yarntherapy

Return from the Emerald City

Seattle was lovely and rainy (I know!), and my niece is the cutest thing EVAH. I totally respect her parents' wish to not have her photo on the web, but damn, I wish I could show you the pictures. And she's smart! And funny! And she's charmingly mangled my name into something that sounds like "Yorow". Awwwww.

Dad and I did every touristy thing there was to do:

Pike Place Market:

The Underground Tour:

The Science Center (butterflies!):

We also saw a fantastic exhibit that I had been wanting to see for years and I'm so glad I just happened to see the poster in a restaurant one day - Theatre de la Mode at the Museum of History and Industry. Amazing mannequins designed in 1945 to promote the French fashion industry post-WWII. The detail is just stunning - we were practically the only ones there so I had a lot of time to get as close as I could (I set the alarm off a couple of times!) and check them out. I took a ton of photos. And bought the book, of course!

Here's just one of the sets - a Paris street scene:

We also ate so. much. food. I miss Alaskan halibut so much, and of course the salmon was off the hook. Screw Weight Watchers (this week!)

I even have a finished object to show off! And a new skill! (Well, "skill" is a rather strong word for what I can do......)

I present: The One Skein Scarf from Happy Hooker!

(photo taken on my fire escape - I can't figure out what the plaque says. Apparently if I put "okum brance" on the "balcony" I will be fined ten dollars.)

The yarn is the Australian merino I received from Annie when she was my Secret Pal a while back - love the color! It was exactly the right amount, and made for a great stashbuster project. It could use a little blocking - I made my first chain a wee bit tight (203!) so it curves a bit. It was fun! I brought it on the plane with me (and got plenty done due to the TWO HOUR delay. Ahem.) I was painstakingly, sloooowly, working that first row of double crochet in the airport and I finally looked up and saw a lady a few seats away working on a crochet shawl. We smiled and chatted a bit and she must have been watching my, um, progress because she very kindly showed me the difference in the hooks we were using and recommended I try the less-curvy type (Debbie Stoller discusses this in the book as well.) I hooked a bunch on the plane as well - yay for JetBlue and DirectTV and BBC America. I spent a very pleasant couple of hours watching Sea of Souls and slowly making progress.

So. Now I'm home - and I had not one but two awesome packages waiting for me!

First, my booty treasure chest from the awesome Nathania! I knew as soon as I saw her name that it would be wonderful - I love her blog. And it was!

The goods: The Stitch 'n Bitch design journal, a fab batik jolly roger printed circular needle case, Knitters herbal Healing Muscle Soother (mmmmm lavender!), Kookaburra Woolwash (after reading Lauren's FHBF's scientific analysis of this & Eucalan, I'm dying to do my own experiment!), Gloves in a Bottle (which will be great for the days I have to do laundry at work. Yes, I have to do laundry at work. For 7 hours. Ain't showbiz glamorous?) and......the most gorgeous, soft, shiny yarn that I can't wait to use - Louisa Harding Impression, a nylon & mohair blend in beautiful varigated greens & golds. Yummy!

Thanks, Nathania! You rock!

Oh, right. There was another gift in the package. But it's gone now :-)

The other package was from smallthings designs, the jewelry I bought with my Oscar pool winnings - here it is along with the last ring I made in class:

(L-R: smallthings bird ring, my ring, smallthings pods necklace)

I had never seen the smallthings stuff in person but I fell completely in love with what I saw in magazines. While we were in Seattle, we walked through the mall downtown on Easter Sunday when most of the stores were closed. I looked into the window of a small jewelry shop and lo and behold, the whole display was smallthings! And it was beautiful! I was so excited, I knew I would be really happy with my stuff, and I am. Yay!

see you in a few days

Well, I'm off to Seattle to visit my dad and brother and the cutest niece in the world for Easter. I've been too crazy busy to get any pictures taken but there is a lot of craftiness happening - more jewelry, some stash busting knitting projects, and today I started a (gulp) crocheted scarf. It only took me twelve tries to make a 203 loop chain. Hmmm. We'll see how this goes.

If you are my booty swap partner - I'll be home Tuesday, so I'll post the minute I get my booty, I promise!

