Katyaflutes

Holiday

2009-01-01T13:52:00.004-05:00

Despite getting home at 3am this morning – I feel like a champ. The highlight of New Years Eve 2008 was my first experience with Rockband at chez Crimenotes. I admit to being a mic hog – and perhaps the fact that I was reliving my childhood dream of being a singer contributed to not having a hangover, as I was more focused on belting out songs than finishing my drink. For the low points of the evening – there is a tie between seeing a young guy in handcuffs, face down on the side walk during our walk home (the worst being that it was like 10 degrees out which made his predicament that much worse) and the fact that roughly 50% of the women out last night were wearing skirts, high heels and had bare legs. I mean, again with the 10 degree weather – is it really worth it?

Before we pull everything down – I did want to take some pictures of our 2008 Holiday. Two firsts for us – our first Christmas tree and the first year we sent out holiday cards.

Our tree is in a sad, sad state at this point – I was probably less than perfect about watering it and since I rallied to get the tree 2 days after Thanksgiving (for full season enjoyment) it’s getting a bit old.

I refused to buy any ornaments – only lights because I didn’t want to buy a bunch of crap ornaments out of desperations to get it decorated. I really wish I had the foresight to buy ornaments in all the different countries Hart and I have visited over the years but we’ll start that going forward. I asked my mom and aunt for nice ornaments for Christmas and got some beauties that I will treasure and hold onto forever.

As for holiday cards- this was more fun and less stressful than expected. Again, this took a bit of convincing to get Hart on board but by the end we had to buy an extra box as our list grew longer. We got some great cards this year and I think the craziest part is the downfall of the traditional folded card – we had to employ the help of my Kurt Vonnegut screen print and Persian print (which features my name in Farsi – big props to anyone who can figure it out) to hold up all the photo cards.

Finally, a shot of our New Years dinner. A big favorite – home made pizza, recipes courtesey of Alton Brown. See here for the pizza dough recipe and here for the tomato sauce. Only wish we had leftovers for all the college bowl games we’re watching today.

Au Revoir 2008

2008-12-31T17:57:00.004-05:00

2008 proved to be a less than exciting knitting year, however, it is nice to reflect on what one accomplished – and the biggest headline for me would be cooking.

For Christmas in 2007, Hart bought me a Kitchenaid mixer and after 3 solid years of obsessing over Good Eats it was time to roll up my sleeves and start cooking.

2008 was a year of major cooking accomplishments for me. Up until then, Hart and I ordered in take out literally 5 days a week – the other two were reserved for eating out. It was not only a waste of money, it was totally not healthy. I didn’t grow up with a lot of home cooking so despite being able to boil water, that was kind of it. Three things really helped me to start cooking well.

For beginner cooks, I can’t recommend these two magazines enough – they include basic yet delicious recipes that are really quick and easy. Whole Foods opened 2 blocks from my house about 2 years ago and if it wasn’t there, I wouldn’t feel nearly as inspired to get cooking.

Here are some of my highlights – unfortunately, food photography is not my strong suit, particularly when looking at this, however, this is a sampling of my accomplishments..

I’m excited about 2009. Hart bought me a pasta maker for Christmas this year, and we just got our first Dutch Oven – which apart from its function – is just beautiful.

Happy New Year!

November Check In

2008-11-25T13:20:00.003-05:00

Hart’s mom (herself, a serious knitter) has convinced me that it’s okay to have really long periods of knitters-block and that’s what I’ve been having. And same with posting. It’s the posting I’ve been having an issue with. I used to be fine blabbing about any old random thing but now every time I sit down, I think “is this worth really posting about?” Even though I don’t have anything major – part of why I do this blog is to have a long lasting diary of what was happening at certain times – even if it’s insignificant.

Last week I buckled down and “endured” the Blue Print Cleanse for 3 days, which isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Before I did it I scoured for blogposts to get some insight beyond the wonderful marketing focused praises on their website, so I’m doing this for the next person who is googling away.

So what is this Blue Print Cleanse? Basically it’s a juice “cleanse” which you can do for 1, 3 or 5 days. It isn’t a recipe you follow – it’s an actual company - a small independent one based in NYC, run by a couple of woman. You pick your level (I did Renovation), your duration (I did 3), and they deliver your juices right to your door. They provide you with cooler bags – each filled with 6 numbered juices that you drink each day. They are numbered, which is great.

People do these things for many reasons and what I liked about Blue Print is that is not a psycho hard core thing like the Master Cleanse - instead it’s more health focused. I did this to give my system a break and also to re-set my eating patterns. I’m not really great with discipline and eating. I’m a vegetarian and frankly, I eat pretty well – I don’t eat typical junk food (chips, cookies) but Hart and I are terrible about ordering in food. Also, I’m bad about portion control and after awhile I just feel heavy and overcarbed and sluggish.

How did it go? The great part was that for me, it was actually pretty easy, relatively speaking. You drink a lot of water along with the juices and I really wasn’t all that hungry. I lost 7 pounds over 3 days (which as I expected, has come back – but that wasn’t my objective). Mind you, I have a few (or 10) pounds to lose so that was kind of nice. I felt like I did cleanse my system, however I didn’t feel like a new person after it was over. I have a few other friends who have done this and they have actually felt amazing afterwards. All of them are meat eaters and I’m guessing this had a lot to do with it. I was only 14 when I went vegetarian so I can’t remember exactly – but I do know many folks who went veg as adults and they feel like a million bucks by cutting out meat – so I’m guessing that’s why it worked better for them.

I guess my key takeaway is that I just eat too much normally and this was a great “reset”. I felt like a million bucks because I didn’t feel weighed down with so much food. I was getting all of my nutrition on a small amount of intake and that felt amazing. The problem is the discipline, which I’m terrible about. And also my love of food – which gets the better of me. I am going to actually try and hit a better balance. Real fresh juices (like the ones that are green, not Jamba Juice) honestly never occurred to me before. And I think it would be great, AND healthy to have those for breakfast or lunch once and awhile. My only concern had been drinking juice in that way that was for crazy dieters who were trying to starve themselves, and I no longer feel that way because they are actually filling, along with being far more nutritious than my cheese sandwich.

And with that, I head off to stuff my face for Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays!

2008-09-11T22:10:00.002-04:00

Tribute in Light Memorial from apartment window

A New Beginning - Tomten Stash

2008-08-27T20:54:00.004-04:00

I was so excited to receive a package from Webs today which opened to reveal 6 thick, squishy skeins of Cascade Eco +. Five in navy blue and one in maroon.

Last holiday my mom requested a sweater for the following year’s main gift and after stressing for a second about picking the right pattern, I immediately thought of the Adult Tomten by EZ. Actually, specifically I thought of Ann’s on Ravelry.

I’m headed to SF tomorrow and I’m itching to start but this puppy requires swatching, measuring and planning and despite Demi not being travel friendly – I would rather bring her as at least I know what I’m doing.

Hopefully I’ll have some great Demi status shots when I return and I’m so excited to start this new project!

Minimalist Cardigan - FO

2008-08-17T20:35:00.005-04:00

I’m excited to present My Minimalist Cardigan, which has to be one of my favorite sweaters so far.

I really loved knitting this sweater – it is the perfect combination of easy knit with an interesting pattern – which is very satisfying. It’s also incredibly classic – which is why I decided to knit it in black. I envision this as the sweater that either stays on the back of my chair at work for cold days or the one I throw on over a top with jeans or a dress.

Mini was also the sad recipient of my knitting downslide. I actually finished this in January but between my ordeal with Dollar and a Half, my downright hate of finishing and my unfortunate downward spiral into apathy towards knitting, this just didn’t get done until now.

Recipe:
Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan, Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Size: 35 ½
Duration:
Start: October 2007
Finished: Knitting: January 2008, Seamed, blocked and finished: July 27,2008
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran in black, 10-11 skeins. Love this yarn and highly recommend it.
Needles: size 7
Modifications: Not much, as usual, I lengthened the sweater. I find most patterns walk dangerously close to being “cropped” and therefore ususally add a few inches. In this case, only 1 inch, and only to the back (knit moss to 14 ½ ” instead of 13 ½

Alton Brown Cinnamon Rolls

2008-08-10T18:13:00.004-04:00

As you may know, I love Alton Brown. If you aren't familiar with Alton, I highly recommend DVR/Tivo-ing Good Eats on Food Network.

The first time we saw the "House of the Rising Bun" episode we knew we would eventually make the star of the show, the Cinnamon Buns, but at the time, we didn't have a stand mixer. Hart gave me a Kitchenaid this past Christmas. The sad part of the story is that it went unused (due to my intimidation) for 8 months, the good part of the story is that it was christened with this recipe.

This actually isn't really hard at all - the only non-traditional ingredients that weren't in of our pantry were yeast, buttermilk and powdered sugar - but those are pretty easy to buy. I'm also a non-baker and for a first attempt at using my mixer and for a relative beginner - this couldn't have been easier.

Below is the ingredient list and click here for the full recipe.

main ingredients

eggs

sugar

butter

buttermilk

AP flour

Instant yeast

Kosher salt

brown sugar

cinnamon

Icing

Cream Cheese

milk

butter

Winter Knits in 100 degree weather

2008-07-20T20:09:00.003-04:00

There’s nothing like the combination of getting over a chest cold, having the apt to yourself bc your b-friend is out of town, and it being 100 degrees outside to get you focused on a project. Today (and a good chunk of yesterday) was knitting extravaganza in my household.

I had two things on the agenda: to knit Demi and to weave in ends/ block my Minimalist Cardigan. This whole thing started at 1pm and I had a very specific plan. With the aid of NPR, I would knit Demi until 4pm and then start the Mini Cardigan work.

I tell you, Demi is a bear, but a really sweet one. I really am excited about this project, but I wouldn’t call it the most joyous of knit experiences. I’m actually a moderately fast knitter but as mentioned before, at least for me, this requires full attention. It’s getting SO much easier than when I started, but I’m still clocking a 10 -15 minute row depending on it being a WS (10) or RS (15). I know, that’s weird – anyone else ever do that? So if you saw my last pictures (I haven’t knit since), this is what I accomplished in 4 hours. Not much but progress nonetheless.

I have a very specific vision for Demi. When I saw the picture in Vintage Knits – and then all the glorious FOs on Ravelry - I immediately thought that this would be a classic pullover that I could keep and wear forever. It would be for cold winter nights and ski trips and I don’t know, it’s no EZ classic but I kind of have visions of handing her down. It’s this vision that is my motivation.

Anyway, I stopped at 4pm. Again, being weird, I’m very specific like that – but I think only with projects that are a) hard and b) are in the end weaving/blocking process. Both of which I was dealing with.

Anyway – I am SO excited with Mini Cardigan’s blocking status!

I looked back and I think I finished this 6 months ago. I don’t know what it is but I just stall at the finishing stage, at least lately. I loathe this part. It’s a process, right? At least for me it is but I’m starting to think I make things harder on myself than necessary. I always seam it up pre-block, using some contrast color. And then I inspect it for a few days – determining if things need to be lengthened during blocking, or seeing which areas need to be smoothed out. And then I get all mathematical and draw diagrams about blocking dimensions. Maybe if I just chilled I would not have sweaters sitting in WIP piles.

I wished that I loved summer knits because I think I need another project to switch off with Demi. Have you seen Jared’s squishy blanket? Love…..

Demi Part 1

2008-06-28T21:19:00.009-04:00

My knitting drop out status has really wreaked havoc on this blog. Knitting was the driving force of this blog and given that I have yet to get fully back into the swing we’ll see how it goes.

I got a little pre-occupied to say the least.

Hart and I got obsessed with buying a house in Brooklyn, which 100% consumed our lives for a bit, well – a long while actually. In fact, a few of you may have seen a short lived (like 1 day) post in which I described my obsession with said house in Ditmas Park. Needless to say, we fell for a great neighborhood – the local DP blogs got a hold of my post and it became quite the rage on a neighborhood blog. As a result I immediately pulled it down because I was a little fearful that since I put everything out there - the sellers or the realtor would some how see it and our bidding position would be ruined.

And then there was Turkey – we just got back and it was an amazing trip. I have to say, one of the best things I love about Hart (and vice versa) is that we put traveling pretty much above everything. While I definitely am known to shell out some cash on shoes, outside of being diligent savers for the future – we save for big trips – both financially and in vacation time. We spent 2 ½ glorious weeks – Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesus – then a gorgeous drive down the coast to Bodrum, Olundeniz (Blue Lagoon!) and Kas. I hope to post a little more on this later.

Back to the knitting. The thing that sparked my return? Demi. My progress is above.

This whole project started off dramatically back in January. I actually ripped out my Central Park Hoodie with the intention of using the yarn – Tahki Donnegal Tweed. Ripping it out? It didn’t even really hurt. It was my first true true sweater with seaming, cables, neckbands, etc. But honestly, it never fit me properly and I really didn’t love the yarn – it’s pretty – but it just didn’t work. Anyway – I was staring at it for awhile – everytime I looked it was screaming Demi. So I pulled it out, wound it back up, cast on for Demi, and frankly, I just really hate this yarn!

So I gave up on that I bought new bonafide Demi yarn back in February (that is 4 months ago, yikes). The Point had a crazy sale and I immediately ran down to find the perfect yarn. It is Naturally Harmony 10Ply 100% merino. So I got home, I cast on and…didn’t I promise not to get into another Dollar and a Half frustrating mess? Anyway – it stalled. It’s hard – it’s not like the Minimalist Cardigan (which I pretty much finished 9 months ago and just can’t muster the strength to block and seam) which is pretty calming, mindless, rewarding. Actually – it’s not hard but it requires full attention – there is no tv watching, no subway knitting – full focus.

So it did stall but then last weekend I did a massive clean up – got a stash box all readied and swore I would pick it up. At about the same time I saw what Parikha did in like a minute (okay I'm exaggerating)!! That kind of pushed me to get going. So there we have it.

This puppy is going to take a long time. I am giving myself a 3 month deadline – by October 1, 2008 I will be showing this as a FO.

Dollar and a Half Cardigan - Finished!

2008-01-13T20:12:00.001-05:00

She’s finally done! This was the hardest project I’ve ever taken on but after pulling on the sleeves and buttoning up the front, it was 100% worth it.

This is the first sweater that I know I’m going to put into a frequent rotation.

