From One Saturday to the Next….

May 15, 2005 By

My knight in shining armor drove down to Philly Friday night to pick me up – in the end though we didn’t get in until Saturday – just after midnight. I had officially been gone more than a week. NOT the plan. Oh well. I’m home – things are falling apart (our TV in the living room, the big mofo, blew up on us last night. NOT what we need right now) – but I’m home.

It was a busy shopping week, to be sure. (I’m regretting some of my purchases in light of the TV situation, but what can you do!)


This includes my purchases at MDS$W and others throughout the week. Click on the extended entry if you’d like details about the haul.

Here are some pictures from the festival that I finally got around to uploading. You want sheep – you got sheep!

I really didn’t take many at all – the lighting inside the barns was pretty dismal and well, I just didn’t try that hard. I’m pretty happy with these though.

And during the week there was face painting at the Zoo!

Saturday I had a brief, but intense blogger meet-up! The Wry Punster was in town for a show and I ran into the city to meet with her. The traffic was abyssmal, parking worse (should’ve NEVER taken the car in!) but as soon as Elspeth was in the passenger seat a spot opened up! Good parking karma if you ask me. We did a brief run through at School Products (I wasn’t that impressed to be honest) and a religious experience at Habu. I managed to spend $100 in the fifteen minutes we were there! Seriously amazing stuff.

It’s SILK. But it looks like snake-skin and is thick and not really soft at all. Like leather shoe laces, to be honest. I bought it with on of the bags in Loop-de-Loop in mind but there’s no way I have enough. I don’t know what I’ll do with it. Look at it and go ahhhhhh. Really. That might be all I need. SILK! 100 Percent!

Elspeth – it was great to meet you – hopefully, if we do it again – it will be leisurely and quiet and not involve a Saturday at 29th Street. Hope the show was fantastic! (I’m sorry if I talked too much. After we split up, I felt like I talked too much. Maybe I was nervous?)

Want to see the other fibery goodness purchased this week? Keep reading….

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Maryland Sheep & Wool, Stash

Surely You’re Joking! *

April 27, 2005 By

Yesterday’s New York Times crossoword. Check out 40 Down.

Thanks so much for all the compliments on Short Rows! It means so much. I’ll be SO proud of this project when it’s finally finished. I’ve got a long way to go, but I’ll get there. I’ve given myself a projected deadline of June 5th. I’m thinking if all goes well I’ll wear it to The Secret Garden opening. Hopefully it won’t be too hot! I’m thinking a nice denim skirt? Cross your fingers. I did the first part of the second short row sequence – I figured out that decreases were built into the pattern – but in the end I have one stitch too many. So I’ll be ripping out the short rows – AGAIN. Yes. I’m a glutton for punishment (and apparently, chocolate covered raisins.) And the ends are getting really out of hand – so when I rip it, I’m going to try and weave some in. Hopefully clean things up a little so the wires don’t get crossed so much, so to speak. It’s all good!

Yesterday I did a little shopping, but not before having a fabu lunch with my honey! First I got my hair cut – it looks cute and cleaned up – then met Georgie at a doctor’s appointment he had. While we were waiting for him to be seen, I received a mysterious text message. Georgie says to me – who’s text messaging you? I said I don’t know and wouldn’t you know it, the message read KISS THE PERSON TO YOUR RIGHT. He’s so sweet! I’m SO, so lucky!

After waiting forever, it was off to TAO for lunch. Georgie’s been wanting to take me there, and I have to say, the steak I had was very, very good. The decor was neat as well, but don’t you just hate restaurants that don’t label the bathroom doors with GIRL/BOY, WOMAN/MAN, FEMALE/MALE? These bathrooms said YIN and YANG. There was a man that was behind me and we both just stood there and I said this is so not fair. Finally we both chose – and you guessed it – we chose UNwisely. The male attendant (who for the record, was in the women’s room at first) corrected us. Why? Why is it necessary to be COOL all the time? Anyway. The food was very good.

