Picot-Boo

December 31, 2004 By

Look what came yesterday!

Isn’t it beautiful? And it’s so, so soft. AND you can throw it in the washing machine! (My sister will love that!) This amazing yarn is Art Yarns Supermerino in color #108. It will be this cutie little sweater with the picot trim:

Hence, the name Picot-Boo! The pattern comes from the Family Circle Easy Knitting Holiday 2004 Issue. It will be perfect for little Charlotte, who can now say “I love you, Cara!” Yeah!

I almost forgot to show you the secret Xmas gift for Georgie. It was a scarf. You can imagine my horror when I realized it was in America’s Team’s colors. And me being a Philly girl and all. [You must watch the video on the Philly link! Go Mummers! Go Eagles!]

My dad didn’t make it up yesterday – he’s under the weather – but he’s on his way now. He’s bringing me my birthday book! Ever since the day I was born, my father has been giving my siblings and I a book on our birthday. He always writes these sappy inscriptions in the front (You’re a woman now! You’re a teenager! Always an I’m so proud of you!) None of us ever, EVER open the book before our birthdays. And we always call each other to find out what we got and read the inscription to each other. He keeps it a deep, dark secret. I think my mom always resented that he never told her what the books were, let alone let her in on the gift-giving. Tomorrow will be my 35th book – I have all of them. Some of the stand-outs:

Rain Makes Applesauce for my third birthday.
Sam, Bangs and Moonshine for my fourth.
The Hobbit for my eighth.
Gone with the Wind for my eleventh.
The Fountainhead for my thirteenth.
1984 for my fourteenth birthday, January 1, 1984. (I was too freaked out to read it!)
A Canticle for Leibowitz for my 21st.

Then there were the college years – he gave me biographies of Lillian Hellman and Sylvia Plath back to back. I said, Dad, spare me. No more depressing women! And I don’t even like biographies! Since then he’s stuck to fiction. We have a little game though, because of all of his children (there are four of us) I read by far the most – and have the most books. Books are my life. It’s his special challenge each year to find me something I don’t have. Haven’t read. Maybe even haven’t heard of. He takes pride in the fact that he hasn’t given me a duplicate yet. So tune in tomorrow for my birthday book.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Picot-Boo, Stash

C’mon Over!

December 31, 2004 By

Knit One Read Too is alive and well.

I, on the other hand, am beat.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Any MT experts out there?

December 30, 2004 By

I’m trying to load a plugin – but I also need to install a patch. Not sure how to do that – anybody out there who can help me? Leave a comment and I’ll email you back. Thank you!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Wow!

December 30, 2004 By

Thanks everybody for your response to Knit One Read Too! I’m really excited about it. I’m in the process of making logos and setting up templates. If you left a comment on the entry linked above, you will receive an email soon with login instructions. If you haven’t left a comment, and want in, please do!

Let the celebrating begin!
I received my first birthday gift yesterday! From Annie (thank you, thank you!) She gifted me with books from Amazon and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

And last night was lamb chop night! Mmmmmm…. Every year, a couple of days before my birthday, Georgie takes me out for lamb chops. It’s my favorite, naturally, and Georgie aims to please. Dinner last night was at Dylan Prime, in Tribeca. This is not your father’s steak house! The decor was very nice, atmosphere as well. We got a good table – not too close to our neighbors, but close enough that we could check out what they were eating (a must!). For starters we had ceasar salads, probably the low point of the meal, but not bad at all. Georgie had the scallop appetizers, but they smelled too fishy for me – so I passed. I had the Colorado rack of lamb – G had a New York Strip. Devine! For our “Accessories” (their way of saying side dishes) we had the Yukon Gold Mashed potatoes which were heavenly. Lots of butter, lots of whipping. We should’ve ordered one for each of us. (Do you think it’s bad behavior to lick the bowl? What about dragging your finger through it for that last little morsel?) And I ordered the baby brussel sprouts in balsamic! Yummy! I love brussel sprouts. They were very good, and G even tried some.

The pièce de résistance was the dessert. I had the Molten Valrhona Chocolate Cake and my god. I.thought.I.would.die. This was by far the best chocolate cake/souffle type dish I’ve ever had in my life (and trust me, I try them all! Nothing better than runny chocolate cake.) It was sweet, but not too sweet. The secret of it, I think, was how light the dish actually was. Talking about licking the plate. I’d go back just for this dish! And I don’t even like chocolate that much. Georgie had the Dylan Chocolate Turnover with Bananas and Marshmallow, which he said was just as amazing. What a wonderful meal! Thank you my love!

My dad may come up to visit today, and if he does, we’re probably going out to dinner – to Cara Mia in the city. Another great meal is in the works!

Knitting news!
I started swatching for my Manos vest, which from now on be called School Daze. I’m so happy with it! I’ve got the front cable just about figured out – I’m going to split the swatch to see how it will work out with the v-neck and then I’m going to do my calculations to cast on! This designing thing is pretty cool.

And I cast on again for my Ribby Cardi. Thanks for the comments about it yesterday. I don’t mind ripping it out – to get it right. If it’s a little big – no problem, but too small, no way. I’ll let you know how it goes.