I give you, Dollar and a Half Cardigan, by Veronik Avery for Interweave Knits, Spring 2007

Recipe:
Pattern: Dollar and a Half Cardigan by Veronik Avery – Interweave Knits – Spring 2007
Duration:
Started: July 2007
Break: September – November
Finished: Knitting was finished October 17- all blocked and sewn up – Jan 1st 2007
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Misti International Alpaca Worsted in 4388 – about 9 skeins. I love this yarn – it is incredibly soft yet incredibly warm. The drape is amazing.
Needles: Used US 5 for the stockinette and size 7 for the lace pattern.
Size: I knitted the smallest size and blocked to a 36 – I wanted this to be tight fitting and after reading so much about how this ran slightly big and knowing I could block it slightly larger – it was the best bet.
Modifications: Not much. The only major change I made was to make the arm length shorter. To do so, I knit 1 ½” of rib (vs 2”) – and started decreasing after a total of 4” (vs 6 ½”)

Tips:

First, this is definitely a project you want to swatch for. Trust me.
Second, one of the things I covet about knitting blogs and Ravelry – is that you get blow by blow details – telling you what to watch out for, how to approach a stitch or row that only when you get to it do you realize how unbelievable helpful those notes were. This has always been incredibly helpful to me, and I always try and return the favor.To this end, check out my checklist for a lot of details I have since blocked out. Also, click here if you want the blow by blow on my progress.

This project took its toll on me – no matter how much I love the end product. I will say that without a doubt, the part that threw me over the edge was decreasing in the lace pattern. I invested hours upon hours in trying to get it to work for me but after getting nowhere, I actually had to take a 2 month break from the sweater all together. When I came back, I didn’t nail it the first time – but it started falling into place after about the 5th try. I would recommend checking out details in Ravelry, and there were some helpful tips on the Knit Along.

I will also say that that thing that helped me the most is my notebook. Here is a picture of the two things that I found comfort in, throughout the process:

Every time I start a project I take copious notes – whether it’s the needle size, when I switch balls (so that on the second sleeve, I know how much I’ll need after writing it down through the first). I never remember any of these details so I write it down. With this project I literally wrote down almost every row and what to expect. This is particularly important when doing the lace decreases. Forgetting about decreases, in the lace pattern each row you do ends up with a different number of stitches. When decreasing comes into play – it was CRITICAL for me to know how many stitches I should end up with. Again, there are a lot of tips on how to deal with the decreases in patterns but frankly none of them gave me what I needed. I think I just needed to try, walk away, and come back. Finally it worked.

Finally, I love my mom to death for getting me a blocking board for Christmas. If you don’t have one – I highly recommend it.

Viva La Veronik!

Sometimes the Best Solutions are the Easiest

2008-01-12T11:14:00.001-05:00

I’m a bit of a hopeful, but lost cause when it comes to decorating. Most of those close to me can attest to my passion for all things decorating – I consume design magazines all the time, I’m a dedicated reader of some of the popular design blogs (mainly Design Sponge and Apartment Therapy) and it’s hard for me to walk by a furniture store without going in.

The break down is that I have a hard time taking what I love, and bringing it into my home. There is some wiring missing. I am a right brain woman. I love math, I love analysis, and I love talking about strategy. I embrace this and it has done me well so far, but I also love design, creativity. But I am an onlooker – I know what I love and I know why I love it but creating it myself is less than intuitive.

Hart and I have lived in this apartment for the past 3 years and the spot above our couch has remained empty. It has been a source of angst for me. About 6 or 7 years ago I fell in love with a painting at a friend’s house and spent the last 3 years, off and on, trying to get one. Fortunately the artist is a friend of my friends, but unfortunately he is taking a “break” from painting. Up until about a month ago, this gaping hole was without a solution.

I’m not sure how or why it took us so long – but we finally decided to fill it ourselves. I am not a modernist, by any means, but if I look hard and what I like, a lot of it is color. So finally, we took action.

With all of the pain and suffering I went through with this empty piece of wall real estate, I can’t overstate how easy this was – once the ball was in motion. We measured, went to the art supply store and ordered a canvas. We had an idea in our head of what we wanted it to look like, which you now see on the wall, but to make sure, we bought a couple of red paints (@$2.00 a tube), a stack of mini canvases (@$5 for 5), a paint brush, and practiced. Once we were satisfied, from white canvas to mounting on the wall took about 24 hours.

getting ready to paint

And hence, sometimes the best solutions are the easiest ones.

Last 2007 FO: Noro Iro Scarf

2007-12-31T11:27:00.001-05:00

Last FO of 2007, at least officially. I am so close to finishing Dollar and a Half that I can taste it but unless I abandon all plans to get my house in gear and the food in the oven for the New Years party we're throwing tonight, it's not going to happen.

I fell in love with this scarf the first time I saw it, when Jared Brooklyntweed introduced it to the world, aptly naming it “You’re My Iro”, based on the material and presumably his reverence for what it turned into. It’s little more than 1 part common stitch and 1 part perfect yarn but mix it together and it delivers a beautiful scarf that to me, looked perfect.

I was, at the time, paralyzed by the sweater myth, but I wanted to knit Hart something and a scarf seemed low risk but meaningful. When we first started dating over 5 years ago, one of my first gifts to him was a beautiful deep orange scarf. He fell in love with it when he saw it at the store, thought about it often and once he owned it he has been wearing ever since. I knew that the scarf I would make him had to compete, almost trump his beloved orange faithful. I showed him Jared’s scarf to make sure he would be on board and he was.

For both men and women, I see this as the perfect neutral yet colorful, warm colorway, largely driven by it being contained to a scarf. It is rich and unique, yet classic and timeless – something that looked finished but also home made.

In terms of recipe, here it is:

Pattern: garter stitch - 19 stitches (jared did 17 stitches wide, I opted for 19 to make it wider)
Hardware: US 10 (jared used 11 but after swatching, I opted for size 10)
Software: Noro Iro in shade #47. I used about 1 and 3/4 hanks and it got me to
Time lapse: Finished in October and this took about 2 weeks –could have been done in a couple of days but I was switching back and forth between projects

In terms of how it looks, I personally love it. My photography doesn’t do it nearly as much justice as Jared’s, so if you’re considering knitting something similar, look to his for potential greatness.

In terms of the finished product, I finally blocked this about a month ago and Hart has been wearing it since. He thinks it’s a bit scratchy – and I can understand. Most scarfs, or ones you love to wear, if not made from cashmere are made from a beautiful soft wool that is so soft that you love to pull it around your cold neck.

I also perhaps would have considered reducing the needle size a bit for a tighter stitch. It’s not as warm as his faithful orange, and I wonder if doing a tighter stitch (and compensating by adding a few more stitches per row, to maintain the width) would have done the trick.

Finally, at least so far in its wearing history, the scarf isn’t as pliable/flexible as I would have wished. When you fold it, and then release the fold, there is a fold mark.

At this point I’m just nitpicking. Net net, I give this a thumbs up and I think Hart does too.

Happy New Year!

Alton Realized

2007-12-26T19:33:00.001-05:00

Our Alton Brown fantasy is about to begin….for Chistmas my BF Hart gave me a beautiful shiny Kitchen Aid stand mixer along with a shopping spree on Bowery, a street/mecca, steps from our apartment.

Apparently this plan has been in the making since May, when the New York Times printed this article on outfitting your entire kitchen for under $300 at one of the many professional kitchen/restaurant supply stores on Bowery. We found that we could do it in much less – so after buying tons of pots, pans, baking accessories, and such, we headed to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up some W favorites – including a mandolin, a food scale and a probe thermometer.

I am very much looking forward to upping the amateur anti of our kitchen in 2008 and to kick it all off, I just cracked open the spine of my new Barefoot Contessa cookbook, another Christmas gift, this time from my Mom, and started making a heart clogging masterpiece. I should count, but it appears as though most of her recipes call for 1 lb of butter.

As my poor Hart is stuck in Detroit after his flight was cancelled and could be reading this on his blackberry, I’ll keep mum for now on what I made. In the meantime, here are some updated blocking pictures. As soon as I got home today, I blocked the front panels of Dollar and a Half. Just seaming (groan) and knitting up the neck band, and this will be a FO!

Feliz Navidad!

2007-12-24T15:10:00.000-05:00

That sure was a long nap!

No better time to get back to this than when you’re stuck in the Massachusetts suburbs, bored out of your mind, watching a marathon of Everest on the Discovery Channel while breaking every 30 minutes for yet another slice of banana bread.

Knitting spirit still under repair, yet I do have some progress. I have been slowwwwwly working away at Minimalist Cardigan – one more sleeve to go. As promised, I would not finish Dollar and a Half Cardigan until I had a blocking board – and now I do! Christmas came early – my mom felt it was best to have the blocking board sent direct instead of forcing me to lug it home after opening it on Christmas morning.

And I also leave you with this link to Finnyknits. This lady is a freaking riot.

Status

2007-10-23T19:32:00.000-04:00

I got nothing major to say except for:

Michigan’s doing much better than they were 2 months ago and it makes Saturdays a bit more enjoyable now.

Friday Nights Lights is getting better (if you haven’t seen it, you’re wasting your life away)

I’m cooking more – thanks to Real Simple's Five Easy Dinners (in every issue) and their accommodation of at least 1 out of 5 recipes being vegetarian. That’s 20%!, which is high given that only 1-2.8% of those in the US are veg (thanks Wikipedia). Here are two (one, two) of my favorites.

I’m thinking a lot about running but not actually doing it. And Hart would agree, as he has to deal with the 6am “faux” wake up call that I subject us both to every morning. Why do I think he’ll believe me when I say “oh- I made a mistake when setting my alarm” as I fall back asleep. Especially as I do it every day. More importantly, when am I going to learn that my positive thinking at 11pm does not overpower my laziness the next morning? If you live in NYC, esp in my hood, you know that running outside at night is not an option as it’s too crowded. So mornings it is! (or in my case, isn’t right now)

There are crazy re-orgs going on in my dept and I took the plunge and moved into a new job – I’m still not sure if I’m 100% excited about it even though it is technically a bigger job.

I haven’t blocked Dollar and a Half and I don’t care. Thanks so much for the comments of encouragement – it reinvigorated my excitement. I think it’s time for me to invest in a blocking board and well, that’s another excuse for procrastination.

But I have been working on my new BFF Minimalist Cardigan – I call her Mini and here she is:

Hibernation

2007-10-17T19:08:00.000-04:00

It’s been another long hiatus here at Katyaflutes - there’s been work, weddings, travel, a really miserable start to the Michigan football season, but none of these things would matter if I was actually inspired.

I’ll cut to the chase. The Dollar and a Half Cardigan has nearly killed me. Okay that may be a bit dramatic but it nearly killed my knitting spirit, which I think is much worse.

Here’s a picture of the seductiveness.

No matter how much I tried, how seriously I took it, and how focused I remained, I could not get past the front decreases. This is meaningless to most of you, but for those who knit this sweater, you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

I spent every day and night on that decreasing business for 2 weeks straight and it just wasn't working. And I just couldn’t take it anymore. And so I walked away.

Knitting is supposed to be relaxing, exciting and fun. And this wasn't any of those things. And to add insult to injury I am a monogamous knitter – I can’t start projects until I finish the last one so I was being punished even more because I had to stick it out. PLUS my previous project was the Twinkle Sausage Shopping Tunic. It was easy but it early threw me over the edge when I actually tried it on at the end (and looked like, well, a sausage). I know there is a lot of love out there for Miss Wenlan Chia, and I agree- the designs are amazing. But like I know very well that I have no business wearing hot pants, I need to face the fact that I have no business wearing Twinkle designs either.

Back to the story... So I don’t know what happened but I guess about 3 weeks ago, after month break, I decided to give it a go again. And while it wasn’t easy – it sort of fell together much more easily this time and now I’m almost done with the sweater. And I honestly have blocked out all the badness of those weeks of pain. Probably like Lindsay Lohan wants to forget that she binged on alcohol and cocaine while wearing an alcohol ankle monitor and basically became a total disaster, I just want to forget those painful nights of frogging and trying again. And kind of like how she’s not 100% past it because she had to go to rehab for 6 months – I’m not entirely over it as I still need to block and seam it.

Here she is almost done (mind you, after all this angst, I refuse for this to end badly, and hence I loosely seamed this up in advance such that I know exactly how much I need to blocking)

But, to me “seaming” is like slow motion falling over the finish line. To me it’s practically a FO.

Which brings me to this:

Above is the greatness that is the Minimalist Cardigan from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. I found this on Ravelry as pretty much 50% of knitters are either knitting it or have it in their queue. It’s fairly clear why – it’s cute, it’s simple, it’s classic and it’s a plain cardigan with a little bit of style.

This belongs on the back of my chair at work. My office goes from hot to cold and back all the time and this is perfect for that.

I will be knitting it in Rowan Cashsoft Aran in black. It’s kind of weird to knit a black cardigan (isn’t that a “staple”?) but shut up – I want to do it. I found this yarn at Purl (where I also finally saw Joelle!) and what’s great about Purl is that they swatch every yarn they sell so you can actually feel and see what you’re buying. I fell in love immediately. Similar to the Misti Alpaca it’s warm but totally flexible (hangs well vs being stiff) and is super soft. Plus – er, it’s machine washable. Craziness. I bought it at Jimmy Beans Wool (sorry purl but with a $3 savings per ball, how can you blame me?) and got it today after ordering on Sunday night. Heart that.

Enough already! Am I trying to make up for lost time? I have knitting to do!

And the season begins

2007-08-06T11:45:00.000-04:00

Wedding season began this past weekend with a trip to SF. My god it is cold there! In NY I’m used to sweating 5 minutes after getting out of the shower, and there we were, turning on the heat and layering whatever we could grab.

We got in on Friday and while I had big plans for Saturday before the wedding started- a nice SF run, lots of walking and shopping – that whole thing was thrown out the window. Unexpectadly seeing tons of old friends on Friday night led to a 2:30am bedtime after way too many cocktails. Running those hills + hangover = bad scene. Wasn't about to try it.

What I did manage to accomplish was hitting two yarn shops – Noe Knit and Imagiknit. At Noe Knit I picked up 2 skeins of Noro Iro in colorway 47. I have been excited about Jared’s “You’re my Iro” scarf since he posted it and as I couldn’t leave SF empty handed – I picked some up. I can’t wait to get started.

Feeling major progress to come on Dollar and a Half this week. I did lots of knitting on the plane while watching Spiderman 3 (boo!) and two netflix hits – Zodiac and the Wire. Hart’s investment in a portable dvd player was a savior. Anyway- I stalled on the fronts as I needed to decrease in the pattern. This always requires careful planning, a glass of wine, and at least 3 reference books or websites to refer to. Not something I’m willing to try on a foldout tray while sitting in the middle seat of an airplane.