On the way back I stopped at Borders. I needed to pick up this:

I’ve listened to it about a dozen times all the way through – it’s looped on WINAMP – and for the most part I’m pretty happy with it. For all those people I told it was a cross between Tunnel and TGOTJ – I’m revising that. It’s more like a cross between TGOTJ and Lucky Town. But better on both accounts. Nothing’s going to make me cry, (there are a few like that on The Rising – My City of Ruins never ceases to amaze me) but I did get a few chills listening to Long Time Comin’. The woman’s name is Rosie and it’s clear they’ve been together for a long time. (They have two kids and another on the way.) It’s also clear that mistakes have been made but he stills loves her, wants her very much. This is a theme near and dear to my heart. Georgie and I have been together for fifteen years and are very much in love, still. It’s always nice to have that validated. This song did that for me. Okay. Enough Bruce. If you want to talk about it, let me know. Email me.

I also bought a couple of knitting books:

Loop-d-Loop by Teva Durham

Instant Expert: Knitting by Ros Badger

I’m really split on these two. I only bought the Ros Badger because I saw a pattern I liked on Kristine‘s blog (go on over and congratulate her on the new online store! www.knithappens.net!)

I thought it would be perfect for some Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed I have stashed. Problem is, the book only gives one pattern size and that happens to be ONE SIZE FITS NONE! You know, one of those anorexic sizes – like if you eat an entire carton of chocolate covered raisins and need to purge for the next week and a half (just kidding!) So, if I want to make this sweater to be able to fit my humongous boobs I’m going to have to do some knitty math – and you all know how much I hate THE MATH! We’ll see if I keep the book. It’s kind of disappointing all the way around.

But Loop-d-Loop? This book is gorgeous genius. There’s a million patterns I’d like to make!


Click for bigger pictures!

Of course, my favorite is this:


Are you seeing a trend here? Can you IMAGINE the ends? Someone stop me!
Please!

I highly recommend this book – really – it’s very, very well done.

And finally – a stash addition:

It’s 50% Tussah – 50% Merino from Chasing Rainbow Dyeworks in Mary’s colorway. I’ve got 840 yds. I’m thinking my very own Clap. It’s taken a LOOONG time to get here. I bought it on my Boston visit.

Have a great day!

* Surely You’re Joking is a reference to Richard Feynman – I bought his collection of letters yesterday. I’m thinking I’ll read them out loud to Georgie, since he’s the one who introduced me to this phenomenal personality. Check him out if you haven’t already. It’s worth it. Hey Lauren – I also picked up Freakonomics!

Filed Under: Books, Miscellaneous, Short Rows, Stash

I’ve been knitting….

March 29, 2005 By

HASH(0x8e0768c)
You are Andie Walsh (from Pretty In Pink)!
Misunderstood and full of angst, you are
intelligent, talented and will probably go on
to do great things…once you’re out of the
hell of high school.

Which John Hughes Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I found this quiz over at Kate’s. I’m posting this because it just so happens that I was watching Sixteen Candles last night. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think this one might be pretty accurate. High school was almost the death of me. Definitely blossomed as soon as I got out. [Huh – when I got the link for Sixteen Candles on IMDB, I looked up the actor who played Jake – very, very cute – but did he do anything else? Turns out he was the really cute guy in Mermaids too! Michael Schoeffling.]

Here’s that oft rumored knitting content:

Remember the Pinwheel Baby Blanket? I can’t believe how badly this yarn photographs – the color could not be more off – it’s a much deeper yellow – almost brownish in color. But anyway, I’m into the fourth skein. The diameter is 22″. I have a long way to go. The skeins are going nowhere at this point. Another thing about this project – there’s no way to tell how big it is without taking it off the needles – which is kind of a pain. I’ll get through six skeins before I take it off again. I do like the pattern though – the blanket is looking very nice.

Short-Row Pullover

I can’t help but have a nagging feeling that this is all going to have to be ripped out and started over. Or I’ll get through the back and finally figure out how to make it look nice and then I’ll do the front and want to re-do the back.