A public apology!
Apparently I owe you all an apology. When I post my links, I generally send them to a new window: target=”_blank”. I’ve since found out that this is bad, very bad. I’m not quite sure I agree with Nielsen’s argument, but I’ll try it out for the time being. In the meantime, if you want to open up the link in a new window, hold down the shift key when you click it. I’m so, so sorry.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Ribby Cardi, School Daze

Size DOES Matter

December 29, 2004 By

I finished the back of my ribby cardi (what a fast knit!) yesterday and promptly started on the left front. While I’m knitting this said front, I’m thinking to myself, this looks really, really small.

I wear about a size 8 in real life. Sometimes a 10, depending on the brand. But I’m nicely endowed on top. Not Anna Nicole Smith or anything, but you know, not small by any means. So I tend to wear baggy clothes on top. I go for the large usually. I’m not trying to hide anything, I just want to be comfortable.

When I measured for the ribby cardi I took out a sweater I already have (not one I made) and measured against that. The sweater’s a little on the baggy side, but going by the gague I decided on the 38/39 version of the sweater. (Bonne Marie has been very generous in her pattern by giving us about a million sizes to choose from!)

Of course, I was using the exact yarn the pattern called for and I’m a “normal” knitter (not too tight, not too loose – or at least I thought) so I didn’t bother to check for gague. WRONG! When will I learn?!? I just measured the back. The pattern says the gague should be 19 stitches for 4 inches in stockinette. I just measured my sweater. I’m getting 21 stitches for 4 inches. I think I’m going to rip it out and go two sizes bigger. That way I know it won’t be too tight. Kind of a bummer, but it really did knit up amazingly quickly. I’ll rip it all out today.

Because I was bummed about ribby cardi, I started on a swatch for my Manos vest. I’m thinking I want to get it finished by January 13th – the first day of class. I’m teaching this term and want to look snazzy for my first day. This will be my first “design.” I’m doing a simple v-neck vest with a cable down the middle.

Thanks everyone for your interest in the knitblogging reading group! I’m thrilled to get it off the ground. I’ve purchased the url www.knitonereadtoo.com and hopefully by the end of the week you’ll be receiving invitations in your email. Thanks – I think it’s going to be great. I’ve already read about fifty pages of the book and it’s really good. Very interesting! (I was kind of bummed yesterday – you know, end of year, winter’s here, birthday kind of blahs – so it’s nice to have a new project!)

PS – If you want in on the reading group, please leave a comment on “>the knitblogging entry. That way I can keep it all together! Thanks!

Filed Under: Ribby Cardi

A Knitbloggers Book Group

December 28, 2004 By

You like the idea? I’m going to start one!

The Don Quixote idea doesn’t seem to be going over too well (I’m still going to do it!), but Annie and I have been going back and forth all day about a doing a real book group for knit bloggers (and anyone else that wants to join, I think. I’m not sure knitting should be a requirement, but we’ll see!)

I’m going to set up a separate blog – I think it will be called Knit One Read Too, but I’m open to suggestions. I’m thinking it will mainly be contemporary literary fiction – but it would be nice to throw some non-fiction in there every now and again. The group will “meet” once a month. By this I mean that we will set a date when the discussion will start, and I will post that day with questions to discuss. During the rest of the month all who want to post can, but nothing that really gives away plot – maybe links about the author, book reviews, suggestions for other books to read, etc. We’ll see how it goes.

We will also have a poll each month to choose the next book (I think we should at least be one month ahead though). I will gather suggestions and put up around three or four choices and we’ll vote.

What do you think? Do you think it’s doable? I’ve got the server space and everything so it’s no biggy on the technical end. I’m excited! I used to moderate a book group for some really lovely women. I read some great books, met some terrific people, and I got to talk about books. I’m thinking this could be something really nice in the knitting community – since everyone seems to also be pretty voracious readers.

The first book will be The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.

I’m thinking the second book will be The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

So who wants to join us? (Do it, do it, do it!)
Thanks!

UPDATE

Knit One Read Too is up and running! If you’d like to join, please head over here and let me know. Thanks!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Don Quixote

December 27, 2004 By

I’m dying to read it. I’ve been dying for years. Given that it’s the 400th Anniversary and the fact that I turn 35 in a just a few days, I thought why not.

But I’d like to invite you all to read along with me! I’ve seen buttons around the blogs for the Anna Karenina read along, and have been intrigued. I’m figuring a six-month limit – maybe around a 150 pages a month. I would set up a separate blog so anyone can comment as they please, but I’d also have set times per month where I would comment, post some links, etc. I’m going to be reading the new Edith Grossman translation linked above, but any version would be acceptable.

I used to moderate a book group in real life, and since they disbanded, I’ve been reading less and missing it terribly! So this is my chance to get back in the game.

Let me know what you think. Any takers?

Filed Under: Don Quixote

Karma Karma Karma Karma

December 27, 2004 By

Karma Chameleon….

Guess what showed up today? You betcha. The packages from Amazon. It just so happens that when I yelled and cried and berated the customer service representative on Friday, she issued me a credit for the items.