Iced Tea

2007-08-01T20:18:00.000-04:00

I have just finished the back and I love this sweater. I had a healthy start last weekend when I was on a gorgeous lake at my friend’s house in CT. It was me, Hart and 2 of our other friends visiting and it was a weekend of relaxation. It was gorgeous out and we usually spend all day swimming and tubing on his boat, drinking and eating – yet with all the Harry Potter mania (we actually seriously could not find our host nor his parents as they were in hiding with their books), it was a full day of knitting – plus a great run.

Here is the back of my Dollar and a Half Cardigan.

Other than that there has been a whole lot of busyness – not much of which is worth blogging about but is unbearably time consuming. Work, for one, which I’m starting to hate. Actually that’s kind of it outside of admin stuff of buying plane tickets and making hotel reservations for the FIVE weddings we have in the next couple of months.

I am excited for all equally but am super psyched for the two Indian weddings (I’ve never been to one! I need *outfits*) and sigh in bliss- the one in Ibiza that Hart and I (and 3 other couples) have turned into a villa rental for one week. The only, but pretty severe, downside is that many of these weddings fall on weekends of Michigan football games. I wasn’t a heavy blogger during last season but may want to prepare yourself as this may be discussed heavily starting September. Hart and I plan around these games and with Ibiza, we are leaving way later (and perhaps paying more for airfare) so we can see the Penn State game. We have scoured websites for bars at JFK and may literally check in and drive to a close by sportsbar in Queens. Of all things, I can’t imagine anyone would have a recommendation, but if you do, I need it.

One of the cooler things I have seen, and was gifted just today is this:

My friend Elf-friend (her name is almost that phonetically – and was created by her dad using a random letter program – how cool) has the angel one and I cried in jealousy when I saw it but she got it in Japan. She just went again last week and I got both the devil and the angel! Love!

Regarding the sweater, I’m glad I did my homework in advance but of course there were some hiccups – nothing major thank god. The lace pattern, while easy once you’ve got the rhythm, is not something htat can be worked on mindlessly while having deep conversations with your friends. Therefore, there was a bit of minor ripping – but minor.

My only mistake that I discovered only just a bit ago, when shaping for the arm holes, is that selvedge stiches are maintained in the reverse stockinette. So when you start a row of purls, you need to start and end with a knit. While it would probably be easier on me had I done that when seaming time occurs, it’s not worth ripping out for. Finally, one thing that keeps happening is that when I start the lace pattern, I have 87 stiches, yet I end with 86. I have been diligently following the work to see if I missed something but it keeps happening. Fortunately it has no impact on my lace work so I end up adding a stich during stockinette. God, I hope that doesn’t come back to bit me.

One final thing. My very VERY best friend BP is having a baby. Holy cripes I can’t believe it – it makes me want to cry every time I think about it. I made a Big Bad Baby Blanket (my 4th, actually) and I have been just saving it. It’s been so long that I actually considered just holding onto it for whenever it is I have a kid. It’s hers now and I am so happy about that. BUT – that was created awhile ago and I am so into finding new little things I can knit for him/her. I just need to find things suitable for a hot baby with hot hipster parents who live in LA.

Turning Lemons into Lemonade.

2007-07-20T14:30:00.000-04:00

It's been a slightly rough past few days. Have you heard about this thing that happened in New York on Wednesday? It happened at 41st and Lexington. Guess where my office is – 41st and Lexington. I wasn’t there when it happened fortunately. Why? Because I woke up that morning to the sound of water gushing, through my AC and into my apartment. The wonderful news is that all of my colleagues are totally fine (yet shaken up) and while the building is a mess, our office is okay. Our office is closed indefinitely.

When I learned on Wed night that the office would be closed on Thursday, I decided that the following day would be all about Dollar and A Half Cardigan from Interweave Spring. I have been staring at this pattern since it hit the stands, but searching for the called for yarn exhausted me so I shelved it. Until now.

What you see above is a swatch. A really big swatch, that is sectioned into groups of lace by the needle size I used while trying to get the right gauge.

The immediate roadblock of this pattern (and there appear to be many) is that you need to swatch in the lace pattern. This is a bit annoying. The other thing that happened to me, and sounds like has happened to almost everyone else, is that while it lists a size 5 needle, you really needed a larger one. I swatched on a 5, a 6, a 7 and finally an 8. Even with an 8 I’m not making 4” but the lace pattern is starting to look a little too loose for me. I am going to knit with an 8.

Under normal circumstances I am never afforded the time to spend so much time on swatching but the reality is that it took only 1 day. I will spend many days and perhaps months knitting this sweater and I would rather deal with this up front. I’ve seen a lot of frogging out there. Seeing that I ended up several needles up, it was clearly a good idea.

The yarn I’m using is Misti International Alpaca Worsted in 4388. When I was at Downtown Yarns last weekend to get help on my Shopping Tunic, we spent a lot of time finding some substitutes for the Reynolds Soft Linen, called for in the pattern, and I fell in love with the feel (soft) and color (super deep brown/purple).

Getting Started:
This pattern has received a lot of bad press, yet there are so many wonderful examples of FOs that I know it’s going to be great. While there are a lot of problems, there are also some great solutions out there. For you and me, as a reference point and a time saver, here is what I have learned so far.

Doing the gauge. As you’ll see, the lace pattern has 7 rows. If you look in the directions for the body there are two call outs that you must include in your swatch: 1 selvege stitches, and 2) the order of doing the lace pattern. Make sure when you are swatching to knit the first and last stitch.. The swatch requires 21 stitches and this incorporates the selvege stitches. The pattern itself. When I first did the swatch I knitted 1-7, which is the pattern for lace. Row 7 is the tricky row and doing it after row 6 was confusing. When you actually do the pattern for real, you will do row 7 after row 3, not 6. Basically when you swatch, follow what you’ll do in the body. I did the pattern twice plus 2 rows of stockinette in between, and got 26 rows.

Michelin Arms. If you're starting this pattern, you MUST check out the Knit-Along. You will see very quickly that when you switch from the reverse stockinette stitch to the lace pattern, the stockinette buckles and looks, well, terrible. A solution that is getting a lot of converts, and which seems to be working, is knitting the lace in one size needle, and doing the stockinette in a needle 2 sizes smaller. I just went back to buy the rest of my yarn (I wanted to swatch first) and was advised to do everything but the lace pattern in the smaller needle (doesn’t include cable). So for me, I’m going to pretty much knit everything using an 6 except for the lace pattern, which I’ll do in an 8

Row 7 of the pattern. Not easy, but once you see this, it’ll all make sense.

Decreases. I haven’t really looked at this closely but have heard it’s a nightmare. Veronik Avery has a tutorial and the knitalong has plenty of posts

Size/length. At this point all I know is that the sleeves are long.

I am really still excited about Magic Shawl, yet I simply can’t handle bulky wool with huge needles. I’ve been itching all week to knit but I need something slightly more mindless than Clementine, which is literally all lace. So now I’m happy. Heading to a friend’s lake house this weekend and will hopefully get some knitting in while I wait in line for the new Harry Potter book. That’s the price I pay for staying at said friends house – must accompany him on line.

Sneak Preview

2007-07-16T21:22:00.000-04:00

Well I finished her up tonight and she’s resting in her blocking stage. Given Hart left today for a business trip, I won’t have pictures until later in the week but here is a bit of her. A very small bit.

I will do my usual debrief when I post the final work but I’m not going to lie to you. While I am upset that I didn’t get knitting done on my “sick day” last week, I think being sick and dealing with where I was in the pattern would have been bad. Where I left off was a procrastination point. Short rows. I am, or was, a short row virgin.

So at like 8pm on Thursday, still sick, I gave it a go. Mistake. The Twinkle book has some instructions but in true Katyaflutes form, I whipped out my Vogue Knitting manual and starting doing it, but it was dreadful. It totally didn’t make sense to me and I’ve learned that “winging” it in these situations never ends well. And it didn’t. Long story short, on Saturday I hit Downtown Yarns in the hopes of getting some help. This is my first time doing this (asking for help at a store) and I was afraid of the reaction I would get given that I didn’t buy any of the materials (book, yarn, needles) at the store. But they were fantastic. Not only did they help me walk through it, I got to see a just finished Baby Surprise and I was just so excited to be there that we spent a lot of time picking out yarn for another queued project, Dollar and a Half Sweater.

Alas, another thing I’m not going to lie about is my diminishing love for this sweater. My frame is not bone thin - and I tried it on and it’s big, bulky, and makes my body look at least 3 inches bigger in girth. Plus the sleeves are a bit cappy which make my arms look like sausages. Actually it’s not just my arms. I tried the timer on my camera to get a full shot and after seeing the picture I felt, well, aside from immediately deleting the picture I just look like a sausage in general with this sweater – you’re just seeing my least sausage-y part – my neck. I'm thinking that this one isn't going to end well.

We’ll see, perhaps I like it more when she’s freshly blocked.

I am really itching to do something with small stitches but I do love the Magic Shawl and I’m a glutton for punishment – perhaps I should listen hard to my complaints about the bulkiness but even as I write this, my love for the shawl is bigger than my knowledge that it will be BIG.

I’m thinking of, wow, modifying it. If anyone has this book and can act either as a helper or a sounding board on what I’m thinking about doing – please let me know.

"sick day" ?

2007-07-12T17:39:00.000-04:00

I have a boss who doesn’t understand the definition of a “sick day”. I have had a somewhat crazy week, at least for me, that resulted in falling asleep only to cough all night. then i woke up this morning feeling terrible. I guess my boss believes, in a passive aggressive sort of way, that if you have your computer and you're not in the hospital, a “sick day” = “working at home”.

I had great intentions to sit on the couch all day and watch tv and knit, but that just didn’t happen. I instead just sat at my computer all day and I literally just finished what she considered a “quick” project about an hour ago. So while I didn’t knit, I do have reporting still in me.

There have been several minor yet gratifying things OUTSIDE of work that have happened in the last month or so which have been keeping me busy or pre-occupied.

In knitting news, I started Shopping Tunic with a bang. It’s freaking hot out right now which is lowering my motivation but I am on the cowl part and it took me about 3 days to get there. While I’d hoped to finish her today, she’s close. I don’t have it in me right now to take pictures, and while not a good knitting photo, the background is great. This is the deck of friend’s house where we spent July 4th. And Shopping Tunic as an accessory.

Speaking of July 4th, that’s my birthday and Hart took me, as a surprise, to Babbo, on the Saturday before.This is my (and his) ultimate favorite restaurant and needless to say, reservation getting isn’t exactly easy. It's almost annoying but the upside is that it can actually happen. If you want a specific date you need to call at 10am exactly 1 month to the day before and hope for the best. Such a great guy that Hart is– this required him calling the day before we left for Eastern Europe in the middle of some crazy work situation. Not only that, he enlisted his entire team to sit in a conference room and have Babbo’s number on redial in the hopes of getting through. I will say that all the pain and annoyance is worth it.

The best part about the whole experience is that he tricked me into thinking we were going to another restaurant and as we were walking by Babbo for a *stroll* next to the park, he stopped me, told me to put on my heels (I was walking in flip flops, with the Manolos in my bag) and we were going in. Nice.

As usual, Babbo was unbelievable. No it's not cheap, but it's not out of control - it's a special occasion type of place. The food, for both meat-eating foodies (Hart) and vegetarian foodie-in trainings (me) is perfect.

On to one of my next goals, learning Spanish, Hart got me for my birthday Spanish lessons! Unfortunately right now most classes are mid-semester so this will be in the fall but one thing I am really excited about in the meantime is a great Spanish podcast, Coffee Break Spanish, which I’m trying to listen to and practice.

For any one interested, you can go to their website and download previous podcasts. For anyone interested in another language (Crimenotes: Hindi) I found the Spanish one via searching the store at Itunes. They list a bunch of podcasts and most are free.

Speaking of I-tunes, many months ago I saw Fig and Plum post this and it introduced me to this new and exciting Nike+ gadget. It’s a souped up podometer. It’s $30 and comes with a connector that fits on a nano (only) and a sensor you throw in your shoe. It tracks your running and with the push of a button tells you (in your earbuds) how long you’ve been running, how fast, distance, etc. You then sync it to your itunes and voila – it keeps track. I combined many generous gifting for my b-day and bought a new nano, an armband and the Nike-id and it’s great.

One other really cool thing is that on the Nike website you can use their map to determine the distance of routes you may already, or may think of running.

So many goals that are exciting. I wish I could convince my motivation to get on board.

Rusted Root - FO

2007-07-01T21:41:00.000-04:00

Here she is, Rusted Root. It was a long time coming. She was finished back mid-May but it took a bit longer (with the trip, and all) to weave her ends in and block her.

Details:

Start: March 25, 2007

Finish: May 15-ish, 2007 (knitting finished in early May but blocking only June)

Pattern: Rusted Root by the Zephyre Style ladies

Size: Medium

Software: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Buttercream - 3 skeins

Harware: size 6 Circulars

Note and Modifications:

The key note is that this lace requires practice. Seriously. This was my first lace work and the lace pattern takes awhile to get used to and get in the rhythm of. Like, specifically row 3 (I think that's the one, as I have tried to block it out). I frogged, painfully, 7 times.

A good resource is the Zephyr Rusted Root Message Board, which was really helpful in getting me through this. Especially that lace pattern.

I know it's totally anti-instant gratification but it's worth it to swatch this and practice on the lace pattern. Hopefully it'll prevent you from the frogland I entered.

Also, as always, I added a bit of length.

Finally, I love this yarn BUT, see below.

Can you see the difference in color in the front and back ?(click for close-up) I wet-blocked this and it dried on it's back. I blocked it on a dark green towel so I couldn't tell but I'm thinking the dye sort of bled. I need to reblock.

Whatevs, I'm wearing it tomorrow to work.

Super Bulky Yarn + 100 Degree Weather

2007-06-29T12:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I received my Twinkle yarn and wow. It’s great - it’s incredibly soft and luscious but well, it just seemed a bit wrong holding it in my hands with the type of heat wave we had going on. You wouldn't exactly call this summer yarn.

After I left work I headed over to Yarn Connection on Madison and I think about 36th street to buy some new needles. I need a 19 and a 17 for my two projects and not only were they godly expensive, take a look at that thing!

During the NBA draft (snore), I got a chance to spend some quality time with Hart and this pattern/yarn. I didn’t bother swatching. The reason why is because I checked out the other 6-7 FOs for this project on Ravelry and every knitter used a 19 when using this yarn.