As you can see, I’ve started the short-rows. They’re not hard at all and actually kind of interesting. The ridiculous part is you have to change yarn colors every five seconds and you can’t carry the yarn up really. So I’ve been trying Johanna‘s method of knitting in the ends, but I think it’s making my stitches all wonky and uneven. Can you see it in the second and third picture? I’m not sure if it’s because of the short rows, or the ends, but I’m not entirely happy with it. I’m going to keep knitting – even if it does feel very much like an experiment – to see how the rows even out once I do the next short row section. Right now I’m in straight rows. But the next section will even out the left hand side. I still absolutely love the yarn – and I’m really liking the colors too. Georgie’s the best, because he sees it and instantly proclaims it’s the best work I’ve ever done! I say, you say that about everything I do. He does prefer just the stripes though – not the zig zags. I keep trying to tell him that’s the best part, but he’s not buying it. Anyway, I will persevere.

Jen (belated) birthday gifted me with some wonderfully soft Rowan Classic CashSoft DK! She brought it all the way from London! It’s in color #509 which is called lime, but is really a soft pastely mint in my opinion. Another one that doesn’t photograph well:

This will make a beautiful baby something – and it’s in green – so it doesn’t matter whether my sister has a boy or a girl! Speaking of which – did you enter the my guess-the-baby contest? Don’t miss out! She could go into labor any second!

I just noticed that all yarns mentioned in this post are from Rowan. Definitely some of the nicest yarns I’ve ever worked with. They can’t seem to go wrong. When that tax check comes in, I’m definitely going to have to join the club.

Kate asked me some really good rebound questions! You can read my answers in the extended entry. Have a great day!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: blogging stuff, Pinwheel, Short Rows, Stash

No Bleeding Necessary

March 21, 2005 By

What you see here is a pile of good ol’ ribby cardi pieces. That’s right. I finished the sleeves last night. I’m going to block over night tonight. I haven’t even ordered a zipper yet (looks like zipperstop.com is the place to go…) and I still have to decide what kind of neck I want, but I’m almost there. The bulk of the knitting is finished. I can’t wait to put it together.

I also managed to put together our taxes this weekend. It wasn’t as bad as I thought and resulted in only one screaming match. 😉 We’re getting a nice refund. From now on I will be referring to money as yarn. Like “How much yarn are you getting back from Uncle Sam?” “Skeins and Skeins!” There may be a laptop in there too.

It wasn’t as exciting as some weekend plans, but I feel like I got a lot accomplished. Which is important because my sister is about a centimeter dilated as we speak – which for those in the know means should could go another three weeks or in the next hour. My brother-in-law and I are both getting jumpy – whenever the phone rings and it’s Jolie I’m like WHAT’S UP? Keep your fingers crossed for another couple weeks. Her due date is April 2nd and even though she’s done with being pregnant, we’d both like a little more time – I for one have a lot to do.

Here’s a picture of the wonderful surprise waiting for me when I got home:

It’s Spirit Trail Fiberworks 100% Superwash Merino Sock Yarn in colorway 38-05-02-03 from the fantabulous Annie! Thank you, again! It was a great surprise!

Also waiting for me was a thin package from WEBS with some eagerly awaited patterns:

I want to make the Seeded Cable Cardigan from Farm with my Jo Sharp Stash – either the Desert Garden or the Silkroad Aran DK Tweed (or maybe both if I like the pattern.) I think I’ll be swatching (starting a sleeve) very soon. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making the Lettuce Edged Pullover from Country Road too. I’ll be using Artyarns Supermerino for that for sure!

In the airport, leaving Las Vegas, right after I pulled the handle for the last time, I bought these:

I bought the earrings for the sole purpose of making stitch markers! Aren’t they cute? Hopefully they’ll bring me good luck. And the dice – well – a girl can’t ever have enough dice!

I updated my Arizona blog entry with pictures. Check it out if you’d like. I wasn’t completely thrilled with the pictures, but some of them I like. It was a good vacation, but alas feels so far away already.

One last thing. I find it amazing that the Republican party, the party that was all about keeping the government small and out of our lives when I was growing up, now feels that it can step in between a husband and wife AND THE COURTS. The Terry Schiavo case has me running scared. If anything good has come out of it, it’s that George and I have had some serious talks about what we’d want in a situation like this. I hope we’ll be visiting a lawyer soon. The hypocrisy of Congress has reached hyberbolic levels. They won’t allow gays to marry – god forbid we corrupt the sanctity of marriage – but they have no qualms stepping in to reverse a decision that a husband, her legal next of kin, has made for his wife. The age of Big Brother is upon us. I find the political maneuvering despicable and the whole situation so overwhelmingly sad for everyone involved.