So. They’re here. And they’re free.

What to do? I’ll preface this with a little story.

Once, a while back, some friends and I went to a great reading at Barnes & Noble. I picked up the book before the reading so I could read along with the author (the amazing John Dufresne – if you haven’t read Lousiana Power & Light, run out right now and pick it up. Freaking hysterical!). You know how they always have a big display right there, next to the lecturn and stuff? Anyway, the reading was great and I had the book signed. Then we gathered all our stuff and headed out for burgers.

There I was, standing in line at the Port Authority waiting for the 129 bus when I realized I NEVER PAID FOR THE BOOK!!!!

Did bells go off when I left the store? NO.
Did any of my friends say anything? NO.
I just cruised on out through the metal detectors and all without a peep.

I was mildly horrified. The store was closed when I got home. I almost let it go – if they didn’t notice, why should I? C’mon. It’s Barnes & Noble. They shit books for breakfast.

I awoke in the morning with a clear answer. Karma baby.
I’m a writer. I knew something awful would happen to me in the publishing vortex if I didn’t pay for the book. So I called the store and had them charge me. The manager was dumbfounded to say the least. She told me I was a good person. I told her I didn’t know about that, but I wasn’t about to piss off the publishing gods. Besides, I thought it would be a good story to tell at MY first reading at B&N. (Hasn’t happened yet.)

What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Amazon. So I called them and told them what happened. We agreed they should charge me for the items, but not for the shipping. Karma. I’ve still got it!

In knitting news, Grace at Rosie’s Yarn Cellar was nice enough to convince me that I have plenty of Manos to take care of a vest with a nice cable down the front. She could’ve sold me plenty more, but she didn’t. Karma. She’s got it!

And I found a cute pattern for a pullover for my niece in the Holiday 2004 Family Circle Knitting. I’m going to use the fabu Art Yarns Supermerino that was recently reviewed by Clara. I bought some color #108. This is also the yarn that Froggy used for her claoptis. I can’t wait for it to get here!

I had to rip out the Ribby Cardi decreases I did yesterday. Somehow I was off two stitches on one side. Have no idea how I did it. So back to square one. Oh well. No biggy. I’ve got my good Karma to keep me warm.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Ribby Cardi

Disaster

December 26, 2004 By

I can’t even begin to imagine the devastation. It truly is like a bad hollywood movie. Just incredible. I’m not one who walks around talking/thinking about an all-powerful god – but Mother Nature sure comes close.

Disaster also fits my holiday weekend. Sure, I have my health, a roof over my head, I’m dry and fed, but it still sucked.

First of all, in a previous post I mentioned how much I was thrilled with Amazon and their stellar customer service this holiday season. Not so thrilled anymore. Granted, I did order the few gifts I needed on Dec. 20 and 21, but I’m not sure that’s an excuse.

The couple of gifts I ordered from Amazon were for my great-nieces who I would be seeing on Saturday – we haven’t seen them in a while so I was excited. They are 4 and 1. I placed the order on Tuesday and was guaranteed by Amazon they would arrive by Friday. On Wednesday I received emails that the items would be sent out separately but both had been upgraded to overnight delivery and would arrive on Thursday. By Friday 2PM nothing had arrived. The tracking numbers weren’t appearing in the database. Okay, they were there, but no information was available about the whereabouts of the packages. One was sent UPS, one was sent FedEx. I called FedEx and they said they never had possession of the package. I searched the Internet and found an actual phone number for Amazon (ended up being in India, of course) and was informed the package never went out. I said you sent me emails saying it was on the way. Well it wasn’t. No gifts for the girls.

I didn’t give up. I went out to Toys R Us at 4:30 Xmas eve. It was a horrifying experience and I gave up quickly. I made cursory appearances at a few other stores and came home empty handed.

Then I found out the package I had sent overnight (FedEx) to my best friend never made it out of New Jersey. It was supposed to be in Las Vegas by 10AM Friday morning.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I admit I cried when I attempted to give Georgie his Xmas slippers on Saturday morning and they were the wrong size. The email receipt I have says XL, they sent L. Suffice it to say, I didn’t have a merry weekend.

I think the kinks are all worked out in the host transfer. Even though, in the end, they screwed things up more than they helped, my new host was very attentive to my needs – including emailing me on Xmas eve.

There was a bright note to this weekend. Georgie’s parents were very generous to us. My cedar chest and new camera are pretty much absolutes now! Thank you, thank you!

I did manage to knit this weekend. There was no way I was finishing Georgie’s secret gift – a scarf if anyone still cares – I’ll post some pictures tomorrow – for Xmas, but I finished it today. I just need to weave in ends. And I started decreasing on the back of the Ribby Cardi.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend! I’ll be looking forward to hearing all about it!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Ribby Cardi

New Server

December 25, 2004 By

If you’re seeing this message, you’re on the new server. That means that the name server changes have propagated through the Internet! (Yay! Let’s all clap and cheer!)

I’m keeping things quiet for a few days until everything is settled down. Thanks for checking in though!

Best,
Cara

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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