Knitting with a size 19 is hard. While projects do take longer with a smaller needle, I really like knitting with small needles – the smaller the better. And I’m a tight knitter. For me, knitting with an 11 is hard and awkward but size 19 is next level. I knew I was getting myself into this, it is just a major adjustment.

Anyway, I casted on and knit about 5 rows and it all just felt and looked sloppy so I pulled it out. At this point I was tired and with a plan to swatch on both the 19s and the 17s, I gave up for the evening.

This morning I got up at my normal time which left me enough time to shower and get to work on time. Instead I made coffee and hit the couch for a little swatching. I was on a mission and work could wait. With the 19s I was doing a tad bit over 10 stiches per 6 inch and the called gauge is 9.5. So I was pretty close. I then swatched wit the 17 and while the gauge was too high – 12 stitches per inch- my god the knitting was so much easier and smoother looking.

I did spend a lot of today trying to figure out how I could make this tunic using the 17. Figuring this out is very easy for some, but I'm a novice. I was planning to make the small and figured out that if I followed the pattern for the large the width/circum would work. But now I will likely run out of yarn as I’ll need to make more rows to get the length.

As of right now I am going to shut up and use the 19s. More pictures to come.

Twinkle Twinkle

2007-06-23T20:10:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a little Ravelry to get you full force back into knitting.

Ravelry. It’s like My Space for knitters but better. I don’t have my head fully around the powers of ravelry but in the small corner of what I’ve discovered, I am obsessed.

Cutting to the immediate chase, I found this knitter, I can’t remember how, and her FOs were amazing. Why? Well, she’s great but she chooses patterns wisely, or at least I just love what she’s done. A large portion came from Twinkle’s Big City Knits. Click here for pictures of most patterns.

So on ravelry, if you find a person who did a (for example) sweater, you can click on that pattern (say, “Ms. Marigold” or “Jaywalkers”) and see every single FO or WIP – pictures, what yarn they used, their modifications, the needles, etc. Basically, this eliminates the annoying protocol of the past. You used to find a patter you loved, want to see if others did it or what yarn they used, and you googled the pattern name or yarn in hopes of finding blogs, pictures, yarn websites, etc. This is all about centralization.

But I digress (again).

From said great knitter, I clicked on Twinkle and I spent a monumental amount of time looking at different knitters Twinkle knits, and then looking at what yarn they used or substituted with, how much they bought/used, problems they had. In Twinkle case, patterns a) appear to overstate how many skeins and b) Twinkle yarn isn’t like Cascade – it’s hard to find. As you know, learning this is critical.

Here is what is next up:

Shopping Tunic (click here for FOs on flickr)

Magic Shawl: (click here for FOs on Flickr)

And today was all about fulfilling that dream but the scandals of immediate gratification were not met. Today, I got up, went to the local bookstore, bought said book, and perused while getting a pedicure (you know how gnarly feet get while on a trip, walking around everywhere…wait, do I need to justify pedicures?)

I then went to Downtown Knits, Purl and The Point. I was hoping for Cascade Magnum (a suggested substitution) and while the first two had a skein or two of each color, they didn’t have what I needed. I mean, did I really think any knit store in their right mind would carry a super bulky in the summer. Anyway, I came back home, planning to buy the Cascade online, and from a random google search found the Twinkle site (no, I didn’t find it easily before), where I bought enough yarn to make the tunic in eggplant and the shawl in white. So there we have it.

Hart always tells me I’m a very bad story teller. I’m longwinded, I know, but this took a whole to get through! Anyway, I can’t WAIT to start.

Finally, while I do feel like I am not paying attention to current projects but only looking for the next, I will say that I wove in ends and blocked Rusted Root yesterday and if Hart isn’t too jetlagged when he returns from Milan tomorrow, pictures will be taken. So since he will be jetlagged and annoyed by my pressing for a photoshoot, they will come this week.

Caffy McFaFa

2007-06-21T19:56:00.000-04:00

Holy hiatus batman.

It’s been 2 whopping months since my last post and this is due to 3 reasons – the first two legit, the third fairly sloppy.

Reason #1: Late April came with, well, a tear in the retina that needed repairing. This came with stressing, plus busyness at work, and finally surgery. Horrific eyes runs in the family and my mom (who had eye surgery twice, the first when there was no laser surgery only the old knife *ugh, vomit, scream* and only after all that grief, she developed glacouma), my aunt (hole in retina) and my uncle (hole in the retina) all said, “laser surgery? no sweat”. I’ll tell you there was plenty of sweat and while not horrifying pain, there was pain.

Reason #2: Into May and we had trip planning. Hart had a business trip in Prague and I learned mid-month that I was due in Switzerland for work (the exact same week, mind you) and so we turned it into a long and great trip to Eastern Europe. Planning a 3 week trip to 5 countries in 2 weeks was no easy task. Hart and I flew to Prague late May for a few days, Hart stayed and I flew to gorgeous Switzerland, and then we met up in Budapest, went on to Slovenia and finished up in Croatia.

I am back, jet lagged, but not afraid to discuss reason number 3.

Reason 3 is that I am not feeling the knitting lately and it’s really bumming me out. I think it’s the summer but I’m not sure. Perhaps it was the full excessiveness of knitting that occurred between November-ish and April. I think, and hope, that it's due to the summer. For the summer, knitting to me = a) I’m not into summer knit looks and b) god, it’s freaking too hot to have a lap full of wool. Also, I do keep reading in blog land about community and, with the exception of Hart’s mom, who is in Michigan, I don’t have any knitting friends. Wah. I just kind of wish I had someone to knit with (wow that sounded really weird)

In terms of the agenda, I have my lovely shawl – see last post for reminder. But this piece requires full attention and focus (not what I’m yearning for at this moment) and I have to finish and block my Rusted Root (which is actually pretty great and deserves an outing).

Other:
Onto other things, I need to figure out how to create a To Do list on this blog-thing. I said back in January that I have much self-improvement to be doing but I’d like a way to track it.

The first thing that is coming to mind as of now is that when Hart and I were in Europe I realized yet again that it’s gross that I can only speak one language. I didn’t speak a lick of any language other than English. In Hungary and Czech Republic, the term for “thank you” was actually pretty hard to even attempt to pronounce. More so, in all places we visited people were too excited to speak English that I felt it would be a disservice not to let them practice. This issue of a second language is not (and shouldn't be) a big deal for many and it’s perfectly fine, but it’s not okay for me.

For me the language that makes most sense is Spanish for fairly obvious reasons. Hart is muy supportive but he always is and does not push my laziness. I think this is why I love him but our combined laziness makes for, well, procrastination. Hart and I went to an uber crazy grad school and we always joke that we are the two most unmotivated people from our class and while our b-school friends are off making millions, running marathons, speaking 15 languages and starting charities, we’d prefer drinking beer and watching Michigan games. It only figure we found each other.

SPEAKING of Michigan games. We just bought our plane tickets for the Notre Dame game for September 15th.

Finally, I got invited to Ravelry. Tres Excited.

Y is for Yarn

2007-04-23T19:41:00.000-04:00

Can we talk about the weather? I can. The first true gorgeous New York weekend of the year, and Hart and I took full advantage.

Saturday morning we woke up and hit Café Mogador in the East Village. It soooo didn’t matter what we ate or how good it was (but it was) because we were eating outside.

We hit the dog run at Tompkins Square Park (it’s seriously like going to a zoo- people just hang there for hours watching the dogs), then stopped by Downtown Yarns to browse, and then landed at DBA at 2pm to meet Crimenotes.

DBA, how I love thee. We were there for, seriously, 5 hours. Hart, Crimenotes and I played Scrabble and then two of CN’s friends showed up and we played hearts.

And that’s me up there, just after scoring about 7 points for Yarn.

Speaking of Yarn, my silence has been multimedia related. I have taken about 25 pictures of this gorgeous yarn below- it's Blue Sky Alpacas - Alpaca and Silk - in Spring. It it so light that it's just not very photogenic and I just need to call it a day with trying to shoot it.

I haven’t given up on Rusted Root. She’s resting. But in the meantime, I’m working on this shawl from the latest Interweave.

If you have it, the yarn and the color I’m using is featured on the cover of Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Anyway, Hart and I ended our weekend in Battery Park yesterday, where we kicked off our shoes, did crossword puzzles, and I started my shawl.

Six Degrees

2007-04-19T09:28:00.000-04:00

Knitware Vase by Alyssa Ettinger

I've been in great awe of Etsy lately - only discovering it a few months ago. It's funny the degrees of separation, or the path you take to a new discovery on a blog or website. It happens all the time. I'll get so wrapped up into looking at new things and often times I'll think of something weeks later and have absolutely NO idea which site it was on and knowing that I probably pathed through 9 websites to get there in the first place, it's a lost cause.

I wish I could remember how far back it went, and the exact path, but I somehow ended up at a knit blog- the writer of which turned me onto Design Sponge. I love Design Sponge - it has turned into a daily read. And while I had perused Etsy a bit before that, looking for random things, it was Design Sponge that opened my eyes to lots of artists who sell work that I can actually afford to buy. More on that later.

Anyway, Design Sponge is on vacay, so in "path-like" fashion, I visited her guestblog, hosted by Victoria and saw a link for Poppytalk. Clicked on that, and found the above vase in her category called "Etsy Pick of the Day".

Cute vase, right? BTW there are several different vases and coasters available, in different cable patterns. Love that.

Operation

2007-04-14T12:21:00.000-04:00

I needed to perform some very scary surgery on Rusted Root this morning and I will say it was not fun. Not fun at all.

I had been knitting along at a good speed and was quite excited about it. This morning I was just making coffee, whistling, thinking about how far I had come...And then it hit me.

I put my coffee cup down, clenched my fists and hissed quietly through bared teeth, "I forgot to do the shaping".

At the end of the day I had to pull out about 4 inches worth of sweater so that I could do my decreases and shape. Again, Vogue Knitting saves the day. Even though I know how to do this method, it's always reassuring to have the visuals in front of me.

I haven't knit an entire round since this happened as I needed a much needed break after the 1 1/2 hour surgery. Also, just thinking about getting to the lace part is incredibly scary and it's making me nervous. I have really no idea what row of the pattern I'm on. Ugh. I just hope it works out.

Anyway. Off to enjoy the weather. The storm is coming and we've decided to have movie marathon tomorrow so I may need to hit Purl or The Point for another project. I almost want to stick RR in the corner until she behaves and starts telling me things in advance so I don't screw up again.

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater

2007-04-12T22:49:00.000-04:00

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

1922 — 2007

2007-04-09T18:36:00.001-04:00

I’ve been knitting up Rusted Root at a fairly rapid pace after frogging 7 times in the beginning (more on that later).

Lack of progress shots is because she's not as photogenic as I’d like.

this is a better shot of the actual color

I recently got a new camera and I’m kind of not loving it. It’s a Canon A570 IS. We did plenty of research and we actually waited to buy as we knew this was coming out. I think the lighting/crispness kind of sucks and yes, I could probably learn more about the camera and take better pictures but at the end of the day, I bought my mom a Kodak Easyshare for Christmas last year and I like hers better.

Had a great weekend. But first, this. I have decided once and for all that I am taking a step back into anonymity and will be calling said boyfriend “Hart” from now on. I will discuss later, maybe.

Anyway, on Friday Hart and I had no plans and he convinced me to go to Sripraphai in Woodside, Queens. This review finally put us over the edge.

This was embarrassingly my first time in Queens outside of commuting through but I’m happy that going to this restaurant was my first experience. I first heard of it in 2004. Hart and I had dinner at Veritas and started up a conversation with the sommelier about food. We asked, and he told us that it was his absolute favorite Thai restaurant in New York. For the record, this was NOT when Hart first heard of Sripraphai. When recounting the story of dinner later to friends, I told the Veritas story and asked him when he first heard of it and he gave me that look that meant, “er, wayyy before that.” Like in 1990 when he was 16, as though he had walkie talkies with Zagat and they called when it opened.

Anyway - this place is ridiculous. Hands down the best Thai food I have ever eaten outside of Thailand. It is 100% the trek and they make the best Penang Curry with Tofu. We seriously ordered 6 dishes for the two of us and brought half home.

Who's on a roll?

2007-04-05T21:43:00.001-04:00

Another from Veggie Meal Plans (let's recap that while this may be boring - you're talking to a lady who cooks no more than 2 times a year. just humor me)

Been thinking about this recipe for awhile. Went to my new best friend's place to shop, and spent $14.85 on enough for 8 - at least 50% of which was organic. How amazing is that?

Honestly, I have been knitting. She's just not ready for debut yet.

Pineapple Part Two

2007-04-04T21:58:00.000-04:00

This is my second time with this. We loved it the first time but I think we needed more of the glaze and well, we didn't have enough so I made more.

Not bad, eh?

ps: Whole Foods at Bowery is as good as I thought it would be. I'm not being snotty but it's the best one I've been too - including the one in Atlanta where Alton shops. I could definitely spend at least 2 hours a day there.

FO: Hourglass Sweater

2007-04-02T19:07:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Hardware: 24” size 6 bamboo
Software: Knitpicks Andean Silk in Orange – 12 skeins.
Start: December 26, 2006
Finished: March 14th, 2007

I really like this sweater in the end. If you look back or notice how long it took me to finish, you can tell that I kind of lost interest along the way– starting and finishing CPH before wrapping this up, etc. I think the reason is that, well, if you're in the stage that I'm in - which is eager beaver new knitter who has a short attention span and who wants to try every new technique she crosses, this could fall by the wayside.

But in the end, I love it. While it's easy and some could say boring (your call - it's many many rounds of stockinette), someone could probably whip this out in 2 weeks and it's just a classic sweater with a bit of a twist.

The first picture I took was this one below. This shows me wearing the sweater before I blocked it and how short it was. This was tres scary.

But then I blocked. And this next picture was the first picture taken post-blocking. The sizing made me very excited and I requested an immediate photoshoot. We were just back from Loreley and several beers (hey, it was that first of the season 70 degree day and what better way to celebrate than at an outdoor German beer garden). Hands on hips and stilll wearing work skirt is indicative of excitement level.

Here is the final photoshoot:

The above and first photo of this post were taken this past weekend (with new camera, btw). You can tell I am in the exact same position so that I could see pre-post blocking. Important to note is that I actually wore the sweater to work on Thursday and then took these pictures on Saturday. Maybe I’m crazy but it seems to have shrunken in length from the previous picture?