Filed Under: politics and other crap, Ribby Cardi, Stash

Dream Lovers

March 9, 2005 By

I had a whole post practically finished. Didn’t save the friggin draft and then accidentally closed the window. That blows. Fucking A that blows.

It’s 12:08AM – do you know where your significant other is? Mine’s at the office. Stuck. Apparently there’s a three hour delay on car services in NYC. He should know – he’s in charge of car services (among other things) at his company. I offered to come in and get him, because, you know, I’m the greatest wife that ever lived, but he thinks the reason for the delay is that the roads are treacherous. He said he couldn’t live with himself if anything happened to me. Whatever. I want to go to sleep and I can’t sleep without him, so….

I was disappointed in the Gilmore Girls tonight. Last week Luke and Lorelai got back together with that passionate middle of the night knock on the door your mom’s the biggest bitch that ever lived I can’t believe I let her break us up take her in his arms tongue down the throat moment that I rewound, oh, I’d say about fifty times. (It worked though. Luke was the very happy subject of my nicely naughty dream that night. TV is such a lovely thing. Erotic dreams of Tony on Monday, erotic dreams of Luke on Tuesday, erotic dreams of Josh on Wednesday, erotic dreams of Carter on Thursday…the weekend is all about my Georgie. Uck. Scratch that. It sounds so horribly pathetic. Alas, true. But still pathetic.) I wanted a little more passion between the two of them – I mean c’mon. Make-up sex and all that. Has anyone noticed that Lorelai walks like a duck sometimes? I’ve been watching all the reruns too and you know what? That Dean was a real ASS. And a DUMB ASS at that.

There is knitting to be discussed. Well, not really actual knitting. I tried. I really, really tried. But all I could get tonight was ten freaking rows on the Ribby Cardi sleeves. What is my major malfunction on this thing? I should be shitting these sleeves out in my sleep. Chelsea asked for some tips on how people get motivated with their UFO’s and I have to say, I really liked CJ‘s dice comment. She rolls the dice and whatever number comes up, that’s how many rows she has to knit on the project she doesn’t really want to be knitting. Then she’s allowed to move on to the fun project. I’m totally going to try that.

Georgie just called me again. He’s getting a train to the local station and I’m going to pick him up there. At about 12:50AM. Should give me enough time to finish this post.

I’m dreaming of some short rows….


Yummy Rowan Wool Cotton!

I forgot how great this yarn is. When I made Max’s sweater, I substituted this for Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere (which I really didn’t like). The Wool Cotton was a dream to knit with and I think it will be perfect for this pattern. I’m trying to resist the urge to cast on RIGHT.THIS.MINUTE. The baby blanket is languishing on the needles and the baby’s practically here. I was going to make a sweater and hat and other stuff too. I’m tempted to ONLY take the blanket on vacation. To force myself to finish it. But I will probably take the yarn for the short row sleeves. And the baby blanket. And maybe some sock yarn. Where are those dice?

More stash. Got a some backordered Art Yarns today from WEBS:


This will be a cardigan for my best friend’s daughter. It doesn’t need to be completed until Aug/Sep 2005. I’ll cast on today, just in case. I also found a pattern that would be perfect for me – using the Art Yarns Supermerino. I want something for myself in this amazing yarn:


The model looks kind of dorky, but the sweater’s pretty. And it even looks like they used Art Yarns. It’s a Classic Elite pattern by the way.

I also received the Alchemy Yarns Silk Purse:


Sea of Cortez

Add another project to the list. This one I’d like to have finished by May 20th – my best friend’s birthday. Every time I see a new one of these Clapotis (how do you make that plural? Claptoi? Clapotises?), I’m more and more intrigued.

All right. Off to brave the roads for my love. Wish me god speed.
Okay. I’m back. Wasn’t so bad. The anti-lock breaks only kicked in twice. Damn it’s cold though.

Off to sleep. Perchance to dream….

Filed Under: Stash

Good Company + Good Yarn = Great Time!

February 28, 2005 By

Oh.My.God! What a wonderful weekend!

