unfortunately, especially since CBS is now airing a two hour sweeps week special on their wedding. Ugh. Get jobs, you two. And get off my TV! However, Uchenna and Joyce are incredible - her range of emotion during last week's challenge was really quite beautiful, and Uchenna simply needs to be cloned and widely distributed.

More obscure TV - Project Greenlight is amusing the hell out of me and reminds me why I stick to theater and how much I hate doing film. Plus, there's Henry Rollins!

And if it's not too late, and you have the Sundance Channel, try to catch up on The Staircase. True-crime documentary series, really interesting and well-done.

OK, knitting. Still haven't blocked the shrug yet, but I did finish the endless 43" of ribbing. Honeymoon is moving along, I'm almost done with the body increases. I think it will be cute, but I don't love the yarn. Cheap as hell, though, so it's a nice way to see if I like the pattern - then I'll spend the big bucks on something nicer!

All the other projects I have waiting in the wings are not things I can take to work and knit on mindlessly, so I'm planning on designing a couple of felted bags similar to Michelle's - there is a store in Hell's Kitchen devoted to the creative work of people who work backstage on Broadway and my goal is to get a few things in there to sell. So it's time to get out the Cascade 200 and start working on color combinations - nothing more mindless than rows and rows of in-the-round stockinette!

I do love Mondays

Monday is my day off. Here is what I did today:

This was my view:

This, too - lookie, swans!

It was lovely. This was the first day off with nice weather I've had this year. I got up early, did a Target run for lots of random stuff, got my brows threaded, grabbed the chair and the knitting bag, and headed for the park where I spent the next four hours. Knitting, reading, listening to NPR. Just a few of my favorite things!

I love this park - Inwood Hill - you can't even believe you're still in Manhattan. Today every baseball field was full - we have an official Little League team as well as a local neighborhood league. So fun to watch - everyone from the teenagers sponsored by the local car service who hit the ball so hard you could hear the aluminum bats twanging across the park, to the toddlers who were just learning how to swing the bat without falling down.

Not a whole lot of knitting progress to report - going round & round on Honeymoon, and finishing the ribbing for the shrug which I still need to block. I think my next priority is organizing the stash and the craft closet before I plunge into anything big - it's currently in a frightening state of piles of plastic bags and disorganized needles. I do have a new baby to knit for, though! My friend Sean's wife gave birth to a baby girl Saturday - premature and only 4.7 lbs. Tiny but doing well, and their first daughter was actually even smaller and earlier, so this was quite a relief. Everyone's healthy, and I can safely make a newborn size knowing she won't immediately grow out of it!

Tempting made her first public appearance on Sunday to much acclaim! She's very fun to wear, and I'm glad I got in at least one wearing before the weather got too warm. I do think I'm going to thread a little elastic around the neckline for extra security, though. I wore it out to dinner, but anything more strenous than sitting and stuffing my face with pasta may require a bit more help to stay on the shoulders!

what's goin' on?

Let's see........ I finished the body parts of the shrug. I am definitely knitting both of my sleeves at the same time from now on. I must have missed a decrease somewhere on the second sleeve and ended up with an extra stitch. No big deal, I just hid it in the bindoff. It's not like this is a whole sweater! Now I need to block the sleeves & back, and knit 43 inches of ribbed binding. I'm about 5 inches into it, the perfect mindless backstage project. Can't wait to see it finished, but I don't think I'll be starting on mine for a while - straight stockinette can be really, really boring.

I'm cruising on the Honeymoon cami :

My twisted ribbing looks a little funny, but I think that's due to the yarn being less flexible than the yarn used in the original. I'm using Elann.com's Endless Summer Sonata, 100% cotton and a whopping $1.98 per skein. The whole project will cost twelve bucks, so I'm not too sad that the yarn isn't as slinky as I might like. The color is divine!

The biggest news in my week you can sort of see in the background of the photo above - I bought a couch! It's the Bayside from Crate and  Barrel and I love love love it! I've never actually owned a real couch - I've had a futon for years. This is a very grown up step for me (and considering how old I actually am, that's pretty pathetic!) Anyway, I shopped for ages and spent more than I would have liked, but this is exactly what I wanted and now that I am actually stretched out on it as I type, I daresay it's even better than I had expected!

Totally Tempting!

Look!

My hair looks crazy and you can't really see the cute detail of the ribbon - it's not plain white, it has black edge stitching - but here you have me in my actual finished Tempting!

I wasn't sure when I started this blog how I would deal with photos - I live by myself and don't have anyone conveniently around to take them for me. But today I realized that there is a shelf at the exact right height to set my camera on, and then I fiddled with the self-timer on my trusty Canon S410 and found that it is totally idiot-proof and that I didn't even need to hunt down the instruction book! (I won't tell you how many shots it took for me to get one I could live with.....)