Details/Modifications

In terms of yarn/gauge/amount – the pattern calls for a different yarn using size 7 needles. As you may know, Andean Silk has been widely used as a substitute, calling for a size 7 needle. When I swatched, I was running too big, which is kind of weird because I’m a really tight knitter. I probably wish I used the size 7. Blocking did a lot for me but I do wish this was a little roomier. It’s not too tight, it fits well, I just wish it was looser.

In terms of Modifications - I saw a lot of sweaters with serious boat neck action – which is really not that obvious when you look at the picture in the book. This is, in reality, the style of the sweater. This works for a lot of people, mostly those who wear strapless bras or have super bra strap invisible powers, but it doesn’t work for me.

I read a post by a woman who started doing decreases every row instead of every other row, to make the neck more narrow. I am fortunate enough to live close to Purl (owner is author of book), and so I strolled in for some direction. The staff recommended that I NOT decrease every row, but that I instead knit more rows, but continuing in the pattern of decrease one row and knit the next straight. Instead of 38 rows (I knitted the size for 37) of decreasing (19 decrease rows, 19 regular), I knitted a total of 44 – which nets 3 additional decrease rows.

I really wish I would have knitted this longer and while the blocking did wonders for me (added 3 inches in length without looking wonky/stretched)

And about that finishing. Yes, it’s annoying but it wasn’t at all hard. I have since seen some references to attaching/seaming the “turning round” as you go, vs finishing it after, and I would recommend that.

If you want a couple more pictures, click here.

On Cooking

2007-03-27T21:43:00.000-04:00

First, I seriously am on the verge of a heart attack because I’m so excited about this:

Opening two blocks from my house!!!!! Opening this Thursday!!!! I feel tears coming on right now. I went vegetarian when I was 14, which was, wow, a long time ago. At that age, Bread and Circus came into my life – which was the most amazing upscale veggie-friendly grocery store in Boston/MA (where I grew up). When I went to college (in Boston) I worked there and then it was bought by WF and I've hearted them ever since.

Second, I just want to say that I have cooked two times in the last month and both meals have come from Veggie Meal Plans, which is one of my new favorite things ever.

I frankly have a lot to learn and realize that I’m so underdeveloped in the cooking area that you will find humor in my commentary.

Dinner #1: Pineapple-Chipotle Glazed Tofu, Grilled Asparagus, Jasmine Rice

Rundown

Great – pretty easy except that I cooked the glaze too quickly. The tofu was great although it could have been cooked a bit more – I can’t seem to brown tofu all that well – it just seems to hang out and not cook. Can anyone at all help me with this?

Burned the asparagus. Pre-cooking I emailed my friend Lucy and asked her for advice on cooking asparagus. She said either broil it or use an asparagus cooker. You think I have an asparagus cooker? Nein. I opted for broiling but didn’t know that this doesn’t require a whole lot of time.

Dinner #2 – Spelt Linguine with White Beans and Vegetables

Rundown

This was awesome – a lot of moving parts (a lot of ingredients) but worked out great and lasted several days.

I didn’t realize that you could steam without a steamer (pause for laughter) – I had to call my mom after reading: “heat veggie broth and garlic in a sauce pot. Add cooked beans, broccoli and asparagus. Cover and allow vegetables to steam until they are barely tender”. This seriously almost threw me over the edge. Anyway – mom told me putting the lid on would steam it just fine. A few notes:

- This was my first time using broth.
- Didn’t need all that garlic – it was a little too much
- I used whole wheat spaghetti – this was in our cupboard and given that we cook twice a year – I knew I should use it up. Point is that I think this could have used a thicker/”meatier” pasta to suck everything up.

Conclusion

It was super fun and I’m ready for more. I will do a resolution round up (and it has to be before mid-2007) but I am committing, right now, that I will cook at least 18 times before 2007 is over.

“18?”, you ask. Well, it is basically equivelant to once every 2 weeks, but since that’s too much commitment, I’ll just say 9 months x 2 times/month = 18. Worse case scenario, if things don’t go well I’ll just cook soup for 2 ½ weeks straight in December.

2007-03-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

I really need to step it up in the post-frequency department. I have so many random things to say but instead of doing 5 minute posts every day – they all stew in my head and come out all at once in a marathon post. Sometimes it's so overwhelming I quit before getting everything out. It’s not efficient and it makes me unhappy.

A bit of knitting progress to report – an almost FO and a new project.

Almost Finished: Hourglass
I almost finished Hourglass last Saturday. It is blocking as we speak and more on it next time with lots of details but here’s a final progress shot.

Next Up: Rusted Root
I finally made the decision last Thursday, when it was really hot out. Knitting Demi seemed entirely impractical. I raced over to Downtown Yarns after work to buy this yarn – at least right now Downtown Yarns (need my apt) and Yarn Connection (near my office) are the only places carrying Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.

As for the color – I was envisioning yellow and while I was hoping for a brighter more pastel-ly yellow, this buttercream was the closest option and I’m happy with it.

I have a LOT to say on experiences with Hourglass and Rusted Root – more next time.

sneak peeks and more

2007-03-12T18:38:00.000-04:00

Sneak Peeks
sneak previews are now available online for vogue knitting and knit1

vogue, eh. not really exciting. but am kind of liking this sweater, in the exact role that it's playing here- on top of a black dress.

Knit1, to me is way more promising. If there is a sock that is going to force me to jump on the bandwagon, it is this pair.

sans weird ribbon and fly swatter, i'm into this thing below. let's hope she's just ultra boney and there are no shoulder pads involved.

More

I'm in the home stretch of Hourglass and I'm not sure what's next. There are a lot of things out there but I guess it's just a matter of choosing. Plus, I want something I'm passionate about, like how I felt about CPH, and I'm not feeling it. Outside of random hat from last post and the Demi, plus those above, I am somewhat into Rusted Root. The only thing is that I need a pep talk - required layering (as said sweater definitely requires it) is a lot of work for me.

What I'm REALLY getting into is sewing opportunities.

Er, HELLO? is this amazing or what?Those dresses are amazing. Given the fact that I, er, own/bought a Miu Miu dress that looks like the one on the right makes me, well, a little nauseaus.

I will definitely get in trouble if I come home with a sewing machine.

Finally, thanks to Parikha I have been shown the light on above sewing and have been introduced to this amazing vegetarian cooking site, which is genius. More to come on that.

status

2007-03-08T19:18:00.001-05:00

First, thanks for all the kind comments on my Central Park Hoodie. Like in all parts of life, it is incredibly motivating and great to get words of support and encouragement about my knitting :)

So I don’t really have anything exciting to share but there’s a lot I’ve been thinking about. I have a habit of turning into a psycho surfer, discover 45 cool websites and then forgetting them all. What I should really do is set up that link list on the left. That would be smart, right?

I’m not really sure what I’m going to knit next. Two things on my mind are Demi and this crazy hat that I saw on Knitty Gritty.

1.0 Demi probably needs no introduction:

BUT – I did discover something cool that everyone else probably figured out years ago, but that is The Knitting Garden. You can go on there and look, CLOSE UP, at all the patterns in Rowan, not only in their books but in their magazines. LOVE this. This takes browsing for patterns to a new level.

2.0 The Sundown Lid
As for Knitty Gritty, I’m not sure there has ever been anything on KG that I’ve wanted to knit but I just like Vikki Howell and love the Knit Bits. But then I saw this crazy hat – unfortunately there isn’t a good pictures but here it is.

This pattern is by Lisa Anne Auerbach. If you’re a tivo-er or dvr-er, this is actually a great episode, although unfortunately it’s not names so it’s not really searchable. I just love that it’s a. unique/cool looking without being too much and b. that it looks really functional. Plus, look at this math action. I happen to LOVE math.

Summary:
Er, it’s March, it’s getting warm out, and neither of these projects are practical. I have to admit – I am very scared of non-winter-associated-knitting. I have never worn anything knitted during warm months but I think it’s mostly just because I haven’t been exposed to what’s out there. I have a standard uniform for summer which includes various skirts paired with Old Navy tank tops. I swear they are the best thing ever – I kid you not, I have about 20. They are like a dollar and fit perfectly. Ah, I digress.

As for status:

Although I’m staying with her and I hope I’ll be wrong, I’m not feeling it with Hourglass – no matter how much I want to love her. I love knitting this because it’s easy and the yarn is soft. I’m just worried that it’s going to look awkward and frumpy at the end and if I had taken a step back before I even started, I would have realized that this is not a style of sweater I gravitate towards.

I have done two sweaters so far – Ms. Marigold and Central Park Hoodie. I love both and I’m happy with how they came out, except they just don’t fit me perfectly. I haven’t tried this yet but when I blocked Ms. Marigold, she came out too big around the neckline. I should just buckle down and re-block. Right?

There’s not much exciting about status shots of a sweater knit in the round in stockinette, but:

FO: Central Park Hoodie

2007-03-03T19:05:00.000-05:00

I'd like to make an introduction. Here she is, my Central Park Hoodie, in all her glory.

This was such a great project for me. I love it and I loved making it. This was also my first time doing a KAL and the amount of help and support I received along the way was great.

Pattern: Central Park Hoodie (Knitscene Fall 2006)
Software (as Alton calls it): 8 skeins of Tahki Donegal Tweed in Deep Purple/845 bought from The Village Sheep. I used a full 7 skeins of yarn and probably 20 yards of the next skein (each skein approx 183 yds).
Hardware: Size 6 and Size 8 circulars plus a size 6 DPN for cabling. My buttons are from The Point
Started: January 25, 2007
Finished: February 24, 2007

Details:

Sizing: There was a lot of press around sizing – a lot of people were saying this was running on the small size. The pattern offers 34, 36, 40 and up. I am 5’6 and if I were knitting a t-shirt I would knit a 34, so I assumed that the 36 would be too snug. Therefore I went for the 40. This is definitely not too snug on me – I wish it were a little smaller/more fitted but I still think the 36 would have been too small.

Modifications: I knit the ribbing on the body a little over 4 ½ vs the 4 inches called for in the pattern, so that it would be a bit longer. I also only did 4”ribbing for the sleeve cuffs vs 5” called for in the pattern. I kept seeing pictures with very long sleeves and many times people were rolling them up bc they were too long. I think my sleeves are the perfect length and maybe could be about ½ inch shorter.

Other:
I love this yarn and highly recommend it. It does soften up a bit with blocking but it’s not the softest stuff you’ll ever knit. But it’s gorgeous and incredibly warm. I love the color I chose as it pops and is vibrant and bright, yet it is still a somewhat neutral color. When I went to the Point to pick out buttons, I pulled the sweater out and several people came over to see what fiber I had used and there were lots of oohs and ahhhs. While they were complimenting the yarn, and not me, I felt very warm and fuzzy.

I also had a great experience with the Village Sheep. I have limited experience ordering online but this came lickety-split, which is always greatly appreciated when you're eager to get going.

Front shot is affected by light so not the best rendition of color/depth

Remember Me?

2007-02-26T20:44:00.001-05:00

Dear Katyaflutes,

I remember when you didn’t know how to knit and you looked at me longingly in Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

You said I was too hard, but then you tried Ms. Marigold and you were willing to give me a shot. You casted on, you got pretty far a long, started one of my sleeves in fact. You were so, well, into me, that you (were stupid to forfeit the obvious DPNs and instead you) invested in a 12 inch circular needle to do my sleeves.

But then you got greedy. You saw the Central Park Hoodie about the same time that you finished your Irish Hiking Scarf. I knew it was deadly but didn't think you'd put two and two together. But you did - Gorgeous sweater plus cables (which you now know how to do) = betrayal. Then you went and joined that KAL.

I just want to remind you of the fact that until either you or Hart get home from work before 8pm (and I’m sick of you whining about that), you’re not going to take any decent pictures of CPH. I also want to remind you that you were smart enough to take pictures of me when it was bright out. You're not Brooklyntweed, okay? You need light and the stars to line up (and a new camera already, right?)

And man, look at how gorgeous I am. I'm orange, I'm bright, I'm soft and let's be honest - you were smart enough to have seen an Inconvenient Truth. Yes it is sort of still cold but at this record, that CPH is only going to suit you for a short while longer. You need me.

You don’t know what you’re missing.

Sincerely,
Hourglass.

*******************************************************

Dear Hourglass,

Point taken. I’m back.

Love,
Katyaflutes

more details to come, but

2007-02-25T19:57:00.001-05:00

the finished line has been crossed. more (and better) pictures to come but i finished my Central Park Hoodie this weekend. I'm very excited and pleased.

Stopping and Starting

2007-02-19T18:54:00.000-05:00

Today is a somewhat big day for me. Every day in this journey is “big” but today is an anniversary. It is 6 weeks sans cigarettes.

I remember on January 1st saying that I wanted to pull together a resolution list. That I would post it shortly…but I never did. Part of why I never did was that quitting smoking would be #1 and I just was scared that like usual, I would break it immediately and feel like a total failure. I now feel that I’ve got this under my belt and I’m now ready to actually pull together a list. It’s funny that with the smoking thing out of the way, I am excited about making a list of “resolutions”. I see resolutions as opportunities, and I do not look at them with dread. I’ve always been pro-self improvement and with the weight of this lifted, I seriously feel that I can do pretty much anything. Within reason, of course.

This now brings me to getting healthier in other ways. I want to start exercising and I want to love it. And for real, I want to start cooking. I am a planner and I will sit down and come up with a plan, detailed, with goals and milestones. This may sound weird but because I neither exercise nor cook, it actually requires planning.

Finally, knitting is actually incredibly helpful in this entire process, and along with all the other fun and exciting reasons to knit, keeping my hands busy with sticks and yarn has been a godsend for keeping me occupied.

And for this, I bring you my latest progress on my CPH. I had really hoped to have finished this over the weekend but well, blocking takes a long time and since it was a bottleneck in starting the hood, it just didn’t happen.

So happy anniversary to me. I am very proud of you.

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T20:55:00.000-05:00

I heart Detective Stabler.

Artist Brandon Bird. Thanks to Carrieoke for the tip on this.

Hobby #200 that I'd like to take up

2007-02-13T11:53:00.000-05:00

It’s only a matter of time before I jump on the Apartment Therapy bandwagon. It’s not out of lack of desire; it’s about lack of commitment. And fear.

Every morning on the way to work, I do not knit. If I close my apartment door behind me at 8:40, I am turning on my computer at the office at 9am. I always wonder how Brooklyn-ites get so much knitting done – it’s the commute time. Instead, I read anything that doesn’t require major mental involvement because as soon as I get into something, we’re at Grand Central. I can’t even get through Talk of the Town.