Happy Easter/Passover/whatever, everyone!

royally RAOKed!

I got a package delivery notice from the post office a couple of days ago and I figured it was my goodies from Jenn's Booty Swap - but it wasn't! It was a really fantastic RAOK from Bethanie - wow! A cute appliqued potholder, 2 skeins of Peruvian Highland Wool in the most gorgeous heathered rusts (I think it's called Spiced Wine but that doesn't do it justice) and a set of Skacel DPNs in size 0 - wow, I guess I'll have to give in and make socks one of these days :-) Thanks so very much, Bethanie - I just love a surprise!

So I got goodies and I still have my pirate booty to look forward to! I've been such a lame blogger that I haven't mentioned this swap at all, didn't even put up a button. But it was super fun - I did a little sewing for the "made" part of the booty - here's a sneak preview:

Actually, I didn't get any decent photos before I shipped it off - I hope my recipient can take some for me!

That's it for now, but coming soon: Bunnies!

actual knitting content ahead!

Hey, guess what? I actually have something to write about!

I know, sit down if this shocks you. I've been the crappiest, laziest blogger ever. And not for lack of things to say, trust me. I make up posts in my head and then I just can't be bothered to sit down at the iBook to get them done. Plus, I'm getting paranoid that if I bitch about my job, suddenly everyone at work will discover the blog and I will get into very much trouble. The only person that I know reads the blog (Hi Gayle!) doesn't care if I bitch, but some other folks just might.

Anyway.

New York City has a fantastic new yarn store! It's Knitty City on the Upper West Side, and it's just wonderful - spacious and warm, with a great selection, super friendly staff, and they're even going to have a garden open in back when the weather gets warmer! Knitty City is truly everything I could want in a shop, and I am looking forward to many hours (and many dollars!) spent there. This was sorely needed, for me and for the neighborhood (I'm not a fan of the nearby yarn store that shall remain nameless.)

Yesterday, Knitty City hosted the fabulous ladies of Mason-Dixon Knitting who were chatting and signing copies of their new book. I had emailed with Kay a few times when my version of the baby Blu jeans were featured on whipup, and she remembered me which made me feel ridiculously cool!

Of course, the event started at 6:00 and I had to be at work at 6:30, so you do the math - it was a bit of a drive-by for me. I was able to meet Ann and Kay and get my book signed and ogle a few gorgeous handknits including some gorgeous grass green beaded socks being worked on by a blogger whose name I didn't get (sorry) and a whole bunch of pretty things from the book, including the nightie and the scribble lace scarves - these and the robe and the baby kimono are probably the things I'm most likely to make from the book. Well, maybe I'll try a dishcloth or two. And I really never wanted to knit a blanket or a rug before, but this book might just nudge me in that direction - I'm particularly inspired by the idea of rag balls! Very fun, quirky book.

So it was a fabulous event, I'm just so bummed I couldn't stay for some wine and chitchat. Next time, hopefully!

In knitting news, I'm nearly done with Tubey but I think it makes me look really fat - I probably should have gone down a size in the body since the yarn is so stretchy on its own. We'll see - I'll get it done in the next day or two and then decide whether to keep it or give it away.

opening day!

Wheeee! The Yankees win, 15-2! Way to go guys - great way to start the season. I'm so happy it's finally here!

Other than that, I got ...... nothing much. Still. I've been a little cranky and disorganized for a couple of weeks and I feel like I'm constantly playing catchup (and never actually catching up!) I had a bout of what I guess could be called bad karma last week - I finally lost it a bit in class and left early which upset the teacher, but I just needed to get out of there before I voiced my frustrations in a way that would really just not be a good idea. I felt like crap, and was really upset with myself for not dealing with it better, and that icky feeling just seemed to last all week. The next class was actually much better, and I think all has been forgiven, but I still hate that I went to that place.

I can't find my camera case - not my camera, that's sitting right over there on my desk - but the case with my extra battery and CF card. Grrrrr. No huge loss, just supremely irritating. Not that I have anything to take pictures of right now, but I'm working on a few different things that I hope to show off soon. And I will try to actually, you know, post them and write about them every once in a while.

15-2! I still can't believe Johnny Damon is in pinstripes, though. Yikes.