Knitting has been slow going for a couple of days - I was slicing celery for a nice healthy snack (celery & baba ganoush......yummy!) and I managed to slice my left thumb open right where I hold my left needle. It's not so much that it's painful or anything, it's more of a problem working around the bandaid that's slowing me down. Still in progress are the Interweave shrug and the green Honeymoon Cami. Not sure what will be next - probably Audrey (finally!) and a cute Crumpet or two! I'm also thinking of Branching Out from the new Knitty - it looks like it might be a good beginner lace project before I start the Flower Basket Shawl.

Spring is finally really, truly here! This is what I saw in DC last week:

well, finally!

So after a few detours, Tempting is finally finished! And it's very cute. As it turned out, I probably didn't need the extra skein...... I tried it on when I finished and amazingly, it was actually too long! I had added about an inch since I am long-waisted and I almost always have to add length. But this was just not flattering - it needed to hit just shy of my actual waist in order not to look bulky. So I plunged in, ran a dental floss lifeline at the correct length, and ripped from the bottom up - it ended up being a little over an inch, actually. Then I bound off purlwise at the hem.

All in all, I'm pleased - I love the pattern and would definitely make it again. The yarn, though, I must admit I'm not as thrilled with. Which surprised me! I adore the Baby Cashmerino, but the Cashmerino Aran seemed to lack body. I had read elsewhere that it has a tendency to get fluffy and pill, and unfortunately that seems to be happening to mine. It also apparently loosens up even more when it's washed, so I'm going to have to be very careful about that. I'd love to see what this looks like in Calmer, but since I'm already making Audrey (well, eventually) I'll probably look for something else if I make another Tempting.

Photos later - I need to figure out how to take pictures of myself by myself!

Oh - am I the only one who got a little teary watching Charles and Camilla? I just think it's sweet :-)

highbrow, lowbrow

In a whirlwind of activity Friday morning, I made it down to Seaport Yarns and escaped with only the single skein of Cashmerino that I need to complete Ms. Tempting. Then I dropped eighty bucks at the Awesome Cheap Yarn Store, aka P&S Fabrics. Oops.

To those who do not live in NYC, it is hard to understand how difficult it can be to find certain things. Yes, I have access to a dozen Sephoras and 5 major department stores. I can run into Bendel's to buy ridiculously expensive Kevyn Aucoin mascara. But just try to find that Jane curling mascara and you wind up running into twenty Duane Reades until you find the last one hidden behind the Maybelline rack. And it will be the wrong color.

High-end in NYC is not a problem. Low-end is a problem. I can find Debbie Bliss, Rowan, Cherry Tree Hill, Noro, whatever. I can't find a decent selection of Lion Brand. Except at the Awesome Cheap Yarn Store. Now, I'm definitely a bit of a yarn snob, but when I'm making stuff for kids, I'm more concerned about durabilty and ease of care than anything else. And kids grow like weeds - I don't need to spend fifty bucks on a sweater for a toddler. I have a niece and at least two friends with babies on the way, so I wanted to pick up some Cotton-Ease to make another Tasia's Cardigan and a couple of Crumpets. I love the ACYS for this - bins and bins of Lion Brand, Patons, all the good basic stuff. They also discount if you buy by the bag. I picked up Cotton-Ease in lavender and blue, and some coral Micro-Spun for me - another tank or cami, probably. They have a big notions section as well, so I got some more T-pins for blocking and some black cord elastic to run around the neckline of Tempting. Hopefully that will help keep it in place!

Gotta run now - I'm heading to Maryland after work tonight - Dad and I are going to see the cherry blossoms in DC tomorrow!

Thwarted!

The universe does not want me to finish Tempting. First I went to Yarn Company which carries the Cashmerino Aran, but was out of black. They were also out of size 8 bamboo needles which I wanted to pick up for the Flower Basket Shawl. I wisely called Yarn Connection before I trekked down there since they were out of black as well. So it's back down to Seaport - not that that's a bad thing, I adore that store, but it's just really out of the way for me!

I'll head down there tomorrow before work, and hopefully I'll be able to stop at the awesome cheap yarn store on Broadway to pick up some Cotton-Ease for a couple of projects I have in mind. Like this adorable little girl's dress:

Hello, cutest thing ever! Thank goodness my brother had a daughter.....

I still need to start Audrey, and I'm plugging along on the shrug. Between those two (grey and black, respectively) and Tempting (black), I decided I need a bit of color in my knitting. Here's part of my last Elann order:

Pasta in Sunbaked Brick, and Endless Summer Sonata in Fresh Pesto. I did buy more of each of these yarns - in black. What can I say? I'm a New Yorker!

I swatched, got gauge on the first try, and cast on for the Honeymoon cami in the Sonata. It's 100% cotton and felt a bit rough at first after all the soft winter wools and cashmere I've been using recently, but it knits up nicely and has a lovely sheen. It shows off the twisted ribbing really beautifully. I'm a little afraid that this cami may be a bit too, um,  racktacular to wear in public but it looked like such a fun pattern that I couldn't resist.

In other cool knitting news, the fabulous Mindy gifted me with the Magic Loop book! She's really a big enabler who is subliminally trying to convince me to buy the Denise needle set.......naw, she's just another of the generous souls who hang out in the knitblog world. Thanks, Mindy!