I bought my Apartment Therapy book about 3 weeks ago and have been reading bits and pieces on the train to work. I won’t sit down and read it cover to cover because it will bring me too close to actually having to take action. I don’t have a style bone in my body and it’s quite frustrating. I’m the person who would buy a modern chair and stick it in a country room. So part of it is being overwhelmed, part of it is commitment and part of it, a good part of it, is cost.

In the meantime, I am getting quickly entrenched in these design blogs and just this morning discovered design sponge, which I love.

As for knitting – I’m almost done with the CPH! Here is my sleeve.

With my better half off skiing this Presidents weekend, my agenda includes finishing CPH, going to Woodbury Commons and perhaps selling off the rest of my old records on ebay to perhaps fund something gorgeous like this:

wishing i was in central park

2007-02-07T22:18:00.000-05:00

What a b.a.d. week. Last week, that is. Remember when i went skiing two weekends ago knowing that my entire strategy plan was due? Yeh, we'll i didn't work on it in VT and paid for it dearly.

Things settled down over the weekend but at this very moment, I'm in the glorious state of:

I do have some progress to show on Central Park Hoodie. Bad shadow action on the picture, but you get the idea. As of this shot, I had the back done and almost the entire front left finished.

Better news is that i am almost finished with the right side, thanks to my 3 1/2 hour flight from NY to Arkansas this afternoon. When packing last night I probably devoted as much time to knitting project packing as I did to clothing, etc. While I tried to remember everything, I noticed on the plane that I forgot my size 6 needles, which are required for the cuffs/edging on everything to do with this sweater. So basically my 7 hour trip back tomorrow (you'd think they'd have more direct flights to Walmart-ville!) which was was to be entirely devoted to CPH must now be devoted to the sleeve of my Hourglass Sweater, which is feeling fairly neglected these days.

And finally, check out this hot window!

negative 18 degrees?

2007-01-26T13:52:00.001-05:00

We’re off skiing this weekend and even though it is -18 degrees (for real) at Sugarbush, I would withstand any temperature torture to escape for a few days.

Hart and I aren’t really what you would call skiers and we’ve actually never skied together before. I used to ski when I was little but “little” was a long time ago and I have only gone a few times in the past 10 years. Hart had a ski house with some of his guy friends when we were in grad school and they’ve had reunions in the last two years, at which time he’s learned a bit. Come to think of it – he had a ski house for 2 years for whole seasons and never once skied while there. Anyway – it’ll be funny. A bunch of us rented a house in Vermont for this weekend so there will be lots of eating, playing games and hanging out.

I brought two sweaters so I’ll be knitting, reading, and well, writing my strategic plan which is due next Thursday, which I haven’t even started yet.

Here is my before picture of CPH and hopefully I’ll have a good after picture, with plenty of progress. I don’t think this yarn is very photogenic. It’s like me in that way.

As for other before and afters, we have been told that our new windows will be installed on Monday and Tuesday. We are back Monday night so my fingers are crossed that we’ll open the door to find a beautiful sight. The probability of this happening is about 7%. We have been told this about 4 times before, the first time was, I think, maybe 8 or so months ago? Just to capture the impact, I took before pictures from our living room. There are 6 more in the back.

If all works out there will be a gorgeous shot of CPH in front of new windows next week.

Gifts in the Sheep Meadow

2007-01-22T19:22:00.001-05:00

Here it is and here's the story. I am a long story teller, just be patient.

Last Saturday I walked over to The Point to pick up the Fall issue of Knitscene with the pattern for Central Park Hoodie. Good thing I didn’t decide to wait a few weeks to get the pattern– I stopped into Purl on the way over and almost had a heart attack bc the new issue is out and they didn’t have any of the fall issue left. I almost ran to the Point (not like cutting a 5 minute walk down to two minutes would have made a difference), made a beeline to the back and grabbed it. There were like 14 copies left, but whatever. On my way out, I brushed my hands against the Tahki Donnegal Tweed and told myself to wait.

Fast forward to this past Thursday. It’s 3pm and I’ve had a miserable day. My stress is now becoming apparent as my project, which I now consider my child after 6 months of nurturing, is turning from strategy and an “idea” to execution and reality. I had just left a meeting in which my manager looked at me and said, “my group is falling apart”, specifically referring to the sheet white complexion and lack of smile that has become, along with clothes, my (and the rest of my team’s) every day appearance.

But then we all head into a big team meeting. And at the end of the meeting our VP announces these awards for “making a difference” and well, by god, I got one! I was grateful and flattered and thanked the team. And then as people were gathering their things to head out, my coworker leans over, winks and says, “so what are you going to buy yourself?” Well hello there! It turns out that this award comes with $100!

What am I going to buy myself? Well Donnegal Tweed, of course..enough for my CPH. So of course, I rush to the Point after work, only to find out that “no, we only have 5 skeins left” and “no, we can not order more for you”. Er, thanks anyway.

Get home after (trying to get a table at 'Ino) having, actually, great pizza at some place on Carmine (thank you Hart, thank you Chowhound) and immediately started googling the yarn to order.

I placed an order with The Village Sheep at 11pm on Thursday night and received my yarn at 10am today, Monday morning. Er, hello? Could it get really any better than that? Highly recommend this place.

Above is the gorgeous Donegal Tweed in a deep purplish. Look, I'm a crappy picture taker. I appreciate and covet, well, let's call it what it is, yarn porn, but I can't take good pictures period (no we haven't bought a new upgrade to the 3 mega pixel Le Click of 2007) let alone at 7pm.

Anyway, I heart the yarn and I can't wait to start. I'm even going to join the KAL - this is my first and I'm pretty excited about it.

I shall keep you posted, on this and my Hourglass (first sleeve on the needles). But until next time, here are a couple of post scripts:

ps: I know I keep talking about it but I hate mittens. I don't hate them but I'm having a really hard time with them. I keep seeing people fly through them like they are stinking garter stitch scarfs but I am so confused about the cuff (do I i-cord, should I rib the cuff to make it squishy and er, what is this Italian thing?). It's just making me stressed talking about it so I'm going to stop.

pps: I'm still angry about the Patriots loss. Did they deserve to win? Yes in general, but I will agree that they played terribly against the Colts. Is Peyton Manning the best thing ever and was the reason the Colts won? No, if you watched the game a) he was good but not THAT good and b) really, Marlin Jackson (who played for Michigan, btw) won the game, not Peyton. And I will fully admit that I kind of like Peyton. I think he's a great QB and I kind of love all those ESPN commercials. It's just that, well, I'm just cranky about it.

Saturday Morning Topic: Cooking

2007-01-20T09:38:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday morning, 9:30, I'm drinking Dunkin Donuts Hazelnut, and trying to come up with a plan for the day. I have nothing to show on the knitting front but an hour glass sweater with about 6 more inches (but click here, if you insist)

I am the type of person who is so excited and eager about things that I just don't have the skills or talent to execute. I think about it, talk about it and plan and strategize consistently - but it intensifies about this time (9-10am) on this day (saturday). I have a full day ahead of me and so much promise. But it just NEVER works out. The two biggies are home design and cooking. I will touch on one today. Cooking.

First, I should introduce you to my boyfriend, Alton.

I love Alton Brown. In fact, Hart also loves Alton Brown. I became obsessed with the Food Network, I don't know, maybe 4 years ago? At that time the obsession was bordering unhealthy (Barefoot Contessa, Easy Entertaining, Everyday Italian, both live and on Tivo) but I've relaxed a bit and while I watch the others once in awhile, I'm currently only loyal to Alton. If you have never watched Good Eats, you don't know what your missing.

Hart and I have, I think, 72 episodes of Good Eats on Tivo. We watch at least 1 episode, if not 2 almost every night. It is not at all likely that said episode will be "new". Most are repeats and most we've watched at least once before. And we save almost every one of them. We talk throughout it too. Alton has taught us a lot and we now anticipate what's going to happen. When he's slicing apples for a pie we say "get out the lime juice, you need to prevent browning". wow, we're weird.

With all of this, I don't cook. We don't cook. We are seriously, as strange as it sounds, a household that literally orders in or goes out to dinner every single night. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

Do you want to see how much worse it gets? Look at what is located in our apartment. The counter space.

This is not Brooklyn kids, this is actually a kitchen in Manhattan. I'm not saying this is the best kitchen ever, but it's not a galley kitchen with zero space. I didn't realize how uncool it was to tell the owners that we didn't cook until she said, "see the granite slab within the regular tile? this is for pastry making, it keeps it cool". I do not deserve this kitchen at all.

The reality is that neither of us can cook and we don't have the skills or the insight to be creative. We love to watch it and we actually seem to know a lot about how to do it but we're "armchair chefs". We watch and talk and know, but just don't take action.

But when we do try, we go all out. And it's so exhausting that we all but swear it off for the future. For example, we went to cooking school in Thailand a couple of years ago, and at the end of class you receive a cookbook with all of the recipes you made. A few months ago we made dinner one night from a couple of recipes and it literally took 2 hours of shopping and two hours of cooking. It was delicious, yes, and I guess it sort of proves we can cook, but this just isn't sustainable. And it demotivates us.

Yes, I can make spaghetti and sauce but I don't really like eating pasta. I can also make a vegetarian lasagna. Hart can make chili, with meat. And he claims that he is a great cook but that my being a vegetarian prevents those dishes from surfacing. I actually think he's lying and has no dishes up his sleeve but I do think the vegetarian/non vegetarian thing is a huge issue for us. It's overwhelming for someone who can't cook to try and do something that is great for vegetarians and carnivores. And to be fair, to the situation and to him, Hart is as much a carnivore as I am a vegetarian. So yes, there are plenty of vegetarian dishes that we both can eat, but I frankly don't think it's fair that he have to eat vegetarian all the time.

Anyway, I see a glimmer of hope and it looks like this:

I admit that my magazine subscriptions are random but after seeing this at my mom's house a few years ago, I became addicted and have been reading ever since.

Real Simple recipes are, well, real simple, and not boring, like spaghetti and sauce. The current issue has a few great recipes for really easy things and I think I'm going to go out and get some ingredients today.

But, after writing all of this, I'm hungry and I don't want to cook anything. This is a total example of the first two sentences of the second paragraph of this post. Am I going to take action? Not likely. Actually, that is not very positive. I will take action but I'm simply not sure when.

Thank you very much, Ms. Marigold

2007-01-16T19:51:00.001-05:00

Voila!

Here she is.

Started: December 12, 2006

Finished: January 14, 2007

Pattern: Ms. Marigold from Zephyr

Yarn: Knitpicks Elegance in Lilac - I originally ordered 4 but needed to order a 5th. I used almost 75% of the 5th

Tools: Size 5 29" circular, size 3 32" circular and a size G crochet hook

Modifications: I knitted for size small, but after getting fairly far along, I tried it on and was concerned with it being a bit too tight. I followed the two modifications - I started the increasing directions to get a little more give in the waist and I also knitted it a bit longer. This definitely resulted in needing more yarn

Other: well, when I was done with the sweater it was still a bit snug, but after blocking, which I thought would do the trick, I'm in trouble. It really stretched out along the neckline, which you can see a bit from the picture. I guess my only option is to try blocking it again. Also, I bought the size 3 circular from Knitpicks with my yarn order, and well, I sort of fell in love. They are stupidly cheap and while I assumed the worse, they are amazing. Super easy to use and the purple cable between the needles is the most flexible thing ever. I only wish they had sizes bigger than 3.

Next up, the disaster that came from my Norweigen Mittens. Stay tuned.

Field Trip

2007-01-14T14:30:00.000-05:00

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.

The End Justifies the Means

2007-01-08T19:14:00.000-05:00

I just got home and have been thinking about finishing Ms Marigold all day. I had to put her down on Christmas because I ran out of yarn, but did have enough to pick up the stitches for the border and knit a couple of rows. I got my extra ball of Knit Picks a week ago and swore not to touch it until I was done with my scarf and today is that day.

So I hate picking up stitches for a border - I dreaded it, I suck at it and now I know why. Since I stopped almost 2 weeks ago I have had this little buzz in my ear telling me that I didn't pick up enough stitches and the result would be a crunched neckline. When I bought my Malabrigo at Downtown Yarns the day before I flew home for the holidays I brought Ms. Marigold in and asked the lovely women working there what to do. I know how to pick up stitches (er, kind of) but how many, or how frequently do I do it? She told me what I didn't want to hear, something to the effect of "You just try and see how it goes. I usually pick up border, knit it, and pull it out a few times before it's right". The lesson is one similar to the gauge issue - not wanting to do one, skipping it and finding out your sweater is 2 sizes too small/big.

Not enough picked up stitches (go ahead, click to enlarge it, see for yourself)

Look (above) at how close I am!

The amount of discipline and restraint that I will be pulling off this evening is massive. I WILL be ripping this out and starting over. I am going to hate it and just to make it worse, I will be watching the National Championship game - and watching the team I hate, Ohio State, play Florida, the team that should not be playing. Michigan should be playing.

Thank goodness Hart's Mom got me the Vogue Knitting book- it has a great chapter on picking up a border and I need all the visual aids possible.

This post is dedicated to myself - I am documenting this restraint so that I look back and remember my strength. I really should have pulled out the stitches before I posted shouldn't I have?

ps: should you look at this picture and think that, nah, I didn't need to pull it out, I would have been fine, please bite your tongue. For real.

FO - all bundled up for 70 degree weather

2007-01-07T17:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I finally finished my Irish Hiking Scarf! I wove in the ends and everything. My first cables and my first time using really wonderful, soft, high quality yarn. The scarf was inspired by An Abundance of Lisa who did a great one. I finished it on Saturday and it was a great day to do it although I should have spent more time outside enjoying said weather.

Start Date: December 24th
End Date: January 6th
Material: 2 skeins of Malabrigo in Pagoda 11092
Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf
Other: I knitted this up on size 7 needles instead of size 8. Also, I ended up using the entire 2 skeins which got me to 65" vs the 55" in the pattern because I usually fold the scarf in two and pull it through to tie a "knot" at my neck.

So my first official week back at work was brutal and on Friday Hart and I aimed for a chill dinner at Mexicana Mama - the one on 12th and broadway (vs the sister restaurant in w. village which requires way too long a wait) and then head to Union Square for a movie. but as soon as we walked out the door we saw Soho Billiards staring at us. We see this each and every day but this time we really saw it. We ended up going east to another Mexican restaurant that Hart of course heard about from Chowhound, but which I won't list because it was not memorable. Net net, 2 margaritas later (and excessive discussion about Bush and deployment of troops*) we played pool, went to bed and woke up groggy on Saturday.

we got up and met friends for brunch, walked around Union Square a bit and headed home and watched some football and (me) finish my scarf.

