Field Trip

I'm happy to report that I am almost done with Ms. Marigold. Since we last spoke, I picked up stitches (successfully), did the border for the neckline and did my first crocheting ever, thanks to the many websites with close up pictures and step by step instructions. I'm almost finished with weaving the ends, will hopefully lay it out to block today and have some final pictures to share in the next couple of days.

Saturday Field Trip: Yesterday we had a wonderful little field trip to Tarrytown, New York. It all started about 2 months ago when our friends Kelly and Jared suggested going to Blue Water Grill. It was November, the leaves were turning and apparently BWG is beautifully decorated in fall colors. It was crisp and cool and definitely cider weather but we already had plans and it didn't work out. After Hart and I had dined at Blue Hill in NYC a couple of years ago, we've been eager to check out the Blue Hill restaurant at Stone Barn Farm in Westchester and, yes, the first available reservation was 2 months later, at 5:30 pm mind you.

We made a day of it - we left at 2pm and stopped at the Lyndhurst Castle, a really beautiful and historic gothic castle - with a boatload of history. It is gorgeous and we went on the tour, which was great.

We then headed over to Stone Barn and as it was already 4:30 and a little rainy out, we walked around the grounds a tiny bit and settled in to big club chairs in front of the fire for cocktails. The background is really interesting and exciting - the restaurant opened only a couple of years ago, and is located on the Stone Barn farm, a working farm that is also the SB Center for Food and Agriculture. They have lots of educational program, and Blue Hill uses all its ingredients from the farm.

We began dinner at 5:30 and left the restaurant at 9pm. This was the best dinner and dining experience I have had in a long time. We splurged on the tasting menu (5 courses + 2 desserts) and chose local wine which was amazing. The staff was incredible - and the service amazing. Usually I'm the tough diner - as I'm vegetarian but in our party we had 1 person (Hart of course) who could and would eat anything, one no-red meat eater and the best - one who wanted no vegetables. I kid you not.

I can't say enough about this place. It was luxurious, delicious and just a wonderful experience. The day was an adventure and a perfect excuse to get away from the city and be surrounded by nature.

In other knitting news, I am making progress on Hourglass but I have to say, this is going to take a long time and will require endless rows of stockinette. A new thing for me is this turning round thing - knitting a bunch of rows and then purling one. I wasn't sure what the purpose was but a couple of days ago I was watching Knitty Gritty and they explained it. They also showed a very simple way to seam it up as you're working but as I was too far past that point, I guess I just need to deal with it at the end. Not so much looking forward to that as well, we know I hate the whole finishing thing.

Future Projectos: I am getting really excited about the Central Park Hoodie from Knitscene, and if I can just get my act in gear, I'm going to run to either Purl or The Point this afternoon and grab the magazine and either buy yarn on the spot or ponder it for awhile. I'm loving all the pictures on the KAL and eager to start a little bit more complicated project.