We flew out Friday morning and thankfully the snow Thursday night, while it did nothing to help me with my class, also didn’t hurt our trip. We got in around 11:30 or so and checked into our beautiful junior suite – replete with a lovely tea service waiting for us! After a quick snack, I called Colleen and we arranged to meet for lunch. Colleen didn’t have a lot of time, since she was heading down to New York to take in the last of The Gates, but we had a great lunch anyway at the Parish Cafe. I had the Veal Pastrami sandwich and it was very, very good. While we were getting to know each other, Colleen filled me on all the good yarn stores to hit – and hit them I did. Thanks Colleen for showing me a good time!

After lunch I went back to the hotel and took a brief nap in preparation for Wendy and our super yarn crawl.

Wendy was so sweet and brought me a gift, thinking I’d been having some bad days lately. It was a yellow laughing bag! Seriously, there’s no defense for this thing. (Unfortunately, I asked Wendy to hold it for me, and I forgot to ask for it back. So I went home without it – but Wendy, know it was very appreciated. I smile every time I think about it!)

Our first stop was Windsor Buttons, then A Good Yarn, finally Circles and then off to dinner.

Here is my haul for the weekend:


Really, there’s no yarn left in Boston!

I’m going to go through shop by shop, but I figured I’d spare you the details if you don’t want them. So if you want every sordid minute of my fabu trip – keep reading! {Warning – it’s a freaking novel!}

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Stash, Vacations

Alchemy Yarns of Transformation

February 17, 2005 By

Visit them here.

Well, all I have to say is if their yarns are half as good as they are, I’m in for a treat!

I was having a hell of a time finding someone who sells this yarn – if you search the Internet, it’s mostly blogs coming up. I called a few of the stores I knew on their retailer list (and a few I didn’t) and most, if they had any at all, had just a couple skeins in colors I didn’t want. Purl in NYC told me they could order some, but I’d have to buy a whole bag and it would take six months.

So I went to the source. I spoke with Austin out in California and he was the nicest gentleman. He told me that Gina had just painted some Silk Purse in the color I was looking for (Sea of Cortez). He would call me back to find out where it was going. Great. I figured a couple of days, no problem.

He called me back like five minutes later. Gave me the names of two stores that were each getting five skeins of Silk Purse in Sea of Cortez. I had told him I needed seven (I’m guestimating here Clapotis people! I’d like to make a larger version and I know people have had problems with not enough yarn. Each skein is 138 yards. I figured seven would be perfect.) He assured me that while they were each getting five, they had all been painted together and I shouldn’t worry about the dyes being off. He also told me that Gina loves to knit her Silk Purse on size 7 needles, instead of the recommened six (I had asked about that too.) Oh and he also told me about their 50/50 yarn, which is more readily available, but I told him my friend couldn’t wear any wool. He said Gina’s the same way. She can paint the wool, but she can’t wear it. He was so very lovely! I’m glad to drop the big bucks on their product for sure.

So I called one of the shops and I’ve got their five on order! I called the other shop, but the owner was out and I have to speak to her – Monday I’ll be calling bright and early. I’m so excited.

If you’d like to know more about Alchemy, there’s a nice article about Gina and Austin and their yarns at Knitter’s Review.

Filed Under: Stash

100!

February 15, 2005 By

For my 100th post, I’m going with pictures galore!

Picot-Boo‘s debut:

I think this is where she bowled that strike. I kid you not – the child bowled a strike and two spares!

The blankie and pac are never far behind!

New Stash:

For the VK Flower Basket Bag: Cascade Magnum in colors (from the top) Black, Highland Green, Lichen, and Regal Red.

For Valentine’s Day, I bought myself some Manos, Color # 115 – Flame. I only bought four skeins (that’s all they had), but I want more. I want to make a very simple cardigan. For me.

Thanks for all the feel good wishes. I’m definitely feeling better – not 100% – but much better. (Read: not feeling like yakking anymore!) Tomorrow I hope to be completely better.

Almost forgot – a special thanks to Wendy. Her homemade Valentine was just what I needed yesterday. Thanks again Wendy!

Love, Cara

Filed Under: Picot-Boo, Stash

It’s Official.