I love it. Love it. I only wish it was cold enough to wear it. Did I just wish for cold weather? I sort of willed it today as I wore it today while Hart and I were running errands. We ran into our friend at a bookstore and I started sweating in doors and needed to take it off.

So up next is finishing Ms. Marigold (just got my extra skein in the mail) and getting down with my Hourglass. I actually stayed in last night and through both Kill Bill 1 and Kill Bill 2 - got about 20 rows done. This is going to take for - ev -er.

In other news, I'm getting a little ancy about my bookclub situation. It's all me - not the group. I'm simply not feeling the books we are reading. It's been less than 6 months for me and I joined the group because my reading was becoming - well becoming like nothing. I hadn't read any novels in a long time and I used to be an obsessive reader - I think I just got out of practice. When I joined the group was reading Feminine Mystique - we had a few (in my opinion, which is what this is about) great books: Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion and Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami. But the last one was Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson and the current book is an Lee Miller: A Life, an autobiography by Carolyn Burke. I find all books selected to be fantastic - influential and interesting, but at this point in my game, I am really interested in reading more low-maintenance stuff. Like I just finished Kite Runner and I'm reading Atonement now. I don't know - I love the discipline that comes with book clubs and the women in my group are great. I am not reading the Lee Miller book and am telling myself to be fine with it. Our bookclub meeting is in 1 1/2 weeks and I thought I would pick it up this weekend - but a) it's not available at the two B&N near my house, nor at Strand, b) the in-store price is $35 and 450 pages and c) given the 450 pages gig, I can't order it online and read it on time. Clearly this is an internal struggle that I just needed to rant about.

*I will say this: I wouldn't call myself a liberal - I would call myself a Democrat. There are things that I lean on the side of the liberal point of view and there are things that I fall more in the moderate camp. Hart is almost a liberal. I truly believe that Bush would rather stay in Iraq until he leaves office to save face. I believe that he would rather let it go until the next President to clean up this mess than actually pull out and admit that he's wrong.

Monday Night Lights

2007-01-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

Couldn't have been happier about the close of another year - at 5pm on Friday we pulled together a last minute New Years party and it was tons of fun. For New Yorkers spending New Years in the city, there is nothing more dreadful than figuring out plans. Going to random parties or bars or god forbid, Time Square, is not at all exciting, and this year many of us were in denial about setting a plan in motion.

For the first time in my life I live in an apartment that it conducive to entertaining and we've made the most of it. Having friends over is one of my favorite things - whether it's a night of ordering Lombardi's and playing cards with a few friends, hosting every single Michigan game or having an all out serious party. Last night we had about 20 people over and it wasn't our usual homogeneous crew (like all our Michigan friends, all our b-school friends, etc). Lots of little pockets who all connected beautifully when pulled together. I couldn't have been more pleased. Thank god all of my friends are extroverts.

And onward.

So as we closed 2006 with friends at our house, we are opening 2007 in the same way but with a less than exciting result. No more than 2 hours ago did the Rose Bowl end, and while I was nervous going in and honestly was not sure how it would end, I certainly did not expect the outcome. It was much more devastating than anticipated. Even so, it was great to have the Wolverine regulars over - sporting maize and blue shirts, running around, screaming, postulating and getting excited. It didn't turn out the way we had hoped and while the above shot is not from today's game, this picture does remain the best picture of the year.

we have a dwindling crowd but a few still here. the remainders include 5 guys, drinking whiskey and shuffling cards. interestingly they have taken a strong interest in my knitting (i did keep going with my irish hiking scarf until 5pm kick off) and are now probing me for info on my blog. one of them, the said lawyer- book reading maniac immediately spotted the blogger screen and tried to find out my url. i guess i'm just not ready to take this public but for what its worth, i am sharing his (edit: he told me he could find me out if i linked to him - so not happening).

resolutions

i am excited to write them and i have them in my head. i just need to make sure i prioritize and not bite off more than i can chew

Fair?

2006-12-28T17:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't know. I worked from home today and midway got fairly inspired to start the Norwegian Mittens. This is my first time with Fair Isle and also with mittens. Not sure if I'm setting myself up for failure but whatever. With a little help from my new Vogue Knitting book, I found it strangely easy. Cumbersome and not something to do mindlessly while watching Law and Order, but not hard. But something is just weird about it.

First, I am not sure I was great about the tension but nothing disastrous - but I didn't do an i-cord and the bottom is rolling up. I'm not sure if this can be fixed in blocking? (also not sure if that's something I can test mid-project). I guess I'll just carry on but think I may put it down for a bit and work on the Irish Hiking Scarf and my Hourglass. On the Marigold front, I did just order another ball of Lilac from Knitpicks and should hopefully finish up and wear it soon.

In other news (un "fair" as well), Hart and I went to see the Pistons play the Knicks last night. I haven't been so sports inspired since Michigan/Ohio State game, but thought this would be the kick I needed to get ready for the Rosebowl game. Who would have thought that the Pistons would lose? This had better not be a sign.

Hourglass Swatch

2006-12-26T18:09:00.001-05:00

Drumroll for the Hourglass. Learned my lesson on swatching and good thing - pattern calls for 19 stitches for 4 inches on size 7 and this netted me over 5. Switched to size 6 - close enough.

Start Date: December 26, 2006

Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk in Orange

Needles: size 6, 24"

Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Cheer

2006-12-25T22:58:00.001-05:00

There has been a lot of hunting and gathering on the knitting front. Been knitting Ms Marigold like a maniac but on Thursday realized that I was running out of yarn - likely due to tails that are way too long, and the fact that I made it longer than pattern called for. Learning Learning. I had been eye-ing the Irish Hiking Scarf all week - first spotted on Abundance of Lisa - and have been really excited to try my first cables. Been hearing a lot about Malabrigo so on Friday I headed to Downtown Yarns to buy some.

It was a great Friday. Hart and I both had the day off and after we went to store we came home, watched movies, packed for the weekend and I started the scarf. Been home in Massachusetts all weekend and have made some progress. I love this pattern and love this yarn. It is so warm, soft and squishy.

Today is Christmas and I was so excited to finally get my hands on all the knitting goodies my Mom got me. I was also really excited to give my mom her new digital camera so I could snatch it and take all these pictures. I normally use Hart's camera and we just need to internalize that we need a new one. Yes we were early adopters and bought one 5 years ago but it's like Atari now.

Anyway - I received Knitpicks Andean Silk in Orange for my Hour Glass Sweater. I love the color and can hopefully pull it off before the winter is over - although it's not really feeling so winter anyway.

I also received Knitting Around, and some Knitpicks Telemark for Norweigen Mittens! I've been really looking forward to starting these - although I'm a little nervous after reading the pattern.

The funny part of this is that after we ate (me tofurkey, everyone else turkey) and entered our food comas, my mom got totally absorbed in Knitting Around. She skipped all the knitting stuff and went straight to the "Digressions". Even non-knitters fall in love with EZ.

good and bad

2006-12-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

well, today was a good day - got my approval to spend money my salary x a lot on machinery that will make my new products, and got approval on the packaging for said products.

i am feeling the need for a picture and here it is - our glorious DR vacation. if anyone wants to know details let me know- i can't even describe how amazing this trip, country, people, hotel, experience was.

but....i have no pictures on ms. marigold. but i tried it on and a little concerned. when Hart saw me knitting it up - he was in awe of my skills, but did comment that, well, it looked a little small. i tried it on and well, it just seems a little small. i tried it on with just my bra on and well, i saw a lot of bra. this is my first sweater and i'm about 3/4 through and it's been a week. if it doesn't work out - the commitment was low and it was fun. i immediately implemented "tip 2" on how to increase to account for the natural curve of a woman's body - we'll see how it goes.

two learnings are:

a) banana republic resizing may have finally caught up with me - i followed the directions for my bust size (as it's written) but all these companies have turned 8's into 4s and well..

b) perhaps my tight knitting is finally catching up with me. my nails digging into my palms was clearly not enough - but once it effects the project outcome, it is an issue that needs addressing.

finally - i am frightened of the finishing - picking up stitches along the front and knitting them in rib.
i've done this once before on the now damned, never worn, destined to be unwound and recycled poncho, but i have no idea how that happened, as it happened a year ago.

Double finally- which may pertain to first finally- I may go to Stich N Bitch tomorrow night. I am nervous about this. I'm usually really great about new environments but for whatever reason I'm just nervous. will report

In the name of Progress

2006-12-16T17:25:00.000-05:00

This week was pretty rough – mostly from getting back in the swing at work – which has been a nightmare. Financial models, packaging approval, fussing over moulds that need tweeking. I’ve been here for a year – love it, but it’s tough. I’m also not the type to work until 11pm – which is not so good as it’s truly required and it makes me feel like a slacker. I just shut down and lose steam. On Friday this happened at 4pm and my team was feeling the same so we just called it a day, knowing full well that it’s going to be right back at us on Monday.

The good news is that I’ve made some real progress on Ms. Marigold. It looks like a chaotic mess of loose ends so here’s what it will eventually look like (hopefully) but here's where I am.

I really love this yarn – it is my first time with KnitPicks (Elegance) and I’m in love – the quality, the price. This is my first sweater project (other than the Childs Placket – yes, still not weaved in/blocked) and my first time using smaller needles and getting a non bulky outcome.

One thing that really stalled me when starting to knit just a short while back was the price. Living in Nolita in NYC results in three obvious nearby yarn shops – Downtown Yarns, Purl and Suss (no longer). All of these stores, while I’m sure are beginner friendly, really stock the most gorgeous, soft, unique and I’m sure highest quality yarn – but all of it is really expensive.

I’m still at the stage where I look at a yarn and have no idea what to do with it – the color is easy but the width of the strand, the texture – I just don’t have the vision to see what I can become and therefore, I see the price tag and freak out a bit. I need a pattern and buy what it calls for and hence there is the reverse – like I’m dying to knit the mans sweater in the back of Last Minute Gifts but it requires like 12 skeins of Manos and at $15 a skein – we’re talking $180. I don’t have the know how to figure out an alternative.

Anyway – I feel like this will come and I had an aha moment at about the time I discovered KnitPicks. I saw Ms. Marigold on Carrieoke and then discovered that there were several bloggers who did Ms Marigold and I saw all their pictures and outcomes. So I started searching for the Hourglass Sweater and while the yarn suggested in the pattern was expensive, I noticed that many people were using all sorts of stuff- and some were using Knit Picks!

All of this is such a random stream of words but to me I’m getting this as progress. Progress in my knitting learning and progress in my Ms. Marigold. The other progress is seeing what’s out there from lovely and interesting knitters. Before discovering all these blogs I’m now obsessed with – I just kept seeing patterns from the few books I have and Vogue Knitting – most of which I either hated bc they are really, well, lame, or they were too hard/advanced. Ms. Marigold was sparked by a blog and so now is my new (yet scary venture) into the Norweigen Mittens inspired by Yarnmonster (thank you mom for Knitting Around and my Knit Picks order for Christmas)

Ms. Marigold

2006-12-11T19:10:00.000-05:00

I just got back from my wonderful DR trip and am exhausted.

But very happy to have received my Knitpicks order in the meantime! I'm finally ready for Ms. Marigold. Casting on may be the max I can handle tonight but here is the lovely lilac.

And we're off - to DR and to a Scarf

2006-12-06T18:44:00.000-05:00

No knitpicks today and I can't bring the massive baby blanket to DR (no it's not done) but I can't wait to go!

While I simply can't envision knitting in 85 degree heat (never mind the stack of New Yorkers coming with me) I do have a 3 hour flight there and back so I am going to knit a fairly simple but fun scarf I found in Knit1. I bought this yarn awhile back and made little progress on a different scarf so I ripped it out and am starting new and fresh.

I love this yarn - it's white and creamy and very soft. it took me a very long time to take this out because it's fuzzy but bless john's mom for getting me a yarn winder.

I'm going to knit the Ruffler Neck Warmer from the Nov/Dec 2005 issue of Vogues Knit1. There are no links for either finished stuff or from the Knit1 site for this so I'm being ghetto and taking a picture of the magazine. Hopefully this doesn't constitue any copyright infringement...

Anyway, I'm really excited to head out. Work has been relentless and John and I are fofeiting our usual trips to places that require attention and exploration - it's a big step but i only have a few vacation days left and we are doing the whole "we deserve it" thing. Plus we are bringing 4 bottles of wine with us (our demands for menus pre-book showed a fantastic steal of $15 for one corona and no, we can't go into town to buy from a bodega as we're 10 miles from civilization), netflix, and a deck of cards. we're good to go.

I'm ready for 5 full days on the beach - reading New Yorkers and tackling my book club book of Winesburg, Ohio along with Kiterunner, which I started and then forced myself to stop so I could save it for this trip.

Okay - off for now. John just walked in from a day in Boston. I love the night before vacation. We just opened a bottle of champagne, ordered from Il Bagato and gave each other a hard time for packing to much (me) or too little (him).

hope that a) i will be showing of said scarf next time and b) i will be showing off knit picks gorgeous yarn (er, yes, there will be screaming if it's not at my door 5 days from now) and c) i will be sporting a tan to make all jealous (except for my mom as she'll be pissed and holler about skin cancer, and myself should be included, as i'll be pissed at myself 3 days later for those same reasons).

almost done - ready for more

2006-12-05T20:24:00.000-05:00

good and bad news to report.

Very very bad news is that I am terrible with this camera business. My house isn’t that dark and while it's past 8pm, i have a lamp over the work and the ceiling light as well– do I need to take my work outside? Going to need to figure this out because as someone who is highly dependent on fantastic picture taking on other blogs – this simply isn’t cutting it. So sorry for the darkness.

the full shot

the folded shot

the beauty shot

the good news is that i made my debut as a knit and driver (passenger side, of course). i had tried this once before but ended up very car sick. i am incredibly determined to finish this baby blanket and took in on the road on route to an offsite in NJ. It was great and I got tons of rows done.

the bad news comes in several hands. while the knit and drive all worked out, unfortunately got to the garter stich border finale as i was almost home and remembered how much i hate doing this. the result is gorgeous but it's very tedious for me.

i'm not feeling very zimmerman at this point as i just want it done. i'm not sure i'll finish before i leave for Dominican Republic bc the border takes me so long (20 rows of @120 stiches = 3 1/2 hours).

the other bad news is that i didn't receive my knit picks package today. i guess i should be patient but i'm just really disappointed. it's been 12 days. shame on me but net net, my learning is to not depend on ordered yarn to start a new project. This is probably one of those things i'll look back a year from now and be like "so typical". Whatever, just because yarn is a little more diy doesn't mean they shouldn't be agressive on shipping. if anything, knitters are more demanding.

and i'm willing to go back for more. my mom is going to buy me some yarn from knitpicks for xmas- i'm going to order stuff for the hourglass and the norweigen mittens (yes, i'm being waaaay too optimistic but i’ve fallen in love and one always pursues things they are simply not ready for) and per their holiday instructions - the order will be placed by 12/7 at 12noon! so excited!