February 8, 2005 By

I’m fat. Yesterday I tipped the scale slightly passed my “that’s it I’m fat” zone. So I’m doing this. I’m hoping that blogging about my success or lack there of will spur me on. Nothing like a little public humiliation to get you off your ass. I did go out and run yesterday – I do the beginning runner’s pyramid program in The Runner’s Handbook by Bob Glover. It’s worked before, goddammit, it will work again! Stayed tuned as I get physical.

[Besides, if we’re thinking about trying again in the Summer — SHHHHH, don’t say it out loud!!! — it might be good to be in some kind of shape. You know, so I can get fat again.]

Thank you Secret Pal!

I received a box from my secret pal!



Filed Under: Stash

Taking Back Our Home

January 18, 2005 By

This weekend was all about taking back our home. It’s kind of falling apart (on the inside and out – we live in a high-rise and the Board has informed us the building needs about $15 million worth of work – who’s going to pay for that you ask?) but we’re trying to get it back in baby steps.

Last week we had the plumber in – $600 later we have a non-leaking kitchen sink and all three toilets flush, leak free! Yeah for working plumbing! (You may question why we need three toilets if there are only two of in the house. Options, dahling, options.)

So, now that that’s out of the way, we can clean things up. The place is a sty. I bought a Swiffer WetJet and I love it, except Georgie (who likes to give goofy names to everything) keeps calling it the Swift Boat thinga-ma-jig. I need to be reminded of that every five minutes for sure! The good thing is my floors might actually be semi-clean now. I love the little scrubby thing on the side too.

Georgie sealed up the windows in the bedrooms so our house is nice and toasty now that it’s freezing! And I finally organized my stash! I gave up on the cedar chest – too much money, not enough space – and went with some plastic bins that fit in the closet perfectly. And my stash pretty much fit in one of the bins so I have an emtpy one to fill. I also bought a lovely leather basket type thing at Crate & Barrel the other day – it was marked down a lot – for storing my current projects. I figure I can tote it around if need be, but it will probably sit next to me by the couch. Here’s a picture of it filled with Jo Sharp stash!

It’s actually not completely filled with Jo Sharp –
my project bags take up most of the basket and the Jo Sharp
accents the top. For a more pleasing picture.

Georgie made a lovely pasta bolognese the other night and for dessert – my own molten chocolate cake! He bought the mix and the ramekins from Williams & Sonoma and made it himself. It was fantastic. We may never go out to eat again.

ETA: Annie asked for a recipe. There is none! It’s a kit. They send you the chocolate drops and the cake mix and you melt the chocolate and add water and butter to the mix (two sticks of butter!) then add the chocolate to the mix. Once it’s all together, put it into the little ramekins and bake for 12-15 minutes. That’s it! So easy and unbelievably good. It makes about 8-12 cakes. We made four and put the rest of the batter in the frig. The next day I scooped out the cold mix into the ramekins, baked it, and it was just as good as fresh. The mix came from Williams & Sonoma.

While School Daze was blocking, I managed to finish the back and start the front of Picot-Boo. I’m still completely in love with this yarn.

This picture was taken with my new 50mm f1.4 lens,
which has an extremely narrow depth of field (that’s why so much of it is blurry.)
I thought the picture was interesting.

What I learned in school…

Never do a stair-step bind off on the shoulders (or anywhere for the matter!) What a pain in the ass. I started to seam the shoulders for School Daze last night – it blocked beautifully – and met with all kinds of problems. After consulting my books (they all said don’t do it – thanks!) and finding this very, very helpful web page, I think my seams look just fine thank you!

Like the rug underneath the knit? It’s Bonne Marie’s idea.

I figure if her blocking method works so well, might as well have the rug too!
As an extra bonus, it matches our decor too!

What else? Class went well on Thursday. Cassie sums up the teaching experience pretty well in her post today. It’s performance art all the way! I have fourteen people in the class and already I can tell the difference between Fiction I and Fiction II – in F1 they’re feeling their way – I want to write, but maybe I don’t have what it takes. In F2, they are there for the long haul. So it’s all good.

My new camera came as well. But I haven’t really played with it yet – I’m waiting for our trip this weekend to beautiful sunny Miami (fingers crossed for the weather.)

Have a great day!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Picot-Boo, School Daze, Stash
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