So while the pictures are gloomy, above is my (big bad) baby blanket so far - almost done!

hope to have a final picture tomorrow - all blocked! i'll wash it up and dry it up while packing for DR!!!

Knit Start

2006-12-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

Okay so it's been awhile and I'm still finding resolution on what the H is going on with this blog. i start, i stop. repeat.

Been highly inspired (and obsessed) by knitting blogs lately. I started knitting about a year and a half ago but got really down on it - likely due to the fact that all I was doing was squares - squares for scarves, squares for a poncho (which I hate and have never worn) and a square blanket, which i have made 3 times so far. At the very least, I'll put pictures up so I know what I've done.

I’m sad that I can’t find the pictures I took of the scarves but here are the two blankets – with their owners. Never took a picture of the third blanket but as I’m knitting it up again using the same yarn – I can show it WIP or maybe in a day or so when it's done.

In any event, i'm back in the swing. I went to Michigan to visit John’s parents in October and his mom is a hardcore and amazing knitter and every time I’m there I get reinvigorated so I got all excited again.

So back to my swing. about 3 weeks ago I was a bit under the weather, was home from work and started going through Last Minute Gifts. Was needing to expand beyond the square to try something new and came across the little baby hat. perfect. it was the easiest thing ever and my first foray into knitting in the round.

fortunately Purl is 5 blocks from my house. was able to sneak in there, grab the yarn, new circulars (didn't have the right size) and some double pointed needles. similar to knitting in the round, i had never used dpn.

this was a thursday and i actually finished it all at once! net net, think i need to really start doing new and manageable projects.

my biggest issue now? i hate finishing. so here it is without the ends weaved in. plus i realize i'm an amatuer with the knitting photography - need to bump that up a bit.

Pattern: Children's Cotton Hats from Last Minute Gifts
Yarn: 1 skein Mission Falls 1824 Cotton color 402 (at Purl)
Needles: Addi size 7 16" and size 7 dpns

Okay, so this is likely happened to many new knitters and it's happening to me. So after the hat I got a little maniacal about continuing. Ever since I bought LMG a year ago, I've been obsessed with two projects - the childs placket and the man sweater on the last page. Only a couple of weeks ago was I brave enough to attempt the childs placket. With my first hat underway – I felt like I could try anything! I hit Purl and asked for some help picking out yarn. Given my “beginner status” I didn’t want to throw down $50 in yarn bc I was fairly sure I would screw up so I picked up Cascade 220. Unfortunately the gauge was a bit off (yes, I committed the cardinal sin of not swatching first) but it worked out in the end.

I feel like I may be going through knitting stages. Frankly- i haven't made one thing for myself. it's all gifts and i have no idea who this sweater is for and who the hat is for. i have a lot of friends who have kids between 0 and 2 years, hopefully they'll appreciate this. i look at these projects simply to a) try something new (like a sweater and a hat) and b) get practice so i can make something for myself.

john and i went home to my mom’s for thanksgiving and i started this sweater right before. needless to say that my mom was not excited that i had my head stuck in my needles. actually she was - mom's of new knitters (esp mom's who have no idea what knitting entails) are highly impressed with it.

by the time i left on sunday i had the body plus two sleeves done. i actually didn't bring enough yarn home to finish! woo hoo! i know that sounds weird that i'm happy about that but to me it means quick progress.

Again – the finishing is what kills me. Here it is 99% done.

Yarn: Cascade 220 – a little over 1 skein
Pattern: Child’s Placket Sweater from Last Minute Gifts
Needle: size 7 circular 24”, 7dpn and tapestry needle
Mod: Because the yarn knits up much larger than the recommended yarn, I basically followed the pattern for the 0-6 months to achieve the 1-2 years (I swatched, after 3 hours of knitting, mind you, and did the math). So I followed the 0-6 month on # stitches but knitted the length to the specs for the 1-2 year old.

The other big bad thing I need to figure out is how to knit more evenly. You can see from the bottom that the knits are fairly fluent because I'm knitting in the round (all knits) but when you start knitting the sleeves onto the body you go back and forth in stockinette stitch - so my purls on the WS are showing a big change in the fabric. I need to figure that out.

in the meantime, i'm itching for my new project, which is ms. Marigold. As mentioned, I only discovered knitting blogs about 2 weeks ago and in my search for NY ones, I found spidernet, and found carrieoke, who is great and who a) did a gorgeous ms marigold and b) did a gorgeous hourglass - my next project.

so on saturday of thanksgiving, i went on to my mom's lovely gateway computer - with dial up - and ordered yarn and a size 3 circular from knitpicks. it took me about 45 minutes (said dial up) and it's now Sunday and i don't have my yarn. the reality is i probably shouldn't yet - but every morning i reread the pattern and i'm just crazy to start this.

So to present. John and I are heading to the Dominican Republic on Thursday and I had to do necessary errands today – get sunscreen, pedicure, etc. I decided to go to The Point for the first time today. I’ll detail it out later but yarn shops really intimidate me. I’m not sure if this is true for all new knitters but I simply get overwhelmed with the whole thing. I just wanted to check the situation out – with my ammo being that I wanted to grab Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears. Hands down, love the place. I always want to sit down and knit at these shops but feel really uncomfortable about it – but this place just seems so unbelievably friendly so I’m eager to go back to knit and drink lots of coffee.

Needless to say I got Knitting Without Tears and read it all through my pedi. I LOVE IT.

Alas, I am so sitting down to finish this final blanket tonight. And pray to the mail heavens that my Knitpicks comes tomorrow.

productive day and electric cars

2006-08-05T19:36:00.000-04:00

Today was a very productive day - maybe like an 8 on a scale of 10. mind you a 5 or 6 consists of having brunch, going in to at least 1 store and meeting out for dinner. er, i'm not very productive.

Jeesh, I need a name for him but I have commitment issues. I'm calling him Palermo going forward - at least for now. So Palermo is a planner. I got up this morning, drank ice coffee and smoked cigarettes (no, it's not over yet) and puddled around on the computer. He worked diligently on the couch, with his computer. As I came nearer to him, he blocked the screen saying he was planning our day and instructed me to take a shower.

I get out - he's on his way in and tells me to check my email - there is an itinerary with options. I hate options. I hate getting a list of 7 restaurants to choose from.

Anyway- there was lunch, movie and dinner on there. sooo productive!!!

point of this is that we went to Angelika and saw "who killed the electric car?". this is a fascinating movie. it's about the launch of an electric car in the early 90's and the demise of it - who is to blame, what happened, etc. it is amazing. the most crazy part to me is that there were a ton of these cars on the market, waiting lists to get them, celebrity endorsements up the wazoo, and they were not only discontinued- but the car manufacturers actively pulled them all of the road and destroyed them. didn't let them die a natural death - they went to people's houses and collected them.

also interesting and enlightening to me (again, i read cnn.com and let Palermo update me on any important issues from the Economist) is that this whole Hydrogen bullshit is like 20 years away and is actually not that efficient.

i need to see this "an inconvenient truth" movie that Palermo, lawyer blogger and everyone else is talking about. I still stand by my opinion that no matter how smart he is, Gore is doomed in an '08 election, but I'm starting to wonder....

Sunday Recovery and Book Clubs

2006-07-30T19:49:00.000-04:00

Another Sunday spent recovering. After a very productive day yesterday; went out to brunch, went to the movies, went shopping, I had an excessive evening– which inevitably destroyed any gleam of hope for doing much of anything today.

He and I went to Brooklyn last night. We were at dinner with two other couples, and the two women are in this book club together. One of the couples is moving to Texas for some PhD thing so they have an opening in the club. B, one of the women, the one who isn’t moving, invited me to join. The great thing is that these friends of ours come from Him – he went to college with B’s husband, and they are all fairly new to me. It would be another great way to meet new women. Anyway – B and I always talk about this book club when we’re drunk – she’s a writer and she’s quiet. This fascinates me – specifically that she’s a writer and has historically said only a few words in my presence. I am one of those people who can walk into a room full of strangers and talk to anyone, and she has always been so quiet around me that I have, on occasion, thought that she simply thought I was an idiot. Only recently has she become talkative to me and I find this a great victory.

But I am really weirded out by bookclubs. First, it sounds very Oprah-esque. Second, it just seems so contrived. Every time I ask someone to describe what it’s like in these meetings, she (as it’s always women) says that it’s a lot of drinking, eating and just hanging out. Is a “bookclub” an excuse to meet up with friends and hang out? Why the required reading then?

I remember when book clubs were truly all the rage, maybe 5 years ago, it was way political. I had several friends, all in different book clubs. They talked about members being kicked out – the emotional challenges of breaking up with your book club because you wanted to go somewhere new.

I don’t know – maybe it’s because I’m consistently unproductive that I’m being critical. It’s the combination of being unproductive and the fear of commitment. Even more – B said that the book they’re on now is the Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. I mean Come ON! Could you get less fun? I mean, I read the book (or skimmed it) in college but this isn’t some fictional easy fun stuff. This is fairly hardcore. It’s a lot of work!!!!

I’m just going to do it. The reality is that I used to consume books as though they were going out of style. Even though He and I live together we have two subscriptions to the New Yorker – as we eat them up like candy and are very territorial about them. But sadly enough, I can barely finish an issue these days.

I’m going to email her right now and tell her I’m game for the next meeting. And in the meantime, if anyone has any cliff notes on the Feminine Mystique, please let me know.

Speaking of commitment – I am quitting smoking for the 23rd time tomorrow. Wish me luck.

KF takes Chowhound: Enoteca Barbone

2006-07-28T22:34:00.000-04:00

Whether this becomes regular or not, we’ll see, but restaurants to us NY-ers, is a critical thing, and must be addressed. Maybe if I become (whisper, clap hands with glee) regularly visited – I’ll move it to the side where most serious bloggers have side discussions. But….

He (a Formal Noun, not a pronoun, for now until I have formulated the best nickname ever) is obsessed with Chowhound. You know, the true foodie website. Obsessed. Ridiculous. Granted, I can’t complain. When we arrive at a restaurant, he knows what we should order, what is the best thing ever, what is terrible. One of the things I love most about him is his obsession with trying new restaurants. And we (or He) always come prepared. Specifically, with a little post-it note that he hides in his pocket. Pulling out only when the coast is clear.

Tonight he knew the maitre d's name. Knew which wine we should order (which they had none of, but knowing wine to order is above and beyond the normal situation).

We went to Enoteca Barbone. Avenue B between 11th and 12th.

We went because it was new, it was Italian, was in the east village (ev and Italian is a good mix) and icing on the cake; this is the new restaurant of John Baron, the former pasta maker/chef/guru at Babbo. We love Babbo. Adore it. So of course we were going to try this place – plus it got rave reviews on Chowhound, which truly doesn’t let us down.

Barbone was okay. I am actually easy to please and this was just okay. The service great. The food and wine, okay. I’ll make it quick.

I got the watermelon, ricotta and caper salad. The watermelon could have been way fresher and the whole thing was really forgettable. For my entrée I got the ricotta, peas and mint gnochi. I usually steer away from gnochi but this was way promoted on said websites. It actually was really good, but spectacular? Eh. He got the asparagus for a starter- also touted as the best thing ever. Was fine. And got the Pappardelle with braised short rib ragu. Found it mediocre.

Net net- this is absolutely no Babbo. Not even Gnocco (which we love and only gets better) – maybe Bianca, which we want desperately to be fantastic but really never is.

Anyway – bill was like $75, the garden was great, the wine sucked (I hate Chardonnay and will never submit to the rationale of ‘it’s not woody California Chardonay’ ever again), the food was good, but no Babbo.

the first rebirth

2006-07-27T19:13:00.000-04:00

so how's that for commitment. i'm still smoking, still not going to the gym, it's been way over a year since mr. curio and i made that pact.

and i still don't know my way around a blog. i feel like my mom when she got hip to the "world wide web" like 5 years ago, or when i thought i was advanced when i started texting like 4 years ago. in any event - i still don't read blogs. other than one, which i'm way too self-conscious to name at this point. first impressions are key and why ruin it in my first, or second, rather, post. i don't know - maybe i just feel like blogs are very myspace- which, with all due respect, is definitely the 21st century version of those weird party chat phone numbers that existed back when i was 16. i hope i'm wrong - i assume i'm wrong

in any event. i got refocused due to a couple of reasons. the first is that i often end up drinking at a bar with a bunch of friends, one of which does this blog which is really good. he's a lawyer, is annoyingly smart, always seems to school me on everything and/or make me feel dumb, reads literally 2 very intellectual books a week (which when he tells me, seems impressive, but now when i write, seems dreadfully lame) and still has time to write a blog that is really freaking good (although not good enough for me to read every day like my cult-like obsession with the other blog i read). the second reason is that i read a lot of cnn.com. i know it's way un-cool, and is kind of like the Fox news of online news sources, but i am a busy working girl and it's just easy. Anyway, i just read this thing on a woman in france who has a blog and it got her fired. something about her trashing her job on her blog, the company figuring it out, etc. of course, given it was on cnn.com, her server went beserk and it took me three days to get on her blog. i didn't read much, it was actually not that fantastic. and i thought, if she can write lame postings on a lame date she had and people are obsessed with her? i mean, is that what i takes?

so here i am.

start now.

2005-01-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

So it's 2005 and I've made a lot of promises. I'm due to quit smoking at some point - perhaps about 19 days ago. I was also due to join a gym but since that was directly tied to quitting smoking (to combat all of the excessive eating to come with quitting- which hasn't occurred) I haven't done that either.

But one promise was to definitely start one of this bloggy things. Not quite certain why since I don't read any one elses. Maybe because I used to do a zine and I liked when kids would write to me - it made me feel important or something. And of course to make Mr. Curio mad. On December 3rd Mr. Curio and I talked about starting blogs and we both promised (competitively of course) that we would start blogs first. Today he emailed me a link to his blog and he beat me. So not happy but since he hasn't really written anything, he doesn't really beat me.